- Flashcards
classical era
- 600BCE - 600CE
- greek, roman, han, maurya, gupta, persians, mayans
hinduism
- earlist known organized religion
- written codes, class of religious leaders
- caste system
- indus river valley
- religious texts: vedas, upanishads, AFTER centuries of oral traditions - along w/ caste system, the strongest social glue in S asia
buddhism
unlike hinduism, it supported spiritual equality n missionary activity
- ‘reform’ of hinduism by prince siddhartha gautama
- began in S asia 500BCE
confucianism
- kong fuzi established codes of behavior, gender n family duties
- philosophy, NOT religion
- neo-confucianism emerged over time; included aspects of buddhism and daoism; promised eternal reward 4 faithfulness to confucian teachings (1200CE, E SE asia)
- sayings written after his death in The Analects
- beginning around 500BCE, when china was undergoing pol turmoil during warring states period, teachings of confucius became the bedrock of that society
- remained strong over the centuries
christianity
- reform of judaism
- jesus named disciple peter as 1st successor
han empire
- technology far ahead of civs of the same era
- capital - chang’an (modern day xi’an)
mandate of heaven
- emperor in china would stay in power as long as the heavens were satisfied w/ his rule. if dynasty died out of was overthrown, it’s sign that emperor lost mandate
- a continuity that added stability to society
- In China, peasant revolts were seen as a sign the emperor
might be losing his mandate of heaven.
chinese exam system
- began w/ han dynasty
- lasted until early 1900s
- possible but rare for low-born citizens to rise to political prominence
- state-sponsored exams
mediterranean civs
- classical greek n roman
- romans borrwed a lot from greeks
hellenism
blend of greek + local styles.
- spread by alex the great as he conquered the persian empire
- short-lived macedonian empire stretched from egypt to india
maurya/gupta empires
- south asia; geographically extensive n powerful
- maurya came first
- these empires were exceptions to the trend of political fragmentation in south asian history
- MAURYAN emperor ashoka was an early supporter of buddhist missionary activity
- gupta: concept of 0, efficient numbering system (introduced to west as ‘arabic numerals’), medical advacnes
bantu migrations
- occurred over classical n post-class era
- 1500 BCE - 1000 CE
- began in central africa
- bantu-speaking ppls migrated south and east, spreading a common language base, animal herding, agriculture knowledge, metal-working technology
- bantu langs became standard in S and E africa; ex: swahili
silk road
connected east asia to northern india and central asia
- indirectly to mediterranean, west africa, northern europe
- camel and horse caravan routes
indian ocean trade network
- connected to silk roads
- merchants carried religion (esp buddh + islam into E and SE asia) and exchanged items
- connected China and SE asia to africa, mid east, S asia
- depended on ocean currents and wind; merchants had to plan according to monsoon winds
- arab shipbuilding n navigation skills spread quickly along sea trade routes
fall of classical empires
- han (220CE)
- western roman empire (476)
- gupta (mid-500s)
trans-sahara trade
- impt west african trade centers: djenne, gao, timbuktu
- sahara is in north africa
- trade peaked 700s - 1500s
- CAMELS main mode of transport
- out of africa: gold, salt, animal hides, ivory, slaves
- in: islamic faith (600 - 1450), camels
caliphate
- unlike christianity, islam had no clear rules of succession after muhammad
- islam fragmented into regional states called caliphates, each led by a caliph
crusades
- series of christian vs muslim military campaigns for ‘holy land’ in SW asia and parts of byzantine empire
- 1096 - 1291
- politically, european christians failed to permanently regain much land, but Culturally, the Crusades resulted in great advancements
for the Europeans, who, for example, rediscovered
Roman and Greek literature that Muslim scholars had
maintained for centuries. - The science, math, and philosophies of those
Classicalcivilizations began an intellectual revival in 1300s, 1400s (renaissance) - This started western Europe on a path toward
global hegemony (control) in1800s
dar-al islam
- region in which islam is dominant
- spain and NW africa to S, SE asia
diffusion of religions
600 - 1450 C B I - C, I: "sword mission" by force - B, C : spread by missionary monks - trade routes
byzantine empire
- eastern roman empire, HQ constantinople (instanbul, turkey), continued for another thousand years after 476CE (until mid 1400s)
- constantinople: key center that linked trade routes
- greatest legal contribution: code of justinian - codification of Roman law that kept ancient
Roman legal principles alive - During most of its history, the Byzantine Empire was in
conflict with nearby Muslim caliphates and by the end
Ofthe period was On the verge of collapse at the hands
Of Muslim forces.
tang, song dynasties
under them, china
- had world’s largest population
- most adv tech
- most splendid cities
- they reestablished gov stability (after fall of han) in E asia, providing security, actively supported trade b land n sea
- GOLDEN AGE
sinification
spread of chinese culture. esp during tang and song dynasties, influence on korea, japan, vietnam
black death
- a pandemic disease
- aka bubonic plague
- may’ve originated along trade routes near black sea
- attr to expansion of trade under MONGOL rule in E, C asia
- from there, entered black sea region
- in mid-1300s, it wiped out as much as 1/3 of western europe’s population
mayan states
- mesoamerica
- like egyptians, had pyramids, large cities, written language (made it stand out in the americas), complex society
- largest city: tikal; featured largest structure in americas until late 1800s - tall temple
- height: 250 - 900
- studied astronomy
- irrigation, terracng of hillsides
- maintained power thru military coercian, tribute system, trade
- human sacrifice impt in religion
mesoamerica
southern mexico, parts of central america
corvee
gov-required labor on public works projects
feudalism
- In the feudal system in western Europe and Japan, most
farm laborers were serfs, but by the end of the post-classical era,
serfdom was in decline in western Europe. - system where ppl served as agricultural workers for landowners
- regional armies fought over land rights at the bidding of their local lords
- elite warriors called knights, samurai
zheng he
- repping power of MING dynasty
- explorer, led enormous expeditions, crossed indian ocean, traveled to spice islands of SE asia in early 1400s
- In the early 1400s, China sent fleets of ships
to the Indian Ocean region as a show of might and
because of sheer curiosity about the world beyond
its borders. They sent enormous “treasure ships” that
were 400 feet long and carried thousands of sailors
commanded by the Chinese Muslim Admiral Zheng He. - Zheng He brought back to the Ming court all kinds
of animals, plants, goods, and people from Africa
and India, but after 28 years and three explorations,
the Ming emperor’s advisers convinced him that the
expeditions were too expensive and that China had little
to gain from them. After all, they reasoned, the Middle
Kingdom was the greatest in the world. Thus, as the
Portuguese began a series of explorations along Africa’s
west coast, China chose to withdraw its fleet from the
Indian Ocean. China had the capacity to sail in force
anywhere it wanted to, and refused.
inca empire
- centered in ANDES mntns in western south america
- built on previous cultures in their region
- extended along western coast, result of conquest + diplomacy
- peak: 1400s
- declined rapidly after conquistadors arrived early 1500s
european explorations
- rulers sought increase in trade of spices, silk, others
- order: P S E F, and, to a lesser extent, Netherlands
- initiated 1st truly global contacts
columbian exchange
combus’ expeds to americas triggered exchanges of plants, animals, technology, diseases on worldwide level
- gave europe new worldwide power
atlantic world
- esp impt 1450 - 1900
- ppl, politics, religions, goods, ideas tht crossed back n forth over Atlantic after columbus’ journeys connected europe/africa + americas
mercantilism
European monarchs used raw materials (sugar, furs, silver, lumber) from the
colonies to manufacture products from those materials
to sell globally. The idea was to have a positive balance
of trade.
- these products were processed and sold by companies from the owner (mercantilist) nation all over the world
- each mercantilist nation competed w/ others to amass n keep as many colonies as it could
> Governments put taxes—tariffs—on imported products
from rival nations. They also went into business with
private companies who traded globally. The British East
India Company (EIC) is an important example.
> With the cooperation of the government, the British
EIC made and enforced its own laws, approved ship
schedules and cargoes, and negotiated commerce
agreements with rulers all over the world.
- particularly EFN
atlantic slave trade
- european mercantilists needed many laborers to work on large caribbean sugar plantations
- millions were seized and shipped from WEST africa via middle passage
encomienda system
- spanish practiced used in amerian colonies n philippines
- spanish settlers were granted tracts of land + permitted to use native ppl already living on that land as indentured servants, to work the land
mughal empire
- muslim empire in south asia; mid1500s - mid1800s
- famous leaders: akbar
- religious tolerance
- taj mahal built
- leaders claimed 2 b descended frm mongols
syncretism
- amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought
- ‘world-class’ religion must b flexible enough to adapt to local customs as it spreads
- when B spread into E and SE asia, buddha became god-like provider of eternal salvation (MAHAYANA)
printing press
- developed in china 500CE
- technology moved along trade routes, arriving in germany in 1400s
- short western alphabet great benefit in printing
ottoman empire
- 1200s - early 1900s
- muslim empire that expanded from SW asia into parts of north africa and Eastern Europe
- ruled by Ottoman Turks
industrialization
- began england mid1700s
- spread to russia, asia, americas by end of 1800s
enlightenment
- foundations in scientific study and reason
- basic tenets: individual rights - freedom of speech, gov participation
- influenced amer and french revs, which in turn inspired political revs around the world
capitalism
offshoot of enlightenment; strongly attached to indus rev
- economic system based on individual economic development
- private investors use $ (capital) to invest in potentially profitable activiites
- adam smith: english proponent of it
marxism
Karl Marx was considered the most radical activist among
those calling for political change.
- In 1848, commenting on the plight of the working poor
in London, Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” demanded
overthrow of the “haves” (“bourgeoisie”) by the “havenots”
(“proletariat”).
- He envisioned the creation of a classless society where all
people were politically, socially, and economically equal.
At the time, the few people who read his materials
thought these ideas had no chance of success.
nationalism
- belief tht a group of ppl w/ similar cultural bckgrnds rightly belong togehter in 1 nation
- became popular in western europe 1800s and spread globally, leading to many wars for indep, esp in latin america
age of revolutions
- MID 1800S!!
- many revs seeking pol + soc change occurred, inspired by enlightenment n french rev
- latin america: most countries successfully revolted against european control
imperialism
- 1800s
- the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies
- western europe, russia, japan, US
- at its peak, BRITAIN claimed colonies in 1/2 of africa and much of S and SE asia
resistance to western hegemony
- local resistance to european imperialism was widepsread
- chinese gov tried to stop englands importation of opium
- anticolonial rebellions broke out in africa
- india: national congress promoted self-rule
meiji restoration
- in an attempt to compete w/ West’s industrial and political power, japan reorganized its gov in late 1800s
- emperor’s power reestablished
- japan westernized its industrial base and even its society
