Test 3 Flashcards
When did ships increasingly conduct long-distance trade, and where did these ships typically sail from? What did they cross and what was their destination?
Traveling by land was more popular than traveling by sea during the Classical Age( 500 BC- 500 AD) along the Silk Roads. During the Post-classical Age, (501-1453AD) travel by ship along the Silk Roads surpassed travel by land.
Because merchants did not face such great risks as in previous eras, what happened to the costs of long-distance trade and its volume?
During much of the Classical era (500 BC - 500 AD), rulers of empires such as the Han, Mauryan, Gupta, Kushan, Persian (all 5 of them) and Romans invested heavily in improving the Silk Roads including keeping them safe for the merchants to travel. Disease eventually lowered this investment as fewer people traveled these roads during the later Classical Age.
From what country did silk mostly come from?
Silk from China was the most sought after commodity of Silk Roads Trade.
Why were spices extremely important during the First Silk Roads Era and what did these spices serve as?
Spices during the entire time of the Silk Roads had many more uses than they do in the modern world. Aphrodisiacs were always in great demand during the Silk Road trade.
What did survivors of epidemics from the ancient world acquire and what was carried by these survivors when they began to colonize much of the world in the sixteenth century and what was the result on peoples in the Americas?
Until the sixteenth century, the western Hemisphere remained isolated from Eastern Hemisphere diseases such as smallpox, bubonic plague, and measles. The Columbian Exchange introduced Eastern Hemisphere diseases to the people of the Western hemisphere beginning in the sixteenth century with devastating consequences.
What disease caused the Chinese and Roman populations to decline sharply during the second and third centuries C.E.
Smallpox has been the greatest killer of all humankind. Today smallpox has been eradicated and only exists in frozen vials stored in select places in the United States and Russia.
What do your authors state about the Mediterranean and Chinese populations by 600 C.E..?
Disease played a large role in demographic decline by lowering the populations of both the Mediterranean and Chinese populations during and after the later Classic period (500 BC-500 AD
What rulers during the Classical Era (500BC-500AD) invested heavily in.
Rulers invested heavily in the construction of roads.
Examples of Classical Empires
Han Empire
Achaemenid
Roman Empire
Kushan Empire
What did the Silk Road reach?
The Silk Roads reached their zenith after the classical empires during the Post-classical period(500-1453 AD)
Post-Classical Empires- examples?
Tange Empires
Byzantine Empire
Abbasid Empire
Silk Roads- Overland Trade Routes
-These roads collectively are referred to as the “silk roads” since high-quality silk from China was one of the principal commodities exchanged over these roads.
-Very few merchants ever traveled the entire distance.
Han Capital at Chang’an
Chang’an has always been considered the starting point of this road
-From Chang’an the main Silk Road went westward where it split at the Taklamakan Desert into main branches
Maritime Routes
Silk Road trade by sea during the post-Classical period would surpass the Silk Road trade by land.
Trades Goods during the Classical times
-Spices were extremely important commodities in Classical times because they had many more uses than they do today
-Besides flavoring agents and preservations, they served as drugs, aphrodisiacs, perfumes, aromatics, and magical potions.
China and Southeast Asia always sought?
They sought old, silver, and ivory from the West!
-The Art of appearing was a Chinese invention
-The Islamic world took this invention from the Chinese and mass-produced paper.
Spread of Religion in Classical Period
Mahayana Buddhism became the most prominent faith of the Silk Roads’ merchants (for almost a thousand years)
-(Thus the maritime silk roads helped spread both Buddhism and Hinduism from India into Southeast Asia)
Who was the key individual who helped spread Buddhism in China?
XuanZang- shoo wen Zhang
What did XuanZang do?
He continued to translate Buddhist treatises and helped proselytize with the adoption of Buddhism in China.
The Spread of Christianity in Classical- Period
Christianity that spread eastward along the Silk road from Mesopotamia was called Nestorian Christianity.
The Spread of Manichaeism in Classical- Period
Manichaeism was the faith derived from the prophet Mani
His religion was a syncretic blend of Zoroastrian Christian and Buddhist elements.
Spread of Disease, during the silk road
The rapid spread of disease was a major downside to the Silk Road.
-thus diseases contributed to the weakening of the Roman Empire and to serious instability in China after the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220 A.D
Fall of the Western Roman Empire- Diocletian
Associate the tetrarchy with Diocletian
( Diocletian )
-Used the Tetrarchy to administer the Roman Empire
-Several persecuted Christians
-He several persecuted Christians who he blamed for the troubles that had beset the Empire.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire- Constanine
Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium,
(after his death would be renamed Constantinople)
-Moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople
-Became the first Roman emperor to officially end persecution of Christians throughout the Roman Empire.
The principal reason for the collapse of the Western Roman Empire was the onslaught of barbarian invasions.
The date for the collapse of the Western Roman Empire
Was 476 A.D. The Eastern Roman Empire ( The Byzantine Empire) would not fall for almost 1,000 years later.
St.Augustine
-He would be best known as the Father of the Church
-His greatest work is “The City of God”
Heresies
-Strengthened the early Christian Church by forcing it to redefine its positions.
Cultural Changes in the Late Roman Empire
-The bishop of Rome became the head of the Church in the West only one to be called “Pope.”
Father of the Church
The principle teachings of the Christian religion are found in the New Testament.
Jerome- He translated both the Old and New Testaments from Greek into Latin.
Muhammad and his message
His move from Mecca to Medina became known as hijra(migration) and serves as the starting point of the official Islamic calendar.
He began to refer to himself as the “seal of the prophets” in which he would be the final prophet through whom Allah would reveal his message to Humankind
Hijra
migration
During the 650s, these written versions of Muahmmad’s revelations were issued as?
The Quran (recitation), which would become the holy book of Islam.
What did Mulisms have to undertake if they were physically and financially?
-Islamic holy law, known as the Sharia emerged after the death of Muhammad and offers detailed guidance on proper behavior in almost every aspect of life.
Thus in the century after Muhammad’s death, Islamic armies under the Umayyad
Umayyad Dynasty carried out their greatest military expansion against two empires:
- Sassanid Empire
- Islamic forces overthrew the Sassanid Empire ( the last 4 great Persian empires)
2. Byzantine Empire
Division in Islam
Disagreement over succession led to the emergence of the Shia sect, the most essential enduring of all the alternatives observed by most Muslims, known as Sunni Islam.
Umayyad Dynasty
Islam split over the succession of Muhammad into Sunnis and Shia, and the majority of Muslims today are Sunnis.
Under the Umayyads, Islam carried out its greatest military expansion.
-The Umayyads ruling the dar al-islam( “house of Islam”) favored the Arab military aristocracy by distributing land and positions of power among the privileged class
-The Arabs mostly allowed conquered people to observe their religions, they levied a special head tax, the jizya, on those who did not convert to Islam
dar al-islam
house of Islam
Umayyad Dynasty/Abbasid Dynasties
-The Abbasid dynasty ended the Umayyad dynasty.
While Arabs continued to play a large role in government, Persians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and others also rose to positions of wealth and power, Abbasids showed no special favor to Arab military aristocracy like the Umayyads had
Abbasid Dynasty
-The Abbasid dynasty also differed from the Umayyad in that it was not a conquering dynasty.
-The battle of Talas River
-Central authority came from Baghdad, where they built a magnificent new city
as Islam did not recognize priests
-Qadis heard cases of law and rendered decisions based on the Quran and the Sharia
-Helped to ensure widespread observance of Islamic law
The Abbasid Empire was officially ended by?
The Mongols
-The Abbasid dynasty ended the?
Umayyad dynasty.
Economic and Society( Early Islamic World)
-The most important crops travel from India to westward
-The introduction of these crops into western regions of the Islamic world led to a dramatic increase in food supply
-Increased agricultural populations contributed heavily to the growth of cities in all parts of the Islamic world.
Trading in the Early Islamic World
Islamic society drew music of its prosperity from commerce
Martime Trade in Early Islamic World
-Banks also stimulated the commercial economy of the Islamic world.
-Because of improved transportation, expanded banking services and refined business organization techniques, long-distance trade surged in the early Islamic world.
The Liberian Peninsula was known as?
This area was known as Al-Andalus
-Al-Andaus established its caliphs and was not ruled by the Abbasid Dynasty.
Women in the Early Islamic World
-Umayyad, Abbasid, and Al-Andalus dynasties were all very patriarchal.
-Sufus were more concerned with devotion to Allah than with mastery of doctrine.
-Persian( both the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties administrative techniques were heavily influenced by earlier Persian empires.
