unit one review: 1200 - 1450

big picture

• civilizations grow
• religions spread
• technology; gunpowder, paper
• decline: small states, local religion, old tech

state building

• an organized political community under one government

song dynasty

• golden age (tang then song)
• split into regional kingdoms as tang power waned but Zhao Kuangyin but unified all of them into a dynastic empire— Song Dynasty.
• civil service examination to work in bureaucracy, meritocracy. strong state structure. need to know confucianism.
• culture: confucianism revives; teachings show how society should be organized, hierarchical.
• influenced by buddhism— Mahayana Buddhism with deities— found in trade routes
• lots of trade, commercialized Chinese society. manufacturing flourished.
• paper money
• gunpowder(pyrotechnics, fireworks) & grand canal
• champa rice introduction— drought resistant, and matured early.
• more food = population expands
• paper making travels from china to west, spikes literacy rates, learning in medicine & mathematics
• china's influence on nearby regions, japan.
• what made it successful? wealth = (population, agricultural base, manufacturing)
• unit = (language, confucianism, culture)
• china's expertise in silk & porcelain production relying on free peasant labor. iron and steel production over country. economy flourished because productivity & expanding trade networks.

dar ar-islam

• abbasid caliphate is fractured by invaders
• delhi sultanate (muslim state): fails to convert hindu pop. to islam because lots of differences.
• sufism = cultural syncretism; more attractive because emphasized emotional experiences
• mamluk(slave) sultanate in south africa: forced to serve in military but overthrew
• hindu's who convert to islam = lower caste members or buddhists
• west africa: conversions happen on peaceful basis, trade.
• mansa musa goes to hajj(pilgrimage) to display wealth
• economics: muslims thought highly of merchants.
• inventions: banking, granting of credit, business contracts
• tech inventions: launch rockets at ships, advance papermaking
• culture: translate greek work into arabic, expanded on it. house of wisdom = academic research

• india | vijayanagara empire & chola kingdom build & expand due to trade
• west africa | mali empire: centralized power, gained wealth(mansa musa).
• south america | aztec empire: builds through tribute system(conquered citizens pay goods and services) | inca empire: builds through mita system(mandatory public service)
• european | feudalism: rigid class layers but lost powers to centralized monarchs

state building in south east asia & india

• delhi sultanate in northern india didn't work to convert population to islam. different because it led by turkic speakers not arabs. relied on same practices as abbasids. tried converting through jizya & merchants
• vijayanagara empire: hindu empire in south india
• hindu faith: escape material world, end cycle of life and death with moksha
• bhakti movement: emphasis on emotional side, focus on one god, similar to muslim sufis.