Mesopotamia

Location
- Between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
- Difficult for agriculture b/c little rainfall, rivers flood at wrong time for grain
agriculture, and rivers change course unpredictably
Climate
- Warm
Economy
- Barley
- Used cattle- pulled plows
- Irrigation canals
- Date palms
- Vegetables
- Fish
- Long- distance trade
- Merchants employed by temples/ palaces private merchants trade carried out
through barter
People
- Earliest= Sumerians
Society: CITY STATES
- Sometimes fought, sometimes cooperated
- Traded with one another
- Cities depended on villages to produce food surplus
- Villages depended on cities to give military protection, markets, specialist- produced
goods
- Stratified
- Kings/ priests controlled much of wealth
- 3 classes:
-Free landowning class
-Dependent farmers and artisans
-Slaves (prisoners of war)
- Development of agriculture decline in status of women
-Could own property, control dowry, engage in trade
-Rise of urban class decline in status of women
Politics
- 2 centers of power: temple and palaces
- Secular leadership
-"Big men" (lugal) emerged as secular leaders
- Ruled from palaces and took over religious control of institutions
- City- states sometimes got too powerful absorbed others
Ex. Akkadian State

Ex. Third Dynasty of Ur

Ex. Old Babylonian State
Established by Hammurabi
Hammurabi Law Code- source of info on punishments, law, society
Religion
- Anthropomorphic deities
- Each city had its own tutelary gods
- Humans= servants of Gods
- Temples= walled compounds
- Visible pat= ziggurat
Technology
- Irrigation systems
- Cuneiform= writing system
- Complex, many signs
- Used to write economic, political, legal, literary, religious, scientific texts
- Transportation (boats, barges, donkeys)
- Bronze metallurgy
- Brick making
- Engineering
- Paid, full- time soldiers
- Horse- drawn chariot
- Bow and arrow
- Numbers

Egypt
Location
- Nile River
- Floods regularly (agriculture depended upon it) Egyptians viewed world as
orderly place
- "Red Land" and "Black Land"
- Upper Egypt (South)
- Lower Egypt (North)
- Good for agriculture
Politics
- Pattern of small states ruled by local kings large, unified Egyptian state
- Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms = 3 main periods divided by political fragmentation
and chaos
- Kings (pharoahs) dominated
- Regarded as Gods come to earth to ensure wealth and prosperity
- Capital city through system of provincial and village bureaucracies
- Bureaucrats kept track of land, labor, taxes, people, collected resources to
support central government, maintained temples/ monuments
- Tension between central and local government
- Central power= strong provincial officials promoted by gov
- Central power= weak provincial officials became autonomous, made
positions hereditary, buried far away from king
Society
- Tombs
- Stepped pyramid tombs
- Smooth- sided pyramids
- Giza
- Constructed with stone tools and simple lever, pulley
- LOTS OF LABOR NEEDED
- Built at end of desert to avoid wasting arable land
- Quality/ amount of tomb reflects social status of deceased
- Rural
- Little known about urban life in Egypt
- Regarded all foreigners as enemies
- 3 social strata:
-King / high ranking officials
-Lower level officials/ local leaders/ priests/ artisans/ farmers
-Peasants
- Women subordinate to men
- Had rights to property and retain rights of dowry after divorce
Technology
- Hieroglyphics (record keeping)
- Cursive script (record keeping)

- Chemistry, anatomy, math, calendar making, irrigation, engineering, architecture

Economy
- Traded with Levant, Nubia, Punt
- Papyrus, grain, gold, incense, ivory
- More interested in acquiring resources than acquiring territory
Religion
-Based on cyclical view of nature
- Sun god, Re & god of underworld, Osiris represented afterlife
- Lots of money put into constructing temples
- Regular offerings to gods
- Magic
- Afterlife
- Mummifying in tombs

Indus Valley Civilization

Location
- Modern Pakistan
- Silt and floods regularly twice a year
- Access to river for irrigation
Society
- Harappa & Mohenjo Daro
- Surrounded by brick walls
- Streets laid out in grid
- Drainage systems
- Control surrounding farmland
Characteristics
- High degree city planning, architecture
- Uniformity may have been result of extensive trade within region rather than existance
of central government
Economy
- Access to metal
- Traded with Iran, Afghanistan, Mesopotamia
Technology
- Extensive irrigation systems
- Bronze metallurgy
People
- Little known (writing system unable to be deciphered)
Decline
- Maybe abandoned because of invasion
- Maybe due to breakdown caused by natural disasters/ ecological change
- Drying up of Hakra River decline in agricultural production

China
Location
- Steppe
- Desert
- High plateaus
- Eastern zone
- North
- Yellow River
- Dry, cold climate
- Millet
- South
- Yangzi Valley
- Plentiful rainfall, warm
- Rain
Natural resources
- Timber, stone, metals
- Large numbers of people required
Pre- Shang
- Neolithic communities
- Domesticated pigs
- Silk textiles
- Bronze Metallurgy
- No documents confirming existing of Xia dynasty
Shang
- Chinese characters
- Oracle bones= remains
- Supreme god, Di
- Reached through rulers ancestors (ruler= link between heaven and earth)
- Elite= warrior aristocracy
- Bronze weapons
- Horse drawn chariots
Zhou
- Dependent state of Shang
- Defeated Shang adopted elements of Shang culture
- Founders= Wen and Wu
- Introduced Mandate of Heaven concept (idea that heaven granted rulers)
- 2 periods:
- Western Zhou
- Land distribution system similary to feudal system
- Urbanization
- Feng shui maintained harmony
- Eastern Zhou

- Decline in central government strength due to regional elites ruling their

own territories as independent states
- Larger armies
- Learned how to fight on horseback
- Replaces bronze with iron/ steel
- New class educated men bureaucrats
- Confucianism
- Founded by Confucious
- Human nature= good
- Hierarchial view of society, universe, family
- Later became dominant political philosophy
- Daoism
- Founded by Laozi
- Universe= constant flux
- No moral standards
- People should take world as they find it
- At odds with Confucianism
- Yin & yang
Late Zhou= Warring States Period
- Intense warfare
- Only 7 major states remained by the end
- Some wars against non- Chinese; some fought to increase territory
Kingdom of Qin
- Vulnerable to barbarian attacks
- Lord Shang= leader
- Developed Legalist school of political theory
- Legalists willing to sacrifice anything for
- Strong ruler should trust his own judgement and do anything to compel
obediance
- Weakened nobility by abolishing privaleges

Nubia
Location
- Nile Valley
- Link between tropical Africa and Meditteranean world
Natural resources
- Gold
- Stones
- Copper
Economy
- Traded with Egypt
- Kingdom of Kush
- Noted for metalworking and construction
- Egypt invaded during New Kingdom period brutal exploitation of Nubian laborers
and imposition of Egyptian culture on Nubian people
Characteristics
- Egyptian culture
- Hieroglyphics
- Pyramids
Politics
- Capital= Meroe
- Good location for agriculture and trade
Meroitic era
- Matrilineal family system
- Queens= influential
- Dominated trade
- Center of iron smelting
- Declined due to...
- Shift in trade routes
- Rise of Aksum kingdom
- Depredations of camel riding nomads

Olmec
Natural Resources
- Raised fields agricultural surpluses urban centers
- Large earthen mounds
Politics
- Built around some form of kinship
- Technology
- Impressive architecture
- Writing
- Astronomy

Chavin
- 1st major urban civilization in South America
- Politically and economically dominant
- Combo of military strength and appeal of religious system
- Clan- based system of labor
- Decline: increased warfare

Iran/ Persian Empire

Location
- Mountains, deserts
- Open to attack from Central Asian nomads
- High mountains deserts plateau
- Resources
- Limited
- Scarce water
- Only could support limited population underground tunnels for irrigation
- Labor intensive
- Copper, tin, iron, gold, silver, timber
Median Kingdom
- Destroyed Assyrian empire
- Cyrus overthrew Median king built larger Persian Empire
- 3 Kings:
- Cyrus
- Captured Lydia brought Anatolia under control
- Took Mesopotamia
- Cambyses
- Defeated Egypt and sent expeditions to Nubia and Lybia
- Darius 1
- Role of Medes declined as Persian asserted greater dominance
- Extended to Indus Valley and European Thrace
Politics
- 20 provinces
- Satrap administered each province
- Hereditary
- Required to pay annual tribute
- Gov hoarded so much gold/ silver became scarce and expensive
- Well maintained roads
- Kings
- Owned vast tracts of "king's land" around empire
- Acted as lawgivers, but allowed subject peoples to live in accordance with own
traditions
- Central administration at capital of Susa
Religion
- Zoroastrianism
- Gathas= hymns
- Existence of dualistic universe in which god of good, Ahuramazda was locked in
epic struggle against god of evil, Angra Mainyu
- Influence on Judaism
- Darius combined Zoroastrianism with political idealogy empire of scattered peoples

with divinely driven mission

Greece
Location
- Mediterranean ecological zone
- All lands have similar climate, seasons, crops
- Rely on rainfall b/c now water resources sufficient for irrigation
Resources
- Limited water and thin soil could not support large population
- Few metal resources
- Plentiful harbors
Archaic Period
- Population growth
- Shift from pastoran agricultural
- Importation of food/ raw materials
- Led to urbanization, specialization, development of polis (city state)
- Polis= urban center and its rural territory
- Frequent wars between city states
- Developed hoplites- close formation of heavily armored infantry who would try
to break enemy's line of defense (farmer citizens who served for short periods of
time)
- Population growth outstripped resources expanded to Mediterranean brought
Greeks in closer contact with other peoples
- Sharpened sense of Greek identity
- Invention of coins
- Increasing prosperity and growth of middle class one man rule by tyrants reduced
power of elites
- Ejected government either developed as an obligarchy or democracy
Religion
- Anthropomorphic sky gods
- Worshipped at state ceremonies
- Sacrifice
- Sought advice from oracles
- Developed concepts of individualism and humanism
- Questioned traditional Greek religion
- Logographers began to gather info on various peoples of Mediterranean,
founding of important cities, and background of important greek families
- "Historia" adopted by Herodotus
- Invented discipline of history
Sparta
- Took over fertile land of Messenia and enslaves Messenians
- Severly ascetic and highly militarized society
- All males trained for army and devoted lives to state

Athens
- Went through period of rule by tyrants ejected democracy
- Assembly, Council of 500, People's Courts
- 499- Greek cities of Anatolia staged 5 year revolt against Persian rule Persian Wars
1st Persian War: Darius 1 Eretria and attacked Athens (foiled when Athenian forces
defeated Persians at Marathon)
- 2nd Persian War: Xerxes led large army and fleet against Greeks city states
submitted
- Sparta organized Hellenic League (alliance of city states that defeated Persians)
- Athens organized Delian League (drove Persians out of Mediterranean)
Classical Period: dominant= Athens (became imperial power)
- Keys to strength in navy:
- Use of lower class men as rowers further democratization
- Development of trireme
-Athens used power to carry out profitable trade and extract annual tribute from subject
states wealth impressive public works, festivals, arts and sciences
- Socrates: turned focus of philosophy to ethics; creating Socratic meaning of
Q&A
- Plato: world is pale reflection of higher, ideal reality
Athenian Democracy
- Only free adult males could participate (10- 15% of population)
- Women had no rights
- Slaves = 1/3 population
- Treated like domestic servants
- Sparta- women more free
- Many man- to- man relationships
- Athens aroused hatred of other Greek city states Pelopponesian War (conflict between
alliance systems of Athens and Sparta) SPARTA WON DUE TO NAVY PAID BY
PERSIANS
- Internal Greek conflict Persia recovered territory
- Greek city states declined in power Macedonia developed into great military
power
- Alexander The Great invaded Persia and defeated forces built own
empire and maintained administrative apparatus of Persian Empire
- Alexander died empire broke up into 3 kingdoms Hellenistic Age
Seleucid Kingdom
- Persian- style administrative system
- Established new Greek- style cities
Ptolemies
- Highly centralized and well- controlled Egyptian administrative and taxation systems

- Greek immigration encourages

- Uprisings common due to Egyptians resenting Greek- style rule
Antigonids
- Alexandria= greatest city of Hellenistic Age
- Political center, great center of learning, major trading city
Greek city
- Significant Jewish population
- Hellenization= intermarriage between Greeks and non- Greeks, spread of Greek
language/ lifestyle, synthesis of indigenous and Greek culture

Rome
Location
- Crossroads of Mediterranean
- Link between Africa and Europe
Resources
- Navigable rivers, forests, iron, mild climate
- Arable land could support large population
Politics
- 2 consuls and Senate (made laws and governed)
- Roman family lived under absolute authority of oldest living male (paterfamilias)
Society
- Hierarchal
- Patron/ client relationships- institutionalized inequality and gave both sides relationship
reason to cooperate
- Women= more freedom than Greek
- Legal status= child's
Religion
- Supernatural spirits
- Major gods
- Ritual
Expansion
- Rapidly huge Empire
- Greed, aggresiveness, need for consuls to prove themselves as military
commanders, fear of being attacked
- Conquered Italy
- Got respect of people by granting them citizenship (the people then had to
provide soldiers for military)
- Defeated Carthage
- Defeated Hellenistic Kingdoms
- Julius Caeser conquered Celts of Gaul
- Used local elite groups to administer and tax various provinces
- Governor, who served 1 year, administered elites
- Expansion social and economic bases undermined
- Men forced to devote time to military service large landowners bought their
land to create great estates called latifundia
- Caused for decline in source of soldiers and decline in food production b/c
latifundia owners preferred cash crops over staple crops
- Independent farming family that had been traditional source of soldiers armies
built from men from underclass who gave loyalty to commander generals
taking control of politics civil wars end of republican system of gov
- Octavio (Augustus) took power reorganized Roman gov and ruled as military

dictator
- New countries added to empire
- Created paid civil service from class of wealthy merchants and landowners
- Emperor= main source of laws during the Principate
- Became foundation of European law
- Empire administered through and for network of cities and towns (urban
empire)
- Rome- upper class lived in big houses; poor lived in dark tenements in
city
- Provincial towns imitated Rome- local elite dominated town councils and
constructed amenities
- Rural peopple had little contact with representatives of gov absentee
landlords put tenant farmers to work in land supervised by foreman
(landlords lived in cities)
- Manufacture and trade flourished under pax romana
- Provinces imported grain to Rome
- Rome imported glass, metalworks, pottery to provinces
Effects of Roman Empire
- Romanization
- Westerns adopted Latin language, Roman clothing, lifestyle
Christianity
- Jesus lived in society that hated Roman rule sought to reform Jewish religious
practices Jewish authorities turned him over to Roman gov for execution disciples
spread his teachings
- Non- Jews much more receptive to teachings than Jews
- Slowly grew, developing hierarchy of priests and persecution of Roman officials
Christians became sizeable minority in Roman Empire
- Came at time when Romans were dissatisfied with religion inspired Romans
to give Christianity a chance
Technology
- Expert military and civil engineers
- Bridge- building, ballistic weapons, aqueducts, arches and domes, concrete
Forts (Rhine- Danube frontier)
Economy
- Undermined by high cost of defense, inflation, disruption of trade, reversion to barter
economy, disappearance of provinical city aristocrats, movement of population out of
cities into rural areas
- Deocletian instituted series of reforms that included price controls and regulations that
required certain people to stay in their professions and train son to succeed them
flourishing black market and growing feeling of resentment against gov
- Constantine ended persecution of Christians and made Christianity official religion of

epire
- Transferred capital from Rome Constantinople

China
Qin
- Unified all of China established strong centralized gov by eliminating rival centers of
authority, establishing primogeniture, and creating a strong bureaucracy
- Standardized EVERYTHING
- Followed legalist view and suppressed Confucianism
- Sent large military force to drive nomads north created 1st mock "Great Wall" to keep
them out (Shi Huangdi's attack against nomads known as Xiongnu Confederacy)
- Instituted oppressive program of military and labor services
Han
- Established by Gaozu
- Established political system that drew both Confucian and Legalist techniques
- Reduced taxes and government spending, collected grain surpluses
- Confrontation with Xiongnu Confederacy showed how weak Han troops were bought
them off with gifts (policy of appeasement)
- Territorial expansion under Emperor Wu
- Increased power of emperor
- Built military to fought nomads (no more policy of appeasement)
- Foundations of Silk Road
- Gov monopolies on high profit commodities $$$
- Adopted Confucianism (Confucian scholars)
Society
- Family= basic unit of society
- Ancestors= very important
- Hierarchy in family dominated by elder male= hierarchy in society dominated by rulers
- Women's authority depended on status
- Royal family could have some political influence
- Quality of life depended on economic circumstances
Western Han
- Capital= Chang'n
- Easily defended walled city w/ easy access to good arable land
- Elite lived in elegant houses; common people lived in closely packed houses
- Local officials supplied by class of moderately wealthy and educated local landowners
(gentry)
- Adopted Confucianism
- Men required to give 2 years of military service
- Merchant families= cities
Eastern Han
- Capital= Luoyang
- Intellectual developments

- Sima Qian= chief astrologer

Technology
- Water mill, horse collar, paper, crossbow trigger
- Miles of roads for army
- Network of canals
Religion
- Nature spirits
- Daoism emphasized harmony with nature
Buddhism
- Spread along Silk Road
- Came in conflict with Confucian beliefs gradual reshaping for acceptance
Decline
- Imperial court= weak leadership
- Nobles and merchants built up large landholding at expense of small farmers, peasants
sought tax relief no revenues for empire
- System of military conscription broke down central gov had to rely on mercenaries
whose loyalty was questionable
Sui
- Reunified China established Confucian gov heavily influenced by Buddhism
- Rapid decline due to large amounts of resources spent on amibitous construction, canal,
irrigation, military projects
Tang
- Carried out program of territorial expansion, avoided overcentralization, combined
Turkic influence with Chinese Confucian traditions
- Emperors legitamized control by using Buddhist idea that kings= spiritual agents
- Buddhist monasteries= allies (in return for assistance tax exemptions, land,
gifts)
- Mahayana= most important
- Flexible beliefs
- Encouraged adaption of local deities and translation of Buddhist texts
- Spread through trade routes Chang'n= cosmopolitan city
- Destination of ambassadors from other states who were sent under the
tributary system
- Eventually, power of Buddhist monasteries broken Confucian ideaology reinstalled
(reason: Buddhism seen as undermining family system and eroding tax system b/c monks
and nuns were tax exempt)
- Buddhism had been used to legitamize women's participation in politics (ex. Wu
Zhao)
Crackdown on Buddhism destruction of Buddhist cultural artifacts

- Territory expanded and internal rebellions dynasty relied on powerful provincial

military governors to maintain peace dynasty ended regional military governors
established their own kingdoms could not integrate cut off from communication
with Islamic world and Europe
Liao
- Nomads and settled agriculturalists
- Kitan ethnic group
- Strong military forced Song to give them annual payments of cash and silk in return
for peace
- Defeated by Jurchens and Song
Song
Technology
- Math, astronomy, calendar making
- Compass improved
- Sternpost rudder and watertight bulkheads
- Regularly paid military
- Iron and coal
- Gunpowder
- Moveable type mass produce books increased agricultural production and spur
population growth (well managed cities like Hangzhou)
- Flying money (intro of gov issued paper money) inflation
Society
- Higher value on civil pursuits than on military affairs
- Neo- Confucian philosophy (some Buddhist sects maintained popular)
- Civil service examination broke domination of hereditary aristocracy by allowing men
to be chosen for gov service on basis of merit (men from poor fams unlikely to be able to
study)
- Women's status decline
- No rights to property
- Foodbinding
Politics
- Gov not able to control market economy closely
- Tax collection privatized new merchant elite thrived

Korea
- Hereditary elite absorbed Confucianism and Buddhism from China passed along to
Japan
- Small Korean kingdoms united by Silla and then Koryo
- Woodlock printing moveable type (passed on to Song China)

Japan
- Mountainous terrain home to 100s of small unified states
- Established gov at Yamato on Honshu Island
- Political reforms centralized gov, legal code, national histories, architecture, city
planning based on Tang
- Aristocratic women= royal consorts
- Suiko= women empress
Heian period- Fujiwara clan dominated Japanese gov
- Known for refinement of aristocracy and elevation of civil officials above warriors
- Some warrior clans became powerful 1 took control of Japan established
Kamakura Shogunate

Vietnam
- Irrigated wet- rice agriculture
- City of Annam modeled culture on Tang and Song times
Tang fell Annam established independent state under Dai Viet
- City of Champa influenced by Indian, Malay, and Chinese Culture
- Cultivated fast- maturing rice to Song (they had a relationship)
- No footbinding
- Women had high status before Confucianism was introduced to Annam

India
Location
- 3 topographical zones: northern mtns, Indus and Ganges Basins, peninsula
- Peninsula= 4 topographical subregions: tropical Kerala coast, Coromandel coast,
flat area of Tamul Nadu, Sri Lanka
- Pensinsula and Basins= subtropical climate, plentiful rainfall
- Indus Valley= dry, irrigation necessary
- Geographic diversity made it very difficult for any political power to unify all of India
for long period of time
Vedic Age
Society
- Patriarchal families and kinship groups
People
- Aryas (light skin) v. Darya (dark skin) development of varna
- Varna
- People born into one of four varna: Brahmin (priests/ scholars) Kshatriya
(warriors) Vaishya (merchants) Shudra (peasant) Untouchables
- Each varna divided into hereditary occupational groups called jati (caste)
- Jata arranged in order of hierarchy
- Complex rules governed appropriate job, duties, rituals
- Systems rationalized by belief in reincarnation
- Each individual has a spirit (atman) that will be reborn in other bods after
death (relies on karma)
Religion
- Worship of male deities through societies
- Monopoly of Brahmin priestly varma (memorized rituals, prayers, opposed writing
knowledge on other's to maintain superiority)
Society
- Women could study lore, participate in rituals, own land, get married
- People who reacted against social hierarchy sent to forests goal to achieve moksha
(liberation from cycle of birth)
Jainism
- Nonviolence and went to extremes in attempts to not kill any living thing
- Some went naked and starved themselves
- Commerce/ banking= less extreme
Buddhism
- Founded by Siddhartha Gautama
- Buddha= Enlightened One
- 4 Noble Truths& Eightfold Path lead individual to enlightenment
- Goal to achieve nirvana (release from cycle)

- Death of Buddha followers organized themselves into monasteries and nunneries

developed complex hierarchical religion
- Broke into 2 major schools Mahayana (new beliefs) and Theravada (original
teaching)
Reform of Old Vedic Religion
- Led to intense personal religious devotion sacrifice lost importance as personal devotion to gods increased
- 2 formerly minor Vedic deities took paces of honor in Hindu pantheon: Vishnu,
preserver and Shiva, destroyer (manifestations of one single divine force)
- Worship= shrines and temples, puja (service to deity), pilgrimage (Ganges River)
- Hinduism became dominant Indian religion
- Appealed to common people's need for personal deities with whom they could
have direct connection (mainly Mahayana)
Mauryan Empire
Location
- Strategic
Resources
- Agriculture and iron
Politics
- Founded by Chandragupta (successors = Bindusara and Ashoka)
- Walled and moated city of Pataliputra= capital
- Large army
- Ashoka converted to Buddhism due to carnage from war
- Preserved in edict inscribed on rocks
Decline
- Political fragmentation that included rule by Shakas and Kushans
- Led to economic development where guilds of artisans and merchants played
dominant role
Cultural development
- Writing of Ramayana and Mahabharata Included Bhagavad- Gita (addresses
contradiction between duty to society and duty to one's soul)
- Developments in herbal medicine and analysis of Sanskrit
- Satavahana Dynasty economic improvements (central India)
3 Tamil kingdoms (south India; artistic achievement)
Gupta Empire
- Brought north and central India under control
Politics
- Controlled iron deposits, established state monopolies, collected 25% agricultural tax

- Never as strong as Mauryan

- Army controlled core of empire, provincial administration left to govs who often made
posts into hereditary and subordinate kingdoms
- Theater- state
- Luxury goods from trade
- Elaborate ceremonies in return for gifts
- Court supported math and astronomy
- Mathematicians invented Arabic numerals and concept of 0
- Supported literary endeavors
Society
- Women could not inherit/ own property or participate in rituals
- Married young
- Widow required to burn herself on dead husband
- Way to escape cruelty= join religious community
Religion
- Hinduiusm
- Religious toleration
- Brahmins regained power, wealth
Trade
- Linked to outside world by trade networks
Decline
- Financial burden of defense against Huns (Xuanzang)
- Decentralized developed feudal economic and social structure led to religion and
caste system spreading into south

Southeast Asia
Location
- 3 geographical zones: Indochina mainland, Malay Peninsula, islands
Resources
- Fertile agriculture lands, dependable monsoon rains, several growing seasons a year
could support large population
- Swidden (slash and burn) agriculture
- 1st states emerged as response to position of Southeast Asia as a crossroads for trade
and travel between India and China brought business and Hindu/ Buddhist culture
Politics
- Used Indian models of bureaocracy and cultural beliefs
- 1st state= Funan
- Domination of Isthmus of Kra thrived
- Opening of trade routes that bypassed Funan decline

Byzantine Empire
- Muslim Arabs converted people to Islam reduced power
- Declining relations with popes of Western Europe formal shism between -Latin and
Orthodox churches
Society
- Decline of urbanism loss of middle class
- Family became more rigid women confined to houses and veils
- Did NOT take refuge in nunneries
Economy
- Emperors set prices, controlled provision of grain to capital, monopolized trade on
certain goods Constantinople was well supplies, but rural areas lagged behind
- Art
-Architecture
- Religious art
- Cyril and Methodius preached to Slavs of Moravia and taught them to write in Cyrillic
Script
Decline
- Politically fragmented (Germanic kings ruling number of kingdoms)
- Invasions from Muslim Arabs and Berbers
- Vikings
- Settled Iceland and Normandy
- Carolingians united France under Charlemagne= threat
- Economic transformation (de urbanization, decline in trade) regional elites became
self sufficient and local small traditions flourished

Kievan Russia
Location
- Series of ecological zones
- Crossed by severable navigable rivers
Trade
- Forest dweller, steppe nomads, farmers traded with each other
- Long distance caravan trade link it to Silk Road
Rus
- Societies of western Slav farmers ruled by Varangian nobles
- Kiev and Novgorod
Resources
- Poor agricultural land
- Short growing seasons
- Primitive farming technology
Politics
- Power of state relied on trade (not landholding)
Religion
- Christianity spread slowly triumphed church became powerful clergys=
tax collectors for state
Decline
- Internal political struggles and conflict with external foes

Western Europe
Technology
- Plow, horse collar, breast strap harness
- Independent, self governing cities 1st emerged in Italy and Flanders
- Relied on manufacturing and trade
- Legal independence
- Venice= dominant sea power
- Muslim ports
- Ghent= wool from England wove for export
- Recovery of trade increase in use of high value gold and silver coins
- Crusades= Christian military campaigns against Muslims
- Causes= religious zeal, knights' willingness to engage in church sanctioned
warfare, desire for land, interest in trade
- Holy Land= focus
- Pope Urban 2 initiated 1st Crusade
- Impact
- Limited on Muslim world
- Ended Europe's intellectual isolation when Arabic and Greek
manuscripts gave Europeans 1st access to work of Greek philosophers
- Lifestyle of European elites

Teotihuacan
- Large Mesoamerican city
- Religious structures
- Growth possible by forced relocation of farm families to the city and by agricultural
innovation (irrigation works and chinampas) increase production supported large
population
- Elite lived separate from commoners, controlled state bureaucracy, tax collection,
commerce
- Ruled by alliances of wealthy families
- Military used to protect/ expand long distance trade and ensure taxes were paid
- Collapsed due to mismanagament of resources and conflict within elite

Maya
- Never formed a politically unified state
- Various kingdoms fought for dominance
- Increased agricultural productivity by draining swamps, building elevated fields and
terraced fields, and by constructing irrigation systems
- Large city stated constructed huge buildings and monuments of very simple technology
- Believed cosmos consisted of 3 layers: heavans, human world, underworld
- Temple architecture relfected this
- Rulers/ elites = priests to communicate w residents of other worls
- Military forces fought for captives, not territory
- Elites sacrificed; commoners enslaved
- Maya elite women participated in rituals, rarely held political power
- Non elite women= role in agriculture/ textiles
- Technology= calendar, math, writing system
- Declined due to disruptiong of Mesoamerican trade resulting from fall of Teotihuacan,
environmental pressure caused by overpopulation, warfare

Toltecs
- Civilization built on legacy of Teotihuacan
- Capital= Tula
- Center of 1st conquest state in Americas
- Dual kings ruled (probably caused internal struggle that undermined state)
- Destroyed by invaders

Aztecs
- Clan- based social organization migrated to Lake Texcoco area (Tenochtitlan and
Tlatelolco) developed monarchial system of gov
- Gender division of labor
- Kings increased power by means of territorial conquest increased in size
commoners lost ability to influence politics and inequalities in wealth grew more severe
- Increased agriculture production by undertaking land reclamation projects and
constructing irrigated fields and chinampas
- Merchants controlled long distance trade
- Technology= simple (no wheeled vehicales, draft animals, money)
- Large # Gods
- Huitzilopochtli= Sun God who required diet of human hearts sacrifice

Southwestern Desert Cultures

- Irrigation- based agriculture
- Hohokam constructed extensive irrigation works
- Anasazi developed maize, rice, bean economy
- Underground buildings= kivas
- Chaco Canyon= large population
- Political/ religious dominance
- Declined due to drought, overpopulation, warfare

Hopewell
- Developed out of Adena culture
- Economy based on hunting and gathering, supplemented by agriculture
- Hereditary chiefs (served as priests/ managed secular affairs like long distance trade)
- Abandoned, but technology linked to development of Mississippian culture
- Early MI chiefdoms made possible by increased agricultural productivity, bow
and arrow, expanded trade networks

Andean Civilations
- Harsh environment, dry coastal plain, tropical headwaters humans had to organize
labor efficiently
- Basic unit of labor organization= ayllu
- Members obligated to assist each other in production and to supply goods and
labor to clan chief
- Territorial states institution of mit'a (required each ayllu to provide set number of
workers each year to provide labor for religious establishments, royal court, aristocracy,
gov
- Region divided into 4 ecological zones: coast, mtn vallets, elevations, Amazonian
region
- Each region produced different goods that were exchanged through network of
routes

Moche
- Used forced labor to construct extensive irrigated agriculture that produced maize,
quinoa, beans, manioc
- Society= stratified and theocratic
- Wealth and power in elite of priests and military leaders who were decorated
magnificently
- Artisans skilled
- Decline due to series of natural disasters and pressure from warlike Wari people

Tiwanaku
- Agriculture productivity and urbanization
- Large terraced pyramid, walled enclosures, reservoirs
- Society= highly stratified ruled by hereditary elite

Inca
- Small chiefdom in Cuzco leaders consolidated political authority and began program
of military expansion huge empire
- Ability to develop strong military and use it to broaden territorial exchange system that
linked ecological zones of Andes
- Used mit'a to form armies, built capital, maintain religious institutions
- Left local rulers in place, controlling them by means of military garrisons and taking
heirs to Cuzco as hostages
- Imperial bureaucracy led by king
- Proved himself by conquering new territory
- Cuzco= capital city
- Shape of Puma
- Richly decorate temples= scene of rituals, feasts, sacrifices
- Astronomy, weaving, copper, bronze, gold and zilver
- Not extensive record keeping, but did keep track of bureaucratic records
- System of knotted cords= khipus
- Did not introduce new tech, but made more efficient use of existing tech to increase
profits gained by trade
- Domination reduced levels of local autonomy civil war fell

Mongols
- Nomadic groups depended on scarce water and pasture resources
- Times of scarcity extermination of smaller groups/ alliances Unusually dry
weather effects on the availability of resources and pressures on the nomadic
Mongol tribes
- Mongol groups = strongly hierarchical organizations headed by a single leader or khan
- Khans decisions ratified by council of the leaders of powerful families
- Powerful Mongol groups demanded and received tribute in goods and in slaves from
those less powerful. Some groups were able to live almost entirely on tribute.
- Various Mongol groups formed complex federations that were often tied together by
marriage alliances
- Women from prestigious families often played an important role in negotiating
these alliances
- Wives and mothers of rulers traditionally managed state affairs between the
death of a ruler and the selection of a successor, often working to secure a relative
to the position.
- Seasonal movements of the Mongol tribes contact with Manicheanism, Judaism,
Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam
- Accepted religious pluralism
- Khans were thought to represent the Sky God, who transcended all cultures and
religions
- Leadership of Genghis Khan Mongols conquered all of North China and were
threatening the Southern Song
- Mongol realms united because khans of the Golden Horde, the Jagadai domains of
Central Asia, and the Il-khans all recognized the authority of the Great Khan in Mongolia
- Khubilai declared himself Great Khan other Mongol khans refused to accept him.
- Founded the Yuan Empire
- Conquered the Southern Song
- Attempted to extend its control to Southeast Asia
- Annam and Champa were forced to pay tribute to Yuan
- Mongols ability to conquer such vast territories= superior horsemanship, better bows,
and the technique of following a volley of arrows with a deadly cavalry charge, ability to
learn new military techniques, adopt new military technology, and incorporate nonMongol soldiers into their armies; their reputation for slaughtering all those who would
not surrender; and their ability to take advantage of rivalries among their enemies.
- Mongol conquests opened overland trade routes brought about an unprecedented
commercial integration of Eurasia
- The growth of long-distance trade significant transfer of military and
scientific knowledge among Europe, the Middle East, China, Iran, and Japan.
- Diseases spread over the trade routes of the Mongol Empire.
- Il-khan Mongol Empire controlled parts of Armenia and all of Azerbaijan,

Mesopotamia, and Iran.

- Relations between the Buddhist/shamanist Il-khan Mongols and their Muslim
subjects = tense because the Mongols had murdered the last Abbasid caliph and
because Mongol religious beliefs and customs were contrary to those of Islam
- Goal of the Il-khan State = collect as much tax revenue as possible
- Tax farming= able to deliver large amounts of grain, cash, and silk
- Overtaxation increases in the price of grain shrinking tax
base a severe economic crisis introduction of paper money
failed Il-khan domains fragmented as Mongol nobles fought
each other for diminishing resources Mongols from the Golden
Horde attacked and dismembered the Il-khan Empire
- Timur built the Jagadai Khanate in central and western Eurasia
- Juvaini wrote the first comprehensive account of the rise of the Mongols under Genghis
Khan
- Inspired the work of Rashid al-Din produced a history of the world that was
published in a number of beautifully illustrated editions (good example of
cosmopolitanism in Mongol world)
- Muslims under Mongol rulership made strides in astronomy, calendar making, and the
prediction of eclipses
- Decimal fraction
- Value of pi
- Moon movements
- Golden Horde defeated Kievan Russia made capital and ruled Russia from afar,
leaving the Orthodox Church in place and using the Russian princes as their agents
- Goal= extract as much tax as possible
- Mongols favored Novgorod and Moscow caused the Russian population to
shift from Kiev toward Novgorod and Moscow Moscow emerged as the new
center of the Russian civilization
- Mongol domination =negative effect on Russia
- Bringing economic depression and cultural isolation.
- Kievan state was already declining when the Mongols came
- Overtaxation of Russians under Mongol rule was the work of the Russian
princes, Russia was isolated by the Orthodox church, and the structure of Russian
government did not change appreciably under Mongol rule
- Ivan III, the prince of Moscow, ended Mongol rule in 1480 and adopted the title of tsar.
- Europe was divided between the political forces of the papacy and those of the Holy
Roman Emperor states of Europe faced Mongol attacks alone
- The Mongol armies that attacked Europe= international force
- Contact between Europeans and Mongols brought knowledge from various parts
of the Mongol realms to Europe.
- Mongol invasions and the bubonic plague caused Europeans to question their

accepted customs and religious beliefs

- Rise and fall of Mongol domination accompanied by the rise of stronger centralized
states
- Lithuania able to capitalize on the decline of Mongol power to assert control
over its neighbors, particularly Poland
- Period of Mongol domination- Anatolia functioned as a route by which Islamic
culture was transferred to Europe via Constantinople
- The Ottomans were kept in check by the Timurids
- Khubilai Khan understood and practiced Chinese traditions of government
- Constructed a Chinese-style capital at Beijing and a summer capital at Shangdu
- When the Mongols came to China, it was politically fragmented, consisting of
three states: the Tanggut, the Jin, and the Southern Song Mongols unified these
states and restored characteristic features of Chinese government.
- Made some innovations in government
- Tax farming
- Use of Western Asian Muslims as officials
- Hierarchical system of legally defined status groups defined in terms of
race and function (Confucians= relatively weak role)
- Chinas cities and ports prospered, trade recovered, and merchants flourished
- Flourishing mercantile economy Chinese gentry elite to move into the
cities, urban culture of popular entertainment, vernacular literature,
and the Mandarin dialect of Chinese developed
- Rural areas- cotton growing, spinning, and weaving were introduced
- Mongols encouraged the construction of irrigation systems
- Farmers in the Yuan were overtaxed and brutalized
- Yuan period- Chinas population declined
- Reasons- warfare, spread of diseases
Ming
- Chinese leader Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols established the Ming Empire
- Made great efforts to reject the culture of the Mongols, close off trade relations
with Central Asia and the Middle East, and reassert the primacy of Confucian
ideology
- Actually continued many institutions and practices that had been introduced
during the Yuan (provincial structure that maintained closer control over local
affairs, use of hereditary professional categories, the Mongol calendar use of
Beijing as capital)
- Ming dispatched a series of expeditions to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean under
the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He
- Goals= reestablish trade links with the Middle East and bring Southeast Asian
countries and their overseas Chinese populations under Chinese control
- No significant increase in long-distance trade and the voyages were not
profitable.
- Voyages did not use new technology, were not profitable, were undertaken as the

personal project of the Yongle Emperor (may have been inspired partly by his
need to prove his worth)
- Ming saw less technological innovation than the Song;
- Lost knowledge of how to make high-quality bronze and steel
- High cost of metals and wood, the revival of a civil service examination system
that rewarded scholarship and administration
- Labor glut
- Lack of pressure from technologically sophisticated enemies
- Fear of technology transfer.
- Korea excelled in firearms, shipbuilding, meteorology, and calendar making
- Japan surpassed China in mining, metallurgy, and novel household goods
- Ming = period of great wealth, consumerism, and cultural brilliance.
- Development of vernacular novel
- Porcelain making
- Koreas leaders initially resisted the Mongol invasions gave up when king of Koryo
surrendered and joined his family to the Mongols by marriage fell under the influence
of the Mongols profited from exchange with the Yuan w new technologies
Yi
- Koryo collapsed shortly after the fall of the Yuan replaced by the Yi dynasty
- Reestablished local identity
- Restored the status of Confucian scholarship while maintaining Mongol
administrative practices and institutions
- Technological innovations of the Yi = moveable type, meteorological science, a local
calendar, fertilizer, growing of cash crops
- Innovators in military technology: patrol ships with cannon mounted on them,
gunpowder arrow-launchers, and armored ships.
Kamakura
- The first (unsuccessful) Mongol invasion of Japan decentralized local lords of
Kamakura Japan develop a greater sense of unity
- The second Mongol invasion (1281) was defeated by a combination of Japanese
defensive preparations and a typhoon.
- Kamakura regime continued to prepare for further invasions warrior elite
consolidated their position in Japanese society, trade and communication within Japan
increased Kamakura government found its resources strained by the expense of
defense preparations
- The Kamakura shogunate destroyed in a civil war Ashikaga shogunate was
established
Ashikaga
- Relatively weak shogunal state and strong provincial lords who sponsored the
development of markets and increased agricultural production

- The delicate artistry influenced by the popularity of Zen Buddhism (emphasizes

meditation over ritual)
- Onin War of 1477 shogunate exercised no power and the provinces were controlled
by independent regional lords who fought with each other
- Regional lords carried out trade with continental Asia.]
- The area of Vietnam divided between two states: Chinese-influenced Annam in the
north and the Indian-influenced Champa in the south
- Mongols extracted tribute from both states but they began to fight with each other
Ming ruled Annam through a puppet government until the Annamese threw off Ming
control Annam conquered Champa and established Chinese-style government over all
of Vietnam

Tropics
Location
- Cycle of rainy and dry seasons dictated by alternating winds (monsoons)
- African parts get abundant rainfall
- Altitude affects climate- higher mountains= cooler and shorter growing seasons
Societies
- Different means of surviving to fit into different ecological zones found in tropics
- Arica- wild food and fish w/o developed agriculture
- Arid areas- herding, grain, vegetables through trade
- S Asia- intense agriculture
- Uneven rainfall distribution dams, irrigation, reservoirs
- India- govs used all resources to contruct/ maintain large irrigaion and water conrol
projects increased production, but highly vulnerable to natural disasters
- Smaller irrigation= easier to reconstruct and longer stability
Resources
- Iron
- Copper
- Mobilized labor of ordinary people to produce surpluses that in places supported
powerful states and profitable commercial systems
Mali
- Islam spread by gradual process of peaceful conversion (facilitated by commercial
contacts)
- Sundiata (Muslim) established Mali
- Agricultural economy supplemented by control of regional and trans- Saharan trading
routes and by control of gold mine
- Mansa Kankan Musa= ruler who demonstrated wealth when he went on pilgrimmag
came back to establish new mosques and Quran schools
- Declined due to rebellions from within and attacks from without
Delhi Sultanate
- Divided states of India defeated by Muslim Turkish conquerors under leadership up
Sultan Iltutmish established Delhi Sultanate as Muslim state
- Iltutmish passed throne to daughter Raziya talented ruler, but driven from office
because men could not accept a female monarch Ala- ud- din and Muhammad ibn
Tughluq carried out policy of aggressive territorial expansion accompanied by policy of
religious toleration toward Hindus
- Sultans ruled by terror and were burden on subjects
- Declined due to internal rivalries and external threats that undermined stability
Timur sacked it

Explorations
- Polynesian migration and establishment of colonies aided by development of large,
double- hulled canoes
- Navigated by stars
- Malayo- Indonesian colonized madagascar
- Arab seafarers used monsoon winds to establish trade routes in Indian Ocean
flourished when rise of Islam created new networks of Muslim traders
- Chinese Ming sponsored series of voyages to Indian Ocean (grand scale)
- Vikings navigated by stars and seas
- Settled Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland cold climate abandoed
- Arawak colonized Lesser and Greater Antilles
- Iberian kingdoms sponsored voyages of exploration b/c of adventurous personalites of
leaders, revival of trade, struggle w Islam for control of Mediterranean, curiously of
outisde world
- City states of Italy had no incentive to explore Atlantic trade routes b/c established
system of alliances and trade w Muslims that gave them monopoly on access to Asian
goods
- Ships could not handle violent Atlantic
- Iberian kingdoms= history of warfare w Muslims
- Portuguese gained more knowledge of Sahara when Prince Henry the Navigator
sponsored research and navigation institute at Sagres to collect info about and send
expeditions to Africa
- Improved navigational instrument (compass and astrolabe)
- Learned how to pick up prevailing westerly winds that would blow them back to
Portugal`
- Produced a financil return from slaves and gold
- Process of exploration picked up private commercial enterprises got involved
- Fernao Gomes developed Sao Tome and explored Gold Coast
- Dias and de Gama rounded tip of Africa and established contact w India
(laid basis for their maritime trading empire)
- Africans welcomed Portuguese profited from trade
- In return for gold, received variety of Asian, African, European goods
(like firearms)
- Oba (king) of Benin sent ambassador to Portugal established royal
monopoly on trade w Portuguese purposely limited contact with
Portuguese
- Kingdom of Kongo relied on slave trade Ruler Afonso lost monopoly
over slave trade power weakened
- Muslim states suspicious of Portuguese in Africa, some befriended them
- Malindi befriended them they were spared when Portuguese attacked
and looted many Swahili states
- Christian Ethiopia sought and gained Portuguese support in war against Muslim
forced of Adal Muslims lost Ethiopia could not make long term alliance with
Portuguese bc Ethiopians refused to transfer religious loyalty from patriarch of
Alexandria to Roman Pope
-Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut made a very poor impression with his

simple gifts
- Portuguese were determined to control the Indian Ocean trade (superior ships
and firepower gave them the ability to do so)
- Portuguese bombarded the Swahili city-states captured the Indian port
of Goa took Hormuz captured Malacca set up a trading post at
Macao in southern China
- Used their control over the major ports to require that all spices be
carried in Portuguese ships and that all other ships purchase Portuguese
passports and pay customs duties to the Portuguese.
- Reactions to this Portuguese aggression varied
- Mughal emperors took no action
- Ottomans resisted and were able at least to maintain
superiority in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
- Smaller states cooperated with the Portuguese; others
tried evasion and resistance.
- Portuguese never gained complete control of the Indian Ocean trade, but
they did dominate it enough to bring themselves considerable profit and to
break the Italian city-states monopoly on pepper.
- Spanish built a territorial empire in the Americas.
- Arawak= agricultural people who mined and worked gold but did not trade it
over long distances and had no iron.
- Spanish wars killed tens of thousands of Arawak and undermined their
economy remaining Arawak of Hispaniola were forced to serve as
laborers for the Spanish.
- Spanish did in the Antilles was an extension of Spanish actions against the
Muslims in the previous centuries: defeating non-Christians and putting them and
their land under Christian control.
- The actions of conquistadors in other parts of the Caribbean followed the
same pattern.
- Hernan Cortes relied on native allies, cavalry charges, steel swords, and cannon
to defeat the forces of the Aztec Empire and capture the Tenochtitlan.
- Conquest was also aided by the spread of smallpox among the Aztecs.
- Francisco Pizarros conquest of the Inca Empire was made possible by
the dissatisfaction of the Inca Empires recently conquered peoples and by
Spanish cannon and steel swords.