600-1450

The Post-Classical Era

Improved transportation and commercial tech led to increased trade & expanded the geographical range of existing and newly active networks.

Existing trade routes flourished & promoted the growth of powerful new trading cities.

Trans-Saharan Network

Mediterranean Sea

Indian Ocean Basins

Trading City: Venice

New Trade routes centering on Mesoamerica and the Andes developed.

Trade in luxury goods increased with new technologies.

• Caravan organization• Navigation: astrolabe, compass, larger ships• New forms of credit and money

astrolabe

Commercial growth eased by state practices, trade orgs, and infrastructure

• State practice: minting of coins• Trading organization: Hanseatic League

Expansion of empires aided trade and communication, drawing in new people.

• China – Tang Empire• Byzantine Empire• Caliphates• Mongols

Movement of peoples caused environmental and linguistic effects.

• Expansion & intensification of long distance trade depended on environmental knowledge and adaptations to it.

• Example: Arabs, camels, the Sahara

Some migrations had significant environmental impact.

• Bantu migration

Some migrations had significant environmental impact.

• Example: Polynesian Migration

Cross-cultural exchanges fostered by networks of trade and communication

• Islam: result of interaction• Spread of Islam through merchants and

missionaries

Sufi whirling (meditation)

Arabian dhow

On trade routes, merchants set up diasporic communities where cultural blending (syncretism) occurred.

• Muslim merchant communities in the IO region

Great mosque of Kilwa, earliest mosque in East Africa

Writings of certain interregional travelers show the extent and limitations of intercultural

knowledge and understanding.• Examples: Ibn Battuta & Marco Polo

Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion (spread) of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions.

• Example: Influence of Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism in East Asia

Increased cross-cultural interactions also led to the spread of science and technology.

• Example: Printing and gunpowder technologies from East Asia into Islamic Empires and Western Europe

Continued spread of crops and diseases along trade routes

• E.g. Spread of cotton, sugar, and citrus throughout Dar-al-Islam (areas where Muslims can practice their religion freely)

Spread of diseases

• Black Death during Pax Mongolica

Empires collapsed and were rebuilt; in some regions new state forms emerged.

• Byzantine Empire continues Rome• Sui-Tang-Song

Most reborn governments combined power traditions with innovations.

• e.g. Patriarchy in Sui-Tang-Song China• e.g. adaptation of religion

Some new forms of governance emerged.

• Islamic states (Umayyad, Abbasid caliphates)• City states• Decentralized (feudal) states

Some states borrowed & blended local traditions.

• E.g. Sinofication of Japan

In Americas: expanded states, networks, and empires

• Mayan city-states• Aztec Empire• Incan Empire

Interregional contacts and conflicts led to technological and cultural transfers.

• Tang China & Abbasids• Pax Mongolica• The Crusades

Innovations stimulated agricultural and industrial production.

• Increase in agricultural production due to technological innovations

• Champa rice in East Asia• Horse collar in Europe

Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded production for export.

• Song commercial revolution – porcelain

Fate of cities varied from decline to growth

• Factors leading to decline:– Invasions, e.g. Mongols– Disease– Climate: Little Ice Age

Factors leading to urban growth

• End of invasions• Safe & reliable transport• Rise of commerce• Global warming from 800-1300• Greater availability of labor

Some older cities declined while new cities replaced them.

• Baghdad to Cairo• Rise of Italian city-states

Venice