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Like many other civilizations we’ve studied,
India also developed around rivers.
◦ Indus River
◦ Ganges River
Indus River
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The Indus River Valley civilization began
around 2300 B.C.
Mohenjo Daro and Harappa -leading cities.
Elaborate drainage & sewer systems.
Traded with Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Ended suddenly.
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The Aryan people migrated from Central Asia
to the Indus River Valley around 1500 BC.
They established Sanskrit as the language of
India.
Vedas – religious literature of the Aryans
which give us information about this culture.
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Joint Family
Small village lifestyle
Caste
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Brahmans - priests
Rulers
Merchants and traders
Sudras – servants and serfs
Untouchables
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Hinduism
◦ Reincarnation, Wheel of Life
◦ Brahman – great god who is part of everything in
the universe
◦ polytheistic
◦ Built on works & moral behavior
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Buddhism –
Siddhartha Gautama –
563-483BC appx.
Four Noble Truths
◦ Suffering as part of
existence
◦ Cause of suffering selfish desires
◦ Overcome suffering by
eliminating selfish desires
◦ Follow the 8-fold path to
destroy selfish desires
and end all suffering.
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Both Hinduism and Buddhism are religions
based on works. When one becomes “good
enough” he can achieve eternal peace.
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Mauryan empire – took over after Alexander’s
army withdrew from India.
◦ Chandragupta Maurya – 1st Empire in India
◦ Asoka – grandson, conquerer who became a
Buddhist
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Gupta empire – era of prosperity &
achievement
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Literature, math, science, medicine, astronomy
Collapsed because of attacks of the Huns.
Muslims took northern India.
Hostilities still exist between Muslims & Hindus.
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Called “Middle Kingdom” – center of the earth
Most populous country in the world
One of the world’s oldest civilizations
Two major rivers:
◦ Huang He (Yellow River)
◦ Yangtze
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Isolation due to geographic barriers
◦ Himalayan Mountains
◦ Pacific Ocean
◦ Gobi Desert
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Strong family ties – ancestor worship (pg 154)
Language – Characters based on pictures
◦ represent ideas
◦ Tonal
◦ 65,000 characters
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Learning
◦ A “Scholar’s World”
◦ Scholar’s Goal: A career in government service
◦ Civil service examinations
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Confucianism
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K’ung Fu-tzu 551-479 BC appx.
The Master
A Teacher
Through proper conduct a man can solve his problems.
Five basic human relationships to strive for harmony and
order:
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Father/son
Elder/younger brothers
Husband/wife
Friend/friend
Ruler/subject
What’s missing?
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Taoism
◦ Lao-tsu 604-531 BC appx.
◦ Tao = The Way
◦ Find peace and happiness by living in harmony with
nature.
◦ Stop striving for power, wealth, learning.
◦ Adopt a simple way of life.
 Confucianists
strive for
improved government, laws,
and education, while Taoists
minimize external authority
and involvement in society.
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Create Time line posters illustrating the
Chinese dynasties.
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Shang
Chou
Ch’in
Han
T’ang
Sung
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Silk
Porcelain
Printing, block printing and moveable type
Paper
Ink
Magnetic compass
Gunpowder
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Four main islands
Hundreds of
smaller islands
About the size of
California in mass
Historically
ISOLATED
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Japan’s early history is based on oral tradition
rather than written records.
The didn’t get a writing system until the
Chinese brought it during the 5th century.
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A family group which was the basic unit of
social, religious, and political organization in
Japan.
Sign of the Taira Clan
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Rose to dominance
on the island of
Honshu in the 5th
century.
Japanese helmet &
armor, circa 5th
century
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Jimmu Tenno – 1st
emperor,
descendant of the
sun goddess
His descendants are
all divine
Became the
imperial family
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The has been only ONE imperial family in
Japanese history.
 The
imperial family is the
symbol of unity and
continuity in Japanese
society.
 Shintoism
is Japan’s native
religion.
 It means “the way of the gods.”
 It inspires a love for homeland,
loyalty to clan, and reverence for
the emperor.
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Japan came under the influence of China in
the 5th – 8th centuries.
It was a cultural invasion of idea, learning,
and art.
The writing system was introduced.
The Buddhist religion was introduced.
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Where did Buddhism originate?
Buddhism became the favored religion of the
emperor.
The Japanese built temples.
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Students were sent to China to study
architecture, science, engineering,
government, law, philosophy, etc.
Japan adopted the Chinese system of
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weights and measures
medical practices
calendar
style of furniture
style of dress
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“The Great Change”
Before this change, the clans held power over
each of their groups and areas.
The change brought a strong central
bureaucracy modeled after the Tang Dynasty
in China.
Civil service exams were instituted.
Clans lost power to central control, but
powerful families held key posts in
government.
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The strong central government eventually
broke down due to corruption.
Local military clans formed for self-defense.
Power struggles developed between the
military clans.
One group emerged as the leader.
The SHOGUN was the “great general” who led
the strongest military group.
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The Samurai were the
warrior class.
The lived by a code of
honor called Bushido.
“Way of the Warrior”
A military code that
governed conduct.
To resolve questions of
loyalty, to avoid
capture, and to atone
for deeds of
misconduct a samurai
was expected to
commit hara kiri.
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The Mongol people came from the north of
China, known today as Mongolia.
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In the 13th Century, the Mongols united the
people of central Asia and spread across Asia
from China to Russia, south into the
Byzantine territory and the Muslim territory.
Later then even invaded parts of India.
 In
less than 100 years, the
Mongols had built the
largest land empire in
history.
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Their leader was Temujin, later known as
Genghis Khan, who became his tribal leader
at the age of 13 when his father was
murdered. (1162 AD)
Genghis Khan means “universal ruler.”
He was one of the greatest conquerors in
history.
(See map page 167.)
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The Mongols were fearsome warriors who
terrorized the people they conquered.
They sometimes massacred entire
populations as an example to those yet to be
conquered, that resistance was futile.
The Mongols left fear, destruction, and death
in their wake.
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Despite the Mongols’ brutality, they allowed
the conquered peoples to keep their own
religions.
Many Mongols even converted to the religions
of the people they conquered, especially
Islam.
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After Genghis Khan died, the Mongols
continued to advance.
Finally the empire became too large for one
ruler to manage, and it broke up into
separate Mongol states, ruled by Mongol
generals, usually descendants of Genghis
Khan.
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Several states that developed out of the vast
Mongolian empire were
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China
Russia
Central Asia
India
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The Yuan Dynasty in China (1279-1368)
◦ The Great Wall of China could not stop the Mongols
from invading China.
◦ Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, a learned a
wise ruler, began the conquest of China.
◦ Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty.
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Kublai Khan moved the capital of China to
Cambaluc, modern day Beijing.
He built roads, invited missionaries,
scholars, artists, merchants, and engineers
from all over the world to China so he could
learn from them.
Marco Polo, the Italian trader, lived in China
and served the Khan for 17 years. (12711288 AD)
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After Kublai Khan died, the empire started to
weaken because the Chinese resented foreign
rule.
They eventually rebelled, and in 1368, they
drove the Mongols back to Mongolia.
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Batu Khan, another grandson of Genghis, led
the Mongols into Europe, attacking Russia,
Hungary, and Poland.
The Europeans called the Mongols “Tartars,”
the Greek word for hell.
They were called the Golden Horde because
the Russians described their camps as “a
camp of shining tents.”
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Under the Mongols, the city of Moscow grew
and became the capital of Russia.
Moscow was at the intersection of major
rivers and was a crossroads for trade and
communication.
Russia’s leaders cooperated with the
Mongols.
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By the late 14th century, the Russian princes
challenged the Mongol rulers and Ivan III
refused to pay tribute to the Mongols.
In 1480, the Russians again were in control
and Moscow became the political and
religious capital of the new state.
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“Timur the Lame” began a new wave of
Mongol invasions in the late 14th century.
He conquered Baghdad, Damascus, part of
Asia Minor (Ottoman Turks), and invaded
southern Russia.
Then he invaded India and crushed the city of
Delhi in 1398.
He died before he could launch an invasion of
China.
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The Indians called the Mongols “Mughals.”
India had been able to resist Mongol attacks
until the 16th century when Babur “the Tiger”
captured Delhi and established the Mughal
dynasty (1526).
He brought law and order, increased Indian
unity, and fostered art and architecture.
Akbar, a Mughal Muslim, was tolerant of
other religions and gained the support of the
Hindus.
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Second largest continent
Covers 1/5 of the earth’s land surface
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The continent of the Egyptians &
Carthaginians
Muslims took control of North Africa.
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Sub-Saharan Africa (south of the Sahara
Desert)
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Kush (today northern Sudan) mentioned in II
Kings.
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Aksum defeated Kush in AD 330.
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Aksum embraced Christianity.
A Syrian Christian named Frumentius brought
the Gospel to them.
Also Timothy had witnessed to the Ethiopian
eunuch who took the Gospel message to
Africa.
Later the Muslims and the Romans cut off
Africa from the West and European contact.
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Most of African history is unknown because it
wasn’t written down.
Because of trade and natural resources,
however, parts of Africa became very wealthy.
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The mighty kingdom of Ghana developed in
west Africa because they had iron ore and
developed advanced weapons which enabled
them to conquer other peoples.
Iron was the “ultimate weapon” of its day.
Ghana’s enemies fought with ebony (hard
wood), but the Ghanaians fought with swords
& lances.
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The Arabs, hearing of the vast gold and
resources of the wealthy Ghana empire, made
plans to attack.
The Ghanaians repelled them.
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However, the contact brought them trade
with the Arabs.
The trans-Saharan caravan trade flourished:
◦ Gold and slaves from Africa to Arabia
◦ Salt, horses, cloth, swords, books from Arabia to
Africa.
◦ Also the Arabs brought a written language to
Ghana: Arabic.
◦ Much of what we know about the Ghanaians was
recorded in Arabic by Arab and Ghanaian scholars.
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The Ghanaians called their land the kingdom
of Ouagadou (wa-ga-doo), but their king was
known as “Ghana” or warrior king.
As they fame and wealth of their kings
spread, the country where he resided became
known as Ghana.
Eventually, Ghana was invaded by the
Muslims and was shattered.
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Out of the ruins of Ghana arose another great
African empire: Mali.
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Mali was made up of the Mandingo people
who spoke the Mande language.
The Mandingoes accepted Islam early in the
Arab invasions of Africa.
Mali became a key region in the Islamic world
of the Middle Ages.
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The Mali people called their rulers “Mansa,”
meaning emperor or sultan.
Mansa Musa became the most famous ruler in
the history of the western Sudan.
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Matrilineal Principle of Succession: the son of
the king’s sister becomes the inherits the
throne.
Mansa Musa was the grandson of one of
Sundiata’s (the previous ruler) sisters.
Musa is an Arabic version of Moses.
He ruled Mali from
1307 – 1332. His
accomplishments
included extending
Mali’s boundaries
through war and
diplomacy,
promoting trade &
commerce, and
spreading learning.
He was a very devout
Muslim.
Mansa Musa made
his hajj to Mecca in
1324. “The
spectacular wealth
displayed by his
entourage so
dazzled the people
on his line of march
that their
descendants still
talked about it one
hundred years after
it occurred.”
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Mecca was thousands of miles from Niani,
Musa’s capital, across barren wastelands.
They took 80-100 camel-loads of gold dust,
each weighing about 300 pounds.
About 60,000 people travelled in the caravan.
Mansa Musa was very generous and left
expensive gifts in Mecca and Medina. He
gave gold to anyone who performed some
service for him.
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On his return trip through Cairo, Egypt, he
was excessively generous. He gave gold to
everyone.
As a result,
◦ He ran out of money and had to borrow some to get
home.
◦ He flooded Cairo with so much gold that it took
more than 12 years for the economy to recover
from the inflation left behind.
The atlas shows an
African monarch
wearing robes and a
crown, holding a
scepter and a
nugget of gold.
The inscription
reads: “This Negro
lord is called
Mousse Melly (Musa
of Mali)…So
abundant is the
gold…in his country
that he is the
richest and most
noble king of all the
land.”
The Songhay empire
developed along the
Niger River. It
expanded about the
same time as the
decline of the Mali
empire. The
Songhays captured
Gao, a Mali city, which
became the most
important settlement
in the region.
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Traders traveled in caravans to Gao via Egypt
and North Africa.
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The Songhay ruling class converted to Islam,
but the common people mostly kept their
tribal religious practices.
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Mansa Musa (of Mali) took two Songhay
princes hostage to keep a rival king whom he
had dominated from rebelling.
Ali Kolon and Sulayman Nar, while serving
Musa, made plans for escape.
After gaining the trust of the Malians, they
managed to escape by hiding arms and
provisions along the route they would one
day take to return home.
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As Mali declined, Songhay grew in strength
and power.
The fiercest warrior king ever to appear in
Africa was Songhay King Sunni Ali Ber in
1464.
He captured Timbuktu in 1468. This city had
a great university called Sankore which
attracted scholars from all over Africa.
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Sunni Ali Ber also captured Jenne, another
leading city of Mali.
Jenne was famous for its advances in
medicine, including complex surgeries.
It also had a large university with thousands
of teachers conducting research in many
subjects.
Jenne was known as a beautiful city with
attractive waterways and enchanting
architecture.
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Jenne was known as a beautiful city with
attractive waterways and enchanting
architecture.
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Jenne was beseiged by Sunni Ali Ber for 7
years, 7 months, and 7 days.
At last the city surrendered, but the city was
spared because the Songhay people admired
their courage.
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Songhay society was built upon a caste
system.
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Kings and descendants of original Songhay people
Caretakers of horses
Smiths for making weapons
Fishermen
Traders
Army
War Captives & Slaves
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During Europe’s “Dark Ages” three great
African empires provided the main advance of
human knowledge.
On separate pilgrimages to Mecca, two
African emperors dispensed more than $10
million apiece in charity.
Until the invention of firearms the might
African warriors of the Sudan were never
conquered.