Middle Ages in Africa
and Asia
Review
Religious Interaction
• Interaction of different religions leads to cultural blending or conflict
due to common values and beliefs or differences.
• — What were the causes and effects of the development of major
world religions such as Islam and Sikhism?
• — How did Muslim, Christian, and Jewish societies in Asia and North
Africa interact?
• — How did Muslim and Hindu societies in South Asia interact?
• — What are the historical origins, central ideas, and spread of major
religious and philosophical traditions of Hinduism, Islam, and
Sikhism?
Development of Islam
• Islam – historical origins, central ideas, and the spread of the
religion
• Muhammad – born in 570(?) and is considered the founder of
Islam; he is considered the last
• prophet of God
• Muslims – those who worship Allah and recognize
Muhammad as the last Prophet
• Mecca – The Holy City of the Islamic faith
• Allah – monotheistic deity; also recognized as the God of
Abraham (Yahweh)
• Hijrah – pilgrimage to Mecca that each Muslim is required
(health permitting) to take within their lifetime
Development of Islam
Development of Islam
• Koran (Qur’an) – book or writings of the prophet Muhammad
• Jihad (Holy Struggle) – the expansion of the Islamic state and
control
• Arabian focus – Middle Eastern/North Africa
• Location, Spain, Southeast Asia
• Trade and spread of religion – Silk roads,
• European exploration
Development of Sikhism
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Sikhism:
Founded in 15th century Punjab
Based on teachings of Guru Nanak Dev
Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all
humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste,
creed, and gender.
Monotheistic
Spiritual union with God results in salvation
Diwali – Celebration commemorating the release of Guru
Hargobind’s release from the Gwalior Fort in 1619
Khalsa – all Sikhs who have been baptized
The Five K’s that all Sikhs must wear as articles of faith
Development of Sikhism
Muslim and Christian
Interaction
• People conquered by Muslims chose to accept Islam because
they were attracted by the appeal of this religion’s message as
well as not having to pay a poll tax.
• Qur’an forbade forced conversions so Muslims allowed
conquered people to retain their own religions.
Muslim and Christian
Interaction
• Christians and Jews served as officials, scholars, and
bureaucrats in Muslim states.
• Muslims set up an extensive trade network between Europe,
Asia and North Africa.
• Cultural blending leads to achievements in art and science in
Muslim-controlled cities in Asia, Europe, and North Africa
Muslim and Christian
Interaction
• Asia
• Crusades lead to conflicts between Christians and Muslims
• Muslims conquer Constantinople in 1453 and establish the
Ottoman Empire
Muslim and Christian
Interaction
• North Africa
• Fatimid dynasty set up in North Africa
• Muslims control the Maghrib (North Africa) along the
Mediterranean coast by 670
• Berbers, who had originally been Christian and Jewish, convert
to Islam in the 600s.
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MUSLIM AND HINDU
SOCIETIES IN SOUTH ASIA
• Muslim tribes from Central Asia invade northwestern India in
the 600s
• Turkish warlords invade India in 1000 and establish the Delhi
Sultanate, where Hindus were treated as conquered people
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MUSLIM AND HINDU
SOCIETIES IN SOUTH ASIA
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Mughal ruler Akbar establishes a golden age in India
Religious freedom for Hindus and non-Muslims
Taxation on Hindu pilgrims and on non-Muslims abolished
Mingling of Arabic, Persian, and Hindu cultures that lead to
new developments in art and literature and the Urdu language
in army camps
• Shah Jahan – construction of the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his
wife
• Aurangazeb – expansion of Mughal empire throughout most
of the Indian subcontinent
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MUSLIM AND HINDU
SOCIETIES IN SOUTH ASIA
• Harsh policies against Hindus including bringing back the tax
on pilgrimages, banning of Hindu temple construction,
destruction of Hindu monuments, and dismissal of Hindus
from government positions
• Militant Hindus known as Marathas establish a breakaway
state in southern India
• Sikhs break away and establish a separate state in Punjab
Trade and Cultural diffusion
• Trade encourages cultural diffusion and interdependency between
societies.
• — What were the causes and effects of the Mongol invasions and
their impact on Europe, China, India and Southwest Asia (6001450)?
• — What were the major political, economic, and cultural
developments in Tang and Song China and what was their impact on
Eastern Asia?
• — How did the slave trade develop?
• — How did the Silk Road and the African gold-salt trade facilitate the
spread of ideas and trade?
• — How did geography influence the development of civilizations
such as in the Middle East?
Trade and Cultural Diffusion
• — Can you locate places and regions of historical significance
directly related to this era and turning point in world history,
such as, the Sahara, Ghana, Mali, Arabian Peninsula, Mecca,
Baghdad, Cairo, Spain, Iberian Peninsula, Mongol Empire,
Istanbul, Anatolia (Asia Minor), Moscow, Korea, Japan, Angkor
Wat, Beijing, China, Silk Road, African Gold-Salt Route, Indian
Ocean?
• — What was the influence of human and physical geographic
factors on major events in world history? (Include trade in the
Indian Ocean)
• — How did new ideas in mathematics, science, and
technology begin and then spread throughout the world?
(Include ideas from the Tang to Ming dynasties.)
Impact of Mongol Invasions
• Mongol invasions 13th
century: spread across Eurasia
to create one of the world’s
largest empires
• Brutal conquest of Abbasid
Empire and Russian
principalities
• “Pax Mongolia” that
supported trade along the Silk
Road
• Kublai Khan (Yuan dynasty)
kept Chinese political and
economic systems in place
Impact on Europe, China, India and Southwest Asia
(600-1450)?
• Russia
• Fall of Kiev (1240)
• Russian religion and culture permitted to continue as long as
high tributes were paid
• Isolation from the Western Europe prevents spread of new
ideas and inventions
• Moscow emerges as a major city
• Ivan III assumes the title of czar and achieves a bloodless
standoff at the Ugra River that leads to separation from the
Mongols
Impact on Europe, China, India and Southwest Asia
(600-1450)?
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China
Northern China conquered by Ogadi (Genghis
Khan’s son) in 1234
Kublai Khan, completes the capture of southern
China in 1279 and establishes the Yuan dynasty
(1279-1368)
China united for the first time in 300 years
Mongol control over Asia opens China to foreign
contacts and trade (Marco Polo)
Impact on Europe, China, India and Southwest Asia
(600-1450)?
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Islamic World
Hulagu (grandson of Genghis Khan) captures
Baghdad and has over 10,000 people killed
End of Seljuk Turkish rule after the capture of
the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia (Asia
Minor/Modern day Turkey)
The major political, economic, and cultural
developments in Tang and Song China
Tang China (618 A.D.-907 A.D.)
• Political developments
• Emperor Taizong extends
China’s boundaries north to
Manchuria, south to
Vietnam, and east to the
Aral Sea
• Empress Wu Zhao extends
Chinese influence to the
Korean Peninsula
• Restoration of bureaucracy
to manage the empire
• Scholar-officials take
competitive civil service
exams to work in
government offices
Song China (960-1279)
• Political developments
• Rule limited to Southern
China after Tang losses in
Central Asia and
Manchuria
The major political, economic, and cultural
developments in Tang and Song China
Tang China (618 A.D.-907 A.D.)
• Economic developments
• Foreign trade on the Silk
Roads grows
• Arrival of tea from
Southeast Asia
• New inventions: porcelain,
mechanical clocks, block
printing, gunpowder all
increase trade and spread
to Japan and Korea
Song China (960-1279)
• Economic developments
• Introduction of a fastgrowing rice from Vietnam
that lead to faster growing
population
• Movable type spreads to
Japan and Korea
• Paper money contributes to
a large-scale economy
• Advances in sailing
technology such as the
magnetic compass lead to
the growth of ocean trade
The major political, economic, and cultural
developments in Tang and Song China
Tang China (618 A.D.-907 A.D.)
Song China (960-1279)
• Cultural developments
• Cultural developments
• Spread of Buddhism
through trade networks to
Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
• Greater social mobility and
movement to cities
• Decline in the status of
women including the
beginning of binding the
feet of upper class girls
• New height in Chinese art
– natural landscapes and
objects drawn with black
ink
• China’s population at 100
million with ten cities
having at least 1 million
people
DEVELOPMENT OF SLAVE
TRADE
• First major development occurs in 7th century when Islamic
traders trade goods for Africans and transport them to
Southwest Asia
• Muslim African rulers enslave non-Muslims on the Islamic
belief that they could be bought and sold as slaves
DEVELOPMENT OF SLAVE
TRADE
• 4.5 million Africans transported as slaves to Southwest Asia
between 650 and 1000 AD
• Slaves in African and Muslim societies had legal rights and
opportunity for social mobility
HOW SILK ROAD AND AFRICAN GOLD-SALT TRADE
FACILITATED SPREAD OF IDEAS AND TRADE
• Silk Road – long distance trade route from China to Rome;
• products from the east such as spices and silk transported
west
• Roman ideas taken to their eastern provinces;
• Indian traders act as middlemen and grow wealthy;
• promotion of cultural diffusion between regions that come
into contact with each other
HOW SILK ROAD AND AFRICAN GOLD-SALT TRADE
FACILITATED SPREAD OF IDEAS AND TRADE
• African Gold-Salt Trade
• Arab and Berber traders
took salt from the
Sahara to West Africa in
exchange for gold;
• African traders also
crossed the Sahara to
trade gold for salt in
North Africa;
• cloth and weapons from
Mediterranean ports
taken to West Africa;
• powerful rulers in Ghana
and Mali regulated the
gold trade in West Africa
Trade in the Indian Ocean:
• Arab traders spread Islam to East Africa
• Arab slave trade along East African coast; later influences the
European slave trade
• Piracy (both historic and contemporary)
• European voyages of exploration bring spices from the East
Indies and contribute to the Commercial Revolution in Europe
New ideas in mathematics, science, and
technology by the Tang and Ming dynasties
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Porcelain
Movable type
Gunpowder
Mechanical clock
Paper money
Magnetic compass
Ming
• Spurred by contact with
Europe, i.e., telescope
• Trigonometry
• Hydraulic powered
devices for irrigation and
agriculture
• Snorkeling gear for pearl
divers
Religious Impacts
• Key Understandings
• Religion impacts societies politically, economically and socially.
• — What were the causes and effects of the development of
Islamic caliphates and their impact on Europe (studied in
previous unit), Asia and Africa?
• — What was the political, economic, and social impact of
Islam on Europe (studied in previous unit), Asia, and Africa?
• — How did Islam influence law and government in the Muslim
world?
Causes and effects of the development of Islamic
caliphates and their impact on Europe (studied in
previous unit), Asia and Africa
• Development of Islamic caliphates
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Abbasid caliphate: Baghdad
Fatimid caliphate: Cairo
Umayyad caliphate: Damascus
Shi’a movement begins as a reaction to Umayyad rule
Expansion of Islam into North Africa and Spain
Golden age in mathematics and science, including chemistry,
empirical scientific method, and medical care
Mongol Invasions
• Key Understandings
• Internal and external forces cause political, economic, and
social changes in a society.
• — What were the changes resulting from the Mongol
invasions of Russia, China, and the Islamic world?
• — What shared factors contributed to the fall of the Roman
Empire and the Han Dynasty?
Impacts of Mongol Invasions
• 13th Century: Spread across Eurasia to create one of the
World’s largest empires
• Brutal conquest of Abbasid Empire and Russian principalities
• “Pax Mongolia” supported trade along the Silk Road
• Kublai Khan (Yuan dynasty) kept Chinese political and
economic systems in place
Changes resulting from the Mongol invasions of
Russia, China, and the Islamic world?
• Russia
• Fall of Kiev (1240)
• Russian religion and culture permitted to continue as long as high
tributes were paid
• Isolation from the Western Europe prevents spread of new ideas
and inventions
• Moscow emerges as a major city
• Ivan III assumes the title of czar and achieves a bloodless standoff
at the Ugra River that leads to separation from the Mongols
Changes resulting from the Mongol invasions of
Russia, China, and the Islamic world?
• China
• Northern China conquered by Ogadi (Genghis Khan’s son) in 1234
• Kublai Khan, completes the capture of southern China in 1279
and establishes the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368)
• China united for the first time in 300 years
• Mongol control over Asia opens China to foreign contacts and
trade (Marco Polo)
Changes resulting from the Mongol invasions of
Russia, China, and the Islamic world?
• Islamic World
• Hulagu (grandson of Genghis Khan) captures Baghdad and has
over 10,000 people killed
• End of Seljuk Turkish rule after the capture of the Sultanate of
Rum in Anatolia (Asia Minor/Modern day Turkey)
• Poor administration of captured regions leads to dissolution of
Mongol empire and rise of the Ottoman Turks
Shared factors that contributed to the fall of
the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty.
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Corrupt governments in both empires
Infighting among political elites
Empires too large an area to manage
Invasions from hostile nomadic tribes
Social inequality among the classes with tax burdens on lower
classes
Inequitable distribution of lands
Decline in morals and values
Public health and urban decay
Unemployment and inflation