Indian Ocean Basin
600-1200
Post Classical Age: 1st Phase
What regions (zones of development)
will this include?
South Asia
East Africa
Southeast Asia
New Zone of
‘Civilization’
Mainland and Island
Links to South China
Sea
Indian Subcontinent
Innovative Site –
Indo-Gagnetic Plain
Vedic Age
Maurya & Gupta
Empires
New Zone of
‘Civilization’
Horn of Africa
Red Sea Connections
Sub-Saharan locations
Why the Indian Ocean
Basin?
How is its development important for
our understanding of World History?
ROUTES AND USE OF MONSOONS
GOODS EN ROUTE
What is the nature of the
governments working this trade?
Politics in the Indian Ocean Basin
600-1200
South Asia: Crisis of Late
Antiquity
White Huns from central Asia
invaded and disrupted Gupta rule
after 550…
• India’s only degree of central
political unity –the Gupta
Kings - ceased to exist
Political make-up of South Asia
a divided subcontinent
South
North
 Political turbulence
 Intermittent war
 Assimilation of new
invaders
 More peaceful
 politically fragmented
 Dominated by loosely
controlled
kingdoms…
Chola (850-1267)
• Cultural Indianisation of
parts of Southeast Asia
• Roots of Tamil Identity
Outside the West….
Sub-Saharan
Africa…
Tribal Communities influenced by
outside contacts
Ethiopia
Christianity in Africa
• Ethiopia 4th Century
• Kingdom of Axum
• Isolated from other
Christian communities
• Increasingly reflected
African traditions
– Evil spirits populate the world
Further South: Swahili Trading city states
• >1,500 miles from
Mogadishu in the north to
Sofala in the south
• 1000 to 1500 -prosperous
towns and cities
• evolved from small
agricultural villages to
create surpluses for trading
• created an elite merchant
class (merchant oligarchy*)
• *Aristocratic nobles
Southeast Asia
Civilization Spreads
Rivers:
Mekong
Irrawaddy
Red
Chao Phraya
South China Sea
Straits
of Malacca
of Sunda
Archipelago
Philippines
Indonesia
Mountains/Highlands?
Rainforests
pages 378 - 381
Monsoons
Southeast Asian Development
• Characterize Geography (Location, Place, Interaction
peo./env., Movement, Region)
• Beginnings of Civilization? Unique traditions?
• Discuss extent and timing of Indian Influences.
• Discuss extent and timing Chinese Influences.
• What major political entities dominate the region
in the 1st phase of the Post Classical Age?
• What changes were taking place by 1200?
Southeast Asian Development:
Indian Influences
Unique to
Southeast Asia
Origins unclear- Bronze
metallurgy
• language
• Women’s rights
• Nuclear Families
• Cultivation of spices
Adopted administrative and
cultural traditions of India
• Hinduism & Buddhism
• Embrace Hindu
literature: encouraged
shared values
Chinese Influences
Chinese border: VietnamTributary State
• Civil service
• Bureaucracy
• Buddhism
• Confucianism
Political Development & Evidence
• City States modeled after Indian Administration,
gave way to a degree of centralization
FUNAN
Trung Sisters
Rebellion in
Classical Age –
Han Period
Changes by 1200…looking forward
• Arab traders
• Introduction of
Islam, among
island regions
Southernization
Lynda Shaffer
Southernization
In what way does Shaffer’s interpretation
challenge traditional views about historical
development?
In what way does Shaffer’s interpretation
support our tradtional understanding of
westernization and ‘the rise of the West’?
Ibn Batutta
Journey to far parts of the
Post Classical World
Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354
I left Tangier, my birthplace, on Thursday, 2nd Rajab 725 [June 14, 1325], being at that
time twenty-two years of age [22 lunar years; 21 and 4 months by solar reckoning], with
the intention of making the Pilgrimage to the Holy House [at Mecca] and the Tomb of
the Prophet [at Medina].
I set out alone, finding no companion to cheer the way with friendly intercourse, and no
party of travelers with whom to associate myself. Swayed by an overmastering impulse
within me, and a long-cherished desire to visit those glorious sanctuaries, I resolved to
quit all my friends and tear myself away from my home. As my parents were still alive, it
weighed grievously upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with
sorrow.
On reaching the city of Tilimsan, whose sultan at that time was Abu Tashifin, I found
there two ambassadors of the Sultan of Tunis, who left the city on the same day that I
arrived. One of the brethren having advised me to accompany them, I consulted the will
of God in this matter, and after a stay of three days in the city to procure all that I
needed, I rode after them with all speed. I overtook them at the town of Miliana, where
we stayed ten days, as both ambassadors fell sick on account of the summer heats.
When we set out again, one of them grew worse, and died after we had stopped for
three nights by a stream four miles from Miliana. I left their party there and pursued my
journey, with a company of merchants from Tunis.
Understanding the traditions
and contributions of the Indian
Ocean Basin
Religion, Gender and Family
Arts and Intellectual Life
Labor Systems
Racial and Ethnic Constructions
In Battuta's Footsteps…
Putting it all together…
ARTS, ARCHITECTURE,
INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENT
GENDER, FAMILY
INDIAN OCEAN
BASIN
RACIAL, ETHNIC
CONSTRUCTS
LABOR AND INDUSTRY
In the absence of singular
central governments, what
brought this region together,
and what were the
consequences of these
connections?
Recognizing Continuity
throughout the Indian Ocean
Basin
Movement and Economic Integration
Travel & Trade
Dhows
Junkers
Monsoon Winds
Lateen Sails
Larger ships could access
longer routes and bigger
cargo
Dhows (Indian)
Junks (Chinese)
India served as middle – ground
Cities: Cambay, Calicut, Quilon
Storage, clearinghouse
Cosmopolitan centers:
(Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist)
Cosmopolitan
Islamic cultural
centers in East
Africa- Swahili city
states: Moghidishu,
Kilwa, Sofola
Urban Development
Cosmopolitan centers
Khambhat
Kollam
Political fragmentation did not prevent production &
trade between states
Most agricultural regions
self-sufficient
Millet, wheat, barley, rice
Production &
Specialization
Population growth (India)
expansion of irrigation & surplus
farming
600 CE 53 million people
1500 CE 105 million people
Productive growth led to…
increasing specialization
Iron, copper, spices- Indian
specialization (cotton textiles,
sugar refining)
In East Africa:
ivory from the south,
gold from the western interior
frankincense and myrrh from
northern Africa.
(Prosperous Slave trade)
Hindu Temple Economy
Served as economic and social centers
Ultimately, crucial to success of economy
 basic schooling for
large agricultural lands
boys
Employed hundreds of people
 Ensured caste rules
Delivered tax receipts to local
government
Served as bankers &cooperated with
merchant guilds
Indian Ocean Slave trade
 Evolved around the Indian Ocean basin
 Slaves were taken from interior mainland East
Africa by coastal ‘elite’ Africans
 Origins in 2nd century, lasted until the early 20th
century
 Peak and spread of trade occurred in Post
classical Period as part of Arab trade routes
 Sold in markets in the Arabian Peninsula and the
Persian Gulf
Cultural
Diffusion and Integration
Recognizing Differences
Architectural
Pursuits
Hindu Temple- toBuddhist Stupa
Angkor
Wat
Khmer Kingdom
Peak - 9th to 13th Century
Hindu & Buddhist Traditions
Angkor (city) served as seat of power
Angkor Wat
•
•
•
•
•
Temple complex
Built in 12th Century
first Hindu - dedicated to the god Vishnu
Later replaced by Buddhist followers
high classical style of Khmer architecture
Dravidian Style
Temple Architecture
Religious
Communities
Heavily Islamicized communities
• coastal merchants
• Part of Islamic conquests
Animistic, Hindu and/or Buddhist traditions
INDIA: Introduction of Islam
Conversion to Islam developed slowly overtime…
SOUTHERN
TERRITORIES
Merchant communities,
through marriages,
economic incentive
NORTHERN
TERRITORIES
Religion of Invaders,
but no incentives from
Muslim Conquerors
By 1500 – 25% of South Asians were Muslim,
• Lower Caste levels (conversion en mass)- not effective in changing status
• Promise of salvation in Islam attracted Hindus & Buddhists
Gender Roles &
Social Constructions
Merchants
on
‘the rise’
Merchant Guilds in India
Merchant Aristocracy in East Africa
Trading Kingdoms in SEA
Cultural Blending &
Religious Conversions
• Swahili (Arab & Bantu)
• Animistic & Islamic
• Islamic Mosques, Hindu Temples or
Buddhist Stupas???
• Gender Expectations as part of
Religious Beliefs?
India:
Converging ethnicities, expanding Caste
Adaptation of South Asian Culture
• Caste regulations extended into far parts of
subcontinent
• Migrating peoples added to sub-caste levels –
assimilation within a few generations
• Merchant/artisan jati –emerged as powerful
new caste (Merchant guilds)
– Wealthy
– Political power
Cultural Blending in East Africa
Swahili Identity
• Complex : African or
Asian?
• African in ethnic origin
• Arab and/or Indian in
culture
Food & Dress
Storytelling,
poetry &
literature
Music, art,
painting
Gender Studies…
Local traditions/experiences mixed with established protocols
Limited
Dowries
Racial &
ethnic
Intermarriage
Marriage as
temporary
arrangements
Polygamy
Hindu Traditions…
Law of Manu
Bhakti Poets
 Family life central to
Dharma
 Women as Mother &
Wife
 Bhakti – rebellious
INDIAN OCEAN BASIN
No ‘big government’ to lay claim to success…
Diversity & Continuity
Diffusion & Integration
Economic Prosperity & Innovation
Roots of Modern development, maybe?