Unit 1: Mind Map Project 
East Asia
China
Economic: Very affluent
Trade: Grand Canal (30,000 miles, most populous trading area in the world, under the Song Dynasty, Silk Road
Tributary System: Other states pay money/goods to Chinese government, started in Han Dynasty
Created stability, benefited trade for other parties, Cemented economic and political power of China over other powers
Political: imperial bureaucracy/meritocracy
Agriculture
Commercialization: economy switches from local consumption to market production
in place since the Qin Dynasty
Imperial Bureaucracy: Appointed officials are in control over the policies of the Empire
Meritocracy: people were awarded with government positions
Social/Culture
Champa Rice: Strain of rice that ripened fast and was resistant to drought
Foot Binding: Girls would have their feet bound tight enough to prevent natural bone growth from a young age, signified social status and restricted women’s ability to be involved in public sphere
Religion
Buddhism: migrated to China through the Silk Road
Social classes: Scholar gentry, aristocracy, farmers, artisans and craftsmen, merchants, peasants
Scholar Gentry: new influential social class which outnumbered aristocrats and educated using Confucian philosophy and beliefs
Dar al-Islam
Neo-Confucianism: Focused on social/ethical philosophy and combined religious beliefs with rational thought, popular in countries near China
Zen Buddhism: Buddhist doctrines + Daoist tradition = Chan Buddhism, popular in China, Influenced people away from Daoism and Confucianism
Sinification: Non-Chinese societies are influenced by Chinese culture, language, and identity
Japan
Similarities: Japan’s prince promoted Buddhism and Confucianism. The Heian Period showed Japan imitating China’s culture/politics.
Differences: A japanese author wrote The Tale of Genji, which was the world’s first novel. Japan had a different government, and the Heian Court declined. The emperor didn’t have much power.
Korea
Similarities: They were very close and were in close contact. Korea imitated parts of Chinese politics and culture, Korea had a centralized government, and Korea adopted China’s writing system.
Differences: Korea’s land aristocracy was more powerful, the Civil Service Exam was not open to peasants, the government was not a meritocracy.
Vietnam
Similarities: VIetnam adopted China’s writing system and architecture
Differences: There was conflict between Vietnam and China. Vietnamese women had more freedom, and they preferred nuclear families.
Invasons and Trade Shifts
Mamluks
Recuited slaves to serve as soliders and government officials
West of the Abbasid Empire; seized control of Egypt and established the Mamluk Sultanate across North Africa
Seljuk Turks
The Americas
Mississippian Culture
Each town ruled by Great Sun → priests and nobles → farmers, hunters, merchants, and artisans → slaves
Declined because people migrated away (weather causing agricultural problems, the agricultural economy collapsing, or disease)
Chaco and Mesa Verde (lived in dry area and didn’t have enough wood to build homes)
Chaco built huge houses out of stone and clay
built brick and sandstone homes into the sides of cliffs
Maya City-States
ruled by a king (usually men) who claimed to have descended from a god
Wars between city-states were common
Believed to be an intermediary between the people and the gods
"Greeks of the New World"
made a lot of cultural advances, and their science and religion were closely linked
Priests studied the heavens and calendars
Aztecs
Controlled population by forcing conquered people to pay tributes
Theocracy: ruled by religious leaders
Society
Women wove an important cloth that was required as tribute
In order to pay tribute, men had to have more than one wife
many rituals, including human sacrifices
Religion
worshiped hundreds of deities
believed that the gods sacrificed themselves in order to create the world
Decline
desires for military victory and human sacrifices expanded the empire past what it could govern
Inca
Ruled their extensive territory efficiently by splitting into four provinces, and each had its own government and bureaucracy
Mita system that was focused on manual labor
Religion
rulers were believed to be the Inca’s representatives on Earth
Temple of the Sun formed the core of the Inca’s religion
Priests
controlled important decisions, and could determine the gods’ will
diagnosed illnesses, predicted battle outcomes, solved crimes, and determined sacrifices
Human sacrifices: used when serious events occurred
Southeast and South Asia
South Asia
Religion
Hinduism
Bhaktis
Polytheistic
Buddhism
Islam:
Monotheistic
Arrival was at first forceful
Involuntary Conversion: Muslim rulers tried to force Hindu and Buddhist subjects to convert, unsuccessful
Voluntary Conversion: Muslim merchants voluntarily converted because they would go to Indian port cities and get married
Made caste system more flexible
city of Delhi is filled with Islamic architecture and a new language, Urdu, developed.
Importance of emotion in spirituality
Focused on strong attachment to deity
Hindu, but similar to Muslims
Sufis
Missionary work in Southeast Asia
Tolerant to local religions
Indonesian people converted to Islam
Inner reflection
Inner reflection
spread first to Southeast Asian merchants who wanted better trade relations
Politically after the Golden Age (Gupta Empire)
not unified and Southern and Northern India developed different political structures
Southern India
Chola Dynasty (850-1267)
Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1646)
more secure than northern India and also ruled what is now Sri Lanka
began because of the arrival of two brothers (Harihara and Bukka) who came to extend the Delhi Sultanate’s rule
Northern India
Rajput Kingdoms
often in conflict with one another and a lack of a centralized government led to them being vulnerable to Muslim attacks
Delhi Sultanate (13th-16th centuries)
didn’t have an efficient bureaucracy and couldn’t really impose or enforce their policies
Southeast Asia
Modern day Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam
Sea-Based Kingdoms
Srivijaya Empire (670-1025)
Majapahit Kingdom (1293-1520)
Hindu kingdom that had thrived by charging fees when ships traveled between India and China
Buddhist kingdom with 98 tributaries that thrived by controlling sea routes
Land-Based Kingdoms
Sinhala Dynasties
Drew roots from Sri Lanka merchants, center of Buddhism, construction of canals and reservoirs, efficient irrigation system, weakened by Indian invaders and monarchy/priest conflicts
Khmer Empire/Angkor Kingdom (802-1431)
Complex drainage and irrigation systems led to economic prosperity, didn’t depend on maritime prowess, temples and Hindu artwork
Jizya
Tax in Delhi SUltanate that was imposed on non-Muslim subjects
Seljuk leader called himself sultan; captured parts of the Middle East
They began clashing with the Byzantine Empire
North of the Abbasid Empire (central Asia), empire lasted from 1037 - 1194
Crusaders
Abbasids allowed Christians to traval to and from their holy sites in and around Jerusalem; however, Seljuk Turks limited this travel
European Christians organied the Crusaders to regain access
Mongols
4th group to attack the Abbasid Empire; they came from Central Asia
They conquered what was left of the Abbasid Emprie in 1259 and pushed out the Seljuk Turks out of Baghdad
Cultural and Social Life
The Abbasids also faced economic challenges along with military challenges
Over time, the Islamic world fragmented politically but advanced culturally; trade brought in good and new inventions/innovations
Cultural Continuities: Islamic scholars translated Greek lit. classics into Arabic , studied mathematic texts from India, and adopted paper-making techniques from China
Cultural Innovations: Nasiral-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274) was one of the most celebrated Islamic scholars. He contibuted to astronomy, law, ethics, mathematics (trig), philosophy, and medicine.
Ibn Khaldun(1332-1406): well known for his historical accounts and is known as the founder of the fields of historigraphy
A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah (1460-1507): most prolific female Muslim writer before the 20th century
Sufis: Introspeaction to grasp truths that they believed could not be understood by learning; played an important role in the spread of Islam, they tended to adapt to local cultures and traditions
Slavery: Islam allowed slaver but it could not be another Muslim. Also exempt were Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians
Free Woman in Islam
Most woman oberved hijab, a term that can refer either to the practice of dressing modestly or to a specific type of covering
Muhammad raised the status of woman; overall Islamic woman enjoyed more freedoms than Christian or Jewish women
Could inherit property and retain ownership after marriage and practice birth control
Imoact of Islam in Africa: Broght important cultural changes; Islamic merchants on the Indian Ocean coast brought those regioosn into a wider trading network; traders blended Bantu and Arabic to develop the language of Swahili
Islamic rule in Spain: Battle of Tours - Islamic military turned back in 732 when it lost against Frankish forces; marked the limit of Islamic expansion into Western Europe
Developments in Africa
Political Structures in Inland Africa
By 1000, most of Sub-Saharan Africa had adopted agriculture; communities formed increasingly complex political relationships in order to govern themselves; in contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa did not centralize power under one dominant figure
Instead, they formed kin-based networks, where families governed themselves; a male head caled the chief mediated conflicts and dealt with neighboring groups; groups of villages became districts
Hausa Kingdoms: Sometime before 1000 in what is now Nigeria, people of the Hausa enthic group formed seven states; they were loosely connect through kinship ties but had no central authority; people established city-states
Many Hausa benefitted from the trans-Saharan trade, a network of trading routes across the Saharan Desert
Political Structures of West and East Asia
Ghana: Rulers sought gold and ivory to Muslim traders in exchange fr=or salt, copper, cloth, and tools; Ghana's capital city, king rulerd a centralized governent aided by nobles and an army equipped with iron weapons
Mali: Mali's founder, Sundiata, was a Muslim and used his connections with others of his faith to establish trade relationships with North African and Arab merchants
Zimbabwe: built its prosperity on a mizture of agriculture, grazing, trade, and gold.They had rich gold fields and taxes on the transport of gold;they were tied to the Indian Ocean Trade; the rise and decline of Zimbabwe wa sits defensive walls; it was the first people built without motar, overgrazing damaged the surrounding enviornment so it had to be abandoned
Developments in Europe
Political Trends in the later Middle Ages
Feudalism: Political and Social Systems
European civilization in the Middle Ages was characterized by a decentralized political system based on exchanges of land for loyalty; core was a system of mutral obligations
Monarch granted tracts of land called fiefs to lords. In return, a lord became the king's vassal ( a person who owned service to another person of higher status).
Lords then provided and to knights; those knights became vassals of the lord and pledged to fight for them
Lords also provided land and protection to peasants. In return, peasants were obligated to provide the lord with crops and livestockand obey the lords orders
The system cut down on losses to robbers and bandits which provided some security; it also provided equipment for fighters and gave land in return for that secive
Incorperated a code of chivalary - an unwritten set of rules for conduct focusing on honor, courtesty, and bravery
Manorial System: Large fiefs or estates were also referred to as manors. This stem privided both economc self-sufficiency and defense; manor grounds were small villages that likely included a church, blacksmiths shop and a mill
Serifs: while not slaves, they were still tied to the land; this meant they could not travel without permission from their lord.
Three-field system: one field, wheat or rye, second field, peas, lentilsm or beans, third field to remain unused each year
Windmills, several types of plows
Monarchs hired a growing bureaucracy to carry out their decisions; they aksi irganized an army that was controlled by the ,anarch
France:
Not until Philip IV that thef first Estates-General met. The Estates-General was a body to advise the king that included representation from each of the three legal classes.
Many nobles objected the power of the monarches; these nobles were responsible for the Magna Carta which was signed by King John in 1215.
This requested that the king respect certain rights such as the right to a jury trial