The+Postclassical+Period+(500-1450)+-+New+Faith,+New+Commerce

Homework 1.1 Summary pgs 120-125:

MI- Major changes in the period 500-1450 AD involved the spread of major world religions(Buddhism,Christianity, & Islam) across cultural borders, and creating new, regulative systems of trade in most of Africa, Asia, and Europe.
 * While Buddhism and Christianity began much earlier, they spread far more quickly as the classical empires collapsed. However, Islam spread the most rapidly, though it was the youngest of the religions at the time.All 3 religions spread due to missionaries, government sponsorship, and even military/political pressure.
 * This happened because in a time of crisis and economic disorder, religion was expected to provide guidance, security, and reassurance.Another major reason why religion spread so easily was due to the collapse of formal political boundaries in much of the world, opening up new opportunities for people to migrate (though most notably the Arabs).
 * Expanding trade encouraged the development of better technology, facilitated it's spread, and created a coherent global network joining important parts of the three aforementioned continents.For example, the Chinese navigational technology(compass) combined with the Arab ship design encouraged travel, as well as long-range business practices, such as "credit" and international exchanges.
 * However, due to greater level of networking, disease also spread more easily (I.E. the Bubonic Plague which killed 1/3 of Europe, originated in China). Also, while the international trade was the first step to globalilzation and a "world economy" it occured between many fewer societies, and a far smaller volume and variety of goods were traded.

Homework 1.2- ESPIRIT chart on Pre-Islam Arabia


 * E || On the edges of uninhabitable desert areas lived a wide variety of Bedouins(nomads), whose culture developed around the herding of goats and camels.In occasional small oases, townsand agriculture flourished, although on a limited scale.While these nomads dominated the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, several trading towns (such as Mecca) developed along the coastal regions, largely as an extension of the Bedouin culture.Long distance trade was mainly conducted by caravans of these nomadic people. ||
 * S || The harsh desert of the Arab environment lead to a social organization much like other nomadic peoples. Bedouins lived in blood-related Clans, who were clustered in tribal groupings with other Clans, though these clans would usually meet only in times of war or crisis.This struggle to subsist in the desert lead the Arabs to place a strong value in loyalty to the Clan, and family. Survival depended on the cooperation and support of the Clan, and banishment was usually fatal. Also, if a clan member died in battle, it was expected the Clan take revenge for them, leading to near-constant fighting.Despite career outlets such as polygamy, milking camels, and weaving clothes, and while Bedouin women enjoyed many more freedoms than women in other neighboring societies, they were far from equal. They could not gain glory as warriors, and their status was heavily dependant on their clan, due to legal systems favoring men, especially when it came to inheritance. ||
 * P || The use of common areas, such as watering places and land for grazing was moderated by a Clan council, though there was often a wide schism in wealth and status between different Clans in the same tribe. Shayaks(leaders of tribes/clans)were usually elected by a council of elders, and were most often men with large amounts of cattle, many wives/children, and several retainers.Their edicts were enforced by a free band of warriors,who usually comprised a majority of the Clan members.Beneath these warriors were slaves,often prisoners of war who would serve the shayaks or the Clan as a whole. ||
 * I || The cohesiveness of each Clan was enforced by fierce interclan rivalry and struggles to control vital pasture and water supplies.Wars often broke out, as a result of these encroachments, and any member of a rival clan who was found stealing would be killed.Because personal honor was so closely intertwined with Clan honor, feuds between clans could occur over the slightest discrepancies, including but not limited to : insults to a warrior, loss of a horse race, and theft of a horse.While all interclan disputes were bound by a common code of chivalry, all the men of one clan were involved(usually a small scale battle), and were particularly brutal conflicts, they lead to a cycle of revenge which would not only serve to weaken the Bedouins, but also to make them easily manipulatable to outside societies. ||
 * R || The wealth and status associated with Mecca was partly because it held the site of the "Ka'Ba", on of the most important religous shrines in pre-islamic Arabia.Bedouin religion was mainly a blend of Animism and polytheism. While some areas (such as Mecca) practiced monotheistic beliefs to a God named Allah, these were very limited, and often involved sacrifice to patron spirits and other supernatural beings.Both spirits and Gods were associated with the night(when the heat of the desert was lowest) and holy places were often simple areas where Bedouins could take shelter from the heat and wind of the desert.Religion had little to do with ethics, as ethics were mainly passed down in tribal customs. ||
 * I || The main focus of Bedouin art and creativity was in poetry, which was orally passed down through the generations(no written language), which provides a clear vision of society in these times.Many poets were believed to have magical powers, and were often narrators of battles and the deeds of their clan in battle.These would tell of common subjects such as loyalty/generosity, vendettas/war, and love(both unrequited and consummated. ||
 * T || The pre-islamic Arabians had very little technology. While they had basic access to wells and water supplies, the poverty of their natural environment meant that the Arab material culture and technology was not very developed.Architecture was also very limited, except in the more metropolitan areas which surrounded the coast. ||

Homework 1.3: Markup of 5 Pillars of Islam

5 Pillars of Islam Document

For more Information on the 5 Pillars, see Foundations Unit section 5.

Video Notes: Rise of Islam

Muslims compose about 25% of the pious population.Much of the history of Islam has been obscured to westerners by fear. Muslim culture began the foundatoins of the renaissance, and were the first to rediscover the ancient wisdom of the Romans and greeks.To muslims, the story of Muhammad is highly revered, though his identity is obscured by the faith of worshippers. Mohammad was sent to live with the Bedouin, though he was born in a city. By the time he was 6, his parents had died, and he was adopted by his uncle.It was due to this, that he was considered "everybody's child" ; that he could look to anyone for guidance, and he became concerned with other outcasts. Because words were so valued in Bedouin society, Mohammad became skilled with them, and was allowed to practice archery and other skillsthat were necessary to survive. Because the Bedouin lived in the desert, the main source of feud was water, and trade routes.Each clan had it's own separate Gods and totems, which were kept in the Ka'Bah in Mecca, among other important shrines.It was considered a place of peace, and all Bedouin agreed to keep the Ka'Bah as a safety zone and to drop their arms before going near. This facilitated trade, and there was a great mix of cultures. Mohammad became a merchant, and while on a shipment, he met his eventually wife, Hadijah, a rich widow.When the Ka'Bah fell into disrepair, Mohammad avoided war by proposing sharing the honor between who would replace the stones.For this, he became known as "the Trusted one". One night, while meditating, Mohammed was visited by an angel, telling him to recite things in the name of God.He was told to preach that there was only 1 God, and that should be the central part of Muslim life.(This was revolutionary as it helped stop religious conflicts among the Bedouin.)This universal social justice gave Islam it's appeal and aided it's spread.Muhammad's disciples began writing the Qur'an based on Mohammad's teachings. It is a revelation of ethical and social guidance and carries the spirit of Beoduin poetry, which captures the ideals of the time through it's imagery of paradise, though there was no direct imagery of God. Rather than a physical image of Mohammad or God, the Qur'an's beauty was viewed as an extension of God.Traditionally, Arabs disliked sculpture because they could not properly capture God's true nature.This also began to cause opposition as it dismantled the customs of the Bedouin and other native people.The native leaders asked Mohammad's uncle to betray him, but he would not, nearly causing all-out tribal warfare. Mohammad's preaching of damnation also enraged the enemies of Islam. Mohammad's followers were starved and tortured, until he was offered safe haven in Yathrip, starting a new tribe and forsaking their old bloodlines.(622AD)The city was renamed "Medina" or, the city of the prophet. Mohammad did nor challenge other monotheistic faiths, and set up the first Mosque at his house.( THis was the origin of the Shahadah, the 1st of the 5 pillars.) Eventually, Mohammad's enemies in Mecca charged Medina, and though they were heavily outnumbered and outmatched, the Muslims somehow managed to defend Medina for 3 years.Some Bedouins showed up to help, believing that against such odds, it was certain that God was helping Mohammad. Mecca was besieged for over 1 month(630 AD) before it finally fell.After winning, Mohammad preached peace to the Meccan people.Mohammad did destroy the idols of the old tribes, breaking apart the tribal system in which each tribe was independant,which began to united under Islam.Within 50 years, Islam had spread explosively, spreading from Arabia.It absorbed the Sassanian empire(Persia) and 2/3 of the Byzantine empire.It stretched from Morroco in the west, to India in the East.Muslims even began to worship in the same buildings as christians, holding Friday prayers in the Church of St. Paul, eventually building an enormous Mosque on the site in Damascus.

Homework 1.4: Reading questions:

1.After Muhammad's death, many people he converted renounced their faith, and his remaining followers struggled in deciding who should succeed him.The new leaders began uniting the followers in attempt to force those who renounced their faith to rejoin by force.Having united large amounts of Arabia under Islam by 633, the militant Muslims began conquering.Due to military weaknesses of the large empires which bordered them, as well as the corrupted religious system, the growth of Islam became explosive. 2.The Arab conquerors were motivated by : 3.The weaknesses of the outside empires which allowed the Arab army to conquer such large amounts of territory were: 4.The major division in Islam is between the Sunni and Shi'a groups, over who had the right to succeed Mohammad.The Sunni branch believes that the first four caliphs--Mohammed's successors--rightfully took his place as the leaders of Muslims. They recognize the heirs of the four caliphs as legitimate religious leaders. Shiites, in contrast, believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed. 5. The Arab empire under the Umayyad extended into central asia, creating a long-lived rivalry with Buddhism.By the 8th century, this conquest had reached the border of India.Far to the west, Arab armies swept across North Africa, and conquered spain. However, their advance was halted by the work of the French general Charles Martel, and the Franks. 6.While the Ummayad attempted to block interactions between Muslim rulers and their non-muslim subjectsm though they failed utterly. In the era, converts to Islam had to pay property taxes.They recieved no plunder from the army, and couldn't get positions in the bureaucracy.However Dmhimi"people of the book" were tolerated by the muslim overlords. Their communities and legal systems were left largely intact, and they were free to practice their religion, though they still had to pay taxes. This made the dhimmi happy, as they usually felt oppressed by their previous rulers. 7.Gender structure under the Ummayads: 8.These factors lead to the decline of the Umayyads:
 * Islamic faith gave them common cause and strength, which provided a powerful uniting force.
 * It allowed the leaders to provide a release to the warlike Bedouin tribes they ruled over.
 * Allowed them to glorify their new religion(Jihads)
 * Image of financial security through expansion(Tamisha)
 * Wanted to escape the customs of the Bedouin tribes(Alex)
 * Political weakness in the Sasanian empire(The autocratic emperor was being manipulated by the Aristocracy), furthermore, the Emperor's preferred religion(Zoroastrianism) was not very popular .(The Ummayads also attacked the capital.)
 * Mixed demographics in the Byzantine empire- Byzantine rulers were betrayed by Christians in Syria and Egypt, and also by the arabs on the frontier, largely due to hatred for Byzantine taxes.
 * The Byzantines were also weakened from battles in Persia, and could not properly defend from the Arab assault.Muslims then developed superior naval power, the final nail in the metaphorical coffin, and while Byzantine empire survived, it was greatly weakened and became only a kingdom under seige,rather than the superpower it had previously been.
 * The role and position of women in society was greatly strengthened. Marriage was stressed as the moral and ethical standard, rather than the commercial sexual liaisons which were so popular in Pre-Muslim arabia.
 * Women were not allowed to be polygamous, but they were allowed to marry whomever they were in love with.
 * Though women were not allowed to lead prayers, they were allowed important political weight. For example, a woman was the first muslim martyr, and were allowed important jobs in commerce, law, and schooling.
 * 1) The Ummayad caliphs were increasingly accustomed to the luxury which there position afforded them preferring to not fight anymore, and retreating into theit palaces.They effectively abandoned the simple lifestyle preached by Muhammad.
 * 2) The Ummayad were disputed by several muslim factions, and became more aloof towards their subjects.The returning army(from Iran), became enraged, and under the leadership of Muhammad's uncle's great great grandson, he allied with the Shi'a against the Ummayad.In the battle of the River Zab, near the tigris river, the two forces met, and the Ummayad capital was subsequently captured.The rebel leader invited the Ummayad leaders to a peace banquet, and then killed them to eliminate opposition.


 * E || The rise of the Mawali was paralleled in the Abbasid era by the growth in wealth and social status of the merchant and landlord classes in the empire.The Abbasid era was a time of great urban expansion which was closely linked to a revival of the Afro-Eurasian trading network which had declined after the decline of Han China and the Fall of Rome(also spurred on by the Tang and Song Chinese dynasties). Arab trading ships called **dhows** carried goods between civilizations, and Muslims merchants often had joint trading companies with Christians and Jews.The great profits from trade were invested in new business ventures, purchase of land, and construction of mansions.A good deal of all donated money was given to public works, such as hospitals, baths, religious schools, and rest-houses.In the countryside however, a deeply entrenched ewlite emerged, called the **ayan** who were often slave-owners(similar to the later european feudal system. ||
 * S || The royal Harem and the veil became the twin symbols of women's increased subjugation to men and confinement to the home in the later Abbasid era.Although the seclusion of women had been practiced by some Islamic sects for many years, the Harem was a creation of the Abbasid court.Many of the ocncubines were slaves, and could gain more status in society by having healthy children with the current ruler.The growing wealth of the Abbasid elite lead to a growing demand for both male and female slaves, many of whom were captured from non muslim regions surrounding the empire.These slaves were prized for their beauty and intelligence, and slaves were often quite learned. Slave ocncubines actuallyhad more freedom than free wives. Although lower class women would farm, rich women were allowed almost no career outlets outside the home.They were often married at puberty(legal age of consent is 9), and raised to devote their lives to their husband. However, among higher class concubines, they were allowed brief shots at political power , through their children with a dead ruler. ||
 * P || After the Abbasid capture of the Ummayad capital, the **Abbasid** began to treat their captives very cruelly(which should have indicated to their allies what would come next). However, the continuous support of the Shi'a and mawali allowed the Abbasid to defeat any political rivalry.Gradually, the Abbasid began to betray their old allies, becoming more self-righteous and increasingly less tolerant of the "heretic" Shi'a, eventually establishing a central, absolutist empire centered in **Baghdad**.There was an ever expanding group of bureaucrats and servants who strove to translate Abbasid politics into a reality. This was especially reflected in the increased power of the **Wazir**, or chief administrator of the caliph's council.The Wazir oversaw the administrative infrastructure which gave the Abbasid power, but it's large size and poor communication meant that farther from the capital, the less the royal commands were carried out, though it still managed to survive for nearly a century. ||
 * I || During the 1st phase of Abbasid rule, the main focus of art and self-expression was in Mosques and Palaces.In addition to advances in religious, politics, and philosophical discussion, Islamic contributions focused heavily on math and science, specifically preservation of the ancient greek advancements which were largely lost to Western Europe.Thanks to Muslim and Jewish scholars, the priceless knowledge of the Greeks on Algebra, Medicine, geometry, anatomy, and astronomy were saved.Ideas were also transmitted by merchants and scholars, for example, the Indian number system. ||
 * R || The Abbasid era saw the full integration of new converts(both arab and non-arab) into the Islamic community.In the last decades of Ummayad rule, the **Mawali** (non-Arab Muslims) were viewed as equals, and there were strong efforts to win new converts outside the Arabian peninsula. However, during the Abbasid rule ,mass conversion to Islam was encouraged for all people within the empire and converts were on equal footing with 1st generation believers.Most converts were won peacefully through the appeal of Islamic beliefs and the advantage over non-converts(greater opportunities such as advanced schooling, better careers, and tax exemption). ||
 * I || Preoccupired by struggles in the capital and surrounding areas, advisors were powerless to prevent further territory loss in other areas of the empire.For example, the **Buyid**, of Persia invaded the heartlands of Abbasid in 945AD and capture the capital.From this point on, the caliphs were little more than puppets controlled by the Buyid, who took the title of **sultan**, a term which came to label many Muslim rulers, especially in the West.While the Buyid controlled the court, they could not prevent the further deterioaration of the empire. The Buyid control over the caliphate was broken in turn by another nomadic group of invaders known as the **Seljuk Turks** For the next two centuries,Turkish military leaders controlled the remainig Abbasid empire in the name of the Caliphs, which laid the foundations for the Ottoman empire.THe Christian **Crusades** were the first immediate opposition to the Seljuks and there leader Saladin, though they were not regarded very highly by the Muslim defenders. ||
 * T || For centuries Islamic discoveries outstripped earlier beliefs with their new investigational techniques.The many Muslim accomplishments include major corrections to greek algebraic and geometric theories, and great advances in trigonometry(Sine, cosine, tangent). Two major chemistry discoveries were the classification of an object as either animal, vegetable, or minerals. They not only calculated the weight of 18 major minerals, but also created detailed astrological charts, though all of their technological advances had great applicability to daily life.For example muslim cities like Cairo once had amazing medical technology, and worked on optics and bladder ailments, and made highly detailed maps, which were later copied by large amounts of western cartographers. ||

Homework 1.5: Notes on Stateless societies, The Songhay Kingdom, and Culture of the Swahili Coast

Stateless Societies:

MI- Some African societies had rulers who exercised control through a hierarchy of officials called states, while others were **Stateless Societies**, organized through kinship and other forms of obligation, lacking the level of organization and political authorities which we associate with states.
 * Stateless societies did have a form of government, but the power which was held in other societies by the King, would be held by a council of families or shared throughout a community, with no need to tax the population to support the government.
 * Other alternatives to formal government were possible. For example, among the people of the West Aftrican forests, secret societies of men and women controlled customs and beliefs, and efectively limited the authority of rulers. Allegiances to these groups transcended blood-ties, and it was not uncommon for rival people to share the same secret society.
 * Throughout Africa, Many stateless societies thrived, aided by the fact that internal disputes and social pressure couls be resolved by allowing dissidents to leave and establish their own village, with their own set of rules.

Songhay Kingdom:

MI: As the power of the Mali empire waned, the people of **Songhay** emerged in the middle areas of the Niger river-valley as a successor state. Culture in the Swahili Coast:
 * Traditionally the Society was made up of "Masters of the Soil" and "Masters of the Water" or farmers and fisherman.
 * Though the dominant majority of the society was pagan, the rulers were Muslim. Dominated by Mali for a while, by the 1370s, Songhay established it's independance and began to thrive as new sources of gold and trade began to pass through it's territory.
 * The capital Gao was established under Sunni Ali, who used the gold to build a large city with many foreign merchants and mosques.Sunni Ali also expanded the borders and took over important trading cities such as Timbuktu and
 * Life in the SOnghay empire was a mix of Muslim and Pagan lifestyles, much as with Stateless societies. Muslim scholars were shocked by the local interpretaions of Islamic laws, and blatant disregard for Muslim beliefs, for example, men and women mixing together, and women not wearing veils.
 * The demise of the Songhay imperial structure was caused by a muslim army in 1591 defeating Songhay's much larger army, whic prompted internal revolts against the ruling family.

MI: The Islamic influence in these towns promoted long-distance commerce and expansionism.
 * Royal families in these east African trading ports built many mosques and palaces, and many of these families claimed to be relatives of the persian Shiraz, order to gain some legitimacy and assert their power.(Circa 1231)
 * While the rulers and merchants were largely Muslim, the majority of the population on the east African coast, and even in the urbanized towns themselves retained their previous beliefs and culture.
 * Swahili was essentially a Bantu dialect with some Arabic words mixed in. The language was written in arabic script, though the it's main users, (lower class farmers, merchants, and hunters) were not Islamic, nor heavily influenced by Islam.
 * However, syncretism was a major aspect of the Swahili culture. FOr example, families traced lineage through both maternal(native practice) and paternal lines(muslim practice).
 * By the time the portuguese arrived circa 1500, Swahili culture had widely diffused. THis allowed Swahili culture to persist, and prevented the Portuguese from totally taking over the North Swahili coast.