Tour of the World Part I

1
Tour of the WorldPart I

• Global Trade
• Sub-Saharan Africa, Islam, India

1000-1300
2
Worlds Together 1000-1300

• These three centuries witnessed the slow but
  steady connections between regions of the world
  that had been fragmented and disconnected since
  the fall of the Roman Empire (476 CE)
• Like it had in the ancient world (c. 600 BCE-500
  CE), commercial exchange was the driving force in
  forging these far-flung connections

3
Maritime Revolution

• New instruments like the compass (originating in
  China) and new methods of shipbuilding made it
  safer to travel by sea
• Ships could travel over large areas much more
  quickly and could carry much larger cargoes of
  goods than overland routes
• As mariners in the Indian Ocean and the South
  China Seas became more proficient they increased
  the area where they would sail

4
(No Transcript)
5
Entrepôts

• From the French word for warehouse your
  textbook uses this word to describe the large
  trading hubs where commercial activity took
  place
• Cities like Cairo, Quilon, and Quanzhou were
  important not only as centres of economic
  exchange, but also of cultural, religious, legal,
  and intellectual exchange

6
Sub-Saharan Africa

• Western Africa was drawn into trade with the
  North Africa across the Sahara Desert
• Increased trade in salt and gold resulted in the
  increasing political power of the Kingdom of Mali
  (c. 1100) which came to dominate Western Africa
• A hybrid culture of traditional African religion
  mixed with Islam

7
(No Transcript)
8
Mansa Musa (c. 1300-1332)

• Mansa Musas pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca in
  1325-1326 showed the Islamic world the splendour
  of his kingdom
• Note how he is depicted in this European Atlas
  bearing gold and showing the integration of
  this kingdom with the rest of the world

9
Eastern Africa

• The eastern coast of Africa was brought into the
  fold of the Indian Ocean trade routes
• Like in the west, increased trade saw the rise of
  dynasties, like Great Zimbabwe, that dominated
  the politics of the area
• Their main commodities for trade were gold,
  ivory, and slaves

10
Ruins of Great Zimbabwe
11
Islam

• Islam spread quickly from its base in Arabia
  during the life of Mohammed (570-632) to the
  Iberian Peninsula in the west and India in the
  East within a century after his death
• Wherever Islam entered they brought customs from
  around the Muslim world (Arabic language) and
  absorbed local customs

12
The Spread of Islam to 750
13
Five Pillars of Islam

• Shahadah creed, there is no God but Allah
• Salah call to prayer five times per day
• Zakah giving charity to the poor
• Fasting during the Holy Month of Ramadan, and at
  other times
• Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca, the borthplace of
  Islam

14
Political disintegration

• While earlier rulers had dreamed of a politically
  united Islam, the commerce and migrations of this
  period made that dream impossible
• The split between Shia and Sunni Muslims became
  the basis for fierce struggles for dynastic
  control in different areas
• By 1300, there are three main areas (from west to
  east) the Maghreb, the central core (Egypt,
  Syria, Arabian Peninsula), the east (Central
  Asia, Iran, eastern Iraq)

15
(No Transcript)
16
Divisions in Islam

• Shia
• Argue that leadership in Islam should only go to
  Mohammeds relations (namely Ali, his nieces
  husband)

• Sunni
• Argue that leadership is temporal and see Abu
  Bakr as the rightful heir to the caliphate

17
Islam and Trade

• Despite political troubles (or perhaps because of
  them) trade flourished
• A common religion, a common language, and common
  set of laws facilitated trade with in the Arabic
  world and prompted traders to initiate contacts
  with far non-Muslims as well

18
(No Transcript)
19
India

• Around the year 1000, India was very wealthy
  but split between chiefs known as rajas
• Between 1000 and 1200 there were a series of
  invasions by Muslim Turks to control the northern
  regions of India
• In 1206 the Delhi Sultanate was founded an
  Islamic dynasty that would expand and contract
  many times until its fall in 1526

20
(No Transcript)
21
Religious Diversity and Tolerance

• The Islamic Sultans ruled over a an incredibly
  large and diverse population that comprised many
  Hindus and also some Buddhists
• The Turk rulers also borrowed from the culture
  and learning of Persia
• Continued the tradition of India as a cultural
  mosaic

22
Hindu Temples
23
Conclusion

• These three areas, sub-Saharan Africa, the
  Islamic World, and India formed the core of new
  global connections based primarily on trade and
  commerce
• Next time we will look at two important areas on
  the periphery China and Europe as well as the
  Americas