Notes from "Big History"

Chapter 10 on "One Afro-Eurasia" 1000-1500 CE: Agrarian civilizations controlled only 15% of the world in 1000 CE. The rest was the territory of barbarians The Rise and Spread of the Mongols:

Not all negative: they incorporated (modern) ideas/values like religious tolerance, diplomatic immunity, free trade, international paper currency

Very few sources, other than The Secret History of the Mongols, written soon after Genghis Khans death, p. 170 (A)

An animal-based society (cows, horses, goats, sheep, camels), p. 170

Need to trade or raid for iron (stirrups, bridles), p. 170 The story of Genghis Khans 13C upbringing and rise to power, p. 171 Religious tolerance, pp. 171-172

Army = loyalty to unit rather than tribe, leadership by merit, p. 172

Historiography: GK encouraged horror stories to facilitate conquest, p. 172

Succession crisis last for 10 years after GKs sons death, with his daughter-in-law ruling as regent in the meanwhile until grandson Kublai Khan was selected, p. 172-173

Unification = increased trade, ease of travel, p. 173

Connections disease. In 13-14C, China lost its population and Europe from Black Death, which led to the Mongols decline, pp. 174-175

Mongols, then Ming, in China:

Kublai Khans establishment of the Yuan Dynasty in China, 1294-1368, p. 176 Yuan Dynasty: Beijing capital, demotion of Confucians, rise of merchants, new

technologies, p. 176

Ming Dynasty: distaste for all things foreign, revival of Confucian exams, population growth, beginnings of the Forbidden City, Zheng Hes super fleets, p. 177

China withdraws to focus on internal rebuilding and recovery from losses suffered under the Mongols, p. 177-178

Mongols and afterwards in the Islamic World:

Arguments that Islamic civilization was the worlds most creative and dynamic civilization from 1000-1500 CE p. 178

o Doubled in size: + India, Africa, Eastern Europe, SE Asia o Elite Persianized-Turkic court culture (Suleyman) o Hub of an expansive commercial network

Arts & Sciences, p. 178

Agricultural exchange was the most dramatic before the Columbian Exchange, p. 178 (B) Mongols sacked Baghdad, converted to Islam in the late 13th century, p. 179

Ibn-Battuta, p. 180

Rise of Islamic trading city-states along the eastern coast of Africa, p. 180

Spread of Islam throughout Africa, as African leaders grew rich exporting slaves, gold, and salt. P. 180

Islam = the rise of slave trade, p. 181 (C)

Area Controlled by . . . Mongols 25 million km2 7-8C Islamic Empires 10 million km2 Han Dynasty China 6 million km2

Roman Empire 4 million km2 Inca 2 million km2

Europe from 1000-1500

Increased agriculture and population growth, p. 182

Crusades, p. 182

Rulers/clerics cant maintain control over bankers/merchants, p. 182 (D) Lots of warfare among states, urban self-government, p. 182

Marco Polos fabulous tales of China/Mongols, p. 183 Europe gained more than any other area of the world from the Mongol commercial

system. By trading with the Chinese, Europeans acquired the tools they would use to gain dominance after 1500.... p. 183

Learning expanded, especially due to lands regained from Muslims (Spain, southern Italy), recovery of classical texts, discovery of papermaking, printing-press, p. 184

Loss of government monopoly on power as private people could own guns (power) and read books (knowledge), and societies became more commercialized (wealth): This set Latin Europe apart from other Eurasian societies, where more controlling governments were more nearly able to enforce traditional patterns and conduct. pp. 184-185

Great quote on p. 186 about how the modern age really begins with 1000-1500 Afro-Eurasian exchange networks. (E) Interesting Unanswered Questions at the end of the chapter, pp. 186-187:

What is the meaning of feudalism? Can of 1% of the worlds male population be descended from Genghis Khan? (F) Why did the Ming Dynasty put an end to the Treasure Fleets? Discounting Gavin Menzies

claim that the Chinese found the New World first. (G)

(A) p. 169

(B) p. 178

(C) p. 181

(D) p. 182

(E) p. 186

(F) p. 187

(G) p. 187

(B) p. 111

(B) p. 111

(C) p. 113

(D) p. 113

(E) p. 114

(F) p. 120

(G) p. 122

(H) pp. 124-125