Third wave civilizations

1. 600 CE - 1450 Third wave civilizations

2. "All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.“ ` John Donne 600 t0 1450 Third wave civilizations

3. Between about 200 and 850 c.e., many classical states and civilizations were disrupted, declined, or collapsed. • Columbus’s transatlantic voyages around 1500 mark a new departure in world history. • How should we understand the millennium that stretches from the end of the classical era to the beginning of modern world history? The question of per iodization

4. hard to define a distinct identity for this period • Postclassical? • Medieval or Middle Ages? • Third-wave civilizations • First Civs: Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Indus River • 2nd Wave periodization

5. new stuff Blended stuff • creation of new but smaller civilizations where none had existed before • East African Swahili civilization • Kievan Rus • Japan, Korea, Vietnam • Srivijaya (Indonesia) • Angkor (Cambodia) • all part of the pattern of increasing globalization of civilization • new civilizations were distinctive, but similar to earlier civilizations • borrowed heavily from earlier or more established centers Differing trajectories

6. Radical change Persistent stuff • the most expansive and influential thirdwave civilization was Islam • Defines the beginning of this period • Political and economic system a tool of religion • Instead of religion as a tool of the political system • some older civilizations persisted or were reconstructed new civilizations were distinctive, but similar to earlier civilizations • Byzantium • China • India • Niger Valley Differing trajectories

7. Persistent stuff Persistent stuff • Western Europe: successor states tried to maintain links to older Greco-Roman- Christian traditions • far more decentralized societies emerged, led by Germans • hybrid civilization was created of classical and Germanic elements • development of highly competitive states after 1000 • collapse of classical Maya civilization and Teotihuacán opened the way to a reshaping of an ancient civilization • the Inca formed an empire out of various centers of Andean civilization Differing trajectories

8. The theme is the great increase in interaction between the world’s regions, cultures, and peoples. • increasingly, change was caused by contact with strangers and/or their ideas, armies, goods, or diseases • cosmopolitan regions emerged in a variety of places—“miniglobalizations” Transregional Interaction

9. Trade Empire Interactions between the two accelerating pace of interaction

10. Trade Empire • especially the growth of long-distance commerce • led to the establishment of many new states or empires (concentration of wealth) • religious ideas, technologies, and germs moved along trade routes • large empires, incorporating many distinct cultures under a single political system • provided security for long-distance trade • many of the third-wave civilizations were larger than earlier ones (Arab, Mongol, and Inca empires) • largest empires were created by nomadic or pastoral peoples (Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Aztecs), who ruled over agriculturalists Key thematic elements

11. spread of ideas, technologies, crops, and germs • wide diffusion of religions • wide diffusion of technologies, many from China and India • devastating epidemic disease (e.g., Black Death) linked distant communities • focus on accelerating connections puts a spotlight on travelers rather than on those who stayed at home. • A focus on interaction raises questions for us about how much choice individuals or societies had in accepting new ideas or practices and about how they made those decisions. Trade and empire together

12. So where’s this dude taking us now? The third wave with strayer

13. Strayer 8 commerce & culture

14. Reunified China: • Sui, Tang, Song • China & the Northern Nomads • Coping with China: • Korea, Vietnam, Japan • China and the Eurasian Economy • China and Buddhism East Asian connections

15. The Byzantine state • Building on the Roman past • Byzantine church • Conversion of Russia • Western Christendom • Decentralization • Accelerating change after 1000 • Crusading tradition • Catching up/Pluralism in Politics/Reason & Faith European christendom

16. Birth of a new religion • An Arab Empire • Islam and cultural encounters • India • Anatolia • West Africa • Spain • Networks of Faith/Networks of Exchange Islam, an empire of faith

17. A long history of pastoral people • Breakout from Central Asia • Mongol Encounters • China • Persia • Russia • Agents of Exchange The Mongol Moment

18. Cause and Effect, on the edge of change Variations of Communities China & Europe Compared Islam: Ottomans, Safavids, Songhay, Mughal Webs of Connections The fifteenth Century