PROLOGUE: History before 1200 C.E.

Part 1: Human Development to c. 600 B.C.E.

The First Migrations

❖ Modern humans first appeared in East Africa between 200,000 B.C.E and 100,000 B.C.E. (B.C.E =
Before the Common Era, also known as B. C.)
o They were nomadic, so they were exposed to new environments and adapted to them.
Learned new skills and developed cultures. A religious belief they developed was
animism (deities associated with features of nature like animals or mountains or rivers).
o These humans were egalitarian (equal in society) but showed early signs of patriarchy.
❖ Between 100,000-60,000 years ago, people’s movements took them beyond East Africa. People
then proceeded to populate the rest of the globe.
o By 10,000 B.C.E humans lived on every continent.

The Agricultural Revolution

❖ Around 10,000 years ago (or 8,000 B. C. E) the climate warmed from the Ice Age.
o Humans began to plant crops and raise animals for food. This was called the Agricultural
Revolution, which began in the Middle East. This resulted in a surplus of food.
o One part of the population produced enough food to feed everyone. This allowed
people to expand their interests beyond surviving/cooking. So...
▪ Populations grew
▪ People became good at certain jobs
▪ New technology was developed
▪ Learned to keep records and writing
▪ Development of government
▪ Social classes were developed

The First Civilizations

After the agricultural revolution, civilizations began to develop.

❖ Mesopotamia was the world’s first civilization. It was in a region around the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers (modern day Iraq). Many cultures and city-states (an independent state made up of a city
and its surrounding territory) emerged.
o City-states were highly patriarchal, monumental architecture (ex. religious temples called
ziggurats) and engaged in long-distance trade. People were also polytheistic.
o Sumer was a city-state along the southernmost region of Mesopotamia. They invented
cuneiform, the first written language in history. They used it to record the first written laws.
❖ Egypt shared many traits with Mesopotamia, but it had one ruler, called the pharaoh. They also
developed their own writing system, known as hieroglyphics.
o They also built monumental architecture, also known as pyramids, to display the
pharaoh’s power.
o Women and men were equal.
❖ The Indus was an ancient civilization along the Indus River in South Asia.
 o Cities (Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro) engaged in long distance trade with Mesopotamia,
who practiced polytheism. They developed technology but their language was not
decipherable.
❖ Along the Huang He River in northern China.
❖ In the Americas- These cities did not develop in river valleys.
o The Olmee in Mesoamerica
o The Chavin in the Andes
▪ Both participated in extensive trade.

Hinduism and Judaism

Cities were growing, so people began developing new thoughts and ideas about religion.

❖ Ex: Animism, most deities were identified with specific places.

People begin to think more abstract beliefs... so deities were not just fixed in a location. As people
move, they can also take their deities with them!

❖ This is when monotheism (one supreme deity) was introduced.

Hinduism

The origins of Hinduism go back at least 3,500 years. Aryans from the north of the Himalaya Mountains
migrated south to what is Pakistan and India.

o They spoke an Indo-European language and brought The Vedas and faith.
o The Vedas taught that the soul of a person is reincarnated and eventually would be
spiritually advance enough to become liberated from this cycle of death and rebirth.
▪ It also taught that people should be organized into defined classes called castes.
▪ The caste system stopped people from moving up socially.

Zoroastrianism

An early form of monotheism. This belief system developed in Persia, and the followers focus on human
free will and the eternal battle between good and evil.

Judaism

Its earliest followers were known as Hebrews or Israelites, but also known as Jews. Judaism developed in
Israel.

❖ The Jewish people trace their history to the teachings of Abraham, who lived about 4,000 years
ago. They believe they have entered a mutual promise with their God (Yahweh)
o In return for their devotion, the Yahweh will consider them the chosen people.
❖ Judaism was also developed with the Hebrew Scriptures, also called the Old Testament.

Part 2: The Classical Era, c. 600 B.C.E. to c. 600 C.E.

Several empires that arose between 600 B.C.E. and 600 C.E. became the core foundations of later
civilizations in their region.
 ❖ western Eurasia: The Persian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine empires
❖ southern Asia: The Mauryan and Gupta empires
❖ eastern Asia: The Qin and Han dynasties
❖ Mesoamerica: The Mayan Empire

These empires provided political and economic security for their people.

❖ Land routes were developed in Eurasia, such as the Silk Roads and maritime (sea) routes in the
Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.
❖ These trade routes fostered the development of great cities like Rome (Italy), Chang 'an (China),
etc.

Buddhism and Developments in South Asia

The region of South Asia was unified under a single government only twice during the Classical Period.

❖ The most influential development in South Asia was the development of the religion of
Buddhism.
❖ The founder of Buddhism was Siddhartha Gautama. He was born into a rich Hindu family around
530 B.C.E. and became aware of all the suffering people went through.
o To understand why people suffered, he left his family and went to live in poverty and
meditate.
o Siddhartha had been meditating for several days underneath a bodhi tree when finally
understood the cause of suffering, and how to end it.
❖ He called himself the Buddha (enlightened one) and went to teach others how he came to
understand.
❖ Buddhist laws became summarized in the Four Noble Truths, which sought to eliminate desire
and suffering by following the Eightfold Path.
o The Eightfold Path requires an individual to meditate, reflect, and refrain from excessive
earthly pleasures. The goal is to achieve enlighten and the peaceful bliss known as
nirvana, which ends the cycle of reincarnation.

The Spread of Buddhism

❖ Buddhism provided an alternate to the Vedic beliefs that were the foundation of Hinduism.
o Buddhism rejected the caste system, so members of lower castes floated more towards
it and it spread quickly through India and across Asia along the Silk Roads and around
the Indian Ocean.
o Buddhism was a universalizing religion, so everyone was welcomed. It is also a monastic
faith.

The Mauryan Empire

The first period of unity in South Asia was under it (322 B.C.E. - 187 B.C.E).

❖ It reached its peak during the rule of Ashoka, who promoted prosperity by creating an efficient
tax system and building roads that connected commercial centers. He also spread knowledge of
the law by writing on pillars throughout the empire.
 ❖ He is one of the few powerful rulers in history who converted from one faith (Hinduism) to
another. He became a Buddhist. After Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire declined in power, resulting
in political decentralization.

The Gupta Empire

The second period of unity in South Asia: c. 320 C.E. to c. 550 C.E. (also referred to as A.D). This period is
also referred to as the Golden Age of India.

❖ In a government based in Pataliputra, in northwestern India, intellectual and cultural life

flourished. In hospitals there were advances in medicine. Mathematicians developed a
numbering system. Men hold most positions of power in life. Gupta strongly supported
Hinduism.

Confucianism and Developments in East Asia

Central China was under the Zhou Dynasty (1076 B.C. - 256 B.C.E).

When the dynasty weakened, China suffered a time of instability and decentralization referred to as the
Warring States period.

Mandate of Heaven

- The idea that “heaven” or some universal force provided the justification for an emperor and his
family to rule China.
o EX: if ruler was ineffective or corrupt, heaven would show its displeasure by causing
natural disasters. This was a sign to the people that the ruler lost the Mandate of
Heaven, so this would lead to uprisings.

Confucianism

Around 551 B.C.E. (Warring States) K’ung Fu-tzu (Confucius) was born. He lived around the same time as
the Buddha.

❖ His teachings were written down by his followers in the Analects. They describe how people
should behave in everyday life.
❖ Analects do not focus on any deity. It instead focused on education, benevolence, virtue,
respect for those with authority and a patriarchal social structure. Also, the respect of ancestors.

Daoism

Second repose to the Warring States period. Confucianism focused on harmony with each other, Daoism
focused on people living harmony with nature. Emphasized internal reflection.

The Qin and Han Dynasties

China regained stability when the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.E. - 207 B.C.E.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. - 220
C.E.) established control.

Qin standardized Chinese script and weight and measures and built canals and roads.

Han became the Golden Age of Chinese history.

 ❖ More peaceful and the population grew.
❖ Science and technology prospered, magnetic compass, paper, and the sternpost rudder.
❖ Trade extended from Chang’an, the capital of the empire, west to the Mediterranean Sea.
❖ The trade was luxury items such as spices, gems, precious metals, tea, and most famously silk...
❖ Transformed Chin’s government by creating a civil service exam that required students to study
Confucian teachings. Those who scored well received prestigious jobs in the government
bureaucracy.

Civilizations of Western Eurasia and Christianity

600 B.C.E. and 600 C.E., strong civilizations developed in Persia, Greece, and Rome.

❖ Trade war and the flow of ideas connected these civilizations to one another.
❖ Each civilization prospered through trade and military.

Persia (559 B.C.E.)

Persia (modern-day Iran) developed under the leadership of Cyrus the Great.

The Persian Empire included most of the lands from the Aegan Sea in the west to the border of India in
the east.

❖ Also known as the Achaemenid Empire.

❖ Strong centralized government, efficient bureaucracy, and networks of roads.
❖ Promoted trade, prosperity and stability.
❖ It was ethnically and religiously diverse.

Greece

Divided into about 1,000 city-states. The numerous islands and mountainous terrain made unifying
Greece under one leader extremely difficult.

All Greeks share religion and believe in many deities, and each possessed human frailties, which help
explain why Greeks developed a feeling that they controlled their own destiny.

❖ Two of the largest city-states: Athens and Sparta.

o Spartans organized their society around a powerful military. Free men were trained as
soldiers and everyone else were to fill in roles around them.
o Athenians made advances in architecture, literature, theater, and philosophy. They also
develop the concept of democracy. Free adult males had the ability to participate in
directly making political decisions.

In the 300s B.C.E., the army of Alexander the Great spread Greek culture into Egypt, across Persia, and
east to India. This region became known as the Hellenistic world.

Rome (founded in 753 B.C.E.)

Rome’s culture was heavily borrowed from the Greeks. They incorporated the Greek gods into their
group of deities, relied on slavery, and made advances into government.
 ❖ Developed the practice of a representative government and of the judicial concept “innocent
until proven guilty.”
o To protect individual rights, the Twelve Tablets were made, which were written laws.
The laws provided a check on abuses of government.
❖ It was also famous for publicly funded projects, like aqueducts (systems to transport water to
cities and large stadiums for public entertainment)

Rome’s challenges;

❖ The leaders over-extended the Roman military, were corrupt, and failed to deal with devastating
epidemics caused by smallpox and the plague.
❖ Trade and urban populations declined.
❖ Roman land suffered economically.
❖ Rome’s decline was made worse by invasions from groups such as the Huns, Ostrogoths,
Visigoths, and Vandals.
o 476 C.E., the empire was so weak that a non-Roman became emperor.

Rome has a patriarchal society, but Roman women had more rights than Greek women. They had the
right to own and inherit property and to initiate divorce proceedings.

Greek city-states remained small, but Rome expanded outward in all directions, making the
Mediterranean Sea into a Roman lake.

At its peak, the Roman Empire ruled territory from Scotland to northern Africa to the Middle East.

Both Rome and Persia were land-based empires under a strong central government.

They both fostered trade and prosperity with well-maintained roads and strong militaries to protect
travelers.

The Development of Christianity

Rome’s most enduring legacy was in religion. They tolerated all faiths if subjects agreed to accept the
divine nature of the emperor.

❖ Monotheists could not though. Jews living in Middle East refused to recognize any deity but
their own, so Romans persecuted them, causing the diaspora of Jews to lands throughout
northern Africa and Europe.
o One leader who emerged from the Jewish community was Jesus. For his teachings, he was
executed by the Romans.
▪ Since the followers of his teachings considered him the Christ, or savior of humanity
sent by God, they became known as Christians.
❖ Despite persecution by Romans, Jesus’s followers continued to spread his teachings and by the
end of the 1st century C.E., Christians were practicing their faith throughout the Roman empire.

This new religion was interesting to poor people because it taught that after death people could have a
better life if they believed in Jesus. Even through persecution, Christianity grew stronger and in the 4th
century, under Constantine, Christianity became legal and was accepted as the official religion of the
empire.
Constantine’s endorsement of Christianity accelerated its growth.

❖ Christianity is a universalizing religion.

❖ It also offered monastic lifestyles for men (monks) and women (nuns) to devote their lives to
practicing the faiths.

Byzantine

❖ By the middle of the 4th century, the eastern half of the Roman Empire had become wealthier
and politically more powerful than the western half!
o For that reason, Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the empire eastward to
Byzantium and renamed it the city Constantinople (Istanbul today).
❖ In 395, the Roman Empire was divided into two distinct entities; Rome became the capital in the
west, and Constantinople became capital in the east.
o Constantinople quickly became a political and economic hub; Geography aided its rise to
prominence as rivers from the north flowed into the nearby Mediterranean and Black
seas.
▪ As an entrepot (or coastal trading center), Constantinople prospered as raw
goods arrived from northern Europe, cereals came from Egypt, and precious
spices and finished products came from the east.
❖ At its height, the Byzantine Empire extended throughout the eastern half of the Mediterranean
world.
o The reign of Justinian the Great (527-565) included great accomplishments.
▪ Construction of a church called Hagia Sophia (537)
▪ Creation of the Justinian Code.
• This made Roman law stronger and would serve as the foundation of
legal knowledge in Europe in the 1800s.
o Though constantly threatened by foreign invasion, the Byzantine Empire would survive
for another 900 years.

Early American Civilizations

Afro-Eurasian civilizations developed in isolation from American civilizations during the classical era.

Two of the most important were in Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America)

Teotihuacan

• Teotihuacan located near modern-day Mexico City

• It was a multicultural urban area that prospered through regional trade.
• Featured streets laid out on a grid and monumental religious temples dedicated to the gods of
the sun and moon.
• Was abandoned by 650
• Also was known as the city of the gods and would later influence other powerful civilizations
such as the Aztecs.

By the 6th century C.E., its population was 125,000, which made it one of the largest cities in the world.

The Mayans
 • South of Teotihuacan
• Most influential classical civilizations in the Americas.
• Traced as far back as 1500 B.C.E.
• They reached their height of population and wealth between 250 C.E. and 900 C.E.
• Developed the most complex written language in the Americas before (colonization).

Mayan priests created a very accurate calendar, a sign that they studied and understood the movement
of Earth through space.

Mayans also understood the importance of the concept of zero, something the Mediterranean world
had not grasped in this period.

Comparisons in the Classical Age

The empires that emerged between 600 B.C.E. and 600 C.E. shared several traits in economics and
politics.

❖ Increased trade, technological innovation, and centralized government worked together to

make the lives of people longer, safer, and more comfortable.
o The empires also shared similar reasons for their decline.

Early Trade Networks

As technological developments made trade easier, strong governments provided the wealth and
security to foster and sponsor trade.

❖ The Eurasian exchange networks used the strength of the Roman and Han innovations.
o Stirrups (made horse riding easier)
o Networks of places to rest and eat
o Improvements in sail design and ship hulls that enabled ships to maneuver in less than
favorable wind conditions.
▪ Monsoon winds made trade easier along seaports in the Indian Ocean
▪ Improvements to the camel saddle made caravan trade profitable and possible
across the Sahara.
❖ The Mediterranean Sea lanes continued to make trade between cultural exchange and goods
easy between the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and people of North Africa.
o These developments ushered in the first Golden Age of the Silk Roads

Decline of Classical Empires

By 600 C.E., many of the classical empires were losing, or lost their unity and political power; People
faced growing problems that made peace and prosperity harder to reach.

• Challenges collecting taxes

• Declines in trade; no access to foreign goods and markets
• Spread of disease; reduced urban populations
• Increases in gap between the rich and poor
• Lack of broad support for leadership
• Attacks by outside groups; more spending money on defense
The spread of a common religion kept society unified even when the government failed.

• In later centuries, this unity would help new empires arise;

o in Europe, the Roman Empire broke apart, but Christianity held the society together.
Confucianism did the same In China, while Hinduism and Buddhism did the same in
South Asia.

Part 3: Postclassical Civilizations, c. 600-c. 1200

The decline of classical civilizations was marked by a century or more of declines in trade, intellectual
innovation, and social stability. New centralized states that promoted peace and prosperity came up to
replace them.

Throughout Afro-Eurasia, trade intensified after 600 networks of exchange widened and became more
profitable.

❖ The Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean trade networks, and the trans-Saharan trade routes were
brimming with items such as porcelain, ivory, teakwood, spices, and silk.
❖ These networks also provided ways for tech and ideas to move from one culture to another.
❖ More regions became familiar with the compass, the astrolabe, new forms of credit, paper
money, and new religious beliefs.
o They also became familiar with deadly diseases.

Afro-Eurasia and the Americas remained separate, but people in Mesoamerica and the Andes
Mountains experienced similar developments

The Spread of Islam

Beginning of the 7th century, the people of the Middle East were a mixed of animists, Zoroastrians, Jews,
Christians, and others.

A merchant named Muhammad living on the Arabian Peninsula believed that he received revelations
from God.

❖ These revelations were recorded in the Qur’an, sacred scriptures of the religion of Islam.
o Muslims (followers of Islam) believed that Muhammad was last in a line of great
prophets that included Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.

The Teachings of Islam

❖ Core principles of the Qur’an; known as the Five Pillars of Islam

o A belief in one God (Allah)
o Ritual prayer
o Almsgiving
o Fasting
o Making Pilgrimage to Mecca
❖ They evolved a law code based on the Qur’an; called sharia, to regulate Muslim religious and
civic behavior.

Sunnis and Shi’as

 ❖ Through Muhammad’s leadership, Islam quickly unified and brought peace in the Arabian
Peninsula.
o A crisis occurred upon the death of Muhammad in 632.
o He made no provision for a successor, so people fell into two warring camps over who
should became the caliph (political leader) of the Islamic community; between Sunnis
and Shia’s.
▪ Sunni Muslims (majority of Muslims in the world) felt that the caliph should be
selected from among all leaders in the Islamic community.
▪ Shi’a Muslims (strongest in Iran and Iraq) felt that the caliph should be a blood
relative of Muhammad.

Expansion of Islam

Islam had united southern Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of India.

• This area is known at the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam)

The Abbasids

The most influential rulers were those of the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258).

• Under them, Islamic culture experienced a golden age; trade prospered.

• The Abbasid helped China (under the Tang Dynasty) reestablish a booming trade along the Silk
Roads.
• Also sped up the growth of trans-Saharan trade to West Africa and were major
participants in the diffusion of ideas and goods throughout the Indian Ocean.
• The government practiced a degree of religious toleration; by paying an additional tax: jizya.
• Ended female infanticide and strengthened the marriage and property rights of women.
• But also continued to support the veiling of women and the right of a man to take up to
four wives.

China

After the Han Dynasty declined in the 3rd century, China suffered three centuries of turmoil and disunity.

Sui Dynasty (581-618)

The Sui Dynasty provided the foundation on which China again became prosperous. The dynasty’s
biggest accomplishment was the construction of the Grand Canal.

❖ Stretching over 1,000 miles; connected the agricultural south of the population centers in the
north.
o Fostering economic growth, the Grand Canal helped unify the varied ethnic and cultural
groups of China.

Tang Dynasty (618-907)

The Tang Dynasty Extended China’s boundaries north into Mongolia, west into Central Asia, and south
into Vietnam. China’s population grew significantly.
Expanded the civil service exam and empire’s bureaucracy

❖ Invented gunpowder developed paper money, which sped up trade.

Viewed their country as the “Middle Kingdom,”: believed they were at the center of cultural advances in
the world.

Developed the tributary system, the idea that surrounding kingdoms should make payment, or tribute
to the Chinese and submit to their rule for trading privileges.

Peasant uprisings and invasions from the west and north led to the downfall of this dynasty.

Song Dynasty (960-1279)

Under the Song Dynasty, China continued its golden age; It became the leading manufacturer in the
world; producing iron, steel, silk, and porcelain and had the largest cities in the world.

Neo-Confucianism, a melding of Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist philosophies became popular under
the Tang.

Paper money and magnetic compass were exported from East Asia to other parts of the world.

Japan

Between about 800 and 1200 Japan had its own golden age of achievements in painting and literature.

❖ A strong political and social hierarchy developed over the control of land and included
hierarchical obligations.
❖ At the top was the shogun (military general) followed by powerful landlords called daimyos.
o Each daimyo had a force of warriors (samurai) who pledged loyalty to serve him

Japan’s official religion was Shinto, a set of beliefs centered on the veneration of ancestors and nature
spirits. However, missionaries from China and Korea brought Buddhism to the country.

Africa

Between 600 and 1200 people lived in a small self-governing chiefdom, which many people were related
to. These kingdom-based communities cooperated and sometimes formed larger political units.

Bantu-speaking people out of a region in west central Africa between c. 1000 B.C.E. and c. 1500 C.E.
Migrating people spread language, farming techniques, and knowledge of how to work with iron.

❖ By 1000 C.E., complex agricultural practices such as irrigation and the allocation of land for
people to cultivate demanded the development of more complex governments.
o Stronger governments gave more control over production and distribution of surplus
products.
o Muslim merchants greatly increased trade, which benefited the kingdom of Ghana (c.
700-c.1240)
▪ The trans-Saharan trade route allowed Ghana to become very wealthy. The gold
and salt were taxed.
❖ Trade also affected the religion of the people of West Africa.
 o Islam spread, and Nort Africa traded became part of Dar al-Islam.
▪ In Nigeria, about 50% percent of the population identifies as Muslim.
▪ In Mali, over 90%.
❖ East Coast Africa, merchants linked into the Indian Ocean trading network.
o Africans from the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia were all connected.
o They exported gold ivory and enslaved people. They imported porcelain, silk, and spices.

One large kingdom in the southeast part of Africa, Great Zimbabwe arose. It dominated the region
between the 12th and 5th centuries. Its decline isn’t clear, but a possible reason was the reduced output
of gold mines.

South Asia and Southeast Asia

After the fall of the Gupta empire in 550, South Asia was riddled by disunity and fighting.

❖ Southern India was held together by Hinduism and caste system, but Northern India suffered
invasions and weak confederations. One invasion brought Islam to the region in 711.

South Asian trade flourished. People began to understand the pattern of the monsoon winds, India’s
location made it the hub of Indian Ocean trade.

Religion and trade dominated South Asia’s influence on Southeast Asia; Buddhist and Hindus used trade
networks to spread their religion’s teachings. Islam became the dominant religion in the Spice Islands
and the Malay peninsula.

Europe

The Eastern Roman Empire (based in Constantinople) flourishes. The Western Roman Empire declined;
invasions of people from Northern Europe (Vikings) brought another group of people into the cultural
exchanges.

❖ Central and western Europe devolved into thousands of duchies and fiefdoms.

As a result of the lack of strong central governments, Europe could not provide protection and stability.

❖ Did not benefit from long distance Afro-Eurasian trade as much as the other regions did.

Christianity became the one unifying force in central and western Europe. In 800, the pope
demonstrated his power by bestowing on the French king the title of “Emperor of the Romans.”

European Christian unity would not endure though. In 1054 it split into the Roman Catholic Church
(west) and the Orthodox Church (east).

In 1095, The Roman Catholic pope called for a Holy Crusade to free Jerusalem and the lands around it
from Islamic control. After two centuries of trying, they failed to seize power, but impacted the area
culturally. The crusades made Europeans more aware of the achievements of the Middle East and the
rest of Asia.

The Americas
By the year 900, the Mayan golden age in Mesoamerica was ending. The cause was environmental
degradation, drought, and warfare which caused Mayans to abandon many of their cities. However,
some Mayan cities, such as Chichen Itza continued to be inhabited.

Two other large civilizations developed in the Western Hemisphere:

The Mississippian civilization (near present day St. Louis) flourished between 8th century and 16th
century. Cahokia was a major trade hub with a huge population

Toltecs civilization emerged in the 10th century in Mesoamerica. The Toltecs adopted many Mayan
practices, including religion. The Toltecs had an influence on the Aztecs, a later empire.

The World in 1200

By 1200, much of the world had recovered from the decline of classical civilizations. New states were
emerging that were promoting trade of ideas among regions;

❖ Africa, Europe, and Asia were connected through Indian Ocean trade, the Silk Roads, and trans-
Saharan trade routes.
❖ The Byzantine Empire and various Islamic empires provided stability in the region from Eastern
Europe through the Middle East to South Asia.
❖ China and Dar al-Islam continued to be leading in learning and innovation.
❖ Western Europe and Japan had decentralized systems of government that featured powerful
land-owning nobles.
❖ Africa mainly remained stateless, except for some regions in West Africa and East Africa.
❖ Afro-Eurasia, America, and Oceania were developing in isolation from each other.

In 1200, people in Africa and Eurasia remained on their paths in the world. Then, in the 13 th century, a
group of nomads from Central Asia would move to Eurasia, and in 1492, a voyage by Europeans would
change the lives of everyone around the world.

Historical Reasoning Processes

1. Comparison

The ability to describe, compare, contrast and evaluate two or more historical events or developments
in the same or different eras or periods, or in the same or different locations using multiple
perspectives.

2. Causation

The ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate the relationships among many historical events and
developments as both causes and effects. Also, should be able to show evidence.

3. Continuity and Change over Time

The ability to recognize, analyze, and evaluate the dynamics of history over periods of time of varying
lengths, often investigating important patterns that emerge.

Reflecting on the Prologue

 1. Comparison In what ways are Judaism, Islam, and Christianity alike?
▫ They all developed in Eurasia.
▫ They came with their own scriptures.
▫ Jesus played a major part in all of them.
2. Comparison Describe the difference between centralized and decentralized civilizations and give
an example of each.

Centralized civilizations are when the national government to rule all the states (Ex. India).
Decentralized civilizations are when the states govern the people (Ex. Japan).

3. Causation Name at least three causes for the decline of Classical civilizations.

There was a decline in trade (no access to foreign goods and markets), spread of disease
(Reduced urban populations), and attacks by outside groups (spending more money on
defense).

4. Causation Explain how trade networks caused Islam and Buddhism to spread.

Along with goods and ideas, Islam and Buddhism was spread using the trans-Saharan route and Indian
Ocean route.

5. Continuity Identify a continuity that kept southern India unified despite disruptions after the fall
of the Gupta Empire.

Southern India was held together by Hinduism and the caste system.

6. Change Identify one new historical development after 600 C.E.

Africa, Europe, and Asia were connected through Indian Ocean trade, the Silk Roads, and trans-
Saharan trade routes.