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Reading Essentials and Study Guide

netw rks

The World Before Modern Times, Prehistory?A.D. 1500

Lesson 2 New Patterns of Civilization

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What are the characteristics of a civilization?

How did patterns of civilization differ between the ancient and medieval worlds?

Reading HELPDESK

Content Vocabulary lineage group an extended family unit that has combined into a larger community

landed aristocrats an upper class whose wealth is based on land and whose power is passed on from one generation to another

sultanate a state whose military and political power is held by the sultan

feudalism political and social order that developed during the Middle Ages when royal governments were no longer able to defend their subjects; nobles offered protection and land in return for service.

Crusades military expeditions carried out by European Christians in the Middle Ages to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims

Academic Vocabulary prospered to succeed in an activity; to have economic success

traditional established; customary

revival renewed attention to, or interest in, something

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Reading Essentials and Study Guide Cont.

netw rks

The World Before Modern Times, Prehistory?A.D. 1500

Copyright ? The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.

TAKING NOTES: Categorizing

ACTIVITY As you read, use the graphic organizer below to help identify characteristics of societies in the Islamic World, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Islamic World

Characteristics

Africa

Asia

Europe

Americas

IT MATTERS BECAUSE The great states of the ancient world were mostly in decline or at the point of collapse by the beginning of the first millennium A.D. patterns of civilization began to take shape there between 400 and 1500. At the same time, new civilizations also began to appear in Japan, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These states were increasingly linked by trade. They created the first "global civilization."

The World of Islam

GUIDING QUESTION What factors contributed to the development of the Arab Empire?

The new and powerful force of Islam arose in the seventh century in the Arabian Peninsula. Islam means "submission to Allah," or God. It spread rapidly throughout the Middle East. A man named Muhammad founded the religion. He then became the spiritual and political leader of the area. After Muhammad's death, his successors--known as caliphs--organized the Arabs. They began a great expansion. Arab armies moved westward across North Africa and into Spain and eastward into the Persian Empire. There they conquered Syria and Mesopotamia.

The Umayyad dynasty took control of the Arab Empire in 661. The Umayyads moved the capital of the empire from Madinah to Damascus in Syria. Abu alAbbas, a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, overthrew the Umayyad dynasty in 750. He then set up the Abbasid dynasty. The Abbasids built a new capital city at Baghdad on the Tigris River twelve years later. The Abbasids' power was weakened by the Seljuk Turks. They fell to the Mongols in 1258.

Islamic civilization was governed by the teachings of the Quran, the sacred text of Islam. Even so, caliphs eventually came to rule more like kings than spiritual leaders. The teachings of the Quran also had an impact on Islamic society. The established roles of men and women in the society reflect this influence. Much of the prosperity, or success, of this Islamic civilization in the Middle East was based on trade. It was carried on within the Islamic world and also with China, the Byzantine Empire, India, and Southeast Asia.

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Reading Essentials and Study Guide Cont.

netw rks

The World Before Modern Times, Prehistory?A.D. 1500

Copyright ? The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.

Muslim Arabs absorbed parts of the cultures of the peoples they conquered. At the same time, they made advances of their own. They especially contributed to mathematics and the natural sciences. The Muslim world combined Islamic ideals, or values, with pre-Islamic traditions. As a result, they created original works of literature and art. Mosques from this period remain today. They are proof of the greatness of Islamic art and architecture.

Like other empires in the Middle East, the Arab Empire did not last. Even so, it made a lasting impact. Islam brought a code of law and a written language to societies that were previously without. The Arab Empire renewed the trade network that stretched from West Africa to East Asia. As a result, wealth was brought to thousands of people. The lives of millions were improved. The Arab Empire was destroyed by the end of the thirteenth century. However, it left a powerful legacy in Islam. Today Islam remains one of the world's major religions. The spread of Islam to other continents, including Africa and Asia, ensured that it would affect more than just the Middle East.

PROGRESS CHECK

Understanding Relationships How did Islam influence the rule of the Arab Empire?

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Early African Civilizations

GUIDING QUESTION What defined the economies and societies of trading states in Africa?

The mastery of agriculture gave rise to three early African civilizations--Egypt, Kush, and Axum. Later, new states emerged in different parts of Africa. Some of them were strongly influenced by Islam. Zimbabwe, which developed around 1300, played an important role in the southern half of Africa.

Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were three flourishing trading states in West Africa. Mali and Songhai were especially important. Mansa Musa was one of the most powerful kings of Mali. He ruled from 1312 to 1337. Musa doubled the size of Mali. He was a deeply religious Muslim who made a pilgrimage to Makkah. He also transformed his capital city at Timbuktu into a center of Islamic learning and culture. By the fifteenth century, the new Songhai kingdom began to surpass Mali. The Songhai Empire reached its height of power during the rule of Muhammad Ture. The chief cities of the empire prospered as never before from the salt and gold trade until the end of the sixteenth century.

Africans actively participated in regional and global trade with the Mediterranean world and across the Indian Ocean. The state-building process in sub-Saharan Africa was still in its early stages compared with the ancient civilizations of India, China, and Mesopotamia. However, in many ways these new states were as impressive and sophisticated as their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

Due to a lack of written records, we know little about early African society and culture. The relationship between king and subjects was often less rigid in African society than in other civilizations. Families, especially lineage groups (groups of

Name________________________________________ Date ________________ CLASS __________

Reading Essentials and Study Guide Cont.

netw rks

The World Before Modern Times, Prehistory?A.D. 1500

Copyright ? The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.

families all descended from a common ancestor), were basic units in African society. Religious beliefs in many African societies focused on many gods and nature spirits. Diviners were believed to have the ability to tell the future. Ancestors were believed to be closer to the gods and, therefore, had influence over people's lives. Africans produced a distinctive culture in woodcarving, sculpture, music, and architecture.

Fleets (groups of fighting ships) from Portugal began to explore southward along the coast of West Africa in the fifteenth century. These sailors and the people who sponsored them were in search of gold and slaves. However, when Portuguese ships rounded the southern coast of Africa by 1500, they began to seek domination of Indian Ocean trade. The new situation was a threat to the peoples of Africa. The new African states would be severely tested by the demands of the Europeans.

African peoples were not the only ones to confront a new threat from Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Portuguese reached India, where a new empire was struggling to emerge.

PROGRESS CHECK

Determining Importance How did trade play a role in the development of early African states?

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The Medieval Asian World

GUIDING QUESTION What were the successes and challenges of medieval Asia?

China fell into chaos after the Han dynasty ended. The new Sui dynasty was established in 581. The Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties together ruled for almost 700 years. During their rule, Chinese civilization flourished once again. A mature political system slowly developed in China. It was based on principles first put into practice during the Qin and Han dynasties. As in the Han Era, China was a monarchy with a large bureaucracy. Confucian ideals were still the basis of the system. In 1279, the Mongols overthrew the Song dynasty and established a new dynasty. The new Mongol rulers adapted to the Chinese political system. But their dynasty failed to last. A new Ming dynasty came to power in 1369.

China advanced in many ways during the thousand-year reign of these five dynasties. Industry and trade grew in size and technological capacity. Flourishing agriculture in China's countryside bolstered, or strengthened, economic success. In Chinese cities, technological developments added new products and stimulated trade. The Chinese began to make steel for swords and sickles and invented gunpowder for explosives during the Tang dynasty.

Chinese society also achieved a remarkable level of development and stability. The civil service provided a stable government bureaucracy. It also allowed for upward mobility that was almost unknown elsewhere in the world. China's achievements were unsurpassed, or unmatched, throughout the world. The Chinese civilization was the envy of its neighbors and of the world. It also influenced other states in the region, including Japan.

Name________________________________________ Date ________________ CLASS __________

Reading Essentials and Study Guide Cont.

netw rks

The World Before Modern Times, Prehistory?A.D. 1500

Copyright ? The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.

Few societies in Asia have historically been as isolated as Japan. The Japanese are cut off from the mainland by 120 miles of ocean. This distance led to little contact with the outside world during most of the country's early development. Once the Japanese became acquainted with Chinese culture, however, they were quick to take advantage of the opportunity. In a few decades, the young Japanese state adopted many features of Chinese society and culture. Major changes into the Japanese way of life were introduced and adopted.

But change was often resisted. Early Japanese rulers, such as Shotoku Taishi, a prince of the Yamato clan, tried to create a centralized political system like that of China. But the power of landed aristocrats, or landowners of the upper class, ensured a weak central authority. As a result, the society was able to use imported ideas without endangering customs, beliefs, and institutions inherited from the past.

Civilization in India faced a number of serious challenges between 500 and 1500. The ongoing threat from beyond the mountains in the northwest was one. A group of rebellious Turkish slaves founded a new Islamic state called Ghazna. Ghazna was located in present-day Afghanistan. In 997 a new leader, Mahmud of Ghazna, began to attack neighboring Hindu kingdoms to the southeast. Muslim power covered the entire plain of northern India by 1200. The Muslim state known as the sultanate (state ruled by a sultan) of Delhi was created. The impact of Islam on Indian civilization is still evident today. The Indian subcontinent is divided into mostly Hindu India and two Islamic states, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

India also faced the problem of internal rivalry. This infighting had been a part of Indian civilization for hundreds of years. After the fall of the Guptas, internal rivalries continued almost without interruption until the sixteenth century. Another challenge appeared in the religious divisions that took place throughout much of this period. First, Hindus and Buddhists were divided. Later tension arose between Hindus and Muslims. Hinduism in India was able to absorb Buddhism. Then Hinduism reasserted its dominance in Indian society. But that victory was shortlived. One result of the Turkish conquest of northern India was the introduction of Islam into the region. The new religion became a serious rival to traditional beliefs of the Indian people.

Southeast Asia sits between two oceans and two great civilizations. It has long served as a bridge linking peoples and cultures. Despite Southeast Asia's central position in the ancient world, complex societies were slow to take form there. When they did begin to appear, they were strongly influenced by the older Chinese and Indian civilizations. In Vietnam, the Chinese imposed their culture by conquest. Elsewhere, merchants and missionaries brought Indian influence. Vietnam, Angkor, Thailand, the Burmese kingdom of Pagan, and several states on the Malay peninsula and Indonesian archipelago were all heavily affected by foreign ideas. They made these ideas part of their own cultures. Yet the Southeast Asia peoples, like the Japanese, put their own unique stamp on these adopted ideas. The result was a region marked by cultural richness and diversity, yet rooted in the local culture.

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