Transcript The Silk Road

The Silk Road
And The Empires that Traded
Gupta Empire
Government
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Chandragupta relied on Kautilya’s
Arthasastara: teaches how to hold vast
empire together
Bureaucratic government, four provinces
headed by prince, local districts, officials
assess tax and enforce the law
Farmers exempt from military service,
protected by army
Building of roads and conditions on roads
(shade trees, rest houses, wells, watering
places)
Gupta Empire
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Religion
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Asoka (269 B.C.) wages war for expansion
(100,000 killed), sorrow
Studies Buddhism and rules by non-violence
and peace, religious toleration
Split in Buddhism—Mahayana (mass
religion)/ Theravada (strict)= Art
Change in Hinduism—more monotheistic:
pick Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu as incarnation
Gupta Empire
Culture/Daily life
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Greeks, Persians, Central Asians pour in
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Craftspeople and merchants in specific
districts—farmers
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Patriarchal families
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Buddhist art: Stupas, large statues, cave
temples
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Poet/Literature/Playwright: Kalidasa:
Shakuntala
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Southern Tamil poetry
Gupta Empire
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Trade
India and Med. World, Africa, Sumeria,
Precious resources: spices, diamonds, sapphires, gold, pearls, woods,
ebony, teak, sandalwood
Overland: Silk Roads (from China, W. Asia, Rome): acted as
middlemen—buy goods from China and sell to traders going to Rome
Sea: Coastal routes around rim of Arabian Sea/Persian Gulf—Rome or
sail to S. E. Asia for spices (lots of Roman gold flowing in)
India/Africa: ivory and gold—cotton
India/Arabia: horses, dates—rice and wheat
India/China: silk—cotton, parrots, elephants
Banking: lend money to merchants
Spread Indian culture (arch: Thailand, Cambodia, Java) (rel:
Hindu/Bud: Nepal, Sri Lanka, Borneo, China)
Abbasid Empire
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Government
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Iran, Iraq, Central Asia: Baghdad 762 (key
trade route)
Strong bureaucracy: chancery (letters and
documents), army business, diplomats,
taxes
Abbasid Empire
Religion
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Islam is the main belief system
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Culture controlled by the Sharia
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Ibn Rushd tries to blend Aristotle’s and
Plato’s views of philosophy with those of
Islam- criticized severely.
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Muslim philosopher recognizes the piety
of other religion’s in definition of ideal
man. P. 279
Abbasid Empire
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Culture/Daily Life
Sophisticated
Urban Centers: Damascus, Cairo,
Cordoba
Baghdad: West bank of Tigris River,
circular design, 3 walls, palace of marble
at center, mosque, marketplace (1
million people)
4 Social Classes
Abbasid Empire
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Literature/Art/Architecture
Poetry: bravery, love, generosity, Qur’an
Nature, life, love
Thousand and One Nights: stories, fairy
tales, parables, legends
Calligraphy
Architecture: cultural blending—“ideal
man”
Abbasid Empire
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Trade
Sea: Mediterranean/ Indian Ocean
Land: Silk roads
China and India—Europe and Africa
Arabic, dinar
Banks: Sakks (checks)—exchange for
cash
Byzantine Empire
Government
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330 Constantine moved capital (Constantinople)—
could respond to tribes, rich eastern provinces “New
Rome”
395 officially divided, still see themselves as Roman
emperors
527 Justinian throne of e. empire
Wins back almost all territory that Rome lost
Absolute power of Church and State
Justinian Code: regulate through Roman and new
laws
Attacks: Germanic Tribes, Persians, Muslims, :
shrinks to just tip of Anatolia
Byzantine Empire
Religion
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Split in Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic
Traditions in East built on patriarchs
Dispute over use of icons—excommunication
1054: Excommunication: pope and patriarch
excommunicated each other
Schism: Latin vs. Greek, pope vs. group authority,
pope over king vs. emperor over patriarch, not
married vs. married, no divorce vs. divorce
Spread to Russia: Cyrillic alphabet
Byzantine Empire
Culture and Daily Life
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Sharing with Roman traditions, but Greeks/ E.
Church
Constantinople: 14 mile stone wall, deep moat
Church building: Hagia Sophia “Holy Wisdom”
Palaces, baths, aqueducts, law courts, schools,
hospitals
Mese “Middle Way”: public squares, merchants:
trade goods
Hippodrome: chariot races and circus acts
Plague: 542-700, kills huge percentage of
population
Byzantine Empire
Trade
 Constantinople becomes the Mese (middle
way). Connected Asia, Africa, and Europe
 Hippodrome offers chariot races and
performance acts to attract merchants
Tang & Song Dynasties
Government
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Centralized government: destroy rival kings, consolidate power
Defeated nomads for a time—retreat into C. Asia
Colonize: Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam: nearly present day size
Mandate still in effect
Bureaucracy: Civil Service based on Confucianism (reverence, respect,
generosity, truthfulness, diligence, kindness) schools to study, mostly upper
class= able, intelligent, capable governing class
Taxes: run bureaucracy and army/ farmers owned crops, peasants one month
labor yearly: roads, canals, irrigation ditches, expand great wall
Han problems: plots divided up for children (can’t grow enough, borrow from
large w/ high rates—can’t pay, take land), large landowners don’t pay taxes,
less tax $, higher taxes: gap between rich and poor
518-618: Grand Canal (Yellow and Yangtze), rebuild Great Wall, roads, lower
taxes, redistribute land
China smaller under Song (Jurchen take North), capital at Hangzhou
Tang & Song Dynasties
Religion
 Confucianism and Daoism main belief
systems.
 Li Bo- poet writes about Confucian virtues
 Paintings have Daoist influence-natural
beauty.
Tang & Song Dynasties
Culture/Daily Life
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Agriculture promoted as most important “No duty is
greater”
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Commerce still important: government monopolies:
salt, coins, iron, silk
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Assimilation: making people part of Chinese culture:
farmers settle in new areas, intermarry, schools for
Confucianism, written history (Sima Qian)
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100 million under Song
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New rice from Vietnam
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Gentry Class: mobile society, moved to cities, scholarofficial class (position, not land)
Tang & Song Dynasties
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Art
Wealth, education, urban culture=
artistic creativity
Poetry, art
Daoism poetry: Li Bo, Du Fu
Painting: nature (black
Tang & Song Dynasties
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Trade
Land: Silk Roads, later loose
Sea: sailing technology, magnetic
compass, port cities on coastline
Export Buddhism: Japan, Korea,
Vietnam