Transcript Lecture, 10 September

Tour of the World
Part I
Global Trade
Sub-Saharan Africa, Islam, India
1000-1300
Worlds Together: 1000-1300
• These three centuries witnessed the slow
but steady connections between regions of
the world that had been fragmented and
disconnected since the fall of the Roman
Empire (476 CE)
• Like it had in the ancient world (c. 600
BCE-500 CE), commercial exchange
was the driving force in forging these farflung connections
Maritime Revolution
• New instruments like the compass
(originating in China) and new methods of
shipbuilding made it safer to travel by sea
• Ships could travel over large areas much
more quickly and could carry much larger
cargoes of goods than overland routes
• As mariners in the Indian Ocean and the
South China Seas became more proficient
they increased the area where they would
sail
Entrepôts
• From the French word for “warehouse”
your textbook uses this word to describe
the large “trading hubs” where
commercial activity took place
• Cities like Cairo, Quilon, and Quanzhou
were important not only as centres of
economic exchange, but also of cultural,
religious, legal, and intellectual exchange
Sub-Saharan Africa
• Western Africa was drawn into trade with
the North Africa across the Sahara Desert
• Increased trade in salt and gold resulted in
the increasing political power of the
Kingdom of Mali (c. 1100) which came to
dominate Western Africa
• A hybrid culture of traditional African
religion mixed with Islam
Mansa Musa (c. 1300-1332)
• Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage
(hajj) to Mecca in 13251326 showed the Islamic
world the splendour of his
kingdom
• Note how he is depicted in
this European Atlas –
bearing gold – and
showing the integration of
this kingdom with the rest
of the world
Eastern Africa
• The eastern coast of Africa was brought
into the fold of the Indian Ocean trade
routes
• Like in the west, increased trade saw the
rise of dynasties, like Great Zimbabwe,
that dominated the politics of the area
• Their main commodities for trade were
gold, ivory, and slaves
Ruins of Great Zimbabwe
Islam
• Islam spread quickly from its base in
Arabia during the life of Mohammed (570632) to the Iberian Peninsula in the west
and India in the East within a century after
his death
• Wherever Islam entered they brought
customs from around the Muslim world
(Arabic language) and absorbed local
customs
The Spread of Islam to 750
Five Pillars of Islam
• Shahadah: creed, “there is no God but
Allah”
• Salah: call to prayer five times per day
• Zakah: giving charity to the poor
• Fasting: during the Holy Month of
Ramadan, and at other times
• Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca, the borthplace
of Islam
Political disintegration
• While earlier rulers had dreamed of a politically
united Islam, the commerce and migrations of
this period made that dream impossible
• The split between Shia and Sunni Muslims
became the basis for fierce struggles for
dynastic control in different areas
• By 1300, there are three main areas (from west
to east) the Maghreb, the central core (Egypt,
Syria, Arabian Peninsula), the east (Central
Asia, Iran, eastern Iraq)
Divisions in Islam
Shia
• Argue that leadership
in Islam should only
go to Mohammed’s
relations (namely Ali,
his niece’s husband)
Sunni
• Argue that leadership
is temporal and see
Abu Bakr as the
rightful heir to the
caliphate
Islam and Trade
• Despite political troubles (or perhaps
because of them) trade flourished
• A common religion, a common
language, and common set of laws
facilitated trade with in the Arabic world
and prompted traders to initiate contacts
with far non-Muslims as well
India
• Around the year 1000, India was very
wealthy – but split between chiefs known
as rajas
• Between 1000 and 1200 there were a
series of invasions by Muslim Turks to
control the northern regions of India
• In 1206 the Delhi Sultanate was founded
an Islamic dynasty that would expand and
contract many times until its fall in 1526
Religious Diversity and Tolerance
• The Islamic Sultans ruled over a an
incredibly large and diverse population
that comprised many Hindus and also
some Buddhists
• The Turk rulers also borrowed from the
culture and learning of Persia
• Continued the tradition of India as a
cultural mosaic
Hindu Temples
Conclusion
• These three areas, sub-Saharan Africa,
the Islamic World, and India formed the
core of new global connections based
primarily on trade and commerce
• Next time we will look at two important
areas on the periphery: China and
Europe – as well as the Americas