Chapter 7. The World, 500–1450

Byzantine Empire. The eastern Roman state, centred on Constantinople, preserved Roman law and Greek learning and was a centre of Orthodox Christianity [5].

The Islamic world. Muhammad began preaching in Arabia around 610 CE; the Hijra to Medina (622 CE) begins the Islamic calendar. After his death in 632, the caliphates expanded from Spain to Central Asia. The Umayyad caliphate (661–750) was followed by the Abbasid caliphate (750–1258), whose capital Baghdad became a centre of science, medicine, mathematics and translation; Mongol forces captured Baghdad in 1258 [14].

China. The Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties saw economic growth, advances in printing and technology, and expanded trade. The Ming dynasty followed from 1368 [13].

The Mongols. Genghis Khan united the Mongols in 1206. His successors built the largest contiguous land empire in history, linking Asia and Europe, restoring trade routes and also causing great destruction in conquest. The Mongol Yuan dynasty ruled China from 1271 [16].

Medieval Europe. After Rome’s western collapse, feudalism, the manorial system and the Catholic Church shaped society. Charlemagne was crowned emperor in 800. Magna Carta (1215) limited royal power in England. The Crusades (from 1095) brought contact and conflict with the Islamic world. The Black Death (1347–1351) killed a large share of Europe’s population and had far-reaching social effects [5].

Africa. Powerful states and trading networks developed, including Ghana, Mali and Songhai in West Africa, Aksum and later Ethiopia, the Swahili city-states of the East African coast and Great Zimbabwe. Mansa Musa of Mali made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, displaying the empire’s wealth from the gold trade [5].

The Americas. The Maya built city-states with writing and astronomy; the Aztec (Mexica) founded Tenochtitlan around 1325; the Inca built a large Andean empire connected by roads, with cultural and administrative systems that did not use alphabetic writing [5].

Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. Japan developed a feudal system under shoguns; Korean and Southeast Asian kingdoms, such as the Khmer Empire, built distinctive cultures [5].

Review: Which empire did Genghis Khan found, and in what year did he unite the Mongols? (Answer: the Mongol Empire; 1206.)