Notes from "Big History"

Chapter 10 on "One Afro-Eurasia"

1000-1500 CE:
Agrarian civilizations controlled only 15% of the world in 1000
CE. The rest was the territory of barbarians

Area Controlled by . . .
Mongols
25 million km2
7-8C Islamic Empires 10 million km2
Han Dynasty China
6 million km2
Roman Empire
4 million km2
Inca
2 million km2

The Rise and Spread of the Mongols:

Not all negative: they incorporated (modern)
ideas/values like religious tolerance, diplomatic
immunity, free trade, international paper currency
Very few sources, other than The Secret History of the
Mongols, written soon after Genghis Khans death, p. 170 (A)
An animal-based society (cows, horses, goats, sheep, camels), p. 170
Need to trade or raid for iron (stirrups, bridles), p. 170
The story of Genghis Khans 13C upbringing and rise to power, p. 171
Religious tolerance, pp. 171-172
Army = loyalty to unit rather than tribe, leadership by merit, p. 172
Historiography: GK encouraged horror stories to facilitate conquest, p. 172
Succession crisis last for 10 years after GKs sons death, with his daughter-in-law ruling as
regent in the meanwhile until grandson Kublai Khan was selected, p. 172-173
Unification = increased trade, ease of travel, p. 173
Connections disease. In 13-14C, China lost its population and Europe from Black
Death, which led to the Mongols decline, pp. 174-175
Mongols, then Ming, in China:
Kublai Khans establishment of the Yuan Dynasty in China, 1294-1368, p. 176
Yuan Dynasty: Beijing capital, demotion of Confucians, rise of merchants, new
technologies, p. 176
Ming Dynasty: distaste for all things foreign, revival of Confucian exams, population
growth, beginnings of the Forbidden City, Zheng Hes super fleets, p. 177
China withdraws to focus on internal rebuilding and recovery from losses suffered under
the Mongols, p. 177-178

Mongols and afterwards in the Islamic World:

Arguments that Islamic civilization was the worlds most creative and dynamic civilization
from 1000-1500 CE p. 178
o Doubled in size: + India, Africa, Eastern Europe, SE Asia
o Elite Persianized-Turkic court culture (Suleyman)
o Hub of an expansive commercial network
Arts & Sciences, p. 178
Agricultural exchange was the most dramatic before the Columbian Exchange, p. 178 (B)
Mongols sacked Baghdad, converted to Islam in the late 13th century, p. 179
Ibn-Battuta, p. 180
Rise of Islamic trading city-states along the eastern coast of Africa, p. 180
Spread of Islam throughout Africa, as African leaders grew rich exporting slaves, gold, and
salt. P. 180
Islam = the rise of slave trade, p. 181 (C)

Europe from 1000-1500

Increased agriculture and population growth, p. 182
Crusades, p. 182
Rulers/clerics cant maintain control over bankers/merchants, p. 182 (D)
Lots of warfare among states, urban self-government, p. 182
Marco Polos fabulous tales of China/Mongols, p. 183
Europe gained more than any other area of the world from the Mongol commercial
system. By trading with the Chinese, Europeans acquired the tools they would use to gain
dominance after 1500.... p. 183
Learning expanded, especially due to lands regained from Muslims (Spain, southern Italy),
recovery of classical texts, discovery of papermaking, printing-press, p. 184
Loss of government monopoly on power as private people could own guns (power) and read
books (knowledge), and societies became more commercialized (wealth): This set Latin
Europe apart from other Eurasian societies, where more controlling governments were
more nearly able to enforce traditional patterns and conduct. pp. 184-185
Great quote on p. 186 about how the modern age really begins with 1000-1500 Afro-Eurasian
exchange networks. (E)
Interesting Unanswered Questions at the end of the chapter, pp. 186-187:
What is the meaning of feudalism?
Can of 1% of the worlds male population be descended from Genghis Khan? (F)
Why did the Ming Dynasty put an end to the Treasure Fleets? Discounting Gavin Menzies
claim that the Chinese found the New World first. (G)

(A) p. 169

(B) p. 178

(C) p. 181

(D) p. 182

(E) p. 186

(F) p. 187

(G) p. 187

(B) p. 111

(B) p. 111

(C) p. 113

(D) p. 113

(E) p. 114

(F) p. 120

(G) p. 122

(H) pp. 124-125