MEDIEVAL HISTORY NOTES: INDIA AND CHINA
Section 1: Golden Ages of China
I. Introduction
*-In spite of its name, the Silk Road was not a single road. It was a long chain of connecting trade routes across Central Asia. These routes stretched about 4,000 miles, all the way from China to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
*-For centuries, camels, horses, and donkeys carried traders and their precious goods along the Silk Road. Most of the goods they carried were small and very valuable. One—a beautiful, lightweight fabric called silk—was so important that it gave the route its name.
II. The Tang Dynasty
-China covers much of East Asia. It is an immense land with a varied landscape.
-In the east are lowland and coastal regions. Fertile valleys lie along the Chang and Huang rivers.
-To the north and west of these farmlands are great deserts and mountainous regions, including the Gobi Desert in the north and the Plateau of Tibet in the west.
-Under the Tang, the land under Chinese control stretched westward into Central Asia. Peoples from these distant areas and traders traveling along the Silk Road introduced new ideas—as well as new goods—to China.
*-In return, the Chinese traded their tea, jade, ivory, ceramics, and silk. Chinese ideas and inventions also spread to other nations. Such exchanges helped China become an important center of trade and culture.
-Throughout its long history, China has been ruled by many different dynasties. For example, the Han dynasty ruled China from 206 B.C. to A.D. 220 (426 years).
-After the collapse of the Han dynasty, China broke up into several kingdoms, but Chinese culture survived. Buddhism spread throughout China, and the arts and learning continued to develop.
-In 581, the Sui dynasty came to power. The Sui ruled only for only 37 years until 618, but, under their three rulers-Wendi, Yangdi, and Gongdi- they united the north and south of China for the first time in centuries.
-In 618, the Sui dynasty was overthrown. The Tang came to power and ruled China for almost 300 years (289 years). The Tang dynasty was a golden age of political and cultural achievement.
-Under Tang rule, China grew in both area and population. Its capital, Chang’an, was the world’s largest city at that time. Historians estimate that it was home to about one million people.
*-Tang leaders continued projects that had been started under the Sui. One of the largest of these projects was the creation of a huge canal.
*-The Grand Canal was a waterway that linked the Huang River and the Chang River. At more than 1,000 miles long, it is still the longest canal ever built.
*-The Grand Canal helped join northern and southern China and made it possible to supply the capital with large amounts of grain grown in the south.
*-The greatest ruler of the Tang dynasty was Tang Taizong. He began his military career at the age of 16 and helped his father establish the Tang dynasty.
-During his rule, from 626 to 649, he was not only a successful general, but also a scholar and historian. In addition, Tang Taizong was a master of calligraphy, the art of beautiful handwriting.
*-Later in his reign, Tang Taizong grew tired of war. He had been studying the teachings of Confucius. Confucius wanted to bring peace and stability to China. To create this kind of society, Confucius said, all people must treat one another with respect.
-Tang Taizong began to reform the government according to Confucius’ ideas. The Tang government hired officials trained in Confucian philosophy. It also began land reform, giving more land to the peasants who farmed it.
III. The Song Dynasty
-After 850, China’s control of its westernmost lands weakened. Then fighting among different groups within China ended the Tang dynasty, and a new period, called the Five Dynasties (or Ten Kingdoms Period in the South) occurred. Order was restored about 50 years later by the Song, the dynasty that ruled China from 960 to 1279 (319 years).
-At the beginning of the Song dynasty, the Chinese capital was located at Kaifeng, along the Grand Canal. After the Song lost control of regions to the north, they moved the capital to Hangzhou, near the coast.
-The Song rulers made many advances in government. They expanded the merit system of hiring government officials. Under this system, officials had to pass tests and prove their ability to do the work.
-Before the Song, officials came from rich and powerful families. They were allowed to keep their positions for life even if they did not do a good job. Hiring people based on their abilities, rather than on their wealth or social position, greatly improved the Chinese government.
*-During the Song dynasty, new strains of rice and better irrigation methods helped peasants grow more rice. These two improvements allowed farmers to produce two crops a year instead of one. Food surpluses meant that more people could follow other trades or pursue the arts.
-Chinese rulers supported many different forms of art, including music and poetry. Some rulers also prized graceful art objects, such as those made from porcelain, a white and very hard type of ceramic.
*-Because it was first made in China, porcelain is often called china. Because the Chinese produced the best porcelain in the world, it became an important item for trade.
-Another item of great beauty and value was silk. Silk comes from the cocoons of caterpillars called silkworms. For a long time, only the Chinese knew how to make silk. Even after others learned the method, Chinese silk was still the highest quality in the world.
-One of the historic Song inventions was a new way to print books. For centuries, the Chinese had carved the characters of each page onto a wooden block. They brushed ink over the carving and laid a piece of paper on it to print the page.
-Printers could make many copies of a book using these blocks, but carving the block for each page took a long time. Around 1045, Bi Sheng developed a printing method that used movable type. He made many separate characters out of clay and rearranged them to make each page.
*-During the Song dynasty, books became less expensive. In earlier times, only the rich could buy them. With more people able to afford books, the number and kinds of books increased. More people, including women, learned to read and write.
*-They helped to spread knowledge throughout China.
-This Song saying reflects the new importance of books: “To enrich your family, no need to buy good land. Books hold a thousand measures of grain. For an easy life, no need to build a mansion: In books are found houses of gold.”
Section 2: The Great Mughal Empire in India
I. Introduction
-Even before Timur invaded India, people there had heard of this Mongol conqueror. He had destroyed entire cities and their populations in other parts of Asia.
-In 1398, he and his troops marched into northern India, in search of fabled riches. They ruined fields of crops and quickly captured Delhi, the capital city.
-Timur and his troops killed many people and took hundreds of slaves. They also carried away great treasures—pearls, golden dishes, rubies, and diamonds.
-For a brief time, Delhi became part of the huge empire that Timur controlled from his capital, Samarkand. But Timur was more interested in conquering new lands than in governing those he had defeated.
-Not long after the Mongols invaded Delhi, they departed. Once again, a sultan, or Muslim ruler, took control of the city. But Delhi did not regain its command over the region.
II. India’s Geography
*-The triangular Indian subcontinent forms the southernmost part of central Asia. A mountain range called the Himalayas stretches across the north of India. Although these mountains have helped to isolate India from lands to the north, the passes through the Himalayas have allowed some conquerors from the north to enter the subcontinent.
-To the west of India is the Arabian Sea, and to the east is the Bay of Bengal.
*-A large plain lies to the south of the Himalayas. It is dominated by major river systems, including the Indus and Ganges rivers. These rivers are fed by melting mountain snows, and much of the land here is well suited to farming.
-Farther to the south are highlands and plains.
III. The Delhi Sultanate
-The Mongols led by Timur were not the first people to invade India. Long before they came, India’s riches had tempted others.
-Muslim invaders began raiding the Indian subcontinent around A.D. 1000. From 1206 to 1526, a series of sultans controlled northern India as well as parts of present-day Bangladesh and Pakistan.
-This period of India’s history is called the Delhi Sultanate—after the capital city, Delhi.
-At the time of the Muslim invasion, the region was experiencing a revival of the ancient Hindu religion. This revival had begun about A.D. 600.
*-Hindus accept many gods, but they believe that all of these gods are just different aspects of one supreme being. Hindus also believe that social classes are part of the natural order of the universe.
-In India at this time, the Hindu caste system—a strict system of social classes—controlled everyday life. Castes determined a person’s job and status.
*-At the top of the caste were priests, teachers, and judges. Warriors were second. Then came farmers and merchants. The fourth class included craftspeople and laborers.
-Finally, there was a group of poor, powerless people who were called untouchables.
-The Muslims who controlled the Delhi Sultanate did not become part of Hindu society. Muslim culture is based on beliefs that are very different from those of Hindu culture.
*-These differences caused conflicts between the two groups. In fact, religious disagreements still divide the Hindus and Muslims who live in India today.
-In 1526, a Mongol prince named Babur took advantage of the weakened Delhi Sultanate. Babur was a Muslim descendant of the Mongol conqueror Timur. Even though Babur and his troops were outnumbered almost ten to one, they attacked the sultan’s army.
-The sultan’s forces had 100 elephants to help them fight. Babur’s troops had none. But the Mongols had cannons—and they were better fighters.
-The prince defeated the sultan and went on to control the capital city, Delhi. A new period of India’s history would now begin.
IV. The Mughal Empire
**-Babur founded the celebrated Mughal Empire whose Muslim rulers controlled India until the 1700s. Mughal is another word for Mongol.
-About 25 years after Babur’s death, the empire came under the control of Babur’s grandson. His name was Akbar, and he would become the greatest Mughal leader of India.
-When Akbar came to power, he was only 13 years old. He grew up to become a talented soldier. Through conquest, treaties, and marriage, he greatly expanded the Mughal Empire.
*-Akbar also encouraged the arts. He set up studios for painters at his court. He supported poets. Akbar also brought together scholars from different religions for discussions. He consulted with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians.
*-Although he was a Muslim, Akbar gained the support of his Hindu subjects through his policy of toleration. He allowed Hindus to practice their religion freely, and he ended unfair taxes that had been required of non-Muslims.
*-Akbar created a strong central government, and he gave government jobs to qualified people, whatever their religion or caste.
*-These policies helped Hindus and Muslims live together more peacefully. They also strengthened Mughal power in India.
-In 1605, when Akbar died, most of northern India was under his control. Akbar had ruled the Mughal Empire for 49 years, earning himself the nickname “the Great.”
-During this long reign, his system of government had become firmly established in India. This system allowed the empire to continue developing and expanding for the next 100 years—even under rulers who were less capable than Akbar the Great.
-More than 100 years after Akbar’s death, the Mughal Empire began to fall apart. Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan, became emperor in 1628. Jahan spent a fortune on extravagant buildings.
-The most famous of these is the Taj Mahal, a tomb for the emperor’s wife Mumtaz Mahal.
-When his wife died, Jahan was overcome with grief. The two had been constant companions, and Jahan had asked his wife’s opinion on many issues. After she died, Jahan set out to build a tomb “as beautiful as she was beautiful.”
*-Jahan’s son, Aurangzeb, spent still more money on expensive wars. He also reversed Akbar’s policies toward Hindus. Aurangzeb tried to force Hindus to convert to the Muslim faith, and he began to tax them again.
-As a result, many Hindus rebelled, and fighting the rebels cost still more money. After Aurangzeb died in 1707, the empire split into small kingdoms.
-But to this day, people from around the globe journey to see his mother’s tomb—a lasting reminder of the once great Mughal Empire.
ESSAY QUESTION: 7 GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF SONG
-The seven greatest accomplishments of the Song Dynasty were
-the expansion of the merit system
-the invention of paper money
-the magnetic compass
-use of movable type in printing
-gunpowder
-the expansion of the trade in silk and porcelain
-advances in agriculture that included the discovery of new strains of rice and better irrigation methods which allowed farmers to grow two crops per year.
-landscape paintings
-crossbow
-smallpox vaccine
-water clock