01:506:201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Indian Ocean Trade, Borjigin, Religious Art
17 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Chapter 15 Notes
The West and the Changing World Balance
1. Introduction
1. 1400 – world in period of transition
1. Downfall of Arab caliphate
2. Spread of Mongols
3. Who would take new international trade role? Maybe
China?
2. But…Enter the Europeans – finally, they’ve been behind everyone
for 8000 years
1. Italy, Spain, Portugal took leadership role
2. Americas couldn’t respond to European invasions
3. Key question – why did different civilizations react differently?
1. This could be a key question – notice the word differences
1. This class just loves to compare civilizations
2. The Decline of the Old Order
1. 1200 – Middle East run by Byzantine Empire (North) – Arab
Empire (South)
1. But…Turks took over Byzantines in 1453, 1258 Mongols -
Caliph
2. Social and Cultural Change in the Middle East
1. Religious leaders gained power over artistic leaders in Arab
world
1. New piety – think about orthodox Muslims today
2. Religious art themes
3. Rationalism of Greece (Hellenism) now seen as bad,
a threat
1. …don’t think this is just Arab world, Europeans
getting scared of logic/rationalism as well
2. Economic shifts
1. As centralized power slows, provincial leaders
(landlords) get more power
1. Hmmm…what an interesting pattern I’ve never
seen before
2. But…bad things resulted
1. Lower agricultural yield
2. Less taxes
3. Less trade
4. Indian Ocean trade still strong
3. A gradual decline, not sudden like in Rome
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
4. But…even though politically weak, other political
areas took more power
1. Ottoman Turks took over control – more
powerful than before
3. A Power Vaccum in International Leadership
1. Ottoman Turks not an international leader like Islamic
caliphate
2. Mongols provided next global leader
1. Encouraged interregional trade
2. Exchanged technology/ideas
3. End of empire turned to seaborne trade, as land trade
less protected
4. Chinese Thrust and Withdrawal
1. Ming “brilliant” dynasty took over 1368-1644
1. pushed out Mongols first
2. re-established tributary links with Southeast Asian
states
2. State-sponsored trade expeditions
1. Admiraly Zhenghe – 1405-1433 led vast, unparalleled
fleet
1. Former eunuch – why do you think leaders like
eunuchs for advisors?
2. Brought fleet of 28,000 troops – scared the
willies out of local leaders
2. Eventually brought back – threatened the Confucian
bureaucrats
1. Remember – they don’t like merchants having
power
2. Other reasons – cost
1. Money better spent building Beijing,
fighting Mongols
3. What if Chinese kept trading? Lost chance to be world
power
1. Dainty little European ships no match
2. Followed Chinese pattern of spending money
internally, practically
1. Not like West, where power is judged by
expansion
4. Instead – worked on infrastructure – population increased,
manufacturing improved
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
