Ch. 11, 12 and 13

Chapter 11 was about the spread of Islam to include the top half of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.  It never took hold in India because of the strong connection to polytheistic Hinduism that the people maintained.

We also read about the establishment of the Ottoman Empire as a result of the spread of Islam.  What continues to surprise me when I read this material is how much of the world is divided, and how many people have been killed because of religion.  I can more easily understand power and greed, but it seems to me that spirituality should be at the core of all religions, and I believe the founders would prefer that people not fight wars to spread their message.  I guess it IS a big power trip, though, because it becomes less about worshipping God(s), and more about telling people how to think and how to behave.

At least the Mongols let people have their own religions, and didn’t interfere much.  Nor did they adopt anyone else’s religion, but were content to maintain their belief in the connection to nature and the “great God.”

Chapter 12 focused on the nomadic people, and how they affected the world at large.  This group of people occupied land that was not suitable for agriculture, but was appropriate for grazing animals, and therefore their main “crop” was domesticated animals.  They used the meat, skins, milk and blood for making products for their own use, and to trade.  They also bread horses, which were in high demand for use in agriculture and war.  The pastoral people set up large encampments where they could graze their herds, and then moved on when the environment could no longer support the grazing. 

The nomadic people often traded with communities surrounding them.  They also offered them “protection money” to protect them from encroaching communities, other nomadic people, and themselves.  A group of Mongols, eventually led by Chinggis Khan finally just took over Asia and the neighboring territory, from west of Mongolia, gradually overtaking most of Eurasia, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea, and the area south of Siberia and north of India and Vietnam.

While the pastoral communities were distinct among themselves, they shared many characteristics.  Women, for instance, were involved in caring for the smaller animals (sheep and goats), and they were also adept at riding horses.  Their opinions were valued in political discussions, even though it was only men who held any political positions of authority.  Widows were allowed to remarry, and married women were allowed to initiate divorce.

The biggest difference in nomadic societies was their ability to be mobile.  They set up large communities that were able to be deconstructed as the need arose, and the entire group was able to move on depending on the environmental conditions.  They carefully planned their movement based on the availability of land that would support the grazing of their animals.  They did have a social hierarchy, based on who had the biggest “flock” of animals.

Since they were adept at riding horses, they could make quick get-aways.  The fact that they did not own property allowed them to plunder agricultural communities and then pack up and move on if necessary.  Therefore, the established cities were afraid of them, and paid them the protection money in order to be safe from invasion.

Climate change necessitated the acquisition of additional land, and since aggression was their mode of moving forward, they used this means to handle the problem.  A great military leader, Chinggis Khan arose who was able to organize the Mongol people, and they proceeded to make their way across China, eventually taking territory from Southeast Asia to central Europe.  They became the “largest land-based empire in all of human history.

After almost a hundred years, the empire collapsed, but not before the Mongol people brought many innovations to the areas they had conquered.  They were very fond of the arts, and rewarded merchants and others that had not been favored by the Chinese.  After the collapse of the Mongolian empire, the Chinese got themselves back together and became unified once more.

Chapter 13 was all about the developments that took place in the 15^th century.  The time was characterized by many different cultures, with agricultural types with tribes living in Australia, the Americas and Southern Africa.  China and Europe developed naval abilities, and were able to trade more freely and potentially acquire more cities to add to their empires.  China, however, abandoned the seafaring idea, which is quite odd, as they had the capability of creating monstrous ocean-bound vessels.  Sea travel was a boon to Europe, as it made travel much faster than traversing by land.

In the Americas, the Aztec and Inca Empires were flourishing, the Inca society being much larger than the Aztecs.  Both were military empires, but each ruled in a very different way.  The Aztecs left their conquests alone without a means to integrate them into the larger culture.  The Incas had a bureaucratic system, and the people were grouped into hierarchical units that were headed by officials that were approved and supervised by a governor or the emperor.