AP World History: Regional and Transregional Interactions

The Byzantine Empire developed out of the remains of the Roman Empire, maintaining the legacy associated with Rome but with a changing culture, including the adoption of Christianity, and shifting from Latin to Greek. The Muslim world was united under the Caliph.

The main goal of post-classical states was to reestablish the strong central control that classical empires had lost through nomadic invasions.

New empires were centered around major rising religions. Religion affected the values of the government and served as a unifying force among the people. Examples include Christianity in the Byzantine Empire, the Muslim world unified under the caliph, and Buddhism in China.

New governments drew on older traditions. For example, the Muslim empire followed some Persian tradition. Mongol leadership also diffused across Asia under the conquest of Genghis Khan.

The Mayans had a system based on monumental building, wars, and ritual blood-letting. Many city-states existed. The Incas and Aztecs developed long-distance trading networks.

States exchanged knowledge of mathematics and inventions like paper for writing. They also exchanged religious ideas.

Trade was increasing and expanding during the post-classical era, influenced by increasing productivity and interconnectedness.

New techniques such as irrigation and forest-clearing made more land suitable for farming. In Japan, a new heavy plow allowed for increased production.

The Chinese began to use Vietnamese rice because it was easier to cultivate.

Textiles were a main product of India and silk and porcelain were important exports in China. Production was high during this period for prosperous Indian Ocean trade. In China, production entered a pre-industrial era, with porcelain, silk, and steel overseen by the state.

Some urban areas were weakened by enemy invasion or deadly plagues. Decreases in agricultural production also caused some areas to decline.

Areas with high productivity who took part in trade were able to prosper and expand.

Areas with high productivity who took part in trade were able to prosper and expand.

In China, the forced laborers became free peasants who provided most of the labor for the empire.

Slaves had been used widely in the Roman and Greek Empire and slavery continued in the Muslim Empire. In India, the Caste system of labor classification continued.

In the Byzantine Empire, women often held important government positions but were still considered inferior to men. In China, women were considered subordinate to their husbands and were involved in household chores and silk production. During this period, women did gain more independence. In many societies, the social order became a feudal system with lords and laboring peasants.

In the Ottoman Empire, the use of Janissaries began, Christian children recruited to become soldiers. In Egypt, the mamluks were a class of slave soldiers.

Although the new state religions declared spiritual equality for women, they were not always treated equally. In Islam, women had no active role in religion or government.

In the classical era and before, trade mainly existed within the empires. Greek, Roman, Persian, and Indian states grew agricultural produce and created other material goods that were traded throughout the city states and regions of the empire. This was usually accomplished through caravans, carts, crude roads, raw manpower, and ships on seas and rivers when available. This contained the goods within cultures and prevented interactions between neighboring people. In the post-Classical Era, the Silk Road opened up to connect the East and West with a superhighway for production and cultural exchange. Moreover, new ocean and sea routes were established as technology improved and wind patterns were charted. Overall, trade networks became farther-reaching, faster, and larger.

The development of the compass and plotted wind patterns gave travelers better sailing abilities and confidence to make longer routes. Ship improvements came, too. Multiple masts, larger sails, better rudders, and thicker hulls all gave the ships more sailing power and greater storage. On land, continuous animal breeding and the horseshoe made land treks faster. Governments also invested in exploratory expeditions to develop shorter routes to desired nations. China sought out other nations, and many European states searched for a shorter route to the East. They also funded trade organizations, developed trade infrastructure, and supported production activities. Politically, they established relations for trade and fought for trade routes with aggressive nations. Merchants exploded in population size and also carried with them the cultures of the world. Languages, art, technologies, and religions were all spread by the merchants in this time.

Pastoral groups, if unable to remain isolated, became organized and run by larger trade groups as a part of the empires. Their land was organized and bettering farming techniques were used to grow more food for trade purposes, beyond the normal nourishment of the village or city. Nomadic groups sometimes became merchants themselves, due to their mobile cultural and familiarity with the routes. Other times, they provided stations along routes for travelers to stop and get supplies. For example, they would station themselves at intervals along the Silk Road in Eurasia and the Sand Road in Africa.

The routes became wider and longer. More travelers passed through than before, and the sea routes and roads spread to farther-reaching areas of the world.

The sea routes across the Mediterranean Sea continued to an even greater extent, along with others around European coasts. Land routes within empires were maintained as well. The most notable new routes that emerged were the trip around the tip of Africa, land routes across the Sahara to West Africa, the Silk Road, routes across the Indian Ocean and along the coast, and an emerging route West across the Pacific Ocean. New cities that were formally established include Hanoi, Kyoto, Manila, Marrakesh, Cape Town, Timbuktu, Baghdad, Sofala, Kilwa, and many colonized cities in the Americas.

Technologies like the compass, sextant, knowledge of winds, better cartography, larger and sturdier ships, multiple masts, and cartography all aided travelers and merchants at sea. Better plows and better agricultural understanding such as the three-field system increased food production and thus populations. Lastly, continuously improving production capabilities in pottery, jewels, clothing, and paper all gave a greater desire to trade.

Governments' support for industry and the organization of production and labor all made states' economies more efficient. Stable populations and agricultural surpluses allowed people focus more on economic production rather than mere survival. Silver and gold loads that some countries found provided further capital for financing raw materials and material production.

The main axial roads ran from the Northwest in Germany and Britain to the Southeast and the Mediterranean Sea, where it connect to Africa below, the Silk Road to the East, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast. Smaller roads branched off in all directions. State royalty funded the establishment of these networks. Guilds were formed between among merchants for their own self-interests in protection, communication, and support. For example, the Hanseatic League formed in Northern Europe between many states and cities.

Migration tended to follow the paths that merchants took. Non-trading societies followed and populated the city states that sprang up in the colonies and regions of economic interest. Communities also mirrored the major land routes and coastal routes that merchants used, as to offer stations for stopping on the long journey.

New roads cut across previously unused tracts of land. Cities and housing took up grounds once left to nature. Natural resources such as mining, fishing, and quarrying depleted and relocated certain raw materials from the Earth. New focused agriculture required deforestation, irrigation, and changes in the soil's nutrient balances.

At first, language differences hindered the development of permanent trade relations between cultures. However, the increasing frequency of merchants gradually disseminated languages along the trade routes. Many people became bilingual or trilingual. More Africans and Asians learned the European language than vice versa. For example, Swahili emerged as a hybrid of Arabic and Bantu.

The trade networks linked centers of major economic growth and resource production. This included East China, South China, India, North Russia, the Middle East, Mali, and various European States. Smaller roads branched off from the main Silk Road and Sand Road. Sea routes also achieved these paths of trade along the coasts of Eurasia and Africa. Longer and less busy sea routes connected Europe to the Americas and other islands.

Muslim trade networks embraced the emerging routes along the Silk and Sand Roads. The once isolated religious state in Arabia spread its culture, beliefs, language, and goods to Africa and Asia. Millions were converted along the trade routes to Islam, including many kings and city states in Africa. The belief system had broad but simple appeal to the many searching for religion in the vacuum after the Roman Empire and Gupta India Empire. The Muslim sailing techniques and technologies both furthered the state's expansion to new territories and made the culture popular among European's eager to use the knowledge themselves. Sufis, too, traveled along the established trade routes to disseminate the ideals of Islam through convincing rituals and dances.

Guilds were the primary establishments of merchants to foster trade diffusion throughout Eurasia and Africa. These groups regulated manufacturing quality, labor, prices, and government support for their members. The primary guild was the Hanseatic League of northern Europe from the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries. Moreover, the banking industry flourished, particularly in Italian city states. Marking the beginning of modern capitalism, powerful families like the Medicis financed investment, exploration, and trade for merchants. Lastly, the foundation of Catholic institutions and universities with the aid of merchants facilitated the exchange of language, culture, and religion to and from their homelands.

And first, the only knowledge that returned with traders was that of name and vague descriptions of the geography and people. Much mysticism evolved about the other lands. Gradually, as travel became more common, the culture and practices of other peoples became more understood. Explorers wrote books, drew maps, and retold experiences for their native people. Over time, people became more bilingual with the languages of trading partners.

Art, literature, music, and culture were spread by merchants between the world's states, but they were usually not passed beyond the elite intellectuals and royalty of societies. For the most part, each state's culture continued evolving independently. Europe went through the medieval period, Gothic architecture, and Baroque music, all with little influence from Asia. In China, the Tan, Song, and Ming dynasties developed their own cultures with little help from Europe.

Science and technology spread more so than art and culture. The compass, astrolabe, larger ships designs, iron smelting techniques, clocks and time, better plows, the three-field system, and many other ideas were all swapped between Europe, Asia, and Africa.

As reproduction became prevalent across continents, through marriage, mistresses, and rape, the once-isolated gene pools became mixed. Traits were exchanged, crossed, and spread to new regions. Immunity and predisposition to certain diseases were shared across populations. One famous example is Genghis Khan, who's DNA can be found in millions of European men today.

New technologies like the moldboard plow, iron plow, three-field system, and irrigation all improved crop yields. Selective planting and hybridization slowly improved the caloric production and reduced the susceptibility to diseases and weather. Notable foods include grain, sugarcane, spices, citrus fruits, Asian rice, and potatoes. Many other plants and flowers were exchanged, cross-pollinated, and put on display in gardens and botanical museums.

Among the many diseases that were spread, the most notable was the Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death. Spread from Asia via rats along the Silk Road and coastal routes, it ravaged millions in Europe. Other, less deadly diseases spread as well. Anytime a foreign disease entered a population without thousands of years of built-up tolerance, there would be a good chance for an epidemic.