world history World history may refer to: * Human history, the history of human beings * History of Earth, the history of planet Earth * World history (field), a field of historical study that takes a global perspective * ''World History'' (album), a 1998 albu ...

, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade networks between civilizations. This period is also called the medieval era, post-antiquity era, post-ancient era, pre-modernity era or pre-modern era. In

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, the

spread of Islam The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territorie ...

created a series of

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

s and inaugurated the

Islamic Golden Age The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...

, leading to advances in

science in the medieval Islamic world Science in the medieval Islamic world was the science developed and practised during the Islamic Golden Age under the Umayyads of Córdoba, the Abbadids of Seville, the Samanids, the Ziyarids, the Buyids in Persia, the Abbasid Caliphate and ...

and trade among the Asian,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an continents.

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

experienced the full establishment of power of

Imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

, which established several prosperous dynasties influencing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Religions such as

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Wa ...

spread in the region.

Gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

was developed in China during the post-classical era. The

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

connected Europe and Asia, creating safe trade and stability between the two regions. In total the population of the world doubled in the time period from approximately 210 million in 500 AD to 461 million in 1500 AD. Population generally grew steadily throughout the period but endured some incidental declines in events including the Plague of Justinian, the

Mongol invasions The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

, and the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

.Haub (1995): "The average annual rate of growth was actually lower from 1 A.D. to 1650 than the rate suggested above for the 8000 B.C. to 1 A.D. period. One reason for this abnormally slow growth was the Black Plague. This dreaded scourge was not limited to 14th century Europe. The epidemic may have begun about 542 A.D. in Western Asia, spreading from there. It is believed that half the Byzantine Empire was destroyed in the 6th century, a total of 100 million deaths."

Historiography

Terminology and periodization

Post-classical history is a periodization used by historians employing a

approach to history, specifically the school developed during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Outside of world history, the term is also sometimes used to avoid erroneous pre-conceptions around the terms ''Middle Ages'', ''Medieval'' and the '' Dark Ages'' (see Medievalism), though the application of the term ''post-classical'' on a global scale is also problematic, and may likewise be Eurocentric.Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen, 'Introduction: Towards a Global Middle Ages', ''Past & Present'', 238 (November 2018), 1-44 (p. 16). Academic publications sometimes use the terms post-classical and late antiquity synomously to describe the history of Western Eurasia between 250 and 800 The post-classical period corresponds roughly to the period from 500 AD to 1450 AD. Beginning and ending dates might vary depending on the region, with the period beginning at the end of the previous classical period: Han China (ending in 220 AD), the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

(in 476 AD), the

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...

(in 543 AD), and the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

(in 651 AD). The post-classical period is one of the five or six major periods world historians use: # early civilization, # classical societies, # post-classical # early modern, #

long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' is a term for the 125-year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was coined by Russian writer Ilya Ehrenburg and British Marxist his ...

, and # contemporary or modern era. (Sometimes the nineteenth century and modern are combined.) Although ''post-classical'' is synonymous with the

of Western Europe, the term ''post-classical'' is not necessarily a member of the traditional tripartite periodisation of Western European history into ''classical'', ''middle'' and ''modern''.

Approaches

The historical field of

, which looks at common themes occurring across multiple cultures and regions, has enjoyed extensive development since the 1980s. However, World History research has tended to focus on

early modern globalization Proto-globalization or early modern globalization is a period of the history of globalization roughly spanning the years between 1600 and 1800, following the period of archaic globalization. First introduced by historians A. G. Hopkins and Christo ...

(beginning around 1500) and subsequent developments, and views post-classical history as mainly pertaining to

Afro-Eurasia Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia, Eurafrasia or the Old World) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Its mainland is the largest and most populou ...

. Historians recognize the difficulties of creating a periodization and identifying common themes that include not only this region but also, for example, the Americas, since they had little contact with Afro-Eurasia before the

Columbian Exchange The Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian interchange, was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the New World (the Americas) in ...

. Thus recent research has emphasised that "a global history of the period between 500 and 1500 is still wanting" and that "historians have only just begun to embark on a global history of the Middle Ages".Borgolte in For many regions of the world, there are well established histories. Although

Medieval Studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening decades of the twentieth century, initially in the titles of books ...

in Europe tended in the nineteenth century to focus on creating histories for individual nation-states, much twentieth-century research focused, successfully, on creating an integrated history of medieval Europe. The Islamic World likewise has a rich regional historiography, ranging from the fourteenth-century

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...

to the twentieth-century

Marshall Hodgson Marshall Goodwin Simms Hodgson (April 11, 1922 – June 10, 1968), was an Islamic studies academic and a world historian at the University of Chicago. He was chairman of the interdisciplinary Committee on Social Thought in Chicago. Works Though he ...

and beyond. Correspondingly, research into the network of commercial hubs which enabled goods and ideas to move between China in the East and the Atlantic islands in the West—which can be called the early history of globalization—is fairly advanced; one key historian in this field is

Janet Abu-Lughod Janet Lippman Abu-Lughod (August 3, 1928 – December 14, 2013) was an American sociologist who made major contributions to world-systems theory and urban sociology. Early life Raised in Newark, New Jersey, she attended Weequahic High School, w ...

. Understanding of communication within Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas is, by contrast, far more limited. Recent history-writing, therefore, has begun to explore the possibilities of writing history covering the Old World, where Human activities were fairly interconnected, and establish its relationship with other cultural spheres, such as the Americas and Oceania. In the assessment of James Belich, John Darwin,

Margret Frenz Margret may refer to - *1410 Margret, an asteroid *, a Norwegian steamship in service 1994-06/18 *Margret Holmes Bates (1844-1927), American author *Margret Grebowicz, Polish philosopher, author, and professor *Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (b ...

, and

Chris Wickham Christopher John Wickham, (born 18 May 1950) is a British historian and academic. From 2005 to 2016, he was Chichele Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford: he is now emeritus professor ...

Global history may be boundless, but global historians are not. Global history cannot usefully mean the history of everything, everywhere, all the time. ..Three approaches ..seem to us to have real promise. One is global history as the pursuit of significant historical problems across time, space, and specialism. This can sometimes be characterized as ‘comparative’ history. ..Another is connectedness, including transnational relationships. ..The third approach is the study of globalization .. Globalization is a term that needs to be rescued from the present, and salvaged for the past. To define it as always encompassing the whole planet is to mistake the current outcome for a very ancient process.

A number of commentators have pointed to the history of the earth's

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

as a useful approach to World History in the Middle Ages, noting that certain climate events had effects on all human populations.

Global trends

The Post-classical era saw several common developments or themes. There was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas; the rise and/or spread of the three major world, or missionary, religions; and a period of rapidly expanding trade and trade networks. While scholastic emphasis has remained on Eurasia there is a growing effort to examine the effects of these global trends on other places. In describing geographic zones historians have identified three large self contained world regions, Afro-Eurasia, the Americas and Oceania.

Growth of civilization

Piquillacta Archaeological site - street

First was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas across

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

, and western

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. However, as noted by world historian

Peter N. Stearns Peter Nathaniel Stearns (born March 3, 1936) is a professor at George Mason University, where he was provost from January 1, 2000 to July 2014. Stearns was chair of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University and also served as the ...

, there were no common global political trends during the post-classical period, rather it was a period of loosely organized states and other developments, but no common political patterns emerged. In Asia, China continued its historic dynastic cycle and became more complex, improving its bureaucracy. The creation of the Islamic Empires established a new power in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Africa created the Songhai and Mali kingdoms in the West. The fall of Roman civilization not only left a power vacuum for the Mediterranean and Europe, but forced certain areas to build what some historians might call new civilizations entirely. An entirely different political system was applied in Western Europe (i.e. feudalism), as well as a different society (i.e. manorialism). But the once East Roman Empire, Byzantium, retained many features of old Rome, as well as Greek and Persian similarities. Kiev Rus' and subsequently Russia began development in Eastern Europe as well. In the isolated Americas, Mesoamerica saw the building of the Aztec Empire, while the Andean region of South America saw the establishment of the

Wari Empire The Wari Empire or Huari Empire was a political formation that emerged around 600 CE in Peru's Ayacucho Basin and grew to cover much of coastal and highland Peru. The empire lasted for about 500 years, until 1100 CE. It existed during the same era ...

first and the Inca Empire later. In Oceania ancestors of modern Polyonesians were established in vllage communities by the 6th century, a gradual intensification of complexity took place. In the 13th century complex states were established, most notably the Tuʻi Tonga Empire which collected tribute from many island chains in the greater region.

Spread of universal religions

Religion that envisaged the possibility that all humans could be included in a universal order had emerged already in the first millennium BC, particularly with Buddhism. In the following millennium, Buddhism was joined by two other major, universalising, missionary religions, both developing from Judaism: Christianity and Islam. By the end of the period, these three religions were between them widespread, and often politically dominant, across the Old World.Yuval Noah Harari, '' Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind'', trans. by Yuval Noah Harari, John Purcell and Haim Watzman (London: Harvill Secker, 2014), , chapter 12. *

spread from India into China and flourished there briefly before using it as a hub to spread to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam; a similar effect occurred with Confucian revivalism in the later centuries. * Christianity had become the

State church of the Roman Empire Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Emperor Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, which recognized the catholic orthodoxy of Nicene Christians in the Great Church as the Roman Empire's state religion. ...

in 380, and continued spreading into northern and eastern Europe during the post-classical period at the expense of belief systems that Christians labelled

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

. An attempt was even made to incur upon the Middle East during the Crusades. The split of the Catholic Church in Western Europe and the Eastern Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe encouraged religious and cultural diversity in Eurasia. *

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

began between 610 and 632, with a series of revelations to Muhammad. It helped unify the warring

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

clans of the Arabian peninsula and, through a rapid series of Muslim conquests, became established to the west across North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, and parts of West Africa, and to the east across Persia, Central Asia, India, and Indonesia. Outside of Eurasia, religion or otherwise a veneration of the supernatural was also used to reinforce power structures, articulate world views and create foundatonal myths for society. Measoamerican cosmological narratives being an example.

Trade and communication

Finally, communication and trade across

increased rapidly. The

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

continued to spread cultures and ideas through trade. Communication spread throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trade networks were established between western Europe, Byzantium, early Russia, the Islamic Empires, and the Far Eastern civilizations. In Africa the earlier introduction of the

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

allowed for a new and eventually large trans-Saharan trade, which connected Sub-Saharan West Africa to Eurasia. The Islamic Empires adopted many Greek, Roman, and Indian advances and spread them through the Islamic sphere of influence, allowing these developments to reach Europe, North and West Africa, and Central Asia. Islamic sea trade helped connect these areas, including those in the Indian Ocean and in the Mediterranean, replacing Byzantium in the latter region. The Christian Crusades into the Middle East (as well as Muslim Spain and Sicily) brought Islamic science, technology, and goods to Western Europe. Western trade into East Asia was pioneered by

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

. Importantly, China began to influence regions like Japan, Korea and Vietnam through trade and conquest. Finally, the growth of the

in Central Asia established safe trade which allowed goods, cultures, ideas, and disease to spread between Asia, Europe, and Africa. The Americas had their own trade network, but here trade was restricted by range and scope. The Mayan network spread across Mesoamerica but lacked direct connections to the complex societies of South and North America, and these zones remained separate from one another. In Oceania some of the island chains of Polynesia engaged in trade with one another. For instance, with outrigger canoes long-distance communication of over 2,300 miles between Hawaii and Tahiti was maintained for centuries before its disruption and separation. Meanwhile, in Melanesia there is evidence of exchanges between mainland Papua New Guinea and the

Trobriand Islands The Trobriand Islands are a archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main isla ...

off its coast, most likely for

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

. Populations moved westward until 1200, after which the network dissolved into much smaller economies.

Climate

During Post-classical times, there is evidence that many regions of the world were affected similarly by global climate conditions; however, direct effects in temperature and precipitation varied by region. According to the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) a ...

, changes did not all occur at once. Generally however, studies found that temperatures were relatively warmer in the 11th century, but colder by the early 17th century. The degree of climate change which occurred in all regions across the world is uncertain, as is whether such changes were all part of a global trend. Climate trends seemed to be more recognizable in the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

than in the Southern Hemisphere. 2000 Year Temperature Comparison

There are shorter climate periods that could be said roughly to account for large scale climate trends in the Post-classical Period. These include the

Late Antique Little Ice Age The Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) was a long-lasting Northern Hemispheric cooling period in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, during the period known as Late Antiquity. The period coincides with three large volcanic eruptions in 535/536, 539/5 ...

, the

Medieval Warm Period The Medieval Warm Period (MWP), also known as the Medieval Climate Optimum or the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, was a time of warm climate in the North Atlantic region that lasted from to . Proxy (climate), Climate proxy records show peak warmth oc ...

and the

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...

. The extreme weather events of 536–537 were likely initiated by the eruption of the Lake llopango caldera in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. Sulfate emitted into the air initiated global cooling, migrations and crop failures worldwide, possibly intensifying an already cooler time period. Records show that the world's average temperature remained colder for at least a century afterwards. The

from 950 to 1250 occurred mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, causing warmer summers in many areas; the high temperatures would only be surpassed by the global warming of the 20th/21st centuries. It has been hypothesized that the warmer temperatures allowed the Norse to colonize Greenland, due to ice-free waters. Outside of Europe there is evidence of warming conditions, including higher temperatures in China and major North American droughts which adversely affected numerous cultures. After 1250, glaciers began to expand in Greenland, affecting its thermohaline circulation, and cooling the entire North Atlantic. In the 14th century, the growing season in Europe became unreliable; meanwhile in China the cultivation of oranges was driven southward by colder temperatures. Especially in Europe, the Little Ice Age had great cultural ramifications. It persisted until the Industrial Revolution, long after the Post-classical Period. Its causes are unclear: possible explanations include

sunspots Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. ...

, orbital cycles of the Earth, volcanic activity, ocean circulation, and man-made

population decline A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population ...

Timeline

This timetable gives a basic overview of states, cultures and events which transpired roughly between the years 200 and 1500. Sections are broken by political and geographic location.

ImageSize = width:1600 height:435 PlotArea = width:1510 height:385 left:65 bottom:20 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:time value:rgb(0.17,0.81,1) # id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) # id:span value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.5) # id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) # id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.15) # id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) # id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar id:black value:black Period = from:200 till:1500 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:200 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:200 PlotData = align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line, black) width:15 shift:(0,-3) bar:Timeframe color:era from: 476 till: 1000 text:

Early period Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

from: 1000 till: 1300 text: High period from: 1300 till: 1450 text: Late period bar:Timeframe color:filler from: 200 till:476 shift:(0,-7) text:( Iron Age) from: 200 till:476 shift:(0,4) text: Ancient from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,4) text:

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,-7) text: (Early) bar:Europe color:filler from: 200 till:476 text:

Antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

from: 1400 till: 1500 text: Renaissance bar:Europe color:age from: 476 till: 700 text: Migration from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,4) text: Feudalism from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,-7) text:( Manorialism) from: 950 till: 1100 text: Urbanization from: 1100 till: 1240 text: Crusades from: 1240 till: 1250 text: Mongols from: 1250 till: 1400 text: Crisis bar:Scandinavia color:filler from: 200 till: 400 text: Roman Iron bar:Scandinavia color:age from: 400 till: 700 text: Germanic Iron from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,4) text: Vikings from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,-7) text:( Norsemen) from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(0,4) text: Christianization from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(4,-7) text:( Northern Crusades) from: 1400 till: 1500 text:

Kalmar Union The Kalmar Union (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and sv, Kalmarunionen; fi, Kalmarin unioni; la, Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden, that from 1397 to 1523 joined under ...

bar:E.Europe color:filler from: 370 till: 500 shift:(15,4) text:

Hunnic Empire The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

from: 200 till: 500 shift:(0,-7) text: Sarmatians bar:E.Europe color:age from: 500 till: 700 text: Migration from: 700 till: 864 text: Rus' Khaganate from: 864 till: 1237 text: Kievan Rus' from: 1237 till: 1240 shift:(0,4) text: Mongols from: 1240 till: 1283 shift:(0,-7) text: G H from: 1283 till: 1400 text:

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

from: 1400 till: 1500 text: Moscow bar:Germany color:filler from: 200 till: 481 shift:(15,0) text: Germanic Wars bar:Germany color:age from: 481 till: 751 text: Francia from: 751 till: 843 text:

Carolingians The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

from: 843 till: 987 text: E. Francia from: 987 till: 1495 text: Holy Roman Empire bar:Germany color:filler from: 1495 till: 1500 text: I.R bar:France color:filler from: 200 till: 455 text: Roman Gaul from: 455 till: 481 text: Germanic Wars bar:France color:age from: 481 till: 751 text: Francia from: 751 till: 843 text:

from: 843 till: 987 text: W. Francia from: 987 till: 1453 text: Medieval France from: 1337 till: 1453 text: 100 Years' War bar:France color:filler from: 1453 till: 1500 text: E.M.F bar:Italy color:filler from: 200 till: 476 text: Roman Empire from: 476 till: 493 text: OdKI from: 493 till: 553 text: OKI from: 553 till: 568 text: B.E bar:Italy color:age from: 568 till: 774 text: Lombards from: 774 till: 855 text: Francia from: 855 till: 1494 text: Medieval Italy bar:Italy color:filler from: 1494 till: 1500 text: I.W bar:England color:filler from: 200 till: 407 text: Roman Britain from: 407 till: 500 text:

Sub-Roman Sub-Roman Britain is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the End of Roman rule in Britain, end of Roman rule and the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo-Saxon settlement. The term was originally used to describe archaeo ...

bar:England color:age from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,4) text:

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom o ...

from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,-7) text:( Heptarchy) from: 927 till: 1485 text: Medieval England bar:England color:filler from: 1485 till: 1500 text: E.M.B bar:Iberia color:filler from: 200 till: 418 text: Roman Empire bar:Iberia color:age from: 418 till: 711 text: Visigothic Kingdom from: 711 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text: Al-Andalus from: 711 till: 756 shift:(0,-7) text: Muslim conquests from: 756 till: 1031 shift:(0,-7) text: Córdoba Caliphate from: 1031 till: 1492 shift:(0,-7) text: Reconquista from: 1414 till: 1492 shift:(0,-7) text: Early discoveries bar:Iberia color:filler from: 1492 till: 1500 shift:(0,7) text: D.A bar:Balkans color:filler from: 200 till: 476 text: Roman Empire bar:Balkans color:age from: 476 till: 850 text: Byzantine Empire from: 850 till: 950 text: 1st Bulgarian Empire from: 950 till: 1185 text: Byzantine Empire from: 1185 till: 1389 text: 2nd Bulgarian Empire from: 1389 till: 1453 text: O.R bar:Balkans color:filler from: 1453 till: 1500 text: O.E bar:Anatolia color:filler from: 200 till: 476 text: Roman Empire bar:Anatolia color:age from: 476 till: 1453 text: Byzantine Empire from: 1007 till: 1308 text:

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

from: 1299 till: 1453 text: Ottoman Rising bar:Anatolia color:filler from: 1453 till: 1500 text: O.E bar:Iran color:filler from: 200 till: 224 text:

P.E Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement exploratio ...

from: 224 till: 651 text:

bar:Iran color:age from: 651 till: 821 text: Arab Caliphates from: 821 till: 1061 text: Intermezzo from: 1037 till: 1194 text: Seljuk Empire from: 1194 till: 1231 text: from: 1231 till: 1335 text: Ilkhanate from: 1335 till: 1380 text: from: 1380 till: 1468 text:

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of C ...

from: 1468 till: 1500 text: A.Q bar:India color:filler from: 200 till: 590 shift:(0,4) text: Indian Middle kingdoms from: 240 till: 590 text:

bar:India color:age from: 590 till: 1200 shift:(0,4) text: Indian Middle kingdoms from: 848 till: 1279 text: Chola Empire from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,5) text:

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

from: 1336 till: 1500 text:

Vijaynagara Empire Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bella ...

bar:C.Asia color:filler from: 200 till: 632 shift:(0,4) text: Scythians from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,-7) text: Hephthalites bar:C.Asia color:age from: 632 till: 800 text: Muslim conquests from: 800 till: 1000 text: Samanids from: 1000 till: 1200 text: Khwārazm-Shāh from: 1200 till: 1250 text: Mongols from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text: Chagatai Khanate from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text: Golden Horde bar:China color:filler from: 200 till: 220 text: H D bar:China color:age from: 220 till: 280 text: 3 K from: 280 till: 420 text: Jin Dynasty from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,4) text: Six Dynasties from: 585 till: 618 text: Sui from: 618 till: 907 text:

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

from: 907 till: 960 text: 5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms from: 960 till: 1275 text: Liao, Song, Jin from: 1275 till: 1368 text: Great Yuan bar:China color:filler from: 1368 till: 1500 text:

Great Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

bar:Japan color:filler from: 200 till: 250 shift:(0,4) text: Yayoi from: 250 till: 538 shift:(0,4) text:

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

from: 250 till: 538 shift:(0,-4) text:

Kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

bar:Japan color:age from: 538 till: 710 shift:(0,4) text:

from: 538 till: 710 shift:(0,-4) text:

Asuka Asuka may refer to: People * Asuka (name), a list of people * Asuka (wrestler), professional wrestler * Asuka (wrestler, born 1998), professional wrestler also known as Veny outside of Japan Places In Japan * , an area in Yamato Province (now N ...

from: 710 till: 794 text: Nara from: 794 till: 1185 text:

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one ...

from: 1185 till: 1333 text:

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

from: 1333 till: 1336 text: Kenmu from: 1336 till: 1500 text: Muromachi bar:Korea color:filler from: 200 till: 300 text:

Samhan Samhan, or Three Han, is the collective name of the Byeonhan, Jinhan, and Mahan confederacies that emerged in the first century BC during the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea, or Samhan, period. Located in the central and southern regions of t ...

bar:Korea color:age from: 300 till: 668 shift:(0,-4) text: Three Kingdoms of Korea from: 400 till: 935 shift:(0,4) text: Silla from: 698 till: 926 shift:(0,-4) text:

North South States Period The Northern and Southern States period (698–926 CE) is the period in Korean history when Later Silla, Unified Silla and Balhae coexisted in the south and north of the peninsula, respectively. Unified Silla After the unification wars, the ...

from: 918 till: 1392 shift:(0,-4) text: Goryeo bar:Korea color:filler from: 1392 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

bar:Egypt color:filler from: 200 till: 476 text: Roman Empire bar:Egypt color:age from: 476 till: 641 text: Byzantine Empire from: 641 till: 750 text: Muslim conquests from: 750 till: 969 text:

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

from: 969 till: 1171 text:

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...

from: 1171 till: 1250 text: Ayyubids from: 1250 till: 1500 text:

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

bar:W.Africa color:filler from: 200 till: 300 text: Iron Age bar:W.Africa color:age from: 300 till: 1200 text:

Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, ...

from: 1200 till: 1500 text:

Mali Empire The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Māl ...

bar:W.Africa color:filler from: 1464 till: 1500 text:

Songhai Empire The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical ...

bar:Ethiopia color:filler from: 200 till: 600 text:

Kingdom of Aksum The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wh ...

bar:Ethiopia color:age from: 600 till: 960 text:Post-Aksumite Period from: 960 till: 1270 text: Zagwe dynasty from: 1270 till: 1500 text: Ethiopian Empire bar:USA color:filler from: 200 till: 500 text: Hopewell bar:USA color:age from: 500 till: 650 text:Classic from: 500 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:

Precolombian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

from: 800 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Midwestern, Eastern United States, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from appr ...

bar:Mexico color:filler from: 200 till: 250 text:Preclassic bar:Mexico color:age from: 250 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text:

from: 250 till: 900 shift:(0,5) text: Classic from: 250 till: 746 text: Teotihuacan from: 900 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Postclassic from: 950 till: 1150 text:

Toltecs The Toltec culture () was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, reaching prominence from 950 to 1150 CE. T ...

from: 1430 till: 1500 text:

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

bar:Peru color:age from: 200 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text: Andean civilization from: 200 till: 600 shift:(0,-4) text:

Early Intermediate This is a chart of cultural periods of Peru and the Andean Region developed by John Rowe and Edward Lanning and used by some archaeologists studying the area. An alternative dating system was developed by Luis Lumbreras and provides different dat ...

from: 600 till: 1000 shift:(0,-4) text:

from: 1000 till: 1438 shift:(0,-4) text: Late Intermediate from: 1438 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text: Inca Empire

:::''Dates are approximate range (based upon influence), consult particular article for details'' ::: Middle Ages Divisions, Middle Ages Themes Other themes

Eurasian trends

This section explains events and trends which affected the geographic area of Eurasia. The civilizations within this area were distinct from one another but still endured shared experiences and some development patterns.Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen, 'Introduction: Towards a Global Middle Ages', ''Past & Present'', 238 (November 2018), 1-44 .

Feudalism

In the context of global history, the label of feudalism has been used to describe any agricultural society where central authority broke down to be replaced by a warrior

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

. Feudal societies are characterized by reliance on personal relationships with military elites, rather than a bureaucracy with a state-supported professional standing army. The label of feudalism has thus been used to describe many areas of Eurasia including Medieval Europe, the Islamic iqta' system, Indian feudalism, and Heian Japan. Some world historians generalize that societies can be called feudal if authority was fragmented, with a set of obligations between vassal and lord. After the 8th century, feudalism became more common across Europe. Even Byzantium, which had inherited the government of the Roman Empire, chose to devolve its military obligations into themes to increase the number of soldiers and ships available for military service during times of crisis. There were similarities between European feudalism and the Islamic iqta', as both featured landed classes of mounted warriors whose titles were granted by a monarch or sultan. Because of these similarities, it was common for societal structures to be preserved in the face of religious upheaval; for instance, after the Islamic

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

conquered large portions of India, it imposed higher taxes but otherwise left local feudal structures in place. Though most of Eurasia adopted feudalism and similar systems during this era,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

employed a centralized bureaucracy throughout much of the post classical period, particularly after 1000. A major factor that distinguished China from other regions was that local leaders were reluctant to self-identify by their current location; instead, they typically displayed an ambition to unite the country in times of disunity. Beyond a broad generalization, the usefulness of the term 'feudalism' is debated by contemporary historians, as the daily functions of feudalism sometimes differed greatly between world regions. Comparisons between feudal Europe and post-classical Japan have been particularly controversial. Throughout the 20th century, historians often compared medieval Europe to post-classical Japan. More recently, it has been argued that, until roughly 1400, Japan balanced its decentralized military power with more centralized forms of imperial (governmental) and monastic (religious) authority. Only in the Sengoku period did there come to be fully decentralized power dominated by private military leaders. Still other historians reject the term feudalism outright, challenging its ability to usefully describe societies either within or outside of medieval Europe.

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire which existed during the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest continuous land empire in history. Originating in the

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

s of Central Asia, the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Central Europe to the Sea of Japan, extending northwards into Siberia, eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and the Iranian plateau, and westwards as far as the Levant and Arabia. The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the Mongolia homeland under the leadership of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

, who was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under his descendants, who sent invasions in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire connected the east with the west with an enforced '' Pax Mongolica'' allowing trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across Eurasia. The empire began to split due to wars over succession, as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir Ögedei, or one of his other sons such as Tolui, Chagatai, or Jochi. After Möngke Khan died, rival ''

kurultai Kurultai ( Mongolian: , Хуралдай, ''Khuraldai'') or ; Kazakh: Құрылтай, ''Qūryltai''; tt-Cyrl, Корылтай, ; ba, Ҡоролтай, ; az, Qurultay; tk, Gurultaý was a political and military council of ancient Mongol a ...

'' councils simultaneously elected different successors, the brothers Ariq Böke and

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

, who then not only fought each other in the Toluid Civil War, but also dealt with challenges from descendants of other sons of Genghis. Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the

Chagatayid The Chagatai Khanate, or Chagatai Ulus ( xng, , translit=Čaɣatay-yin Ulus; mn, Цагаадайн улс, translit=Tsagaadain Uls; chg, , translit=Čağatāy Ulusi; fa, , translit=Xânât-e Joghatây) was a Mongol and later Turkicized kha ...

and Ögedeid families. LetterOljeituToPhilipLeBel

The Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 marked the high-water point of the Mongol conquests and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. Though the Mongols launched many more invasions into the Levant, briefly occupying it and raiding as far as Gaza after a decisive victory at the

Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar The Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar, also known as the Third Battle of Homs, was a Mongol victory over the Mamluks in 1299.''Wadi 'L-Khaznadar'', R. Amitai, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol XI, ed. P.J.Bearman, T.Bianquis, C.E.Bosworth, E. van Donzel ...

in 1299, they withdrew due to various geopolitical factors. By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate khanates or empires, each pursuing its own separate interests and objectives: the Golden Horde khanate in the northwest; the Chagatai Khanate in the west; the Ilkhanate in the southwest; and the Yuan dynasty based in modern-day Beijing.''The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States''. p. 413. In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty, but it was later overthrown by the Han Chinese Ming dynasty in 1368. The Genghisid rulers returned to Mongolia homeland and continued rule in the Northern Yuan dynasty. All of the original Mongol Khanates collapsed by 1500, but smaller successor states remained independent until the 1700s. Descendants of Chagatai Khan created the Mughal Empire that ruled much of India in early modern times. The conquests and the interactions the Mongol Empire had with western Eurasia are one of the more comprehensively researched areas for historians looking to define a globalized Middle Ages.

The Silk Road

The Silk Road was a Eurasian trade route that played a large role in global communication and interaction. It stimulated cultural exchange; encouraged the learning of new languages; resulted in the trade of many goods, such as silk, gold, and spices; and also spread religion and disease. It is even claimed by some historians – such as Andre Gunder Frank, William Hardy McNeill,

Jerry H. Bentley Jerry Harrell Bentley (December 12, 1949 – July 15, 2012) was an American academic and professor of world history. He was a founding editor of the ''Journal of World History'' since 1990. He wrote on the cultural history of early modern Europe an ...

, and

– that the Afro-Eurasian world was loosely united culturally, and that the Silk Road was fundamental to this unity. This major trade route began with the Han dynasty of China, connecting it to the Roman Empire and any regions in between or nearby. At this time, Central Asia exported horses, wool, and

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

into China for the latter's silk; the Romans would trade for the Chinese commodity as well, offering wine in return. The Silk Road would often decline and rise again in trade from the Iron Age to the Postclassical Era. Following one such decline, it was reopened in Central Asia by Han Dynasty General

Ban Chao Ban Chao (; 32–102 CE), courtesy name Zhongsheng, was a Chinese diplomat, explorer, and military general of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was born in Fufeng, now Xianyang, Shaanxi. Three of his family members—father Ban Biao, elder brother ...

during the 1st century. The Silk Road was also a major factor in spreading religion across Afro-Eurasia. Muslim teachings from Arabia and Persia reached East Asia. Buddhism spread from India, to China, to Central Asia. One significant development in the spread of Buddhism was the carving of the

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

School in the cities of ancient Taxila and the Peshwar, allegedly in the mid 1st century. There were vulnerabilities as well to changing political situations. The rise of Islam changed the Silk Road, because Muslim rulers generally closed the Silk Road to Christian Europe to an extent Europe would be cut off from Asia for centuries. Specifically, the political developments that affected the Silk Road included the emergence of the Turks, the political movements of the Sasanian and Byzantine empires, and the rise of the Arabs, among others. Song Tapestry

The Silk Road flourished again in the 13th century during the reign of the Mongol Empire, which through conquest had brought stability in Central Asia comparable to the Pax Romana. It was claimed by a Muslim historian that Central Asia was peaceful and safe to transverse

"(Central Asia) enjoyed such a peace that a man might have journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of sunset with a golden platter upon his head without suffering the least violence from anyone."

As such, trade and communication between Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East required little effort. Handicraft production, art, and scholarship prospered, and wealthy merchants enjoyed cosmopolitan cities. Notable Travelers including

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

, Rabban Bar Sauma and

travelled across North Africa and Eurasia freely, those that left accounts of their experiences inspired future adventurers. In addition to commercial travel was the esteem of Pilgrimage that existed across all of Afro-Eurrasia, in the words of world historian

R. I. Moore Robert Ian "Bob" Moore (born 1941), most commonly known as R. I. Moore, is a British historian who is Professor Emeritus of History at Newcastle University. He specialises in medieval history and has written several influential works on t ...

"if any single institution ‘made’ the Eurasian Middle Ages it was pilgrimage" Nevertheless, after the 15th century, the Silk Road disappeared from regular use. This was primarily a result from the growing sea travel pioneered by Europeans, which allowed the trade of goods by sailing around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. The route was vulnerable to spreading plague. The Plague of Justinian originated in East Asia and had a major outbreak in Europe in 542 causing the deaths of a quarter of the Mediterranean's population. Trade between Europe, Africa and Asia along the route was at least partially responsible for spreading the plague. Eight centuries later, the Silk Road trade played a role in spreading the infamous

. The disease, spread by rats, was carried by merchant ships sailing across the Mediterranean that brought the plague back to Sicily, causing an epidemic in 1347.

Plague and disease

In the Eurasian world, disease was an inescapable part of daily life. Europe in particular suffered minor outbreaks of disease every decade during the period. Using both land and sea routes, devastating pandemics could spread far beyond their initial focal point. Tracking the origin of massive

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

s and their potential spread between Eastern and Western Eurasia has been academically contentious. Besides bubonic plague, other diseases including smallpox also spread across cultural regions.

The First Plague

The

First plague pandemic The first plague pandemic was the first historically recorded Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. Also called the early medieval pandemic, it began with the Plague of Justinian in 541 ...

caused by Yersinia pestis began with the 541-549 Plague of Justinian. The origin of the plague appears to have been the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan. But the origin of the 541–549 epidemic remains uncertain: some historians postulate East Africa as a possible geographical origin. There is no record of a disease with the characteristics of Yersinia pestis breaking out in China before its appearance in

Pelusium Pelusium ( Ancient Egyptian: ; cop, /, romanized: , or , romanized: ; grc, Πηλουσιον, Pēlousion; la, Pēlūsium; Arabic: ; Egyptian Arabic: ) was an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to ...

Egypt. The plague spread to Europe and Western Asia, with a possible spread into East Asia. Established urban civilizations were massively depopulated; the economies and social fabric of established empires were severely destabilized. Rural societies, while still facing horrific death tolls, saw fewer socio-economic effects. In addition, no evidence has been found of bubonic plague in India before 1600. Nevertheless, it is likely that the trauma of disease (and other natural disasters) was a major cause of profound religious and political changes in Eurasia. Different authorities reacted to disease outbreaks with strategies that they believed would best protect their power. The Catholic Church in France spoke of healing miracles; Confucian bureaucrats asserted that sudden deaths of Chinese emperors represented the loss of a dynasty's

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, ''Tian'') – which embodies the natural ...

, shifting blame away from themselves. The severe loss of manpower in Byzantium and the

contributed to Early Muslim conquests in the region. In the long term, overland trade in Eurasia diminshed, as coastal Indian Ocean trade became more frequent. There were recurrent aftershocks of the Plague of Justinian until around 750, after which many nations saw an economic recovery.

Second plague pandemic until 1500

Six centuries later, a relative (but not a direct descendant) of Yersinia Pestis rose to afflict Eurasia:

The Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

. The first instance of the Second plague pandemic was between 1347 and 1351. It killed variously between 25% and 50% of populations. Traditionally many historians believed the Black Death started in China and was then spread westward by invading Mongols who inadvertently carried infected fleas and rats with them. Although there is no concrete historical evidence for this theory, the plague is considered endemic on the steppe. Currently there is extensive historiography of the Black Death's effects in Europe and the Islamic world, but beyond Western Eurasia direct evidence for Black Death's presence is lacking. The Bulletin of the History of Medicine explored the potential linking of known 14th century epidemics in Asia with the plague. One example is the Deccan Plateau, where much of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

's army suddenly died of a sickness in 1334. As this was 15 years before Europe's Black Death but little detail about the symptoms, it is unlikely that this was an instance of bubonic plague. Meanwhile, Yuan dynasty (China) suffered from major epidemics in the mid-14th century, including a recorded 90% death rate in Hebei Province. As with the Deccan event, surviving accounts do not describe symptoms; so historians are left to speculate. Perhaps these outbreaks were not the Black Death but instead some other disease already common to East Asia at the time, such as typhus, smallpox, or dysentery. Compared to Western reactions to the Black Death, Chinese records that do mention the epidemics are relatively muted, indicating that epidemics were a routine occurrence. Historians consider the hypothesis of a Chinese origin of a westward-moving plague unlikely given the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire and the 5,000-mile journey between China proper and Crimea through sparsely populated Central Asia. The aftershocks of the plague continued to affect populations well into the Early modern period. In Western Europe, the devastating loss of people created lasting changes. Wage labor began to rise in Western Europe and there was more emphasis on labor-saving machines and mechanisms. Slavery, which had almost vanished from Medieval Europe, returned and was one of the reasons for early Portuguese exploration after 1400. The adoption of

Arabic numerals Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write Decimal, decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers ...

may have been partially caused by the plague. Importantly, many economies became specialist, producing only certain goods, seeking expansion elsewhere for exotic resources and slave labor. While typically Western European expansion as a result of the Black Death is most discussed, Islamic countries including the Ottoman Empire also partook in land-based expansionism and used their own slave trade.

Science

Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript

The term ''post-classical science'' is often used in academic circles and in college courses to combine the study of medieval European science and medieval Islamic science due to their interactions with one another. However scientific knowledge also spread westward by trade and war from Eastern Eurasia, particularly from China by Arabs. The Islamic world also took medical knowledge from South Asia. In the Western world and in Islamic realms, much emphasis was placed on preserving the rationalist Greek tradition of figures such as Aristotle. In the context of science within Islam there are questions as to whether Islamic scientists simply preserved accomplishments from classical antiquity or built upon earlier Greek advances. Regardless, classical European science was brought back to the Christian kingdoms due to the experience of the Crusades. As a result of Persian trade in China, and the battle of the Talas River, Chinese innovations entered the Islamic intellectual world. These include advances in astronomy and in

paper-making Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...

.Meggs, Philip B. ''A History of Graphic Design.'' John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (p. 58) Paper-making spread through the Islamic world as far west as Islamic Spain, before paper-making was acquired for Europe by the Reconquista. There is debate about transmission of gunpowder regarding whether the Mongols introduced Chinese gunpowder weapons to Europe or whether gunpowder weapons were independently invented in Europe. In the Mongol Empire, information from diverse cultures was brought together for large projects: for instance in 1303 the Mongol Yuan dynasty combined Chinese and Islamic cartography to make a map that likely included all of Eurasia including western Europe. This "Eurasia map" is now lost, but it influenced Chinese and Korean geographical knowdlege centuries later. It is apparent that within Eurasia transfer of information between world cultures did occur, usually through translations of written documents.

Literate culture and arts

Within Eurasia, there were four major civilization groups that had literate cultures and created literature and arts, including Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. Southeast Asia could be a possible fifth category but was influenced heavily from both South and East Asia literal cultures. All four cultures in Post-Classical Times used poetry, drama and prose. Throughout the period and until the 19th century poetry was the dominant form of literary expression. In the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and China great poetic works often used figurative language. Examples include, the Sanskrit ''

Shakuntala Shakuntala (Sanskrit: ''Śakuntalā'') is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the '' Adi Parva'' of the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata'' and dramatized by many writers, the most famous adaption bein ...

'', the Arabic '' Thousand and one nights'',

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

'' and works by the Chinese

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Tang dynasty poet and politician. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets.Ebrey, 103. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as ...

. In Japan, prose uniquely thrived more than in other geographic areas. The '' Tale of Genji'' is considered the world's first realistic novel written in the 9th century. Musically, most regions of the world only used monophonic melodies as opposed to

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

. Medieval Europe was the lone exception to this rule, developing harmonic music in the 14th/15th century as musical culture transitioned form sacred music (meant for the church) to secular music. South Asian and Mid-Eastern music were similar to each other for their use of microtone. East-Asian music shared some similarities with European Music by using twelve tones and employing scaes, but differed in the number of scales used- 5 for the former and seven for the latter

History by region in the Old World

Africa

Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th-15th cent)

During the Postclassical Era,

was both culturally and politically affected by the introduction of Islam and the Arabic empires. This was especially true in the north, the

Sudan region Sudan is the geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to Central and Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic ' (), or "the lands of the Blacks", referring to West Africa and northern Central Afric ...

, and the east coast. However, this conversion was not complete nor uniform among different areas, and the low-level classes hardly changed their beliefs at all. Prior to the migration and conquest of Muslims into Africa, much of the continent was dominated by diverse societies of varying sizes and complexities. These were ruled by kings or councils of elders who would control their constituents in a variety of ways. Most of these peoples practiced spiritual, animistic religions. Africa was culturally separated between Saharan Africa (which consisted of North Africa and the Sahara Desert) and

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

(everything south of the Sahara). Sub-Saharan Africa was further divided into the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, which covered everything north of Central Africa, including West Africa. The area south of the Sudan was primarily occupied by the Bantu peoples who spoke the

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

. From 1100 onward Christian Europe and the

Islamic World The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...

became dependent on Africa for gold. After approximately 650 urbanization expanded for the first time beyond the ancient kingdoms Aksum and Nubia. African civilizations can be divided into three categories based on religion: *Christian civilizations on the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

, *Islamic civilizations which formed in the Niger River valley in West Africa, and on the coast of East Africa, and *

traditional societies In sociology, traditional society refers to a society characterized by an orientation to the past, not the future, with a predominant role for custom and habit. Such societies are marked by a lack of distinction between family and business, with the ...

which adhered to native African religions. South of the Sahara African kingdoms developed based on continental trade with one another through land based routes and generally avoided sea trade. Sub-Saharan Africa was part of two large, separate trading networks, the Trans Saharan trade which bridged commerce between West and North Africa. Due to the huge profits from trade native African Islamic empires arose, including those of Ghana, Mali and Songhay. In the 14th century, Mansa Musa king of Mali may have been the wealthiest person of his time. Within Mali, the city of Timbuktu was an international center of science and well known throughout the Islamic World, particularly from the

University of Sankore Sankoré Madrasa (also called the University of Sankoré, or Sankore Masjid) is one of three ancient centers of learning located in Timbuktu, Mali. It is believed to be established by Mansa Musa, who was the ruler of the Mali Empire, though the S ...

. East Africa was part of the Indian Ocean trade network, which included both Arab ruled Islamic cities on the East African Coast such as Mombasa and Traditional cities such as

Great Zimbabwe Great Zimbabwe is a medieval city in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe near Lake Mutirikwi and the town of Masvingo. It is thought to have been the capital of a great kingdom during the country's Late Iron Age about which little is known. Con ...

which exported gold, copper and ivory to markets in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Europe

In Europe, Western civilization reconstituted after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire into the period now known as the Early Middle Ages (500–1000). The Early Middle Ages saw a continuation of trends begun in Late Antiquity: depopulation, deurbanization, and increased

barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...

invasion.Gilian Clark, ''Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford 2011), pp. 1–2. From the 7th until the 11th centuries Arabs,

Magyars Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...

and Norse were all threats to the Christian Kingdoms that killed thousands of people over centuries. Raiders however, also created new trading networks. In western Europe the Frankish king Charlemagne attempted to kindle the rise of culture and science in the

Carolingian Renaissance The Carolingian Renaissance was the first of three medieval renaissances, a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire. It occurred from the late 8th century to the 9th century, taking inspiration from the State church of the Roman Emp ...

. In the year 800 Charlemagne founded the Holy Roman Empire in attempt to resurrect

Classical Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. The reign of Charlemagne attempted to kindle a rise of learning and literacy in what has become known as the

. In Eastern Europe, the Eastern Roman Empire survived in what is now called the Byzantine Empire which created the Code of Justinian that inspired the legal structures of modern European states. Overseen by Christian Orthodox emperors, in the 9th-10th centuries the Byzantine Eastern Orthodox Church Christianized the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...

and Kievan Rus, the cultural and political ancestors to modern-day Bulgaria and North Macedonia, on the one hand, and Russia and Ukraine, on the other.

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

flourished as the leading power and trade center in its region in the Macedonian Renaissance until it was overshadowed by

Italian City States The Italian city-states were numerous political and independent territorial entities that existed in the Italian Peninsula from the beginning of the Middle Ages until the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, which took place in 1861. After th ...

and the Islamic Ottoman Empire near the end of the Middle Ages. Bobolice, zamek

Later in the period, the creation of the feudal system allowed greater degrees of military and agricultural organization. There was sustained urbanization in

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and western Europe. Later developments were marked by manorialism and feudalism, and evolved into the prosperous High Middle Ages. After 1000 the Christian kingdoms that had emerged from Rome's collapse changed dramatically in their cultural and societal character. During the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300),

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

-oriented art and architecture flourished and the Crusades were mounted to recapture the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

from

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

control. The influence of the emerging

nation-state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...

was tempered by the ideal of an international Christendom and the presence of the Roman Catholic Church in all western kingdoms. The codes of

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...

and

courtly love Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...

set rules for proper behavior, while the

Scholastic Scholastic may refer to: * a philosopher or theologian in the tradition of scholasticism * ''Scholastic'' (Notre Dame publication) * Scholastic Corporation, an American publishing company of educational materials * Scholastic Building, in New Y ...

philosophers attempted to reconcile faith and reason. The age of Feudalism would be dramatically transformed by the cataclysm of the

and its aftermath. This time would be a major underlying cause for the Renaissance. By the turn of the 16th century European or Western Civilization would be engaging in the Age of Discovery. The term "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in the 15th century and reflects the view that this period was a deviation from the path of classical learning, a path supposedly reconnected by Renaissance scholarship.Miglio "Curial Humanism" ''Interpretations of Renaissance Humanism'' p. 112

West Asia

The Arabian peninsula and the surrounding Middle East and

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

regions saw dramatic change during the Postclassical Era caused primarily by the spread of

and the establishment of the Arabian Empires. In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated by empires and their spheres of influence; the two most prominent were the Persian

, centered in what is now Iran, and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). The Byzantines and Sasanians fought with each other continually, a reflection of the rivalry between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire seen during the previous five hundred years. The fighting weakened both states, leaving the stage open to a new power. Meanwhile, the nomadic

tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal warfare for scarce resources and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism. While the Byzantine Roman and Sassanid Persian empires were both weakened by the

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the Byzantine–Sasanian wars, series of wars fought between the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine / Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Iran. The Byzantine–Sasani ...

, a new power in the form of

grew in the Middle East under Muhammad in Medina. In a series of rapid Muslim conquests, the Rashidun army, led by the Caliphs and skilled military commanders such as

Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career in ...

, swept through most of the Middle East, taking more than half of Byzantine territory in the

Arab–Byzantine wars The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between a number of Muslim Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests, under the expansionist Rashidun an ...

and completely engulfing Persia in the Muslim conquest of Persia. Meanwhile, the nomadic

tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal warfare for scarce resources and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism. It would be the Arab Caliphates of the

that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant ethnic identity that persists today. These Caliphates included the

Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...

, Umayyad Caliphate, Abbasid Caliphate, and later the Turkic-based Seljuq Empire. 15th century egyptian anatomy of horse

After Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture into an

, inspiring achievements in architecture, the revival of old advances in science and technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life. Muslims saved and spread Greek advances in medicine, algebra, geometry, astronomy, anatomy, and ethics that would later finds it way back to Western Europe. The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the Seljuq Turks, migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. They conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the

Hejaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...

. This was followed by a series of Christian Western Europe invasions. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joint European forces mainly from England, France, and the emerging Holy Roman Empire, to enter the region. In 1099 the knights of the First Crusade captured Jerusalem and founded the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which survived until 1187, when Saladin retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the

, swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in the Siege of Baghdad (1258) and advancing as far south as the border of Egypt in what became known as the Mongol conquests. The Mongols eventually retreated in 1335, but the chaos that ensued throughout the empire deposed the Seljuq Turks. In 1401, the region was further plagued by the Turko-Mongol, Timur, and his ferocious raids. By then, another group of Turks had arisen as well, the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

South Asia

There has been difficulty applying the word 'medieval' or 'post classical' to the history of South Asia. This section follows historian Stein Burton's definition that corresponds from the 8th century to the 16th century, more of less following the same time frame of the Post Classical Period and the European Middle Ages. Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple)

Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple)

Until the 13th century, there was no less than 20 to 40 different states on the Indian Subcontinent which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems and religions. At the beginning of the time period

was predominant throughout the area with the short-lived Pala Empire on the Indo Gangetic Plain sponsoring the faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist Nalanda University in modern-day

Bihar, India Bihar (; ) is a states and union territories of India, state in eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, 2nd largest state by population in 2019, list of states and union territories of India by are ...

a centre of scholarship and brought a divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the ''

Chaturanga Chaturanga ( sa, चतुरङ्ग; ') is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), ...

'' game which later was exported to Europe and became Chess. In Southern India, the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Kingdom of

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

gained prominence with an overseas empire that controlled parts of modern-day Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia as oversees territories and accelerated the spread of Hinduism into the historic culture of these places. In this time period, neighboring areas such as Afghanistan, Tibet, Southeast Asia were under South Asian influence. From 1206 onward a series of Turkic Islamic invasions from modern-day Afghanistan and Iran conquered massive portions of Northern India, founding the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

which remained supreme until the 16th century. Buddhism declined in South Asia vanishing in many areas but Hinduism survived and reinforced itself in areas conquered by Muslims. In the far South, the Kingdom of Vijanyagar was not conquered by any Muslim state in the period. The turn of the 16th century would see the rise of a new Islamic Empire – the Mughals and the establishment of European trade posts by the Portuguese.

Southeast Asia

From the 8th century onward Southeast Asia stood to benefit from the trade taking place between South and East Asia, numerous kingdoms arose in the region due to the flow of wealth passing through the Strait of Malacca. While Southeast Asia had numerous outside influences India was the greatest source of inspiration for the region. North Vietnam as an exception was culturally closer to China for centuries due to conquest. Since rule from the third century BCE North Vietnam continued to be subjugated by Chinese states, although they continually resisted periodically. There were three periods of Chinese Domination that spanned near 1100 years. The Vietnamese gained long lasting independence in the 10th century when China was

divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...

with

Tĩnh Hải quân Tĩnh Hải quân or the Jinghai Military Command (Chinese: 靜海軍, pinyin: Jìnghǎi Jūn) (literally "Peaceful Sea Army"), also known as Annam (安南), was an administrative division of the Tang dynasty of China administered by Chinese gov ...

and the successor Đại Việt. Nonetheless, even as an independent state a sort of begrudging sinicization occurred. South Vietnam was governed by the ancient Hindu Champa Kingdom but was annexed by the Vietnamese in the 15th century. The spread of Hinduism,

and maritime trade between China and South Asia created the foundation for Southeast Asia's first major empires; including the Khmer Empire from Cambodia and

Sri Vijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...

from Indonesia. During the Khmer Empire's height in the 12th century the city of

Angkor Thom Angkor Thom ( km, អង្គរធំ ; meaning "Great City"), alternatively Nokor Thom ( km, នគរធំ ) located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire, Khmer Empire. It was established in ...

was among the largest of the pre-modern world due to its water management. King Jayavarman II constructed over a hundred hospitals throughout his realm. Nearby rose the

Pagan Empire The Kingdom of Pagan ( my, ပုဂံခေတ်, , ; also known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan Dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-da ...

in modern-day Burma, using elephants as military might. The construction of the Buddhist Shwezigon Pagoda and its tolerance for believers of older polytheistic gods helped Theravada Buddhism become supreme in the region. In Indonesia,

Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...

from the 7th through 14th century was a Thalassocracy that focused on maritime city states and trade. Controlling the vital choke points of the

Sunda Sunda may refer to: Europe * Sunda, Faroe Islands India * Sunda (asura), an asura brother of Upasunda * Sunda (clan), a clan (gotra) of Jats in Haryana and Rajasthan, India Southeast Asia * Sundanese (disambiguation) ** Sundanese people ...

and Malacca straits it became rich from trade ranging from Japan through Arabia. Gold, Ivory and Ceramics were all major commodities traveling through port cities. The Empire was also responsible for the construction of wonders such as Borobudur. During this time Indonesian sailors crossed the Indian Ocean; evidence suggests that they may have colonized Madagascar. Indian culture spread to the Philippines, likely through Indonesian trade resulting in the first documented use of writing in the archipelago and

Indianized kingdom Greater India, or the Indian cultural sphere, is an area composed of many countries and regions in South and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture, which itself formed from the various distinct indigenous cultures ...

s. Over time changing economic and political conditions elsewhere and wars weakened the traditional empires of South East Asia. While the Mongol Invasions did not directly annex Southeast Asia the war-time devastation paved way for the rise of new nations. In the 14th century the Khmer Empire was uprooted by persistent years of war- losing the functinality and engineering knowledge of its advanced water management system.

was overtaken by the

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...

. Islamic missionaries and merchants arrived eventually leading to Islamization in Indonesia.

East Asia

The time frame of 500–1500 in East Asia's history and China in particular has been proposed as a possible classification for the region's history within the context of global Post-classical history. Discussions within Columbia University's Association of Asian studies have postulated that similarities between China and other regions of Eurasia during Post-Classical Times have often been overlooked. Typically the English language histography of Japan postulates that its 'medieval period' began as late as 1185. During this period the Eastern world empires continued to expand through trade, migration and conquests of neighboring areas.

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Korea went under the process of voluntary sinicization, or the impression of Chinese cultural and political ideas. Korea and

sinicized because their ruling class were largely impressed by China's bureaucracy. The major influences China had on these countries were the spread of Confucianism, the spread of Buddhism, and the establishment of centralized governance. Throughout East Asia, Buddhism was most visible in monasteries and local educational institutions and Confucianism remained the ideology of social cohesion and state power. In the times of the Sui,

and Song dynasties (581–1279), China remained the world's largest economy and most technologically advanced society. Inventions such as gunpowder, woodblock printing and the magnetic compass were improved upon. China stood in contrast to other areas at the time as the imperial governments exhibited concentrated central authority instead of feudalism. China exhibited much interest in

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

during the Tang and Song dynasties. From the 7th through the 10th Tang China was focused on securing the

as the selling of its goods westwards was central to the nation's economy. For a time China, successfully secured its frontiers by integrating their nomadic neighbors- the Gokturks into their civilization. The Tang dynasty expanded into Central Asia and received tribute from countries as distant as Eastern Iran. Western expansion ended with wars with the Abbasid Caliphate and the deadly An Lushan Rebellion which resulted in an deadly but uncertain death toll of millions. After the collapse of the Tang dynasty and subsequent civil wars came the second phase of Chinese interest in foreign relations. Unlike the Tang, the Song specialized in overseas trade and peacefully created a maritime network and China's population became concentrated in the south. Chinese merchant ships reached Indonesia, India and Arabia. Southeast Asia's economy flourished from trade with Song China. With the country's emphasis on trade and economic growth, Song China's economy began to use machines to manufacture goods and coal as a source of energy. The advances of the Song in the 11th/12th centuries have been considered an early industrial revolution. Economic advancements came at the cost of military affairs and the Song became open to invasions from the north. China became divided as Song's northern lands were conquered by the Jurchen people. By 1200 there were five Chinese kingdoms stretching from modern day Turkestan to the Sea of Japan including the

Western Liao The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (), also known as the Western Liao (), officially the Great Liao (), was a Sinicized dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan. The Qara Khitai is considered by historians to be an ...

, Western Xia, Jin, Southern Song and

Dali Dali or Dalí may refer to: Chinese history * Kingdom of Dali (937–1253 AD), centered in modern Yunnan * Kingdom of Nanzhao or Dali, Kingdom of Dali's predecessor state * Dali, Emperor Daizong of Tang's third and last regnal period (766–779) ...

. Because these states competed with each other they all were eventually annexed by the rising

before 1279. After seventy years of

conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

, the Mongols proclaimed the Yuan dynasty and also annexed Korea; they failed to conquer

. Mongol conquerors also made China accessible to European travelers such as

. The Mongol era was short lived due to plagues and famine. After revolution in 1368 the succeeding Ming dynasty ushered in a period of prosperity and brief foreign expeditions before isolating itself from global affairs for centuries. Korea and

however continued to have relations with China and with other Asian countries. In the 15th century

Sejong the Great Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do (Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great (Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initial ...

of Korea cemented his country's identity by creating the Hangul Writing system to replace use of Chinese Characters. Meanwhile, Japan fell under military rule of the

and later Ashikaga Shogunate dominated by Samurai warriors.

The Americas

The Postclassical Era of the Americas can be considered set at a different time span from that of Afro-Eurasia. As the developments of Mesoamerican and Andean civilization differ greatly from that of the Old World, as well as the speed at which it developed, the Postclassical Era in the traditional sense does not take place until near the end of the medieval age in Western Europe. As such, for the purposes of this article, the

Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...

and Classic stage of the Americas will be discussed here, which takes place from about 400 to 1400. For the technical Postclassical stage in American development which took place on the eve of European contact, see Post-Classic stage.

North America

As a continent there was little unified trade or communication. Advances in agriculture spread northward from

indirectly through trade. Major cultural areas however still developed independently of each other.

Norse Contact and the Polar Regions

While there was little regular contact between the Americas and the Old World the Norse Vikings explored and even colonized Greenland and Canada as early as 1000. None of these settlements survived past Medieval Times. Outside of Scandinavia knowledge of the discovery of the Americas was interpreted as a remote island or the North Pole. The Norse arriving from Greenland settled Greenland from approximately 980 to 1450. The Norse arrived in southern Greenland prior to the 13th century approach of Inuit Thule people in the area. The extent of the interaction between the Norse and Thule is unclear. Greenland was valuable to the Norse due to trade of ivory that came from the tusks of walruses. The

adversely affected the colonies and they vanished. Greenland would be lost to Europeans until Danish Colonization in the 18th century. The Norse also explored and colonized farther south in Newfoundland Canada at L'Anse aux Meadows referred to by the Norse as '' Vinland''. The colony at most existed for twenty years and resulted in no known transmission of diseases or technology to the First Nations. To the Norse ''Vinland'' was known for plentiful grape vines to make superior wine. One reason for the colony's failure was constant violence with the native Beothuk tribe who the Norse referred to as Skraeling. After initial expeditions there is a possibility that the Norse continued to visit modern day Canada. Surviving records from medieval Iceland indicate some sporadic voyages to a land called '' Markland'', possibly the coast of Labrador, Canada, as late as 1347 presumably to collect wood for deforested Greenland.

Northern Areas

Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM

In northern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, many

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

and

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

societies thrived in the diverse region. Native American tribes varied greatly in characteristics; some, including the Mound Builders and the Oasisamerican cultures were complex chiefdoms. Other nations which inhabited the states of the modern northern United States and Canada had less complexity and did not follow technological changes as quickly. Approximately around the year 500 during the

, Native Americans began to transition to bows and arrows from spears for hunting and warfare. Technological advancement however was uneven. During the 12th century was the widespread adoption of Corn as a staple crop in the Eastern United States. Corn would continue to be the staple crop of natives in the Eastern United States and Canada until the Colombian Exchange. Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado USA

Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado USA

In the eastern United States, rivers were the medium of trade and communication. Cahokia located in the modern U.S. State of Illinois was among the most significant city within the

. Focused around Monks Mound archaeology indicates the population increased exponentially after 1000 because it manufactured important tools for agriculture and hosted cultural attractions. Around 1350 Cahokia was abandoned, environmental factors have been proposed for the city's decline. At the same time Ancestral Puebloans constructed clusters of buildings in the Chaco Canyon site located in the State of New Mexico. Individual houses may have been occupied by more than 600 residents at any one time. Chaco Canyon was the only pre-Columbian site in the United States to build paved roads. Pottery indicates a society that was becoming more complex, turkeys for the first time in the continental United States were also domesticated. Around 1150 the structures of Chaco Canyon were abandoned, likely as a result of severe drought. There were also other Pueblo complexes in the Southwestern United States. After reaching climaxes native complex societies in the United States declined and did not entirely recover before the arrival of European Explorers.

Mesoamerica

At the beginning of the global Post Classic Period, the city of Teotihuacan was at its zenith, housing over 125,000 people, at 500 A.D it was the sixth largest city in the world at the time. The city's residents built the Pyramid of the Sun the third largest pyramid of the world, oriented to follow astronomical events. Suddenly in the 6th and 7th centuries, the city suddenly declined possibly as a result of severe environmental damage caused by extreme weather events of 535–536. There is evidence that large parts of the city were burned, possibly in a domestic rebellion. The city's legacy would inspire all future civilizations in the region. At the same time was Classic Age of the Mayan Civilization clustered in dozens of city states on the Yucatán and modern day

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. The most significant of these cities was

Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from yua, Chiʼchʼèen Ìitshaʼ () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people" was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal ...

which often fiercely competed with its neighbors to be the dominant economic influence in the region. The Mayans had an upper caste of priests, who were well versed in astronomy, mathematics and writing. The Mayan developed the concept of zero, and a 365-day calendar which possibly pre-dates its creation in Old-World societies. After 900, many Mayan cities suddenly declined in a period of drought. Aztec11 Bloodletting

The Toltec Empire arose from the Toltec culture, and were remembered as wise and benevolent leaders. One priest-king called Ce Acatl Topiltzin advocated against human sacrifice. After his death in 947, civil wars of religious character broke out between those who supported and opposed Topiltzin's teachings. Modern historians however are skeptical of the extent of Toltec and influence and believe that much of the information known about the Toltecs was created by the later Aztecs as an inspiration myth. In the 1300s, a small band of violent, religious radicals called the Aztecs began minor raids throughout the area. Eventually they began to claim connections with the Toltec civilization, and insisted they were the rightful successors. They began to grow in numbers and conquer large areas of land. Fundamental to their conquest, was the use of

political terror Terror (from French ''terreur'', from Latin ''terror'' "great fear", ''terrere'' "to frighten") is a policy of political repression and violence intended to subdue political opposition. The term was first used for the Reign of Terror during the ...

in the sense that the Aztec leaders and priests would command the human sacrifice of their subjugated people as means of humility and coercion. Most of the Mesoamerican region would eventually fall under the Aztec Empire. On the Yucatán Peninsula most of the Mayan People continued to be independent of the Aztecs but their traditional civilization declined. Aztec developments expanded cultivation, applying the use of

chinampa Chinampa ( nah, chināmitl ) is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico. They are built up on wetlands of a lake o ...

s, irrigation, and terrace agriculture; important crops included maize,

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

es, and avocados. In 1430 the city of Tenochtitlan allied with other powerful

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

speaking cities- Texcoco and Tlacopan to create the Aztec Empire otherwise known as Triple-Alliance. Though referred to as an empire the Aztec Empire functioned as a system of tribute collection with Tenochtitlan at its center. By the turn of the 16th century " flower wars" between the Aztecs and rival states such as Tlaxcala had continued for over fifty years.

South America

South American civilization was concentrated in the Andean region which had already hosted complex cultures since 2,500 BC. East of the Andean region, societies were generally semi nomadic. Discoveries on the Amazon River Basin indicate the region likely had a pre-contact population of five million people and hosted complex societies. Around the continent numerous agricultural peoples from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

to Argentina steadily advanced through numerous stages of development from 500 AD until European contact.

Andean Region

Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru - panoramio (1)

During Ancient times the Andean Region had developed civilizations independent of outside influences including that of

. Through the Post Classical era a cycle of civilizations continued until Spanish contact. Collectively Andean societies lacked currency, a written language and solid draft animals enjoyed by old world civilizations. Instead Andeans developed other methods to foster their growth, including use of the quipu system to communicate messages, llamas to carry smaller loads and an economy based on

reciprocity Reciprocity may refer to: Law and trade * Reciprocity (Canadian politics), free trade with the United States of America ** Reciprocal trade agreement, entered into in order to reduce (or eliminate) tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on ...

. Societies were often based on strict social hierarchies and economic redistribution from the ruling class. In the first half of the Post Classical Period the Andean Region was dominated by two almost equally powerful states. In the North of Peru was the

and in the South of Peru and Bolivia there was the Tiwanaku empire both of whom were inspired by the earlier Moche People. While the extent of their relationship to each other is unknown, it is believed that they were in a Cold-War with one another, competing but avoiding direct conflict to avoid mutual assured destruction. Without war there was prosperity and around the year 700 Tiwanaku city hosted a population of 1.4. million. After the 8th century both states declined due to changing environmental conditions, laying the ground work for the Incas to emerge as a distinct culture centuries later. In the 15th century the Inca Empire rose to annex all other nations in the area. Led by their sun-god king,

Sapa Inca The Sapa Inca (from Quechua ''Sapa Inka'' "the only Inca") was the monarch of the Inca Empire (''Tawantinsuyu''), as well as ruler of the earlier Kingdom of Cusco and the later Neo-Inca State. While the origins of the position are mythical and o ...

, they slowly conquered what is now Peru, and built their society throughout the Andes cultural region. The Incas spoke the Quechua languages. The Incas used the advances created by earlier Andean societies. Incas have been known to have used abacuses to calculate mathematics. The Inca Empire is known for some of its magnificent structures, such as

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain range.UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which ...

in the

Cusco region Cusco, also spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu suyu ), is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de D ...

. The empire expanded quickly northwards to Ecuador, Southwards to central Chile. To the north of the Inca Empire remained the independent Tairona and

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', '' iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. The ...

who practiced agriculture and gold metallurgy.

Caribbean Region

Oceania

Separate from developments in

and the Americas the region of greater Oceania continued to develop independently of the outside world. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the society of Aboriginal Australians changed little through the Post Classical Period since their arrival in the area from Africa around 50,000 BC. The only outside contact were encounters with fishermen of

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

origin. Polynesian and Micronesian peoples are rooted from Taiwan and Southeast Asia and began their migration into the Pacific Ocean from 3000 to 1500 BC. After the 4th century Micronesia and the Polynesian peoples began to explore the South Pacific and later constructed cities in previously uninhabitated areas including Nan Madol

Mu'a Mua may refer to: *Mu'a (Tongatapu), the ancient capital of Tonga *Mu'a, a village on Niuafoou, Tonga *Mu'a, a village on Eua, Tonga, founded by people from Niuafoou *Mua District Mua (also spelled Mu'a, Uvean for "first") is one of the 5 dist ...

and others. Around 1200 AD the

Tu'i Tonga Empire Tu'i, also spelled more simplistically Tui, is a Polynesian traditional title for tribal chiefs or princes. In translations, the highest such positions are often rendered as "king". For details, see the links below various polities. Traditionally, ...

spread its influence far and wide throughout the South Pacific Islands, being described by academics as a maritime chiefdom which used trade networks to keep power centralized around the king's capital. Polynesians on outrigger canoes discovered and colonized some of the last uninhabited islands of earth. Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island were among the final places to be reached, settlers discovering pristine lands. Oral Tradition claimed that navigator Ui-te-Rangiora discovered icebergs in the Southern Ocean. In exploring and settling, Polynesian settlers did not strike at random but used their knowledge of wind and water currents to reach their destinations. Book-Hawaii-Vtorov-246

On the settled islands some Polynesian groups became distinct from one another. A significant example being the Maori of New Zealand. Other island systems kept in contact with each other, such as Hawaii and the Society Islands. Ecologically, Polynesians had the challenge of sustaining themselves within limited environments. Some settlements caused mass extinctions of some native plant and animal species over time by hunting species such as the Moa and introducing the Polynesian Rat. Easter Island settlers engaged in complete ecological destruction of their habtiat and their population crashed afterwards possibly due to the construction of the

Easter Island Statues Moai or moʻai ( ; es, moái; rap, moʻai, , statue) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Rapa Nui in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but ...

. Other colonizing groups adapted to accommodate to the ecology of specific islands such as the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. Europeans on their voyages visited many Pacific Islands in the 16th and 17th century, but most areas of Oceania were not colonized until after the voyages of British explorer

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

in the 1780s.

End of the period

As the postclassical era drew to a close in the 15th century, many of the empires established throughout the period were in decline. The Byzantine Empire would soon be overshadowed in the Mediterranean by both Islamic and Christian rivals including

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and Genoa and the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. The Byzantines faced repeated attacks from eastern and western powers during the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, and declined further until the loss of Constantinople to the

in 1453. The largest change came in terms of trade and technology. The global significance of the fall of the Byzantines was the disruption of overland routes between Asia and Europe. Traditional dominance of Nomadism in Eurasia declined and the Pax Mongolica which had allowed for interactions between different civilizations was no longer available. Western Asia and South Asia were conquered by gunpowder empires which successfully used advances in military technology but closed the

. Europeans – specifically the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...

and various Italian explorers – intended to replace land travel with sea travel. Originally European exploration merely looked for new routes to reach known destinations. DeLamar 1992 Portuguese Explorer Vasco De Gama traveled to India by sea in 1498 by circumnavigating Africa around the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

. India and the coast of Africa were already known to Europeans but none had attempted a large trading mission prior to that time. Due to navigation advances Portugal would create a global colonial empire beginning with the conquest of Malacca in modern-day Malaysia from 1511. Other Explorers such as the Spanish sponsored Italian Christopher Columbus intended to engage in trade by traveling on unfamiliar routes west from Europe. The subsequent

European discovery of the Americas During the Age of Discovery, a large scale European colonization of the Americas took place between about 1492 and 1800. Although the Norse had explored and colonized areas of the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short ter ...

in 1492 resulted in the Colombian exchange and the world's first pan-oceanic globalization. Spanish Explorer Ferdinand Magellan performed the first known circumnavigation of Earth in 1521. The transfer of goods and diseases across oceans was unprecedented in creating a more connected world. From developments in navigation and trade modern history began.

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Freemanpedia
A graphical representation of the Post-classical era.
Silk Road Seattle
A rich selection of primary sources on the Silk Road and interactions between different cultures in Post-classical times. {{portal bar, History, World Fields of history Historical eras Articles which contain graphical timelines World history

Historiography

Terminology and periodization

Approaches

Global trends

Growth of civilization

Spread of universal religions

Trade and communication

Climate

Timeline

Eurasian trends

Feudalism

Mongol Empire

The Silk Road

Plague and disease

The First Plague

Second plague pandemic until 1500

Science

Literate culture and arts

History by region in the Old World

Africa

Europe

West Asia

South Asia

Southeast Asia

East Asia

The Americas

North America

Norse Contact and the Polar Regions

Northern Areas

Mesoamerica

South America

Andean Region

Caribbean Region

Oceania

End of the period

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

External links