10

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Becoming
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''The World''
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er
Outline

1000-1300 C E ve p m
M
t
T
a
d

o ar
• e r e
n
l f i
De o t ime
Ti
m
Worl d in a
• a
o
The Islamic
l F e f
o ra
li i
P t c g m t
e n
C l M i

an Ch r st an ul ra a s c
o
d
i
In the late 1270s two Nestor m s,
ia as tu a
•
n a
i i nk n o
o
I
Bar Sawma and Mar kos, voyag e d fro m h
I i d
n s v e
rs
u rt
t e co ti
s us
Song Ch er
• in :a
of th e Mon go l eader Kublai Kha n t w
o
in wha i n Ou r
d e s
l s tsi
into the wo r
nd
Beijing heart f the Islam c a
E r p
a
o i ld • C e
hr isti n u o
e y were Eu opea n s.
r
no t
e y were
beyond. Th
Worlds Coming
Th
og he Sub­
d
• T et Ar:
i of centr al ah an c an h m s
s n
r ca
U ghurs, a Turkish people A ia, ma i e
y r Afr a t e i
fo ti
S
of w h om had c o nverted ri t a y u
a
n The
s
M ongol
to Ch ni ce re r
n
i t t i s • Tra s ma on o f
ks hoped to mak e
earlier. The mon a pilgr mage s
i to o - u ra
Afr E ia
Jerusale m in order to v i
si t the tombs
r
­
n clu s o
of th e
ma i
• Co n
tyrs ens h ri ned there and along the way.
C Ob jecti ve
o r
e
their jou
s
rne west ward, m a
nd
On y Bar S w a
a

Mark os traveled a world bound t ID E NTIFY tec h

r
oge he by ec ­ •
a
t o nologic
l
nomic an d cultural exch ang e . Th e t nks adv ances of t h o
s
wo mo lin­ i per d,
i
n
gered at the magnificent t a din g hub s
especiall in ship d sign a
N
of Ka hgar i e d
r n y

what is now weste rn Chi n a , w he re c ra an

navigation, and EXPLA ho
ou
v e I i w
a r t s a
s
they facilitated the e f
mar ke t forjade, e o i es
xp n o n o
nd
converged in a sp c , a
x t c i a
A r
f o-E u s ian tra
r d .
io us sil ks. Una ble i u e on to Jerus
e
a
prec to cont n ­
DESCRIBE the va ried ocia
s s
• s l
rd r
lem due to he route' danger (including mu e ­
s a
t
and polit cal orce th t sh pe
i
i f a
ob onks pa rt
d
a .
r d
ous bers), he m ed w ays at B g
t a the Islamic w rld, Ind a, Ch i n
a
hd
E
o ,
Later ,
n
1287, as appointe
d L
in Bar Sawma w a
and Europe, and E U th
V A AT e
am b ssador by the Buddhist Mo n gol ii- Khan degree to which these orc
f
l
a of es
e d

Pers ia, Ar ghon, to drum

u o tu r n
up upport among E r ­ integrated c ­o
s u s a ge

pean leaders for a n ttack on Jerusale o a

s
m t w re gr p r e
as .
a t a hic
integra ­
it from Mus lim cont rol. He visited Cons antinop e • COMPA E the intern a l
t l R

Byzanti ne emperor gave

tion and external interac
(where the him gold an ti nos o f
d s
sub- S aharan Af ica w th th e
silve ), Rome w he re he me tw t the pope a t h
r i th
r i t
h wi t h
( h e
of t e Ame icas, and e
shr ne of Sain t ere e sa w d rE l o
ha t
Peter , Par s (wh h c n ct wor
i t .
r a si a n
) i
n
e u
d
o e
city ' s vibra nt un vers ty), and Bordeau x ( he e h
w r
ts
i i e
• ASSESS the impac hat the
lc omed e English king, d
t
)
was w by th E wa d . Afro­
e ha d
e r I In Mongol Empir on
l l
end, ne the r m onk ever ac r us a uras e d
the re hed Je l p
s.
an e
es c
a
op
a
i em E p
i n

or ret u d o ended
. d
rne t na
Ch i Bar Sawma his ay s

47
3
and al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt (970 CE). Islam's extraordinary universal appeal
generated an intense cultural flowering around 1000 CE.
That cultural blossoming in all fields of high learning was marked by diver­
sity in both language and ideas. Representing the new Persian ethnic pride was
Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi (920-1020 CE), a devout Muslim who believed in the
importance of pre-Islamic Sasanian traditions. In the epic poem Shah Namah
(Book of Kings), he celebrated the origins of Persian culture and narrated the
history of the Iranian highland peoples from the dawn of time to the Muslim
conquest. Indicative of the enduring prominence of the Islamic faith and
the Arabic language in thought was the legendary Ibn Rushd (1126-1198),
known as Averroes in the western world. Steeped in the writings of Aristotle,
Ibn Rushd's belief that faith and reason were compatible even influenced
the thinking of the Christian world's leading philosopher and theologian,
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274).
The Islamic world's achievements in science were truly remarkable. Its
scholars were at the pinnacle of scientific knowledge throughout the world
in this era. Ibn al-Shatir (1304-1375), working on his own in Damascus,
produced non-Ptolemaic models of the universe that later researchers noted
were mathematically equivalent to those of Copernicus. Even earlier, the
Maragha school of astronomers (1259 and later) in western Iran had pro­
duced a non-Ptolemaic model of the planets. Some historians of science
believe that Copernicus must have seen an Arabic manuscript written by a
thirteenth-century Persian astronomer that contained a table of the move­
ments of the planets. In addition, scholars in the Islamic world produced
works in medicine, optics, and mathematics as well as astronomy that were in
advance of the achievements of Greek and Roman scholars.
During this period, the Islamic world became one of the four cultural
spheres that would play a major role in world history, laying the foundation
for what would become known as the Middle East up through the middle of
the twentieth century. Islam became the majority religion of the inhabitants
of Southwest Asia and North Africa, Arabic language use became widespread,
and the Turks began to establish themselves as a dominant force, ultimately
creating the Ottoman Empire, which would last into the twentieth century.
The Islamic world became integral in transregional trade and in the creation
and transmission of knowledge.

India as a Cultural Mosaic

With its pivotal location along land- and sea-based trade routes, India became
an intersection for the trade, migration, and culture of Afro-Eurasian peoples.
With 80 million inhabitants in 1000 CE, it had the second-largest population
in the region, not far behind China's 120 million. Turks ultimately spilled

India as a Cultural Mosaic I 483

 500 1000 Kilometers

Trade route
- Delhi Sultanate, 1236
- Additional area of Delhi Sultanate, 1335
INDIAN OCEAN
- Hindu areas not taken over by Muslims

Map 10.3 South Asia in 1300

As the fourteenth century began, India was a blend of many cultures. Politically, the Turkish Muslim regime of the
Delhi Sultanate dominated the region.
• What region was controlled by the Delhi Sultanate in 1236? How did the area controlled by the Delhi Sultanate
change in just 100 years?
• How does the map suggest that trade routes helped spread the Muslims' influence in India?
• Where on the map do Hindu areas resist Muslim political control? Based on your reading, what factors may have
accounted for Hinduism's continued appeal despite the Muslims' political power?

into India as they had into the Islamic heartlands, bringing their newfound
Islamic beliefs. But the Turkish newcomers encountered an ethnic and reli­
gious mix of which they were just one part. (See Map 10.3.)

SHIFTING POLITICAL STRUCTURES

Before the Turks arrived, India was splintered among rival chiefs called rajas.
These leaders gained support from Brahmans by doling out land grants to
them. Since much of the land was uncultivated, the Brahmans first built

484 I CHAPTER 10 I Becoming "The World"

temples, then converted the indigenous hunting and gathering peoples to
the Hindu traditions, and finally taught the converts how to cultivate the
land. In this way, Brahmans simultaneously spread their faith and expanded
the agrarian tax base for themselves and the rajas. They also repaid the rajaf
support by compiling elaborate genealogies for them, endowing them with
lengthy and legitimizing ancestries. In return, the rajas demonstrated that
they, too, were well versed in Sanskrit culture, including equestrian skills and
courtly etiquette, and were prepared to patronize artists and poets.
When Turkish warlords began entering India, the rajas had neither the
will nor resources to resist them after centuries of fighting off invaders.
For example, Mahmud of Ghazna (r. 998-1030 CE) launched many expe­
ditions from the Afghan heartland into northern India and, eager to win
status within Islam, made his capital, Ghazna, a center of Islamic learning.
Mahmud's expansion in the early eleventh century marked the height of
what came to be known as the Ghaznavid Empire (977-1186 CE). Later,
in the 1180s, Muhammad Ghuri led another wave oflslamic Turkish inva­
sions from Afghanistan across the Delhi region in northern India. Wars raged
between the Indus and Ganges Rivers until, one by one, all the way to the
lower Ganges Valley, the fractured kingdoms of the rajas toppled. The Turks
introduced their own customs while accepting local social structures, such
as the hierarchical varna system. The Turks constructed grand mosques and
built impressive libraries where scholars could toil and share their wisdom
with the court.
While the Ghaznavids were impressive, the most powerful and enduring
of the Turkish Muslim regimes of northern India was the Delhi Sultanate
(1206-1526), whose rulers brought political integration but also strength­
ened the cultural diversity and tolerance that were already a hallmark of the
lndian social order. Sultans recruited local artisans for numerous building
projects, and palaces and mosques became displays of the Indian architec­
tural tastes adopted by Turkish newcomers. But Islam never fully dominated
South Asia because the sultans did not force their subjects to convert. Nor
lid they display much interest in the flourishing commercial life along the
lndian coast. The sultans permitted these areas to develop on their own: Per­
sian Zoroastrian traders settled on the coast around modern-day Mumbai,
while farther south, Arab traders controlled the Malabar coast. The Delhi
Sultanate was a rich and powerful regime that brought political integration
hut did not enforce cultural homogeneity.
Delhi Sultanate
(1206-1526)
A Turkish Muslim regime in
northern India that, through its
WHAT WAS INDIA? tolerance for cultural diversity,
l)uring the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, India became the brought political integration
without enforcing cultural
111ost diverse and, in some respects, the most tolerant region in Afro-Eurasia.
homogeneity.
India in this era arose as an impressive but fragile mosaic of cultures, religions,

India as a Cultural Mosaic I 485