BEFORE EUROPEAN HEGEMONY The World System A.D. 1250-135 JANET L. ABU-LUGHOD New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESSCHAPTER 1 Studying a System in Formation nections betwe: In the seventh and eighth centuries, Islam unified many p. the central region that lay between the European and extrei areas of this revi into a system of exchange from which ‘The apogee of this cycle came between the end of the th and the first decades of the fourteenth century, by which time Europe and China had established direct, if decidedly contact with eac4 INTRODUCTION ‘The thirteenth century was remarkable in another way. In region after region there was an efflorescence of cultural and a ‘achievement, Never before had so many parts of the Old World simultaneously reached cultural maturity. In China, the most glo- rious pottery ever produced, Sung celadonware, was being created and in Persia glowing turquoise-glazed bowls constituted the 0 serious rival. In Mamluk Egypt, eraftsmen were fashioning ¢! orate furniture inlaid with complex arabesques of silver and gold, and in western Europe, cathedral building reached its apex. The gem-like stained glass window-adorned Saint Chapelle of Paris was, built in mid-thirteenth century, just before St. Louis departed on crusade, The great Hindu temple complexes of south India maxed at this same time. Almost everywhere there was evidence of a surfeit of wealth being devoted to ornamentation and symbolic displ ‘era was equally productive int ly. suggesting that the surplus was used not only to produce things but to support scholars as well ‘These two qualities of the thirteenth century, increased eco- nomic integration and cultural efflorescence, were not unrelated. ‘Technological and social innovations produced surpluses, which were, in turn, traded internationally to further intensify develop ment. Parallel advances in navigation and statectaft facilitated con- tact among distant societies, which generated even more surpluses. Inall areas, prosperity—at least at the top—yielded high culture, and Europe, hitherto the least developed region, perhaps had the most to gain from the new links being forged In this book we explore the thirteenth century “world economy” which facilitated such pandemic prosperity for its rulers, and ex- amine how it was forged. We also examine why this promising start faltered by the middle of the fourteenth century, How much of it remained when, in the sixteenth century, Europe took the lead in forging what Wallerstein (1974) has termed the “modern world-system””? In that world system, which has persisted for some five hundred years, the West was clearly hegemonic. But to un- derstand its roots it is necessary to examine the period before European hegemony. That is the descriptive task of this book ‘There is an analytic task as well. The world economy of the thirteenth century is not only fascinating in itself but, bec: contained no single hegemonic power, provides an important con- Pair of doors inlaid with carved ivory. Mamluk Egy; to early fourseenth century. Courtesy of the Metropalita of Art; bequest of Edward Seymour, 1891 (91.1.2064),