Civilizations of The Fifteenth Century

Civilizations of The Fifteenth CenturyA desire to reconnect the world after the plaguePaleolithic PersistenceBy 1500, Paleolithic people still lived in Australia and SiberiaAssimilated outside technology into their societies but they still didnt have domesticated agriculture- canoes, fish hooks, netting techniques, artistic stylesPaleolithic People still existed in North America- abundant resources enabled complex hunting/gathering- had permanent villages, economic specialization, hierarchies, chiefdoms, food storageAgricultural Village SocietiesExisted in much of North America and sub-Saharan AfricaMostly avoided oppressive authority, class inequalities, and seclusion of women typical of other civilizationsIn sub-Saharan Africa there was a shift from matrilineal to patrilineal

Iroquois Agricultural VillagesBecame fully agricultural by 1300 in NYAn Iroquois confederation was established by 5 tribesIroquois League of Five Nations ended blood feuds and tribal conflicts; coordinated Iroquois relationswith outsidersIroquois Society- descent was matrilineal- married couples lived with the wifes family- women controlled agriculture- women selected and could depose officeholders

Iroquois Confederacy

Herding PeopleTurkic warrior Timur tried to recreate Mongol EmpireHis army devastated Russia, Persia, and IndiaIn the following centuries, these pastoral peoples were swallowed up by expanding Russia and China empiresTimurs Empire

15th Century ChinaBy the 15th century, most of the worlds population lived in an empireChina was pretty messed up because of Mongol rule and the plagueThere was recovery under the Ming Dynasty- efforts to eliminate all signs of foreign rule- promotion of Confucian learning- civil service exam re-establishedHighly centralized government established- power given to court eunuchs- restored farmland, irrigation projects, planted 1billion treesArguably the most prosperous + well governed in 15th century8Zheng Hes VoyagesAdmiral Zheng He was commissioned a fleet of over 300 ships and over 27,000 men in 1405Purpose get tribute from distant peoplesThere was no desire to colonizeGovernment abruptly stopped the voyages in 1433 because it was seen as a waste of resourcesChinese merchants and craftsmen continued to settle and trade in Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, but without government supportZheng Hes Voyages

Europe State Building and Cultural RenewalEuropes population began to grow again by 1450Europe Very fragmented, independent competing statesRenaissance began in Italian city-states- artistic return to naturalism- returning to the sources Greece/Rome- humanism studying secular topics- Machiavellis The Prince A guide to rule effectively- A challenge to Christianity?

Niccolo Machiavelli

European Maritime VoyagesPortuguese began voyages in 1415Columbus reached Americas in 14921497-1498 Vasco da Gamma sailed around Africa to IndiaPurpose - seeking wealth, converts, allies in Crusades against IslamEuropeans used violence to carve out empiresChinese voyages ended; European ones kept escalatingChina / Europe in ComparisonChinese voyages ended; European ones kept escalating- No overarching political authority in Europe to end the voyages- Rivalry between states encouraged more exploration- Much of European elite interested in overseas expansion- China had everything it needed; Europeans wanted the greater riches of the East- Chinas food production could expand internally; European system expanded by acquiring new lands

The Ottoman EmpireOttoman empire lasted from 14th to 20th centuryTerritory Anatolia, Eastern Europe, Middle East, North AfricaSultans claimed to be the caliphOttoman aggression towards Christians- Fall of Constantinople in 1453- Siege of Vienna in 1500s- Europeans feared Turkish expansionOttoman Empire - 1580

Safavid EmpireEstablished in 1500sShia SafavidSunni Ottoman

Sunni Ottoman Empire and Shia Safavid Empire fought periodically between 1534 and 1639

Yellow=Safavid / Purple=Ottoman

The SonghaySonghay Empire rose in West Africa in the second half of the fifteenth centuryIslam was limited largely to urban elitesSonghay Empire was a major center of Islamic learning/tradeSonghay Empire Map

The Mughal EmpireCreated by Turkic group that invaded India in 1526Effort to create a partnership between Hindus and Muslims80% Hindu 20% Muslim / Muslim EmpireNew age of energy, prosperity, and cultural brillianceRise of Malacca as a sign of the timesbecame a major Muslimport city in the fifteenth centuryMalaccan Islam blended with Hindu/Buddhist traditions

Mughal Empire

The Aztec EmpirePop 5-6million peopleEstablished out of an alliance of city-statesCapital city Tenochtitlan center of tradeEmpire was loosely structured politically fragmentedMerchant class pochteca became wealthtyTrade included slaves for human sacrificePurpose sun god needs human blood

Aztec Empire

The Inca EmpirePop 10million peopleEmpire was 2500 miles longMore centralized than Aztec- 80 provinces each with a governor - inspectors checked up on officials- census recorded on quipusAttempted cultural assimilation- leaders of conquered people learned Quechua- religious tolerance- human sacrifice (not as much as the Aztec)The Inca EmpireMita labor service to the state (fixing roads, etc.)- Chosen Women removed from homes to make corn beer and cloth. Feasts given in returnGender Parallelism separate but equal spheres- parallel religious cults for women and men- parallel hierarchies of female and male political officials - womens household tasks were not regarded as inferior. Aztecs, sweeping was a powerful, sacred actInca ruler and his wife governed jointly, were descended from sun and moon, respectively

Inca Empire

Webs of ConnectionLarge-scale political systems brought together culturally different people.- efforts to integrate diverse peoples, e.g., in Ottoman, Mughal, and Inca empiresReligion both united and divided far-flung peoples.- common religious culture of Christendom, but divided into Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy- Buddhism linked people in China, Korea, Tibet, Japan, and parts of Southeast AsiaWebs of ConnectionIslam was particularly good at bringing together its people- hajj brought diverse people together- yet conflict persisted between sunni/shiaPatterns of trade- the Silk Road network was contracting- Indian Ocean Trade Expanding

What Ifs???What if Ogodei Khan hadnt died in 1241 and the Mongols had continued their advance into Europe?What if China had continued maritime exploration after 1433?What if the Ottomans had taken Vienna in 1529?