Here are some key comparisons to know for the exam: - Japanese and European feudalism both involved decentralized political systems dominated by warrior elites (samurai and knights) who owed allegiance to lords in exchange for land. However, Japanese feudalism was more decentralized and based on personal loyalty rather than land ownership. - Both eastern and western Europe saw the rise of centralized monarchies and nation-states, but eastern Europe faced more disruption from nomadic invasions like the Mongols while western Europe was influenced by the Catholic church. - Major cities in societies like China, India, Middle East acted as centers of trade, administration, and culture. European cities were more commercial centers while Chinese cities emphasized bureaucracy

1. EXAM REVIEW
AP WORLD HISTORY 10
Period III
600 C.E. – 1450 C.E.
Rebuilding of Classical Civilizations
and the birth of Islam
Smithtown High School West

2. Rise of Islam
I. Beginnings of Islam
• 610 C.E. – Mohammad in Mecca begins to preach monotheism,
seen as a threat, flees to Medina in 622 C.E. - the Hijra – Hajj (pilgimage)
____________________
• Mohammed and the Muslims conquer Mecca in 630 C.E. – soon almost
all of Arabia under Muslim control
II. Beliefs of Islam
Qur’an/Koran
• Holy book – _____________
• Five Pillars of Faith:
Faith – there is one god and that god is Allah
1. ________________________________________________
Prayer – 5x a day facing Mecca
2. ________________________________________
Fasting – during Ramadan
3. ________________________________________
Pilgrimage – Hajj to Mecca at least once
4. ________________________________________
Alms – Give to charity, help the poor
5. ________________________________________

3. III.
Islam spread in ____________________________________
Middle East, Northern Africa, South Asia

4. Missionary Efforts Islam
Islam spread through two main avenues:
military conquest, and trade and missionary
activity. Through military conquest and
political influence, the religion spread
because of its tolerance for other beliefs
and a special tax (jizya) levied against
infidels.
Through trade and missionary activity, the religion
spread because of its simple message of what to do
and what not to do. Plus, lower-class individuals
welcomed their inclusion as spiritual equals as well as
Islam’s influence on charity.

5. Islam Divided
IV. Sects
• After Mohammed’s death, successors –________ (theocratic)
caliphs
• Shia/Sunni Split
a descendant of Mohammed
• Shia believe caliph must be __________________________
V. Empires
• The Umayyads
• Sunni, capital at Damascus, codified Islamic law
• The Abbasids
• Shia overthrew the Umayyads in 750 C.E.
• Concentrated in Persia and Baghdad
• Continued to spread and consolidate – efficient regional gov’t.
• Great accomplishments in the fields of math, astronomy, medicine…

6. Islamic Trade
VI. Islamic Trade
• Traded with China and India
• Navigated Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf
• Used compass, lateen sail, astrolabe
• Abbasids traded w/ Vikings and Russians via routes in Southern
and Eastern Europe
• Camelsalt, and slaves desert to trade w/ West Africa for
gold, caravans crossed
___________________

7. West Africa: Ghana and Mali
• Ghana (500-1200) • Mali (1235–1350)
– Commercially based empire. Center of – Controlled and taxed gold salt trade.
trade in gold from the south. – Timbuktu became economic, Islamic,
– Controlled and secured trade routes. and scholarly focal point of Kingdom.
– Also traded in ivory, slaves, horses, – Mansa Musa: The Hajj
cloth, salt. – Ibn Battuta: The Traveler.
– Conversion by emperors to Islam – Absorbed into Songhai.
improved diplomatic and economic
relations between West Africa and the
Islamic World.
Mosque @ Timbuktu
Musa’s Hajj

8. Christianity in North and East Africa
Many Africans in the northern part
of the continent converted to Islam
after 700 CE, yet there remained a
significant Christian tradition in
Egypt and Ethiopia. It is believed
that St. Mark preached to the East
Africans during the Roman period.
Ethiopia evolved into a nation with
strong Christian traditions.
Church of St. George, Lalibela
complex, Ethiopia

9. I.
CHINA
Tang Dynasty (618-907 C.E.)
• Korea and Tibet
Expanded territory to _______________
• Developed network of roads to bind empire together and
Grand Canal
• Invention of gunpowder
• Buddhism gained acceptance
• Confucian meritocracy – civil service exam
• high taxation, peasant rebellions
Decline – _____________________________

10. CHINA
II. Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 C.E.)
- Silk Road – connected to outside world – ran through Central Asia and to
Middle East and beyond
- Trade with Southern Asia and Africa through port of Guangzhou
Astronomy, 1st use of compass, clock, moveable
- Achievements – _______________________________________________
type, landscape painting)
______________________________________________________
- Urbanization
- Confucian
- Decline – military threats from the north
(Mongols invaded in 1200s)

11. CHINA
II. Mongol Rule (1278-1368 C.E.)
• Warrior horsemen from northern steppes of Asia
• Created the largest single land empire in human history
• Genghis Khan (leader)
• Kublai Khan (grandson) – conquered Song China
• Established Yuan Dynasty until 1369
____________
• Failed to invade Japan
• Pax Mongolia – Mongol rule united two continents and allowed
trade and contact
• not able administrators, empire too large to manage,
Decline – ____________________________________________
rivalry among successors, overspending led to inflation
____________________________________________________

12. CHINA
II. Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 C.E.)
• Defeated the Mongols, use of civil service exam, re-elevation
of scholar-gentry, neo-Confucianism

13. JAPAN
• Shinto and borrowing of culture from China (Buddhism from China and Korea)
• Internal power struggles led to decision to move capital to Heian (Kyoto) in 790s
•Heian Period – (794-1185 C.E.)
•“classical” era, peace, isolation of emperor, literature
• Fujiwara clan – changing leadership, new clan, cont’d peace and literature, more
uniquely Japanese and less borrowing
•Kamakura Shogunate – Minamoto clan won civil war
• feudalism, decentralized power under military leader (shogun). Each domain
controlled by daimyo. Solidified power of warrior class, samurai and bushido code
• Ashikaga Shogunate 1333 C.E. – daimyo gained more authority, wealthy class
emerged as trade with China increased, rituals unique to Japan (tea ceremony,
Noh theatre, haiku)

14. South Asia
India -
• Gupta Empire collapsed in 550 C.E., until 1000 C.E. - disunity
• 1022 C.E. Muslim armies conquer Northern India
• 1206 Muslim generals establish the Delhi Sultanate
______________
• Introduce Islam to India
• Collapsed in 1520s – invaders from North

15. Byzantine Empire
• Off-shoot of the Roman Empire - “Eastern Roman Empire.”
• Centralized State: Hereditary Monarchy. (Emperor Justinian, r. 527-565)
• Replaced Latin with Greek as official language.
• Constantinople was center for Silk Road imports and exports
• Eastern Orthodox Church emerged.
• Eastern Orthodoxy later spread to Russia and the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe.

16. Nomadic Empires: The Vikings (c. 800-1100)
• Nomadic group from Scandinavia
• Conducted seasonal raids to supplement farm production
• Ransacked towns and villages across Europe
• Use of small maneuverable boats combined with ruthlessness in battle facilitated their
success.
• Explored north Atlantic Ocean, inc. Iceland, Greenland,
Newfoundland Canada, and Northeast coast of U.S (c.1000).
• Established settlements in Scotland, Northern France, and
Eastern Europe.
• Overtime, the Vikings adopted Christianity and were
absorbed into the larger European feudal order (William the
Conqueror).

17. Early Russia
• Vikings colonized Eastern Europe, area populated by Slavic peoples
• First king of Kiev, Dane named Rurik
• Traded with Byzantium, Prince Vladimir converted to Eastern Orthodox
• Decline – Mongols conquered

18. Medieval Europe
(Western Europe)
Political Developments Economic Developments
Feudalism prevailed. Serfdom and the manor system
prevailed.
Weak central authority meant
that lords and vassals ruled Serfs were obligated to give a
locally through feudal percentage of their crops to the
obligations to the upper lords lord in exchange for a plot of land
and king. and protection.
The Catholic Church was single Manors operated as self-sufficient
strongest unifying factor across communities and a lack of food
Western Europe during this surpluses resulted in most of the
period. population being tied to
agriculture.

20. The Crusades, 1095 - 1204
• The Crusades were a series of Christian holy wars conducted against “infidels” in the holy
land of Palestine.
• Pope Urban II launched the Crusades in 1095 when he called for Christians to take up arms
and seize the Holy Land.
Results:
- quest for the Holy Land was a failure
- encouraged trade with Muslim merchants and created an increase in European demand for
Asian goods.
- Italian merchants (capitalizing on the weakened condition of Constantinople) greatly
profited.
- new merchant class emerges

21. BLACK DEATH (1340s to late 1600s)
Deadly disease that was thought to be carried from Asia on ships
Results:
- population decreased significantly, causing labor shortages
- In W. Europe, workers demanded higher wages and peasants
rebelled, leading to a decrease in serfdom and a weakening of
the feudal system
- Anti-Semitism also increased as Jews, used as scapegoats
were accused of poisoning the wells.
- Some Christians, questioned their faith amid all of the death
and
seemingly senseless destruction.

22. MesoAmerican Civilizations
Maya (c. 300 to 900)
Borrowing from Olmec traditions, the Mayans developed large domain and lived in scattered settlements
on the Yucatan peninsula in southeastern Mexico. Archaeologist have discovered the following features of
their regional culture:
 An agricultural economy – slash and burn
 Lack of large domesticated animals for labor
 A ritualistic polytheism
 Urban areas with thousands of people
 Independent city-states, linked by trade
 A staple diet of maize (corn) and beans

23. Mesoamerican Civilizations
Aztec (c. 1400 to 1521)
Also known as the Mexica people, the Aztecs were the last great Mesoamerican culture before the
arrival of the Europeans. Taking advantage of the Toltecs decline, the Aztecs used their fighting
skills to take control off the Lake Texcoco region. The Aztec culture was characterized by:
 A militant warrior tradition to subdue tributary
city-states. Present day central Mexico.
 Rule by severe despots
 A priestly class to oversee rituals, including
human sacrifice
 A ritualistic polytheistic religion with an
extensive pantheon
 A large urban capital, Tenochtitlan, with
150,000 inhabitants built on an island in Lake
Texcoco
 A decentralized network of city-states that paid
tribute.
 Aztecs fell due to contact with the Spanish
(Cortes). Warfare and disease played major
roles in the extinction of the Aztec people.

24. Mesoamerican Civilizations
Inca (c. 1400 to 1540)
In the South American highlands, clans developed an Andean culture which led to the rise of an empire
in the 1300s CE. These people-the Incas-conquered a large area and absorbed many tribes in central-
western South America. In 90 years, the Incan empire grew into a stretch of land that covered over
3,000 miles from north to south. History remembers the Inca for:
 Centralized empire with its capital at Cuzco
(present
day Peru)
 An extensive irrigated agricultural economy that
adapted to the rugged terrain of the Andes Mts. by
building terraces for farming and extensive network
of roads
 Polytheistic religion: Sun worship
 Patriarchal society
 Privileged class of nobles, headed by a king, in
which royal ancestors were revered and
worshipped
 No written language. Used quipu, a system of
colored, knotted ropes to keep records.
 Fell to the Spanish conquistador, Pizarro

25. Do You Know Your Stuff?
Using the regions below, explain how each exemplifies
the ‘Big Picture’ themes of the time period.
China - Japan - Western Europe - Africa -
Americas - Eastern Europe – Southeast Asia
Middle East
 Dominance of World Religions
 Increased Trade and Movement
 Rise and Spread of Islam
 Rebuilding of Declining Empires
 Development of Other Civilizations
 Centralized versus Decentralized Empires
 Golden Age of Nomads

26. COMPARISONS
Be able to compare –
 Japanese and European feudalism
 Developments in political and social institutions in both eastern and
western Europe
 The role and function of cities in major societies
 Islam and Christianity
 Gender systems and changes, such as the impact of Islam
 Aztec Empire and Inca Empire
 European and sub-Saharan African contacts with the Islamic world