Mrs. Ruland's Advanced Placement World History Course

Unit 2: 600 C.E. - 1450

1. Questions of periodization
1. Nature and causes of changes in the world history framework leading up to 600 C.E. - 1450 as a period
2. Emergence of new empires and political systems (e.g. Umayyad, Abbasid, Byzantium, Russia, Sudanic states, Swahili Coast, Tang, Song, and Ming China, Delhi Sultanate, Mongol, Turkish, Aztec, Inca)
3. Continuities and breaks within the period (e.g., the effects of the Mongols on international contacts and on specific societies)
2. The Islamic World
1. The rise and role of Dar al-Islam as a unifying cultural and economic force in Eurasia and Africa
2. Islamic political structures, notably the caliphate
3. Arts, sciences, and technologies
3. Interregional networks and contacts
1. Development and shifts in interregional trade, technology, and cultural exchange
1. Trans-Sahara trade
2. Indian Ocean trade
3. Silk routes
4. Economic Innovations (e.g. Tang, Song, and early Ming China, Swahili Coast trade, economic systems in the Americas)
2. Missionary outreach of major religions
3. Contacts between major religions, e.g., Islam and Buddhism, Christianity and Islam
4. Impact of the Mongol empires
4. Political systems and cultural patterns
1. East Asia
   1. China’s expansion
   2. Chinese influence on surrounding areas and its limits (Japan, Vietnam, and Korea)
   3. Change and continuities in Confucianism
   
2. The Americas
   1. Apex and decline of the Maya
   2. Rise of the Aztec
   3. Rise of the Inca
   
3. Restructuring of Europe
   1. Decentralization – medieval society
   2. Division of Christianity
   3. Revival of cities
4. Africa
   1. Sudanic empires (Mali, Ghana, Songhay)
   2. Swahili coast
5. South Asia and Southeast Asia
   1. Delhi Sultanate
   2. Vietnam
6. Arts, sciences, and technologies
   
5. Demographic ad environmental changes
1. Impact of nomadic migrations on Afro-Eurasia and the Americas (e.g., Aztecs, Mongols, Turks, Vikings, and Arabs)
2. Consequences of plague pandemics in the fourteenth century
3. Growth and role of cities (e.g., the expansion of urban commercial centers in Song China and administrative centers in Africa and the Americas)
6. Diverse interpretations
1. What are the issues involved in using cultural areas rather than states as units of analysis?
2. What are the sources of change: nomadic migrations versus urban growth?
3. Was there a world economic network in this period?
4. Were there common patterns in the new opportunities available to and constraints placed on elite women in this period?
5. To what extent was Dar al-Islam a unified cultural/political entity?

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Last updated June 28, 2009

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