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Between 500 C.E. and 1000 C.E., politics had a great impact on society in such that it led to the continuous use of developed and improved forms of governance, but also caused new empires to form and internal problems such as rebellions to arise.
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Because of Byzantion’s strategical location and wealth, the Roman emperor Constantine officially declared Byzantion as the capital of Rome in 340 C.E., which he named Constantinople. The location of the capital allowed the imperial court to keep an eye on the Sasanid Empire in Persia and on Germanic people who lived along the Danube River. Significance: Constantinople became an important political, military, economic, and commercial center in eastern Rome.
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King Harsha was able to temporarily unify northern India and revive imperial authority. As king since sixteen, Harsha led his enormous army through India and cast down on the people who refused to follow his rule.
Significance: Although local rulers in India had secure authority and he was unable to completely restore centralized rule, King Harsha was able to loosely hold the empire together with his amiable and favorable reputation and attention to political affairs. -
After the death of Muhammad, Islam split into two groups: the Shia and Sunni. Their disagreements on who should rule as caliph led to conflicts and fights between clans that strongly impacted Islam as a whole.
Significance: The tensions between the Shia and Sunni caused a division in dar al Islam that will never be mended. Even today, there are still disputes between the two factions. -
The most important method of imperial organization was the theme system. Generals were given the responsibility to maintain and defend certain amounts of land. The theme system offered protection to not only the lands of the empire but also to the citizens. Significance: the theme system helped to define the Byzantine empire and also strengthened its military forces and class of peasants, which in turn reinforced agriculture.
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Mahmud of Ghazni was a leader of the Turks in Afghanistan who sent seventeen raiding expeditions into India.
Significance: Mahmud of Ghazni’s successors decided to conquer northern India and place it under Islamic rule. This caused the development of an Islamic state called the sultanate of Delhi that ruled India for more than three centuries. It impacted the cultural aspect of India by establishing Islam. -
The equal-field system guaranteed the equal distribution of land. It granted land to the people according to their needs and the land’s fertility. One- fifth of the land was given at a time, while the other four- fifth of the land was given when needed.
Significance: Although there were some minor problems with the equal- field system, it provided stability and prosperity in the Chinese countryside. -
A bureaucracy based on merit was used throughout the Tang Dynasty. Government officials were chosen from candidates who had gone through the Confucian educational system and were intelligent in literature and philosophy.
Significance: By having a bureaucracy based on merit, rulers were able to have talented officials who were loyal to their dynasty and worked hard to improve the state. The fact that this practice lasted for thirteen centuries allows us to infer that it was extremely effective. -
Clovis was an influential leader of the Franks who led Frankish forces on a campaign that ended all of Roman authority in Gaul.
Significance: Under Clovis, the Franks became the most powerful and dynamic of the Germanic kingdoms. The Franks temporarily revived the empire. -
Charlemagne was a significant ruler of the Franks who greatly influenced history. He was passionate about ruling and also extremely intelligent. After buliding the Carolingian empire, he devoted the rest of his life to improving the imperial government.
Significance: Charlemagne temporarily reestablished centralized imperial rule in a damaged society. If no internal and external problems arose, he would have been able to permanently bring back the centralized imperial government. -
In the late sixth century, a determined ruler in northern China named Yang Jian managed to bring China under centralized imperial rule through military conquests, thus creating the Sui Dynasty.
Significance: The Sui Dynasty was important to Eastern Asia and world history in general because it symbolized the restart of centralized imperial rule in China. Although the Sui Dynasty did not survive for very long, the tradition of centralized rule continued through following dynasties.
