The Post Classical Era, 500 to 1000 CE

By djangoblue
  • Period: 250 to 550

    Teotihuacan

    -The city maintained a complex urban and economic structure. It held various kinds of craft shops, of course major religious activity, politics, and trade even with the farther off Mayan groups. Long distance trade involved bringing in raw materials that were not available locally.
    -The builders of the city were brilliant stone workers and painters, leaving beautiful frescos, buildings and artifacts.
  • Period: 313 to 337

    Reign of Constantine

    Constantine built the new capital (Constantinople) partly because the eastern Mediterranean was the wealthier and more productive part of the Roman empire and partly because relocation enabled the imperial court to maintain close watch over both the Sasanid empire in Persia and the Germanic peoples along the lower stretches of the Danube River.
  • Period: 330 to Jan 1, 1453

    The Byzantine Empire

    The Byzantine Empire, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople.
  • 476

    Fall of the western Roman empire

    Fall of the western Roman empire
    In historiography, the Western Roman Empire consists of the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any one time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court, coequal with that administering the eastern half.
  • Period: 481 to 511

    Reign of Clovis

    -Under Clovis the Franks became the preeminent military and political power in western Europe.
    -By adopting Roman rather than Arian Christianity, the Franks attracted the allegiance of the Christian population of the former Roman empire as well as recognition and support from the pope and the hierarchy of the western Christian church.
  • Period: 500 to Jan 1, 1000

    The Post Classical Era

  • Period: 527 to 565

    Reign of Justinian

    -Justinian embarked on an ambitious construction program that thoroughly remade the city. The most notable building erected during this campaign was the church of Hagia Sophia.
    -Justinian's most significant political contribution was his codification of Roman law.
    -Justinian's most ambitious venture was his effort to reconquer the western Roman empire from Germanic peoples and reestablish Roman authority throughout the Mediterranean basin.
  • Period: 570 to Jun 8, 632

    Life of Muhammad

    -Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh, in short form Muhammad, is considered in Islam to be the greatest messenger and prophet sent by God to guide humanity to the right way
    -Muhammad's spiritual experience left him with the convictions that in all the world there was only one true deity, Allah.
    -During the early 650s devout Muslims compiled written versions of Muhammad's revelations and issued them as the Quran, the holy book of Islam.
  • Period: 589 to Jan 1, 618

    Sui dynasty

    -Emperors of the Sui dynasty placed enormous demands on their subjects in the course of building a strong, centralized government.
    -The most elaborate project undertaken during the Sui dynasty was the construction of the Grand Canal, which was one of the world's largest waterworks projects before modern times.
  • Period: Jan 1, 600 to Jan 1, 800

    Mayan civilization

    (600-800 CE, the height of Mayan society)
    -The Maya believed that when the sun and moon set (helped by the gods) they went through this underworld. The mountains and hills are believed to be the homes of such ancient gods. Mayan priests were in control of education and rituals.
    -Maya traditions and ways of life did not disappear during post-classic times but rather changed from the central lowlands of Mexico to the northern highlands.
  • Period: Jan 1, 606 to Jan 1, 648

    Reign of Harsha

    -Harsha temporarily restored unified rule in most of northern India and sought to revive imperial authority.
    -Harsha enjoyed a reputation for piety, liberality, and even scholarship. He was a Buddhist, but also looked kindly on other faiths.
    -Despite his reputation, he was unable to restore permanent centralized rule.
  • Period: Jan 1, 618 to Jan 1, 907

    Tang dynasty

    -Tang Taizong built a capital at Chang'an, saw himself as a Confucian ruler who heeded the interests of his subjects.
    -Three policies help explain the success of the early Tang dynasty: maintenance of a well-articulated transportation and comunications network, distribution of land according to the principles of the equal-field system, and reliance on a bureaucracy based on merit.
  • Period: Jan 1, 661 to Jan 1, 750

    Umayyad dynasty

    -The Umayyads ranked among the most prominent of the Meccan merchant clans, and their reputation and network of alliances helped them bring stability to the Islamic community.
    -Established their capital at Damascus, whose central location enabled them to maintain better communication with the vast and still-expanding Islamic empire.
    -The Umayyads ruled the dar al-Islam as conquerors, and their policies reflected the interests of the Arab military aristocracy.
  • Period: Jan 1, 700 to Jan 1, 1240

    Post-classical Ghana

    -Islam spread to and through Ghana by trade.
    -Trade items included gold, ivory, and slaves. Items received included horses, cloth, books, and salt,
    -Drought disrupted the gold trade and weakened Ghana's economy.
  • Period: Jan 1, 726 to Jan 1, 843

    Iconoclasm controversy

    -Inaugurated by Emperor Leo III.
    -Leo became convinced that the veneration of religious images was sinful, tantamount to the worship of physical idols.
    -In 726 CE, he embarked on the policy of iconoclasm (which literally means "the breaking of icons"), destroying religious images and prohibiting their use in churches.
  • Period: Jan 1, 750 to Jan 1, 1258

    Abbasid dynasty

    -The Abbasid state was far more cosmopolitan than the Umayyad.
    -Instead of conquering, the Abbasids largely contented themselves with administering the empire they inherited. In designing their administration, the Abbasids relied heavily on Persian techniques of statecraft.
    -Central authority came from the court at Baghdad.
  • Period: Jan 1, 751 to Jan 1, 843

    Carolingian kingdom

    -The Carolingian Empire was the final stage in the history of the early medieval realm of the Franks, ruled by the Carolingian dynasty.
  • Period: Jan 1, 768 to Jan 1, 814

    Reign of Charlemagne

    -Charlemagne temporarily reestablished centralized imperial rule in a society disrupted by invasion and contests for power between ambitious local rulers.
    -The building of the Carolingian empire was in large measure Charlemagnes personal accomplishment.
    -He maintained diplomatic relations with the Byzantine empire and the Abbasid caliphate.
  • Jan 1, 843

    Dissolution of the Carolingian empire

    Dissolution of the Carolingian empire
  • Period: Jan 1, 850 to Jan 1, 1267

    Chola kingdom

    -At its high point, during the 11th century, Chola forces conquered Ceylon and parts of southeast Asia. Financed by the profit of trade, the Chola navy dominated the waters from the South China Sea to the Arabian Sea.
    -Chola rulers didn't build a tightly centralized state: they allowed considerable autonomy for local and village institutions as long as they maintained order and delivered tax revenues on time.
  • Period: Jan 1, 889 to Jan 1, 1431

    Kingdom of Angkor

    -The monuments of Angkor testify eloquently to the influence of Indian traditions in southeast Asia.
    -Angkor was the capital city of Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. Angkor was a megacity supporting at least 0.1% of the global population during 1010-1220. The city houses the magnificent Angkor Wat, one of Cambodia's popular tourist attractions.
  • Period: Jan 1, 960 to Jan 1, 1279

    Song dynasty

    -Though it survived for more than three centuries, the Song dynasty never built a very powerful state.
    -Song rulers mistrusted military leaders, and they placed much more emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and the arts than on military affairs.
    -The Song dynasty had large financial and military problems due to its approach to administration that resulted in a more centralized imperial government than earlier Chinese dynasties had enjoyed.
  • Jan 1, 1000

    The Bantu Peoples

    The Bantu Peoples
    -Around this time period, the migrating Bantu Peoples had settled into council-ruled villages organized into districts in Sub-Saharan Africa.
    -The population of the region was greatly influence by the cultivation of bananas.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1206 to Jan 1, 1526

    Sultanate of Delhi

    Delhi Sultanate, refers to the various Muslim dynasties that ruled in India (1210–1526). It was founded after Muhammad of Ghor defeated Prithvi Raj and captured Delhi in 1192.
  • May 29, 1453

    Fall of Constantinople

    Fall of Constantinople
    The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453.