EUROPE

• The thousand-year period between the eighth and eighteenth centuries saw significant changes in India and the world, with new social and political forms arising in Europe and Asia, affecting thinking and living patterns.
• India had long-standing trade and cultural relations with Mediterranean countries and various empires, including the Roman and Persian empires.
• In Europe, the Roman Empire split by the third quarter of the sixth century; the western part was overwhelmed by Slav and Germanic tribes, leading to the formation of modern European nations.
• The eastern part of the Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, included most of eastern Europe, modern Turkey, Syria, and North Africa, including Egypt.
• The Byzantine Empire maintained strong monarchy and centralized administration, differing in belief and ritual from the Catholic Church in the West.
• The Greek Orthodox Church and Byzantine rulers converted Russia to Christianity.
• The Byzantine Empire traded with Asia and acted as a bridge between Greco-Roman civilization and the Arab world, aiding the revival of Greek learning in the West.
• The Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in the mid-fifteenth century.
• After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, cities in western Europe disappeared due to the lack of gold for trade with the Orient.
• The period between the sixth and tenth centuries, once called the “Dark Ages,” saw agricultural expansion, leading to the revival of city life and foreign trade from the tenth century.
• Between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, western Europe attained prosperity, marked by the growth of science, technology, towns, and the establishment of universities.
• Universities in cities like Padua and Milan played a crucial role in the growth of new learning and ideas, leading to the Renaissance and the rise of a new Europe.

Growth of Feudalism

• Following the breakup of the Roman Empire, a new society and system of government called feudalism emerged in western Europe.
• Feudalism is derived from the Latin word “feudum,” meaning fief.
• Chiefs with military followings dominated large tracts of land and played significant roles in government.
• Kings swore chiefs to an oath of loyalty as vassals, recognizing their tracts of land as fiefs.
• The feudal system was dominated by a landed aristocracy, which soon became hereditary.
• Serfdom was a feature of feudalism; serfs were peasants bound to the land, needing permission to change professions, migrate, or marry.
• The manor system was central to feudalism, with lords owning large tracts of land and serfs working both their own and the lord’s fields.
• Some historians argue that serfdom and the manor system are vital parts of feudalism, while others note similar power dynamics in places like India.
• The feudal system included a military organization with armoured knights on horseback.
• Cavalry warfare became dominant, aided by inventions like the iron stirrup and a new type of harness.
• Feudalism’s growth was influenced by political, economic, and military factors, and even stronger governments couldn’t easily reduce the power of feudal chiefs.
• The Christian Church, particularly the Catholic Church, played a significant role in medieval European life, assuming some government functions in the absence of a powerful empire.
• The Pope wielded significant political and moral authority, and many monastic orders and monasteries were established with support from princes, feudal chiefs, and merchants.
• The Catholic Church influenced cultural life through education, medical help, and shelter for travelers.
• Some wealthy monasteries began to act like feudal lords, leading to internal discord and conflicts with rulers, eventually contributing to the Renaissance and Reform movements.

THE ARAB WORLD

• The rise of Islam in the seventh century united warring Arab tribes into a powerful empire, including Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain.
• The Abbasid dynasty came to power in the middle of the eighth century, with their capital at Baghdad.
• The Abbasid empire was powerful and prosperous, controlling important trade routes linking the Mediterranean world with India.
• The Arabs established the gold dinar and silver dirham as trade currency and advanced accounting, banking, and credit systems.
• Famous Abbasid caliphs included al-Mamun and Harun al-Rashid, known for their patronage of science and learning.
• The Abbasids assimilated knowledge and skills from ancient civilizations, employing non-Muslims and non-Arabs in administration.
• The Caliph al-Mamun established the ‘House of Wisdom’ in Baghdad, translating works from Greek, Byzantine, Egyptian, Iranian, and Indian civilizations.
• Many Chinese inventions, such as the compass, paper, printing, and gunpowder, spread to Europe via the Arabs.
• The Arabs adopted and popularized the Indian decimal system, introduced to Europe as the system of Arab numerals.
• Indian works on astronomy and mathematics, such as the Surya Siddhanta, and medical texts by Charak and Sushruta, were translated into Arabic.
• Indian traders, merchants, physicians, and craftsmen were active in the Arab world, and Sanskrit literary works were translated into Arabic.
• By the tenth century, Arabs made significant contributions to geometry, algebra, geography, astronomy, optics, chemistry, and medicine.
• Arab geographers advanced knowledge about the world, developing new navigation devices used until the fifteenth century.
• Some of the best libraries and scientific laboratories were established in the Arab world, benefiting from intellectual and personal freedom.
• The decline of Arab science began after the twelfth century due to political and economic developments and growing orthodoxy, but it continued to thrive in Spain until the fourteenth century.

AFRICA

• The Arabs integrated Africa more closely into the Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern trade networks.
• Arab migrations and mercantile activities along the east coast of Africa increased, reaching areas such as Malindi and Zanzibar.
• Arab trade included large-scale export of slaves, gold, and ivory from Africa.
• A powerful Ethiopian kingdom, engaged in Indian Ocean trade, had many towns and was known as Habshis.
• The Ethiopians were Christians and closely allied with the Byzantine Empire in trade.
• Their economic position weakened with the decline of the Byzantine Empire

EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA 

• The covered passages of an ancient site contain statues of Hindu gods, goddesses, and nymphs (apsaras), along with panels depicting scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
• The site, forgotten by the outside world and overtaken by the jungle, was rediscovered by a Frenchman in 1860.
• The most vigorous period of temple building in this region was from the tenth to the twelfth century, coinciding with India’s peak period of temple construction.
• Indian traders traveled overland from the port of Takkala in the Malaya peninsula to South China, with many brahmans and later Buddhist monks settling in Southeast Asia and South China.
• Buddhism spread from China to Korea and Japan, with Indian monks influencing the evolution of a Korean script similar to the Indian one.
• Despite Buddhism’s decline in India, it flourished in Southeast Asia, assimilating Hindu gods and taking over Hindu temples.
• India had close commercial and cultural contacts with the West, Southeast Asia, China, Madagascar, and countries on the east coast of Africa.
• Southeast Asian kingdoms served as a bridge for commercial and cultural exchanges between India, China, and the outside world, developing a distinctive and high-order culture influenced by Indian civilization.
• Arab traders, active in South India and Southeast Asia before the Abbasid empire, did not displace Indian traders and preachers and did not initially seek to convert people to Islam.
• Religious freedom, tolerance, and cultural commingling characterized these regions.
• The conversion of Indonesia and Malaya to Islam occurred gradually after Islam consolidated its position in India.
• Buddhism continued to thrive in the region until European colonial rule interrupted commercial and cultural contacts between India and these countries.