Let's study for Quiz # 2 Questions 1,2,3.

1) The Mongols got a bad rap.  In fact, they were a significant civilization that made long-term contributions to the evolution of the Eurasian world.  Discuss:

The Mongols were famous for their fighting prowess, superior hosrsemanship, and nomadic ways that made them a feared and respected culture.  In addition to this they were able to developed a stable civilization for 300 years that made contributions to the evolution of the Eurasian world.  The Mongols established a cosmopolitan capital city (Karakorum) and because of their religious tolerance built places of worship for the various religions. The Mongols had a central government which exchanged ambassadors with Persia and China, and they participated in trans-continental trade. They introduced a system of standardized weights and measures that impacted the trade of Eurasia.  Mongols developed the most extensive postal system at the time, and were able to bring the major civilizations of Eurasia,  Europe, China,  and the Islamic world into more direct contact with each other than in earlier times. They were very good at assimilating other cultures ideas about government, art, and language, and translated their official decrees into various languages.  Mongol culture was also more egalitarian the most with women and men possessing many of the same fighting and riding skills that made them a great invading army.

2) In what way does Islam highlight the reason why the entire period from 500 BC to 1400 AD should be considered the "Classical Era" from a World Historical point of view?

Islam's reign should be considered part of the Classical Era because it mirrored some of the other civilizations of the time with its trans-continental expansionism, and all encompassing religion, that included spiritual, personal and governmental codes of behavior.  Islam brought vast amounts of diverse peoples and cultures in Afro-Eurasia under one virtual roof that in many ways has endured into the modern era. Peoples from other cultures and continents wanted to be part of the Islamic empire. Like the other empires of the classical era, Islam made great strides in education and knowledge with advances in medicine, mathematics, and science, which developed across cultures.  Also The Islamic religion, similar to Catholicism under the Roman Empire, suffered a division which lasted into the modern era with Shiites and Sunnis on two opposing sides.

3) What were the Sand and Sea Roads?  Were they as significant as the Silk Road?

The Sand Road was the long distance trading route that linked North Africa and the Mediterranean with the interior of West Africa across the Sahara.  It was as significant as the Silk Road because, like the Silk Road, "the commercial networks had a transforming impact, stimulating and enriching West African civilization and connecting it to larger patterns of world history during the post classical era". (Strayer 2009)  The long distance trade of the Sea Roads across the Indian Ocean also had this trans-formative effect that the Sand and Silk exhibited with its impact giving rise to the East African civilization known as Swahili.