3.2 Continuity and Innovation of State Forms and Their Interactions

Period 3 – Regional and Transregional Interactions, c. 600 CE to c. 1450 CE

State formation in this era demonstrated remarkable continuity, innovation, and diversity in various regions. In Afro–Eurasia, some states attempted, with differing degrees of success, to preserve or revive imperial structures, while smaller, less centralized states continued to develop. The expansion of Islam introduced a new concept—the caliphate—to Afro–Eurasian statecraft. Pastoral peoples in Eurasia built powerful and distinctive empires that integrated people and institutions from both the pastoral and agrarian worlds. In the Americas, powerful states developed in both Mesoamerica and the Andean region.

Key Concept 3.2.I.B references Buddhist states in South, East, and Southeast Asia.

Illustrative examples, traditional sources of power and legitimacy:

• Patriarchy
• Religion
• Land-owning elites

Illustrative examples, innovations:

• New methods of taxation
• Tributary systems
• Adaptation of religious institutions

Illustrative examples, city-states:

• Those on the Italian peninsula
• Those in East Africa
• Those in Southeast Asia

Illustrative examples, synthesis by states:

• Persian traditions that influence Islamic states
• Chinese traditions that influence states in Japan

Illustrative examples, technological and cultural transfers:

• The spread of Islamic scientific knowledge to Mongol China The transfer of Greco-Islamic medical knowledge to Westerm Europe
• The transfer of Greco-Islamic medical knowledge to Westerm Europe
• The transfer of foods, technologies, textiles, and music from the Islamic world to Europe via Al-Andalus