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96-559: According to Hayton of Corycus , Sighnaq was located in the Karatau Mountains , from where the river Kara Ichuk, a tributary of Syr Darya , emanates. Klaproth says that the city was located on the banks of Mutkan, a right hand side tributary of Syr Darya, that emanates from the Karatau mountains, but he does not mention his source. Sherif al-Din speaks of Sabran and Sighnaq as two border cities of Turkestan and says that Sighnaq

192-455: A contrasting independent nature compared to the Chinese women who continued to be suppressed. Mongol women often rode out on hunts or even to war. Kublai's wife, Chabi , was a perfect example of this; Chabi advised her husband on several political and diplomatic matters; she convinced him that the Chinese were to be respected and well-treated in order to make them easier to rule. However, this

288-696: A decline in its popularity occurred. The Kushan Empire would fall apart by 220 AD, creating more political turmoil in India. Then in 320, the Gupta Empire (Sanskrit: गुप्त राजवंश, Gupta Rājavanśha) was established and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta , the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. Gupta kings united the area primarily through negotiation of local leaders and families as well as strategical intermarriage. Their rule covered less land than

384-511: A former Catalan translation having maybe the same origin, and one English language manuscript of the 16th century, presumably made for Henry VIII. The Editio princeps was prepared in Paris in 1510, based on Faulcon's French text. Faulcon's Latin text appeared in Haguenau (1529), Basel (1532) and Helmstedt 1585, Jean le Long's French version in Paris (1529). An English translation (independent of

480-628: A geography of Asia, one of the first of the Middle Ages, La Flor des Estoires d'Orient (Latin: Flos Historiarum Terre Orientis , "The flower of the stories of the Orient"). The work consists of four books of unequal lengths, the main part being contained in book 3, after which the entire work is sometimes referred to as the "History of the Tartars", which gives a history of the Mongols and

576-522: A high level of town planning and arts. The cause of the destruction of these regions around 1700 BC is debatable, although evidence suggests it was caused by natural disasters (especially flooding). This era marks Vedic period in India, which lasted from roughly 1500 to 500 BC. During this period, the Sanskrit language developed and the Vedas were written, epic hymns that told tales of gods and wars. This

672-509: A highly centralized government , and significant infrastructure developments. Later, in Darius the Great 's rule, the territories were integrated, a bureaucracy was developed, nobility were assigned military positions, tax collection was carefully organized, and spies were used to ensure the loyalty of regional officials. The primary religion of Persia at this time was Zoroastrianism , developed by

768-576: A member of the influential Armenian Hethumid dynasty in Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , Hayton was the son of Oshin (d. 15 January 1265), Prince of Corycus (Korikos), and younger brother of King Hethum I (d. 28 October 1270) and Sempad the Constable ( Armenian : Sparapet ), the chronicler and kingdom's constable (d. 1276). When he came of age, he was made governor of the city of Corycus . Cypriot chronology suggests that Hayton

864-408: A philosophy). Shrines devoted to Confucius were built and Confucian philosophy was taught to all scholars who entered the Chinese bureaucracy. The bureaucracy was further improved with the introduction of an examination system that selected scholars of high merit. These bureaucrats were often upper-class people educated in special schools, but whose power was often checked by the lower-class brought into

960-711: A reflection of the rivalry between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire seen during the previous five hundred years. The fighting weakened both states, leaving the stage open to a new power. Meanwhile, the nomadic Bedouin tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal stability, greater trade networking and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism. While the Byzantine Roman and Sassanid Persian empires were both weakened by

1056-474: A result, the Chinese government at this time tended to be very decentralized and weak, and there was often little the emperor could do to resolve national issues. Nonetheless, the government was able to retain its position with the creation of the Mandate of Heaven , which could establish an emperor as divinely chosen to rule. The Zhou additionally discouraged the human sacrifice of the preceding eras and unified

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1152-430: A woman ruler, which was rare at the time. However, Buddhism would also experience some backlash, especially from Confucianists and Taoists. This would usually involve criticism about how it was costing the state money, since the government was unable to tax Buddhist monasteries, and additionally sent many grants and gifts to them. The Tang dynasty began to decline under the rule of Emperor Xuanzong , who began to neglect

1248-465: Is believed that in the 10th century there was a semi-sedentary city of the Oghuz Turks near the border, where they exchanged their products with those of Muslim states to the south. The Hudud al-'Alam indicates that bows were manufactured for export. The region was known as Dar al-Kufr. In the twelfth century it was the capital of the khanate of Kipchak (still pagan), and was exposed to raids of

1344-639: Is commonly known as that of the Six Dynasties . The first part of this included the Three Kingdoms which started in 220 and describes the brief and weak successor "dynasties" that followed the Han. In 265, the Jin dynasty of China was started and this soon split into two different empires in control of northwestern and southeastern China. In 420, the conquest and abdication of those two dynasties resulted in

1440-533: Is still currently broad (3500–500 BC). The Iron Age saw the widespread use of iron tools, weaponry, and armor throughout the major civilizations of Asia. The Achaemenid dynasty of the Persian Empire , founded by Cyrus the Great , ruled an area from Greece and Turkey to the Indus River and Central Asia during the 6th to 4th centuries BC. Persian politics included a tolerance for other cultures,

1536-555: The Bronze Age began about 3500 BC, replacing the Neolithic cultures. The Indus Valley civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BC; mature period 2600–1900 BC) which was centered mostly in the western part of the Indian Subcontinent; it is considered that an early form of Hinduism was performed during this civilization. Some of the great cities of this civilization include Harappa and Mohenjo-daro , which had

1632-763: The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 , a new power in the form of Islam grew in the Middle East under Muhammad in Medina . In a series of rapid Muslim conquests , the Rashidun army , led by the Caliphs and skilled military commanders such as Khalid ibn al-Walid , swept through most of the Middle East, taking more than half of Byzantine territory in the Arab–Byzantine wars and completely engulfing Persia in

1728-717: The Chinese language . Finally, the Zhou government encouraged settlers to move into the Yangtze River valley, thus creating the Chinese Middle Kingdom. But by 500 BC, its political stability began to decline due to repeated nomadic incursions and internal conflict derived from the fighting princes and families. This was lessened by the many philosophical movements, starting with the life of Confucius . His philosophical writings (called Confucianism ) concerning

1824-617: The Council of Adana in 1314 is to be identified with Hayton of Corycus has not found mainstream acceptance due to the ubiquity of the Armenian name Hayton . Hayton's daughter Isabel (1282–1310) married Oshin , the son of King Leo II , King of Cilician Armenia from 1307 to 1320. His son Oshin of Corycus became regent of Cilician Armenia from 1320, presumably indicating that Hayton was no longer alive. While in France, Hayton compiled

1920-609: The Islamic Golden Age and the Timurid Renaissance , which later influenced the age of Islamic gunpowder empires . Asia's history features major developments seen in other parts of the world, as well as events that have affected those other regions. These include the trade of the Silk Road , which spread cultures, languages, religions, and diseases throughout Afro-Eurasian trade. Another major advancement

2016-659: The Kingdom of Jerusalem , which survived until 1187, when Saladin retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the Mongol Empire , swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in the Siege of Baghdad (1258) and advancing as far south as the border of Egypt in what became known as the Mongol conquests . The Mongols eventually retreated in 1335, but

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2112-625: The Mongol Empire to the end of a renewed crusade in the Holy Land . The work concludes with a plan for a new crusade, which Hayton proposed should be organised in alliance with the Ilkhan. Hayton's promotion of this Ilkhanid alliance, and also his association with certain parties in the complex Armenian and Cypriot politics of the day, make this work rather tendentious. Thus, Hayton is always keen to ascribe motives for Mongol actions that would endear them to his papal audience, as with his account of

2208-531: The Mongol invasions . For his history of the Mongols Hayton names an Estoires des Tartars ("History of the Tartars") as his source for the time until the reign of Möngke Khan (1250s), while for more recent events, he relies on the accounts by his great-uncle, king Hethum I , and on his own experiences. He is also informed by western sources on the history of the Crusades , and most likely draws on

2304-794: The Muslim conquest of Persia . It would be the Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant ethnic identity that persists today. These Caliphates included the Rashidun Caliphate , Umayyad Caliphate , Abbasid Caliphate , and later the Seljuq Empire . After Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture into an Islamic Golden Age , inspiring achievements in architecture ,

2400-548: The Muslim conquests and the Mongol invasion , which he dictated at the request of Pope Clement V in 1307, while he was at Poitiers . The Old French original text was recorded by one Nicolas Faulcon, who also prepared a Latin translation. The work was widely disseminated in the Late Middle Ages and was influential in shaping western European views of the Orient . Likely born between c.  1230 and 1245,

2496-611: The Muslim conquests of the 7th century and the succeeding Caliphates . Book 3, known as the "History of the Tartars", provides an account of the rise of the Mongol Empire , and of recent events in the Near East, especially relating to the history of the Armenian kingdom and its interaction with the Mongol Ilkhanate , to which it had been tributary since 1236. Book 4 discusses a proposed alliance of Christendom with

2592-602: The Pala . Under Rajendra Chola the Cholas created the first notable navy of Indian subcontinent. The Chola navy extended the influence of Chola empire to southeast asia . During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes. The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from

2688-563: The South China Sea and northern Vietnam . Greater organization brought a uniform tax system, a national census, regulated road building (and cart width), standard measurements, standard coinage, and an official written and spoken language. Further reforms included new irrigation projects, the encouragement of silk manufacturing, and (most famously) the beginning of the construction of the Great Wall of China—designed to keep out

2784-614: The Taika Reform and imperial centralization, both of which were a direct result of growing Chinese contact and influences. In 603, Prince Shōtoku of the Yamato dynasty began significant political and cultural changes. He issued the Seventeen-article constitution in 604, centralizing power towards the emperor (under the title tenno , or heavenly sovereign) and removing the power to levy taxes from provincial lords. Shōtoku

2880-478: The 'ghazis'. At least two incursions (ghazawat) are known, one in 1152 and one in 1195, from Khwarezm , the second one occurred while Kayir Toku Khan ruled Sighnaq. However, at the beginning of the thirteenth century Ala al-Din Muhammad conquered the land and annexed it to his empire; a few years later, his rule was replaced with that of Genghis Khan , who conquered the region after a siege in 1220. The population

2976-665: The 12th century onwards, though earlier Muslim conquests include the limited inroads into modern Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Umayyad campaigns in India, during the time of the Rajput kingdoms in the 8th century. Major economic and military powers like the Delhi Sultanate and Bengal Sultanate , were seen to be established. The search of their wealth led the Voyages of Christopher Columbus . The Vijayanagara Empire based in

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3072-563: The Chinese bureaucracy. A Ministry of Rites was established and the examination system was improved to better qualify scholars for their jobs. In addition, Buddhism became popular in China with two different strains between the peasantry and the elite, the Pure Land and Zen strains, respectively. Greatly supporting the spread of Buddhism was Empress Wu , who additionally claimed an unofficial "Zhou dynasty" and displayed China's tolerance of

3168-622: The Deccan Plateau region of South India, was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, patronized by saint Vidyaranya, the 12th Shankaracharya of Sringeri in Karnataka. The empire rose to prominence as a result of attempts by the southern powers to resist and ward off Turkic Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. At its peak, it subjugated almost all of South India's rulers and pushed

3264-572: The English manuscript text) by Richard Pynson was printed in London in the 1520s. Other translations included German (Strasbourg 1534), Dutch (Antwerpen 1563), Italian (Venice 1559, 1562, 1562) and Spanish (Córdoba 1595) versions. A modern edition of the text was prepared (with modern French translation and commentary) by Jean Dardel in 1906 for Recueil des historiens des croisades . History of Asia The history of Asia can be seen as

3360-526: The French language. Faulcon then prepared a Latin translation of his French text. The work was completed and presented to Pope Clement V in 1307. Faulcon's text is preserved in numerous manuscripts, a total of 18 of the French text and 32 of the Latin text (two which are not independent witnesses but notebooks or indices of variants). Some of these manuscripts still date to the first half of the 14th century. For

3456-541: The French text: Turin University library IV.30, Paris BNF nouv. acq. fr. 886 , Vienna national library no. 2620; for the Latin text: Paris BNF lat. 5515 and lat. 14693. There is another French text, translated from Faulcon's Latin text by one Jean le Long in 1351 (preserved in 3 manuscripts). In addition there is one Aragonese translation made for Juan Fernández de Heredia, grand master of the Hospitallers, besides

3552-544: The Golden Age of India and were marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, art, religion, and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Indian culture. The religions of Hinduism and Buddhism , which began in Indian sub-continent, were an important influence on South, East and Southeast Asia. By 600 BC, India had been divided into 17 regional states that would occasionally feud amongst themselves. In 327 BC, Alexander

3648-522: The Great came to India with a vision of conquering the whole world. He crossed northwestern India and created the province Bactria but could not move further because his army wanted to go back to their family. Shortly prior, the soldier Chandragupta Maurya began to take control of the Ganges river and soon established the Maurya Empire . The Maurya Empire (Sanskrit: मौर्य राजवंश, Maurya Rājavaṃśa)

3744-598: The Historian';; c.  1240  – c.  1310/1320 ) was a medieval Armenian nobleman and historiographer. He was also a member of Norbertines and likely a Catholic priest. Hayton is the author of La Flor des estoires de la terre d'Orient ("Flower of the Histories of the East"; Latin : Flos historiarum terre Orientis ), a historiographical work about the history of Asia , especially about

3840-795: The Ilkhan Hülegü's rather destructive invasion of Syria (1259–60): The Khan wanted to go to Jerusalem in order to deliver the Holy Land from the Saracens and to remit it to the Christians. The king Hethum I was very happy with this request, and assembled a great score of men on foot and on horse, because, in that time, the Kingdom of Armenia was in such a good state that it easily had 12,000 soldiers on horse and 60,000 soldiers on foot. Hayton dictated his text to one Nicolas Faulcon using

3936-490: The Maurya Empire, but established the greatest stability. In 535, the empire ended when India was overrun by the Hunas . Since 1029 BC, the Zhou dynasty ( Chinese : 周朝 ; pinyin : Zhōu Cháo ; Wade–Giles : Chou Ch'ao [tʂóʊ tʂʰɑ̌ʊ] ), had existed in China and it would continue to until 258 BC. The Zhou dynasty had been using a feudal system by giving power to local nobility and relying on their loyalty in order to control its large territory. As

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4032-412: The Medieval era caused primarily by the spread of Islam and the establishment of the Arabian Empires. In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated into small, weak states; the two most prominent were the Sassanian Empire of the Persians in what is now Iran and Iraq , and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey ). The Byzantines and Sassanians fought with each other continually,

4128-403: The Middle East and the Romans, through the Silk Road , with which they were able to trade many commodities—primarily silk. Many ancient civilizations were influenced by the Silk Road , which connected China, India , the Middle East and Europe. Han emperors like Wu also promoted Confucianism as the national "religion" (although it is debated by theologians as to whether it is defined as such or as

4224-428: The Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Genghis Khan was a Khagan who tolerated nearly every religion. The Indian early medieval age, 600 to 1200, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When Harsha of Kannauj , who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he

4320-404: The Mongol hordes that showed little mercy for those who resisted and the Southern Song Chinese were quickly losing territory. In 1271 the current great khan, Kublai Khan , claimed himself Emperor of China and officially established the Yuan dynasty. By 1290, all of China was under control of the Mongols, marking the first time they were ever completely conquered by a foreign invader; the new capital

4416-406: The Northern Zhou dynasty. He proclaimed himself Emperor Wen of Sui and appeased the nomadic military by abandoning the Confucian scholar-gentry. Emperor Wen soon led the conquest of the southern Chen dynasty and united China once more under the Sui dynasty . The emperor lowered taxes and constructed granaries that he used to prevent famine and control the market. Later Wen's son would murder him for

4512-412: The Sui dynasty. Fortunately, one of Yang's most respectable advisors, Li Yuan, was able to claim the throne quickly, preventing a chaotic collapse. He proclaimed himself Emperor Gaozu , and established the Tang dynasty in 623. The Tang saw expansion of China through conquest to Tibet in the west, Vietnam in the south, and Manchuria in the north. Tang emperors also improved the education of scholars in

4608-419: The Three Kingdoms (220–265 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the period of the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history. One of the Han dynasty's greatest emperors, Emperor Wu of Han , established a peace throughout China comparable to the Pax Romana seen in the Mediterranean a hundred years later. To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people". The Han dynasty

4704-422: The Turkic homelands in Central Asia. They conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the Hejaz . This was followed by a series of Christian Western Europe invasions. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joined forces, mainly from England, France, and the emerging Holy Roman Empire , to enter the region. In 1099 the knights of the First Crusade captured Jerusalem and founded

4800-443: The aforementioned nomadic tribes and local leaders would fight for control of China in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . By 960, most of China proper had been reunited under the Song dynasty , although it lost territories in the north and could not defeat one of the nomadic tribes there—the Liao dynasty of the highly sinicized Khitan people . From then on, the Song would have to pay tribute to avoid invasion and thus set

4896-445: The assassination of Hethum II in 1307, Hayton returned to Cilician Armenia, where, leaving his monastic life behind, he became constable , commander of the armed forces. The date of his death is unknown; he is last recorded as having been alive in 1309, acting on behalf of Amalric. The suggestion (made by Charles Kohler in the preface to the 1906 edition of the History ) that one Haytonus, Armeniorum dux generalis recorded as present in

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4992-704: The battle of Kuk Kashanah, or Kök Kašane, took place 7 km to the south, in which the Kalmyks defeated the Uzbeks and Abu'l-Khayr had to accept whatever peace Uz Timur the Kalmyk would offer. Muhammad Shaybani , refounder of the Uzbek Khanate, was born in the region of Sighnaq. In the sixteenth century, it belonged to the Kazakhs, but it lost importance and eventually disappeared. 44°09′30″N 66°57′30″E  /  44.15833°N 66.95833°E  / 44.15833; 66.95833 Hayton of Corycus Hayton of Corycus , O.Praem (also Hethum, Het'um , and variants; Armenian : Հեթում Պատմիչ , romanized :  Hetʿowm Patmičʿ , lit.   'Hethum

5088-536: The brief Hellenistic period . He was unable to establish stability and after his death, Persia broke into small, weak dynasties including the Seleucid Empire , followed by the Parthian Empire . By the end of the Classical age, Persia had been reconsolidated into the Sassanid Empire , also known as the second Persian Empire. The Roman Empire would later control parts of Western Asia. The Seleucid , Parthian and Sassanid dynasties of Persia dominated Western Asia for centuries. The Maurya and Gupta empires are called

5184-570: The bureaucracy through their skill. The Chinese imperial bureaucracy was very effective and highly respected by all in the realm and would last over 2,000 years. The Han government was highly organized and it commanded the military, judicial law (which used a system of courts and strict laws), agricultural production, the economy, and the general lives of its people. The government also promoted intellectual philosophy, scientific research, and detailed historical records. However, despite all of this impressive stability, central power began to lose control by

5280-430: The central steppes, they could reach all areas of the Asian continent. The northern part of the continent, covering much of Siberia was also inaccessible to the steppe nomads due to the dense forests and the tundra . These areas in Siberia were very sparsely populated. The centre and periphery were kept separate by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus , Himalaya , Karakum Desert , and Gobi Desert formed barriers that

5376-653: The chaos that ensued throughout the empire deposed the Seljuq Turks. In 1401, the region was further plagued by the Turko-Mongol, Timur , and his ferocious raids. By then, another group of Turks had arisen as well, the Ottomans . The Mongol Empire conquered a large part of Asia in the 13th century, an area extending from China to Europe. Medieval Asia was the kingdom of the Khans. Never before had any person controlled as much land as Genghis Khan . He built his power unifying separate Mongol tribes before expanding his kingdom south and west. He and his grandson, Kublai Khan, controlled lands in China, Burma, Central Asia, Russia, Iran,

5472-486: The collection of neolithic findings at the site consists of two phases. Around 5500 BC the Halafian culture appeared in Lebanon , Israel , Syria , Anatolia , and northern Mesopotamia , based upon dryland agriculture. In southern Mesopotamia were the alluvial plains of Sumer and Elam . Since there was little rainfall, irrigation systems were necessary. The Ubaid culture flourished from 5500 BC. The Chalcolithic period (or Copper Age) began about 4500 BC, then

5568-536: The collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as East Asia , South Asia , Southeast Asia and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe . See History of the Middle East and History of the Indian Subcontinent for further details on those regions. The coastal periphery was the home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations and religions, with each of three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. These valleys were fertile because

5664-542: The decline. They started to proclaim magical powers and promised to save China with them; the Taoist Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 (led by rebels in yellow scarves) failed but was able to weaken the government. The aforementioned Huns combined with diseases killed up to half of the population and officially ended the Han dynasty by 220. The ensuing period of chaos was so terrible it lasted for three centuries, where many weak regional rulers and dynasties failed to establish order in China. This period of chaos and attempts at order

5760-419: The dominant philosophies of the Far East during the Middle Ages. Marco Polo was not the first Westerner to travel to the Orient and return with amazing stories of this different culture, but his accounts published in the late 13th and early 14th centuries were the first to be widely read throughout Europe. The Arabian peninsula and the surrounding Middle East and Near East regions saw dramatic change during

5856-474: The economy and military and caused unrest amongst the court officials due to the excessive influence of his concubine, Yang Guifei , and her family. This eventually sparked a revolt in 755. Although the revolt failed, subduing it required involvement with the unruly nomadic tribes outside of China and distributing more power to local leaders—leaving the government and economy in a degraded state. The Tang dynasty officially ended in 907 and various factions led by

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5952-529: The first of the Southern and Northern dynasties . The Northern and Southern dynasties passed through until finally, by 557, the Northern Zhou dynasty ruled the north and the Chen dynasty ruled the south. During this period, the Eastern world empires continued to expand through trade, migration and conquests of neighboring areas. Gunpowder was widely used as early as the 11th century and they were using moveable type printing five hundred years before Gutenberg created his press. Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism were

6048-413: The last Zhou emperor and established the Qin dynasty. The Qin dynasty (Chinese: 秦朝; pinyin: Qín Cháo) was the first ruling dynasty of Imperial China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The new Emperor abolished the feudal system and directly appointed a bureaucracy that would rely on him for power. Huang's imperial forces crushed any regional resistance, and they furthered the Chinese empire by expanding down to

6144-437: The nomadic raiders who'd constantly badger the Chinese people. However, Shi Huang was infamous for his tyranny, forcing laborers to build the Wall, ordering heavy taxes, and severely punishing all who opposed him. He oppressed Confucians and promoted Legalism , the idea that people were inherently evil, and that a strong, forceful government was needed to control them. Legalism was infused with realistic, logical views and rejected

6240-436: The north was overthrown by the Jin dynasty of the Manchu-related Jurchen people . The new Jin kingdom invaded northern China , leaving the Song to flee farther south and creating the Southern Song dynasty in 1126. There, cultural life flourished. By 1227, the Mongols had conquered the Western Xia kingdom northwest of China. Soon the Mongols incurred upon the Jin empire of the Jurchens. Chinese cities were soon besieged by

6336-402: The philosopher Zoroaster . It introduced an early form of monotheism to the area. The religion banned animal sacrifice and the use of intoxicants in rituals; and introduced the concept of spiritual salvation through personal moral action, an end time , and both general and Particular judgment with a heaven or hell . These concepts would heavily influence later emperors and the masses. It

6432-416: The pleasures of educated conversation as frivolous. All of this made Shi Huang extremely unpopular with the people. As the Qin began to weaken, various factions began to fight for control of China. The Han dynasty ( simplified Chinese : 汉朝 ; traditional Chinese : 漢朝 ; pinyin : Hàn Cháo ; 206 BC – 220 AD) was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by

6528-404: The precedent for other nomadic kingdoms to oppress them. The Song also saw the revival of Confucianism in the form of Neo-Confucianism . This had the effect of putting the Confucian scholars at a higher status than aristocrats or Buddhists and also intensified the reduction of power in women. The infamous practice of foot binding developed in this period as a result. Eventually the Liao dynasty in

6624-551: The respect of elders and of the state would later be popularly used in the Han dynasty. Additionally, Laozi 's concepts of Taoism , including yin and yang and the innate duality and balance of nature and the universe, became popular throughout this period. Nevertheless, the Zhou dynasty eventually disintegrated as the local nobles began to gain more power and their conflict devolved into the Warring States period , from 402 to 201 BC. One leader eventually came on top, Qin Shi Huang ( Chinese : 始皇帝 , Shǐ Huángdì ), who overthrew

6720-403: The revival of old advances in science and technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life. Muslims saved and spread Greek advances in medicine , algebra , geometry , astronomy , anatomy , and ethics that would later finds it way back to Western Europe. The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the Seljuq Turks , migrating south from

6816-448: The soil there was rich and could bear many root crops. The civilizations in Mesopotamia , ancient India , and ancient China shared many similarities and likely exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other notions such as that of writing likely developed individually in each area. Cities, states, and then empires developed in these lowlands. The steppe region had long been inhabited by mounted nomads, and from

6912-533: The southern tip). He eventually converted to Buddhism, though, and began a peaceful life where he promoted the religion as well as humane methods throughout India. The Maurya Empire would disintegrate soon after Ashoka's death and was conquered by the Kushan invaders from the northwest, establishing the Kushan Empire . Their conversion to Buddhism caused the religion to be associated with foreigners and therefore

7008-705: The spread of Buddhism , and the advent of Neo-Confucianism . It was an unsurpassed era for Chinese ceramics and painting. Medieval architectural masterpieces the Great South Gate in Todaiji, Japan, and the Tien-ning Temple in Peking, China are some of the surviving constructs from this era. A new powerful dynasty began to rise in the 580s, amongst the divided factions of China. This was started when an aristocrat named Yang Jian married his daughter into

7104-443: The steppe horsemen could only cross with difficulty. While technologically and culturally the city dwellers were more advanced, they could do little militarily to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force. Thus the nomads who conquered states in the Middle East were soon forced to adapt to the local societies. The spread of Islam waved

7200-671: The subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus River alluvium approximately 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BC. Göbekli Tepe is a Neolithic site in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey . Dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic , between c. 9500 and 8000 BC, the site comprises a number of large circular structures supported by massive stone pillars –

7296-780: The sultans of the Deccan beyond the Tungabhadra-Krishna river region. After annexing modern day Odisha (ancient Kalinga) from the Gajapati Empire, became a notable power. The empire lasted until 1646 after a major military defeat in the Battle of Talikota in 1565 by the combined armies of the Deccan sultanates . China saw the rise and fall of the Sui, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties and therefore improvements in its bureaucracy,

7392-487: The throne and declare himself Emperor Yang of Sui . Emperor Yang revived the Confucian scholars and the bureaucracy, much to anger of the aristocrats and nomadic military leaders. Yang became an excessive leader who overused China's resources for personal luxury and perpetuated exhaustive attempts to conquer Goguryeo . His military failures and neglect of the empire forced his own ministers to assassinate him in 618, ending

7488-511: The travelogues of Giovanni da Pian del Carpine and Marco Polo . Book 1 describes the geography of Asia as divided into the kingdoms of Cathay (China), Tars ( Uyghurs ), Turkestan, Khwarazmia , Cumania , India , Persia , Media , Armenia , Georgia , Chaldea , Mesopotamia , the "Land of the Turks" ( Seljuks ) and Syria . Book 2 gives an account of the "Lordship of the Saracens", i.e.

7584-486: The turn of the Common Era . As the Han dynasty declined, many factors continued to pummel it into submission until China was left in a state of chaos. By 100 AD, philosophical activity slowed, and corruption ran rampant in the bureaucracy. Local landlords began to take control as the scholars neglected their duties, and this resulted in heavy taxation of the peasantry. Taoists began to gain significant ground and protested

7680-529: The wake of the 735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic , Buddhism gained the status of state religion and the government ordered the construction of numerous Buddhist temples, monasteries, and statues. The lavish spending combined with the fact that many aristocrats did not pay taxes, put a heavy burden on peasantry that caused poverty and famine. Eventually the Buddhist position got out of control, threatening to seize imperial power and causing Emperor Kanmu to move

7776-594: The world's oldest known megaliths . The prehistoric Beifudi site near Yixian in Hebei Province, China, contains relics of a culture contemporaneous with the Cishan and Xinglongwa cultures of about 8000–7000 BC, neolithic cultures east of the Taihang Mountains , filling in an archaeological gap between the two Northern Chinese cultures. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square meters and

7872-568: Was a town of the Oghuz , al-Muqaddasi also associates it with Otrar and says that it was "24 farsakhs further up the Syr Darya". On the basis of all of this information, the most reasonable localization appears to be the area around Babai Kurgan, and finally, Sunak Kurgan, a few kilometers northeast of Tyumen Arik along the Orenburg - Tashkent railway, was identified as the ruins of Sighnaq. It

7968-674: Was also a patron of Buddhism and he encouraged building temples competitively. Shōtoku's reforms transitioned Japan to the Nara period (c. 710 to c. 794), with the moving of the Japanese capital to Nara in Honshu . This period saw the culmination of Chinese-style writing, etiquette, and architecture in Japan along with Confucian ideals to supplement the already present Buddhism. Peasants revered both Confucian scholars and Buddhist monks. However, in

8064-631: Was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal . When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south. The Cholas could under the rule of Raja Raja Chola defeat their rivals and rise to a regional power. Cholas expanded northward and defeated Eastern Chalukya , Kalinga and

8160-505: Was established at Khanbaliq (modern-day Beijing ). Kublai Khan segregated Mongol culture from Chinese culture by discouraging interactions between the two peoples, separating living spaces and places of worship, and reserving top administrative positions to Mongols, thus preventing Confucian scholars to continue the bureaucratic system. Nevertheless, Kublai remained fascinated with Chinese thinking, surrounding himself with Chinese Buddhist, Taoist, or Confucian advisors. Mongol women displayed

8256-464: Was established when two peasants succeeded in rising up against Shi Huang's significantly weaker successor-son. The new Han government retained the centralization and bureaucracy of the Qin, but greatly reduced the repression seen before. They expanded their territory into Korea , Vietnam , and Central Asia , creating an even larger empire than the Qin. The Han developed contacts with the Persian Empire in

8352-590: Was forced into exile in 1294 because he conspired against his younger cousin, King Hethum II . In 1299, he made a pilgrimage to Paris to fulfill a Marian vow. In 1305, Hayton joined the Premonstratensian Order at Bellapais Abbey in Cyprus and presumably was ordained a Catholic priest . This was in line with his family's policy of a union between the Roman and Armenian Churches. By 1307, he

8448-652: Was in Poitiers , the main residence of Pope Clement V , as prior of the Premonstratensian abbey there. It was here that he dictated his History at the request of the pope. His political aim in Poitiers was to gain support for Amalric of Tyre in his usurpation of the throne of Cyprus against the unpopular king Henry II of Cyprus , and to advocate for a new crusade in alliance with the Mongols . After

8544-413: Was itself heavily influenced by earlier much older ancient religious beliefs and practices dating to the beginning of known history and before. The Persian Empire was successful in establishing peace and stability throughout the Middle East and were a major influence in art, politics (affecting Hellenistic leaders), and religion. Alexander the Great conquered this dynasty in the 4th century BC, creating

8640-611: Was located 40 km from Otrar ; the biographical book called Tabakatol hanefiyet , by Ketevi, placed it near the town of Yassy (i.e. the modern city of Turkistan ). The 19th-century Hungarian turkologist and traveller Vámbéry says, without mentioning the source, that Jand was connected to a channel. It seems to have been one of the main Turkish settlements of the region east of the Caspian Sea together with Yengikent, Sawran or Sabran and others. Mahmud Kashghari expressly stated it

8736-656: Was massacred. Annexed by Timur in the late fourteenth century, in 1427, Baraq Khan , khan of the Blue Horde and also of the Golden Horde , claimed Sighnaq from Shah Rukh , the son of Tamerlane, who refused; Baraq defeated the Timurids and occupied the city; the Timurids recovered it after his death ( c.  1428 ), but Abu'l-Khayr , founder of the Uzbek Khanate, conquered it in turn in 1446. In 1457,

8832-514: Was not enough to affect Chinese women's position, and the increasingly Neo-Confucian successors of Kublai further repressed Chinese and even Mongol women. The Black Death, which would later ravage Western Europe, had its beginnings in Asia, where it wiped out large populations in China in 1331. Japan's medieval history began with the Asuka period , from around 600 to 710. The time was characterized by

8928-547: Was the Tamilakam , an independent country dominated by three dynasties, the Pandyans , Cholas and Cheras . The government established by Chandragupta was led by an autocratic king, who primarily relied on the military to assert his power. It also applied the use of a bureaucracy and even sponsored a postal service. Chandragupta's grandson, Ashoka , greatly extended the empire by conquering most of modern-day India (save for

9024-838: Was the basis for the Vedic religion, which would eventually sophisticate and develop into Hinduism . China and Vietnam were also centres of metalworking. Dating back to the Neolithic Age, the first bronze drums, called the Dong Son drums have been uncovered in and around the Red River Delta regions of Vietnam and Southern China. These relate to the prehistoric Dong Son Culture of Vietnam. In Ban Chiang, Thailand (Southeast Asia), bronze artifacts have been discovered dating to 2100 BC. In Nyaunggan, Burma bronze tools have been excavated along with ceramics and stone artifacts. Dating

9120-523: Was the geographically extensive and powerful empire in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC. It was one of the world's largest empires in its time, stretching to the Himalayas in the north, what is now Assam in the east, probably beyond modern Pakistan in the west, and annexing Balochistan and much of what is now Afghanistan , at its greatest extent. South of Mauryan empire

9216-540: Was the innovation of gunpowder in medieval China, later developed by the Gunpowder empires, mainly by the Mughals and Safavids , which led to advanced warfare through the use of guns. A report by archaeologist Rakesh Tewari on Lahuradewa, India shows new C14 datings that range between 9000 and 8000 BC associated with rice, making Lahuradewa the earliest Neolithic site in entire South Asia. Settled life emerged on

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