Features of the development of the countries of the East in the Middle Ages

Arab Caliphate

Features of the development of the countries of the East in the Middle Ages

The term "Middle Ages" is used to refer to the period in the history of the countries of the East of the first seventeen centuries of a new era. The natural upper boundary of the period is considered to be the 16th - early 17th centuries, when the East became the object of European trade and colonial expansion, which interrupted the course of development characteristic of Asian and North African countries. Geographically, the Medieval East covers the territory of North Africa, the Near and Middle East, Central and Central Asia, India, Sri Lanka, South-East Asia and the Far East.

The transition to the Middle Ages in the East in some cases was carried out on the basis of already existing political entities (for example, Byzantium, Sassanian Iran, Kushano-Gupta India), in others it was accompanied by social upheavals, as was the case in China, and almost everywhere the processes were accelerated due to participation in them "barbarian" nomadic tribes. On the historical arena during this period, such hitherto unknown peoples as the Arabs, the Seljuk Turks, and the Mongols appeared and rose. New religions were born and civilizations arose on their basis.

The countries of the East in the Middle Ages were connected with Europe. Byzantium remained the bearer of the traditions of Greco-Roman culture. The Arab conquest of Spain and the campaigns of the Crusaders to the East contributed to the interaction of cultures. However, for the countries of South Asia and the Far East, acquaintance with Europeans took place only in the 15th-16th centuries.

The formation of medieval societies of the East was characterized by the growth of productive forces - iron tools spread, artificial irrigation expanded and irrigation technology improved, the leading trend of the historical process both in the East and in Europe was the establishment of feudal relations. Various outcomes of development in the East and West by the end of the 20th century. were due to a lesser degree of its dynamism.

Among the factors causing the "delay" of Eastern societies, the following stand out: the preservation, along with the feudal way of life, of extremely slowly disintegrating primitive communal and slave-owning relations; the stability of communal forms of community life, which held back the differentiation of the peasantry; the predominance of state property and power over private land ownership and the private power of feudal lords; the undivided power of the feudal lords over the city, weakening the anti-feudal aspirations of the townspeople.

Pereodization of the history of the medieval East. With Taking into account these features and based on the idea of ​​the degree of maturity of feudal relations in the history of the East, the following stages are distinguished:

1st-6th centuries AD - the transitional period of the birth of feudalism;

7th-10th centuries - the period of early feudal relations with its inherent process of naturalization of the economy and the decline of ancient cities;

XI-XII centuries - the pre-Mongolian period, the beginning of the heyday of feudalism, the formation of a class-corporate system of life, a cultural take-off;

13th century - the time of the Mongol conquest, which interrupted the development of feudal society and reversed some of them;

XIV-XVI centuries - the post-Mongolian period, which is characterized by a slowdown in social development, the conservation of the despotic form of power.

Eastern civilizations. A colorful picture was presented by the Medieval East in terms of civilization, which also distinguished it from Europe. Some civilizations in the East arose in antiquity; Buddhist and Hindu - on the Hindustan Peninsula, Taoist-Confucian - in China. Others were born in the Middle Ages: Muslim civilization in the Near and Middle East, Indo-Muslim civilization in India, Hindu and Muslim civilization in the countries of Southeast Asia, Buddhist civilization in Japan and Southeast Asia, Confucian civilization in Japan and Korea.

India (7th–18th centuries)

Rajput period (7th-12th centuries) . As shown in Chapter 2, in the IV-VI centuries. AD The powerful Gupta empire developed on the territory of modern India. The Gupta era, perceived as the golden age of India, was replaced in the 7th-12th centuries. period of feudal fragmentation. At this stage, however, the isolation of the regions of the country and the decline of culture did not occur due to the development of port trade. The conquering tribes of the Huns-Ephthalites who came from Central Asia settled in the north-west of the country, and the Gujarats who appeared with them settled in Punjab, Sindh, Rajputana and Malwa. As a result of the merging of alien peoples with the local population, a compact ethnic community of Rajputs arose, which in the 8th century. began expansion from Rajputana into the rich regions of the Ganges valley and Central India. The Gurjara-Pratihara clan, which formed a state in Malwa, was the most famous. It was here that the most striking type of feudal relations with a developed hierarchy and vassal psychology developed.

In the VI-VII centuries. in India, a system of stable political centers is emerging, fighting with each other under the banner of different dynasties - North India, Bengal, Deccan and Far South. Canvas of political events of the VIII-X centuries. began the struggle for Doab (between the Jumna and the Ganges). In the tenth century the leading powers of the country fell into decay, divided into independent principalities. The political fragmentation of the country turned out to be especially tragic for Northern India, which suffered in the 11th century. regular military raids Mahmud Ghaznevid(998-1030), the ruler of a vast empire that included the territories of the modern states of Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, as well as Punjab and Sindh.

The socio-economic development of India during the Rajput era was characterized by the growth of feudal estates. The richest among the feudal lords, along with the rulers, were the Hindu temples and monasteries. If initially only uncultivated lands complained to them and with the indispensable consent of the community that owned them, then from the 8th century. more and more often, not only lands are transferred, but also villages, the inhabitants of which were obliged to bear a natural service in favor of the recipient. However, at this time the Indian community was still relatively independent, large in size and self-governing. A full-fledged community member hereditarily owned his field, although trade operations with land were certainly controlled by the community administration.

City life, frozen after the 6th century, began to revive only towards the end of the Rajput period. The old port centers developed faster. New cities arose near the castles of the feudal lords, where artisans settled, serving the needs of the court and the landowner's troops. The development of urban life was facilitated by the increased exchange between cities and the emergence of groupings of artisans according to castes. Just as in Western Europe, in the Indian city the development of handicrafts and trade was accompanied by the struggle of citizens against the feudal lords, who imposed new taxes on artisans and merchants. Moreover, the value of the tax was the higher, the lower was the class position of the castes to which the artisans and merchants belonged.

At the stage of feudal fragmentation, Hinduism finally took over Buddhism, defeating it with the power of its amorphousness, which perfectly corresponded to the political system of the era.

The era of the Muslim conquest of India. Delhi Sultanate(XIII - early XVI centuries) In the XIII century. in the north of India, a large Muslim state, the Delhi Sultanate, is established, and the dominance of Muslim commanders from the Central Asian Turks is finally taking shape. Sunni Islam becomes the state religion, and Persian becomes the official language. Accompanied by bloody strife, the dynasties of Gulyams, Khiljis, and Tughlakids were successively replaced in Delhi. The troops of the sultans made aggressive campaigns in Central and South India, and the conquered rulers were forced to recognize themselves as vassals of Delhi and pay an annual tribute to the sultan.

The turning point in the history of the Delhi Sultanate was the invasion of Northern India in 1398 by the troops of the Central Asian ruler Timur(another name is Tamerlane, 1336-1405). The Sultan fled to Gujarat. An epidemic and famine began in the country. Abandoned by the conqueror as governor of the Punjab, Khizr Khan Sayyid captured Delhi in 1441 and founded a new Sayyid dynasty. Representatives of this and the Lodi dynasty that followed it already ruled as governors of the Timurids. One of the last Lodi, Ibrahim, in an effort to exalt his power, entered into an uncompromising struggle with the feudal nobility and Afghan military leaders. Ibrahim's opponents appealed to the ruler of Kabul, the Timurid Babur, with a request to save them from the tyranny of the Sultan. In 1526, Babur defeated Ibrahim at the Battle of Panipat, thus initiating Mughal Empire, existed for almost 200 years.

The system of economic relations undergoes some, although not radical, changes in the Muslim era. The state land fund is growing significantly due to the possessions of the conquered Indian feudal families. Its main part was distributed in a conditional service award - iqta (small plots) and mukta (large "feedings"). Iqtadars and muktadars collected taxes from the granted villages in favor of the treasury, part of which went to the support of the family of the holder, who supplied the warrior to the state army. Mosques, owners of property for charitable purposes, keepers of the tombs of sheikhs, poets, officials and merchants were private landowners who managed the estate without state intervention. The rural community survived as a convenient fiscal unit, however, the payment of the poll tax (jizia) fell on the peasants, who mostly professed Hinduism, as a heavy burden.

By the XIV century. historians attribute a new wave of urbanization to India. Cities became centers of crafts and trade. Domestic trade was mainly focused on the needs of the capital's court. The leading import item was the importation of horses (the basis of the Delhi army is cavalry), which were not bred in India due to the lack of pastures. Archaeologists find treasures of Delhi coins in Persia, Central Asia and on the Volga.

During the reign of the Delhi Sultanate, Europeans began to penetrate India. In 1498, under Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese first reached Calikat on the Malabar coast of western India. As a result of subsequent military expeditions - Cabral (1500), Vasco de Gama (1502), d "Albuquerque (1510-1511) - the Portuguese captured the Bijapur island of Goa, which became the backbone of their possessions in the East. The Portuguese monopoly on maritime trade undermined India's trade ties with countries of the East, isolated the interior regions of the country and retarded their development.In addition, wars and the destruction of the population of Malabar led.Gujarat was also weakened.Only the Vijayanagar empire remained in the XIV-XVI centuries powerful and even more centralized than the former states of the south.Its head was considered a maharaja, but all the fullness of real power belonged to the state council, the chief minister, to whom the governors of the provinces were directly subordinate. State lands were distributed in a conditional military award - amara. A significant part of the villages were in the possession of Brahmin collectives - sabkhs. lands of one village, and community members increasingly began to turn into into disadvantaged sharecroppers. In the cities, the authorities began to pay the collection of duties at the mercy of the feudal lords, which strengthened their undivided rule here.

With the establishment of the power of the Delhi Sultanate, in which Islam was a forcefully implanted religion, India was drawn into the cultural orbit of the Muslim world. However, despite the fierce struggle of the Hindus and Muslims, long cohabitation led to the mutual penetration of ideas and customs.

India in the era of the Mughal Empire (XVI-XVIII centuries .) 1 The final stage of the medieval history of India was the rise in its north at the beginning of the 16th century. new powerful Muslim Mughal Empire, which in the XVII century. managed to subjugate a significant part of South India. Timurid was the founder of the state Babur(1483-1530). The power of the Mughals in India was strengthened during the years of rule Akbar(1452-1605), who moved the capital to the city of Agra on the Jamne River, conquered Gujarat and Bengal, and with them access to the sea. True, the Mughals had to come to terms with the rule of the Portuguese here.

In the Mughal era, India enters the stage of developed feudal relations, the flowering of which went parallel to the strengthening central government states. The importance of the main financial department of the empire (sofa), which is obliged to monitor the use of all suitable lands, has increased. The share of the state was declared a third of the harvest. In the central regions of the country, under Akbar, the peasants were transferred to a cash tax, which forced them to be included in market relations in advance. To the state land fund(khalisa) received all the conquered territories. Jagirs were distributed from it - conditional military awards, which continued to be considered state property. Jagirdars usually owned several tens of thousands of hectares of land and were obliged to support military detachments on these incomes - the backbone imperial army. Akbar's attempt to liquidate the jagir system in 1574 ended in failure. Also in the state there was private land ownership of feudal zamindars from among the conquered princes who paid tribute, and small private estates of Sufi sheikhs and Muslim theologians, inherited and free from taxes - suyurgal or mulk.

Crafts flourished during this period, especially the production of fabrics, valued throughout the East, and in the region of the southern seas, Indian textiles acted as a kind of universal equivalent of trade. The process of merging the upper merchant stratum with the ruling class begins. money people could become jagirdars, and the latter - the owners of caravanserais and merchant ships. Merchant castes are formed, playing the role of companies. Surat, the main port of the country in the 16th century, becomes the place where a layer of comprador merchants (that is, those associated with foreigners) is born.

In the 17th century the importance of the economic center passes to Bengal. Here, in Dhaka and Patna, the production of fine fabrics, saltpeter and tobacco is developing. Shipbuilding continues to flourish in Gujarat. In the south, a new large textile center Madras is emerging. Thus, in India XVI-XVII centuries. the emergence of capitalist relations is already observed, but the socio-economic structure of the Mughal Empire, based on state ownership of land, did not contribute to their rapid growth.

In the Mughal era, religious disputes are activated, on the basis of which broad popular movements are born, the religious policy of the state undergoes major turns. So, in the XV century. in Gujarat, among the Muslim cities of trade and handicraft circles, the Mahdist movement was born. In the XVI century. the fanatical adherence of the ruler to orthodox Sunni Islam turned into disenfranchisement for the Hindus and the persecution of Shiite Muslims. In the 17th century oppression of the Shiites, the destruction of all Hindu temples and the use of their stones for the construction of mosques Aurangzeb(1618-1707) caused a popular uprising, an anti-Mughal movement.

So, medieval India personifies the synthesis of a wide variety of socio-political foundations, religious traditions. ethnic cultures. Having melted all this many beginnings within itself, by the end of the era, it appeared before the astonished Europeans as a country of fabulous splendor, attracting wealth, exoticism, and secrets. Inside it, however, began processes similar to European ones, inherent in the New Age. The internal market was formed, international relations developed, social contradictions deepened. But for India, a typical Asian power, the despotic state was a strong deterrent to capitalization. With its weakening, the country becomes an easy prey for European colonialists, whose activities interrupted the natural course of the country's historical development for many years.

China (III - XVII centuries)

The era of fragmentation (III-VI centuries). With the fall of the Han Empire at the turn of II-III centuries. In China, there is a change of eras: the ancient period of the country's history ends and the Middle Ages begins. The first stage of early feudalism went down in history as the time three kingdoms(220-280). Three states formed on the territory of the country (Wei in the north, Shu in the central part and Wu in the south), the power in which was close to a military dictatorship by type.

But already in end III in. political stability in China is again being lost, and it becomes an easy prey for the nomadic tribes that poured in here, mainly settling in the northwestern regions of the country. From that moment on, for two and a half centuries, China was divided into northern and southern parts, which affected its subsequent development. The strengthening of centralized power occurs in the 20s of the 5th century. in the south after the founding of the Southern Song empire here and in the 30s of the 5th century. - in the north, where it intensifies Northern Wei Empire which the desire to restore a unified Chinese statehood was expressed more strongly. In 581, a coup d'etat took place in the north: the commander Yang Jian removed the emperor from power and changed the name of the Sui state. In 589, he brought the southern state under his control and, for the first time after a 400-year period of fragmentation, restored the political unity of the country.

Political changes in China III-VI centuries. are closely connected with cardinal shifts in ethnic development. Although foreigners penetrated before, but it was in the 4th century. becomes a time of mass invasions, comparable with the Great Migration of Peoples in Europe. Came from central regions In Asia, the Xiongnu, Sanbei, Qiang, Jie, Di tribes settled not only on the northern and western outskirts, but also on the Central Plain, mingling with the indigenous Chinese population. In the south, the processes of assimilation of the non-Chinese population (Yue, Miao, Li, Yi, Man and Yao) proceeded faster and less dramatically, leaving significant areas uncolonized. This was reflected in the mutual isolation of the parties, and two main dialects of the Chinese language developed in the language. The northerners called the inhabitants of the middle state, that is, the Chinese, only themselves, and the southerners called people Wu.

The period of political fragmentation was accompanied by a noticeable naturalization of economic life, the decline of cities and a reduction in monetary circulation. Grain and silk began to act as a measure of value. An allotment system of land use (zhan tian) was introduced, which affected the type of organization of society and the way it was managed. Its essence consisted in assigning to each worker, assigned to the estate of personally free commoners, the rights to receive a plot of land of a certain size and establish fixed taxes from it.

The allotment system was opposed by the growth of private land plots the so-called "strong houses" ("da jia"), which was accompanied by the ruin and enslavement of the peasantry. The introduction of the state allotment system, the struggle of power against the expansion of large private land ownership lasted throughout the medieval history of China and affected the design of the unique agrarian and social system of the country.

The process of official differentiation proceeded on the basis of the decomposition and degeneration of the community. This found expression in the formal unification of peasant farms into five-yard and twenty-five-yard houses, which were encouraged by the authorities for the purpose of tax benefits. All the inferior strata in the state were collectively referred to as the "vile people" (jianzhen) and were opposed to the "good people" (liangmin). A striking manifestation of social shifts was the increasing role of the aristocracy. Nobility was determined by belonging to the old clans. Generosity was fixed in the lists of noble families, the first general register of which was compiled in the 3rd century. Another distinctive feature of public life III-VI centuries. there was an increase in personal relationships. The principle of the personal duty of the younger to the elder has taken a leading place among moral values.

Imperial period (end VI-XIII centuries ) During this period, the imperial order was revived in China, the country's political unification took place, the nature of the supreme power changed, the centralization of administration intensified, and the role of the bureaucratic apparatus increased. During the years of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the classical Chinese type of imperial administration took shape. There were revolts of military governors in the country, a peasant war of 874-883, a long struggle with the Tibetans, Uighurs and Tanguts in the north of the country, a military confrontation with the South Chinese state of Nanzhao. All this led to the agony of the Tang regime.

In the middle of the X century. out of chaos, the state of the Later Zhou was born, which became the new core of the political unification of the country. The reunification of the lands was completed in 960 by the founder of the Song Dynasty Zhao Kuanyin with the capital Kaifeng. In the same century, a state appears on the political map of northeastern China. Liao. In 1038, the Western Xia Tangut Empire was proclaimed on the northwestern borders of the Song Empire. From the middle of the XI century. between Song, Liao and Xia, an approximate balance of power is maintained, which in early XII in. was violated with the emergence of a new rapidly growing state of the Jurchens (one of the branches of the Tungus tribes), formed in Manchuria and proclaimed itself in 1115 the Jin Empire. It soon conquered the state of Liao, captured the capital of the Song along with the emperor. However, the brother of the captured emperor managed to create the Southern Song Empire with its capital in Lin'an (Hanzhou), which extended its influence to the southern regions of the country.

Thus, on the eve of the Mongol invasion, China was again split into two parts, the northern one, which included the Jin empire, and the southern territory of the Southern Song empire.

The process of ethnic consolidation of the Chinese, which began in the 7th century, already at the beginning of the 13th century. leads to the formation of the Chinese people. Ethnic self-consciousness manifests itself in the singling out of the Chinese state, which opposes foreign countries, in the spread of the universal self-name "Han Ren" (Han people). The population of the country in the X-XIII centuries. was 80-100 million people.

In the Tang and Song empires, administrative systems perfect for their time were being formed, which were copied by other states. Since 963, all military formations of the country began to report directly to the emperor, and local military officials were appointed from among the civil servants of the capital. This strengthened the power of the emperor. The bureaucracy grew to 25,000. The highest government institution was the Department of Departments, which headed the six leading executive bodies of the country: Chinov, Taxes, Rituals, Military, Judicial and Public Works. Along with them, the Imperial Secretariat and the Imperial Chancellery were established. The power of the head of state, officially called the Son of Heaven and the emperor, was hereditary and legally unlimited.

The economy of China in the 7th-12th centuries. based on agricultural production. The allotment system, which reached its apogee in the 6th-8th centuries, by the end of the 10th century. disappeared. In Sung China, the land use system already included a state land fund with imperial estates, large and medium-sized private landholdings, small-peasant land ownership, and estates of state land holders. The order of taxation can be called total. The main one was a two-time land tax in kind, amounting to 20% of the harvest, supplemented by a trade tax and working off. Household registers were compiled every three years to account for taxpayers.

The unification of the country led to a gradual increase in the role of cities. If in the eighth century there were 25 of them with a population of about 500 thousand people, then in the X-XII centuries, during the period of urbanization, the urban population began to account for 10% total strength countries.

Urbanization was closely linked to the growth of handicraft production. Special Development in the cities they received such areas of state-owned craft as silk weaving, ceramic production, woodworking, papermaking and dyeing. A form of private craft, the rise of which was held back by the powerful competition of state-owned production and the imperial power's comprehensive control over the urban economy, was the family workshop. Trade and craft organizations, as well as shops, were the main part of the urban craft. The technique of the craft was gradually improved, its organization changed, large workshops appeared, equipped with machine tools and using hired labor.

The development of trade was facilitated by the introduction at the end of the 6th century. standards of measures and weights and the issuance of a copper coin of a fixed weight. Tax revenues from trade have become a tangible item of government revenue. The increase in metal mining allowed the Song government to issue the largest amount of specie in the history of the Chinese Middle Ages. The intensification of foreign trade fell on the 7th-8th centuries. The center of maritime trade was the port of Guangzhou, linking China with Korea, Japan, and coastal India. Land trade went along the Great silk road through the territory of Central Asia, along which caravanserais were built.

In the Chinese medieval society of the pre-Mongol era, the demarcation went along the lines of aristocrats and non-aristocrats, the service class and commoners, free and dependent. The peak of the influence of aristocratic clans falls on the 7th-8th centuries. The first genealogical list of 637 recorded 293 surnames and 1654 families. But by the beginning of the XI century. the power of the aristocracy is weakening and the process of merging it with the bureaucratic bureaucracy begins.

The "golden age" of officialdom was the time of the Song. The service pyramid consisted of 9 ranks and 30 degrees, and belonging to it opened the way to enrichment. The main channel for penetration into the environment of officials was state examinations, which contributed to the expansion of the social base of service people.

About 60% of the population were peasants who legally retained their rights to land, but in fact did not have the opportunity to freely dispose of it, leave it uncultivated or abandon it. From the 9th century there was a process of disappearance of personally deprived estates (jianzhen): state serfs (guanhu), state artisans (gun) and musicians (yue), private and dependent landless workers (butsui). A special stratum of society was made up of members of Buddhist and Taoist monasteries, numbering in the 20s of the 11th century. 400 thousand people.

Cities in which the lumpen layer appears become centers of anti-government uprisings. The largest movement against the arbitrariness of the authorities was the uprising led by Fang La in the southeastern region of China in 1120-1122. On the territory of the Jin Empire until its fall in the XIII century. the national liberation detachments of the "red jackets" and the "black banner" operated.

There were three religious doctrines in medieval China: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. In the Tang era, the government encouraged Taoism: in 666, the sanctity of the author of an ancient Chinese treatise, the canonical work of Taoism, was officially recognized Lao Tzu(IV-III centuries BC), in the first half of the VIII century. Taoist academy established. At the same time, the persecution of Buddhism intensified and neo-Confucianism was established, which claimed to be the only ideology that substantiated the social hierarchy and correlated it with the concept of personal duty.

So, by the beginning of the XIII century. in Chinese society, many features and institutions are consolidated and many features and institutions are consolidated, which subsequently will undergo only partial changes. Political, economic and social systems are approaching classical patterns, changes in ideology lead to the promotion of neo-Confucianism.

China in era of Mongol rule. Yuan Empire (1271-1367) The Mongol conquest of China lasted almost 70 years. In 1215 he was taken. Beijing, and in 1280 China was completely dominated by the Mongols. With the accession to the throne of the Khan Khubilai(1215-1294) the headquarters of the Great Khan was transferred to Beijing. Along with it, Karakorum and Shandong were considered equal capitals. In 1271, all the possessions of the great khan were declared the Yuan empire according to the Chinese model. Mongol domination in the main part of China lasted a little over a century and is noted by Chinese sources as the most difficult time for the country.

In spite of military power, the Yuan empire was not distinguished by internal strength, it was shaken by civil strife, as well as the resistance of the local Chinese population, the uprising of the secret Buddhist society "White Lotus".

characteristic feature social structure was the division of the country into four categories unequal in rights. The Chinese of the north and the inhabitants of the south of the country were considered, respectively, the people of the third and fourth grade after the Mongols themselves and immigrants from the Islamic countries of western and central Asia. Thus, the ethnic situation of the era was characterized not only by national oppression by the Mongols, but also by the legalized opposition of northern and southern Chinese.

The dominance of the Yuan Empire rested on the power of the army. Each city contained a garrison of at least 1000 people, and in Beijing there was a khan's guard of 12 thousand people. Tibet and Koryo (Korea) were in vassal dependence on the Yuan palace. Attempts to invade Japan, Burma, Vietnam and Java, undertaken in the 70-80s of the XIII century, did not bring success to the Mongols. For the first time, Yuan China was visited by merchants and missionaries from Europe, who left notes about their travels: Marco Polo (circa 1254-1324), Arnold from Cologne and others.

Mongolian rulers, interested in receiving income from the conquered lands, from the second half of the XII century. more and more began to adopt traditional Chinese methods of exploiting the population. Initially, the system of taxation was streamlined and centralized. Tax collection was removed from the hands of local authorities, a general census was taken, tax registers were drawn up, poll and land grain taxes and a household tax levied on silk and silver were introduced.

The current laws determined the system of land relations, within the framework of which private lands, state lands, public lands and specific allotments were allocated. A steady trend in agriculture from the beginning of the 14th century. there is an increase in private land holdings and the expansion of rental relations. The surplus of the enslaved population and prisoners of war made it possible to widely use their labor on state lands and on the lands of soldiers in military settlements. Along with slaves, state lands were cultivated by state tenants. As never before, temple land ownership spread widely, replenished both by state donations and through purchases and direct seizure of fields. Such lands were considered eternal possession and were cultivated by the brethren and tenants.

Urban life began to revive only towards the end of the 13th century. In the register lists of 1279, there were about 420 thousand craftsmen. Following the example of the Chinese, the Mongols established the monopoly right of the treasury to dispose of salt, iron, metal, tea, wine and vinegar, and established a trade tax in the amount of one-thirtieth of the value of the goods. Due to the inflation of paper money in late XIII in. natural exchange began to dominate in trade, the role of precious metals increased, and usury flourished.

From the middle of the XIII century. becomes the official religion of the Mongolian court lamaism - Tibetan variety of Buddhism. A characteristic feature of the period was the emergence of secret religious sects. The former leading position of Confucianism was not restored, although the opening in 1287 of the Academy of the Sons of the Fatherland, the forge of the highest Confucian cadres, testified to the acceptance by Khan Khubilai of the imperial Confucian doctrine.

Ming China (1368-1644). Ming China was born and died in the crucible of the great peasant wars, the events of which were orchestrated invisibly by secret religious societies like the White Lotus. In this era, the Mongol domination was finally abolished and the foundations of the economic and political systems, corresponding to traditional Chinese ideas about the ideal statehood. The peak of the power of the Ming Empire fell on the first third of the 15th century, but by the end of the century, negative phenomena began to grow. The entire second half of the dynastic cycle (XVI - first half of the XVII centuries) was characterized by a protracted crisis, which by the end of the era acquired a general and comprehensive character. The crisis, which began with changes in the economy and social structure, manifested itself most visibly in the field of domestic policy.

First Emperor of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang(1328-1398) began to pursue a far-sighted agrarian and financial policy. He increased the share of peasant households in the land wedge, strengthened control over the distribution of state lands, stimulated military settlements under the treasury, resettled peasants on empty lands, introduced a fixed taxation, and provided benefits to poor households. His son Zhu Di toughened the police functions of power: a special department was established, subordinate only to the emperor - Brocade robes, denunciation was encouraged. In the XV century. there were two more punitive-detective institutions.

The central foreign policy task of the Minsk state in the XIV-XV centuries. was to prevent the possibility of a new Mongol attack. There were no military clashes. And although peace was concluded with Mongolia in 1488, the raids continued even in the 16th century. From the invasion of the country by the troops of Tamerlane, which began in 1405, China was saved by the death of the conqueror.

In the XV century. the southern direction of foreign policy is activated. China interferes in Vietnamese affairs, seizes a number of areas in Burma. From 1405 to 1433 seven grandiose expeditions of the Chinese fleet under the leadership of Zheng He(1371 - about 1434). In different campaigns, he led from 48 to 62 only capital ships. These voyages were aimed at establishing trade and diplomatic relations with overseas countries, although all foreign trade was reduced to the exchange of tribute and gifts with foreign embassies, while a strict ban was imposed on private foreign trade activities. Caravan trade also acquired the character of embassy missions.

Government policy regarding internal trade was not consistent. Private trading activity was recognized as legal and profitable for the treasury, but public opinion considered it unworthy of respect and required systematic control by the authorities. The state itself led an active domestic trade policy. The treasury compulsorily purchased goods according to low prices and distributed the products of state crafts, sold licenses for trading activities, maintained a system of monopoly goods, maintained imperial shops and planted state "commercial settlements".

During this period, bank notes and small copper coins remained the basis of the country's monetary system. The ban on the use of gold and silver in trade, although weakened, but, however, rather slowly. More clearly than in the previous era, the economic specialization of the regions and the trend towards the expansion of state crafts and trades are indicated. Craft associations during this period gradually begin to acquire the character of guild organizations. Written charters appear inside them, a prosperous stratum arises.

From the 16th century the penetration of Europeans into the country begins. As in India, the championship belonged to the Portuguese. Their first possession on one of the South Chinese islands was Macau (Maomen). From the second half of the XVII century. the country is flooded by the Dutch and the British, who assisted the Manchus in conquering China. At the end of the XVII century. in the suburbs of Guangzhou, the British founded one of the first continental trading posts, which became the center for the distribution of British goods.

In the Ming era, neo-Confucianism occupies a dominant position in religion. From the end of the XIV century. the desire of the authorities to put restrictions on Buddhism and Taoism is traced, which led to the expansion of religious sectarianism. Other striking features of the religious life of the country were the Sinification of local Muslims and the spread of local cults among the people.

The growth of crisis phenomena at the end of the 15th century. begins gradually, with a gradual weakening of imperial power, concentration of land in the hands of large private owners, aggravation financial position in the country. The emperors after Zhu Di were weak rulers, and temporary workers ran all the affairs at the courts. The center of the political opposition was the Chamber of Censors-Procurators, whose members demanded reforms and accused the arbitrariness of the temporary workers. Activities of this kind met with a severe rebuff from the emperors. A typical picture was when another influential official, submitting an incriminating document, was simultaneously preparing for death, waiting for a silk lace from the emperor with an order to hang himself.

The turning point in the history of Ming China is associated with a powerful peasant uprising of 1628-1644. headed by Li Zichen. In 1644, Li's troops occupied Beijing, and he himself declared himself emperor.

Story medieval China is a motley kaleidoscope of events: a frequent change of ruling dynasties, long periods of domination by conquerors, who, as a rule, came from the north and very soon dissolved among the local population, having adopted not only the language and way of life, but also the classical Chinese model of governing the country, which took shape in the Tang and Sung era. Not a single state of the medieval East could achieve such a level of control over the country and society, which was in China. Not the last role in this was played by the political isolation of the country, as well as the ideological conviction that prevailed among the administrative elite about the chosenness of the Middle Empire, whose natural vassals are all other powers of the world.

However, such a society was not free from contradictions. And if religious and mystical convictions or national liberation ideals often turned out to be the motives for peasant uprisings, they did not in the least cancel, but, on the contrary, intertwined with the demands of social justice. It is significant that Chinese society was not as closed and rigidly organized as, for example, Indian. The leader of a peasant uprising in China could become an emperor, and a commoner who passed the state exams for a bureaucratic position could start a dizzying career.

Japan (III - XIX centuries)

Epoch kings of Yamato. The birth of the state (III-ser.VII). the core of the Japanese people was formed on the basis of the Yamato tribal federation (as Japan was called in ancient times) in the 3rd-5th centuries. Representatives of this federation belonged to the Kurgan culture of the early Iron Age.

At the stage of formation of the state, society consisted of consanguineous clans (uji) that existed independently on their own land. A typical clan was represented by its head, priest, lower administration and ordinary freemen. Adjacent to it, without entering it, were groups of semi-free (bemins) and slaves (yatsuko). The first in importance in the hierarchy was the royal clan (tenno). Its selection in the III century. marked a turning point in the political history of the country. The tenno clan ruled with the help of advisers, lords of the districts (agata-nushi) and governors of the regions (kunino miyatsuko), the same leaders of the local clans, but already authorized by the king. Appointment to the post of ruler depended on the will of the most powerful clan in the royal environment, which also supplied royal family wives and concubines from among its members. From 563 to 645 such a role was played by the Soga clan. This period of history was called the Asuka period after the name of the residence of the kings in the province of Yamato.

The domestic policy of the Yamato kings was aimed at uniting the country and at formalizing the ideological basis of autocracy. An important role in this was played by the “Statutes of 17 Articles” created in 604 by Prince Setoku-taishi. They formulated the main political principle the supreme sovereignty of the ruler and the strict obedience of the younger to the elder. Foreign policy priorities were relations with the countries of the Korean Peninsula, sometimes reaching armed clashes, and with China, which took the form of ambassadorial missions and the goal of borrowing any suitable innovations.

Socio-economic system III-VII centuries. enters the stage of decomposition of patriarchal relations. Communal arable land, which was at the disposal of rural households, began to gradually fall under the control of powerful clans, opposing each other for initial resources; land and people. Thus, the distinctive feature of Japan consisted in the significant role of the tribal feudalizing nobility and, more clearly than anywhere else in the Far East, the tendency to privatize land holdings with the relative weakness of the power of the center.

In 552, Buddhism came to Japan, which influenced the unification of religious and moral and aesthetic ideas.

Fujiwara era (645-1192). The historical period following the era of the Yamato kings covers the time, the beginning of which falls on the "Taika coup" in 645, and the end - in 1192, when military rulers with the title of shogun1 became the head of the country.

The entire second half of the 7th century passed under the motto of the Taika reforms. State reforms were designed to reorganize all spheres of relations in the country according to the Chinese Tang model, to seize the initiative of private appropriation of the country's initial resources, land and people, replacing it with the state. The central government apparatus consisted of the State Council (Dajokan), eight government departments, and a system of main ministries. The country was divided into provinces and counties, headed by governors and county chiefs. An eight-degree system of title families with the emperor at the head and a 48-rank ladder of court ranks were established. Since 690, censuses of the population and redistribution of land began to be carried out every six years. A centralized system of manning the army was introduced, and weapons were confiscated from private individuals. In 694, the first capital city of Fujiwarakyo was built, the permanent place of the imperial headquarters (before that, the place of the headquarters was easily transferred).

Completion of the formation of the medieval Japanese centralized state in the VIII century. associated with the growth of large cities. In one century, the capital was transferred three times: in 710 in Haijokyo (Nara), in 784 in Nagaoka and in 794 in Heiankyo (Kyoto). Since the capitals were administrative, and not trade and craft centers, after the next transfer they fell into disrepair. The population of provincial and county towns, as a rule, did not exceed 1000 people.

Foreign policy problems in the VIII century. recede into the background. The consciousness of the danger of an invasion from the mainland is fading. In 792, conscription was abolished and the coast guard was abolished. Embassies to China are becoming rare, and in relations with the Korean states, everything begins big role play trade. By the middle of the IX century. Japan finally switches to a policy of isolation, it is forbidden to leave the country, and the reception of embassies and courts is stopped.

The formation of a developed feudal society in the IX-XII centuries. was accompanied by an increasingly radical departure from the Chinese classical model of government. The bureaucratic machine was thoroughly permeated with family aristocratic ties. There is a trend towards decentralization of power. The divine tenno already reigned more than actually ruled the country. The bureaucratic elite did not develop around him, because the system of reproduction of administrators on the basis of competitive examinations was not created. From the second half of the ninth century The vacuum of power was filled by representatives of the Fujiwara family, who actually begin to rule the country from 858 as regents for minor emperors, and from 888 as chancellors for adults. The period of the middle of the 9th - the first half of the 11th century. is called "the time of the reign of regents and chancellors." Its heyday falls on the second half of the 10th century. with representatives of the Fujiwara house, Mitinaga and Yorimichi.

At the end of the ninth century the so-called "state-legal system" (ritsuryo) is being formed. The new supreme state bodies were the personal office of the emperor and the police department, directly subordinate to the emperor. The broad rights of the governors allowed them to strengthen their power in the provinces so much that they could oppose it to the imperial one. With the decline in the importance of the county government, the province becomes the main link public life and entails the decentralization of the state.

The population of the country, mainly engaged in agriculture, numbered in the 7th century. about 6 million people, in the XII century. – 10 million. It was divided into tax-paying full (ryomin) and non-full (semmin). In the VI-VIII centuries. dominated by the allotment system of land use. The peculiarities of irrigated rice growing, which was extremely laborious and required the personal interest of the worker, determined the predominance of small free labor farming in the structure of production. Therefore, the labor of slaves was not widely used. Full-fledged peasants cultivated state land plots subject to redistribution once every six years, for which they paid a tax in grain (in the amount of 3% of the officially established yield), fabrics and performed labor duties.

Dominal lands in this period did not represent a large master's economy, but were given to dependent peasants for processing in separate fields.

Officials received allotments for the term of office. Only a few influential administrators could use the allotment for life, sometimes with the right to transfer it by inheritance for one to three generations.

Due to the natural nature of the economy, access to the few urban markets was predominantly government departments. The functioning of a small number of markets outside the capitals ran into the absence of professional market traders and the lack of peasant trade products, most of which were withdrawn in the form of taxes.

A feature of the socio-economic development of the country in the IX-XII centuries. was the destruction and complete disappearance of the allotment system of management. They are replaced by patrimonial possessions, which had the status of "granted" to private individuals (shoen) from the state. Representatives of the highest aristocracy, monasteries, noble houses that dominated the counties, hereditary possessions of peasant families applied to state bodies for the recognition of newly acquired possessions as shoen.

As a result of socio-economic changes, all power in the country from the 10th century. began to belong to noble houses, owners of shoen of different sizes. The privatization of land, income, positions was completed. To settle the interests of the opposing feudal groups in the country, a single estate order is being created, to designate which a new term "imperial state" (otyo kokka) is introduced, replacing the former regime - "the rule of law" (ritsuryo kokka).

Another characteristic social phenomenon of the era of the developed Middle Ages was the emergence of the military class. Having grown out of detachments of vigilantes used by the owners of shoen in internecine struggle, professional warriors began to turn into a closed class of samurai warriors (bushi). At the end of the Fujiwara era, the status of the armed forces rose due to social instability in the state. In the samurai environment, a code of military ethics arose, based on the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bpersonal loyalty to the master, up to the unconditional readiness to give his life for him, and in case of dishonor, commit suicide according to a certain ritual. So samurai turn into a formidable weapon of large farmers in their struggle with each other.

In the 8th century Buddhism becomes the state religion, quickly spreading at the top of society, not yet finding popularity among the common people, but supported by the state.

Japan during the era of the first Minamoto shogunate (1192-1335) In 1192, a sharp turn took place in the historical fate of the country, Minamoto Yerimoto, the head of an influential aristocratic house in the northeast of the country, became the supreme ruler of Japan with the title of shogun. The headquarters of his government (bakufu) was the city of Kamakura. The Minamoto Shogunate lasted until 1335. This was the heyday of cities, crafts and trade in Japan. As a rule, cities grew around monasteries and headquarters of large aristocrats. At first, Japanese pirates contributed to the flourishing of port cities. Later, regular trade with China, Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia began to play a role in their prosperity. In the XI century. there were 40 cities, in the XV century. - 85, in the XVI century. - 269, in which corporate associations of artisans and merchants (dza) arose.

With the coming to power of the shogun, the agrarian system of the country changed qualitatively. Small-scale samurai ownership becomes the leading form of land ownership, although large feudal possessions of influential houses, the emperor and the all-powerful Minamoto vassals continued to exist. In 1274 and 1281 the Japanese successfully resisted the invading Mongol army.

From the successors of the first shogun, power was seized by the house of Hojo relatives, called Shikkens (rulers), under whom a semblance of an advisory body of higher vassals appeared. Being the mainstay of the regime, the vassals carried hereditary security and military service, were appointed to the position of administrators (dzito) in the estates and state lands, military governors in the province. The power of the Bakufu military government was limited only to military-police functions and did not cover the entire territory of the country.

Under the shoguns and rulers, the imperial court and the Kyoto government were not liquidated, because the military power could not govern the country without the authority of the emperor. military power rulers was significantly strengthened after 1232, when an attempt was made by the imperial palace to eliminate the power of the sikken. It turned out to be unsuccessful - the detachments loyal to the court were defeated. This was followed by the confiscation of 3,000 shoen belonging to supporters of the court.

Second Ashikaga Shogunate (1335-1573) The second shogunate in Japan arose during the long strife of the princes of noble houses. For two and a half centuries, periods of civil strife and the strengthening of centralized power in the country alternated. In the first third of the XV century. the position of the central government was the strongest. The shoguns prevented the growth of control of military governors (shugo) over the provinces. To this end, bypassing the shugo, they established direct vassal ties with local feudal lords, obliged the shugo-western and central provinces to live in Kyoto, and from the south-eastern part of the country - in Kamakura. However, the period of centralized power of the shoguns was short-lived. After the murder of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori in 1441 by one of the feudal lords, an internecine struggle unfolded in the country, which grew into a feudal war of 1467-1477, the consequences of which were felt for a whole century. A period of complete feudal fragmentation begins in the country.

During the years of the Muromachi shogunate, there was a transition from small and medium feudal landownership to large. The system of estates (shoen) and state lands (koryo) is falling into decay due to the development of trade and economic ties that destroyed the closed boundaries of feudal possessions. The formation of compact territorial possessions of large feudal lords - principalities begins. This process at the provincial level also proceeded along the line of growth in the possessions of military governors (shugo ryokoku).

In the Ashikaga era, the process of separating crafts from agriculture deepened. Craft workshops now arose not only in the metropolitan area, but also on the periphery, concentrating in the headquarters of military governors and the estates of feudal lords. Production focused solely on the needs of the patron was replaced by production for the market, and the patronage of the strong houses began to provide a guarantee of monopoly rights to engage in certain types of industrial activity in exchange for the payment of sums of money. Rural artisans are moving from a wandering to a settled way of life, there is a specialization of rural areas.

The development of handicraft contributed to the growth of trade. There are specialized trading guilds, separated from the craft workshops. On the transportation of products of tax revenues, a layer of toimaru merchants grew up, which gradually turned into a class of intermediary merchants who transported a wide variety of goods and engaged in usury. Local markets were concentrated in the areas of harbors, crossings, post stations, shoen borders and could serve an area with a radius of 2-3 to 4-6 km.

The capitals of Kyoto, Nara and Kamakura remained the centers of the country. According to the conditions of the emergence of the city, they were divided into three groups. Some grew out of post stations, ports, markets, customs gates. The second type of cities arose at temples, especially intensively in the XIV century, and, like the first, had a certain level of self-government. The third type was market settlements at the castles of the military and the headquarters of provincial governors. Such cities, often created at the will of the feudal lord, were under his complete control and had the least mature urban features. The peak of their growth was in the 15th century.

After the Mongol invasions, the country's authorities set a course to eliminate the diplomatic and trade isolation of the country. Taking measures against the Japanese pirates who attacked China and Korea, the Bakufu restored diplomatic and trade relations with China in 1401. Until the middle of the 15th century. the monopoly of trade with China was in the hands of the Ashikaga shoguns, and then began to go under the auspices of big merchants and feudal lords. Silk, brocade, perfumes, sandalwood, porcelain and copper coins were usually brought from China, and gold, sulfur, fans, screens, lacquerware, swords and wood were sent. Trade was also carried out with Korea and countries South Seas, as well as with the Ryukyu, where in 1429 a united state was created.

The social structure in the Ashikaga era remained traditional: the ruling class consisted of the court aristocracy, the military nobility and the top clergy, the common people consisted of peasants, artisans and merchants. Until the 16th century the classes-estates of feudal lords and peasants were clearly established.

Until the 15th century, when a strong military power existed in the country, the main forms of peasant struggle were peaceful: escapes, petitions. With the growth of the principalities in the XVI century. armed peasant struggle also rises. The most massive form of resistance is the anti-tax struggle. 80% of peasant uprisings in the 16th century. were held in the economically developed central regions of the country. The rise of this struggle was also facilitated by the onset of feudal fragmentation. Massive peasant uprisings took place in this century under religious slogans and were organized by the neo-Buddhist Jodo sect.

Unification of the country; Shogunate Tokugaev. Political fragmentation put the task of uniting the country on the agenda. This mission was carried out by three prominent politicians of the country: Oda Nobunaga(1534-1582), Toyotomi Hijoshi(1536-1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu(1542-1616). In 1573, having defeated the most influential daimyo and neutralized the fierce resistance of the Buddhist monasteries, Oda overthrew the last shogun from the Ashikaga house. Towards the end of his short political career (he was assassinated in 1582), he took possession of half the provinces, including the capital Kyoto, and carried out reforms that contributed to the elimination of fragmentation and the development of cities. The patronage of Christians who appeared in Japan in the 40s of the 16th century was determined by the implacable resistance of the Buddhist monasteries to the political course of Oda. In 1580 there were about 150 thousand Christians in the country, 200 churches and 5 seminaries. By the end of the XVII century. their number increased to 700 thousand people. Last but not least, the growth in the number of Christians was facilitated by the policy of the southern daimyo, who were interested in owning firearms, the production of which was established in Japan by the Catholic Portuguese.

The internal reforms of Oda's successor, a native of peasants Toyotomi Hijoshi, who managed to complete the unification of the country, had the main goal of creating an estate of serviceable taxpayers. The land was assigned to peasants who were able to pay state taxes, state control over cities and trade was strengthened. Unlike Oda, he did not patronize Christians, campaigned to expel missionaries from the country, persecuted Christian Japanese - destroyed churches and printing houses. Such a policy was not successful, because the persecuted took refuge under the protection of the rebellious southern daimyo who had converted to Christianity.

After the death of Toyotomi Hijoshi in 1598, power passed to one of his associates, Tokugawa Izyasu, who in 1603 proclaimed himself shogun. Thus began the last, third, longest in time (1603-1807) Tokugawa shogunate.

One of the first reforms of the Tokugawa house was aimed at limiting the omnipotence of the daimyo, of which there were about 200. To this end, daimyo hostile to the ruling house were geographically dispersed. Craft and trade in the cities under the jurisdiction of such tozama were transferred to the center along with the cities.

The agrarian reform of the Tokugawa once again secured the peasants to their lands. Under him, classes were strictly demarcated: samurai, peasants, artisans and merchants. Tokugawa began to pursue a policy of controlled contacts with the Europeans, singling out the Dutch among them and closing the ports to everyone else, and above all, the missionaries of the Catholic Church. European science and culture, which came through Dutch merchants, received in Japan the name of Dutch science (rangakusha) and had a great influence on the process of improving the economic system of Japan.

The 17th century brought political stability and economic prosperity to Japan, but an economic crisis began in the next century. The samurai found themselves in a difficult situation, having lost the necessary material content; peasants, some of whom were forced to go to the cities; daimyo, whose wealth was noticeably reduced. True, the power of the shoguns still continued to remain unshakable. A significant role was played in this by the revival of Confucianism, which became the official ideology and influenced the way of life and thoughts of the Japanese (the cult of ethical norms, devotion to elders, the strength of the family).

The crisis of the third shogunate became clear from the 30s. 19th century The weakening of the power of the shoguns was used primarily by tozama southern regions countries, Choshu and Satsuma, who grew rich through the smuggling of weapons and the development of their own, including the military industry. Another blow to the authority of the central government was dealt by the forcible "opening of Japan" by the United States and European countries in the middle of the 19th century. The emperor became the national-patriotic symbol of the anti-foreign and anti-shogun movement, and the imperial palace in Kyoto became the center of attraction for all the rebellious forces of the country. After a short resistance in the fall of 1866, the shogunate fell, and power in the country was transferred to the 16-year-old emperor. Mitsuhito (Meiji) (1852-1912). Japan has entered a new historical era.

So, the historical path of Japan in the Middle Ages was no less intense and dramatic than that of neighboring China, with which the island state periodically maintained ethnic, cultural, and economic contacts, borrowing models of political and socio-economic structure from a more experienced neighbor. However, the search for their own national path of development led to the formation of an original culture, a regime of power, and a social system. hallmark The Japanese path of development has become more dynamic in all processes, high social mobility with less profound forms of social antagonism, the ability of the nation to perceive and creatively process the achievements of other cultures.

Arab Caliphate (V-XI centuries AD)

On the territory of the Arabian Peninsula already in the II millennium BC. lived Arab tribes that were part of the Semitic group of peoples. In the V-VI centuries. AD Arab tribes dominated the Arabian Peninsula. Part of the population of this peninsula lived in cities, oases, engaged in crafts and trade. The other part wandered in the deserts and steppes, engaged in cattle breeding. Through Arabian Peninsula passed trade caravan routes between Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Judea. The intersection of these paths was the Meccan oasis near the Red Sea. This oasis was inhabited by the Arab tribe Qureish, whose tribal nobility, using the geographical position of Mecca, received income from the transit of goods through their territory.

Besides Mecca became the religious center of Western Arabia. An ancient pre-Islamic temple was located here Kaaba. According to legend, this temple was erected by the biblical patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim) with his son Ismail. This temple is associated with a sacred stone that fell to the ground, which has been worshiped since ancient times, and with the cult of the god of the Kureysh tribe. Allah(from Arabic ilah - master).

In the VI century. n, e. in Arabia due to displacement trade routes in Iran, the value of trade is falling. The population, which lost income from the caravan trade, was forced to look for sources of livelihood in agriculture. But there was little land suitable for agriculture. They had to be conquered. For this, forces were needed and, consequently, the unification of fragmented tribes, moreover, worshiping different gods. The need to introduce monotheism and unite the Arab tribes on this basis was more and more clearly defined.

This idea was preached by adherents of the Hanif sect, one of whom was Muhammad(c. 570-632 or 633), who became the founder of a new religion for the Arabs - Islam. This religion is based on the dogmas of Judaism and Christianity: belief in one God and his prophet, doomsday, afterlife retribution, unconditional obedience to the will of God (arab. Islam-submission). The Jewish and Christian roots of Islam are evidenced by the names of the prophets and other biblical characters common to these religions: the biblical Abraham (Islamic Ibrahim), Aaron (Harun), David (Daud), Isaac (Ishak), Solomon (Suleiman), Ilya (Ilyas), Jacob (Yakub), Christian Jesus (Isa), Mary (Maryam) and others. Islam has common customs and prohibitions with Judaism. Both religions prescribe the circumcision of boys, forbid portraying God and living beings, eating pork, drinking wine, etc.

At the first stage of development, the new religious worldview of Islam was not supported by the majority of Muhammad's tribesmen, and first of all by the nobility, as they feared that new religion will lead to the cessation of the cult of the Kaaba as a religious center, and thereby deprive them of their income. In 622, Muhammad and his followers had to flee persecution from Mecca to the city of Yathrib (Medina). This year is considered the beginning of the Muslim chronology. The agricultural population of Yathrib (Medina), competing with merchants from Mecca, supported Muhammad. However, only in 630, having recruited the necessary number of supporters, did he get the opportunity to form military forces and capture Mecca, the local nobility of which was forced to submit to the new religion, all the more it suited them that Muhammad proclaimed the Kaaba the shrine of all Muslims.

Much later (c. 650), after the death of Muhammad, his sermons and sayings were collected into a single book. Koran(translated from Arabic means reading), which has become sacred to Muslims. The book includes 114 suras (chapters), which set out the main tenets of Islam, prescriptions and prohibitions. Later Islamic religious literature is called sunnah. It contains legends about Muhammad. Muslims who recognized the Koran and the Sunnah began to be called Sunnis but those who recognize only one Quran, Shiites. Shiites recognize as legal caliphs(governors, deputies) of Muhammad, spiritual and secular heads of Muslims only of his relatives.

The economic crisis in Western Arabia in the 7th century, caused by the displacement of trade routes, the lack of land suitable for agriculture, and high population growth, pushed the leaders of the Arab tribes to seek a way out of the crisis by seizing foreign lands. This is also reflected in the Koran, which says that Islam should be the religion of all peoples, but for this it is necessary to fight against the infidels, exterminate them and take away their property (Koran, 2:186-189; 4:76-78, 86).

Guided by this specific task and the ideology of Islam, Muhammad's successors, the caliphs, launched a series of conquest campaigns. They conquered Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia. Already in 638 they captured Jerusalem. Until the end of the 7th century under the rule of the Arabs were the countries of the Middle East, Persia, the Caucasus, Egypt and Tunisia. In the 8th century Central Asia, Afghanistan, Western India, North-West Africa were captured. In 711, Arab troops led by Tariq sailed from Africa to the Iberian Peninsula (from the name of Tariq came the name Gibraltar - Mount Tariq). Having quickly conquered the Iberian lands, they rushed to Gaul. However, in 732, at the battle of Poitiers, they were defeated by the Frankish king Charles Martel. By the middle of the IX century. Arabs captured Sicily, Sardinia, the southern regions of Italy, the island of Crete. At this, the Arab conquests stopped, but a long-term war was waged with the Byzantine Empire. Arabs besieged Constantinople twice.

The main Arab conquests were made under the caliphs Abu Bakr (632-634), Omar (634-644), Osman (644-656) and the caliphs from the Umayyad dynasty (661-750). Under the Umayyads, the capital of the Caliphate was moved to Syria in the city of Damascus.

The victories of the Arabs, the capture of vast areas by them were facilitated by the many years of mutually exhausting war between Byzantium and Persia, disunity and constant enmity between other states that were attacked by the Arabs. It should also be noted that the population of the countries occupied by the Arabs, suffering from the oppression of Byzantium and Persia, saw the Arabs as liberators, who reduced the tax burden primarily to those who converted to Islam.

The unification of many former disparate and warring states into a single state contributed to the development of economic and cultural communication between the peoples of Asia, Africa and Europe. Crafts, trade developed, cities grew. Within Arab Caliphate a culture developed rapidly, incorporating the Greco-Roman, Iranian and Indian heritage. Through the Arabs, Europe got acquainted with the cultural achievements of the Eastern peoples, primarily with the achievements in the field of exact sciences - mathematics, astronomy, geography, etc.

In 750 the Umayyad dynasty in the eastern part of the Caliphate was overthrown. The caliphs were the Abbassids, descendants of the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad - Abbas. They moved the capital of the state to Baghdad.

In the western part of the Caliphate, in Spain, the Umayyads continued to rule, who did not recognize the Abbasids and founded the Caliphate of Cordoba with its capital in the city of Cordoba.

The division of the Arab caliphate into two parts was the beginning of the creation of smaller Arab states, the heads of which were the rulers of the provinces - emirs.

The Abbassid Caliphate waged constant wars with Byzantium. In 1258, after the Mongols defeated the Arab army and captured Baghdad, the Abbassid state ceased to exist.

The Spanish Umayyad Caliphate was also gradually shrinking. In the XI century. Caliphate of Cordoba As a result of internecine struggle, it broke up into a number of states. This was taken advantage of by the Christian states that arose in the northern part of Spain: the Leono-Castile, Aragonese, Portuguese kingdoms, which began to fight against the Arabs for the liberation of the peninsula - reconquista. In 1085 they conquered the city of Toledo, in 1147 - Lisbon, in 1236 Cordoba fell. The last Arab state on the Iberian Peninsula - the Emirate of Granada - existed until 1492. With its fall, the history of the Arab Caliphate as a state ended.

The caliphate as an institution of the spiritual leadership of the Arabs by all Muslims continued to exist until 1517, when this function passed to Turkish sultan who captured Egypt, where the last caliphate lived, the spiritual head of all Muslims.

The history of the Arab Caliphate, numbering only six centuries, was complex, ambiguous, and at the same time left a significant mark on the evolution of human society on the planet.

The difficult economic situation of the population of the Arabian Peninsula in the VI-VII centuries. in connection with the movement of trade routes to another zone necessitated the search for sources of livelihood. To solve this problem, the tribes living here embarked on the path of establishing a new religion - Islam, which was supposed to become not only the religion of all peoples, but also called for a fight against infidels (gentiles). Guided by the ideology of Islam, the Caliphs pursued a broad policy of conquest, turning the Arab Caliphate into an empire. The unification of the former disparate tribes into a single state gave impetus to the economic and cultural communication peoples of Asia, Africa and Europe. Being one of the youngest in the East, occupying the most offensive position among them, incorporating the Greco-Roman, Iranian and Indian cultural heritage, the Arab (Islamic) civilization had a huge impact on the spiritual life of Western Europe, representing a significant military threat throughout the Middle Ages. .

The rise and spread of Islam. ATVII in. in Arabia was born the third in time of occurrence - after Buddhism (V century BC) and Christianity (I century) - the world religion. Its name is "Islam" - means "obedience to God", and the name "Islam" adopted in Europe comes from the Arabic "Muslim" - "submissive to God." Before the adoption of Islam, the Arabs worshiped different gods, but the main shrine for all Arabs was the Kaaba - a temple in the city mecca, in the corner of which was embedded a black stone. Every year, thousands of Arabs flocked to Mecca from all over the peninsula to bow to the black stone. Wealthy merchants who held power in Mecca benefited greatly from these visits.

The founder of Islam was a resident of Mecca, Muhammad (570-632). He urged all Arabs to abandon the worship of numerous gods, to believe in God alone - Allah and that Muhammad is his prophet. This sermon displeased the Meccan merchants, who feared that Muhammad's sermon would affect their visits to the Kaaba. Muhammad and his followers had to flee to the rival trading city of Mecca, Yathrib (later called Medina, that is, the "City of the Prophet"). This event, called in Arabic “hijra”, i.e. “migration”, became the starting point of the Muslim chronology (622). In the following years, most of the Arab tribes converted to Islam. Muhammad and his followers solemnly returned to Mecca. The Kaaba became the main sanctuary of the Muslims. The victory of Islam over more ancient beliefs led to the rallying of the Arab tribes and the creation of the state. The final unification of Arabia took place shortly after the death of Muhammad (632). Then the sacred

the book of Islam is the Koran (in Arabic - "what is read"). It contains the speeches of Muhammad recorded by his companions. For Muslims, the Koran is the direct speech of Allah addressed to Muhammad, and through him to all people. Most of the Qur'an is written in verse; this book is the main source of doctrine, contains instructions, rules of conduct, prohibitions, etc. Five main duties of Muslims: belief that Allah is the only deity, and Muhammad is his messenger, prayer, fasting in the month of Ramadan, Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca and visit the Kaaba, a tax on property and income, which is distributed among the poor. The duties of a believer include jihad, which means the giving of all forces and opportunities for the triumph of Islam, up to the "holy war" against non-Muslims (called ghazawat). Islam arose under the influence of Judaism and Christianity. God, according to Islam, sent his messengers to people - Moses, Jesus, who carried the word of God. However, people have forgotten what they taught. Therefore, Allah sent the people of Muhammad to guide them on the righteous path. This was the last warning of God to people, after which the end of the world would come.

After the death of Muhammad, the state was headed by caliphs (in Arabic - “deputy, successor”), who were initially elected by the community of believers from the companions of the prophet. In a short time, the first caliphs created a large army, the main force of which was the cavalry. Quite quickly, the Arabs conquered Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, North Africa, Iran, Armenia, part of Georgia, and Spain. By 750, the possessions of the caliphate (the Arab state) stretched from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of India and China. The capital of the Caliphate was originally Mecca, then Damascus in Syria. The reason for the victories was, on the one hand, Islam, which rallied the Arabs, and on the other hand, the fact that the main opponents of the Arabs - Byzantium and the Persian kingdom - were old rivals and exhausted each other in mutual wars, the population was ruined by taxes and did not provide the Arabs with serious resistance. During the conquests, Islam became a world religion.

The Arab caliphate gradually formed into a huge "world power" that united a number of

countries of Asia, Africa and Europe. These countries were inhabited by peoples who had a different historical past, with dissimilar lifestyles and beliefs, languages ​​and customs. The state was the supreme owner of all the lands of the Caliphate. There were several categories of land ownership, which were divided into taxable communal lands and conditional land ownership received by soldiers for service. In the second half of the IX - IX centuries. The Arab caliphate was going through a crisis caused by an internal political struggle for power among the descendants of Muhammad, significant social stratification and the unequal position of Muslims of non-Arab origin. As a result, by the end of the 9th century, the caliphate broke up into a number of independent states.

As a result Arab conquests a civilization arose that absorbed the achievements of the Byzantine, Iranian, Central Asian, Indian, Transcaucasian and Roman cultural traditions. Arab astronomy, medicine, algebra, philosophy, no doubt, were an order of magnitude higher than the European science of that time. The irrigation system of the fields, some agricultural crops were borrowed by Europeans from the Arabs. The well-formed classical literary Arabic language and writing based on the Arabic alphabet became widespread. Many cities of the caliphate became the largest scientific and cultural centers of the Middle Ages. The cities of Baghdad, Basra, Damascus, Jerusalem, Mecca, Medina, Bukhara, Samarkand, Alexandria, Cordoba and others admired their architecture and were famous all over the world as the largest centers of handicraft production and trade.

During the period of history, which we define for Europe as the early Middle Ages, Western European civilization was by no means the leader in terms of its level of development. A number of Asian civilizations, such as Chinese, Indian, Iranian, and later Arab-Islamic, far surpassed Western Europe both in economic development and in the sphere of culture. Unlike Europe, where the population lived compactly in a relatively small area, non-European civilizations were peculiar centers, often separated from one another by vast territories inhabited by people whose main occupations were still hunting, gathering, and nomadic cattle breeding. Contacts between civilizations were weak. For example, the civilizations of America until the end of the Middle Ages generally existed in isolation from the civilizations of other parts of the world.

The wealth of agricultural civilizations attracted nomads, and the invasions of militant nomadic tribes were a typical phenomenon, and above all for the medieval history of Asian civilizations. Most nomadic invasions were repelled, but many cases are known when they managed to destroy a particular civilization or the conquerors were included in the system. public relations the country they conquered, which allowed them to overcome the existing barrier between barbarism and civilization.

most advanced civilization early medieval was Chinese. Many nomadic tribes lived in the neighborhood of China, and therefore a characteristic phenomenon of the Chinese Middle Ages was an almost constant struggle with nomads.

As early as the beginning of the 4th c. Southern Huns invaded China from the north. Other nomads followed them. In the north of China, the conquerors began fierce wars among themselves. In the end, the Tobias won, who created at the end of the 4th century. in North China
your state. Southern China was ruled by Chinese dynasties.

Gradually, the Tobians abandoned their nomadic life, accepted Chinese, Buddhism , Chinese customs. At the end of the VI century. China was once again united under the rule Chinese emperors. From the beginning of the 7th century The Tang Dynasty began to rule the country. The reign of the emperors of this dynasty lasted almost 300 years. AT recent decades Tang China was shaken by internecine strife, uprisings of peasants, invasions of nomads. The final blow was dealt by the peasant war led by Huang Chao. And although the uprising was crushed, the Tang dynasty fell a few years later. China broke up into many states. A long period of bloody and devastating civil strife ensued.

The highly developed Chinese civilization had a great influence on its neighbors. This was achieved through conquests (for example, Korea and Vietnam). When the Japanese created their own state, Tang China was taken as a model for its structure. For some time in Japan, Chinese was the language of communication among people from high society, the language of literature.

In the first half of the 7th c. Arab nomads began their conquests under the banner of Islam. For several decades, the rulers of the Arab Caliphate managed to subjugate many countries and peoples and create a huge power, the territory of which stretched from North India to Iberian Peninsula. The structure of this power included the peoples of different civilizations, including those that were formed in antiquity (for example, Egypt, Iran, part of India), as well as many tribes that still lived in conditions primitive society. All these diverse peoples with their different levels community development, with a peculiar culture, different languages ​​were united under the rule of Arab rulers and Islam. Mutual influence, synthesis of cultures of peoples took place in the caliphate, as a result of which a peculiar culture developed, an Arab-Islamic civilization arose. The culture of this civilization, which absorbed various cultural currents, united Arabic and Islam, then surpassed the level of Western European culture.

The first four caliphs were either elected Arab nobility or appointed by their predecessor. Then the Umayyad dynasty (661-750) began to rule, followed by the Abbasid dynasty. Under the Umayyads, an Arab invasion of Western Europe was attempted. But in 732, at the battle of Poitiers, the Franks defeated the eastern conquerors.

The caliphate reached its greatest prosperity by the 9th century, but by the end of this century it had broken up into many states, of which the most stable were the state of the Fatimids (with its center in Egypt) and the Caliphate of Cordoba on the Iberian Peninsula.

North India at the beginning of the 4th century. united under the rule of the Gupta dynasty. In the south of Hindustan, several small states. From the middle of the 5th c. the southern Huns began to attack the power of the Gupta, who at the beginning of the VI century. dealt her a devastating blow. In the first half of the 7th c. North India was again united under the rule of Harsha, but soon after his death this power was defeated by Chinese troops. This was followed by an Arab invasion, but the conquerors failed to advance beyond the Indus Valley. In the rest of India, there were many states that led frequent wars between themselves.

For many Asian civilizations, this period was a time of fierce struggle against the nomads. The apogee of this struggle was the Mongol invasion in the 13th century.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty in the north of China, nomads, the Khitans and Tanguts, who broke in there, created their own states. In the XII century. followed by a new invasion of nomads - the Jurchens defeated the Khitans and formed on the captured Chinese territories own state. Long and exhausting wars were fought with the Jurchens by the rulers Chinese dynasty Song, which united under its rule the territories of China, free from foreign yoke. In fact, only South China remained under the rule of the Sung dynasty.

13th century brought disaster unprecedented in the history of China. Having subdued at the beginning of this century all the Mongolian nomadic tribes, Genghis Khan, as the first object of his aggression, chose China, which seemed fabulously rich for the Mongols. The Sung emperors at first underestimated the enemy, hoping that in civil strife the barbarians would weaken each other, they even helped the Mongols in defeating the Jurchens. Mongols devastated Northern China(according to some estimates, before their conquest, about 50 million people lived there, and by the end of the 13th century - only 6 million). Contrary to the calculations of the Sung emperors, the Mongols immediately after conquering the north of the country moved to the possessions of the Song dynasty. However, as in no other country, the conquerors had to overcome the resistance of the Chinese for a long time and stubbornly. The conquest of China by the Mongols lasted almost 70 years. The conquerors moved their capital from Mongolia to China (to the site of present-day Beijing). The foreign yoke was extremely heavy. Taxes have increased several times. The Chinese were forbidden to occupy positions in the state administration, to have weapons, to turn on lights at night, and to move at night.

Simultaneously with heavy wars in China, the Mongols launched devastating attacks in the western direction. They conquered Central Asia, Iran, Volga Bulgaria (here, after the victory on the Kalka River over the Russian-Polovtsian army, the Mongols suffered a severe defeat, for which in 1236 this Muslim country was literally wiped off the face of the earth), Ancient Russia. In 1241, under the leadership of Vatu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, the Mongols moved into the depths of Europe. Their main onslaught fell on Hungary - such was the traditional path of the steppe nomads from the East, for the Hungarian steppes provided enough food for their horses. At the same time, the Mongols attacked Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova, and Romania. Victories were given to the invaders from all with great difficulty. In pursuit of the Hungarian king, they reached the Adriatic coast, and here the Mongol offensive bogged down. Vatu led his troops to the Volga, where he founded his own state, known as the Golden Horde.

After the completion of the Mongol conquest of Iran, another Mongol state arose there, ruled by the Hulagu dynasty, the grandson of Genghis Khan. The rulers of these Mongolian states, formed on the occupied lands, did not recognize the power of the great khan, who settled in Beijing, over themselves.

The Mongols failed to conquer Japan. When in 1274 they landed on the island of Kyushu, they met there unprecedented resistance from the samurai. The next landing of the conquerors was destroyed by a typhoon. Japan was one of the few countries of the Middle Ages that could not be conquered by any foreign conquerors.

Three campaigns of the Mongols in Vietnam also ended in failure. The Vietnamese guerrilla tactics and the harsh jungle climate forced the Mongols to abandon their attempts to conquer this country, which had only recently achieved independence from China.

India was also attacked by the Mongols. North India by this time was captured by the rulers Muslim states based in Afghanistan and Iran. In 1206, the Muslim governors of the conquered Indian territories created their own state there - the Delhi Sultanate. The Mongols repeatedly invaded this country, reached Delhi, but could not capture it. At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. The Delhi sultans subjugated almost all of India.

1. Arrival of Vasco da Gama in India what date. 2. the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans by the Turks; 3. the defeat of the Crusaders by the Ottomans near Nikopol. .....

what territory modern countries these medieval states: 1 Delhi Sultanate 2 Timur Power 3 Min Empire 4 Bahmani 5 Vijayanagar 6 Aztec states ..... which of the rulers of Asian states you know were contemporaries of Europeans: 1 Joan of Arc, Francesco Petrarch, Sandro Boticelli, Filippo Brunelleschi ... .. name the largest states of the late Middle Ages in Asia and tropical africa and America. which of the states you named still exists today. ..... name the religions common in medieval India, Japan, China, the Ottoman state ......

A1. Which of the above decrees was signed by the emperor in 1803?

1) "On obligated peasants"

2) "About free cultivators"

3) “On the establishment of the III branch of the Own H.I.V. Offices»

4) "On the introduction of universal military service"

A2. What estate was the most privileged in Russia in the 19th century?

1) boyars 3) merchants

2) nobility 4) clergy (clergy)

A3. Which government agency the authorities were given the functions of the highest judicial instance and the body of supervision over the administration according to the reform of 1802?

1) Holy Synod 3) Senate

2) Supreme Privy Council 4) Council of State

A4. As in the XIX century. named peasants who had cash and doing business?

1) sessional 3) temporarily obligated

2) capitalist 4) black-hundreds

A5. Read an excerpt from the historian's work and indicate the meeting place of the two emperors, about which in question.

“On June 25, 1807, at the second hour of the day, the first meeting of both emperors took place. In the very middle of the river, a raft with two magnificent pavilions was approved. The whole guard was lined up on the French shore, on the Russian - a small retinue of the emperor ... The boats set sail from the banks, and in the middle of the river, the emperor and the tsar simultaneously entered the tent of peace. The guardsmen, who were shooting at each other 10 days ago, shout: "Hurrah!" Yesterday's enemies hugged ... "

1) Waterloo 3) Austerlitz

2) Tilsit 4) St. Petersburg

A6. During the years of what war did the Russian army carry out the brilliant Tarutinsky march-maneuver?

1) Smolensk 3) Livonian

2) Northern 4) Patriotic

A7. In the XIX century. wealthy townspeople could participate in city management issues through

1) city dumas 3) labial elders

2) peace mediators 4) zemstvo committees

A8. Read an excerpt from the notes of a contemporary and indicate the name of the war, the events of which are being discussed.

“The Uglitsky and Kazan regiments, and the fifth squad of the Bulgarian militia, with amazingly beautiful harmony, moved forward under heavy enemy fire. After brilliant attacks, Skobelev lined up in front of<Шипкой-Шейново>Vladimir regiment... - Well, brothers, follow me now. Your comrades have honestly done their job, and we will finish as it should. - Let's try ... - Look ... Walk harmoniously ... The Turks are almost already defeated ... blessing, with God!

1) Russian-Turkish war of 1806–1812 3) Crimean War 1853–1856

2) Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829. 4) Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

A9. According to the reform of 1861, the peasants received the right

1) transition to other estates

2) elect and be elected to the State Duma

3) leave the community and settle in farms

4) to all the lands of the landowner

A10. Read an excerpt from the memoirs of N. Figner and indicate the name of the emperor, the preparation of the assassination attempt on which is discussed in the document.

“Simultaneously with the preparations for explosions near Moscow, Alexandrovsk and Odessa, the Committee had in mind another appointment in St. Petersburg itself ... The Committee in St. Petersburg was preparing an explosion in winter palace, but this was kept in the strictest secrecy and was under the jurisdiction of the "Administrative Commission" of three persons, elected by the members of the Committee from among themselves for matters of the greatest importance. At that time these three were: Al. Mikhailov. Tikhomirov and Al. Kwiatkowski, from whom I once heard a mysterious phrase: "While all these preparations are going on, here the personal courage of one can end everything." This was an allusion to Khalturin, who later told me that in the Winter Palace he once happened to be alone with the sovereign, and a hammer blow could destroy him on the spot.

1) Pavel Petrovich 3) Nikolai Pavlovich

2) Alexander Pavlovich 4) Alexander Nikolaevich

A11. Which of the following happened in the 19th century?

1) the abolition of the patriarchate 3) the proclamation of Russia as an empire

2) the establishment of collegiums 4) the abolition of serfdom

A12. "We were the children of 1812" - so they said about themselves

2) Marxists 4) Narodnaya Volya

A13. What was the name of the legislative body of state power established in 1810?

1) Council of State 3) Supreme Senate

2) The State Duma 4) Holy Synod

A14. Started in Russia in the 30s. 19th century industrial revolution contributed

1) the emergence of the first manufactories

2) the emergence of the first all-Russian fairs

3) decrease in the number of urban population

4) the formation of factory centers

A15. Representatives of the Russian public thought from the late 1830s - 1850s, who believed that Russia should develop in its own way, and not follow the patterns of leading European countries, were called

1) Westerners 3) Slavophiles

A16. Indicate the changes, transformations that were carried out during the Great Reforms of the 1860-1870s.

A) cancellation of recruitment for the army

B) restriction of corvée to three days a week

B) the creation of provincial and district zemstvos

D) prohibition to sell peasants without land

E) the introduction of the institution of jurors

Specify the correct answer

ABG 2) AVD 3) BVG 4) IOP please help

And Asia. Previously, they were close in level military equipment, crafts and trade. However, the conditions for the development of Europeans turned out to be much more favorable. Since the Great Migration Western Europe was not subjected to external conquests. Meanwhile, the expanses of Asia were devastated one by one by nomadic tribes - from the Huns to the Ottoman Turks.

India under the rule of the Mughals

India, one of the most populated states in the world, due to the vastness of the territory, the hot climate, the stubborn resistance of numerous principalities with strong armies. It remained inaccessible to the warlike tribes of Asia. During the period of expansion of the Arab, Muslim peoples, the north of India was conquered, where the Delhi Sultanate appeared. However, during the years of the Mongol conquests, Timur's campaigns, wars between the states that arose on the ruins of his empire, most of the Indian territory remained aloof from conflicts.

In the 15th century, the princes of Central India, relying on the support of some of the feudal lords who remained adherent to Hinduism, captured most Delhi Sultan. This prompted the Muslim feudal lords of northern India to seek help from Z. Babur (148З-1530), a talented commander, poet and writer, who, having typed a strong army on the territory of Central Asia and Afghanistan, invaded India and founded the empire of the Great Mongols ("Mogolistan" at that time in memory of the Mongol conquests was called the states of Central Asia). Babur's successors extended their power to Central India, many princes of the Hindustan peninsula recognized themselves as their vassals.

The unification of India contributed to the development of trade relations between individual principalities. This stimulated the growth of handicraft production. Silk and cotton fabrics, woolen shawls, steel weapons, jewelry of Indian artisans were in demand not only in Asia, but also in Europe. Initially, they came to Europe thanks to Muslim merchants. Subsequently, their monopoly was undermined by the European East India Companies.

Gradually developed and commodity-money relations, however, the peculiarities of Indian society prevented the transition to manufactory production. A rigid caste system was maintained, assuming that everyone was engaged in the same field of activity as his parents. This ruled out social mobility society. A successful craftsman could not sell his products himself. He had to apply to a representative of the caste, which was assigned to engage in trading activities. Wealthy merchants and usurers did not invest in the development of handicrafts, since this was not the business of their caste. Community organization in the villages prevented the release of labor. In crafts and agriculture there were neither incentives nor opportunities to introduce technical innovations. Like centuries ago, manual labor prevailed.

The development of commodity-money relations undermined the fragile foundations of the state of the Great Moghuls. On its territory lived more than twenty nationalities speaking different languages ​​(Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telygy, Tamil, Urdu, Farsi, etc.). About three-quarters of the population of India were Hindus, while the Mughal conquerors were Muslims. The main pillar of their power was the army, which, as in Ottoman Empire, originally formed on the basis of the military system. The Great Mogul endowed his associates with conditional land holdings - jagirs. New feudal lords (jagirdars) received taxes from peasant communities. They went to support the troops. The need to turn the tax in kind into money spent on the maintenance of the court and luxury goods prompted the jagirdars to turn to usurers. Over time, they bought the right to constantly collect taxes, turning into an influential stratum of the nobility (zamindars), who were no longer obliged to serve. The jagirdars, burdened with debts, were unable to maintain troops, and this weakened the military power of the Mughals.

Increase in fees from rural communities led to peasant uprisings, since the increase in taxes to 30-40% of the gross harvest caused famine in the villages. They were especially frequent in the north of India, in the Punjab. There was a widespread teaching of the Sikhs, close to Hinduism, but rejecting the caste system and class division of society. Sikhs, to a lesser extent than the majority of the population of India, followed the principles of humility before fate and non-violence, characteristic of adherents of Hinduism. This made them quite restless underlings. In 1705, the Mughal troops took the main city of the Sikhs, Anandapur. However, their movement was not suppressed, in 1710-1715. The Punjab is in revolt again.

Many princes who previously considered themselves vassals of the Moghuls, and even the governors appointed by them, ceased to recognize their authority. In 1720-1740s. in Central India, a confederation of the Maratha principalities was formed, which subjugated most of the possessions of the Great Moghuls. The decisive blow to their state was delivered by the Iranian conqueror Nadir Shah (1688-1747). His troops in 1739 occupied and plundered the capital of the Moghuls, Delhi. This made the power of the Mughals purely nominal. After the death of Nadir Shah and the collapse of his power, northern India became the scene of a struggle between the Afghan feudal lords, the Maratha princes and the Sikhs.

Questions and tasks

1. On the example of the Ottoman Empire, indicate the features of the military despotism of the late Middle Ages. Compare class structure feudal society in Europe and social relations in the Ottoman Empire, highlight common features development and indicate the features.
2. Describe economic activity in the Ottoman Empire, What factors prevented economic development countries?
3. Specify the reasons for the weakening of the Ottoman Empire.

4. Determine the place of the Ottoman Empire in the system international relations. Why were the conquests of Turkey at the beginning of the 18th century successful but short-lived?
5. Prepare a detailed plan "India under the rule of the conquerors."
b. What were the reasons for the weakening of the Mughal Empire?

Zarladin N.V., Simoniya N.A. , Story. The history of Russia and the world from ancient times to late XIX century: A textbook for grade 10 educational institutions. - 8th ed. - M.: LLC TID Russian word - RS., 2008.

Calendar-thematic planning, tasks for a 10th grade student in history download, History

The countries of the East entered the period of the developed Middle Ages at different times.
Formed as administrative centers and military strongholds medieval cities quickly grew and developed, thanks to crafts and trade.
The largest cities in Asia were Chang'an, Luoyang, Hangzhou,
Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, Samarkand, Bukhara, Kamakura, Kyoto, Osaka, Delhi. Minar, 13th century Schools, libraries were opened in them, scientists, poets, artists, musicians lived. The cities of Asia arose on state land. Residents of Asian cities, unlike European ones, did not fight against their seniors. In one of the largest states in Asia - China, the emergence and development of medieval cities fell on the IX-XIII centuries. Chinese cities obeyed the emperor.

Urban development was hindered conquest wars. Medieval India and its cities were repeatedly attacked by foreigners. Endless wars hindered the development of cities in India.

The medieval cities of Japan arose in different ways: near Buddhist temples, at crossroads and along trade caravan routes, by the sea, near fortresses. On the site of the city of Heian, completely destroyed by fire in 1177, built new town- Kyoto, which became the capital. For many centuries this city was a major economic, religious and cultural center of Japan.

City life.

The cities of Asian countries have gone their own way of development. In the XI century. urban development in China has reached a high level. Luxurious palaces were built for the emperor and the nobility. Since there was little wood suitable for construction in China, houses were built from brick, ceramics and stone.

AT major cities medieval China, unlike Europe, already used engineering communications. Clean water was supplied to the city through ceramic pipes. drinking water, worked treatment facilities, fire protection.

The population of Asian cities was large compared to Europe. So, in China in the XVI century. 1 million people lived in Beijing, even more in Nanjing. In the large cities of Iran - Isfahan, Shiraz, there were 200 thousand inhabitants each. At the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV centuries. Samarkand reached a high level of development, which became famous throughout the world as the capital of the empire of Amir Temur. Poets and philosophers of the Middle Ages called it "the decoration of the land of the East." The center of religion and culture, trade and crafts was considered in Eastern world Bukhara.

Cities Muslim countries Asia was built up according to a certain plan: in the center there was an arch - the fortress of the head of the city, and around the city there was a rabad, huzars of artisans with their workshops. In almost all Islamic cities, stone and brick were the main building materials, since there were practically no forests in the East. Therefore, the rulers and the rich built their palaces and houses from burnt bricks and marble, and the poor - from pakhsa. The houses of the poor were fragile and constantly in need of repair. When such houses were inherited, they were usually demolished and rebuilt.

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