Martina Jimenez

Block 5
Document Based Question Essay
Historical Background
The historical period between 600-1450 CE is time for a new religion, Islam, which will
dominate trade in the Mediterranean; the appearance of certain civilizations into the modern
world such as the Mongols and what will eventually be Russia; a division of the Christian Church
and technological advances in Europe that will lead to the Renaissance. Also, there is the
presence of new empires rising in the Americas such as the Mayas, Aztec and Inca. Each
civilization developed in their own way, having different economic basis and political systems in
order to survive. Muslim caliphates reached Spain, having a complete control over the
Mediterranean, connecting it also to the Trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean Trade Route. That
caused Europe to return to the dependency of agriculture as a source of surplus, developing
manorialism. In the other side of the world, American civilizations, which had different climates
and had almost none contact with other civilization, developed agricultural techniques specific
to their area. Politically, each civilization was different; the Muslims were ruled by a caliph, in
Europe there were small kingdoms, therefore ruled by a king and in the American empires,
there was a theocratic belief for their ruler. Although of the differences, most of these
civilizations were happening simultaneously, there is easier to compare and contrast the
advances in each.
Question
Using the following documents, compare and contrast the economic systems in the Muslim,
European and American civilizations in the period from the 600-1450 CE.

Document 1
Indian Ocean Trade Route 600-1450CE Abbasid Caliphate

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Document 2
Aztecs Chinampas 1400, Aztec Empire


Document 3
Diagram of a Manor, High Middle Ages, Europe

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Document 4
Description of the Cairo market excerpted from Nasir Khusraws Safarnama (Book of Travels),
11
th
century
I estimated that there were no less than twenty thousand shops in Cairo Every sort of rare
goods from all over the world can be had there: I saw tortoise-shell implements such as small
boxes, knife handles, and so on. I also saw extremely fine crystal, which the master craftsmen
etch most beautifully I saw the following fruits and herbs, all in one day: red roses, lilies,
narcissus, oranges, citrons, limes and other citrus fruits, apples, jasmine, basil, quince,
pomegranates, pears, melons of various sorts, bananas, olives, myrobalan, fresh dates, grapes,
sugarcane, eggplants, fresh squash, turnips, radishes, cabbage, fresh beans, cucumbers, green
onions, fresh garlic, carrots, and beets



Document 5
Terrace Farming, Inca Empire 13
th
Century









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Document 6
From French picture Bible, c 1300. Building Operations


Bibliography
Chinampa: Raised-bed hydrological agriculture. (2011, 04 24). Retrieved 12 20, 2013, from antropogen:
http://anthropogen.com/2011/04/24/chinampa-raised-bed-hydrological-agriculture/ (Doc.2)
ridgeaphistory. (2012). Retrieved 12 20, 2013, from The Indian Ocean Trade Complex:
https://ridgeaphistory.wikispaces.com/The+Indian+Ocean+Trade+Complex (Doc.1)
Hassam, S. K. (2010). SIMERG Insights from Around the World. Retrieved 12 20, 2013, from The Socio-
Economic Aspects of the Fatimid Caliphate: http://simerg.com/literary-readings/the-socio-economic-
aspects-of-the-fatimid%C2%A0caliphate/ (Doc.4)
Jones, D. (2011). Vimeo. Retrieved 12 20, 2013, from 5. Feudalism and Manorialism and Medieval
Culture: http://vimeo.com/19875140#7973 (Doc.3)
Newitz, A. (2013, 07 05). Givology. Retrieved 12 20, 2013, from Cities Are the Future of Human
Evolution: http://io9.com/cities-are-the-future-of-human-evolution-493082761 (Doc.5)
Ralph, P. L., Lerner, R. E., Meacham, S., Wood, A. T., Hull, R. W., & Edward, B. M. (1998). World
Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture Vol. I. New York: Norton & Company. (Doc.6)

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Based on the documents presented; American, European and Muslim civilizations differ in their
economic base to provide for surplus for their people in the period of 600-1450 C.E. Terrace farming and
chinampas are common in the Americas, while manorialism developed in Europe and will eventually
lead to the beginnings of proto industrialization. The reason for the dependency of Europe in the
agriculture was because of the domination of the Muslim caliphates over the Mediterranean. Do the
advances in the economic systems in Europe and Muslim civilizations, the age of exploration will arise,
leading a downfall towards the economic systems of the American civilizations.
Abbasid, one of the largest caliphates of the Muslim Empire, dominated more than just the trade in
Mediterranean Sea. Document 1 presents the dominance of the Arab Peninsula on the Indian Ocean
Trade Route. Their dominance over that trade route enabled the bringing of camels over to Africa. As an
additional document, the Trans-Saharan trade route was not controlled by the Muslim caliphate, yet
interacted with Berber tribes, that, in order to reach an economic agreement, taxed them in order to
use their camels. This Trans-Saharan connected to the Mediterranean, which meant trade cities and
ports became of big importance to the Muslim caliphate. Document 4 presents Nasir Khusraw view of
Cairo market, a city in Egypt. He explains all the luxuries that are found in each shop. Still, the book of
travels of Nasir Khusraw was considered to be a story, making it no necessarily the most reliable source
because of the subjective point of view he is presenting in word such as beautifully. Still, the
dominance of trade was not the only economic greatness of the Muslim empire. The Islamic economic
influence over the West was based on their knowledge on math and advances of technology, such as
irrigations techniques and banking accounts.
On the other hand, Europe did not rely on trade. The surplus needed to maintain the European
civilization was based on an economic system called manorialism. Document 3 presents the diagram of
the divisions presented in a manor. Manorialism is an economic system that was controlled by a manor
or a land lord that is self-sufficient within its own land. This is present in Document 3 since it clear that a
manor has all that is needed in order to survive, not needing intervention from the king or from the
outside world. As an additional document, the paintings of a Light and Heavy plow since it proves that
agriculture was of major importance in medieval times. The light and heavy plow was crucial since it is a
big innovation towards having a good agriculture. The High Middle Ages developed its economic system
this way in order to survive the lack of political unity in the Holy Roman Empire. Still, in the Late Middle
Ages, there was a change. Do to the Black Death, manorialism will decline causing serfs to leave the
manor and begin agricultural specialization in each town. This is the beginning of internal trade, making
the beginning of the growth of urban centers. Document presents an image of a mill or what can be
referred as a tiny factory. The image presents proto industrialization developing in Europe that will
eventually lead to the Industrial Revolution. The image presented in Document 6 is a rough image of the
proto industry, yet it may be referred as biased since it was found in a Bible and the image of a lord on
top of the mill gives a different point of view of the real theme presented, an economic technique.
On the other side of the world, in the Americas, two empires dominated the area by the 13
th
century. On
the north, the Aztec empire dominated the Yucatan Peninsula. Tenochtitlan, their capital city, was
centered within their economic system, the chinampas. Document 2 presents the irrigation technique of
the chinampas, based on a water source and agricultural techniques. These documents may be
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presented as biased since it is not clear who painted this picture, yet it was not the Aztecs. Agriculture
was important to the Aztecs that is why more developments based on that. As an additional document,
the lunar calendar was developed by the Aztecs in order to keep record of the periods on when to grow
a certain crop or not. On the other hand, at the South, the Incas dominated the Andes. Since their land
was all in the mountains, there was a need for a different agricultural system. The terrace farming
presented on Document 5 proves that the Incas used this different irrigation technique. The Incas, as
well as the Aztec empire and medieval Europe, had a dependency on agriculture, but also had a major
importance on trade as well. As an additional document, the Chaquian trade road shows that internal
trade was an important aspect of the Incas. Also, although the two empires never traded directly, they
did trade with other nearby civilizations. Still, that trade was not as important as their economic base of
agriculture.