A short Summary of the History of the World – Part IV
Fun Fact: In 2003, scientists discovered a specific genetic marker in men across what was the great Mongolian Empire, which indicates that around 16 million men living in these areas today, are descendants of Genghis Khan.
By the 5th century AD, Rome had fallen, and the pace of Europe’s emergence had drastically slowed down. For centuries, Europe had been outshone and outclassed by the Chinese and Muslim civilizations, until the Vikings decide to pay them a visit.
They Vikings had already begun to colonise the British Isles, Iceland and France – even reaching as far as Greenland and North America. Their greatest import into Eastern Europe, was their talent for settlings down.
When the Vikings (or the Rus) invade modern-day Ukraine, their leader named Oleg, declares himself as the Prince of Kiev. As their territory expands and tribal clans become united, the Land of the Rus becomes known as Russia. Kiev still (rather gratefully) acknowledges Oleg as its founder.
Trade explodes along rivers, but especially across the Black Sea – the gateway to the largest and most prosperous city in Europe at the time – Constantinople. It was also home to the Greek Orthodox Christian Church. The new Viking prince of Kiev, named Vladimir, decides to adopt this specific religion, which led to the current look and feel of modern-day Russia.
Meanwhile in Baghdad – the heart of the booming Islamic culture – the Muslims were making huge strides in science, mathematics and learning. They even come extremely close to accurately measuring the circumference of the entire Earth in the year 827 AD. They also invent Algorithms, which are used today by Google and your mobile device. Islam had entered its Golden Age.
The Muslims continue to accumulate, understand, and archive knowledge from civilizations across the world. However, their one area of dominance is Muslim Spain, and it’s from here that all this knowledge is disseminated into the rest of Europe, which lights up the Dark Ages and results in the Enlightenment.
GHENGIS KHAN
Across the lands in the 12th century, a future leader of the nomadic tribes-people named Temujin, was learning an essential lesson from his mother, that “from unity comes strength”. He grows up to become a warlord. As he marches on, his biggest asset is to offer rival clans brotherhood and a share in the spoils of future wars. As Temujin’s army grew, he took on the title: “Universal Ruler” – translated from Genghis Khan.
He got as far as ransacking Beijing, where he got his paws on new and powerful military technology, such as catapults and crossbows. After conquering China, Temujin takes his new siege weaponry and heads west, where he bumps into the forces of Islam. He mercilessly annihilates great Muslim cities across central Asia. The Mongolian Empire becomes the largest in the history of the world.
An era of relative peace finally occurs after Temujin dies, which opens up the Silk Road, where Europeans would finally come to learn about their far-eastern neighbours. Early stories of these distant lands come from the Venetian Marco Polo in 1298 AD, which are published as his seductive “description of the world”. Twenty-seven years earlier, he had trekked the Silk Road as a teenager, which took more than three years. The tales he told talked about things like manufactured goods, paper currency and the burning of coal as a fuel source.
THE ALLURE OF GOLD
Venice was also still busy making amazing trade deals with Cairo, when in 1324, Mansa Musa of the Mali arrives, with shitloads of gold. He threw so much of it around, that he crippled their economy. It is said that it took ten years to recover. Nevertheless, gold captures the imagination of Europe, which wanted more.
Endless clashes between the Christian Crusaders and Muslim Ottomans were ongoing. Religious propaganda was infiltrating all areas of society. In 1453, the Ottoman and Muslim leader Mehmed II, wanted to take Constantinople as a vital trading center.
The great city had maintained some of the best defenses of any city for over 1,000 years, with its Great Walls of Europe. Yet the Ottomans do manage to take it after 55 days of battling, and the famous Hagia Sophia becomes a Muslim World Wonder. A Christian city that had lasted for over 1,000 years, becomes Islamic. News of this spreads across Europe, yet traders go into negotiations with the Ottomans and carry on.
A great result of this was scholars from Constantinople fleeing to wealthy Italy, which was a storehouse of knowledge, prosperity and potential. It was from here, that Europe would be reborn – 200 years-worth of rebirth, known as the Renaissance. Enter the multi-talented Leonardo DaVinci in 1495. He gets commissioned by the duke at the time to paint the Last Supper, which took him 3 years to complete, but is also when Leonardo ingeniously combines Science and Art.
This Shock of the New inspires a huge sense of European confidence.
A short Summary of the History of the World – Part III
A short Summary of the History of the World – Part V
Disclaimer: This information has been taken from the brilliant Andrew Marr’s History of the World series (2012), which is highly recommended as a good, overall summary of our collective history.
