While many
people claim that the political aftermath of the black death, as well as other important tensions suffered during the thirteenth and fourteenth century, created similar patterns of
behavior in all around Eurasia, in my opinion we must point out significant
differences in fields like religion, commerce and bureaucracy. That’s what I will
try to explain in the next lines.
On the one hand, it’s said that a leading consequence of that vacuum was the return to the ancient religious beliefs. For instance, the Ming Dinasty came back to its old ceremonies and rites in order to reinforce political and social hierarchies in China. Another example of these worries was the expansion of the islamic dinasties sharing the same core religious. By the way, during this time we can study the great role played by the faiths in the strengthening of the Safavid Empire, the Mughal Empire and, above all, the Ottoman Empire. Europe wasn’t an exception in searching the truth faith, so the Christianity was very important in the statecraft of the majority of european micro-states. Moreover, those who believe that the importance of the global trade was the result of searching new markets in both extremes and center of Eurasia, also think that its development was based in similar foundations and causes. They even say that the empires gave to the commerce the same value in exchanging goods and, consequently, they obtained equal revenues. In particular, they consider that the seven voyages of Zheng He are alike than those of Christopher Columbus. In other words, It could be believed that both series of expeditions (and also others like those of Vasco da Gama or Tomé Pires) only had the same purpose: to expand their sales network. Finally, in what concerns to the administration, the main evidence to its increasing importance was the creation of places from which emperors and kings ruled with more and more officials, buildings and devices. That is to say, with more centralized power. The Forbidden City, in Beijing, and The Topkapi Palace, in Istanbul, represented the weight of bureaucracy in the construction of these new empires. In addition, taxes helped states to earn more money with which carried out new projects or warfares and slaves became commodities.
However, although what I have said before was crucial in order to build up these new societies and empires, traditional and basic explanations sometimes go in the wrong direction. For example, even though rulers set up a renewed and heavy system of beliefs, is false that they behaved always identically. It’s obvious, therefore, that the tolerance and respect to groups of Jews, Christians and so on, was bigger in the Ottoman Empire than in the Persian Safavid one. Besides, we must bear in mind that the spread of the commerce between the Iberian states and their colonies had different foundations than those in China and the islamic empires. China expanded its trade network thanks to the expeditions of Zheng He recalling better times, but after the upheavals happened between scholars and eunuchs decided to stop trading that way. It’s that, one important turning point for China, because in my view is highly probable they missed the opportunity to become bigger and more self-sufficient slowing, as a result, the conquests of Portugal in that area. The islamic world, meanwhile, continued dominating the Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa, forcing europeans to discover new ways to find alternative raw materials than those they traditionally used to buy or acquire. It was that way how they arrive to America, and the portugueses also to places like Calcutta, creating, thereby, new sea routes. Furthermore, the design and construction of the bureaucracy that emerged in the fifteenth century wasn’t so hard and efficient everywhere. Whereas in Europe didn’t exist a great empire capable to deal with enemies outside and within their own borders and to carry out big projects together as was normal in China or in the Ottoman Empire, the micro-states kept on fighting with their neighbors which meant a major problem of money and effort.
To sum up, it’s very clear that the changes caused by the disappearance of the Mongol Empire drove the new societies to the need of creating tools of protection which they found in the religion, commerce and bureaucracy. It’s also true that this new concept of societies didn’t work the same way in each case. Some were more tolerant, like ottomans, some more coercives, like safavids. Some were more maritimes, like those in Western Europe, some less, like the post Zheng He China. What’s more significant, actually, is the fact that they didn’t move separately, but because of the other or, even, because of their own strains.
On the one hand, it’s said that a leading consequence of that vacuum was the return to the ancient religious beliefs. For instance, the Ming Dinasty came back to its old ceremonies and rites in order to reinforce political and social hierarchies in China. Another example of these worries was the expansion of the islamic dinasties sharing the same core religious. By the way, during this time we can study the great role played by the faiths in the strengthening of the Safavid Empire, the Mughal Empire and, above all, the Ottoman Empire. Europe wasn’t an exception in searching the truth faith, so the Christianity was very important in the statecraft of the majority of european micro-states. Moreover, those who believe that the importance of the global trade was the result of searching new markets in both extremes and center of Eurasia, also think that its development was based in similar foundations and causes. They even say that the empires gave to the commerce the same value in exchanging goods and, consequently, they obtained equal revenues. In particular, they consider that the seven voyages of Zheng He are alike than those of Christopher Columbus. In other words, It could be believed that both series of expeditions (and also others like those of Vasco da Gama or Tomé Pires) only had the same purpose: to expand their sales network. Finally, in what concerns to the administration, the main evidence to its increasing importance was the creation of places from which emperors and kings ruled with more and more officials, buildings and devices. That is to say, with more centralized power. The Forbidden City, in Beijing, and The Topkapi Palace, in Istanbul, represented the weight of bureaucracy in the construction of these new empires. In addition, taxes helped states to earn more money with which carried out new projects or warfares and slaves became commodities.
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| A Chegada de Vasco da Gama a Calicute em 1498 (Alfredo Roque Gameiro, 1900) |
However, although what I have said before was crucial in order to build up these new societies and empires, traditional and basic explanations sometimes go in the wrong direction. For example, even though rulers set up a renewed and heavy system of beliefs, is false that they behaved always identically. It’s obvious, therefore, that the tolerance and respect to groups of Jews, Christians and so on, was bigger in the Ottoman Empire than in the Persian Safavid one. Besides, we must bear in mind that the spread of the commerce between the Iberian states and their colonies had different foundations than those in China and the islamic empires. China expanded its trade network thanks to the expeditions of Zheng He recalling better times, but after the upheavals happened between scholars and eunuchs decided to stop trading that way. It’s that, one important turning point for China, because in my view is highly probable they missed the opportunity to become bigger and more self-sufficient slowing, as a result, the conquests of Portugal in that area. The islamic world, meanwhile, continued dominating the Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa, forcing europeans to discover new ways to find alternative raw materials than those they traditionally used to buy or acquire. It was that way how they arrive to America, and the portugueses also to places like Calcutta, creating, thereby, new sea routes. Furthermore, the design and construction of the bureaucracy that emerged in the fifteenth century wasn’t so hard and efficient everywhere. Whereas in Europe didn’t exist a great empire capable to deal with enemies outside and within their own borders and to carry out big projects together as was normal in China or in the Ottoman Empire, the micro-states kept on fighting with their neighbors which meant a major problem of money and effort.
To sum up, it’s very clear that the changes caused by the disappearance of the Mongol Empire drove the new societies to the need of creating tools of protection which they found in the religion, commerce and bureaucracy. It’s also true that this new concept of societies didn’t work the same way in each case. Some were more tolerant, like ottomans, some more coercives, like safavids. Some were more maritimes, like those in Western Europe, some less, like the post Zheng He China. What’s more significant, actually, is the fact that they didn’t move separately, but because of the other or, even, because of their own strains.
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