World AD 600-700

I seem to be the one at AE who has to fill in the gaps in African and Southeast Asian history.

North Africa was an important part of the Byzantine Empire in the early seventh century, just as it was for the Roman Empire.  After 641, however, it was conquered by the Arabs.

Below the Sahara Desert, the only important kingdom was Axum, in modern Ethiopia.  Three minor Christian states existed in Nubia (Sudan):  Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia.  West Africa had some advanced tribes in Nigeria (at Nok) and Mali (at Jenne-Jeno) that knew how to forge iron, but the first true West African kingdom, Ghana, was just getting started.  Madagascar has just recently been settled by a group of Indonesians, and the Bantus have nearly completed their expansion into central and southern Africa.

In Southeast Asia the most important states were Chenla, in Cambodia and Laos, and Srivijaya in western Indonesia.  Myanmar was divided into three states:  Pyu, Pegu and Arakan.  Several minor states, populated by Mons (cousins of the Cambodians), existed in Thailand; the Thais themselves had a kingdom called Nanzhao, in China's Yunnan province.  The Vietnamese lived in only the northern third of modern Vietnam, and were currently under Chinese rule.  Central Vietnam had a kingdom named Champa, whose inhabitants were related to the Malays, and southern Vietnam was considered part of Cambodia until about 1700.

Others have already stated that the three civilizations that did the best in the seventh century were the Arabs, the Chinese, and the Mayans.  To that I would like to add these things:

1.  The Arabs succeeded because the Byzantines and Persians exhausted themselves in their longest and costliest war (603-628), while Mohammed was establishing Islam in Arabia.

2.  In Russia, the Khazars were also doing well in the seventh century, though I don't think they had converted to Judaism yet.

3.  In western Europe, this was the worst part of the Dark Ages, and the most advanced western European country at this time was Ireland, believe it or not!

4.  I haven't heard anyone say much about South America.  This was a good time for the Moche, my favorite South American culture.

Probably, but the Mayas are better remembered

Originally posted by warhead "Yes, you are right. But the G�kt�rks still exist powerfully from the eastern sea to the caspian sea."   If its the seventh century then they didn't. In fact they are not even one empire.

The II. G�kt�rk Empire was still a significant world power in the 7. century.

Originally posted by warhead By the people of America perhaps but not the world.

sure ? well, I bet you that most of the people ( world wide ) wants to see a mayan site right next to the blue caribean shores than any other place

Hmm, no, the Vandals/Visgoths (can't renember which) took it from them.

The Vandal king Gaiseric took Carthage in the 5th century (439). It was retaken by the Byzantines under Belisarius in the 6th century (533). In 647 the Caliphate launched its first campaign against Carthage - the city was taken in 683 - by 698 the entire Exarchate of Africa had been taken.

Edited by vagabond

Originally posted by warhead New research tesify to that theory, Nan Zhao is most likely a kingdom of the Bai and Miao ethnic groups and only a small amount of Thais. Second the kingdom of Nan zhao did not exist during the 7th century, it was divided into 6 zhao and some other kingdoms under the supervision of the Tang. Only in 737 was their territory united by Men Shu Zhao and created the kingdom of Nan Zhao.

You're right about the 737 origin, I jumped the gun there.  As to the kingdom being mostly made up of non-Thais, that was normal for a long time.  The early Thai chiefs had a policy of encouraging their second sons to go forth and conquer a territory for themselves, rather than divide the family inheritance.  Thus, they migrated at least once every generation, and when they succeeded in gaining new land, they absorbed/enslaved the previous inhabitants, instead of killing or driving them away.  As a result, the Thais were usually a minority in their own country, as late as 1350 A.D.

Sorry about forgetting Tibet.  I didn't mention Harsha because he only affected the northern half of India, and died before the seventh century was half over.


Edited by Berosus

In my opinion, a vastly underrated event occured in 602.  

It was the mutiny of the Roman army against Mauriakos, the Emperor in Constantinople.  He had alienated his army by ordering them to winter on the north side of the Danube during his "forward defense" of the Balkan frontier against the Avar Khan....it started a series of events that have to this day far-reaching consequences..

The immediate consequences were:

1. First of all, the army marched on Constantinople and assasinated the emperor along with with most of his family, and an illiterate usurper, Phokas was chosen by the army to assume the throne.
2. Secondly, it allowed the Avar Khan to resume the raids across the Danube on Roman territory in the Balkans
3. Thirdly, the breakdown of the Danuban frontier system allowed the Slavs to migrate from the Danube all the way down to the Peloponnese on southern Greece.  Within a few years the entire Balkan peninsular (bar the coastal towns) was lost to Empire (and the Danube fronteir was not to be restored until early in the 11th century)
4. Fourthly, as Emperor Mauriakos helped the Sassanian (Persian) Shah Chosroes II in a Persian civil war in the early 590s, Chosroes took to the field in the Mesopotamia, ostensibly to avenge his late benefacotor.  This lead to a long an useless war (from 602-629) between the 2 superpowers in which when everything was said and done, there was no change to any fronteir by the end of the war in 629 (All this when you include the Persian conquests of Roman Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Anatolia, and including a joint Persian-Avar-Slav attack on Constantinople on 626).  The end of the war led to both empire being completely exhausted and unable to cope when armies of Islam swept out of Arabia after 634.

The world might be vastly different today had both empires been able to meet the Arab onslaught at full strength, for example Zoroastrianism might still be a major religion today.  How would the Slavs who settled south of the Danube look today had they been thouroughly Hellenized within Roman society etc etc..

But then History is full of "what-ifs"......

This map is wrong. During the 7th century, much part of the silk road in central asia was controlled by the Tang dynasty. Manchuria, Inner Mongolia were also under Tang. This map shows that the Turk's territories were south of part of the great wall close to the Tang capital Chang'An (the largest city of the world with 40 miles city wall and 2 million residents). I am sorry to say this but it is ridiculous. The Tang was one of the most powerful and glorious Chinese dynasties especially during the 7th century. At least 1/3 of the land in orange was controlled by the Tang in the 7th century.

"

The Tang Dynasty, which maintained its rule nearly 300 years, is probably the most well-known dynasty in Chinese history. Successively witnessing three florescences, namely "the Prosperity of Zhenguan", the reign of Emperor Wu and "the Heyday of Kaiyuan" in its period, Tang Empire justifiably became the largest, richest, most sophisticated state in the world at that time. Greatly and widely admired abroad, the Tang influence spread into Asia, Europe and Africa. Neighbouring countries sought and established ties with the empire and Chang'an became the center of cultural exchange between the East and the West. "

http://www.warriortours.com/intro/history/tang/

 

Edited by coolstorm

We are talking about 600-700 a.d. not the 6th century.

And I already said, that map is wrong. Southern Manchuria is under Koguryo and later Bo Hai kingdoms. The Amur is inhabited by the black water Mohe which was never brought under control by the Tujue.

As for the Western empire, after Tardu became independent of the East, he invaded the Sui and died on the borders, his sucessors was instruggling for the throne and and the western empire broke up and parts of it submitted to Sui, they were able to regroup but never extended their domain beyond the Aral Sea. That kingdom again broke up in 630 not to be reunited until 642. But that unification was short lived, after the Tang defeated them in that year the various tribes revolted and slowly submitted until Su Ding Fang put an end to that kingdom in 657.

In another word, there was no united Gokturk kingdom in the 7th-8th century, Mo Cho was able to restore much of the empire, but only between 711-714 when the disastrous defeat in Bei Ting ended the western prestige, nor di dthe second Tujue empire eve restablish its power over kashgaria.