Comparison of Post-classical societies

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This paper discusses two post-classical regions/societies (the post-classical Islamic and Indian society), and will draw upon the class lectures and readings to discuss the similarities and differences between the Islamic World and the Indian region during the post-classical era. The post-classical era refers to the historical period after the Iron Age, and falls between 200 CE and 1500 CE (Stearns, 79). During this period, there existed no enduring imperial authority, but the Indian society came to have a profound influence on the southern Asian cultures. During this time, it was also the norm to have regional kingdoms, and as a result, there were Indian forms of politics, economies and, religion all over the region, which was made possible by the extensive trade network within the Indian Ocean basin. As such, by the 13th c. C.E., there existed flourishing Muslim communities and emerging Sultanates from the Southern region of India to the Western Pacific Rim (Lecture 16).
Politics
In the post-classical Indian society, there were many regional kingdoms (Lecture 16). Politically, both the Islamic and Indian society had strong influence on the how the neighboring societies were shaped during the post-classical era. During this period, there was a collapse of centralized political rule within the Indian society. There were also several internal wars and invasions in the Indian region, and led to a situation in which this the northern Indian region became politically fragmented and quite chaotic. There was a lack of political unification in both societies which made foreign incursion easy, and this probably led to Muslim conquests in the Northern region of India between 8th-13th c. C.E. (Lecture 16). In the Islamic world, two emissari...

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...classical era (Lecture 14).
One major difference between the India society and the Islamic world in the post-classical era was that the Indian society did not develop political authorities that were seen to rival the Roman states, even though the distinctive cultural, religious and political traditions of the Indian region continued to evolve and have a profound effect on neighboring regions. The Islamic society on the other hand, came to adopted many Roman, Greek, as well as Indian cultural and political advances, spreading them to enable these advances to reach far and wide, to Europe, Central Asia and Africa. Islamic sea trade also helped connect the regions under Islamic influence, including those within the Indian Ocean.

Works Cited

Lecture 16
Lecture 14
Quran Handout
Stearns, P. (2008) World History in Documents: A Comparative Reader. Reviews NYU Press

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