Early Contributions of Ancient Empires

Early Contributions of Ancient Empires

At various times between the fifth and seventeenth centuries, civilizations developed and produced significant contributions in the areas of political systems and leadership, economic and technological developments, social structures, and the intellectual life, specifically art, music, literature, science, philosophy, and religion.

The Ottomans drew strength from their origins as ghazis. The ghazi principle fueled their urge for conquest and then helped them to structure their developing society. The social structure of settled, urban Islamic society consisted of four social groupings: 1) the men of the pen, that is, judges, prayer leaders, and other intellectuals; 2) the men of the sword, meaning the military; 3) the men of negotiations, such as merchants; and 4) the men of husbandry, meaning farmers and livestock raisers. Life on the frontier was far less structured; society there was divided into two groups, the military and the people. There was even a place for the non-Muslim. In classical Islamic tradition, non-Muslim religious communities that possessed an accepted, written holy book were granted a covenant of protection, the dhimma, and were considered to be protected people, the dhimmis. In return for this status they paid a special poll tax. The Ottomans continued this tradition during the reign of Muhammad the Conqueror. The three leading non-Muslim religious communities were the Jews, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Church—were established as recognized dhimmi communities known as millets. Its own religious leader headed each millet: a chief rabbi in the case of the Jews, and patriarchs for the Greek Orthodox and Armenian communities. In the millet system...

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...ey had expert mathematicians, and astronomers who helped create this very accurate calendar. This was an important development because it helped them learn the seasons, and the best and right time to plant and harvest their crops most efficiently. This calendar is still in use throughout the world.

At various times between the fifth and seventeenth centuries, civilizations developed and produced significant contributions in the areas of, economic and technological developments, social structures, and the intellectual life, art, literature, science, philosophy, and religion. These all influenced the lives that we live today, and had their individual impacts around the world. They helped shape the way the economy works, and the numbering system that we use almost everyday, without these developments we would be living in a very different and unfamiliar world today.