1. Key Concept 3.2: Continuity & Innovations of State Forms & Their Interactions (Contacts & Conflicts)
Period 3: 600 – 1450 CE

2. State Formation in this Era
Demonstrated remarkable continuity, innovation, and diversity in various regions

3. 2 Groups Dominate the Politics in this Era
ISLAM & MONGOLS

4. Other Major States Byzantine China Italian City-States Feudal Europe
Feudal Japan
Americas

5. Empires Collapsed
Most reconstituted governments combined traditional sources of power and legitimacy with innovations better suited to current circumstances
Byzantine Empire
Chinese Dynasties (Sui, Tang, Song)

6. Traditional Sources of Power & Legitimacy
Patriarchy
Religion
Land-owning Elites

7. Innovations Tributary Systems Adaptation of Religious Intuitions
New Methods of Taxation
Tributary Systems
Adaptation of Religious Intuitions

8. In some places, new forms of governance emerged
Islamic States
Abassids, Muslim Iberia, Dehli Sultanates
Mongol Khanates
City-states
Italian Peninsula, East Africa, Southeast Asia, Americas
Decentralized Government (AKA Feudalism)
Japan
Europe

9. Some states synthesized local and borrowed traditions
Persian traditions influenced Islamic States
Chinese traditions influenced Japan

10. In the Americas, state systems expanded in scope and reach
Networks of city-states flourished in the Maya region
Imperial systems were created by the Mexica (“Aztecs”) and Inca

11. Inter-regional contacts and conflicts between states and empires
Encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers

12. Examples Between Tang China and the Abbasids Across the Mongol Empire
Art of Papermaking
Across the Mongol Empire
Pax Mongolica and Trade
During the Crusades
Technology and Knowledge