Ch. 11-13

Chapters 11-13

Having studied Islam in a previous religion class, something new that I learned was how they respected Jews and Catholics during their spread across Eurasia.  They did not force conversion upon them.  They were regarded as “people of the book” and considered “dhimmis” or protected subjects.  I don’t think the Catholic crusaders were as considerate.  I wonder if that Muslims of the twenty-first century still have this view.  As a Roman Catholic and having experienced Catholic school for twelve years, I would say I grew up very ignorant to the commonalities of the various religions based on the God of Abraham.  I believe it would be incredible if we could all see that we are interrelated and that together we could literally change the world.  I have a really good friend who is Jewish and we get along great.  We believe so many of the same things and we respect the parts in which our religions differ.  I have known him for more than twenty years and I don’t think we’ve ever had a religious argument and that’s because of the respect we give each other.  I wish everyone could have this philosophy.  

Also what I found most interesting in the readings was how it was spread through conquest.  They actively pursued the capture of enormous trade routes and in doing so Islam was transferred among merchants and travelers almost organically.  By the twenty first century about 22% of the world’s population was Muslim which seems astounding to me.  Through the media, one would think that Islam was a small cult-like religion found only in small middle-eastern nations.  In reality what we see in the news is only a small sampling of extremists that unfortunately give all Muslims a bad rap.

I enjoyed reading about the Mongols tremendously.  They just seemed so haphazard and in a way they were, but they were really smart.  The world underestimated the “barbarians” by a long shot because of their nomadic way of life.  They became the world’s largest land-based empire solely because they could.  They realized very quickly that they were really, really good at conquering.  They mastered horseback riding and along with advanced weaponry, this made them a military force to be reckoned with.  I think that if they would have had a motto it would have been, “Get er Done!”.  They had an innate ability to organize their subjects and take advantage of their abilities and resources to maintain the empire.  The empire was finally defeated by disease, but it makes me wonder what would have become of the Mongols had they been able to keep it together.

In the fifteenth century, the Sunni Muslims of the Ottoman Empire had its “second flowering”.  They captured Constantinople, Persia, West-African Savannas and the Indian peninsula.  Also during this time the era of long-distance maritime travel was initiated with Vasco de Gama’s trip around the southern tip of Africa.  This opened the door to other voyages that we know led to global colonization and the decimation of native populations.  Again, it makes you wonder what would have become of the Inca and Aztec Empires had Europe/Asia minded their own business….