Societal Development In The Post-Classical Era

During the period of 600-1450, trade increasingly connected people throughout Afro-Eurasia culturally and economically. These influences had an indirect impact on some civilizations’ societies. While both china and the Islamic Caliphates underwent many social changes around the time of their golden ages, they both improved women’s rights by allowing them more independent power but then restricted them by confining them or reducing their ability to show themselves publicly, while there was a large difference in that the Islamic caliphates social structure made leadership roles available for all people regardless of social status as long as they were qualified, while the Chinese social structure made it very hard for anyone who was not of high status to achieve a leadership role.

A similarity in the societal development between China and the Islamic caliphate is that both empires improved women’s independent power in the home, but restricted women, especially of the elite class, by confining them or reducing their ability to show themselves publicly. Both Muslim and Chinese women would keep their property and money in occurrences of divorce and remarriage, as well as be allowed to receive an education, though primarily by their families at home. While in this way women gained power inside their homes, they were still often restricted from applying their capabilities to life outside the home - especially so for elite women. For commoners, the necessities of the daily work done by the lower classes demanded some leniency. All muslim women wore veils, while the chinese elite practiced foot binding. While all Muslim women wore veils, only the elites were kept secluded. They could visit markets and rural women worked in the fields. Only elite Chinese practiced foot binding because it severely impaired their ability to walk and was impractical for the lower class women who would work in the fields. This shows that while women at the time had more power inside the home, they were usually confined to it or had reduced power and freedom outside of their home.

A notable difference we see in the development of social hierarchies in these empire is the availability of leadership roles. In the eyes of Allah, all muslims are equal. This means that in the Islamic Caliphates, regardless of class or position on the hierarchy, there was not much of a difference between most Muslims. This meant that leadership roles such as a Caliph were open to all as long as they were qualified to lead. A caliph may come to power in one of four ways: either through an election, through nomination, through a selection by a committee, or by force. Chinese leadership roles were only available to those who passed the civil service exam, and the exam heavily favored Chinese aristocrats or those who were already high up. Most boys dropped out before the exam, only high-class boys or boys with wealthy sponsors who saw potential in them stayed in school long enough to take the exam. This means that the civil service exams required to obtain a leadership position were heavily favored to accommodate the aristocracy and only a select few boys who were of lower status were able to pass the civil service exam and qualify for a leadership role, while there was nothing comparable to the civil service exam in Islamic societies and all Muslims were on the same level when it came to acquiring a leadership role.

Trade connected vast amounts of people throughout afro-eurasia in 600-1450, influencing and indirectly shaping the societies and cultures of these now increasingly connected empires. Because of how connected these societies were and how these empires grew together in a way, there are many similarities that arose, but not without their differences as well. An example of such similarity can be seen in the context of women being restricted in their public appearance. There was the emergence of foot binding in china and veiling in Islamic caliphates, but there was also similar veiling going on in European and Indian societies. While veiling was an Islamic practice, muslims spread their culture through trade and it reached all across the region. Another example we can note is different religions spreading as a result of trade. In China, Indian buddhism was introduced , Islam was introduced to African and even Indian empires, and we see many key interactions as a result. In China, there was conflict between practicers of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, while we saw a hybridization of religion in Africa with the introduction of Islam, and economic and societal prosperity as a result. The trade routes exposed religions, cultures, and empires as a whole to each other and the interactions between these different practices allowed empires to grow together or drift apart, with varying results.