Chapter 15: India and the Indian Ocean Basin Chapter 16: The Two Worlds of Christendom 1. In the Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu suggested that "One should engage himself in singing of Me, praising Me, dancing with My themes, imitating My exploits and acts...." What is the point of this advice? How important were devotional cults in postclassical India? 2. Examine the complex religious world of India. What were the main religions and how did they interact? Was there an attempt to bring the various branches of belief together? 3. How did Islam reach India? How might India's fragmented political situation help explain Islam's success? Why would Islam be popular among certain segments of the Hindu population? 4. Discuss the changes in the social world of postclassical India. How do changes in the caste system reflect this process? 5. Examine the small Hindu kingdoms of southern India that arose after the collapse of the Guptas. How did these states resist the spread of Islam? How successful were they in their other endeavors? 1
6. Look at the illustration of Shiva on page 325. How could Shiva be a god of fertility but also a destructive deity? How influential were the devotional cults during this period? What could the growing popularity of the Hindu devotional cults say about the rise of Islam? 7. Examine the trade routes illustrated in Map 15.2, The trading world of the Indian Ocean basin, 600-1600 C.E. How important was India's role in Indian Ocean basin trade? What role did the monsoons play in Indian trade? What are emporia? 8. Benjamin of Tudela proposed that, "Wealth like that of Constantinople is not to be found in the whole world." Why was Constantinople so wealthy? What role did trade play in its creation and its centuries of dominance? 9. Examine the role played by Charlemagne in the establishment of a powerful Europe. What were his main inspirations? What were his policies? 10. Examine the split between the Roman Catholic church and Greek Orthodox church. What led to this fundamental split? How did this split influence later history? 2
11. Compare Europe during the early medieval period to other societies studied so far in the class. How do the political and social systems of Europe relate to those of the other regions? 12. In what ways was the political, intellectual, and cultural makeup of Byzantium different from that of the western half of the Roman empire? How could these differences explain greater discrepancies between eastern and western Europe? 13. Look at Map 16.2, The Carolingian empire, 814 C.E. What were the foundations of Charlemagne's empire? In what ways did he attempt to re-create Rome? What were the major threats to his empire? 14. What is the significance of the story of the monks smuggling the silkworm eggs to Byzantium? 3
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1. In regard to political structure, postclassical India a. rivaled Tang China in respect to size and administrative brilliance. b. developed no single centralized imperial authority. c. copied the Chinese model after being conquered by the Tang. d. was most influenced by Byzantium. e. was more similar to imperial Rome than to Tang China. 2. An invasion in 451 C.E. by the White Huns began the collapse of the a. Gupta dynasty. b. Mauryan dynasty. c. Byzantine empire. d. Chola kingdom. e. Han dynasty. 3. Islam reached India by all of the following routes EXCEPT a. conquest by Arabic invaders. b. missionaries sent by the emperor Harsha. c. Islamic merchants. d. migrations from Turkish-speaking peoples from central Asia. e. conquest by Arabic invaders and missionaries sent by Harsha. 4. The Delhi sultans were a. never able to expand their control beyond northern India. b. able to unite all of India for the first time since the Mauryas. c. able to make Islam the main religion of India. d. proponents of a more syncretic version of Islam. e. not able to conquer all of India until they united with the Chinese. 5. In 1336, Harihara and Bukka, two emissaries from the Delhi sultan, renounced Islam, reconverted to Hinduism, and founded the southern kingdom of a. Chola. b. Vijayanagar. c. Funan. d. Angkor. e. Maurya. 6. The presence of the changing monsoon winds ensured that a. irrigation never developed in India, because it was never necessary. b. India enjoyed complete isolation. c. shipping was impossible in the Indian Ocean basin. d. irrigation was necessary in arid southern India. e. he Indian religious hierarchy would be dominated by one great storm god. 7. During the postclassical age, the caste system a. disappeared because of the arrival of Islam. b. created chaos in local communities. c. became securely established in southern India for the first time. d. rejected migrants coming into India. e. was merged into modern Buddhist thought. 13
8. The bhakti movement a. never caught on in India as it had in China. b. appealed to Indians who were stifled by the strictly monotheistic views of Hinduism. c. tried to find god through a strictly rationalistic pursuit of the divine. d. sought to erase the distinction between Hinduism and Islam. e. sought to erase the distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism. 9. Which of the following Indian concepts did NOT become popular in the southeast Asian states influenced by India? a. Hinduism b. the caste system c. literary classics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata d. conducting official business in Sanskrit e. the creation of a Confucian class of scholarly bureaucrats 10. The design of the Khmer temples at Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat show a. the influence of both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. b. the growing influence of Islam. c. a definite influence from the Tang dynasty. d. that the Khmer were the only kingdom in southeast Asia that avoided Indian influence. e. a Confucian influence. 11. The biggest difference between Melaka and the other states influenced by India was that Melaka a. played a role in sea trade, while the other states relied on land trade. b. became predominantly Islamic. c. started out as mainly Islamic but later converted to Buddhism. d. built a large, centralized land empire. e. was predominantly Hindu. 12. Which of the following statements about Constantinople is NOT true? a. It was built in an attempt to revitalize the impoverished eastern half of the Roman empire. b. It was constructed by Constantine. c. It allowed the imperial court to keep watch on the Sasanid empire in Persia. d. It was built because the eastern half was the wealthier and more productive part of the empire. e. It allowed the imperial court to keep watch on Germanic tribes on the Danube. 13. The most important political feature of the Byzantine state was a. its docile acceptance of Rome's superiority. b. its republican governmental structure that resembled early Rome. c. its tightly centralized rule under a powerful emperor. d. its division of power under the tetrarchs. e. its reliance on Achaemenid ruling principles. 14. Historians use the term caesaropapism to refer to a. the European struggle between church and state. b. the split between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. c. the attempt by later Roman emperors to abolish the papacy. d. the system in which the emperor has a mixture of political and religious authority. e. the bureaucratic revolution brought about by Julius Caesar. 14
15. Justinian's most important and long-lasting political achievement was a. his reconquest of the western half of the Roman empire. b. his democratic reforms. c. his religious compromise between the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox churches. d. his codification of Roman law. e. his establishment of a lasting peace with the Islamic world. 16. After the collapse of western Roman authority, a. Germanic tribes established regional kingdoms. b. a greater pan-germanic empire was established. c. the Visigoths created imperial unity. d. the Byzantine empire expanded into the west to re-create a lasting imperial state. e. Europe was overrun and united by Islamic forces. 17. When presented with the imperial crown, Charlemagne a. hesitated to call himself emperor out of respect for the Byzantine emperors. b. openly challenged the Byzantine emperors for the title. c. accepted the preeminence of the more powerful Islamic empires. d. laid siege to Rome in an attempt to force the popes to grant the title. e. raised an army to attack Constantinople. 18. After the death of Louis the Pious, the Carolingian empire a. reversed a short period of decline and reached its greatest territorial extent. b. was swallowed up by a resurgence of Byzantine power. c. was split into three parts by his sons. d. became a puppet state controlled by the expanding Islamic empires. e. fell under British control. 19. Historians once used the term feudalism to refer to a. a strong, centralized political order. b. the Byzantine religious world. c. the Islamic bureaucratic system that dominated for over five hundred years. d. the class of highly trained Confucian officials. e. the political and social order of medieval Europe. 20. Emperor Leo III inaugurated the divisive ecclesiastical policy of a. caesaropapism. b. iconoclasm. c. insisting that the patriarch of Constantinople was superior to the pope in Rome. d. venerating religious icons. e. translating the Bible into German. 15