Harun al-Rashid

Firstly, this source could be reliable on occasion, but has many flaws. The Wikipedia setup allows for the access of many different minds across the world, meaning a larger amount of knowledge. However, this format allows people to post incorrect information, as well has having conflicting opinions or interpretations of the article. Also, the collective mind writing style gives little organization or flow to the passage. Other than those flaws with the system itself, the article had several sources listed and could be trusted for the most part, other than the fact that Mike Ackerman clearly did not influence Harun.

Questions that come up because of the article include, but are not limited to:
1) What was Harun's 'foreign policy' like with the Byzantines and Charlemagne?
2) How was Harun regarded among the people of his society? (good/bad)

For the most part, the Wikipedia article answered most of my questions, and for those that it didn't answer, I'm sure that those could easily be found through a simple Google search. Simply by refining the search to include more details or a keyword that encompasses the area that I was looking for would help me narrow down to a source  that would benefit me.

The Wikipedia article both tempers and adds to Harun's legacy. Because the people who wrote the article were not able to see or experience Harun and/or his deeds, they would mostly go with the opinions of the people of the time period. If they thought that he was awesome, the writers of the Wiki page would stress that. This would also serve to temper his legacy, because the writers of the article do not truely know him or his deeds, so they cannot fully describe them to the detail that they were.

The spread of Islam

Benjamin of Tudela

In general, Benjamin of Tudela is a reliable source for an objective viewpoint during the time period. He is from Spain, which gives him some background with the Islamic faith, as Islam was prevalent there. He is also a rabbi, giving him general knowledge of a monotheistic religion similar to Islam. He traveled frequently, thus was aware of many different opinions and viewpoints. He visited both the places and talked about them from his experiences rather than  other people's opinions. However, he only speaks of the good points of the both Constantinople and Baghdad, like the Hippodrome and the Dar-al-Maristan, and does not address any of their faults, which gives him a small bias.

The Koran on Allah and his Expectations of Humankind

The Koran's teachings are similar to those of Zoroastrianism in the belief of a judgement at the end of one's lifetime. However, they differ in their beliefs in sexual abstinence, as Zoroastrianism allowed its followers to enjoy the material goods of the world, including sexual pleasure. All three of the beliefs, of Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians believed in a single god, as well as Muslims. All three believed in a judgement day, as well as a figure that would connect to the God. Zarathustra for Zoroastrians, Jesus for Christians, Moses for Jewish people, and Mohammed for Muslims. All three put significance into having high moral standards. Muslim people had to give a percent of their income to the needy, Zoroastrians had a motto for their good deeds, and the other religions did as well.

The Islamization of the Silk Road

Foltz's argument matches with Bentley's, with both articles having the major points of 1) voluntary association, 2) assimilation, and 3) pressure. The people of the Silk Road welcomed the Islamic peoples because the peoples were pressured by the Sanasid Empire and the Byzantine Empire, as demonstrated in the quote "many locations townspeople threw open the gates to the Arabs and welcomed them as liberators"(228). The assimilation occurred when the Islamic peoples intermarried between religions, and thus Islam was passed down to the children, but non-Islamic traditions were passed down as well, and "pre-Islamic religion survived through transmission by non-Muslim wives of Muslims"(231). The pressure of the caravan  raids also influenced people to change religion, with the Muslims "inflicting damage on their former persecutors".(227)

Views of Constantinople

Ibn Battuta
I think that Ibn Battuta is neutral about the city. He says many good things about the city, like how the bazaars were "spacious and paved with flagstones". He also goes on to say that the churches of the city were too filthy. I think that this article is not the most trustable because he says that he did not get to see the interior of the Hagia Sophia. But otherwise, the author tries to take an objective view.

Benjamin of Tudela
The author keeps on praising the city in this article. He says that people from everywhere come to the city to see its glory. He keeps attesting to The amount of gold and wealth in the city, but nothing of
the problems of the city. This article cannot be believed because the author is entirely one-sided, and
thus being biased.

Liudprand of Cremona
The author is very negative of the city. He makes everything that the other side seem like an insult. The author tries to prove that Constantinople was trying to disrespect them. The author is clearly not
believable because of the same reason as the previous.

The most trustworthy was the author of the first because he was objective.

The Postclassical Era

During the Postclassical Era, the social and political order is restored, after the internal and external pressures of the Classical Era. Centralized governments return to China, Persia, and in the eastern half of Europe, the Byzantine Empire holds over from the previous period. However, India and western Europe develop smaller local governments. The Postclassical Era leads to an unprecedented amount of trading, and the numbers of traders and manufacturers increase. Plant species are traded as well. The trading leads to increased innovation and then inventions which shape history. Newly developed religions take over, like Islam, and others spread, like Buddhism. Some religions, like Christianity, branch off. Literacy and education increase as well. The period will be one of structure and formation,  mainly of peace, and with a large amount of trade.

Silk Road Map

The map we had to make today was rather challenging to me not because of technological challenges (I had two devices on me to save the effort of switching), but rather error on my own part. The places mentioned on the reading are very old, and thus their names have changed. However, that was not the biggest error that occurred while trying to make this map. The best error was trying to map the places accurately after looking at them. It took several minutes trying to plot every place and even then they were not as accurate as I hoped it would be. I have a new found respect for map makers.

Marriage and Divorce in the Roman Empire

My view of the Roman Empire is negative. Not only was their upper class very greedy and caused a lot of conflict, but they treated their women very badly as well. Marriage was just a motive for the guys to get a male child to manage and take care of their wealth. There was little meaning in the relationship, and their society was not even monogamous, with many concubines and slaves. The woman was not even able to escape the relationship if it was not a favorable one, unless under extreme circumstances. Laws were harsher for women, compared to men. Overall, this led to a very degrading treatment of women in the Roman Empire.

Rome's transition

      Rome's transition from a republic to an empire was marked by the conflict between their peoples and others. The Romans had severe laws in place to control their citizens and the peoples which they conquered. The upper class of Rome killed those that tried to reform the government to give the lower classes more rights. The Romans had a large extent of roads that aided their delivery of troops, information, and goods throughout the empire. The factions within the government often led to conflict, as in the case of Marius and Sulla. In the end, the conflict would eventually lead to the assassination of Caesar, then the Caesarian civil war. The conflict between the peoples led to the development of the Empire, but also led to the government with Augustus having all of the power.

Alexander the Great's campaign

Although Alexander has many admirable features like honesty and being able to do what he says he will, Alexander the great would not be electable in today's society. He seems like he is too aggressive for today's world. Today most things are negotiated peacefully and having a leader that seems or is too aggressive may not be helpful for any country. Based on reports, Alexander sounds very arrogant. He refers to himself as a son of god. Also, most people in our country like their leaders to be practical, and Alexander has proven on several occasions not to be. He dumped out a helmet-full of water because he wanted to prove a point. He risked a lot when he tamed his horse as well. These types of risks are not acceptable in today's society. 

Democracy in the Middle East

After reflecting on what has been written about democracy in other blog posts, and after considering what happened when surrounding areas tried to implement Democracy, I still think that King Abdullah II of Jordan can be successful. This is because he and the government have experience of watching the countries around them fail. They can find out where exactly the other countries failed, and thus can avoid them. As long as they are careful in their footsteps, and do not anger the majority of people, they should be successful. 

On Democracy

True democracies are best reserved for smaller societies for several reasons. The burden of finding out what each and every citizen, in a society where there are 330 million people, wants would severely slow law-making, to the point where it is dysfunctional. On top of that, there would most likely be a lot of error in this type of system, where the votes of a few unfortunate citizens are incorrectly changed. Also, the disagreement between the different people and their opinions would make law-making chaotic and unreasonable. On top of that, unless there was a rigorous education system, there is no way you could count on every citizen to make the educated and best decision, rather than what is best for them or popular. Thus the true voting should be left up to the people that are educated and can pick the best decision for the people they are representing.

Primary Source: Ashoka

In what ways and for what reasons might this story from the Ashokavadana have appealed to various groups of early Buddhists?

The story might appeal to various groups of early Buddhist because it teaches a valuable lesson in a way that doesn't simply state it. The story captures people because of its unexpected and surprising lesson at the end of it. Other than the fact that it attracts people because it's a story, the story appealed because it shows that all castes were equal. King Ashoka, the one who praises himself as Beloved-of-the-Gods, has the respect to bow down to all Buddhist monks, regardless of their caste. It shows how to whom you are born to is not important, but it is important what you do with your life.

Map of the Qui and Han Dynasties

Chinese Dynasties vs. Indian Dynasties

Indian dynasties and Chinese Dynasties had their differences in their political systems and their religious bases. In China, after the Foundational Era, most of the governments favored strong centralized governments, whereas in India, the governments gave the local leaders a lot more power. The way that these dynasties fell was also different. The Gupta dynasty fell to the nomads named the White Huns, but the Chinese dynasties fell to internal pressures such as rebellion, not the Xiongnu that often attacked them. The governments were also different in how they hired. It was based  by caste in India, but it was based on skill in China.

Mencius vs Xun Zi

Mencius believes that people naturally have morals and that even without prior knowledge, people will choose to do the good thing because they have instinctive morals.
Xun Zi believes that people will naturally do whatever is best for them, which will probably be bad for others. He believed that people need to be taught to behave well, otherwise they wouldn't do so.
As much as I want to believe that Mencius is right in an ideal world, Xun Zi's views are more realistic. Without telling children the difference between good and bad, they would never know the difference, and would do whatever would get them a reward, or would benefit them, like stealing candy, or cheating on a test. Xun Zi's method of education for morals is sound because often little children that don't know any better  seem to be stubborn on what they want and what they do not want. This view is based upon experience and Mencius's idea is either ahead of our time or not realistic. 

Confucian Analects

1. Confucianism, because of its lack of a god like figure, cannot be considered anything more than a philosophy or a way of life. Confucianism teaches how people should live their lives, but there is no exact, definite mention of a god, even though there are several mentions of a heaven.

2. The first two chapters of the Analects describe whether a person is born good or bad. It suggests that people can choose which path to go down. The Master describes this way of thought when he says "If for three years he does not alter from the way of his father, he may be called filial"(9-10).  The quote shows that if a person deviates from the ways of his father, then he is a bad person, whereas if he doesn't, he is a good one. The Master also says that, "...you will have few occasions for repentance" (18). This shows that even in life, you can waiver between good and bad, and that second chances were given. The quote "When one gives few occasions for blame in his words, and few occasions for repentance in his conduct, he is in the way to get emolument"(24) reinforces the idea of second chances, and the book gives reasons to follow the guidelines that it sets.

Map of Persia

Zarathustra on Good and Evil

Zarathustra has the assumption that humans always have the choice between the path of goodness and the path of darkness. He assumes that the wise would pick the path of goodness. He also assumes that humans would choose the path to salvation if given the choice, and that the human race needs a motive to make good decisions as a whole.

History Head

comments:
Hi Ronak,
Your history head has one of the more elaborate timelines on it than others. It has more details and more importantly, your pictures were very representative as well. As for criticism, your poster lacked some things like a title and organization that would have made it more presentable. For my history head, the society that I did were the Mesopotamians. These societies are similar because they both had their origins and key cities located near major rivers. They both were different in terms of religion influencing political power. the pharaoh in Egypt was the most powerful,where kings that had no tie to the Mesopotamian religion was the most powerful. What did the rightmost picture outside the head represent?
-Harsh Dedhiya

Hi Amit,
I thought that your poster was very good in terms of the pictures you used. Some of them were very symbolic and were original in their use. As for criticisms, your poster left something to be desired when it came to a timeline. Use of one would have made your poster better to understand when it came to time period, which is especially important in Mesoamerica because they developed much later. One thing similar between Mesoamerica and Mesopotamia is their polytheistic religions, which developed on opposite sides of the world. One thing that was different was the main food crop in both the societies. While maize was the main food source in Mesoamerica, Mesopotamia relied on wheat. What was the picture inside the head with the person crying?
-Harsh Dedhiya

Essays and Tests

I thought that the test itself was rather simple, and I felt that I was prepared for the test both through the similar formats of tests last year and studying for the test. The essay, however was much more open-ended than I had expected. I thought that the prompt would have been structured in a way that said specifically said what to write about. I thought I was not prepared for the essay, and I feel like I did poorly on it. I would definitely adjust my studying style to focus more on questions in the same format and adjust so that I focus on  things that would be asked upon the test. For the essay, I  feel like I need to prepare for each possible prompt and I need to write out the main points of each possible essay prompt.