Islam, Christianity And Buddhism In The Post Classical Era - Essay Example

? Post ical Era Your History and Political Science 5/12 Discuss the expansion of Islam, Christianity and Buddhismin the Post Classical Era. The Post Classical era is a period in history which can be roughly dated to be from 600-1450 CE. 1 It is the time period, when generally the Eastern part of the world had fallen into turmoil and confusion. By confusion, it is meant that there was no particular ruling force and everything was haphazard taking on its own directions. To sum it up, The Roman Empire, Gupta Empire of India and Han Dynasty of China had been overthrown. This meant that the large populations that these Empires ruled over were left without a leader, direction as well as discipline. This further more led to the instability of political and economic conditions of the region. Hence this period specifically highlights the changes and innovations that were made in order to overcome this chaotic situation. A major part of these changes was the spread of three major religions, namely: Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. (2012-2013 APWH Unit 3: The Post Classical Age - Howard's History 2013) When these typical classical and royal Empires fell, the only way out of it was an automatic power to take over. And this automatic power was taken over by the religions of those times. As mentioned above, these three religions are amongst the most commonly practiced religions of today’s times. These religions acted as saviors in times of desperation. Their culture, rules and ethics became the new civilization.2 Post classical era hence is known for the up thrust that it provided to these three religions. The three religions aforementioned were on the starting of their peaks and spread. Islam being the one which got global the fastest, had a lot of contributions to this era and the people. Christianity had the same wavering as Islam when it came to the practices, whereas Buddhism differed slightly in practice as well as preaching, all these religions gave a major message of peace, humanity and love. Islam at that point was said to be on its rise, that is because, the fall of the mighty Roman Empire was credited to the Muslims. In the post classical era trade started to get developed and it became more common. This was one of the innovations that the Post classical era brought along with itself. Now that we are focusing on Islam and the changes that it brought in Arabia especially, because this is where the basic advent of Islam started. Before the post classical era, Arabia was a place of great hospitality but little rules and peace. Arabs were always caught up in some war or battle; they were unsophisticated and would spend a larger portion of their life by taking revenges. Clans were the way of living, loyalty to one’s clan was considered to be of great importance and disloyalty meant nothing but straight away. 3 Moreover, Arabs by profession were traders. However, there was a distinct difference in classes, there was an elite class and then there was the labor class. To put it in small, easy words, Arabia was in a total disarray and required revolution in order to set things right. And obviously, this revolution was brought when Islam came into being with the birth of Muhammad, who claimed to be the last prophet of Allah. Islam brought it with it a complete package of life; it was a religion of peace and prosperity. It provided rights to everyone, from elites, to slaves and animals even. The status of women was affected greatly when Islam came into the picture. Previously, women had little or no rights but after Islam came their way, this was one of the many things that changed. (KschlegelApwHP2 - The First Global Civilization The Rise and Spread of Islam 2013) After the death of Muhammad, Islam had become quite popular in Arabia itself. People had started accepting Islam due to its message of equality and sense of balance between everything. It eradicated every such bad thing that could harm the human race in any way. Islam is a religion of peace and it gave rights to slaves, changing the way they were treated then. After the death of Muhammad, the Caliphs took it upon themselves to spread Islam. Because the Arabs were traders, Islam spread rapidly through trade routes and merchants. The word of God was spread through the continent of Asia, Europe as well some parts of Africa. 4 The main reason of the rapid spread of these religions was the fact that people turned to Divine Guidance to save themselves from the turmoil that they were facing. With no law and order and rare political stability, people had nowhere else to go except take refuge with God. And this is exactly what the Christian missionaries used to their advantage as well. Christianity was a rather well-known religion even before the Post classical era. It has always been a major religion, and because Constantine, the ruler of Constantinople and Emperor of the Roman Empire converted to Christianity it became an important religion. The position of Constantinople and power of the Roman Empire had already helped in spreading its word. (The Growth of World Religions in the Post-Classical World 2013) Christianity, in many terms can be very much related to Islam, not in the teachings but the way in which it is followed. In Christianity there is a pope who is said to be the center of the religious information. However, they do have the Bible which is their sole holy book. But unlike the Quran, Bible is not used as diligently by the Christians. In Europe, the influence of Christianity can long be traced back. In Medieval Europe there were German tribes in charge; the most important one being The Franks. They were the most influential and the powerful lot of all tribes that existed in Europe. Clovis was a powerful Frankish leader who was the first German in history to convert to Christianity. His conversion to Christianity hands down meant that his people were going to follow him, thus Clovis made use of his conversion in order to strengthen his rule. Another ruler of the Frank tribe was Charlemagne, an extremely dedicated follower of Christianity. He contributed greatly to spreading Christianity after being crowned by Pope Leo III. Iberia, another place came under great political influence of Christianity. Before Medieval Europe, Iberia was under Islamic rule, but soon Christian monasteries spread their belief, hence taking the place under their control. 5 The Crusades were an important part of the Christian belief spreading; rather it might have done some damage to their reputation. The spread of Christianity had taken its toll and caused people to unite unanimously and create armies. This sudden outburst of emotion led to the Crusades in which Christians took it upon themselves to slaughter Muslims and Jews. These wars led to the deaths of a lot of people from both beliefs. However, the good part about the Crusades was that it opened the door to trade with Asia; hence Asia came under the spotlight due to Christian actions. (KschlegelApwHP2 - A New Civilization Emerges in Western Europe 2013) Moving over to another rather commonly practiced religion, this one is Buddhism. Buddhism is commonly found in the Asian countries like China, Japan, Malaysia etc. The spread of Buddhism in the post classical era can be credited to a group of people called the bodhisattvas. This group of people was Monks who transformed the basic teaching of Buddhism into a religion itself. Buddha, the so called founder of this religion had claimed it be an ethical belief, whereas the Bodhisattvas transformed into something more emotional and soulful. After the fall of Han Dynasty, the Chinese were going through some really hard times and in those hardships, the evolution and spread of this religion came as a breather, a ray of hope for them. Slowly and gradually, the religion spread from China to Korea and then Japan. Soon, people started to take Buddha as their sole God and worshipped him. Anything that in other religions that was supposed to be attributed to Divine Power was attributed to Buddha, people prayed to him and sacrificed for him; Buddha was the new Buddhism. This new improvised concept of Buddhism became to be known as Mahayana Buddhism and it became rather popular in East Asia. This concept believed that the Bodhisattvas were Holy men who went to paradise and prayed for other Buddhists while they were in some sort of distress. Buddhism spread rapidly in China, Japan and Korea, today all these countries have a thorough population of Buddhist people. Buddhism brought a lot of new aspects into the beliefs of the people, it set a new standing of women in the society. It taught the people that women were also souls and humans and were meant to be treated with respect and love. Buddhism spread rapidly under the Tang and Song Dynast as well. Both these dynasties were followed by the Han Dynasty. Even though the Han Dynasty was the last of the major dynasties left, both these dynasties that followed helped in boosting the belief of Buddhism. 6 Buddhism brought a sense of spirituality amongst the people to bring them together and glue them together in unity. (The Growth of World Religions in the Post-Classical World 2013) After the fall of three mighty empires, the spread of religions became extremely common because people sought refuge in Divinely Guidance. They felt the need to close up with God in order to overcome the distress that they had fallen into. The missionaries, popes and leaders of these religions took the responsibility to provide the people the peace and security that they wanted. Moreover, the religions led to the construction of proper civilizations and helped in revolutionizing the human race. Before this era began, people were less civilized and were extremely brutal. Fighting and vengeance was common where people were constantly thirsty for power, but with the message of peace everything toned down a little. Islam has led to the reforming of the Arabic society, making them one of the most peaceful people in contradiction to their barbaric lifestyle. All religions contributed greatly in helping the status of women in society, they gave women rights and started considering them as a part of the human race and human beings. The Post Classical Era was known for the changes that took place in it. It was a time of total revolution and change. From going down on after the Empires were overthrown, to getting back up to humane and civilized societies, this era is a rather important part of the history. The changes that took place in it can be greatly credited to the religions that helped the people survive the blow of the major changes and damages that they were suffering in. Without these religions coming into play at this point of time, history might have been totally different. Today, we never know without the interference of these religions matters would have been completely opposite to what we see and witness today. Our civil behavior might have not been there and the message of peace couldn’t have been explained to us. The religions helped open the countries to each other with trade and people began to take tolerance for each other’s beliefs. A page change in history, we all have to be rather grateful to the works of the Caliphates of Islam, the popes of Christianity as well as the monks of Buddhism who worked with untiring effort to help spread their teachings and the message of their respective Gods. Without these efforts, today we might have lost ourselves in the confusion of disgrace and violence. Works Cited 2012-2013 APWH Unit 3: The Post Classical Age - Howard's History. 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/howardshistory/ap-world-history/apwh-unit-3-1 (accessed December 5, 2013). KschlegelApwHP2 - A New Civilization Emerges in Western Europe. 2013. https://kschlegelapwhp2.wikispaces.com/A+New+Civilization+Emerges+in+Western+Europe (accessed December 5, 2013). KschlegelApwHP2 - The First Global Civilization The Rise and Spread of Islam. 2013. https://kschlegelapwhp2.wikispaces.com/The+First+Global+Civilization+The+Rise+and+Spread+of+Islam (accessed December 5, 2013). The Growth of World Religions in the Post-Classical World. 2013. http://www.historyhaven.com/APWH/World%20Religions%20after%20Classical%20Age.htm (accessed December 5, 2013 ). Read More