Before European Hegemony (p. 185-373)

In the second half of the book, Janet discusses the trade significance of Baghdad, Cairo, India, and China. She first talks about the importance of Baghdad and the middle route of eastern trade, and explains the reasons for its success and downfall. Baghdad was initially successful because it was located in the easiest, cheapest, and most enduring of the three routes. When things were normal, the middle route took precedence over the others, and Baghdad was able to succeed because of this. However, the Mongol's came to control Baghdad through their conquest, transforming it into the center for military rule and fiscal exploitation. The Mongols transfered their center of trade to Tabriz, which in turn led to Baghdad's downfall as an economic center. Janet continues by describing the success and downfall of Cairo. Cairo, as Egypt's economic center, experienced success due to the large area that Egypt obtained through their expulsion of the Crusaders, giving them control of Egypt and Syria. Also with the decline of the Persian Gulf, Egypt was able to establish a monopoly on sea trade to India and China. Furthermore, Egypt had a strong military and government that could protect its merchants. Cairo's economic success took a turn for the worse, however, due to the effects of the black death, which undermined Egypt's power. This in turn led to a decline in industry, a weakening of merchant freedom, and Mamluk oppression from the ruling elite. Janet moves next into the third part of her book, which explains the contributing Asia had to world trade. In this section, she describes the three regions of the Indian ocean system, and explores the reasons for China's failure to establish hegemony. The three regions of the Indian ocean system comprise of the west, which was controlled by Muslims, the middle, which had mostly hindu influence, and the east, controlled by China. Janet discusses the importance of India and its success being attributed with its abundance of resources and its connection to both the west and east. Janet last area of concern is China, which was the most extensive, populous, and technologically advanced area in the medieval period. Contrary to Chinese records, they were heavily involved in international trade. China's role decreased however, when they withdrew from the world trade system under the Ming dynasty. Janet concludes her book by addressing the issue of why world systems fail. Ultimately, world systems rise and fall in correlation with increased integration and decaying connections.

The most interesting aspect of the second part of the book was the way in which the black death altered the course of history. From what I've read, it appears that without the black death, the Mamluks of Egypt would likely become the first hegemony. They had perfect geographic location in the center, where they could control trade in both the west and east. They had marine dominance and a strong military to protect their merchants. They ruled over a large area, but not to the extent of the Mongols, who's territory was so expansive it became ungovernable. The black death however, caused internal conflicts that ultimately impeded them from establishing hegemony, allowing Europe to be better positioned at a later time.

It is interesting that China, being the most technologically advanced during this time period, failed to establish hegemony. An area for further discussion would be why China withdrew from the world trade system, and why their economy collapsed. There are many different theories as to why this happened, as Janet presents, and it would be interesting to discuss further the evidence for the different theories.

-Luke Pearson