An Age of Cross-Cultural Interaction - Research Paper Example

History experts refer to this particular epoch as the age of cross-cultural communication because of the establishment trans-regional nomadic empires (Nystrom 569). According to them, the cross-cultural interactions were significantly different in dynamics from those of the earlier post-classical era. Historical records show that Nomadic people established empires that occupied vast coverage of the Eurasian land, thus sponsoring the direct interactions of distant peoples. In the 11th century, the Saljuq Turks established an empire extending from Anatolia and Southwest Asia into Central Asia.

At around the same period, the Khitan people built a huge empire in the West and North steppe lands of China. The twelfth century saw the conquest of the Khitan people by the Jurchen, a semi nomadic group that came from Manchuria. Consequently, the Jurchen incorporated the entire north china into their empire (GMU). The most important development of the period occurred in the 13th century, when the Mongols with the help of their allies conquered most of the Eurasia, thus establishing the largest empire in the history of humans.

The new empire stretched from Manchuria, China, and Korean on the eastern side to the Danube and Russia in the west. Despite the collapse of their Chinese Yuan dynasty, the Mongols still played an integral part in Central Asia. The period between the fourteenth and sixteenth century, the Timurid conquerors established a vast empire in India, Anatolia, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia (Bentley and Ziegler 565). These conquests, empire building efforts, and migrations of nomadic people facilitated the cross-cultural interactions to occur in a systematic and intensive fashion than earlier eras.

In the case of the Mongols foe instance, the establishment of an enormous, trans-regional empire ensured the direct interaction of people from distant lands as Europe and China (Crossley 120). It was important for the majority of nomad communities to have their empires in Central Asia, as the region played an integral part in the overland trade between points west and China. The establishment of nomad empires and their strong interest in trade ensured that the trade transaction in the terrestrial silk roads became safer than in previous history, thus rising in volume (Adas 20).

At the same time, the trade over the sea-lane also increased, driving the Indian Ocean basin towards economic integration. In summary, the age on nomadic empires sustained a systematic and well-articulated nature of long distance trade. The imperial expansion, long distance trade, and mass migration were very important in sustaining the cross-cultural interactions between 1000 and 1500 C.E than in earlier eras. The main difference was that by the fourteenth century, the interactions had become intense, regular, systematic, and frequent than in past eras.

Missionaries and ambassadors traveled through the trade routes along merchants and soldiers. At the same period, there were widespread establishment of religious missions and diplomatic contacts over long distances not travelled before. Islamic merchants were very essential in the establishment of a strong foundation of their faith at the eastern hemisphere extreme ends, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. At about the same time, the conquerors managed to establish Islamic communities in Anatolia and northern India (Bentley 764).

The most significant cross-cultural in