The Post-Classical Period
Understand the post-classical period — the era from 500 to 1500 CE when Islam, Tang China, and the Mongols connected the world as never before.
The post-classical period (c. 500–1500 CE) is the era between the fall of classical empires (Rome, Han, Gupta) and the beginning of the early modern world. It is defined by three great themes: the rise of Islam, the expansion of trans-regional trade networks, and the increasing interconnection of Afro-Eurasian civilizations.
This was the age when the world became, for the first time, genuinely connected. The Islamic world linked the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and the trans-Saharan trade routes into a single commercial zone. The Tang and Song dynasties made China the world's most technologically advanced civilization. The Mongol Empire, despite its destructive conquests, created an unprecedented zone of exchange across the entire Eurasian landmass. Meanwhile, powerful states emerged in Africa (Mali, Songhai, Great Zimbabwe), the Americas (Aztec, Inca), and Southeast Asia (Khmer, Srivijaya).
The post-classical period challenges the outdated view that the "Middle Ages" were a period of decline between classical antiquity and the Renaissance. That narrative is Eurocentric at best. For most of the world, this era was a time of flourishing — of intellectual achievement, urban growth, commercial expansion, and cultural exchange on a scale the classical world never approached.