Polity Scale Of Supracultural Interaction List
A viewset for viewing and editing Polity Scales of Supracultural Interaction.
GET /api/general/polity-scale-of-supracultural-interactions/?ordering=polity
{ "count": 132, "next": "https://seshatdata.com/api/general/polity-scale-of-supracultural-interactions/?ordering=polity&page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 53, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 11000000, "scale_to": 11000000, "polity": { "id": 132, "name": "IqAbbs1", "start_year": 750, "end_year": 946, "long_name": "Abbasid Caliphate I", "new_name": "iq_abbasid_cal_1", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "In 750 CE, following a revolt, Abbasid rulers took power from the Umayyad Dynasty under Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah. To secure his rule, Abu al-'Abbass al-Saffah sought to destroy the male line descending from Fatima and Ali, §REF§ (Zayzafoon 2005, 139) Lamia Ben Youssef Zayzafoon. 2005. <i>The Production of the Muslim Woman: Negotiating Text, History, and Ideology</i>. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. §REF§ and had about 300 members of the Umayyad family killed. §REF§ (Uttridge and Spilling, eds. 2014, 186) S. Uttridge and M. Spilling, eds. 2014. <i>The Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare</i>. London: Amber Books. §REF§ The last 80 Umayyads were tricked into attending a banquet with their hosts in Damascus and massacred there. §REF§ (Schwartzwald 2015, 24) Jack L. Schwartzwald. 2016. <i>The Collapse and Recovery of Europe, AD 476-1648</i>. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. §REF§ (One twenty-year-old prince, Abd al-Rahman, famously managed to escape this fate: he dodged assassins all the way to Spain, where he founded an Umayyad Emirate). The First Abbasid Caliphate Period ended in 946 CE when the Daylamite Buyids from northwestern Iran reduced the caliph to a nominal figurehead. Ironically, given the bloody manner in which the dynasty began, the final Abbasid caliph was rolled up in his own carpet and trampled to death by Mongol horsemen in 1258 CE. §REF§ (Kennedy 2001, 164) Hugh N. Kennedy. 2001. <i>The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State</i>. London: Routledge. §REF§ The zenith of the Abbasid period is considered to be the reign of Harun al Rashid (763-809 CE), whose rule is described in <i>The Thousand and One Nights</i>. §REF§ (Esposito, ed. 2003, 699) John L. Esposito, ed. 2003. <i>The Oxford Dictionary of Islam</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The capital of the Abbasid Caliphate eventually settled at Baghdad, but in the earlier years the central administration was run from Kufa (750-762 CE), Al-Raqqah (796-809 CE), Merv (810-819 CE), §REF§ (Starr 2013, xxxii) S. Frederick Starr. 2013. <i>Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ and Samarra (836-870 CE). §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 53-54) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 106) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The Abbasid caliph, spiritual leader of the Sunni Muslim world and commander-in-chief of its army, left the day-to-day administration to his vizier and heads of the diwans in the complex bureaucracy.<br>The departments were divided into three main areas of responsibility: the chancery (<i>diwan-al-rasa'il</i>); tax collection (<i>diwan al-kharif</i>); and army administration (<i>diwan al-jaysh</i>). §REF§ (Kennedy 2001, 60-66) Hugh N. Kennedy. 2001. <i>The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State</i>. London: Routledge. §REF§ Professional officials and soldiers were paid both in cash and in kind. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 250) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The task of organizing the 'collection and payment of revenues' fell to the Abbasid military. §REF§ (Kennedy 2001, 21) Hugh N. Kennedy. 2001. <i>The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State</i>. London: Routledge. §REF§ However, while it was a professional institution, it lacked a rigid hierarchy or a well-defined officer class. §REF§ (Kennedy 2001, 21) Hugh N. Kennedy. 2001. <i>The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State</i>. London: Routledge. §REF§ Below the caliph himself, the top military rulers were the provincial governors in Iraq, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, Western Iran and Khuzistan. In Iraq and Egypt, local government was divided into a hierarchy of districts, with subdivisions (<i>kura</i>, <i>tassuj</i> and <i>rustaq</i>) used for assessing taxation, which was passed to the governor. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 61) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Within the Abbasid Caliphate there were also relatively independent vassals, who were required to pay tribute to the central government at Baghdad. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 61) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The law code was based largely on <i>sharia</i> law and the <i>ijma' </i>(legal opinions of religious scholars). §REF§ (Zubaida 2005, 74-84) Sami Zubaida. 2005. <i>Law and Power in the Islamic World</i>. London: I. B. Tauris. §REF§ <br>The Abbasid state provided centres of medical care, built ornate public markets, often with drinking fountains, and furnished welfare for the poor. §REF§ (Pickard 2013, 431) John Pickard. 2013. <i>Behind the Myths: The Foundations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam</i>. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. §REF§ As paper technology diffused from China, libraries became a common fixture in the cities of the caliphate. In Baghdad, the Khizanat al-Hikma, or 'treasury of wisdom', became a refuge for scholars, providing access to a large collection as well as free lodgings and board. §REF§ (Bennison 2009, 180) Amira K. Bennison. 2009. <i>The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the Abbasid Empire</i>. London: I. B. Tauris. §REF§ Each important city included an official called the <i>saheb al-sorta</i>, who was responsible for maintaining public order, and the <i>amir al-suq</i>, in charge of regulating the bazaar. §REF§ (Lambton 2011) Ann K. S. Lambton. 2011. 'Cities iii: Administration and Social Organization', in <i>Encyclopedia Iranica</i> V/6, 607-23; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cities-iii\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cities-iii</a> (accessed 2 April 2017). §REF§ <br>The territory possessed by the caliphate was lost in dramatic fashion, shrinking from 11.1 million square kilometres in 750 CE, to 4.6 million around 850 CE, to just 1 million square kilometres half a century later as Egypt, Afghanistan and Central Asia were all lost. §REF§ Christopher Chase-Dunn 2001, personal communication. §REF§ Nevertheless, in 900 CE the core region of Abbasid control in the Middle East still had a substantial population of about 10 million people. §REF§ (Blankinship 1994, 37-38) Khalid Y. Blankinship. 1994. <i>The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn 'Abd Al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads</i>. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. §REF§ Over 300,000 (or maybe 900,000) of these lived in Baghdad, §REF§ Christopher Chase-Dunn 2001, personal communication. §REF§ which by this date had probably outgrown Byzantine Constantinople.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 8, "name": "Southern Mesopotamia", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "44.420000000000", "latitude": "32.470000000000", "capital_city": "Babylon (Hillah)", "nga_code": "IQ", "fao_country": "Iraq", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 62, "name": "Mesopotamia", "subregions_list": "Iraq, Kuwait", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 54, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared. Region of Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, and Afghanistan.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 3500000, "scale_to": 3500000, "polity": { "id": 484, "name": "IqAbbs2", "start_year": 1191, "end_year": 1258, "long_name": "Abbasid Caliphate II", "new_name": "iq_abbasid_cal_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Second Abbasid Period (1191-1258 CE) was mostly remarkable for the city of Baghdad which is usually estimated to have had about 1 million inhabitants at the time of the Mongol sack in 1258 CE.<br>With the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 CE \"the culture, science and learning for which Baghdad had been known for centuries simply disappeared in a period of a week.\" §REF§ (DeVries 2014, 209) Kelly DeVries in Morton, N. John, S. eds. 2014. Crusading and Warfare in the Middle Ages: Realities and Representations. Essays in Honour of John France. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. §REF§ The city was defended by a garrison of just 10,000 soldiers. §REF§ (DeVries 2014, 207) Kelly DeVries in Morton, N. John, S. eds. 2014. Crusading and Warfare in the Middle Ages: Realities and Representations. Essays in Honour of John France. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. §REF§ <br>In 1200 CE the Abbasids held Iraq and part of western Iran south of the Caspian, the territories holding perhaps 3.9 million inhabitants. The governance system was still Perso-Islamic with a vizier chief bureaucrat who oversaw government departments. §REF§ (Shaw 1976, 5) Stanford J Shaw. 1976. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808. Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The reign of al-Nasir (1180-1225 CE) was notable for being absolutely repressive \"the caliph's spies were so efficient and the caliph himself so ruthless that a man hardly dared to speak to his own wife in the privacy of his home.\" §REF§ (Bray 2015, xxi) Shawkat M Toorawa ed. 2015. Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. NYU Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 8, "name": "Southern Mesopotamia", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "44.420000000000", "latitude": "32.470000000000", "capital_city": "Babylon (Hillah)", "nga_code": "IQ", "fao_country": "Iraq", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 62, "name": "Mesopotamia", "subregions_list": "Iraq, Kuwait", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 56, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared. Area that includes parts of modern day Turkey, Levant, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, Transoxania and Afghanistan.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 2500000, "scale_to": 3000000, "polity": { "id": 107, "name": "IrAchae", "start_year": -550, "end_year": -331, "long_name": "Achaemenid Empire", "new_name": "ir_achaemenid_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Achaemenid Empire was established by Cyrus II 'the Great', who inherited the small kingdom of Persia (named after the capital city, Persis) in southwest Iran, a vassal territory of the larger Median Empire to the Northwest. From 553 to 550 BCE, Cyrus led his fellow Persians against Median hegemony (even though the Medes were ruled by his own relatives), establishing the Persians as the dominant group in Iran. His kingdom became known as the Achaemenid Empire after the legendary first King of Persia, Achaemenes, claimed to be an ancestor of the Great Cyrus himself (Achaemenid essentially translates to 'children of Achaemenes'). §REF§ (Briant [1996] 2002) Pierre Briant. [1996] 2002. <i>From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire</i>, translated by Peter T. Daniels. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. §REF§ <br>Capitalizing on these early victories, Cyrus II the Great continued his military domination, conquering the wealthy Lydian Kingdom in modern-day Turkey along with most of Asia Minor and the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom in Mesopotamia, as well as consolidating Persia's hold over much of central Asia as far as modern Pakistan. His son and heir, Cambyses II, continued this tradition, expanding Achaemenid rule into the large and wealthy kingdom of Egypt. After Cambyses II's death in 522 BCE, a noble Persian named Darius came to power after overthrowing an alleged usurper to the throne (Gautama, supposedly posing as Cyrus II's son Bardiya, more commonly known by his Greek name Smerdis). §REF§ (Shayegan 2006) M. Rahim Shayegan. 2006. 'Bardiya and Gaumata: An Achaemenid Enigma Reconsidered'. <i>Bulletin of the Asia Institute</i> (n.s.) 20: 65-76. §REF§ Darius I, who also took the title of 'the Great', was a powerful ruler who inaugurated several military, administrative, and economic reforms, §REF§ (Cook 1983) J. M. Cook. 1983. <i>The Persian Empire</i>. London: J. M. Dent and Sons. §REF§ though is most well known for leading the Persian army to defeat at the hands of a coalition of small Greek city-states during the famous Persian Wars of the early 5th century BCE. Despite the fact that Darius' son and heir Xerxes I (the Great) also failed to conquer the Greek Aegean and lost a decisive battle to the same outnumbered coalition of Greeks, the Achaemenid Empire remained intact. §REF§ (de Souza 2003) Philip de Souza. 2003. <i>The Greek and Persian Wars, 499-386 BC</i>. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. §REF§ <br>In 330 BCE, Darius III became the twelfth and final emperor in the Achaemenid line when he succumbed to the conquests of Alexander the Great and his invading Macedonian army (twelfth not including the alleged usurper Bardiya/Smerdis nor the short-lived Artaxerxes V, who declared himself emperor for a brief moment after Darius III was killed as Alexander was completing his conquest). §REF§ (Kuhrt 2001, 94) Amelie Kuhrt. 2001. 'The Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 550 - c. 330 BCE): Continuities, Adaptations, Transformations', in <i>Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History</i>, edited by Susan Alcock, Terence D'Altroy, Kathleen D. Morrison and Carla M. Sinopoli, 93-123. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Alexander became the ruler of all the territory formerly held by the Persians, incorporating it into the massive, though short-lived, Macedonian Empire and bringing an end to the great Persian Achaemenid Empire.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Achaemenid Empire was one of the largest empires in the pre-modern world, stretching nearly 6 million square kilometres across the Near East, Central Asia, the Indus Valley, Middle East, and into Egypt at its greatest extent. §REF§ (Broodbank 2015, 583) Cyprian Broodbank. 2015. <i>The Making of the Middle Sea</i>. London: Thames & Hudson. §REF§ It was a massive, multi-ethnic society made up of Medes, Persians, Lydians, Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, Bactrians, Sogdians, and numerous other cultural-ethnic groups; indeed, Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Aramaic, hieroglyphic Egyptian, and Greek were all used in royal and provincial communication. §REF§ (Shahbazi 2012, 135) A. Shapour Shahbazi. 2012. 'The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE)', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History</i>, edited by Touraj Daryaee, 120-41. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ Between the Great rulers Cyrus II, Cambyses II, and Darius I, the Persians had stitched together an empire out of the centres of the oldest civilizations from Anatolia to Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus valley. Persepolis and the grand Pasargadae were large ceremonial and ritual centres in the heartland of Persia, while Susa in western Iran was the major administrative capital. At its peak under Darius I, the empire covered a huge swathe of diverse territory from the eastern Mediterranean all the way to the Indus Valley, incorporating navigable seas and rivers, protected ports and fertile agricultural land as well as rough mountainous passes. This territory held a population of between 17 and 35 million people. §REF§ (Wiesehöfer 2009) Josef Wiesehöfer. 2009. 'The Achaemenid Empire', in <i>The Dynamics of Ancient Empires: State Power from Assyria to Byzantium</i>, edited by Ian Morris and Walter Scheidel, 66-98. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 9, "name": "Susiana", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "48.235564000000", "latitude": "32.382851000000", "capital_city": "Susa (Shush)", "nga_code": "IR", "fao_country": "Iran", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 45, "name": "Iran", "subregions_list": "Iran", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 42, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared. The different polities controlling the coastal area shared many cultural traits: 'Akan states, historical complex of gold-producing forest states in western Africa lying between the Comoé and Volta rivers (in an area roughly corresponding to the coastal lands of the modern republics of Togo, Ghana, and, in part, Côte d’Ivoire). Their economic, political, and social systems were transformed from the 16th to the 18th century by trade with Europeans on the coast. Of the northern Akan (or Brong) states the earliest (established c. 1450) was Bono; of the southern the most important were Denkyera, Akwamu, Fante (Fanti), and Asante.' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.britannica.com/place/Akan-states\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.britannica.com/place/Akan-states</a>§REF§ 'The Asante, however, are only the most successful of a number of people in southern Ghana, with offshoots in the Ivory Coast, who are closely related and probably have a single origin. To the south are groups like the Fante, Akwamu and Akyem, speaking virtually identical tonal languages (sometimes called Twi, or Akan) of the Kwa family and with whom the Asante share many elements of culture. Among these groups, for example, there are traces of the great matrilineal clans [...] formerly recognised in Asante, the practice of naming children according to the day of birth (for example, Kofi, a Friday-born male; Abena, a Tuesday-born girl), and many closely similar religious ideas and rituals. Some of these groups also retain traditions of a move to the south from the open areas north of the forest.' §REF§McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 14§REF§ 'The common origin of the inhabitants of the Fanti districts, Asanti, and wherever the Akan language is spoken, has been already shown. The Customary Laws of the inhabitants of these places are in the main identical, and the national constitutions resemble each other in many points, although Asanti military organization had been developed in a greater degree.' §REF§Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa”, 2§REF§ Hayford comments on cultural and linguistic similiarities between the Ashanti and Fante peoples: 'They speak the same language with only a difference of accent, such difference being a refinement upon whichever form of speech was the original type. It is probable the Ashanti type is the original, since it is reasonable to suppose that the coast tribes were detached from the Ashantis, and not vice versa. There is no tradition showing that the Fantis were ever a distinct and separate people from the Ashantis. On the other hand, there is historical evidence that, at the dawn of European intercourse with the Gold Coast, the Ashanti Union fully recognised the existence and independence of the Fanti Union; and the current of immigration southwards from the north of tribes now dwelling between Ashanti proper and Fanti proper, all of whom have in common the same language with the Ashantis and Fantis, lends weight to this striking fact.' §REF§Hayford, J. E. Casely (Joseph Ephraim Casely) 1970. “Gold Coast Native Institutions With Thoughts Upon A Healthy Imperial Policy For The Gold Coast And Ashanti”, 24§REF§ The scale of supracultural interaction was amplified with the intensification of colonial penetration. The Columbian Exchange and contact with European traders, missionaries, and colonizers had lasting effects on culture change in Southern Ghana. 'The sole reason for the presence of Europeans in West Africa was, and is even now, principally trade, and for the purposes of trade only were forts constructed and settlements founded, and the power and jurisdiction of the local rulers subsequently undermined. The trade consisted mostly in barter or exchange, nor was the sale of slaves inconsiderable.' §REF§Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. \"Fanti National Constitution [...], 74§REF§ Given trading relations and other cross-cultural interactions among different West African societies, we have chosen to follow the eHRAF categorization of Akan societies as 'West Africans' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0</a>§REF§. Given trading relations and other cross-cultural interactions among different West African societies, we have chosen to follow the eHRAF categorization of Akan societies as 'West Africans' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0</a>§REF§. Wikipedia gives the size of West Africa as 5,112,903 km2 §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa</a>§REF§.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 5112903, "scale_to": 5112903, "polity": { "id": 113, "name": "GhAshnE", "start_year": 1501, "end_year": 1701, "long_name": "Akan - Pre-Ashanti", "new_name": "gh_akan", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The gold-producing region between the Comoé and Volta rivers has been inhabited by Akan-speaking people since the 13th century CE. This region has seen the emergence of various autonomous states, including Bono, Djomo, Akwamu, Fante, and Asante. Later in its history, the founders of the Ga and Ewe states arrived from what is now Nigeria. §REF§ (Fage et al. 2017) Fage, John D., Ernest Amano Boateng, Donna J. Maier, and Oliver Davies. 2017. \"Ghana.\" Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3</a>. §REF§ In 1471, Portuguese sailors reached this stretch of coast and quickly established trade with the coastal Akan states, exchanging European goods for gold. §REF§ (Fage et al. 2017) Fage, John D., Ernest Amano Boateng, Donna J. Maier, and Oliver Davies. 2017. \"Ghana.\" Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3</a>. §REF§ Trade routes soon connected the coast to the Niger bend region, along which descendants of the former Bonda and Kumbu kingdoms founded the Akyerekyere and Akumu-Akoto kingdoms respectively. The Portuguese referred to this latter kingdom as the 'Acanes', which is the source of the name Akan. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br>In 1701, the Asante rebelled against the dominant Denkyira state and formed a confederacy of Akan states who accepted Asante rule. This confederacy began to conquer the surrounding polities, and by 1764 the Greater Asante controlled an area nearly the size of present-day Ghana. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br>Europeans continued to be drawn to the Ghanaian coast in search of gold and, by the 19th century, the British were the strongest European power in the region. In 1827, British-led troops defeated an Asante army at Katammanso. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ In 1831, the British and Asante signed a peace treaty that allowed trade in all ports, and by 1844 the British gained control over criminal matters in the areas around trade forts. By 1872, the British had complete control of the coast, and when they did not recognize Asante sovereignty, the Asante attacked. The British were victorious, and after another war in 1895, the Asante king and chiefs were exiled. The entire region was declared a British territory in 1901. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>During the pre-Asante period, each Akan state consisted of a single kingdom ruled by an <i>omanhene</i>, which literally translates to 'state-chief'. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ This king came from a royal clan, and was elected by various officials, most notably the <i>ohemmaa</i> ('queen-mother'), who was a senior woman of the clan. The king was a sacred person who could not be observed eating or drinking; nor could he be heard to speak or be spoken to. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br>After 1701, political organization within the region became far more bureaucratic and specialized. Kumasi became the capital of the union of Asante states and the seat of the empire. Appointed officials began to replace those wielding hereditary authority, and a treasury partly operated by literate Muslims was created. §REF§ (McLeod 1981) McLeod, M. D. 1981. The Asante. London: British Museum Publications. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RS692TAZ\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RS692TAZ</a>. §REF§ However, while bureaucrats ran many of the day-to-day operations of the empire, the authority of the king was still absolute. §REF§ (Arhin 1986, 165-66) Arhin, Kwame. 1986. \"The Asante Praise Poems: The Ideology of Patrimonialism.\" Paideuma, no. 32: 163-97. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/87N692IT\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/87N692IT</a>. §REF§ <br>Population estimates are not available for the pre-Asante period. The population of the entire Asante union in 1874 is estimated at three million people. §REF§ (Obeng 1996, 20) Obeng, J. Pashington. 1996. Asante Catholicism: Religious and Cultural Reproduction among the Akan of Ghana. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/P8MFGRGQ\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/P8MFGRGQ</a>. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 7, "name": "Ghanaian Coast", "subregion": "West Africa", "longitude": "-0.217920000000", "latitude": "5.573135000000", "capital_city": "Accra", "nga_code": "GH", "fao_country": "Ghana", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 87, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared. 2.2 - 2.3 million km2.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 2200000, "scale_to": 2300000, "polity": { "id": 463, "name": "KzAndro", "start_year": -1800, "end_year": -1200, "long_name": "Andronovo", "new_name": "kz_andronovo", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Andronovo culture, named for the village where the first archaeological remains identified as belonging to the culture were discovered, is a blanket term for the groups of people who inhabited the Kazakh steppe between 1800 and 1200 BCE. §REF§ (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AF5PABXA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AF5PABXA</a>. §REF§ Although these people were dispersed throughout the steppe, there is evidence that communities were in communication with each other. Similar subsistence strategies - sheep and cattle herding combined with small-scale arable farming - were employed and evidence of a shared pottery style has been found. There was also a tradition of metallurgy that included the mining and use of copper, tin and gold and the manufacture of bronze, which was exchanged within interregional trade networks. §REF§ (Masson 1992, 349-350) Masson, V. M. 1992. “The Decline of the Bronze Age Civilization and Movements of the Tribes.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol I: The Dawn of Civilization: Earliest Times to 700 B.C., edited by A. H. Dani and V. M. Masson, 337-56. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IKGC9NGJ\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IKGC9NGJ</a>. §REF§ §REF§ (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AF5PABXA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AF5PABXA</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Little is known about the social or political organization of Andronovo communities. Settlements were small in scale, comprising around 10 to 40 houses with between 50 and 250 inhabitants per settlement. §REF§ (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AF5PABXA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AF5PABXA</a>. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 23, "name": "Sogdiana", "subregion": "Turkestan", "longitude": "66.938170000000", "latitude": "39.631284000000", "capital_city": "Samarkand", "nga_code": "UZ", "fao_country": "Uzbekistan", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 13, "name": "Turkestan", "subregions_list": "Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan, Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 43, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared. 'The Asante, however, are only the most successful of a number of people in southern Ghana, with offshoots in the Ivory Coast, who are closely related and probably have a single origin. To the south are groups like the Fante, Akwamu and Akyem, speaking virtually identical tonal languages (sometimes called Twi, or Akan) of the Kwa family and with whom the Asante share many elements of culture. Among these groups, for example, there are traces of the great matrilineal clans [...] formerly recognised in Asante, the practice of naming children according to the day of birth (for example, Kofi, a Friday-born male; Abena, a Tuesday-born girl), and many closely similar religious ideas and rituals. Some of these groups also retain traditions of a move to the south from the open areas north of the forest.' §REF§McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 14§REF§ Sarbah agrees with this view: 'The common origin of the inhabitants of the Fanti districts, Asanti, and wherever the Akan language is spoken, has been already shown. The Customary Laws of the inhabitants of these places are in the main identical, and the national constitutions resemble each other in many points, although Asanti military organization had been developed in a greater degree.' §REF§Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa”, 2§REF§ Hayford comments on cultural and linguistic similiarities between the Ashanti and Fante peoples: 'They speak the same language with only a difference of accent, such difference being a refinement upon whichever form of speech was the original type. It is probable the Ashanti type is the original, since it is reasonable to suppose that the coast tribes were detached from the Ashantis, and not vice versa. There is no tradition showing that the Fantis were ever a distinct and separate people from the Ashantis. On the other hand, there is historical evidence that, at the dawn of European intercourse with the Gold Coast, the Ashanti Union fully recognised the existence and independence of the Fanti Union; and the current of immigration southwards from the north of tribes now dwelling between Ashanti proper and Fanti proper, all of whom have in common the same language with the Ashantis and Fantis, lends weight to this striking fact.' §REF§Hayford, J. E. Casely (Joseph Ephraim Casely) 1970. “Gold Coast Native Institutions With Thoughts Upon A Healthy Imperial Policy For The Gold Coast And Ashanti”, 24§REF§ The scale of supracultural interaction was amplified with the intensification of colonial penetration: 'But in the mid-nineteenth century, and for the economic and political reasons outlined above, Asante society became much less confined, and much more permeable and accessible. I think that it would be missing the point to see this matter in the short term, and to interpret it from the viewpoint of - for example - formal conversion to Christianity or numbers of political or economic refugees. What, I think, is of paramount importance is that it was in this period that Asante became massively exposed to novel options, to different (and even contradictory) ways of looking at the world. These influences would take a long time to germinate and to bear fruit, but in retrospect we can see that this period represented a watershed in the understanding of values and beliefs. In cognitive terms - and we can see this prosopographically - the ‘generation’ of 1880 was further removed from that of 1830 than that ‘generation’ had been from any of its predecessors throughout Asante history (Wilks and McCaskie, 1973-79).' §REF§McCaskie, T. C. 1983. “Accumulation, Wealth And Belief In Asante History: I. To The Close Of The Ninteenth Century”, 36§REF§ The Columbian Exchange and contact with European traders, missionaries, and colonizers had lasting effects on culture change in Southern Ghana and were probably more important than Asanteman's interactions with fellow Akan peoples. But given trading relations and other cross-cultural interactions among different West African societies, we have chosen to follow the eHRAF categorization of Akan societies as 'West Africans' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0</a>§REF§. Given trading relations and other cross-cultural interactions among different West African societies, we have chosen to follow the eHRAF categorization of Akan societies as 'West Africans' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/browseCultures.do?context=main#region=0</a>§REF§. Wikipedia gives the size of West Africa as 5,112,903 km2 §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa</a>§REF§.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 5112903, "scale_to": 5112903, "polity": { "id": 114, "name": "GhAshnL", "start_year": 1701, "end_year": 1895, "long_name": "Ashanti Empire", "new_name": "gh_ashanti_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The gold-producing region between the Comoé and Volta rivers has been inhabited by Akan-speaking people since the 13th century CE. This region has seen the emergence of various autonomous states, including Bono, Djomo, Akwamu, Fante, and Asante. Later in its history, the founders of the Ga and Ewe states arrived from what is now Nigeria. §REF§ (Fage et al. 2017) Fage, John D., Ernest Amano Boateng, Donna J. Maier, and Oliver Davies. 2017. \"Ghana.\" Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3</a>. §REF§ In 1471, Portuguese sailors reached this stretch of coast and quickly established trade with the coastal Akan states, exchanging European goods for gold. §REF§ (Fage et al. 2017) Fage, John D., Ernest Amano Boateng, Donna J. Maier, and Oliver Davies. 2017. \"Ghana.\" Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3</a>. §REF§ Trade routes soon connected the coast to the Niger bend region, along which descendants of the former Bonda and Kumbu kingdoms founded the Akyerekyere and Akumu-Akoto kingdoms respectively. The Portuguese referred to this latter kingdom as the 'Acanes', which is the source of the name Akan. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br>In 1701, the Asante rebelled against the dominant Denkyira state and formed a confederacy of Akan states who accepted Asante rule. This confederacy began to conquer the surrounding polities, and by 1764 the Greater Asante controlled an area nearly the size of present-day Ghana. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br>Europeans continued to be drawn to the Ghanaian coast in search of gold and, by the 19th century, the British were the strongest European power in the region. In 1827, British-led troops defeated an Asante army at Katammanso. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ In 1831, the British and Asante signed a peace treaty that allowed trade in all ports, and by 1844 the British gained control over criminal matters in the areas around trade forts. By 1872, the British had complete control of the coast, and when they did not recognize Asante sovereignty, the Asante attacked. The British were victorious, and after another war in 1895, the Asante king and chiefs were exiled. The entire region was declared a British territory in 1901. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>During the pre-Asante period, each Akan state consisted of a single kingdom ruled by an <i>omanhene</i>, which literally translates to 'state-chief'. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ This king came from a royal clan, and was elected by various officials, most notably the <i>ohemmaa</i> ('queen-mother'), who was a senior woman of the clan. The king was a sacred person who could not be observed eating or drinking; nor could he be heard to speak or be spoken to. §REF§ (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. \"Culture Summary: Akan.\" eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN</a>. §REF§ <br>After 1701, political organization within the region became far more bureaucratic and specialized. Kumasi became the capital of the union of Asante states and the seat of the empire. Appointed officials began to replace those wielding hereditary authority, and a treasury partly operated by literate Muslims was created. §REF§ (McLeod 1981) McLeod, M. D. 1981. The Asante. London: British Museum Publications. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RS692TAZ\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RS692TAZ</a>. §REF§ However, while bureaucrats ran many of the day-to-day operations of the empire, the authority of the king was still absolute. §REF§ (Arhin 1986, 165-66) Arhin, Kwame. 1986. \"The Asante Praise Poems: The Ideology of Patrimonialism.\" Paideuma, no. 32: 163-97. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/87N692IT\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/87N692IT</a>. §REF§ <br>Population estimates are not available for the pre-Asante period. The population of the entire Asante union in 1874 is estimated at three million people. §REF§ (Obeng 1996, 20) Obeng, J. Pashington. 1996. Asante Catholicism: Religious and Cultural Reproduction among the Akan of Ghana. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/P8MFGRGQ\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/P8MFGRGQ</a>. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 7, "name": "Ghanaian Coast", "subregion": "West Africa", "longitude": "-0.217920000000", "latitude": "5.573135000000", "capital_city": "Accra", "nga_code": "GH", "fao_country": "Ghana", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 74, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 3900000, "scale_to": 3900000, "polity": { "id": 149, "name": "JpAshik", "start_year": 1336, "end_year": 1467, "long_name": "Ashikaga Shogunate", "new_name": "jp_ashikaga", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The period between 1336 and 1467 CE in Japan is known by several different names but is referred to here as 'Muromachi Ashikaga', a combination of two designations used in isolation in some sources. Muromachi, a district of Kyoto, was the base of the shogunate's power, while Ashikaga is the name of the family who served as shoguns throughout the period. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 3) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Muromachi Ashikaga period sometimes includes the sub-periods known as 'the Northern and Southern Courts' and the 'Warring States', although we have decided to separate the Warring States period into its own polity. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 3) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>The period begins with the disintegration of Emperor Go-Daigo's brief 'Kenmu Restoration', an unsuccessful attempt to restore direct imperial control in Japan, and the appointment of Ashikaga Takauji as shogun by another branch of the imperial line with the support of other disillusioned lords. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 88) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This initiated the divide between the Northern and Southern Courts (1336-1392 CE), both of which claimed to be the legitimate ruling authority. The Northern Court was located in Kyoto and headed by Emperor Komyo (from the senior imperial line) and the Ashikaga shoguns. The Southern Court was located at Yoshino and was the seat of the Emperor Go-Daigo (from the junior imperial line) and his supporters. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 7) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>The peak of the Ashikaga period corresponds to the reign of Shogun Yoshimitsu (r. 1368-1394 CE), who helped to broker the unification of the Northern and Southern Courts (1392 CE), with imperial succession reinstated through the Northern line. An able statesman, he helped advance many aspects of government and policy and was an active patron of the arts. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 8) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ His death in 1408 left a power vacuum that enabled provincial lords to gain greater independence from the court and shogunate.<br>The Onin War (1467-1477 CE) effectively brought an end to this period, although the Ashikaga shogunate remained in power nominally until the overthrow of their last shogun by Oda Nobunaga in 1573. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 9) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This civil war, precipitated by economic problems, famine and conflicts over succession (both to the shogunate and to provincial military offices) initiated the period of instability known as the Warring States period. The conflict destroyed much of Kyoto, and spilled out into the provinces. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 8) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>Initially, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate had theoretically extended throughout the main islands of Japan; however, by the time of the Onin War, the area under its direct control had shrunk to Kyoto and its hinterland. §REF§ (Totman 1993, 3-4) Conrad Totman. 1993. <i>Early Modern Japan</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Hall 2008, 216) John Whitney Hall. 2008. 'The Muromachi Bakufu', in <i>The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 3: Medieval Japan</i>, edited by Kozo Yamamura, 231-59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Despite this territorial disintegration, the 'idea' of a larger unified culture did not disappear. §REF§ (Batten 1999, 175) Bruce Batten. 1999. 'Frontiers and Boundaries of Pre-Modern Japan'. <i>Journal of Historical Geography</i> 25 (2): 166-82. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>During the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, the respective imperial heads were nominally in power, while the Ashikaga shogunate controlled the government. In contrast to the preceding Kamakura military regime, the Ashikaga shoguns did not have absolute control: their power was in tension with 'other court families, other members of the military aristocracy, and the religious orders'. §REF§ (Hall 2008, 10) John Whitney Hall. 2008. 'Introduction', in <i>The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 4: Early Modern Japan</i>, edited by Kozo Yamamura, 1-39. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Initially the Ashikaga shogunate retained much of the Kamakura administrative structure, even continuing to occupy the government buildings in Kamakura before moving their administration to the Muromachi district in 1378 CE. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 7-8) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ Because the Ashikaga clan 'lacked significant landholdings and military might', these shoguns relied on their relationships with powerful vassals and provincial military governors to enforce their policies and keep other lords in line. However, as personal ties of loyalty deteriorated over time, the control of the shogunate over powerful provincial lords loosened and the latter were able to increase their independence from the central government. §REF§ (Deal 2005, 7-8) William E. Deal. 2005. <i>Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Friday 2004, 59) Karl F. Friday. 2004. <i>Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan</i>. New York: Routledge. §REF§ <br>Population estimates for this period range from roughly 10 million around 1300 CE to approximately 17 million in 1500 CE. §REF§ (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 181) Colin McEvedy and Richard Jones. 1978. <i>Atlas of World Population History</i>. London: Penguin Books. §REF§ §REF§ (Farris 2006, 94) William Wayne Farris. 2006. <i>Japan's Medieval Population: Famine, Fertility, and Warfare in a Transformative Age</i>. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 21, "name": "Kansai", "subregion": "Northeast Asia", "longitude": "135.762200000000", "latitude": "35.025280000000", "capital_city": "Kyoto", "nga_code": "JP", "fao_country": "Japan", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 14, "name": "Northeast Asia", "subregions_list": "Korea, Japan, forest part of Manchuria, Russian Far East", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 75, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared for T'ang China.§REF§Turchin, Peter, Adams, Jonathan M. and Hall, Thomas D. 2006. \"East-West Orientation of Historical Empires\". Journal of World-Systems Research 12 (2). p.222.§REF§'the literature and music of Japan during the two centuries between the acceptance of Buddhism in 587 and the abandonment of the Nara capital in 784. These were years of vast and fundamental change in the island kingdom, of cultural forced feeding and vigorous new growth. In particular, they were the years when Japan became fully and for all time a participant in the high civilization of East Asia. Participation meant religious and philosophical orientations, an ideal of imperial rule, legal and administrative structures, techniques and styles of architecture, city planning, sculpture, painting, and music - all derived directly or indirectly from China and shared in one degree or another by the peoples on its periphery.'§REF§Brown, Delmer M. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 1: Ancient Japan. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press.p.453§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 5400000, "scale_to": 5400000, "polity": { "id": 146, "name": "JpAsuka", "start_year": 538, "end_year": 710, "long_name": "Asuka", "new_name": "jp_asuka", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The last segment of the Kofun period is often designated by historians as Asuka period on the basis of the intoduction of the Buddhism religion in 538 CE. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 15. §REF§ §REF§ Brooks, T, 2013. \"Early Japanese Urbanism: A Study of the Urbanism of Proto-historic Japan and Continuities from the Yayoi to the Asuka Periods.\"Unpublished thesis, Sydney University, 11. §REF§ As a consequence the historical period \"Asuka\" overlaps with the archaeological period \"Kofun\" until 710 CE.The Asuka period can be divided into two main phases. The first phase covers the period (572-645 CE) when four successive heads of the Soga clan were leading figures at court: Saga no Iname, Saga no Umako, Siga no Emishi, and Soga no Ir. The second period is the phase after the violent overthrow of the Soga which was dominated by Tenchi Tenno, his brother Temmu Tenno, and Temmu's widow Jito Tenno from 645 to 692. It ends with the abdication of Jito Tenno in favor of her son Mommu and the move of the capital to the Heijō Palace of Nara. §REF§ Brown, D., 1993.The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 2.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 164-190. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>In this period there is the establishment of a central administrative control with the introduction of the Ritsuryo law system based on Chinese style law codes. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 15. §REF§ §REF§ Farris, WW 1998, Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues in Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu. §REF§ The introduction of Buddhism in Japan was favoured by the Soga clan, a Japanese court family, which acquired political prominence with the ascension of the emperor Kimmei in 531. §REF§ McCallum, D. F., 2009. The Four Great Temples: Buddhist Archaeology, Architecture, and Icons of Seventh-Century Japan. Honolulu: University of Haway Press, 19-21. §REF§ The Soga clan intoduced Chinese model-based fiscal policies, etsablished the first national treasury and promoted trade links with the Korean peninsula. §REF§ Brown, D., 1993.The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 2.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 163-164. §REF§ With the Taika reform the size of large burial tumuli (kofun) was strongly decreased by imperial decree. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013 The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 319. §REF§ The disappearance of large tumuli coincided with the emergence of a marked pyramidal hierarchy indicated by the difference in the burial assemblage. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 320. §REF§ In the seventh century a deceased person was buried in individual, very small round tumuli, which were much smaller than the preceding monumental mounded tombs. However, burial tumuli disapperead at the end of the seventh century. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 320. §REF§ §REF§ Barnes, GL 1993, China, Korea and Japan: The Rise of Civilization in East Asia, Thames and Hudson, London, 251-255. §REF§ During this period elites began devoting resources to the building of Buddhist temples, which explains the reduction in size of tombs §REF§ Brooks, T, 2013. \"Early Japanese Urbanism: A Study of the Urbanism of Proto-historic Japan and Continuities from the Yayoi to the Asuka Periods.\"Unpublished thesis, Sydney University, 43. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 322-323. §REF§ <br>We have estimated the population of Kansai to be between 1.5 million and 2 million people in 600 CE, and between 2 million and 3 million by 700 CE. §REF§ Kidder, J. E., 2007. Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology. University of Hawaii Press, 60. §REF§ §REF§ Koyama, S., 1978. Jomon Subsistence and Population. Senri Ethnological Studies 2. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-12-19T08:45:11.147310Z", "home_nga": { "id": 21, "name": "Kansai", "subregion": "Northeast Asia", "longitude": "135.762200000000", "latitude": "35.025280000000", "capital_city": "Kyoto", "nga_code": "JP", "fao_country": "Japan", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 14, "name": "Northeast Asia", "subregions_list": "Korea, Japan, forest part of Manchuria, Russian Far East", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 113, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 2175000, "scale_to": 2175000, "polity": { "id": 44, "name": "ThAyuth", "start_year": 1593, "end_year": 1767, "long_name": "Ayutthaya", "new_name": "th_ayutthaya", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The city of Ayutthaya was founded in 1351 CE in the Chao Phraya Basin, in modern-day Thailand, and soon emerged as a dominant force in the region, turning neighbouring <i>mueang</i>, or city-states, into its tributaries. §REF§ (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, xv, 7-13) Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. 2009. <i>A History of Thailand</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ This was largely thanks to its advantageous geographical position, which allowed it to become an <i>entrepôt</i> where goods could be exchanged between China to the east, India and Arabia to the west, and the Malay archipelago to the south. §REF§ (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, 10) Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. 2009. <i>A History of Thailand</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In 1569, Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese army. §REF§ (Wyatt 1984, 100) David K. Wyatt. 1984. <i>Thailand: A Short History</i>. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. §REF§ Here, we only consider the second phase of the polity's history, starting in 1593, when Ayutthaya regained its independence after defeating Burma at the Battle of Nong Sarai. §REF§ (Wyatt 1984, 103) David K. Wyatt. 1984. <i>Thailand: A Short History</i>. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. §REF§ The kingdom flourished throughout the 17th century, regaining its status as the dominant political and economic power of mainland Southeast Asia and ruling over Khmer, Lao, Lanna, and Shan. §REF§ (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, 13-18) Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. 2009. <i>A History of Thailand</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The polity may have reached its peak under King Borommakot (reigned 1733‒1758): during this time, Ayutthaya faced no serious external threats (indeed, it made peace with Burma and consolidated its hold over Cambodia), and supplanted Sri Lanka as the preeminent centre of Buddhist culture. §REF§ (Wyatt 1984, 130-31) David K. Wyatt. 1984. <i>Thailand: A Short History</i>. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. §REF§ Shortly afterwards, however, hostilities with Burma resumed due to the ambitions of a new Burmese dynasty. In 1767, Ayutthaya was once again captured ‒ and this time, it was destroyed. §REF§ (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, 21-22) Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. 2009. <i>A History of Thailand</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>A number of different spellings of Ayutthaya are in use, including Ayuthaya, Ayudhya, and Ayuthia. §REF§ (Ooi 2004, xxiii) Keat Gin Ooi. 2004. <i>Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor</i>. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>In the Ayutthaya Kingdom, kings ruled over a society composed of a 'service nobility of maybe 2000 people and their families, and a mass of people bound to surrender some or all of their labour to the elite'. §REF§ (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, 15) Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. 2009. <i>A History of Thailand</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ There was a four-part administrative structure: one ministry was dedicated to the palace and the capital; one to military affairs and relations with tributary states and cities; one to trade, the treasury, and foreign communities; and one, made up of Brahmans, to ritual, astrology, and records. §REF§ (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, 15) Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. 2009. <i>A History of Thailand</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>It is difficult to give a firm figure for the population of the kingdom as a whole. However, Ayutthaya may have been the largest city in Southeast Asia in the 17th and 18th centuries, §REF§ (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, 13) Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. 2009. <i>A History of Thailand</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ with perhaps 150,000 inhabitants in 1700 and 160,000 in 1750. §REF§ Christopher K. Chase-Dunn 2001, personal communication 2012 §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 17, "name": "Cambodian Basin", "subregion": "Siam", "longitude": "103.866700000000", "latitude": "13.412500000000", "capital_city": "Angkor Wat", "nga_code": "KH", "fao_country": "Cambodia", "world_region": "Southeast Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 41, "name": "Mainland", "subregions_list": "Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, south Vietnam", "mac_region": { "id": 10, "name": "Southeast Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 27, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 11000000, "scale_to": 11000000, "polity": { "id": 367, "name": "EgAyyub", "start_year": 1171, "end_year": 1250, "long_name": "Ayyubid Sultanate", "new_name": "eg_ayyubid_sultanate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Ayyubid Sultanate was established in Egypt by Saladin (Ṣalāḥ-al-dīn), a member of the Kurdish Ayyubid family who had risen to prominence in Syria in the service of a local ruling dynasty, the Zangids. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 24 February 2017). §REF§ In 1168-69 CE, the Zangid prince Nur al-Din placed Saladin's uncle, Shirkuh, in command of a military expedition to Egypt (at that time under Fatimid rule) to take control of the country and expel the invading Frankish Crusaders. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 218) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 290) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Saladin accompanied him and was appointed vizier of Egypt by the Fatimid caliph when Shirkuh died in 1169. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 24 February 2017). §REF§ <br>Saladin, however, did not have the local dynasty's interests at heart. He immediately set about undermining its power and the Ismaili (Shi'a) Islam professed by its elite in favour of a new Sunni order, in theory loyal to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 210-11) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ We begin our Ayyubid Sultanate polity in 1171, when the last Fatimid caliph, Al-Adid, died and Saladin progressed from vizier to sultan in Egypt. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 210) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ He nevertheless suppressed his ambitions until his old Zangid overlord Nur al-Din died in 1174, after which he launched a successful campaign of military expansion into the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, as well as a brief 'holy war' on the Crusader states along the Levantine coast. §REF§ (Lyons and Jackson 1982, 201) Malcolm Cameron Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson. 1982. <i>Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ <br>A succession crisis followed Saladin's death in 1193, and a devastating famine in 1200 reduced parts of the population to cannibalism. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 226) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ However, Saladin's brother, al-'Adil, declared himself sultan in 1200 and managed to impose some degree of internal stability on the empire, §REF§ (Humphreys 1977, 125-26) R. Stephen Humphreys. 1977. <i>From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193‒1260</i>. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. §REF§ which was split into the kingdoms of Egypt, Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The reign of al-'Adil's son, al-Kamil, from 1218 to 1238 CE, was also a relatively stable and prosperous period in Egypt, §REF§ (Werthmuller 2010, 48) Kurt J. Werthmuller. 2010. <i>Coptic Identity and Ayyubid Politics in Egypt, 1218‒1250</i>. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. §REF§ although he faced opposition from Ayyubid princes in Syria and Palestine. §REF§ (Hamblin 2005, 753) William J. Hamblin. 2005. 'Egypt: Ayyubid Dynasty, 1169-1250', in <i>Encyclopedia of African History, volume 1: A-G</i>, edited by Kevin Shillington, 752-54. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. §REF§ <br>As-Salih Ayyub, the sultan who came to power in 1240 CE, §REF§ (Keenan 1999, 287) James G. Keenan. 1999. 'Fayyum Agriculture at the End of the Ayyubid Era: Nabulsi's <i>Survey'.</i> <i>Proceedings of the British Academy</i> 96: 287-99. §REF§ attempted to enhance his power at the expense of other Ayyubid princely lines by purchasing many more Turkish Mamluks (high-ranking slave soldiers) than his predecessors. §REF§ (Levanoni 1990, 124) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. 'The Mamluks' Ascent to Power in Egypt'. <i>Studia Islamica</i> 72: 121-44. §REF§ They served him as a military and governmental elite. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ §REF§ (Levanoni 1990, 124) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. 'The Mamluks' Ascent to Power in Egypt'. <i>Studia Islamica</i> 72: 121-44. §REF§ The Mamluks' increasingly powerful position proved to be the downfall of the Ayyubid Sultanate when, after Salih-Ayyub's death in 1249, one faction (the Bahriyya Mamluks) assassinated his son Turanshah and seized the throne. §REF§ (Levanoni 1990, 137) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. 'The Mamluks' Ascent to Power in Egypt'. <i>Studia Islamica</i> 72: 121-44. §REF§ The Ayyubid dynasty hung onto power in Syria until 1260, when the Mamluks defeated the invading Mongols at 'Ayn Jalut and gained popular recognition of their right to rule as 'saviours of Islam'. §REF§ (Northrup 1998, 248) Linda S. Northrup. 1998. 'The Baḥrī Mamlūk Sultanate, 1250‒1390', in <i>The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1: Islamic Egypt, 640‒1517</i>, edited by Carl F. Petry, 242-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ However, we end our Ayyubid period with the assassination of Turanshah, the last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Ayyubids made use of the pre-existing Fatimid bureaucratic system to administer Egypt, §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 246) I. M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ and ruled via a Turkish and Kurdish 'military aristocracy', including some slave (Mamluk) regiments. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Lev 2010, 210, 213) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ This was funded by the distribution of <i>iqta's</i> ‒ rights to tax revenue from estates of land ‒ in exchange for military and administrative services. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291, 877) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Saladin and his successors also promoted Sunni Islam in the empire by sponsoring law schools (<i>madrasas</i>) to serve as centres for the teaching of Sunni law. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291, 877) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Ayyubid Sultanate was never particularly centralized: it has been described as a 'family confederation', meaning that male members of the ruling dynasty were given principalities across the realm and allowed to govern them with substantial political autonomy. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ Kinship ties determined relationships between different princes, so that, for example, two brothers ruling different regions would have less authority over each other than a father would over his son. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ However, the sultan of Egypt was usually successful in asserting his suzerainty over the other kingdoms. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291, 877) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>It is difficult to find substantiated estimates for the population of the entire Ayyubid Sultanate, but there were about 2.4 million people in Egypt under Saladin. §REF§ (Dols 1977, 149) M. W. Dols. 1977. <i>The Black Death in the Middle East</i>. 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