Gov Press Conv List
A viewset for viewing and editing Government Pressures to Converts.
GET /api/rt/government-pressure-to-converts/
{ "count": 358, "next": "https://seshatdata.com/api/rt/government-pressure-to-converts/?page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 335, "year_from": -1550, "year_to": 1380, "description": "‘‘‘ One of the following quotes suggests that, during the Amarna period, the government hired enforcers to ensure that the subject population followed the new official cult. “For the offending hieroglyphs of Amun’s name were removed not only from Egypt’s public monuments: as archaeology shows, small, personal objects such as cosmetic pots and scarabs were dealt with in the same ruthless fashion. Evidently fearful of being found in possession of such seditious items, the owners themselves had gouged- or ground-out the offending signs which articulated Amun’s name—even within the tiniest cartouche-ovals containing the old king’s birth-name in the scarab shown here. Displays such as this, of frightened self-censorship and toadying loyalty, are ominous indicators of a general paranoia now gripping the country, attesting eloquently to the fearful character of Akhenaten’s reign as it gradually developed. Not only was the population kept in check by streets filled with pharaoh’s bully-boys—Nubians and Asiatics armed with clubs, seen everywhere in the reliefs of the period—it seems the population now had to contend with the danger of malicious informers.” §REF§ (Reeves 2004, 7) Reeves, Nicholas. 2004. ‘Who was Akhenaten?’. Fitzwilliam Museum Lecture. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DABD2XP5\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DABD2XP5 </b></a> §REF§ Moreover, there is some evidence that the sons of Nubian chiefs were converted to Egyptian religion. “Deliberate acculturation of Nubians was typical, since the sons of Nubian chiefs were taken to Egypt and were renamed and learned to dress and talk like Egyptians. […] Costume and hair style, given the highest priority as visual signifiers of difference, are the easiest to change, speech and religion, as the literature makes clear, is more difficult but can be taught.” §REF§(Cheal 2004, 54) Cheal, Catherine. 2004. ‘The Meaning of Skin Color in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt‘. In Race and Identity in the Nile Valley. Edited by Carolyn Fleuhr-Lobban and kharyssa Rhodes. Trenton: Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2T52XJZJ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2T52XJZJ </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 198, "name": "EgNKThu", "start_year": -1550, "end_year": -1293, "long_name": "Egypt - New Kingdom Thutmosid Period", "new_name": "eg_new_k_1", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "During the New Kingdom, the Egyptian king acquired the title of 'pharaoh', meaning 'great house'. In the Thutmosid Period, or Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1293 BCE), the pharaohs turned the Egyptian 'home' into a great empire stretching from Kush in northern Sudan (conquered by Thutmose I) to the south to Palestine and Syria in the northeast (taken by Thutmose III). §REF§ (Sherif 1981, 265) N. M. Sherif. 1981. 'Nubia before Napata (-3100 to -750)', in <i>General History of Africa, Vol II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa</i>, edited by G. Mokhtar, 245-77. Paris: UNESCO. §REF§ §REF§ (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007, 5) R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. 2007. <i>The Collins Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present</i>. 4th ed. London: BCA. §REF§ For the first time, the capital of a great Egyptian state was in Upper Egypt, at Thebes (although in 1373 BCE Akhenaten briefly had the capital moved to El Amarna in Middle Egypt).<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The pharaoh, a living god-king, was also the chief priest, highest judge and top military commander; he usually fought in battle, as Thutmose III apparently did at the famous Bronze Age battle of Megiddo in the 15th century BCE. §REF§ (Morenz and Popko 2010, 111) Ludwig D. Morenz and Lutz Popko. 2010. 'The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom', in <i>A Companion to Ancient Egypt, Volume 1</i>, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 101-19. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ The professional army was augmented by troops from conquered places such as Nubia and Libya. §REF§ (Spalinger 2005, 6-7) Anthony J. Spalinger. 2005. <i>War in Ancient Egypt: The New Kingdom</i>. Malden, MA: Blackwell. §REF§ <br>During the New Kingdom, labyrinthine networks of imperial power and wage-earning agents we know as scribes §REF§ (Van Dijk 2000, 298-99) Jacobus Van Dijk. 2003. 'The Amarna Period and the Later New Kingdom', in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 265-307. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ were overseen by two viziers: one for the north and one for the south of Egypt. §REF§ (O'Connor 1983, 208) David O'Connor. 1983. 'Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period c. 2686-1552 BC', in <i>Ancient Egypt: A Social History</i>, edited by Bruce G. Trigger, Barry J. Kemp, David O'Connor and Alan B. Lloyd, 183-278. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The Egyptian vizier was the second-highest judge; §REF§ (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter. 1999. <i>Egypt and the Egyptians</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ he supervised the activities of the state bureaucracy and served as a representative of the pharaoh's interests. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 180) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Most of the viziers' duties seem to have been judicial, involving dispute settlement, answering petitions, and authorizing transfers of property. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 180) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ For most of the two to three million people who occupied New Kingdom Egypt, however, the law was usually administered at the local level, §REF§ (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter. 1999. <i>Egypt and the Egyptians</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ under chiefs of towns (the capitals of nomes) and mayors of villages.<br>The resources commanded by the New Kingdom Egyptian state enabled the pharaohs to carry out grand architectural and tomb-building projects. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 182) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ The most prolific builder of the Thutmosid Period was a female pharaoh called Hatshepsut. §REF§ (Bryan 2000, 229) Betsy M. Bryan. 2000. 'The 18th Dynasty before The Amarna Period (c. 1550-1352 BC)' in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 207-64. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ At Deir el-Medina, in the Valley of the Kings, opposite Thebes, a workers' village was created at the start of the Eighteenth Dynasty to house craftsmen dedicated to building royal tombs. §REF§ (Bryan 2000, 213) Betsy M. Bryan. 2000. 'The 18th Dynasty before The Amarna Period (c. 1550-1352 BC)' in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 207-64. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The community was managed by a palace scribe appointed by the vizier. The scribe oversaw supervisors, who managed two teams of five workers on ten-day shifts. §REF§ (Ziskind and Halioua 2007) Bernard Ziskind and Bruno Halioua. 2007. 'Occupational Medicine in Ancient Egypt'. <i>Medical Hypotheses</i> 69 (4): 942-45. §REF§ In the village, oracle statues attended by priests served as the 'highest local voice of authority'. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 235) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ <br>Although not a typical town, documents written by skilled workers at Deir el-Medina reveal that writing was not confined to the elite, but had become important in wider society. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 156) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Major temples across Egypt included libraries and archives, most likely managed by scribes educated in local schools. §REF§ (Lazaridis 2016) Nikolaos Lazaridis. 2016. 'Education and Apprenticeship', in <i>UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology</i>. Accessible online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://uee.cdh.ucla.edu/articles/education_and_apprenticeship/?x=87&y=5\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://uee.cdh.ucla.edu/articles/education_and_apprenticeship/?x=87&y=5</a>. §REF§ Documents attesting to the sophistication of this Late Bronze Age state include government archives, wills, title deeds, census lists, conscription lists, orders, memos, tax lists, letters, journals, inventories, regulations, and transcripts of trials. §REF§ (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter. 1999. <i>Egypt and the Egyptians</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "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": 275, "year_from": -175, "year_to": -51, "description": "‘‘‘ NB For the period preceding Roman conquest, absence is inferred from the fact that no such pressure is mentioned in the literature. “Other new impositions mingled secular and religious demands, such as the requirement imposed on communities who wished to receive municipal or colonial status to organize public cults and priesthoods on Roman lines.” §REF§ (Woolf 231) Woolf, Greg. 1998. Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511518614. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XAMPZR6R\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: XAMPZR6R </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 455, "name": "FrTeneC", "start_year": -175, "end_year": -27, "long_name": "La Tene C2-D", "new_name": "fr_la_tene_c2_d", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "La Tene (C2-D) was an Iron Age culture in Europe named after an archaeological site at Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland that ran from approximately 175-27 BCE. §REF§ (Collis 2003, 172, 217-218) §REF§ <br>The territory centered on ancient Gaul and at its height spanned areas in modern day France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, Czechia, parts of Northern Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Slovakia, Croatia, western Romania, and western Ukraine.<br>Settlements during this period included fortified urban settlements, larger towns, villages and farmsteads spread throughout their territories. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 45-47) §REF§ During this period tribes became urbanised and more centralized but although they formed alliances with other tribes, they did not join together within a unified centralized polity. §REF§ (Kruta 2004, 105) §REF§ Each tribe had their own fortified urban settlements and there was no capital city.<br>Production of goods at many of the larger sites included glass jewellery, leather-working, bronze-casting and coin minting. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 49-54 §REF§ <br>The population is estimated at around 70,000-80,000, and much of the information we have about the population (and other aspects of La Tene life during this period) comes from the time of Caesar’s invasion of Gaul. §REF§ (Wells 1984:171) §REF§ §REF§ (Patterson 1995, 136) §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-04-25T10:44:14.782463Z", "home_nga": { "id": 2, "name": "Paris Basin", "subregion": "Western Europe", "longitude": "2.312458000000", "latitude": "48.866111000000", "capital_city": "Paris", "nga_code": "FR", "fao_country": "France", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 20, "name": "Western Europe", "subregions_list": "British Isles, France, Low Countries", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 23, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 276, "year_from": -50, "year_to": -27, "description": "‘‘‘ NB For the period preceding Roman conquest, absence is inferred from the fact that no such pressure is mentioned in the literature. “Other new impositions mingled secular and religious demands, such as the requirement imposed on communities who wished to receive municipal or colonial status to organize public cults and priesthoods on Roman lines.” §REF§ (Woolf 231) Woolf, Greg. 1998. Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511518614. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XAMPZR6R\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: XAMPZR6R </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 455, "name": "FrTeneC", "start_year": -175, "end_year": -27, "long_name": "La Tene C2-D", "new_name": "fr_la_tene_c2_d", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "La Tene (C2-D) was an Iron Age culture in Europe named after an archaeological site at Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland that ran from approximately 175-27 BCE. §REF§ (Collis 2003, 172, 217-218) §REF§ <br>The territory centered on ancient Gaul and at its height spanned areas in modern day France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, Czechia, parts of Northern Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Slovakia, Croatia, western Romania, and western Ukraine.<br>Settlements during this period included fortified urban settlements, larger towns, villages and farmsteads spread throughout their territories. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 45-47) §REF§ During this period tribes became urbanised and more centralized but although they formed alliances with other tribes, they did not join together within a unified centralized polity. §REF§ (Kruta 2004, 105) §REF§ Each tribe had their own fortified urban settlements and there was no capital city.<br>Production of goods at many of the larger sites included glass jewellery, leather-working, bronze-casting and coin minting. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 49-54 §REF§ <br>The population is estimated at around 70,000-80,000, and much of the information we have about the population (and other aspects of La Tene life during this period) comes from the time of Caesar’s invasion of Gaul. §REF§ (Wells 1984:171) §REF§ §REF§ (Patterson 1995, 136) §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-04-25T10:44:14.782463Z", "home_nga": { "id": 2, "name": "Paris Basin", "subregion": "Western Europe", "longitude": "2.312458000000", "latitude": "48.866111000000", "capital_city": "Paris", "nga_code": "FR", "fao_country": "France", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 20, "name": "Western Europe", "subregions_list": "British Isles, France, Low Countries", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 23, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 317, "year_from": -31, "year_to": 248, "description": "‘‘‘ “Decius issued the decree in fall or early winter of A.D. 249, shortly after becoming emperor. It was apparently a formal edict, i.e. instructions issued directly to the public, rather than, for example, mandata directed towards officials .Its central feature was an order that all the inhabitants of the Empire sacrifice to the gods, taste the sacrificial meat, and swear that they had always sacrificed. It further arranged for a formal procedure to ensure universal compliance. At a minimum, it required local magistrates to oversee the proceedings and to issue official documents certifying that a given individual had sacrificed in their presence. It is not clear whether it also included special provisions concerning the punishment of people who refused to comply. Certainly the local magistrates did not have authority to punish recusants themselves, since the evidence consistently shows them being turned over to higher authorities. Either way, refusal to sacrifice could lead to serious results, ranging from exile and loss of property to torture and death. The edict seems to have applied to everyone, regardless of sex, age, or civic status; the only people likely to have been exempt were the Jews.” §REF§(Rives 1999: 137-138) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/C96HX7NN\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: C96HX7NN </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 70, "name": "ItRomPr", "start_year": -31, "end_year": 284, "long_name": "Roman Empire - Principate", "new_name": "it_roman_principate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Roman Principate (31 BCE-284 CE) refers to the first period of the Roman Empire, when the de facto ruler was termed the <i>princeps</i>, or 'leading citizen'. The period begins with the victory of the first emperor, Augustus (then Octavian) over his rival Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE and ends with the accession of Diocletian after the 'crisis' of the 3rd century CE (235-284 CE). §REF§ (Boatwright et al. 2012) Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Noel Lenski and Richard J. A. Talbert. 2012. <i>The Romans. From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire</i>. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>Retaining and solidifying many of the institutions, cultural forms, and economic base that had led to Rome's hegemonic position during the Republican period, the Empire became one of the largest, most long-lived, and most prosperous imperial states the world has ever known. Augustus established a dynasty lasting until the death of the Emperor Nero in 68 CE, after which followed a brief civil war between different potential successors. Despite repeated bouts of similar warfare during succession crises following the various dynasties that ruled the Principate, the Empire remained remarkably stable throughout this period. Rome was able to unite - and keep together - a huge swathe of territory encompassing all of western Europe, North Africa, Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, most of Anatolia, and parts of the Near East. Integrating diverse regions into this single empire facilitated the spread of Roman institutions - notably its legal system, urban infrastructure, cultural forms, and political structure. It also promoted economic development by enabling the safe transport of goods and people to every corner of the empire. §REF§ (Bowman and Wilson 2009) Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson. 2009. 'Quantifying the Roman Economy: Integration, Growth, Decline?', in <i>Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and Problems</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 3-86. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ It was during this period that Rome built some of its greatest structures: the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the imperial <i>fora</i> (market squares) in the heart of Rome, and many others. The Principate overall produced so much wealth and so many cultural achievements that the great 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon proclaimed the Empire at its peak in the 2nd century CE to be 'the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous'. §REF§ (Gibbon [2003] 1869, 53) Edward Gibbon. [2003] 1869. <i>The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i>, edited by Hans-Friedrich Mueller. New York: Modern Library. §REF§ <br>In the late 3rd century CE, beginning after the end of the Severan Dynasty, the Principate nearly collapsed in the face of internal warfare and pressure from external foes, including the Sassanid Persian Empire and nomadic tribes from Germany and eastern Europe. Rome briefly lost control over parts of France, Britain, and southern Spain and suffered several significant losses in battle to the Sassanids. Under first the Emperor Aurelian (r. 270-275 CE) then Diocletian (r. 284-305), however, all territory was recovered and a series of administrative and economic reforms inaugurated a second phase of the Roman Empire, which we refer to as the Dominate (denoting the increasing centralization of authority and the development of a large bureaucratic apparatus).<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Nominally, there was no change in political organization between the Republican period and the Principate. The first princeps, Augustus, kept all Republican institutions and offices, including the Senate, intact. There was clear practical change in the power structure, however, as Augustus, and all emperors after him, asserted personal control over almost the entire Roman army and were granted unprecedented legislative, religious, and judicial powers to shape politics and Roman society at large. Whereas a defining principle of Republican governance was that no individual should be able to hold multiple offices simultaneously, amassing power in several domains (military, legislative, religious, and so on), emperors broke this tradition and drew their authority from numerous offices, titles, and the authority they carried. §REF§ (Noreña 2010) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>The Roman emperor was also generally one of the wealthiest people in the Principate, controlling huge agriculturally productive estates throughout the Empire, particularly in North Africa and Egypt. §REF§ (Kehoe 2007) Dennis P. Kehoe. 2007. <i>Law and the Rural Economy in the Roman Empire</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ In this period, state revenues were split between the 'public' treasury (<i>aerarium</i>) and an imperial treasury (<i>fiscus</i>) under the direct control of the emperor. §REF§ (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 45) Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins. 1998. <i>Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Principate had a fairly limited reach, particularly outside of Italy, but the state did have some significant expenses which it met by collecting tax from the Empire's vast territory and large population, taking in rents from the imperial estates. In addition to paying the salaries of imperial officials - a relatively small expense as only limited central authority was exerted in the provinces (mainly the provincial governors and their retinue) - the emperor was responsible for financing a professional citizen army, the major state expense along with public works projects such as roads, aqueducts, and temples. The costs of these public works, though, were split between the personal fortune of the emperors who acted as patrons, particularly in Italy, and that of wealthy patrons in the provinces, who financed much of the urban growth in these regions. Further, beginning in the later Republican period and continuing throughout the Empire, the imperial state provided grain at reduced prices to citizens living in Rome; another considerable expense. §REF§ (Duncan-Jones 1994) Richard Duncan-Jones. 1994. <i>Money and Government in the Roman Empire</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Scheidel 2015) Walter Scheidel. 2015. 'State Revenue and Expenditure in the Han and Roman Empires', in <i>State Power in Ancient China and Rome</i>, edited by Walter Scheidel, 150-80. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Garnsey and Saller 1987) Peter Garnsey and Richard P. Saller. 1987. <i>The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>The Emperor was assisted by his directly appointed <i>consilium</i> (advisory council), which was often made up of freedmen (manumitted slaves) and personal slaves. §REF§ (Noreña 2010, 538) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Harries 2010) Jill Harries. 2010. 'Law', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 637-50. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Senate, not the emperor, formally retained ultimate executive power and could override or critique the emperor's actions, but in practice this was quite rare and could be dangerous to the critic. §REF§ (Harris 2010) W. V. Harris. 2010. 'Power', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 564-78. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This centralized exercise of power by the Emperor, though, did not extend to the provinces, where the focus of imperial administration was squarely on securing revenue (cash and in-kind tax and rents on imperial properties) and maintaining peace, both internally and against potential external enemies, notably the powerful Persian Empires to the East. Roman provinces were governed by fairly autonomous officials (<i>procurator</i>, <i>curator</i>, <i>praefectus</i>, <i>proconsul</i>, etc.) and priests (<i>flamen</i>, etc.). §REF§ (Talbert 1996) Richard J. A. Talbert. 1996. 'The Senate and Senatorial and Equestrian Posts', in <i>The Cambridge Ancient History</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin and Andrew Lintott, 324-43. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ Urbanization was also encouraged throughout the Empire; provincial cities were administered as 'mini-Rome's, with local urban equivalents of the Senate and most administrative, judicial, and religious magistracies. Roman cultural and infrastructural achievements were widely mimicked, with aqueducts, temples, theatres, bathhouses, and material culture (for example, particular ceramic forms, a culture of communal feasting, and the habit of publicizing achievements with inscribed stone tablets) adapted by numerous provincial towns and cities. §REF§ (Wilson 2011) Andrew Wilson. 2011. 'City Sizes and Urbanization in the Roman Empire', in <i>Settlement, Urbanization, and Population</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 161-95. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This was true across the Empire, though particularly salient in the west, whereas Roman settlements in the East tended to retain many of their pre-Roman urban forms and cultural traditions. §REF§ (Boatwright 2000) Mary Taliaferro Boatwright. 2000. <i>Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>By the mid-2nd century CE, the city of Rome had reached over one million inhabitants, a significant feat for an ancient urban settlement. The population of the entire Empire is estimated at between 50 to over 60 million. §REF§ (Scheidel 2009) Walter Scheidel. 2009. 'Population and Demography', in <i>A Companion to Ancient History</i>, edited by A. Erskine, 234-45. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Estimating the number of state employees is an extremely difficult task, but one scholar has supposed that if the imperial government at its largest extent in the 4th century CE 'had somewhat over thirty thousand functionaries', then before this time a figure of 10,000-12,000 might be reasonable. §REF§ (Lendon 1997, 3) J. E. Lendon. 1997. <i>Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 1, "name": "Latium", "subregion": "Southern Europe", "longitude": "12.486948000000", "latitude": "41.890407000000", "capital_city": "Rome", "nga_code": "IT", "fao_country": "Italy", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 18, "name": "Southern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iberia, Italy", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 318, "year_from": 249, "year_to": 284, "description": "‘‘‘ “Decius issued the decree in fall or early winter of A.D. 249, shortly after becoming emperor. It was apparently a formal edict, i.e. instructions issued directly to the public, rather than, for example, mandata directed towards officials .Its central feature was an order that all the inhabitants of the Empire sacrifice to the gods, taste the sacrificial meat, and swear that they had always sacrificed. It further arranged for a formal procedure to ensure universal compliance. At a minimum, it required local magistrates to oversee the proceedings and to issue official documents certifying that a given individual had sacrificed in their presence. It is not clear whether it also included special provisions concerning the punishment of people who refused to comply. Certainly the local magistrates did not have authority to punish recusants themselves, since the evidence consistently shows them being turned over to higher authorities. Either way, refusal to sacrifice could lead to serious results, ranging from exile and loss of property to torture and death. The edict seems to have applied to everyone, regardless of sex, age, or civic status; the only people likely to have been exempt were the Jews.” §REF§(Rives 1999: 137-138) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/C96HX7NN\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: C96HX7NN </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 70, "name": "ItRomPr", "start_year": -31, "end_year": 284, "long_name": "Roman Empire - Principate", "new_name": "it_roman_principate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Roman Principate (31 BCE-284 CE) refers to the first period of the Roman Empire, when the de facto ruler was termed the <i>princeps</i>, or 'leading citizen'. The period begins with the victory of the first emperor, Augustus (then Octavian) over his rival Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE and ends with the accession of Diocletian after the 'crisis' of the 3rd century CE (235-284 CE). §REF§ (Boatwright et al. 2012) Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Noel Lenski and Richard J. A. Talbert. 2012. <i>The Romans. From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire</i>. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>Retaining and solidifying many of the institutions, cultural forms, and economic base that had led to Rome's hegemonic position during the Republican period, the Empire became one of the largest, most long-lived, and most prosperous imperial states the world has ever known. Augustus established a dynasty lasting until the death of the Emperor Nero in 68 CE, after which followed a brief civil war between different potential successors. Despite repeated bouts of similar warfare during succession crises following the various dynasties that ruled the Principate, the Empire remained remarkably stable throughout this period. Rome was able to unite - and keep together - a huge swathe of territory encompassing all of western Europe, North Africa, Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, most of Anatolia, and parts of the Near East. Integrating diverse regions into this single empire facilitated the spread of Roman institutions - notably its legal system, urban infrastructure, cultural forms, and political structure. It also promoted economic development by enabling the safe transport of goods and people to every corner of the empire. §REF§ (Bowman and Wilson 2009) Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson. 2009. 'Quantifying the Roman Economy: Integration, Growth, Decline?', in <i>Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and Problems</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 3-86. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ It was during this period that Rome built some of its greatest structures: the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the imperial <i>fora</i> (market squares) in the heart of Rome, and many others. The Principate overall produced so much wealth and so many cultural achievements that the great 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon proclaimed the Empire at its peak in the 2nd century CE to be 'the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous'. §REF§ (Gibbon [2003] 1869, 53) Edward Gibbon. [2003] 1869. <i>The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i>, edited by Hans-Friedrich Mueller. New York: Modern Library. §REF§ <br>In the late 3rd century CE, beginning after the end of the Severan Dynasty, the Principate nearly collapsed in the face of internal warfare and pressure from external foes, including the Sassanid Persian Empire and nomadic tribes from Germany and eastern Europe. Rome briefly lost control over parts of France, Britain, and southern Spain and suffered several significant losses in battle to the Sassanids. Under first the Emperor Aurelian (r. 270-275 CE) then Diocletian (r. 284-305), however, all territory was recovered and a series of administrative and economic reforms inaugurated a second phase of the Roman Empire, which we refer to as the Dominate (denoting the increasing centralization of authority and the development of a large bureaucratic apparatus).<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Nominally, there was no change in political organization between the Republican period and the Principate. The first princeps, Augustus, kept all Republican institutions and offices, including the Senate, intact. There was clear practical change in the power structure, however, as Augustus, and all emperors after him, asserted personal control over almost the entire Roman army and were granted unprecedented legislative, religious, and judicial powers to shape politics and Roman society at large. Whereas a defining principle of Republican governance was that no individual should be able to hold multiple offices simultaneously, amassing power in several domains (military, legislative, religious, and so on), emperors broke this tradition and drew their authority from numerous offices, titles, and the authority they carried. §REF§ (Noreña 2010) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>The Roman emperor was also generally one of the wealthiest people in the Principate, controlling huge agriculturally productive estates throughout the Empire, particularly in North Africa and Egypt. §REF§ (Kehoe 2007) Dennis P. Kehoe. 2007. <i>Law and the Rural Economy in the Roman Empire</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ In this period, state revenues were split between the 'public' treasury (<i>aerarium</i>) and an imperial treasury (<i>fiscus</i>) under the direct control of the emperor. §REF§ (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 45) Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins. 1998. <i>Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Principate had a fairly limited reach, particularly outside of Italy, but the state did have some significant expenses which it met by collecting tax from the Empire's vast territory and large population, taking in rents from the imperial estates. In addition to paying the salaries of imperial officials - a relatively small expense as only limited central authority was exerted in the provinces (mainly the provincial governors and their retinue) - the emperor was responsible for financing a professional citizen army, the major state expense along with public works projects such as roads, aqueducts, and temples. The costs of these public works, though, were split between the personal fortune of the emperors who acted as patrons, particularly in Italy, and that of wealthy patrons in the provinces, who financed much of the urban growth in these regions. Further, beginning in the later Republican period and continuing throughout the Empire, the imperial state provided grain at reduced prices to citizens living in Rome; another considerable expense. §REF§ (Duncan-Jones 1994) Richard Duncan-Jones. 1994. <i>Money and Government in the Roman Empire</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Scheidel 2015) Walter Scheidel. 2015. 'State Revenue and Expenditure in the Han and Roman Empires', in <i>State Power in Ancient China and Rome</i>, edited by Walter Scheidel, 150-80. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Garnsey and Saller 1987) Peter Garnsey and Richard P. Saller. 1987. <i>The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>The Emperor was assisted by his directly appointed <i>consilium</i> (advisory council), which was often made up of freedmen (manumitted slaves) and personal slaves. §REF§ (Noreña 2010, 538) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Harries 2010) Jill Harries. 2010. 'Law', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 637-50. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Senate, not the emperor, formally retained ultimate executive power and could override or critique the emperor's actions, but in practice this was quite rare and could be dangerous to the critic. §REF§ (Harris 2010) W. V. Harris. 2010. 'Power', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 564-78. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This centralized exercise of power by the Emperor, though, did not extend to the provinces, where the focus of imperial administration was squarely on securing revenue (cash and in-kind tax and rents on imperial properties) and maintaining peace, both internally and against potential external enemies, notably the powerful Persian Empires to the East. Roman provinces were governed by fairly autonomous officials (<i>procurator</i>, <i>curator</i>, <i>praefectus</i>, <i>proconsul</i>, etc.) and priests (<i>flamen</i>, etc.). §REF§ (Talbert 1996) Richard J. A. Talbert. 1996. 'The Senate and Senatorial and Equestrian Posts', in <i>The Cambridge Ancient History</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin and Andrew Lintott, 324-43. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ Urbanization was also encouraged throughout the Empire; provincial cities were administered as 'mini-Rome's, with local urban equivalents of the Senate and most administrative, judicial, and religious magistracies. Roman cultural and infrastructural achievements were widely mimicked, with aqueducts, temples, theatres, bathhouses, and material culture (for example, particular ceramic forms, a culture of communal feasting, and the habit of publicizing achievements with inscribed stone tablets) adapted by numerous provincial towns and cities. §REF§ (Wilson 2011) Andrew Wilson. 2011. 'City Sizes and Urbanization in the Roman Empire', in <i>Settlement, Urbanization, and Population</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 161-95. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This was true across the Empire, though particularly salient in the west, whereas Roman settlements in the East tended to retain many of their pre-Roman urban forms and cultural traditions. §REF§ (Boatwright 2000) Mary Taliaferro Boatwright. 2000. <i>Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>By the mid-2nd century CE, the city of Rome had reached over one million inhabitants, a significant feat for an ancient urban settlement. The population of the entire Empire is estimated at between 50 to over 60 million. §REF§ (Scheidel 2009) Walter Scheidel. 2009. 'Population and Demography', in <i>A Companion to Ancient History</i>, edited by A. Erskine, 234-45. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Estimating the number of state employees is an extremely difficult task, but one scholar has supposed that if the imperial government at its largest extent in the 4th century CE 'had somewhat over thirty thousand functionaries', then before this time a figure of 10,000-12,000 might be reasonable. §REF§ (Lendon 1997, 3) J. E. Lendon. 1997. <i>Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 1, "name": "Latium", "subregion": "Southern Europe", "longitude": "12.486948000000", "latitude": "41.890407000000", "capital_city": "Rome", "nga_code": "IT", "fao_country": "Italy", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 18, "name": "Southern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iberia, Italy", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 310, "year_from": 300, "year_to": 599, "description": "The following quote suggests that Jains were persecuted for roughly 200 years. “Jainism declined steeply in Tamil country from about the end of the 6th century A.D. when there was a tremendous upsurge of Saiva and Vaisnava sects revitalized by the Bhakti movement led by the Nayanmars and Alvars. The Tamil Jains were persecuted during this period. However, the persecution, uncharacteristic of Indian polity, did not last too long and the rulers resumed grants to the Jaina monasteries (palli) from about the end of the 8th century A.D. as attested by epigraphical evidence from the Pallava and Pantiya regions.” §REF§ (Umamaheshwari 2018, 48) Umamaheshwari, R. 2018. Reading History with the Tamil Jainas: A Study on Identity, Memory and Marginalisation. New Delhi: Springer. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/W5X9TKB9\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: W5X9TKB9 </b></a> §REF§ “In the latter half of the seventh century A.D. there occurred, however, a terrible persecution of Jainism in Southern India. King Kuna Sundara or Neumaran Pandya, who had brought up as a Jaina, became a pupil of saint Tirujnana Sumbandar and accepted the Saiva faith. Displaying the zeal of a convert he persecuted with savage cruelty his late co-religionists of whom no fewer than eight thousand were put to death. Mehendra Varman of the Pallava dynasty, whose rule extended to Trichinopoly, was originally a Jaina. Through the influence of a Tamil saint he accepted Saivism, and destroyed the large Jaina monastery of Pataliputtriam in South Arcot at about 610 A.D. §REF§ (Vidyabhusana 1988, 222-223) Vidyabhusana, Satis Chandra. 1988. A History of Indian Logic: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Schools. New Dehli: Motilal Bandrsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R2K2KRK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R2K2KRK </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 702, "name": "in_pallava_emp_2", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 890, "long_name": "Late Pallava Empire", "new_name": "in_pallava_emp_2", "polity_tag": "POL_SA_SI", "general_description": "The Pallava Empire originated in the early 4th century CE in the northern Tamil Nadu region§REF§ (Bush Trevino 2012, 46) Bush Travino, Macella. 2012. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Vol.4 Edited by Carolyn M. Elliot. Los Angeles: Sage. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4RPCX448/collection\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4RPCX448/collection</a> §REF§The Pallavan capital was at Kanchi, modern-day Kanchipuram. The Pallava rulers were major beneifactors of education and gave land grants for schools. The Pallava dynasties also contributed to art and architecture by commissioning temples and shrines, particularly in the port city of Mamallapuram. §REF§ (Kamlesh 2010, 569) Kamelsh, Kapur. 2010. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In History of Ancient India: Portraits of a Nation. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UETBPIDE/collection\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UETBPIDE/collection</a> §REF§ In the late 9th century, the Pallava Empire was succeeded by the Chola Empire. §REF§ (Kamlesh 2010, 566) Kamelsh, Kapur. 2010. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In History of Ancient India: Portraits of a Nation. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UETBPIDE/collection\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UETBPIDE/collection</a> §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 40, "name": "Southern South Asia", "subregions_list": "Southern India and Sri Lanka", "mac_region": { "id": 9, "name": "South Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 137, "year_from": 378, "year_to": 514, "description": "The apparent rapidity at which much of the population converted to Judaism and Christianity in this period, seemingly under a pagan government (as suggestsed by the fact that Judaism only became the official religion around 515 CE) suggests relative governmental tolerance. In the polity's final years, however, anti-Christian violence is well documented. It seems reasonable to infer that this violence was accompanied by governmental pressure to convert to Judaism. “Both Judaism and Christianity flourished in the pre-Islamic Yemen, spreading extensively throughout the country during the second Himyari era (about 300-525). [...] By the early part of the sixth century A. D., Judaism featured strongly in the Yemen as a result of the conversion to it of the ýIimyari king Yusuf Ascar, generally known as Dhu- Nuwas, who subsequently declared his new faith the official religion of the state. [...] In the early part of the sixth century A. D. rivalry between the two newly introduced monotheistic religions - i. e. Judaism and Christianity - led the country to an armed struggle. In A. D. 515 the leadership of the Himyari Kingdom fell to Dhu-Nuwas, who had already adopted Judaism. The new king led the movement against the Abyssinians, who were occupying the Yemen at that time. The movement also took on an anti-Christian flavour, leading to several attacks against the Christians, culminating in the famous massacre of the Christians at Najran in A.D. 523.”§REF§(Al-Mad’aj, ‘A. A. M. M. 1988: 7-9) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VE7EKPTQ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: VE7EKPTQ </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 354, "name": "YeHmyr2", "start_year": 378, "end_year": 525, "long_name": "Himyar II", "new_name": "ye_himyar_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "In 115 BCE the Himyarites were a tribe from the southwestern highlands of Yemen. They formed, with Saba, the dual kingdom of Saba and Dhu-Raydan §REF§ (Burrows 2010, 140) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ §REF§ (Bryce 2009, 602) Trevor Bryce. 2009. The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. Abingdon. §REF§ after the Roman attacks in 25 BCE emboldened the Himyarites who \"siezed the Sabaean homelands and made the population subject to a new Saba-Himyar regime.\" §REF§ (McLaughlin 2014, 136) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley. §REF§ They used the royal title 'king of Saba and dhu-Raydan' with Raydan later becoming known as Qataban. §REF§ (Hitti 2002, 55) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ Dhu-Raydan (Zafar), the Himyarite capital, was located in the highlands near modern Yarim. §REF§ (Burrows 2010, 161) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ <br>The Roman discovery of the Indian Ocean trade winds around 100 CE signaled the end of many great civilizations in South Arabia that used overland trade routes; §REF§ (Burrows 2010, xxiii) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ but the Himyarite state was initially an exception, and prospered. For a time the Himyarites were a subject tribe of the Romans §REF§ (Friedman 2006, 105) Saul S. Friedman. 2006. A History of the Middle East. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson. §REF§ and they possessed colonies which seeded the Abyssinian Kingdom in Ethiopia. §REF§ (Hitti 2002, 56) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ The wealth of the Himyar state, similarly acquired as other local kingdoms from the trade of incense and spices, came from trading overseas routes. While during the second millennium CE Saba split from Himyar the Himyarites later benefited immensely at the expense of their rival kingdoms as the overland routes became increasingly less efficient and disrupted by warfare, especially in the third century CE, which involved Himyar, Saba, Hadramawt and Aksum.<br>The Himyarites had a much more centralized polity than Saba throughout the early first millennium §REF§ (Korotayev 1996, 47) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden. §REF§ but could not hold back the Abyssinians who invaded and occupied the tihama (Red Sea littoral) from the 2nd century CE; the Ethiopians conquered the Himyarite capital in 240 CE, but agreeing an alliance with Himyar withdraw from the Arabian peninsular §REF§ (Caton 2013, 45-46) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara §REF§ in about 270 CE. §REF§ (Orlin et al. 424) Eric Orlin. Lisbeth S Fried. Jennifer Wright Knust. Muchael L Satlow. Michael E Pregill. eds. 2016. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Routledge. New York. §REF§ The Himyar-Abyssinain alliance or vassalage ended about 298 CE. §REF§ (Syvanne 2015, 133) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley. §REF§ Himyar \"reached the peak of its power in the third century as a result of a successful series of wars against the local heathen tribes and the African realm of Ethiopia.\" §REF§ (285) Norman Roth ed. 2016. Routledge Revivals: Medieval Jewish Civilization (2003): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. §REF§ Between 270-280 CE the Sabaean Kingdom was annexed by the Himyarites. §REF§ (Caton 2013, 45-46) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara §REF§ Hadramawt was conquered by 300 CE. §REF§ (Hitti 2002, 60) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ Throughout this period the profits from the incense trade were in a progressive decline as the rise of Christianity in the west had reduced demand for a product that was most commonly used in pagan rituals. When in 395 CE the Roman emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the official state religion of the Roman Empire the trade ceased entirely. §REF§ (Romano 2004, 13) Amy Romano. 2004. A Historical Atlas of Yemen. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York. §REF§ <br>At this same time Himyarites also were undergoing their own seismic shift in religious belief system - rapidly converting from their pagan polytheistic belief system to monotheistic religious doctrines by the late 4th century CE. §REF§ (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake. §REF§ \"There is significant archaeological evidence of the abandonment of pagan temples toward the conclusion of the fourth century and of the almost complete disappearance of expressions of devotion to the old tribal gods shortly thereafter.\" §REF§ (Maroney 2010, 93) Eric Maroney. 2010. The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations. Roman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ \"From the 4th century on the Himyarite kings were either full members or sympathizers of Judaism\" and the Jewish faith became \"the dominant religion\" in South Arabia. §REF§ (Tubach 2015, 363-365) Johann Jurgen Tubach. Aramaic Loanwords In Geez. Aaron Michael Butts. ed. 2015. Semitic Languages in Contact. BRILL. Leiden. §REF§ In the later fourth century there was a Jewish dynasty of kings known as the Tabbai'a. §REF§ (Haas 2014, 38-39) Christopher Haas. Geopolitics and Georgian Identity in Late Antiquity: The Dangerous World of Vakhtang Gorgasali. Tamar Nutsubidze. Cornelia B Horn. Basil Lourie. eds. 2014. Georgian Christian Thought and Its Cultural Context. Memorial Volume for the 125th Anniversary of Shalva Nutsubidze (1888-1969). BRILL. Leiden. §REF§ A list of Himyarite's known Jewish kings include: Yassirum Yohre'am (from 270 CE); 'Amr-Shlomo ben David (325-330 CE); Malki Kariba Juha'min (378-385 CE); Abu Kariba As'as (385-420 or 445 CE); Shurihbi'il Yakkuf (468-480 CE); Martad Ilan ('Judaized' 495-515 CE); Yusuf Ash'ar Dhu Nuwas (515-525 CE). §REF§ (Brook 2006, 264-265) Kevin Alan Brook. 2006. The Jews of Khazaria. Second Edition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ §REF§ (Haas 2014, 38-39) Christopher Haas. Geopolitics and Georgian Identity in Late Antiquity: The Dangerous World of Vakhtang Gorgasali. Tamar Nutsubidze. Cornelia B Horn. Basil Lourie. eds. 2014. Georgian Christian Thought and Its Cultural Context. Memorial Volume for the 125th Anniversary of Shalva Nutsubidze (1888-1969). BRILL. Leiden. §REF§ The Himyarite army adopted Judaism as its official religion at the start of the fifth century CE. §REF§ (Brook 2006, 264-265) Kevin Alan Brook. 2006. The Jews of Khazaria. Second Edition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ <br>Christianity also was present in Himyar at least from the first half of the 4th century §REF§ (Tubach 2015, 363-363) Johann Jurgen Tubach. Aramaic Loanwords In Geez. Aaron Michael Butts. ed. 2015. Semitic Languages in Contact. BRILL. Leiden. §REF§ when the Christian missionary Theophilus arrived and \"complained that he found a great number of Jews\". §REF§ (Maroney 2010, 93) Eric Maroney. 2010. The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations. Roman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ By 350 CE Christian communities were becoming established and over the next 100 years, \"missionaries systematically converted many Arabian tribes from their traditional polytheistic practices to monotheistic Christianity\". §REF§ (Romano 2004, 13) Amy Romano. 2004. A Historical Atlas of Yemen. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York. §REF§ It is also suggested that the rulers were not Jewish but Monophysite Christians. According to Friedman (2006) Himyarite colonists, the Axumites, in the land of Cush (Ethiopia) \"which they renamed Axum ... converted to Monophysite Christianity at the beginning of the fourth century. Between 340 to 378, the Axumites returned to Yemen and imposed their rule and religion over the Himyarites. Although the interregnum was short-lived, the impact of the Axumites was very profound. Yemen was a Christian land, with churches and a cathedral in San'a, and all but one of the restored Himyarite monarchs (378-525) were Monophysite Christians. The lone heretic was Dhu-Nuwas who, for unknown reasons, hated Christians and converted to Judaism.\" §REF§ (Friedman 2006, 106) Saul S. Friedman. 2006. A History of the Middle East. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson. §REF§ However, Christians appear to have been repressed due to a perceived association with influence of the Byzantine Empire: \"in the 470s ... a priest named Azqir was executed for active proselytisation in Najran\". §REF§ (Hoyland 2001, 51) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. §REF§ Hitti also mentions the 340-378 CE period of Abyssinian rule. §REF§ (Hitti 2002, 60) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ <br>An inscription dated to 378 CE claimed \"the completion of buildings by a Himyar monarch had been accomplished 'through the power of their lord of sky and heaven,' and phrases such as 'the owner of the sky and earth,' and the expression 'the Merciful' also were used. §REF§ (Maroney 2010, 93) Eric Maroney. 2010. The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations. Roman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ It has been suggested that the Himyarite \"profession of monotheism, and later full-fledged Judaism, distanced the Himyarites from the Christianity of the Byzantines and their Ethiopian allies and the Zoroastrianism of the Persians\" §REF§ (Maroney 2010, 93) Eric Maroney. 2010. The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations. Roman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ so that their strategically located state had an independent or neutral identity. Written sources mention the presence of synagogues in Zafar and Najran. §REF§ (Haas 2014, 38-39) Christopher Haas. Geopolitics and Georgian Identity in Late Antiquity: The Dangerous World of Vakhtang Gorgasali. Tamar Nutsubidze. Cornelia B Horn. Basil Lourie. eds. 2014. Georgian Christian Thought and Its Cultural Context. Memorial Volume for the 125th Anniversary of Shalva Nutsubidze (1888-1969). BRILL. Leiden. §REF§ <br>As trade revenues flatlined, the increasing persecution and then massacre of Christians by king Dhu Nuwas §REF§ (Burrows 2010, xxiii) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham. §REF§ lead to a foreign intervention. The Byzantine Empire in alliance with the Aksumite Kingdom invaded the Himyarite kingdom and Dhu Nuwas was removed. Himyar and the Red Sea Coast was thereafter ruled directly by the Christian Ethiopians until the Persian conquest in 570 CE, interrupted by the Christian Ethiopian governor-general Abraha's declaration of independence between 550-553 CE. §REF§ (Caton 2013, 47) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 12, "name": "Yemeni Coastal Plain", "subregion": "Arabia", "longitude": "43.315739000000", "latitude": "14.850891000000", "capital_city": "Sanaa", "nga_code": "YE", "fao_country": "Yemen", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 44, "name": "Arabia", "subregions_list": "Arabian Peninsula", "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": 178, "year_from": 386, "year_to": 446, "description": "\"The Northern Wei forces under Taiwudi's command reached Chang'an during the second month of 446. In the course of the campaign, some soldiers, grazing their horses in fields belonging to a Buddhist monastery (the source fails to name it), discovered that it was full of weapons. This proved to be the spark that ignited one of China's largest and most devastating government suppressions of Buddhism. [...] An official named Cui Hao Sia (fl. 438-448), who was a patron of Taoism, then proceeded to recommend the total eradication of Buddhism, and one month later Taiwudi issued an edict designed to implement just such a policy. The emperor's edict was implemented with brutal efficiency, particularly in and around Chang'an. Sources like Hui-jiao's (497-554) Biographies of Eminent Monks graphically describe how local monasteries were razed to the ground. Monks were ordered to return to lay life, and those who refused were summarily executed.\"§REF§(Shufen 2002: 1-2) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/87H9K47B\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 87H9K47B </b></a>§REF§ \"The ascendance of the Daoists was short - lived, as Kou ’ s death in 448 was soon followed by the execution in 450 of the prime minister Cui Hao — who had introduced Kou Qianzhi at court and who played a major part in establishing the Daoist state — and by emperor Taiwu ’ s death in 452. Later northern emperors reverted to more inclusive policies, but all followed Taiwu ’ s example and “ received registers ” during their reigns.\" §REF§(Raz 2012: 72) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QMGMQBVN\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: QMGMQBVN </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 258, "name": "CnNWei*", "start_year": 386, "end_year": 534, "long_name": "Northern Wei", "new_name": "cn_northern_wei_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Northern Wei dynasty (Tuoba or Bei Wei) unified northern China during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ Before unification under the Northern Wei, the northern region was ruled by the Sixteen Barbarian States that had risen up when the Western Jin fled to the south. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei conquered Northern Yan and Northern Liang to unify the north. §REF§ (Xiong 2009, 384) Xiong, V C. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Scarecrow Press, Inc., Plymouth. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong</a>. §REF§ During Northern Wei rule, Tuoba continued to expand its territory. By 439 CE the dynasty controlled Henan, Hebei, and parts of Shaanxi, Manchuria, Gansu, and Sichuan. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ At its peak the territory of the Northern Wei expanded from the Tarim Basin to the Yellow Sea, and from the northern steppe to edge of territory of the Southern dynasties. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ In 500 CE, the Northern Wei territory encompassed 1.7 million square kilometers. §REF§ (Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet) §REF§ <br>The rulers of the Northern Wei belonged to the Tuoba tribe of the Xianbei northern steppe federation. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Tuoba language was close to Turkish, and the non-Han Chinese rulers were first seen as foreign invaders. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ In the late 400s the Tuoba Sinicized their customs, language, and government, and moved their capital to Luoyang. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ Buddhism was upheld as a state religion for most of the Northern Wei. The Buddhist caves of Yungang and Longmen were constructed during the period. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ In the early 500s, Luoyang had over one thousand monasteries and number of mansions and large palaces. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 91) Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: CUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8</a> §REF§ <br>The fall of the Northern Wei was due to a civil war caused by rebellions in garrisons in the northern frontier §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ The rival army factions spilt the dynasty into Eastern and Western Wei in 535 CE. §REF§ (Xiong 2009, 384) Xiong, V C. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Scarecrow Press, Inc., Plymouth. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>In the Northern Dynasties, nobles and landowners often had vesting holdings with dependent servants and slaves who did not pay taxes. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei government attempted to break up these large holdings to reduce the power of provincial nobles. The government deported over 400,000 dependent peasants to unused land near the first capital of Pingcheng. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei also instituted an equal-fields system in which the state owned all land and individuals were given certain allotments for life. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 91) Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: CUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8</a> §REF§ <br>In the late 400s, the Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang and began to create a more Chinese-style state. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ The Tuoba relied on Chinese civil servants to assist with governance. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ <br>The population of the Northern Wei dynasty was 32 million in 500 CE. §REF§ (Graff 2002, 127)Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA</a> §REF§ The second Wei capital of Luoyang had a population of 600,000 at its peak. §REF§ (Graff 2002, 98)Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA</a> §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:48:35.302300Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "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": 179, "year_from": 446, "year_to": 452, "description": "\"The Northern Wei forces under Taiwudi's command reached Chang'an during the second month of 446. In the course of the campaign, some soldiers, grazing their horses in fields belonging to a Buddhist monastery (the source fails to name it), discovered that it was full of weapons. This proved to be the spark that ignited one of China's largest and most devastating government suppressions of Buddhism. [...] An official named Cui Hao Sia (fl. 438-448), who was a patron of Taoism, then proceeded to recommend the total eradication of Buddhism, and one month later Taiwudi issued an edict designed to implement just such a policy. The emperor's edict was implemented with brutal efficiency, particularly in and around Chang'an. Sources like Hui-jiao's (497-554) Biographies of Eminent Monks graphically describe how local monasteries were razed to the ground. Monks were ordered to return to lay life, and those who refused were summarily executed.\"§REF§(Shufen 2002: 1-2) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/87H9K47B\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 87H9K47B </b></a>§REF§ \"The ascendance of the Daoists was short - lived, as Kou ’ s death in 448 was soon followed by the execution in 450 of the prime minister Cui Hao — who had introduced Kou Qianzhi at court and who played a major part in establishing the Daoist state — and by emperor Taiwu ’ s death in 452. Later northern emperors reverted to more inclusive policies, but all followed Taiwu ’ s example and “ received registers ” during their reigns.\" §REF§(Raz 2012: 72) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QMGMQBVN\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: QMGMQBVN </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 258, "name": "CnNWei*", "start_year": 386, "end_year": 534, "long_name": "Northern Wei", "new_name": "cn_northern_wei_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Northern Wei dynasty (Tuoba or Bei Wei) unified northern China during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ Before unification under the Northern Wei, the northern region was ruled by the Sixteen Barbarian States that had risen up when the Western Jin fled to the south. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei conquered Northern Yan and Northern Liang to unify the north. §REF§ (Xiong 2009, 384) Xiong, V C. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Scarecrow Press, Inc., Plymouth. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong</a>. §REF§ During Northern Wei rule, Tuoba continued to expand its territory. By 439 CE the dynasty controlled Henan, Hebei, and parts of Shaanxi, Manchuria, Gansu, and Sichuan. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ At its peak the territory of the Northern Wei expanded from the Tarim Basin to the Yellow Sea, and from the northern steppe to edge of territory of the Southern dynasties. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ In 500 CE, the Northern Wei territory encompassed 1.7 million square kilometers. §REF§ (Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet) §REF§ <br>The rulers of the Northern Wei belonged to the Tuoba tribe of the Xianbei northern steppe federation. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Tuoba language was close to Turkish, and the non-Han Chinese rulers were first seen as foreign invaders. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ In the late 400s the Tuoba Sinicized their customs, language, and government, and moved their capital to Luoyang. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ Buddhism was upheld as a state religion for most of the Northern Wei. The Buddhist caves of Yungang and Longmen were constructed during the period. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ In the early 500s, Luoyang had over one thousand monasteries and number of mansions and large palaces. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 91) Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: CUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8</a> §REF§ <br>The fall of the Northern Wei was due to a civil war caused by rebellions in garrisons in the northern frontier §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ The rival army factions spilt the dynasty into Eastern and Western Wei in 535 CE. §REF§ (Xiong 2009, 384) Xiong, V C. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Scarecrow Press, Inc., Plymouth. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>In the Northern Dynasties, nobles and landowners often had vesting holdings with dependent servants and slaves who did not pay taxes. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei government attempted to break up these large holdings to reduce the power of provincial nobles. The government deported over 400,000 dependent peasants to unused land near the first capital of Pingcheng. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei also instituted an equal-fields system in which the state owned all land and individuals were given certain allotments for life. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 91) Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: CUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8</a> §REF§ <br>In the late 400s, the Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang and began to create a more Chinese-style state. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ The Tuoba relied on Chinese civil servants to assist with governance. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ <br>The population of the Northern Wei dynasty was 32 million in 500 CE. §REF§ (Graff 2002, 127)Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA</a> §REF§ The second Wei capital of Luoyang had a population of 600,000 at its peak. §REF§ (Graff 2002, 98)Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA</a> §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:48:35.302300Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "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": 180, "year_from": 453, "year_to": 557, "description": "\"The Northern Wei forces under Taiwudi's command reached Chang'an during the second month of 446. In the course of the campaign, some soldiers, grazing their horses in fields belonging to a Buddhist monastery (the source fails to name it), discovered that it was full of weapons. This proved to be the spark that ignited one of China's largest and most devastating government suppressions of Buddhism. [...] An official named Cui Hao Sia (fl. 438-448), who was a patron of Taoism, then proceeded to recommend the total eradication of Buddhism, and one month later Taiwudi issued an edict designed to implement just such a policy. The emperor's edict was implemented with brutal efficiency, particularly in and around Chang'an. Sources like Hui-jiao's (497-554) Biographies of Eminent Monks graphically describe how local monasteries were razed to the ground. Monks were ordered to return to lay life, and those who refused were summarily executed.\"§REF§(Shufen 2002: 1-2) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/87H9K47B\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 87H9K47B </b></a>§REF§ \"The ascendance of the Daoists was short - lived, as Kou ’ s death in 448 was soon followed by the execution in 450 of the prime minister Cui Hao — who had introduced Kou Qianzhi at court and who played a major part in establishing the Daoist state — and by emperor Taiwu ’ s death in 452. Later northern emperors reverted to more inclusive policies, but all followed Taiwu ’ s example and “ received registers ” during their reigns.\" §REF§(Raz 2012: 72) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QMGMQBVN\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: QMGMQBVN </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government pressure to convert", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 258, "name": "CnNWei*", "start_year": 386, "end_year": 534, "long_name": "Northern Wei", "new_name": "cn_northern_wei_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Northern Wei dynasty (Tuoba or Bei Wei) unified northern China during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ Before unification under the Northern Wei, the northern region was ruled by the Sixteen Barbarian States that had risen up when the Western Jin fled to the south. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei conquered Northern Yan and Northern Liang to unify the north. §REF§ (Xiong 2009, 384) Xiong, V C. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Scarecrow Press, Inc., Plymouth. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong</a>. §REF§ During Northern Wei rule, Tuoba continued to expand its territory. By 439 CE the dynasty controlled Henan, Hebei, and parts of Shaanxi, Manchuria, Gansu, and Sichuan. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ At its peak the territory of the Northern Wei expanded from the Tarim Basin to the Yellow Sea, and from the northern steppe to edge of territory of the Southern dynasties. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ In 500 CE, the Northern Wei territory encompassed 1.7 million square kilometers. §REF§ (Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet) §REF§ <br>The rulers of the Northern Wei belonged to the Tuoba tribe of the Xianbei northern steppe federation. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Tuoba language was close to Turkish, and the non-Han Chinese rulers were first seen as foreign invaders. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ In the late 400s the Tuoba Sinicized their customs, language, and government, and moved their capital to Luoyang. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ Buddhism was upheld as a state religion for most of the Northern Wei. The Buddhist caves of Yungang and Longmen were constructed during the period. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ In the early 500s, Luoyang had over one thousand monasteries and number of mansions and large palaces. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 91) Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: CUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8</a> §REF§ <br>The fall of the Northern Wei was due to a civil war caused by rebellions in garrisons in the northern frontier §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ The rival army factions spilt the dynasty into Eastern and Western Wei in 535 CE. §REF§ (Xiong 2009, 384) Xiong, V C. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Scarecrow Press, Inc., Plymouth. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZE3I2EQK/q/xiong</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>In the Northern Dynasties, nobles and landowners often had vesting holdings with dependent servants and slaves who did not pay taxes. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Northern Dynasties (386-581). Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Division/beichao.html</a> Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GSM2F6GX</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei government attempted to break up these large holdings to reduce the power of provincial nobles. The government deported over 400,000 dependent peasants to unused land near the first capital of Pingcheng. §REF§ “Wei dynasty | Chinese history [386- 534 535].” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wei-dynasty</a>. Accessed June 15, 2017. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B2C94XG8</a> §REF§ The Northern Wei also instituted an equal-fields system in which the state owned all land and individuals were given certain allotments for life. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 91) Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: CUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TDMBGBF8</a> §REF§ <br>In the late 400s, the Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang and began to create a more Chinese-style state. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ The Tuoba relied on Chinese civil servants to assist with governance. §REF§ (Holcombe 2017, 109) Holcombe, Charles. 2017. “Was Medieval China Medieval? (Post-Han to Mid-Tang)” In A Companion to Chinese History, edited by Michael Szonyi. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. 106-117. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DJMEH684</a> §REF§ <br>The population of the Northern Wei dynasty was 32 million in 500 CE. §REF§ (Graff 2002, 127)Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA</a> §REF§ The second Wei capital of Luoyang had a population of 600,000 at its peak. §REF§ (Graff 2002, 98)Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NUJQCRPA</a> §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:48:35.302300Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "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": [] } ] }