DAY TWO: The Global Eighth Century: A Comparative Assessment of Socio-economic and Political Developments in the Eighth Century CE Across Eurasia

Around the middle of the eighth century CE different societies in Eurasia experienced important changes. The Carolingian revolution in Western Europe, the Abbasid revolution in the Middle East and the An Lushan rebellion in China practically coincided with the sudden relocations of the capital of Japan. The eighth century in general seems to be a period of simultaneous socio-economic upswing in societies as far apart as Southeast Asia and Northwestern Europe. This two-day workshop on April 15-16, 2016, will investigate these simultaneous developments by bringing together specialists on the history of the eighth century in Western Europe, Byzantium, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Day Two: Saturday, April 16th

South Asia and Southeast Asia

9:00am
John Whitmore (University of Michigan)
“Power, Belief, and Trade in Southeast Asia, Seventh to Ninth Centuries, Beginnings of the Charter States”

9:30am
Kenneth Hall (Ball State University)
“Transitional Eighth Century South Asia and Wider Indian Ocean Networked Communities”

10:00am
Discussion 

10:30am
Coffee Break 

Synthesis

11:00am
Erik Hermans (ISAW, NYU)
“From Scotland to Sumatra: Towards an Understanding of Simultaneous Developments across Eighth Century Societies”

11:30am
Final Discussion 

Please check isaw.nyu.edu for event updates.

Registration is required at isaw.nyu.edu/rsvp

Please note that separate registration is required for each day of the workshop: April 15th (10:30am-5:30pm) and April 16th (9:00am-1:00pm).