About Unit 6

💭 Essential Question: How did new empires and networks transform Afro-Eurasia after the fall of ancient empires?

The Rise of a Connected World (400–1200 CE) unit explores how new empires and societies emerged, expanded, and interacted across Africa, Asia, and Europe following the decline of classical powers. Building on prior learning about imperial rise and collapse, students will use social, political, economic, and cultural lenses to analyze how states consolidated power, governed diverse populations, and participated in expanding regional and interregional networks. Through case studies including Ghana Empire, the Song Dynasty, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Heian Period, and the Byzantine Empire, students will investigate how empires grew through military strength, administrative innovation, religious authority, and economic expansion. They will examine patterns of trade, war, migration, and cultural diffusion to understand how societies influenced one another’s development, success, and decline.