A Journey into Human History

Over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the public sphere became an increasingly important component in the spread and development of Enlightenment ideas. As networks of informal socialization and intellectual exchange, coffeehouses provided a setting in which people from all social backgrounds who had the luxury of leisure could share ideas and opinions without fear of punishment from the state or church. Salons likewise served as important centers of philosophical discussion. They also enabled the small number of women from the upper and middle classes who hosted them to play leadership roles in the Enlightenment, though guests from less privileged backgrounds were generally excluded. Along with the emergence of academies, print shops and a flourishing long-distance community of writers, salons and coffeehouses ensured the development of a public sphere that stimulated the free and open exchange of Enlightenment ideas. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/7-2-the-exchange-of-ideas-in-the-public-sphere Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

The eighteenth century marked the beginning of a new spirit of intellectual exchange in Europe known as the Enlightenment. Inspired by the Scientific Revolution’s spirit of critical thinking, the ideas of the Italian Renaissance, and the legacy of Muslim, Greek, and Indian scientific foundations, the Enlightenment centered on the role of reason and generated a newfound optimism in philosophical principles such as liberty, rights, and the rejection of tyranny. Such ideals inspired many members of the upper and middle classes in western Europe to question the legitimacy of traditional laws, political systems, and religious teachings. Although the Enlightenment established important foundations for the defense of human rights, its reach was limited to a relatively small elite. Despite its emphasis on ideals of freedom and liberty, it coexisted with the oppressive institutions of slavery and colonialism. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/7-1-the-enlightenment Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

Mechanization and industrialization, motivated and enabled by capitalism, created tremendous wealth for eighteenth- and nineteenth-century business owners and middle-class professionals, but their profits often came at a high cost to workers. The production of goods shifted from the handiwork of highly skilled middle-class artisans to mechanized production done by low-paid unskilled laborers. Workers did enjoy access to new consumer goods made cheaper by industrialization, but to afford those goods they had to work long hours, in difficult and often dangerous conditions. Perhaps most importantly, workers lost control over their working conditions. Karl Marx and his followers responded to the worst excesses of capitalism by proposing a new theory that became known as Marxism. Marx argued that the bourgeoisie, members of a social class that owned the means of production, were primarily motivated by the desire to exploit labor and keep the excess value wage earners produced in order to buy political influence. Eventually the capitalist system would collapse and workers reclaim control of society. Marx argued that the struggle between classes was the root of all historical conflicts. He predicted that society would eventually replace current economic systems with socialism, a system in which the public, not private companies or individuals, owns the means of production. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/6-3-capitalism-and-the-first-industrial-revolution Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

The Seven Years’ War (1754–1763) established a new balance of power in Europe in which Britain emerged as the dominant empire. The French surrendered their imperial possessions in North America and India to Britain, while the Spanish surrendered Florida and the French gave control of the Louisiana Territory to Spain. The Peace of Hubertusburg guaranteed Prussian control of Silesia and confirmed Prussia’s status as a major force in Europe. The British East India Company provided the British with a strong basis of military and economic power in south Asia; it and Britain both benefited economically from their colonial control of India. In China, the Qing dynasty’s leaders completed new trade treaties with foreign nations, including the Treaty of Kyakhta (1727) with Russia, and improved trading relationships with Japan, the nations of Southeast Asia, and the Philippines. Under the Canton system, China increased its trade with Europe and improved its economy, while rejecting most European trade goods and insisting on payment in silver, acquiring a very favorable balance of trade. European colonialism did not go unopposed. In Africa, the Ndongo battled the Portuguese, the Khoisan and Xhosa fought the Dutch, and the Asante opposed British expansion. In both India and China, people took up arms against Britain. Ironically, some of the strongest opposition to the role of Great Britain came from its own colonies in North America, where economic dissatisfaction led to a declaration of independence. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/6-2-the-rise-of-a-global-economy Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

European settlers in North America were a diverse group with a wide array of motives. Many Spaniards came as part of a broader search for “God, Gold, and Glory.” French settlers also hoped to find wealth, although they were more likely than other Europeans to cooperate with rather than exploit Indigenous peoples, whom they saw as economic allies. The Virginia Company of England founded Jamestown in an effort to gain wealth, while English Puritans founded communities they hoped would earn profits while also promoting their religious ideology. Native peoples responded to European colonization in a variety of ways. In Mexico, the Aztecs fought the Spanish and were destroyed, while the Tlaxcalans, who collaborated with the Spanish against the Aztecs, enjoyed greater status and economic opportunities in the Spanish Empire as a result. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/6-1-european-colonization-in-the-americas Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

To extract wealth from their colonies, over the course of the late fifteenth through the early nineteenth centuries, European nations shipped approximately twelve million enslaved African people across the Atlantic Ocean on the Middle Passage. Some ten million arrived alive to satisfy the labor needs of European planters, who grew cash crops like sugar, rice, and tobacco. These agricultural goods were shipped to Europe, and finished products made from them were shipped to Africa to purchase more captives from other Africans. This three-legged exchange made up the triangular trade. The slave trade brought some areas of Africa damaging population losses, and the importation of European goods also harmed African industries. The majority of enslaved people labored in the Caribbean and Brazil growing sugar. The work was hard and dangerous, and many died. Nevertheless, enslaved people established ties with one another and found ways to maintain their human dignity and aspects of their culture. Europeans profited immensely from their labor, and many industries were enriched by either the slave trade or the sugar production that depended on it. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/5-4-the-atlantic-slave-trade Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

According to mercantilist theory, to achieve power, nations must maximize their store of precious metals by importing as few goods as possible while profitably exporting products to other countries. In embracing the theory, European governments imposed tariffs, granted monopolies, and subsidized industries. They also sought to acquire colonies to supply natural resources and serve as markets for domestically manufactured goods. England, France, and the Netherlands thus joined Spain and Portugal in establishing colonies in the Americas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From these, they extracted goods such as furs, hides, tobacco, and most profitably sugar. Critics like David Hume and Adam Smith charged that mercantilism led to inflation and harmed consumers. Smith argued that wealth was not finite, that all nations could prosper, and that the economy should be regulated naturally by competition among producers rather than being managed by governments. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/5-3-the-mercantilist-economy Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

In the sixteenth century, many European Christians were critical of practices within the Catholic Church. Some scholars in northern Europe had turned to Christian humanism as a means of making people more pious and thus achieving religious reform. Martin Luther, a German monk, began the Protestant Reformation when he publicly objected to the church’s sale of indulgences. Luther was excommunicated, but the printing press enabled his ideas to spread throughout Europe. Luther taught that faith alone was needed for salvation and that scripture was the only source of Christian authority.Luther’s ideas became popular among many, including Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin in Switzerland. Followers of John Calvin, called Calvinists, spread his teachings to the Netherlands, Scotland, France, and England. A variety of Anabaptist churches were also established that rejected infant baptism. In England, Henry VIII rejected the pope’s authority after the pope refused to grant him an annulment. As Protestantism gained adherents, religious wars erupted throughout Europe. The Council of Trent, called by the Roman Catholic Church in 1545, reaffirmed some aspects of church doctrine while also passing reforms that attempted to eliminate some of the problems that led to the Reformation. Wars over religion continued for many years.All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/5-1-the-protestant-reformationWelcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

With the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, Europeans found themselves forced to deal with Muslim middlemen to access the prized goods of South and East Asia. European countries thus began seeking an all-water route to the eastern lands they called the Indies, aided by navigational technologies from the Middle East and motivated by religious zeal and desire for profit. The Portuguese were the first to explore the Atlantic, claiming islands off the coast of Africa and voyaging down its western shore. In 1488, the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. The Spanish monarchs Isabella I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon financed the voyages of Christopher Columbus, who landed in the Caribbean in 1492 believing it was part of the Indies. He did not find great wealth there, but Spanish exploration continued. Hernán Cortés conquered the wealthy Aztec Empire in Mexico and Francisco Pizarro the silver-rich Inca Empire in Peru. To protect their respective interests, in 1494 Spain and Portugal negotiated the Treaty of Tordesillas, which drew a line through the Atlantic awarding the Americas, with the exception of Brazil, to Spain. Animals, foods, and other resources flowed in both directions along the Columbian Exchange, forever altering the culture and economies of North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Diseases also traveled west with the Europeans and wiped out as much as 95 percent of the Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere. Both Europeans and Indigenous peoples had developed rich, diverse, and vastly different cultures, societies, and religions prior to contact. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/5-2-crossing-the-atlantic Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

The establishment of the Safavid state under Shah Ismail I in 1501 was followed by rapid territorial expansion, but conflict between factions of the Qizilbash military corps allowed the Ottoman and Uzbek empires to take advantage and capture territory. Shahs Tahmasp and Abbas I created a corps of enslaved people from the Caucasus to serve as their new elite military force and eventually replace the Qizilbash. The Safavid shahs were committed to Shi‘ite Islam and forcibly converted the Sunni Muslims in their territories. They were generally more tolerant of non-Muslims, particularly those who did not live in the Caucasus or along the border with the Ottoman Empire. But the Safavids’ militance and their intolerance of Sunnis heightened tensions between Sunnis and Shia throughout the Muslim world, a rift still apparent today. The stability of the Safavids’ political system allowed for a flourishing of art, however, as exemplified in miniature painting, ceramics, and royal architecture. After Abbas, the growing power of Russia and other neighboring kingdoms led to a weakened Safavid state, which came to an end when Nader Shah of the Afsharid dynasty crowned himself shah in 1736. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/4-3-the-safavid-empire Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

The Ottoman Empire was one of the most diverse political entities of its time. Sultans such as Suleiman I encouraged people of all ethnicities to settle there, and under the millet system, each religious community had its own leader, regulated its own affairs, and educated its own children. This diversity is reflected in the languages spoken in the empire. Turkish was for interacting with the government, Arabic for scholarship and in religious settings, and Persian for literature. The empire reached its greatest heights under Suleiman I, known in the West as “the Magnificent” and among Ottomans as “the lawgiver” for his creation of a legal code that applied throughout the realm. Under Suleiman and his successors, science flourished, and important advances were made in fields such as astronomy and medicine. The Ottoman Empire began to decline in power following the defeat of its forces by European navies at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. In the seventeenth century, the Ottomans found their power being eclipsed by that of Russia in the Black Sea region. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/4-2-the-ottoman-empire Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

By the sixteenth century, the religion of Islam had spread far beyond its point of origin in Southwest Asia. Islamic communities, large empires, and a number of Islamic kingdoms thrived in West and East Africa, southeastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia. But although no single powerful caliphate held all these areas together, the religion of Islam allowed for a degree of cohesiveness and unity, despite theological disagreements. As a result, trade in all types of goods unified the wider Islamic world, flowing along numerous trade routes and through markets overseen by Muslim market inspectors. Local states encouraged trade through their territories because it brought them economic benefits and access to new ideas and technologies. This trade often occurred with the cooperation of the many non-Muslim communities that lived in the Islamic world, such as Jewish people and Christians. In addition to goods and people, trade routes also carried ideas, knowledge, and technologies that also served as a cohesive force. Some led to improvements in mapmaking and navigation. Others had military applications, such as new firearms and artillery. These weapons provided advantages to some of the large Islamic empires of the era, like the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/4-1-a-connected-islamic-world Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

Kanem-Bornu, which dominated Central Sudan and maintained an active caravan trade with the states of North Africa in the thirteenth century, was destabilized by revolts and rebellions in the fourteenth century. Although it regained preeminence in the sixteenth century, by the end of that century, its power was at an end. The collapse of both Songhai and Kanem-Bornu allowed emergent polities like Dahomey, Oyo, and Segou to flourish, but tensions soon arose among them as competition for trade escalated. As warfare became commonplace, trans-Saharan trade was severely disrupted. At the same time, European powers such as Portugal began making steady inroads into African trade, establishing trading posts along the coasts in regions like Whydah. By the eighteenth century, the European demand for enslaved captives and the desire of African chiefs to exploit opportunities for financial gain reoriented trans-Saharan trade away from traditional markets, such as those along the Mediterranean coast, to coastal West Africa, with new emphasis on the acquisition and transport of captives. Many of the coastal states became little more than arteries through which passed the caravans of captives destined for the markets of European slavers. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/3-4-the-trans-saharan-slave-trade Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

City-states on the east coast of Africa grew in size and prosperity as they took advantage of wind patterns to participate in Indian Ocean trade. Their people were united by a shared religion, Islam, and a shared language, Swahili. Products from the interior of the African continent were sold by the Swahili traders to merchants from Arabia, Persia, and India. In exchange, they purchased goods from India, Southeast Asia, and China. Enslaved Africans were also sold in the Swahili city-states. The most powerful of the states was Kilwa, which had grown wealthy through its control of the gold-rich city of Sofala. When the Portuguese arrived in the late fifteenth century, they attempted to leverage the cities’ discontent with Kilwa’s dominance to gain control of the region’s trade, but a Somali-Ottoman alliance and the Omani Sultanate ultimately drove them from all the city-states except Mozambique. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/3-3-the-swahili-coast Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

The basis of the Songhai Empire’s wealth was much the same as for the kingdoms that preceded it: salt, cloth, and gold. Sunni Ali’s program of annexation greatly expanded Songhai. Growth continued under his successors, especially Askia the Great, who used Islam to further his control and brought Songhai into its golden age. Not only did its rulers consolidate state control over trans-Saharan trade, but they also made the empire an unparalleled center of Islamic learning and study in West Africa. The great cities of Timbuktu and Djenné drew merchants and traders engaged in the caravan trade from across Africa, while their grand mosques and schools made them magnets for pilgrims and scholars from across the Islamic world. Askia the Great’s successors could not maintain control of the empire, however, and in the sixteenth century, Songhai was defeated by Saadi forces from Morocco seeking to gain control of the trans-Saharan caravan routes. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/3-2-the-songhai-empire Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

Until the sixteenth century, caravans routinely plied the sands of the Sahara, moving goods, especially gold, from distant West Africa to centers of trade in North Africa and Egypt. Towns in West Africa became cosmopolitan stopping points, and as merchants, rulers, and caravan leaders converted to Islam for both spiritual and financial reasons, Islam flourished alongside the caravan business. In the thirteenth century, Sundiata Keita gained dominance over the Malinke and Soninke people, establishing the Malian Empire. Mali’s control of the Bure goldfields enabled it to prosper, and cities such as Timbuktu and Djenné became centers of Islamic scholarship. The empire grew weaker following the death of Mansa Musa. It was unable to withstand raids by the Mossi and Tuareg nomads or revolts by some of its subject cities. Although the rulers of Mali were able to negotiate peace terms with Portuguese slave traders in the mid-fifteenth century, they were unable to retain such vital trade centers as Gao, Timbuktu, and Djenné. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/3-1-the-roots-of-african-trade Welcome to A Journey into Human History. his podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

East Asia was drawn into the network of global maritime trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Portuguese and Spanish arrived in Japan when powerful daimyos were each fighting to unify the country and bring it under their rule. Guns brought by Europeans began to play an important role in Japanese warfare. Many Japanese also began to convert to Christianity. In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became the shogun of a united Japan, and wishing to control the samurai and fearing Christian subjects would not be loyal, he prohibited Christianity, banned the entry of the Portuguese and Spanish, and prohibited Japanese from leaving the country except on government missions. Following the expulsion of the Mongols, China also turned inward. The first Ming emperor, Hongwu, forbade foreign trade. Needing money, however, the government permitted trade with Europeans in the second half of the sixteenth century. Trade brought prosperity for Chinese farmers, artisans, and merchants, though changes in their lifestyle alarmed conservatives. However, famines, floods, and the inability of the Ming government to solve China’s problems led to the dynasty’s overthrow in 1644. The Manchu Qing dynasty attempted to reassert traditional Confucian values while still trading with Europe. Korea’s Joseon dynasty, a vassal of China, also tried to structure its society on a Confucian model. The seventeenth-century Silhak movement in Korea advocated the study of science and technology in order to solve social problems. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/2-3-exchange-in-east-asia Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

The Malaccan Sultanate was established around 1400 by Parameswara, the last king of Singapura. The city’s location on both sides of the Malaccan Straits destined it for success, because the straits were the route taken by trading ships between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The city grew wealthy and attracted a diverse population of merchants from many countries, and the sultanate thrived under the leadership of Mansur Shah, who expanded its territory. Its prosperity was also aided by its support for Islam and the formulation of a legal code to regulate the conduct of foreign sailors. In 1511, the Portuguese attacked Malacca and took over the city, but their insistence on converting the people to Christianity resulted in their being expelled from both Malacca and the Sultanate of Ternate in Indonesia. In the end, the Spanish took control of the Philippines, and the Dutch, who had no interest in spreading Roman Catholicism, became the main European power in Indonesia. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/2-2-the-malacca-sultanate Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

Although Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, a Muslim who founded the Mughal Empire, made little effort to assimilate to Indian culture, his grandson Akbar forged a culture that incorporated Indian and Persian, Hindu and Muslim elements. Under him, the Mughal Empire grew to encompass most of northern and much of central India, including the Sultanate of Gujarat, the heart of a rich Indian Ocean trade. Under Aurangzeb, who attempted an Islamic revival and was largely intolerant of the Hindu population, the empire weakened as it battled the Maratha Empire for dominance over the states of seventeenth-century India. Europeans sought to control India’s wealth. First the Portuguese attempted to establish trading posts in India while forcing out Arab and other merchants. Indian rulers and the Mamluk sultan tried to force them from India, but unsuccessfully. The Portuguese were assisted by alliances with some Indian rulers but soon found themselves competing with the English and French, who also formed alliances with Indian rulers and took advantage of their disputes with one another. As the Mughals and Marathas battled each other and the invading Afghan forces, states in northern India broke free of their rule and allied themselves instead with the British, allowing Britain to gradually consolidate its power in India. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/2-1-india-and-international-connections Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introductionPodcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

Knowing the past, the human story, has long been considered a mark of civilization, and its study has never been more important. The study of world history provides the skills necessary to meet global workforce needs while at the same time developing a sense of self and place in our global community. You will gain critical-thinking and analysis skills that will help you fulfill the role of a global citizen in our interconnected world. This text will help you approach history with an open mind, and it will engage you in meaningful ways, often highlighting content that remains relevant in today’s society. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/details/books/world-history-volume-1 Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.