

Roman Empire, 2nd Century | UNESCO | REF
I read when the 1st century dawned, the Roman Empire was a melting pot
REF NCBI in a period of peace & prosperity - known as Pax Romana. In the 2nd century, there was a wealthy Roman city in Syria called Palmyra - it linked the East (Persia, India, China) & the West (Mediterranean). Perhaps, this is the route:

The East - West met in Syria

In the 7th century, even Prophet Muhammad
ﷺ - a young man before his prophethood -
traded in Syria, bringing caravans from Mecca.
رحلة الشتاء والصيف [
Q106] So I wonder, was Syria an
international trade center, bringing in traders & goods from around the world?
ماشاء الله والله أعلم
Still, the Roman Empire
met its match in the Persian Empire here. A mark of this rivalry is when the Romans fell to the Persian, in Jerusalem. But they later defeated the Persian & regained Jerusalem.
غلبت الروم. في أدني الأرض، وهم من بعد غلبهم سيغلبون [
Q30:2-6]

The dawn of Islam, 7th century
إذا هلك قيصر فلا قيصر بعده ، وإذا هلك كسرى فلا كسرى بعده"If Caesar is ruined, there will be no Caesar after him; and if Khosrau is ruined, there will be no Khosrau, after him". [
SB8.78.625] & the words of Prophet Muhammad
ﷺ came true - years after he passed away. Both the Roman & Persian Empires fell.
 The Umayyad Mosque, Syria |
Syria & Jerusalem came under
the Arabs. It was the second Caliph, Umar Al Khattab who
brought back the Jews into Jerusalem. Then the third Caliph, Uthman sent an envoy to China. His family the Umayyad ruled Syria, they built the Dome of Rock. Later after they fell, the Umayyad moved to Spain & established
Al Andalus in the West.
الحمد لله

The rise of the Mongol Empire, 13th century. Credit: National Geographic 1996
Meanwhile the fourth Caliph, Ali moved to Iraq and his family the Abbasid established Baghdad's House Of Wisdom in in the East.
الحمد لله But they later fell when the
Mongols came. The Mongols conquered cities from Asia to Europe & became the largest contiguous empire in history. After the conquests, they connected trade cities and eased trade flows across the empire - known as Pax Mongolica.
Eventually, the Mongols in Persia (Ilkhanate) embraced Islam.
الحمد لله & the mystery is ... did these Mongols influence from Kiev, Ottoman,
Central Asia, Mughal,
Malacca to China? But they're Asians in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. I'm mystified. (◠v◠)'
 Xi'an Mosque China, 8th |
 Mezquita Spain, 10th |
 Kairaouine Mosque Morocco, 10th |
 Qalawun Complex Egypt, 13th |
 Mustansiriya Madrassa Iraq, 13th |
 Al Hambra Spain, 14th |
 Turabeg Khanym Turkmenistan, 14th |
 Registan Uzbekistan, 15th |
Herat Grand Mosque Afghanistan, 15th |
 Bakhchisaray Palace Crimea, 16th |
 Taj Mahal India, 17th |
 Sultanahmet Mosque Turkey, 17th |
Jabir Ibn Hayyan 🇮🇶 chemistry, 8th
Al-Khwarizmi 🇮🇶 algebra, 8th
Al-Haytham 🇮🇶 optics, 10th
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Al-Biruni 🇺🇿 anthropology, 10th
Avicenna 🇺🇿 medicine, 10th
Ali Al-Abbas 🇮🇷 medicine, 10th
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Al-Zahrawi 🇪🇸 surgery, 10th
Al-Sufi 🇮🇷 astronomy, 10th
Al-Khazini 🇮🇷 astronomy, 12th
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Rashid Al-Din 🇮🇷 history, 13th
Ibn Battuta 🇲🇦 geographer, 14th
Zheng He 🇨🇳 navigator, 15th
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Some of the Islamic architectures & scholars from the West and East الحمد لله
The European Age of Discovery, Around 15th Century | wikipedia
 The Portuguese A Famosa in Malacca, built in 1511 |
Meanwhile, after the fall of Rome, Europe dimmed into the Dark Ages. But they were illuminated again - was it because of
knowledge exchanges with the Islamic world? They met in
Al Andalus ... Now they look more like
Arabs, right?
After the Renaissance, the 15th century Age of Discovery saw the Europeans left the Mediterranean to the West in search of the Spice Route. Were they looking for India, is that why Native Americans are Red Indians? (◠v◠) As they go West, they found the Americas & circumnavigated the Earth.
So the Portuguese trailed Africa, eventually finding Ceylon & Malacca. & they
conquered Malacca. After they built the A Famosa fortress, were the traders from Syria shocked & told this tale as the tale of
Aladdin?
والله أعلم Then in the next centuries - the Portuguese, Spain, British, Dutch, French rose as
colonial empires across the world.
After the colonial era, various countries have now achieved independence. But western civilization still influences their present lifestyle, as it was deeply ingrained in their past.

 500 Rome, Persia |
 800 Arab |
 1300 Mongol, Ming |
 1600 Ottoman, Mughal Russia, Spain, Portugal |
 1900 Europe |
 2000 Nations |
I seek refuge in Allah SWT from errors
Only Allah SWT Knows Best والله أعلم
 Millenials |
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 Civilizations |
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 Mankind |
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 Millenium BC |
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 Translation |
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