tributary states

Examples of tributary states in the following topics:

• Overview of the Mongol Empire

  • Many additional countries became tributary states of the Mongol Empire.
  • Tatar and Mongol raids against Russian states continued well into the later 1200's.

• The Ghana Empire

  • Tribute was also received from various tributary states and chiefdoms at the Empire's periphery.
  • Ghana appears to have had a central core region and was surrounded by vassal states.

• The Mongal Invasions

  • Kublai secured the northeast border in 1259 by installing the hostage prince Wonjong as the ruler of Korea, making it a Mongol tributary state.

• The Aztec in the Colonial Period

  • During the campaign, Cortés was given support from a number of tributaries and rivals of the Aztecs, including the Totonacs, and the Tlaxcaltecas, Texcocans, and other city-states particularly bordering Lake Texcoco.

• The Aztec People

  • They formed a tributary empire expanding its political hegemony far beyond the Valley of Mexico, conquering other city states throughout Mesoamerica.
  • Although the form of government is often referred to as an empire, in fact most areas within the empire were organized as city-states, known as altepetl in Nahuatl.
  • Tlacaelel, instead, focused on reforming the Aztec state and religious practices.
  • These payments from commoners to nobles supported both the lavish lifestyles of the high nobility and the finances of city-states.

• Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization

  • In total, more than 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Indus River and its tributaries.
  • The first is that there was a single state encompassing all the communities of the civilization, given the similarity in artifacts, the evidence of planned settlements, the standardized ratio of brick size, and the apparent establishment of settlements near sources of raw material.

• Europe's Early Trade Links

  • Between 1405 and 1421, the Yongle Emperor of Ming China sponsored a series of long range tributary missions.
  • Although the Mongols had threatened Europe with pillage and destruction, Mongol states also unified much of Eurasia and, from 1206 on, the Pax Mongolica allowed safe trade routes and communication lines stretching from the Middle East to China.

• Great Zimbabwe

  • David Beach believes that the city and its state, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, flourished from 1200 to 1500, although a somewhat earlier date for its demise is implied by a description transmitted in the early 1500s to João de Barros. 
  • Although it was formally established during the medieval period, archaeological excavations suggest that state formation here was considerably more ancient.
  • It was composed of over 150 tributaries headquartered in their own minor zimbabwes (stone structures). 
  • Both states were eventually absorbed into the largest and most powerful of the Kalanga states, the Rozwi Empire.

• Rise of the Gupta Empire

  • By 321 CE, he established a realm stretching along the Ganges River to Prayag, the modern-day city of Allahabad, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
  • By his death in 380 CE, Samudragupta had incorporated over 20 kingdoms into his realm and extended the Gupta Empire from the Himalayas to the Narmada River in central India and from the Brahmaputra River that cuts through four modern Asian nations to the Yamuna, the longest tributary of the Ganges River in northern India.
  • At the high point of his rule, Chandragupta II established a second capital at Ujjain, the largest city in the modern state of Madhya Pradesh in central India.
  • Chandragupta II conquered the western Indian region of Malwa after defeating the Western Kshatrapas, a branch of the Sakas, as well as expelling the Kushana Empire from Mathura, a northern Indian city state.
  • One of the most curious structures in Delhi, India, an iron pillar dating back to the 4th century CE, bears an inscription stating that it was erected as a flagstaff in honor of the Hindu god Vishnu and in memory of Chandragupta II.

• The Yoruba States

  • While Ile-Ife is considered to be the spiritual homeland of the Yoruba people, numerous Yoruba states were eventually centralized within the modern Oyo Empire that grew to become one of the largest African states.
  • By the end of the 16th century, the Ewe and Aja states of modern Benin were paying tribute to Oyo.
  • The Oyo Mesi (seven councilors of the states) and the Yoruba Earth cult known as Ogboni kept the Oba's power in check.
  • Aside from taxes on trade products coming in and out of the empire, Oyo also became wealthy off the taxes imposed on its tributaries.
  • The Oyo state ceased to exist as any sort of power in 1896.