write an essay on the Agrarian revolution
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The two books have also articulated the issue of religion and the spread of agriculture. The medieval Islamic world for instance in the 8th century passed through a very important transition in agriculture making the historians to call the era “Arab agricultural revolution”. The authors suggest that these changes were brought about by a number of factors such as diffusion of various plants and crops along the Muslim trade paths. Also, the spread of more advanced agricultural practices as well as the agricultural economic systems brought about efficiency and high returns in terms of yields (McNeil and Robert 77).
Change in agricultural practices contributed to major changes in economy, population levels and distribution, agricultural productivity and vegetation cover among many other aspects of life in the Islamic community. An expansive area was covered by Muslim traders facilitating crop diffusion and farming practices across the Islamic region. Historians William and Robert argue that the spread initiated various vital crops through Al-Andalus together with their cultivation practices. Some of the very vital crops that were used in the transfer included cotton, rice and sugarcane. Also transferred included a number of fruit trees, vegetables and nut trees.
In this era were also some of the agricultural technologies such as crop rotation systems use of agricultural manuals and irrigation systems. A complex irrigation system made use of water mills, norias, reservoirs, dams and water raising machines. Some of the technological and infrastructural technological systems went on from the roman times and some came as a result of Muslim presence. Later on the Muslims transferred cultural qualities and highly advanced agricultural practices to western India and Turkic lands (Strayer 80).
Although the two books share the same sentiments about the agricultural revolution in the Islam world, there is a striking difference about in how the book ways of the world discusses agriculture in Europe. Robert Strayer says that the European agriculture underwent various major changes during the middle age. Tools like the plow and scythe were improved from the classical versions and also there was a three field system whereby crops were rotated. Some of the tools that were increasingly used were the moldboard plow and the wheeled plow. There was also breeding of the draft horses so that they could be used as animals in most parts of Europe. The oxen also continued to be used as working animals as well. There was also high adoption of the metal horse shoes. By this time, most of the parts of Europe were densely populated with people.