Question 11

11

“On several occasions, Ghazan Khan* went to the observatory at Maragha** and watched the Muslim, Christian, and Chinese astronomers make their observations. He looked at all the operations and instruments, studied them, and asked about their procedures, which he understood in spite of their difficulty. He also ordered the construction of a dome in order to investigate the Sun’s motion and he spoke out with his astronomers about it. All of them said that although they had never seen such an instrument, it was reasonable and sensible.

He gave orders for the construction of an observatory next to his tomb in Tabriz in Persia. He explained how to construct the observatory with such clarity that local wise men marveled at his intelligence, because such work had not been done in any era. Those wise men said that constructing the observatory would be extremely difficult. He guided them, whereupon they commenced building it and they finished it following his instructions. Those wise men and all the engineers agreed that nobody had done such a thing before nor had imagined doing it.”

*ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate, whose territories included most of the Muslim Middle East; reigned 1295–1304

**an astronomical observatory in present-day Azerbaijan, established by a grant from the first Ilkhanid ruler in the mid-thirteenth century

Rashid al-Din Hamdani, Persian Muslim historian and government minister in Ghazan Khan’s court, excerpt from a universal history commissioned by Ghazan Khan, completed circa 1316

Which of the following best describes the historical situation in Eurasia at the time the passage was written?

Frequent warfare limited the opportunities for cultural, scientific, and artistic innovation.

A

Political upheaval and reorganization increased cultural and scientific exchanges across regions.

B

Revived long-distance trade spread pathogens and infections to regions that had not been previously affected by them.

C

The invention and spread of new weapons and military tactics radically transformed the global balance of power.

D.

The invention and spread of new weapons and military tactics radically transformed the global balance of power.