Feudalism was not only a western phenomenon. Feudal societies existed in India, and there were feudal aspects to Chinese society during the feudal age. In Japan, feudalism was well-established by the 10th century C.E., as a response to provincial infighting (rather than outside threats, as occurred in the West). The Japanese knightly class, the samurai, owed allegiance to their daimyo, Japan's feudal lords, and followed the way of bushido, like chivalry a code based on honor.
Other areas of the world did not follow Europe into feudalism.
During this period, China developed a competitive government civil service, initiated during the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE). The Tang expanded Chinese territory and ushered in a golden age of literature and art. It was an age of technological achievement, as well, with the invention of gunpowder and moveable type. After the Tang dynasty, the country fragmented, with five dynasties in the north and 10 kingdoms in the south. But after 960, when the Song dynasty assumed power, the country was reunited, with an even more centralized bureaucracy whose administrative function extended beyond government to trade, industry, and maritime pursuits. Chinese inventions after 1000 CE include the compass and explosives.
On the Indian subcontinent, the Gupta empire expanded its rule in northern India, while southern India expanded its trade with southeast Asia. The Gupta also established a strong central government and oversaw advances in science, art, and literature. Indian mathematicians developed the decimal system during this period. Hinduism surged in popularity during the reign of the Gupta, becoming firmly established as India's main religion.
The founding of Islam by the prophet Muhammad, around 750, was probably the most consequential event in the Middle East in this period. Under this new religion, Arab tribes united most of the Arab peninsula. Muhammad’s successors pursued conquest to the east as far as India and to the west as far as Spain, defeating the Persian empire and absorbing a majority of Byzantine provinces. Muslim scholars and innovators synthesized international technical and scientific developments, while Arabic mathematicians developed algebra.
By the 1200s, most of the Middle East's population was Muslim. Incursions by Christian crusaders in Syria and Palestine often encouraged en masse conversions to Islam by local populations. Despite frequent political disruptions in the Middle East, Islam was a potent unifying factor, with Arabic and Persian being the languages of commerce, culture, and government.
