AP WORLD VOCAB

Buddhism

Religion based on Four Noble Truths, associated with Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE), or the Buddha; its adherents desired to eliminate all distracting passion and reach nirvana.

Chan Buddhism

Influential branch of Buddhism in China with an emphasis on intuition and sudden flashes of intuition instead of textual study.

Confucianism

Philosophy based on the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Kong Fuzi (Confucius). It draws attention to order, the role of men, and obligation to society.

Daoism

Chinese philosophy with origins in the Zhou dynasty; it is associated with the legendary philosopher Laozi, and it called for a policy of noncompetition.

Mahayana Buddhism

The "greater vehicle," a more metaphysical and more popular branch of Buddhism

neo-Confucianism

Chinese philosophy influenced by Buddhism that emerged around the 12th and 13th centuries. Most important thinker was Zhi Xi.

Song Dynasty

Chinese dynasty (969-1279) that was marked by an increasingly urbanized and cosmopolitan society

Abbasid dynasty

A cosmopolitan Arabic dynasty (750 - 1258) that replaced the Umayyads; founded by Abu al-Abbas

Bedouin

Nomadic Arab tribes people.

Caliph

A "Deputy", the Islamic leader after the death of Muhammad

Dar al-Islam

the "House of Islam," a term for the Islamic World.

Five Pillars of Islam

The foundation of Islam: 1) profession of faith, 2) prayer, 3) fasting during Ramadan, 4) almsgiving, and 5) pilgrimage, or hajj

Islam

Monotheistic religion announced by the prophet Muhammad(570-632); influenced by Judaism and Christianity, Muhammad was considered the final prophet because earlier religions had not seen the entire picture; the Quran is a holy book

Jihad

Arabic word meaning "struggle", and which has various meanings to Muslims, each of which refer to the imperative to spread Islam throughout the world.

Jizya

Tax in Islamic empires that was imposed on non-Muslims

Mecca

An important city to the Islamic religion. Where the hajj is conducted annually.

Medina

A city north of Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad and his followers migrated to this city in 622 C.E. The name of the city means "the city," as in "the city of the prophet."

Muhammad

Prophet of Islam (570-632 CE)

Muslim

A follower of Islam.

Quran

Islamic Holy book that is believed to contain the divine revelations of Allah as presented to Muhammed

Sharia

The holy law of Islam, written by the theologians from the Quran and accounts of Muhammed's life.

Shia

Islamic minority in opposition to the Sunni majority; they believe that leadership should reside in the line descended from Ali

Sufi

Islamic mystics who placed more emphasis on emotion and devotion than on doctrine

Sunni

"Traditionalists." the most popular branch of Islam: Sunnis believe in the legitimacy of the early caliphs, compared with the Shiite belief that only a descendant of Ali can lead.

Ulama

Islamic officials; and scholars who shaped public policy following the Quran and the Sharia.

Umma

Islamic term for the "community of the faithful."

Umayyad dynasty

Arabic dynasty (661-750), with its capital at Damascus, which was marked by a tremendous period of expansion to Spain in the west and India in the east.

Bhakti movement

An Indian movement that attempted to transcend the differences between Hinduism and Islam

Caste system

a system of social distinction that emerged in South Asia late in the second millennium which divides the population into a series of classes or varnas

emporia

Commercial establishments that specialize in products and services on a large scale, vital to the conduct of transregional trade.

Hinduism

main religion of India is a combination of Dravidian and Aryan concepts; Hinduism's goal is to reach spiritual purity and union with the Greek world spirit's important concepts including dharma, karma, and samsara.

Junks

Ships used by merchants and others in the seas of China and Southeast Asia to carry commercial cargo.

Melaka

Southeast Asian kingdom that was predominantly Islamic.

Monsoons

Seasonal winds that blow across the Indian subcontinent and Indian Ocean Basin that facilitated maritime trade during the early Silk Roads eras.

Sultanate of Delhi

Islamic kingdom that ruled a predominantly Hindu population with its capital in northern India.

Vijayanagar

Southern Indian kingdom (1336-1565) that later fell to the Mughals.

Byzantine Empire

Long lasting empire centered at Constantinople; grew out of the end of the Roman Empire, lasting until the early modern age.

Caesaropapism

Concept relating to the mixing of political and religious authority, as with the Roman emperors, that was central to the church-versus-state controversy in medieval Europe.

Cyrillic

The alphabet used in Slavic areas, given by Byzantine Christian missionaries and inspired partly by the Greek alphabet

Eastern Orthodox

Branch of Christianity with its origins in the Byzantine Empire characterized by a decentralized hierarchy, with strong ties to governance.

Papacy

The office or authority of the pope

Patriarchs

Leaders of the Greek Orthodox church in 1054 officially split with the pope and the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic

Branch of Christianity centered in the Vatican with a strict hierarchy and played a central role in shaping culture, theology, and governance in Western Europe.

Chinggis Khan

Founder and the first emperor of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous land empire in the history of the world.

Ghaznavid Turks

Turkish tribe under Mahmud of Ghazni who moved into northern India in the eleventh century and began a period of greater Islamic influence in India.

Ilkhanate

Mongol state that ruled Persia after the abolition of the Abbasid empire in the thirteenth century.

Khan

Title for a ruler or military leader in Central Asia, historically used by Mongol and Turkic tribes to denote a chief or sovereign

Khanate of Chaghatai

Kingdom in central Asia founded by one of Chinggis Khan's sons.

Khublilai

Grandson of Chinggis Khan and founder of the Yuan dynasty.

Khwarazm Shah

Ruler of Afghanistan and Persia who ordered the kill of Chinggis Khans trade envoys and bringing the downfall of Persia in1219

Mongols

Nomadic People of the Mongol Steppes of eastern central Asia. Loyalty to kin groups organized into families, clans, and tribes. Organized into a large empire by Chinggis Khan.

Osman

Founder of the Ottoman dynasty and the Ottoman state

Ottoman Empire

Powerful Turkish empire that lasted from the conquest of the Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453 until 1918 and reached its peak under the rule of Suleyman the Magnificent

Safavid

Later Persian empire (1501-1722) that was founded by Shah Ismail and that became a center for Shiism; the empire reached its peak under Shah Abbas the Great and was centered on the capital of Isfahan.

Seljuq Turks

Turkish tribe that gained control over the Abbasid empire and fought with the Byzantine empire

Sultan

A muslim ruler

Tamerlane

Founder of an empire ranging from the Black Sea to Smarkand

Temujin

Mongol conqueror who later took the name Chinggis Khan meaning "universal ruler"

Yuan Dynasty

Chinese dynasty (1279-1368) that was founded by the Mongol ruler Khubilai Khan

Bantu

African people who originally lived in present-day Nigeria. Around 2000 BCE they began centuries-long migration. Very influential, especially linguistically.

Camels

Animals that can carry a heavy load and can go long with no water or food

Great Zimbabwe

A large sub-Saharan African kingdom from the 15th century.

Islamic Slave Trade

(750-1500) African slaves were transported to foreign lands, high demands led to the creation of networks within Africa to capture people and sell them as slaves. Served as a foundation for the Atlantic slave trade in later centuries.

Kilwa

City-state and trade hub in east Africa that was founded by Bantus. Reached peak prosperity between 1300 and 1505.

Kingdom of Ghana

Kingdom in West Africa during the fifth through the thirteenth century whose rulers eventually converted to Islam; its power and wealth were based on dominated sub-Saharan trade

Kingdom of Kongo

Central African state that was the most highly centralized of the Bantu kingdoms.

Mali Empire

West African Kingdom founded in the 13th century by Sundiata and reached its peak during the rain of Mansa Musa

Mansa Musa

Reigned 1312-1337 CE. Ruler of a large West African kingdom and one of the wealthiest individuals of all time.

Sundiata

Founder of the Mali empire (r. 1230-1255) also the inspiration for the sundiata, an African literacy and mythological work.

Swahili

East African city-state society that dominated the coast from Mogadishnu to Kilwa and was active in trade. Also a Bantu language of East Africa, or a member of a group who speaks this language.

Timbuktu

City in the Mali Empire known for its large population, wealth, and places for learning

Crusades

A series of religious wars between European Christians and Muslims from the 11th to 13th centuries aimed at reclaiming the Holy Land from Muslim control.

Chivalry

European medieval code of conduct for knights based on loyalty and honor.

Holy Roman Empire

Western European confederation of princely states centered in modern Germany that was supposed to be a Christian revival of a classical empire that had conquered most of Europe.

Marco Polo

Italian merchant whose account of his travels in China and other lands became legendary.

Hanseatic League

A Commercial confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in northwest Europe that dominated Baltic trade from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries.

Dominicans

An order of mendicants founded by St. Dominic whose purpose was to live in poverty and serve the religious needs of their communities.

Franciscans

An order of mendicants founded by St. Francis whose purpose was to live in poverty and serve the religious needs of their communities.

Guilds

organizations that regulated prices, apprenticeships, and standards of a specific trade or craft in cities.

Reconquista

Crusade, ending in 1492, to drive the Islamic forces out of Spain.

Saladin

1137-1193 Muslim leader and crusader who recaptured Jerusalem from Christians in 1187.

Scholasticism

Medival attempt of thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas to merge the beliefs of Christianity with the logical rigor of Greek philosophy.

St Thomas Aquinas

An Italian Dominican friar and Catholic priest whose religious writings became enormously influential in the school of Scholasticism

Three estates

Three classes of European society. Clergy (First estate) Aristocrats (Second estate) and the common people (Third estate)

Aboriginal peoples

indigenous people in Australia that ventured over vast strecthes of the continent and created networks of trade and exchange between their hunting and gathering societies

Ali'i nui

Hawaiian class of high chiefs.

Ayllu

communities of peasant cultivators, similar to the Mexica's alpulli, and were the basic units of rural society in Inca society

Aztec Empire

Central American empire constructed by the Mexica and expanded greatly during the fifteenth century during the reigns of Irzocoat and Matecuzoma I

Cahokia

large structure in modern Illinois that the mound-building peoples constructed; it was the third largest structure in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans

Chinampa

Agricultural gardens used by Mexica in which fertile muck from lake bottoms was dredged and built up into small plots.

Cuzco

capital of Inca Empire, administrative, religious, and ceremonial center of the Inca Empire, the same place where Pachachuti (the Inca ruler that expanded the Incas' authority) retired

Inca Empire

A powerful South American empire that would peak in the 15th century during the reigns of Pachacuti and Topa.

Inti

The Inca ruling class's major deity, the sun god.

Iroquois

Eastern American Indian confederation made up of Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes.

Maori

Indigenous people of New Zealand

Mexica

Nahuatl-speaking people from the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Aztec Empire

Motecuzoma I

1397-1468 Fifth Aztec ruler whose conquests significantly extended Aztec rule beyond the Valley of Mexico

Nan Madol

Large palace and administrative center in Pohnpei, Micronesia, consisting of islets connected by canals and built with basalt stones, serving as a center for the ancient Saudeleur dynasty.

Navajo and Pueblo

Indigenous group in the southwestern area of modern-day America that built permanent stone and adobe buildings, and used rivers to irrigate their crops.

Polynesians

inhabitants of the Pacific islands, they had a large population that developed sophisticated seafaring techniques, and through waves of colonization, settled most of the Pacific islands.