Exam 2 Study Guide

Aksum

A kingdom along the Red Sea today known as Ethiopia and Eritrea which grew wealthy from trade. It became the dominant kingdom in east Africa with the decline of Kush in the fourth century.

Early Subsaharan African history

Knowledge of the early history of Subsaharan African societies are limited due to the scarcity of written sources and archeological discoveries. We do know that Subsaharan Africa was linguistically and ethnically diverse.

Kingdom of Kush

An advanced African kingdom along the Nile River, deeply influenced by Egypt, that's economy was built around the trade of gold, iron, and slaves with Rome and Egypt.

Celts

Peoples sharing a common language and culture that originated in Central Europe in the first half of the first millennium B.C.E.. After 500 B.C.E. they spread as far as Anatolia in the east, Spain and the British Isles in the west. Conquered by Romans and displaced by Germans and other groups, today they are found in some corners of the British Isles.

Huns

Large nomadic group from northern Asia who invaded territories extending from China to Eastern Europe. They virtually lived on their horses, herding cattle, sheep, and horses as well as hunting.

Scythians

The complex, nomadic civilization of the ancient people thrived for about 600 years. Migrating from Central Asia, they traveled the steppes of southern Russia on horseback. They were likely among the first people to learn to ride. Their royal families lived and traveled in wagons with their herds, although some apparently learned to farm and lived in more settled ways.

Goths

An array of Germanic peoples, pushed further westward by nomads from central Asia. They in turn migrated west into Rome, upsetting the rough balance of power that existed between Rome and these people.

Cimmerians

The Cimmerians were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people from the Pontic-Caspian steppe who, in the early 1st millennium BCE, migrated into West Asia, becoming known for their mounted archery, skilled metalwork, and intense raids against Urartu, Phrygia, and Lydia. Often identified with the Novocherkassk culture, they were fierce, mobile, and eventually absorbed by Scythians.

Druids

The class of religious experts who conducted rituals and preserved sacred lore among some ancient Celtic peoples. They provided education, mediated disputes between kinship groups, and were suppressed by the Romans as potential resistance.

Olmec civilization

The earliest known civilization to develop in Mesoamerica (along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico) around 1200 B.C.E. They were known for the massive stone heads they left behind.

Inca Civilization

A pre-Columbian civilization in the Andes Mountains. The Inca excelled at engineering, and developed new food crops like potatoes.

Maya Civilization

A major civilization of Mesoamerica; flourished from 250 to 900 C.E. known for their complex calendars and advanced mathematics.

Zapotec Civilization

An early Mesoamerican civilization that was centered in the Oaxaca Valley of what is now Mexico and succeeded the Olmecs as the dominant civilization in the region.

Wu Zetian

Empress during Tang Dynasty (618-907); only empress in Chinese history

Chola Kingdom

Kingdom situated in the deep south. At its high point, Chola forces conquered Ceylon and parts of southeast Asia, funded by the profits of trade, dominated the sea, did not build a tightly centralized state.

Gupta Empire

Powerful Indian state based in the Ganges Valley. It controlled most of the Indian subcontinent through a combination of military force and its prestige as a center of sophisticated culture. Often associated with a Golden Age of classical India.

The Imperial Crisis of the 3rd Century

During the mid third century, a series of usurpers, barracks emperors, plunged the empire into five decades of civil war during which 51 men claimed the title emperor or co-emperor.

Council of Nicaea (325)

It determined Jesus was both divine and human; that the Holy Trinity existed (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit); when Easter was; and early Christian law.

Arius

A North African clergy member who taught that Jesus was created and not co-eternal with god. His teachings were declared heresy at the Council of Nicaea.

Emperor Justinian

Byzantine emperor in the 6th century A.D. who reconquered much of the territory previously ruler by Rome. He initiated an ambitious building program, including Hagia Sofia, as well as a new legal code.

Prophet Muhammad

The founder of Islam, who is believed by Muslims to be the seal of the prophets, he taught that there is one God, that there will be a final judgement, and that all will be resurrected.

Sunni Islam

Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries.

Shia Islam

Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam that believe Muhammad's son-in-law Ali was the rightful successor to the prophet.

Tibetan Empire

The Tibetan Empire (7th-9th centuries CE) was a powerful state in Central Asia that expanded its influence through military and diplomatic means, playing a key role in regional trade and the spread of Buddhism. Its interactions with Tang China contributed to the transmission of Buddhism, which also influenced Japan during the Heian Period.

Shintoism

Religion located in Japan and related to Buddhism. Shintoism focuses particularly on nature and ancestor worship.

Heian Japan

A period of Japanese history (794-1184 CE) dominated by the Fujiwara clan and considered to be important in the formation of a distinct Japanese culture and important era of literature and the arts.

Mongol Empire

Largest land empire in the history of the world, spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia and contributed to a revitalization of land-based trade between East Asia and Europe.

Genghis Khan

Also known as Temujin; he united the Mongol tribes into a mighty fighting force; created largest single land empire in history.

Indian Ocean Trade

Connected to Europe, Africa, and China.; worlds richest maritime trading network and an area of rapid Muslim expansion.

Bhakti Movement

Bhakti preachers often came from low-caste backgrounds and often ignored Brahmin learning, teaching their message in local tongues like Tamil rather than in Sanskrit.

Ghaznavids

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 in the 11th and 12th centuries

Fatimids

Caliphate sponsored Shi'a Islam, emerged in Tunisia, conquered much of the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, in addition to establishing the city of Cairo

Mamluks

Under the Islamic system of military slavery, Turkic military slaves who formed an important part of the armed forces of the Abbasid Caliphate of the ninth and tenth centuries. Mamluks eventually founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria (1250-1517)

Rashidun

The "Rightly Guided Caliphs" succeeded the Prophet Muhammad and presided over the first large wave of expansion of Islamic rule to places like Egypt, Syria, and Iran.

Umayyads

A dynasty that ruled the Muslim Empire from 661 to 750 and later established a kingdom in al-Andalus.

Charlemagne

King of the Franks (r. 768-814); emperor (r. 800-814). Through a series of military conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Illiterate, though started an intellectual revival.

Kingdom of Ghana

First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (7th - 13th century). Located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali, it acted as intermediary between Arab and Berber salt traders to the north and gold and ivory producers to the south.

Al-Andalus

A Muslim-ruled region in what is now Spain, established by the Berbers in the eighth century CE.

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East.

The Anasazi culture disappeared due to

A drought that lasted more than fifty years

Salah al-Din

A Muslim leader who recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, leading to the Third Crusade

Battle of Manzikert

Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantine armies in this battle in Anatolia; shows the declining power of Byzantium.

Mehmet II (Mehmet the Conqueror)

Ottoman Sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1453 and expanded the Ottoman Empire deep into the Balkans.

Umar ibn al-Khattab

The second Caliph of Rashidun who presided over the Islamic conquests of Syria, Iran, and Egypt.

Emperor Constantine

Roman emperor who legalized Christianity in 313 CE with the Edict of Milan

Marcus Aurelius

Last of the "Good Emperors", Wrote "Meditations" personal reflections of his beliefs, End of the Pax Romana

William the Conqueror

Duke of Normandy who invaded England in 1066 and claimed the English crown

Crusades

A series of holy wars from 1096-1270 AD undertaken by European Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule.

Pope Innocent III

(c. 1160-1216) one of the most powerful and influential popes in history; exerted wide influence over the Christian regimes of Europe, claiming supremacy. Called upon Christian forces to begin The Fourth Crusade (crusaders ended up sacking Constantinople)

Pope Urban II

Leader of the Roman Catholic Church who asked European Christians to take up arms against Muslims, starting the Crusades

First Crusade

1099 CE, Jerusalem fell the Christian crusaders; the only successful crusade.

Fourth Crusade

A Crusade from 1202 to 1204 that was diverted into a battle for Constantinople and failed to recapture Jerusalem causing damage to Byzantine Empire

The Ottoman Empire

A Muslim empire based in Turkey that lasted from the 1300's to 1922.

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