AP World History: Unit 1 Global Tapestry Vocabulary

Practice vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering state building, economic systems, religious developments, and social structures across world regions from c. 1200 to c. 1450.

Song Dynasty

The imperial dynasty of China (960-1279 CE) that replaced the Tang Dynasty and was characterized by a centralized imperial bureaucracy, commercialization, and key technological advancements.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A vast organizational system in China in which appointed officials carried out the policies of the empire.

Meritocracy

A bureaucratic governance system in China where officials earned their positions by demonstrating merit on standardized civil service examinations.

Grand Canal

An internal waterway transportation network extending over 30,000 miles in China that enabled the Song Dynasty to become a leading global commercial hub.

Champa Rice

A fast-ripening, drought-resistant strain of rice from Champa, Vietnam, that greatly increased Chinese agricultural output.

Proto-industrialization

An economic phase prior to industrialization where rural populations produce more goods than they can consume, relying on home- or community-based equipment.

Flying Cash

A paper financial instrument and letter of credit developed by Chinese merchants allowing deposits at one location and cash withdrawal at another.

Scholar-Gentry

The most influential Chinese social class during the Song Dynasty, consisting of wealthy landowners educated in Confucian philosophy.

Foot-binding

The Song Dynasty aristocratic practice of tightly wrapping a young girl's feet to restrict natural growth, functioning as a indicator of elite social status and behavioral control.

Neo-Confucianism

A syncretic philosophical system developed between 770-840 CE that integrated rational Confucian morality with abstract ideas from Daoism and Buddhism.

Bushido

The strict code of conduct observed by professional Japanese samurai warriors that emphasized loyalty, martial arts skills, frugality, and honor unto death.

Shogun

A military leader and clan head in feudal Japan who exercised supreme executive authority while governing in the name of the emperor.

House of Wisdom

A famous academic and translation center in Abbasid Baghdad where international scholars translated and preserved scientific and philosophical knowledge.

Mamluk Sultanate

A state established in Egypt (1250-1517 CE) by enslaved Turkic military forces who seized government control and dominated cotton and sugar trade routes.

Kaaba

A sacred cubic shrine in Mecca that housed 360 polytheistic idols before Muhammad established Islam, serving as the primary directional focus for Muslim prayer.

Five Pillars of Islam

The core spiritual duties of Islam: Shahadah (faith), Salah (daily prayer), Zakah (almsgiving), Sawm (fasting during Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).

Sufis

Islamic mystics who rejected rigid legalistic approaches in favor of direct personal experience, asceticism, and spiritual introspection to connect with the Divine.

Delhi Sultanate

A Turkic Muslim empire established in northern India in 1206 that ruled over a predominantly Hindu population for over 300 years.

Chola Dynasty

A maritime empire in southern India (850-1267 CE) whose naval forces dominated waters between the Arabian Sea and the South China Sea.

Vijayanagara Empire

A southern Indian Hindu state (1336-1646 CE) founded by two brothers that translates as the "city of victory."

Bhakti Movement

A devotional Hindu movement originating in 12th-century southern India that prioritized emotional devotion to a single deity over strict ritualistic study or caste rules.

Srivijaya Empire

A maritime Hindu kingdom located on Sumatra (670-1025 CE) that built wealth by taxing merchant vessels passing through crucial Indian Ocean trade straits.

Majapahit Kingdom

A Java-based Buddhist kingdom (1293-1520 CE) that maintained regional dominance by controlling maritime trade networks across 98 tributary regions.

Khmer Empire

A agrarian land empire centered in modern-day Cambodia (802-1431 CE), renowned for extensive agricultural irrigation systems and its capital Angkor Thom.

Matrilineal Society

A social organizational structure, such as that used by the Mississippian culture, where social standing, clan identity, and inheritance pass through the mother's line.

Chinampas

Artificial floating agricultural platforms built by the Aztecs on Lake Texcoco to increase arable farming acreage.

Mit'a System

A mandatory labor service system utilized in the Inca Empire requiring men aged 15-50 to perform public works, construction, and agricultural tasks.

Carpa Nan

A 25,000-mile highway and roadway network constructed across the mountainous Inca Empire primarily for administrative, communication, and military use.

Kin-based Networks

A decentralized governance system in Sub-Saharan Africa where extended families self-governed through communal decision-making led by a village chief.

Hausa Kingdom

A loose network of seven West African city-states established before 1000 CE by the Hausa ethnic group without centralized political unification.

Great Zimbabwe

A medieval East African city that served as the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, famous for its 30-foot-high, 5-foot-thick stone walls constructed without mortar.

Great Mosque of Djenné

A large earthen mud-brick mosque built in Mali, serving as a landmark center of Islamic scholarship and community life along trans-Saharan trade routes.

Griots

Traditional Sub-Saharan African oral storytellers and historians who preserved genealogies, royal deeds, and cultural traditions.

Feudalism

A decentralized European political and social organization based on contractual agreements exchanging land grants (fiefs) for military service and fealty.

Manorial System

An economic system in medieval Europe structured around self-sufficient agricultural manors where serfs provided labor and crops to lords in return for physical protection.

Three-field System

A crop rotation methodology used in medieval European agriculture where field cultivation was rotated across three fields to keep one fallow and preserve soil fertility.

Magna Carta

A charter signed by King John of England in 1215 that limited royal privilege and established legal protections such as trial by jury for nobles.

Great Schism

The formal split of Western and Eastern Christianity in 1054 CE, creating the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East.

Humanism

A Renaissance intellectual movement centered on classical education, civic responsibility, and individual achievements rather than strict religious dogma.