History Lecture Flashcards: Global Empires (12th - 16th Century)

Vocabulary flashcards detailing key figures, terms, and events from the Aztec, Incan, Mongol, Sudanese, Ming, Habsburg, and Ottoman empires.

Aztlan Island

The original home of the Aztecs, described as a tiny island in the middle of a lake from which the name "Aztec" is derived.

Mexica

The name the Aztecs used for themselves, as "Aztecs" was a European label given to them later.

Huitzilopochtli

The chief god of the Aztecs who told them to leave their tiny island and look for a sign involving an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake.

Tenochtitlan

The Aztec capital city founded in $1325$ CE on a small island in Lake Texcoco, meaning "the place of the cactus."

Tezozomoc

The powerful ruler of Azcapotzalto from $1371$ to $1426$ to whom the Aztecs were initially subjects and vassals.

Itzcoatl

The Aztec king from $1426$ to $1440$ CE who formed the Triple Alliance and was the first of the three great Aztec conquerors.

Triple Alliance

The coalition formed in $1428$ between Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan to defeat Azcapotzalto and Maxtla.

Tlatoani

The title for the Aztec king, meaning he was chosen from the male members of the royal family by a group of important Aztecs.

Manco

The ancestral founder of the Incas who, in $1190$ CE, migrated from Lake Titicaca to establish the city of Cuzco.

Inti

The Incan sun god who identified Manco as his son and directed him to find a new home using a golden staff.

Pachacuti

The name taken by Yupanqui, meaning "He who remakes the world," after he defeated the Chancas and established the new Inca empire in $1438$ CE.

Pastoralist tribes

Tribes like the Mongols that did not practice agriculture but relied on animals for food, drink, and clothing, moving constantly for grazing land.

Oboqs

The warring clans that divided the Mongols before they were unified, which were organized by blood, marriage, or friendship.

Quiriltai

A great council or meeting of Mongols used to decide on ultimate rulers, such as naming Temujin as Genghis Khan in $1206$ CE.

Khagan

A title meaning "Khan of khans," given to the overarching ruler of the Mongol Empire after Genghis Khan, starting with Ogedei.

Przewalski horse

A genetically distinct breed of horse used by the Mongols that possessed incredible endurance and was central to their military success.

Khatun

The title used for a Mongol queen, such as Toregene or Ogulgaimish, who would rule in place of the khagan until a permanent successor was found.

Ship of the desert

A term for the camel, which was introduced to the Sudanese around $100$ CE and eased travel across the Sahara Desert.

Sundiata Keita

The ruler of Mali from $1230$ to $1255$ who founded the empire, adopted Islam, and introduced the Arabic system of writing.

Mansa Musa

The king of Mali from $1312$ to $1337$ who took a famous pilgrimage to Mecca with $60,000$ subjects and $2,000$ pounds of gold.

Sonni Ali

The leader of the Songhai empire from $1464$ to $1492$, known as "Ali the Great," who commanded a large cavalry and a navy of $400$ boats.

Muhammad Askia

The king of Songhai from $1493$ to $1528$ CE who overthrew Baru, named himself caliph, and tried to use Islam to unite the state.

Mandate of Heaven

The Chinese concept that a dynasty is in power only as long as they have the support of the gods, often signaled by natural disasters or peace.

Zhu Yuanzhang

A former Buddhist monk and leader of a criminal gang who drove the Mongols out of China and founded the Ming Dynasty in $1368$ CE.

Hung-wu

The reign title of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming emperor, who ruled from $1368$ to $1398$ CE.

Yung-lo

The reign title of Zhu Ti, the third Ming emperor, meaning "Everlasting joy," under whom the Ming Dynasty reached its high point.

Tribute system

The Chinese imperial system where other nations brought gifts and performed rituals to acknowledge China as the superior country.

Kowtow

The ritual of "banging the head" against the ground while kneeling, performed by visiting rulers to symbolize the superiority of China.

Cheng Ho

The admiral, also known as Zheng He, who led $7$ great voyages of exploration for China between $1405$ and $1433$ CE.

Emperor Charles V

The Habsburg ruler who inherited Spain in $1516$ and the Holy Roman Empire in $1519$, creating an empire "on which the sun never sets."

Battle of Lepanto

A massive naval victory in $1571$ where a Christian fleet led by Spain destroyed the Ottoman fleet in Greece, causing $40,000$ Ottoman deaths.

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman soldiers who began training at a very young age and were professional soldiers known as the "best of the best."

Mehmet II

The Ottoman Sultan known as "The Conqueror" who captured Constantinople in $1453$ CE and renamed it Istanbul.

Selim I

The Sultan known as "The Grim" who conquered Egypt and the holy lands of Mecca and Medina, becoming the first Turkish Caliph.

Suleiman I

Known as "The Magnificent," he ruled the Ottoman Empire from $1520$ to $1566$ CE and fought extensive holy wars against the Habsburgs.

Battle of Mohacs

A $1526$ CE battle where Ottoman guns and cannons defeated the Hungarian cavalry, leading to Ottoman rule of Hungary for over a century.