AMSCO AP World History: Unit 1 (Topics 1.1-1.3) Vocabulary Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary study guide covering AMSCO AP World History Unit 1 Topics 1.1 (East Asia), 1.2 (Dar al-Islam), and 1.3 (South and Southeast Asia).

Song Dynasty

Chinese dynasty (960--1279) known for bureaucratic expansion, commercial revolution, and technological innovations.

Imperial Bureaucracy & Civil Service Exam

System of state governance where officials were chosen via merit-based exams on Confucian texts.

Meritocracy

Social/political advancement system based on personal ability rather than noble status or family background.

Scholar Gentry

Social class created by the civil service exam system that became China's most influential landowning elite.

Grand Canal

30,000-mile waterway linking northern and southern China, transforming China into the world's most populous trading area.

Champa Rice

Fast-ripening, drought-resistant rice strain from Vietnam that allowed two harvests per year, triggering a massive population explosion.

Proto-industrialization

Phase where rural home-based workers produce more goods than they can consume (e.g., porcelain, silk) for commercial trade.

Woodblock Printing

Early printing technology that allowed mass publication of texts, driving high literacy and exam preparation.

Artisans

Skilled craft workers who produced manufactured goods like ceramics, textiles, and ironware.

Foot Binding

Patriarchal elite practice in Song China involving tightly wrapping young girls' feet to restrict growth, signaling wealth and status.

Filial Piety

Confucian virtue of respect, duty, and obedience toward parents, elders, and ancestors.

Neo-Confucianism

Syncretic philosophy combining traditional Confucian ethics with abstract Buddhist and Daoist ideas.

Theravada Buddhism

Older branch of Buddhism focusing on personal spiritual growth through silent meditation and self-discipline (prevalent in SE Asia).

Mahayana Buddhism

Branch of Buddhism focused on spiritual growth for all beings and service; prominent in China and East Asia.

Tibetan Buddhism

Branch of Buddhism emphasizing chanting, yoga, and meditation (prominent in Tibet).

Zen/Chan Buddhism

Syncretic blend of Buddhist concepts and Daoist principles prioritizing direct experience and meditation.

Kowtow

Ritual requirement for foreign emissaries to bow low enough to touch their heads to the floor before the Chinese emperor.

Tributary System

Foreign relations network where surrounding non-Chinese states paid tribute (gifts/deference) to access Chinese markets.

Sinification

The assimilation or spread of Chinese culture, language, political structures, and writing systems to surrounding nations.

Helan Period

Era in Japanese history (794-1185) dominated by court aristocracy, classical art, and the flowering of literature.

Shogun & Samurai

Japanese military dictator who held real political power, supported by elite warrior vassals bound by Bushido.

Nuclear Family

Social structure consisting of just parents and children; preferred in Vietnamese culture, contrasting with the Chinese extended family model.

Commercialization

The transition of Song China's economy from local self-sufficiency to producing goods specifically for market sale and long-distance trade.

House of Wisdom

Renowned center of learning, translation, and research in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age.

Abbasid Caliphate

Major Islamic empire centered in Baghdad that fragmented by 1200 due to political decay and foreign invasions.

Mamluk Sultanate

Military slave regime that seized control of Egypt (1250-1517) and built a prosperous Red Sea trade system.

Mamluks

Enslaved Turkic ethnic groups trained as elite soldiers who eventually overthrew their masters to form their own empire.

Seljuk Empire

Sunni Turkic empire that expanded across the Middle East, reducing the Abbasid Caliph to a nominal religious figure and clashing with Christian Crusaders.

Sultan

Title claimed by secular political and military rulers in Islamic empires, separating political rule from the religious authority of the Caliph.

Crusaders

European Christian knights sent by the Pope to capture Holy Sites in the Levant from Muslim control.

Mongols

Central Asian pastoral nomads who invaded the Islamic heartland, culminating in the sack of Baghdad in 1258 and ending the Abbasid Caliphate.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

Islamic polymath whose contributions to trigonometry, geometry, and planetary models laid foundations for modern astronomy.

Aishah al-Ba'uniyyah

Prominent Sufi poet and mystic, one of the most prolific female writers of the pre-modern Islamic world.

Sufism

Mystical branch of Islam focusing on direct personal communion with Allah through introspective practices, poetry, and devotion.

Sufi Missionaries

Mystics who adapted Islamic teachings to local customs, playing a critical role in spreading Islam into South and Southeast Asia.

Al-Andalus

Islamic-ruled region of Spain that acted as a bridge for Muslim academic breakthroughs and classical Greek texts to enter Western Europe.

Caliph

The supreme political and religious leader of the Islamic community (Ummah) considered a successor to Muhammad.

Battle of Tours (732 CE)

Key battle in Western France where Frankish forces defeated an Umayyad army, marking the northern limit of Islamic expansion into Western Europe.

Vijayanagara Empire

Hindu empire established in Southern India (1336-1646) by two brothers who re-converted from Islam to Hinduism.

Delhi Sultanate

Northern Indian Islamic state (1206-1526) established by Turkic invaders, introducing Islam to a Hindu-majority region.

Jizya

Tax imposed by Islamic rulers (including the Delhi Sultanate) on non-Muslim subjects (dhimmi).

Rajput Kingdoms

Decentralized Hindu kingdoms in Northern India led by warrior clans that frequently resisted Islamic expansion.

Bhakti Movement

Hindu reform movement emphasizing direct personal devotion to a specific deity without caste-based restrictions or complex rituals.

Caste System / Jati

Rigid social hierarchy in India that dictated social mobility, marriage, and occupation.

Srivijaya Empire

Hindu-Buddhist maritime empire in Sumatra that grew wealthy by taxing ships passing through the Strait of Malacca.

Majapahit Kingdom

Buddhist sea-based empire on Java that dominated maritime routes by managing trade networks.

Khmer Empire (Angkor)

Powerful land-based empire in Cambodia known for sophisticated irrigation and architecture.

Angkor Wat

Massive Hindu temple complex later converted to a Buddhist sanctuary, showcasing royal power and syncretism.

Sukhothai Kingdom

Land-based kingdom in Southeast Asia that broke away from Khmer control in Thailand.

Proselytize

To actively seek to convert people to a religion; a core driver of Islamic expansion into South and Southeast Asia.

Qutub Minar

A massive minaret built by the Delhi Sultanate in Delhi over a Hindu temple site, symbolizing Islamic dominance in Northern India.

Urdu

Syncretic language that developed in South Asia combining the grammatical structure of Hindi with vocabulary from Arabic, Persian, and Chagatai.