AP World History: Unit 1 & Unit 2 Progress Check Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards focusing on key proper nouns, terms, historical figures, authors, and historical processes extracted from the provided AP World History Unit 1 and Unit 2 progress check source materials.

Mamluk

An Arabic term designating an enslaved person; specifically, a slave soldier of Turkic origin whose adoption by the Abbasids preceded the political disintegration of the Abbasid state.

Patricia Crone

Danish-American historian of Islamic history and author of 'Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity' (1980), who analyzed the role of mamluk institutions in the Abbasid state's disintegration.

Abbasid Caliphate Governance

A concept of state governance where political and religious authority were unified under a caliph, who acted as both the state's supreme religious and supreme political leader.

Sufi Missionaries

Muslim religious figures whose activities served as the primary mechanism for the continued spread of Islam across Afro-Eurasia between 1200 and 1450 despite the Abbasid Caliphate's decline.

Amoghapasa

A major figure worshipped in Mahayana Buddhism, represented in a circa 1350 C.E. Sumatra statue commissioned by King Adityawarman for the spiritual benefit and salvation of all creatures.

King Adityawarman

Ruler of the Malayapura kingdom in Sumatra, Indonesia (circa 1350 C.E.), who legitimized his authority through Buddhist spiritual virtues, scientific knowledge, and military achievements.

Exotic Goods (Maya Economy)

High-status exchange items—such as jaguar pelts, fine textiles, and feathers—used by Maya rulers and elites in formal dress and rituals to maintain power, status, and regional cultural integration.

Arthur Demarest

United States anthropologist and author of 'Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization' (2004), who argued that the exchange of high-status luxury goods reinforced Maya political structure and elite authority.

Zara Yacob

Ruler of Christian Ethiopia (also called King David) described by Italian traveler Pietro Rombulo in 1450 C.E. as an exceptionally civilized, just, and pious monarch.

Pietro Rombulo

An Italian native of Messina who lived among Ethiopian Christians safely for over 40 years before traveling to Naples in 1450 C.E. as part of an embassy from the King of Ethiopia.

Pietro Ranzano

Catholic Church official in Naples and Sicily who documented the 1450 C.E. Ethiopian embassy in a universal history written circa 1480.

Statute of Laborers

A royal decree issued in 1351 by King Edward III of England that legally required workers to accept pre-plague wage levels (from the year 1346) and permitted the imprisonment of serfs who refused service.

Feudal Consultations

The practice of European monarchs, such as King Edward III, conferring with kingdom nobles and clergy to pass decrees, illustrating the decentralized and fragmented nature of medieval feudal monarchies.

René Grousset

French historian of Central Asia and author of 'The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia' (1939), who identified the historical pattern of nomadic conquerors being culturally assimilated by settled civilizations.

Assimilation of Nomadic Conquerors

The process by which steppe nomads who conquered settled civilizations were culturally absorbed over time, exemplified by the Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty adopting Chinese court culture and administration.

Karim

Convoyed merchant fleets organized by Egyptian Muslim traders and protected by government-provided armed escorts to facilitate trade between the Red Sea and India.