Era 2: 1450-1750 (Unit 3 and 4)

Constantinople

the capital and almost the only outpost left of the Byzantine Empire, fell to the army of the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" in 1453, an event

that marked the end of Christian Byzantium.

Aztecs

Major state that developed in what is

now Mexico in the fourteenth and fifteenth

centuries; dominated by the semi-nomadic

Mexica, who had migrated into the region from

northern Mexico

European Renaissance

A "rebirth" of classical learning that is most often associated with the cultural blossoming of Italy in the period 1350-1500 and that included not just a rediscovery of Greek learning but also major developments in

art, as well as growing secularism in society.

Inca

The Western Hemisphere's largest

imperial state in the fifteenth and early sixteenth

centuries; built by a relatively small community

of Quechua-speaking people, the empire stretched some 2,500 miles along the Andes Mountains, which run nearly the entire length of the west coast of South America, and contained perhaps 10 million subjects.

Malacca

Muslim port city that came to prominence

on the waterway between Sumatra and Malaya

in the fifteenth century C.E.; it was the

springboard for the spread of a syncretic form of

Islam throughout the region

Ming

Chinese dynasty (1368-1644) that

succeeded the Yuan dynasty of the Mongols;

noted for its return to traditional Chinese ways

and restoration of the land after the

destructiveness of the Mongols.

Mughal

One of the most successful

empires of India, a state founded by an Islamized

Turkic group that invaded India in 1526; the

Mughals' rule was noted for their efforts to

create partnerships between Hindus and

Muslims.

Ottoman Empire

Major Islamic state centered on

Anatolia that came to include the Balkans, the

Near East, and much of North Africa.

Pochteca

Professional merchants in the Aztec

Empire whose wealth often elevated them to

elite status.

Safavid

Major Turkic empire of Persia

founded in the early sixteenth century, notable

for its efforts to convert its populace to Shia

Islam.

Songhai (or Songhay)

Major Islamic state of West Africa that formed in the second half of the fifteenth century.

Timbuktu

Great city of West Africa, noted in the

fourteenth-sixteenth centuries as a center of

Islamic scholarship.

Zheng He

Great Chinese admiral (1371-1433) who commanded a fleet of more than 300 ships in a

series of voyages of contact and exploration that

began in 1405.

Akbar the Great

The most famous emperor of India's Mughal

Empire (r. 1556-1605); his policies are noted for

their efforts at religious tolerance and inclusion.

Aurangzeb

Mughal emperor (r. 1658-1707) who

reversed his predecessors' policies of religious

tolerance and attempted to impose Islamic

supremacy

Columbian exchange

The massive transatlantic interaction and exchange between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia that began in the period of European exploration and colonization.

Hernan Cortés (ca. 1485-1547)

Spanish conquistador (1485-1547)

who led the expedition that conquered the Aztec

Empire in modern Mexico

devshirme

The tribute of boy children that the Ottoman Turks levied from their Christian subjects in the Balkans; the Ottomans raised the boys for service in the civil administration or in the elite Janissary infantry corps.

Dona Marina (La Malinche)

Native American slave from an elite

background who in 1519 became Cortés

indispensable interpreter and strategist. She

accompanied him during his conquest of the

Aztec Empire and bore him a son. After the conquest she was married off to another conquistador, dying around 1530 C.E.

Land Based Empire

They built larger empires by controlling large tracts of continental territory; among these are China, Japan, Ottoman, Safavid, Mughul, and Korea.

European Explorations

Seeking an increase in the trade of spices, silk, and other goods from East and Southeast Asia, kings from new European nations sent ships around Africa into the Indian Ocean and also across the Atlantic Ocean. Led by Portugal, then Spain, France, England, and Holland, these explorers initiated the first truly global contacts and ushered in the rise of European influence around the world.

Atlantic World

history of the interactions among the peoples and empires bordering the Atlantic Ocean rim from the 1450s at the beginning of the Age of Exploration to the early 21st century.

Mercantilism

An economic policy (Europe in 18th C) to increase a nation's wealth and power by by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver, government regulation of all of the nation's commercial interests, and selling more goods than they bought.

Atlantic Slave Trade

Trade of African peoples from Western Africa to the Americas that lasted from 16th century until the 19th century. One part of a three-part economical system known as the Middle Passage of the Triangular Trade.

Encomienda

a grant by the Spanish Crown to a colonist in America conferring the right to demand tribute and forced labor from the Indian inhabitants of an area.

Mita System

economic system in Incan society where people paid taxes with their labor and what they produced

Printing Press

15th century invention which revolutionized the ability to print information which in turn affected the speed of the spread of information itself.

Diasporic cultures

Ethnic, racial, and national population concentrations of people displaced and geographically scattered from their homelands. Such displaced groups often maintain strong social and economic ties to their homelands.

Indigenous cultures

the cultures of the original inhabitants of a particular geographic area

Urbanization

Movement of people from rural areas to cities

Tokugawa Shogunate

a dynasty of shoguns that ruled a unified Japan from 1603 to 1867

Karl Marx

1818-1883. 19th century philosopher, political economist, sociologist, humanist, political theorist, and revolutionary. Often recognized as the father of communism. Analysis of history led to his belief that communism would replace capitalism as it replaced feudalism. Believed in a classless society.