post classical & early modern vocabulary words

Ka'aba

A black stone or meteorite that became the most revered shrine in Arabia before the introduction of Islam; situated in Mecca, it later was incorporated in the Islamic faiths

Sycretism

A blend of two or more cultures or cultural traditions

Austronesian

A branch of languages originating in Oceania

Hadith

A collection of the sayings and deeds of Mohammad

Magna Carta

A document written in England in 1215 that granted certain rights to nobles; later these rights came to be extended to all classes

Harem

A household of wives and concubines in the Middle East, Africa or Asia

Daimyo

A Japanese Feudal lord in charge of an army of samurai

Chivalry

A knight's code of honor in medieval Europe

Mita

A labor system used by Andean societies in which community member shared work owed to rulers and the religious community

Maori

A member of a Polynesian group that settled in New Zealand about 800 C.E.

bakufu

A military government established in Japan after the Gempei Wars; the emperor became a figurehead while real power was concentrated in the military. including the samurai

Khan

A Mongol ruler

Astroblade

A navigational instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars

Serf

A peasant who is bound to the land he or she works

Neo-Confucianism

A philosophy that blended Confucianism and Buddhist thought`

Feudalism

A political, economic, and social system based on the relationship between lord and vassal in order to provide protection

Parliament

A representative assembly, most notably in England

Kowtow

A ritualistic bow practiced in the Chinese court

Caravel

A small, easily steerable ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in their explorations

Stateless Society

A society that is based on the authority of kinship groups rather that on a central government

Quipus

A system of knotted cords of different sizes and colors used by the Incas for keeping records

Manorialism

A system of self-sufficient estates that arose in medieval Europe

Zakat

A tax, comprising percentages of personal income of every kind, levied as almsgiving for the relief of the poor: the third of the pillars of Islam

People of the Book

A term applied by the Islamic governments to Muslims, Christians, and Jews in reference to the fact that all three religions had a holy book

Minaret

A tower attached to a mosque from which Muslims are called to worship

Lateen Sails

A triangular sail attached to a short mast

Age Grade

Age groups into which children were placed in Bantu Societies of early sub-Saharan Africa; Children within the age grade were given responsibilities and privileges suitable for their age and in this manner were prepared for adult responsibilities

Abascus

An ancient Chinese counting device that used rods on which were mounted movable counters

Tea Ceremony

An ancient Shinto ritual still performed in the traditional Japanese capital of Kyoto

Quenchua

An Andean society also known as the Inca

Perspective

An artistic technique commonly used in Renaissance painting that gave a three-dimensional appearance to works of art

Sultan

An Islamic ruler

Gothic Architecture

Architecture of twelfth-century Europe, featuring stained-glass windows, flying buttresses, tall spires, and pointed arches

Arabesque

Artwork first seen in Muslim lands. A type of curvilinear decoration in painting, metalwork, etc., with intricate intertwining of leaf, flower, animal, or geometrical designs

Calpulli

Aztec clans that supplied labor and warriors to leaders

Toltecs

Central American society that was centered around the city of Tula

Ming Dynasty

Chinese dynasty founded by the Hongwu and known for its cultural brilliance

Yuan Dynasty

Chinese dynasty that was founded by the Mongolian ruler Kublai Khan

Celadon

Chinese porcelain that has a pale, green, translucent glaze

Mississippians

First society people located in central North America

Five Pillars

Five practices required of Muslim; faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage

Foot Binding

In China, a method of breaking and binding women's feet; seen as a sign of beauty and social position, foot binding also confined women to the household

Ayllus

In Incan society, a clan or community that worked together on projects required by the ruler

Parallel Descent

In Incan society, descent through both the father and mother

Fief

In medieval Europe, a grant of land given in exchange for military, or other services

Benefice

In medieval Europe, a grant of land or other privilege to a vassal

Vassal

In medieval Europe, a person who pledged military or other service to a lord in exchange for a gift of land or other privilege

Jihad

Islamic holy war

Junks

Large Chinese sailing ships especially designed for long-distance travel during the Tang and Song Dynasties

Flying Money

Letters of Credit issued in place of coins

Shogun

Military leader under the bakafu

Sufis

Muslims who attempt to reach Allah through mysticism

Bantu-Speaking Peoples

Name given to a group of sub-Saharan African peoples who migrations altered the society of sub-Saharan Africa

Muslim

One who submits; a follower of Islam

Medieval

Pertaining to the middle ages of European history

Chinampas

Platforms of twisted vines and mud that served the Aztecs as floating gardens and extended their agriculutral land

Chimar

Pre-Incan South American society that fell to Incas in the fifteenth century

Bushi

Regional military leaders in Japan who ruled small kingdoms from fortresses

Malay Sailors

Southeast Asian sailors who traveled the Indian Ocean; by 500 C.E. they had colonized Madagascar, including the cultivation of the banana

Griots

Storytellers of sub-Saharan Africa who carried on oral traditions and histories

Middle Kingdom

Term applied to the rich agricultural lands of the Yangtze River valley under the Zhou dynasty

Kamikaze

The "divine wind" credited by the Japanese with preventing the Mongol invasion of Japan during the thirteenth century

Battle of Tours

The 732 battle that halted the advance of Muslim armies into Europe at a point in northern France

Investiture

The authority claimed by monarchs to appoint church officials

Shariah

The body of law that governs Muslim society

Sunnis

The branch of Islam that believes that the Muslim community should select its leaders; the Sunnis are the largest branch of Islam

Shi'ite

The branch of Islam that holds that the leader of Islam must be a descendant of Muhammad's family

Caliph

The chief Muslim political and religious leader

Scholar-Gentry

The Chinese class of well-educated men from whom many bureaucrats were chosen

Bushido

The code of honor of the samurai in Japan

Umma

The community of Muslim believers

Moldboard Plow

The curved metal plate in a plow that turns over an earth from the furrow

Black Death

The European name for the outbreak of the bubonic plague that spread across Asia, Europe, and North Africa in the Fourteenth century

Hijah

The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, the first year in the Muslim calendar

Allah

The god of Muslims; Arabic word for "god"

Patriarch

The head of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Quran

The holy book of Islam

Ramadan

The holy month of Islam which commemorates the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Muhammad; fasting is required during this month

Dar al-Islam

The House of Islam; a term representing the political and religious unity of the various Islamic groups

Mosque

The house of worship of followers of Islam

Sepukku

The Japanese practice of ritual suicide

Samurai

The military class of feudal Japan

Anasazi

The name given to the pueblo dwelling natives in the South-west North American continent

Mexica

The name given to themselves by the Aztec people

Tribute

The payment of a tax in the form of goods and labor by subject people

Mongol Peace

The period from about 1250 to 1350 in which the Mongols ensured the safety of Eurasian trade and travel

Middle Ages

The period of European history traditionally given as 500 to 1500

Hajj

The pilgrimage to the Ka'aba in Mecca required once of every Muslim who was not limited by health or financial restrictions

Excommunication

The practice of the Roman Catholic and other Christian churches of prohibiting participation in the sacraments to those who do not comply with the church teachings or practices

Renaissance

The revival of learning in Europe beginning about 1300 and continuing to about 1600

Bakufu

The rule of the shoguns

Inca

The ruler of the Quechua people of that west coast of South America; the term is also applied to the Quechua people as a whole

Steppe Diplomacy

The skill of political survival and dominance in the world of steppe nomads; it involved the knowledge of tribal and clan structure and often used assassinations to accomplish its goals

Shinto

The traditional Japanese religion based veneration of ancestors and spirits of nature

Moundbuilders

The various American tribes who, in prehistoric and early historic times, erected the burial mounds and other earthworks of the Mississippi drainage basin and the southeastern U.S.

Mamluks

Turkic military slaves who formed part of the army of the Abbasid Caliphate in the ninth and tenth centuries; they founded their own state in Egypt and Syria from the thirteenth to the early sixteenth centuries

Gempei Wars

Wars in Japan that pitted Samurai against the peasants