Vocabulary Terms to Know AP World Modern

• Empire

Large state ruling diverse peoples.

• Bureaucracy

Officials administering government policy.

• Civil service exam

Test system for selecting officials in China.

• Meritocracy

Promotion based on ability.

• Mandate of Heaven

Chinese belief that rulers rule with divine approval.

• Filial piety

Confucian respect for parents and elders.

• Scholar gentry

Educated elite in China.

• Champa rice

Fast ripening rice that increased food supply.

• Dar al Islam

Lands where Islam predominates.

• Caliphate

Islamic government headed by a caliph.

• Sufism

Mystical Islamic tradition.

• House of Wisdom

Abbasid center for learning.

• Mamluks

Slave soldiers who ruled Egypt.

• Feudalism

System of land for loyalty.

• Serfdom

Peasants tied to land.

• Manorial system

Self sufficient medieval estates.

• Bhakti movement

Hindu devotional movement.

• Caste system

Hierarchical social order in India.

• Great Zimbabwe

Powerful African trading kingdom.

• Maya/Aztec/Inca

Major American civilizations.

• Tributary system

Submission payments to dominant state.

• Syncretism

Blending of cultural or religious ideas.

• Animism

Belief that natural objects have spirits.

• Monasticism

Religious life withdrawn from society.

• Indian Ocean trade

Sea based commerce linking Africa, Middle East, South and East Asia.

• Trans Saharan trade

Trade across the Sahara desert.

• Caravan

Group of merchants traveling together.

• Caravanserai

Roadside inn for merchants.

• Bills of exchange

Documents allowing merchants to move money without coins.

• Banking houses

Early financial institutions.

• Paper money

Currency printed by the state.

• Flying cash

Chinese credit system.

• Astrolabe

Navigation instrument measuring latitude.

• Magnetic compass

Device pointing north for navigation.

• Monsoon winds

Seasonal winds powering Indian Ocean travel.

• Lateen sail

Triangular sail improving maneuverability.

• Junk ship

Large Chinese ship with advanced design.

• Diasporic communities

Merchant groups living abroad.

• Diffusion

Spread of ideas, tech, food, and disease.

• Pax Mongolica

Mongol era peace enabling trade.

• Khanate

Mongol regional kingdoms.

• Tribute

Payment for submission.

• Urbanization

Growth of cities along trade routes.

• Black Death

Pandemic reducing populations and trade.

• Janissaries

Elite Ottoman soldiers.

• Devshirme

Ottoman system of taking Christian boys for service.

• Millet system

Ottoman religious communities governing themselves.

• Sharia

Islamic law.

• Sikhism

Syncretic religion blending Hindu and Islamic elements.

• Zamindars

Mughal tax collectors.

• Shogunate

Japanese military government.

• Daimyo

Powerful Japanese landowners.

• Samurai

Warrior elite in Japan.

• Cossacks

Russian frontier warriors.

• Serfdom (Russia)

Peasant labor system tied to land.

• Tax farming

Outsourcing tax collection.

• Legitimacy

Ways rulers justify authority.

• Monumental architecture

Large structures symbolizing power.

• Absolutism

Monarch with complete control.

• Divine right

Belief that rulers are chosen by God.

• Centralization

Concentration of power in the government.

• Bureaucratic reform

Reorganization to strengthen state.

• Caravel

Fast European sailing ship.

• Carrack

Large multi mast ship.

• Galleon

Large armed ship for long voyages.

• Astronomical charts

Maps of stars for navigation.

• Columbian Exchange

Transfer of crops, animals, diseases.

• Encomienda system

Spanish forced labor system in the Americas.

• Hacienda

Large estates producing crops.

• Repartimiento

Labor system replacing encomienda with limited forced labor.

• Chattel slavery

Workers treated as property.

• Middle Passage

Forced voyage of enslaved Africans.

• Mercantilism

Economic policy maximizing exports.

• Joint stock company

Investors share profits and risks.

• Monopoly

Exclusive control of trade.

• Commercial Revolution

Growth of banking and trade in Europe.

• Price Revolution

Inflation from silver inflow.

• Indentured servants

Contract laborers working for passage.

• Creole, mestizo, mulatto

Mixed race social categories.

• Missionary activity

Christian conversion efforts.

• Maritime empires

States dependent on sea based trade.

• Natural rights

Life, liberty, property.

• Social contract

Governments need consent of the governed.

• Popular sovereignty

Power comes from the people.

• Nationalism

Loyalty to a nation culture.

• Conservatism

Desire to preserve traditional institutions.

• Liberalism

Advocacy for individual rights and reforms.

• Feminism

Movement for gender equality.

• Abolitionism

Movement to end slavery.

• Industrialization

Shift to machine based manufacturing.

• Cottage industry

Home based production.

• Factory system

Centralized mass production.

• Assembly line

Division of labor manufacturing.

• Capitalism

Private ownership for profit.

• Socialism

Collective or state ownership.

• Communism

Classless society with controlled production.

• Labor unions

Worker organizations for rights.

• Suffrage

Right to vote.

• Urbanization

Growth of cities.

• Laissez faire

Minimal government interference in economy.