ap world- mid term vocab

1. Abbasid Caliphate

dynasty of the Muslim empire of the caliphate that followed the Umayyad Caliphate;

2. Ancestor Veneration

a Confucian practice of praying to one's ancestors

3. Bhakti Movement

music, dance, poetry, and rituals as means by which to achieve direct union with the divineHindu devotional movement that flourished in the early modern era, emphasizing

4. Caste System

a rigid social system in India that gives every Indian a particular place in the social hierarchy from birth

5. Champa Rice

an Indian quick-maturing, very resistant rice that could be harvested twice in one growing season

6. Civil Service Exam

a system of testing designed to select the most studious and learned candidates for appointment as bureaucrats in the Chinese government

7. Confucianism

the system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and his disciples, stressing love for humanity, ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and harmony in thought and conduct

8. Crusades

a series of Christian holy wars conducted against nonbelievers

9. Daoism

a Chinese philosophy based on the teachings of Lao Zi which taught that people should turn to nature and give up their worldly concerns; was largely a spiritual alternative to Confucianism

10. Dharma

a position and career determined by birth within the caste system

11. Diaspora

any movement of the citizens of a population sharing the same ethnic descent

12. Eightfold Path

one of Buddha’s teachings which outlines the path to nirvana

13. Feudalism

a land system in which a king owned all the land a granted tracks to nobles in exchange for military loyalty, and nobles granted parts of their land to vassals or serfs who worked the land

14. Filial Piety

a Confucian virtue of respect, obedience, and care for one's parents and elderly family members

15. Four Noble Truths

Buddha’s guiding principles regarding suffering

16. Han Dynasty

China’s longest running dynasty

17. House of Wisdom

an academic center for research and translation of foreign texts that was established in Baghdad by the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun

18. Imperial Bureaucracy

large organization in China in which appointed officials carried out the policies of the empire

19. Jati

a classification within the Indian caste system

20. Judaism

oldest known monotheistic religion

21. Karma

the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation

22. Kowtow

an act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground

23. Legalism

a political philosophy in China that emphasized the unruliness of human nature and justified state coercion and control. The Qin rulers and early Han rulers invoked it to validate the authoritarian nature of their regimes

24. Mamluks

enslaved soldiers from the Abbasid era

25. Meritocracy

the exam system that granted Chinese officials their positions

26. Moksha

the goal for Hindus in which you are reunited with Brahman and escape reincarnation

27. Monarchies

governments in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a monarch who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right

28. Monastic Living

a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work

29. Nirvana

the state of liberation from suffering which can be achieved when an individual follows the Eightfold Path in Buddhism

30. Neo-Confucianism

the revival of Confucian teachings during the Tang and Song dynasties and a subsequent synthesis of Confucianism with aspects of Buddhism and Daoism

31. Oligarchy

form of government in which a small group of elites make decisions for everyone

32. Patriarchy

society in which men hold power within the family, in governance, and/or in economics

33. Proto-industrialization

people in rural areas producing more goods than they can sell

34. Reciprocity

a relationship between people and state where people pay tribute in exchange for access to resources

35. Reincarnation

Hindu principle in which souls pass to other beings after death

36. Scholar Gentry

Confucian educated social class that became the most influential social class of China

37. Shinto

the indigenous religion of Japan in which people believed that kami (spirits) were present in their natural surroundings

38. Silk Road

a vast network of trading routes that connected the East to the West Europe to Chang'an in Asia

39. Sufis

a mystical Muslim group that had successful missionaries. They believed they could become closer to God through prayer, fasting, and a simple life

40. Swahili

blended language that combined Bantu and Arabic languages and is still spoken today

41. Syncretism

the blending of elements from more than one religion into a distinct system of worship

42. Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

networks of exchange that transformed West Africa by connecting it to the larger parts of the world

43. Universalizing Religion

a religion seeking to convert others. Islam was a universalizing religion

44. Varnas

warriors within the Indian caste system

45. Vedas

the oldest collection of scriptures of Hinduism and religious texts in an ancient Sanskrit language

46. Woodblock Printing

a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia that originated in China

47. Astrolabe

an instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars

48. Banking Houses

issued bills of exchange; model for modern banks

49. Bills of Exchange

documents stating the holder was legally promised payment of a set amount on a set date

50. The Bubonic Plague

Mongol conquests brought fleas that carried the bubonic plague to Asia and europe

51. Calicut

city on the west coast of India that became a thriving center of trade

52. Caravans

groups of people traveling together for mutual protection, often with pack animals such as camels

53. Caravanserai (or caravansary)

inns that popped up about 100 miles apart (the distance camels could go before they needed water) along the routes of the Silk Roads

54. Constantinople

the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and later the Ottoman empire

55. Credit

an arrangement to receive cash, goods, or services now and pay for them in the future

56. Cultural Diffusion

the spread of ideas, religions and products often resulting from trade

57. Dhow Ships

Arab ships with lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design; facilitated trade in the Indian Ocean networks

58. Flying Money

a system of credit developed in China that allowed a person to deposit money at one location and withdraw it at another

59. Golden Horde

Batu’s army that pushed westward through Russia and then into Europe

60. Gunpowder

invented in China in the 9th century; used in siege warfare like cannons in the Song dynasty

61. The Hanseatic League

a commercial alliance that formed between northern German cities and Scandinavia in the 13th century

62. Il-Khanate

Hulegu’s medieval Mongol state that ruled over Persia, Mesopotamia, and parts of the Caucasus and Anatolia, blending Mongol and Islamic cultures while serving as a regional power in the 13th to 14th centuries

63. Junk

Chinese sailing ship that developed during the Song Dynasty

64. Khanates

the four regional Mongol kingdoms that arose after the death of Genghis Khan

65. Lateen Sail

triangular shaped sail that could catch wind from many different directions

66. Magnetic Compass

navigation tool for determining direction that allowed ships to travel without following the coast

67. Mansa Musa

brought Mali to its peak of power and wealth from 1312 to 1337; displayed Mali’s wealth during an extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca

68. Marco Polo

an Italian native who traveled to China in the late 13th century and wrote about travels

69. Money Economy

using money rather than bartering with commodities like cowrie shells or salt

70. Monsoons

heavy winds that affected trade routes in the Indian Ocean

71. Nomadism

a central component of Mongol society, characterized by their mobile lifestyle, reliance on animal husbandry, and skilled horsemanship

72. Pax Mongolica

the period of Mongolian peace between the 13th and 14th centuries

73. Siege Weapons

portable towers and catapults

74. The Spice Islands

term for the islands of modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia that exported spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom

75. Stern Rudders

invented by the Chinese and made steering ships easier and more stable

76. Sundiata

Mali’s founding ruler who gained control of the gold trade routes

77. Swahili City States

thriving city-states along the east coast of Africa created by Indian Ocean trade

78. White Lotus Society

a secret society that began organizing to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty

79. Yuan Dynasty

established by Kublai Khan in 1271 and was tolerant towards various religious groups in china

80. Zheng He

a Muslim admiral, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of seven great voyages that took his many ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa

81. Absolutism

type of government stressing Divine Right and total control by a King

82. Anglican Church

the Protestant Church created by King Henry VIII in England

83. Castes

also called jatis, strict social groupings designated at birth for Hindus

84. Catholic Reformation

the Catholic attempt to fix their own problems and combat Protestant reformation

85. Cossacks

peasants recruited to migrate to newly seized lands in Russia and who combined agriculture with military conquests

86. Daimyo

A powerful noble in early modern Japan

87. Devshirme

in the Ottoman Empire, a system (literally, "collection") of training talented children to be administrators or members of the sultan's harem. originally meritocratic, by the seventeenth century it had degenerated into a hereditary caste

88. Divine Right

the idea pushing Absolutism which says that God chose a specific king to rule

89. Empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

90. English Bill of Rights

English document which creates a separation of powers by using Parliament to limit the Monarch and grants more basic rights to the Middle Classes

91. English Civil War

Fight between English Parliament and Royalty over political issues (1642-1649)

92. Grand Vizier

the chief minister in the Ottoman Empire, under the Great Sultan

93. Gunpowder Empires

The Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires which relied heavily on gunpowder and firearms

94. Gutenberg Printing Press

allowed books to be printed instead of hand written and increased literacy

95. Imam

Person who leads prayer in a Muslim mosque

96. Indulgences

piece of paper someone could buy to be forgiven of sins

97. Inquisitions

tribunals for investigating and prosecuting charges of heresy

98. Intendants

royal officials in France sent out to provinces to execute orders of the central government

99. Istanbul

the new name given to Constantinople when the Ottoman Empire conquered it

100. Janissaries

an elite core of eight thousand troops personally loyal to the sultan of the Ottoman empire