Vocabulary #4 - AP World History: Modern

Absolute monarchy

Rule by a king or queen whose power is not limited by a constitution.

Akbar the Great

(1542-1605) Emperor of India (1556-1605) generally regarded as the greatest ruler of the Mughal Empire. He built up the military and administrative structure of the dynasty and followed policies of cooperation and toleration with the Hindu majority.

Boyars

Russian nobility.

Cossacks

Peoples of the Russian Empire who lived outside the farming villages, often as herders, mercenaries, or outlaws. They led the conquest of Siberia in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Devshirme

A practice of the Ottoman Empire to take Christian boys from their home communities to serve as janissaries.

Din-i-Ilahi

Religion initiated by Akbar in Mughal India that blended elements of the many faiths of the subcontinent; key to efforts to reconcile Hindu and Muslims in India, but failed

Divine right

The belief of absolute rulers that their right to govern is granted by God.

Estates-General

France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the three estates, or classes, in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. The calling of the assembly in 1789 led to the French Revolution.

European nobility

Aristocratic elites who negotiated policies with monarchs, were exempt from taxation, and received promotions and advancement in the military mainly through status and patronage, rather than through leadership or military skills.

Glorious Revolution

The bloodless overthrow of English King James II and the placement of William and Mary on the English throne.

Hagia Sophia

(the Church of Holy Wisdom), was an early Christian Church and later an Eastern Orthodox church which was transformed into a mosque in 1453 by the Turks. It is located in Istanbul, Turkey.

Hapsburg Monarchy

A powerful European family that provided many Holy Roman Emperors, founded the Austrian (later Austro-Hungarian) Empire, and ruled sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain.

Harquebus

A heavy portable matchlock gun invented during the 15th century. It was a forerunner of the rifle and other long-arm firearms.

Janissaries

Members of the Ottoman army, often slaves, who were taken from Christian lands. Their control of artillery and firearms gave them prominence over the aristocratic Turkish cavalry. Their extreme conservatism frustrated reform of the Ottoman Empire.

Manchus

Peoples from northeastern Asia who founded China's Qing dynasty.

Reconquista

The recapture of Muslim-held lands in Spain by Christian forces; it was completed in 1492.

Mughal dynasty

Muslim state (1526-1858) exercising dominion over most of India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries before political fragmentation caused decline.

Nation-state

A sovereign state whose people share a common culture and national identity.

Ottoman

Islamic state founded by Osman in northwestern Anatolia around 1300. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire it was based at Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) from 1453-1922

Parliamentary monarchy

A government with a king or queen whose power is limited by the power of a parliament.

Qing Dynasty

Empire established in China by Manchus who overthrew the Ming Empire in 1644. At various times they also controlled Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. Their last emperor was overthrown in 1911.

Romanov Dynasty

Imperial dynasty of Russia that ruled from 1613 to 1917.

Safavid

Iranian/Persian kingdom (1502-1722) established by Ismail Safavi, who declared Iran a Shi'ite state.

Sikhism

Monotheistic religion founded in the Punjab in the 15th century by Guru Nanak. It combines elements of Hinduism and Islam, accepting the Hindu concepts of karma and reincarnation but rejecting the caste system, and has one sacred scripture, the Adi Granth.

Songhai

A people, language, kingdom, and empire in western Sudan in West Africa. At its height in the sixteenth century, the empire stretched from the Atlantic to the land of the Hausa and was a major player in the trans-Saharan trade.

Sovereignty

Self-rule.

Sultan

King or sovereign especially of a Muslim state.

Sun Temple

The most sacred site in the Inca religion that was considered the very center of the Inca world. The site was also known as the Golden Enclosure and was dedicated to the highest gods in the Inca pantheon. The interior and exterior walls of the structure were covered in gold.

Taj Mahal

A mausoleum located in Agra, India. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahān commissioned it as a mausoleum for his favorite wife. It is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Persian and Indian.

Tax farming

A system for collecting taxes and other state revenues from the population. Under this system, the state transfers the right of collection to private individuals or to groups of merchants called tax farmers in exchange for a guaranteed fee.

Timar

Grant of land or revenue by the Ottoman sultan to an individual in compensation for his services. The system became the basis of Ottoman military and administrative organization in conquered territories.

Tokugawa Shogunate

(1603—1868) Feudal military dictatorship of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city of Edo, now Tokyo. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo castle until the Meiji Restoration.

Versailles

Huge palace built for French King Louis XIV south of Paris. The palace symbolized both French power and the triumph of royal authority over the French nobility.

Zamindar

An aristocrat on the Indian Subcontinent, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and held control over the peasants, from whom the they reserved the right to collect taxes (often for military purposes).

Reconquista

The recapture of Muslim-held lands in Spain by Christian forces; it was completed in 1492.