unit 1, globalizing networks of communication and exchange

Song Dynasty

The Chinese dynasty from around 960 to 1279 CE, noted for its consolidation of power.

Confucianism

A philosophy that became the official state ideology in China, emphasizing hierarchical relationships and the importance of superiors treating inferiors with concern while inferiors should respect their superiors to maintain social harmony.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A vast network of officials appointed by and carrying out the emperor's policies across a large territory.

Civil Service Exam

An examination system based heavily on Confucian teachings that eligible men had to pass to gain a position in the bureaucracy. This system aimed to staff the bureaucracy with educated men based on merit.

Meritocracy

A system where advancement is based on demonstrated ability and talent rather than birth or personal connections.

Neo-Confucianism

A revival of Confucianism starting in the Tang Dynasty and carried into the Song, incorporating Buddhist and Daoist philosophical ideas.

Filial Piety

A key idea un Confucianism emphasizing the practice of honoring one's ancestors and parents, which rulers encouraged as a model for honoring them as well.

Tributary System

A system where neighboring states acknowledged the supremacy of China, sendinv regular tribute (gifts) to the Chinese court. In return, China granted trading privileges and protection.

Sinification

The spread and adoption of Chinese culture, language, and institutions to other regions.

Commercialization

The increasing dominance of trade and market exchange in the economy.

Champa Rice

A drought-resistant and fast-ripening rice introduced to China from Vietnam, allowing for multiple harvests per year and contributing to population growth.

Grand Canal

An extensive canal system in China, significantly expanded during this period, linking the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers and making trade between regions cheaper.

Magnetic Compass

An innovation perfected during this time, improving navigation on water and facilitating trade among various regions.

Junks

Massive Chinese trade ships improved during the Song Dynasty with watertight bulkheads and sternpost rudders, making navigation safer and leaving to increased trade.

Islam

A monotheistic religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.

Dar-al-Islam (House of Islam)

Refers to the regions where Islam was the dominant religion around 1200. It fostered connections and facilitated trade throughout Afro-Eurasia.

Sharia

A body of laws established in the Quarn, implemented in varying degrees across new Islamic states.

Sufism

A mystical and emerging form of Islam that emphasized direct personal experience of the divine, appealing to many and contributing to the spread of Islam.

Abbasid Caliphate

A major Islamic empire that had its golden age of innovation but was declining by 1200, leading to the rise of new Islamic states.

Sejuk Turks

A Turkic group from Central Asia who were initially brought in as a military force by the Abbasids but eventually gained political power.

Mamluks

Turkic enslaved people who were used as soldiers by the Ayyubid dynasty in Egpyt. They eventually overthrew their rulers and established their own state.

Delhi Sultanate

A Muslim state established in northern India by Turkic invaders in 1206, marking a significant Islamic presence in South Asia.

Golden Age of Islam

A period under the Abbasid Caliphate marked by significant advancements in science, mathematics, literature, and philosophy.

House of Wisdom

A reowned intellectual center established in Baghdad during the Golden Age, where scholars from various backgrounds studied religion and natural sciences, and translated and built upon classical Greek and Roman works.

Al-Tusi

A Persian polymath who invented trigonometry and whose astronomical work influenced later scholars like Nicolaus Copernicus.

Hinduism

A diverse polytheistic belief system dominant im South Asia, featuring a caste system and the goal of uniting the individual soul with Brahman.

Caste System

A hierarchical social structure in India reinforced by Hinduism, with limited social mobility.

Buddhism

A belief system originating in India that spread across Asia, sharing concepts with Hinduism but rejecting the caste system and emphasizing equality.

Islam

Introduced to South Asia with the arrival of Turkic rulers, becoming a major religion and sometimes the religion of the ruling class.

Bhakti Movement

A devotional trend within Hinduism that emphasized personal devotion to a particular god and often disregarded traditional social hierarchies.

Sufism

A mystical form of Islam that also emphasized personal spiritual experience, sharing similarities with the Bhakti movement and facilitating conversion.

Syncretism

The blending of different religious or cultural beliefs and practices. This occurred in Southeast Asia, for example, with the Khmer Empire adopting Buddhism after initially being Hindu.

Delhi Sultanate

A Muslim sultanate that ruled over northern India, facing challenges in imposing Islam on a largely Hindu population.

Vijayanagara Empire

A powerful Hindu empire founded in southern India in the 14th century by former Delhi Sultanate officials who reverted to Hinduism, resisting Muslim expansion.

Srivinaya Empire

A powerful sea-based kingdom that controlled the Strait of Malacca from the 7th to 11th centuries, deriving wealth from taxing trade.

Strait of Malacca

A crucial waterway connecting the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, control of which was vital for maritime trade and the power of empires like Srivijaya and later Malacca.

Majapahit Kingdom

A Hindu kingdom established on Java in the late 13th century with Buddhist influence, maintaining power through a tributary system among island states.

Tributary States

A system where less powerful states provide goods snd services to a dominant power in exchange for protection or trade privileges.

Khmer Empire

A land-based empire in Southeast Asia that was initially Hindu, building the magnificent Angkor Wat, but later its rulers converted to Buddhism, incorporating Buddhist elements into their structures.

Angkor Wat

A massive and elaborate Hindu temple complex built by the Khmer Empire, later incorporating Buddhist elements, showcasing the empire's wealth and religious evolution.

Maya

A Mesoamerican civilization that flourished before this period, organized into city-states and known for their sophisticated calendar, writing system, and mathematics.

City-States

Independent urban centers that control the surrounding territory.

Tribute System

A method of control where conquered peoples are required to provide goods and labor to the ruling power.

Aztec Empire

A powerful empire that emerged in the 14th century in Mesoamerica, centered around their capital Tenochtitlan, and expanded through conquest and a tribute system. Also known as the Mexica.

Tenochtitlan

The magnificent capital city of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco, boasting a large population and complex infrastructure.

Chinampas

Floating gardens constructed by the Aztecs on Lake Texcoco, used for agriculture to support the large population of Tenochtitlan.

Inca Empire

A large empire that developed in the Andes Mountains in South America by the mid-15th century, known for its centralized administration, extensive road network, and the mit’a system.

Mit’a System

A labor obligation in the Inca Empire requiring all people to provide a certain amount of labor each year for state projects.

Mississippian Culture

The first large-scale civilization in North America, emerging in the Mississippi River Valley, known for its agricultural society and large earthen mounds.

Cahokia

The largest urban center of the Mississippian culture, featuring significant mound construction.

Chaco

A society in southwestern North American known for its large, planned settlements and extensive construction, adapted go a dry environment.

Mesa Verde

A cliff dwelling society in southwestern North America that built elaborate housing complexes into the side of cliffs, utilizing sandstone.

Swahili City-States

A collection og independent trading cities that emerged along the East African coast, thriving on Indian Ocean trade and the exchange of goods like gold, ivory, and enslaved people.

Indian Ocean Trade

A major maritime trade network connecting East Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, and Southeast Asia.

Islam

Spread along trade routes, significantly influencing the Swahili city-states and other African kingdoms, often facilitating trade connections with Dar-al-Islam.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful inland state in Southern Africa that also grew wealthy through participation in the Indian Ocean trade by controlling coastal ports and trading gold.

Hausa Kingdoms

A collection of independent city-states in Weat Africa that gained power through trans-Saharan trade, acting as intermediaries for goods from the interior.

Trans-Saharan Trade

A network of trade routes crossing the Sahara Desert, connecting North Africa with West Africa.

Mali Empire

A large and influential empire in West Africa that rose to prominence through its control of trans-Saharan trade, particularly in gold.

Ghana Empire

An earlier West African that predated Mali and also controlled trans-Saharan trade.

Songhay Empire

A later West African empire that succeeded in Mali.

Ethiopia

A unique kingdom in East Africa that remained Christian despite the spread of Islam in the region.

Christianity

The dominant religion in Europe, with both Roman Catholic in the West and Eastern Orthodox in the East, significantly shaping social and political life.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity

The form of Christianity practiced in the Byzantine Empire and later adopted by the Rus, contributing to their centralized rule.

Byzantine Empire

The eastern half of the Roman Empire that persisted until its fall to the Ottomans in 1453.

Roman Catholicism

The dominant branch of Christianity in Weatern Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, providing a unifying cultural and organizational force despite political fragmentation.

Crusades

A series of religious wars, largely motivated by European Christians seeking to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslims.

Anti-Semitism

Prejudice, discrimination, and hostility towards Jewish people, prevalent in Europe during this period, leading to presecution and marginalization.

Feudalism

A decentralized social, political, and economic system in Western Europe based on a hierarchy of lords and vassals who exchanged land for loyalty and military service.

Manorial System

The economic aspect of feudalism, where peasants (serfs) were toed to the land of a lord, working it in exchange for protection.

Serfs

Peasants bound to the land in the manorial system, with limited freedom.

Decentralization

The dispersion of power away from a central authority.

Centralization

The concentration of power in a central authority.