AP World History Unit 1 and 2

Pure Land School of Buddhism

definition: Buddhist heaven-like place.
significance: Underlined "saved by faith" and was the "Chinese" version of Buddhism.

An Lushan Rebellion

definition: foreign general waged a revolt against the Tang Dynasty.

significance: led to action against Buddhism.

Ulama

definition: educated scholars in Islam.

significance: helped unify in Islam.

Madrasas

definition: college offering additional enhanced Quran instruction.

significance: helped create shared identity.

Sufis

definition: teachers that often took on disciples to teach.

significance: spread the word about Islam.

The hajj

definition: pilgrimage to Mecca.

significance: fifth pillar of Islam, represents unity, rejuvenation, salvation.

Baghdad

definition: capital of Abbasid Calphite and Iraq.

significance: global metropolis, center for science, culture, trade.

House of Wisdom

definition: library in Baghdad.

significance: major center where scholars translated, preserved, and expanded on knowledge.

Neo-Confucianism

definition: renewed Confucianism blending Buddhist and Daoist ideas.

significance: revived Confucian ideals which reinforced family structure and gender inequality (ex. foot binding).

Censorate

definition: agency monitoring government, checking for corruption.

significance: strengthening bureaucracy and ensuring meritocracy.

Hangzhou

definition: capital of China's Zhejiang province.

significance: urbanization, population growth, prospered from Indian Ocean trade.

Foot binding

definition: foot deformation for elite women.

significance: symbol of elite status, feminine beauty.

"middle kingdom"

definition: idea that Chinese civilization was the center of everything.

significance: cultural superiority, and the tribute system.

kowtow

definition: Chinese bowing, represented respect, obey to authority.

significance: Confucian social order, tribute system.

Xiongnu

definition: horse-riding nomads.

significance: had relations with Chinese states, traded valuable goods and information.

Sultanate of Delhi

definition: Turkic Muslim dynasties controlling Northern India from Delhi.

significance: emerged after Abbasid fragmentation and expansion through military conquest.

Kabir

definition: Kabir made poetry related to Hinduism and Islam.

significance: poems rejected caste system and ritualism in both.

Sikhism

definition: monotheistic religion.

significance: rejected caste system, encouraged equality.

Timbuktu

definition: major West African trading hub and Islamic scholarly hub.

significance: spread of Islam and at the end of Sahara Desert around camel caravans met Niger River.

Mexica

definition: semi-nomadic group who established themselves on an island in Lake Texcoco.

significance: Aztec state was largely the work of the Mexica.

Triple Alliance

definition: Mexica and the other city-states launched military conquest.

significance: brought more of Mesoamerica within a single political framework than ever before.

Tenochtitlan

definition: capital city of Aztec Empire.

significance: sent tributes to Tenochtitlan to be recorded.

Chinampas

definition: artificial islands created from swamplands.

significance: supported agriculture and growing economy.

Huitzilopochtli

definition: Aztec sun deity tended to lose in the dark.

significance: this belief supported sacrifice, changed war tactics, and belief that the world was close to catastrophe.

Quechua

definition: Quechua was the language spoken by the Incas.

significance: Inca empire was large, incorporated culture of other Andean civilization.

Gender Parallelism

definition: in Inca and Aztec Empire, women/men enjoy gender autonomy.

significance: more "equality" but men still occupied top positions and treated leniently.

Yuan Dynasty

definition: Mongols Chinese dynastic title.

significance: Mongol rule transformed China, "new beginnings."

Khubilai Khan

definition: grandson of Chinggis Khan, ruler of Mongol China 1271-1294.

significance: many of his policies improved China, lowered taxes, improved roads.

Hulegu

definition: grandson of Chinggis Khan, first il-khan of Persia.

significance: led the second assault of Persia.

Khutulun

definition: daughter of Qaidu Khan, Mongol wrestler princess.

significance: declared that she would only wed someone who could defeat her, represented freedom and influence for Mongol women.

Kipchak Khanate (Golden Horde)

definition: Mongol and Turkic-speaking state.

significance: did not occupy Russia, less influence on Mongols.

Monsoon winds

definition: alternating wind currents--eastward in summer and westward in winter.

significance: understanding it made Indian Ocean commerce possible.

Swahili language

definition: spoken in Swahili cities.

significance: spoken in East Africa today, grammatically African tongue with Arabic loan words.

Great Zimbabwe

definition: powerful state in East Africa.

significance: connected to trade in gold and rich in resources.

Jenne-Jeno

definition: well-known independent urban cluster.

significance: located on point in Niger River where goods were transferred from boat to donkey or vice versa.

Camel caravans

definition: traversed through desert to transport goods.

significance: able to transfer goods across desert carrying heavy loads.

Champa rice

definition: strain of rice from Vietnam, fast-ripening and drought resistant, introduced into Song China.

significance: increased food and population in China.

Islamic Agricultural Revolution

definition: home to extensive knowledge and technology related to methods of farming/irrigation.

significance: post-classical era was when this knowledge and new food crops were spread across the Abbasid Islamic empire.

Hindu Devotional Cults

definition: religious movement where individuals practiced devotion to a certain Hindu deity.

significance: created a sense of community, salvation, and philosophy.

Angkor

definition: capital city of Khmer Empire in Cambodia.

significance: united people of Buddhist and Hindu religions, bringing them to Angkor Thom, Khmers forced to abandon due to invasion.

Mansa Musa

definition: king/ruler of Mali Empire, rich from taxing gold and salt.

significance: controlled/produced half world's gold, hajj made him famous, 60,000 people, inflation increased due to spend/give gold.

Civil Service Exams

definition: service exams given to prospective government officials before being appointed.

significance: valued merit (meritocracy) rather than family connection.

Trans Saharan Trade

definition: extensive trade network 1200-1450 across Sahara Desert.

significance: allowed for trade of goods, assisted economic system and exchange for West Africa.

Bantu

definition: region in East Africa where Bantu-speaking peoples settled and grew following historical migrations from West Central Africa.

significance: allowed expansion of territory and established agricultural societies.

Swahili

definition: came to define people who were African by language and phenotype.

Zanj Revolt

definition: 14-year rebellion of enslaved African workers against Abbasid Caliphate.

significance: rebelled against unfair labor conditions and demonstrated African slavery as a prominent feature in Muslim society.

Feudalism

definition: social, political, economic system where land was exchanged for military service, king, nobles, knights, peasants.

Black Death

definition: plague that wiped out much of population in Europe.

significance: trade and connectivity in Eurasia spread it, Jewish community blamed, wages rose, social instability.

The Crusades

definition: religiously motivated campaigns led by Western European Christians.

significance: cultural exchange between Europeans and Middle East, new trade routes, feudal erosion.

Mita

definition: system of labor where every family contributes in tasks.

significance: key part of Inca economy and life, well-organized system of governance and resource distribution.

Quipus

definition: knotted cords used to record data.

Caliph

definition: political/spiritual leader of Islamic community.

significance: successor of Muhammad.

Dar al Islam

definition: "house of Islam" vast interconnected geographic zone.

significance: Islamic faith, law, scholarship prospered.