East Asia and Dar al-Islam (c.1200 to c.1450) Vocabulary Flashcards

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, figures, governance structures, religions, and economic systems across East Asia and Dar al-Islam from c.1200 to c.1450.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A vast organization in which appointed officials carried out the empire's policies, representing a continuity in China from the Qin dynasty (221 BCE to 207 BCE) through the Song Dynasty.

Meritocracy

A system of governance in which officials obtain their positions by demonstrating their merit on competitive examinations rather than through birth or social status.

Civil Service Exam

Exams based on knowledge of Confucian texts that allowed young men, including those from lower economic classes, to obtain highly desired jobs in the imperial bureaucracy.

Grand Canal

An efficient internal waterway transportation system that extended over $30,000\,\text{miles}$, enabling Song Dynasty China to become the most populous trading area in the world.

Champa Rice

A fast-ripening and drought-resistant strain of rice introduced to China from Vietnam that expanded arable farming land and significantly increased agricultural output.

Tributes

A source of income for the Song government where foreign states paid money or provided goods to honor the Chinese emperor, cementing China's political and economic power.

Filial Piety

The Confucian duty of unquestioned respect for the family's father, who in turn respects his superiors up to the emperor, maintaining social order and hierarchy.

Theravada Buddhism

The original form of Buddhism, which was less popular in East Asia compared to other branches.

Mahayana Buddhism

The branch of Buddhism more popular in East Asia that emphasizes greater hope for eternal life.

Neo-Confucianism

A syncretic belief system that became popular in China by 1200, blending concepts of Buddhism, ancient Chinese Daoist beliefs, and Confucianism into a religious philosophy.

Foot Binding

A physical practice involving women's feet that regained popularity during the Song Dynasty and continued into the early 20th century, regarded by some historians as a sign of Confucian patriarchy.

Diasporic Communities

Settlements of foreign merchants and officials—such as Christians, Jews, and Muslims—who lived along trade routes in China and helped establish commercial infrastructure.

Sinification

The historical process where neighboring regions, including Korea, Heian Japan, and Vietnam, adopted aspects of Chinese government, literature, art, and culture.

Hegira

The flight of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE to escape religious persecution.

Caliphate

A Muslim political state under religious rule, headed by a political and religious leader recognized as a successor to Muhammad.

Jizya

A tax levied by the Umayyad Caliphate on non-Muslim subjects, such as Christians and Jews.

Lingua Franca

A language adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different, such as Arabic across the Umayyad realm around 700 CE.

Abbasid Caliphate

A Sunni Muslim empire ruling from Baghdad (750-1258) that presided over an Islamic Golden Age before falling to the Mongols in 1258.

Harem

Living quarters for women within the palace, established during the Abbasid era as Persian cultural influence increased.

House of Wisdom

A major center for research and translation built in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age under Caliph Harun al-Rashid.

Mamluks

Originally Turkish slave soldiers of the Abbasid caliphs who broke away to establish their own sultanate in Egypt and Syria, as well as the Delhi Sultanate in South Asia.

Sultanate

A state or region headed by a Muslim political ruler known as a sultan.

Sufism

A mystical form of Islam that spread across Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Central and South Asia alongside expanding political states.

Al-Andalus

The Muslim-ruled region of Spain founded by surviving Umayyads, which served as a major cultural center transmitting math and science to Europe until the Reconquista in 1492.

Seljuks

A Turkic nomad group that conquered Afghanistan and Iran, defeated the Abbasids, and claimed the political title of sultan while leaving the Abbasid caliphs in charge of religious affairs.