World History Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards derived from lecture notes on Islamic dynasties and pre-Columbian American civilizations.

Abbasid Caliphate

Second of the two great dynasties of the Muslim empire. It overthrew the Ummayyad caliphate in $750$ CE and reigned until it was destroyed by the Mongol invasion in $1258$. The Abbasid capital was Baghdad.

Al-Andalus

A Muslim ruled region in what is now Spain, established in the $8^{th}$ century A.D.

Arabesque

Complex designs typical of Islamic art, combining intertwining plants and geometric patterns.

Astrolabe

A navigational instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars.

Cahokia

Pre-Columbian settlement located on the Mississippi River (near modern day St. Louis) that was the largest city in North America north of Mexico, with as many as $20,000$ people living there at its peak. The city fell into decline after $1200$, around the time that a flood occurred, becoming abandoned by $1400$.

Caliph

The chief Muslim political and religious leader.

Calpulli

Aztec clans that supplied labor and warriors to leaders.

Chaco

Pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the San Juan Basin of the American Southwest from the $9^{th}$ to the $12^{th}$ century CE. Chacoans built epic works of public architecture - a feat which required long-term planning and significant social organization.

Chinampas

Platforms of twisted vines and mud that served the Aztecs as floating gardens and extended their agricultural land.

Dar al-Islam

The House of Islam; a term representing the political and religious unity of various Islamic groups.

Dhimmi

Literally "people of the book"; applied as inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus & Buddhists.

Dhow

Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design.

House of Wisdom

The Grand Library of Baghdad that became one of the greatest centers of learning in the medieval world. Built primarily as a library, the House became the home of ancient and modern wisdom during the Islamic Golden Age, preserving important works of scholarship from across Europe and the Middle East.

Humanism

A characteristic of the Renaissance in which there was an increased focus on individuals rather than God.

Jihad

Islamic holy war.

Jizya

Head tax paid by all nonbelievers in Islamic territories.

Little Ice Age

The five-century cooling of the climate from the $1200s$ to $1700s$. The bitterly cold winters that Europeans experienced led to a reduction in agricultural productivity and trade and an increase in disease, unemployment, crime, and social unrest.

Mamluks/Mamluk Sultanate

Turkic military slaves who formed part of the army of the Abbasid Caliphate in the ninth and tenth centuries/Mamluk generals who founded their own state in Egypt and Syria from the thirteenth to early sixteenth centuries.

Mesa Verde

Mesa (in modern day Colorado) where Native Americans survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash. They built the mesa's first pueblos sometime after $650$, and by the end of the $12^{th}$ century, they began to construct the massive cliff dwellings.

Mexica

The name given to themselves by the Aztec people.

Mississippians

Were a Chalcolithic (copper age) mound-building Native American culture that flourished in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately $800$ to $1500$ A.D., varying regionally.

Mita

A labor system used by Andean societies in which community members shared work owed to rulers and the religious community.

Mound-builders

Name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mts. The greatest concentrations of mounds are found in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

People of the Book

A term applied by Islamic governments to Muslims, Christians, and Jews in reference to the fact that all three religions had a holy book.

Pochteca

A special merchant class in the Aztec Empire that traded in luxury goods.

Quechua

Andean society also known as the Inca.

Quipu

A system of knotted cords of different sizes and colors used by the Incas for keeping records.

Seljuk Empire

Ruling military family of the Oğuz Turkic tribes that invaded southwestern Asia in the $11^{th}$ century and eventually founded a Sunni Muslim empire that included Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and most of Iran. Their advance marked the beginning of Turkish power in the Middle East.

Shariah

The body of law that governs Muslim society.

Shi'ite

The branch of Islam that holds that the leader of Islam must be a descendant of Muhammad's family.

Sufis

Muslims who attempt to reach Allah through mysticism. By educating the masses and deepening the spiritual concerns of the Muslims, they have played an important role in the formation of Muslim society. The Sufis have been further responsible for a large-scale missionary activity all over the world.

Sunni

The branch of Islam that believes that the Muslim community should select its leaders; the Sunnis are the largest branch of Islam.

Terraced farming

Type of farming invented by the Inca people that made the cultivation of crops in hilly or mountainous regions possible. It is commonly used in Asia by rice-growing countries now such as Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Umma

The community of all Muslims believers.

Waru-waru

Agricultural technique developed by pre-Hispanic people in the Andes region of South America. The system ensures both the collection of water and its subsequent drainage, combines raised beds with irrigation channels to prevent damage by soil erosion during floods, and creates a microclimate that prevents damage from insects and frosts.