WHAP Midterm Vocabulary

Neo-Confucianism

The Confucian response to Buddhism by taking Confucian and Buddhist beliefs and combining them into this. However, it is still very much Confucian in belief.

Mahayana Buddhism

Buddhist sect that focuses on the compassion of the Buddha

Flying Cash

system of credit where merchants deposit money at one location and withdrawal at another.

Champa Rice

Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state (as part of the tributary system.)

Foot Binding

the custom of applying painfully tight binding to the feet of young girls to prevent further growth.

Grand Canal

linking northern and southern China helped with trade

Hangzhou

Capital of Song Dynasty

Beijing

Capital of China

Sinification

extensive adaptation of Chinese culture in other regions

Khanates

Mongol kingdoms, in particular the subdivisions of Genghis Khan's empire ruled by his heirs

Uighurs

A group of Turkic-speakers who controlled their own centralized empire from 744 to 840 in Mongolia and Central Asia.

Shogunate

The japanese system of centralized government under a shogun, who exercised actual power while the emperor was reduced to a figurehead.

Shinto

A Japanese religion whose followers believe that all things in the natural world are filled with divine spirits

Bushido

The Feudal Japanese code of honor among the warrior class.

Samurai

Class of warriors in feudal Japan who pledged loyalty to a noble in return for land.

Sui Dynasty

The short dynasty between the Han and the Tang; built the Grand Canal, strengthened the government, and introduced Buddhism to China

Tang Dynasty

dynasty often referred to as China's Golden age that reigned during 618 - 907 AD; China expands from Vietnam to Manchuria

Song Dynasty

The Chinese dynasty that placed much more emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and arts other than military.

Mongols

People from Central Asia when united ended up creating the largest single land empire in history.

Genghis Khan

Also known as Temujin; he united the Mongol tribes into an unstoppable fighting force; created largest single land empire in history.

Yuan Dynasty

The dynasty with Mongol rule in China; centralized with bureaucracy but structure is different: Mongols on top->Persian bureaucrats->Chinese bureuacrats.

Kublai Khan

Grandson of Genghis Khan and founder of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty in China.

Zheng He

An imperial eunuch and Muslim, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa.

Ming Dynasty

Succeeded Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1368; lasted until 1644; initially mounted huge trade expeditions to southern Asia and elsewhere, but later concentrated efforts on internal development within China.

Caliphate

Islamic empire ruled by those believed to be the successors to the Prophet Muhammad.

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Shi' a

the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Quran

The holy book of Islam

Sultanate

land ruled by a sultan

Five Pillars of Islam

Declaration of faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage

Hajj

Pilgrimage to Mecca

Mecca

the holiest city of Islam; Muhammad's birthplace

Jihad

A holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal

Medina

City in western Arabia to which the Prophet Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622 to escape persecution in Mecca.

Sharia Law

the system of Islamic law, based on varying degrees of interpretation of the Qu'ran

Sufism

An Islamic mystical tradition that desired a personal union with God--divine love through intuition rather than through rational deduction and study of the shari'a. Followed an ascetic routine (denial of physical desire to gain a spiritual goal), dedicating themselves to fasting, prayer, meditation on the Qur'an, and the avoidance of sin.

House of Wisdom

a center of learning established in Baghdad in the 800s

Al-Andalus

Islamic Spain

Nasir al din Tusi

Persian mathematician and cosmologist who inspired Copernican model of the solar system

Ibn Kaldun

Muslim writer; he wrote the Muqaddimah, which traced the history of the Muslim world

Ibn Battuta

Muslim traveler who wrote one of the world's most famous travel logs, the Riḥlah

A'ishah Bint Yusuf Al-Bauniyyah

Sufi master and poet. She is one of few medieval female Islamic mystics to have recorded their own views in writing,

Hinduism

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms

Brahma

A Hindu god considered the creator of the world.

Vishnu

A Hindu god considered the preserver of the world

Shiva

A Hindu god considered the destroyer of the world.

Caste System in India

cant move classes - social structure.

Bhakti Movement

An immensely popular development in Hinduism, advocating intense devotion toward a particular deity.

Sikhism

Spiritual devotion and reverence of God at all times while practicing the ideals of honesty, compassion, humility and generosity in everyday life. focus their lives around their relationship with God

Delhi Sultanate

The first Islamic government established within India from. Controled a small area of northern India and was centered in Delhi. (sunni islam)

Monsoon winds

seasonal wind in India, the winter brings hot, dry weather and the summer brings rain

Vijayanagara Empire

Southern Indian kingdom that later fell to the Mughals. (hindu)

Dhow

sailboat using wind-catching, triangular sails

Junk

A very large flatbottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Srivijaya Empire

A maritime empire that controlled the Sunda strait the strait of Malacca between India and China. HS: control strengthened trade routes to China, India, and even Arabia. (Mahayana Buddhism)

Majapahit Empire

one of the last major empires of SE Asia. Hindu and Buddhist; Islam was present but not prevelent. Absolute rulers; Golden Age in 1300s

Sukhothai Kingdom

(Theravada Buddhism). Kingdom, from Thailand, who forced the Khmer's out in 1431

Melaka (Malacca)

Southeast Asian kingdom that was predominantly Islamic

Guru Kabir

Blind weaver; argued Allah, Shiva, and Vishnu were all versions of one god

Tamerlane

Mongol leader who conquered Persia and Mesopotamia

Mexica (Aztec)

produced highly skilled and sensitive art, conceived perhaps the most advanced calendar of their time, and built extraordinary temples in clean and well-organized cities.

Lake Texcoco

Lake where the capital city of the ancient Aztecs Tenochtitlan was built

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins.

Teotihuacan

A powerful city-state in central Mexico

Chinampas

Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields.

Quetzalcoatl

Aztec nature god, feathered serpent, his disappearance and promised return coincided with the arrival of Cortes

Cahokia

Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as 25,000 Native Americans

Inca empire

a kingdom that developed in the Andes region of South America and gradually grew larger through the military strength and diplomacy of their emperors.

Cuzco

Capital of the Incan empire

Machu Picchu

Abandoned city high in the Andes mountains that showcases the architectural genius of the Inca

Quipu

An arrangement of knotted strings on a cord, used by the Inca to record numerical information.

Mit'a system

a form of mandatory public service (helped inca build all their road)

Montezuma II

The last Aztec emperor. Here he is on vacation at the beach, just days before being captured and killed by Cortés in 1520.

Pachacuti

Ruler under whom the Incan Empire grew quickly

Bantu

A major African language family. Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages. Famous for migrations throughout central and southern Africa.

Griots/Griottes

Oral Storytellers and keepers of history in Africa. They possessed vast knowledge of family history as well as the deeds of great leaders. They were both feared and respected. Adept at music, they sand their stories too, passing history from one generation to another

sub-Saharan

the region of Africa under or south of the Sahara Desert

Kingdom of Ghana

First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (7th - 13th century). Located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali, it acted as intermediary between Arab and Berber salt traders to the north and gold and ivory producers to the south.

Mali empire

This was a strong empire of Western African. With its trading cities of Timbuktu and Gao, it had many mosques and universities. The Empire was ruled by two great rulers, Sundiata and Mansa Musa. Thy upheld a strong gold-salt trade. The fall of the empire was caused by the lack of strong rulers who could govern well.

Timbuktu

Mali trading city that became a center of wealth and learning

Swahili

Bantu language with Arabic loanwords spoken in coastal regions of East Africa.

Swahili city-states

Dominated trade along the east African coast; an illustrative example of states growing due to Indian Ocean trade.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful state in the African interior that apparently emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast; flourished between 1250 and 1350 C.E.

Slave trade

The business of capturing, transporting, and selling people as slaves

Zanj revolt

These people were slaves working in south Mesopotamia. a rebel slave called Ali bin Muhammad led a revolt against Abbasid overlords. The Abbasid rulers only attempted to quash the rebellion in 879 and succeeded entirely in 1883, killing bin Muhammad and the other leaders.

Kingdom of Axum

Founded in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, adopted Christianity, built an empire that included most of Ethiopia as well as Yemen in southern Arabia.

Ethiopia

East African highland nation lying east of the Nile River.

Camels

very helpful, carried a lot

Sundiata Keita

Leader credited with seizing Ghana and starting the kingdom of Mali; known as the "Lion Prince"

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East.

Feudalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land

Manorialism

Economic system during the Middle Ages that revolved around self-sufficient farming estates where lords and peasants shared the land.

Serfdom

A type of labor commonly used in feudal systems in which the laborers work the land in return for protection but they are bound to the land and are not allowed to leave or to peruse their a new occupation. This was common in early Medeival Europe as well as in Russia until the mid 19th century.

Crusades

A long series of wars between Christians and Muslims in Southwest Asia

Hanseatic League

An economic and defensive alliance of the free towns in northern Germany, founded about 1241 and most powerful in the fourteenth century.

Heavy Plows

A new type of plow that proved more effective in Western Europe's tougher soil

Horse Collars

agricultural innovation that enabled horses to pull heavy plows

Water Mills

invented by the Chinese; used to grind grain

Three Estates

The clergy made up a very small percentage but owned 10% of the land; the nobles made up another small percentage but also owned most of the land; and the rest of the people made up 97% of France and owned very little land

Chivalry

Code of conduct for knights during the Middle Ages