Historical Groups and Their Significance

Sufis

-Mystical Islamic sect focused on personal connection to God

-Spread Islam through missionary work and syncretism in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.

-Played a key role in the cultural diffusion of Islam

Boyars

-Russian nobility who often conflicted with the tsars over centralization.

-Their resistance shaped the rise of autocracy in Russia under rulers like Ivan the Terrible.

Mexica (Aztecs)

-Powerful Mesoamerican empire known for warfare, tribute system, and human sacrifice.

Neo-Confucianists

-Philosophical blend of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism that shaped Chinese and Korean thought.

-Supported social harmony and hierarchy; influential in the Song, Ming, and Joseon dynasties.

Serfs

-Peasant laborers bound to land under feudalism, especially in medieval Europe and Russia.

-Essential to the agricultural economy and manorial system.

Janissaries

-Elite Ottoman soldiers, originally Christian boys taken via devshirme and converted to Islam.

Cossacks

-Frontier warriors in Russia and Ukraine; semi-independent, known for fighting and expanding Russian territory.

-Helped defend and expand Russian frontiers, especially into Siberia.

Safavids

-Persian empire (1500s-1700s) that established Shi'a Islam as the state religion.

-Rivaled the Ottomans and Mughals; helped define religious identity in the Middle East.

Zamindars

-Landowners/tax collectors under the Mughal Empire.

-Their growing autonomy contributed to the decline of Mughal central power.

Mughals

-Islamic empire in India (1526-1857); known for religious tolerance, art, and architecture.

-built the Taj Mahal

Medieval Jews

-Lived throughout Europe and the Middle East; often faced persecution, ghettos, and expulsions.

Timariot

-Ottoman landholders granted land in exchange for military service.

-Part of the Ottoman feudal-like system; tied landholding to imperial control.

Sikhs

-Monotheistic religion emerging in Mughal India as a blend of Hinduism and Islam.

-Faced persecution under some Mughal rulers; later formed a militant community and resisted British rule.

Portuguese Explorers

-Led the Age of Exploration (15th-16th centuries)

-established maritime trade routes.

-Vasco da Gama reached India; set up colonies in Africa, India, Brazil—first global empire.

Huguenots

-French Protestants influenced by Calvinism.

-Faced persecution (e.g., St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre); many fled France.

-Their exile contributed to religious conflict and population shifts in Europe.

Griots

-West African oral historians, storytellers, and musicians.

-Preserved history and culture before widespread literacy and writing.

-Key to understanding African societies like Mali.

Swahili Arabs

-Arab-African traders along the East African coast.

-Created a blended culture (Islam + Bantu) and dominated Indian Ocean trade.

Jesuits

-Catholic missionary order founded during the Counter-Reformation.

-Spread Christianity to Asia and the Americas

-promoted education and science.

Criollos (Creoles)

-Europeans born in the Americas; second in colonial social hierarchy.

-Often led independence movements in Latin America due to resentment of Peninsulares' power.

Maroons

-Escaped slaves who formed independent communities in the Americas (e.g., Jamaica).

-Represented resistance to slavery and preserved African culture.

Māori

-Indigenous people of New Zealand.

-Resisted British colonization in the 19th century (e.g., Māori Wars)

-culturally distinct and resilient.

Sepoys

-Indian soldiers under British command during colonial rule.

-Their 1857 rebellion (Sepoy Mutiny) nearly ended British East India Company rule

-led to direct British control of India.

Boers

-Dutch settlers in South Africa; later clashed with British (e.g., Boer Wars).

-Their settler colonialism and racial ideologies laid groundwork for apartheid.

Young Turks

-Reformist group in the late Ottoman Empire pushing for constitutional government and modernization.

-Helped end the Ottoman monarchy; nationalism contributed to ethnic tensions, including the Armenian Genocide.

Irish/Italians in North America

-19th- and early 20th-century immigrant groups to the U.S. Faced discrimination and nativism

-contributed to urban labor, politics, and cultural growth.