ap world unit 1

Muhammad

The founder and prophet of Islam who received revelations from Allah and united much of Arabia under Islam.

Crusaders

European Christian warriors who fought in religious wars, especially the Crusades, to capture or defend Christian holy lands.

Mamluks

Enslaved soldiers who became a powerful military and political class, eventually ruling Egypt and parts of the Middle East.

Seljuk Turks

A Turkic Muslim group that established a powerful empire in the Middle East and helped spread Turkish influence into Anatolia.

Mongols

A nomadic people from Central Asia who, under Genghis Khan and his successors, created the largest contiguous land empire in history.

Sufis

(sect) Muslim mystics who focused on developing a personal and spiritual connection with Allah.

House of Wisdom

A major center of learning in Baghdad where scholars translated and studied works in science, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and literature.

Baghdad

The capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and a major center of trade, culture, and learning during the Islamic Golden Age.

Delhi Sultanate

A series of Muslim-ruled dynasties that controlled much of northern India from the 1200s to the 1500s.

Proselytize

To actively try to persuade other people to adopt a religion or belief system.

Aztecs

A powerful Mesoamerican civilization that ruled much of central Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish.

Mayans

A Mesoamerican civilization known for advanced writing, mathematics, astronomy, and large city-states in present-day Mexico and Central America.

Incas

A powerful civilization in the Andes that created a large empire centered in present-day Peru.

Cahokia

A major Mississippian city near present-day St. Louis, known for its large earthen mounds and extensive trade network.

Mississippian

A Native American culture in eastern North America known for agriculture, large settlements, and earthen mounds.

Matrilineal society

A society in which family descent and inheritance are traced through the mother's side of the family.

City-state

An independent political unit made up of a city and the surrounding territory it controls.

Human sacrifices

The practice of killing people as part of religious ceremonies, practiced by some ancient societies, including the Aztecs.

Mexicas

The people who founded and ruled the Aztec Empire, centered at the city of Tenochtitlan.

Aqueducts

Structures built to transport water from one location to another, often over long distances.

Chinampas

Artificial agricultural islands built in shallow lakes by the Aztecs to grow crops.

Theocracy

A government in which religious leaders or religious beliefs control the government.

Pachacuti

An Incan ruler who greatly expanded the Incan Empire and reorganized its government.

Incan Empire

The large empire created by the Incas in the Andes, stretching along much of western South America.

Mit'a system

A labor system in which people were required to provide labor to the Incan government for public projects.

Animism

The belief that spirits or spiritual forces exist in animals, plants, objects, and natural features.

Quipu

A system of knotted cords used by the Incas to record information, such as numbers, taxes, and supplies.

Carpe Nan (Qhapaq Ñan)

a massive 25,000-mile roadway system built by the Inca Empire in the Andes Mountains

Francisco Pizarro

A Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Incan Empire in the 1530s.

Machu Picchu

An Incan site in the Andes Mountains of Peru, believed to have been an important royal or religious center.

Kin-based networks

Social and political relationships organized around extended family and relatives.

Shariah law

A system of Islamic laws and principles based on the Quran, the teachings of Muhammad, and other Islamic sources.

Trans-Saharan trade

Trade across the Sahara Desert, especially involving gold, salt, enslaved people, and other goods between West Africa and North Africa.

Indian Ocean trade

A large trade network connecting East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia through the Indian Ocean.

Swahili

A language and culture that developed along the East African coast through interactions among African, Arab, and Persian peoples.

Ethiopia

An ancient Christian kingdom in East Africa that maintained Christianity despite being surrounded by predominantly Muslim regions.

Indian Ocean slave trade

The trade of enslaved people across the Indian Ocean, connecting East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and other regions.

Griots/Griottes

West African storytellers, historians, and musicians who preserved and passed down history and traditions orally.

Mansa Musa

The wealthy ruler of the Mali Empire who became famous for his pilgrimage to Mecca and helped make Mali known throughout the Islamic world.

Ibn Battuta

A Moroccan Muslim traveler who journeyed across Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe and recorded information about the societies he visited.

Feudalism

A political and economic system in medieval Europe based on relationships between lords and vassals, with land exchanged for loyalty and service.

Fiefs

Pieces of land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for loyalty and military or other services.

Vassal

A person who received land (a fief) from a lord in exchange for loyalty and service.

Decentralized

A system in which political power is spread among many local rulers rather than controlled by one central government.

Code of chivalry

A set of rules and ideals that knights were expected to follow, including bravery, loyalty, honor, and protection of the weak.

Manorial system

The economic system in medieval Europe in which peasants worked on a lord's estate in exchange for protection and the right to farm land.

Serfs

Peasant workers who were legally tied to the land they worked on and owed labor or payments to a lord.

Three-field system

A farming method in which farmland was divided into three sections, with two planted each year and one left unplanted to restore nutrients.

Estates General

A representative assembly in France made up of the clergy, nobility, and common people.

Magna Carta

A 1215 English document that limited the king's power and established that the king was subject to the law.

English Parliament

England's representative governing body that developed into a legislature with the power to help make laws and approve taxes.

Great Schism

The division of Christianity in 1054 that separated the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe from the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Primogeniture

The practice of having the eldest son inherit the family's land or property.

Marco Polo

A Venetian merchant and traveler who traveled to China and wrote about his experiences, increasing European knowledge of Asia.

Crusades

A series of religious wars in which European Christians fought to capture or defend Christian holy sites in the Middle East.

Bourgeoisie

The middle class of merchants, bankers, and business owners that grew in European cities.

Anti-Semitism

Prejudice, discrimination, or hostility toward Jewish people.

Humanism

An intellectual movement during the Renaissance that emphasized human potential, education, classical learning, and individual achievement.

Renaissance

A period of European cultural and intellectual revival beginning in the 1300s that was inspired by the ideas and achievements of ancient Greece and Rome.

Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

A collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer about a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury; it provides insight into the different social classes and daily life of medieval England.

Champa rice

A fast-growing, drought-resistant rice variety from Southeast Asia that increased agricultural production in China.

Artisans

Skilled workers who make goods by hand, such as pottery, textiles, metalwork, and jewelry.

Filial piety

The Confucian belief that children should respect, obey, and care for their parents and ancestors.

Grand Canal

A large canal system in China that connected northern and southern regions, allowing the transportation of grain and goods.

Imperial bureaucracy

A government system in which appointed officials carry out the duties of the emperor and manage the empire.

Meritocracy

A system in which people gain positions based on their abilities, education, and achievements rather than their family background.

Song Dynasty

A Chinese dynasty (960-1279) known for economic growth, technological innovations, trade, and advances in culture and government.

Footbinding

A Chinese practice in which young girls' feet were tightly bound to make them smaller; it became a symbol of beauty and status.

Buddhism

A religion that began in India based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and focused on ending suffering and achieving enlightenment.

Eightfold Path

The Buddhist path to ending suffering, consisting of eight practices involving right understanding, action, speech, effort, livelihood, mindfulness, concentration, and intention.

Syncretic

Combining ideas, beliefs, or practices from different religions or cultures into a new or blended system.

Chan (Zen) Buddhism

A form of Buddhism that emphasizes meditation and direct personal experience as a path to enlightenment.

Neo-Confucianism

A revival of Confucian ideas during the Song Dynasty that combined Confucian teachings with ideas from Buddhism and Daoism.

Nuclear families

Families made up of parents and their children, rather than larger extended families.

Polygyny

A form of marriage in which one man has multiple wives.