Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (1200–1450) - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes for Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (1200–1450).

Song Dynasty

Chinese dynasty (960–1279 CE) noted for inventions like the magnetic compass, gunpowder, paper money, and a strong navy; engaged in trade with India and Persia.

Confucianism

Philosophy based on Confucius emphasizing a stable government and orderly society through moral conduct.

Filial Piety

Core Confucian virtue: love and respect for one’s parents and ancestors.

Neo-Confucianism

A synthesis of Confucian and Buddhist ideas that remains fundamentally Confucian in belief.

Theravada Buddhism

Oldest major branch of Buddhism; conservative and closer to original Buddhist teachings; practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia.

Mahayana Buddhism

Great Vehicle branch; venerates Buddha and Bodhisattvas; more user-friendly and spread across East and Southeast Asia.

Tibetan Buddhism

Buddhist tradition combining Indian elements with preexisting shamanism; teaches methods to attain nirvana in a single lifetime.

Champa Rice

Fast-rarming rice that allows two harvests per season; boosted population growth; originally from India, sent to China as tribute by Champa.

Grand Canal

1,100-mile waterway linking the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers; started in the Han period and completed in the Sui.

Proto-Industrialization

Economic changes where rural workers produce more goods than they can sell, foreshadowing industrialization.

Imperial Bureaucracy

Vast system of appointed officials carrying out the empire’s policies.

Heian Period

Japanese era where Chinese political, artistic, and literary traditions influenced Japan.

Flying Money

Chinese credit instrument that issued vouchers for merchants; reduced robbery and functioned as early currency.

Seljuk Empire

Turkic empire in Persia and Iraq; sultans held real political power and spread Islam, highlighting Abbasid weakness.

Mamluk Sultanate

Egyptian state built by enslaved soldiers; defeated Mongols and Ayyubids; faced succession instability and later decline.

Delhi Sultanate

First Islamic regime in northern India (1206–1520), centered in Delhi.

Abbasid Caliphate

Caliphate (750–1258 CE) focused on administration; bureaucracy open to Muslims; capital at Baghdad.

House of Wisdom (Baghdad)

Islamic center of learning translating Greek, Roman, and Indian works into Arabic and preserving knowledge.

Bhakti Movement

Popular Hindu devotional reform emphasizing intense personal devotion to a deity.

Sufism

Islamic mystical tradition seeking a personal, experiential union with God through fasting, prayer, and meditation.

Feudalism

Political system where nobles possess lands granted by a king; vassals owe allegiance.

Vassal

A person under the protection of a feudal lord who owes loyalty and service.

Serf

Agricultural worker bound to a lord’s estate under the feudal system.

Manorialism

Medieval economic system focused on self-sufficient farming estates.

Great Zimbabwe

Powerful African state known for its monumental architecture and participation in gold trade.

Cahokia

Major city-center of a Mississippian mound-building culture near present-day St. Louis.

Maya city-states

Classical Mesoamerican polities with monumental architecture, writing systems, and calendars.

Woodblock printing

Printing method developed in Song China; allowed rapid production and distribution of texts; spread via trade and Mongols.

Meritocracy

Rule by individuals selected for ability, as seen in China through the Civil Service Exam.

Syncretism

Blending of different beliefs and practices, especially in religion.

Zen Buddhism

Japanese Mahayana school focusing on meditation and intuition.

Aishah al-Ba‘uniyyah

Female Sufi mystic and poet from Damascus (16th century), one of the few medieval Islamic women to publish works.

Nasir al-Din Tusi

Persian mathematician/cosmologist whose academy near Tabriz influenced planetary models.

Greek Philosophy

Rational inquiry by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; preserved by Arabs after the fall of Rome.

Mita System

Inca labor tax requiring men and women to contribute labor to the state.

Chinampas

Floating gardens along lake shores used by the Mexica/Aztecs to boost agricultural output.

Waru Waru Agriculture

Inca farming method using terraces and controlled irrigation to boost yields.

Three-field system

Agricultural rotation with one field for grain, one for legumes, and one fallow.

Crusades

Series of Christian holy wars (1096–1270) to reclaim the Holy Land; facilitated cultural exchange and trade.

Renaissance

Cultural rebirth of classical learning starting in Florence and spreading through Europe.

Great Schism

1054 split between Eastern Orthodox and Western Roman Catholic Church.

Coercive labor

Labor systems that force people to work, including slavery, serfdom, and indentured labor.

Ethiopia (Axum)

Christian kingdom in the Ethiopian highlands that resisted Muslim expansion and engaged in trade.

Ghana

West African kingdom known for long-distance gold and salt trade with Muslim traders.

Fief

Land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for loyalty and service.

Buddhist Monks

Monastic communities where monks and nuns study, pray, and meditate; often tax-exempt.

Hajj

Fifth pillar of Islam; obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca if one is able.

Quran

Divine revelations to Muhammad (ca. 610–632 CE); sacred text of Islam.

Al-Andalus

Muslim-ruled territory in what is now Spain, established in the 8th century.

Sunni

Islamic branch that accepts the first four caliphs as rightful successors; largest denomination.

Shiite

Islamic branch believing leadership should be hereditary; prominent in parts of the Middle East.

dar al-Islam

Arabic term meaning the house of Islam; lands under Islamic rule.

dhimmi

People of the book; previously Jews and Christians in Islamic territory, later extended to others.

jizya

Tax paid by non-Muslims living under a Muslim empire.

Muhammad

Arab prophet who founded Islam, 570–632 CE.

Sharia

Islamic law derived from the Quran and applied to daily life in Islamic empires.

Kaaba

Square building in Mecca; focus of Muslim worship and believed to be Abraham’s house.

Caliph

Political and religious leader considered successor to Muhammad.

caliphate

Islamic empire ruled by caliphs who were successors to Muhammad (e.g., Abbasid, Umayyad).

Umma

Community of all Muslims.

ulama

Muslim religious scholars who interpret Islamic law and guide urban Muslim society.