WHAP Period 1 Terms List A

Caliph

The successor to Muhammad as head of the Islamic community.

Sunni

Followers of the majority interpretation within Islam; included the Umayyads.

Shi’a

Followers of Ali’s interpretation of Islam.

Allah

Islamic term for God.

Ramadan

The ninth month of the Islamic year that requires daily fasting from sunrise to sunset.

Saladin

12th-century Muslim ruler; reconquered most of the crusader kingdoms.

Sufis

Islamic mystics; spread Islam to many Afro-Asian regions.

Sultan

Word meaning “victorious”; came to designate Muslim rulers.

Mali

State of the Malinke people, centered between the Senegal and Niger rivers.

Axum

Developing in the Ethiopian highlands and traded with India and the Mediterranean areas; conversion of the king to Christianity in 350 C.E. laid the basis for Ethiopian Christian culture.

Songhay

Successor state to Mali; dominated middle reaches of the Niger valley; capital at Gao.

Hausa

Peoples of northern Nigeria who formed states after the Songhay, combining Muslim and pagan traditions.

Great Zimbabwe

With massive stone buildings and walls, incorporates the greatest early buildings in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mansa Musa

First Muslim ruler of Mali, performed the Hajj, wealthiest leader in history.

Ibn Battuta

Traveled along Silk Roads, Indian Ocean trade routes, and Trans-Saharan trade routes recording history along the way.

Margery Kempe

English pilgrim who went to Jerusalem and documented her travels; mystic who wrote about personal relationship and messages with Jesus.

Al-Andalus

Umayyad Islamic empire in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal).

Neo-Confucianism

Combination of Daoist and Buddhist ideologies with Confucianism.

Caravanserai

Rest stops along Silk and Trans-Saharan trade routes that allowed travelers to rest and care for their animals.

Diasporic communities

Groups of people who settled in new areas to participate in trade networks, creating new relationships and opportunities in their new homes.

Theravada Buddhism

Form of Buddhism as a philosophy centered on humans and self-improvement to escape reincarnation; Buddha is an important figure to model behavior but not a god.

Mahayana Buddhism

Form of Buddhism that includes religious elements like gods and views Buddha and other spiritual leaders as bodhisattva; more ritualized prayers and ceremonies.

Rajput

Hindu kingdoms that failed to centralize in Northern India (present-day Pakistan) and were repeatedly attacked by Muslim warriors.

Srivijaya

Southeast Asian kingdom centered in Sundra and Malacca Straits between China and India to control trade; heavily influenced by Buddhism.

Majapahit

Southeast Asian empire centered in modern-day Indonesia to control Indian Ocean trade; heavily influenced by Hinduism.

Khmer

Southeast Asian empire centered in modern-day Cambodia to control trade between India and China; heavily influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism.