Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (c. 1200 to c. 1450) Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from Unit I: The Global Tapestry (c. 1200 to c. 1450) covering key terms across East Asia, Dar al-Islam, South and Southeast Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

Song Dynasty

The Chinese imperial dynasty (960–1279) characterized by great wealth, political stability, artistic achievements, and technological innovation.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A vast organization of appointed government officials in China who carried out the empire's policies, representing a continuity across dynasties.

Meritocracy

A system of governance in which officials obtain their positions by demonstrating merit on competitive exams, such as China's civil service exams based on Confucian texts.

Champa Rice

A fast-ripening, drought-resistant strain of rice from present-day Vietnam that significantly expanded agricultural production and population growth in Song China.

Proto-Industrialization

A set of economic changes in which rural populations make more goods than they can sell, relying on home- or community-based production using simple equipment.

Scholar Gentry

A Chinese social class created by bureaucratic expansion, educated in Confucian philosophy, that became the most influential social class in China.

Foot Binding

A patriarchal practice beginning in the Song Dynasty where young girls' feet were tightly wrapped, constraining their mobility to signify social status.

Woodblock Printing

A technique developed in China using carved wooden blocks to print multiple copies of art or written texts without copying by hand.

Theravada Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism focused on personal spiritual growth through silent meditation and self-discipline, strongest in Southeast Asia.

Mahayana Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism focused on spiritual growth for all beings and service to others, strongest in China and Korea.

Tibetan Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism focused on chanting and spiritual practices, strongest in Tibet.

Chan (Zen) Buddhism

A syncretic religion combining Buddhist doctrines with Daoist traditions, emphasizing direct experience and meditation.

Neo-Confucianism

A syncretic system that evolved between 770 and 840, combining rational thought with abstract ideas of Daoism and Buddhism to emphasize ethics.

Filial Piety

The Confucian duty of family members to subordinate their personal desires to those of the male head of the family and to the ruler.

Heian Period

An era (794–1185) in Japanese history when Japan emulated Chinese traditions in politics, art, and literature.

Daimyo

Landowning aristocrats in feudal Japan who commanded private armies and battled for control of land.

Bushido

The Japanese samurai code of conduct that stressed frugality, loyalty, martial arts, and honor unto death.

Shogun

A supreme military ruler in Japan who exercised actual governance while the emperor remained a figurehead.

Nuclear Families

A family structure consisting solely of parents and their children, preferred in Vietnamese social structure over extended families.

Polygyny

The practice of having more than one wife at the same time.

Mamluk Sultanate

An empire established in Egypt (1250–1517) by enslaved Turkic military forces who seized control of the government and profited from trade.

Seljuk Turks

Central Asian Muslim conquerors who expanded into the Middle East in the 11th century, reducing the Abbasid caliph's political role.

House of Wisdom

A renowned academic center of learning located in Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate where scholars gathered to translate and advance knowledge.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

An influential Islamic scholar (1201–1274) who made groundbreaking contributions to astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and the development of trigonometry.

Ibn Khaldun

A prominent Muslim scholar (1332–1406) widely recognized as a founding figure of historiography and sociology.

'A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah

A prolific female Sufi poet and mystic (1460–1507) best known for her poem 'Clear Inspiration, on Praise of the Trusted One' honoring Muhammad.

Sufis

Practitioners of a mystical branch of Islam who emphasized introspection and personal experience of divine truth rather than intellectual study.

Vijayanagara Empire

A Hindu kingdom (1336–1646) established in southern India by two brothers, Harihara and Bukka, who reverted to Hinduism after leaving the Delhi Sultanate.

Delhi Sultanate

An Islamic regime that ruled northern South Asia for over 300 years (1206–1526) before being defeated by the Mughals.

Jizya

A tax levied by Islamic rulers, such as the Delhi Sultanate, on non-Muslim subjects within their domain.

Bhakti Movement

A Hindu movement beginning in 12th-century southern India that emphasized direct emotional devotion to a specific deity over rigid rituals or caste barriers.

Qutub Minar

A towering Islamic minaret built over a Hindu temple in Delhi, exemplifying syncretic architectural styles combining Hindu and Islamic elements.

Urdu

A language developed in South Asia that melds Hindi grammar with Arabic and Farsi vocabulary.

Srivijaya Empire

A Hindu maritime empire (670–1025) based on Sumatra that prospered by controlling and charging fees on sea trade routes between India and China.

Majapahit Kingdom

A Buddhist sea-based kingdom (1293–1520) based on Java that maintained wealth by controlling sea trade routes.

Khmer Empire

A land-based kingdom (802–1431) near the Mekong River known for complex irrigation systems and elaborate architectural works like Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat

A massive, ornate Buddhist temple complex constructed by Khmer rulers near Angkor Thom.

Mississippian Culture

A large-scale North American civilization originating around the 700s–800s, famous for building massive earthen structures such as Cahokia.

Matrilineal Society

A social system in which lineage, inheritance, and social standing are traced through the female line.

Chichen Itza

A prominent Mayan city-state featuring step pyramids used as precise astronomical observatories.

Chinampas

Floating gardens created by the Aztecs on Lake Texcoco to increase arable land for food production.

Pochteca

A specialized class of merchants in Aztec society who traded exclusively in luxury goods.

Mit'a System

A mandatory public service labor system utilized by the Incan Empire to construct infrastructure and farm public land.

Quipu

A system of knotted strings used by the Inca to record numerical data for administrative, engineering, and commercial purposes.

Waru Waru

An Incan agricultural technique using raised beds with surrounding water channels to prevent soil erosion and conserve water.

Carpa Nan

A massive Incan roadway network stretching 25,000 miles, constructed by forced labor and used for government and military movement.

Kin-Based Networks

A decentralized political organization common in early Sub-Saharan Africa where families governed themselves through local chiefs.

Trans-Saharan Trade

An extensive overland trade network across the Sahara Desert that exchanged West African gold and ivory for North African salt and manufactured goods.

Great Zimbabwe

The capital city of the Zimbabwe kingdom, surrounded by a massive stone wall built without mortar.

Swahili

A syncretic language developed on the East African coast blending Bantu grammatical structures with Arabic vocabulary.

Griots

Oral storytellers, musicians, and historians in Sub-Saharan Africa who preserved family lineages and cultural knowledge.

Feudalism

A decentralized political system in medieval Europe based on land grants (fiefs) exchanged for pledges of military service and loyalty.

Manorial System

An economic arrangement in medieval Europe wherein self-sufficient estates (manors) provided food, protection, and shelter to agricultural workers.

Serfs

Peasants in medieval Europe who were legally bound to their lord's land, required to provide labor and tribute in exchange for protection.

Three-Field System

An agricultural crop rotation method developed in the Middle Ages using three fields to maintain soil fertility and increase agricultural output.

Magna Carta

A document signed by King John of England in 1215 that limited monarchical power and granted specific legal rights to nobles.

Estates-General

A French advisory body composed of representatives from the three legal estates: clergy, nobility, and commoners.

Great Schism

The formal split of the Christian Church in 1054 into the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East.

Crusades

A series of military campaigns undertaken by Western European Christians from 1095 to the 1200s to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims.

Bourgeoisie

The emerging middle class in late medieval Western Europe, comprising merchants, artisans, shopkeepers, and small landholders.

Humanism

A Renaissance intellectual movement focusing on human potential, achievements, and individual expression rather than strictly religious themes.