AP World History, Unit 1: The Global Tapestry 1200-1450 - Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key empires, cultural traditions, economic innovations, and historical skills outlined in the Unit 1 Global Tapestry (1200-1450) study guide.

Song Dynasty

A Chinese dynasty (1200–1450) that maintained rule through Confucianism, imperial bureaucracies, the Mandate of Heaven, filial piety, and Neo-Confucianism, while experiencing economic expansion through commercial innovations.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A vast administrative organization of appointed officials carrying out the policies of the empire, utilized extensively by Chinese dynasties like the Song Dynasty to maintain control.

Filial Piety

The core Confucian cultural duty of respect, obedience, and care shown by children toward their parents and ancestors, foundational to social order in imperial China.

Mandate of Heaven

The traditional Chinese concept that heaven bestows moral authority and legitimacy upon a just ruler, which can be lost if the ruler becomes corrupt or incompetent.

Neo-Confucianism

A revived intellectual tradition in China that combined core Confucian ethics with metaphysical ideas from Buddhism and Daoism, serving as a primary cultural feature under the Song Dynasty.

Champa Rice

A fast-ripening, drought-resistant agricultural crop adopted by Song China that allowed multiple harvests per year, drastically increasing food production and population.

Grand Canal

An extensive man-made waterway system expanded by China that connected major river systems and facilitated vast internal trade networks, strengthening the Chinese economy.

Heian Japan

A classical period of Japanese history heavily shaped by neighboring Chinese cultural traditions, including literature, court etiquette, and Buddhism.

Dar al-Islam

Literally 'the world/abode of Islam'; regions where Muslims are in the majority or where Islamic law and culture prevail, spanning parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Abbasid Caliphate

A major Islamic empire that ruled from Baghdad; by 1200, it had fragmented politically into smaller Turkic and regional Islamic successor states before its eventual collapse.

House of Wisdom

A renowned intellectual academy and library in Abbasid Baghdad where scholars translated, preserved, and advanced knowledge in mathematics, medicine, and science.

Seljuk Empire

A Turkic Islamic state that rose to prominence in Afro-Eurasia following the political fragmentation of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Delhi Sultanate

An Islamic kingdom that governed northern South Asia, exemplifying the spread of Islamic rule through military expansion into non-Muslim territories.

Sufism

A mystical branch of Islam focusing on a personal, emotional connection to the divine; Sufis played an essential role in spreading Islam across trade routes and frontiers.

Bhakti Movement

A Hindu devotional movement that emerged in South Asia emphasizing direct personal devotion to a chosen deity, transcending strict caste divisions and shaping regional religion.

Srivijaya Empire

A maritime empire centered in Southeast Asia that developed and maintained power by controlling lucrative sea trade routes between China and India.

Khmer Empire

A powerful land-based state in Southeast Asia (modern Cambodia) that utilized advanced irrigation and architecture, demonstrating Hindu and Buddhist cultural synthesis.

Mexica

The Mesoamerican empire (also known as the Aztecs) that built a powerful, centralized state in the Valley of Mexico through tribute systems and military expansion.

Inca

An empire in South America that expanded across the Andean region, utilizing centralized administrative networks, state-run infrastructure, and labor systems.

Cahokia

A major Mississippian mound-building civilization in North America that served as a regional hub of trade, political authority, and religious ceremony.

Mali

A prosperous West African empire that expanded its reach and scope by controlling Trans-Saharan trade routes of gold and salt, famously developing the commercial city of Timbuktu.

Ethiopia

A highland East African Christian kingdom that developed distinct architectural and religious traditions while maintaining independent power and expanding regional scope.

Feudalism

A decentralized political system in medieval Europe based on reciprocal legal and military obligations between monarchs, landed nobility, and vassals.

Manorial System

The self-sufficient economic and agricultural system of medieval Europe where peasants and serfs worked a lord's estate in exchange for physical protection.

Serfdom

A coerced agricultural labor system in medieval Europe in which peasants were legally bound to their lord's manor and required to provide labor and dues.

Syncretism

The blending and combining of different cultural, religious, or philosophical systems into new and distinct practices as people interact through trade or migration.

Contextualization

A historical reasoning skill involving a description of the broader historical situation either leading into, during, or after the specific development being discussed.