AP World History: First Semester Terms

Pastoralists

semi-nomadic herders of domesticated animals

Patriarchy

a system of society in which men hold the power

Metallurgy

the science of working with metals

Monotheism

belief in one god

Polytheism

belief in more than one god

Shamanism

The practice of identifying special individuals (shamans) who will interact with spirits for the benefit of the community.

Animism

The belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and other natural objects have souls

Judaism

A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Developed written scriptures and an ethical code (Torah, 10 Commandments) over time.

Vedas

Ancient Sanskrit writings that are the earliest sacred texts of Hinduism.

Hinduism

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms

Monasticism

A way of life in which men and women withdraw from the rest of the world in order to devote themselves to their faith (as monks and nuns)

commodity

valuable product

Legitimacy

the popular acceptance of an authority, like a King or ruler

Caste System

a set of rigid social categories that determined not only a person's occupation, but also his or her position in society

Mandate of Heaven

an ancient Chinese belief and philosophical idea that tiān (heaven) granted emperors the right to rule based on their ability to govern well and fairly.

Reincarnation

the rebirth of a soul in a new body.

Eightfold Path

In Buddhism, the path to nirvana. Comprises eight aspects in which an aspirant must become practiced: right views, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

Confucianism

A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society and stresses a moral code of conduct.

Buddhism

the teaching of Buddha that emphasizes that life is filled with suffering caused by desire and that suffering ceases when desire ceases. Through right conduct, wisdom and meditation one can end the cycle of rebirth and reach Enlightenment.

Christianity

A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament, emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.

State

a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.

Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha)

Means "Enlightened One." He is said to have renounced his worldly possessions and taught of a way to overcome suffering.

filial piety

In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.

ancestor veneration

Veneration of the dead or ancestors is based on the beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living

syncretic religion

Combines two religious traditions into something distinctly new, while containing traits of both

Silk Roads

trade routes stretching from China to the Mediterranean, which allowed for the exchange of goods and ideas from China to the Roman Empire

Mediterranean Trade

Trade routes that connected the Mediterranean civilizations together. The need for a sea rout for trade in the region. Trade increased and diffusion of cultures occurred

tribute system

payment made by one nation to another in acknowledgment of submission, notably used by Chinese dynasties

Bureaucracy

A system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials

commercial exchange

the buying and selling of goods

epidemic

A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease.

monsoon winds

These seasonal winds carried ships on the Indian Ocean between India and Africa

Missionaries

people who work to spread their religious beliefs

Silk Roads (600-1450)

flourished under the unity of the Mongols, only to lose favor again when the Mongols fell.

Black Death

The common name for a major outbreak of plague that spread across Asia, North Africa, and Europe in the mid-fourteenth century in part caused by the period of unity along the Silk Road and migration of Mongols.

Indian Ocean trading network

The world's largest sea-based system of comunication and exchange before 1500 C.E., Indian Ocean commerce stretched from southern China to eastern Africa and included not only the exchange of luxury and bulk goods but also the exchange of ideas and crops.

Srivijaya

A Malay kingdom that dominated the Straits of Malacca between 600 and 1075 CE. It amassed wealth and power by a combination of selective adaptation of Indian technologies and concepts, and control of trade routes.

Angkor Wat

This place was first a Hindu (dedicated to the god Vishnu), then subsequently a Buddhist, temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world.

Swahili Coast

East African city-states that emerged in the 8th century CE from a blending of Bantu, Islamic, and other Indian Ocean trade elements

Great Zimbabwe

City, now in ruins (in the modern African country of Zimbabwe), whose many stone structures were built between about 1250 and 1450, when it was a trading center and the capital of a large state.

Trans-Saharan Trade

Trade across the Sahara desert in Africa, usually in caravans of camels. Contributed to the spread of Islam.

Mali Empire

Capitalizing on the Saharan trade routes, Mali traded gold & salt. Embraced Islam as well. notably under Mansa Musa.

Song dynasty

During this Chinese dynasty (960 - 1279 CE) China saw many important inventions. There was a magnetic compass; paper money; gun powder; moveable type printing. Mass produced goods for trade on the Indian Ocean, experienced great urbanization, population increase, and embraced Neo-Confucianism.

Hangzhou

Capital of later Song dynasty; located near East China Sea; permitted overseas trading; population exceeded 1 million.

foot binding

Becoming prominent during the Song dynasty, practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household.

tribute system

Chinese method of dealing with foreign lands and people's that assumed the subordination of all non-Chinese authorities and required the payment of tribute --produce of value from their countries--to the Chinese emperor(although the Chinese gifts given in return were often much more valuable).

Chinese influence on Japan

Centralized government; Confucian ideals; architecture (pagodas); Buddhism spread

Quran

The holy book of Islam

Pillars of Islam

The five core practices required of Muslims: a profession of faith, regular prayer, charitable giving, fasting during Ramadan, and a pilgrimage to Mecca (if physically and financially possible).

jizya

the extra tax paid by Christians and Jews who lived in Muslim communities

Ibn Battuta

(1304-1369) Morrocan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan. His writings gave a glimpse into the world of that time period.

Timbuktu

Mali trading city that became a center of wealth, learning, and Islam

Mansa Musa

Ruler of Mali (r. 1312-1337). His extravagant pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecca in 1324-1325 established the empire's reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean world.

House of Wisdom

Combination library, academy, and translation center in Baghdad established in the 800s.

Roman Catholic church

In 1054 CE Christianity was divided between the Eastern Orthodox (practiced in East Europe) and the Roman Catholic Church (practiced in West Europe). The head of the Roman Catholic church is the Pope.

Serfdom

A type of labor used in in feudal Europe in which the laborers work the land in return for protection but they are bound to the land and are not allowed to leave or to pursue a new occupation.

Feudal Europe

Western Europe was far removed from the growing world trade routes, but coastlines and river systems facilitated internal exchange. Decentralized kingships were established over powerful lords, with manors dominating political and economic life.

Crusades

Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The Crusades brought an end to western Europe's centuries of intellectual and cultural isolation.

Mongols

13th-15th centuries; Military strength allowed for rapid conquest. Subjected huge populations in Eurasia to Mongol rule. Their conquests helped diffuse technology, culture, and disease due to the unity brought.

Delhi Sultanate

The first Islamic government established within India from 1206-1520. Controlled a small area of northern India, centered in Delhi. A minority of Muslims ruled over a majority of Hindus, violent takeover led to religious tension.

Inca

Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile from its capital of Cuzco. Built a strong network of roads, and relied on the mita system.

Syncretism

Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system

Mita System

Incan system for payment of taxes with labor

Grand Canal

The 1,100-mile waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers, facilitating trade and movement. It was expanded during the Song Empire.

Fedualism

System where kings give land to nobles in exchange for service (as found in Western Europe)

Arabic

Language of the Islamic civilization; facilitated trade.

Quipu

An arrangement of knotted strings on a cord, used by the Inca to record numerical information.

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.

Zheng He

Chinese admiral during the Ming Dynasty, he led great voyages through the Indian Ocean to acquire more tribute states

Champa Rice

Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. It was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state (in Vietnam) as part of the tributary system.

moveable type

blocks of metal or wood, each bearing a single character, that can be arranged to make up a page for printing. Improved on by the Song Dynasty (from Korea)

Seljuk Turks

nomadic Turks from Asia who conquered Baghdad in 1055 and allowed the caliph to remain only as a religious leader, leading to the increasing fragmentation of the Caliphate (but the promotion of science, learning, and trade in the empire remained.)

Sufism

An Islamic mystical tradition that desired a personal union with God, and contributed to the spread of Islam through missionary activity.

Chasquis

a system of runners that traveled the Inca roads as a kind of postal service, carrying messages from one end of the empire to the other.

Aztecs

Also known as Mexica, they created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax as well as implementing human sacrifice

Little Ice Age

Temporary but significant cooling period between the fourteenth and the nineteenth centuries; accompanied by wide temperature fluctuations, droughts, and storms, causing famines and dislocation.

Khmer Empire

a powerful empire that lasted roughly from the 9th to the 15th centuries in what is now Cambodia

Vijayanagara Empire

Southern Indian kingdom (1336-1565) that fostered Hindu life and culture as a result from the spread of Islam into South Asia.

Southernization

Developments that were first made in Southern Asia and then spread to other places through trade and conquest

Vassal

Someone who pledges their allegiance to a lord (Subordinate)

Fealty

Pledge of allegiance or loyalty

Civil Service Exam

In China, it was an exam based on Confucian teachings that was used to select people for various government service jobs in the bureaucracy.

paper money

legal currency issued on paper; it developed in Song Dynasty China as a convenient alternative to metal coins

Axum Empire

early African Empire - extensive coverage of the Red Sea and East coast, Horn of Africa, near Middle East - near Kush

Swahili

A Bantu language with Arabic words, spoken along the east African coast as a result between the interactions from Indian Ocean Trade

Sundiata Keita

Established the Kingdom of Mali.

Mali Empire

From 1235-1400, this was a strong empire of Western African. With its trading cities of Timbuktu and Gao, it had many mosques and universities. The Empire was ruled by two great rulers, Sundiata and Mansa Musa. Thy upheld a strong gold-salt trade. The fall of the empire was caused by the lack of strong rulers who could govern well.

Goryeo

Kingdom that ruled on the Korean Peninsula between 918 - 1392. Heavily influenced by Confucianism and ideas brought from Song Dynasty China

Caliphates

An Islamic States that is represented by a caliph, who is the political and religious leader for the Muslim world

Sultanate

An Islamic State that is represented by a sultan, who is only a political leader for the Muslim world

Shia

the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad and can be elected by the Islamic community

Daoism/Taoism

A Chinese philosophy where people practice humility, lead a simple life and have harmony with nature

Neoconfucianism

term that describes the resurgence of Confucianism and the influence of Confucian scholars during the Song Dynasty; a unification of Daoist or Buddhist ideas with Confucian principles

Dar al-Islam

an Arabic term that means the "house of Islam" and that refers to lands under Islamic rule

Shogun

A general who ruled Japan in the emperor's name

Bhakti Movement

An immensely popular development in Hinduism, advocating intense devotion toward a particular deity.

open-field system

system of farming that divided the land to be cultivated by the peasants of a given village into several large fields, which were in turn cut up into long, narrow strips-fields open and not enclosed into small plots by fences or hedges-large field as community-same pattern of plowing, sowing, and harvesting

Machu Picchu

Abandoned city high in the Andes mountains that showcases the architectural genius of the Inca

Abbasid Caliphate

Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's uncle, al-Abbas, they overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital in Baghdad (founded 762) from 750 to 1258.