Period 2 Terms List A

Legitimizing Power

how a ruler or government proves that the people should obey the government; proves a ruler is the rightful leader

Consolidate Power

how a ruler or government gets power to control the people/land; adding more power to the leader and government

Ivan III (the Great)

Prince of the duchy of Moscow; responsible for freeing Russia from the Mongols; took the title of tsar.

Ivan IV (the Terrible)

Confirmed power of tsarist autocracy by attacking the authority of the boyars; continued policy of expansion; established contacts with western European commerce and culture.

Boyars

Russian landowner and member of aristocracy; ranked just below the royal family and advised the tsar (king)

Peter I (the Great)

Tsar from 1689 to 1725; continued growth of absolutism and conquest; sought to change selected aspects of the economy and culture through imitation of western European models.

Westernization

Process in which traditional cultures come under the influence of Western culture.

Gunpowder Empire

Asian empires that used \firearms developed from Chinese gunpowder, including cannons, to expand and control their territories (Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires)

Ottoman Empire

major Sunni Muslim empire in Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe from 1350-1918; led by Turkish Muslims and used military and bureaucracy to expand and control territories (conquered other governments and used taxation and laws to control the people)

Devshirme

Ottoman Empire’s policy of forcing Christian children to convert to Islam and be educated to work in the government (based jobs on merit and talent); collected children from families as part of tax owed to the Ottoman emperor

Janissaries

soldiers in Ottoman army; military made up of prisoners of war and Christians who were forced to join as children; part of standing army but had strict rules including celibacy (not having children or sexual relationships)

Vizier

head of the Ottoman bureaucracy; after the 15th century often more powerful than the sultan.

Safavid dynasty

founded by a Turkic nomad family with Shi’a Islamic beliefs, not religiously tolerant; established a kingdom in Iran and ruled until 1722, believed emperor was related to Muhammad.

Shah

term for Shiite Muslim leader of Persia (Safavid Empire); believed to be a descendant of Muhammad and a religious and political leader

Chaldiran

an important battle between the Safavids and Ottomans in 1514; Ottoman victory demonstrated the importance of firearms and checked the western advance of the Safavid Shi’a state.

Abbas I, the Great

Safavid shah (1587–1629); extended the empire to its greatest extent; used Western arts and military technology such as rifles and artillery; Started Persian rug industry; implemented religious toleration

Mughal dynasty

established by Turkic invaders in 1526 in South Asia; minority Muslim rule over majority Hindu population; endured until the mid-19th century.

Akbar

built up the military and administrative structure of the dynasty; followed policies of cooperation and toleration with the Hindu majority.

Aurangzeb

reversed previous policies to purify Islam of Hindu influences; incessant warfare depleted the empire’s resources.

Sikhs

Indian sect, beginning as a synthesis of Hindu and Muslim faiths; pushed to opposition to Muslim and Mughul rule.

Ming Dynasty

Chinese dynasty that ruled from 1368-1644; government that replaced the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, reinstated the Civil Service Exams, Neo-Confucianism, foreign tributes, and spread influence through trade

Qing Dynasty

Chinese dynasty that ruled from 1644-1911 (last Chinese dynasty); Manchurian government (northern Asia) that conquered the Ming Empire; strict separation of Han Chinese and Manchurians, opposed foreign influence on China, and used Civil Service Exams and Neo-Confucianism in government

Forbidden City

built by Ming emperors in early 1400s as center of government; only certain people allowed in and buildings used specifically for rituals, government work, and imperial family members

Hongwu

first Ming emperor (1368–1403); liberated China from Mongol rule and restored traditional Chinese values in the bureaucracy

Zheng He

Chinese admiral who led seven overseas trade expeditions under Ming emperor Yunglo between 1405 and 1423; demonstrated that the Chinese were capable of major ocean exploration.

Eunuch

term for a man who was castrated (sexual organs removed); allowed special and important roles in many governments because not considered a threat to female members of royal courts (guarded and served them) and believed to be loyal to government/ruler instead of family

Samurai

Japanese troops of the bushi; loyal to local lords, not the emperor.

Daimyo

landowner in Japan given control over land in exchange for supporting the shogun; used samurai as soldiers and taxed land (feudal system)

Shogun

military leader of Japan; “protected” the emperor and used military and giving land to daimyo to rule Japan under a feudal system