World History Lecture Review: Regions and Eras

Practice vocabulary flashcards covering major topics from South Asian, East Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and European history, including religions, empires, and the Age of Exploration.

Hindu Dharma

Spiritual duties to achieve moksha based on an individual's class in life.

Karma

The sum effect of a person’s actions, both good and bad, which shape a new life.

Moksha

Freedom from the cycle of reincarnation and joining with the atman, reuniting with Barham.

Samsara

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Varnas

The four social classes of Vedic society.

Brahmins

The highest ranking varna consisting of Vedic society's priests and teachers; the smallest group numerically.

Kshatriyas

The varna consisting of warriors and rulers.

Vaisyas

The common people of Vedic society, including traders, farmers, and herders.

Sudras

Servants who waited upon members of the other varnas.

Castes

Hundreds of smaller divisions of the four varnas that determine what jobs one could hold and whom one could marry.

Untouchables

Individuals with no protections of caste law who performed only jobs others would not, such as handling dead animals.

Vedas

Sacred texts of Hinduism meaning "knowledge" in Sanskrit, containing eternal knowledge revealed by Brahman.

Brahma

The Creator, often depicted with four heads representing the four Vedas.

Siddhartha Gautama

The Buddha and founder of Buddhism, born in the $500$s BC as the prince of a small kingdom.

The Great Departure

The event when Siddhartha Gautama gave up his possessions and left his palace after learning about sickness and death.

4 Noble Truths

The belief that suffering is inescapable in life, caused by desires, and can be ended by following the eightfold path.

Eightfold Path

A guide to enlightenment and salvation involving right view, attitude, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

Nirvana

A state of perfect peace in which the soul would be free from suffering.

Bodhisattvas

People who have found enlightenment but remain on Earth to help others find their way to nirvana.

Theravada

The "way of the Elders," the oldest Buddhist tradition based on the Pali Canon.

Mahayana

A tradition of Buddhism teaching that people can help each other find enlightenment.

Tibetan Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism believing special techniques can harness spiritual energy to achieve nirvana in a single lifetime.

Monsoons

Seasonal winds that bring rain, essential for the crops of India’s earliest civilizations.

Gupta Empire

An empire starting around AD $320$ that reunited northern India and saw the growth of Hinduism.

Ashoka

A Mauryan emperor and grandson of Chandragupta, considered one of India's greatest rulers, who became a Buddhist after the violence at Kalinga.

Dhamma

The policy of right conduct promoted by Ashoka.

Mandate of Heaven

The Zhou belief that gods would support a just ruler and not allow anyone corrupt to hold power.

Dynastic Cycle

The rise and fall of dynasties in China.

Confucianism

A philosophy focusing on improving society and relationships, where rulers treat subjects fairly and subjects give loyalty.

Daoism

A philosophy founded by Laozi encouraging people to retreat from society’s laws and yield to the laws of nature.

Yin and Yang

The concept of perfect harmony and balancing, such as light and dark.

Filial Piety

Obedience and devotion to parents and grandparents.

Civil Service Exam

A selection process for state bureaucrats based on their mastery of Confucian classics.

Silk Road

The most famous merchant routes linking China to India, the Middle East, and the Roman Empire.

Grand Canal

A $1,000$-mile waterway linking Northern and Southern China.

Legalism

A political philosophy of the Qin dynasty teaching that a powerful government is key to maintaining order.

Shi Huangdi

A Qin dynasty legalist ruler who built the Great Wall and rejected Confucianism by burning their books.

Sahel

A strip of land south of the Sahara that divides the desert from wetter areas.

Savanna

Open grassland where the majority of Africa’s people live.

Griots

People tasked with passing on oral traditions to help keep history alive for new generations.

Animism

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

Aksum

A powerful East African Christian kingdom that controlled Red Sea trade and defeated the kingdom of Kush.

Mansa Musa

A Muslim ruler of Mali known for his wealth from the salt-gold trade and a famous pilgrimage to Mecca.

Sunni Ali

A military leader who ruled the kingdom of Songhai and took Timbuktu.

Askia Muhammad

The first Muslim ruler of Songhai who brought the kingdom to its cultural height and resumed trans-Saharan trade.

Diaspora

The scattering of the Jews.

Five Pillars of Islam

The core practices of Islam: faith, five daily prayers facing Mecca, giving of alms, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca.

Hegira

The name for Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina.

Caliph

The title for Muhammad’s successor, first held by Abu Bakr.

Pax Mongolia

A period established by the Mongols characterized by peace and stability across Asia.

Genghis Khan

The "Universal leader" who united the Mongols and conquered most of Asia.

Janissaries

Enslaved Christian boys trained as elite soldiers for the Ottoman military.

Suleyman I

An Ottoman emperor who brought the empire to its height by reforming the tax system and government.

Feudalism

A reciprocal system of exchanging land (fiefs) for service, originated due to a lack of royal defense.

Vassal

Anyone who accepted a fief from a lord.

Fealty

An oath of faith promised by a vassal to a lord.

Serfs

Workers legally tied to the manor who were mostly peasants but not slaves.

Doomsday book

A collection of information about people and taxes created by William the Conqueror.

Magna Carta

A document King John was forced to sign that restricted the king’s power, such as requiring consent for raising taxes.

Parliament

A governing body created after the Magna Carta consisting of the king, nobility, clergy, and middle class.

Scholasticism

The idea taught by Thomas Aquinas that Christian faith and reason are both necessary.

Heresy

Beliefs that go against those of the Church.

Inquisitions

Legal procedures managed by special judges against heretics.

Reconquista

The effort of Christian states to retake the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims (Moors).

The Crusades

A series of wars started by Christians to take Jerusalem, the Holy Land, from the Muslims.

Renaissance

A period of renewed interest in art and learning in Europe rediscovering classical knowledge from Greece and Rome.

Secular

A worldly view rather than a religious one.

Humanism

A focus on individual accomplishment and the idea that human potential is limitless.

95 Thesis

Arguments written by Martin Luther against the sale of indulgences by the Church.

Predestination

John Calvin’s teaching that God has already decided everyone’s fate.

Jesuits

An organization founded during the Counter Reformation to renew the church and counter the Reformation through schools.

Council of Trent

A gathering of delegates that made reforms and addressed Protestant criticisms of the Church.

Encomienda system

A Spanish system in the Americas where colonists were given land and Native American labor.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of food, animals, and diseases between Europe and the Americas.

Ferdinand Magellan

A Spanish explorer whose men were the first to circumnavigate the world.

Joint-Stock Companies

Organizations used to fund large businesses where profits were split among shareholders.

Mercantilism

An economic theory stating a nation’s wealth depends on gold and silver and requires a favorable balance of trade.

Favorable balance of trade

An economic condition of having more exports than imports.