[AP World History] Chapters 11 and 17 Vocabulary

Abrahamic faiths

The religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which all trace their origins through a common ancestor, the prophet Abraham.

caliph

An Islamic title designating a spiritual and secular leader.

caliphate

An area under the control of a Muslim ruler called a caliph.

hadith

The words and actions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors that, along with the Quran, form the fundamental basis for Islamic law.

hajj

The Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

hijra

An Arabic term meaning 'emigration' that describes a defining moment for early Muslims as they fled Mecca for Medina in 622 CE.

imam

The religious leader of Shia Muslims.

Islamization

The religious and cultural conversion of those living under Islamic rule.

mawali

Non-Arab converts to Islam in the early Islamic period who had to be adopted by an Arab tribe as part of the conversion process.

Quran

The holy scripture of Islam, which Muslims believe was given to humanity by God through Muhammad.

Rashidun

A term meaning 'rightly guided' that describes the first four caliphs after Muhammad's death

Shia

One of the two umbrella sects of Islam, whose members believe leadership of the Muslim community should reside in the family of Muhammad only through his son-in-law Ali.

Sunni

The larger of the two umbrella sects of Islam, whose adherents did not require leadership of the community to come specifically from the descendants of Muhammad through Ali.

ulama

A class of religious clerics and scholars who act as the primary interpreters of Islamic law.

ummah

The community of Muslims.

arquebus

An early gun that was large and difficult to maneuver.

devshirme

The system of acquiring Christian boys from the Balkans to be enslaved, converted to Islam, and trained to serve the Ottoman sultan.

Forbidden City

A walled complex of palaces, temples, and gardens built by the Ming dynasty emperors in the center of Beijing.

harem

The private household of the Ottoman sultan.

humanism

A movement born in fourteenth-century Italy that focused on the study of human beings, human nature, and human achievements rather than the study of God.

Janissaries

The elite enslaved infantry corps of the Ottoman army.

Mamluk Sultanate

A state in Egypt and the Levant administered and defended by educated, formerly enslaved men called mamluks.

Red Turbans

A secret peasant society that rose up against Mongol rule during the Yuan dynasty.

Renaissance

A period of intellectual and artistic rebirth inspired by the cultural achievements of ancient Greece and Rome.

timar

A right granted to subjects of the Ottoman sultan to collect taxes in a given area.