Chapter 1: Before 1200

Unit Zero, Chapter 1 Strayer

Paleolithic era

The long period during which human societies sustained themselves through gathering, hunting, and fishing without the practice of agriculture. Such ways of living persisted well after the advent of agriculture in many places.

pastoral society

Based on an alternative kind of food-producing economy focused on the raising of livestock, pastoral societies emerged in the Afro-Eurasian world where settled agriculture was difficult or impossible. Pastoral peoples often led their animals to seasonal grazing grounds rather than settling permanently in a single location.

chiefdom

A societal grouping governed by a chief who typically relies on generosity, ritual status, or charisma rather than force to win obedience from the people.

patriarchy

A social system in which women have been made subordinate to men in the family and in society; often linked to the development of plow-based agriculture, intensive warfare, and private property.

Hinduism

A religion based on the many beliefs, practices, sects, rituals, and philosophies in India; in the thinking of nineteenth-century Indian reformers, it was expressed as a distinctive tradition, an Indian religion wholly equivalent to Christianity.

Upanishads

Indian mystical and philosophical works written between 800 and 400 b.c.e. (pron. oo-PAHN-ee-shahds)

Siddhartha Gautama

The Indian prince whose exposure to human suffering led him to develop a path to Enlightenment, which became the basis for the emerging religious tradition of Buddhism; lived ca. 566-ca. 486 b.c.e. (pron. sidd-ARTH-uh gow-TAHM-uh)

Theravada Buddhism

"Teaching of the Elders," the early form of Buddhism according to which the Buddha was a wise teacher but not divine; emphasizes practices rather than beliefs. (pron. THAIR-ah-VAH-dah)

Mahayana Buddhism

"Great Vehicle," the popular development of Buddhism in the early centuries of the Common Era, which gives a much greater role to supernatural beings and to compassion and proved to be more popular than original (Theravada) Buddhism.

bhakti movement

Meaning "worship," this Hindu movement began in south India and moved northward between 600 and 1000 c.e.; it involved the intense adoration of and identification with a particular deity through songs, prayers, and rituals. (pron. BAHK-tee)

Confucianism

The Chinese philosophy first enunciated by Confucius, advocating the moral example of superiors as the key element of social order.

Han dynasty

The Chinese dynasty (206 b.c.e.-220 c.e.) that emerged after the Qin dynasty collapsed, establishing political and cultural patterns that lasted into the twentieth century.

Daoism

A Chinese philosophy / popular religion that advocates a simple and unpretentious way of living and alignment with the natural world, founded by the legendary figure Laozi. (pron. dow-ism)

Judaism

The monotheistic religion developed in the Middle East by the Hebrews, emphasizing a sole personal god (Yahweh) with concerns for social justice.

Jesus of Nazareth

A peasant/artisan "wisdom teacher" and Jewish mystic (ca. 4 b.c.e.-29 c.e.) whose life, teachings, death, and alleged resurrection gave rise to the new religion of Christianity.

Saint Paul

An early convert and missionary (ca. 6-67 c.e.) and the first great popularizer of Christianity, especially to Gentile (non-Jewish) communities.

Muhammad Ibn Abdullah

(570-632 c.e.) The Prophet and founder of Islam whose religious revelations became the Quran, bringing a radically monotheistic religion to Arabia and the world.

Quran

Also transliterated as Qur'án and Koran, this is the most holy text of Islam, which records the words of God through revelations given to the Prophet Muhammad.

umma

The community of all believers in Islam, bound by common belief rather than territory, language, or tribe. (pron. OOM-mah)

ulama

Islamic religious scholars, both Sunni and Shia, who shaped and transmitted the core teachings of Islamic civilization.

Sufism

An understanding of the Islamic faith that saw the worldly success of Islamic civilization as a distraction and deviation from the purer spirituality of Muhammad's time. By renouncing the material world, meditating on the words of the Quran, chanting the names of God, using music and dance, and venerating Muhammad and various "saints," Sufis pursued an interior life, seeking to tame the ego and achieve spiritual union with Allah.

Silk Roads

Land-based trade routes that linked many regions of Eurasia. They were named after the most famous product traded along these routes.

Sea Roads

The world's largest sea-based system of communication and exchange before 1500 c.e. Centered on India, it stretched from southern China to eastern Africa.

Sand Roads

A term used to describe the routes of the trans-Saharan trade, which linked interior West Africa to the Mediterranean and North African world.