UNIT 1: 1200 CE - 1450 CE HEIMLER REVIEW GUIDE

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering state-building, religions, and economic systems across China, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe between 1200 CE and 1450 CE.

State

An organized political community under one government, such as a country, empire, or nation.

Neo-Confucianism

The revival of Confucianism that helped legitimize Song Dynasty rule due to its ancient history in China.

Imperial Bureaucracy

An organized system of government officials that helped maintain Song rule, where eligibility was determined by the Civil Service Exam.

Civil Service Exam

A series of tests based on Confucian classics that eligible men had to pass in order to join the imperial bureaucracy.

Filial Piety

A Confucian concept emphasizing the need for children to obey and honor their parents, grandparents, and deceased ancestors.

Thervada Buddhism

The original form of Buddhism where many monks lived within monasteries to focus on attaining enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddhism

A form of Buddhism that traveled to East Asia, encouraged broader participation, and offered help from bodhisattvas to achieve nirvana.

Champa Rice

A drought-resistant crop that matured early; it was introduced to China from Vietnam via the Tribute System between the $8\text{th}$ and $11\text{th}$ centuries.

Chinese Tribute System

A system where other countries acknowledged China's superiority to gain access to trade rights, leading to the adoption of Chinese cultural practices.

Seljuk Empire

An empire founded by ethnic Turks from Central Asia who became a dominant force in the Middle East as the Abbasid Caliphate declined.

Mamluk Sultanate

An Islamic state in Egypt started by slave soldiers that emerged as the Abbasid Caliphate fragmented.

House of Wisdom

An intellectual center in Baghdad where Muslim scholars translated and preserved the works of Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

A Muslim scholar who invented trigonometry.

Sufis

Muslim missionaries who facilitated the spread of Islam by allowing for some integration of local beliefs.

Bhakti Hinduism

A movement originating in Southern India that emphasized devotion to one Hindu god and challenged existing social and gender hierarchies.

Vijayanagara Empire

A Hindu kingdom in Southern India formed by brothers who had previously converted to Islam to serve the Delhi Sultanate.

Majapahit Kingdom

A Buddhist kingdom based on Java that maintained influence by controlling sea routes for trade.

Khmer Empire

A state that began as a Hindu empire before its leadership adopted Buddhism; its art and architecture, like Angkor Wat, reflect both faiths.

Mit’a System

A centralized labor system used by the Inca as a source of labor for state projects like farming, mining, and construction.

Cahokia

One of the largest towns of the Mississippian culture, known for building $80$ burial mounds reaching heights up to $100\text{ feet}$.

Swahili

A language that is a combination of Bantu and Arabic, developed in East African city-states influenced by merchants from Dar al-Islam.

Hausa Kingdom

A decentralized group of city-states in West Africa that acted as brokers for trans-Saharan trade.

Great Zimbabwe

A Southern African state that grew wealthy from the gold trade and maintained its indigenous shamanistic faith rather than converting to Islam.

Feudalism

A decentralized political system in Europe where powerful lords granted land to vassals in exchange for military service.

Manorialism

The economic system of decentralized Europe where peasants were bound to the land and worked in exchange for a lord's protection.

Serfs

Peasants tied to the land who could not leave without permission, though they were not considered the legal property of the lords.