Units 1 & 2 Review: Global Tapestry and Networks of Exchange (1200-1450 CE)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical terms, figures, states, and trade networks from 1200 to 1450 CE across Units 1 and 2.

Siddhartha Gautama

The founder of Buddhism who achieved an awakening and taught as the Buddha for 40 years.

Theravada Buddhism

The earliest form of Buddhism, which was not accessible to everyone and was restricted to monks.

Mahayana Buddhism

A form of Buddhism originating from South Asia that became accessible to everyone, rather than only monks.

Tibetan Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism that places special emphasis on Llamas, which are teachers.

Mali Empire

An indigenous African dynasty from the 13th to 15th century that adopted Islam through peaceful Muslim merchant influence and grew immensely wealthy by controlling gold and copper on the Trans-Saharan trade routes.

Mansa Musa

Ruler of the Mali Empire from 1312 to 1337 and the wealthiest person ever; he pilgrimaged through Mecca over a year to display his wealth, gifted so much gold that it depressed its value for years, and established universities that attracted scholars.

Serfdom

An agricultural labor system forming the backbone of European feudalism in which peasant laborers (serfs), who made up the majority of Europe's population, were legally bound to work a specific piece of land owned by a noble in exchange for protection and obedience.

Swahili Coast city-states

A chain of independent, self-governing trading ports along the East African coast (such as Kilwa, Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Mogadishu) that flourished between 1200 and 1450 CE by utilizing predictable monsoon winds for Indian Ocean trade.

Incan Roads (Qhapaq Ñan)

A massive 25,000-mile infrastructure network across the Andes Mountains constructed and maintained through the mit'a system to allow rapid military movement and communication via chasquis (relay runners).

Tributary System

A network where states or conquered groups give money, goods, or labor to a central imperial power to acknowledge authority, ensure peace, promote trade, and gain protection (e.g., the Aztec decentralized regular payments to Tenochtitlan or Song China receiving luxury items).

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

A caravan trading network linking North Africa with sub-Saharan Africa across the Sahara that peaked between 1200 and 1450 CE, utilizing camel saddles to transport heavy cargo safely and efficiently.

Mongols

Nomadic conquerors who built the largest contiguous land empire in history; they relied on horsemanship and powerful bows, selected leadership based on merit (ability and loyalty), used terror and siege tactics, revived Silk Road trade, spread the Black Death, and maintained religious tolerance.

Marco Polo

An Italian traveler (1254-1324) from Venice who traveled the Silk Road to Asia at age 17, served 17 years in China under the Mongol Khan in an administrative role, and published a book introducing Europeans to the scale and wealth of China.

Indian Ocean Trade Network

A massive maritime trading system connecting East Africa, India, and Southeast Asia that facilitated bulk transport, fostered the growth of Swahili Coast states, and led to Indonesia having the largest Muslim population today.

Great Zimbabwe

A site in South Africa inhabited between 1100 and 1550 (flourished 1300-1450) where Bantu-speaking people farmed, traded copper and gold, made pottery and iron tools, and lived in an easily defendable location 80 meters up before declining due to overpopulation, deforestation, and rival state conflicts.

Primogeniture

A property rights practice common in Medieval Europe where property and land are inherited exclusively by the first-born son.

Patriarchy

A social system in which men hold primary power and women are made subordinate; reinforced in East Asia through Confucian filial piety and physical practices like foot-binding during the Song Dynasty.

Matriarchal Structure

A social system contrasting with patriarchy in which women (mothers or female elders) hold primary authority in political leadership, moral guidance, and community decisions.

Khan / Khanate

A Khan is a supreme military/political Mongol or Turkic ruler, while a Khanate is a regional territory or state ruled by a Khan following the political fragmentation of Genghis Khan's empire into four states.

Mit'a System

A tax system used by the Inca Empire requiring conquered people to provide physical labor for a set period each year to build roads, farm state lands, or serve in the military, rather than paying tax in goods.

Neo-Confucianism

A revival and reinterpretation of Confucian thought led by scholars like Zhu Xi that incorporated Buddhist and Daoist concepts and spread to Korea and Japan.

Black Death

A plague caused by flea bacteria on rodents that spread along the Silk Road between the 1330s and 1350s, killing 75-200 million people (50% of Europe's population and 30% of the Middle East's population) and raising labor costs.

Caliphate

An Islamic political-religious state governed by a caliph, who is the successor to the Prophet Muhammad and holds combined religious and political authority.

Abbasid Caliphate

An Arab dynasty that ruled much of the Islamic world from Baghdad starting in 750 CE until it was overthrown by the Mongols in 1258 CE.

Champa rice

A fast-ripening rice introduced to East Asia that allowed multiple harvests per year, expanded irrigation and terracing, and boosted China's population from 50-60 million to 120 million between 800 and 1200 CE.

Civil service exam system

An examination system based on Confucian classics used by the Chinese imperial government to select political officers.

Feudalism

A highly fragmented and decentralized society in medieval Europe (c. 1200-1450) where a landowning warrior elite held power, and lesser lords/knights acted as vassals swearing loyalty to greater lords/kings in exchange for land and military protection.

Nomadic

A lifestyle defined by constant movement, hunting, herding, living in small fabric/stick dwellings, trading for portable goods, and deploying small, fast-striking horse-mounted armies.

Ibn Battuta

A Muslim scholar, explorer, and merchant (1304-1368) from North Africa who traveled extensively throughout Dar al-Islam, visited the Swahili Coast and Mali Empire, documented his journeys in the Rihla, and was appalled by West African Muslim gender practices.