AP world

Networks of exchange

Interconnected land and sea systems that moved goods, people, technology, religions, and diseases across regions (not just simple buying and selling).

Nodes

Key stopping points in trade networks (cities, ports, caravan stops, oasis towns) where goods were stored, taxed, financed, translated, and redistributed.

Links

The roads and sea lanes connecting nodes, shaped by geography (deserts, mountains) and natural systems (especially monsoon winds).

Monsoon wind system

Predictable seasonal wind shifts in the Indian Ocean that enabled planned outbound/return voyages and encouraged long port stays and multicultural communities.

knowledge helped trade maritime

Relay trade

Stage-by-stage movement of goods through intermediaries rather than one merchant traveling the entire route.

Caravan

An organized group of merchants and animals traveling together for safety and efficiency in long-distance overland or desert trade.

Caravanserai

Roadside inns on overland routes that provided lodging, storage, information-sharing, and relative safety, reducing long-distance travel costs and risks.

Silk Roads

A network of overland Eurasian routes linking China, Central Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe/Mediterranean worlds; carried goods and ideas, not just silk.

Indian Ocean trade

The major maritime trading network linking East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China, capable of moving both luxuries and bulk goods.

Trans-Saharan trade

Trade network connecting North Africa and West Africa across the Sahara, enabled by camels, oases knowledge, and organized caravans.

Luxury goods

High-value, low-bulk items (e.g., silk, porcelain, spices) that dominated costly overland transport like the Silk Roads.

Bulk goods

Heavier, higher-volume commodities that were more profitable to ship by sea (common in Indian Ocean trade due to cheaper transport per unit weight).

Black Death (bubonic plague)

Mid-14th-century epidemic that spread along trade routes and intensified movement; in some regions killed about one-third of the population.

Cultural diffusion

The spread of religions, languages, ideas, art, and practices through repeated contact in shared spaces like markets, ports, and caravan towns.

Hybridity

Cultural blending that results when societies adapt outside influences to local needs rather than simply copying them.

Diasporic communities (merchant diasporas)

Groups living outside their homeland who maintain ties and act as trust networks in trade by sharing information, lodging, credit, and partners.

Credit

Commercial practice of borrowing or buying with promises to pay later, reducing the need to carry dangerous, heavy metal currency.

Bills of exchange

Paper instruments that allowed merchants to deposit wealth in one place and withdraw elsewhere, lowering risk in long-distance trade.

Paper money

State-backed currency (notably in China) that eased transactions and expanded commerce but depended on state capacity and public trust.

Lateen sail

Triangular sail used in Indian Ocean navigation that improved maneuverability and helped make maritime trade more reliable.

Magnetic compass

Navigation technology used at sea (including in Indian Ocean trade) that improved direction-finding and long-distance travel reliability.

Astrolabe

Instrument used to estimate latitude, supporting maritime navigation and long-distance Indian Ocean voyages.

Dhow

Common Arab ship design used in Indian Ocean trade networks.

Junk (Chinese ship)

Large Chinese ship design that supported significant maritime capacity within Indian Ocean trade.

Swahili Coast city-states

East African coastal trading cities that grew wealthy by linking interior goods like gold and ivory to Indian Ocean markets; developed blended Swahili culture.

Kilwa

A prominent Swahili Coast city-state known for wealth from Indian Ocean trade connections.

Strait of Malacca

Major Southeast Asian maritime chokepoint where states benefited by taxing and servicing trade passing through.

Zheng He

Leader of Ming-sponsored voyages (1405–1433) that projected Chinese prestige and strengthened diplomatic/tributary ties within existing trade networks (not colonization).

Salt-gold trade

Trans-Saharan exchange pattern based on complementary scarcity: West African gold traded for Saharan/desert-edge salt essential for health and preservation.

Camel

Key technology of trans-Saharan exchange; well-suited to desert travel with limited water and enabled regular long-distance caravans.

Oases

Critical desert water-source stops that structured trans-Saharan routes and made the Sahara a corridor rather than an absolute barrier.

Sonni Ali

15th-century Songhai ruler who conquered much of the region and strengthened Songhai as a major political and cultural power.

Burghers

Influential merchant town residents in medieval Europe who gained political power and pushed for urban privileges as commerce expanded.

Hanseatic League

Northern European trading alliance (13th–15th centuries; often dated to 1358 in notes) of over 100 cities that protected trade and expanded Baltic/North Sea commerce.

Scholasticism

Medieval intellectual approach tied to universities that used reason and study (including engagement with Muslim and Greek ideas) to address philosophical and theological questions.

Legitimacy

The reasons people accept a ruler or political system as rightful (e.g., religion, ancestry, military success, prosperity, law, or a mix).

Social order

A society’s system of ranking and hierarchy (class/caste/ethnicity/religion/gender) and the ways those hierarchies reproduce and support political and economic power.

Religious mysticism

A cross-religious pattern in which believers emphasize mystical experiences to draw closer to the divine, often through prayer, meditation, and disciplined practice.

Sufism

A mystical tradition within Islam that emphasized spiritual practices and often helped spread Islam through adaptable, local forms (frequently along trade routes).

Siddhartha Gautama

Founder of Buddhism; a South Asian prince who rejected wealth, became the Buddha (“Enlightened One”), and taught a path to liberation from suffering.

Four Noble Truths

Core Buddhist teachings: (1) life involves suffering, (2) suffering is caused by desire, (3) desire can be ended, and (4) ending desire requires following a prescribed path.

Theravada Buddhism

A major branch of Buddhism emphasizing meditation, simplicity, and nirvana as renunciation of consciousness and self.

Mahayana Buddhism

A major branch of Buddhism that developed more ritual and offered spiritual comfort; it spread widely across East Asia.

Brahman (Brahma[n])

In Hinduism, an ultimate reality or supreme force underlying existence; deities can be understood as manifestations of this reality.

Moksha

In Hinduism, spiritual liberation—release of the soul and union with ultimate reality—typically understood as occurring over multiple lives.

Dharma

In Hinduism, the duties and obligations associated with one’s position in society, closely tied to caste expectations.

Confucianism

An ethical and social philosophy (from Confucius) focused on restoring political and social order through education, hierarchy, and proper relationships.

examples of continuity but also innovation

how song china maintained and justified their rule

confucianism and bureaucracy

Analects

A major collection of Confucius’s sayings and teachings, foundational for Confucian learning and education.

Five fundamental relationships

Confucian framework for social harmony: ruler–subject, parent–child, husband–wife, older sibling–younger sibling, and friend–friend.

Neo-Confucianism

A Song-era revival of Confucianism that engaged metaphysical questions (often in dialogue with Buddhism) and reinforced hierarchy, filial piety, and “proper roles,” closely linked to state institutions.

Five Pillars of Islam

Core Islamic practices: confession of faith, prayer five times daily, charity, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca.

Sharia

Islamic law; a unifying institution across diverse Muslim-ruled states through legal schools, scholars, and courts.

Caliphate

An Islamic political leadership claimed to represent the Muslim community, ideally led by a caliph tied to early Islamic authority.

Civil service examination

Chinese system recruiting officials through mastery of Confucian texts, creating a professional scholar-based bureaucracy (though access favored the wealthy due to education costs).

Foot binding

A Song-era and later Chinese practice of binding girls’ feet to keep them small; reflected elite beauty standards and reinforced broader gender hierarchy under Neo-Confucian values.

Yuan dynasty

Chinese dynasty (1271–1368) established by Mongol conquest; preserved many Chinese administrative practices but organized society with a status hierarchy favoring Mongols and other non-Han groups.

Ming dynasty

Chinese dynasty (1368–1644) that replaced the Yuan and emphasized restoring Han Chinese rule, reinforcing Confucian learning, civil service recruitment, agricultural recovery, and stronger imperial institutions.

China-centered cultural sphere

A regional pattern in East Asia where neighboring states adopted and adapted Chinese ideas (writing, Confucian education, bureaucracy, Buddhism) while maintaining political independence.

Shogunate

Japanese political system (often dated from 1192) in which real power frequently rested with military leaders rather than a centralized civil bureaucracy.

Bushido

Samurai warrior code in feudal Japan emphasizing loyalty, courage, honor, and discipline.

Dar al-Islam

“Abode of Islam”; regions where Islamic rule and Muslim communities were significant, culturally connected by shared texts, scholarship, law, and trade despite political fragmentation.

Abbasid Caliphate

Major Islamic caliphate (750–1258) associated with a cultural and intellectual “golden age” and strong integration with long-distance trade networks.

Lots of tolerance

Pax Islamica-led to expansion of religion and language

Investing money in arts and sciences, society, education, led to disciveres in medicine and literature

Legal systems for each major religion

Bank- utilize gold standard (Dinaar), sakk (checks)

House of Wisdom

An Abbasid-era institution in Baghdad often described as a major library and translation center supporting scholarship in arts, sciences, medicine, and mathematics.

Turko-Persian

A cultural blend in which Turkic rulers and military elites adopted Persian language, administrative methods, and literary culture, showing Islamic civilization’s ethnic and cultural diversity.

Mamluk Sultanate

Muslim-ruled state centered in Egypt and Syria where enslaved soldiers (Mamluks), trained and later manumitted, formed a military elite that dominated political power.

Battle of Ayn Jalut

1260 battle in the Levant where the Mamluks defeated Mongol forces, helping halt Mongol expansion in the eastern Mediterranean and preserve key Muslim-ruled centers.

Delhi Sultanate

State (1206–1526) ruling much of northern India under Turkish and Afghan and Persian Elites

governed a religiously diverse population using military power, taxation, and cooperation with local social structures

Some sultans oppressed non-muslims, some did not-instability, rise of resentment

Establish longevity of Islam in region

Mandala model

A Southeast Asian political pattern where authority formed overlapping circles of influence (strongest at the center and fading outward) rather than fixed, clearly bordered territories.

Khmer Empire

Southeast Asian empire (9th–15th centuries) centered at Angkor

used massive irrigation/water management to support rice surpluses, cities,

temple construction tied to Hindu and later Buddhist ideas

get rich from trade, use to grow militaries and infrastructure

Competition and rebellions for controlling trade

Angkor Wat

Monumental temple complex at Angkor that served religious purposes and acted as a political statement of sacred kingship and state capacity.

Majapahit

Maritime empire (1293–c. 1500) in the Indonesian archipelago t

hat gained wealth by controlling trade networks, taxing commerce, and managing port alliances;

a site of cultural blending.

Maintained tribute system

Mali Empire

West African empire (c. 1235–c. 1600) that built state power through gold production and taxing trans-Saharan trade; elites often used Islamic legitimacy alongside local traditions.

Trans-Saharan trade

Long-distance exchange across the Sahara that linked North and West Africa and helped expand commerce and Islamic influence into parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Tribute empire

An empire maintained by extracting goods, labor, and captives from conquered communities (a key description of Mexica/Aztec rule), often while leaving local rulers in place under tribute obligations.

Mita

Inca labor system requiring subjects to perform public service (e.g., roads, terraces, military service), functioning as a form of labor taxation supporting the state.

Ayllu

Inca kin-based community unit that organized labor and social life, helping the state mobilize resources and manage local populations.

Quipu

Inca knotted-cord record-keeping system used for accounting and administration, showing sophisticated governance without alphabetic writing.

Feudalism

A political/military hierarchy in medieval Europe (and comparably in Japan) where land and protection were exchanged for loyalty and service among kings, nobles, and vassals.

Manorialism

A medieval European economic/social system centered on largely self-sufficient estates (manors/fiefs) where peasants, often serfs, worked a lord’s land for protection and subsistence access.

Magna Carta

English document forced on King John by nobles that limited royal power and helped lay foundations for later representative institutions (including the development of Parliament).

Umayyad Empire

Less Tolerant compared to other caliphates

Territorial expansion-very militaristic

More conversion to Islam

Lots of corruption-poor treatment of conquered people, gov allowing only sunni Arab elites, high jizya

Overthrown by coalition

Andalucia

Islamic Spain

Tolerant, multicultural

Spanish Golden Age

Arabic effects on Spanish Culture

Pax Islamica

Massive innovation by Middle class, merchants

Years of relative peace

More education

Spread of Arabic Language

Centered in Abbasid Caliphate

Incorporated many cultures

Spread of Buddhism in East Asia

Many join monasteries, goes against confucianism

Starts Neo-Confucianism

Syncretism, different schools

Tang Dynasty

Confucianism Gov

Tributary Countries

Huge influence

Civil Service Exam reinstated

Outreach to peasantry

Tributary Countries

Were not invaded, but were protected by a country which they paid taxes to

Network of loose, international relations focused on China

Autonomous and independent

China controlling them

Facilitated trade

Sultanate of Malacca had them-smaller countries, offered proection

Tang and Song Tech and Culture

Advancement of Printing Press

Attempt at paper money, failed

Blended confucianism with spiritual ideas

CHAMPA RICE!

Porcelain

Gunpowder

grand canal

China’s influence on Korea

Bureaucracy-korean gov favored monarchy, tried to model gov after china style

Meritocracy

Confucianism

Civil Service Exam

Rigid Hierarchy maintained

Chan Buddhism- Buddhism with dao/animist beliefs

Rise in patriarchal customs, decline in matriarchal customs

Hangul Alphabet

Korean x Chinese

Increased literacy rates

Koryo Dynasty

Seen as beginning of culture

United Peninsula

Embraced confucianism, Chinese uni system, civil service exam

Golden age of Chan Buddhism

Celadon porcelain-glaze

Chinese Influence on Vietnam

Confucianism-some values, women retain more equality compared to other Asian states

Conquered then independent in 900s

Buddhism

Vietnam

Had many rebellions via guerrilla warfare organized by farmers (Mai the black Farmer)

Irrigation/agricultural development-champa rice

Champa Rice

From Vietnam to China

Can be harvested a lot

Increased food supply and population

Rural areas had access

Chinese influence on Japan

Relied on China for trade

Nara Japan- 1st centralized gov, lots of Chinese governing styles- bureaucracy, equal field system, political patronage of conf

Embraced confucianism and Buddhism while maintaining shintoism

No extremes of confucianism, such as foot binding

Use Chinese writing

Upper classes refused to write in Jap so women held Jap literary tradition by Nara period, upper classes women had access to eduation

Nara Japan

Many become rich, private militaires

Institute Chinese edu in Mandarin, court language

Tributary system voluntarily

Religion in India

Islam spread in North, more of diversity

South had Hinduism thrive

Peaceful coexistence

Ghaznavid Turk Invasion

Spread Islam violently in Northern India

Chola Kingdom

Southern india

Not hyper-centralized

Hindu culture

Worked with many allies to prevent piracy, protect trade and investments

Emporia-warehouse towns