Connections Across Eurasia, Indian Ocean, East Africa, and Evolving European Society

Vocabulary flashcards covering Eurasian Silk Roads, Indian Ocean maritime trade, East African city-states, Chinese tribute voyages, the High Middle Ages, and European Christendom.

Silk Roads

A land-based Eurasian trade network running from the eastern Mediterranean to China that utilized camel caravans to transport luxury products designed for the elite.

Bills of Exchange

Financial instruments functioning like an 'I owe you' (IOU) that facilitated trade and transportation along the Silk Roads.

Mahayana Buddhism

A form of Buddhism that flourished along trade networks, featuring the Buddha as a compassionate deity and emphasizing compassion.

Pure Land Buddhism

The most popular expression of Buddhism in China, requiring little meditation and ensuring rebirth in a heavenly realm.

Neo-Confucianism

A philosophical system influenced by Confucianists and Buddhism that took over during the Song dynasty following attacks on Buddhism in China, later becoming influential in Korea and Japan.

Indian Ocean Sea Roads

The largest sea-based transport route, offering higher capacity and lower costs than the Silk Road due to navigation aided by monsoon winds, the sun, and the moon.

Strait of Malacca

A strategic maritime choke point that opened an all-sea trade route connecting China to India.

Srivijaya

A major Buddhist center and kingdom funded by taxes on passing ships, whose rulers employed Indians as officials and were validated as magical by Buddhism.

Malacca

Described as the first globalized city, featuring four overseer traders to resolve conflicts and serve as intermediaries for foreign merchants.

Swahili Civilization

A collection of independent coastal city-states in East Africa that evolved from fishing and farming communities and were majorly transformed by Islam.

Greater Zimbabwe

An African kingdom that gained wealth through gold trade and Arab merchants, supported by increased agricultural profitability and the spread of bananas.

Chinese Maritime Voyages

Indian Ocean expeditions involving 300 ships sent to enroll trade states into the Chinese tribute system, which were later halted because scholars viewed them as a waste of resources.

High Middle Ages

A period of European economic growth characterized by warmer weather and population growth from 35 million to 80 million.

Crusades

A series of holy wars undertaken under God's command to seize Jerusalem and holy sites associated with the life of Jesus.

European Universities

Intellectual institutions established so scholars could pursue studies dominated by writing and reason, bringing Greek and Islamic texts into Western Christendom.

Byzantine Empire

A powerful Christian state combining religious and political authority under an emperor, which influenced surrounding cultures before declining due to Turkic Ottoman attacks.

Rus

A diverse society of slaves and freemen led by a prince seeking a unifying religion, which borrowed extensively from Byzantine culture and Roman Christian tradition.

Manorialism

A system in Western Europe where wealthy landowners exercised local political and economic power.