AP World Vocab

Neo-Confucianism

Confucianism + Daoism + Buddhism; a revival and reinterpretation of traditional Confucian philosophy that emerged in China during Song Dynasty (960-1279); it emphasizes moral virtue and social harmony, integrating metaphysical elements

Censorate

an agency that exercised surveillance over the rest of the government (checked character and competence of officials); eyes and ears to prevent corruption

Hangzhou (Song Capital)

major Chinese city during the Song dynasty known for commerce and urban; filled with markets selling all kinds of goods, restaurants saved unique offerings

Food Binding

tight wrapping of the feet of young girls, breaking bones and causing intense pain and deformations creating difficulties/inabilities to walk; became popular during and after the Song Dynasty, created to reinforce female expectations and keep them at home; small feet paired with beautiful shoes gave women higher chances of marrying into a rich family; rite of passage and pride that encased them

Middle Kingdom

Idea that China was at the center of the world, especially civilized/elevated society and that all surrounding countries/cultures were barbaric

Kowtow

series of ritual bowings, prostrations and tribute-presentations to emperor; part of the ceremony to be accepted into China for trading

Xiongnu

(Hong Dynasty) located in mountains of Manchuria to central Asia; early nomadic group/confederacy; raided China to persuade emperor to recognize them as a politically equal; paid off with luxury goods (wine, silk, grain, etc); given princess to marry

Sultanate of Delhi

number of Muslim dynasties that ruled North India between 1206-1526; expanded territory and influence through military/force, more systematic

Sufis

holy men who helped support conversion from believing in Hinduism to having Islamic beliefs (more spiritual) and religious festivals to more average people; helped develop a more popular outlook on Islam; in Anatolia

Kabir

15th century poetic-saint known for his criticism of ritualistic practices and promotion of spiritual relationships with the divine; connected; combined Muslims and Hindus through his belief system

Sikhism

Founder: Guru Nanak; distinct religion in India that blended elements of Islam, like devotion to 1 god, and Hindu concepts like rebirth and karma

Timbuktu

Helped boost more than 150 loner-level Quranic schools and major centers of higher education filled with thousands of students; created by Mansa Musa as a center of trade, religion, and intelligence that thrived

Mexica

Group of people who created and built foundation of Aztec empire; semi-nomadic people from Northern to Southern Mexico; in 1325: built capital city of Tenochtitlan; created Triple Alliance

Triple Alliance

1428: Mexica people and 2 other city-states created it; highly aggressive program of military conquest -> brought Mesoamerica into single political framework

Tenochtitlan

Capital city built by the Mexica people; metropolis of 150,000-200,000 people; lots of trade, canals, bridges, palaces, temples, chinampas, merchandise sold

Chinampas/”Floating Gardens”

Artificial lands created from swamplands in Aztec empire; place for agriculture and highly productive -> lots of money and trade produced

Huitzilopochtli

Deity/god, in relation with the sun and known for battling the darkness; empire would sacrifice human blood to replenish its energy as a “thank you” for creating humankind

Quechua

Language from older Incan people who lived along the Andes mountains; language from a much larger society than the Aztecs

Gender Parallelism

Women and men operate in 2 separate but equivalent spheres each governing themselves; men worshipped the sun and women worshipped the moon; men went to fight in the war while women’s war was childbirth; both Inca and Aztecs used this

Yuan Dynasty

When the Mongols ruled over China, naming it after the city they invaded (Yuan); suggested new beginning in Chinese history while ruling

Khubilai Khan (1271-1294)

Grandson so Ghenghis Khan who completed the conquest of China and established Yuan Dynasty; improved roads and canals, lowered taxed, patronized scholars and artists, limited death penalties/torture, supported agriculture; moved Mongol capital to Beijing

Hulegu

Grandson of Genghis Khan who conquered Baghdad in 1258 and established Mongol rule in Persia

Khutulun

renowned Mongol noblewoman, warrior, and princess; excelled in horse riding, archery and wrestling, outperforming her brothers; joined battlefield with her dad and lead troops; was an advisor and known for defying traditional gender roles; refused to marry unless suitors could beat her in wrestling

Kipchak Khanate/Golden Horde

Mongol khanate that ruled over parts of Russia and Eastern Europe; created Moscow

Monsoon Winds

alternating wind currents that blew predictable east during summer and westward during winter; important for trading along with ship building → connected all parts of world

Swahili Language

Bantu-based language from African tongue blended with Arabic, Persian, and Indian vocabulary that developed in East African coast around 9th-11th centuries; facilitated trade in Indian Ocean and served as a cultural bridge, often written in Arabic script

Great Zimbabwe

Powerful southern African city-state (1100-1450) known for stone architecture and participation in regional trade; rised along with gold along Swahili coast; due to power of Indian Ocean commerce

Jenne-Jeno

Major ancient trading city in Mali’s Inland Niger Delta, key to West African urbanization; crucial center for ironworking and commerce; linked savanna/forest economies in an urban cluster/center where goods were transshipped from boat to donkey/vice versa

Camel Caravans

group of traders/travelers who used camels to transport goods along Trans Saharan Trade route; camels could go 10 days without water and were able to travel across Sahara; North African Arabs started it; helped transfer gold across desert → international trade route and helped connect West with North

Ulama

Learned Islamic scholars who served as judges, interpreters, administrators, prayer leaders, and teachers of Sharia Law (Islamic law). The Ulama helped pass on the core teachings of Islam, allowing it to become a coherent culture that spread across vast lands.

Madrassas

Formal Islamic colleges offering advanced instruction in the Quran, grammar, rhetoric, math and medicine. While the teaching was often oral and based on memorization, it helped define a body of Islamic learning that was reaching many people (more than in Europe). 

The Hajj

All men that are financially able, are asked to take this pilgrimage to Mecca once in their life. This pillar of Islam facilitated the spread of ideas and goods throughout the Islamic world, which further led to wealthy and sophisticated Islamic civilization

Baghdad

The capital city of the Islamic Abbasid empire. Baghdad was the center of Islamic trade, culture, and learning. Scholars flocked to the city, making it the most advanced place in the world between approximately 800 and 1100 CE

House of Wisdom

A major intellectual center in Baghdad where scholars preserved and translated greek, persian and Indian knowledge.

Pure Land School of Buddhism

Major branch of Buddhism in East Asia, Mahayana tradition focused on achieving rebirth 

An Lushan Rebellion

Civil war that weakened the Tang dynasty, marking the end of its golden age. Led by Sogdian general An Lushan against Emperor Xuanzong, resulting in chronic instability and increased Xenophobia

Pastoralism

Nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle focused on herding domesticated animals that emerged in Afro-Eurasia.

Modun

Leader of Xiongnu Empire who revolutionized nomadic life by creating a centralized, hierarchical political system. He united nomadic tribes into a major military confederation that challenged the Han dynasty

Turks

Central asian nomadic people who migrated into the middle east starting around the 10th century bringing islamic and pastoral traditions and establishing significant military empires

Temujin/Chinggis Khan

Founder of the mongol empire, uniting nomadic tribes in 1206 to create the largest and most continuous land based empire. He initiated major conquests and facilitated cultural exchange and trade. The rhein of the mongol empire also led to a time of general peace known as Pax Mongolica.

Encomienda

Legal system where Spanish Crown granted specific # of natives to participate in Spanish settlement for labor (agri/mining) in exchange for protection and instruction in Christianity

Repartimiento

Similar to Encomiendo; slave-based regulations with more control by Spanish Crown officials; employ more native workers and give lower wages → higher taxes and debts

Peninsulares

Born in Spain and who are Spanish but went to Americas; top of settlement hierarchy, held office and had most power

Creoles

Spaniards born in America, thought they were superior to Peninsulares; able to own land, mainly women marginalized and seen less than

Mestizos

Mixed-race population; usually between Spanish men and Indian women as there weren’t enough Spanish women; looked down on as they weren’t Spanish; few Mestizas (women) became rich, worked in husband’s shop/as a servant

Tupac Amaru Revolt

Revolt in Peru from 1780-1781 named after the last independent Inca emperor; occurred in response to brutal colonial treatment of indigenous people and exploitation of labor

Middle Passage

Horrendous journey slaves endured from Africa to Americas/Europe; helped facilitate Atlantic Slave Trade between 1500-1866; 12.5 million shipped, deposited 10.7 million, 1.2 million died

Cowrie Shells

Used as a currency/money in West Africa; traded along with textiles, decorative items, tobacco, alcohol, gunpowder, firearms, European metal goods, etc. for slaves

Kingdom of Dahomey

Royal palace where thousands of women stayed and the Queen Mother stayed; each lineage required to send 1 daughter but weather families sent more → more influence in court

Queen Nzinga

Gained reputation for resistance from Portuguese imperialism and helped guided Matamba through Euro and African rivalries

British East India Company

Focused on Indian cotton textiles which was popular in England and America; not as controlling as Dutch East India Company but had 3 major trading settlements: Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta, and Mandras; secured trading bases with local Mughal authorities with payments and bribes to get into Indian market

Dutch East India Company

Focused on islands of Indonesia; controlled shipping and production of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace; very controlling and only allowed selling to Dutch people; used slaves labor for nutmeg and sold spices to Europe and India for 12-17x original price

Potosi, Bolivia

Became largest city in America; one of the biggest places for silver; was hell city for Native American miners → deforestation, soil erosion, flooding; Spanish women rented building to slaves to gain money; Indians and Mestiza women opened store with beverages, food, clothing, and credit

Gunpowder Empires

Large centralized states (Ottoman, Sagavid, Mughal) that used gunpowder weapons to consolidate power

• Ottoman: able to take over Constantinople in 1453 and have power over Christians

• Safavid: fought over territory with Ottoman and took over Persia

• Mughal: Akbar and Aurangzeb helped expand military and invade India

Ottoman Empire

Founded by Turkic warrior in mid-15th century; MIddle East, coastal North Africa around Black Sea; swore to create renowned unity in Islamic world and protected faith; had substantial Christian population as they took over Constantinople in 1453; 1529: took over Vienna and Europeans feared them; believed in Sunni Islam beliefs

Safavid Empire

~1500 (Persia); leaders were also Turkic but rose with Sufi religion from Safi al-Din; forced Shia version of Islam as official religion → Persian (Iranian); political and religious divide between as Persia’s neighbors practiced Sunni form of faith; conflict

Songhay

(2nd half of 15th century); used Trans-Saharan trade routes as revenue from taxation; Islamic faith wats high but limited to urban elite; religious divide: Sunni Ali: fasted during Ramadan (Islamic) and African beliefs; empire represented Islamic power in African areas

Mughal (Mongols in Persia)

Them and Songhay both governed large non-Muslim populations; Islamized Turkic group in India, connecting Hindu and Islamic ways; Mongols had political control → laid foundation for British rule

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman infantry soldiers originally recruited through the devshirme system by Turkics

Devshirme

Ottoman system of collecting/gathering and recruiting Christian boys from the Balkans to serve in the military/janissaries or bureaucracy; upward mobility in Ottoman empire

Soft Gold

Highly valued animal furs such as beaver, sable, and fox traded in Russia and North America during the early modern period; form of currency due to is high demand in world market; in Siberia → Euros taking over Siberia mainly for soft gold

Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

(Manchuria, north of Great Wall) founded by Manchu that expanded China’s territory and maintained Confucian governance; forbid intermarriage → keep ethnic distinctions; learned Chinese language and used Confucian and bureaucratic ways; 8 year military effort of bring Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet together for security rather than economy

Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689)

First boundary treaty between Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia; signed to halt Russian expansion along the Amur River → forcing Russian to abandon territory, facilitate trade, and allowed the Qing to secure norther border

Declaration of Independence (1776)

British rule of American colonies launches writing of this document

Creoles

Spanish people born in British America; thought they were superior; exercised power by giving heavier taxes and tariffs

Miguel Hidalgo and Jose Morelos

Priests who led insurrection from hunger for land and higher food prices in 1810; raised army and crushed unsurgeney with help of church and landowners; Miguel-Jose rebellion

Simon Bolivar

Regional military leader supporting independent movements; known as “the great liberator;” wanted to unit South America but couldn’t because of rivalries and separate countries

Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen

National Assembly (~98% of French population commoners) claimed sole authority to make laws as they were majority; created this to emphasize idea that men were born equal and free with equal rights; launched French revolution and radicalized many participants

Olympe de Gouges

French playwright and journalist; appropriated language of Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen to insist “woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights”

Napoleon Bonaparte

Seized power of French in 1799; credited for taming French revolution in face of growing disenchantment; preserved elements like civil equality, secular law code, religious freedom, and promotion by merit; reconciled with church and suppressed dictatorship; Conquest: subdued most of Europe and ended feudalism

Toussaint Louverture

Former slave; overcame internal resistance; outnumbered foreign powers; defeated attempt by Napoleon to reestablish French control; primary leader of Haitian (only successful slave revolt); military strategist who transferred slave insurgency into disciplined army

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

New country’s declared emperor after defeating French; marks declaration of Haiti’s independence, January 1, 1804

Independence Debt

Plantations destroyed cause of Haitian revolt → no coffee/sugar; caused by French; created financial burden for Haiti that took a century to pay

Seneca Falls

First organized expression of new feminism concept took place at women’s rights conference in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Created equality for all women and men; published Women’s Bible, exercising parts she found offensive; drafted a statement and started by paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence

National American Woman Suffrage Association

1914: 100,000 took part in French feminist organization, later claimed 2 million members; helped start/grow women’s merchant

Karini (part of Dutch East India)

Pioneer of feminist and nationalist thinking; number of schools created in her memory; Learned Western education and had relationships with Europeans in Netherlands and Jara; despised Dutch colonial rule and how they treated women; wanted to create a school for girls and contribute to emancipation

Huda Sharawi

Founder of first feminist organization in Egypt; returned in Cairo in 1923 to attend international conference in Italy; many Egyptian women followed her

Steam Engine

First invented in 1712 in Britain where innovations occurred/start of Industrialization; perfected by James Watt in 1765

Second Industrial Revolution

Rapid Industrialization through expansion of electricity, steel, chemicals, and communication technologies; mass production and widespread urbanization through railroads and telegraphs; automobiles created like Model T

First Industrial Revolution

Started in Great Britain; cotton and coal industries drastically increased; start of railroad building around Britain and Western Europe; mining, manufacturing, servies, etc; created first industrial society → changing daily lives

Middle Class

Mainly consisted of businessman, doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, etc; also had rich factory and mine owners, bankers, merchants, etc; believed in constitutional government, private ownership, social reforms, etc.

Robert Owen (1771-1858)

Wealthy British cotton textile manufacturer; wanted to create small industrial communities where fair and well treatment occurred; able to establish a community (New Lanark, Scotland): 10 hour work days, spacious housing, decent wages, education for children

Karl Max (1818-1883)

“Founder” of scientific revolution; believed social class divide between rich and poor and industrial capitalism instability will lead to a collapse; wanted to create a classless, socialist society to end divide; “founder” of scientific revolution

Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (1898)

Illegal, involved in workers’ education; union organizing, and revolutionary action; fought against autocracy; created strikes, blamed Tsar and government; wanted freedom and believed in Marxist socialism

Crimean War (1854-1856)

Russia fought with British and French forces because they wanted to expand → defeat; led to serfs being free in 1861 → started revolution/industrialization

Caudillos

Church vs. Enlightenment; conflicts occurred between political values → violence → military strongmen to keep order (caudillos); usually mestizo men

Mexican Revolution of 1910

Fighting between dictator Porfirio Diaz and impoverish working lower class; Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata wanted to gain land and distribute to peasants by attacking large haciendas but failed;

• but created new constitution in 1917 and transformed country: redistributed land stripped Catholic Church in education and owning land; created minimum wage and 8 hour working day

King Leopold of Belgium

Private companies in Congo forced villages to collect rubber using abule → death of millions; exploited Congo Free State and population within by making them work; outrages occurred → scandal → government taking control in 1908

Mohandas Gandhi

Led movement for independence by using non-violent civil disobedience; able to challenge discriminatory laws of British by using his education from London; influenced by Western writers → self-sufficiency, anti-materialism, civil obedience

Ho Min Cho

Became founding father in French Communist Party in Paris → created ideological framework for later unification of Vietnam; removed illiteracy and promoted self-sufficient nation; adapted Marxism-Leninism to agriculture → tool for liberation instead of class struggle; integrated Wester concepts of rights and democracy with Vietnamese patriotism

Taiping Uprising (1850-1864)

Leaders rejected Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, and instead sourced ideology in Christianity; wanted to abolish private property, radical distribution of land, and end opium smoking and prostitution and gender segregated military camps → women were able to hold supervisory position

Opium Wars

Lin Zexu led campaign against opium addiction that took over China’s population → British offended → British sent large naval expedition; Treaty of Nanjing ended war in 1843 where Britain created 5 ports in China; Britain won 2nd Opium war → more humiliation for China the ports were opened to foreign trade → China lost Vietnam, Taiwan, and Korea

Self-Strengthening (1860-1870s)

Sought to modernize China while borrowing from Western technology while maintaining Confucian values; relied heavily on foreigners for machinery, materials, and expertise but failed because of anti-foreign movement (boxer uprising) and lack of centralized coordination as Qing Dynasty didn’t want a reform

Boxer Uprising (1898-1901)

Led by militia organizations; killed numerous Europeans and Chinese Christians; laid siege of foreign embassies in Beijing like the West and Japanese; motivated by intense nationalism; but suppressed by international forces

Hundred Days of Reform

Attempt to modernized Qing’s Dynasty politically, educationally, and through military, but rejected by conservatives; aimed to shift from absolute monarchy to constitutional one; 6 leading reformers were executed because Qing empress didn’t want a change

Bolsheviks

Small socialist radical party, seized St. Petersburg → communist party; held control for 3 years, fighting against everyone; willingly signed peace treaty with Germany → Russia was out of WWI; gave lower class men local government jobs → social mobility

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of Bolsheviks party; determined and charismatic; believed Russia was ready for revolution

Mao Zedong

Created Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921 because of Karl Marx; took control of China after defeating Japan; gave women more freedom and outlawed arranged marriages; gained popularity from younger population

Guomindang

Nationalist party that lost power to CCP; encouraged modern development (railroads, lights, banking, etc); defeated when Japan started to attack China → opening for CCP