AP World History Master Terms and Definitions Units 1–8

A comprehensive vocabulary set covering the major terms from the AP World History Units 1 through 8 transcript.

Neo-Confucianism

A revived form of Confucianism in China that blended Confucian ethics with Buddhist and Daoist ideas.

Censorate

Chinese government agency that monitored officials and reported corruption or misconduct to the emperor.

Hangzhou (Song capital)

Capital of the Southern Song Dynasty and one of the world’s largest, richest cities at the time.

Foot binding

Chinese practice of tightly binding girls’ feet to create small feet, symbolizing elite status and beauty.

Middle Kingdom

Chinese view of China as the cultural and political center of the civilized world.

Kowtow

Ritual bow of deep respect, often performed before the Chinese emperor in tribute relations.

Xiongnu

Nomadic confederation north of China that pressured early Chinese dynasties and influenced Great Wall defenses.

Sultanate of Delhi

Muslim-ruled state in northern India from the $1200s$ to $1500s$ that spread Islamic rule and culture.

Sufis

Islamic mystics who emphasized personal devotion, spiritual practice, and helped spread Islam through preaching.

Kabir

Indian poet-saint who criticized religious divisions and blended Hindu and Muslim devotional ideas.

Sikhism

Monotheistic religion founded in Punjab that combined elements of Hindu devotion and Islamic monotheism.

Timbuktu

West African city famous for trans-Saharan trade, Islamic scholarship, and centers of learning.

Mexica

The people who built the Aztec Empire in central Mexico.

Triple Alliance

Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan that formed the Aztec Empire.

Tenochtitlan

Aztec capital built on an island in Lake Texcoco, known for canals, markets, and temples.

Chinampas, aka floating gardens

Raised agricultural plots built in shallow lake beds to grow crops efficiently near Tenochtitlan.

Huitzilopochtli

Aztec god of war and the sun, central to Mexica religion and human sacrifice.

Quechua

Main language family of the Inca Empire, still spoken in parts of the Andes.

Gender Parallelism

System in Andean society where men and women had separate but complementary roles and authority.

Yuan Dynasty

Mongol dynasty that ruled China from $1271$ to $1368$ under Kublai Khan and his successors.

Khubilai Khan

Mongol ruler who founded the Yuan Dynasty and completed the Mongol conquest of China.

Hulegu

Mongol leader who conquered much of Southwest Asia and founded the Ilkhanate in Persia.

Khutulun

Mongol noblewoman and warrior known for her strength, wrestling skill, and political influence.

Kipchak Khanate / Golden Horde

Mongol khanate that ruled parts of Russia and the western Eurasian steppe.

Monsoon winds

Seasonal wind patterns in the Indian Ocean that made predictable long-distance trade possible.

Swahili language

East African Bantu language strongly influenced by Arabic due to Indian Ocean trade.

Great Zimbabwe

Powerful southeastern African trading kingdom known for stone architecture and gold trade.

Jenne-Jeno

Ancient West African city near the Niger River, important for regional trade and urban development.

Camel caravans

Groups of traders using camels to cross deserts, especially in trans-Saharan trade.

Encomienda and Repartimiento

Spanish labor systems in the Americas that forced Indigenous people to work for colonists or the state.

Peninsulares, Creoles, & Mestizos

Spanish colonial social groups: Europeans born in Spain, Europeans born in the Americas, and people of mixed European-Indigenous ancestry.

Tupac Amaru Revolt

Large Indigenous rebellion in Peru in the $1780s$ against Spanish colonial abuse and forced labor.

Middle Passage

Brutal Atlantic voyage that transported enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Cowrie shells

Small shells used as currency in parts of Africa and Asia, especially in trade networks.

Kingdom of Dahomey

West African kingdom that became powerful through military expansion and participation in the slave trade.

Queen Nzinga

Ruler of Ndongo and Matamba who resisted Portuguese expansion in Central Africa.

British East India Company

English joint-stock company that gained major political and economic power in India.

Dutch East India Company

Dutch joint-stock company that dominated parts of Indian Ocean trade, especially spices.

Potosi, Bolivia

Major silver-mining city in Spanish America that supplied global silver trade.

Gunpowder empires

Large land empires such as the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires that used gunpowder weapons to expand.

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman infantry soldiers, often recruited through the devshirme system.

Sati

Hindu practice in which a widow was expected or pressured to die on her husband’s funeral pyre.

Jizya

Tax paid by non-Muslims living under Muslim rule in exchange for protection and limited religious freedom.

Devshirme

Ottoman system of recruiting Christian boys from the Balkans for military or government service.

Soft gold

Nickname for valuable animal furs in the North American fur trade.

Qing Dynasty

Manchu dynasty that ruled China from $1644$ to $1912$ and greatly expanded Chinese territory.

Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689)

Agreement between Qing China and Russia that settled borders and regulated trade in northern Asia.

Declaration of Independence

$1776$ document declaring the American colonies independent from Britain and defending natural rights.

Creoles

People of European descent born in the Americas, often below peninsulares in colonial social hierarchy.

Miguel Hidalgo and Jose Morelos

Mexican independence leaders who mobilized popular revolts against Spanish rule.

Simon Bolivar

Creole revolutionary leader who helped liberate much of northern South America from Spain.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

French Revolution document proclaiming legal equality, popular sovereignty, and individual rights.

Olympe de Gouges

French writer who demanded equal rights for women during the French Revolution.

Napoleon Bonaparte

French military leader who spread revolutionary reforms but also built an authoritarian empire.

Toussaint Louverture

Formerly enslaved leader who led the Haitian Revolution against slavery and French rule.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Haitian revolutionary leader who declared Haiti independent in $1804$.

Independence debt

Heavy debt Haiti was forced to pay France after independence, weakening Haiti’s economy.

Seneca Falls

$1848$ women’s rights convention in New York that launched the organized U.S. women’s rights movement.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

American women’s rights leader who helped organize Seneca Falls and wrote the Declaration of Sentiments.

National American Woman Suffrage Association

U.S. organization that campaigned for women’s right to vote.

Kartini

Indonesian advocate for women’s education and rights under Dutch colonial rule.

Huda Sharawi

Egyptian feminist and nationalist who promoted women’s rights and education.

Steam Engine

Machine powered by steam that drove industrialization in factories, mines, railroads, and ships.

Second Industrial Revolution

$\text{Late-}1800s$ industrial phase focused on steel, chemicals, electricity, oil, and mass production.

Middle Class

Social group of professionals, merchants, managers, and business owners that grew with industrialization.

Robert Owen

British industrialist and reformer who promoted better working conditions and early socialist communities.

Karl Marx

German thinker who argued that class struggle would lead workers to overthrow capitalism.

Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party

Marxist political party in Russia that later split into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions.

The Crimean War (1854-1856)

War between Russia and an alliance including Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire; exposed Russian weakness.

Caudillos

Strong military or political leaders who dominated many Latin American states after independence.

Mexican Revolution of 1910

Major revolution against dictatorship and inequality that reshaped Mexican politics and land reform.

King Leopold of Belgium

Belgian king who personally controlled the Congo Free State and exploited it brutally for rubber and ivory.

Taiping Uprising

Massive Chinese rebellion against the Qing Dynasty inspired by religious and social reform ideas.

Opium Wars

Wars in which Britain forced China to accept opium trade and unequal treaties.

Self-Strengthening

Qing reform effort to adopt Western military and industrial technology while preserving Confucian traditions.

Boxer Uprising

Anti-foreign and anti-Christian rebellion in China suppressed by foreign powers in $1900$.

Hundred Days of Reform

Short-lived $1898$ Qing reform movement seeking modernization in government, education, and military.

Bolsheviks

Radical Marxist faction led by Lenin that seized power in Russia in $1917$.

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and founder of the Soviet state.

Guomindang

Chinese Nationalist Party that sought to unify China and later fought the Communists.

Mao Zedong

Chinese Communist leader who founded the People’s Republic of China in $1949$.

Stalin and Mao

Communist leaders who used centralized power, planned economies, collectivization, and political repression.

Zhenotdel

Soviet women’s department that promoted women’s rights and participation in socialist society.

Collectivization

Policy of merging private farms into state-controlled collective farms, often by force.

Five-Year Plans

Soviet economic plans that set production goals to rapidly industrialize the country.

Great Leap Forward

Mao’s campaign to rapidly industrialize China through communes; caused economic disaster and famine.

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

Mao’s movement to purge capitalist or traditional elements, causing chaos, violence, and persecution.

Terror / Great Purges

Stalin’s campaign of arrests, executions, and labor camps against suspected enemies.

Rape of Nanjing

Mass killing and assault committed by Japanese troops after capturing Nanjing, China, in $1937$.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Japanese cities destroyed by U.S. atomic bombs in $1945$, leading to Japan’s surrender.

Rosie the Riveter

Symbol of women working in industrial jobs during World War II.

The Holocaust

Nazi genocide that murdered six million Jews and millions of other targeted people during World War II.

United Nations

International organization founded after World War II to promote peace, security, and cooperation.

Indian National Congress

Major nationalist organization that led much of India’s independence movement.

Mohandas Gandhi

Indian nationalist leader who used nonviolent resistance to challenge British colonial rule.

Satyagraha

Gandhi’s method of nonviolent resistance based on truth, moral force, and civil disobedience.

Muslim League

Political organization that advocated for Muslim interests in British India and later supported Pakistan.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Leader of the Muslim League and founder of Pakistan.

Deng Xiaoping

Chinese leader who introduced market reforms and opened China’s economy after Mao.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader whose reforms helped end the Cold War and contributed to the USSR’s collapse.