Unit 2: Networks of Exchange Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts, empires, trade routes, figures, and technologies of Unit 2: Networks of Exchange.

Astrolabe

An instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars.

Banking Houses

Institutions that issued bills of exchange; model for modern banks.

Batu Khan

The son of Genghis Khan's oldest son who led an army of 100,000 Mongolian soldiers into Russia conquering small Russian kingdoms.

Bills of Exchange

Documents stating the holder was legally promised payment of a set amount on a set date.

The Bubonic Plague

Disease carried by fleas that Mongol conquests brought to Asia and Europe.

Calicut

City on the west coast of India that became a thriving center of trade.

Caravans

Groups of people traveling together for mutual protection, often with pack animals such as camels.

Caravanserai (or caravansary)

Inns that popped up about 100 miles apart (the distance camels could go before they needed water) along the routes of the Silk Roads.

Camel Saddle

Saddles developed by South Arabians as the use of the camel spread.

Chagatai Khanate

A medieval Central Asian empire and successor state to the Mongol Empire, ruled by the descendants of Genghis Khan's son, Chagatai Khan, encompassing territories in present-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and parts of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan.

Composite Bow

A versatile weapon that provided the Mongol cavalry with superior range, accuracy, and mobility, contributing to their military dominance and conquests.

Constantinople

The capital of the eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and later the Ottoman Empire.

Credit

An arrangement to receive cash, goods, or services now and pay for them in the future.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread of ideas, religions and products often resulting from trade.

Dhow Ships

Arab ships with lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design; facilitated trade in the Indian Ocean networks.

Diaspora

Settlements of people away from their homeland arising from trade.

Flying Money

A system of credit developed in China that allowed a person to deposit money at one location and withdraw it at another.

Genghis Khan

Name meaning "ruler of all" given to Temujin when he was elected khan of Mongolian Kingdom; also spelled Chinggis Khan.

Ghana Empire

First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa known as the Land of Gold.

Gobi Desert

A desert in central Asia where many invaders came in to attack China.

Golden Horde

Batu's army that pushed westward through Russia and then into Europe.

Goryeo Dynasty

A medieval Korean kingdom that faced multiple Mongol invasions and ultimately became a vassal state under Mongol rule.

Gujarat

A region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing; the inhabitants are called Gujarati.

Gunpowder

Invented in China in the 9th century; used in siege warfare like cannons in the Song Dynasty.

Hangzhou

Capital of the Song Dynasty.

The Hanseatic League

A commercial alliance that formed between northern German cities and Scandinavia in the 13th century.

Hulegu

Grandson of Genghis Khan that took control of the southwest region into the Abbasid territories and more of the Middle East until defeat in 1260.

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time.

Il-Khanate

Hulegu's medieval Mongol state that ruled over Persia, Mesopotamia, and parts of the Caucasus and Anatolia, blending Mongol and Islamic cultures while serving as a regional power in the 13th to 14th centuries.

Indian Ocean Basin

Largest sea-based trade network at the time.

Indian Ocean Slave Trade

Trade where slaves from eastern Africa were sold in northern Africa, the Middle east, and India, leading to African customs spreading throughout these areas.

Junk

Chinese sailing ship that developed during the Song Dynasty.

Kashgar

Trading city located at the western edge of China where northern and southern routes of the Silk Roads crossed.

Khanates

The four regional Mongol kingdoms that arose after the death of Genghis Khan.

Khmer Empire

Powerful and long-lasting empire in what is modern-day Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and southern Vietnam.

Kievan Rus'

A medieval East Slavic federation of city-states and principalities that fell under Mongol domination, leading to the establishment of the Mongol-controlled state known as the Golden Horde.

Kublai Khan

Grandson of Genghis Khan that sought to conquer China and finally achieved it in 1271 and established the Yuan Dynasty.

Kuriltai

Meeting of Mongol chieftains in 1206 where Temujin "Genghis Khan" was elected khan of the Mongolian Kingdom.

Lateen Sail

Triangular shaped sail that could catch wind from many different directions.

Magnetic Compass

Navigation tool for determining direction that allowed ships to travel without following the coast.

Malacca

A Muslim city-state that became wealthy by building a navy and collecting fees from ships that passed through the Strait of Malacca.

Mali Empire

West African empire from 1235-1400 with trading cities Timbuktu and Gao.

Mansa Musa

Leader who brought Mali to its peak of power and wealth from 1312 to 1337; displayed Mali's wealth during an extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca.

Marco Polo

An Italian native who traveled to China in the late 13th century and wrote about his travels.

Margery Kempe

1373-1440 English mystic who dedicated one of the earliest autobiographies in English, providing a significant first-hand account of a middle-class medieval woman's life.

Mecca

City in western Arabia that was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad; ritual center of the Islamic religion and destination for pilgrimages.

Ming Dynasty

Chinese dynasty from 1368-1644 founded by Zhu Yuanzhang after the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty.

Mogadishu

City in the coastal region of East Africa.

Money Economy

Using money rather than bartering with commodities like cowrie shells or salt.

Monsoons

Heavy winds that affected trade routes in the Indian Ocean.

Moscow

Russian city-state that collected additional tributes to build an anti-Mongol coalition that defeated the Golden Horde in 1380 at the Battle of Kulikovo.

Nomadism

A central component of Mongol society, characterized by their mobile lifestyle, reliance on animal husbandry, and skilled horsemanship, which enabled the Mongols to establish a vast empire through their expertise in mounted warfare and strategic mobility.

Ortogh

A merchant partnered with the state and individual aristocrats in the Mongol Empire.

Overgrazing

Continual eating of grasses or their roots without allowing them to regrow which led to abandonment of cities outside of Great Zimbabwe in the late 1400s.

Pax Mongolica

The period of Mongolian peace between the 13th and 14th centuries.

Porcelain

A fine blue and white ware from China.

Sahara Desert

Large-desert in northern Africa with an arid climate that make farming nearly impossible.

Samarkand

Located in present-day Uzbekistan in the Zeravshan River valley, this city was a stopping point on the Silk Roads between China and the Mediterranean.

Siege Weapons

Portable towers and catapults.

Soil Erosion

Overuse of farmland and deforestation that reduced agricultural production in feudal Europe.

Songhai Kingdom

An Islamic empire established in the 1400s after the decline of the Mali Empire in West Africa.

Song Dynasty

(906-1279) Chinese dynasty that preceded the Yuan Dynasty.

The Spice Islands

Term for the islands of modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia that exported spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.

Stern Rudders

Devices invented by the Chinese that made steering ships easier and more stable.

Sundiata

Mali's founding ruler who gained control of the gold trade routes.

Sultanate of Malacca

Powerful Islamic kingdom which reached its peak in the mid-1400s.

Swahili City States

Thriving city-states along the east coast of Africa created by Indian Ocean trade.

Timbuktu

A very wealthy and world-renowned center for Islamic learning.

Trans-Saharan Trade

Route across the Sahara Desert where gold and salt were traded; created caravan routes, offered economic benefits for controlling the desert, relied crucially on camels and camel saddles, and facilitated the spread of Islam.

Tumen

A military unit consisting of approximately 10,000 soldiers, led by a commander known as a noyan, that formed the backbone of the Mongol military organization during their conquests.

Uyghur Script

System of writing that Genghis Khan adopted for the Mongol Empire.

White Lotus Society

A secret society that began organizing to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty.

Yuan Dynasty

Established by Kublai Khan in 1271 and was tolerant towards various religious groups in China.

Zheng He

A Muslim admiral, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of seven great voyages that took his many ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa.

Zhu Yuanzhang

Buddhist monk that led the revolt to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty in 1368.