Ap world vocab 1.3-1.4

Qutub Minar

A key historical monument in Delhi, India, representing the cultural fusion of Indo-Islamic architecture under the early Delhi Sultanate.

• A key example of the cultural and architectural synthesis that occurred during the Delhi Sultanate. Constructed in Delhi starting in 1193, it was a victory tower celebrating the establishment of Muslim rule in India and is known for its fusion of Islamic geometric patterns and Indian artistic details, representing an Indo-Islamic style. 

2. Example of Islamic architecture built during the Delhi Sultanate

3. It towers over the mosque and is a gigantic leaning tower, the tallest structure in India today.

4. Historians still debate the reason for its construction. However, one clear function is its presence as a symbol of Islamic influence and, at one point, dominance of northern India.

5. Mosque built over a Hindu temple

Urdu

A Persian-influenced literary form of Hindi written in Arabic characters and used as a literary language since the 1300s. National language of Pakistan, and widely spoken in India

Hinduism

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms

Bhakti Movement

A medieval Hindu devotional movement that emphasized personal love and intense devotion to a particular deity, offering a path to spiritual liberation that was accessible to all, regardless of caste or gender. This movement challenged the existing rigid caste system.

• A South Asian spiritual and social movement that emphasized devotion to a personal god as the path to spiritual liberation, challenging rigid rituals and the caste system

Caste system

A rigid, hereditary social stratification that originated in ancient India, determining a person's social status, occupation, and opportunities based on their birth into a specific group (jati or varna) within a hierarchical system. Rooted in Hinduism, it is justified by concepts of karma and dharma.

• Caste systems are inherently rigid and largely prevent social mobility

Spice Kingdom

A historical empire or region that gained prominence and wealth primarily due to the production and trade of valuable spices.

City-States

A city that, with its surrounding territory, forms an independent state.

• A sovereign state centered around a city that rules the surrounding countryside

Theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

• A form of government where religious leaders hold political power and the state's laws are based on religious principles

Polytheistic

belief in more than one god

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec Empire (also known as the Mexica), founded around 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco. It was a highly complex urban center known for its unique urban planning, sophisticated chinampas (floating gardens), canals, and causeways, which facilitated transportation and agriculture. As a major political, economic, and religious hub, Tenochtitlan symbolized the center of the Aztec world before its fall to the Spanish in 1521.

Capac Nan

25,000-mile highway communication system of the Inca. Vital for the Inca government and military to administer their vast empire, facilitating communication, transportation, and the movement of armies and messengers.

• The massive roadway system built by the Inca Empire using captive and state labor. This extensive network of approximately 25,000 miles of roads connected the vast empire and was crucial for government, military, and administrative functions, enabling swift communication, troop movement, and the collection of tribute. 

Mita system

A labor system used by the Inca Empire where citizens were required to work for the state on various projects, such as agriculture, mining, and construction, for a specific period each year

Concept of Zero

Developed by both the Maya and the Gupta, even though they developed separately.

• A historical innovation, evolving from a placeholder (Babylonians, Mayans) to a numeral with its own properties, a development largely credited to Indian mathematicians (like Brahmagupta), enabling advanced math and the decimal system

Mayan Calender

Created the most accurate calendar in the Ancient World

• A complex system of interlocking cycles, used by the ancient Maya for religious rituals, agricultural planning, and tracking history, demonstrating their advanced understanding of astronomy and mathematics

It was 365.242 days, only 17 seconds shorter than the modern version. Used calendar for religious rituals, agricultural planting and harvesting, astronomical observations, and the recording of historical and mythical events.

Chicen Itza

Chichen Itza is an ancient Mayan city located in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, known for its remarkable architecture and significant cultural heritage. It was one of the largest Mayan cities and served as a major political, economic, and religious center from approximately 600 AD to 1200 AD.

• A significant Postclassic Mayan city in the Yucatán Peninsula, known as a major political, economic, and religious hub from roughly 900-1200 CE

Aqueducts

A conduit, often a system of pipes, tunnels, and bridges, designed to transport water from a source, such as a spring or river, to a destination, usually a city, using gravity and the natural slope of the land

Chinampas

On Lake Texcoco, the Aztecs built floating gardens to increase the amount of space for food production.

• Artificial, floating garden islands built by the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican cultures in shallow lake beds (like Lake Texcoco) to create highly fertile, productive agricultural plots, using layers of mud, vegetation, and organic waste, allowing for multiple harvests per year and sustaining large populations, notably in Tenochtitlan

Quipu

An ancient Andean record-keeping system developed by the Inca Empire and earlier Andean civilizations, consisting of colored strings with knots that encoded numerical and possibly non-numerical information for census data, accounting, and other administrative purposes

Terrace farming

The cutting out of flat areas (terraces) into near-vertical slopes to allow farming. Terrace farms appear as steps cut into a mountainside. This adaptation allowed both the early Chinese and the Inca of Mesoamerica to grow enough food for their large populations.

Pochteca

An elite class of professional, long-distance merchants in the Aztec Empire who specialized in the trade of luxury goods, such as jade, quetzal feathers, and cacao beans. Organized into powerful, self-governing guilds, they traveled far beyond the empire's borders, acting as both traders and important sources of intelligence, sometimes even instigating incidents that paved the way for military conquest.

• The professional, long-distance merchants of the Aztec Empire who facilitated trade and also served as spies and information agents

Animistic

The belief that non-human natural entities—including animals, plants, rocks, and rivers—possess a spiritual essence or soul.

Temple of the Sun

The Sun Temple at Cuzco, known as Coricancha, was an important Incan religious site dedicated to Inti, the sun god, and served as a significant expression of the Inca Empire's power and religious beliefs.

• Sacred Incan structures dedicated to the sun god, Inti, symbolizing the divine connection between Inca rulers (descendants of the sun) and their people, serving as a state religious center for rituals, astronomical observation, and ancestor veneration (mummified rulers), illustrating the fusion of religious and political power in the empire before Spanish conquest