whap vocab sem 1

Abbasid Caliphate

Dynasty of the Muslim empire of the caliphate that followed the Umayyad Caliphate; destroyed by the Mongol invasion in 1258.

The Analects

The compilation of Confucius’ teachings after his death.

Artisans

Skilled manual workers in a particular craft who often work by hand.

Bhakti Movement

Hindu devotional movement that flourished in the early modern era, emphasizing music, dance, poetry, and rituals as means by which to achieve direct union with the divine.

Caste System

A rigid social system in India that gives every Indian a particular place in the social hierarchy from birth.

Champa Rice

An Indian quick-maturing, very resistant rice that could be harvested twice in one growing season.

Chan Buddhism

A Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Civil Service Exam

A system of testing designed to select the most studious and learned candidates for appointment as bureaucrats in the Chinese government.

Crusades

A series of Christian holy wars conducted against nonbelievers.

Daoism

A Chinese philosophy based on the teachings of Lao Zi which taught that people should turn to nature and give up their worldly concerns; was largely a spiritual alternative to Confucianism.

Delhi Sultanate

A Muslim kingdom that ruled parts of India from the 13th to the 16th centuries and was an Islamic state on the outside of the Caliphate system.

Diaspora

The movement or scattering of a people away from their ancestral homeland.

Ethiopia

Christian-led African kingdom that emerged in the 12th century; known for their rock hewn churches.

Feudalism

A land system in which a king owned all the land a granted tracks to nobles in exchange for military loyalty, and nobles granted parts of their land to vassals or serfs who worked the land.

Filial Piety

A Confucian virtue of respect, obedience, and care for one's parents and elderly family members.

Grand Canal

An over 1,000 mile-long transportation waterway that allowed China to be the most populous trading area in the world during the Song Dynasty.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful state in the African interior that emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast.

House of Wisdom

An academic center for research and translation of foreign texts that was established in Baghdad by the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun.

Imperial Bureaucracy

Large organization in China in which appointed officials carried out the policies of the empire.

Inca Empire

Largest imperial state in the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries; the empire spanned almost the entire coast of western South America.

Kowtow

An act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground.

Mahayana Buddhism

Focuses on service and became popular in China and Korea.

Majapahit Kingdom

Buddhist Kingdom from 1293-1520 based on Java that gained power by controlling sea routes.

Mali

Trading empire that flourished in western Africa from the 13th to the 16th century and was known for its wealth.

Mamluks

Enslaved soldiers from the Abbasid era.

Mayans

Established a series of independent states and city-states in Mesoamerica.

Mesa Verde

The largest complex of Anasazi cliff-dwellings in the United States Southwest.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

Persian mathematician; one of the most celebrated Islamic scholars.

Neo-Confucianism

The revival of Confucian teachings during the Tang and Song dynasties and a subsequent synthesis of Confucianism with aspects of Buddhism and Daoism.

Scholar Gentry

Confucian educated social class that became the most influential social class of China.

Shinto

The indigenous religion of Japan in which people believed that kami (spirits) were present in their natural surroundings.

Silk Road

A vast network of trading routes that connected the East to the West: Constantinople in Europe to Chang'an in Asia.

Song Dynasty

A Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 960 to 1279 that preceded the Yuan Dynasty.

Srivijaya Empire

An Indonesian Hindu sea-based empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia which was an important trade center.

Sufis

A mystical Muslim group that had successful missionaries, believing they could become closer to God through prayer, fasting, and a simple life.

Syncretism

The blending of elements from more than one religion into a distinct system of worship.

Teotihuacan

A major city in Mesoamerica that was the center for cultural and religious activities.

Theravada Buddhism

Buddhism focused on meditation found in Southeast Asia.

Vijayanagara Empire

An empire in southern India between 1336 and 1646; founded by the brothers Harihara and Bukka Raya in 1336 to protect the people in the southern region from the Muslim states, or sultanates, in the north.

Woodblock Printing

A technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia that originated in China.

Astrolabe

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

Banking Houses

Issued bills of exchange; model for modern banks.

The Bubonic Plague

Mongol conquests brought fleas that carried the bubonic plague 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

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.

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.

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.

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 the Mongolian Kingdom; also spelled Chinggis Khan.

Ghana Empire

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

Gunpowder

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

The Hanseatic League

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

Ibn Battuta

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

Indian Ocean Slave Trade

Slaves from eastern Africa were sold in northern Africa, the Middle East, and India. This led to African customs spreading throughout these areas.

Junk

Chinese sailing ship that developed during the Song Dynasty.

Khanates

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

Kublai Khan

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

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.

Mansa Musa

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 travels.

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.

Monsoons

Heavy winds that affected trade routes in the Indian Ocean.

Nomadism

A central component of Mongol society, characterized by their mobile lifestyle, reliance on animal husbandry, and skilled horsemanship.

Pax Mongolica

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

Songhai Kingdom

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

Stern Rudders

Invented by the Chinese and made steering ships easier and more stable.

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; traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling desert.

Uyghur Script

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

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.

Absolutism

Type of government stressing Divine Right and total control by a King.

Anglican Church

The Protestant Church created by King Henry VIII in England.

Catholic Reformation

The Catholic attempt to fix their own problems and combat Protestant Reformation.

Cossacks

Peasants recruited to migrate to newly seized lands in Russia and who combined agriculture with military conquests.

Council of Trent

(1545-1563) Corrected some of the worst of the Catholic church’s abuses and focused on reaffirming rituals such as marriage.

Czar

The Russian word for Emperor (Caesar).

Daimyo

A powerful noble in early modern Japan.

Devshirme

In the Ottoman Empire, a system of training talented children to be administrators or members of the sultan's harem.

Divine Right

The idea pushing Absolutism which says that God chose a specific king to rule.

Gunpowder Empires

The Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires which relied heavily on gunpowder and firearms.

Gutenberg Printing Press

Allowed books to be printed instead of hand written and increased literacy.

Henry VIII

King of England who created the Anglican Church so he could get a divorce from his wife.

Hidden Imam

Part of Shi'ite teaching that claims that all rulers appointed are temporary 'fill ins' for the 12th descendent of Ali.

Indulgences

Piece of paper someone could buy to be forgiven of sins.

Intendants

Royal officials in France sent out to provinces to execute orders of the central government.

Janissaries

An elite core of eight thousand troops personally loyal to the sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Jizya

Tax levied by Islamic states on certain non-Muslim subjects (dhimmis) who resided in Muslim lands.

Louis XIV

French king who is considered to be the best example of Absolutism.

Mansabs

Grants of land in India given in return for military or government service to the Mughal Empire.

Martin Luther

German monk who began the Protestant Reformation with his written work, 95 Theses.

Mehmet II

Ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1451 who wanted to capture Constantinople.