World History I: Test 5 Study Guide

Topics: Medieval East Asia, Mongol Empire, Early Africa Early. Americas Early Southeast Asia Druzism

Three Kingdoms Period

era of instability in China following collapse of the Han Dynasty

Sui Dynasty

short-lived Chinese dynasty which put an end to the Three Kingdoms Period

Grand Canal

canal built by the Sui and connecting the Yangtze + Huang He rivers

Tang Dynasty

Chinese dynasty which presided over height of country’s political influence

Chang’an

modern-day city of Xi’an; cosmopolitan capital city of Tang China

Tributary status

(states like Korea which paid tribute to China in exchange for protection)

Shenism

native Chinese folk religion; centered around ancestor worship)

Queen Mother of the West

Shenist deity often conflated with the Buddha in China)

Han Yu

Confucian philosopher who opposed the spread of Buddhism in Tang China)

Wuzong

Tang emperor who was convinced by Han Yu to persecute Chinese Buddhists

Battle of Talas River

Abbasids vs. Tang Chinese; resulted in Central Asia being Islamic

Song Dynasty

Chinese dynasty which presided over height of country’s arts + sciences

Three Perfections

painting, poetry, and calligraphy; traditionally valued arts in China

Jurchen

semi-nomadic people who conquered northern China from the Song Dynasty

Jin Dynasty

Jurchen-led dynasty in northern China; the Song persisted in southern China

Shintoism

native Japanese folk religion; centered around the worship of ‘nature gods’)

Emperor

highest title in Japan + the traditional divine figurehead of the Shinto religion

Kyoto

former capital city of Japan + residence of the Japanese emperors

Feudal Japan

era when the effective authority of the Japanese emperors collapsed

Shogun

term for military dictator; became the de facto ruler of feudal Japan

Daimyo

warlords of feudal Japan; analogous to the nobility of medieval Europe

Samurai

warrior class of feudal Japan; analogous to the knights of medieval Europe

Edo

modern-day city of Tokyo; shoguns eventually moved their place of residence to there

Steppe

vast expanse of grassland; dominates the landscape of Mongolia

Mongols

ethnic group native to Mongolia; traditionally a nomadic + pastoral people

Tengrism

native Mongol folk religion; centered around shamanistic rituals

Genghis Khan

originally Temüjin; unified the Mongols + founded the Mongol Empire

Secret History of the Mongols

main source for the early period of Genghis Khan’s life

Subutai

commander of the Mongol army + one of the most skilled generals in history

Great Hunt

annual event at which the Mongol army practiced complex field maneuvers

Tatars

nomadic group which once killed Temüjin’s father + paid tribute to Jin China

Battle of Yehuling

Mongols vs. Jin Chinese; allowed Mongol conquest of northern China

Khwarazmian Persia, Abbasid Caliphate, Kievan Rus’

early conquests of the Mongols

Fall of Baghdad

Mongol siege of Abbasid capital; caused end of the Islamic Golden Age

Black Death

plague pandemic which was spread across Eurasia by Mongol forces

Ottomans

former Seljuk vassals; expanded across Anatolia in the wake of the Mongols

Mamluks

slave warriors in Egypt; overthrew the Ayyubids + defeated the Mongols

Kublai Khan

grandson of Genghis Khan; completed Mongol conquest of southern China

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant; traveled across the Silk Road + met with Kublai Khan

Kamikaze

divine wind”; typhoons which destroyed Mongol fleets invading feudal Japan

Yuan Dynasty

new Chinese dynasty founded by Kublai Khan; adopted Chinese culture

Ilkhanate

Mongol successor state which ruled the Middle East; adopted Persian culture

Chagatai Khanate

Mongol successor state which ruled over Central Asia

Golden Horde

Mongol successor state which ruled over modern-day Russia

Muscovy

Grand Duchy of Moscow; former Rus’ state which eventually overthrew the Golden Horde and began the process of forcibly unifying Russia into a singular nation

‘Tatar Yoke’

historiographical theory that Russia developed into an autocratic nation today as a direct result of its long period of subjugation and exploitation by the Golden Horde

Sahara

large African desert located just south of the Mediterranean coastline

Sahel

semi-arid transition zone in Africa marking the southern boundary of the Sahara

Savanna

sprawling African grasslands located to the south of the Sahel)

Nile River

major African river; flows northward through East Africa and into Egypt

Niger River

major African river; flows through West Africa + contains a dramatic bend

Congo River

major African river; flows through Central Africa + contains waterfalls

Zambezi River

major African river; flows through Southern Africa and into Indian Ocean

Bantu Migrations

spread of advanced agriculture + iron tools to Sub-Saharan Africa

Swahili

language developed by East African city states for the purpose of fostering trade

Ethiopia

region in East Africa located directly across the Red Sea from Arabia

Aksum Kingdom

Ethiopian state which officially adopted Christianity in the early 300s

Negus

Aksum ruler who sheltered and protected early Muslim followers of Muhammad

Prester John

legendary Christian ruler of Ethiopia; the crusaders aimed to contact him

Berbers

native people of North Africa; adopted Islam under the early caliphates and brought it to West Africa via caravan trade; were once disparagingly called the ‘Moors’

Ghana, Mali, Songhai

three sequential West African empires which adopted Islam + developed a booming regional trade based around the exchange of gold, salt, and slaves

Mansa Musa

Malian ruler; crashed the local Egyptian economy during his hajj in 1324 by distributing so much gold that he caused rampant hyperinflation across the region; also famed for being the singular wealthiest individual in world history by most metrics

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan explorer who traveled extensively across Africa/Asia in the 1300s

Bering Land Bridge

theory that early humans migrated overland into the Americas)

Austronesian Expansion

theory that early humans sailed across Pacific to the Americas

Cahokia

cosmopolitan Native American city located along the Mississippi River; famous for building large earthen mounds; willfully abandoned by its inhabitants over time

Isthmus

narrow piece of land with water on two sides; Mesoamerica is an isthmus

Tenochtitlan

former Aztec capital; conquered by the Spanish + became Mexico City

Strait of Magellan

natural canal in South America connecting Atlantic + Pacific oceans

Cuzco

Andean city state which eventually developed into the Incan Empire)

Incan Empire

Empire in South America with a bureaucracy + complex road system

Quechua

Language spoken by the Inca; still widely spoken in South America today

Machu Picchu

Abandoned Incan citadel in modern-day Peru; rediscovered in 1900s

Quipu

Device with knotted strings used within the Incan Empire for keeping records

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who overthrew Incan Empire in the early 1500s

Indochina

Southeast Asian subregion; large peninsula attached to continental Asia

Malay Archipelago

Southeast Asian subregion; islands between Pacific + Indian oceans

Mekong River

large river which originates in China and flows throughout Indochina

Champa

kingdom in Indochina which adopted Buddhism during Antiquity

Sanskrit

Indian language which became the lingua franca of much of ancient Indochina

Sinosphere

term for places like Vietnam historically influenced by Chinese culture

Trieu Thi Trinh

Vietnamese national hero who led struggle against Han China in the 200s

Khmer Empire

medieval state in modern-day Cambodia; namesake of Khmer language

Angkor

capital city of the Khmer Empire; site of the famous Buddhist temple Angkor Wat

Kingdom of Siam

state which emerged in modern-day Thailand during the 1300s

Bangkok

capital city + trade hub of Siam; also the capital city of modern-day Thailand

Elephant Duel of Naresuan

event from a war between Siamese and Burmese kingdoms; resulted in the elephant becoming the national symbol of Thailand up to the present day

Sultanate of Malacca

realm which straddled the strategically important Strait of Malacca; became Islamized in the early 1400s due to consistent contact with Arab merchants

Wali Songo

Nine Saints”; legendary group of missionaries from Malacca who spread Islam to nearby Indonesia, making it the country with the most Muslims in the present day

Al-Hakim

Fatimid caliph proclaimed by the Druze to be the divine manifestation of Allah

Al-Darazi

Early Druze preacher and namesake of the religion; executed by his compatriots

Druzism

Ethnoreligion which split off from Shia Islam in the early 1000s; closed itself off to any new converts; believes in reincarnation; primarily located in modern-day Lebanon

Epistles of Wisdom

holy text of Druzism; explicitly intended to only be read by the Druze