Trade Routes, Gunpowder Empires, and the Industrial Revolution

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the major concepts, empires, trade routes, and revolutions from 1200 to 1851 as detailed in the lecture transcript.

Genghis Khan

The leader who started the Mongol Empire in $1206$ CE.

Mongol Empire

The largest connected land empire in history, built by nomadic warriors from Central Asia and split into $4$ sections called khanates.

Baghdad

The Persian city where the Mongols killed over $200,000$ people, marking one of the deadliest moments of the conquest.

Pax Mongolica

The 'Mongol Peace' (approx. $1250-1350$) during which the Mongols protected the Silk Roads, making trade safer for merchants.

Silk Roads

A land-based trade route that connected China to Europe, carrying silk, spices, porcelain, and ideas like Buddhism and Islam.

Indian Ocean Trade

A sea-based trade network connecting East Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and China that relied on seasonal monsoon winds.

Trans-Saharan Trade

A trade route across the Sahara Desert where West Africa sent gold north and North Africa sent salt south, enriching the Mali Empire.

Mansa Musa

A wealthy ruler of the Mali Empire ($1312-1337$) whose $1324$ pilgrimage to Mecca involved so much gold that it crashed the Egyptian economy.

Dar al-Islam

A term meaning 'Land of Islam,' referring to regions in Africa and Asia connected by the Islamic faith, shared trade networks, and the Arabic language.

Black Death

A deadly plague that spread via rats and fleas on trade routes, killing about $\frac{1}{3}$ of the population in Europe between $1347$ and $1351$.

Song Dynasty

The advanced Chinese government ($960-1279$ CE) that invented gunpowder, the magnetic compass, and the printing press before being conquered by the Mongols.

Gunpowder Empires

Large states such as the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires that used guns and cannons to conquer and control land.

Ottoman Empire

An empire centered in Turkey (capital: Constantinople) that controlled land routes between Europe and Asia, forcing Europeans to find new sea routes.

Safavid Empire

A Shia Muslim gunpowder empire located in Persia (modern-day Iran) that often clashed with the Sunni Ottoman Empire.

Mughal Empire

A gunpowder empire in India known for blending cultures and creating famous architecture like the Taj Mahal.

Trading Post Empire

Portugal’s strategy of controlling trade by establishing small forts at key ports and charging fees to any ships that wanted to trade there.

Vasco da Gama

The first European to sail around Africa to reach India ($1498$), establishing a direct sea route to Asia.

Columbian Exchange

The permanent connection and transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas and Europe/Africa after $1492$.

The Great Dying

The massive death of Indigenous people in the Americas caused by European diseases like smallpox, with some populations losing up to $90\,\%$ of their people.

Atlantic System

Also known as Triangular Trade, this loop connected Europe (manufactured goods), Africa (enslaved people), and the Americas (crops like sugar and cotton).

Middle Passage

The brutal journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas, where they were forced to work on plantations.

The Enlightenment

A $1600s-1700s$ movement in Europe where thinkers used reason and science to challenge the power of kings and advocate for individual rights.

Natural Rights

The Enlightenment concept that all people are born with rights to life, liberty, and property that a government must protect.

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that political power comes from the people rather than from kings.

Haitian Revolution

A revolution ($1791-1804$) where enslaved people overthrew French colonizers, resulting in the first country led by formerly enslaved Black people.

Industrial Revolution

The transformation starting around $1760$ in Britain that shifted production from handmade goods to machine-made goods in factories.

Steam Engine

An invention improved by James Watt in $1769$ that burned coal to power machinery, trains, and steamships.

Division of Labor

The process of breaking one job into many small, simple steps performed by different workers to make production faster and cheaper.

Laissez-Faire

An economic theory promoted by Adam Smith meaning 'let them do it,' suggesting governments should not interfere in business or the free market.