AP World History Unit 1 (1200-1450) Review Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the major civilizations, belief systems, and political structures of AP World History Unit 1 (1200-1450).

State

A territory that is politically organized under a single government.

Song Dynasty

The ruling dynasty of China from 960 to 1279 that utilized Confucianism and an imperial bureaucracy to maintain its rule.

Neo-Confucianism

A revival of Confucian thought that originated in the Tang Dynasty and sought to remove Buddhist influences while maintaining a hierarchical social order.

Filial Piety

The Confucian virtue of children obeying and honoring their parents, grandparents, and deceased ancestors.

Foot Binding

A social restriction in Song China where young girls' feet were bound to break them; it served as a status symbol among the elite.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A government entity arranged in a hierarchical fashion that carries out the will of the emperor through various officials.

Civil Service Examination

A merit-based test heavily based on Confucian classics used to determine eligibility for jobs within the Chinese bureaucracy.

Champa Rice

A drought-resistant, early-maturing strain of rice from the Champa Kingdom that allowed for multiple harvests and led to a population explosion in China.

Grand Canal

A major transportation innovation in China that was expanded to facilitate trade and communication between different regions.

Theravada Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism prevalent in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia that focuses on monastic life and individual enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism popular in East Asia that encourages broader participation and emphasizes bodhisattvas helping others achieve enlightenment.

Dar al-Islam

The 'House of Islam,' referring to all regions in the world where Islamic faith is the organizing principle of civilization.

Abbasid Caliphate

An ethnically Arab Muslim empire centered in Baghdad that began to decline and lose power by 1200.

Seljuk Empire

A political entity established by turkic pastoralists in the 11th century that took over political and military power from the Abbasids.

Sharia Law

An Islamic legal code based on the Quran used as the organizing principle for legal systems in many Muslim states.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

A Muslim scholar who made significant advances in mathematics and invented trigonometry.

House of Wisdom

A library and scholarly center in Baghdad where Greek moral and natural philosophy were translated and preserved.

Sufi

A sect of Islam that emphasizes mystical experience and adapted easily to local beliefs, aiding the spread of the religion.

Bhakti Movement

A Hindu movement in Southern India emphasizing devotion to one specific god, which challenged traditional social and gender hierarchies.

Delhi Sultanate

A Muslim political entity that ruled much of Northern India but struggled to impose its rule over the Hindu majority.

Vijayanagara Empire

A Hindu kingdom established in Southern India in 1336 as a point of resistance against Muslim rule from the North.

Majapahit Kingdom

A Buddhist sea-based empire in Java that maintained influence by controlling maritime trade routes.

Khmer Empire

A land-based Southeast Asian empire that transitioned from Hinduism to Buddhism, as evidenced by the architecture of Angkor Wat.

Aztec Empire

A Mesoamerican empire founded by the Mexica people in 1345, characterized by a decentralized tribute system and the capital Tenochtitlan.

Inca Empire

An Andean civilization that used a highly centralized bureaucracy and a mandatory labor system called the Mita to maintain power.

Mita System

A mandatory labor system in the Inca Empire where conquered people provided service for state projects like farming or construction.

Mississippian Culture

The first large-scale civilization in North America known for building monumental earth mounds and practicing agriculture in the Mississippi River Valley.

Swahili Civilization

A series of independent East African city-states organized around Indian Ocean trade, characterized by a Bantu-Arabic hybrid language.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful South African state that grew wealthy through gold trade but maintained indigenous shamanistic beliefs rather than converting to Islam.

Ethiopia

An East African kingdom that remained a Christian state despite being surrounded by Islamic and indigenous belief systems.

Feudalism

A decentralized European political and social system in which lords granted land (fiefs) to vassals in exchange for military service.

Manorialism

The economic system of medieval Europe where peasants lived on and worked a lord's estate (manor) in exchange for protection.

Serfs

European peasants who were legally bound to the land but were not the personal property of the landowners.