WAYS OF THE WORLD CHAPTER 1

Upanishads

A major book in Hinduism that is often in the form of dialogues that explored the Vedas and the religious issues that they raised.

Confucius

(551-479 BCE) A Chinese philosopher known also as Kong Fuzi and created one of the most influential philosophies in Chinese history.

Lazoi

Founder of Daoism

Buddha

enlightened one

Zen Buddhism in Japan

a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition.

Confucianism

A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.

Bhakti

devotion

Hinduism

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

Song Dynasty

(960-1279 CE) The Chinese dynasty that placed much more emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and arts other than military.

Srivijaya Kingdom

Found in Indonesia, they practice Vajrayana Buddhism, is know because of Chinese records, and was influenced by Chola in the eleventh century

Mongols

A people of this name is mentioned as early as the records of the Tang Empire, living as nomads in northern Eurasia. After 1206 they established an enormous empire under Genghis Khan, linking western and eastern Eurasia.

Chiggis Khan

Supreme leader of the Mongols first ruler to unite the Mongol tribes.

Vijayanagara Empire

Southern Indian kingdom (1336-1565) that later fell to the Mughals.

Malacca

Flourishing trading city in Malaya; established a trading empire after the fall of Shrivijaya.

Timur

Member of a prominent family of the Mongols' Jagadai Khanate, Timur through conquest gained control over much of Central Asia and Iran. He consolidated the status of Sunni Islam as orthodox, and his descendants, the Timurids, maintained his empire.

Jesus Christ

A teacher and prophet whose life and teachings form the basis of Christianity. Christians believe Jesus to be Son of God.

Muhammad

Founder of Islam

Sunni and Shia

two main branches within Islam (85-90% in the first; 10-15% in the second)

Muslim

A follower of Islam

Abassid Caliphate

The third of the Islam Caliphates. The Caliphate overthrew the Umayyad caliphate and established their capital in Baghdad. It survived from 755 C.E to 1258 C.E. when it was overthrown by the Mongols. This was when the Islamic Empire was at it's greatest, spreading from Persia into Iberia. The translation of Aristotle into Arabic occurred at this time. Many important sciences, literature, philosophy and technology were developed at this time.

Sufism

An Islamic mystical tradition that desired a personal union with God--divine love through intuition rather than through rational deduction and study of the shari'a. Followed an ascetic routine (denial of physical desire to gain a spiritual goal), dedicating themselves to fasting, prayer, meditation on the Qur'an, and the avoidance of sin.

Crusaders

Christians of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries that fought for the recovery of the Holy Land from the Muslims

Jerusalem

A city in the Holy Land, regarded as sacred by Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Delhi Sultanate

The first Islamic government established within India from 1206-1520. Controled a small area of northern India and was centered in Delhi.

Baghdad

Capital of Iraq

Ottoman Empire

A Muslim empire based in Turkey that lasted from the 1300's to 1922.

Constantinople

Capital of the Byzantine Empire

Axum

The Christian state in Africa that developed its own branch of Christianity, Coptic Christianity, because it was cut off from other Christians due to a large Muslim presence in Africa.

Christianity

A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.

Roman Empire

Existed from 27 BCE to about 400 CE. Conquiered entire Mediterranean coast and most of Europe. Ruled by an emperor. Eventually oversaw the rise and spread of Christianity.

Nubia

A civilization to the south of Egypt in the Nile Valley, noted for development of an alphabetic writing system and a major iron working industry by 500 BCE

Justianian

Harsh Byzantine emporer who won Italy and some of Spain, unified Byzantium, and built many churches (Hagia Sofia)

Byzantine Empire

Eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived the fall of the Western half.

Kievan Rus

A monarchy established in present day Russia in the 6th and 7th centuries. It was ruled through loosely organized alliances with regional aristocrats from. The Scandinavians coined the term "Russia". It was greatly influenced by Byzantine

Holy Land

Jerusalem and parts of the surrounding area where Jesus lived and taught

Roman Catholic Church

the Christian church headed by the pope in Rome

Eastern Orthodox Church

Christian followers in the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire); split from Roman Catholic Church and shaped life in eastern Europe and Western Asia

Black Death

A deadly plague that swept through Europe between 1347 and 1351

European Renaissance

A "rebirth" of classical learning that is most often associated with the cultural blossoming of Italy in the period 1350-1500 and that included not just a rediscovery of Greek learning but also major developments in art, as well as growing secularism in society.

Turks

A member of the Turkish-speaking ethnic group in Turkey, or, formerly, in the Ottoman Empire

Trans-Saharan Trade

route across the sahara desert. Major trade route that traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels played a huge role in the trading

Kingdom of Ghana

First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (7th - 13th century). Located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali, it acted as intermediary between Arab and Berber salt traders to the north and gold and ivory producers to the south.

Swahili

Bantu language with Arabic loanwords spoken in coastal regions of East Africa.

Kingdom of Zimbabwe

-Developed in the interior of the continent

-Grew from an iron-working settlement

-Huge stone structures were constructed

-Economy was based on the gold trade

Hausa City-States

Savanna city states east of Mali who were briefly controlled by Songhai but were largely independent

Kingdom of Mali

a huge territorial empire that flourished in west Africa during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Its capital was Timbuktu, which became a center of Islamic learning (see Islam). The empire controlled trade routes that stretched from the edge of the Sahara in the north to forests in the south and that carried gold and other luxuries

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan.

Kingdom of Songhay (Songhai)

Was an African state of west Africa. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, It was one of the largest African empires in history. This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group. Its capital was the city of Gao, where a small state had existed since the 11th century. Its base of power was on the bend of the Niger River in present day Niger and Burkina Faso.

Maya Civilization

A major civilization of Mesoamerica known for the most elaborate writing system in the Americas and other intellectual and artistic achievements; flourished from 250 to 900 C.E.

Teotihuacan

first major metropolis in Mesoamerica, collapsed around 800 CE. It is most remembered for the gigantic "pyramid of the sun".

Chaco Phenomenon

Name given to a major process of settlement and societal organization that occurred in the period 860-1130 C.E. among the peoples of Chaco canyon, in what is now northwestern New Mexico; the society formed is notable for its settlement in large pueblos and for the building of hundreds of miles of roads (the purpose of which is not known).

Pohnpei

member of Federated States of Micronesia; tropical island in South Pacific Ocean

Cahokia

an ancient settlement of southern Indians, located near present day St. Louis, it served as a trading center for 40,000 at its peak in A.D. 1200.

Aztec Empire

Central American empire constructed by the Mexica and expanded greatly during the fifteenth century during the reigns of Itzcoatl and Motecuzoma I.

Inca Empire

Empire in Peru. conquered by Pizarro, who began an empire for the Spanish in 1535

Kong Dejun

person, who on September of 2009, returned to China from her home in Great Britain for a birthday celebration of her ancestor Kong Fuzi (Confucius).

Qufu

Confucius' birthplace

Daoism

A religion in China which emphasizes the removal from society and to become one with nature.

Homo sapiens

A species of the creatures Hominid who have larger brains and to which humans belong, dependent of language and usage of tools.

Paleolithic

Old Stone Age

Neolithic Revolution

The switch from nomadic lifestyles to a settled agricultural lifestyle is this revolution.

Aboriginal people

People who migrated to Australia from Asia at least 40,000 years ago; the original settlers of the land.

Agricultural Revolution

The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering

Shotoku Taishi

Japanese statesman (572-622) who launched the drive to make Japan into a centralized bureaucratic state modeled on China; he is best known for the Seventeen Article Constitution, which lays out the principles of this reform.