Unit 1: The Global Tapestry

95 Theses

Arguments written by Martin Luther against the Catholic church. They were posted on Octobe 31, 1517.

Abbasid Caliphate

(750-1258 CE) The caliphate, after the Umayyads, who focused more on administration than conquering. Had a bureaucracy that any Muslim could be a part of.

Animism

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.

Aztecs

Also known as Mexica, they created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax.

Baghdad

Capital of Islamic Empire under the Abbasid Dynasty.

Bhagavad Gita

The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit.

Bhakti Movement

An immensely popular development in Hinduism, advocating intense devotion toward a particular deity.

Boddhisatva

Buddhist concept regarding individuals who had reached enlightenment but who stayed in this world to help people.

Bodhisattva

spiritually enlightened Buddhist who forsakes enlightenment for a time to teach and assist those who are still suffering.

Buddhism

the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth

Caliph

A supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government

Carpa Nan

during Incan rule, this is a massive roadway system made possible by captive labor, stretched 25,00 miles

Caste System

A Hindu social class system that controlled every aspect of daily life

Chaco

An urban center established by Anasazi located in southern New Mexico. There, they built a walled city with dozens of three-story adobe houses with timbered roofs. Community religious functions were carried out in two large circular chambers called kivas.

Champa Rice

Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced into Champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state (as part of the tributary system.)

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.

Civil Service Exam

In Imperial China starting in the Han dynasty, it was an exam based on Confucian teachings that was used to select people for various government service jobs in the nationwide administrative bureaucracy.

Confucianism

The system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and adopted within the Han Dynasty of China -- it stresses ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and social harmony in thought and conduct.

Contextualization

Situates historical events, developments, or processes within the broader circumstances in which they occurred to draw conclusions of their significance

corroboration

evidence that further confirms or supports a historical claim or finding; confirmation

Crusades

A series of holy wars from 1096-1270 AD undertaken by European Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule.

Cultural Developments and Interactions

The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.

Dar al-Islam

a term used by Muslims to refer to those countries where Muslims can practice their religion freely.

Delhi Sultanate

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

Economic Systems

How a society organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It encompasses the rules, institutions, and practices that govern how societies manage their resources to meet the needs and wants of their people.

Edict of Worms

Declared Martin Luther an outlaw within the empire, mandated that his works be burned and Luther himself captured and delivered to the emperor.

English Parliament

England's chief law-making body. It was a key institution in the development of representative democracy as it provided some voice and recognition of the rights and interests of various groups in society.

Estates General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France.

Ethiopia

A Christian kingdom that developed in the highlands of eastern Africa under the dynasty of King Lalaibela; retained Christianity in the face of Muslim expansion elsewhere in Africa

Feudalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land

Filial Piety

In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.

Foot Binding

Practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household.

Grand Canal

The 1,100-mile (1,700-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire.

Great Schism

This severing of relations occurred in 1054 and divided medieval Christianity into what became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church (headquartered in Constantinople) and the Roman Catholic Church (headquartered in Rome). Relations between East and West had long been embittered by political and ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.

Great Zimbabwe

City, now in ruins (in the modern African country of Zimbabwe), whose many stone structures were built between about 1250 and 1450, when it was a trading center and the capital of a large state.

Hajj

A pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims

Hausa Kingdoms

West African people who lived in several city-states of what is now northern Nigeria

Hinduism

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

History

an academic discipline which analyzes the record of past events via the critical examination of source materials, often including contextualization or commentary.

House of Wisdom

a center of learning established in Baghdad in the 800s

Imperial Bureaucracy

organizations where appointed officials carry out the empire's policies

Inca

Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile from its capital of Cuzco.

Indulgences

Selling of forgiveness by the Catholic Church. It was common practice when the church needed to raise money. The practice led to the Reformation.

Islam

A religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed which stresses belief in one god (Allah), Paradise and Hell, and a body of law written in the Quran. Followers are called Muslims.

Judaism

A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. They preserved their early history in the Old Testament.

Khmer Empire

Aggressive empire in Cambodia and Laos that collapsed in the 1400's when Thailand conquered Cambodia

Kin-Based Networks

Relation between two or more people that is based on common ancestry or marriage

Magna Carta

the royal charter of political rights given to rebellious English barons by King John in 1215

Mahayana Buddhism

Branch of Buddhism followed in China, Japan, and Central Asia. The focus is on reverence for Buddha and for bodhisattvas, enlightened persons who have postponed nirvana to help others attain enlightenment.

Majapahit kingdom

vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500; one of the last major empires of the region and is considered to be one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, one that is sometimes seen as the precedent for Indonesia's modern boundaries

Mamluk Sultanate

A political unit in Egypt. Did not set up a consistent, hereditary line of succession.Failed to adapt to new warfare and were eventually defeated by the Ottomans.

Manorial System

an economic system in the Middle Ages that was built around large estates called manors

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.

Martin Luther

a German monk who became one of the most famous critics of the Roman Catholic Chruch. In 1517, he wrote 95 theses, or statements of belief attacking the church practices.

Matrilineal Society

a society in which descent & inheritance come through the mother's kinship line

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.

Mesa Verde

The largest complex of Anasazi cliff-dwellings in the United States Southwest, built between about AD 1150 and AD 1300

Mexicas

another name for the Aztecs

Mississippian Culture

Last of the mound-building cultures of North America; flourished between 800 and 1300 C.E.; featured large towns and ceremonial centers; lacked stone architecture of Central America.

Mita System

The system recruiting workers for particularly difficult and dangerous chores that free laborers would not accept.

Monasticism

The practice of living the life of a monk

Neo-Confucianism

The Confucian response to Buddhism by taking Confucian and Buddhist beliefs and combining them into this. However, it is still very much Confucian in belief.

Nirvana

The state of englightenment for Buddhists.

Printing Press

15th century invention which revolutionized the ability to print information which in turn affected the speed of the spread of information itself.

Rajput Kingdoms

set of kingdoms in India that arose after the fall of the Gupta dynasty ruled by land owning Kshatriyas (Warriors)

wealthy due to trade and a good economy.

Reformation

a 16th century movement for religious reform, leading to the founding of Christian churches that rejected the pope's authority

Renaissance

"rebirth"; following the Middle Ages, a movement that centered on the revival of interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome

Scholar Gentry

Chinese class created by the marital linkage of the local land-holding aristocracy with the office-holding shi; superseded shi as governors of China.

Seljuk Turks

nomadic Turks from Asia who conquered Baghdad in 1055 and allowed the caliph to remain only as a religious leader. they governed strictly

Serfdom

A type of labor commonly used in feudal systems in which the laborers work the land in return for protection but they are bound to the land and are not allowed to leave or to peruse their a new occupation. This was common in early Medeival Europe as well as in Russia until the mid 19th century.

Siddhartha Gautama

The prince who is said to have founded Buddhism.

Sinhala Dynasties

Kingdom on the island of Sri Lanka

Song Dynasty

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

Sourcing

Examining a historical source to create context and perspective for the people/events involved.

Southernization

Developments that were first made in Southern Asia and then spread to other places through trade and conquest

Srivijaya Empire

A maritime empire that controlled the Sunda strait the strait of Malacca between India and China. HS: control strengthened trade routes to China, India, and even Arabia

Sufism

mystical Muslim group that believed they could draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, & simple life

Temple of the Sun

Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas

Three-field system

A rotational system for agriculture in which one field grows grain, one grows legumes, and one lies fallow. It gradually replaced two-field system in medieval Europe.

Vijayanagara Empire

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