AP World History: Modern Unit 2 - Networks of Exchange (c. 1200-1450)

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key trade networks, empires, technologies, financial systems, travelers, and consequences of exchange in AP World History Unit 2 (c. 1200-1450).

Silk Roads

Interconnected overland routes linking East Asia, Central Asia, Southwest Asia, and regions farther west, primarily carrying high-value luxury goods such as silk and porcelain.

Caravanserai

Roadside inns along trade routes that provided shelter, rest, and supplies for merchants and animals, while also fostering cultural and technological exchange among travelers.

Flying cash

A money-transfer arrangement that facilitated trade by allowing merchants to conduct financial transactions without carrying large quantities of physical currency.

Bill of exchange

A written financial instrument or commercial practice that arranges payment for goods and services across distances.

Banking houses

Financial establishments that handled commercial transactions and credit, making large-scale interregional trade easier.

Kashgar and Samarkand

Prominent oasis trading cities that prospered as key commercial centers where Silk Roads routes converged.

Chinggis Khan

The Mongol leader (also called Genghis Khan) who established the Mongol Empire in 1206, initiating conquests that created the largest contiguous land empire in history.

Pax Mongolica

A term meaning 'Mongol peace,' describing a period of relative stability and security under Mongol rule that protected travel routes and stimulated Eurasian exchange.

Yuan dynasty

The Mongol khanate established in China after bringing an end to Song dynasty rule.

Ilkhanate

The regional Mongol khanate that governed Persia and nearby Southwest Asian territories.

Golden Horde

The Mongol khanate that ruled over Russian lands and the surrounding steppe areas.

Chagatai Khanate

The regional Mongol khanate that ruled across Central Asia.

Uyghur script

A writing system adopted by the Mongols to provide administrative unity across their empire.

Monsoon winds

Seasonal environmental wind patterns in the Indian Ocean that reversed direction cyclically, enabling maritime merchants to plan sailing voyages.

Astrolabe

A navigational instrument that utilized celestial observations to determine latitude and assist maritime navigation.

Chinese junk

A large, advanced ship design featuring improved cargo capacity, making the transport of bulk and common goods practical across the Indian Ocean.

Diasporic communities

Settlements of merchants living outside their ancestral homelands—such as Arab and Persian traders in East Africa—who strengthened commercial ties and facilitated cultural diffusion.

Swahili city-states

Prosperous East African coastal commercial centers that connected interior African resources to overseas Indian Ocean markets and facilitated the spread of Islam.

Swahili language

A blended language rooted in Bantu that incorporates Arabic vocabulary, reflecting maritime trade interaction and cultural blending on the East African coast.

Zheng He

Ming dynasty admiral whose state-sponsored maritime voyages projected Chinese power, expanded tributary relations, and broadened diplomatic connections.

Trans-Saharan trade

Trade networks crossing the Sahara Desert that connected West Africa to North Africa and the Mediterranean, prominently transporting gold, salt, and enslaved people.

Camel saddles

Technological adaptations for pack animals that enabled merchants to travel through desert conditions and carry significantly larger cargo loads.

Mali

A powerful West African empire that derived its wealth, political dominance, and state revenue from trans-Saharan gold commerce and merchant taxation.

Mansa Musa

A fourteenth-century ruler of Mali renowned for his vast wealth, Islamic pilgrimage, and role in linking West Africa to the wider Islamic world.

Cultural diffusion

The spread of beliefs, religious traditions, languages, and technologies across regions through the movement of merchants, migrants, missionaries, and conquerors.

Ibn Battuta

A fourteenth-century Muslim traveler and scholar who journeyed extensively and wrote detailed accounts of societies across the Islamic world.

Marco Polo

A European traveler whose written accounts described Asian societies, trade networks, and courts to European readers.

Margery Kempe

A fourteenth- and fifteenth-century English mystic who recorded her pilgrimages and religious travels.

Champa rice

A fast-ripening, drought-resistant crop introduced to China from the Champa region in Vietnam through tributary ties, which substantially increased food production and supported population growth.

Bubonic plague

A devastating infectious disease that spread along interconnected Eurasian trade routes in the fourteenth century, causing massive population loss across Europe and the Middle East.