AP World History Unit 1: The Global Tapestry Vocabulary

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, institutions, concepts, and historical developments outlined in AP World History Topics 1.1 through 1.7.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A large organization of appointed officials who carried out the empire's policies in Song China, initially strengthening central rule before becoming costly.

Meritocracy

A government system in which officials obtain their positions by demonstrating ability on examinations, such as Song China's civil service exams based on Confucian texts.

Grand Canal

An internal water transportation system expanded under the Song Dynasty that provided inexpensive, efficient transport and made China a leading trade region.

Champa Rice

A fast-ripening, drought-resistant crop from Southeast Asia that allowed Chinese farmers to harvest two crops per year, supporting rapid population growth.

Proto-industrialization

An economic system in which rural individuals used simple home equipment to produce more goods than they could sell locally.

Tributary System

A network in which foreign states provided money or goods to honor the Chinese emperor, reinforcing China's political and economic authority.

Scholar-gentry

An educated class of Confucian followers who emerged through the expanding Song bureaucracy and became China's most influential social class.

Chan (Zen) Buddhism

A syncretic religion in China combining Buddhist doctrines with elements of Daoism, emphasizing meditation and direct experience over scripture study.

Neo-Confucianism

A syncretic philosophy that combined Confucian rational thought with abstract ideas from Daoism and Buddhism, prioritizing ethics over metaphysical mysteries.

Seljuk Turks

A Central Asian Turkic group that captured parts of the Middle East, reduced the Abbasid caliph to a religious figurehead, and restricted Christian access to holy sites.

Sufism

A mystical Islamic tradition focused on introspection to understand spiritual truths, whose missionaries spread Islam by adapting to local cultural elements.

Cordoba

The Umayyad capital in al-Andalus (Spain) that became a major center of learning, trade, and interfaith intellectual exchange.

Vijayanagara Empire

A Hindu kingdom established in southern India by Harihara and Bukka that maintained political order in the region.

Delhi Sultanate

An Islamic state that controlled Delhi and northern South Asia from the 13th through 16th centuries, ruling a majority Hindu population.

Bhakti Movement

A Hindu movement emphasizing intense emotional devotion to a chosen deity, appealing to women and lower-caste individuals due to its non-discriminatory nature.

Khmer Empire

A Southeast Asian empire that achieved agricultural prosperity through advanced irrigation and drainage systems and constructed Angkor Wat.

Matrilineal System

A social structure, such as that of the Mississippian culture, where political rank and inheritance pass through the female line of the family.

Chinampas

Artificial floating islands constructed by the Mexica to create extra farmland in the waters surrounding Tenochtitlan.

Pochteca

A specialized class of Mexica merchants who operated long-distance trade routes and occasionally gathered intelligence for rulers.

Mita System

An Inca labor tax requiring subjects to contribute physical labor to state building projects, agriculture, and military service.

Quipus

A system of knotted strings used by Inca administrators to record demographic data, labor obligations, and trade items.

Hausa Kingdoms

A collection of West African city-states prosperous through specialized agricultural output, manufacturing, and trans-Saharan trade.

Griots and Griottes

Oral storytellers, historians, and musicians in sub-Saharan Africa who preserved historical events, lineages, and cultural values across generations.

Zanj Rebellion

A major revolt led by enslaved East Africans against Abbasid authority that successfully captured territory and lasted approximately fifteen years.

Feudalism

A decentralized European political and military framework based on mutual obligations where monarchs granted land (fiefs) to lords in exchange for military service.

Manorialism

An economic structure in medieval Europe centered on self-sufficient land estates where serfs provided labor to lords in exchange for housing and protection.

Great Schism of 1054

The formal division of European Christianity into the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire.

Magna Carta

A document signed in 1215 that established legal limits on the powers of the English monarch.

Centralized State

A state structure where political and administrative authority is concentrated under a single ruler and unified governing body.

Decentralized State

A state structure where political authority is dispersed among regional nobles, city-states, or local feudal leaders.