World Studies Final Exam Study Guide 2023-2024

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the India/Pakistan, Middle East, and Africa modules of the World Studies final exam.

Hinduism

A religion developed around $1500\,BC$ with no single founder, characterized by beliefs in the Trinity of Gods, reincarnation, and the caste system.

Dharma (Hinduism)

The act of fulfilling one’s duty in life; doing good in life to ensure reincarnation.

Karma

The consequences of one’s actions, both good and bad, which impact the soul’s rebirth in the next life.

Reincarnation

The cycle of birth and death where a soul moves from one physical form to another.

Moksha

The release of one’s soul from the cycle of reincarnation to unite with Brahman by realizing its true nature.

Brahma

The creator god in Hinduism, described as formless, limitless, all-inclusive, and eternal.

Vedas

The sacred texts of Hinduism.

Siddhartha Gautama

The prince who founded Buddhism in the $5\text{th}\text{ century }BC$ to provide spiritual guidance and address suffering; he became the Buddha.

Four Noble Truths

Buddhist beliefs stating that suffering is inevitable, caused by desire, and can be eliminated by removing desire.

Eightfold Path

A guide to achieve enlightenment in Buddhism, involving right views, thoughts, conduct, speech, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and meditation.

Nirvana

The ultimate goal of Buddhism, which is the release from suffering and the cycle of reincarnation.

British East India Company (EIC)

A company established in $1600$ to control trade between India and Britain, which eventually gained control of large parts of India and maintained its own army.

Sepoys

Indian soldiers employed by the British to protect British interests and the EIC.

Mutiny of 1857 (Sepoy Rebellion)

A revolt by Hindu and Muslim soldiers against the British triggered by rifle cartridges greased with animal fat, leading to the end of EIC rule in $1858$.

Jewel in the Crown

A term used to describe India as it was one of the most important colonies in the British Empire.

British Raj

The period of direct British government rule over India, characterized by both infrastructure improvements and economic exploitation.

Amritsar Massacre

A $1919$ event where British soldiers opened fire on peaceful protestors, leading to increased violence against protesters.

Homespun movement

A protest organized by Gandhi encouraging Indians to make and wear traditional clothing to boycott the British textile industry.

Salt March

A non-cooperation protest led by Gandhi against the British monopoly of salt, which helped push for national independence.

Satyagraha

Gandhi's philosophy of "truth force," emphasizing civil disobedience and non-violence.

Partition

The division of British-controlled land to create independent India and Pakistan in order to satisfy demands for a separate Muslim state.

Ali Jinnah

A leader of the Muslim League who fought for the creation of Pakistan as a separate state for Muslims.

Kashmir

A region the subject of a territorial conflict between India and Pakistan that began after the partition in $1947$.

Sunni

The majority sect of Islam ($85\%$) that believes the leader of the faith should be decided among religious clerics.

Shi’ite

The sect of Islam ($15\%$) that believes the faith should be led by a descendant of Muhammad.

Mandate System

A system established by the League of Nations following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, giving control of territories to the UK and France.

Sykes-Picot Agreement

A secret agreement between the British and French to divide the region of Palestine into respective spheres of influence.

Balfour Declaration

A British document promising to help establish a state for the Jewish people in the region of Palestine.

Zionism

The belief in the creation and support of a Jewish homeland.

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)

A representative body formed in $1964$ that sought to free Palestine from Israeli control, led by Yasser Arafat until his death in $2004$.

Occupied Territories

Regions including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip where the Israeli military controls borders despite a primarily Palestinian population.

Iranian Revolution of 1979

An event where Iranians overthrew the Shah and established a theocracy under Ayatollah Khomeini, leading to the Hostage Crisis involving $52$ Americans.

Saddam Hussein

The brutal dictator who ruled Iraq from $1979$ to $2003$, leading the country through the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War.

Sectarian violence

Violence that occurs specifically between two religious groups.

ISIS

An Islamist militant group (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) that seeks to create an Islamic Caliphate and remove U.S. influence from the region.

Taliban

A strict Islamist organization in Afghanistan that re-established power in $2021$, censoring media and removing rights from women.

Al-Qaeda

An Islamist terrorist group that planned the $9/11$ attacks, led by Osama bin Laden.

Arab Spring

A series of democratic protests beginning in $2011$ across the Arab world, aimed at overthrowing dictators.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The trade involving the purchase and transportation of an estimated $15\text{ million}$ Africans by Europeans to the Americas for profit.

Scramble for Africa

The rapid colonization of Africa by European powers starting in the $1880s$, resulting in nearly the entire continent being controlled by $1914$.

Berlin Conference

An $1884$ meeting where major European powers divided the African continent among themselves without regard for ethnic groups or kingdoms.

Apartheid

A system of institutionalized racial segregation in South Africa that existed from $1948$ to the early $1990s$.

Nelson Mandela

An activist and the first black African president of South Africa, elected in $1994$ after spending $27$ years in prison.