AP World History (Modern) - Unit 2: Networks of Exchange c. 1250 - c. 1450 Vocab

Magnetic Compass

Chinese invention that aided navigation by showing which direction was north

Rudder

Steering device, usually a vertical blade attached to a post at, or near, the stern of the boat; helped aid navigation and ship control along the seas

Junk Ships

Ancient Chinese sailing vessel still used today; used for extensive ocean voyages; sailed throughout Indian Ocean; design that used watertight compartments

Mongol Empire

An empire founded in the 12th century by Genghis Khan, which reached its greatest territorial extent in the 13th century, encompassing the larger part of Asia and extending westward to the Dnieper River in eastern Europe (Largest land empire in the history of the world, spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia)

Kashgar

A central trading point located at the western edge of China where northern and southern routes of the Silk Roads crossed.

Samarkand

A city in present-day Uzbekistan in the Zeravshan River, which was stopping point on the Silk Roads between China and the Mediterranean. It was a center of cultural exchange as much as it was a center for trading goods

Caravanserai

Inns in the Silk Roads which were often about 100 miles apart, which is the distance of how far camels could travel before they needed water. At these inns, travelers and their animals could rest. This word derives from the Persian words for caravan and place.

Money Economy

Using money rather than bartering with such commodities as cowrie shells or salt.

Flying Cash

Enabled merchants to deposit good or cash at one location and draw the equivalent in cash or merchandise elsewhere in China. This was created because it was hard to transport copper coins.

Paper Money

Legal currency issued on paper; it developed in China as a convenient alternative to metal coins.

Banking Houses

These European banks developed during the Middle Ages to aid trade. Along with innovations such as bills of exchange, or bank drafts, and credit, the rise of banking houses supported the development of interregional trade in luxury goods.

Bill of Exchange

Issued by a banker in one city to a merchant who could exchange it for cash in a distant city, thus freeing him from traveling with gold, which was easily stolen

Hanseatic League

An organization of north German and Scandinavian cities for the purpose of establishing a commercial, economic, and defensive alliance, which was created in the 13th century. It lasted until the mid-17th century, when national governments became strong enough to protect their merchants.

Mongols

Nomadic people from Central Asia when united ended up creating the largest single land empire in history. They lived in the Gobi Desert.

Khan

Title given to Mongol leaders, meaning "supreme ruler"

Kuriltai

Meeting of all Mongol chieftains at which the supreme ruler of all Mongol tribes was selected.

Genghis Khan

A Mongolian general and emperor of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, known for his military leadership and great cruelty. He conquered vast portions of northern China and southwestern Asia and he lead conquest westward. (Temujin)

Khanates

The states ruled by a khan; the four units into which Chinggis divided the Mongol Empire.

Pax Mongolica

The period of approximately 150 years of relative peace and stability created by the Mongol Empire.

Batu

Ruler of the Golden Horde; one of Chinggis Khan's grandsons; responsible for the invasion of Russia beginning in 1236.

Golden Horde

Mongol khanate founded by Genghis Khan's grandson, who's name was Batu. It was based in southern Russia and they had indirect rule (took taxes/tribute).

Moscow

A city-state in Russia, where its rulers collected additional tributes to develop an army to resist and fight back the Mongols.

Hulegu

Grandson of Chinggis Khan and ruler of Ilkhan khanate; captured and destroyed Abbasid Empire and Baghdad.

Il-Khanate

Mongol rule in Persia deferred to local Persian authorities, who administered indirect as long as they delivered taxes to the Mongols and maintained order.

Kublai Khan

(1215-1294) Grandson of Genghis Khan and founder of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty in China.

Yuan Dynasty

(1279-1368 CE) The dynasty with Mongol rule in China; centralized with bureaucracy but structure is different: Mongols on top->Persian bureaucrats->Chinese bureuacrats. They isolated the Chinese

Zhu Yuanzhang

A former monk that led this army in a final victory over the Mongols (overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, became emperor of China and founded the Ming Dynasty.

Ming Dynasty

Succeeded Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1368; lasted until 1644; initially mounted huge trade expeditions to southern Asia and elsewhere, but later concentrated efforts on internal development within China.

Gobi Desert

A high desert in China and Mongolia.

Siege Weapons

Portable towers used to attack walled fortifications and catapults that hurled stones or other objects.

Cannon

A Mongol invention, cobbled together using Chinese gunpowder, Muslim flamethrowers, and European bell-casting techniques; a big gun, especially one that is mounted on a base or wheels.

Uyghur Alphabet

A writing system that Genghis Khan tried to implement but was not fully successful, although the alphabet is still used in parts of Mongolia today.

White Lotus Society

Secret religious society dedicated to overthrow of Yuan dynasty in China; typical of peasant resistance to Mongol rule

Bubonic Plague

Also called the Black Death, it was a deadly disease brought to Europe from the Mongols during the Middle Ages. It killed 1/3rd of the population and helped end Feudalism. (Rats, fleas)

Malacca

Flourishing trading city in Malaya; established a trading empire after the fall of Shrivijaya; located at the Strait of Malacca.

Gujarat

Region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing.

Swahili City-States

Dominated trade along the east African coast, spoke Swahili.

Calicut

Great spice port of India where Vasco da Gama landed and traded.

Spice Islands

Europeans' name for the Moluccas or modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia, which were islands rich in nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.

Indian Ocean Basin

Connected East Africa, Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia with China and Japan through trade over the ocean.

Monsoon Winds

Seasonal wind in India, the winter monsoon brings hot, dry weather (northeast) and the summer monsoon brings rain (southwest).

Stern Rudder

A small piece of wood in the back so that you can steer a large vessel more effectively.

Astrolabe

An instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets.

Indian Ocean Slave Trade

East Africa -> Middle East & India; similar conditions to the Atlantic Slave Trade; cultural diffusion.

Diaspora

A dispersion of people from their homeland.

Zheng He

(1371-1433?) Chinese naval explorer who sailed along most of the coast of Asia, Japan, and half way down the east coast of Africa before his death; he was a Muslim admiral.

Mali

The kingdom in West Africa that followed the Kingdom of Ghana; its wealth is also based on trans-Saharan trade; this kingdom encouraged the spread of Islam.

Sundiata

The founder of Mali empire. He crushed his enemies and won control of the gold trade routes (He was also crippled).

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East.

Songhai Kingdom

Largest African trading kingdom during its time; Helped rebel against Mali; only lasted for about 100 years.

Timbuktu

Port city of Mali; located just off the flood plain on the great bend in the Niger River; population of 50,000; a trade city that became a center of wealth and learning; contained a library and university.

Mecca

City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion.

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.

Sahara Desert

The world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa; covered most of northern Africa.

Oases

Fertile places in dry areas where water is found; resting places along the Trans-Saharan routes.

Arabian Desert

A desert on the Arabian Peninsula in southwestern Asia; largest sand desert in the world.

Camel Saddle

An invention which gives camel riders more stability on the animal and its invention and basic idea traveled along the Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade Route. Invented somewhere between 500 and 100 BCE by Bedouin tribes. (behind the hump: comfortable for the rider, on the hump: used in battle due to its height, Somali: helped with trade)

Black Death

The epidemic form of the Bubonic Plague experienced during the Middle Ages when it killed nearly half the people of western Europe

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. (directionally changed)

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.

Margery Kempe

Wrote what is considered the 1st autobiography or one of the earliest autobiographies in the English language.

Swahili

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

Urdu

A Persian-influenced literary form of Hindi written in Arabic characters and used as a literary language since the 1300s.

Lateen Sails

Triangular sail that made it possible to sail against the wind; used in the Indian Ocean trade.

Hangzhou

Capital of later Song dynasty; located near East China Sea; permitted overseas trading; population exceeded 1 million.

Constantinople

A large and wealthy city that was the imperial capital of the Byzantine empire and later the Ottoman empire, now known as Istanbul.

Champa Rice

A quick-maturing, drought resistant rice that can allow two harvests, of sixty days each in one growing season.

Bananas

The introduction of a new food crop about 400 CE encouraged a fresh migratory surge in Africa.

Sugar and Citrus Crops

Caliphates that ruled beyond the Arabian Peninsula increased the cultivation of these crops.

Overgrazing

The destruction of vegetation caused by too many grazing animals consuming the plants in a particular area so they cannot recover.

Deforestation

The destruction of forests.

Soil erosion

The wearing away of surface soil by water and wind.