Semeter 1 Terms

Caliph

The successor to Muhammad as head of the Islamic community

Sunni

Followers of the majority interpretation within Islam; included the Umayyads

Shi'a

Followers of Ali's interpretation of Islam

Allah

Islamic term for God

Ramadan

The ninth month of the Islamic year that requires daily fasting from sunrise to sunset

Saladin

12th-century Muslim ruler; reconquered most of the crusader kingdoms

Sufis

Islamic mystics; spread Islam to many Afro-Asian regions.

Sultan

Word meaning "victorious"; came to designate Muslim rulers

Mali

State of the Malinke people, centered between the Senegal and Niger rivers

Axum

(1st-6th centuries C.E.) Developing in the Ethiopian highlands and traded with India and the Mediterranean areas to gain Greek and Arabian cultural influences; conversion of the king to Christianity in 350 C.E. laid the basis for Ethiopian Christian culture.

Songhay

Successor state to Mali; dominated middle reaches of the Niger valley; capital at Gao

Hausa

peoples of northern Nigeria who formed states after the Songhay, combining Muslim and pagan traditions

Great Zimbabwe

With massive stone buildings and walls, incorporates the greatest early buildings in sub-Saharan Africa

Mansa Musa

First Muslim ruler of Mali, performed the Hajj, wealthiest leader in history

Ibn Battuta

Traveled along Silk Roads, Indian Ocean trade routes, and Trans-Saharan trade routes recording history along the way

Margery Kempe

English pilgrim who went to Jerusalem and documented her travels. Mystic who wrote about personal relationship and messages with Jesus

Al-Andalus

Umayyad Islamic empire in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)

Neo-Confucianism

Combination of Daoist and Buddhist ideologies with Confucianism

caravanserai

rest stops along Silk and Trans-Saharan trade routes that allowed travelers to rest and care for their animals

diasporic communities

groups of people who settled new areas to participate in trade networks, creating new relationships and opportunities in their new homes

Theravada Buddhism

form of Buddhism as a philosophy centered on humans and self-improvement to escape reincarnation and Buddha is an important figure to model behavior but not a god

Mahayana Buddhism

form of Buddhism that includes religious elements like gods and views Buddha and other spiritual leaders as Boddhisatva; more ritualized prayers and ceremonies

Rajput

Hindu kingdoms that failed to centralize in Northern India (present-day Pakistan) and were repeatedly attacked by Muslim warriors

Srivijaya

Southeast Asian kingdom centered in Sundra and Malacca Straits between China and India to control trade; heavily influenced by Buddhism

Majapahit

Southeast Asian empire centered in modern-day Indonesia to control Indian Ocean trade; heavily influenced by Hinduism

Khmer

Southeast Asian empire centered in modern-day Cambodia to control trade between India and China; heavily influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism

Sukhothai

Southeast Asia empire that broke away from Khmer and created government influenced by Theravada Buddhism; tribute state of China

Tatars

Mongols who conquered Russian cities during the 13th century; left Russian church and aristocracy intact.

Constantinople

Capital of the Byzantine Empire; constructed on the site of Byzantium, an old Greek city on the Bosporus.

Orthodox Christian Church

Eastern church which was created in 1053 after the schism from the western Roman church; its head is the patriarch of Constantinople.

Manorialism

economic and social system based on agriculture that defined relationships between landlords/landowners and people who worked for them; outlined duties and rights of each group

Serfs

agricultural laborers who worked for the landowner in exchange for protection but could not leave farms and fewer individual rights

Three-field system

practice of dividing land into thirds, rotating between two different crops and pasturage—an improvement making use of manure

Feudalism

political and social system in Medieval Europe that gave more rights to landowners but required them to support the monarch and provide shelter and work for people who lived on their land. A fragmented society.

Vassals

members of the military elite who received land or special privileges from a lord in return for military or economic service and loyalty.

Magna Carta

Great charter issued by King John of England in 1215; represented the principle of mutual limits and obligations between rulers and feudal aristocracy, and the supremacy of law.

Investiture

the practice of appointing church clergy by secular leaders

Black Death

reduced Europe's population by up to 1/2 and changed social, economic, cultural, and political systems because of high death rate and inability to prevent and control spread.

Monasticism

religious practice of an individual or group separating from the secular world and focusing only on religion; monks/nuns living in their own communities and spending their time praying, studying religion, and helping others

Aztecs

the Mexica; established tribute systems of human sacrifice to control diverse empires.

Tenochtitlan

founded circa 1325 on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power.

Chinampas

beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create "floating islands"; system of irrigated agriculture used by Aztecs.

Inca

centered at Cuzco; created an empire in the Andes Mountains using advanced transportation and farming techniques.

Mita

Inca labor tribute system, performed once a year on public works projects

Quipu

system of knotted strings utilized by the Incas in place of a writing system.

Mayans

individual ruler in each city-state, developed agricultural technology and a calendar in Mesoamerica.

Chaco

created large housing structures using stone and clay, located in present day SW United States

Cahokia

built large earthen mounds in present day Southern Illinois

Mesa Verde

built multi story homes into the sides of cliffs in SW United States

Chinggis Khan

born in 1170s, united Mongols into more central group as supreme ruler (khan) in 1206, began Mongol Empire with the conquest of states in Central Asia

Khanate

kingdoms/provinces of the Mongols

Pax Mongolica

Mongolian peace, increased trade across Eurasia

Uyghur Script

written form of the Mongol language

The Mamluks

Muslim slave warriors; established dynasty in Egypt; led by Baibars defeated Mongols in 1260.

Kublai Khan

grandson of Chinggis Khan; conquered Song China; established Yuan dynasty in 1271.

White Lotus Society

secret religious society dedicated to overthrow the Yuan dynasty.

Renaissance

period from 1300s-1600s in which Europeans emphasized art, classical history, creativity, education, and innovation; challenged many medieval European ideas and helped begin the Early Modern Period.

humanism

Belief that people should focus on their powers of reason to explain the world, not only religion, and that people can fully understand everything in nature; based on Classical Greek ideals.

Johannes Gutenberg

Introduced movable type to western Europe in the 15th century; greatly expanded the availability of printed materials

Martin Luther

German Catholic monk who initiated the Protestant Reformation; emphasized the primacy of faith in place of Catholic sacraments for gaining salvation; rejected papal authority.

indulgence

Catholic Church's practice of forgiving someone's sins or decreasing punishment so that person spends less time in purgatory before going to heaven

predestination

Protestant Christian belief that god already knows if a person will be "saved" (go to heaven) before he/she is born, so a person cannot do good works to make up for sins

Anglicanism

Protestant religion based in England that made the English monarch the head of the Church; kept traditions from the Catholic Church but developed new interpretations and became more protestant over time.

Puritan

Protestant Christians who wanted to reform the Church of England (Anglican Church) to remove Catholic influences; emphasized education to read the Bible and personal morality and relationship with god.

Catholic Counter Reformation

religious movement to make changes to the Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation; attempted to end practices like simony and priests having children.

Spanish Inquisition

attempt to remove challenges to the Catholic Church from Spain; investigated and punished people accused of having different religious views (Jewish or non-Catholics).

Jesuit

branch of Catholic priests dedicated to education, missions to convert people to Catholicism, scholarship, and defending the Catholic Church; focused on spreading Catholicism and preventing the spread of protestant religions

95 Theses

document written by Martin Luther, a German priest, who challenged specific practices and traditions of the Catholic Church, including simony and selling indulgences; one of the documents that began the Protestant Reformation.

sacrament

religious ceremony that represents an important event in life/religion; Catholics believe there are seven sacraments (baptism, confirmation, Holy Communion, marriage, penance, becoming a priest, and last rights) but Protestants only agree on two (baptism and communion).

Edict of Nantes

1598 decision by the French King Henry IV to give more religious freedoms to Protestants living in the Catholic country; Protestants were allowed to inherit land, attend schools, and receive care in hospitals without being denied because of their religion.

intendant

part of the French bureaucracy; represented the king in specific parts of the kingdom; appointed by the king and had power to supervise/check on other government officials and became more powerful than many local leaders/aristocrats.

East India Companies

British, French, and Dutch trading companies that obtained government monopolies of trade to India and Asia; acted independently in their regions by creating their own alliances, treaties, and governments to promote and control trade.

Columbian Exchange

movement of food, animals, ideas and people from the New World to the Old World and vice versa; resulted in population growth in the "Old World" because of better nutrition; major effect in the Americas was the introduction of European diseases and deaths of Native Americans.

mercantilism

economic system in which colonies support the Mother Country by producing raw materials and selling them to the European country, which uses then to make manufactured goods they sell to the colonists; the goal is to accumulate as much gold and silver as possible.

indentured servitude

system in which a farmer paid for someone to travel to the Americas in exchange for that individual working on the farm for a certain amount of time.

chattel slavery

system of considering slavery as a condition that is inherited from parents (usually mother) instead of as a punishment for a crime, debt, or capture in war; fewer opportunities to gain freedom and more restrictions and limits on freedom.

casta system

Spanish class system developed in New Spain that placed peninsulares (people born in Europe) at the highest positions with the most benefits and control of the government, criollos (people with European parents born in the colonies) next with some opportunities for political and economic control, mestizos in the middle (parents European and indigenous) with fewer rights, and other groups of multiple ethnicities at the bottom of society.

encomienda system

grants of land and indigenous laborers given to Spanish conquerors and settlers in Latin America; based on system of manorialism and established a system in which Europeans were able to benefit the most economically by forcing indigenous people to work for them (focus on mining) in exchange for food, protection, shelter, and becoming Christian.

hacienda system

plantation system developed in New Spain because of increased population of colonists and deaths of enslaved indigenous people; Spanish colonists given land to farm and raise cattle to sell and allowed to use coerced labor based on workers owing money to the landowners and working it off (rarely happened)

African Diaspora

forced removal of African people (larger percentage of men than women) to other parts of the world as forced labor; largest populations in South America, Europe, and Asia.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Dominican friar who supported peaceful conversion of the Native American population; opposed forced labor and advocated for more rights for indigenous peoples.

Moctezuma II

last independent Aztec ruler; killed during Cortés' conquest.

galleons

large, heavily armed ships used to carry silver from New World colonies to Spain and East Asia (to buy goods).

Treaty of Tordesillas

agreed in 1494 between Castile and Portugal; decided by the pope to divide land claims between Spain and Portugal; Spain free to claim land in North and South America (except Brazil) and Portugal able to claim land in Africa and Asia (except Philippines).

Triangular Trade

system of transporting raw materials from the 13 English Colonies to Europe where they were used to create manufactured goods; those goods were traded to African kingdoms in exchange for enslaved people who were transported to the colonies to grow the raw materials.

joint stock company

owned by multiple investors who bought stocks in the company, which helped them divide the risk (if a ship sank or goods were less valuable, no one person would lose all of the money) and investors would get that same percentage of the profits from selling the goods

Middle Passage

route by which slave traders transported new slaves from Africa to colonies in the Americas; known for the terrible conditions and brutal treatment of the enslaved peoples; 10-15% of people enslaved died.

trading post empire

Empires that control of small areas of land and port cities to control trade in a region; made money from taxing and controlling trade.

engenho

term for Portuguese sugar plantation; goal was to produce as much sugar as possible because of its value, so working conditions were incredibly dangerous and killed many of the enslaved people working there

syncretism

process of combining elements of different cultures into new religions, languages, and systems; developed new traditions in the Americas like creole/Gullah languages and Vodun religion.

Legitimizing Power

how a ruler or government proves that the people should obey the government; proves a ruler is the rightful leader

Consolidate Power

how a ruler or government gets power to control the people/land; adding more power to the leader and government

Ivan III (the Great)

Prince of the duchy of Moscow; responsible for freeing Russia from the Mongols; took the title of tsar.

Ivan IV (the Terrible)

Confirmed power of tsarist autocracy by attacking the authority of the boyars; continued policy of expansion; established contacts with western European commerce and culture.

Boyars

Russian landowner and member of aristocracy; ranked just below the royal family and advised the tsar (king)

Peter I (the Great)

Tsar from 1689 to 1725; continued growth of absolutism and conquest; sought to change selected aspects of the economy and culture through imitation of western European models

Westernization

Process in which traditional cultures come under the influence of Western culture

Gunpowder Empire

Asian empires that used \firearms developed from Chinese gunpowder, including cannons, to expand and control their territories (Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires)

Ottoman Empire

major Sunni Muslim empire in Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe from 1350-1918; led by Turkish Muslims and used military and bureaucracy to expand and control territories (conquered other governments and used taxation and laws to control the people)

Devshirme

Ottoman Empire's policy of forcing Christian children to convert to Islam and be educated to work in the government (based jobs on merit and talent); collected children from families as part of tax owed to the Ottoman emperor