World History: Major Religions, Civilizations, and Early Global Networks

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering world religions, pre-Columbian American states, Song Dynasty China, and East and Southern African kingdoms and trade networks.

Aryans

Lighter-skinned Indo-European speakers who migrated into northern India during the Vedic Age ($1500\text{--}500\text{ BCE}$), bringing their upper-class language, Sanskir, and sacred texts known as the vedas.

bra ham

The single divine force in Hinduism of which deities like Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are considered manifestations.

Mokshan

Liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (reincarnation) achieved by fulfilling the moral and ethical duties of one's specific class (pharma).

Caste System

A rigid social hierarchy dividing society into four main classes—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras—with specific occupational groups called untouchable positioned beneath them.

ahioma

A foundational concept in Jainism requiring strict vegetarianism and absolute nonviolence toward all living beings.

Budda

The title meaning "Enlightened One" given to Siddharta Gautama, a royal prince who abandoned wealth to discover spiritual insight and taught the Four Noble Truths and the eight ($8$) Path.

asnoka maurya

The Mauryan emperor who adopted Buddhism as the state religion and sent out missionaries, heavily aiding its spread along trade routes.

mahayana

A branch of Buddhism that evolved to worship the founder as a god and revere enlightened beings known as bodhisattvas.

cofucius

A Chinese philosopher around $500\text{ BCE}$ who developed a system emphasizing moral character, education, and social harmony through strict hierarchical relationships.

Pialial picty

A foundational Confucian principle demanding deep respect, reverence, and devotion toward one's parents and ancestors.

wi

The Daoist practice of non-action or not tampering with nature, encouraging individuals to act naturally to maintain the balance of yin and Yang.

shints

The indigenous religion of Japan, meaning "the way of the gods," which centers on purification rituals and the veneration of nature spirits called Kami.

Zoroaster

The ancient Persian prophet who established a monotheistic faith worshipping Ahura Mazda and focusing on the principles of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good People.

Conveniat

A sacred agreement forged around $1700\text{ BCE}$ between God and the founding patriarch abarham in Mesopotamia.

Turah

The central sacred text of Judaism containing $613$ commandments, including dietary restrictions such as keeping kosher.

Jewish diaspora

The mass migration and dispersal of Jews throughout the Roman Empire following their violent expulsion after the conquest of Jerusalem in $70\text{ CE}$.

marter

A believer who died for their Christian faith during the $300$ years of state-sponsored Roman persecution prior to legalization.

Three Sirver

The collective term for the Mesoamerican staple crops of maize, beans, and squash cultivated through slash-and-burn, hillside terracing, and raised fields.

Ku Ajax

The "holy lords" who governed independent Classic Maya city-states and directly connected political leadership to religious legitimacy.

Tenn han

The imperial island capital of the Aztec Empire built on Lake Texcoco to support an urban population of approximately $200{,}000$.

chinamans

Engineered Mesoamerican "floating gardens" built along causeways and canals in Lake Texcoco to feed the Aztec population.

Huey Tlatsani

The supreme semi-divine emperor who commanded the centralized military theocracy of the Aztec Empire.

Triple Alliance

A political and military alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan that extracted regular tribute in cacao, feathers, jade, and captives.

champa rice

A fast-ripening and drought-resistant agricultural variety introduced from Vietnam to Song China that yielded multiple harvests per year.

scholar-gentry

A powerful non-aristocratic social class in Song China whose members secured governance positions via the civil service examination system.

Neo-Confucianism

A syncretic philosophical ideology of Song China combining traditional Confucian ethics with Buddhist and Daoist metaphysical concepts.

foot binding

A widespread practice among upper-class women during the Song Dynasty that functioned as an aesthetic status symbol of female submission.

movable type

A major technological printing innovation that accelerated the dissemination of elite literature and scholarship during the Song era.

Great Enclosure

A massive architectural complex within Great Zimbabwe built entirely of dry stone masonry without mortar, housing the king and ruling elites.

Sofala

An East African coastal port through which Great Zimbabwe traded interior gold and ivory in exchange for luxury goods like porcelain and glassware.

Swahili city-states

Independent coastal trading centers ($c.\,1000\text{--}1500\text{ CE}$)—including Kilwa, Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Mogadishu—ruled by merchant-kings or sultans along the Indian Ocean network.

dhow

Merchant sailing vessels equipped with triangular lateen sails, used to navigate Indian Ocean trade by utilizing seasonal monsoon wind patterns.

Swathwi

A syncretic coastal language that developed by blending native Bantu grammar with Arab vocabulary.

Ibn battuto

A renowned global traveler who visited Kilwa and documented it as one of the most prosperous and cosmopolitan cities in the world.