Unit 1: 1200 CE - 1450 CE HEIMLER REVIEW GUIDE Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts, states, and cultural traditions of Unit 1 (1200-1450 CE) across China, Islam, South/Southeast Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

State

An organized political community under one government, such as a country, empire, or nation.

Neo-Confucianism

The revival of Confucianism that helped legitimize Song Dynasty rule due to its ancient history in China.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A large organization of government officials that carried out administritive tasks; it began during the Qin Dynasty ($221\text{--}206 \text{ BCE}$) and flourished under the Song Dynasty.

Civil Service Exam

An examination based on Confucian classics that eligible men had to pass in order to join the imperial bureaucracy in Song China and Korea.

Filial Piety

A Confucian tenet emphasizing the need for children to obey and honor their parents, grandparents, and deceased ancestors.

Champa Rice

A drought-resistant, early-maturing crop from Vietnam that reached China via the Tribute System between the $8\text{th}$ and $11\text{th}$ centuries CE, leading to a population surge.

Tribute System

A system where countries like Japan, Korea, and Vietnam acknowledged China's superiority and gained trade rights while adopting Chinese cultural practices.

Mahayana Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism that traveled to East Asia, encouraged broader participation, and offered help from bodhisattvas to achieve nirvana.

Theravada Buddhism

The original form of Buddhism where many monks lived in monasteries to focus on attaining enlightenment.

Abbasid Caliphate

An Islamic state ruling from $750\text{--}1258 \text{ CE}$ that fragmented by $1200$ and ended when its capital, Baghdad, was conquered by the Mongols.

Seljuk Empire

An empire created by ethnic Turks from Central Asia who were originally used by the Abbasids but eventually became a dominant force in the region.

Delhi Sultanate

A Turkic Muslim state in Northern India where the elite were Muslim but the majority of the population remained Hindu.

Mamluk Sultanate

A Turkic Muslim state in Egypt that was established by slave soldiers.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

An intellectual from Dar al-Islam who invented trigonometry.

House of Wisdom

A center in Baghdad where Muslim scholars preserved and translated the works of Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle into Arabic.

Sufis

Muslim missionaries who used mystical practices and allowed for local beliefs, helping to expand Islam to new regions.

Bhakti Hinduism

A movement in Southern India that emphasized devotion to one Hindu god and challenged social and gender hierarchies.

Vijayanagara Empire

A Hindu kingdom in Southern India formed by brothers who had previously converted to Islam to serve the Delhi Sultanate.

Majapahit Kingdom

A Buddhist kingdom on Java that maintained its influence by controlling sea routes for trade.

Khmer Empire

An empire that began as Hindu and transitioned to Buddhism, featuring architecture like Angkor Wat that reflects both faiths.

Tenochtitlan

The magnificent capital of the Aztec Civilization, founded in $1345$ by the Mexica in Mesoamerica.

Mit'a System

An Incan labor system used to provide manpower for state projects like farms, mining, and construction.

Mississippian Culture

A North American culture known for building mounds, such as those at Cahokia which included $80$ burial mounds up to $100 \text{ feet}$ tall.

Swahili Civilization

A collection of politically independent city-states in East Africa that grew powerful through Indian Ocean trade and spoke a language combining Bantu and Arabic.

Great Zimbabwe

A Southern African state built between $1250\text{--}1450$ that became wealthy through gold trade and cattle herding, maintaining an indigenous shamanistic faith.

Ethiopia

A Christian kingdom in East Africa that grew through trade with the Mediterranean and the Arabian peninsula.

Feudalism

A decentralized European political system where kings and powerful lords gained allegiance from vassals who received land in exchange for military service.

Manorialism

An economic system in decentralized Europe where peasants were bound to the land and worked in exchange for a lord's protection.

Serfdom

The status of peasants in Europe who were tied to the land and could not leave without permission, although they were not the property of the lords.