AP World History Master Review Flashcards

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering vocabulary for the AP World History lecture notes from Units 1 to 9.

Filial Piety

The emphasized necessity and virtue of children obeying and honoring their parents, grandparents, and deceased ancestors.

Neo-Confucianism

A movement during the Song Dynasty that sought to rid Confucian thought of the influence of Buddhism while incorporating some of its aspects.

Civil-Service Exam

A meritocratic testing system based on Confucian classics used to hire government officials in China.

Tributary Relationship

A system where states like Korea and Vietnam acknowledged China's superiority by sending gifts and tribute to maintain friendly political and economic relations.

Theravada Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism originating in Sri Lanka that emphasizes escaping the cycle of birth and death, primarily restricted to monks.

Mahayana Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism that emphasizes compassion and makes Buddhist teachings available to everyone, rather than just a select few.

Champa Rice

A drought-resistant, fast-ripening rice from Vietnam that allowed for two harvests per year, fueling a massive population increase in China.

Grand Canal

A massive waterway expanded during the Song Dynasty that linked the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, making trade significantly cheaper.

Abbasid Caliphate

An ethnically Arab-led Islamic empire founded in the 8th century that presided over the Golden Age of Islam before fragmenting by 1200.

Mamluk Sultanate

A state established in Egypt by enslaved Turkic warriors who seized power after the death of the Ayyubid leader Saladin.

Delhi Sultanate

A Muslim state established by invading Turks in Northern India that ruled over a majority Hindu population for 300 years.

Sharia Law

A code of laws established in the Quran and used for administration in Muslim empires.

Sufism

A mystical form of Islam that emphasized spiritual experiences available to all and became a significant force for the spread of the faith.

House of Wisdom

A world-famous academic center in Baghdad where scholars preserved and translated Greek philosophy and advanced natural sciences.

Bhakti Movement

A Hindu movement that encouraged believers to worship one particular god and emphasized spiritual access for all people regardless of social status.

Vijayanagara Empire

A powerful Hindu kingdom in Southern India established in the 14th century in response to Islamic expansion from the north.

Srivijaya Empire

A Buddhist sea-based state that grew wealthy by taxing ships passing through the strategic Strait of Malacca.

Chinampas

Floating gardens used by the Aztecs in Lake Texcoco to increase agricultural yields for their capital, Tenochtitlan.

Mit’a System

A mandatory labor service used by the Inca requiring all people to work on state projects like mining or road-building for a set period each year.

Quipus

A knotted-string recording system used by the Wari and Inca for tracking populations and resources.

Great Zimbabwe

A wealthy East African state known for its massive stone wall and seat of power, the Great Enclosure.

Feudalism

A decentralized social and political order in Western Europe based on a system of mutual obligations between monarchs, lords, and knights.

Manorialism

An economic system where peasants (serfs) were bound to a lord's land and worked it in exchange for protection.

Caravanserai

Inns and guest houses spaced about a day's journey apart along trade routes where merchants could rest and find safety.

Flying Cash

A Chinese system of paper money that allowed merchants to deposit bills in one location and withdraw them in another.

Pax Mongolica

A period of Mongol Peace where political stability allowed trade and communication to flourish across the Silk Roads.

Yam System

A series of communication and relay stations spread across the Mongol Empire to facilitate the exchange of information and ambassadors.

Astrolabe

An instrument used by navigators to determine latitude by measuring the position of stars.

Lateen Sail

A triangular sail that allowed ships to catch wind from any direction, facilitating travel in the Indian Ocean.

Devshirme System

An Ottoman system of recruiting Christian boys from the Balkans to be trained for the imperial bureaucracy or the Janissary military corps.

Janissaries

The elite, professional group of soldiers who served as the backbone of the Ottoman military.

Zamindar System

A Mughal administrative practice where local landowners collected taxes for the emperor in exchange for keeping a portion of the revenue.

Protestant Reformation

A movement initiated by Martin Luther in 1517 that challenged Catholic doctrines and split Western Christianity into various branches.

Sikhism

A syncretic religion developed in South Asia that blended elements of Hinduism and Islam while rejecting the caste system.

Casta System

A rigid racial hierarchy in the Spanish Americas consisting of levels such as Peninsulares, Criollos, Mestizos, and Mulattoes.

Mercantilism

An economic theory that global wealth is fixed and states must accumulate bullion and exports to maintain power.

Joint-Stock Company

A business model used by organizations like the VOC and EIC to privatize the risks and costs of global exploration.

Bourgeoisie

The industrial middle class of factory owners and professionals that rose to power during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Proletariat

The industrial working class who sold their labor for wages in factories.

Meiji Restoration

The 19th-century overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan that began a period of rapid state-sponsored modernization.

Social Darwinism

The application of 'survival of the fittest' logic to human societies, used to justify imperialism and scientific racism.

Containment

The Cold War-era United States policy aimed at stopping the spread of communism outside its current borders.

Decolonization

The process by which former colonies achieved independence from European empires after World War II.

Green Revolution

A mid-20th-century movement that increased the global food supply through GMOs, pesticides, and new agricultural technologies.