AP World Study Guide FINAL Pg. 1

Flashcards for AP world for Mr. Jung 1st page

Malacca

A historic city and vital trading port in Malaysia, strategically located along the Malacca Strait. Its advantageous position made it a crucial hub for maritime trade routes connecting the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, facilitating exchanges between diverse cultures and empires.

Swahili City-states

Coastal cities in East Africa that were part of trade networks connecting Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Calicut

A historic port city on the southwestern coast of India, now known as Kozhikode. Calicut was a major international trading hub, especially renowned for its spice trade (like pepper and cardamom) with Arabian and Chinese merchants. It played a pivotal role in global maritime trade routes and was a significant destination for explorers like Vasco da Gama, marking its importance in linking Eastern and Western economies.

samarkand

A historic city in Uzbekistan, known for its key role as a central hub on the Silk Road. It served as a cultural and economic center, renowned for its architectural wonders and diverse population.

Lateen sails

triangular sails that improved maneuverability and enabled sailing against the wind, commonly used by Arab and Mediterranean traders.

Astrolabe

An ancient instrument used for solving problems related to time and the position of the stars.

Song Dynasty

A Chinese dynasty (960-1279) known for its advancements in technology, culture, and economy.

Neo-Confucianism

A philosophical movement that developed in response to Buddhism and Daoism, rejuvenating Confucian teachings.

Seljuk Turks

A medieval Turko-Persian empire known for its influence over the Islamic world.

Abbasid Caliphate

A major Islamic caliphate (750-1258) known for its cultural and scientific achievements.

Crusaders

Christian warriors who participated in the Crusades, military campaigns in the Holy Land.

Sufis

Islamic mystics focused on spiritual closeness to God, known for their practices and teachings.

Baghdad

The capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and a key cultural and intellectual center during the medieval period.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

A Persian polymath known for his contributions to astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy.

Delhi Sultanate

A series of Muslim dynasties that ruled over Delhi and parts of northern India from the 13th to the 16th century.

Bhakti Movement

A devotional trend in Hinduism emphasizing personal devotion to a deity.

Aztec

An indigenous Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in the Valley of Mexico from the 14th to the 16th century. Their capital city, Tenochtitlan, was a highly organized urban center built on a lake. The Aztecs were known for their sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as chinampas (floating gardens), a complex hierarchical social structure, polytheistic religion that often involved ritual human sacrifices to deities like Huitzilopochtli, and impressive monumental architecture like pyramids and temples. They established a vast empire through conquest and a tribute system.

Inca

A pre-Columbian South American empire in the Andean region, known for its centralized government, extensive road system, terraced agriculture, stone architecture (like Machu Picchu), and quipu record-keeping. It was the largest pre-Columbian empire, eventually conquered by the Spanish.

Mali

A west African empire known for its wealth, especially during the reign of Mansa Musa.

Mansa Musa

The emperor of the Mali Empire known for his rich pilgrimage to Mecca and the promotion of education.

Songhai

A major Islamic empire in West Africa that became a significant center of trade and culture.

Timbuktu

A city in Mali that was an important cultural and scholarly center during the Middle Ages.

Trans Saharan trade

Trade routes across the Sahara Desert, connecting Sub-Saharan Africa with North Africa.

Camel Saddles

Innovative saddles that improved transportation and trade across desert regions.

Black Death

A devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that wiped out a significant portion of Europe's population.

Marco Polo

A Venetian merchant and explorer known for his travels to Asia and his accounts of exotic cultures.

Mita system

A labor system established by the Incas to force indigenous people to work in mines.

Great Zimbabwe

A medieval city in southern Africa known for its stone ruins and as a significant center of trade.

Swahili (the language)

A Bantu language with Arabic influence, widely spoken in East Africa.

Magna Carta

A charter signed in 1215 that limited the powers of the English monarch and laid the groundwork for modern democracy.

Manorial system

An economic structure in medieval Europe where peasants worked land for local lords in exchange for protection.

Feudalism

A social system in medieval Europe structured around relationships derived from the holding of land.

Crusades

A series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period, aimed at reclaiming the Holy Land.

Great Schism

The division of the Christian church into Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in the 11th century.

Mongol Empire

The largest contiguous empires in history, known for its military prowess and cultural exchanges.

Caravanserai

Roadside inns along trade routes, providing accommodations for travelers and merchants.

Flying Cash

A currency system introduced by the Song Dynasty to facilitate trade and reduce the reliance on physical goods.

Paper Money

Currency made from paper, which became widespread during the Song Dynasty.

Genghis Khan

The founder of the Mongol Empire, known for uniting the Mongolian tribes and expanding the empire.

Pax Mongolia

A period of peace and stability across Eurasia under Mongol rule during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Golden Horde

A Mongol khanate that ruled much of northern Eurasia during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Kublai Khan

The grandson of Genghis Khan and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China.

Yuan Dynasty

The first foreign dynasty to rule China, established by Kublai Khan.

Bubonic Plague

A highly contagious bacterial disease that caused widespread mortality in medieval Europe.

Ibn Battuta

A Moroccan explorer who traveled extensively throughout the Islamic world and beyond.

Champa rice

Fast-maturing rice from the Champa Kingdom in Vietnam, which greatly increased agricultural productivity.

Cape of Good Hope

A significant point at the southern tip of Africa, important for maritime navigation.

Ferdinand Magellan

A Portuguese explorer known for leading the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe.

Dutch East India Company

A powerful trading company established by the Dutch in the 17th century to control trade in Asia.

British East India Company

A British trading company that played a key role in British imperial expansion in India.

Mercantilism

An economic theory emphasizing the importance of accumulating wealth through trade.

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Indigenous American descent in Latin America.

Francisco Pizarro

A Spanish Conquistador who led the expedition that conquered the Incan Empire.

Martin Luther

A German theologian who initiated the Protestant Reformation by criticizing the Catholic Church.

Protestantism

A branch of Christianity that emerged from the Reformation, rejecting papal authority.

English Civil War

A series of armed conflicts between Parliamentarians and Royalists in England during the 17th century.

Absolute Monarchy

A form of government where the monarch holds supreme authority and is not bound by laws.

Parliamentary monarchy

A system of governance where a monarch shares power with a parliament.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement in Europe that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism of tradition.

Adam Smith

An economist known as the father of modern economics, author of 'The Wealth of Nations'.

John Locke

A philosopher who advocated for natural rights and government by consent, influencing democratic thought.

Mary Wollstonecraft

An early advocate for women's rights and education, known for her work 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'.

Hispaniola

An island in the Caribbean, which was the site of early European colonization and exploitation.

Encomienda

A labor system in Spanish America that granted colonists the right to demand tribute and labor from indigenous people.

Monsoon

A seasonal prevailing wind in the region of South and Southeast Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter.