Patterns in World History Before 1200

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, belief systems, and economic networks from Chapter 1 (Before 1200: Patterns in World History).

Paleolithic era

The Old Stone Age, representing over 95 percent of the time humans have occupied the planet, during which people sustained themselves through gathering, hunting, and fishing using stone tools.

Agricultural Revolution

The momentous transition between 10,000 and 2000 B.C.E. involving the deliberate cultivation of plants and taming of animals, which replaced foraging across most of the world.

Pastoral society

A society dependent on domesticated animals such as sheep, cattle, or horses, emerging in regions where farming was difficult and characterized by seasonal mobility.

Patriarchy

A social system characterized by male dominance and female subordination in almost every dimension of private and public life.

Hinduism

The oldest and largest religious tradition in India, having no single historical founder and incorporating a vast diversity of gods, spirits, beliefs, and practices.

Upanishads

A collection of sacred Hindu texts composed between 800 and 400 B.C.E. that elaborated the concepts of Brahman (the World Soul) and moksha (liberation).

Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha)

A prince from north India or southern Nepal (ca. 566-ca. 486 B.C.E.) who achieved spiritual enlightenment and set in motion the cultural tradition of Buddhism.

Theravada Buddhism

'Teaching of the Elders,' an early version of Buddhism portraying the Buddha as a wise teacher and model, emphasizing rigorous meditation and monastic life.

Mahayana Buddhism

A popular expression of Buddhism emerging in the early centuries C.E. that made enlightenment accessible in ordinary life and emphasized compassion and bodhisattvas.

Bhakti movement

A popular Hindu devotional movement developing between 600 and 1300 C.E. featuring intense adoration of specific deities like Vishnu or Shiva through songs, prayers, and rituals.

Confucianism

The official state philosophy of China established during the Han dynasty, based on Confucius's teachings on social harmony, moral leadership, filial piety, and secular education.

Han dynasty

The Chinese imperial dynasty (ca. 206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) that established Confucianism as the official state ideology.

Daoism

A Chinese philosophy attributed to Laozi that advocated withdrawal into nature, spontaneous behavior, simple living, and aligning with the way of nature (dao).

Judaism

The ancient monotheistic faith of the Hebrews centered on a transcendent, divine deity demanding exclusive loyalty and social justice.

Jesus of Nazareth

A Jewish craftsman (ca. 4 B.C.E.-29 C.E.) whose teachings on love, compassion, and critique of authority led to his execution and laid the foundation for Christianity.

Saint Paul

An early Christian convert (ca. 6-67 C.E.) whose missionary journeys across the eastern Roman Empire promoted Christianity as a universal religion open to non-Jews.

Perpetua

A young, educated Roman woman from Carthage martyred in 203 C.E. for her Christian beliefs, whose prison diary recorded her experience and steadfast faith.

Muhammad

A trader from Mecca (570-632 C.E.) who received revelations recorded in the Quran, becoming the seal of the prophets and founder of Islam.

Quran

The sacred scriptures of Islam, containing the divine revelations delivered to Muhammad over twenty-two years.

Umma

The just and moral community of all Muslim believers, replacing tribal, ethnic, or racial identities with a shared faith.

Ulama

An international elite of learned Muslim scholars who served as judges, administrators, prayer leaders, and preservers of Islamic law (sharia).

Sharia

The body of Islamic law that regulates all aspects of life, preserved and taught by the ulama.

Madrassas

Formal colleges appearing in the Islamic world in the eleventh century that offered advanced instruction in Quranic studies, law, and other subjects.

Sufism

The mystical dimension of Islam that sought a direct and personal experience of the Divine through spiritual practices, renunciation, music, and dance.

Silk Roads

Land-based trade routes operating for over 1,500 years linking China to the Mediterranean world and facilitating long-distance commercial and cultural exchange.

Sea Roads

Sea-based networks of commercial exchange traversing the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, linking East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa.

Sand Roads

Trans-Saharan trade routes connecting North Africa and the Mediterranean world with the land and peoples of interior West Africa.