ap world final vocab

Neo-Confucianism

A revival of Confucian ideas during the Song Dynasty that blended Confucianism with Buddhist and Daoist ideas, emphasizing social order, morality, and hierarchy.

Censorate

A Chinese government agency that monitored officials and reported corruption or misconduct to the emperor.

Hangzhou (Song capital)

The capital of the Southern Song Dynasty and one of the largest, wealthiest trading cities in the world.

Foot binding

A Chinese practice of tightly wrapping girls’ feet to keep them small as a sign of beauty and status.

Middle Kingdom

The Chinese belief that China was the cultural and political center of the world.

Kowtow

A ritual of kneeling and bowing deeply to show submission and respect to the Chinese emperor.

Xiongnu

A nomadic confederation north of China that frequently threatened early Chinese dynasties.

Sultanate of Delhi

A Muslim state that ruled much of northern India from 1206 to 1526.

Sufis

Mystical Islamic practitioners who focused on personal devotion and spiritual closeness to God.

Kabir

Indian poet and religious teacher who blended Hindu and Muslim beliefs and criticized both traditions.

Sikhism

A monotheistic religion founded in Punjab by Guru Nanak combining aspects of Hinduism and Islam.

Timbuktu

A major West African city known for trade, Islamic scholarship, and universities.

Mexica

The people commonly called the Aztecs who built an empire in central Mexico.

Triple Alliance

Alliance between Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan that formed the Aztec Empire.

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec Empire, built on an island in Lake Texcoco.

Chinampas

Floating garden agricultural system used by Aztecs to farm on lake beds.

Huitzilopochtli

Aztec sun and war god who required human sacrifices.

Quechua

The language spoken by the Inca and still used in the Andes today.

Gender Parallelism

A system in some indigenous American societies where men and women had separate but equally valued roles.

Yuan Dynasty

The Mongol-led Chinese dynasty established by Kublai Khan after conquering Song China.

Khubilai Khan

Mongol ruler who founded the Yuan Dynasty and ruled China.

Hulegu

Mongol ruler who conquered Baghdad and founded the Ilkhanate in Persia.

Khutulun

Mongol princess known for military skill and wrestling prowess.

Kipchak Khanate/Golden Horde

Mongol state that ruled over Russia and surrounding regions.

Monsoon winds

Seasonal wind patterns in the Indian Ocean that made maritime trade predictable.

Swahili language

A Bantu-based language mixed with Arabic used in East African trade cities.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful trading kingdom in southern Africa known for stone architecture.

Jenne-Jeno

An early urban trading center in West Africa.

Camel caravans

Groups of camels used to transport goods across deserts, especially the Sahara.

Encomienda and Repartimiento

Spanish labor systems forcing Indigenous people to work for colonists.

Peninsulares, Creoles, & Mestizos

Social classes in Latin America: Spaniards born in Spain, Spaniards born in colonies, and mixed European/Indigenous people.

Tupac Amaru Revolt

An 18th-century rebellion in Peru against Spanish colonial rule.

Middle Passage

The brutal transatlantic journey transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Cowrie shells

Shells used as currency in parts of Africa and Asia.

Kingdom of Dahomey

West African kingdom involved heavily in the Atlantic slave trade.

Queen Nzinga

Ruler of Ndongo and Matamba who resisted Portuguese colonization and slave trading.

British East India Company

English company that controlled trade and later territory in India.

Dutch East India Company

Dutch trading company dominant in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian trade.

Potosi, Bolivia

Silver mining center in Spanish South America that supplied global trade.

Gunpowder empires

Large land empires (Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal) that used gunpowder weapons to expand.

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman infantry made up largely of boys taken through devshirme.

Sati

Hindu practice where widows sometimes immolated themselves on husbands’ funeral pyres.

Jizya

Tax paid by non-Muslims living under Muslim rule.

Devshirme

Ottoman system of collecting Christian boys for military or government service.

Soft gold

A nickname for furs, especially in Russian trade and expansion into Siberia.

Qing Dynasty

Last imperial dynasty of China, ruled by the Manchus from 1644–1912.

Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689)

Treaty between Russia and Qing China establishing borders and trade relations.

Declaration of Independence

1776 document announcing the American colonies’ independence from Britain.

Creoles

People of European descent born in the Americas.

Miguel Hidalgo and Jose Morelos

Mexican priests who led early independence movements against Spain.

Simon Bolivar

Venezuelan revolutionary leader known as “The Liberator” of South America.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Key French Revolution document proclaiming liberty and equality.

Olympe de Gouges

French feminist who wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and was executed.

Napoleon Bonaparte

French military leader who became emperor after the French Revolution.

Toussaint Louverture

Leader of the Haitian Revolution who fought to end slavery.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Haitian revolutionary leader who declared Haiti’s independence.

Independence debt

Money Haiti was forced to pay France after independence as compensation to former enslavers.

Seneca Falls

1848 women’s rights convention in New York.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Leader of the women’s rights movement and organizer of Seneca Falls.

National American Woman Suffrage Association

U.S. organization campaigning for women’s voting rights.

Kartini

Indonesian feminist who advocated for women’s education.

Huda Sharawi

Egyptian feminist leader known for advocating women’s rights and unveiling publicly.

Steam Engine

Invention that powered factories, trains, and ships during industrialization.

Second Industrial Revolution

Late 1800s period of rapid industrial growth featuring steel, chemicals, and electricity.

Middle Class

Social group of professionals, managers, and business owners that grew during industrialization.

Robert Owen

Utopian socialist who promoted better factory conditions and cooperative communities.

Karl Marx

German philosopher who co-authored The Communist Manifesto and criticized capitalism.

Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party

Marxist political party in Russia that later split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

Crimean War

War between Russia and an alliance including Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire.

Caudillos

Authoritarian military leaders in post-independence Latin America.

Mexican Revolution of 1910

Revolution against dictatorship and inequality that transformed Mexico.

King Leopold of Belgium

Belgian king who brutally exploited the Congo Free State.

Taiping Uprising

Massive rebellion in China against the Qing led by Hong Xiuquan.

Opium Wars

Wars between Britain and China over British opium trade in China.

Self-Strengthening

Chinese movement adopting Western technology while preserving Confucian values.

Boxer Uprising

Anti-foreign rebellion in China against imperialism and missionaries.

Hundred Days of Reform

Brief Qing reform effort to modernize China in 1898.

Bolsheviks

Radical Marxist faction led by Lenin that seized power in Russia.

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and first leader of Soviet Russia.

Guomindang

Chinese Nationalist Party led by Sun Yat-sen and later Chiang Kai-shek.

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the People’s Republic of China.

Stalin and Mao

Communist leaders of the Soviet Union and China known for authoritarian rule and economic campaigns.

Zhenotdel

Soviet women’s department promoting literacy, education, and legal equality.

Collectivization

Soviet policy of consolidating farms into state-controlled units.

Five-Year Plans

Soviet economic plans setting industrial and agricultural production goals.

Great Leap Forward

Mao’s campaign to rapidly industrialize China through communes, causing famine.

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

Mao-led campaign to eliminate capitalist and traditional influences in China.

Terror/Great Purges

Stalin’s campaigns of political repression, arrests, and executions.

Rape of Nanjing

1937 Japanese massacre and atrocities committed in Nanjing, China.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Japanese cities where the U.S. dropped atomic bombs in 1945.

Rosie the Riveter

U.S. cultural symbol representing women working industrial jobs during WWII.

The Holocaust

Systematic genocide of six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany.

United Nations

International organization founded in 1945 to promote peace and cooperation.

Indian National Congress

Major political party leading India’s independence movement.

Mohandas Gandhi

Leader of Indian independence who promoted nonviolent resistance.

Satyagraha

Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience.

Muslim League

Political organization advocating for Muslims in British India and creation of Pakistan.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Leader of the Muslim League and founder of Pakistan.

Deng Xiaoping

Chinese leader who introduced market reforms after Mao.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Last leader of the Soviet Union who introduced reforms.