AP World History: Postclassical Global Developments (c. 1200 - c. 1450) Vocabulary

Comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key historical figures, political structures, religious movements, and cultural terms across East Asia, Dar al-Islam, and South/Southeast Asia between c. 1200 and c. 1450.

Lal Ded

A 14th-century Hindu poet from Kashmir whose emphasis on direct spiritual experience appealed to many Muslims, particularly Sufis, illustrating religious cross-interaction in South Asia.

Chola Dynasty

A southern Indian kingdom that reigned for more than 400 years (850–1267) and expanded its rule to Ceylon during the 11th century.

Vijayanagara Empire

A Hindu kingdom in southern India (1336–1646) founded by brothers Harihara and Bukka after they left the Delhi Sultanate and reconverted from Islam to Hinduism.

Rajput kingdoms

Decentralized Hindu kingdoms formed in northern India and present-day Pakistan led by leaders of competing clans, whose regional disunity left them vulnerable to Islamic invasions.

Delhi Sultanate

An Islamic political power that conquered Delhi and northern South Asia, ruling for 300 years from the 13th through the 16th centuries before losing power to the Mughals.

Jizya

A tax imposed by the Delhi Sultanate on all non-Muslim subjects living within the empire.

Qutub Minar

A gigantic leaning tower in southern Delhi—the tallest structure in India today—built over a mosque erected atop a former Hindu temple, symbolizing Islamic influence in northern India.

Urdu

A language developed among South Asian Muslims that melded the grammatical structure of Hindi with vocabulary from Arabic and Farsi; it is now the official language of Pakistan.

Bhakti Movement

A Hindu mystical movement originating in 12th-century southern India that emphasized emotional devotion to a single deity rather than text study or rigid rituals, appealing broadly to women and lower castes.

Mira Bai

A 16th-century female poet who became one of the most prominent and famous figures of the Bhakti Movement.

Srivijaya Empire

A Hindu sea-based kingdom based on Sumatra (670–1025) that grew wealthy by building a strong navy and charging fees for merchant ships traveling between India and China.

Majapahit Kingdom

A Buddhist sea-based kingdom based on Java (1293–1520) that sustained its political power by controlling maritime trade routes and held 98 tributaries at its peak.

Sinhala dynasties

Monarchies in present-day Sri Lanka rooted in early North Indian immigrants that became prominent centers of Buddhist study and engineered advanced irrigation networks.

Khmer Empire

A land-based Southeast Asian state (802–1431) near the Mekong River, also known as the Angkor Kingdom, which prospered economically due to its sophisticated irrigation and drainage systems.

Angkor Wat

An intricate Buddhist temple complex built in the 12th and 13th centuries near the Khmer capital of Angkor Thom, demonstrating religious syncretism alongside earlier Hindu artwork.

Sukhothai Kingdom

A Thai kingdom whose armies invaded the Khmer Empire in 1431, forcing the Khmers out of the area.

Mamluk Sultanate

An Egyptian state (1250–1517) established by formerly enslaved Turkic military forces who seized government control and prospered through trade in cotton and sugar with Europe.

Seljuk Turks

Central Asian Muslim conquerors who expanded into the Middle East in the 11th century, taking the title of sultan and reducing the Abbasid caliph's role to chief Sunni religious authority.

Sultan

The supreme political leader title assumed by the Seljuk Turk leader, which effectively stripped political authority from the Abbasid caliph.

Crusaders

European Christian military expeditions organized to forcibly reopen access to holy sites in and around Jerusalem after Seljuk Turks limited Christian travel.

House of Wisdom

A famous center of learning established in Baghdad during the Abbasid Empire where international scholars gathered to study and translate ancient knowledge.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

An influential 13th-century Islamic polymath who made significant contributions to astronomy, ethics, law, and medicine, and established trigonometry as an independent field of mathematics.

Ibn Khaldun

A 14th-century scholar (1332–1406) renowned for his historical writings and widely recognized as one of the founders of historiography and sociology.

'A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah

A 15th–16th century Sufi mystic poet and writer, famous for her poem "Clear Inspiration, on Praise of the Trusted One," which honored the prophet Muhammad.

Sufis

Islamic mystics who prioritized introspection and personal spiritual truths over intellectual learning, playing a key role as missionaries by adapting Islam to local traditions.

Hijab

An Islamic practice of dressing modestly or a specific type of traditional head covering worn by women.

Battle of Tours

A 732 military engagement where Frankish forces defeated the Islamic army in France, marking the northern limit of rapid Islamic expansion into Western Europe.

Al-Andalus

The Islamic domain established in Spain, centered at Córdoba, which served as a major crossroads for intellectual transfers, trade, and scientific progress.

Ibn Rushd

A 12th-century scholar in Islamic Spain, known in Europe as Averroes, who produced foundational works on law, natural sciences, and secular philosophy.

Maimonides

A 12th-century Jewish philosopher in al-Andalus whose synthesis of Aristotelian logic and biblical commentary influenced major Christian scholars like St. Thomas Aquinas.

Song Dynasty

The ruling Chinese dynasty (960–1279) renowned for great economic prosperity, manufacturing power, urbanization, and technological and artistic achievements.

Imperial Bureaucracy

A central continuity in Chinese governance where appointed civil officials carried out imperial policies across the empire.

Civil Service Exam

Merit-based examinations over Confucian classical texts used in China to evaluate candidates applying for prestigious positions within the imperial bureaucracy.

Meritocracy

A system of governance and appointment where positions are earned based on demonstrated educational capability rather than noble birth or hereditary standing.

Champa Rice

A fast-ripening, drought-resistant strain of rice introduced to China from the Champa Kingdom in present-day Vietnam, enabling double-cropping and massive population growth.

Proto-industrialization

An economic condition where home- or community-based artisans produce more physical goods than they can consume for local and long-distance commercial sale.

Scholar Gentry

The premier social class created by the expansion of Song China's bureaucracy, composed of educated scholars steeped in Confucian philosophy.

Tributary System

A network of economic and diplomatic relationships where foreign states paid money or goods to acknowledge the supreme authority of the Chinese emperor.

Kowtow

A ritual requirement in which diplomats greeting the Chinese emperor bowed down until their head touched the floor to show deference.

Foot Binding

A social practice starting among aristocratic Song families where young girls' feet were tightly bound, signaling wealth and status while restricting public mobility.

Woodblock Printing

A technology developed in China by the 7th century that allowed text and illustrations to be stamped onto paper using carved wooden blocks.

Theravada Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism focused on personal spiritual growth through self-discipline and silent meditation, dominant in Southeast Asia.

Mahayana Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism focused on universal spiritual growth, service, and liberation for all beings, dominant in China and Korea.

Tibetan Buddhism

A branch of Buddhism focused heavily on chanting practices, dominant in Tibet.

Chan Buddhism

A syncretic faith created by combining Buddhist ideas with Daoist principles, emphasizing direct meditation experience over formal text study.

Neo-Confucianism

A syncretic philosophical framework that combined rational Confucian ethics with abstract elements from Daoism and Buddhism.

Filial Piety

The duty of family members to subordinate their personal desires to those of the head male of the household and to the ultimate ruler.

Bushido

The strict Japanese samurai honor code emphasizing frugality, supreme loyalty, martial skill, and honor unto death.

Daimyo

Powerful landowning aristocrats in feudal Japan who commanded armies of samurai and exercised control over vast territories.

Shogun

A supreme military leader in feudal Japan, first installed in 1192 by the Minamoto clan, who exercised actual administrative and military authority instead of the emperor.

Polygyny

The practice of having more than one wife at the same time, a custom that Vietnamese women strongly rejected during periods of Chinese influence.