AP World History Unit 2 Vocabulary: Networks of Exchange from 1200 - 1450

Chinese Junk

Ship developed by engineers in the Han Dynasty whose bottom compartment walls increased the strength of the ship on rough ocean voyages decreasing the likelihood of sinking; drastically increased the amount of trade in Asia.

Kashgar

City located at the western edge of the Silk Road at the crossroad between two major routes; oasis meaning it relies on agriculture despite being located in a desert; merchants relied on it for food and water while traveling the Silk Road

Samarkand

City along the Silk Road located in present-day Uzbekistan; became a center of cultural exchange and exchange of goods, similar to Kashgar; very diverse with evidence of many different religions existing in the city today.

Silk Road

Land-based system of trade routes that stretched from China to the Mediterranean Sea at Constantinople which were key to cultural exchange in Asia and Afro-Eurasia in the period 1200 - 1450.

Caravanserai

Inns strategically placed 100 miles apart along the Silk Road, the distance that camels could travel before needing water, that allowed merchants to rest and exchange goods with other merchants traveling the Silk Road.

Flying Cash

Commercial practice developed by China which allowed a merchant to deposit a set amount of paper money in one location and withdraw that exact amount in another location; drastically increased trade along the Silk Roads.

Banking Houses

Buildings established in European cities in the 1300s due to the introduction of the flying cash system.

Bills of Exchange

Documents that could be presented at banking houses which stated how much money a holder was legally promised to be paid on a set date; exact amount on document was given to holder.

Hanseatic League

Commercial alliance created by N. German and Scandinavian cities after the Crusades which facilitated the trade of goods such as timber, leather, and salted fish in the North Sea.

Mongol Empire

Empire that stretched across Asia and into parts of Eurasia at its height established by Temujin in 1206; protected the entirety of the Silk Road which led to increased trade and economic prosperity for the empire.

Khan

Term used to describe a Mongol King

Genghis Khan

Founder of the Mongol Empire; also went by Temujin

Khanate

Term used to describe a Mongol Kingdom

Siege Weapons

Weapons developed by the Mongols such as portable towers that led to the death of walled cities due to their ability to hit over said walls.

Pax Mongolica

Period of Eurasian history between the 13th and 14th centuries which translates to “Mongol Peace“. Saw the establishment of a system of religious tolerance for conquered peoples, as well as the protection of the Silk Roads, increasing trade among them, ushering in new amounts of wealth for the empire.

Uyghur Alphabet

Alphabet adopted by Genghis Khan in an attempt to unify the empire.

Batu

Grandson of Genghis Khan and leader of the Golden Horde who led an army of 100,000 soldiers into Russia.

Golden Horde

Army led by Batu which was located in the North West of the Mongol Empire which marched westward and conquered small Russian kingdoms/established a system of tribute; Kiev was a capital city of one of these empires.

Il-Khanate

Khanate led by Hulegu, another one of Genghis’ grandsons, located in Central Asia which converted to Islam, ending the system of religious tolerance in the region.

Kublai Khan

Grandson of Genghis Khan who attempted and succeeded to conquer the Song Dynasty in China.

Yuan Dynasty

Dynasty established by Kublai Khan in China after the Chinese thought he held the mandate of heaven after the unification of the empire.

White Lotus Society

Rebel group led by a Buddhist monk created to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty after the hiring of foreigners for government positions and the erasure of the Civil Service Exam which angered the Scholar Gentry.

Ming Dynasty

Dynasty that followed the Yuan Dynasty which caused a period of economic downturn in Asia due to the closing of its borders after Mongol conquest.

Calicut

Port-city located on the west coast of India which became a thriving center of trade for merchants looking for S. Indian spices.

Spice Islands

Term used to describe the islands of modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia due to their thriving exportation of spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.

Indian Ocean Slave Trade

Term used to describe the trade of slaves in which those sold were taken into Islamic communities in the east where they worked in jobs such as shipping and household service.

Monsoon Winds

Winds in the Indian Ocean which came from the northeast in the winter and the southwest in the summer; knowledge of these winds increased trade significantly in the Indian Ocean.

Malacca

Muslim city-state which grew wealthy through trade as well as the taxing of Indian and Chinese trading ships passing through the Strait of Malacca.

Diasporic Communities

Communities in which people from one location establish settlements and dwellings in another location while keeping their culture intact; contact with Arab merchants in these communities caused the blending of cultures.

Zheng He

Muslim military leader sent by the Ming Dynasty to travel throughout the Indian Ocean and display the power of the Ming. Fleet carried things such as gunpowder and canons which were introduced to the areas he visited.

Camel Saddles

Devices developed by Arab merchants which drastically increased the amount of cargo one could carry on a camel; drastically increase trade along the trans-Saharan trade routes.

Timbuktu

City in Mali which augmented its power through its thriving gold trade; became a world-class center of learning with an opulent book trade by the 1500s.

Sundiata

Mali founding ruler who used his faith to establish trading relations with Arab merchants; crafted a thriving gold trade in Mali.

Mansa Musa

Grandson of Sundiata who embarked on the Hajj and gave out so much gold to the places he visited that its value began to plummet; established religious schools in Mali after his return as well as mosques in Muslim trading cities.

Songhai Kingdom

Kingdom that followed the Mali Kingdom which displayed continuity through following the processes that the Mali Kingdom followed.

Hangzhou

City in China located at the Southern end of the Grand Canal; center of trade in China which brought cultural diversity to the city, making a center of culture.

Constantinople

City located in present-day Turkey which suffered weakening after it was sacked in the 4th crusade; further weakened by the Bubonic Plague which killed half of its population; fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.

Black Death

Disease introduces to Europe through trade; killed as much as 25 million people in Europe; caused economic activity to decline.

Marco Polo

Venetian native who visited the Yuan Dynasty in the late 13th century; travels increased interest about China in Europe and what it had to offer.

Ibn Battuta

Muslim scholar from Morocco who traveled the world and visited places such as Central Asia, SE Asia, S. Asia, China, Spain, N. Africa, and Mali over a period of 30 years.