Studied by 94 PeopleSong Dynasty (Definition)
Tags & Description
Song Dynasty (Definition)
Dynasty that replaced the Tang in 960
Ruled for more than three centuries
Ruled a smaller region than the Tang (didn’t rule northern regions)
Song Dynasty (Significance)
The Song Dynasty advanced governance, culture, technology, society, and the economy in the region. The government became an efficient bureaucracy that was also a meritocracy. The economy was proto-industrial, heavily advanced for its time. The scholar gentry arose as a new class in Chinese society that eventually uprooted its core. Culture was heavily influenced by the woodblock printing press that was developed.
Grand Canal (Definition)
Internal waterway of China
30,000 miles long
Acted as an artificial river system
Grand Canal (Significance)
The Grand Canal system was an artificial waterway system built to connect China. The canal system allowed for the maintenance of unity within China, and allowed for it to become the greatest trading region in the world by promoting both internal and external commerce.
Meritocracy (Definition)
Government officials chosen based on merit
One must be qualified for a government job
No selection due to family ties or wealth
Meritocracy (Significance)
The meritocracy in China allowed for better governance by only allowing the qualified to govern. It also allowed for social mobility by increasing the chances that a peasant could climb the ranks and receive a high paying job if they were qualified. However, this meritocracy led to the equivalent of modern inflation that eventually led to the collapse of the Song Dynasty.
Foot Binding (Definition)
Tight wrapping of feet
Often resulted in bones not growing naturally
Commonly done to young girls to increase their attractiveness
Foot Binding (Significance)
Foot binding was a cultural practice that affirmed females as socially inferior within China by making clear their true purpose was to produce heirs. The intent behind foot binding was to increase the female’s attractiveness, making it more likely that would find a husband to produce heirs. This denied the ability for Chinese women to be anything more than wife and mother especially with the extreme discomfort and pain they would experience in their childhoods. Foot binding did not disappear from Chinese society until it was legally banned in 1912 and eradicated by the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1940s, but the cultural stain lived on.
Seljuk Turks (Definition)
A group from Central Asia
Muslims
Leader was known as a sultan
Seljuk Turks (Significance)
The Seljuk Turks were a nomadic group from Central Asia that began to move west due to environmental factors, threatening the Abbasids, whom they claimed to outrank in terms of leadership, and the Byzantines. The Seljuk Turks were one of the factors that contributed to the decline of the Abbasids and primarily presented a threat to the Abbasids’ mandate of being the caliphate. The Seljuk Turks outpopulated the Greeks in Anatolia, and due to a combination of factors, a Turkish state, the Ottoman Empire, conquered the lands of the Byzantine Empire.
Baghdad (Definition)
A city in the modern day nation of Iraq
Was a center for trade routes and learning
Located on the land based Silk Road trading routes
Baghdad (Significance)
Baghdad was located on the Silk Road trading routes and as a result, it established itself as a center of commerce and learning. Goods traveling between the western and eastern worlds would pass through Baghdad, allowing Baghdad to levy taxes and enrich itself. This contributed to a patronage of the arts and intellectualism. However, by 1200, Baghdad was in decline due to the trading networks having begun to avoid Baghdad, and it lost its status as a cultural and intellectual center.
Battle of Tours (Definition)
A battle against Frankish forces in 732
Resulted in a Frankish victory
Very rare Islamic defeat
Battle of Tours (Significance)
The Battle of Tours marked a key turning point for the spread of Islam and its faith based empires into Europe. Islamic forces failed to conquer land north of Iberia in modern day France, and as a result, their presence was confined to Iberia and islands in the Mediterranean for at least a millennium. Christian hegemony in Europe was assured by this battle for the next millennium (would not be threatened again until the sieges and battles for Vienna in the 17th century by the Ottomans).
Sufism (Definition)
Mystical sect of Islam
Very good at weaving local beliefs into Islam
Less focused on “worldly” ideas
Sufism (Significance)
Sufism helped allow for Islam to spread into regions where it couldn’t easily by allowing for better integration into the local systems, making Islam seem less foreign. Sufism’s de-emphasis on worldly pleasures led to greater creation of works of literature. Sufism provided Muslim society another field that wasn’t intellectual or religious in nature.
Rajput Kingdoms (Definition)
Hindu kingdoms that rose after fall of Gupta Empire
Located in northern India and Pakistan
Decentralized
Rajput Kingdoms (Significance)
The Rajput kingdoms were a group of kingdoms that rose to replace the Gupta Empire. They were heavily decentralized and disunified, often at war with each other over territory and influence. This decentralized governance left little to no unified force to face the invading Muslim forces, and allowed for Islam to spread into the subcontinent.
Delhi Sultanate (Definition)
Delhi based sultanate in northern India
Ruled for 300 years (from 13th to 16th century)
Began its rule in early thirteenth century
Delhi Sultanate (Significance)
The Delhi Sultanate was the first major sultanate to rule significant portions of South Asia. There was a much larger interaction between Hinduism and Islam then the previous minor interactions that had occurred before. The sultanate was relatively weak and decentralized, but did introduce Islam to much of South Asia.
Southeast Asian Sea Based Kingdoms (Definition)
Srivijaya Empire: Hindu empire on Sumatra controlling India-China trade
Majapahit Kingdom: Buddhist kingdom on Java that controlled the sea trade
Southeast Asian Sea Based Kingdoms (Significance)
These sea based kingdoms arose as a result of the demand for commerce between South Asia and East Asia, two of the most populated regions in the world, even at the time. The sea trade between those two regions was highly profitable and whoever stood between those two regions stood to make a profit off this trade. The Srivijaya and Majapahit rose and took full advantage of the trade passing through their seas, increasing their profits and allowing for the development of their kingdoms/empires.
Southeast Asian Land Based Empires (Definition)
Sinhala dynasties of Sri Lanka: Buddhist empire composed of former merchants from india
Khmer Empire: Hindu/Buddhist empire located on Mekong River
Sukhothai Kingdom: kingdom that invaded the Khmer Empire
Southeast Asian Land Based Empires (Significance)
These land based empires provided natural extensions of land from the Indian subcontinent for South Asian based religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism to spread into the region. Many of these kingdoms were prosperous, but due to their fertile soil and ingenuity, instead of geography resulting in them being a maritime power. Though never having the capacity to be a power of their own, they became regional powers that may have rivaled larger powers if they had the capability to become one.
Mississippian Culture (Definition)
First large scale civilization in North America
Mound based society
Located in Mississippi River Valley
Mississippian Culture (Significance)
The Mississippian culture was the first large-scale civilization in North America, and was one of the few civilizations in the continental United States until the second millennium. Its form of monument building was in the form of mounds. The society was relatively progressive, being a matrilineal society. It laid the foundation for pre-Columbian civilization in North America.
Mayan City-States (Definition)
Group of city-states in Mesoamerica
Decentralized and divinely ordained government
Governed a population of 2 million Mayans
Mayan City-States (Significance)
The Mayan city-states were the premier civilization in Mesoamerica during the first millennium. They were relatively advanced in technology for the time due to their use of it in their religion. However, they are also well known for their brutality due to their use of ritual human sacrifice, though much of it has been propagandized to make them seem even more barbaric.
Aztecs (Definition)
Conquering civilization in Mesoamerica
Ruled much of it from 1300s-1500s
Relatively centralized empire
Aztecs (Significance)
The Aztecs managed to unify much of Mesoamerica and successfully govern it under a relatively centralized government for two centuries. The Aztecs utilized a tribute system similar to those found in the Old World to maintain power. However, their desire to maintain power and expand their empire resulted in their collapse by those they had conquered and by the Spanish.
Inca (Definition)
Centralized and advanced empire in South America
Ruled for about a century and a half
Expansion-based empire
Inca (Significance)
The Inca were remarkably successful in unifying their empire and connecting it. Their ability to construct roads across their empire in an efficient and quick manner was astonishing, even for today’s standards. The Inca developed a province based system of governance comparable to systems in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Hausa Kingdoms (Definition)
Group of kingdoms in modern day Nigeria
Composed of 7 states
Loosely unified
Hausa Kingdoms (Significance)
The Hausa Kingdoms were located on the trans-Saharan trade routes. They took advantage of these routes to control the flow of commerce and take in profit from it. However, they were decentralized, having to rely on each other on defense, and were rather easily invaded. They later became Muslim kingdoms, likely due to their location on commerce routes.
Trans-Saharan Trade Routes (Definition)
Networks of trade routes crossing the Sahara Desert
Bustling trade routes
Connected important civilizations
Trans-Saharan Trade Routes (Significance)
The trans-Saharan trade routes were important routes crossing a nearly impassable desert that laid between major civilizations. They carried goods in commerce likely worth billions of dollars and those who laid on the routes or near it stood to make a profit through taxation of the goods. They helped prop up civilizations laying on the routes.
Kingdom of Ghana (Definition)
Kingdom nestled between Sahara and tropical West African rain forests
Not in the current country of Ghana
Founded in the 5th century
Kingdom of Ghana (Significance)
The Kingdom of Ghana reached its climax of influence from the 700s-1000s. It had deposits of gold and ivory that it used to enrich itself and purchase goods from Islamic traders. Its government and military was centralized.
Mali (Definition)
Replaced the Ghananian state
Wealthy state in West Africa
Led by Muslim rulers
Mali (Significance)
Mali had vast natural resources and was located on trade routes. As a result, it was extremely wealthy and had a reputation for it. Its wealth contradicted later accounts of Africans being uncivilized.
Feudalism (Definition)
A system of mutual obligations
Used for protection from hostile enemies
Effectively resulted in decentralized government
Feudalism (Significance)
Feudalism effectively ensured a decentralized government in Europe where states and local lords would compete for land, power, and glory, and hindrance of technological innovation. Most of the population of Europe was trapped in a system of obligations where they were to work to live. Decentralized governance prevented large nation states from rising and the benefits associated with it from occurring.
Manorial System (Definition)
A system of economic self-sufficiency
Resulted in a system of serfdom
An extension of the feudal system
Manorial System (Significance)
The manorial system hindered technological innovation beyond what was necessary for the manor and effectively left Europe’s population as de facto slaves. Serfdom trapped people in cycles of obligations, even greater than those I’m feudalism, and made it hereditary. Technological innovations were only related to agriculture on manors.
Magna Carta (Definition)
A charter of rights for nobles
Limited the king’s power
Included right to a jury and right to representation in some form
Magna Carta (Significance)
The Magna Carta was the first charter of rights for people not in roles of authority. It enshrined rights that had been previously unheard of, such as the right to a jury, or right to a level of representation. It enabled future institutions such as the Parliament.
Primogeniture (Definition)
System of inheritance for titles/estates
Given to first born child
Typically first born male child or first born children, male only
Primogeniture (Significance)
Primogeniture ensured that land would be inherited only by the first born, locking out younger individuals from land. This resulted in an enormous demand for land by younger individuals, eventually contributing to the start of the Crusades. Primogeniture also led to succession crises in many European monarchies and wars that forever reshaped the continent.