Unit 2 - AP World Modern

Silk road

An ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea (expanded during Pax Romana, also facilitated technological, cultural and disease transfer)

Trans-Saharan Trade Route

gold-salt trade; linked North and West Africa; across Sahara Desert; spread Islam

Indian Ocean Trade

Connected Arabian Peninsula, South Asia, Eastern sides of Africa, SE Asia and China. Worlds richest maritime trading network during 1200-1450 and an area of rapid Muslim expansion.

Mongols

Nomadic, pastoral peoples from Central Asia that united and ended up creating the largest single land empire in history.

Camel Saddle

An invention which gives camel riders more stability on the animal and its invention and basic idea traveled along the Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade Route. Carry heavier loads.

Caravans

Groups of people traveling together for safety over long distances

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan.

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.

Margery Kempe

Wrote the Book of Margery Kempe - considered the 1st autobiography in the Eng. language. Chronicles her pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe and Asia.

Genghis Khan

Also known as Temujin; he united the Mongol tribes into an unstoppable fighting force; created largest single land empire in history.

Khanate

one of several separate territories into which Genghis Khan's empire was split, each under the rule of one of his grandsons

Bubonic Plague

disease brought to Europe via the Silk Roads and spread along trade routes in Western Europe. Killed up to 1/3 of the Western European population

Caravansaries

Walled reststop inns where desert travelers found food and shelter. Aided safer, more robust travel along the Silk Roads.

deforestation

The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves. (Results from urbanization)

soil erosion

wearing away of surface soil by water and wind (impacts agricultural production)

Diffusion

The process of spread of an item or trend from one place to another over time

Zheng He

(1371-1433) Chinese naval explorer who commanded massive floatilla that sailed along most of the coast of Asia, Japan, and half way down the east coast of Africa before his death.

Lateen sail

triangular sail that made it possible to sail against the wind; used in the Indian Ocean trade

Stern Rudder

controls the sailing direction of a ship (allows for sharper turns and faster travel)

Astrolabe

An instrument used by sailors to determine their location/latitude by observing the position of the stars and planets with the moon or sun

Magnetic Compass

Chinese invention that aided navigation by showing which direction was north

Monsoon winds

The seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter.

Diaspora

A dispersion of people from their homeland (diasporic community)

Yuan dynasty

Dynasty in China set up by the Mongols under the leadership of Kublai Khan, replaced the Song (1279-1368)

Pax Mongolica

Era of relative peace and stability created by the Mongol Empire (trade flourished, technological/cultural transfers expanded)

Junks

A large flat bottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Hanseatic League

An economic and defensive alliance of the free towns in northern Germany, founded about 1241 and most powerful in the fourteenth century.

Nomadic

tibes/groups of people moving from place to place with seasons and animals

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East.

Kashgar

Trading city on Silk Roads route. Located on Western edge of China where Northern and Southern routes of the Silk Road met

Samarkand

City in modern day Uzbekistan, stopping point on the Silk Road between China and Mediterranean

flying cash

Enabled merchants to deposit goods or cash at one location and draw the equivalent in cash or merchandise elsewhere in China. (New commercal practice)

Paper money

legal currency issued on paper; it developed in China as a convenient alternative to metal coins (new commercal practice)

Kublai Khan

Mongolian emperor of China and grandson of Genghis Khan who completed his grandfather's conquest of China

Yuan Dynasty

Dynasty in China set up by the Mongols under the leadership of Kublai Khan, replaced the Song (1279-1368)

Malacca

Port TRADING city in the modern Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, founded about 1400 as a trading center on the Strait of Malacca.

Swahili City States

political and commercial city states that dominated trade along the east African coast

Mali

Powerful trading society in West Africa, rich in gold and ivory

Timbuktu

Mali TRADING rading city that became a center of wealth and learning in sub-saharan African along trade routes

Hangzhou

TRADING city - China's capital during the Song dynasty, with a population of more than a million people.

Constantinople

Capital of the Byzantine Empire - "end of the Silk road" on the western end.