Sem 1 AP World History Vocab

monotheism

the belief in only one god

Han

imperial dynasty that ruled China from 206 BCE to 221 AD and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy

Confucianism

the Chinese philosophy first enunciated by Confucius, advocating the moral example of superiors as the key element of social order

monsoon

seasonal winds crossing the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia during the summertime that brings extreme rain and flooding

Vedas

one of the sources of prayer, verses, and descriptions of the origins of the universe, guide Hindus

Mahayana

"Great Vehicle" the focus is on reverence for Buddha and for bodhisattva

Hinduism

the major Indian religious systems which had its origins in the religious beliefs of the Aryans who settled India after 1500 BCE

Silk Road

Caravan routes connecting China and the Middle East across central Asia and Iran

Indian Ocean Maritime System

in premodern times, a network of seaports, trade routes, and maritime culture linking countries not the rim of the Indian Ocean from Africa to Indonesia

trans-Saharan caravan routes

trading network linking North Africa with sub-saharan Africa across the Saharan

sub-Saharan Africa

portion of the African continent lying south of the Saharan

steppes

treeless plains, especially the high, flat expanses of northern Eurasia, which usually have little rain and are covered with coarse grass. They are good for nomads and their herds

Bantu

collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages

Umma

a majority innovation against the background of 7th century Arabia, where traditionally kinship rather than faith had determined membership in a community

caliphate

office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad, to rule the Islamic empire; also the name of that empire

mamluks

under the Islamic system of military slavery, Turkic military slaves who formed an important part of the armed forces of the Abbasid Caliphate of 9th and 10th centuries

Sultan

the ruler of a Muslim country

Seljuks

nomadic Turks from Asia who conquered Bagdad in 1055 and allowed the caliph to remain only as a religious leader

Shari'a

the code of law derived from the Quran and from the teachings and examples of Muhammad

Sufi

a mystical Muslim group that believed they could draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, and a simple life

Byzantine Empire

empire that grew from the eastern part of the former Roman Empire; lasted until around 1400

Hagia Sophia

the cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Constatinople, built by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian

serfs

men and women who were the poorest members of society, peasants who worked the lord's land in exchange for protection

feudalism

loosely organized system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owned military service and other support to a greater lord/king

papacy

the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head

monasticism

living in a religious community apart from secular society and adhering to a rule stipulating charity, obedience and poverty

Grand Canal

the 1,100 mile waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire

tributary system

a system in which, from the rime of the Han Empire, countries in East and Southeast Asia not under the direct control of empires based in China nevertheless enrolled as tributary states, acknowledging the superiority of the emperor in China in exchange for trading rights or strategic alliances

Song Empire

the imperial dynasty of China from 960-1279; noted for art and literature and philosophy

junk

a very large flat bottom sailing ship produced in the Tang, Ming, and Song empires, specially designed for long distance commercial travel

gunpowder

a mixture of saltpeper, sulfur, and charcoal, in various proportions. The formula brought to China in the 400's was used to keep away bugs and evil spirits, later was used for explosives

moveable type

type in which each individual character is cast on a separate piece of metal. It may have been invented in Korea

footbinding

practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; made it easier to keep women confined to the household

champa rice

quick-maturing rice that can allow harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced into champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state

Chinampas

floating farming islands made by the Aztec

Maya

extensive Mesoamerican culture that made great advances in astronomy in areas such as their famous calendars

Aztecs

Mexica, they created a powerful empire in central Mexico(1325-1521CE). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as taxes

Tenochtitlan

Aztec capital city (now the site of Mexico city)

Tribute System

allowed reciprocal trade under both imperial protection and imperial regulation and barred entry into this trade by those who did not participate

mit'a

Andean labor system based on shared obligations to help kinsmen and work on behalf of the ruler and religious organization

Inca

a member of the small group of Quechuan people living in the Cuzco Valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbor to create the great Inca empire that lasted from 1100-1530 when the Spanish conquered

Three field system

a rotation system for agriculture in which two fields grow food crops and one lies fallow. It gradually replaced the 2 field system in medieval Europe

Black Death

an outbreak of bubonic plague that spread across Asia, North Africa and Europe in the mid 14th century, carrying out vast numbers of persons

Gothic cathedrals

large churches originating in 12th century France; built in an architectural style featuring pointed arches, tall vaults, and spires, flying buttresses and large strained glass windows

Renaissance

a period of intense artistic and intellectual activity, said to be a "rebirth" of Greco-Roman culture. Usually divided into an Italian Renaissance(14th - 15th century) and Northern (transalpine) Renaissance (15th - 17th century)

Timbuktu

city on the Niger River in the modern country of Mali. It was founded by the Tuareg as a seasonal camp sometime after 1000. Became a major terminus of the trans-Suharna trade and a center of Islamic learning

Malacca

port city in the modern Southeast Asia country of Malaysia, founded around 1400 as a trading center on the Strait of Malacca

Dhows

characteristic cargo and passenger ships of the Arabian Sea

Swahili Coast

East Africans shores of the Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and the Zambezi River; from the Arabic Swahili, meaning "shores"

Mali

empire created by indigenous Muslims in western Sudan of West Africa from the 13th -15h century. It was famous for its role in the tran-Saharan gold trade

Mansa Musa

ruler of Mali (r.1312-1337) His pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecca in 1324-1325 established the empire's reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean World

Delhi Sultanate

centralized Indian Empire of varying extent, created by Muslim invaders

Ibn Battuta

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

Zheng He

an imperial eunuch and Muslim entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian Ocean, from southeast Asia to Africa

Ming Empire

empire based in China that Zhu Yaunzhang established after the overthrown of the Yuan Empire.The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building of the "Forbidden City" and the voyages of Zheng He

Ottoman Empire

Islamic state founded by Osman in northwestern Anatolia ca. 1300. Based in Istanbul after the fall of the Byzantine Empire (1453-1922)

Khubilai Khan

last of the Mongols Great Khans (r.1260-1264) and founder of the Yuan Empire

Golden Horde

founded by Batu, it was based in southern Russia and quickly adopted both the Turkic language and Islam

Timur

Member of a prominent family of the Mongols' Jadadai Khanate, Timur through conquest controlled most of central Asia and Iran

nomadism

a way of life, forced by a scarcity of resources, in which groups of people continually migrate to find pastures and water

Yuan Empire

empire created in China and Siberia by Khubilai Khan

Mongols

a people of this name is mentioned as early as the records of the Tang Empire, living as nomads in northern Eurasia

Genghis Khan

the title of Temüjin when he ruled the Mongols (1206-1227). Was the founder of the Mongol empire

Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who promoted the study of navigation and directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa

Caravel

a small, highly maneuverable three masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer in 1497-1498 he led the first naval expedition from Europe to sail to India

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)

Treaty of Tordesillas

set the boundaries established in 1493 to define Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Americas

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americans and captured land for Spain

Hernando Cortes

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541)

indulgence

remission of the punishment for sin by the clergy in return for services

Protestant Reformation

a religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant Churches

Catholic Reformation

a 16th century movement in which the Roman Catholic Church sought to make changes in response to the Protestant Reformation

Scientific Revolution

an era between 16th-18th centuries when scientists began doing research in a new way using the scientific method

Enlightenment

a movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions

Bourgeoisie

the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people

Joint-stock company

businesses formed by groups of people who jointly make an investment and share in the profits and losses

stock exchange

a place where shares in a company or business enterprise are bought and sold

Little Ice Age

temporary but significant cooling period between the 14th - 19th centuries; causing wide temperature fluctuations, droughts, storms, famines and dislocation

Columbian Exchange

the trading of various animals, diseases, and crops between the Eastern and Western hemispheres

Bartolome de Las Casas

1st bishop of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. He devoted most of his life to protecting Amerindians peoples from exploitation. His major achievement was the New Laws in 1542, which limited the ability of Spanish settlers to compel Amerindians to labor

Potosi

silver mine in the interior of South America; great silver mountains that would bring Spanish wealth

encomienda

system in Spanish America that gave settlers the right to tax local Indians or to demand their labor in exchange for protecting them and teaching them skills

creoles

descendants of Spanish-born but born in Latin America; resented inferior social, political, economic status

mestizo

people of Native American and European descent

indentured servants

person who agreed to work for a colonial employer for a specified time in exchange for passage to America

maroon

a slave who ran away from his or her master. Often a member of a community of runaways slaves in the West Indies and South America

mercantilism

European government policies designed to promote overseas trade between a country and its colonies to accumulate precious metals by requiring colonies to trade only with the motherland country

Middle Passage

the part of the Atlantic Circuit involving the transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas

Istanbul

capital of the Ottoman Empire; named after 1453 and the sack of Constantinople

Janissary

infantry, originally of slave origin armed with firearms and constituting the elite of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century until the corps was abolished in 1826

Devshirme

'selection' in Turkish. The system by which boys from Christian communities were taken by the Ottoman Empire to serve as Janissaries

Sikhism

A monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nahak. Its not a part of Islam or Hinduism

Akbar

most illustrious sultan of the Mughal Empire in India (r. 1556-1605). He expanded the empire and pursued a policy of conciliation with Hindus

Mughal Empire

Muslim State (1526-1827) exercising dominion over most of India in the 16th and 17th centuries

Shi'ite Islam

branch of Islam believed that God vests leadership of the community in a descendent of Muhammad's son in law Ali. State religion of Iran during Safavid Empire

Safavid Empire

Turkish ruled Iranian kingdom (1502-1722) established by Ismail Safavi, who declared Iran a Shi'ite state

Manchu

Northeast Asian peoples who defeated the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty in 1644

Jesuits

members of the Catholic religious order who sought converts in the Americas and Asia