AP World History Review Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key empires, groups, historical figures, and terms listed on the AP World History study sheet.

Shi'ite

A branch of Islam believing that leadership should belong to Ali and descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.

Sunni

The majority branch of Islam that accepts caliphs selected by community consensus rather than hereditary lineage.

Golden Horde

A Mongol khanate established in the thirteenth century that controlled Russia and parts of Eastern Europe.

Byzantine Empire

The eastern continuation of the Roman Empire centered in Constantinople, lasting until its fall to the Ottomans in 1453.

Abbasid Caliphate

The third Islamic caliphate centered in Baghdad, known for overseeing the Islamic Golden Age.

Dehli Sultanate

A series of Muslim rulers in northern India who governed from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.

Great Zimbabwe

A medieval southern African city-state known for its stone architecture and participation in Indian Ocean trade networks.

Umayyad Caliphate

The first major hereditary Islamic caliphate, based in Damascus, which oversaw significant territorial expansion across North Africa and Spain.

Justinian

Byzantine emperor who codified Roman law and commissioned the construction of the Hagia Sophia.

Khubilai Khan

Mongol leader who completed the conquest of China, founded the Yuan Dynasty, and became emperor of China.

Zheng He

A Ming Dynasty admiral who led large naval expeditions throughout the Indian Ocean basin during the early fifteenth century.

Mansa Musa

Ruler of the Mali Empire whose famous fourteenth-century pilgrimage to Mecca highlighted his empire's enormous wealth in gold.

Ibn Battuta

Fourteenth-century Moroccan scholar and traveler who documented extensive journeys across Islamic Afro-Eurasia.

Genghis Khan

Mongol leader who unified nomadic tribes and created the expansive Mongol Empire through military conquests.

Silk Road

An overland network of trade routes connecting East Asia with the Mediterranean world and Europe.

Indian Ocean Maritime Trading System

A network of sea trade routes connecting East Africa, Arabia, India, Southeast Asia, and China across the Indian Ocean.

Grand Canal

An artificial waterway in China constructed during the Sui Dynasty to connect the Yellow and Yangtze rivers.

Pax Mongolica

A period of relative peace, commercial integration, and cultural exchange across Eurasia under Mongol dominance.

Quipu

A system of record-keeping using knotted cords developed by the Inca in South America.

Tributary System

A Chinese foreign policy framework requiring surrounding states to acknowledge Chinese supremacy through tribute payments.

Manorialism

An economic system in medieval Europe where serfs worked land owned by lords in exchange for protection.

Iconoclastic controversy

A political and religious conflict in the Byzantine Empire over the use of religious icons and images in worship.

Hanseatic league

A commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns along the coasts of Northern Europe.

Neo-Confucianism

A revival of Confucian thought during the Song Dynasty that combined traditional moral ethics with Buddhist and Daoist ideas.

Kamakura Shogunate

The military government established in late twelfth-century Japan, initiating the feudal period under a shogun.