AP World History: Modern

State-building

The processes of creating and expanding states or empires typically to refer to their government, economic, and cultural practices.

East Asia

A region of Asia that includes China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan

South Asia

A region that includes modern day India & Pakistan

Southeast Asia

A region that includes Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.

Afro-Eurasia

The vast region made up of Africa, Europe, and Asia

Middle East

Region of SW Asia that typically refers to the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc.

Song Dynasty

(960-1279 CE) The Chinese dynasty that placed much more emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and arts other than military.

Song Taizu

First Song dynasty emperor who reigned from 960-976 CE. He focused his rule on civil administration, industry, education, and the arts rather than on military affairs.

Footbinding

Practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; used at first by wealthy elite, but spread to other classes.

Daoism

Philosophical system developed by of Lao-Tzu advocating a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events, balance and harmony

Confucianism

The system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and his disciples, stressing love for humanity, ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and harmony in thought and conduct.

Filial Piety (Confucianism)

a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors

Imperial Bureaucracy

Division of an empire into organized provinces to make it easier to control

Neo-Confucianism

A philosophy that emerged in Song-dynasty China; it revived Confucian thinking while adding in Buddhist and Daoist elements.

Hinduism

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms, polytheistic

Buddhism

the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth. This is known as the Four Noble Truths & the Eightfold Path.

Theravada Buddhism

the oldest of the two major branches of Buddhism. Traditional Buddhism that follows closely the original teachings of the Buddha

Mahayana Buddhism

Also known as popular Buddhism, is allows people more ways to reach enlightenment and boddhisatvas can help you reach enlightenment.

Zen Buddhism

a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition

Buddhism in China

Spread by the Silk Roads, took form of Mahavana Buddhism. Blended with Daoism, formed 'Chan Buddhism' (aka Zen Buddhism).

Champa Rice

a quick-maturing, drought resistant rice that can allow two harvests, of sixty days each in one growing season

Grand Canal

Built in 7th century during reign of Yangdi during Sui dynasty; designed to link the original centers of Chinese civilization on the north China plain with the Yangtze river basin to the south; strengthened China's internal cohesion and economic development

Porcelain

a thin, beautiful pottery invented in China; one of China's 3 major exports

Steel and iron production

A key element during the Song Economic Revolution; helped popularize mass production and new production methods

woodblock printing

a type of printing in which text is carved into a block of wood and the block is then coated with ink and pressed on the page, popular innovation in Song China

Judaism

A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. Their holy book is the Tanahk or Hebrew Bible

Christianity

A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as Messiah. His death is seen as atonement for people's wrongdoings.

Umma

The overarching community of all Muslims that is unified by religion instead of race or ethnicity.

Islam

A religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed which stresses belief in one god (Allah), Paradise and Hell, and a body of law written in the Quran. Followers are called Muslims.

Caliph

A supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government, successor after Muhammad

House of Wisdom

An academic center for research and translation of foreign texts that was established in Baghdad in the 800s by the Abbasid caliph. Known for their advancements in astronomy and medicine.

Abbasid Caliphate

third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. The rulers who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs. In started in 750 CE. It flourished for two centuries, but slowly went into decline with the rise to power of the Turkish army it had created, the Mamluks. In the 13th century the Mongols displaced them.

Turks

Central Asian nomads related to the Xiongnu peoples that pressured Han China. Organized as tribes that constantly fought each other. Most converted to Islam. Most societies sought to trade with settled people. Nobles controlled absolutely in times of war.

Seljuk Empire

An empire formed by Turkish and Persian Sunnis, lasting from 1037 to 1194 A.D.

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 the ninth and tenth centuries. Mamluks eventually founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria (1250-1517)

Delhi Sultanate

Islamic kingdom in South Asia. After years of conquest, the Sultanate conquered and incorporated that majority of the Indian subcontinent. This resulted in a sort of unification process between the diverse peoples of the region, but also led to a split in Indian culture, as Hindus increasingly fought against the Sultanate in the 16th century, leading to its demise.

Sufis

mystical Muslim group that believed they could draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, & simple life - Spread Islam through Anatolia, the Middle East and even into South Asia.

Dar al-Islam

an Arabic term that means the "house of Islam" and that refers to lands under Islamic rule

Abbasid

A dynasty that ruled much of the Muslim Empire from 750 to about 1250.

Mali

The kingdom in West Africa that followed the Kingdom of Ghana; its wealth is also based on trans-Saharan trade; this kingdom encouraged the spread of Islam.

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.

Ethiopia

A Christian kingdom that developed in the highlands of eastern Africa that retained Christianity in the face of Muslim expansion elsewhere in northern and sub Saharan Africa. Remained trading partners with others along the Saharan and even into the Mediterranean and Arabian peninsula.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful state in the African interior that apparently emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast; flourished between 1250 and 1350 C.E. Famous for it's stone-walled enclosure.

Bhakti Movement

a Hindu movement that sought to emphasize the idea of devotion to God (Salvation); women began to receive greater importance and recognition in society

Monasticism

A way of life in which men and women withdraw from the rest of the world in order to devote themselves to their faith (monetarists and nunneries)

Hausa Kingdoms

1 kingdom divided into 7 states that were connected through kinship, blood, or ethnic ties; had no main central authority but rather ruled each state separate from one another;mainly benefited economically from the trans-Saharan trade network

Decentralization

Degree to which decision-making authority is given to lower levels in an organization's hierarchy.

Feudalism

the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.

Manorial System

self sufficient, economic structure that is the relationship between the Lord and the peasants or serfs who produced all the necessary goods to keep the manor running

Free Labor

Wage-paying rather than slave labor

Coerced Labor

a system where the workers were forced to work based on threats, pressure, or intimidation.

Serfdom

Feudal system, the use of serfs to work the land in return for protection against barbarian invasions

Vijayanagar

Southern Indian kingdom (1336-1565) that was built around strong Hindu beliefs and keeping Islam out of the region.

Srivijaya

A maritime empire that held the Strait of Malacca and the waters around Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. Buddhist state.

Majapahit

Southeast Asian kingdom (1293-1520) centered on the island of Java. Wealthy due to trade.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar. Traded jaugar pelts and jade across the lowlands of Mexico.

Aztecs

Also known as Mexica, they created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.). Utilized a tribute system that forced conquered peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax.

Chinampas

Floating "island" gardens made from large rafts covered with mud from the lake bottom which was used to grow crops

Inca

Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile from its capital of Cuzco.

Inca Roads

the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America

Mita System

economic system in Incan society where people paid taxes with their labor and what they produced

Silk Road Trade

A historically important trade route between China, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Transmitted goods, religion and technology.

Kashgar

A central trading point where the Eastern and Western Silk Roads met.

Dunhuang

Chinese city located on Silk road that transmitted Mahayana Buddhism to China. Large carvings of the Buddha can be found here.

Samarkand

During the rule of the Khan Timur Lane, this was the most influential capital city, a wealthy trading center known for decorated mosques and tombs and key destination along the Silk Road.

Diasporic communities

Merchant communities that introduced their own cultures into other areas, often seen along trade routes

Caravanserai

an inn with a central courtyard for travelers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa.

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.

Indian Ocean Trade

World's richest maritime trading network that was essential for the prosperity of East Africa, the Middle East & India. Transmitted goods, religion and technology.

Dhow

Ship of small to moderate size used in the western Indian Ocean, traditionally with a triangular sail and a sewn timber hull.

Junk

An ancient Chinese sailing vessel/ship developed during the Song Dynasty (960-1129).

Monsoon winds

The geographic phenomena of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia which blew from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter. Commonly marked by heavy rains.

Straight of Malacca

Links the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through Indonesia & Malaysia

Trans-Saharan Trade

Trade route across the Sahara desert. Known for trading gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels played a huge role in the trading.

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.

Calicut

Great spice port in India, later Vasco da Gama will arrive here

Ghana

kingdom in west Africa during 5th - 13th century whose rulers eventually converted to Islam; power and wealth based on dominating trans-Saharan trade

Mali

West African kingdom founded in the thirteenth century by Sundiata; it reached its peak during the reign of Mansa Musa.

Seljuk Turks

Nomadic people out of Central Asia that converted to Islam - Remembered for invading the Byzantine Empire and fighting in the First Crusade.

Timbuktu

A city in west Africa, leading center of trade and Islamic learning.

Sultan

"holder of the power" - political ruler with absolute authority in a muslim country

Delhi Sultanate

Indian empire created by Muslim invaders (Afghan Turks). They ruled northern India between 1206 and 1526 C.E. The Delhi Sultanate introduced Muslim influence and forms of governance into India.

Mongols

Central Asian nomadic people who created the largest empire ever.

Genghis Khan

Founder and Khan (ruler) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death.

Khanates

Four regional Mongol kingdoms that arose following the death of Genghis Khan 1. Khanate of the Great Khan (China) 2. Khanate of Changtai (Central Asia) 3. Ilkhanate (Persia) 4. Khanate of the Golden Horde (Russia)

Kubali Khan

Genghis Khan's grandson. Toppled the Song Dynasty and gained control of China.

Hulego

Ruler of the Ilkhan Khanate; grandson of Genghis Khan; responsible for capture and destruction of Baghdad in 1257.

Mamluks

Turkic military slaves in Egypt who stopped the Mongols from advancing.

Batu

Ruler of the Golden Horde One of Chinggis Khan's grandsons Responsible for invasion of Russia beginning in 1236

Pax Mongolica

Era of relative peace and stability created by the Mongol Empire - Increased trade and cultural trade along the Silk Roads

Kamikaze winds

Typhoon winds that prevented the Mongols from capturing Japan

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in western Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) and established trade routes to the Middle East. Also remembered for giving out lavish gifts and gold.

The Swahili City-states

African states that traded with China, India and Persia in the Indian Ocean. Bantu Ethnic Groups.

Swahili

Bantu language with Arabic words. Spoken around the east African coast.

Mogadishu

A Muslim port city founded between the eighth and tenth centuries; today it is the capital of Somalia

Kilwa

Great commercial city on the east coast of Africa

Sofala

Sofala was located on the Swahili Coast and was a major trading center for gold, copper, and pottery.

Great Zimbabwe

Bantu confederation of peoples, developed after 8th century; created centralized state by 15th century

Kiev

Trade city in southern Russia (modern day Ukraine) established in 9th century; became focal point for kingdom of Russia that flourished to 12th century.