AP World 2.1-2.3 Vocabulary

Pastoral nomads

Nomadic people who relied primarily on herding animals and moved from place to place in search of pasture. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Central Asia / Eurasian Steppe.

Genghis Khan

The Mongol leader who united the Mongol tribes and created the foundation of the Mongol Empire. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1227. Region: Central Asia / Mongolia.

Khanate

A political division of the Mongol Empire ruled by a khan. Time Period: 13th–14th centuries. Region: Mongol Empire / Eurasia.

Siege weapons

Weapons and technologies used by the Mongols to attack and conquer fortified cities, including technologies adopted from conquered peoples. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Eurasia.

Pax Mongolica

The period from about 1250 to 1350 when the Mongols revitalized interregional trade across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe by maintaining and guarding trade routes. Time Period: c. 1250–c. 1350. Region: Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Uyghur alphabet

A writing system adopted by the Mongols and used for writing the Mongolian language. Time Period: 13th century. Region: Central Asia / Mongol Empire.

Golden Horde

The Mongol khanate that controlled parts of Russia and Eastern Europe. Time Period: 13th–14th centuries. Region: Russia / Eastern Europe.

Il-khanate

The Mongol khanate established in Persia by Hulegu. Time Period: 13th–14th centuries. Region: Persia / Middle East.

Kublai Khan

Grandson of Genghis Khan who conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty. Time Period: 1260–1294. Region: China / East Asia.

Yuan Dynasty

The dynasty established by Kublai Khan after the Mongol conquest of China; it ruled China from 1271 to 1368. Time Period: 1271–1368. Region: China.

White Lotus Society

A secret society that began organizing in the 1350s to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty. Time Period: 1350s. Region: China.

Ming Dynasty

The Chinese dynasty founded by Zhu Yuanzhang after he led a revolt that overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368; it lasted until 1644. Time Period: 1368–1644. Region: China.

Bubonic plague

A disease, also called the Black Death, whose spread along trade routes caused a major population decline across parts of Afro-Eurasia. Time Period: 14th century. Region: China, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Luxury goods

Goods such as silk clothing, gold jewelry, silk and other textiles, and porcelain that were increasingly demanded and traded across Afro-Eurasia. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Afro-Eurasia, especially China, Persia, India, and Central Asia.

Magnetic compass

A Chinese invention developed during the Han Dynasty that helped with navigation and ship control along the seas. Time Period: Han Dynasty; used during c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: China / East Asia.

Rudder

A Chinese-developed technology that improved ship control and helped ships navigate the seas. Time Period: Han Dynasty; used during c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: China / East Asia.

Junk

A Chinese ship developed during the Han Dynasty, with multiple sails and a hull divided into compartments. The compartments strengthened the ship for rough voyages and made sinking less likely. Time Period: Han Dynasty; used during c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: China / East Asia.

Kashgar

A city at the western edge of China where the northern and southern routes of the Silk Roads crossed. Travelers depended on it for water and food, while artisans produced textiles, rugs, leather goods, and pottery. It also became a center of Islamic scholarship. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Western China / Central Asia.

Samarkand

A city in present-day Uzbekistan and a stopping point on the Silk Roads between China and the Mediterranean. It was a center of cultural exchange, trade, artisans, and Islamic learning. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Central Asia / present-day Uzbekistan.

Caravanserai

Inns along trade routes where travelers could trade, rest, and replenish. Travelers could rest themselves and their animals and sometimes trade their animals for fresh ones. Time Period: c. 500 B.C.E.; used during c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Silk Roads / Afro-Eurasia.

Flying cash

A Chinese financial system that allowed a merchant to deposit paper money under their name in one location and withdraw the same amount at another location. Time Period: c. 800 C.E.; used during c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: China / East Asia.

Banking houses

Institutions that developed from locations where flying cash could be exchanged and that became precursors to modern banking. European banking houses were established in cities in the 1300s. Time Period: c. 200 B.C.E. origin; 1300s in Europe. Region: China / Europe.

Bill of exchange

A document stating that the holder was legally promised payment of a set amount on a set date. Time Period: c. 700 C.E.; later used in Europe. Region: China / Europe.

Hanseatic League

A commercial alliance formed by cities in northern Germany and Scandinavia that controlled trade in the North Sea and Baltic Sea and monopolized trade in goods such as timber, grain, leather, and salted fish. Time Period: 1296 C.E.–mid-17th century. Region: Northern Europe / North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Spread of Islam

Through merchants, missionaries, and conquests, Islam spread over a wide area of Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Muslim merchants also helped spread Islam through trade and intermarriage. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia.

Calicut

A bustling port city in India where merchants traded for spices from southern India. Foreign merchants from Arabia and China met there to exchange goods from the West and East. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: South Asia — India.

Fabrics from India

India became known for the high quality of its fabrics, particularly cotton. Merchants also traveled to India for woven carpets, high-carbon steel, tanned leather, and artisan-crafted stonework. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: South Asia — India.

Spice Islands

Modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia, known as the Spice Islands because they exported fragrant nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Southeast Asia — Malaysia and Indonesia.

Gold and ivory

Gold and ivory were important goods traded from the Swahili coastal cities of East Africa. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: East Africa — Swahili Coast.

Chinese porcelain

China exported porcelain, which became coveted worldwide. Chinese porcelain was an important luxury good traded through the Indian Ocean networks. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: East Asia — China.

Indian Ocean slave trade

A long-running slave trade in eastern Africa in which enslaved people were transported by land or through the Indian Ocean to buyers in northern Africa, the Middle East, and India. Many were transported to islands such as Madagascar. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450; peaked in the 18th–19th centuries. Region: East Africa, Indian Ocean, North Africa, Middle East, India.

Monsoon winds

Seasonal winds essential for Indian Ocean trade. In winter, winds came from the northeast; in spring and summer, they came from the southwest. Merchants had to time their voyages according to favorable winds. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Indian Ocean Basin.

Lateen sails

Triangular sails used by Arab sailors. Their triangular shape allowed them to easily catch winds coming from many different directions. Time Period: Postclassical Era; c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Indian Ocean Basin.

Stern rudder

A Chinese invention from the classical period that gave ships more stability and made them easier to maneuver. Time Period: Classical period; used extensively in Postclassical trade. Region: China / Indian Ocean Basin.

Astrolabe

An instrument improved by Muslim navigators in the 12th century that allowed sailors to determine how far north or south they were from the equator. Time Period: 12th century onward. Region: Islamic world / Indian Ocean Basin.

Malacca

A Muslim city-state that became wealthy by building a navy and imposing fees on ships passing through the Strait of Malacca. Its prosperity was based on trade. Time Period: 1400s; c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Southeast Asia — Malay Peninsula / Strait of Malacca.

Diasporic communities

Settlements of people away from their homeland. Through trade, settlers introduced their cultural traditions into indigenous cultures, while those cultures also influenced the merchants. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: Indian Ocean Basin and other trade regions.

Swahili city-states

Thriving city-states along the east coast of Africa, including Kilwa, Mombasa, and Zanzibar. Their merchants traded goods such as ivory, gold, and slaves and acquired Chinese porcelain, Indian cotton, and ironwork. Time Period: c. 1200–c. 1450. Region: East Africa — Swahili Coast.

Zheng He

A Muslim admiral sent by Ming emperor Yongle in 1405 on the first of seven great voyages. He traveled throughout the Indian Ocean, including Indonesia, Ceylon, Arabia, and the east coast of Africa. The voyages displayed the power of the Ming Dynasty and sought tribute. Time Period: 1405–1433. Region: China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Southwest Asia, East Africa.