AP World Unit 2 Vocab and MKP

maritime

connected to the sea in relation to navigation, shipping, trade, etc.

monsoon

a seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and Southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter

entrepôt

trading post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit (the reluctance of merchants to travel the entire length of the Silk Road made them more willing to sell to an entrepôt instead, the entrepôt then sells the goods at a higher price to merchants traveling to other segments of the route

caravanserais

an inn, usually with a large courtyard, for travelers with caravans that crossed the desert routes in Asia and North Africa

“flying money”

a type of paper negotiable instrument used during China’s Tang Dynasty invented by merchants but adopted by the state (name came from ability to transfer ash across distances without physically transporting it)

compass

an instrument for determining directions, as by means of a freely rotating magnetized needle that indicates magnetic north — invented during the Han dynasty and first used for fortune-telling rather than finding direction

astrolabe

an instrument used by astronomers and navigators to measure the altitude about the horizon of a celestial body, day or night; very effective for determining latitude on land or on clam seas and allowed sailors to sail further distances from the shoreline

Dhow

trading vessel primarily used to carry heavy items, such as fruit, fresh water, or other bulk merchandise along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean — invented by either Arabs or Indians

diasporic community

communities of displaced population either permanently or temporarily separated from racial or ethnic identity — refers to diasporic merchant communities between 1200-1450

lateen sail

triangular sail set on a long pole amounted at an angle on the mast; allows a boat to track “against the wind”; used on Dhows in the Indian Ocean

caravans

a group of merchants traveling together across the Silk Roads or Trans-Saharan trade routes

gunpowder

a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate (saltpeter) invented in the 9th century China and spread throughout most of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century

Bubonic plague

most common form of plague, characterized by swollen, tender, inflamed lymph glands, fever, and headaches; human infection occurs when a person is bitten by a flea that has fed on an infected rodent (if untreated, the bacteria infects the bloodstream causing black patches on the skin, hence the name the Black Death); it can also infect the lungs causing the patient to cough up blood (atp, it can be transmitted person to person)

shamanism

Mongol belief system; based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forced or spirits that affect the lives of the living

khanate

regional Mongol empires that arose following the death of Ghengis Khan

Pax Mongolica

describes the stabilizing effects of the conquests of the Mongol Empire on the social, cultural, and economic life of the inhabitants of the vast Eurasian territory that the Mongols conquered in the 13th and 14th centuries; the term is used to describe the eased communication and commerce the unified administration helped to create and the period of relative peace that followed the Mongols’ vast conquests

Griot

West-African storyteller/served as keepers of tradition and advisors to Kings of Mali

Maharaja

originated from Sanskrit and means “great ruler” — title used by Hindu monarchs of the princely states in South Asia

Sultanate

an Islamic state ruled by a sultan — title carried religious significance

Indian Ocean gyre

large system of rotating ocean currents an is composed of the south Equatorial Current and the West Australian Current controls the monsoons

Thalassocracy

primary maritime empire, empire at sea, seaborne empire — empires does not have interior land

Ghengis (Chinggis) Khan

(c. 1162-1227) founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire; he came to power by united the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and his empire became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death; the empire also stabilized the Silk Road and facilitated trade along it

Kublai Khan

(1215-1294) grandson of Genghis Khan — conquered China and created the Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty there

Marco Polo

(1254-1324) Venetian explorer and merchant who traveled to the Yuan dynasty in China; he was hosted by Kublai Khan at the imperial palace and traveled throughout much of Asia

Mansa Musa

(c. 1280-1337) king of Mali famous for the Hajj ceremony; during the trip he stopped and gave out gifts in many cities (like Cairo) which ruined the local economies for years

Ibn Battuta

(1304- c. 1369) Moroccan explorer known for his extensive travels throughout Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Asia; accounts of his journey were published in the Rihla

Zheng He

(1371- c.1433) Chinese court eunuch, mariner, explorer, diplomat, and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa during the early Mind dynasty; his voyages were meant to reestablish Chinese dominance in Indian Ocean trade

Chabi

(1225-1281) Empress consort of Kublai Khan and was an unofficial adviser to him throughout his reign, including suggesting the better treatment of the Chinese in the north to appease the people

Johannes Gutenberg

(1400-1468) German printer and publisher who introduced mechanical moveable type printing to Europe and started the Printing Revolution

Sundiata

(c. 1217-1255) Founder of the Malian Empire; his history was recorded though the epic poem the Epic of Sundiata, transmitted only by griots