Networks of Exchange, 1200-1450 - Key Concepts and Vocabulary

Networks of Exchange 1200-1450

1. Astrolabe: an instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars

2. Banking Houses: issued bills of exchange; model for modern banks

3. Batu Khan: the son of Genghis Khan’s oldest son who led an army of 100,000 Mongolian soldiers into Russia conquering small Russian kingdoms

4. Bills of Exchange: documents stating the holder was legally promised payment of a set amount on a set date

5. The Bubonic Plague: Mongol conquests brought fleas that carried the bubonic plague to Asia and Europe

6. Calicut: city on the west coast of India that became a thriving center of trade

7. Caravans: groups of people traveling together for mutual protection, often with pack animals such as camels

8. Caravanserai: inns that popped up about 100 miles apart (the distance camels could go before they needed water) along the routes of the Silk Roads

9. Camel Saddle: saddles developed by South Arabians as the use of the camel spread

10. Chagatai Khanate: a medieval Central Asian empire and successor state to the Mongol Empire, ruled by the descendants of Genghis Khan’s son, Chagatai Khan, encompassing territories in present-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and parts of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan

11. Composite Bow: a versatile weapon that provided the Mongol cavalry with superior range, accuracy, and mobility, contributing to their military dominance and conquests

12. Constantinople: the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and later the Ottoman Empire

13. Credit: an arrangement to receive cash, goods, or services now and pay for them in the future

14. Cultural Diffusion: the spread of ideas, religions and products often resulting from trade

15. Dhow Ships: Arab ships with lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design; facilitated trade in the Indian Ocean networks

16. Diaspora: settlements of people away from their homeland arising from trade

17. Flying Money: a system of credit developed in China that allowed a person to deposit money at one location and withdraw it at another

18. Genghis Khan: name meaning “ruler of all” given to Temujin when he was elected khan of Mongolian Kingdom; also spelled Chinggis Khan

19. Ghana Empire: first of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa known as the Land of Gold

20. Gobi Desert: a desert in central Asia where many invaders came in to attack China

21. Golden Horde: Batu’s army that pushed westward through Russia and then into Europe

22. Goryeo Dynasty: a medieval Korean kingdom that faced multiple Mongol invasions and ultimately became a vassal state under Mongol rule

23. Gujarat: a region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing; the inhabitants are called Gujarati

24. Gunpowder: invented in China in the 9th century; used in siege warfare like cannons in the Song Dynasty

25. Hangzhou: capital of the Song Dynasty

26. The Hanseatic League: a commercial alliance that formed between northern German cities and Scandinavia in the 13th century

27. Hulegu: grandson of Genghis Khan that took control of the southwest region into the Abbasid territories and more of the Middle East until defeat in 1260

28. Ibn Battuta: Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time

29. Il-Khanate: Hulegu’s medieval Mongol state that ruled over Persia, Mesopotamia, and parts of the Caucasus and Anatolia, blending Mongol and Islamic cultures while serving as a regional power in the 13th to 14th centuries

30. Indian Ocean Basin: largest sea-based trade network at the time

31. Indian Ocean Slave Trade: slaves from eastern Africa were sold in northern Africa, the Middle east, and India. This led to African customs spreading throughout these areas

32. Junk: Chinese sailing ship that developed during the Song Dynasty

33. Kashgar: trading city located at the western edge of China where northern and southern routes of the Silk Roads crossed

34. Khanates: the four regional Mongol kingdoms that arose after the death of Genghis Khan

35. Khmer Empire: powerful and long-lasting empire in what is modern-day Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and southern Vietnam

36. Kievan Rus’: a medieval East Slavic federation of city-states and principalities that fell under Mongol domination, leading to the establishment of the Mongol-controlled state known as the Golden Horde

37. Kublai Khan: grandson of Genghis Khan that sought to conquer China and finally achieved it in 1271 and established the Yuan Dynasty

38. Kuriltai: meeting of Mongol chieftains in 1206 where Temujin “Genghis Khan” was elected khan of the Mongolian Kingdom

39. Lateen Sail: triangular-shaped sail that could catch wind from many different directions

40. Magnetic Compass: navigation tool for determining direction that allowed ships to travel without following the coast

41. Malacca: a Muslim city-state that became wealthy by building a navy and collecting fees from ships that passed through the Strait of Malacca

42. Mali Empire: West African empire from 1235-1400 with trading cities Timbuktu and Gao

43. Mansa Musa: brought Mali to its peak of power and wealth from 1312 to 1337; displayed Mali’s wealth during an extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca

44. Marco Polo: an Italian native who traveled to China in the late 13th century and wrote about his travels

45. Margery Kempe: 1373-1440 she was an English mystic who dedicated one of the earliest autobiographies in English. The book is significant because it’s a first-hand account of a middle-class medieval woman’s life

46. Mecca: city in western Arabia that was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad; ritual center of the Islamic religion and destination for pilgrimages

47. Ming Dynasty: Chinese dynasty from 1368-1644 founded by Zhu Yuanzhang after the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty

48. Mogadishu: city in the coastal region of East Africa

49. Money Economy: using money rather than bartering with commodities like cowrie shells or salt

50. Monsoons: heavy winds that affected trade routes in the Indian Ocean

51. Moscow: Russian city-state that collected additional tributes to build an anti-Mongol coalition that defeated the Golden Horde in 1380 at the Battle of Kulikovo

52. Nomadism: a central component of Mongol society, characterized by their mobile lifestyle, reliance on animal husbandry, and skilled horsemanship, which enabled the Mongols to establish a vast empire through their expertise in mounted warfare and strategic mobility

53. Ortogh: a merchant partnered with the state and individual aristocrats in the Mongol Empire

54. Overgrazing: continual eating of grasses or their roots without allowing them to regrow which led to abandonment of cities outside of Great Zimbabwe in the late 1400s

55. Pax Mongolica: the period of Mongolian peace between the 13th and 14th centuries

56. Porcelain: a fine blue and white ware from China

57. Sahara Desert: large desert in northern Africa with an arid climate that make farming nearly impossible

58. Samarkand: located in present-day Uzbekistan in the Zeravshan River valley, this city was a stopping point on the Silk Roads between China and the Mediterranean

59. Siege Weapons: portable towers and catapults

60. Soil Erosion: overuse of farmland and deforestation reduced agricultural production in feudal Europe

61. Songhai Kingdom: an Islamic empire established in the 1400s after the decline of the Mali Empire in West Africa

62. Song Dynasty: (906-1279) Chinese dynasty that preceded the Yuan Dynasty

63. The Spice Islands: term for the islands of modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia that exported spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom

64. Stern Rudders: invented by the Chinese and made steering ships easier and more stable

65. Sundiata: Mali’s founding ruler who gained control of the gold trade routes

66. Sultanate of Malacca: powerful Islamic kingdom which reached its peak in the mid- 1400s

67. Swahili City States: thriving city-states along the east coast of Africa created by Indian Ocean trade

68. Timbuktu: a very wealthy and world-renowned center for Islamic learning

69. Trans-Saharan Trade: route across the Sahara Desert; traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels and camel saddles were crucial in the development of these trade networks; facilitated the spread of Islam

70. Tumen: a military unit consisting of approximately 10,000 soldiers, led by a commander known as a noyan, and formed the backbone of the Mongol military organization during their conquests

71. Uyghur Script: system of writing that Genghis Khan adopted for the Mongol Empire

72. White Lotus Society: a secret society that began organizing to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty

73. Yuan Dynasty: established by Kublai Khan in 1271 and was tolerant towards various religious groups in China

74. Zheng He: a Muslim admiral, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of seven great voyages that took his many ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa

75. Zhu Yuanzhang: Buddhist monk that led the revolt to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty in 1368.