1. 'A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah: most prolific female Muslim writer and poet before the 20th century 2. Abbasid Caliphate: dynasty of the Muslim empire of the caliphate that followed the Umayyad 

Caliphate; destroyed by the Mongol invasion in 1258 

3. The Analects: the compilation of Confucius' teachings after his death 

4. Ancestor Veneration: a Confucian practice of praying to one's ancestors 

5. Artisans: skilled manual workers in a particular craft who often work by hand 

6. Ashoka: the third king of the Mauryan Empire who promoted Buddhism 

7. Bantu Migrations: the spread of Bantu-speaking peoples from their homeland in what is now 

southern Nigeria to most of Africa 

8. Bhakti Movement: Hindu devotional movement that flourished in the early modern era, emphasizing 

music, dance, poetry, and rituals as means by which to achieve direct union with the divine 

9. Brahman: Hindu spirit that is the energy that connects everything; a priest class 

10. Caste System: a rigid social system in India that gives every Indian a particular place in the social 

hierarchy from birth 

11. Champa Rice: an Indian quick-maturing, very resistant rice that could be harvested twice in one 

growing season 

12. Chan Buddhism: a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism popular during the Tang and Song 

Dynasties 

13. Chang'an: ancient Chinese capital of several dynasties; now known as Xi'an 

14. Civil Service Exam: a system of testing designed to select the most studious and learned 

candidates for appointment as bureaucrats in the Chinese government 

15. Chola Dynasty: a Tamil maritime empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in 

world history 

16. 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 

17. Corvee Labor: forced, unpaid labor that was often intermittent 

18. Crusades: a series of Christian holy wars conducted against nonbelievers 

19. Daoism: a Chinese philosophy based on the teachings of Lao Zi which taught that people should 

turn to nature and give up their worldly concerns; was largely a spiritual alternative to Confucianism. 20. Delhi Sultanate: a Muslim kingdom that ruled parts of India from the 13th to the 16th centuries and 

was an Islamic state on the outside of the Caliphate system 

21. Dharma: a position and career determined by birth within the caste system 

22. Diaspora: any movement of the citizens of a population sharing the same ethnic descent 

23. Eightfold Path: one of Buddha's teachings which outlines the path to nirvana 

24. Ethiopia: Christian-led African kingdom that emerged in the 12th century; known for their rock hewn 

churches 

25. Feudalism: a land system in which a king owned all the land a granted tracks to nobles in exchange 

for military loyalty, and nobles granted parts of their land to vassals or serfs who worked the land 26. Filial piety: a Confucian virtue of respect, obedience, and care for one's parents and elderly family 

members 

27. Forbidden City: a walled section of Beijing built in the Ming Dynasty where emperors lived between 

1121 and 1911 

28. Four Noble Truths: Buddha's guiding principles regarding suffering 

29. Grand Canal: an over 1,000 mile-long transportation waterway that allowed China to be the most 

populous trading area in the world during the Song Dynasty 

O 2023 Timmins 

30.Great Wall: a Chinese defensive fortification built during the reign of Shi Huangdi to keep out 

northern nomadic invaders 

31. Great Zimbabwe: a powerful state in the African interior that emerged from the growing trade in 

gold to the East African coast 

32.Gupta Empire: the empire that later united India following the Maurya Empire 

33.Han Dynasty: China's longest running dynasty 

34.Hausa Kingdoms: a group of small independent city-states in northern central Africa 

35.Hebrew Bible: collection of sacred books containing diverse materials concerning the origins, 

experiences, beliefs and practices of the Israelites 

36.Heian Period: a period when Japan was most closely connected to and influenced by Chinese 

culture that lasted lasted from 794 to 1185 CE 

37.House of Wisdom: an academic center for research and translation of foreign texts that was 

established in Baghdad by the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun 

38.Imperial Bureaucracy: large organization in China in which appointed officials carried out the 

policies of the empire 

39.Inca Empire: largest imperial state in the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries. The empire 

spanned almost the entire coast of western South America 

40.Indian Ocean Maritime System: a trade route across the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea 41. Jati: a classification within the Indian caste system 

42.Judaism: oldest known monotheistic religion 

43.Karma: the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation 44.Kowtow: an act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head 

touching the ground 

45.Lao Zi: a Chinese philosopher who taught retreat from society into nature and that individuals 

should seek to become attuned with Dao 

46.Legalism: a political philosophy in China that emphasized the unruliness of human nature and 

justified state coercion and control. The Qin rulers and early Han rulers invoked it to validate the authoritarian nature of their regimes 

47. Mahayana Buddhism: focuses on service and became popular in China and Korea 48.Majapahit Kingdom: Buddhist Kingdom from 1293-1520 based on Java that gained power by 

controlling sea routes 

49.Mali: trading empire that flourished in western Africa from the 13th to the 16th century and was 

known for its wealth 

50.Mamluks: enslaved soldiers from the Abbasid era 

51. Mauryan Empire: it unified most of India into a peaceful and stable empire and expanded trade 52.Mayans: established a series of independent states and city-states in Mesoamerica 

53. Meritocracy: the exam system that granted Chinese officials their positions 

54. Mesa Verde: the largest complex of Anasazi cliff-dwellings in the United States Southwest 55.Moche: a civilization near the coast of Peru that built irrigation networks and urban centers that 

had brick temples 

56.Moksha: the goal for Hindus in which you are reunited with Brahman and escape reincarnation 57. Monarchies: governments in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a monarch who 

reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right 

58. Monastic Living: a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself 

fully to spiritual work 

59. Monsoons: a seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia which affected trade routes 60.Mudras: a hand gesture with specific meaning or significance in Indian classical sculpture and 

dance 

61. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi: Persian mathematician; one of the most celebrated Islamic scholars 62.Nirvana: the state of liberation from suffering which can be achieved when an individual follows 

the Eightfold Path in Buddhism 

O 2023 Timmins 

63.Neo-Confucianism: the revival of Confucian teachings during the Tang and Song dynasties and a 

subsequent synthesis of Confucianism with aspects of Buddhism and Daoism 

64.Oligarchy: form of government in which a small group of elites make decisions for everyone 65.Olmec: the earliest known Mexican civilizations 

66.Parthians: Persian dynasty based in Iran that extended into Mesopotamia 

67.Pataliputra: the chief political and commercial center of northern India 

68.Patriarchy: society in which men hold power within the family, in governance, and/or in economics 69.Polygyny: a form of polygamy in which a man has two or more wives simultaneously 70.Proto-industrialization: people in rural areas producing more goods than they can sell 

71. Qin Dynasty: the Chinese dynasty that established the first centralized imperial government and 

built much of the Great Wall, Replaced the Zhou dynasty and employed legalist ideas in order to control warring states and unify the country 

72.Rajput Kingdoms: Hindu kingdoms that arose after the fall of the Gupta Empire 

73. Reciprocity: a relationship between people and state where people pay tribute in exchange for 

access to resources 

74. Reincarnation: Hindu principle in which souls pass to other beings after death 

75. Sanskrit: sacred language of the Vedas in India 

76.Scholar Gentry: Confucian educated social class that became the most influential social class of 

China 

77.Shinto: the indigenous religion of Japan in which people believed that kami (spirits) were present 

in their natural surroundings 

78.Shiva: an important Hindu deity who in the trinity of gods was the Destroyer 

79.Sinhala Dynasties: Sri Lankan dynasties which were largely Buddhist 

80.Silk Road: a vast network of trading routes that connected the East to the West: Constantinople in 

Europe to Chang'an in Asia 

81. Song Dynasty: a Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 960 to 1279 that preceded the Yuan 

Dynasty 

82.Srivijaya Empire: an Indonesian Hindu sea-based empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia 

which was an important trade center 

83.Sufis: a mystical Muslim group that had successful missionaries. They believed they could become 

closer to God through prayer, fasting, and a simple life 

84.Sukhothai Kingdom: a kingdom in north central Thailand from 1238 until 1438 

85.Swahili: blended language that combined Bantu and Arabic languages and is still spoken today 86.Syncretism: the blending of elements from more than one religion into a distinct system of 

worship 

87. Tang Dynasty: Chinese imperial dynasty which preceded the Song; one of the greatest periods of 

peace and prosperity in Chinese history, and it is remembered for its cultural achievements and its strong and centralized government 

88.Teotihuacan: a major city in Mesoamerica that was the center for cultural and religious activities 89.Theater State: a state that acquires prestige and power by developing attractive cultural forms 

and staging elaborate public ceremonies 

90.Theravada Buddhism: Buddhism focused on meditation found in Southeast Asia 

91. Tibetan Buddhism: form of Buddhism in Tibet centered around chanting 

92.Trans-Saharan Trade Routes: networks of exchange that transformed West Africa by connecting 

it to the larger parts of the world 

93.Universalizing Religion: a religion seeking to convert others. Islam was a universalizing religion 94.Urdu: a new language with elements of Hindi, Arabic, and Farsi that developed among the Muslims 

of South Asia 

95. Varnas: warriors within the Indian caste system 

96.Vedas: the oldest collection of scriptures of Hinduism and religious texts in an ancient Sanskrit 

language 

O 2023 Timmins 

97. Vijayanagara Empire: an empire in southern India between 1336 and 1646; founded by the brothers 

Harihara and Bukka Raya in 1336 to protect the people in the southern region from the Muslim states, or sultanates, in the north 

98. Vishnu: Hindu god considered the preserver of the world 

99. Woodblock Printing: a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East 

Asia that originated in China 

100. Xiongnu: the Chinese name for the confederacy of Turkish-speaking peoples who were nomadic herders in Central Asia