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 (or caravansary): 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 

O 2023 Timmins 

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 

O 2023 Timmins 

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