AP World History: The Global Tapestry (1200-1450)

Abbasid Caliphate

(750-1258 CE) The caliphate, after the Umayyads, who focused more on administration than conquering. Had a bureaucracy that any Muslim could be a part of.

Aishah al-Ba'uniyyah

a Sufi master and poet; one of few medieval female Islamic mystics to have recorded their own views in writing

Bhakti movement

An immensely popular development in Hinduism, advocating intense devotion toward a particular deity.

Cahokia

The dominant center of an important Mississippi valley mound-building culture, located near present-day St. Louis, Missouri; flourished from about 900 to 1250 C.E.

champa rice

Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced into Champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state (as part of the tributary system.)

chinampas

Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Meso-america to increase agricultural yields.

coercive labor

Any labor system that involves force (slavery, serfdom, and indentured labor)

Confucianism

A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.

Crusades

A series of holy wars from 1096-1270 AD undertaken by European Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule.

Delhi Sultanate

The first Islamic government established within India from 1206-1520. Controlled a small area of northern India and was centered in Delhi.

Ethiopia

A Christian kingdom that developed in the highlands of eastern Africa under the dynasty of King Lalaibela; retained Christianity in the face of Muslim expansion elsewhere in Africa

fuedalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to a king in return for loyalty and military service

fief

land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for loyalty and service

filial piety

In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.

flying money

Chinese credit instrument that provided credit vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at the end of the voyage; reduced danger of robbery; early form of currency

Grand Canal

The 1,100-mile (1,700-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire.

Great Schism

in 1054 this severing of relations divided medieval Christianity into the already distinct Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively. Relations between East and West had long been embittered by political and ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful state in the African interior that apparently emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast; flourished between 1250 and 1350 C.E.

Greek philosophy

the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics; distinguished by the ideas of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

House of Wisdom in Baghdad

Large Islamic-based Library and learning center. Focus of conversion of Greek and Roman classics and Indian learning into Arabic. Preserved knowledge.

Mahayana Buddhism

"Great Vehicle" branch of Buddhism followed in China, Japan, and Central Asia. The focus is on reverence for Buddha and for bodhisattvas, enlightened persons who have postponed nirvana to help others attain enlightenment.

Mamluk Sultanate

• A political unit in Egypt established by Mamluks

• Defeated the Mongols and the Ayyubid Sultanate

• Did not set up a consistent, hereditary line of succession, which hurt them greatly

• Failed to adapt to new warfare and were eventually defeated by the Ottomans, who brought guns

• Disinterest in trade also contributed to their downfall

manorialism

Economic system during the Middle Ages that revolved around self-sufficient farming estates where lords and peasants shared the land.

Maya city-states

Classical culture in Southern Mexico and Central America; contemporary with Teotihuacan; extended over broad region; featured monumental architecture, written language, calendar system, mathematical system; highly developed region.

meritocracy

government or the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability.

mita system

economic system in Incan society where people paid taxes with their labor and what they produced

Nasir al-Din Tusi

(1201-1274) Persian mathematician and cosmologist whose academy near Tabriz provided the model for the movement of the planets that helped to inspire the Copernican model of the solar system.

Neo-Confucianism

The Confucian response to Buddhism by taking Confucian and Buddhist beliefs and combining them into this. However, it is still very much Confucian in belief.

Renaissance

"rebirth"; following the Middle Ages, a movement that centered on the revival of interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome

Seljuk Empire

Middle East, 11th-12th centuries }Turkic empire ruled by sultans in Persia and modern-day Iraq } Established Turks as major ethnic group carrying Islam across Eurasia, along with Arabs and Persians } Demonstrated weakness of Abbasid caliphate in its later years; sultans held real power in the empire } Helped to spread the influence of Islam throughout the region

serf

an agricultural laborer bound under the feudal system to work on his lord's estate.

Song Dynasty

During this Chinese dynasty (960 - 1279 AD) China saw many important inventions. There was a magnetic compass; had a navy; traded with India and Persia (brought pepper and cotton); paper money, gun powder; landscape black and white paintings

sufism

An Islamic mystical tradition that desired a personal union with God--divine love through intuition rather than through rational deduction and study of the shari'a. Followed an ascetic routine (denial of physical desire to gain a spiritual goal), dedicating themselves to fasting, prayer, meditation on the Qur'an, and the avoidance of sin.

syncretism

The unification or blending of opposing people, ideas, or practices, frequently in the realm of religion. For example, when Christianity was adopted by people in a new land, they often incorporate it into their existing culture and traditions.

Theravada Buddhism

the oldest of the two major branches of Buddhism. Practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia, its beliefs are relatively conservative, holding close to the original teachings of the Buddha

three-field system

A rotational system for agriculture in which one field grows grain, one grows legumes, and one lies fallow. It gradually replaced two-field system in medieval Europe.

Tibetan Buddhism

a Buddhist doctrine that includes elements from India that are not Buddhist and elements of preexisting shamanism, a tradition of Buddhism that teaches that people can use special techniques to harness spiritual energy and can achieve nirvana in a single lifetime

vassal

a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he or she owes allegiance; a subordinate or dependent; a servant

waru waru agriculture

-A form of farming used in the Inca empire

-They divided the hills into terraces or flat steps almost like steps

-they could then control the amount of water being put into those places

-This led to vastly improved agriculture for the Inca

woodblock printing

a type of printing in which text is carved into a block of wood and the block is then coated with ink and pressed on the page

Zen Buddhism

a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition.