unit 1 ap world

• The time period for unit one is Circa 1200 to 1450 and the basic idea of this unit is to drop in on the various major civilizations around the world and understand how they are building and maintaining their state
• State


  A territory that is politically organized under a single government
• The folks in charge call themselves The Song Dynasty and they were in power from 960 to 1279
• Song Dynasty


  • They maintained and justified their rule by emphasizing Confucianism
  • They maintained and justified their rule through the expansion of the Imperial bureaucracy
• Neo-Confucianism


  A revival of Confucian thought with some changes, including reducing the influence of Buddhism
• Confucian hierarchy


  Society is structured with prescribed orders, where those below must defer to those above
• Filial piety


  The necessity and virtue of children obeying and honouring their parents and ancestors
• Women in Song China


  • They were stripped of legal rights, with their property becoming their husband's
  • They endured social restrictions like limited access to education and the practice of foot binding
• Imperial bureaucracy


  A hierarchical government entity that carries out the will of the emperor
• Civil service examination


  • Eligible men had to pass this exam, which was heavily based on Confucian classics, to get bureaucratic jobs. It was open to all social-economic statutes, but in reality, to study a man needed to be rich enough to not work and devote himself to study
• The kingdoms of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam were influenced by Chinese traditions during the Song Dynasty
• Buddhism


  A belief system originating in India, centered on the four noble truths and the eightfold path
• Branches of Buddhism


  • Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka focused on monastic practice
  • Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia encouraged broader participation and the help of bodhisattvas
• Song China's economy


  • Commercialization and increased production of goods like porcelain and silk
  • Agricultural innovations like Champa rice led to population growth
  • Expansion of the Grand Canal facilitated trade and communication
• Dar al-Islam


  The regions where Islamic faith was the organizing principle of civilizations
• Religions in Dar al-Islam


  • Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were the major monotheistic faiths practiced
• Transition in Dar al-Islam

  • Decline of Arab Muslim empires like the Abbasids
  • Rise of Turkic Muslim empires like the Seljuks
• Innovations in Dar al-Islam


  • Advances in mathematics and preservation of ancient Greek works by Muslim scholars
  • Expansion of Muslim rule through military conquest, merchant trade, and Sufi missionary activity
• In South and Southeast Asia, the three main religions were Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam
• Local beliefs is why Islam spread so easily, much of the conversion that occurred in South Asia was the result of Sufi missionary
• Main religions that vied for dominance in South and Southeast Asia

  • Hinduism
  • Buddhism
  • Islam
• By 1200, Buddhists in South Asia were mainly reduced to monastic communities in the North in Nepal and Tibet
• Hinduism remained the most widespread religion in India, but Islam became the second most important and influential religion in the region with the establishment of the Delhi sultanate
• Bhakti movement


  Innovation on traditional polytheistic Hinduism, with emphasis on devotion to one of the Hindu gods
• In Southeast Asia, it was mainly Buddhism and Islam that were competing for dominance
• The Muslim Delhi sultanate had difficulty holding on to rule and imposing a total Muslim state upon the majority Hindu population in India
• Rajput Kingdom


  • Collection of rival and warring Hindu kingdoms that existed before Muslim rule in Northern India, able to keep Muslim rule at bay
• Vijayanagara Empire


  • Established in 1336 as a counterpoint to Muslim rule in the north
• The Majapahit kingdom in Southeast Asia was a powerful Buddhist kingdom that maintained influence through controlling sea trade routes
• The Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia was founded as a Hindu kingdom but later converted to Buddhism, as seen in the structure of Angkor Wat
• By 1200, the majority of the population in the Americas lived in two major centers of civilization: Mesoamerica and the Andean civilization
• Aztec Empire


  • Founded in 1345, had an aggressive program of expansion and an elaborate system of tribute states
• Inca Empire


  • More intrusive and centralized in ruling the people they conquered compared to the Aztecs
• Mississippian culture


  • First large-scale civilization in North America, focused on agriculture and had large towns with monumental mounds
• Swahili Civilization


  • Series of independent city-states along the East African coast, influenced by Muslim traders and became Islamic
• West African Empires (Ghana, Mali, Songhai)


  • Highly centralized civilizations driven by trade, with elite members converting to Islam
• House of Kingdoms in West Africa

  • Series of city-states organized around the trans-Saharan trade, not centralized empires
• Great Zimbabwe


  • Powerful African state that grew wealthy through trade, maintained indigenous shamanistic religion
• Kingdom of Ethiopia


  • Only Christian state in Africa, had a hierarchical power structure like other African states
• Belief systems in Europe

  • Eastern Orthodox Christianity
  • Roman Catholicism