APWH: Unit 1

• Buddhism


  • Predominant in Asia (India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan)
  • Mahayana
  • Tibetan
  • Theravada
  • Chan/Zen
• Siddhartha Gautama


  Founded Buddhism after becoming Buddha, was originally Hindu
• Key Buddhist concepts

  • Filial piety
  • 4 Noble Truths (1. All life is suffering, 2. Suffering is caused by desire, 3. Can be freed of desire, 4. Freed of desire by following a prescribed path)
• Confucianism

  • Predominant in China
  • Founded by Confucius
  • 5 fundamental relations that keep society in order
• Confucianism was compatible with other religions, leading to Neo-Confucianism, and stayed with Chinese culture for a long time (Song Dynasty)
• Christianity


  • Started in the Middle East and appealed to lower class and women
  • Based on the Bible
  • Jesuits
  • Jesus of Nazareth (Messiah)
• The Crusades

  • 8 major Crusades, the 4th being the most unsuccessful
  • Christians vs Muslims
• Hinduism


  • Predominant in India and spread to the Khmer Empire
  • Brahma
  • Vedas
  • Vishnu (light)
  • Shiva (darkness)
• Islam

  • Founded by Prophet Muhammad
  • Allah
  • Quran
  • Muslims
  • 5 Pillars of Islam (1. Confession, 2. Prayer 5x a day, 3. Charity, 4. Fasting during Ramadan, 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca)
• Subgenres of Islam


  • Shi'a
  • Sunni
  • Sufism
• The Abbasid Caliphate was the Islamic Golden Age, with Baghdad as the capital, and advancements in art, science, math, and medicine
• The decline of the Islamic Caliphates was due to internal rivalries and the Mongol invasion
• Judaism


  • The first major monotheistic religion
• Developments in Europe during the Middle Ages/Pre-Renaissance

  • Serfdom
  • Feudalism
  • Magna Carta signed by King John (led to House of Lords and House of Commons)
  • Hundred Years' War between France and England (unified France)
  • Spanish Inquisition under Ferdinand and Isabella
  • Taken over by Tartars (Mongols) until Ivan the Terrible rose to power in Russia
• Developments in Asia during the Middle Ages/Pre-Renaissance


  • Song Dynasty in China (960-1279, Neo-Confucianism growth)
  • Ming Dynasty in China (1368-1644, post-Mongol power)
  • Feudalism in Japan
  • Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire in India (Islam spread, clash with Hinduism, development of universities and farming)
  • Rajput Kingdoms in India united to resist Muslim takeover
  • Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia (Hindu-Buddhist empire)
• Major civilizations in the Americas

  • Aztec
  • Incas
  • Mayans
• Aztec


  • Arrived in Mexico in the 1200s
  • Tenochtitlan was the capital
  • Powerful army
  • Large population of 12 million
  • Used slave labour
  • Practiced human sacrifice
• Incas


  • In the Andes mountains of Peru
  • Established bureaucracy, unified language, and strong army
  • Cuzco was the capital
  • Women had rights and could inherit property
  • Polytheistic, practiced human sacrifice
  • Temple of Sun, Machu Picchu architecture
• Song Dynasty


  The folks in charge in China from 960 to 1279
• How the Song Dynasty maintained and justified its rule

  • Emphasizing Confucianism
  • Expansion of the Imperial bureaucracy
• Neo-Confucianism


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


  A hierarchical view of society where those below must defer to those above
• Filial piety


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

  • Stripped of legal rights
  • Endured social restrictions like limited education and foot binding
• Civil service examination


  An exam used to select bureaucratic officials based on merit rather than connections
• Four Noble Truths of Buddhism


  Life is suffering, we suffer because we crave, we see suffering when we cease craving, living a moral life according to the Eightfold Path can cease craving
• Theravada Buddhism


  Confined the practice of Buddhism to monks and monasteries
• Mahayana Buddhism


  Encouraged broader participation in Buddhist practices and the idea of bodhisattvas helping others attain enlightenment
• Economic developments in Song China

  • Commercialization of the economy
  • Innovations in agriculture like Champa rice
  • Innovations in transportation like the Grand Canal
• Dar al-Islam


  The house of Islam, referring to places where Islamic faith was the organizing principle
• Abbasid Caliphate


  A dominant Muslim empire centered in Baghdad, led by ethnic Arabs
• Seljuk Empire


  A new Muslim empire led by ethnic Turks that replaced the waning Abbasid power
• Practices continued by new Turkic Muslim empires


  • Military administration of the state
  • Establishment of Sharia law as the legal system
• Muslim scholars preserved and translated ancient Greek works, which later influenced the European Renaissance
• Ways Muslim rule expanded in this period


  • Military expansion
  • Trade and merchant activity
  • Missionary work of Sufis
• 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


  An innovation on traditional polytheistic Hinduism that emphasized devotion to one of the Hindu gods, making it more attractive to ordinary believers
• 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


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


  • A major Hindu kingdom that rose up in the South as a counterpoint to Muslim rule in the North, established in 1336