Ultimate Review APWH

• Neo-Confucianism


  popular during the Tang Dynasty; fused elements of Buddhism & Confucianism
• Catholic Church


  The largest of three main branches of Chrisitanity; centered in Rome and led by the pope; found most often in Europe, the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of East Asia.
• Eastern Orthodox Church


  The third largest of the three main branches of Christianity; originally based in the Byzantine Empire; found most often in Russia, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and parts of Central Asia.
• Shi'a


  One of the two main branches of Islam; commonly described as orthodox & differs from Shi'a in its understanding of the Sunnah and in its acceptance of the first three caliphs; is by far the most common branch of Islam worldwide.
• Chinampa


  a form of Mesoamerican agriculture in which farmers cultivated crops in rectangular plots of land on lake beds; hosted corns, beans, chilis, squash, tomatoes, and more; provided up to seen harvest per year
• Mit'a


  A mandatory public service system in the Inca Empire requiring all people below the age of 50 to serve for two months out of the year; not to be confused with the mita, a forced labor system practiced by conquisadors in the former Inca Empire.
• Mandate of Heaven


  Ancient Chinese concept stating that the right rule was granted by the heavens; used to explain the rise of every Chinese dynasty including the Qing in 1644.
• Grand Canal


  World's longest canal, connecting the fertile Huang He River to the highly populated cities in the north; allowed grain to be shipped easily.
• Champa Rice


  Introduced to China from Vietnam; allowed the Chinese to have two harvests per year, dramatically improving output; combined with an improved infrastructure, led to a significant growth of the Chinese population
• Al-Andalus


  Islamic state located in modern-day Spain; led by the Berbers; renowned for its achievements in science, mathematics, and trade.
• Astrolabe


  Introduced to the Islamic world in the 700s, where it was perfected by mathematicians; used by astronomers and navigators to determine latitude through inclination.
• Trans-Saharan Trade


  Trade network starting in the 400s and 500s; thrived due to an organized network of camel caravans carrying gold, salt, cloth, slaves, and other valuables; allowed the kingdoms of Ghana and Mali to thrive, and as Islam spread to Africa, allowed its teaching to impact the lives of kings and traders.
• Feudalism


  Political & economic system that developed as a result of the decentralization and collapse of the Western Roman Empire; lords, usually noblemen, protected vassals in exchange for mandatory labor or military service; vassals received a fief, or grant of land
• Bills of Exchange


  written guarantees of payment that were essentially the forerunners of modern-day bank checks; helped facilitate trade; known as sakk in the Islamic world; also used in China during this period
• Crusades


  Holy wars launched by Pope Urban II in 1095 that called for Christians to reclaim the Holy Land of Israel from Muslims; its for campaigns, lasting over 100 years, were unsuccessful; stimulated European-Muslim trade and reintroduced Europeans to wisdom that had been last taught during the Classical period.
• Ottomans


  Group of Anatolian Turks who, in their dedication to Islam, attacked the weakening Byzantine Empire and captured Constantinople in 1453; expanded to ceate an emprie in the MIddle East & Southeast Europe; collapsed after World War 1.
• Mongols


  Group of Central Asian nomads from Mongolia who, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, conquered large portions of the Asian continent; four empires, centered on Russia, China, Persia, and the Central Asian steppes, were led by Khan's successors until the Mongol Empire collapsed into disunity and civil war.
• Genghis Khan


  Mongol clan leader who united the clans and made the Mongols the most feared force in Asia; under his leadership, the Mongol Empire expanded greatly into China Persia, Central Asia, and Tibet; sons ruled the Four Khanates that followed; grandson, Kublai Khan, became leader of the Yuan Dynasty in 1271.
• Mansa Musa


  Ruling from 1312 to 1337, he was the most famous of the Mali emperors; capital city, Timbuktu, was a center of trade, culture, and education; most famous for going on pilgrimage to Mecca carrying a large caravan with satchels of gold, which he used to fund schools and mosques across North Africa.
• Swahili city-states


  cities in East Africa that became bustling ports due to interchanges between Bantu and Arab mariners; in an effort to facilitate trade, the Bantus created a hybrid language, Swahili, that allowed them tto communicate with the Arabs.
• Melaka


  Located in modern-day Malaysia; port city that became a waystation for sea traders from China and India inthe fourteenth century.
• Bubonic Plague


  Disease that spread from China to Europe through rats and decimated Europe's population; ended the feudal system & led many people to question religion; also known as the Black Plague or the Black Death.
• Ibn Battuta


  Islamic traveler who, in the fourteenth century, visited the kingdom of Mansa Musa in the Mali Empire; his writings stimulated an interest in African trade.
• Marco Polo


  Venetian merchant who spent over 20 years traveling the Silk Road through the Mongol Empire, where he actually served on the court of its ruler, Kublai Khan; his efforts stimulated interest in trade with China.
• Renaissance


  A period of artistic and scientific self-discovery and relearning of Classicall wisdom, particularly from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries; stimulated by the Crusades and soldirers' exposure to Muslim advances in math, science, and the arts; also led to questioning of the nature of religion and natural phenomena.
• Christopher Columbus


  Italian navigator who attempted to find a westward route to Asia under the sponsorship of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; first European to discover the New World
• Conquest of Constantinople


  In 1453, the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine capital and ended the Eastern Roman Empire, giving rise to the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until WWI.
• Caravel


  Inspired by the Arab dhow, a compact ship of Portuguese origin that featuredd triangular sails and a sternpost rudder making it capable of crossing oceans; used during hte Age of Exploration
• Lateen Sail


  Trangular sail that allowed ships to sail against the wind, increasing maneuverability and making early oceanic sailing possible.
• Carrack


  Large sailing vessel with multiple masts with a large cargo capacity; stable in rough seas, which enabled voyages of several months through difficult waters; originally developed in Europe by the Portuguese in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
• Fluyt


  Dutch-built cargo ship with comparatively light construction, usually unarmed; alllowed for quick construction and smaller crew requirements, which facilitated the growth of Dutch maritime trade.
• Joint-stock companies


  Large, investor-backed companies that sponsored European exploration and colonization in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; precursors to modern corporations; a famous example is the British East India Company.
• Columbian Exchange


  Beginning with the explorations of Christopher Columbus, the interchange of plants, animals, pathogens, and people between the Old World and the New World.
• Mercantilism


  Economic system focused on maintaining a positive balance of exports to imports that encouraged domestic employement; measured the economic strength of a state relative to its neighboring states.
• Sugar Cultivation


  Specialized resource extraction process that relied on African slave labor after indigenous populations were decimated by disease; foreshadowed the intensive manufacturing of the Industrial Revolution.
• Gunpowder


  Chemical explosive developed by the Chinese; spread along trade routes like the Silk Road; Europeans introduced a slow-burning propellant to maximize the potential of explosive weapons.
• Mughal Empire


  Empire that reunified India in 1526, advocated religious tolerance, and sponsored great art & architecture projects; later collapsed because of Hindu/Muslim conflict and the competition of European traders
• Songhai


  Successor of the Mali Empire in West Africa in the 1500s; instituted administrative and economic reforms throughout their realm; conquered by the Moroccans in 1591.
• Creoles


  Persons of Spanish blood who were born in the Americas; descended from the peninsulares who came from the continent.
• Mestizos


  Persons of mixed European and indigenous descent in the Spanish colonies