Unit 1

• State


  A territory that is politically organized under a single government
• 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


  Society is structured with prescribed orders and roles, 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
• Imperial bureaucracy


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

  • Bureaucratic jobs were earned based on merit rather than connections
  • But in reality required wealth to study for the exams
• Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

  1. Life is suffering 2) We suffer because we crave 3) We see suffering when we cease craving 4) Live a moral life to cease craving
• Nirvana


  The ultimate goal in Buddhism, to dissolve into the Oneness of the universe
• Differences between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism

  • Theravada confined Buddhism to monks, Mahayana encouraged broader participation and helping others attain enlightenment
• Economic developments in Song China

  • Commercialization and growth of trade
  • Agricultural innovations like Champa rice
  • Expansion of the Grand Canal
• Dar al-Islam refers to the places where Islamic faith was the organizing principle of civilizations during this time
• Shift from Arab to Turkic Muslim empires

  • Abbasid caliphate declined, replaced by Seljuk, Mamluk and Delhi sultanates
  • Turkic empires continued some Abbasid practices like Sharia law
• Muslim scholars preserved and translated ancient Greek works, influencing the European Renaissance
• Expansion of Muslim rule

  • Military conquest
  • Trade and merchant activity
  • Sufi missionary work
• In South and Southeast Asia, the main belief systems were Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam
• Local beliefs spread easily in South Asia, much of the conversion that occurred 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
• In Southeast Asia, there were diverse sea-based and land-based empires that interacted with China and India
• Majapahit Kingdom


  • Powerful Buddhist kingdom in Java from 1293 to 1520, maintained influence through controlling sea trade routes
• Khmer Empire


  • Founded as a Hindu kingdom, later converted to Buddhism, Angkor Wat reflects this religious continuity and change
• 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, established an empire with an aggressive program of expansion, used a system of tribute states
• Inca Empire


  • Stretched across the Andean Mountain Range, had a highly centralized bureaucracy and the Mita system of required labor
• Mississippian culture


  • First large-scale civilization in North America, focused on agriculture, organized around large towns and monumental mounds
• The Swahili civilization in East Africa was a series of cities organized around commerce and trade, influenced by Muslim traders
• In West Africa, there were powerful and highly centralized civilizations like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, driven by trade and with elite conversion to Islam
• House of Kingdoms


  • Series of city-states in West Africa, organized and grew powerful through trans-Saharan trade
• Great Zimbabwe


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


  • Christian state in Africa, had a hierarchical power structure like other African states
• In Europe, Christianity dominated, with Eastern Orthodox in the Byzantine Empire and Roman Catholicism in Western Europe
• Muslims and Jews also exerted influence in Europe, living in smaller pockets