Download Period 3: Regional and Transregional Interactions, c. 600 C.E. to c

Period 3: Regional and Transregional Interactions, c. 600 C.E. to c. 1450
Key Concept 3.1. Expansion and Intensification of Communication and Exchange Networks
Although Afro-Eurasia and the Americas remained separate from one another, this era witnessed
a deepening and widening of old and new networks of human interaction within and across
regions. The results were unprecedented concentrations of wealth and the intensification of
cross-cultural exchanges. Innovations in transportation, state policies, and mercantile practices
contributed to the expansion and development of commercial networks, which in turn served as
conduits for cultural, technological, and biological diffusion within and between various
societies. Pastoral or nomadic groups played a key role in creating and sustaining these networks.
Expanding networks fostered greater interregional borrowing, while at the same time sustaining
regional diversity. The prophet Muhammad promoted Islam, a new major monotheistic religion
at the start of this period. It spread quickly through practices of trade, warfare, and diffusion
characteristic of this period.
I. Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased
volume of trade, and expanded the geographical range of existing and newly active trade
networks.
A. Existing trade routes flourished and promoted the growth of powerful new trading cities.
Required examples of existing trade routes:
•
The Silk Roads
•
The Mediterranean Sea
•
The Trans-Saharan
•
The Indian Ocean basins
Teach one illustrative example of new trading cities, either from the list below or an example of
your choice:
•
The Swahili city-states
•
Venice
B. New trade routes centering on Mesoamerica and the Andes developed.
C. The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by significant innovations
in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including more sophisticated
caravan organization; use of the compass, astrolabe, and larger ship designs in sea travel; and
new forms of credit and monetization.
Teach one illustrative example of luxury goods, either from the list below or an example of your
choice:
•
Silk and cotton textiles
•
Porcelain
•
Spices
•
Slaves
Teach one illustrative example of new forms of credit and monetization, either from the list
below or an example of your choice:
• Credit
• Banking houses
D. Commercial growth was also facilitated by state practices, trading organizations, and statesponsored commercial infrastructures like the Grand Canal in China.
E. The expansion of empires facilitated Trans-Eurasian trade and communication as new peoples
were drawn into their conquerors’ economies and trade networks.
Required examples of empires:
•
China
•
The Byzantine Empire
•
The Caliphates
•
The Mongols
Teach one illustrative example of state practices, either from the list below or an example of
your choice:
•
Minting of coins
•
Use of paper money
Teach one illustrative example of trading organizations, either the one below or an example of
your choice:
• Hanseatic League
II. The movement of peoples caused environmental and linguistic effects.
A. The expansion and intensification of long-distance trade routes often depended on
environmental knowledge and technological adaptations to it.
Teach one illustrative example of environmental knowledge and technological adaptations,
either from the list below or an example of your choice:
•
The way the Arabs and Berbers adapted camels to travel across and around the Sahara
•
The way Central Asian pastoral groups used horses to travel in the steppes
B. Some migrations had a significant environmental impact. Required examples of migration
and their environmental impact:
•
The migration of Bantu-speaking peoples who facilitated transmission of iron
technologies and agricultural techniques in Sub-Saharan Africa
•
The maritime migrations of the Polynesian peoples who cultivated transplanted foods and
domesticated animals as they moved to new islands
C. Some migrations and commercial contacts led to the diffusion of languages throughout a new
region or the emergence of new languages.
Teach one illustrative example of the diffusion of languages, either from the list below or an
example of your choice:
•
The spread of Bantu languages including Swahili
III. Cross-cultural exchanges were fostered by the intensification of existing, or the
creation of new, networks of trade and communication.
A. Islam, based on the revelations of the prophet Muhammad, developed in the Arabian
peninsula. The beliefs and practices of Islam reflected interactions among Jews, Christians, and
Zoroastrians with the local Arabian peoples. Muslim rule expanded to many parts of AfroEurasia due to military expansion, and Islam subsequently expanded through the activities of
merchants and missionaries.
B. In key places along important trade routes, merchants set up diasporic communities where
they introduced their own cultural traditions into the indigenous culture.
Teach one illustrative example of diasporic communities, either from the list below or an
example of your choice:
•
Muslim merchant communities in the Indian Ocean region
•
Jewish communities in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean basin, or along the Silk Roads
C. The writings of certain interregional travelers illustrate both the extent and the limitations of
intercultural knowledge and understanding.
Teach one illustrative example of interregional travelers, either from the list below or an
example of your choice:
•
Ibn Battuta
•
Marco Polo
Teach one illustrative example of the diffusion of literary, artistic and cultural traditions, either
from the list below or an example of your choice:
•
The influence of Neoconfucianism and Buddhism in East Asia
•
Hinduism and Buddhism in Southeast Asia
•
Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia
D. Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural
traditions.
Teach one illustrative example of the diffusion of scientific and technological traditions, either
from the list below or an example of your choice:
•
The influence of Greek and Indian mathematics on Muslim scholars
•
The return of Greek science and philosophy to Western Europe via Muslim al-Andalus in
Iberia
•
The spread of printing and gunpowder technologies from East Asia into the Islamic
empires and Western Europe
E. Increased cross-cultural interactions also resulted in the diffusion of scientific and
technological traditions.
IV. There was continued diffusion of crops and pathogens throughout the Eastern
Hemisphere along the trade routes.
A. New foods and agricultural techniques were adopted in populated areas.
B. The spread of epidemic diseases, including the Black Death, followed the well established
paths of trade and military conquest.
Key Concept 3.2. Continuity and Innovation of State Forms and Their Interactions
State formation in this era demonstrated remarkable continuity, innovation and diversity in
various regions. In Afro-Eurasia, some states attempted, with differing degrees of success, to
preserve or revive imperial structures, while smaller, less centralized states continued to develop.
The expansion of Islam introduced a new concept — the Caliphate — to Afro-Eurasian
statecraft. Pastoral peoples in Eurasia built powerful and distinctive empires that integrated
people and institutions from both the pastoral and agrarian worlds. In the Americas, powerful
states developed in both Mesoamerica and the Andean region.
I. Empires collapsed and were reconstituted; in some regions new state forms emerged.
A. Following the collapse of empires, most reconstituted governments, including the Byzantine
Empire and the Chinese dynasties — Sui, Tang, and Song — combined traditional sources of
power and legitimacy with innovations better suited to the current circumstances.
Teach one illustrative example of new foods and agricultural techniques, either from the list
below or an example of your choice:
•
New rice varieties in
East Asia
Teach one illustrative example of traditional sources of power and legitimacy, either from the
list below or an example of your choice:
• Patriarchy
• Religion
• Land-owning elites
Teach one illustrative example of innovations, either from the list below or an example of your
choice:
•
Tributary systems
Teach one illustrative example of Islamic states, either from the list below or an example of your
choice:
• Abbasids
• Muslim Iberia
• Delhi Sultanates
B. In some places, new forms of governance emerged, including those developed in various
Islamic states, the Mongol Khanates, city-states, and decentralized government (feudalism) in
Europe and Japan.
Teach one illustrative example of city-states, either from the list below or an example of your
choice:
•
In the Italian peninsula
•
In East Africa
•
In the Americas
Teach one illustrative example of such synthesis by states, either from the list below or an
example of your choice:
•
Persian traditions that influenced Islamic states
•
Chinese traditions that influenced states in Japan
C. Some states synthesized local and borrowed traditions.
D. In the Americas, as in Afro-Eurasia, state systems expanded in scope and reach: Networks of
city-states flourished in the Maya region and, at the end of this period, imperial systems were
created by the Mexica (“Aztecs”) and Inca.
II. Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires encouraged significant
technological and cultural transfers.
Required examples of technological and cultural transfers:
•
Between Tang China and the Abbasids
•
Across the Mongol empires
•
During the Crusades
Key Concept 3.3. Increased Economic Productive Capacity and Its Consequences
Changes in trade networks resulted from and stimulated increasing productive capacity, with
important implications for social and gender structures and environmental processes.
Productivity rose in both agriculture and industry. Rising productivity supported population
growth and urbanization but also strained environmental resources and at times caused dramatic
demographic swings. Shifts in production and the increased volume of trade also stimulated new
labor practices, including adaptation of existing patterns of free and coerced labor. Social and
gender structures evolved in response to these changes.
I. Innovations stimulated agricultural and industrial production in many regions.
A. Agricultural production increased significantly due to technological innovations.
Teach one illustrative example of technological innovations, either from the list below or an
example of your choice:
•
The horse collar
B. In response to increasing demand in Afro-Eurasia for foreign luxury goods, crops were
transported from their indigenous homelands to equivalent climates in other regions.
C. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and
porcelains for export; industrial production of iron and steel expanded in China.
II. The fate of cities varied greatly, with periods of significant decline, and with periods of
increased urbanization buoyed by rising productivity and expanding trade networks.
A. Multiple factors contributed to the declines of urban areas in this period.
Required examples of these factors:
•
Invasions
•
Disease
•
The decline of agricultural productivity
•
The Little Ice Age
B. Multiple factors contributed to urban revival.
Required examples of these factors:
•
The end of invasions
•
The availability of safe and reliable transport
•
The rise of commerce and the warmer temperatures between 800 and 1300
•
Increased agricultural productivity and subsequent rising population
•
Greater availability of labor also contributed to urban growth
C. While cities in general continued to play the roles they had played in the past as
governmental, religious, and commercial centers, many older cities declined at the same time
that numerous new cities emerged to take on these established roles.
III. Despite significant continuities in social structures and in methods of production, there
were also some important changes in labor management and in the effect of religious
conversion on gender relations and family life.
A. As in the previous period, there were many forms of labor organization.
Required examples of forms of labor organization:
•
Free peasant agriculture
•
Nomadic pastoralism
•
Craft production and guild organization
•
Various forms of coerced and unfree labor
•
Government-imposed labor taxes
•
Military obligations
B. As in the previous period, social structures were shaped largely by class and caste hierarchies.
Patriarchy persisted; however, in some areas, women exercised more power and influence, most
notably among the Mongols and in West Africa, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
C. New forms of coerced labor appeared, including serfdom in Europe and Japan and the
elaboration of the mit’a in the Inca Empire. Free peasants resisted attempts to raise dues and
taxes by staging revolts. The demand for slaves for both military and domestic purposes
increased, particularly in central Eurasia, parts of Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean.
Teach one illustrative example of regions where free peasants revolted, either from the list
below or an example of your choice:
• China
D. The diffusion of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Neoconfucianism often led to significant
changes in gender relations and family structure.
Key Concept 3.4. Key Terms
Chapter 6
Bedouin: Nomads of the Arabian Peninsula with a culture based on herding camels and goats.
Shaykhs: Leaders of tribes and clans within bedouin society; usually possessed large herds,
several wives, and many children.
Mecca: Arabian commercial center; dominated by the Quraysh; the home of Muhammad and the
future center of Islam.
Medina: Town northeast of Mecca; asked Muhammad to resolve its intergroup differences.
Muhammad’s flight to Medina, the Hijra, in 622 began the Muslim calendar.
Umayyad: Clan of the Quraysh that dominated Mecca; later an Islamic dynasty.
Ka’ba: Revered pre-Islamic shrine in Mecca; incorporated into Muslim worship.
Qur’an: The word of God as revealed through Muhammad; made into the holy book of Islam.
Umma: Community of the faithful within Islam.
Zakat: Tax for charity obligatory for all Muslims.
Five pillars: The obligatory religious duties for all Muslims: profession of faith, prayer, fasting
during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).
Caliph: The successor to Muhammad as head of the Islamic community.
Ali: Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; one of the orthodox caliphs; focus for the
development of Shi’ism.
Abu Bakr: Succeeded Muhammad as the first caliph.
Jihad: Islamic holy war.
Sunni: Followers of the majority interpretation within Islam; included the Umayyads.
Shi’a: Followers of Ali’s interpretation of Islam.
Jizya: Head tax paid by all non-Muslims in Islamic lands.
Dhimmis: “The people of the book,” Jews, Christians; later extended to Zoroastrians and
Hindus.
Abbasids: Dynasty that succeeded the Umayyads in 750; their capital was Baghdad.
Quraysh Bedouin tribe: The Umayyad clan of this bedouin tribe founded the city of Mecca.
Allah: Islamic term for God.
Hijra: Term used to describe Muhammad’s flight to Medina; marks the first year of the Islamic
calendar.
Ramadam: The ninth month of the Islamic year that requires daily fasting from sunrise to
sunset.
Hajj: Pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca; one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Damascus: Ancient Islamic cultural center; capital of present-day Syria.
Hadiths: Traditions of the prophet Muhammad.
Baghdad: Ancient Islamic cultural center on Tigris River; capital of present-day Iraq.
Dhows: Ship with lateen sails and raised deck at the stern; used along the coasts of east Africa
and the Middle East.
Mosque: Islamic temple and place of worship.
Chapter 7
Buyids: Persian invaders of the 10th century; captured Baghdad and acted as sultans through
Abbasid figureheads.
Seljuk Turks: Nomadic invaders from central Asia; staunch Sunni; ruled from the 11th century
in the name of the Abbasids.
Crusades: Invasions of western Christians into Muslim lands, especially Palestine; captured
Jerusalem and established Christian kingdoms enduring until 1291.
Saladin: 12th-century Muslim ruler; reconquered most of the crusader kingdoms.
Ulama: Islamic religious scholars; pressed for a more conservative and restrictive theology;
opposed to non-Islamic thinking.
al-Ghazali: Brilliant Islamic theologian; attempted to fuse Greek and Qur’anic traditions. Sufis:
Islamic mystics; spread Islam to many Afro-Asian regions.
Mongols: Central Asian nomadic peoples; captured Baghdad in 1258 and killed the last Abbasid
caliph.
Arabic numerals: Indian numerical notation brought by the Arabs to the West.
Harsha: 7th-century north Indian ruler; built a large state that declined after his death in 646.
Sati: Hindu ritual for burning widows with their deceased husbands.
Malacca: Flourishing trading city in Malaya; established a trading empire after the fall of
Shrivijaya.
Lateen sails: Large triangular sails that are attached to the masts by long booms or yard arms
which extend diagonally high across both the fore and aft portions of the ship.
Eunuchs: A castrated man in charge of a harem or high officer of a court of emperor.
Sultan: Word meaning “victorious”; came to designate Muslim rulers.
Holy Land: The region of present-day Israel; includes the city of Jerusalem, which is a holy city
to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Rajas: Term used for Hindu kings.
Sultans of Delhi: Title of the Islamic imperial houses of India, which literally means princes of
the heartland.
Chapter 8
Stateless societies: Societies of varying sizes organized through kinship and lacking the
concentration of power found in centralized states.
Ethiopia: A Christian kingdom in the highlands of eastern Africa.
Lalibela: 13th-century Ethiopian ruler; built great rock churches.
Sahel: The extensive grassland belt at the southern edge of the Sahara; an exchange region
between the forests to the south and north Africa.
Sudanic states: States trading to north Africa and mixing Islamic and indigenous ways.
Mali: State of the Malinke people, centered between the Senegal and Niger rivers.
Mansa Kankan Musa: Made a pilgrimage to Mecca during the 14th century that became
legendary because of the wealth distributed along the way.
Griots: Professional oral historians who served as keepers of traditions and advisors to kings.
Timbuktu: Niger River port city of Mali; had a famous Muslim university.
Songhay: Successor state to Mali; dominated middle reaches of the Niger valley; capital at Gao.
Ibn Batuta: Muslim traveler who described African societies and cultures.
Demographic transition: The change from slow to rapid population growth; often associated
with industrialization; occurred first in Europe and is more characteristic of the “developed
world.”
Islamization: The spread of the Islamic faith across the Middle East, southwestern Asia, and
northern Africa.
Bantu migration: (100 C.E. – 900 C.E.) Group of people and associated language which
originated in Nigeria; migrated south over much of the African continent and made up a majority
of the African language groups.
Jihad: An Islamic term used for holy war waged to purify, spread, or protect the faith.
Axum: (1st-6th centuries C.E.) Developing in the Ethiopian highlands and traded with India and
the Mediterranean areas to gain Greek and Arabian cultural influences; conversion of the king to
Christianity in 350 C.E. laid the basis for Ethiopian Christian culture.
Ghana: Territory in east African north of the Senegal and Niger rivers; inhabited by the Soninke
people in the 5th century C.E.; Sonike called their ruler “Ghana,” thus was created the name of
the kingdom.
Caliph: Term meaning supreme ruler; used by Mohammad’s successors as secular and religious
heads of Islam.
Matrilineal: Designating of kinship through the mother.
Sharia: Codified Islamic law which is ethically based on the Qur’an and the Hadith.
Chapter 9
Justinian: 6th-century Byzantine emperor; failed to reconquer the western portions of the
empire; rebuilt Constantinople; codified Roman law.
Hagia Sophia: Great domed church constructed during the reign of Justinian.
Icons: Images of religious figures venerated by Byzantine Christians.
Iconoclasm: The breaking of images; religious controversy of the 8th century; Byzantine
emperor attempted, but failed, to suppress icon veneration.
Cyril and Methodius: Byzantine missionaries sent to convert eastern Europe and the Balkans;
responsible for creating the Slavic written script called Cyrillic.
Kiev: Commercial city in Ukraine established by Scandinavians in 9th century; became the
center for a kingdom that flourished until the 12th century.
Vladimir I: Ruler of Kiev (980-1015); converted kingdom to Orthodox Christianity.
Russian Orthodoxy: Russian form of Christianity brought from the Byzantine Empire.
Boyars: Russian landholding aristocrats; possessed less political power than their western
European counterparts.
Tatars: Mongols who conquered Russian cities during the 13th century; left Russian church and
aristocracy intact.
Byzantine Empire: (500 C.E. – 1453 C.E.) The eastern portion of the Roman Empire which
survived beyond the collapse of the Roman Empire with its capital at Constantinople; retained
Mediterranean culture, particularly Greek; later lost Palestine, Syria, and Egypt to Islam.
Constantinople: Capital of the Byzantine Empire; constructed on the site of Byzantium, an old
Greek city on the Bosporus.
Orthodox Christian Church: Eastern church which was created in 1053 after the schism from
the western Roman church; its head is the patriarch of Constantinople.
Constantine: (312 – 337) Strong emperor toward the end of the Roman Empire who tried with
some success to reverse the tide of its ultimate fall. Constantine moved the capital away from
Rome to Constantinople and allowed freedom of worship for Christians with the Edict of Milan.
Huns: Group of nomadic tribes that pushed through central Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries
C.E., instigating the migration of the Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire.
Hellenistic culture: After Alexander’s death, Greek art, education, and culture merged with
those in the Middle East. Trade and important scientific centers were established, such as
Alexandria, Egypt.
Greek fire: incendiary material used by the Byzantines described as able to burn in water. Tsar:
Term used for the emperors of the Russia; literally means Caesar.
Cyrillic alphabet: Alphabet named after Saint Cyril who used it to help convert the Slavs to
Christianity.
Middle Ages: The period in western European history between the fall of the Roman Empire
and the 15th century.
Gothic: An architectural style developed during the Middle Ages in western Europe; featured
pointed arches and flying buttresses as external support on main walls.
Vikings: Seagoing Scandinavian raiders who disrupted coastal areas of Europe from the 8th to
11th centuries; pushed across the Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and North America.
Manorialism: System of economic and political relations between landlords and their peasant
laborers during the Middle Ages; involved a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations that exchanged
labor for access to land.
Serfs: Peasant agricultural laborers within the manorial system.
Moldboard: Heavy plow introduced in northern Europe during the Middle Ages; permitted
deeper cultivation of heavier soils.
Three-field system: One-third of the land left unplanted each year to increase fertility.
Charles Martel: Carolingian monarch of the Franks; defeated Muslims at Tours in 732.
Charlemagne: Carolingian monarch who established a large empire in France and Germany
circa 800.
Holy Roman emperors: Rulers in northern Italy and Germany following the breakup of
Charlemagne’s empire; claimed title of emperor but failed to develop centralized monarchy.
Feudalism: Relationships among the military elite during the Middle Ages; greater lords
provided protection to lesser lords in return for military service.
Vassals: Members of the military elite who received land or a benefice from a lord in return for
military service and loyalty.
William the Conqueror: Invaded England from Normandy in 1066; established tight feudal
system and centralized monarchy in England.
Magna Carta: Great Charter issued by King John of England in 1215; confirmed feudal rights
against monarchical claims; represented principle of mutual limits and obligations between rulers
and feudal aristocracy.
Parliaments: Bodies representing privileged groups; institutionalized the feudal principle that
rulers should consult their vassals.
Hundred Years War: Conflict between England and France (1337-1453).
Pope Urban II: Called First Crusade in 1095; appealed to Christians to free the Holy Land from
Muslim control.
Scholasticism: Dominant medieval philosophical approach, so called because of its base in the
schools or universities; based on the use of logic to resolve theological problems.
Hanseatic League: An organization of north German and Scandinavian cities for the purpose of
establishing a commercial alliance.
Guilds: Associations of workers in the same occupation in a single city; stressed security and
mutual control; limited membership, regulated apprenticeship, guaranteed good workmanship,
discouraged innovations; often established franchise within cities.
Black Death: Plague that struck Europe in the 14th century; significantly reduced Europe’s
population; affected social structure.
Roman Catholic church: Church established in western Europe during the Roman Empire and
the Middle Ages with its head being the bishop of Rome or pope.
Pope: Meaning papa or father; bishop of Rome and head of Catholic church.
Three estates: The three social groups considered most powerful in Western countries; church,
nobles, and urban leaders.
Ferdinand and Isabella: King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile married in
1469 to bring the kingdoms of Spain together to complete the reconquest of Spain from the
Muslims.
First Crusade: (1096 – 1099) Crusade called by Pope Urban II which captured Jerusalem.
Third Crusade: (1189 – 1192) Crusade led by King Richard the Lionhearted to recapture thecity
of Jerusalem from Islamic forces led by Saladin; failed in attempt.
Fourth Crusade: (1202 – 1204) Crusade which by a strange series of events attacked and
sacked Constantinople.
Investiture: A formal conferring of power to clergy usually with robes or other Christian
symbols.
Romanesque: Architectural style which was an adaptation of the Roman basilica and barrel arch
form.
Chivalry: Medieval code used by knights which included the ideals of courage, honor, and the
protection of the weak.
Chapter 11
Indian: Misnomer created by Columbus when referring to indigenous American peoples;
implies social and ethnic commonalty that did not exist among Native Americans; still used to
describe Native Americans.
Toltecs: Nomadic peoples from beyond the northern frontier of sedentary agriculture in
Mesoamerica; established capital at Tula after migration into central Mesoamerican plateau;
strongly militaristic ethic, including cult of human sacrifice.
Aztecs: The Mexica; one of the nomadic tribes that penetrated into the sedentary zone of the
Mesoamerican plateau after the fall of the Toltecs; established empire after 1325 around shores
of Lake Texcoco.
Tenochtitlan: Founded circa 1325 on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec
power.
Chinampas: Beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in
lakes to create “floating islands”; system of irrigated agriculture used by Aztecs.
Inca socialism: An interpretation describing Inca society as a type of utopia; image of the Inca
Empire as a carefully organized system in which every community collectively contributed to the
whole.
Inca: Group of clans (ayllu) centered at Cuzco; created an empire in the Andes during the 15th
century; also title of the ruler.
Split inheritance: Inca practice of ruler descent; all titles and political power went to the
successor, but wealth and land remained in the hands of male descendants for support of dead
Inca’s mummy.
Mita: Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were
expected to contribute; an essential part of Inca control.
Quipu: System of knotted strings used by the Incas in place of a writing system; could contain
numerical and other types of information for censuses and financial records.
Hernan Cortés: (1485 – 1547) Led expedition of 600 Spanish soldiers to coast of Mexico in
1519; conquistador responsible for defeat of Aztec Empire; captured Tenochtitlan.
Chapter 12
Era of Division: Era of continuous warfare (220-589) among the many kingdoms that followed
the fall of the Han.
Wendi: Member of prominent northern Chinese family during the Period of the Six Dynasties;
with support from northern nomadic peoples established Sui dynasty in 589.
Yangdi: Second Sui ruler; restored Confucian examination system; constructed canal system;
assassinated in 618.
Mahayana (Pure Land) Buddhism: Emphasized salvationist aspects of Chinese Buddhism;
popular among the masses.
Grand Canal: Great canal system begun by Yangdi; joined the Yellow River region to the
Yangzi basin.
Junks: Chinese ships equipped with watertight bulkheads, stern-post rudders, compasses, and
bamboo fenders; dominant force in Asian seas east of the Malayan peninsula.
Flying money: Chinese credit instrument that provided vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at
the end of a venture; reduced danger of robbery; an early form of currency.
Changan: Capital of Tang dynasty; population of 2 million; larger than any contemporary world
city.
Huangzhou: Capital of later Song; location near East China Sea permitted international
commerce; population of more than 1,500,000.
Foot binding: Male-imposed practice to mutilate women’s feet in order to reduce size; produced
pain and restricted movement; helped to confine women to the household.
Empress Wu: (690 – 705 C.E.) Tang ruler who supported Buddhist establishment; tried to
elevate Buddhism to state religion; had multistory statues of Buddha created.
Sinfication: Extensive adaptation of Chinese culture in other regions; typical of Korea and
Japan, less typical of Vietnam.
Neo-Confucians: Revived ancient Confucian teachings in Song era of China; great impact on
the dynasties that followed; their emphasis on tradition and hostility to foreign systems made
Chinese rulers and bureaucrats less receptive to outside ideas and influences.
Chapter 13
Taika reforms: Attempt to remake the Japanese monarch into an absolutist Chinese-style
emperor; included attempts to create professional bureaucracy and peasant conscript army.
Samurai: Mounted troops of the bushi; loyal to local lords, not the emperor.
Seppuku: Ritual suicide in Japan; also known as hari-kiri; demonstrated courage and was a
means to restore family honor.
Shoguns: Military leaders of Japan while emperors remained as figureheads
Daimyo: Warlord rulers of small states following Onin War and disruption of Ashikaga
Shogunate; holdings consolidated into unified and bounded ministates.
Silla: Korean kingdom in the Southeast; became a vassal of the Tang and paid tribute; ruled
Korea from 668.
Tribute system: System in which people surrounding China sent emissaries who offered tribute
to the Chinese emperor and acknowledged the superiority of the emperor and China.
Chapter 14
Chinggis Khan: Grandson of Kabul Khan; born in 1170s; elected supreme Mongol ruler
(khagan) in 1206; began the Mongols’ rise to world power; died 1227.
Karakorum: Capital of Mongol Empire under Chinggis Khan.
Shamanistic religion: Mongol beliefs focused on nature spirits.
Golden Horde: One of four regional subdivisions of the Mongol Empire after the death of
Chinggis Khan; conquered and ruled Russia during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Ilkhan khanate: One of four regional subdivisions of the Mongol Empire after the death of
Chinggis Khan; eventually included much of Abbasid Empire.
Mamluks: Muslim slave warriors; established dynasty in Egypt; led by Baibars; defeated
Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260.
Kubilai Khan: Grandson of Chinggis Khan; conquered China; established Yuan dynasty in
1271.
White Lotus Society: Secret religious society dedicated to overthrow of Yuan dynasty.
Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane): Last major nomad leader; 14th-century Turkic ruler of Samarkand;
launched attacks in Persia, Fertile Crescent, India, southern Russia; empire disintegrated after his
death in 1405.
Ming Dynasty: Succeeded Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1368; lasted until 1644; initially
mounted huge trade expeditions to southern Asia and elsewhere, but later concentrated efforts on
internal development within China.
Chapter 15
Zhenghe: Muslim Chinese seaman; commanded expeditions throughout the Indian Ocean.
Black Death: 14th-century bubonic plague; decimated populations in Asia and Europe.
Renaissance: Cultural and political elite movement beginning in Italy circa 1400; based on
urban vitality and expanding commerce; produced literature and art with distinctly more secular
priorities than those of the European Middle Ages.
Portugal, Castile, and Aragon: Regional Iberian kingdoms; participated in reconquest of the
Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims; developed a vigorous military and religious agenda.
Vasco da Gama: Portuguese explorer; first European to reach India by sea around Africa.
Henry the Navigator: Portuguese prince; sponsored Atlantic voyages; reflected the forces
present in late postclassical Europe.
Ethnocentrism: Judging foreigners by the standards of one’s own group; leads to problems in
interpreting world history.
Predicted Scores
Key
3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.4 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.3.3
Concepts/Standards
Student Predicted
Score
Standards Based Grading
2. On Standard: Student has adequate understanding of all content requirements and their
application.
1. Below Standard: Student has some understanding of content requirements and their
application.
0. Student has limited understanding of content requirements and their application.
3.4