The Post-Classical World, 500-1450
11666892120 | Bedouin | nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian peninsula with a culture based on herding camels and goats | 0 | |
11666892121 | Mecca | Arabian commercial center; dominated by the Quraysh; the home of Muhammad and the future center of Islam | 1 | |
11666892122 | 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 | 2 | |
11666892123 | Umayyad | clan of the Quraysh that dominated Mecca; later an Islamic dynasty | 3 | |
11666892124 | Muhammad | (570-632); prophet of Allah; originally a merchant of the Quraysh | 4 | |
11666892125 | Qur'an | the word of god as revealed through Muhammad; made into the holy book of Islam | 5 | |
11666892126 | Umma | community of the faithful within Islam | 6 | |
11666892127 | Five Pillars | the obligatory religious duties for all Muslims; confession of faith, prayer, fasting during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) | 7 | |
11666892128 | Caliph | the successor to Muhammad as head of the Islamic community | 8 | |
11666892129 | Ali | cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; one of the orthodox caliphs; focus for the development of shi'ism | 9 | |
11666892130 | Abu Bakr | succeeded Muhammad as the first caliph | 10 | |
11666892131 | Jihad | Islamic holy war | 11 | |
11666892132 | Sunnis | followers of the majority interpretation within Islam; included the Umayyads | 12 | |
11666892133 | Shi'a | followers of Ali's interpretation of Islam | 13 | |
11666892134 | Abbasids | dynasty that succeeded the Umayyads in 750; their capital was at Baghdad | 14 | |
11666892135 | Hadiths | "traditions" of the prophet Muhammad; added to the Qur'an, form the essential writings of Islam | 15 | |
11666892136 | Dhows | Arab sailing vessels; equipped with lateen sails; used by Arab merchants | 16 | |
11666892137 | Seljuk Turks | nomadic invaders from central Asia; staunch Sunnis; ruled from the 11th c. in the name of the Abbasids | 17 | |
11666892138 | Crusades | invasions of western Christians into Muslim lands, especially Palestine; captured Jerusalem and established Christian kingdoms enduring until 1291 | 18 | |
11666892139 | Ulama | Islamic religious scholars; pressed for a more conservative and restrictive theology; opposed to non-Islamic thinking | 19 | |
11666892140 | Sufis | Islamic mystics; spread Islam to many Afro-Asian regions | 20 | |
11666892141 | Mongols | central Asian nomadic peoples; captured Baghdad in 1258 and killed the last Abbasid caliph | 21 | |
11666892142 | Genghis Khan | (1162-1227); Mongol ruler; defeated the Turkish Persian kingdoms | 22 | |
11666892143 | Shrivijaya | trading empire based on the Malacca straits; its Buddhist government resisted Muslim missionaries; when it fell, southeastern Asia was opened to Islam | 23 | |
11666892144 | Malacca | flourishing trading city in Malaya; established a trading empire after the fall of Shrivijaya | 24 | |
11666892145 | Mali | state of the Malinke people centered between the Senegal and Niger rivers | 25 | |
11666892146 | Mansa | title of the ruler of Mali | 26 | |
11666892147 | Ibn Battuta | Arab traveler throughout the Muslim world | 27 | |
11666892148 | East African trading ports | urbanized commercial centers mixing African and Arab cultures; included Mogadishu, Mombasa, Malindi, Kilwas, Pate, and Zanzibar | 28 | |
11666892149 | Great Zimbabwe | with massive stone buildings and walls, incorporates the greatest early buildings in sub-Saharan Africa | 29 | |
11666892150 | Icons | images of religious figures venerated by Byzantine Christians | 30 | |
11666892151 | Iconoclasm | the breaking of images; religious controversy of the 8th c; Byzantine emperor attempted, but failed, to suppress icon veneration | 31 | |
11666892152 | Kiev | commercial city in Ukraine established by Scandinavians in 9th c; became the center for a kingdom that flourished until 12th c | 32 | |
11666892153 | Vladmir I | ruler of Kiev (980-1015); converted kingdom to Orthodox Christianity | 33 | |
11666892154 | Russian Orthodoxy | Russian form of Christianity brought from Byzantine Empire | 34 | |
11666892155 | Tatars | Mongols who conquered Russian cities during the 13th c; left Russian church and aristocracy intact | 35 | |
11666892156 | Middle Ages | the period in western European history between the fall of Roman Empire and the 15th c | 36 | |
11666892157 | Gothic | an architectural style developed during the 13th and 14th c in western Europe; featured pointed arches and flying buttresses as external support on main walls | 37 | |
11666892158 | Vikings | seagoing Scandinavian raiders who disrupted coastal areas of Europe from the 8th to 11th c; pushed across the Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and North America; formed permanent territories in Normandy and Sicily | 38 | |
11666892159 | Manorialism | rural system of reciprocal relations between landlords and their peasant laborers during the Middle Ages; peasants exchanged labor for use of land and protection | 39 | |
11666892160 | Serfs | peasant agricultural laborers within the manorial system | 40 | |
11666892161 | Three-field system | practice of dividing land into thirds, rotating between two different crops and pasturage-- an improvement making use of manure | 41 | |
11666892162 | Carolingians | royal house of Franks from 8th c to 10th c | 42 | |
11666892163 | Charles Martel | first Carolingian king of the Franks; defeated Muslims at Tours in 732 | 43 | |
11666892164 | Charlemagne | Carolingian monarch who established large empire in France and Germany circa 800 | 44 | |
11666892165 | Holy Roman Emperors | political heirs to Charlemagne's empire in northern Italy and Germany; claimed title of emperor but failed to develop centralized monarchy | 45 | |
11666892166 | Feudalism | personal relationship during the Middle Ages by which greater lords provided land to lesser lords in return for military service | 46 | |
11666892167 | Vassals | members of the military elite who received land or a benefice from a lord in return for military service and loyalty | 47 | |
11666892168 | William the Conqueror | invaded England from Normandy in 1066; established tight feudal system and centralized monarchy in England | 48 | |
11666892169 | Magna Carta | Great charter issued by King John of England in 1215; represented principle of mutual limits and obligations between rulers and feudal aristocracy, and the supremacy of law | 49 | |
11666892170 | Parliaments | bodies representing privileged groups; institutionalized the principle that kings ruled with the advice and consent of their subjects | 50 | |
11666892171 | Hundred Years War | conflict between England and France over territory (1337-1453) Established a since of Nationalism with each country. Joan of Arc united the French and promoted French patriotism. | 51 | |
11666892172 | Pope Urban II | organized the first Crusade in 1095; appealed to Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim control | 52 | |
11666892173 | Scholasticism | dominant medieval philosophical approach; so-called because of its base in the schools or universities; based on use of logic to resolve theological problems | 53 | |
11666892174 | Hanseatic League | an organization of north German and Scandinavian cities for the purpose of establishing a commercial alliance | 54 | |
11666892175 | Guilds | associations of workers in the same occupation in a single city; stressed security and mutual control; limited membership, regulated apprenticeships, guaranteed good workmanship; held a privileged place in cities | 55 | |
11666892176 | Black Death | bubonic plague that struck Europe in the 14th c; significantly reduced Europe's population; affected social structure; decimated populations in Asia | 56 | |
11666892177 | Mahayana Buddhism | emphasized salvationist aspects of Chinese Buddhism; popular among the masses in East Asia | 57 | |
11666892178 | Southern Song | smaller surviving dynasty (1127-1279); presided over one of the greatest cultural reigns in world history. Fell to the Mongols in 1276 and eventually taken over in 1279. | 58 | |
11666892179 | Grand Canal | great canal system begun by Yangdi; joined Yellow River region to the Yangtze basin | 59 | |
11666892180 | Junks | Chinese ships equipped with watertight bulkheads, stern-post rudders, compasses, and bamboo fenders; dominant force in Asian seas east of the Malayan peninsula | 60 | |
11666892181 | 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 | 61 | |
11666892182 | Footbinding | 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; seen a beautiful to the elite. | 62 | |
11666892183 | Taika reforms | attempt to remake Japanese monarch into an absolutist Chinese-style emperor; included attempts to create professional bureaucracy and peasant conscript army | 63 | |
11666892184 | Bushi | regional warrior leaders in Japan; ruled small kingdoms from fortresses; administered the law, supervised public works projects, and collected revenues; built up private armies | 64 | |
11666892185 | Samurai | mounted troops of the bushi; loyal to local lords, daimyo, not the emperor | 65 | |
11666892186 | Shoguns | military leaders of the bakufu | 66 | |
11666892187 | Daimyos | warlord rulers of small states following Onin war and disruption of Ashikaga shogunate; holding consolidated into unified and bounded mini-states | 67 | |
11666892188 | Sinification/sinicization | extensive adaptation of Chinese culture in other regions | 68 | |
11666892189 | Yi | dynasty (1392-1910); succeeded Koryo dynasty after Mongol invasions; restored aristocratic dominance and Chinese influence | 69 | |
11666892190 | Chinggis Khan | born in 1170s; elected supreme Mongol ruler (khagan) in 1206; began the Mongols rise to world power; died 1227 | 70 | |
11666892191 | Shamanistic religion | Mongol beliefs focused on nature spirits | 71 | |
11666892192 | Golden Horde | one of four regional subdivisions of the Mongol Empire after death of Chinggis Khan; conquered and ruled Russua during the 13th and 14th c | 72 | |
11666892193 | Ilkhan khanate | one of four regional subdivisions of the Mongol empire after the death of Chinggis Khan; eventually included much of former Abbasid empire | 73 | |
11666892194 | Mamluks | Muslim slave warriors; established dynasty in Egypt; led by Baibars defeated Mongols in 1260 | 74 | |
11666892195 | Kubilai Khan | grandson of Chinggis Khan; conquered China; established Yuan dynasty in 1271 | 75 | |
11666892196 | Ottoman Empire | Turkish empire established in Asia Minor and eventually extending through the Middle East and the Balkans; conquered Constantinople in 1453 and ended Byzantine Empire | 76 | |
11666892197 | Champa Rice | tributary gift from Vietnam to China, led to population increase | 77 | |
11666892198 | Diasporic communities | merchant communities that introduced their own cultures into other areas | 78 | |
11666892199 | Trans Saharan trade | Dominated my Muslims in 13th century after rise of Islamic caliphates.. | ![]() | 79 |
11666892200 | Tang Dynasty | followed Sui, expansionist, established tributary states in Vietnam and Korea, influence Japan, Established strong Buddhist and Confucian presence | 80 | |
11666892201 | Novgorod, Constantinople, Timbuktu | Cities that rose during this time due to increased trade | 81 | |
11666892202 | Timbuktu | trade center of Mali, cosmopolitan city that saw the blending of many different cultures and people | 82 | |
11666892203 | Marco Polo | traveler/merchant from Europe who spend 17 years at court of Kublai Khan | 83 | |
11666892204 | Ibn Batuta | Mohammedan who described travels to Mecca and Far East | 84 |