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| 12174421794 | monsoon | Seasonal winds in the Indian Ocean caused by the differences in temperature between the rapidly heating and cooling landmasses of Africa and Asia and the slowly changing ocean waters. These strong and predictable winds have long been ridden across the open sea by sailors, and the large amounts of rainfall that they deposit on parts of India, Southeast Asia, and China allow for the cultivation of several crops a year. | 0 | |
| 12174421795 | vedas | Early Indian sacred 'knowledge'-the literal meaning of the term-long preserved and communicated orally by Brahmin priests and eventually written down. | 1 | |
| 12174425756 | varna | The four major social divisions in India's caste system: the Brahmin priest class, the Kshatriya warrior/administrator class, the Vaishya merchant/farmer class, and the Shudra laborer class. | 2 | |
| 12174425757 | jati | Regional groups of people who have a common occupational sphere and who marry, eat, and generally interact with other members of their group. | 3 | |
| 12174425758 | karma | In Indian tradition, the residue of deeds performed in past and present lives that adheres to a 'spirit' and determines what form it will assume in its next life cycle. Used in India to make people happy with their lot in life. | 4 | |
| 12174429867 | moksha | The Hindu concept of the spirit's 'liberation' from the endless cycle of rebirths. | 5 | |
| 12174429868 | Buddha | An Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama, who renounced his wealth and social position. After becoming 'enlightened' (the meaning of Buddha) he enunciated the principles of Buddhism. (180) | 6 | |
| 12174434670 | Mahayana Buddhism | "Great Vehicle" branch of Buddhism followed in China, Japan, and Central Asia. The focus is on reverence for Buddha and for bodhisattvas, enlightened persons who have postponed nirvana to help others attain enlightenment. | 7 | |
| 12174434671 | Theravada Buddhism | "Way of the Elders" branch of Buddhism followed in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. Theravada remains close to the original principles set forth by the Buddha; it downplays the importance of gods and emphasizes austerity and the individual's search for enlightenment. | 8 | |
| 12174443161 | Hinduism | A general term for a wide variety of beliefs and ritual practices that have developed in the Indian subcontinent since antiquity. Hinduism has roots in ancient Vedic, Buddhist, and south Indian religious concepts and practices. It spread along the trade routes to Southeast Asia. | 9 | |
| 12174447330 | Mauryan Empire | The first state to unify most of the Indian subcontinent. It was founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 324 B.C.E. and survived until 184 B.C.E. From its capital at Pataliputra in the Ganges Valley it grew wealthy from taxes. | 10 | |
| 12174447331 | Ashoka | Third ruler of the Mauryan Empire in India (r. 270-232 B.C.E.). He converted to Buddhism and broadcast his precepts on inscribed stones and pillars, the earliest surviving Indian writing. (p. 184) | 11 | |
| 12174452856 | Mahabharata | A vast epic chronicling the events leading up to a cataclysmic battle between related kinship groups in early India. It includes the Bhagavad-Gita, the most important work of Indian sacred literature. Mahayana Buddhism,Branch of Buddhism followed in China, Japan, and Central Asia. The focus is on reverence for Buddha and for bodhisattvas, enlightened persons who have postponed nirvana to help others attain enlightenment. | 12 | |
| 12174452857 | Bhagavad-Gita | The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit. | 13 | |
| 12174456452 | Tamil kingdoms | The kingdoms of southern India, inhabited primarily by speakers of Dravidian languages, which developed in partial isolation, and somewhat differently, from the Aryan north. | 14 | |
| 12174456453 | Gupta Empire | Powerful Indian state based, like its Mauryan predecessor, in the Ganges Valley. It controlled most of the Indian subcontinent through a combination of military force and its prestige as a center of sophisticated culture. | 15 | |
| 12174460122 | theater-state | Historians' term for a state that acquires prestige and power by developing attractive cultural forms and staging elaborate public ceremonies (as well as redistributing valuable resources) to attract and bind subjects to the center. Examples include the Gupta Empire in India and Srivijaya in Southeast Asia. | 16 | |
| 12174460123 | Malay peoples | A designation for peoples originating in south China and Southeast Asia who settled the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, and the Philippines, then spread eastward across the islands of the Pacific Ocean and west to Madagascar. (p. 190) | 17 | |
| 12174460124 | Funan | An early complex society in Southeast Asia between the first and sixth centuries C.E. It was centered in the rich rice-growing region of southern Vietnam, and it controlled the passage of trade across the Malaysian isthmus. | 18 | |
| 12174471500 | Silk Road | Caravan routes connecting China and the Middle East across Central Asia and Iran. | 19 | |
| 12174471501 | Parthians | Iranian ruling dynasty between ca. 250 B.C.E. and 226 C.E. | 20 | |
| 12174471502 | Sasanid Empire | Iranian empire, established ca. 226, with a capital in Ctesiphon, Mesopotamia. The Sasanid emperors established Zoroastrianism as the state religion. Islamic Arab armies overthrew the empire ca. 640. (p. 225) | 21 | |
| 12174476963 | stirrup | device for securing a horseman's feet, enabling him to wield weapons more effectively. First evidence of the use of stirrups was among the Kushan people of northern Afghanistan in approximately the first century C.E. | 22 | |
| 12174476964 | Indian Ocean Maritime System | In premodern times, a network of seaports, trade routes, and maritime culture linking countries on the rim of the Indian Ocean from Africa to Indonesia. | 23 | |
| 12174483142 | trans-Saharan caravan routes | Trading network linking North Africa with sub-Saharan Africa across the Sahara. | 24 | |
| 12174483143 | Sahel | Belt south of the Sahara where it transitions into savanna across central Africa. It means literally 'coastland' in Arabic. | 25 | |
| 12174486910 | sub-Saharan Africa | Portion of the African continent lying south of the Sahara. | 26 | |
| 12174486911 | steppes | Treeless plains, especially the high, flat expanses of northern Eurasia, which usually have little rain and are covered with coarse grass. They are good lands for nomads and their herds. Good for breeding horses: essential to Mongol military. | 27 | |
| 12174486912 | savanna | Tropical or subtropical grassland, either treeless or with occasional clumps of trees. Most extensive in sub-Saharan Africa but also present in South America. | 28 | |
| 12174491814 | tropical rain forest | High-precipitation forest zones of the Americas, Africa, and Asia lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. | 29 | |
| 12174491815 | "great traditions" | Historians' term for a literate, well-institutionalized complex of religious and social beliefs and practices adhered to by diverse societies over a broad geographical area. | 30 | |
| 12174496507 | "small traditions" | Historians' term for a localized, usually non-literate, set of customs and beliefs adhered to by a single society, often in conjunction with a "great tradition" | 31 | |
| 12174496508 | Bantu | Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages. | 32 | |
| 12174496509 | Armenia | One of the earliest Christian kingdoms, situated in eastern Anatolia (east of Turkey today) and the western Caucasus and occupied by speakers of the Armenian language. | 33 | |
| 12174501485 | Ethiopia | East African highland nation lying east of the Nile River. | 34 | |
| 12174506454 | Shi'ites | Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that God vests leadership of the community in a descendant of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali. Shi'ism is the state religion of Iran. | 35 | |
| 12174506455 | Sunnis | Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries. | 36 | |
| 12174506456 | Mecca | City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion. | 37 | |
| 12174512227 | Muhammad | Arab prophet; founder of religion of Islam. | 38 | |
| 12174512228 | muslim | An adherent of the Islamic religion; a person who 'submits' (in Arabic, Islam means 'submission') to the will of God. | 39 | |
| 12174512229 | Islam | Religion expounded by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632 C.E.) on the basis of his reception of divine revelations, which were collected after his death into the Quran. This religion calls on all people to to recognize one creator--Allah--who rewards or punishes believers after death according to how they led their lives | 40 | |
| 12174512230 | Medina | City in western Arabia to which the Prophet Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622 to escape persecution in Mecca. | 41 | |
| 12174516003 | umma | The community of all Muslims. A major innovation against the background of seventh-century Arabia, where traditionally kinship rather than faith had determined membership in a community. | 42 | |
| 12174516004 | caliphate | Office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad, to rule the Islamic empire; also the name of that empire. | 43 | |
| 12174520362 | Quran | Book composed of divine revelations made to the Prophet Muhammad between ca. 610 and his death in 632; the sacred text of the religion of Islam. | 44 | |
| 12174520363 | Umayyad caliphate | First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs (661 to 750). From their capital at Damascus, the Umayyads ruled one of the largest empires in history that extended from Spain to India. Overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate. | 45 | |
| 12174524560 | Abbasid Caliphate | Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's uncle, al-Abbas, they overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital in Baghdad (founded 762) from 750 to 1258. | 46 | |
| 12174524561 | mamluks | Under the Islamic system of military slavery, Turkic military slaves who formed an important part of the armed forces of the Abbasid Caliphate of the ninth and tenth centuries. Mamluks eventually founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria (1250-1517) | 47 | |
| 12174524562 | Ghana | First known kingdom in sub-Saharan West Africa between the sixth and thirteenth centuries C.E. Also the modern West African country once known as the Gold Coast. gold and salt trade. | 48 | |
| 12174529003 | ulama | Muslim religious scholars. From the ninth century onward, the primary interpreters of Islamic law and the social core of Muslim urban societies. (p. 238) | 49 | |
| 12174529004 | hadith | A tradition relating the words or deeds of the Prophet Muhammad; next to the Quran, the most important basis for Islamic law. | 50 | |
| 12174536223 | Charlemagne | King of the Franks (r. 768-814); emperor (r. 800-814). Through a series of military conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Illiterate, though started an intellectual revival. | 51 | |
| 12174536224 | medieval | Literally 'middle age,' a term that historians of Europe use for the period between roughly 500 and 1400, signifying the period between Greco-Roman antiquity and the Renaissance. | 52 | |
| 12174539956 | Byzantine Empire | Historians' name for the eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from 'Byzantion,' an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453. | 53 | |
| 12174539957 | Kievan Russia | State established at Kiev in Ukraine ca. 879 by Scandinavian adventurers asserting authority over a mostly Slavic farming population. (p. 267) | 54 | |
| 12174539958 | schism | (n.) a formal split within a religious organization; any division or separation of a group or organization into hostile factions | 55 | |
| 12174544500 | manor | In medieval Europe, a large, self-sufficient landholding consisting of the lord's residence (manor house), outbuildings, peasant village, and surrounding land. | 56 | |
| 12174544501 | serf | In medieval Europe, an agricultural laborer legally bound to a lord's property and obligated to perform set services for the lord. In Russia some of them worked as artisans and in factories; in Russia it was not abolished until 1861. | 57 | |
| 12174544502 | fief | in medieval europe, land granted in return for a sworn oath to provide military service | 58 | |
| 12174549967 | vassal | In medieval Europe, a sworn supporter of a king or lord committed to rendering specified military service to that king or lord, usually in exchange for the use of land. | 59 | |
| 12174549968 | papacy | The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head. | 60 | |
| 12174549969 | Holy Roman Empire | Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by the princes. It lasted from 962 to 1806. | 61 | |
| 12174555876 | investiture controversy | Dispute between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors over who held ultimate authority over bishops in imperial lands. | 62 | |
| 12174555877 | monasticism | Living in a religious community apart from secular society and adhering to a rule stipulating chastity, obedience, and poverty. (Primary Centers of Learning in Medieval Europe) | 63 | |
| 12174560207 | horse collar | Harnessing method that increased the efficiency of horses by shifting the point of traction from the animal's neck to the shoulders; its adoption favors the spread of horse-drawn plows and vehicles. | 64 | |
| 12174560208 | Crusades | Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The Crusades brought an end to western Europe's centuries of intellectual and cultural isolation. | 65 | |
| 12174563908 | pilgrimage | journey to a sacred shrine by Christians seeking to show their piety, fulfill vows, or gain absolution from sins. Other religions also have similar traditions, such as the Muslim tradition to Mecca and the ones done by early Chinese Buddhists to India in search of sacred Buddhist writings | 66 | |
| 12174578275 | Li Shimin | One of the founders of the Tang Empire and its second emperor (r. 626-649). He led the expansion of the empire into Central Asia. | 67 | |
| 12174578276 | Tang Empire | Empire unifying China and part of Central Asia, founded 618 and ended 907. The Tang emperors presided over a magnificent court at their capital, Chang'an. | 68 | |
| 12174578277 | Grand Canal | The 1,100-mile (1,700-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire. | 69 | |
| 12174583194 | tributary system | A system in which, from the time of the Han Empire, countries in East and Southeast Asia not under the direct control of empires based in China nevertheless enrolled as tributary states, acknowledging the superiority of the emperors in China. | 70 | |
| 12174583195 | bubonic plague | A bacterial disease of fleas that can be transmitted by flea bites to rodents and humans; humans in late stages of the illness can spread the bacteria by coughing. High mortality rate and hard to contain. Disastrous. (280) | 71 | |
| 12174587542 | Uighurs | A group of Turkic-speakers who controlled their own centralized empire from 744 to 840 in Mongolia and Central Asia. | 72 | |
| 12174587543 | Tibet | Country centered on the high, mountain-bounded plateau north of India. Tibetan political power occasionally extended farther to the north and west between the seventh and thirteen centuries. | 73 | |
| 12174587544 | Song Empire | Empire in central and southern China (960-1126) while the Liao people controlled the north. Empire in southern China (1127-1279; the "Southern Song") while the Jin people controlled the north. Distinguished for its advances in technology, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. | 74 | |
| 12174591608 | junk | A very large flatbottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel. | 75 | |
| 12174591609 | gunpowder | A mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, in various proportions. The formula, brought to China in the 400s or 500s, was first used to make fumigators to keep away insect pests and evil spirits. In later centuries it was used to make explosives and grenades and to propel cannonballs, shot, and bullets | 76 | |
| 12174599112 | neo-confucianism | Term used to describe new approaches to understanding classic Confucian texts that became the basic ruling philosophy of China from the Song period to the twentieth century. | 77 | |
| 12174599113 | zen | The Japanese word for a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on highly disciplined meditation. | 78 | |
| 12174599114 | movable type | Type in which each individual character is cast on a separate piece of metal. It replaced woodblock printing, allowing for the arrangement of individual letters and other characters on a page. Invented in Korea 13th Century. | 79 | |
| 12174602761 | Koryo | Korean kingdom founded in 918 and destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1259. | 80 | |
| 12174602762 | Fujiwara | Aristocratic family that dominated the Japanese imperial court between the ninth and twelfth centuries. | 81 | |
| 12174607698 | Kamakura Shogunate | The first of Japan's decentralized military governments. (1185-1333). | 82 | |
| 12174617471 | champa rice | Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced into Champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state (as part of the tributary system.) | 83 |
