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| City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and ritual center of the Islamic Religion. | ||
| Arab prophet; founder of religion of Islam. | ||
| An adherent of the Islamic religion; a person who "submits" (in Arabic, Islam means "submission") to the will of God. | ||
| Religion expounded by the Prophet Muhammad on the basis of his reception of divine revelations, which were collected after his death into the Quran. In the tradition of Judaism and Christianity, and sharing much of their lore, Islam calls on all people to recognize one creator God - Allah - who rewards or punishes believers after death according to how they led their lives. | ||
| City in western Arabia to which the Prophet Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622 to escape persecution in Mecca. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad, to rule the Islamic empire; also the name of that empire. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
| First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs (661 to 750). From their capital at Damascus, the Umayyads ruled an empire that extended from Spain to India. Overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate. | ||
| Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries. | ||
| Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's uncle, Al-Abbas, the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital in Baghdad (founded 762) from 750 to 1258. | ||
| 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). | ||
| 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. | ||
| Muslim religious scholars. From the ninth century onward, the primary interpreters of Islamic law and the social core of Muslin urban societies. | ||
| A tradition relating the words or deeds of the Prophet Muhammad; next to the Quran, the most important basis for Islamic law. | ||
| 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. Though illiterate himself, he sponsored a brief intellectual revival. | ||
| Literally "middle age," a term that historians of Europe use for the period ca. 500 to ca. 1500, signifying its intermediate point between Greco-Roman antiquity and the Renaissance. | ||
| Historians' name for the eastern portion of the Roman empire from the fourth century onward, taken from "Byzantium," an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453. | ||
| State established at Kiev in Ukraine ca. 880 by Scandinavian adventurers asserting authority over a mostly Slavic farming population. | ||
| A formal split within a religious community. | ||
| In medieval Europe, a large, self-sufficient landholding consisting of the lord's residence (manor house), outbuildings, peasant village, and surrounding land. | ||
| In medieval Europe, an agricultural laborer legally bound to a lord's property and obligated to perform set services for the lord. | ||
| In medieval Europe, land granted in return for a sworn oath to provide specified military service. | ||
| In medieval Europe, a sworn supporter of a king or lord committed to rendering specified military service to that king or lord. | ||
| The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head. | ||
| Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by the princes. It lasted from 962 to 1806. | ||
| Dispute between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors over who held ultimate authority over bishops in imperial lands. | ||
| Living in a religious community apart from secular society and adhering to a rule stipulating chastity, obedience, and poverty. It was a prominent element of medieval Christianity and Buddhism. Monasteries were the primary centers of learning and literacy in medieval Europe. | ||
| 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. | ||
| (1095-1204) 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. | ||
| Journey to a sacred shrine by Christians seeking to show their piety, fulfill vows, or gain absolution for sins. Other religions also have pilgrimage traditions, such as the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and the pilgrimages made by early Chinese Buddhists to India in search of sacred Buddhist writings. | ||
| The 1,110-mile (1,771-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire. | ||
| One of the founders of the Tang Empire and its second emperor (r. 626-249). He led the expansion of the empire into Central Asia. | ||
| Empire unifying China and part of Central Asia, founded 618 and ended in 907. The Tang emperors presided over a magnificent court at their capital, Chang'an. | ||
| 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 in exchange for trading rights or strategic alliances. | ||
| 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. | ||
| A very large flat-bottom sailing ship produced in the Tang, Song, and Ming Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Term used to describe new approaches to understanding the classic Confucian texts that became the basic ruling philosophy of China from the Song period to the twentieth century. | ||
| The Japanese word for a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on highly disciplined meditation. It is known in Sanskrit as dhyana, in Chinese as chan, and in Korean as son. | ||
| 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, rather than requiring the carving of entire pages at a time. It may have been invented in Korea in the thirteenth century. | ||
| The practice of identifying special individuals (shamans) who will interact with spirits for the benefit of the community. Characteristic of the Korean kingdoms of the early medieval period and of early societies of Central Asia. | ||
| Korean kingdom founded in 918 and destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1259. | ||
| Aristocratic family that dominated the Japanese imperial court between the ninth and twelfth centuries. | ||
| The first of Japan's decentralized military governments (1185-1333). | ||
| Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced into the Champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state. | ||
| A state based on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, between the seventh and eleventh centuries C.E. It amassed wealth and power by a combination of selective adaptation of Indian technologies and concepts, control of the lucrative trade routes between India and China, and skillful showmanship and diplomacy in holding together a disparate realm of inland and coastal territories. | ||
| A powerful city-state in central Mexico (100 B.C.E. - 750 C.E.). Its population was about 150,000 at its peak in 600. | ||
| Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields. | ||
| Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar. | ||
| Powerful post-classic empire in central Mexico (900-1175 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs claimed ties to this earlier civilization. | ||
| An ethnic state in ancient Mesoamerica, the common political building block of that region. | ||
| A group of up to a hundred families that served as a social building block of an altepetl in ancient Mesoamerica. | ||
| Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of the Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins. | ||
| Also known as Mexica, the Aztecs created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax. | ||
| A system in which defeated peoples were forced to pay a tax in the form of goods and labor. This forced transfer of food, cloth, and other goods subsidized the development of larger cities. An important component of the Aztec and Inca economies. | ||
| Important culture of what is now the southwest United States (700-1300 C.E.). Centered on Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Mesa Verde in Colorado, the Anasazi culture built multistory residences and worshiped in subterranean buildings called kivas. | ||
| Form of political organization with rule by a hereditary leader who held power over a collection of villages and towns. Less powerful than kingdoms and empires, chiefdoms were based on gift giving and commercial links. | ||
| Andean lineage group or kin-based community. | ||
| Andean labor system based on shared obligations to help kinsmen and work on behalf of the ruler and religious organizations. | ||
| Civilization of north coast of Peru (200-700 C.E.). An important Andean civilization that built extensive irrigation networks as well as impressive urban centers dominated by brick temples. | ||
| Andean civilization culturally linked to Tiwanaku, perhaps beginning as a colony of Tiwanaku. | ||
| Name of capital city and empire centered on the region near Lake Titicaca in modern Bolivia (375-1000 C.E.). | ||
| Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile from its capital of Cuzco. | ||
| System of knotted colored cords used by the preliterate Andean peoples to transmit information. | ||
| A people of this name is mentioned as early as the records of the Tang Empire, living as nomads in northern Eurasia. After 1206 they established an enormous empire under Genghis Khan, linking western and eastern Eurasia. | ||
| The title of Temüjin when he ruled the Mongols (1206-1227). It means the "oceanic" or "universal leader." Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire. | ||
| A way of life, forced by the scarcity of resources, in which groups of people continually migrate to find pastures and water. | ||
| Empire created in China and Siberia by Khubilai Khan. | ||
| 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. Because of its very high mortality rate and the difficulty of preventing its spread, major outbreaks have created crises in many parts of the world. | ||
| A "secondary" or "peripheral" khan based in Persia. The Il-Khans' khan-ate was founded by Hülegü, a grandson of Genghis Khan, and was based at Tabriz in the Iranian province of Azerbaijan. It controlled much of Iran and Iraq. | ||
| Mongol khan-ate founded by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu. It was based in southern Russia and quickly adopted both the Turkic language and Islam. Also known as the Kipchak Horde. | ||
| Member of a prominent family of the Mongols' Jagadai Khanate, Timur through conquest gained control over much of Central Asia and Iran. He consolidated that status of Sunni Islam as orthodox, and his descendants, the Timurids, maintained his empire for nearly a century and founded the Mughal Empire in India. | ||
| Adviser to the Il-Khan ruler Ghazan, who converted to Islam on Rashid's advice. | ||
| Persian mathematician and cosmetologist whose academy near Tabriz provided the model for the movement of the planets that helped to inspire the Copernican model of the solar system. | ||
| Prince of Novgorod (r. 1236-1263). He submitted to the invading Mongols in 1240 and received recognition as the leader of the Russian princes under the Golden Horde. | ||
| From Latin caesar, this Russian title for a monarch was first used in reference to a Russian ruler by Ivan III (r. 1462-1505). | ||
| Islamic state founded by Osman in northwestern Anatolia ca. 1300. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire was based at Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) from 1453 to 1922. It encompassed lands in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, and eastern Europe. | ||
| Last of the Mongol Great Khans (r. 1260-1294) and founder of the Yuan Empire. | ||
| In Tibetan Buddhism, a teacher. | ||
| China's northern capital, first used as an imperial capital in 906 and now the capital of the People's Republic of China. | ||
| Empire based in China that Zhu Yuanzhang established after the overthrow of the Yuan Empire. The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He. The later years of the Ming saw a slow a slowdown in technological development and economic decline. | ||
| The third emperor of the Ming Empire (r. 1403-1424). He sponsored the building of the Forbidden City, a huge encyclopedia project, the expeditions of Zheng He, and the reopening of China's borders to trade and travel. | ||
| An imperial eunuch and Muslim, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa. | ||
| The Yi Dynasty ruled Korea from the fall of the Koryo kingdom to the colonization of Korea by Japan. | ||
| The "divine wind," which the Japanese credited with blowing Mongol invaders away from their shores in 1281. | ||
| The second of Japan's military governments headed by a shogun (a military ruler). Sometimes called the Muromachi Shogunate. | ||
| Equatorial region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. It is characterized by generally warm or hot temperatures year-round, though much variation exists due to altitude and other factors. Temperate zones north and south of the tropics generally have a winter season. | ||
| Seasonal winds in the Indian Ocean caused by the differences in temperature between the rapidly heating and cooling land masses 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. | ||
| Centralized Indian empire of varying extent, created by Muslim invaders. | ||
| Empire created by indigenous Muslims in western Sudan of West Africa from the thirteenth to fifteenth century. It was famous for its role in the trans-Saharan gold trade. | ||
| Ruler of the Mali (r. 1312-1337). His pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecca in 1324-1325 established the empire's reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean world. | ||
| Region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing; the inhabitants are called Gujaratis. | ||
| Characteristic cargo and passenger ships of the Arabian Sea. | ||
| East African shores of the Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and the Zambezi River; from the Arabic sawahil, meaning "shores." | ||
| City, now in ruins (in the modern African country of Zimbabwe), whose many stone structures were built between about 1250 and 1450, when it was a trading center and the capital of a large state. | ||
| Port city in the modern south Arabian country of Yemen. It has been a major trading center in the Indian Ocean since ancient times. | ||
| Port city in the modern Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, founded about 1400 as a trading center on the Strait of Malacca. | ||
| A Persian-influenced literary form of Hindu written in Arabic characters and used as a literary language since the 1300s. | ||
| City on the Niger River in the modern country of Mali. It was founded by the Tuareg as a seasonal camp sometime after 1000. As a part of the Mali Empire, Timbuktu became a major terminus of the trans-Saharan trade and a center of Islamic learning. |
