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| 215534517 | monsoon | a seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia caused by the differences in temperatures between the rapidly heating and cooling landmasses of Africa and Asia | 0 | |
| 215534518 | 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. | 1 | |
| 215534519 | Therevada Buddhism | "Way of the Elders" branch of Buddhism followed in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia | 2 | |
| 215534520 | 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. | 3 | |
| 215534521 | theater state | 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. | 4 | |
| 215534522 | 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. | 5 | |
| 215534523 | Trans-Saharan Caravan Route | The trade route in Africa that connected central Africa with its northern and eastern ends. It connected the various cultures dotted throughout Africa as well as the Roman society. | 6 | |
| 215534524 | Sub-Saharan Africa | The region south of the Sahara Desert in Africa; includes some of the world's richest deposits of minerals, yet still remains one of the largest regions of undeveloped natural resources in the world. | 7 | |
| 215534525 | "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" | 8 | |
| 215534526 | 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. | 9 | |
| 215534527 | Vedas | Early Indian sacred 'knowledge'-the literal meaning of the term-long preserved and communicated orally by Brahmin priests and eventually written down. | 10 | |
| 216448179 | Moksha | The Hindu concept of the spirit's 'liberation' from the endless cycle of rebirths. | 11 | |
| 216448180 | Hinduism | 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. | 12 | |
| 223804624 | Bhagaved-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 | |
| 223143581 | 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. | 14 | |
| 223804625 | 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. | 15 | |
| 223804626 | 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. | 16 | |
| 223804627 | Bantu | Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages. | 17 | |
| 223143582 | Varna | (Hinduism) the name for the original social division of Vedic people into four groups (which are subdivided into thousands of jatis) | 18 | |
| 223143583 | 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. | 19 | |
| 223143584 | 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. | 20 | |
| 223804628 | Silk Road | Caravan routes connecting China and the Middle East across Central Asia and Iran. | 21 | |
| 223143585 | 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. | 22 | |
| 223143588 | Sahel | a strip of dry grasslands on the southern border of the Sahara; also known as "the shore of the desert" | 23 | |
| 223804629 | Tropical Rain Forest | High-precipitation forest zones of the Americas, Africa, and Asia lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. | 24 | |
| 223143586 | Armenia | One of the earliest Christian kingdoms, situated in eastern Anatolia and the western Caucasus and occupied by speakers of the Armenian language. | 25 | |
| 223143587 | Jati | (Hinduism) a Hindu caste or distinctive social group of which there are thousands throughout India | 26 | |
| 223804630 | 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. | 27 | |
| 223143589 | 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. | 28 | |
| 223143590 | Gupta Empire | Powerful Indian state based, like its Mauryan predecessor, on a capital at Pataliputra 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 | 29 | |
| 223804631 | Parthians | Iranian ruling dynasty between ca. 250 B.C.E. and 226 C.E. | 30 | |
| 223804632 | 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. Living here promoted the breeding of horses and the development of military skills that were essential to the rise of the Mongol Empire | 31 | |
| 223804633 | "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 | 32 | |
| 223804634 | Ethiopia | East African highland nation lying east of the Nile River. | 33 | |
| 223804635 | Tibetan Buddhism | a Buddhist doctrine that includes elements from India that are not Buddhist and elements of preexisting shamanism | 34 |
