Honors World History Review
Order by
128 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 General Zhang Jian | This Chinese General is credited with discovering the trade routes for China that began the Silk Road; introduced foreign products, such as alfalfa and wine grapes to China |
| Camphor | A substance made of tree bark that keeps moths and insects away |
| Greek Fire | Byzantine weapon consisting of mixture of chemicals that ignited when exposed to water; utilized to drive back Arab fleets that attacked Constantinople |
| Monsoon Winds | Seasonal wind in India, the winter brings hot, dry weather and the summer brings rain |
| The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea | Directions for sailors; gave ship owners an idea of what they would encounter in the Indian Ocean and Africa |
| The Sahel | A strip of dry grasslands on the southern border of the Sahara; also known as "the shore of the desert" |
| Berber | Cluster of related dialects that were once the major language of northern Africa, west of Egypt |
| King Ashoka of India | Third ruler of the Mauryan Empire in India; he converted to Buddhism and broadcast his precepts on inscribed stones and pillars |
| Jainism | Religion that branched off from Hinduism and was founded by Mahavira; its belief is that everything has a soul, and its purpose was to cleanse the soul |
| Sikhism | Monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nanak; combining elements of both Hinduism and Islam |
| Zoroastrianism | Persian religion that taught that humans had the freedom to choose between right and wrong, and that goodness would triumph in the end |
| Nestorian Christians | Early branch of Christianity, emphasized the human nature of Jesus Christ |
| Manichaeism | Religion formed with a combination of Christianity, Zoroastriaism, Buddhism, and Judaism |
| Mecca | City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion |
| Ka'ba | Stone cubical structure in the courtyard of the Great Mosque of Mecca, believed to have been built by Abraham and regarded by Muslims as the sacred center of the earth |
| Shaitan | A rebellious invisible spirit who leads men astray according to Islamic beliefs |
| Jinni | An invisible spirit mentioned in the Koran and believed by Muslims to inhabit the earth and influence mankind by appearing in the form of humans or animals |
| Muslim | A follower of Islam, means "one who has submitted" |
| Islam | The religion practiced by Muslims; means "submission to the will of God" |
| Hijra | The Migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622, marking the founding of Islam |
| Medina | City in western Arabia to which the Prophet Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622 to escape persecution in Mecca |
| Jihad | The obligation of Muslims to struggle or exert themselves "in the way of God" |
| Umma | Community of the faithful within Islam; transcended old tribal boundaries to create degree of political unity |
| Caliph | A supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government |
| Abu Bakr | One of Muhammad's earliest converts; succeeded Muhammad as first caliph of Islamic community |
| Khadija | Muhammad's wife; a wealthy widow who ran a prosperous caravan business |
| Eightfold Path | In Buddhism, the basic rules of behavior and belief leading to an end of suffering |
| Four Noble Truths | The central teachings of Buddhism; to live is to suffer; suffering is caused by desire; the cessation of suffering can be achieved |
| Five Pillars | Beliefs that all Muslims needed to carry out: Faith, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage |
| The Hadith | An Islamic tradition based on reports of the sayings and activities of Muhammad and his companions |
| The Quran | The transcription of Muhammad's revelations from the angel Gabriel; holy book of Islam |
| 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 |
| Sunnis | Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership |
| Sufis | A mystical Muslim group that believed they could draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, and a simple life |
| Mobad | Title of a Zoroastrian priest during the Sasanid Period |
| Hadj | A pilgrimage to Mecca, made as an objective of the religious life of a Muslim |
| Battle of Camel | The first major battle between Shi'ites and Sunnis; over the legitimacy of Ali as Muhammad's successor |
| Husayn | Grandson of Muhammad and son of Ali; he was martyred when refused to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad Caliphate; his martyrdom marks the beginning of the sect of Shi'ism |
| Yazid | Mu'waiya's son and successor; believed to have stolen the caliphate and not be a good Muslim; founder of the Umayyad Caliphate |
| Hasan | Son of Ali Bakr who took over his father's position but was pressured by the Umayyads into renouncing his claims |
| Uthman | The third caliph and member of Umayyad clan; murdered by mutinous warriors returning from Egypt; death set off civil war in Islam between followers of Ali and the Umayyad clan. |
| Buyid Family | Persian family who sacks Baghdad and turns the caliph into a puppet figure, having the sultan rule |
| al-Andulus | Islamic Spain organized under the civil and religious leadership of the caliph of Damascus |
| Ulama | Muslim religious scholars; primary interpreters of Islamic law and the social core of Muslim urban societies |
| Shari'a | The code of law derived from the Quran and from the teachings of Mohammed |
| Kurdish | An Iranian language spoken in Turkey and Iran and Iraq and Syria and Russia |
| Sufism | Islamic mysticism that teaches that people can find gods love by having a personal relationship with god |
| Schism | A formal split within a religious organization; any division or separation of a group or organization into hostile factions |
| Arianism | Early teaching of the church; heretical by saying that Jesus was not God, rather he was created by God |
| Council of Nicaea | Christian council that met in 325 to determine the question of the trinity; decided on the divinity of all three persons |
| Council of Trent | Christian council called by Pope Paul III to reform the church and secure reconciliation with the Protestants |
| Council of Constance | Council set on ending the Great Schism - forced all popes to resign, and elected a new one |
| Great Schism | A period of division in the Roman Catholic Church, 1378-1417, over papal succession, during which there were two claimants to the papal office |
| Monophysitism | Heresy claiming that there is only one nature in Christ and that His human nature is "incorporated" into the Divine Nature |
| Plague of Justinian | Disease similar to bubonic plague, that hit in the later years of Justinian's reign; contributed to the fall of the Byzantine Empire |
| Hagia Sophia | Eastern Orthodox Church built under the orders of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I; considered one of the most perfect buildings in the world |
| Alexius Comnenus | Emperor who conceived a new plan to save his lands by appealing to the Roman church to drive out the infidels; leading to the First Crusade |
| Slavs | Group of people in southeastern Europe who were the same ethnic group as the Russians |
| Charles Martel | Carolingian monarch of Franks; responsible for defeating Muslims in battle of Tours in 732; ended Muslim threat to western Europe |
| Serfs | The poorest members of society; peasants who worked the lord's land in exchange for protection |
| Fief | Land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for loyalty and service |
| Investiture Controversy | Struggle between popes and kings regarding control of offices or appointments |
| Straits of Gibraltar | These waterways separate Africa and Europe, and link the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean |
| Cluny | City in east-central France which gave birth to monastic reform in 910; the first abbey began with twelve monks committed to renewing the rule of St. Benedict. |
| Rule of Benedict | Rule book or guide for monastic life that was used by monastic communities throughout Western Europe |
| Vladimir I | Ruler of Russian kingdom of Kiev from 980 to 1015; converted kingdom to Christianity |
| Council of Clermont | A meeting that took place in 1095 where Urban II urged bishops and nobles to support a war against the Muslims; thus beginning the First Crusade |
| Grand Canal | The 1,100-mile waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers; begun in the Han period and completed under the Sui |
| Zen Buddhism | A form of Buddhism that emphasizes meditation |
| Ayurveda | An ancient healing system from India that uses diet, meditation, herbs, and massage to balance the body |
| Theraveda | "The way of the elders" that focuses on the earliest texts and emphasizes monastic lifestyle |
| Mahayana | The largest of Buddhism's three divisions, prevalent in China, Japan and Korea, encompasses a variety of forms |
| Nichiren | Form of Buddhism that emphasizes the teaching of the Lotus Sutra and can be understood as a socio-political school |
| 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 |
| Astrolabe | An instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets |
| Bulwark | A solid wall-like structure for defense and protection |
| Uighurs | A group of Turkic-speakers who controlled their own centralized empire from 744 to 840 in Mongolia and Central Asia |
| Opium | A narcotic drug that relieves pain and induces sleep, made from the opium poppy |
| Daoism | Philosophy is founded by Laozi; emphasizes living in harmony with nature |
| Khitans | Nomadic peoples of Manchuria; militarily superior to Song but influenced by Chinese culture |
| Sextant | Navigation tool used to determine a ship's latitude and longitude (by measuring the altitudes of stars) |
| Zhu Xi | Most prominent neo-Confucian scholar during the Song dynasty; stressed importance of applying philosophical principles to everyday life |
| Flying Money | Chinese credit instrument that provided credit vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at the end of the voyage; reduced danger of robbery; early form of currency |
| Eunuch | A man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction |
| Footbinding | Practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household |
| K'ak Tiliw Chan Chaak | The son of Wac-Chanil-Ahau who ascended to the Naranjo throne at the age of five; greatly expanded the Mayan capital |
| Slash and Burn | A farming method involving the cutting of trees, then burning them to provide ash-enriched soil for the planting of crops |
| Swidden | Land that is prepared for agriculture by using the slash-and-burn method |
| Unilateral | Tracing descent from either the paternal or the maternal line only |
| Petroglyphs | Carved or scratched signs or simple figures on rock |
| Cuneiform | Sumerian writing made by pressing a wedge-shaped tool into clay tablets |
| Hieroglyphics | System of writing in which pictorial symbols represented sounds, syllables, or concepts |
| Altepetl | An ethnic state in ancient Mesoamerica; the common political block of the region |
| Phalanx | Formation of infantry carrying overlapping shields and long spears; group of men packed together |
| Huitzilopochtli | Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god; believed to require a diet of human hearts |
| Yurts | Portable dwellings used by the nomadic people of Central Asia |
| Kivas | Underground ceremonial chambers built by the Anasazi; additionally used for weaving and making pottery |
| Pueblos | Villages of large apartment-style compounds made of stone and adobde. |
| Anasazi | A Native American group who lived in what is now southern Colorado and Utah; constructed cliff dwellings |
| Cliff Dwelling | Home that is built inside a cave on the side of a hill or one that is built on a cliff ledges |
| Chaco Canyon | Located in Northwestern New Mexico; center of a powerful Anasazi confederation; most likely abandoned due to weather |
| Hopewell | Native American culture which centered in the Ohio valley from 200 to 500 C.E.; known for earthen burial and defensive mounds |
| Thanes | Warriors and soldiers loyal to the local lord or king |
| Shaman | An ancient doctor, healer, or priest; they were called upon for religious ceremonies |
| Cahokia | A trading center which once existed near the current location of St. Louis and was inhabited by 40,000 native Americans in 1200 A.D. |
| Nahuatl | Language spoken by the Toltecs and Aztecs |
| Acllas | Women selected by Inca authorities to serve in religious centers as weavers and ritual participants |
| Khan | A title given to rulers or other important people in Asian countries |
| Ghazan | The leader of the Il-khan, led a movement that repaired many of the cities but neglected irrigation works; later converted to Islam |
| Tax Farming | System of taxation in which the government sells to private individuals the right to collect taxes. |
| Rashid al-Din | Doctor, historian and adviser to the Il-khan, created some of the most concise writing on the Mongol Empire |
| Czar | Russian title for a monarch; translated from the Latin, "caesar" |
| Ivan III | The prince that made Moscow the new capital of Russia, and he overthrew the Mongols that were dominating Russia |
| Ivan IV | Confirmed power of tsarist autocracy by attacking authority of boyars; continued policy of Russian expansion |
| Catherine the Great | Empress of Russia who continued goals of westernizing Russia, creating a new law code, and expanding borders |
| Alexander Nevskii | Kievan Russia ruler who surrendered to the Mongols without a fight in order for his kingdom to be spared |
| Raziya | Daughter of Sultan Iltumish, known for being a female sultanate, though she only lasted for four years |
| Kilwa | City-state on east African coast; increased trade in pottery and stoneware; major trading center by 14th century |
| Malacca | Port city in the modern Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, founded about 1400 as a trading center |
| Urdu | A Persian-influenced literary form of Hindi written in Arabic characters and used as a literary language since the 1300s |
| Tamil | A language of southern India; also, the people who speak that language |
| Guild | A medieval organization of crafts workers or trades people |
| Hanseatic League | An economic and defensive alliance of the free towns in northern Germany, founded about 1241 and most powerful in the fourteenth century |
| Scholasticism | A philosophical and theological system, associated with Thomas Aquinas, devised to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy and Roman Catholic theology in the thirteenth century |
| Boccaccio | (1313-1375) Wrote the Decameron which tells about ambitious merchants, portrays a sensual, and worldly society |
| Gothic Cathedrals | Large churches originating in twelfth-century France; built in an architectural style featuring pointed arches, tall vaults and spires, flying buttresses, and large stained-glass windows |
| Flying Buttress | A free-standing support attached to the main vessel by an arch or half-arch |
| Joan of Arc | French heroine and military leader inspired by religious visions to organize French resistance to the English and to have Charles VII crowned king |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.