| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Arabian Peninsula | a peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf |
| Bedouin | Nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian peninsula; culture based on camel and goat nomadism; early converts to Islam. |
| Mecca and Medina | sacred cities for Islam: Birth place of Muhammad; city which Muhammad ruled |
| Muhammad | the Arab prophet who founded Islam (570-632) |
| Five Pillars | beliefs that all Muslims needed to carry out: Faith, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage |
| Abu Bakr | Companion of 1st muslim leader after Muhammad. Regarded by Sunni's as the 1st caliph and rightful succesor. The Shi'ah regard him as a traitor of Muhammad. Known as best interpretter of dreams following Muhammad's death. |
| Umma | Community of the faithful within Islam; transcended old tribal boundaries to create degree of political unity |
| Ali | the fourth caliph of Islam who is considered to be the first caliph by Shiites |
| Umayyad | Clan of Quraysh that dominated politics and commercial economy of Mecca; clan later able to establish dynasty as rulers of Islam |
| Succesion | sussessor, a person that comes next in order |
| Sunni | A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad |
| Shia | the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad |
| Mawali | Non-Arabs converts to Islam |
| Baghdad | where the Abbasids moved the capital of the Muslim Empire in 762. It was a newly created city in central Iraq. The location on key trade routes gave the caliph access to trade goods, gold, and information about far empires. It was a beautiful city with a beautiful palace. It became the center of the Muslim empire with so many people and things. |
| Dhow | Ship of small to moderate size used in the western Indian Ocean, traditionally with a triangular sail and a sewn timber hull. (p. 382) |
| Harun al Rashid | (786-809) He was the caliph of the Abbasid dynasty during its high point. He provided liberal support for artists and writers, bestowed lavish and luxurious gifts on his favorites, and distributed money to the poor and the common classes by tossing coins into the streets of Baghdad. |
| Caliphate | the office of a caliph |
| Gradual Disintergration | to decline in excellence, prosperity, health, etc.; deteriorate. |
| Civil War | a war between factions in the same country |
| Buyids | Persian invaders of the 10th century; captured Baghdad and acted as sultans through Abbasid figureheads |
| Seljuk Turks | Nomadic invaders from central Asia via Persia; staunch Sunnis; ruled in name of Abbasid caliphs from mid-11th century |
| Crusaders | Christian warriors sent to regain the Holy Land (Jerusalem) from the Muslims that controlled |
| Persian | of or relating to Iran or its people or language or culture |
| Sufis | a mystical Muslim group that believed they could draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, and a simple life |
| Ulama | the body of mullahs (Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law) who are the interpreters of Islam's sciences and doctrines and laws and the chief guarantors of continuity in the spiritual and intellectual history of the Islamic community |
| Mongols | Central Asian nomadic peoples; smashed Turko-Persian kingdoms; captured Baghdad in 1258 and killed last Abbasid caliph |
| Tamerlane | Mongolian ruler of Samarkand who led his nomadic hordes to conquer an area from Turkey to Mongolia (1336-1405) |
| Muhammad ibn Quasim | Arab general; conquered Sind in India; declared the region and the Indus valley to be part of Umayyad Empire. |
| Muhammad of Ghazni | led a series of expeditions that began 2 centuries of Muslim raiding and conquest in northern India |
| Stateless Societies | cultural groups in which authority is shared by lineages of equal power instead of being exercised by a central government. |
| Bantu | a family of languages widely spoken in the southern half of the African continent |
| Berbers | a member of a North African, primarily Muslim people living in settled or nomadic tribes from Morocco to Egypt |
| Almoravid | a member of a Muslim dynasty of Berber warriors that flourished from 1049 to 1145 and that established political dominance over northwestern Africa and Spain |
| Almohadi | a Berber dynasty founded in the 12th century that conquered most of northern Africa |
| Jihad | Islamic holy war |
| Savana | a dry grassland with trees and bushes |
| Early Christian Kingdoms | Kush, Axum, and the Ethiopian kingdom |
| Coptic | of or relating to the Copts or their church or language or art |
| Sahel Grasslands | an extensive grassland belt at south edge of Sahara; became point of exchange between forests to south & north Africa |
| 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. (p. 215) |
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