AP®︎ World History: Unit 2 Flashcards

A network of overland routes linking China and Central Asia with South Asia, Persia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean

An oasis crossroads in western China where routes toward China, Central Asia, and India met for caravan resupply, exchange, storage, and redistribution

A major Central Asian trading city linking China with Persia, India, and lands farther west, damaged by Mongol conquest but revived as Timur’s imperial capital after 1370

Protected roadside inns and commercial compounds that supplied caravans with lodging, storage, animal care, information, and markets, reducing travel risks and costs

An economy using money widely to exchange goods, state prices, and settle debts and taxes rather than relying mainly on barter or payment in kind

A written order or claim arranging payment at a specified place or time, reducing the need to transport coins or bullion

Commercial institutions that accepted deposits, made loans, exchanged currencies, kept accounts, and transferred funds between trading centers

State-issued currency that was lighter than metal coin and supported large transactions, especially across Yuan China, but depended on confidence in the issuer

The largest contiguous land empire in history, founded by Chinggis Khan in 1206, whose integration of Eurasia encouraged trade and cultural exchange but also conquest and the spread of plague before it divided into khanates

Leader who unified the Mongol tribes, took the title Chinggis Khan in 1206, and founded the Mongol Empire

“Mongol Peace,” the relative security and political integration that encouraged Eurasian trade and travel in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries

Mongol imperial relay system whose stations supplied authorized messengers with fresh horses, food, and lodging

Territory ruled by a khan; the Mongol Empire divided into four major khanates during the later thirteenth century

Mongol khanate that dominated the Rus’ principalities through indirect rule, tribute, and confirmation of local princes

Central Asian Mongol khanate that controlled important overland routes and later divided amid succession and nomadic-settled tensions

Mongol khanate in Persia and Iraq that used Persian administrators and gradually adopted Persian culture and Islam

Mongol dynasty founded by Kublai Khan that ruled China from 1271 until its overthrow by the Ming in 1368

Grandson of Chinggis Khan who founded the Yuan dynasty and completed the Mongol conquest of Song China in 1279

Central Asian writing system adapted vertically for Mongolian to record decrees, diplomacy, administration, and political traditions

Interconnected maritime routes linking East Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China; existing trade intensified and widened from c. 1200–1450

Predictable seasonal winds that reversed direction, allowing sailors to schedule voyages and return trips across the Indian Ocean

Chinese-developed navigational tool that indicated direction and helped sailors maintain a course away from visible landmarks

Navigational instrument that measured the angle of the sun or stars to estimate a ship’s latitude

Triangular sail mounted at an angle that allowed ships to use crosswinds effectively and maneuver more easily

Western Indian Ocean vessel used by Arab, Persian, Indian, and East African sailors, commonly equipped with maneuverable lateen sails

Large Chinese ship with features such as multiple masts, sternpost rudders, and watertight compartments, capable of carrying substantial cargo

Independent East African port polities such as Kilwa and Mombasa that prospered by connecting inland gold and ivory with Indian Ocean trade

Northwestern Indian trading region whose ports connected inland cotton-textile production with markets throughout the Indian Ocean

Commercial state founded around 1400 that grew wealthy by protecting and taxing trade through the Strait of Malacca

Communities living outside their ancestral homelands while retaining connections to them and exchanging cultural influences with their host societies

Ming admiral who led seven state-sponsored expeditions from 1405–1433 to display Chinese power and reinforce tributary and commercial ties; the voyages facilitated cultural and technological exchange

Routes connecting West Africa to North Africa and wider Afro-Eurasian markets; trade volume and geographical reach expanded from 1200 to 1450

Device that distributed weight and secured riders or freight, making camel transport more efficient, stable, and capable of carrying larger loads

Powerful West African empire that controlled and taxed trans-Saharan commerce, protected markets and routes, and developed Islamic connections while indigenous practices persisted

Early-fourteenth-century Mali ruler whose wealth, 1324–1325 pilgrimage, and support for mosques and scholarship strengthened Mali’s fame and connections to the Islamic world

West African commercial city near the Niger River where regional and trans-Saharan trade met and which became a major center of Islamic scholarship and manuscript culture

Blending elements from different cultural traditions into a new or locally distinctive form

A fundamentally Bantu East African language with substantial Arabic and other borrowed vocabulary reflecting centuries of Indian Ocean commercial and religious interaction

Chinese explosive technology spread west through Eurasian networks and contributed to the growing use of artillery and firearms

Chinese papermaking technology diffused westward, lowering the cost of written records and supporting administration, commerce, education, and manuscripts

Indian decimal place-value numerals, including zero, spread through Islamic and European networks whose circulation Mongol-era integration reinforced

Venetian merchant whose dictated account of late-thirteenth-century Asia described its cities, courts, goods, and technologies for European readers

Moroccan Muslim jurist whose dictated travel narrative described journeys across Africa and Asia through the perspective of Islamic law

English Christian mystic whose dictated pilgrimage account combined spiritual autobiography with travel to Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago

Introduction and adoption of cultivated plants outside their original regions, often changing food supplies, populations, settlements, and landscapes

Early-ripening, drought-resistant rice from present-day Vietnam that could permit double cropping and increased Chinese food production and population

Fourteenth-century plague pandemic spread through Afro-Eurasian trade routes that killed large shares of regional populations and disrupted commerce, revenue, and political stability