Religion & Beliefs
What were the major belief systems of the post-classical period? Name all.
Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism
The collective lands under Islamic rule and cultural influence; by 1200 CE it spanned from Spain to Southeast Asia, unified by shared faith, law, and trade networks.
Dar-al-Islam
Emperor of Mali (r. 1312–1337) whose 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca — accompanied by thousands and laden with gold — displayed Mali's wealth to the world.
Mansa Musa
Practice in China for girls call _____________ ; status symbol that severely limited women's mobility and reinforced patriarchal social structures.
Foot Binding
This fast-ripening crop from Southeast Asia let Song China grow more than one harvest a year and supported rapid population growth.
Champa Rice
Mystical Islamic tradition emphasizing personal experience of the divine; These missionaries adapted Islam to local cultures and spread it along trade routes.
Sufism
Chinese dynasty (960–1279) known for economic prosperity, urbanization, and innovations including printing, gunpowder, the magnetic compass, and Champa rice.
Song Dynasty
Major city in the Mali Empire that became a renowned center of Islamic learning, scholarship, and trans-Saharan trade.
Timbuktu
Decentralized political-social system in medieval Europe based on land grants (fiefs) exchanged for military loyalty between lords and vassals.
Feudalism
Bonus: What was Manorialism?
Islamic sultanate in northern India (1206–1526) that spread Islam into South Asia and blended Persian, Turkic, and Indian cultural traditions.
Delhi Sultanate
Hindu devotional movement emphasizing personal love for a deity; challenged caste hierarchy and made Hinduism more accessible to all believers.
Bhakti Movement
Vast Andean empire ruled from Cuzco; governed through the mit'a labor system, an extensive royal road network, and quipu (knotted-cord) record-keeping.
Inca Empire
Powerful stone-walled city-state in southern Africa (c. 1100–1450) that controlled gold trade routes to the Swahili Coast.
Great Zimbabwe
Caravan trade across the Sahara Desert connecting West Africa to North Africa; exchanged gold, salt, slaves, and ideas including Islam.
Trans-Saharan Trade Route
The Inca required this form of labor service, in which subjects worked on state projects such as roads for a set period.
Mit'a System
Bonus: What is encomienda?
A revived form of Confucian philosophy blending Buddhist and Taoist ideas; dominant intellectual framework in Song China that reinforced social hierarchy and gender roles.
Neo-Confucianism
Powerful West African empire along the Niger River that dominated the gold-salt trade and became a major center of Islamic scholarship and culture.
Mali Empire
Powerful Mesoamerican empire based at Tenochtitlán; used tribute systems and military conquest to control a vast network of subject peoples.
Aztec Empire
The Song dynasty staffed its imperial bureaucracy through this test based on Confucian texts.
Civil Service Examinations
Islamic empire (750–1258) centered in Baghdad; a center of trade, learning, and culture during the Islamic Golden Age until its destruction by the Mongols.
Abbasid Caliphate
This branch of Buddhism, which teaches that bodhisattvas help others reach enlightenment, spread through China, Korea, and Japan.
Mahayana Buddhism
The Eastern Roman Empire centered in Constantinople; preserved Greco-Roman knowledge, controlled key trade routes, and blended Roman, Greek, and Christian traditions.
Byzatine Empire
East African region consisting of coastal city-states (like Kilwa, Mombasa) that linked sub-Saharan Africa to the Indian Ocean trade; developed Swahili language blending Bantu and Arabic.
Swahili Coast
This Abbasid center of learning in Baghdad translated and preserved Greek, Persian, and Indian works.
House of Wisdom
Hindu-Buddhist empire in mainland Southeast Asia (802–1431) known for Angkor Wat and sophisticated rice irrigation systems.
Khmer Empire