The Song Dynasty
This "Golden Age" dynasty was the first in history to issue paper money globally.
What is the Song Dynasty?
This philosophy, which emphasizes the "Five Relationships," remained the bedrock of Chinese social order.
What is Confucianism?
This term translates to "House of Islam," referring to regions where Islamic law and culture prevailed.
What is Dar al-Islam?
This Baghdad institution was the world’s premier center for translation and scientific research.
What is the House of Wisdom?
This major South Asian religion is organized around the concepts of Karma, Dharma, and Reincarnation.
What is Hinduism?
This Buddhist empire, based on Sumatra, grew wealthy by taxing trade through the Strait of Malacca.
What is the Srivijaya Empire?
This Mesoamerican empire was a collection of city-states that excelled in astronomy and mathematics.
Who are the Maya?
This East African kingdom was one of the few regions to remain predominantly Christian during the rise of Islam.
What is Ethiopia (or Aksum)?
This social and political system was based on land ownership and personal loyalty between lords and vassals.
What is Feudalism?
This institution was the only source of central authority and education in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
What is the Roman Catholic Church?
This infrastructure project allowed the Song to move food efficiently from the agricultural south to the populous north.
What is the Grand Canal?
This specific virtue requires children to show absolute respect and service to their parents and ancestors.
What is Filial Piety?
This "Golden Age" caliphate fell into decline after the 1258 Mongol sack of Baghdad.
What is the Abbasid Caliphate?
This mathematical field was significantly advanced by Islamic scholars, particularly Al-Khwarizmi.
What is Algebra?
This rigid social hierarchy determined one’s occupation and social standing in India.
What is the Caste System?
This Java-based Hindu-Buddhist empire succeeded Srivijaya and controlled sea trade routes.
What is the Majapahit Empire?
This empire, also known as the Mexica, was famous for its tribute system and its capital on a lake.
Who are the Aztecs
This massive stone-walled city in Southern Africa was the center of a kingdom linked to Indian Ocean trade.
What is Great Zimbabwe?
These laborers were legally tied to the land they worked and owed service to the local lord.
Who are Serfs?
This 1215 document forced King John of England to respect certain legal rights, limiting the power of the monarch.
What is the Magna Carta?
This term describes China’s economic shift toward mass production of goods like iron and porcelain before the Industrial Revolution.
What is Proto-industrialization?
This Song-era philosophy blended the ethical focus of Confucius with the spiritual elements of Buddhism and Daoism.
What is Neo-Confucianism?
These Central Asian nomads became the de facto rulers of the Abbasid empire, taking the title of "Sultan."
Who are the Seljuk Turks?
This Persian polymath and astronomer provided the most advanced model of the solar system before Copernicus.
Who is Nasir al-Din al-Tusi?
This Southern Indian Hindu empire was founded by two brothers who converted from Islam back to Hinduism.
What is the Vijayanagara Empire?
This mainland empire in modern-day Cambodia is famous for its sophisticated irrigation and massive temple complexes.
What is the Khmer Empire?
This Andean empire used a centralized bureaucracy and a massive road system to rule over millions.
Who are the Inca?
This group of seven city-states in modern Nigeria was characterized by thriving trade and a lack of a central monarch.
What are the Hausa Kingdoms?
This economic system made each estate self-sufficient, providing everything from food to blacksmithing.
What is Manorialism?
This series of holy wars was intended to seize Jerusalem from Islamic control but resulted in increased trade with the East.
What are the Crusades?
This labor-saving invention helped sailors navigate the open seas, ensuring China's maritime dominance.
What is the Magnetic Compass?
This practice involved the tight wrapping of young girls' feet to signify social status and beauty, despite its pain.
What is Foot-binding?
This Islamic state was established in Northern India by Turkish invaders, introducing Islam to a Hindu majority.
What is the Delhi Sultanate?
Islamic scholars are credited with preserving the works of these ancient thinkers, which would later spark the European Renaissance.
Who are the Greeks (e.g., Aristotle, Plato)?
This movement in Hinduism focused on a personal, emotional devotion to a single god, similar to Sufism.
What is the Bhakti Movement?
This specific temple complex began as a Hindu site dedicated to Vishnu but later became a Buddhist temple.
What is Angkor Wat?
These "floating gardens" allowed the Aztecs to grow crops in the swampy environment of Lake Texcoco.
What are Chinampas?
This East African coast saw the blending of Bantu and Arabic cultures to create a unique language and trading society.
What is the Swahili Coast?
This agricultural innovation allowed farmers to leave one-third of their land fallow to keep the soil fertile.
What is the Three-Field System?
This 1054 event split the Christian Church into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches.
What is the Great Schism?
These examinations were the primary route to gaining a position in the Chinese imperial bureaucracy.
What are the Civil Service Exams?
This term describes the process by which neighboring cultures like Japan and Korea adopted Chinese traditions.
What is Sinification?
This Egyptian-based sultanate was unique because it was led by a caste of former slave-soldiers.
What is the Mamluk Sultanate?
This Islamic physician wrote "The Canon of Medicine," which remained a standard medical textbook in Europe for centuries.
Who is Ibn Sina (or Avicenna)?
These small, decentralized Hindu kingdoms in Northern India frequently fought against Islamic expansion.
Who are the Rajput Kingdoms?
This Buddhist kingdom in modern Thailand overthrew Khmer rule in the 13th century.
What is the Sukhothai Kingdom?
This mandatory public service system was used by the Inca to build infrastructure and farm state lands.
What is the Mit'a System?
These storytellers and oral historians were the keepers of culture and genealogy in West African societies.
Who are Griots?
These associations of craftsmen or merchants set prices and quality standards in medieval towns.
What are Guilds?
This French legislative body was divided into three groups representing the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.
What is the Estates-General?
This specific social class of land-owning, highly educated men ran the local and imperial government.
Who are the Scholar Gentry?
During this Japanese period (794–1185), the imperial court focused on art and literature rather than governing.
What is the Heian Period?
This region in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain) served as a bridge for Islamic knowledge to enter Western Europe.
What is Al-Andalus?
This traveler’s journals provided deep insights into the social and cultural life of the 14th-century Islamic world.
Who is Ibn Battuta?
This religion, though founded in India, saw its influence decline there as it spread to East and Southeast Asia.
What is Buddhism?
These islands in Southeast Asia were the primary source of global nutmeg, mace, and cloves.
What are the Spice Islands (Moluccas)?
Because they lacked a written alphabet, the Inca used these knotted strings to record data.
What are Quipu?
This major revolt of enslaved East Africans in Mesopotamia challenged the Abbasid Caliphate for over a decade.
What was the Zanj Rebellion?
This term refers to the grant of land given to a vassal by a lord in exchange for military service.
What is a Fief?
This practice involves religious devotees living in secluded communities dedicated to prayer and work.
What is Monasticism?
This agricultural staple from Vietnam was essential for the Song’s population explosion.
What is Champa Rice?
This Chinese invention allowed for the mass production of texts, drastically increasing literacy across East Asia.
What is Woodblock Printing?
These mystical practitioners were often the most successful at spreading Islam through their emotional and adaptable approach.
Who are the Sufis?
This term refers to the transfer of knowledge from India to the Islamic world, specifically regarding numbering systems.
What are Arabic Numerals (originally Indian/Hindu numerals)?
This new language evolved in South Asia, blending Hindi grammar with Arabic and Persian vocabulary.
What is Urdu?
This Southeast Asian state converted to Islam in the 1400s, becoming a major center for Islamic learning and trade.
What is the Melaka (Malacca) Sultanate?
This North American civilization near present-day St. Louis built massive earthen mounds for religious and social purposes.
Who are the Mississippian Culture (or Cahokia)?
These Ethiopian churches were carved entirely out of solid rock, symbolizing the endurance of African Christianity.
What are the Lalibela Rock-Hewn Churches?
This code of conduct dictated the behavior of knights, emphasizing honor, bravery, and religious devotion.
What is Chivalry?
This conflict between England and France (1337–1453) helped foster a sense of national identity in both countries.
What is the Hundred Years' War?
This system required neighboring states like Korea and Vietnam to acknowledge Chinese supremacy through gifts and rituals.
What is the Tributary System?
Unlike the merit-based system in China, this neighbor maintained a rigid, hereditary aristocracy despite adopting other Chinese traits.
What is Korea?
This 13th-century female Sufi poet is one of the most prolific female Islamic scholars in history.
Who is A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah?
Islamic culture in the 13th century was notably tolerant of these "People of the Book," allowing them to practice their faiths.
Who are Jews and Christians?
This is the act of attempting to convert people to a new religion, a key feature of Islam and Christianity but less so for Hinduism.
What is Proselytizing?
These empires are categorized as "Sea-Based" because their power relied on controlling these specific geographical features.
What are Choke points (or Straits)?
This type of government, used by both the Maya and the Aztecs, required conquered people to pay with goods and labor.
What is a Tribute System?
Unlike the patrilineal societies of Europe, many African societies traced their heritage through the mother, a system called this.
What is Matrilineal?
This was a significant increase in trade and the use of money in Europe starting around the 11th century.
What is the Commercial Revolution?
This philosophical and theological system, championed by Thomas Aquinas, sought to reconcile faith with Aristotelian logic.
What is Scholasticism?