Political/Social
The Inca used this "labor tax" system to build their massive road network and the city of Machu Picchu.
What is the Mit'a System?
This massive Chinese ship featured watertight compartments and a sternpost rudder, making it the most stable ship for Indian Ocean trade.
What is the Junk Boat?
This term refers to the entire world of Islam, where the religion was the dominant force.
What is DAR AL ISLAM?
The Great Khan who united the Mongol tribes and began the largest land empire in history.
Who is Genghis Khan?
Located in Baghdad, this center of learning was the heart of the "Translation Movement," where Greek and Indian medical and mathematical texts were translated into Arabic.
What is the House of Wisdom?
This term refers to the Chinese belief that an emperor’s right to rule was granted by the gods, but could be lost if they became corrupt or incompetent.
What is the Mandate of Heaven?
These were fortified inns or rest stations located about a day's journey apart along the Silk Road, providing safety and food for merchants and their camels.
What are Caravanserai?
As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, every able-bodied Muslim is expected to perform this pilgrimage to the city of Mecca at least once in their lifetime.
What is the Hajj?
The leader of the Mali Empire who was considered the wealthiest man in human history.
Who is Mansa Musa?
This Egyptian "slave-soldier" sultanate was the first to decisively defeat the Mongols in 1260 at the Battle of Ain Jalut.
Who are the Mamluks?
This rigid social hierarchy in India determined a person’s occupation and social status from the moment they were born.
What is the Caste System?
Unlike the square sails used in the Mediterranean, this triangular sail allowed Indian Ocean merchants to "tack" or sail against the wind, making long-distance travel possible regardless of the season.
What is the Lateen Sail?
This philosophy focusing on the Five Relationships and Filial Piety remained the bedrock of Chinese society.
What is Confucianism?
The Venetian merchant whose stories of the Mongol court inspired European explorers.
Who is Marco Polo?
This 14th-century environmental period of global cooling caused widespread crop failures, making the human population significantly more vulnerable to the Black Death.
What is the Little Ice Age?
This Confucian concept emphasizes extreme loyalty and respect for one's parents and elders.
What is Filial Piety?
The Mongols were responsible for spreading this Chinese invention to the Middle East and Europe, where it eventually ended the era of the armored knight.
What is Gunpowder?
After Muhammad's death, this major disagreement over who should succeed him as leader led to the permanent split between these two branches of Islam.
What are Sunni and Shia?
This grandson of Genghis Khan was the first leader of the Golden Horde, the Mongol khanate that conquered and ruled over Russia for over two centuries.
Who is Batu Khan?
This Southeast Asian empire, based on the island of Sumatra, grew wealthy by controlling the Strait of Malacca and taxing ships passing between China and India.
What is the Srivijaya Empire?
To manage their massive territory, the Mongols in China (Yuan Dynasty) abolished this 1,000-year-old Chinese tradition to keep local scholars out of high-ranking government positions.
What is the Civil Service Examination?
These were groups of people who moved away from their homelands and settled in foreign port cities, using their shared language and religion to build trust and facilitate long-distance trade.
What are Diasporic Merchant Communities?
In 1045, the Christian Church officially split into these two branches over the authority of the Pope and the use of icons.
What are Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy?
This 15th-century Chinese admiral led seven massive expeditions across the Indian Ocean to project the power and wealth of the Ming Dynasty.
Who is Zheng He?
This 13th-century Persian polymath revolutionized trigonometry and built the world’s most advanced observatory at Maragha under Mongol patronage.
Who is Nasir al-Din al-Tusi?