East Asia
This Chinese dynasty used a large imperial bureaucracy and expanded the civil service examination system based on Confucian texts.
The Song Dynasty
This famous center of learning in Baghdad preserved and expanded knowledge from Greece, India, and other civilizations.
House of Wisdom
This Muslim state ruled much of northern India while Hindu kingdoms continued to exist elsewhere.
The Delhi Sultanate
This North American civilization built enormous earthen mounds, including Cahokia.
Mississippian culture
This wealthy ruler of Mali famously displayed his empire's gold during his pilgrimage to Mecca.
Mansa Musa
This decentralized political system exchanged land for loyalty and military service.
Feudalism
During 1200–1450, this religion connected societies stretching from West Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Islam
This fast-ripening crop from Vietnam helped increase China's food supply and population. Explain ONE larger effect it had on Song China.
Champa rice → food surplus/population growth → urbanization, specialization, and/or economic growth.
These Muslim mystics emphasized personal spiritual experiences and helped spread Islam by adapting to local cultures.
Sufis/Sufism
This Hindu movement emphasized personal devotion to a deity rather than strict ritual and appealed to women and people of lower social status.
The Bhakti Movement
Match each innovation to the correct empire: Chinampas / Mit'a / Quipu
Aztec / Inca / Inca
Ghana and Mali became wealthy primarily through participation in this trade network.
Trans-Saharan trade
This economic system centered around self-sufficient estates where serfs worked the land.
Manorialism / manorial system
Find the common thread: Mali, Great Zimbabwe, Srivijaya, and Majapahit all gained political power partly because of what economic activity?
Trade. Mali benefited from trans-Saharan trade; Great Zimbabwe connected to Indian Ocean commerce; Srivijaya and Majapahit controlled maritime trade routes.
Explain the connection: Civil Service Exam → Scholar Gentry → Song Government
Success on Confucian civil service exams allowed educated men to enter the bureaucracy, strengthening the scholar-gentry class and Song government.
The Abbasid Caliphate lost political unity, yet Islamic civilization remained connected across a huge region. What larger pattern does this demonstrate?
Political fragmentation alongside cultural/religious continuity. Islam, trade, scholarship, Arabic, and sharia helped connect Dar al-Islam.
Why did the Delhi Sultanate struggle to fully centralize political control over India?
India was large, diverse, and politically decentralized, and the Delhi Sultanate lacked an efficient bureaucracy capable of imposing its policies throughout the region. AMSCO specifically emphasizes this limitation.
Don't Mix Them Up: Which civilization was organized primarily into independent city-states rather than one large centralized empire?
Maya
Don't Mix Them Up: Mali was connected primarily to trans-Saharan trade. The Swahili city-states were connected primarily to ________.
Indian Ocean trade
Cause → Effect: Three-field system + improved plows → increased food production → ________.
Population growth
Same problem, different solution: Song China used a bureaucracy to govern. Medieval Europe relied heavily on lords and vassals. What major political difference does this illustrate?
Centralization vs. decentralization. Song China had a centralized bureaucratic state; feudal Europe was politically decentralized.
Buddhism + Confucianism → ? This belief system developed as Confucian thinkers responded to Buddhist influence while emphasizing traditional Confucian values.
Neo-Confucianism
Explain the connection: Greek knowledge → Muslim scholars → Western Europe
Muslim scholars translated and preserved Greek works and helped transmit this knowledge to Europe.
India ↔ Southeast Asia: Trade carried more than goods. Name TWO major Indian religions that spread into Southeast Asia and influenced states such as the Khmer Empire.
Hinduism and Buddhism
Explain the difference: Aztec tribute system vs. Inca mit'a system.
Aztecs demanded goods/tribute from conquered peoples; the Inca required labor/public service through the mit'a.
Explain the connection: Bantu + Arabic + Indian Ocean trade = ?
Swahili, a language/culture that developed through interaction between Bantu-speaking Africans and Arab traders.
Make the Connection: How did the Crusades contribute to economic change in Europe?
They increased European contact with the Middle East and increased demand for foreign goods/trade.
What AP World process is demonstrated by Sufism, the Bhakti Movement, and Swahili culture as beliefs and cultures interacted with local traditions?
Cultural blending/syncretism
Don't Mix Them Up: Both China and Japan had hierarchical societies, but which major political difference separated them during this period?
China had a centralized emperor/bureaucracy, while Japan developed a decentralized feudal system dominated by shoguns, daimyo, and samurai.
A traveler could move from West Africa to the Middle East to South Asia and encounter Muslim communities in each region. Identify TWO processes that explain the geographic spread of Islam during this period.
Any two such as trade/merchant activity, conquest/Islamic states, migration, or Sufi missionaries.
Identify the kingdom: I was located near the Mekong River. Irrigation allowed multiple rice harvests. My rulers incorporated both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and Angkor Wat reflects these influences.
Khmer Empire
Both the Aztec and Inca built large empires. Identify ONE method the Inca used to govern their territory that differed from the Aztecs.
Examples: divided empire into four provinces, governors/bureaucracy, massive road network, mit'a labor rather than tribute.
Identify me: I was an East African kingdom enriched by gold and trade. I traded through coastal cities such as Kilwa and Mogadishu, and my capital became famous for massive stone walls built without mortar.
Great Zimbabwe
Despite Europe's political decentralization, this institution provided much of Western Europe with a shared religious and cultural identity. Name it and explain ONE way it exercised influence.
Roman Catholic Church — education/universities, literacy, political influence, monasteries, hierarchy under the pope, etc.
Two regions, same pattern: Give TWO examples from different regions where an agricultural innovation or adaptation supported population growth, prosperity, or state development.
Examples: Champa rice in China; three-field system/heavy plow in Europe; chinampas among the Aztecs; terrace farming/waru waru among the Inca; Khmer irrigation systems.