Unit 1 - Tapestry
This powerful West African kingdom, centered around the Niger River, became wealthy through the trans-Saharan trade, especially gold and salt.
Mali
This trade route connected the whole of Asia to Europe and facilitated the exchange and diffusion of goods, ideas, and diseases from pre-history into the modern era.
The Silk Road
Culturally and economically significant port city that served as the capitol of the Ottoman Empire and connects the Mediterranean and Black Seas as well as Europe and Asia.
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Highly contagious virus which decimated populations of indigenous Americans following contact in the late 15th century.
Smallpox
Foundational enlightenment philosopher who was best known for his satire "Candide" and advocacy for civil liberties, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state.
Voltaire
This Mesoamerican civilization, centered around the Yucatán Peninsula, developed a highly sophisticated calendar and built massive stone cities like Tikal and Chichen Itza.
The Maya
The main items exchanged in Trans-Saharan trade between West and North Africa.
Salt & Gold
The Qing Dynasty
European maritime empire that controlled key ports along the African coast and South Asia even before Europeans arrived in the Americas.
Portugal
Method named after its inventor that established a reliable and affordable way of manufacturing steel.
Bessemer Process
The Mongols’ conquest of the Islamic world led to the collapse of this caliphate in the mid 13th century, which had once been the dominant power in the Middle East.
The Abbasid Caliphate
Monsoon Winds
The ruling family of the Austrian Empire 1282-1918.
Hapsburg(s)
A mixture of two or more religious beliefs and/or customs that create a new religion.
Syncretism
Process in mid-19th Century Japan that marked the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the decline of Feudalism, and profoundly rapid modernization.
Meiji Restoration
This trading kingdom, located on the east coast of Africa, was known for its wealth and the Swahili language, which blended African and Arab influences.
Great Zimbabwe
A monarchy established in China after the Mongol conquest in 1271 CE
An Ottoman practice that involved the recruitment of talented young boys from Christian communities, who were converted to Islam and trained as soldiers or bureaucrats.
Devshirme
Massive Spanish sail vessel that delivered silver from the Americas to Asia.
Galleon
Early multi-national corporation based in the UK and The Netherlands. Operated primarily in West Africa and Congo.
Unilever
This powerful maritime empire, underappreciated by historians, was based on the island of Sumatra and controlled trade routes between China and India and from the 7th to the 13th century CE.
Srivijaya Empire
a Genoese port in the North Black Sea which sent the first plague infested rats to Europe following the Mongol siege of 1346.
Caffa / Kaffa
Religion which resulted from a time of turmoil in the 14th Century Mughal Empire.
Sikhism
Semi-autonomous territories of North Africa under the Ottoman Empire during the 15th - 18th Centuries.
The Barbary States / Coast / Pirates
This series of 19th century reforms that aimed to modernize the Ottoman Empire's legal, military, and administrative structure and attempted to bring non-Muslims more fully into society.
Tanzimat