Developments-East Asia
This "revival" of Confucianism during the Song Dynasty combined Buddhist and Daoist elements while emphasizing social hierarchy and the Civil Service Exam.
What is Neo-Confucianism?
This academic center in Baghdad served as a major hub for the translation of Greek, Indian, and Persian texts during the Islamic Golden Age.
What is the House of Wisdom?
This Hindu kingdom in South India was founded by two brothers who converted from Islam back to Hinduism and served as a major barrier against Muslim expansion.
What is the Vijayanagara Empire?
This Mexica empire used a "tribute system" to collect food, luxury goods, and sacrificial victims from the surrounding peoples they conquered.
What is the Aztec Empire?
In European feudalism, these agricultural laborers were bound to the land and required to provide service to a lord in exchange for protection.
Who are Serfs?
This massive infrastructure project linked the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, facilitating internal trade and the movement of rice from the south to the north.
What is the Grand Canal?
Unlike traditional Sunni or Shia Muslims, members of this mystical branch of Islam focused on a personal, emotional connection to God and were instrumental in spreading the faith through trade.
Who are the Sufis?
This Buddhist empire based on the island of Sumatra controlled the strategic Strait of Malacca, growing wealthy by taxing maritime trade.
What is the Srivijaya Empire?
This Inca labor system required all subjects to provide a set amount of public service, such as building roads or farming state lands, in place of taxes.
What is the Mita System?
These East African city-states grew wealthy through Indian Ocean trade and developed a unique culture and language that blended Bantu and Arabic elements.
What are the Swahili City-States?
This fast-ripening, drought-resistant grain from Vietnam allowed Chinese farmers to harvest two crops a year, leading to a population explosion.
What is Champa Rice?
This Islamic state, established by Turkish mamluks in Northern India, ruled for over 300 years and successfully defended against Mongol invasions.
What is the Delhi Sultanate?
This rigid social hierarchy in India determined an individual's occupation and social status from birth, remaining a powerful force despite the introduction of Islam.
What is the Caste System?
Because they lacked a writing system, the Inca used this series of knotted strings to record numerical data and historical information.
What are Quipus?
This political and social system in medieval Europe was characterized by a decentralized hierarchy of lords, vassals, and knights based on land ownership and loyalty.
What is Feudalism?
This practice, which became common among elite women during the Song Dynasty, served as a status symbol and a way to restrict women's movement in a patriarchal society.
What is Foot Binding?
This ethnic group of former nomadic pastoralists from Central Asia converted to Islam and eventually took over the Abbasid Caliphate's political power, though they kept the Caliph as a figurehead.
Who are the Seljuk Turks?
This massive temple complex in the Khmer Empire transitioned from being a Hindu site dedicated to Vishnu to a Buddhist temple, reflecting the region's religious shifts.
What is Angkor Wat?
These "floating gardens" were man-made islands used by the Aztecs to increase agricultural production in the swampy environment of Lake Texcoco.
What are Chinampas?
This West African ruler of Mali is famous for his 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca, where he distributed so much gold that he caused massive inflation in Cairo.
Who is Mansa Musa?
This administrative system required potential government officials to pass rigorous tests based on Confucian classics, ensuring a merit-based bureaucracy.
What is the Civil Service Examination?
This Muslim scholar and traveler is famous for his 30-year journey across nearly the entire Islamic world, documenting the diversity of cultures within Dar al-Islam.
Who is Ibn Battuta?
This syncretic movement within Hinduism sought to emphasize a personal, emotional devotion to a specific deity, similar to the Sufi movement in Islam.
What is the Bhakti Movement?
This major city-state of the Mississippian culture was known for its massive earthen mounds and served as a hub for North American trade networks.
What is Cahokia?
This Christian kingdom in East Africa remained a "religious island" surrounded by Islamic states, famously known for its distinctive 11 rock-cut churches.
What is Ethiopia (or Axum/Aksum)?