Crisis Across Afro-Eurasia
Rise of an Empire
Meanwhile, in the east
Trade, Travel & Connections
Key Vocab & People
100
This deadly disease that spread across Afro-Eurasia in the 14th century is also called the “Black Death.”
What is the bubonic plague?
100
This empire began as a small beylik in Anatolia and grew into a major power bridging Europe and Asia.
What is the Ottoman Empire?
100
This dynasty, led by Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu), replaced the Mongol-run Yuan Dynasty in China.
What is the Ming Dynasty?
100
This overland network of caravan routes connected China to the Middle East and Europe for centuries.
What is the Silk Road (Afro-Eurasian trade routes)?
100
This Ming emperor, originally a peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang, founded the dynasty after leading rebel forces.
Who is the Hongwu Emperor?
200
This kind of outbreak spreads across many regions or continents, like the Black Death did.
What is a pandemic?
200
The Ottomans first rose in this region, located in modern-day Turkey.
What is Anatolia?
200
This idea said that heaven could give and take away a ruler’s right to rule, depending on how justly they governed.
What is the Mandate of Heaven?
200
This term describes roadside inns along trade routes where merchants could rest, trade, and resupply.
What are caravanserais?
200
This Muslim admiral led the massive Ming treasure fleets across the Indian Ocean.
Who is Zheng He?
300
After the Black Death killed millions, this economic effect gave surviving workers more leverage with landowners.
What is increased wages / higher bargaining power because of labor shortages?
300
This city, captured by Mehmed II in 1453, became the Ottoman capital and a key trade hub.
What is Constantinople (Istanbul)?
300
This rebellion of peasants and religious groups helped bring down the Yuan and allowed Zhu Yuanzhang to rise.
What is the Red Turban Rebellion?
300
Looking at a Black Death map, what do the arrows from ports like Genoa and Venice into inland Europe show about trade and disease?
What is “trade routes and port cities acted as gateways ---that carried the plague into the interior of Europe”?
300
These frontier “holy warriors” helped the early Ottoman state expand its borders.
Who are ghazis?
400
Looking at a maps of the Spread of the Black Death. Which type of trade routes were especially important in spreading the plague into Europe?
What are maritime trade routes (ships and ports)?
400
Name one way Ottoman military strategy helped them expand into former Byzantine territory.
What is something like “using gunpowder weapons and cannons for sieges,” “combining cavalry with infantry,” or “coordinating land and sea attacks”?
400
Name one way the Hongwu Emperor tried to reduce corruption and strengthen Ming rule.
What is something like “strengthened the civil service and Confucian exams,” “punished corrupt officials harshly,” or “recentralized power under the emperor”?
400
Based on the map of Zheng He’s fourth voyage, why were the Indian Ocean and the Swahili Coast important to the Ming?
What is “they were major trade hubs where the Ming could display power, collect tribute, and manage long-distance trade”?
400
In the Ottoman devshirme system, what happened to many Christian boys from the Balkans?
What is “they were taken, converted, and trained to serve the sultan as Janissaries or administrators”?
500
Explain one way the Black Death weakened old political or social systems in Europe.
What is something like “It undermined feudalism by reducing the number of serfs and giving peasants more bargaining power” OR “It weakened the authority of church and nobles because they couldn’t protect people”?
500
How did the Ottomans’ policy toward conquered peoples (like letting Christians and Jews keep some laws and leaders) actually strengthen the empire?
What is “it reduced resistance and rebellion, encouraged cooperation, and made it easier to rule a diverse empire”?
500
How did early Ming economic policies (like repairing irrigation and standardizing grain taxes) help restore stability after Mongol rule?
What is “they increased food production, made taxes more predictable, and helped rebuild rural communities”?
500
Comparing the Mongol and Ming connections: give one similarity OR difference in how each connected Afro-Eurasia.
What is something like “Both supported long-distance trade, but the Mongols did it by overland empire and the Ming used huge state-sponsored fleets” or another accurate compare/contrast.
500
This term describes the Ming policy that required foreign rulers to acknowledge China’s superiority in exchange for regulated access to trade.
What is the tribute system?