The Ottoman Empire
In the Ottoman system, each religious minority community was organized into one of these administrative units.
What is a millet?
This founder of the Mughal Dynasty established his northern Indian domain after conquering Delhi.
Who is Babur?
This Latin phrase, meaning "universal man," described the Renaissance ideal of a person capable of excellence in many fields of life.
What is l'uomo universale?
This man founded the Mongol Empire and united the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian steppe.
Who is Genghis Khan?
The vast grasslands that stretch across Africa bordering the Sahara Desert to the south are known by this name.
What is the Sahel (or savannah)?
These elite Ottoman infantry soldiers were recruited from Christian populations in the Balkans, converted to Islam, and trained from boyhood.
Who are the Janissaries?
This Mughal emperor promoted religious tolerance, patronized the arts, and created a syncretic faith known as the "Divine Faith."
Who is Akbar?
The divine beauty of the Sistine Chapel ceiling figures reflects the Neoplatonist philosophy of this artist.
Who is Michelangelo?
China's civil service examination system required mastery of the classical texts associated with this philosophical tradition.
What is Confucianism?
The original reason for the rise of the Kingdom of Ghana was its strategic control of this lucrative overland trade.
What is the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade?
This Ottoman sultan's reign was characterized as a time of peace and prosperity, and is often called the golden age of the empire.
Who is Suleyman I (the Magnificent)?
This Mughal emperor built both the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort in Delhi — at enormous expense to his subjects.
Who is Shah Jahan?
By the end of the Hundred Years' War, France gained victory largely because of this military advantage.
What is superior military technology (particularly cannons and artillery)?
This Mongol ruler's capital was located in present-day Beijing, and he ruled China as the founder of the Yuan Dynasty.
Who is Khubilai Khan?
Trade along the East African coast and across the Indian Ocean was largely facilitated by these seasonal winds.
What are the monsoon winds?
Women who lived in the harem and bore the sultan's children could gain significant political power if they achieved this role
What is queen mother (or Valide Sultan)?
This son of Shah Jahan killed his brother, imprisoned his own father, and seized the Mughal throne for himself.
Who is Aurangzeb?
As anti-Semitism spread through Europe in response to the plague, many Jews fled to this country for protection.
What is Poland? (or Eastern Europe generally)
The Tamerlane (Timurid) empire collapsed in this century.
What is the 15th century?
These people of North Africa served as essential trade intermediaries for the great trans-Saharan commerce.
Who are the Berbers?
Tamerlane defeated the Ottoman army at Ankara in this year, temporarily halting Ottoman expansion.
What is 1402?
This emperor expanded the boundaries of the Mughal Empire in the Deccan Plateau and against Samarkand, though his religious intolerance undermined the empire's unity.
Who is Aurangzeb?
The author of The Prince, a groundbreaking treatise on the acquisition and maintenance of political power.
Who is Niccolò Machiavelli?
After Chinggis Khan's death, the Mongol Empire was divided into four of these regional successor states, each ruled by a different branch of his family.
What are the four khanates?
The family of languages spoken by people inhabiting the region south of the Sahara and Axum — the dominant language group of sub-Saharan Africa.
What is the Bantu language family?