People
Empires and States
Trade & Economy
Religion & Culture
Cause & Effect
100

A Mongol leader who unified the steppe tribes and began the largest land empire in history

Who is Genghis Khan?

100

This Chinese dynasty is associated with economic expansion, paper money, and Neo-Confucianism.

What is the Song Dynasty?

100

This trade network connected East Asia to the Mediterranean through overland routes.

What are the Silk Roads?

100

This religion spread widely through trade and emphasizes the Five Pillars.

What is Islam?

100

This pandemic spread along trade routes in the 14th century.

What is the Black Death?

200

This Neo-Confucian thinker blended Confucianism with Buddhist ideas during the Song Dynasty.

Who is Zhu Xi?

200

This empire maintained control over a vast territory through religious tolerance and use of local administrators.

What is the Mongol Empire?

200

This environmental factor made trade in the Indian Ocean predictable and efficient.

What are monsoon winds?

200

This philosophy shaped Chinese society through hierarchical relationships and filial piety.

What is Confucianism?

200

The Pax Mongolica most directly led to this economic outcome.

What is increased trade across Eurasia?

300

This traveler documented his journey to the court of Kublai Khan in The Travels.

Who is Marco Polo?

300

This state relied on Islamic law and institutions to legitimize its rule over a largely non-Muslim population in South Asia.

What is the Delhi Sultanate?

300

Caravanserai along trade routes primarily served this economic function.

What is facilitating trade by providing rest and protection for merchants?

300

The spread of Buddhism into East Asia, where it blended with local beliefs, is an example of this process.

What is syncretism?

300

The spread of diseases like the Black Death shows the downside of this broader development.

What is increased connectivity (or expanded trade networks)?

400

This wealthy ruler of Mali became famous for his pilgrimage to Mecca, spreading Islam and wealth.

Who is Mansa Musa?

400

The Song Dynasty’s use of civil service exams based on Confucian texts best illustrates this method of governance.

What is merit-based bureaucracy (or bureaucratic administration)?

400

The increased use of credit and paper money in Afro-Eurasia demonstrates this broader economic trend.

What is commercialization (or expansion of trade networks)?

400

The adoption of Islam by rulers like Mansa Musa best illustrates this effect of religion.

What is political legitimacy (or strengthening authority through religion)?

400

The decline in population after the Black Death led to this major economic shift in labor systems.

What is increased wages (or weakening of serfdom)?

500

This Mongol ruler completed the conquest of China and established the Yuan Dynasty.

Who is Kublai Khan?

500

Compared to the Abbasid Caliphate, the Song Dynasty placed greater emphasis on this ideology as a basis for governance.

What is Confucianism?

500

The expansion of trade networks from 1200–1450 was most directly caused by this political development.

What is the expansion of empires (especially Mongol control creating stability)?

500

Unlike Buddhism, Islam spread more extensively during this period primarily because of this factor.

What is trade networks (or merchant activity)?

500

The Mongol Empire both facilitated trade and caused destruction, illustrating this historical concept.

What is dual impact (or continuity and change / complexity of empire-building)?