Strayer Chapter 12 Vocab & Big Picture Questions

European Renaissance

"Rebirth" of classical Greco-Roman learning. This is significant because during this era there were many artists like Leonardo da Vinci that were frowned upon by elites for their realistic paintings.

Zheng He

A Great Chinese Admiral (1371-1433) that was originally captured by the Ming dynasty for supporting Mongol rule. This is significant because despite being captured for being a "traitor to China" he was able to prove himself & be in control of the oceangoing fleet.

Timur

A Turko-Mongol warrior (1336-1405), also known as Tamerlane, who made efforts to restore the Mongol empire & destroyed much of Central Asia including parts of Persia, Russia & northern India. This is significant because despite failing, his successors maintained control over the area between Persia & Afghanistan for the rest of the 15th century.

Timbuktu

A large & wealthy city of West Africa. This is significant because it was noted for its Islamic scholarship from the 14-16th centuries.

Ming Dynasty China

Dynasty that rose to defeat the Mongols political rule (1368-1644). This is significant because they returned China to its political ways through reinforcing the civil service examination & undertaking the most impressive maritime systems. It only affected the elite.

Iroquois

Group of Native American people who inhabited present-day New York State. This is significant because an increase in armed conflict during the 15th century lead to the creation of the Iroquois League of Five Nations that consisted of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, & Seneca.

Seizure of Constantinople

Happened in 1453 & marked the downfall of Christian Byzantium. This is significant because the already wealthy Muslim Ottoman Empire took control.

Assume for the moment that the Chinese had not ended their maritime voyages in 1433. How might the subsequent development of world history have been different? What value is there in asking this kind of "what if" or counterfactual question?

If they had continued, they would more than likely have competed with European forces in order to become the prominent maritime power & explorer. Their economic standing would have allowed for more advanced technology & many more ships to be out on the ocean that Europe could compete with. The usefulness of counterfactual questions is debatable. They are useless due to the fact that the event did not happen & imagining it only provides us with a mere fantasy of what would be different in the world. It is useful in ways of estimating the power of a government or event could have on world history which will help us better understand the events that did happen.

Songhay Empire

Major Islamic state of West Africa that formed in the second half of the 15th century. This is significant because they gained much of their wealth from taxing the commerce on the trans-Saharan Trade Routes.

Ottoman Empire

Major Islamic state that was centered in Anatolia Turkey. This is significant because it expanded into many lands & only the Ming & Inca compared to their wealth.

Safavid Empire

Major Muslim Turkic empire of Persia that was founded in the early 16th century. This is significant because they imposed the Shia version of Islam that gained popularity & support, ultimately becoming the identity of Persian culture.

Malacca Empire

Muslim port city that was prominent on the waterway between Sumatra & Malaysia in the 15th century. This is significant because it assisted the diffusion of Islam throughout the Indian ocean.

Mughal Empire

One of the most successful Indian empires. This is significant because it was created by the Muslim Turks who governed non-Muslim people & made partnerships among themselves & Hindus.

Igbo

People who were settled east of the Niger River in what is now southern Nigeria in West Africa. This is significant because they built a complex society that rejected kingship & centralized statehood in favor of other institutions that promote social equality.

Looking Back: What would surprise a knowledgeable observer from 500 or 1000 CE, were he or she to make a global tour in the 15th century? What features of that earlier would might still be recognizable?

Several factors of change would have surprised the knowledgeable observer including the revival of China & western Europe, the emergence of Islam, the collapse of the Byzantine empire, the emergence of russia & spread of Christianity into that region & the emergence of powerful empires in West Africa. Some features may still be recognizable such as the persistence of Paleolithic peoples, herding societies & agricultural villages, the persistence of broad cultural traditions & the continuance of long-distance trade.

Paleolithic Persistence

The continuation of hunting & gathering societies in substantial areas of the world despite the advance of agricultural societies. This is significant because in the 15th century all of the Americas, much of Siberia & parts of Africa fell into this category.

How does this chapter distinguish among the various kinds of societies that comprised the world of the 15th century? What other ways of categorizing the world's peoples might work as well or better?

This chapter organizes people in two ways. It first organizes them into Paleolithic people, herding people, agricultural village societies & established civilizations. It then organizes those civilizations by region. There are other ways to organize people that may work better such as through cultural regions, not just geographical, or through webs of connections.

Fulbe

West Africa's largest pastoral society. This is significant because they gradually adopted Islam & took on a religious leadership role that lead to the creation of a number of new states.

Inca Empire

Western Hemisphere's largest imperial state in the 15th & 16th century. This is significant because it started off as a small community of Quechua-speaking people which then flourished into an empire containing 10 million people & spanning over 2,500 miles along the Andes mountains.

What common patters might you ntoive across the aworld of the 15th century?

You can see patterns of the diffusion of Islamic ideas through empires & trade. The Empires spread their culture as they conquer more land. Maritime trade routes have flourished with the fall of the Mongol Empire resulting in the rise of empires that mediate those ports. Religion varies in a way that whichever leading empire conquers the land, the religion used by that empire will flourish. Islam has flourished in the 15th century while Christianity has subsided.