Unit 1 Vocab #2

Question 1

Second of the two great dynasties of the Muslim empire. It overthrew the Umayyad caliphate in 750 CE and reigned until it was destroyed by the Mongol invasion in 1258. The Abbasid capital was Baghdad.

Answer 1

Abbasid Caliphate

Question 2

A Muslim ruled region in what is now Spain, established in the 8th century A.D.

Answer 2

Al Andalus

Question 3

Complex designs typical of Islamic art, combining intertwining plants and geometric patterns.

Answer 3

Arabesque

Question 4

A navigational instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars.

Answer 4

Astrolabe

Question 5

In Incan society, a clan or community that worked together on projects required by the ruler.

Answer 5

Ayllus

Question 6

Pre-Columbian settlement located on the Mississippi River (near modern day St. Louis) that was the largest city in North America north of Mexico, with as many as 20,000 people living there at its peak. The city fell into decline after 1200, around the time that a flood occurred, becoming abandoned by 1400.

Answer 6

Cahokia

Question 7

The chief Muslim political and religious leader.

Answer 7

Caliph

Question 8

Aztec clans that supplied labor and warriors to leaders.

Answer 8

Calpulli

Question 9

Pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the San Juan Basin of the American Southwest from the 9th to the 12th century CE. They built epic works of public architecture - a feat which required long-term planning and significant social organization.

Answer 9

Chaco

Question 10

Platforms of twisted vines and mud that served the Aztecs as floating gardens and extended their agricultural land.

Answer 10

Chinampas

Question 11

A term representing the political and religious unity of various Islamic groups.

Answer 11

Dar al Islam

Question 12

Literally “people of the book”; applied as inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus & Buddhists.

Answer 12

Dhimmi

Question 13

Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design.

Answer 13

Dhow

Question 14

The Grand Library of Baghdad that became one of the greatest centers of learning in the medieval world. Built primarily as a library, it became the home of ancient and modern wisdom during the Islamic Golden Age, preserving important works of scholarship from across Europe and the Middle East.

Answer 14

House of Wisdom

Question 15

A characteristic of the Renaissance in which there was an increased focus on individuals rather than God.

Answer 15

Humanism

Question 16

Islamic holy war.

Answer 16

Jihad

Question 17

Head tax paid by all nonbelievers in Islamic territories.

Answer 17

Jizya

Question 18

The five-century cooling of the climate from the 1200s to 1700s. The bitterly cold winters that Europeans experienced led to a reduction in agricultural productivity and trade and an increase in disease, unemployment, crime, and social unrest.

Answer 18

Little Ice Age

Question 19

Turkic military slaves who formed part of the army of the Abbasid Caliphate in the ninth and tenth centuries.

Answer 19

Mamluks

Question 20

Generals who founded their own state in Egypt and Syria from the thirteenth to early sixteenth centuries.

Answer 20

Mamluk Sultanate

Question 21

Place (in modern day Colorado) where Native Americans survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash. They built their first pueblos sometime after 650, and by the end of the 12th century, they began to construct the massive cliff dwellings.

Answer 21

Mesa Verde

Question 22

The name given to themselves by the Aztec people.

Answer 22

Mexica

Question 23

Were a Chalcolithic (copper age) mound-building Native American culture that flourished in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1500 A.D., varying regionally.

Answer 23

Mississippians

Question 24

A labor system used by Andean societies in which community members shared work owed to rulers and the religious community.

Answer 24

Mita

Question 25

Name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mts. The greatest concentrations of mounds are found in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

Answer 25

Mound builders

Question 26

A term applied by Islamic governments to Muslims, Christians, and Jews in reference to the fact that all three religions had a holy book.

Answer 26

People of the Book

Question 27

Andean society also known as the Inca.

Answer 27

Quechua

Question 28

A system of knotted cords of different sizes and colors used by the Incas for keeping records.

Answer 28

Quipus

Question 29

Ruling military family of the Oğuz Turkic tribes that invaded southwestern Asia in the 11th century and eventually founded a Sunni Muslim empire that included Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and most of Iran. Their advance marked the beginning of Turkish power in the Middle East.

Answer 29

Seljuk Empire

Question 30

The body of law that governs Muslim society.

Answer 30

Shariah

Question 31

The branch of Islam that holds that the leader of Islam must be a descendant of Muhammad’s family.

Answer 31

Shi’ite

Question 32

Muslims who attempt to reach Allah through mysticism. By educating the masses and deepening the spiritual concerns of the Muslims, they have played an important role in the formation of Muslim society and have been further responsible for a large-scale missionary activity all over the world.

Answer 32

Sufis

Question 33

The branch of Islam that believes that the Muslim community should select its leaders; they are the largest branch of Islam.

Answer 33

Sunni

Question 34

Type of farming invented by the Inca people that made the cultivation of crops in hilly or mountainous regions possible. It is commonly used in Asia by rice-growing countries now such as Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Answer 34

Terraced farming

Question 35

The community of all Muslims believers.

Answer 35

Umma

Question 36

Agricultural technique developed by pre-Hispanic people in the Andes region of South America. The system ensures both the collection of water and its subsequent drainage, combines raised beds with irrigation channels to prevent damage by soil erosion during floods, and creates a microclimate that prevents damage from insects and frosts.

Answer 36

Waru waru