Chapter 11: Central and Southern Asia

Question 1

Nomadic groups (Xiognu &Turks)

Answer 1

Xiognu:

1. 3rd BCE; Central Asia
2. formed first confederation of nomadic tribe, Qin sent armies against them
3. Han emperors offered them gifts of silk, rice, cash, and brides in an attempt to make peace.

Turks:

1. 6-13th CE; Central Asia
2. First inner Asians to leave written record in their own language
3. Often raided China and fought among themselves, they would rather destroy each other than live side by side

Question 2

Turkish society & its impact on central/southern Asia

Answer 2

1. 6-13th CE; Central Asia
2. Uighurs had ties with Tang China who gave the Turks military aid and silk
3. Turks in 10th century started to convert to Islam and serve in Abbasid armies
4. in India, Persia, and Anatolia, military skills of Turks made it possible for them to become overlords of settled societies

Question 3

Mongol society & its impact on Afroeurasia

Answer 3

1. 12th CE
2. Women in Mongol society had to work very hard and care for animals while men hunted or fought
3. Lived in yurts and had to fight for survival
4. made carts and wagons with harnesses to use animals as a mode of transportation for supplies

Question 4

Chinggis Khan “Grat Khan”

Answer 4

1. 12-13th CE; Central Asia
2. Concluded that Mongols would use the script of Uighur Turks, and in that script, recorded laws and customs.
3. Sent envoys to different cities to demanded submission and threaten destruction (conquered China and Persia)
4. Subdued Mongols & Turkish tribes while building up an army of loyal followers

Question 5

4 Khanates

Answer 5

1. 13th CE; Central Asia
2. Division of the empire after Chinggis died where one of his descendants took charge at each region.
3. Ogodei was the certified successor who conquered Iran but was resisted by the Delhi Sultanate and Mamluk rulers in Egypt
4. Khubilai conquered China and Korea but failed to conquer Japan and islands of Southeast Asia

Question 6

Khublai Khan

Answer 6

1. 13th CE; Eastern Asia
2. Failed when sending fleets to Japan and Southeast Asia
3. At war with the khanate of Central Asia and had little contact with the khanate of Golden Horde in Russia
4. Took only Mongol women into the palace and discouraged Mongols from marrying Chinese

Question 7

Samarkand

Answer 7

1. 13th CE
2. a city captured by Mongols
3. Artisans and skilled workers were seized and transported to Mongolia in order to make the capital reach the same level of the cities Mongols had conquered

Question 8

Kamikaze

Answer 8

1. 13th CE
2. “divine wind”
3. Japanese name for storms that destroyed Mongol fleets during war between the Mongols and Japanese

Question 9

tax farming

Answer 9

1. 13th CE; Central Asia
2. System where Central Asian Muslim merchants bid against each other for the privilege to collect taxes
3. the tax collectors get to keep the taxes they collect

Question 10

Tamerlane

Answer 10

1. 14th CE; Central Asia
2. A conqueror who emerged when the Mongol rule declined
3. Turkish Noble
4. Delhi Sultanate was defeated by Tamerlane’s armies

Question 11

Rashid al-Din

Answer 11

1. 13-14th CE; from Persia, served the Mongols
2. Jew from Persia who converted to Islam and entered service of the Mongols as a physician
3. Became prime minister and made friends with the ambassador of Chine who arranged to help him translate Chinese works of medicine
4. Believed Mongols should rule in accord with moral principles of majority in each land

Question 12

Marco Polo

Answer 12

1. 13th CE; Venice
2. traveled China, India, Arabia, Sumatra, and Ceylon
3. Became friends with Kublai Khan and went on several diplomatic trips with him
4. Taken as a prisoner of war and had a fellow prisoner translate his traveling tales into a text that rapidly circulated through Europe

Question 13

Gupta state & society

Answer 13

1. 600 CE
2. Chandra Gupta laid foundations by making alliances with powerful families in the Ganges, conquering many, and making tributary alliances
3. Government was left to the locals which brought stability and prosperity
4. White Huns invaded and caused decline of the Gupta society

Question 14

Mahmud of Ghazni

Answer 14

1. 10-11th CE
2. led forays into India from his base in Afghanistan
3. He looted Indian palaces and temples

Question 15

Caste system

Answer 15

1. India
2. social hierarchy of the Indian people
3. made it difficult to convert higher caste citizens to Islam

Question 16

Bhaskara

Answer 16

1. 12th CE: Central Asia
2. astronomer/mathematician
3. wrote many books in Sanskirt

Question 17

Muhammad of Ghur & Delhi Sultinate

Answer 17

1. 13th CE; Central Asia
2. Muhammad of Ghur led a line of Turkish rulers who arose in Afghanistan
3. He captured Delhi and extended his own control throughout north India
4. Muhammad Ghur was assassinated in 1206

Question 18

Sati

Answer 18

1. India

2. A practice where a high-caste Hindu woman threw herself on her husbands funeral pyre

Question 19

Funan kingdom

Answer 19

1. 1st CE; Central Asia
2. First state in Southeast Asia
3. Ports of Funan offered food and lodging to merchants waiting out bad weather
4. Local rulers embraced Hinduism and Buddhism while learning Sanskirt

Question 20

Khmer empire & society in Cambodia

Answer 20

1. 9-15th CE; South Asia
2. Most important mainland state that controlled the heart of the region
3. Social organization was based off of indigenous traditions
4. successful in a long series of war with the Vietnamese

Question 21

Srivijaya society

Answer 21

1. 7th CE; South Asia
2. Maritime empire based on the island of Sumatra
3. Held the Strait of Malacca where traffic between China and India passed
4. Drew on Indian traditions to justify their rule and organize their state

Question 22

Borobudur

Answer 22

1. 8th CE; Central Asia
2. Magnificent Buddhist temple complex
3. stone monuments depict the ten tiers of Buddhist cosmology

Question 23

Mahayana vs. Theravada Buddhism & where each was influential in Southeast Asia

Answer 23

1. Mahayana: 1st CE; India
2. Theravada: 2nd CE; India
3. Mahayana popular in Southeast Asian islands while Theravada was popular on the mainland of southeast Asia
4. Theravada was closer to the original Buddhism of early India