AP World History Vocab #1
Vocabulary from Chapters 1, 2, & 3: Prehistory, China, and India
Terms
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- reincarnation
- successive attachment of the soul to some animate form according to merits earned in previous lives
- Kushans
- dynasty that succeeded Mauryan; sponsored Buddhism
- Neolithic Revolution
- succession of technological innovations and changes in human organization that led to development of agriculture; 8,500 BCE-3,500 BCE
- Mohenjo-Daro
- major urban complex of Harappan civilization
- Kautilya
- political advisor to Chandragupta Maurya; believed in scientific application of warfare
- city-states
- form of political organization typical of Mesopotamian civilizations
- Chandragupta Maurya
- founder of Mauryan dynasty; developed first empire in India
- monsoon
- seasonal winds crossing India and southeast Asia; brings rain during summers
- Aryan
- Indo-European nomadic pastoralists who replaced Harappan civilizations; militarized society
- Buddha
- Siddhartha Guatama; creator of major Indian and Asian religion in 6th century BCE
- Himalayas
- mountain range marking northern border of India; site of Aryan settlements
- gurus
- brahmans who were teachers for the princes of the imperial court of the guptas
- Bronze Age
- from 4,000 BCE, when bronze tools came into existence, to 1,500 BCE, when iron tools replaced them
- Sanskrit
- sacred and classical Indian language
- stupas
- stone shrines built to house pieces of bone or hair or personal possessions said to be relics of the Buddha
- Qin
- 221 BCE-207 BCE; arose after the decline of the Zhou Dynasty
- Shiva
- the brahman, later Hindu, god of destruction and reproduction
- Paleolithic Age
- ending in 12,000 BCE; use of crude stone tools and hunting and gathering for subsistence
- pyramids
- monumental architecture typical of Old Kingdom Egypt; used as tombs for pharoahs
- Babylonians
- unified of all Mesopotamia c.1,800 BCE; collapsed due to foreign invasion c.1,600 BCE
- Ashoka
- grandson of Chandragupta Maurya; converted Buddhism and helped to spread it throughout India
- scholar-gentry
- Chinese class created by marital linkage of the local land-holding aristocracy with the office-holding shi
- Alexander the Great
- successor of Philip II; attempted to combine Greek and Persian cultures
- cuneiform
- form of writing developed by Sumerians using a stylus and tablets
- Neolithic Age
- 8,000 BCE-5,000 BCE; adaptation of sedentary agriculture; domestication of animals & plants
- Han
- dynasty that succeeded the Qin in 202 BCE; ruled for 400 years
- slash-and-burn agriculture
- system of cultivation where forest floors are cleared by fire and then farmed on
- Homo sapien sapiens
- the human species that as most successful at the end of the Paleolithic period
- nirvana
- Buddhist state of enlightenment; state of tranquility
- Sumerians
- people who migrated to Mesopotamia c. 4,000 BCE; created first society in the region
- Indus River
- river sources in Himalayas to mouth in Arabian Sea; location of Harappan civilization
- Kush
- African state divided along Upper Nile c.1,000 BCE; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries
- Guptas
- dynasty that succeeded Kushans in 3rd century CE
- Çatal Hüyük
- early urban culture based on sedentary agriculture
- Indra
- chief deity of the Aryans
- nomads
- cattle and sheep herding societies found on the fringes of civilized societies
- Zhou
- overthrew Shang Dynasty and established second Chinese dynasty
- Vishnu
- the brahman, later Hindu, god of sacrifice
- Ziggurats
- massive towers associated with Mesopotamian temple complexes
- Mesopotamia
- "between the rivers"; civilizations that arose between the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys
- Huanghe River
- site of the development of sedentary agriculture
- bands
- levels of social organization of 20-30 people; nomadic hunters & gatherers; work distributed based on gender
- hunting and gathering
- human means of obtaining subsistence before sedentary agriculture; band social organization
- Harappa
- major urban complex of Harappan civilization; along with Mohenjo-Daro
- pharoah
- title of kings of ancient Egypt
- Mauryan
- dynasty in India in 4th century BCE after invasion of Alexander the Great
- Dao
- philosophy associated with Lao-Tze
- Dharma
- the caste position and career determined by a person's birth
- Hammurabi
- most important ruler of the Babylonian empire; responsible for codification of law
- Shi Huangdi
- founder of the brief Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE
- untouchables
- lowest caste in Indian society; performed tasks considered polluting
- Vedas
- Aryan hymns written in sacred books in 6th century BCE
- Great Wall
- defensive monument to keep out invaders from the North; built during Qin Dynasty under Shi Huangdi
- Silk Roads
- trading route connecting European, Chinese, and Indian civilizations; transmitted ideas and goods throughout