Chapter 13 Vocabulary
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- tropics
- Equatorial region between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. It is characterized by generally warm or hot temperatures all year-round, though much variation exists due to altitude and other factors. Temperate zones north and south of the tropics generally have a winter season.
- Malacca
- Port city in the modern Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, founded about 1400 as a trading center on the Strait of Malacca. Also spelled Melaka.
- Ibn Battuta
- (1304-1369) Morrocan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan. His writings gave a glimpse into the world of that time period.
- Aden
- Port city in the modern south Arabian country of Yemen. It has been a major trading center in the Indian Ocean since ancient times.
- Gujarat
- Region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing; the inhabitants are called Gujaratis.
- Mali
- Empire created by indigenous Muslims in western Sudan of West Africa from the thirteenth to fifteenth century. It was famous for its role in the trans-Saharan gold trade.
- Delhi Sultanate
- (1206-1526) Centralized Indian empire of varying extent created by Muslim invaders.
- Mansa Kankan Musa
- Ruler of Mali (1312-1337). His pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecca in 1324-1325 established the emprie's reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean world. He actually devalued gold in Cairo for a couple years because of the lavish display of wealth and the gold he gave away during his pilgrimage.
- monsoon
- Seasonal winds in the Indian Ocean caused by the differences in temperature between the rapidly heating and cooling landmasses of Africa and Asia and the slowly changing ocean waters. These strong and predictable winds have long ridden across the open sea by sailors, and the large amounts of rainfall that they deposit on parts of India, Southeast Asia, and China allow for the cultivation of several crops a year.
- Swahili Coast
- East African shores of the INdian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and the Zambezi River; from the Arabic sawahil, meaning of "shores."
- Urdu
- A persian-influenced literacy form of Hindi written in Arabic characters and used as a literary language since the 1300s.
- Timbuktu
- City on the Niger RIver in the modern country of Mali. It was founded by the Tuareg as a seasonal camp sometime after 1000. As part of the Mali Empire, Timbuktu became a major terminus of the trans-Saharan trade and a center of Islamic learning.
- dhow
- Ship of small to moderate size used in the western Indian Ocean, traditionally with a triangular sail and a sewn timber hull. It is less technologically advance than the Chinese junks, but it was a ship more commonly used.
- Great Zimbabwe
- City, now in ruins (in the modern African country of Zimbabwe), whose many stone structures were built between about 1250 and 1450, when it was a trading center and the capital of a large state.