Neo Confucianism
Really strongly exercised Patriarchal Authority. Some laws were passed to restrict women’s rights. Overall this was similar to older Confucianism. The Mongols had women who were much more equal so the Ming dynasty reigned this back in by restricting these rights in part using Confucianism.
Emperor Yongle
1402-1422. Second emperor in the Ming dynasty. He commissioned the creation of an Encyclopedia which ended up being over 11000 books etc. He also launched Maritime explorations. These expeditions were huge and very expansive - some were bigger than any that Europe ever had. Most went West and South. 1405 was the first and biggest expedition with over 300 ships. Emperor Yongle died in 1424 and the next emperor called all the explorations off and they didn’t continue to do it anymore. Since China didn’t officially establish anything like communities etc there was no long term effect.
Admiral Zheng He
Was in charge of the Maritime explorations under the Emperor Yongle. He led 7 of them total and was seen as a political power.
Timur (Tamerlane)
1336-1405. A large number of Mongols converted to Islam during the Mongolian empire and this guy was a ruler of central Asia. He grew up among Mongols who practiced Islam and united tribal warriors together combining Mongols and Turkish peoples. He basically re-took the Persian empire land area after the Mongols lost control shortly before he was born. So did not take it from the Mongols but gained rule of this area. After he died his territory was split between descendants and it fizzled out quickly.
Ottoman Empire
Have basically the Persian empire plus the northern part of Africa. They get as far as about Italy in Europe as well. This empire goes from 1300 to the beginning of the 1900s. They brought an end to the Byzantine empire by taking Constantinople.
Sultan Mehmed II (The Conqueror)
The man who established the Ottoman empire. He took Constantinople and vanquished the Byzantine empire replacing it with the Ottoman empire.
Songhai Empire
1461-1591. This Empire was in North Western Africa around the Saharan desert where the Sand roads are. This empire is the successor to the kingdom of Mali. They are Islamic. Originally existed to the east of Mali and they eventually took over Mali.
Sunni Ali
The king of the Songhai empire. He started the conquest to take Mali and succeeds. This includes taking Timbuktu.
The Renaissance
The period in Western Europe that was the revival of antiquity and humanism. This was the period where Europe returned to where they were before the Black Death. Less of a time period and more of a process. It differs country to country in Europe. It’s the revival of schools art philosophy etc. Some effects this had was that art became more realistically based.
Humanism
Understanding how people thought - language and history. This is overall the study of humanity. It is the study of the humanities like rhetoric poetry history and moral philosophy. Basically anything that has to do with humans past present traits biology etc. One defining difference that this led to was a more accurate portrayal of biology in art.
Gutenberg Printing Press
In the 1400s in Germany. Printing in China came first but this historically has no connection so it is believed that it was made independently. People would print books but then they would have artists come back and add detail and art to the sides of the page. So there was no goal to change the way books were but just have them be produced much faster.
Shamanism
They were healers profits visionaries as well as providing guidance. No matter the different cultures of tribes in the Americas they all seem to have a shaman who physically and spiritually heals.
Mexica
Pronounced meshika. They were a tribe of people from the Mexico area of the world that migrated to central America. They built their capital on an island in the middle of a lake in Central America. They then became the Aztecs.
Tenochtitlan
The Capital city of the Aztecs or Mexica people. This city was in the middle of a lake and had causeways to access the city. One of the largest cities in the world at this time with only China being more urbanized.
Chinampas
Terraces built up to allow farming on water. They would make dirt pillars and then reinforce them with reeds as walls under the water and they would also usually plant trees whose roots would help keep the dirt etc together. They would farm and build on these things mostly farm. The capital had two temples dedicated to different Gods.
Pochteca
Long distance traders or the name of them in the Aztec empire. The Capital Tenochtitlan was a central trade route. These traders would often carry things on their backs. They are looked up to and respected even not having to pay as many taxes because what they do is seen as a service.
Tlatoque
The first 6 rulers who ruled together of the Aztecs. These are the people who at first started the Aztec empire doing the conquering and aligning. They don’t divide the areas into providences or different rules. They had military leaders watch over the areas and the areas would pay tribute. The Aztecs would not care as long as they received tribute - that was all they wanted. However these tributes were sometimes very large in quantity which led to problems. 489 paid tribute at their peak as an empire. Aztec kings after the 6 started the Aztec empire were mostly hereditary but they could be chosen from outside of the royal family as well. These rulers/kings were in charge of both state and Religion being religious leaders and taking part in sacrifices.
Quechua
A major language family for the people in this region of the world at this time. People still speak it today in the Inca Empire area - Chile region.
Vertical Archipelago
The Inca Empire was known as a vertical archipelago because the people did different things at different altitudes. So lower down they may farm and higher up they may have animals etc. Since they were up against the mountains it made sense to do this.
Cuzco
They called this city the Navel of the world and it was the political and religious center for this empire. It’s a smaller capital and was known as the center because everything went through it. (Inca Capital, not Aztec)
Sapa Inca
The name of the kings of the Inca empire. They were believed to be descended from the sun God.
Quipu
The Inca had an army so big that people would just surrender to them. The Quipu was a way that they used to track the population and tax obligations. They did this by having a long circle of cords and knots that could be counted in some ways. We don’t fully understand it.
Mita
This was a physical labor tax for the Incan subjects. There was a lot of rough terrain and they needed roads etc. They used their subjects where they were forced to have a labor tax where every year they had to fight or build for a certain amount of time.
