The Global Tapestry (1200-1450) Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of The Global Tapestry (1200-1450) distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

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Quick Reference

The Song dynasty (960-1279) developed gunpowder, the magnetic compass, movable-type printing, and paper currency.

Territories united by Islamic faith, law, and culture. Despite political fragmentation, shared practices and Arabic scholarship created cohesion.

A decentralized system where lords granted fiefs to vassals for military service. Serfs worked the land.

Founded by Genghis Khan in 1206, the empire facilitated trade and cultural exchange along the Silk Roads.

The Mali Empire controlled gold and salt trade across the Sahara. Under Mansa Musa, it became a center of Islamic learning.

Caliphate:Islamic state led by a caliph, successor to the Prophet Muhammad.

Civil Service Examination:Chinese merit-based system selecting officials through competitive exams.

Dar al-Islam:Territories united by Islamic faith, law, and cultural practices.

Feudalism:Decentralized system of mutual obligations between land-granting lords and service-providing vassals.

Fief:Land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for service.

Hajj:Annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the Five Pillars.

Khanate:Political entity ruled by a khan, especially Mongol successor states.

Mit'a:Inca mandatory labor system for state projects.

Pax Mongolica:Period of peace across the Mongol Empire facilitating Silk Road trade.

Quipu:Inca record-keeping device of knotted strings.

Serfdom:Peasants bound to the land, owing labor to their lord.

Silk Road:Overland trade routes connecting East Asia to the Mediterranean.

Sultanate:State ruled by a sultan in Islamic tradition.

Trans-Saharan Trade:Trade routes crossing the Sahara connecting West and North Africa.

Tributary System:Subordinate states paying tribute to a dominant power for autonomy.

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