Ap World History Unit 1 Summary

Global History Regents Review
Unit 1: The Ancient World
Section 1: Early Peoples and River Civilizations
Nomads – people who moved from place to place, hunting and gathering their food. Paleolithic people were nomads. Their simple social structure consisted of small groups of people who traveled together.
Cultural Diffusion – the exchange of ideas, customs, and goods among cultures. Cultural diffusion occurs through trade, warfare, and migration.
Neolithic – the New Stone Age in which planting seeds to grow foods and the domestication of animals were discovered. This allowed people to live in permanent settlements. New social classes came about for the chiefs and warriors. New technology, tools, and skills, such as calendars, wheels,
Bible – the sacred scriptures of Christianity.
Emperor Constantine – allowed freedom of worship throughout the Roman empire in 313 A.D.
Emperor Theodosius – made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Missionaries – people dedicated to spreading a religion.
Diaspora – a scattering of people, as when the Jewish people were forced to leave their homeland in Palestine by the Romans. Wherever Jews settled, they lived in close-knit communities and maintained their identity through the careful preservation of tradition.
Hinduism
Brahman – single unifying spirit of Hindu belief (like the Force in Star Wars).
Reincarnation – in Hinduism, the rebirth of the soul in a new body.
Karma – in Hinduism, all the deeds of a person’s life that affect existence in the next life.
Dharma – in Hinduism, the moral and religious duties that are expected of an individual.
Upanishads – philosophical dialogues about Hindu beliefs.
Vedas – collections of sacred Hindu prayers and verses.
Buddhism
Buddha – Siddhartha Gautama left his wealthy home in search for the meaning of human suffering. He found the answer while meditating under a scared tree; therefore he is called the Enlightened One, or
Akbar the Great – Babur’s grandson who was the greatest Mughal ruler. Although he was a Muslim, he gained the support of Hindus because of his tolerant policies.
Pax Mongolia – political stability throughout much of Asia resulted from Mongol rule. This period allowed for an exchange of goods and ideas between the East and the West. The Mongols provided safe passage along the dangerous Silk Road, causing trade to flourish.
Marco Polo – an Italian merchant who traveled to the court of Kublai Khan in the late 1200s and remained there for years. His writings introduced Europeans to the beauty and riches of China.
Ibn Battuta – a scholar from Morocco who traveled first to Mecca and then through Asia Minor, Persia, India, Indonesia, and China. Later, he traveled to Spain. The record of his travels is of great interest to historians.
Section 3: Global Trade and Interactions
Canton – Chinese city that became an important center for global trade. Europeans were allowed to trade with the Chinese in Canton, but only under strict limits. Canton is today known as Guangzhou.
Mogadishu – a trading center that thrived on trade across the Indian