Joint Stock Company
A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts.
Khipu
System of knotted colored cords used by preliterate Andean peoples to transmit information.
Little Ice Age
Temporary but significant cooling period between 1300- 1800CE accompanied by wide temperature fluctuations, droughts, and storms, causing famines and dislocation.
Mansabs
In India, grants of land given in return for service by rulers of the Mughal Empire. (p. 536)
Manumission
the formal act of freeing from slavery
Maroon
A slave who ran away from his or her master. Often a member of a community of runaway slaves in the West Indies and South America. (p. 505)
Maya
Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.
Mercantilism
European government policies of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries designed to promote overseas trade between a country and its colonies and accumulate precious metals by requiring colonies to trade only with their motherland country
Mestizo
A person of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.
Middle Passage
the journey of slaves from Africa to the Americas, so called because it was the middle portion of the triangular trade route
Mit'a
Andean labor system based on shared obligations to help kinsmen and work on behalf of the ruler and religious organizations.
Moche
Civilization of north coast of Peru (200-700 C.E.). An important Andean civilization that built extensive irrigation networks as well as impressive urban centers dominated by brick temples. (p. 313)
Moctezuma
Last Aztec emperor, overthrown by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes.
Mughal Empire
an Islamic imperial power that ruled a large portion of Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan (South Asia) by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century.
Mulatto
The term used in Spanish and Portuguese colonies to describe someone of mixed African and European descent.
New France
French colony in North America, with a capital in Quebec, founded 1608. New France fell to the British in 1763.
Oman
Arab state based in Musqat, the main port in the southwest region of the Arabian peninsula. Oman succeeded Portugal as a power in the western Indian Ocean in the eighteenth century.
Ottoman Empire
Islamic state founded by Osman in northwestern Anatolia ca. 1300. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire was based at Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) from 1453 to 1922. It encompassed lands in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, and eastern Europe.
Papacy
The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head.
Pilgrims
Group of English Protestant dissenters who established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620 to seek religious freedom after having lived briefly in the Netherlands.
Plantocracy
In the West Indian colonies, the rich men who owned most of the slaves and most of the land, especially in the eighteenth century.
Protestant Reformation
Religious reform movement within the Latin Christian Church beginning in 1519. It resulted in the 'protesters' forming several new Christian denominations, including the Lutheran and Reformed Churches and the Church of England. (p. 446)
Puritans
English Protestant dissenters who believed that God predestined souls to heaven or hell before birth. They founded Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629.
Rajputs
Members of a mainly Hindu warrior caste from northwest India. The Mughal emperors drew most of their Hindu officials from this caste, and Akbar I married a Rajput princess.
Reniassance
The Renaissance ("rebirth") was a cultural movement that began in Italy (Florence was the center of the Ranissance) and spanned roughly from the 14th to the 17th century.
Royal African Company
A trading company chartered by the English government in 1672 to conduct its merchants' trade on the Atlantic coast of Africa. (p. 507)
Safavid Empire
Iranian kingdom (1502-1722) established by Ismail Safavi, who declared Iran a Shi'ite state.
Scientific Revolution
The intellectual movement in Europe, initially associated with planetary motion and other aspects of physics, that by the seventeenth century had laid the groundwork for modern science.
Seasoning
An often difficult period of adjustment to new climates, disease environments, and work routines, such as that experienced by slaves newly arrived in the Americas. (p. 504)
Shi'ite Islam
Muslims of the Islam branch that believed God's leadership line was a descendant of Muhammad's son in law, Ali. Ismail, the Shah of Iran, declared his people to practice this religion in 1502.
Sikhism
Indian religion founded by the guru Nanak (1469-1539) in the Punjab region of northwest India. After the Mughal emperor ordered the beheading of the ninth guru in 1675, warriors from this group mounted armed resistance to Mughal rule.
Stock Exchange
A place where shares in corporations are bought and sold through an organized system
Suleiman the Magnificent
The most illustrious sultan of the Ottoman Empire; also known as Suleiman Kanuni, "The Lawgiver". He significantly expanded the empire in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean.
Swahili
a Bantu language with Arabic words, spoken along the east african coast
Tenochtitlan
Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins. (p. 305)
Teotihuacan
A powerful city-state in central Mexico (100-75 C.E.). Its population was about 150,000 at its peak in 600.
Toltecs
Powerful postclassic empire in central Mexico (900-1168 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs claimed ties to this earlier civilization. (p. 305)
Tribute System
A system in which defeated peoples were forced to pay a tax in the form of goods and labor. This forced transfer of food, cloth, and other goods subsidized the development of large cities. An important component of the Aztec and Inca economies.
Tulip Period
Last years of the reign of Ottoman sultan Ahmed III, during which European styles and attitudes became briefly popular in Istanbul. (p. 530)
Tupac Amaru 2
Member of Inca aristocracy who led a rebellion against Spanish authorities in Peru in1780-1781. He was captured and executed with his wife and pother members of his family.
Vasco de Gama
A Portugese sailor who was the first European to sail around southern Africa to the Indian Ocean
Witch-Hunt
The pursuit of people suspected of witchcraft, especially in northern Europe in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Absolutism
a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
Akbar
Most illustrious sultan of the Mughal Empire in India (r. 1556-1605). He expanded the empire and pursued a policy of conciliation with Hindus.
Anasazi
Native American group that lived in the Four Corners region of the U.S. and built impressive cliff dwellings.
Atlantic System
The network of trading links after 1500 that moved goods, wealth, people, and cultures around the Atlantic Ocean basin.
Allyu
the leader of each Inca village that carried out government orders
Aztecs
(1200-1521) 1300, they settled in the valley of Mexico. Grew corn. Engaged in frequent warfare to conquer others of the region. Worshipped many gods (polytheistic). Believed the sun god needed human blood to continue his journeys across the sky. Practiced human sacrifices and those sacrificed were captured warriors from other tribes and those who volunteered for the honor.
Balance of Power
an equilibrium of power between nations
Bourgeoisie
the social class between the lower and upper classes
Capitalism
an economic system based on private ownership of capital
Caravel
A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.
Catholic Reformation
Religious reform movement within the Latin Christian Church, begun in response to the Protestant Reformation. It clarified Catholic theology and reformed clerical training and discipline.
Chartered Company
Groups of private investors who paid an annual fee to France and England in exchange for a monopoly over trade to the West Indies colonies.
Chiefdom
Form of political organization with rule by a hereditary leader who held power over a collection of villages and towns. Less powerful than kingdoms and empires, chiefdoms were based on gift giving and commercial links.
Chimu
Powerful Peruvian civilization based on conquest. Located in the region earlier dominated by Moche. Conquered by Inca in 1465.
Chinampas
Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields.
Christopher Columbus
Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)
Columbian Exchange
The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.
Conquistadors
spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain
Constitutionalism
advocacy of a system of government according to constitutional principles
Council of the Indies
The institution responsible for supervising Spain's colonies in the Americas from 1524 to the early eighteenth century, when it lost all but judicial responsibilites.
Coureurs de Bois
a French or French-Indian trapper of North America, esp. of Canada
Creoles
descendents of Spanish-born BUT born in Latin America; resented inferior social, political, economic status
Deforestation
the removal of trees
Devshirme
Ottoman policy of taking boys from Christian peoples to be trained as Muslim soldiers
Driver
A privileged male slave whose job was to ensure that a slave gang did its work on a plantation.
Dutch West India Company
Trading company chartered by the Dutch government to conduct its merchants' trade in the Americas and Africa.
Encomienda
A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as laborers on it
Enlightenment
a movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world.
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541)
Gold Coast
a republic in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea
Great Circuit
The network of Atlantic Ocean trade routes between Europe, Africa, and the Americas that underlay theAtlantic system.
Habsburg
a royal German family that provided rulers for several European states and wore the crown of the Holy Roman Empire from 1440 to 1806
Henry the Navigator
(1394-1460) Portuguese prince who promoted the study of navigation and directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa.
Hidden Iman
last in a series of 12 descendants of Ali. Significant because it is believed my the Shi'ites that all rulers after Iman are just stand ins, waiting for his return to the world at the end of time.
Holy Roman Empire
Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by the princes. It lasted from 962 to 1806.
Hous of Burgessess
An assembly of settlers authorized by the The Virginia Company.
Indentured servitude
person who agreed to work for a colonial employer for a specified time in exchange for passage to america.
Indulgence
the remission by the pope of the temporal punishment in purgatory that is still due for sins even after absolution
Iroquois Confederacy
An alliance of five northeastern Amerindian peoples (after 1722 six) that made decisions on military and diplomatic issues through a council of representatives. Allied first with the Dutch and later with the English, it dominated W. New England.
Janissary
member of elite fighting force comprised of christian slaves in the Ottoman Empire