MMW 13
Chang Track
Spring 2014
First Midterm Review Guide
(This is meant to be a review guide, not the exam itself. Ultimately, you are accountable for all the
key materials in the readings and lectures.)
Review Session: Sunday, April 20, from 7:30-8:30 pm in Solis 104
Exam will be designed for 50 minutes. This midterm will account for 13% of your course grade
(PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING AN UNMARKED BLUEBOOK FOR EXCHANGE)
Part I. Objective Part
You need to be familiar with the historical context and significance of the following names and terms from
your readings and lectures. Be sure you are able to address the appropriate “who?” “what?” “where?” and
“when?’, and most importantly, “why?” questions associated with each one. Multiple Choice and
Matching Terms questions will be drawn from this guide.
Example of Multiple Choice format:
Please read each choice carefully and write the letter of the most appropriate answer in your blue book
next to the question number.
1. Which secret treaty carved up Poland between two neighboring powers? A) Brest-Litovsky
Treaty
B) Treaty of Versailles
C) Helsinki Accord
D) Nazi-Soviet Pact
Example of Matching Terms format:
Please match the terms or names from each column that are most closely related in significance and
historical context. Write a 3-4 sentence explanation of their relationship (BE BRIEF BUT SPECIFIC)
J. Alfred Prufrock
Ahimsa
Gandhi
Divided Self
Key Terms and Names
Introduction
Myth of European “exceptionalism”
Theory of cultural diffusion
Denial of Coevalness
Polycentric Globalism
Mongol Conquests
Physical extent of Mongol expansion
Military strategies
Impact of medieval climate change
Buffer zone between nomads and settlers
Genghis Khan
Outer frontier strategy
Jurchens in northern China
Khwarazm Shah of Iran
Ogodei Khan
Yelu Chucai
Mongol tax farming
Kuyuk Khan’s letter
Religious pluralism
Integration of economic networks
Yuan Dynasty
Khubilai Khan
Consort Chabi
Four Khanates
(Ilkhans [Hulegu], Golden Horde
[Berke], Chagatai Khanate, Great
Khanate)
Challenge of Arigh Boke
Office for the Stimulation of Agriculture
Ortakhs
Yuan paper currency
Yambs or Postal stations
Layout of Cambaluc
Dual identity of Khubilai Khan
Mongol hierarchy of ethnic classes
(Mongols, Semuren, Hanren, Nanren)
Finance Minister Ahmad
State monopolies
Legacy of`Saiyid Ajall in Yunnan
Jamal al-Din
The Polos
Muslim threats in Mongol realm
Accusations of Ai-hsueh (Aixue)
Anti-Muslim jasaghs
Ming Expeditions
Emperor Yongle
Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho)
Eunuch status
Ming Treasure Fleets
Size
Purposes
Tian-fei or “Celestial Spouse”
Tributary system
Qilin or giraffes
Pirate Chen Zuyi
Intervention in Sumendala (Samudra)
Rebel Suganla
“Carrot and Stick” foreign policy
Malacca
Link to Hormuz
Confucian backlash
Ming entrenchment
Trade Networks in E. Africa
Myth of the “Dark Continent”
Meaning of the term “Swahili”
Geographic
Linguistic (Kiswahili)
Cultural
Ethnic composition
The “Shirazi” lineage
Pattern of partial conversion to Islam
“Macrocosmic” consciousness
Permeability of a “littoral” identity
Mogadishu as redistribution center
Prominence of Kilwa
Zambezi River
Gold and ivory trade
Gujarat cloth trade
Effect of Monsoon winds (N.E. and S.W.)
Polycentric niche trade
Trade Networks in W. Africa
Pre-5th century Trans-Saharan Trade
Camel “Revolution”
Berber nomads
Littoral network of the “Sahel”
Kingdom of Ghana
Soninke clan
Kumbi-Saleh
Local polytheism
Taghaza salt-mines
Bambuk gold-fields
Accounts of al-Bakri
Almoravids
Mali Empire
Mandike clan
Al-Musulmani
Mali maritime ventures
Mansa Musa
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Bowing before the Mamluk Sultan
Cultural Flowering in Timbuktu
Catalan map of Africa, 1375
The Ottoman Empire
Rise of the Ottoman Turks
Osman Bey
Seljuk-Byzantine conflict
Mehmet II
Conquest of Constantinople/Istanbul 1453
Suleiman the Magnificent (Law-giver)
Extent of Ottoman power
De Busbecq
System of meritocracy
Devshirme
Janissary Corps
Grand Vizier
Timars
Millet system
Ottoman policy towards dhimmis
The Safavid Empire
Isma’il
Qizilbash
Sufi mysticism
The Mahdi
Selim the Grim
Battle of Chaldiran
Disruption of Mediterranean-Middle East link
Shah Abbas I
“Shah of the People”
European strategic alliances
Ghulam regiments
Debate w/ Fr. Vincent re: idolatry
Isfahan as “half the world”
English in Hormuz
Imamite Sh’ia
Muslims in India
Origin of the term “Hindu”
Delhi Sultanate
Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji
Jizya on Hindus
Expulsion to Dawlat Abad
Desecration of Hindu temples
Mughal Dynasty
Akbar
“Divine Faith”
Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi
Aurangzeb
Ibn-Battuta
Part II. Passage Identifications
Three passages from the following selection will be included on the midterm. You will choose two to
write on. In your response, you must identify the historical or religious context, in which each passage
occurs (e.g. speaker, subject, occasion, purpose, general time period). Whenever possible, you need to
explain HOW it connects to a key theme in our course so far: e.g. 1) Theories regarding rise of the West; 2)
Polycentric Globalism; 3) Cultural syncretism; 4) Geopolitical impact; 5) Degree of religious pluralism,
etc. Evidence of independent insight on the readings is strongly recommended. Each response should be a
full paragraph in length, but no longer than a page. Be specific and succinct!
1) “‘These people lived in a macrocosmic world inhabited by peoples speaking different languages,
having different ancestors, and working in different occupations. In this world, the beliefs of the
microcosm are too parochial; what was needed were beliefs that were universal. And so
townspeople began to adopt Islam, and in so doing they adopted a set of beliefs and a framework
for action that were held in common by others in the town, by people in other towns, and by
people from the whole Indian Ocean world.’” (Quoted in Pearson “The Swahili Coast in the
Afrasian Sea”)
2) “Muslim courts often provided rights to Christians and Jews that were unavailable in their own
courts. And so non-Muslims routinely sought out Muslim courts when they were under no
obligation to do so. Once they appeared before the Islamic court, its decision took precedence.
They often appealed to Muslim courts to gain access to the provisions of Islamic inheritance laws,
which absolutely guaranteed certain shares of estates to relatives—daughters, fathers, uncles, and
sisters.” (Quataert “Ottoman Inter-communal Relations”)
3) “When we came to the sultan’s presence we said to him: ‘Kiss the ground!’ but he refused outright
saying ‘How may this be?’ Then an intelligent man who was with him whispered to him
something we could not understand that he said: ‘I make obeisance to God who created me!’ then
he prostrated himself and went forward to the sultan.” (Al-Umari “Mansa Musa”).
4) “‘All the Muslim merchants have departed from hence [i.e. China] and no merchants are coming
from the Muslim countries; …and all this because for the past seven years they have not
slaughtered sheep. If it be so commanded, the merchants will come and go.’” (Rossabi “Muslims
in the Early Yuan Dynasty”)
5) “The Kazi (Qadi) replied: ‘To keep the Hindus in abasement is especially a religious duty, because
they are the most inveterate enemies of the Prophet, and because the Prophet has commanded us to
slay them, plunder them, and make them captive, saying “Convert them to Islam or kill them,
enslave them and spoil their wealth and property.” No doctor but the great doctor (Hanifa), to
whose school we belong, has assented to the imposition of the jizya (poll tax) on Hindus.’” (Zia
ud-din-Barni “The Dilemma of the Muslim Ruler in India”)
6) “In the country of Sumendala (Samudra) there was a false king Suganla (Sekandar) who was
marauding and invading his country. Its king Cainu-liabiding (Zaynu-‘l-Abidin) had sent an
envoy to the Palace Gates in order to lodge a complaint. We went thither with the official troops
under our command and exterminated some and arrested other rebels, and owing to the silent aid
of the goddess we captured the false king alive. In the thirteenth year (1415) on our return he was
presented to the emperor as a prisoner. In that year the king of the country of Manlajia (Malacca)
came in person with his wife and son to present tribute.” (Zheng He: “Inscription to the
Goddess.”)
Text References in brackets will NOT be provided on the actual exam
Please bring an unmarked bluebook to the exam