1. Diaspora: Greek word meaning "dispersion" or "scattering", used to describe the communities of a given ethnic group living outside their homeland.
  2. Islam: Religion expounded by the Prophet Muhammad on the basis of his reception of divine revelations, which were collected into the Quran after his death.
  3. caliph: Office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad, to rule the Islamic empire.
  4. sultan:the title of certain Muslim rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty in practical terms, without claiming the overall Caliphate, or it was used to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate.
  5. social mobility:Social mobility is the degree to which an individual's family or group's social status can change throughout the course of their life through a system of social hierarchy or stratification.
  6. Ottoman:The "Ottomans" became first known to the West in 1227 when they migrated westward into the Seljuk Empire, in Anatolia.
  7. Bantu migration:The Bantu migrated from Congo or Niger Delta Basin Their migration throughout Africa is one of the largest migrations in human history. This migration began in about 1000 AD -1800 AD.
  8. Mogadishu:Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important regional port for centuries.
  9. matrilineal:Matrilineal succession is a form of hereditary succession or other inheritance through which the subject's female relatives are traced back in a matrilineal line, to the total exclusion of males.
  10. Ming Dynasty:Was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history,"
  11. selective borrowing: Ideas were borrowed from other cultures and civilizations, but were integrated with the ideas and beliefs of the borrowing culture or civilization.
  12. Tokugawa: Tokugawa was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family from the period of 1603 until 1868.
  13. shogun: Military rank and historical title for Hereditary Commanders in Chief of the Armed Forces of Japan.
  14. economic: During the time period of 600-1450 the main economic focuses were the Silk Road, and, afterwards, the Indian Ocean.
  15. commercial revolution:The Commercial Revolution was a period of European economic expansion, colonialism, and mercantilism which lasted from approximately the sixteenth century until the early eighteenth century. Beginning with the Crusades, Europeans rediscovered spices, silks, and other commodities rare in Europe.
  16. mercantilism:Mercantilism is an economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable".