Chapter 4: Era Overview: Expanding Interactions, 300-1500 CE

Chapter 4: Era Overview: Expanding Interactions, 300-1500 CE

Key Content Terms

In your notebook, define the following terms:

MillenniumShia

epidemic Sunni

autonomy Dar al-Islam

Afro-Eurasia Pax Mongolia

Orthodox Christianity bubonic plague

Mesoamerica world religion

caliph Crusades

khan

As you read Chapter 4, answer the following questions on a separate sheet. (1 point each)

2.2 Crisis in the Classical World

1. Which of the classical empires wasthe first to fail?

2. What factors contributed to the failure of this empire?

3. How did Rome’s system of choosing political leaders contribute to thedownfall of the Roman Empire?

4. Why did the Roman Empire divide in two?

5. What protected the Gupta Empire from the White Huns in thenorthwest?

6. What was the one simple reason for the fall of the Gupta Empire?

7.Who united parts of central and western Europe in a kingdom knownas the Holy Roman Empire?

8. Which great civilizations arose in Mesoamerica?

2.3 The Muslim empire

9. The origins of the Muslim Empire lie in the teachings of which spiritual leader?

10. What factors led to the success of Arab armies in conquering much of the Middle East and North Africa?

11.What was Dar al-Islam?

12. Why did Islam divide into two branches, Shi’a and Sunni?

4.4 The Mongol World

12. Who managed to unite the nomadic Mongol tribes into a powerfulfighting force?

13. How did the Mongols’ skills help Genghis Khan conquer so muchterritory?

14. What skills did Genghis Khan have that made him a successfulconqueror?

15. How did the size of the Mongol Empire compare to the Muslim andRoman empires at their peak?

16. How did the Mongols deal with the different customs and traditions ofconquered peoples?

17. What impact did the PaxMongolicahave on trade?

18. What effect did the bubonic plague have on the Mongol Empire?

19. Why was it harder for the four khanates to rule after the BlackDeath?

4.5 Expanding Networks of Exchange

20. What areas of the world did the Silk Road connect?

21. Which trade network supplied two thirds of the world's gold and supported the powerful kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai?

22. Beginning in the 11th century, how did Christian and Muslim armiescome into conflict?

23. How did devastating diseases likethe bubonic plague spread from oneregion to another?

Orzechowski/World History