Mongols
A people of this name is mentioned as early as the records of the Tang Empire, living as nomads in northern Eurasia. After 1206 they established an enormous empire under Genghis Khan, linking western and eastern Eurasia.
Genghis Khan
Name means "universal leader. The was the founder of the Mongol Empire
Nomadism
A way of life, forced by a scarcity of resources, in which groups of people continually migrate to find pastures and water.
Yuan Empire
Empire created in China and Siberia by Khubilai Khan.
Bubonic Plague
A bacterial disease of fleas that can be transmitted by flea bites to rodents and humans; humans in late stages of the illness can spread the bacteria by coughing. Because of its very high mortality rate and the difficulty of preventing its spread, major outbreaks have created crises in many parts of the world.
Il-Khan
Means "peripheral khan based in Persia". His's khanate was founded by Hülegü, a grandson of Genghis Khan, and was based at Tabriz in modern Azerbaijan. It controlled much of Iran and Iraq.
Golden Horde
Mongol khanate founded by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu. It was based in southern Russia and quickly adopted both the Turkic language and Islam. Also known as the Kipchak Horde.
Timur
Member of a prominent family of the Mongols' Jagadai Khanate, Timur through conquest gained control over much of Central Asia and Iran. He consolidated the status of Sunni Islam as orthodox, and his descendants, the Timurids, maintained his empire for nearly a century and founded the Mughal Empire in India.
Rashid al-Din
Adviser to the Il-khan ruler Ghazan, who converted to Islam on Rashid's advice.
Nasir al-Din
Persian mathematician and cosmologist whose academy near Tabriz provided the model for the movement of the planets that helped to inspire the Copernican model of the solar system.
Alexander Nevskii
He was the prince of Novgorod. He convinced other princes that it would be best if they went along with the Mongols.
tsar
a male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917)
Ottoman Empire
a Turkish sultanate of southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa and southeastern Europe
Khubilai Khan
Last of the Mongol Great Khans (r. 1260-1294) and founder of the Yuan Empire. (p. 351)
Lama
In Tibetan Buddhism, a teacher. (p. 351)
Beijing
capital of the People's Republic of China in the Hebei province in northeastern China
Ming Empire
Empire based in China that Zhu Yuanzhang established after the overthrow of the Yuan Empire. The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He. (355)
Yongle
Reign period of Zhu Di (1360-1424), the third emperor of the Ming Empire (r. 1403-1424).Sponsored the building of the Forbidden City, a huge encyclopedia project, the expeditions of Zheng He, and the reopening of China's borders to trade and travel (355)
Zheng He
An imperial eunuch and Muslim, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa. (pp. 355, 422)
Yi
Korean dynasty that succeeded Koryo dynasty following period of Mongol invasions; established in 1392; ruled Korea to 1910; restored aristocratic dominance and Chinese influence.
Kamikaze
The 'divine wind,' which the Japanese credited with blowing Mongol invaders away from their shores in 1281. (p. 365)
Ashikaga Shogunate
The second of Japan's military governments headed by a shogun (a military ruler). Sometimes called the Muromachi Shogunate. (p. 365)