Karakorum
The Mongol capital. (Pg. 353)
Nomad
Pastoralists who kept herds of animals and built societies by adapting to the ecological conditions of arid lands. (Pg. 354)
Charismatic Leadership
Leaders who won recognition as nobles and thereby acquired the prestige needed to organize clans and tribes into alliances. (Pg. 355)
Shaman
Religious specialists who possessed supernatural powers, communicated with the gods and nature spirits, invoked divine aid on on behalf of their communities, and informed their companions of their gods' will. (Pg. 356)
Khan
"Ruler." They rarely ruled directly but, rather, through the leaders of allied tribes. (Pg. 356)
Sultan
"Chieftain" or "Ruler". The Abbasid caliphs recognized the Suljuq leader Tughril Beg as this in 1055. He first consolidated his hold on the Abbasid capital at Baghdad then he and his successors extended Turkish rule to Syria, Palestine, and other parts of the realm. (Pg. 357)
Mahmud of Ghazni
Led the Turkish Ghaznavids of Afghanistan in raids on lucrative sites in Northern India. He was a zealous for of Buddhism and Hinduism. (Pg. 358)
Chinggis Khan
Forged the various Mongol tribes into a powerful alliance that built the largest empire the world has ever seen. "Universal Ruler" (Pg. 358)
Khubilai Khan
One of Chinggis Khan's grandsons. He unleashed ruthless attacks against his enemies, but he also took an interest in cultural matters and worked to improve the welfare of his subjects. (Pg. 361)
Kamikaze
"Divine Winds". The Japanese defenders attributed their continued independence to this. (Pg. 362)
Khanate of Chaghatai
The area of the Mongol Empire that stretched from western China to the Aral Sea. (Pg. 362)
Khanate of Golden Horde
Overran Russia, and then mounted exploratory expeditions into Poland, Hungary, and eastern Germany. Prized the steppes north of the Black Sea as prime pastureland for their horses. (Pg. 362)
Khanate of Great Khan
The area of the Mongol Empire conquered by Khubilai Khan, which stretched from Mongolia to southern China. (Pg. 362)
Ilkhanate of Persia
The area of the Mongol Empire that took over the Abbasid Empire in the Middle East. (Pg. 362, 363)
Tamerlane
A self-made Turkish conqueror whooped on Persia after the collapse of the Mongol states. He took Chinggis Khan as his model. (Pg. 366)
Samarkand
The city near where Tamerlane was born that he built into a magnificent imperial capital. (Pg. 366
Osman
A charismatic leader who carved a small state for himself in northwestern Anatolia. He declared independence from the Saljuq sultan and launched a campaign to build a state at the expense of the Byzantine empire. (Pg. 368)
Ottoman Empire
An empire that extended its rule to southwest Asia, southeastern Europe, Egypt, and North Africa from its beginning in modern-day Turkey. (Pg. 368)
Sultan Mehmed
Captured the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and renamed the city under the Turkish name Istanbul in 1453. (Pg. 368)