Glossary
Chandragupta Maurya: The son of the last Nanda king of Magadha by the maid servant Mura, he defeated his father, the unpopular king, and started the Mauryan Empire.
Mauryan Empire: The first empire in India, founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 321 B.C.
Asoka: The third emperor of the Maurya dynasty, is considered ancient India's greatest ruler.
Hinduism: A complex polytheistic religion that blended Aryan beliefs with the many gods and cults of diverse peoples who preceded them.
Buddhism: A widespread Asian religion or philosophy that teaches that desire causes suffering and that humans should overcome desire by following the Eightfold Path.
Brahma: A Hindu god considered the creator of the world.
Vishnu: A popular Hindu god considered the preserver of the world; was thought to have ten reincarnations on Earth, one of them being Buddha.
Shiva: A popular Hindu god considered the destroyer of the world.
Silk Roads: A system of ancient caravan routes across Central Asia, along which traders carried silk and other trade goods.
Liu Bang: One of Xiang Yu's generals, who turned against him and won, declaring himself the first emperor of the Han Dynasty.
Centralized Government: A government in which power is concentrated in a central authority to which local governments are subject.
Han Dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 202 B.C. to A.D. 9 and again from A.D. 23 to 220.
Civil Service: The administrative departments of a government-especially those in which employees are hired on the basis of their scores on examinations.
Monopoly: A group's exclusive control over the production and distribution of certain goods.
Assimilation: The adoption of a conqueror's culture by a conquered people.
Mandate of Heaven: In Chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority.
Sahara: The largest desert in the world, located in Northern Africa.
Sahel: The African region along the southern border of the Sahara.
Nomads: A group that has no permanent home, wandering form place to place in search of food and water.
Ghana: A West African kingdom that grew rich from taxing and controlling trade and that established an empire in the 9th to 11th centuries A.D.
Camels: A desert animal that can travel for over 10 days without water, used to increase trade routes across the Sahara.
Mali: A West African empire that flourished form 1235 to the 1400s and grew rich form trade.
Mansa Musa: The most famous of the African Muslim rulers of Mali, who ruled Mali from about 1312 to 1332.
Mauryan Empire: The first empire in India, founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 321 B.C.
Asoka: The third emperor of the Maurya dynasty, is considered ancient India's greatest ruler.
Hinduism: A complex polytheistic religion that blended Aryan beliefs with the many gods and cults of diverse peoples who preceded them.
Buddhism: A widespread Asian religion or philosophy that teaches that desire causes suffering and that humans should overcome desire by following the Eightfold Path.
Brahma: A Hindu god considered the creator of the world.
Vishnu: A popular Hindu god considered the preserver of the world; was thought to have ten reincarnations on Earth, one of them being Buddha.
Shiva: A popular Hindu god considered the destroyer of the world.
Silk Roads: A system of ancient caravan routes across Central Asia, along which traders carried silk and other trade goods.
Liu Bang: One of Xiang Yu's generals, who turned against him and won, declaring himself the first emperor of the Han Dynasty.
Centralized Government: A government in which power is concentrated in a central authority to which local governments are subject.
Han Dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 202 B.C. to A.D. 9 and again from A.D. 23 to 220.
Civil Service: The administrative departments of a government-especially those in which employees are hired on the basis of their scores on examinations.
Monopoly: A group's exclusive control over the production and distribution of certain goods.
Assimilation: The adoption of a conqueror's culture by a conquered people.
Mandate of Heaven: In Chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority.
Sahara: The largest desert in the world, located in Northern Africa.
Sahel: The African region along the southern border of the Sahara.
Nomads: A group that has no permanent home, wandering form place to place in search of food and water.
Ghana: A West African kingdom that grew rich from taxing and controlling trade and that established an empire in the 9th to 11th centuries A.D.
Camels: A desert animal that can travel for over 10 days without water, used to increase trade routes across the Sahara.
Mali: A West African empire that flourished form 1235 to the 1400s and grew rich form trade.
Mansa Musa: The most famous of the African Muslim rulers of Mali, who ruled Mali from about 1312 to 1332.