Deck 10: The Nomadic Frontiers: The Islamic World, Byzantium, and China ca. 1000–1200

Question 1

Which of the following were crops that were transmitted to West Africa as a result of exchange with the Muslim world?

A) sorghum and yams
B) taro and cacao beans
C) cotton and limes
D) potatoes and oranges

Answer 1

cotton and limes

Question 2

A staple food transplanted from South Asia to the Mediterranean world as a result of the Islamic Empire was

A) potatoes.
B) wheat.
C) rice.
D) yams.

Answer 2

rice.

Question 3

Which of the following techniques did NOT lead to increased food production in the Islamic world?

A) new irrigation techniques
B) lower taxes
C) use of fertilizer
D) consolidation of small holdings into larger ones

Answer 3

consolidation of small holdings into larger ones

Question 4

The transfer of new foods from the Islamic to the Christian world was

A) rapid.
B) slow.
C) rapid at first, but slow later.
D) non-existent.

Question 5

Most of the surviving writing of the Maya falls into the categories of

A) narrative histories and agricultural accounts.
B) astronomical records and genealogies.
C) mythological stories and tax records.
D) religious texts and narrative histories.

Question 6

Most of the reconstruction of ancient Polynesian society is based on

A) written texts and archaeological evidence.
B) written texts and oral traditions.
C) oral traditions and linguistic evidence.
D) archaeological and linguistic evidence.

Question 7

The Mayan civilization of Central America was characterized by the formation of

A) a great empire.
B) the first democratic state in the Americas.
C) a series of kingdoms that followed one after the other.
D) city-states.

Question 8

In China,the government dealt with fluctuations in the price of grain by

A) allowing farmers to decide prices at meetings.
B) redistributing grain at discounted prices.
C) letting the market set prices.
D) having large landowners set prices at regional meetings.

Question 9

Major items of trade in the West African states of Ghana and Gao were

A) bananas and copper.
B) coffee and sugar.
C) gold and salt.
D) cacao beans and slaves.

Question 10

The outriggers used by the ancient Polynesians are best described as

A) large, single-hulled vessels similar to those used by Europeans.
B) only small, single-hulled canoes capable of short-distance voyages.
C) remarkably flexible vessels with heavy masts and rigging for long distance voyages.
D) large, double-hulled canoes capable of carrying 200 people.

Question 11

In Polynesian culture,the term mana means

A) a type of sacred drink that has narcotic properties and can induce trances.
B) a supernatural power that makes things work the way that they are supposed to.
C) a special type of food that is consumed only at special ritual meals.
D) a type of herb that is used for curing illness.

Question 12

On what basis were the Khmer people able to coalesce into a single,large kingdom?

A) exploiting the flooding of the Mekong River
B) wealth from mining and timber
C) wealth from its trading fleet
D) development of its great pottery industry

Question 13

In the state of Zaghawa,in what manner did kings eat?

A) in secret in order to appear divine
B) in large, public feasts in order to display their wealth
C) with all business in town suspended until they were done
D) as vegetarians in order to maintain ritual purity

Question 14

The "takeoff" point for Polynesian colonization began around

A) 400 C.E.
B) 600 C.E.
C) 800 C.E.
D) 1000 C.E.

Question 15

Zones of exchange and communication in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Americas

A) helped to create lasting states and many new innovations.
B) were similar to those in Eurasia, but smaller and more fragile.
C) were nothing like those in Eurasia and created no significant civilizations.
D) were unique and created states with no connections to those in Eurasia.

Question 16

Carvings from the kingdom of Sailendra show the importance of what to its people?

A) Islam and farming
B) sailing and Hinduism
C) agriculture and irrigation
D) Buddhism and sailing

Question 17

The Polynesians introduced what combination of foods to the islands they colonized?

A) bananas, breadfruit, and cattle
B) pigs, taro, and coconuts
C) sugar cane, chickens, and kava
D) sugar cane, pigs, and breadfruit

Question 18

Who were leaders in conquering new environments in the Japanese countryside?

A) Buddhist monks
B) rich merchants
C) traditional religious leaders
D) Samurai

Question 19

Which of the following policies is evidence of a Japanese government policy that encouraged a boost in food production?

A) increased government acquisition of cultivatable lands
B) an immediate and widespread introduction of the heavy plow
C) focus on the growing of millet instead of barley
D) allowing farmers to acquire permanent ownership of lands

Question 20

All of the following geographical elements impeded communication and exchange in sub-Saharan Africa EXCEPT:

A) rivers that were difficult to navigate.
B) dense forest that harbored disease from mosquitoes.
C) shores in East Africa that were inhospitable to shipping.
D) an immense desert.

Question 21

Wilfred the Hairy of Barcelona settled underpopulated areas in his domain by

A) encouraging trade through tax incentives to merchants and businessmen.
B) giving free land and tax breaks to peasants.
C) giving them to the church and to monastics.
D) forcing people to live in militarized colonies in these territories.

Question 22

Peoples in Central and South America

A) regularly were in contact with one another for trade, but seldom exchanged technological developments.
B) were often at war with one another for resources.
C) had little contact.
D) passed important technological advances like writing to one another.

Question 23

What effect did geography have on the transmission of culture and the development of states in the Americas?

Question 24

In order to navigate the vast Pacific Ocean,the Polynesians used

A) a magnetic compass.
B) the polestar.
C) the astrolabe.
D) charts.

Question 25

What policies did the early rulers of Japan engage in that encouraged greater productivity?

Question 26

What factors limited the ability of governments to affect the economic development of their countries in this period,even in cases where they succeeded in promoting growth?

Question 27

What new technologies and extensions of settlement came about with the Islamic Empire?

Question 28

How did environmental factors affect Polynesian expansion across the Pacific Ocean?

Question 29

Russian culture and civilization grew out of a combination of

A) Scandinavian and native Slavic peoples.
B) Germanic and native Slavic peoples.
C) Bulgar and native Germanic peoples.
D) Byzantine and native Slavic peoples.

Question 30

Did geography affect cultural and political development in Africa and the Americas more through limiting the exploitation of internal resources or restricting external trade?

Question 31

What role did new technological developments play in the Polynesian colonization of the Pacific islands?

Question 32

What advantages did the northern kingdom of Asturias possess over other Christian states in Spain?

A) It was rich in mineral resources.
B) It contained an important pilgrimage site.
C) It was rich in agricultural resources.
D) It had a large population.

Question 33

What types of ecological expansion occurred throughout the Islamic Empire? What are concrete examples of changes that came about as a result of this new Islamic regime?

Question 34

One of the most profound impacts that Islam had during the seventh to eighth centuries C.E.was

A) the development of many new types of plants.
B) the mass conversion of people to Islam.
C) the virtual destruction of Greek and Roman philosophical knowledge.
D) the creation of a completely new system of government.

Question 35

How did geography affect the transmission of culture and the development of states in sub-Saharan Africa?

Question 36

A common way that many earlier historians tended to look at the past has been to see it in terms of

A) random cycles.
B) continuities and discontinuities.
C) progress and decline.
D) innovation and change.

Question 37

Why were Islamic rulers interested in promoting new crops and the expansion of settlements?

Question 38

What policies were adopted by states in China and Southeast Asia that affected the productivity of their people?

Question 39

Colonization of Iceland by Scandinavians began around

A) 750 C.E.
B) 860 C.E.
C) 900 C.E.
D) 920 C.E.

Question 40

What served as a primary model and motivator for Charlemagne in his military expansion of the Frankish kingdom?

A) a desire to spread Christianity
B) the challenge of outdoing his predecessors
C) the memory of Rome
D) the Pope's call to spread his power

Question 41

What role did competition between the Orthodox and Catholic churches play in the patterns of Christian expansion?
In Perspective

Question 42

Write an essay that explores the puzzle of Polynesian culture and the colonization of the Pacific before 1000 C.E.Discuss factors that contributed to this expansion,the archeological evidence that documents its spread,and the technology that made it possible.What common cultural traits and religious practices bound these people together even as the explored islands were hundreds of miles apart?

Question 43

Why are the environmental histories of such varied regions as the Islamic world,China,Japan,and Mesoamerica so important? Are such long-ago transformations relevant or meaningful today?

Question 44

What environmental factors played a role in the divergence of the histories of sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas from those of Eurasia and North Africa during the first millennium C.E.?

Question 45

How did religious missionaries act as agents of expansion in eighth- and ninth-century Europe?

Question 46

What role did trade and commerce play in the development of states across Eurasia compared with similar developments in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa?

Question 47

Why does the British navigator Captain Cook receive credit for "discovering" many Pacific islands,rather than the Polynesian peoples he found on them?

Question 48

What role did Charlemagne play in the expansion of the Christian world?

Question 49

Discuss ways that the geography and climate of sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas shaped the spread and diffusion of cultural practices between 700 and 1000 CE.Use examples from both regions to discuss aspects that were isolating and different ways this isolation was overcome.