Deck 12: Religion and Diversity in the Transformation of Southern Asia, 711-1400

Question 1

Which of these best characterize the revolution of Abu Muslim?

A) a Sunni revival
B) Arab nationalism
C) Umayyad conquest
D) Persian nationalism

Answer 1

Persian nationalism

Question 2

Who ruled in the golden age of learning in Baghdad?

A) Muawiya
B) Harun al-Rashid
C) Salah al-Din
D) Umar

Answer 2

Harun al-Rashid

Question 3

What subject did al-Khwarizmi analyze and write about?

A) the Hindu-Islam conflict
B) Ptolemy's earth-centered universe
C) algebra
D) the life of Christ

Answer 3

Ptolemy's earth-centered universe

Question 4

The name "Sufism" originates from

A) the woolen clothing worn by its followers.
B) the region of the caliphate inhabited by its followers.
C) the man who started the faith.
D) Muhammad's fourth wife.

Question 5

Which of these was used by to make paper under Abbasid rule?

A) bamboo
B) wood chips
C) cotton or linen rags
D) hemp and jute

Question 6

Which of these religious developments was the context for the arrival of Islam in Persia?

A) the Sunni-Shi'ite split
B) the advent of Sufism
C) the emergence of madrasas
D) the first expansion of Islam

Question 7

Which had fewer opportunities when the Abbasids took over?

A) Jews
B) Mesopotamian Christians
C) Arab Muslims
D) Persians

Question 8

On which of the following points would Sufis and fundamentalists agree?

A) Muslims must combat and repress the secular worldview by any means necessary.
B) The materialism and intellectualism of the Abbasid caliphate were detrimental to Islam.
C) The purification of the umma was necessary to restore fidelity to Allah's message.
D) Intellectuals were trying to dilute the purity of the Qur'an.

Question 9

Which of these characterize Baghdad under the Abbasids?

A) small, Arab, agricultural
B) new, cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic
C) small, commercial, Persian
D) large, Persian, centuries old

Question 10

What are madrasas?

A) Sufi sects
B) Islamic schools
C) Abbasid military leaders
D) Islamic communities in Baghdad

Question 11

Which of the following men translated and wrote commentaries on the Greek philosopher Aristotle?

A) Ibn Sina
B) Al-Khwarizmi
C) Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
D) Ibn al-Haytham

Question 12

Which factors led to the Islamic conquest of Iran?

A) The Parsees formed an alliance with the Muslims because of years of persecution under Persian rule.
B) The Sasanian King Chosroes II married the granddaughter of Muhammad which led to a merger between the two groups.
C) Sasanian Persia was in a state of decline caused in part by years of warfare with Byzantium.
D) Most Iranians practiced Zoroastrianism, a peaceful religion; therefore, they refused to engage in battle with the Muslims.

Question 13

Although Arabic language dominated in most of the Islamic world, what poetic language persisted and influence Arabic culture in Iran?

A) Turkish
B) Sanskrit
C) Persian
D) Greek

Question 14

After 750, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate was relocated to

A) Baghdad.
B) Tehran.
C) Mecca.
D) Medina.

Question 15

Who overthrew the Umayyads in 750?

A) Mughals
B) Abbasids
C) Persians
D) Turks

Question 16

How were the Abbasids influenced by the unrest in Persia at the time they came to power?

A) Abbasid rule was consistently harsh towards Persians and Persian culture.
B) Abbasid rule was more firmly entrenched in Arabia.
C) Persians became second-class citizens in the Abbasid empire.
D) Abbasid rulers placated their Persian subjects.

Question 17

Which of these led the Muslim world from 750?

A) the Fatimids
B) the Guptas
C) the Buyids
D) the Abbasids

Question 18

Who wrote The Rubaiyat?

A) Claudius Ptolemy
B) Omar Khayyam
C) Ibn Sina
D) al-Khwarizmi

Question 19

Which of the following accurately describes Sufism?

A) It is a mystic strain of Islam that rejectsmaterialism and embraces a simple lifestyle.
B) It is a strain of Islam that encourages the faithful to join with the umma to combat secularism.
C) It is a fundamentalist branch of Islam that encourages jihad.
D) It is a branch of the Sunni that encourages warfare with the Shi'ites.

Question 20

In addition to Iran, where else does Zoroastrianism live on today?

A) Morocco.
B) China.
C) Turkey.
D) India.

Question 21

Where was the Abbasid capital under al-Mu'tasim?

A) Samarra
B) Baghdad
C) Mecca
D) Persepolis

Question 22

The major emphasis of Sufism was

A) rejection of Shi'ite practices.
B) unity against Hindus.
C) rejection of worldly pleasures.
D) repressing secularism.

Question 23

Which of the following does NOT help to explain the centuries-old Hindu-Muslim conflict in India?

A) Islam is uncompromisingly monotheistic; Hinduism is polytheistic.
B) Islam asserts the equality of all men before Allah; Hinduism is based on a caste system that validates social inequality.
C) The Ghaznavids treated the Hindus harshly when they invaded India.
D) Muslims spread their faith peacefully, while Hindus conquered with bloodshed and destruction.

Question 24

The group that ruled eastern Persia in the 800s and 900s was the

A) Guptas.
B) Ghaznavids.
C) Samanids.
D) Seljuk.

Question 25

After Funan was established, it mainly spread its influence

A) southward into the Malay Peninsula.
B) northward into China.
C) westward into India.
D) eastward into the Pacific Ocean.

Question 26

The group that finally put an end to Ghaznavid rule was the

A) Buddhists.
B) Seljuks.
C) Ghurids.
D) Abbasids.

Question 27

Mahmud of Ghazni did all of the following EXCEPT

A) annex the Punjab to his empire.
B) permit the Seljuk Turks to use grazing pastures in his territory.
C) lead repeated raids on northwestern India.
D) introduce Hinduism to India.

Question 28

The mamluks were

A) mercenaries who rejected Islam.
B) Hindu warriors who defeated the caliphate.
C) Hindu slaves who converted to Islam and joined the caliph's army.
D) Turkish slaves trained as warriors.

Question 29

Ibn Rushd and Moses Maimonides left Spain because

A) they were trying to lead a revolution against the government.
B) they refused to adopt Islam.
C) the religiously conservative government was suspicious of intellectual pursuits.
D) the government attempted to purge Spain of all Muslims.

Question 30

What was the impact of the Ghurids on Buddhism in India?

A) Buddhism gained in importance over Hinduism.
B) Buddhism was driven out of India.
C) Buddhism gained in importance as Hinduism declined.
D) Buddhism became the official state religion.

Question 31

Which practice, required by Muhammad of all believers, helped develop unity and cohesion among all Muslims?

A) standard Sabbath prayers
B) adoption of the Persian language throughout the empire
C) pilgrimage to Mecca
D) purification of the umma

Question 32

Why was the Isthmus of Kra significant to Chinese and Indian merchants?

A) This was a major trading port where the Europeans came to buy silk and spices.
B) It provided a direct route for shipping cargo as opposed to traveling around the Malay peninsula.
C) It was the only area in southern Vietnam that was considered to be safe from pirates.
D) It provided an alternative to traveling from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal.

Question 33

Which culture exerted the greatest influence on southeast Asia in the first and second centuries C.E.?

A) Chinese
B) Indian
C) Islamic
D) Persian

Question 34

Why did the Muslim conquerors view Buddhism as a greater threat than Hinduism?

A) Hinduism does not seek converts; Buddhism does.
B) Buddhist monks enjoyed greater prestige than Hindu priests.
C) The ruling family of India had previously adopted Buddhism.
D) Hindus willingly assimilated into Islamic culture; Buddhists resisted.

Question 35

Wahhabism is

A) a conservative branch of Islam.
B) a pacifist philosophy adopted in China.
C) a branch of Islam concerned with withdrawing from the secular world.
D) the language used in Baghdad.

Question 36

Which led to the creation of an impressive cultural center at Ghazni?

A) a series of seventeen raids by the "Sword of Islam"
B) the trading connections along the Silk Road
C) the defeat of the Samanids and Turks
D) the new forms of taxation implemented during the Gupta

Question 37

In what century did Abbasid rule weaken, leading to loss of territory and the eventual fall of the empire?

A) 700
B) 900s
C) 1100s
D) 1300s

Question 38

Southeast Asia is an agriculturally rich region; however, farming in the region has proven to be rather difficult. Why?

A) There is not enough rainfall.
B) The soil is not fertile.
C) Much of the area is covered by rain forest.
D) Most of the land is too hilly to farm.

Question 39

In what way did the Delhi Sultanate continue the pattern established by the Ghaznavids?

A) It was an Islamic regime ruling a mainly Hindu people.
B) Although the rulers were Buddhists, they tolerated other faiths.
C) Its main power base was in southern India.
D) This regime sought stability by collaborating with the Hindus.

Question 40

Funan, the first Southeast Asian state, originated along what river?

A) the Yellow River.
B) the Mekong River.
C) the Indus River.
D) the Ganges River.

Question 41

What was the dominant religion of Srivijaya?

A) Buddhism
B) Hinduism
C) a unique Buddhist-Hindu synthesis
D) Islam

Question 42

Which of these elements of Indian culture was NOT adopted in Cambodia?

A) Hindu and Buddhist coexistence
B) a bureaucracy dominated by military and religious leaders
C) architecture
D) the caste system

Question 43

What was the economic base of Srivijaya?

A) overland trade with southern China
B) maritime trade
C) mining
D) farming

Question 44

Which of these occupied modern Vietnam, but was expelled in the 900s?

A) Cambodia
B) China
C) Japan
D) India

Question 45

The state of Funan is in present day

A) Korea.
B) Thailand.
C) Burma.
D) Vietnam.

Question 46

The Abbasids were Shi'ite Muslims.

Question 47

Which of these absorbed Funan after around 600 CE?

A) Burma
B) Vietnam
C) Cambodia
D) India

Question 48

The early peoples of Southeast Asia were which of the following?

A) Indians
B) Malays
C) Aryans
D) Japanese

Question 49

The main ethnic group of modern Cambodia is known as the

A) Funan.
B) Malay.
C) Khmer.
D) Veda.

Question 50

Muslims used rags made from linen and cotton to make paper.

Question 51

Sufis advocated enjoyment of worldly goods to demonstrate that they were blessed by God.

Question 52

What was Borobodur?

A) a Hindu temple complex
B) the main trading center of Srivijaya
C) a trading empire
D) a Buddhist temple complex

Question 53

The Khmer state in Cambodia was Muslim.

Question 54

Which culture was dominant in early Cambodia?

A) Islamic
B) Hindu
C) Christian
D) Buddhist

Question 55

The mamluks were pacifist Buddhist monks.

Question 56

Where was Srivijaya centered?

A) Cambodia
B) Burma
C) Sumatra
D) the Malay Peninsula

Question 57

The Qur'an requires that all prayers be recited in Arabic.

Question 58

What was the fate of Srivijaya by the 1200s?

A) conquest by Cambodia
B) disintegration into smaller principalities
C) destruction by Dutch merchants
D) conquest by Vietnam

Question 59

By the early 800s, Baghdad had a larger population than Constantinople.

Question 60

Which of the following statements about Angkor Wat is NOT True?

A) It was the site of an extensive Buddhist temple complex.
B) It was the site of the capital of the Cambodian empire.
C) The elaborate buildings and ceremonial rooms in this complex were dedicated to Vishnu.
D) After the collapse of the Khmer empire, this complex was abandoned and forgotten.

Question 61

Harun al-Rashid was ruler in the time of Baghdad's golden age.

Question 62

What religion were the majority of Indians during the Delhi Sultanate?

Question 63

Why did Sufis wear rough woolen clothing?

Question 64

Where is "farther India"?

Question 65

Discuss how the Abbasid government differed from that of the Umayyads.

Question 66

Discuss the response by Muslims to Abbasid culture.

Question 67

Who presided over Islam's Golden Age?

Question 68

To what religion is Borobodur dedicated?

Question 69

Where was Srivijaya centered?

Question 70

Compare and contrast Sufism and Islamic conservatism.

Question 71

Discuss the revival of learning that took place in the Islamic world during and after the reign of Harun al-Rashid

Question 72

What was the Abbasid attitude towards Shi'ism?

Question 73

What do Muslims wear on their pilgrimage to Mecca?

Question 74

Discuss the role of commerce in Islamic territories.

Question 75

Why was the Abbasid caliphate so successful in promoting learning and the arts?

Question 76

Evaluate the factors which led to the decline of the Abbasid caliphate.

Question 77

What is another name for The 1,001 Nights?

Question 78

Persian culture was encouraged under the Abbasid caliphs.

Question 79

What are madrasas?

Question 80

Why did the Abbasid caliphate decide to move the capital eastward?