Deck 9: New Empires and Common Cultures, 600-1000 Ce

Question 1

Why was Ghana celebrated in Baghdad?

A) It was set in the golden sands of the Sahara, which provided much of the city's building material.
B) It was the terminus of North Africa's major trade routes.
C) It was the site of the famous gold mines of King Solomon.
D) It was the site where the so-called "golden" scholarship originated.

Answer 1

It was the terminus of North Africa's major trade routes.

Question 2

Which of the following accurately describes the origins of the Fatimid regime?

A) The Fatimids began when a Shiite religious and military leader overthrew the Sunni ruler in Egypt.
B) The Fatimids established themselves as a Sunni regime and refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Abbasid caliphs.
C) The Fatimids began as religious purifiers, who destroyed earlier centers of learning that had attracted Islamic scholars from all over Afro-Eurasia.
D) The Fatimids brought the Egyptian population into the Shiite faith and established Egypt as the primary base for Shiism.

Answer 2

The Fatimids began when a Shiite religious and military leader overthrew the Sunni ruler in Egypt.

Question 3

In what way were the Abbasid rulers similar to the Roman emperors?

A) Both increasingly relied upon diverse populations far from the imperial center to fill their armies.
B) Both effectively balanced the center and the periphery in imperial administration.
C) Both empires ultimately relied upon a single ethnicity for support.
D) Both located the center of religious devotion inside their imperial capital city.

Answer 3

Both increasingly relied upon diverse populations far from the imperial center to fill their armies.

Question 4

Which of the following represented the greatest challenge to creating a unified Islamic culture?

A) The Quran was translated into many local languages, such as Swahili, leaving doubts as to which translation was the most accurate.
B) Numerous prophets, each with his own group of supporters, had arisen since the death of Muhammad.
C) Strains associated with choosing the first four caliphs left a legacy of protest.
D) Islam devalued the role of merchants, thus preventing its spread along the trade routes.

Question 5

Which of the following best characterizes the role and position of women in early Islamic society?

A) Women had a shifting status, as patriarchy was only starting to emerge in Arabian communities.
B) Women lost all rights to inherit or own property.
C) Women from poor families were required to wear veils and be secluded, while women from wealthy families were allowed open access to male society.
D) Women enjoyed the right to divorce freely and to take multiple husbands.

Question 6

Which of the following accurately describes Islamic authority around 1000 CE?

A) It disrupted trade networks and tended to isolate the eastern and western halves of Afro-Eurasia from each other.
B) It ran out of energy at the fringes of Islam's reach, creating political fragmentation within the Muslim world.
C) It banned alternate faiths, especially Christianity and Judaism.
D) It limited agricultural and commercial experimentation in favor of sharia, which promoted stability and tradition.

Question 7

Which of the following characterized scholars in Baghdad?

A) They ensured that the wealth and talent from the Arabian Peninsula made their way to Iran.
B) They created paper, a new type of medium for record keeping.
C) They translated the works of Aristotle, Hippocrates, Archimedes, and Galen from Greek.
D) They symbolized the preferential treatment given to ethnic Arabs by the Abbasid regime.

Question 8

Which of the following led al-Mansur to establish a new capital for the Abbasid empire at Baghdad?

A) the desire to reaffirm Mesopotamia's centrality and exalt the universalist ambitions of Islam
B) the destruction of Damascus in conflicts between the Abbasids and Umayyads
C) the desire to block expansion from the Iranian plateau
D) the lack of previous imperial capitals in the region

Question 9

In what way did the relationship between religion and power differ for Islam and Christianity?

A) Islam and Christianity were both universalizing religions, but Islam was not linked to political power.
B) Unlike Islam, Christianity was not linked to any political power.
C) Christianity, unlike Islam, provided a set of moral and ethical rules that were applied to laws and governance.
D) The followers of Muhammad had to create an empire to facilitate the expansion of their faith, while Christianity inherited an empire when Constantine converted.

Question 10

Which of the following accurately describes Abbasid culture?

A) The Abbasid rulers ordered the burning of all non-Muslim books and the execution of anyone found to possess these banned books.
B) The Abbasids encouraged mathematicians, who pioneered advances in arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and trigonometry.
C) The Abbasids believed correct knowledge of the world began with the birth of Muhammad; therefore, it was pointless to study the pre-Islamic past.
D) The Abbasids absorbed the European invention of paper, allowing for the mass production of the Quran.

Question 11

Islam supplanted family, clan, and tribal communities and created a new community of the faithful. What was this community called?

A) the umma
B) the sharia
C) the jihad
D) the hijra

Question 12

What spurred Islam's remarkably rapid territorial expansion under the "rightly guided" caliphs?

A) The caliphs declined to convert nonbelievers and tolerated diverse beliefs, which permitted Islam to adapt to many different societies.
B) The caliphs moved the capital to Baghdad, which was at a nexus of trade routes that allowed rapid military movement.
C) The caliphs promoted the Five Pillars, which required the forced conversion on Christians and Jews.
D) The caliphs linked religious uprightness with territorial expansion and empire building.

Question 13

What was the impact of the Five Pillars of Islam on regional political structures?

A) They included declaring allegiance to Islamic political rulers.
B) They created a doctrinal and legal structure for the empire.
C) They committed the believer to participating in jihad to spread the faith.
D) They alienated potential converts, thereby limiting the early spread of the religion.

Question 14

Which of the following accurately describes Ibn Sina's scholarship?

A) Ibn Sina was knowledgeable in the Frankish language, the language of academia at the time.
B) Ibn Sina shared Abbasid learning with non-Muslim students.
C) Ibn Sina studied Indian religious practices because they fascinated him.
D) Ibn Sina wrote the standard medical text used in both Southwest Asia and Europe for centuries.

Question 15

Which of the following best explains why Tang China and the Abbasids competed directly for dominance in central Asia, in contrast to the relationship of the Han and Roman empires?

A) Afro-Eurasia had become more closely integrated through trade, conversion, and political contacts, as both the Tang and Abbasids expanded into central Asian border regions.
B) During the Roman and Han empires, there had been no trade between east and west, so central Asia was not so important.
C) During the Roman and Han empires, central Asia was a power vacuum, permitting bandits to attack the trade routes and inhibiting interaction.
D) Powerful steppes tribes such as the Sasanians prevented the Han and Romans from expanding into central Asia, while they encouraged the Abbasids to expand toward the Tang borders.

Question 16

Which of the following is an accurate description of Mecca before the introduction of Islam?

A) Learned men gathered there to debate the doctrines of Zoroastrianism and Judaism.
B) The Roman and Ptolemaic empires had already influenced the city and its surrounding region.
C) Mecca was a kind of paradise, with flowing rivers, lush grasses, and bountiful fruit trees.
D) Mecca contained a revered sanctuary where polytheistic Meccans worshipped.

Question 17

The Quran offered women which of the following protections?

A) Dowries went directly to the bride, rather than to her guardian.
B) A man could take only one wife.
C) All children could inherit equal shares of their father's estates.
D) Both men and women could initiate a divorce.

Question 18

Which of the following accurately demonstrates the cosmopolitan nature of Tang China?

A) Buddhism was imported into China from Japan through Korea.
B) The Inner Asian state of Annam sent tribute in the form of women and blood horses to China.
C) Buddhism and new ideas in medicine and mathematics were imported from India.
D) Chinese methods of governance reflected Abbasid influence.

Question 19

Who, according to the Sunnis, should succeed the Prophet?

A) the direct descendants of Muhammad's sons
B) the four rightly guided caliphs and then the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties
C) individuals with impeccable religious credentials
D) Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, and Ali's descendants

Question 20

Which of the following demonstrates the cultural influence of Muslim merchants in Africa?

A) Swahili, which became the language of trade in East Africa
B) Yoruba literature, which described the journeys of sufi missionaries in West Africa
C) Ghanaian mosques, which reflected the influence of Hagia Sophia
D) Shona epics, which praised military exploits

Question 21

What explained the spread of both Buddhism and Christianity?

A) Both were militant religions that relied on armies to spread their doctrines to unbelievers.
B) Both rejected any role for women in their religious communities.
C) Both adhered strongly to a single creed and did not adapt to local cultures.
D) Both were religions of monks, whose communities offered protection from the strife that surrounded them.

Question 22

Which of the following statements about the civil service examination under the Tang dynasty is correct?

A) It was eliminated because it allowed government officials to gain authority independently of the imperial family.
B) It allowed commoners from southern China to outperform the aristocratic families of northern China.
C) It demonstrated to the poor the futility of seeking education since they had no chance of obtaining government office.
D) It increased the influence of Buddhism since Buddhist texts were at the heart of the curriculum.

Question 23

Which of the following most accurately compares Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy?

A) The differences between Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy were based on basic tenets of faith.
B) Both Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy believed that Jesus became human to atone for humanity's sins.
C) The key differences between Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy were in heritage, customs, language, and levels of civilization.
D) Both Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy were retreating from Islam's expansion.

Question 24

What was an important effect of the reforms instituted by Nakatomi no Kamatari?

A) The power of the ruler was enhanced by exalting the emperor under the mandate of heaven.
B) The clan chief embraced Buddhist ideals on the proper role of the state.
C) Shintoism was instituted as a single state religion, and other religious practices were outlawed.
D) Confucian models of government were rejected as too binding on imperial expressions of power.

Question 25

What was the role of the eunuch bureaucracy in the Tang dynasty?

A) It was responsible for keeping the emperor's household fed and cleaned.
B) It mediated between the emperor and the provincial governments.
C) It was limited by military officers who refused to work with it.
D) It had very little respect because the eunuchs were not considered to be true men.

Question 26

Which of the following accurately describes the Vikings?

A) They raided land from ocean coasts but avoided following rivers inland for fear of losing their naval advantages in narrow, shallow rivers.
B) They opened a trading link between the Baltic and Kiev, creating a commercial avenue from Scandinavia to Baghdad.
C) They lost their military strength when crushed by Charlemagne at L'Anse aux Meadows.
D) They quickly abandoned their warlike ethos and adopted settled agriculture once they arrived in Europe.

Question 27

Which of the following was an environmental factor involved in the Tang's overthrow of the Sui?

A) Drought led to a revolt of the peasants and the Tang took control during the disorder.
B) The Yellow River changed course and the extensive flooding led to revolts as the population faced starvation, allowing the Tang to seize power from the Sui.
C) Infertile soil caused by blowing loess led to starvation among the peasants, who then revolted against the Sui.
D) The Tang dammed the major rivers, forcing the starving population to change loyalties from the Sui.

Question 28

Which of the following accurately describes the development of early civilization in southern Japan?

A) Social equality became a distinctive characteristic of the "Tomb Culture" society.
B) Japanese clans prevented Korean immigrants from coming to the islands.
C) Women had little or no power, as Japan imported patriarchal culture from India.
D) The ruling Yamato clan incorporated Korean immigrants into native Japanese kinship groups.

Question 29

Which of the following stemmed from Empress Wu's attempts to secure her rule?

A) She expanded the military and recruited her administrators from the civil examination candidates.
B) She ordered scholars to write epic poems comparing her to military heroes from the past.
C) She destroyed the Confucian schools because they taught that women should be subordinate to men.
D) She sought to ban Buddhism from China because Buddhist monks rejected her authority.

Question 30

Why did the Vikings fail spectacularly when they attacked Constantinople?

A) Their supply lines were overextended and they soon began to starve.
B) The city was landlocked, so the Vikings had to leave their ships to besiege the city.
C) They faced, for the first time, a city defended by well-engineered late Roman walls and Greek fire.
D) The slaves the Vikings were bringing to sell in Constantinople rose up and joined the Byzantine side.

Question 31

The economic achievements of the Tang Dynasty were enhanced by which of the following?

A) establishing large, privately owned plantations to grow cotton and silk
B) limiting trade on the Silk Road to concentrate on the local handicraft market
C) using the Grand Canal and Yangzi River to aid transportation and communication
D) focusing on the iron and silver trade with Japan

Question 32

Which of the following was most responsible for promoting rapid population growth in cities in the Muslim world from 300 to 600 CE?

A) New crops from India such as sorghum allowed farmers to grow more food.
B) New rice varieties needing less water supplanted millet and increased the food supply.
C) Plagues and disease decreased, allowing the population to increase.
D) Warfare declined, allowing populations to increase.

Question 33

Which of the following characterized Charlemagne's rule?

A) His empire was smaller in both population and wealth compared to regimes of the Islamic world.
B) He ruled for fewer than twenty years but managed to halt the slave trade.
C) His empire incorporated much of the old Byzantine Empire.
D) He introduced to Europe an urban-based culture that valued educated citizens over warriors.

Question 34

In what way was the Tang military in China similar to that of Islamic forces?

A) Both consisted of large groups of highly trained infantry.
B) Both reduced the size of the empire to more defensible borders.
C) Both relied upon pastoral nomadic soldiers from the Inner Afro-Eurasian steppes.
D) Both rejected the use of cavalry because their enemies relied on it.

Question 35

Which of the following demonstrates the relationship between the Silla state in Korea and the Tang Empire?

A) The Tang engaged in constant warfare with the Silla.
B) The Tang borrowed a new form of Buddhism from the Silla.
C) The Silla modeled their capital city on the Tang capital at Chang'an.
D) The Silla refused to send tribute to the Tang.

Question 36

What did the Tang gain by dismantling Buddhist landholdings and monasteries?

A) The Tang ensured that no religion would rival their power.
B) The Tang created new prose styles to mark their rejection of the past.
C) The Tang gained the trust of the Muslim merchants on the Silk Road.
D) The Tang created religious homogeneity in China under Daoism.

Question 37

What technological advantage led to the Vikings' successful conquests and trade?

A) sophisticated longships that could travel up rivers
B) superior metallurgy techniques that produced stronger and more durable weapons
C) the ingestion of medicinal herbs that eliminated pain during battle
D) the development of gunpowder technologies that they had learned from merchants along the Silk Road

Question 38

In what way were the Yamato rulers of Japan bolstered by adopting Buddhism as the state religion?

A) by limiting the political power of Shinto priests
B) by linking the Yamato to a universalizing religion that stretched from India to Korea
C) by allowing the Yamato an entrance into the Silk Road trade system
D) by forcing Korea to recognize the Yamato as equals

Question 39

Who was the Christian bishop who argued that the "City of God" was represented by the universal Catholic Church?

A) Ambrose of Milan
B) Augustine of Hippo
C) Thomas Aquinas
D) Clement of Alexandria

Question 40

For what reason did monasticism take rapid hold in northern Europe?

A) Monastic communities represented an opportunity to mediate between believers and God.
B) Warrior monks helped conquer land from Germanic pagans.
C) The charitable works of monks and nuns among the urban poor brought popular support to monastic life.
D) The monastic lifestyle offered similarities between the lives of Christian clerics and those of Jewish and Muslim religious leaders.

Question 41

Compare the Vikings' impact on western and eastern Europe. How did the Vikings affect the development of eastern Christianity?

Question 42

The Vikings established a colony on the coast of Labrador in North America by 1000 CE.

Question 43

As Greek Orthodoxy spread into the Balkans, Kievan Russia flourished because of the strong protection of Emperor Charlemagne.

Question 44

Compare the influence of Tang China on Korea with that of the Byzantine empire on eastern Europe.

Question 45

Compare the ways that religion aided or inhibited the efforts of the Tang dynasty and the Umayyads and Abbsids to build unified empires in their respective regions.

Question 46

How did the emergence of Islam shape the transmission of knowledge across Afro-Eurasia? How did the spread of Islam compare with initial growth of Christianity and Buddhism?

Question 47

Compare the Christian communities that emerged in western and eastern Europe between 600 and 1000 CE. What factors contributed to the emergence of these distinct regions?

Question 48

The Silla opposed Tang rule and extirpated all aspects of Tang culture in Korea.

Question 49

Muhammad rejected the notion that the development of Islam was in any way indebted to Judaism or Christianity.

Question 50

Unsuccessful examination candidates and power-hungry eunuchs contributed to the collapse of the Tang Empire.