Deck 11: Crises and Recovery in Afro-Eurasia, 1300-1500

Question 1

Which of the following allowed the Ottoman Turks to triumph over other warrior bands in Anatolia?

A) They welcomed those with different religious beliefs.
B) They rejected Islamic religious authority, which forbade warfare against fellow Muslims.
C) They had no geographic base to defend, thus freeing them to remain constantly on the attack.
D) They adopted Shiism from the Safavids, thus neutralizing a major threat on their borders.

Answer 1

They welcomed those with different religious beliefs.

Question 2

The Ottoman Empire conquered and absorbed much of what Christian power?

A) Syria
B) the Holy Roman Empire
C) the Byzantine Empire
D) the Franks

Answer 2

the Byzantine Empire

Question 3

Which of the following was a result of the Black Death in Europe?

A) Traditional political institutions gained strength, because only strong states seemed capable of dealing with the plague.
B) The wealthy were able to escape the Black Death because they could afford the best medical care.
C) Some individuals, believing that the church had lost God's favor, retreated into personal spirituality to put their lives in order.
D) Population densities recovered quickly because of the introduction of new food crops from the Americas.

Answer 3

Some individuals, believing that the church had lost God's favor, retreated into personal spirituality to put their lives in order.

Question 4

Which of the following accurately describes a way that Shiism influenced the Safavids?

A) The Safavids believed that the shah was chosen and ordained by God.
B) The Safavids believed that clerics should remain passive and allow the shah to deal with heresy.
C) The Safavids were more decentralized in their governance than the Sunni Ottomans.
D) The Safavids were more tolerant of other forms of Islam than the Sunni Delhi Sultanate.

Question 5

How did the Ottoman sultan's role change in the latter fifteenth century?

A) The sultan came to be considered "the shadow of God" on earth.
B) The sultan's home, Topkapi palace, became a training school for the bureaucracy.
C) The sultan withdrew into the seclusion of Topkapi palace instead of personally leading his soldiers.
D) Ottoman dynastic and familial traditions no longer had any place in governance.

Question 6

Which region in Afro-Eurasia probably suffered the most from the Black Death and yet made a spectacular comeback?

A) China
B) South Asia
C) the Ottoman Empire
D) Europe

Question 7

Which of the following factors led to the downfall of the Delhi Sultanate?

A) the Mongol invasions of the early fourteenth century
B) the Black Death
C) rebellions caused by forced conversions to Sunni Islam
D) the invasion of Timur Tamerlane)

Question 8

To consolidate rule over their conquered empire, the Ottoman sultans

A) adopted Byzantine administrative practices while maintaining devotion to Islam.
B) left the protection of Islamic holy cities to the local inhabitants.
C) left the city of Istanbul to crumble while building their new imperial capital at Bursa.
D) embraced a warrior ideal while shunning civil bureaucratic administration.

Question 9

In which Muslim state did the clerics view themselves as both religious and political enforcers against any heretical authority?

A) the Ottoman Empire
B) the Safavid dynasty
C) the Mughal dynasty
D) the Ming dynasty

Question 10

Populations in both China and Western Europe succumbed to the plague in large numbers because both had

A) been conquered by the Mongols and had no strong political structure.
B) suffered from years of famine and food shortages that had weakened their populations.
C) little settled agriculture.
D) large pastoral populations that spread the plague.

Question 11

South Asia was less severely affected by the Black Death than were settlements along the Silk Road and Mediterranean Sea because

A) South Asian societies had escaped the Mongol conquest and were not directly linked to Mongol-controlled trade routes.
B) South Asians had a natural immunity to the microbes that caused the plague.
C) no rats live in South Asia because the climate does not support them.
D) most people in South Asia are not pastoralists, but live in settled agricultural villages.

Question 12

Which of the following best demonstrates Suleiman's achievements in Istanbul?

A) Suleiman ordered the construction of Suleymaniye Mosque to be located opposite the Hagia Sophia.
B) Suleiman destroyed Hagia Sophia, the domed Byzantine cathedral, because it symbolized Christian resistance.
C) A larger set of law courts was built on the site of the Hippodrome.
D) Only Muslims were allowed inside Istanbul, displaying Suleiman's commitment to an Islamic empire.

Question 13

Which of the following contributed to the Black Death's impact on Afro-Eurasian populations?

A) Bandit groups in China undercut the Yuan dynasty.
B) Climate changes had brought years of famine.
C) Infected victims died quickly and in great agony.
D) Plague was spread by household pets such as cats and dogs.

Question 14

Which of the following is an accurate assessment of the dynamic within the Islamic heartland by the sixteenth century?

A) The Ottomans were more tolerant of sects within Islam than were the Safavids or the Mughals.
B) The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals maintained peaceful relationships with each other since they were all ruled by Muslim descendants of the Mongols.
C) The Mughals of India and the Safavids were more open-minded toward non-Muslim religions within their territories than were the Ottomans.
D) The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals all established their legitimacy through military power, religious backing, and a loyal bureaucracy.

Question 15

In order to reestablish political order following the crises of the fourteenth century, many dynastic rulers

A) fostered beliefs and rituals that confirmed their legitimacy for example, by stating that their power had a divine source).
B) turned to popularly elected councils and civil servants for support.
C) rejected support from traditional religious leaders because of the people's loss of faith in the answers they provided.
D) closed trade routes to concentrate on the problems of the local populace.

Question 16

Which of the following were part of the religious revival that took place after Timur's conquest of the Delhi Sultanate?

A) Sikhism, Sufism, Tengrism
B) Mahayana Buddhism, Shiism, Sufism
C) Bhakti Hinduism, Sikhism, Sufism
D) Bhakti Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism

Question 17

Seeing themselves as "the shadow of God" on earth, Ottoman sultans

A) forced all of their subjects to convert to Islam.
B) assumed the role of protectors of holy cities in Greece and Italy.
C) funded construction of elaborate mosques.
D) made Arabic the official language of the administration.

Question 18

The Janissaries were

A) conscripted through the devshirme from Muslim families in Anatolia.
B) conscripted through the devshirme to serve the provincial governors.
C) bureaucrats who helped Ottoman sultans limit the autonomy of local rulers.
D) taken from their homes after they turned eighteen.

Question 19

Which of the following was the most important factor in the rise of the Ottoman Empire?

A) Speaking Arabic allowed the Ottomans to communicate with neighboring tribes.
B) The Ottomans had an intensive agricultural base, which led to a large population.
C) Mongol forays into Anatolia destabilized the region.
D) The Red Turban revolt transpired.

Question 20

Which of the following is the best description of the economic impact of the Black Death on Afro-Eurasia?

A) South Asian societies were most disrupted by the Black Death, with the destruction of the Brahman caste.
B) The plague left much of the Islamic world in a state of near political collapse, destroying the Umayyad caliphate.
C) Infected victims died slowly, coughing blood and oozing pus from sores the size of tennis balls.
D) The death of many farmers led to food shortages, which in turn led to rapidly rising prices, work stoppages, and unrest.

Question 21

What was the Western European Christian church's response to challenges to its authority following the plague?

A) The church threw its support behind one ruler for all of Europe.
B) The church demanded strict obedience and persecuted those who questioned its doctrines.
C) The church gave up its attempts to reassert its former secular powers.
D) The church became less hierarchical.

Question 22

Emperor Hongwu, because he distrusted state bureaucrats and wished to be seen as the guardian of his subjects,

A) entrusted management of the rural regions to local leaders.
B) placed all authority in the hands of imperial bureaucrats.
C) emphasized social equality in order to earn loyalty from the marginalized members of society.
D) encouraged his prime minister to focus on provincial rule.

Question 23

Which of the following accurately describes the European economic situation in the latter part of the fifteenth century?

A) The most successful economies were in Iberia, where there were few wars to drain the treasury.
B) French merchants were able to control the major trade routes in Europe as a result of long-term peace.
C) Muslim and Jewish merchants controlled banking throughout Spain.
D) The Italian city-states developed sophisticated banking techniques and were trading in silk and spices with the eastern Mediterranean.

Question 24

Throughout the fourteenth century, Portuguese Christian rulers attempted to consolidate power by

A) rejecting the Catholic Church and trying to align themselves with Greek Orthodox Christians.
B) working toward closer ties to the other states on the Iberian peninsula.
C) devoting themselves to fighting the Moors.
D) adopting a pacifist ideology and building a lasting state around it.

Question 25

What happened during the Hongwu Emperor's reign?

A) China severed all ties with the Red Turban leadership.
B) China established an imperial bureaucracy staffed by individuals who were appointed based on a civil service examination.
C) The emperor ordered the capital to be relocated to Beijing.
D) The Chinese bureaucracy became so powerful that it ultimately undermined the emperor's rule.

Question 26

The Portuguese monarchs successfully consolidated their political power by

A) seeking peace between the Moors and the Castilians.
B) granting Atlantic islands to nobles as lucrative hereditary possessions, ensuring the political loyalty of noble families and merchants.
C) allowing Portuguese nobles to elect members of their own ranks to be king.
D) using advanced scientific knowledge to prevent the Black Death from devastating the Portuguese population.

Question 27

As a result of the Ming dynasty abandoning support for oceanic exploration,

A) Chinese commerce ground to a halt and imperial revenue declined.
B) Chinese maritime power declined and opened the way for newcomers and rivals in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.
C) the Ming were able to position themselves to more effectively defend against military threats from the south.
D) European navies were able to conquer Chinese ports in the fourteenth century.

Question 28

Which of the following was a major milestone in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain?

A) They became politically isolated in Europe as other monarchs refused to make alliances with "new" rulers.
B) The last Muslim stronghold in Spain-Granada-fell to Christian forces.
C) Spain instituted broad religious toleration so that Jewish learning and finance could be used to support naval exploration.
D) The Spanish economy oriented itself toward the Mediterranean to take advantage of new trade with the Ottoman Empire.

Question 29

The main goal of Zheng He's voyages was to

A) learn more about the cultures beyond China's borders.
B) generate scientific knowledge.
C) reestablish trade and collect tribute.
D) search for new lands to which the Chinese could export their surplus population.

Question 30

Renaissance culture spread throughout Europe by the late sixteenth century primarily because of

A) the persecution of Renaissance humanists in Spain, causing them to move to Northern Europe.
B) economic prosperity and competition between political and religious leaders.
C) the drastic increase in literacy as a result of the use of the printing press.
D) an influx of Muslim intellectuals after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Question 31

To project imperial power and grandeur, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty

A) constructed the Forbidden City.
B) overthrew the Yuan dynasty.
C) began building the Great Wall.
D) began building the Grand Canal.

Question 32

Which of the following was a major consequence of the Renaissance?

A) peasant revolts against the feudal order in western Europe
B) the church regaining much of the power it lost in the aftermath of the Black Death
C) the desire to create states based on Athenian models of democracy
D) the development of a network of independent, educated people who were more interested in individual talent than noble rank

Question 33

Which of the following statements best describes the Ottoman rulers' stance toward regional differences within their territory?

A) They demanded strict conformity to the Shiite branch of Islam.
B) They were flexible and tolerant.
C) Their policies forced the Turkish language on Arabs and Europeans.
D) They abandoned control of rural areas to local authorities and focused their attention exclusively on controlling urban areas.

Question 34

Which work best exemplifies the Renaissance humanist belief that secular learning, not just religious theology, should inform political power?

A) David
B) The Divine Comedy
C) Danse Macabre
D) The Prince

Question 35

Which of the following religious traditions did the Ming emperors use to bolster their claim to legitimacy?

A) The emperor called himself the shadow of God.
B) The emperor claimed the mandate of heaven.
C) The emperor refrained from collecting taxes from Buddhist monasteries such as Dongyang.
D) The emperor forced all of the imperial princes to enter Buddhist monasteries, thereby removing them as alternate sources of power.

Question 36

The group that eventually drove the Mongols out of China was known as

A) the Red Turbans.
B) the Yellow Turbans.
C) the Beghards.
D) the Uighurs.

Question 37

In the fourteenth century, political stabilization in southern Europe was aided by

A) the growth of Latin as an international language.
B) the Catholic Church, which realized that a powerful king could secure the church's authority.
C) feudalism, which revived in the late fourteenth century.
D) economic growth through sea trade with southwest Asia.

Question 38

How did the Ming dynasty emphasize the emperor's centrality while also reinforcing political and social hierarchies?

A) The Ming successfully undermined Buddhist institutions.
B) The Ming oversaw public rituals that demonstrated the emperor's role as the mediator of the affairs of gods and men.
C) The Ming eliminated civil and military cults, considering them to be threats to Ming authority.
D) The Ming declared the emperor to be the shadow of God on earth.

Question 39

Why did the Ming decide to end large-scale maritime ventures after 1433?

A) The emperor had been captured and held for ransom by the Mongols, showing the need to concentrate military might along the northern border.
B) Large flotillas of pirates had barred Zheng He's fleet from traveling through the Persian Gulf.
C) Zheng He's fleet had been unable to reach its primary goal-the coast of Africa-so further explorations were abandoned.
D) Sumatra and Ceylon battled Zheng He's fleet and prevented their kings from being captured and presented to the emperor.

Question 40

In the late fifteenth century, Ferdinand and Isabella reacted to the Ottoman expansion by

A) using the Inquisition to create a more homogeneous state.
B) opening new trade routes in the Mediterranean.
C) financing exploration along the western coast of Africa.
D) establishing a society where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in relative harmony.

Question 41

Analyze the similarities and differences between the persistence of traditional belief systems in Ming China and western Europe.

Question 42

Compare Chinese and Portuguese maritime exploration in the fourteenth century.

Question 43

Women in the Ottoman sultan's harem had no political influence.

Question 44

The Europeans, provoked by the Ottoman conquests, began to establish commercial connections to the east, south, and west, just as the Chinese turned away from maritime exploration and commerce.

Question 45

Compare the role of the Ming and Ottoman bureaucracies in reestablishing order and creating a centralized state.

Question 46

The Ming dynasty, like the Ottomans and the European monarchies, enhanced their legitimacy by claiming divine support for their rule.

Question 47

The Safavids became the most tolerant of the Islamic empires.

Question 48

Compare the bureaucratic structures of the Ming and Ottoman dynasties. How did each support the strength of the ruling family?

Question 49

During the fifteenth century, the Mughals possessed a more highly centralized system of government than did the Ming.

Question 50

In what ways did the Ottoman Empire and the Ming dynasty use architecture and the arts to enhance their legitimacy and project power?