“The adoption of the mamluk* institutions by the Abbasids was followed almost immediately by [the] . . . disintegration of the state. . . . The disintegration of the Abbasid state was an intensely painful process in which it seemed at times as if the very venture of Islam was coming to an end, like that of Alexander the Great before it. . . . Indeed, that Islam was soon to disappear was the very premise upon which the [Shi‘ite] revolutionaries held out their promise of a moral and material recovery: nothing less . . . could now save the marriage between religion and power to which the Islamic [state] owed its existence.”

*an Arabic term designating an enslaved person, in this case, a slave soldier of Turkic origin

Patricia Crone, Danish-American historian of Islamic history, Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity, 1980

The disintegration of the Abbasid Caliphate most directly led to which of the following political developments in the Islamic world in the thirteenth century?

A  The Russian conquest of Central Asia

B The rise of Turkic states

C The conversion of most of the Islamic world to Shi‘a Islam

D The collapse of trade along the Silk Road networks

Despite the disintegration of the Abbasid Caliphate, Islam continued to spread across Afro-Eurasia in the period 1200–1450 primarily because of which of the following?

A The conquest of the Christian Crusader States in the Levant

B The activities of Sufi missionaries

C The voyages of the Muslim eunuch Zheng He

D The translation activities of Muslim scholars

The combination between religious and political aspects in the Abbasid state’s concept of governance is best reflected in which of the following?

A The Abbasid state had an influential Sunni religious class that often came into conflict with the state.

B The Abbasid state often allowed local rulers considerable autonomy.

C The Abbasid state patronized the construction of religious buildings such as mosques.

D The Abbasid state was headed by a caliph who was both the state’s supreme religious and political leader.

“I, the reverend Buddhist teacher Dharmasekhara, dedicated this statue of the bodhisattva Amoghapasa* on the orders of His Majesty King Adityawarman, for the benefit and salvation and happiness of all creatures.

Hail to the King—experienced in the arts of war, well versed in the sciences, he is an ocean of all virtues practiced by the followers of the Buddha! He is free from all physical desire. Hail to the King—he who supports the entire world. He has collected jewels by the millions, taken them from the hands of his enemies among the other rulers of this world. He who is like God among kings, crowned, protected by heavenly beings, King of kings! He orders what should be known to all!”

Sanskrit inscription on a statue of a bodhisattva produced in the Malayapura kingdom, Sumatra, Indonesia, circa 1350 c.e.

*a major figure worshipped in Mahayana Buddhism

Which of the following best describes a claim made in the first paragraph of the inscription?

A King Adityawarman was a bodhisattva.

B King Adityawarman was a Buddhist teacher.

C Statues of Buddhist divine figures could spiritually benefit everyone.

D Statues of Buddhist teachers were revered by rulers and common people.

The claim in the second paragraph that the king has become “free from all physical desire” can best be understood to mean that

A Southeast Asian states’ ruling elites were very wealthy.

B in Vedic religions, rejecting worldly concerns in order to attain spiritual perfection was considered a virtue.

C Buddhist monks and nuns in Southeast Asian societies were required to maintain an ascetic lifestyle.

D Hindus believed that members of each caste had different rights and responsibilities.

Which of the following is an argument in the second paragraph of the inscription regarding King Adityawarman?

A His spiritual attributes and worldly achievements made him a powerful and legitimate ruler.

B His attention to the welfare of all of his subjects made him a caring and legitimate ruler.

C His conquest of all of the surrounding kingdoms in Indonesia made him a legitimate ruler.

D His knowledge of science and ships in an island kingdom made him an effective and legitimate ruler.

“One of the most important aspects of the Maya economy was the exchange of exotic goods. Maya rulers and elites needed such goods to maintain and reinforce their social status and power. Many of these goods were used in the formal dress of kings, nobles, and priests. Without them, the elites could not carry out the rituals that were their principal duties in the eyes of the people. Jaguar pelts, fine textiles, feathers, and other such products were exchanged over long distances within the Maya lowlands. . . .

Such items were probably exchanged as dowry, gifts at royal marriages, coronations, funerals, or at religious pilgrimages. Exotic goods were also probably given as tribute to rulers by their vassals.

These high-status goods held together the Maya world and unified patterns of behavior in religion, science, and warfare. Their exchange surely went hand in hand with exchanges of information, including scientific knowledge, early writing, and, most importantly, models of political organization.”

Arthur Demarest, United States anthropologist, Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization, 2004

Which of the following pieces of evidence most strongly supports the author’s conclusion about the importance of exotic goods to the Maya region’s economy?

A Exotic goods were exchanged over long distances within the Maya lowlands.

B Exotic goods were traded between the Maya city-states and neighboring states.

C The exchange of exotic goods went hand in hand with the exchange of information.

D The Maya region depended on the trade in exotic goods because of relatively low levels of agricultural production.

The author directly uses all of the following pieces of evidence to support his argument about the relationship between exotic goods and the power of Maya rulers EXCEPT that Maya rulers

A used exotic goods to carry out rituals that their subjects expected them to perform

B prohibited nobles and priests from wearing certain types of exotic goods reserved for rulers

C used exotic goods in royal coronations

D received exotic goods as tribute payments from vassals

Which of the following does the author cite most directly to support his argument in the third paragraph about the importance of exotic goods in the Maya region?

A The existence of sophisticated astronomical tables

B The emergence of a unified Maya kingdom based on new political models

C The emergence of new systems of writing based on earlier Mesoamerican systems

D The existence of unified patterns of behavior in warfare, science, and religion

Answers: B, B, D, C, B, A, A, B, D

Use your understanding of World History to answer the following questions with evidence from the period c. 1200 - c. 1450 CE:

1. Identify a factor that fostered the development of a larger state(s) (context)

2. Describe ONE similarity between the development of political entities in two different regions

3. Explain ONE difference between the development of the political entities you compared in #2 above.

SAQ answers