World History in Credo: Asia & the Middle East

The country which is now present-day Iran.

Ancient kingdom of SE Asia established in the 6th cent. by the Cambodians, or Khmers.

The Eastern Roman Empire 395–1453, with its capital at Constantinople (formerly Byzantium, modern Istanbul). It was the direct continuation of the Roman Empire in the East, and inherited many of its traditions and institutions.

Byzantine emperor (527-65). Justinian's greatest accomplishment was the codification of Roman law, commonly called the Corpus Juris Civilis. It gave unity to the centralized state and greatly influenced all subsequent legal history.

king of the Huns (445-53). The fear Attila inspired is clear from many accounts of his savagery, but, though undoubtedly harsh, he was a just ruler to his own people.

Arabic Salah ad-Din, Muslim warrior and Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, the great opponent of the Crusaders, b. Mesopotamia, of Kurdish descent.

Mongol conqueror, ruler of all Mongol peoples from 1206. He conquered the empires of northern China 1211–15 and Khwarazm 1219–21, and invaded northern India in 1221, while his lieutenants advanced as far as the Crimea. When he died, his empire ranged from the Yellow Sea to the Black Sea; it continued to expand after his death to extend from Hungary to Korea. Genghis Khan controlled probably a larger area than any other individual in history. He was not only a great military leader, but the creator of a stable political system.

Member of any of the various Mongol (or Mongolian) ethnic groups of central Asia. Mongols live in Mongolia, Russia, Inner Mongolia (China), Tibet, and Nepal. In the early 13th century, united under Genghis Khan, the Mongols from 1206 to 1226 conquered central Asia, attacked Eastern Europe and established the Mongolian Empire, a rather loosely constructed federation of tribal groups.

Vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution in 1918.

The last dynasty of native rulers to reign in Persia before the Arab conquest.

Fr. Indochine, former federation of states, SE Asia. It comprised the French colony of Cochin China and the French protectorates of Tonkin, Annam, Laos, and Cambodia (Cochin China, Tonkin, and Annam were later united to form Vietnam).

Islam, one of the world’s great monotheistic religions, was founded (or restored) by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632 CE), who lived in Mecca and Medina on the Arabian Peninsula. Followers of Islam are known as Muslims, or Moslems, and their religion embraces every aspect of life. The Arabic word islam means ‘surrender’-specifically, surrender to the will of the one God (Allah).

The Qur'an is the Holy Book of Islam; also spelled as Koran. Muslims treasure the text in its original Arabic as the literal word of God, the last of God's books revealed to humanity, transmitted by the Prophet Muhammad. The book is composed of sacred writings accepted by Muslims as revelations made to Muhammad by Allah.

[Skt.,=the enlightened One], usual title given to the founder of Buddhism. He is also called the Tathagata [he who has come thus], Bhagavat [the Lord], and Sugata [well-gone]. He probably lived from 563 to 483 B.C.

Religion and philosophy founded in India c.525 B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha. There are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide. One of the great world religions, it is divided into two main schools: the Theravada or Hinayana in Sri Lanka and SE Asia, and the Mahayana in China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. A third school, the Vajrayana, has a long tradition in Tibet and Japan. The basic doctrines of early Buddhism include the "four noble truths": existence is suffering (dukhka); suffering has a cause, namely craving and attachment (trishna); there is a cessation of suffering, which is nirvana; and there is a path to the cessation of suffering.

Moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient commentaries including that of Mencius. In its early form (before the 3d cent. B.C.) Confucianism was primarily a system of ethical precepts for the proper management of society.

[Skt.,=song of the Lord], Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata, one of the greatest religious classics of Hinduism.

Hindu culture began about 4000 BCE on the Indian subcontinent; today some 900 million followers worldwide practice Hindu traditions, or the “Vedic dispensation.” This religious tradition developed during the first millennium and intertwined with the history and social system of India. Hinduism does not trace its origins to a particular founder, has no prophets, no set creed, and no particular institutional structure. It emphasizes the right way of living (dharma) rather than a set of doctrines, and thus embraces diverse religious beliefs and practices.

Classical Sanskrit epic of India, probably composed between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200. The Mahabharata, comprising more than 90,000 couplets, usually of 32 syllables, is the longest single poem in world literature.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Ancient native religion of Japan still practiced in a form modified by the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism.

Chinese philosophy, traditionally founded by the Chinese philosopher Lao Zi in the 6th century BC, identified with the Tao-chia (School of the Way). The philosophical system stems largely from the Tao-te-ching, a text traditionally ascribed to Lao Tzu but probably written in the mid-3d cent. B.C. Taoists believe that (1) there is a way the world should be, a way that, in some deep sense, it is; (2) human beings can understand this and need to have and follow such knowledge if they and the world are to exist in harmony; and (3) the world was once in such a state. Taoism is one of the four major religions of China (with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Chinese popular religion).

The term Veda, derived from the root vid, “to know,” means “knowledge.” The Veda functions in Hindu traditions as an authoritative category that is ascribed the status of transcendent knowledge and has both textual and supratextual dimensions.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Ancient religion of India that was contemporary with the composition of the Vedas and was the precursor of Hinduism.

The Chinese concept that everything is explicable in terms of two complementary but opposing principles. Yang represents heaven, and is the positive, male force.