The Late Classical Period and the World.
KEY TERMS
Yellow Turbans: Chinese Daoists who launched a revolt in 184 C.E, promising a golden age to be brought about by divine magic.
Sui: dynasty succeeding the Han; grew from strong rulers in northern China; reunited China.
Tang: dynasty succeeding the Sui in 618 C.E
Harsha Vardharna: descendant of the Guptas; briefly built a loose state in northern India between 616 and 657 C.E
Rajput: regional military princes in India following the collapse of the Gupta Empire.
Devi: mother goddess within Hinduism; devotion to her spread widely after the collapse of the Gupta and encouraged new emotionalism in religious ritual.
Diocletian: Roman emperor (284-305 C.E); restored later empire by improved administration and tax collection.
Constantine: Roman emperor (321-337 C.E); established his capital at Constantinople;
used Christianity to unify the empire.
Byzantine Empire: eastern half of the Roman Empire; survived until 1453; retained Mediterranean, especially Hellenistic, culture.
Mahayana: version of Buddhism popular in China; emphasized Buddha’s role as a
savior.
Bodhisattvas: Buddhist holy men who refused advance toward nirvana to receive prayers of the living to help them reach holiness.
Saints: holy men and women in Christianity; their merit could be tapped by ordinary Christians.
Pope: Bishop of Rome; head of the Catholic church in western Europe.
Council of Nicaea: Christian council that met in 325 to determine the question of the trinity; demonstrated the importance of unified church doctrine.
Leo I: Roman pope (d. 461); established the papacy as the supreme religious authority in
western Europe.
Augustine: North African Christian theologian; made major contributions in incorporating elements of classical philosophy into Christianity.
Benedict of Nursia: founder of monasticism in the former western half of the Roman Empire; established the Benedictine rule in the 6th century.
St. Basil: founder of monasticism in the eastern part of the Roman Empire in the 4th century.
By swanthan1@gmail.com
Dr. S. Swaminathan is right now working as an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Thiruvalluvar Government Arts College, Rasipuram, Namakkal District. In advance, he has joined the Department of History at Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, for his postgraduate degree in history. Subsequently, he joined a full-time Ph.D. research program under the supervision and guidance of Professor N. Rajendran, Dean of Arts and Head, Department of History, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, in 1999. His research topic is “Science in Colonial Tamil Nadu, A.D. 1900–A.D. 1947”. He has applied for and obtained the Indian Council of Historical Research-New Delhi Junior Research Fellowship, and as such, he has been an I.C.H.R. junior research fellow. He was awarded his Ph.D. thesis in 2007. He has exhibited research acumen and administrative skills during the period of his research. He has published many articles during his period of research. He got his current position from the Tamil Nadu Government Directorate of Collegiate Education, Chennai, through the selection of the Tamil Nadu Teachers Recruitment Board, Chennai, in 2008. He has organized a Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education-sponsored two-day state-level seminar on “Social Changes in Tamil Nadu Past and Present” held from April 5 and 6, 2010, and a two-day ICHR-sponsored national seminar on “History of Science and Technology in Tamil Nadu: Colonial Initiatives and Indian Response” held from August 26 and 27, 2010, in the auspicious Department of History, Thiruvalluvar Government Arts College, Rasipuram (637 401).