The Americas and Africa — Aztec and Mali as second regions
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Question
What is a chinampa?
Answer
A raised, artificial farming bed built from lake mud and reeds, used by the Aztecs to grow food on Lake Texcoco.
Question
Why was Tenochtitlan remarkable?
Answer
It was a city of up to 200,000 people built on a lake island, fed by chinampas and linked to the mainland by causeways and aqueducts.
Question
What was tribute in the Aztec Empire?
Answer
Regular payments of goods (maize, cloth, cacao, gold, captives) that conquered peoples owed the Aztec state, while keeping their own local rulers.
Question
Who were the pochteca?
Answer
A hereditary class of Aztec long-distance merchants who traded in luxury goods and also gathered intelligence on distant towns.
Question
Describe the four main ranks of Aztec society.
Answer
Emperor (tlatoani) at the top, then nobles (pipiltin), then commoners (macehualtin) who farmed and fought, then slaves (tlacotin), often war captives.
Question
What was the trans-Saharan trade built around?
Answer
Camel caravans carrying gold north (from West Africa) and salt south (from Saharan mines), taxed by Mali's rulers.
Question
Who was Mansa Musa and why is he famous?
Answer
The Mali emperor whose 1324 hajj to Mecca showcased vast wealth — he reportedly gave away so much gold in Cairo that its value fell for years.
Question
Why was Timbuktu significant?
Answer
It grew into a major centre of Islamic learning in the Mali Empire, home to mosques, libraries and the Sankore university.
Question
Compare how the Aztec and Mali empires generated their wealth.
Answer
Aztecs: chinampa farming plus tribute extracted from conquered peoples. Mali: taxing trade routes carrying gold and salt, without directly mining the gold.
Question
Compare how the Aztec and Mali empires kept their elites and subjects loyal.
Answer
Aztecs relied on tribute enforced by fear of the army; Mali relied more on trade networks and shared Islamic faith binding rulers and merchants.
Question
What was the House of Wisdom equivalent in Mali?
Answer
Timbuktu's Sankore university and libraries, which attracted scholars from as far as Cairo and Mecca to study and copy manuscripts.
Question
Why must a 'two-region' Paper 2 answer name both societies early?
Answer
Because examiners require explicit engagement with two named regions throughout — the Aztec or Mali empire can serve as a strong non-European second region alongside Western Europe or the Islamic Middle East.
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Topic 6.4 hub
Case studies: society and economy across regions
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