AP World History Study Guide: Asian History Topics

Are you preparing for the AP World History Exam? Here are the topics from Asian History that may appear on your World History test.

Foundations: c. 8000 B.C.E. – 600 C.E.

The Great River Valley Civilizations:

• Mesopotamia
• Indus Valley or Harappan Civilization
• Shang or Huang He (Yellow River Valley) Civilization

Classical Civilizations:

• Political developments in classical India
• Political developments in classical China

Major Asian Belief Systems:

• Hinduism
• Judaism
• Confucianism
• Daoism
• Buddhism
• Christianity

Late Classical Developments:

• Collapse of Han China
• Collapse of the Gupta Empire in India
• The Huns move into Europe

Comparisons and Analysis:

• Compare the social hierarchies within Hinduism and Buddhism
• Compare the roles of women within Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism and Hinduism
• Compare India's caste system with different types of slavery
• Describe the Silk Road
• Compare the political and social structures of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and Shang China

Late Classical through Medieval Asia

Emergence of New Empires and Systems:

• The Umayyad Empire
• The Abbasid Empire
• Tang China
• Song China
• Ming China
• The Delhi Sultanate
• The Mongol Empire
• Seljuk Turkey

Changing Contacts and Cultural Patterns:

• The Indian Ocean trade network
• The Mongols' Impact on Europe
• The spread of Islam
• Developments along the Silk Road
• Chinese interactions with Japan, Vietnam, and Korea

Demographic Changes:

• Impact of the Mongol, Turkish and Arab migrations
• Consequences of the bubonic plague (Black Death) pandemics in Asia

Comparisons and Analysis:

• Compare Japanese and European styles of feudalism
• Compare the Indian caste and Japanese class systems
• Analyze China's meritocratic civil service exam system

• Analyze the impact of European crusades on southwest Asia

Asian History, 1450-1750

New Empires and Developments:

• Ottoman Turkey
• Qing China
• Tokugawa Japan
• The Mughal Empire in India
• Zen Buddhism
• Sikhism

Comparisons and Analysis:

• Compare colonial administrations in Asia
• Analyze empire-building in Asia
• Compare Russia's interactions with Ottoman Turkey and China

Asian History, 1750-1914

Major Developments:

• Boxer Rebellion
• Fall of China's Qing Dynasty
• Rise of nationalism and nation-states, Japan and Thailand
• Cultural policies of Meiji Japan

Comparisons and Analysis:

• Debates over Europe's technological development in relation to Asia's
• Compare the Industrial Revolution in Japan and western Europe
• Compare responses to European expansionism in China, the Ottoman Empire, India, Southeast Asia and Japan
• Compare nationalism in China and Japan
• Compare the Indian Congress Movement with Pan-Africanism

Asian History, 1914 to Present

Major Developments

• World War I in Asia
• World War II in Asia
• The Cold War in Asia
• Nuclear weapons
• Economic development of the Pacific Rim
• Deforestation and environmental change in Asia
• Rural to urban population movement in Asia

Comparisons and Analysis

• Compare decolonization in India and Africa
• Compare the effects of the Chinese and Iranian revolutions on the roles of women

• Compare the legacies of colonialism in Asia with those in Africa or Latin America

Best of luck on your exam!