Glossary of Terms

da Gama, Vasco   Portuguese captain who first reached India in 1497; established early Portuguese dominance in Indian Ocean. (p. 545)

Dahomey   Kingdom developed among Fon or Aja peoples in 17th century; center at Abomey 70 miles from coast; under King Agaja expanded to control coastline and port of Whydah by 1727; accepted Western firearms and goods in return for African slaves. (p. 642)

daimyos   Warlord rulers of 300 small states following Onin War and disruption of Ashikaga Shogunate; holdings consolidated into unified and bounded ministates. (p. 459)

Damascus   Capital of Umayyad caliphate. (p. 290)

Daoism   Philosophy associated with Laozi; stressed need for alignment with Dao or cosmic force. (p. 105)

Darwin, Charles   Biologist who developed theory of evolution of species (1859); argued that all living species evolved into their present form through the ability to adapt in a struggle for survival. (p. 715)

Dasas   Aryan name for indigenous people of Indus valley region; regarded as socially inferior to Aryans. (p. 59)

Decembrist uprising   Political revolt in Russia in 1825; led by middle-level army officers who advocated reforms; put down by Tsar Nicholas I. (p. 809)

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen   Adopted during the liberal phase of the French Revolution (1789); stated the fundamental equality of all French citizens; later became a political source for other liberal movements. (p. 700)

Deism   Concept of God current during the scientific revolution; role of divinity was to set natural laws in motion, not to regulate once process was begun. (p. 531)

De Klerk, F. W.   White South African prime minister in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Working with Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, De Klerk successfully dismantled the apartheid system and opened the way for a democratically elected government that represented all South Africans for the first time. (p. 1015)

de la Cruz, Sor Juana Inés   Author, poet, and musician of New Spain; eventually gave up secular concerns to concentrate on spiritual matters. (p. 597)

Delian league   Alliance formed by Athens after the Persian wars; cities contributed to unified treasury on island of Delos to support alliance fleet; later taken over by Athens and became Athenian Empire. (p. 133)

Demak   Most powerful of the trading states on north coast of Java; converted to Islam and served as point of dissemination to other ports. (p. 326)

Demographic Transition   The change from a high birth rate and high infant mortality to low rates, as in western Europe and U.S. in late 19th century. (p. 345)

demographic transition   Shift to low birth rate, low infant death rate, stable population; first emerged in Western Europe and U.S. in late 19th century. (p. 710)

demography   The study of population. (p. 344)

Deng Xiaoping   [Dung Shee-ow-ping] One of the more pragmatic, least ideological of the major Communist leaders of China; joined the party as a young man in the 1920s, survived the legendary Long March and persecution during the Cultural Revolution of the 1970s, and emerged as China's most influential leader in the early 1980s. (p. 1032)

dependency theory   Belief that development and underdevelopment were not stages but part of the same process; that development and growth of some areas such as Western Europe were achieved at the expense of underdevelopment of dependent regions such as Latin America. (p. 775)

Descartes, René   [dAY kärt] Established importance of skeptical review of all received wisdom (17th century); argued that human reason could then develop laws that would explain the fundamental workings of nature. (p. 530)

Deshima   Island port in Nagasaki Bay; only port open to non-Japanese after closure of the islands in the 1640s; only Chinese and Dutch ships were permitted to enter. (p. 687)

Devi   Mother goddess within Hinduism; widely spread following collapse of Guptas; encouraged new emotionalism in religious ritual. (p. 257)

dharma   [där muh, dur-] The caste position and career determined by a person's birth; Hindu culture required that one accept one's social position and perform occupation to the best of one's ability in order to have a better situation in the next life. (p. 176)

dhimmi   Literally "people of the book"; applied as inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus. (p. 291)

dhows   Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design. (p. 297)

Díaz, Porfirio   One of Juárez's generals; elected president of Mexico in 1876; dominated Mexican politics for 35 years; imposed strong central government. (p. 767)

Diem, Ngo Dinh   Political leader of South Vietnam; established as president with United States support in the 1950s; opposed Communist government of North Vietnam; overthrown by military coup supported by United States. (p. 1042)

Dien Bien Phu   Most significant victory of the Viet Minh over French colonial forces in 1954; gave the Viet Minh control of northern position of Vietnam. (p. 1040)

Diet   Japanese parliament established as part of the new constitution of 1889; part of Meiji reforms; could pass laws and approve budgets; able to advise government, but not to control it. (p. 821)

Din-i-Ilahi   [din i ilähee, dEEn] Religion initiated by Akbar in Mughal India; blended elements of the many faiths of the subcontinent; key to efforts to reconcile Hindus and Muslims in India, but failed. (p. 629)

Dinshawai incident   [din shä wAY] Clash between British soldiers and Egyptian villagers in 1906; arose over hunting accident along Nile River where wife of prayer leader of mosque was accidentally shot by army officers hunting pigeons; led to Egyptian protest movement. (p. 967)

Diocletian   Roman emperor from 284 to 305 c.e.; restored later empire by improved administration and tax collection. (p. 259)

direct democracy   Literally rule of the people; as interpreted in Athens, all decisions emanated from popular assembly without intermediation of elected representatives. (p. 130)

Disraeli, Benjamin   Leading conservative political figure in Britain in the second half of the 19th century; took initiative of granting vote to working-class males in 1867; typical of conservative politician making use of popular politics. (p. 711)

Doric   Along with Ionian and Corinthian, distinct style of Hellenistic architecture; the least ornate of the three styles. (p. 141)

Duarte, Eva   Also known as Evita Perón; first wife of Juan Perón; became public spokesperson for Perón among the poor until her death in 1952. (p. 943)

duma   National parliament created in Russia in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1905; progressively stripped of power during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II; failed to forestall further revolution. (p. 817)

Dutch East India Company   Joint stock company that obtained government monopoly over trade in Asia; acted as virtually independent government in regions it claimed. (p. 547)

Dutch Studies   Group of Japanese scholars interested in implications of Western science and technology beginning in the 18th century; urged freer exchange with West; based studies on few Dutch texts available in Japan. (p. 818)

Dutch trading empire   Based on control of fortified towns and factories, warships on patrol, and monopoly control of limited number of products–particularly spices. (p. 669)

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