Key Terms

caravel

a fifteenth-century Portuguese sailing ship

factory

in the context of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a trading post with offices and warehouses

hangul

the Korean alphabet, introduced by King Sejong in 1446

joint stock company

a company in which numerous merchants pooled their money to fund a business venture like a trading voyage and shared both risk and profit

Sikhism

a monotheistic faith that combines elements of Hinduism and Islam, established in the Punjab region of northwestern India in the fifteenth century

Silhak

a late seventeenth-century Korean reform movement that promoted the study of the physical sciences and technology in order to solve practical problems

Sufi

an Islamic mystic; practitioner of Sufism, the mystical expression of Islamic faith

trade diaspora community

society established by merchants who initially traveled to a foreign country to do business and then settled there

Undang-Undang Laut Melaka

a Malaccan maritime law code, part of the Undang-Undang Melaka, governing the conduct of sailors and traveling merchants