List of Benchmarks for World History |
| Standard 28. | Understands how large territorial empires dominated much of Eurasia between the 16th and 18th centuries |
| | Level II (Grade 5-6) |
| | 1. | Understands the power and limit of imperial absolutism under the Ming Dynasty (e.g., variations in control over society and the bureaucracy) |
| | 2. | Understands how China viewed its role in the world during the Ming Dynasty (e.g., why China's attitude toward external political and commercial relations changed after the Zheng He voyages from 1405 to 1433, the Chinese belief that other countries had a tributary relationship to the celestial empire) |
| | 3. | Understands political and cultural achievements of the Ottoman Empire (e.g., the significance of the capture of Constantinople for Christians and Ottomans; how the Ottoman military succeeded against various enemies; artistic, architectural, and literary achievements of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries; achievements of Sulieman the Magnificent; the extent of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires in the 14th and 15th centuries) |
| | 4. | Understands political achievements of the Safavid and Mughal Empires (e.g., how Persia was unified by the Turkic Safavids, the political and cultural achievements of the Safavid Golden Age under Shah Abbas I, the Mughal conquest of India and how the Turkic warrior class united diverse peoples of the Indian continent) |
| | 5. | Understands the network of Afro-Eurasian trade in the 16th and 17th centuries (e.g., the importance of Indian textiles, spices, and other products in the trade; how spices brought to Europe by Vasco da Gama initiated the spice trade between India and Europe) |
| | Level III (Grade 7-8) |
| | 1. | Understands interactions between China and other countries during the Ming Dynasty (e.g., the Chinese view of itself as the "Middle Kingdom;" political, commercial, and cultural relations with Korea, Vietnam, and other societies of East and Southeast Asia) |
| | 2. | Understands features of class structure and sources of social change in China (e.g., the effects of American crops and silver on demographic, economic, and social change in China; the stratification of Chinese society under Ming rule) |
| | 3. | Understands cultural, political, and economic factors that influenced the development of the Ottoman Empire (e.g., the development of the Ottoman Empire among diverse religious and ethnic groups, the Christian European view of the Ottoman seizure of Constantinople in 1453, trade routes within the Ottoman Empire and how trade was affected by the development of a sea route around Africa) |
| | 4. | Understands political and religious influences on the development of the Mughal Empire (e.g., relations between Muslims and Hindus in the empire, the effectiveness of Akbar's governing methods and religious ideas in comparison to other Mughal emperors) |
| | 5. | Understands changes in the political structure of the Ming Dynasty (e.g., how the power of the Ming emperor changed over time, the source of political threat to the Ming Empire and the role of defense in their military strategy) |
| | 6. | Understands factors that influenced the development and expansion of the Safavid Empire (e.g., key urban areas of the empire, and factors that contributed to the success of Safavid rule; how the city of Isfahan developed under the reign of Shah Abbas I) |
| | 7. | Knows how the popularity of Indian textiles in Europe undermined the efforts of the East India Company to sell more British goods in India than it imported |
| | Level IV (Grade 9-12) |
| | 1. | Understands influences on the Chinese economy and social structure (e.g., the effects of commercialization on social relations among gentry elites, urban merchants, and peasants; how the Chinese central government controlled various aspects of peoples' lives) |
| | 2. | Understands significant cultural and social features of the Ming Dynasty (e.g., the role of Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism in Ming government and society; how the Ming Dynasty brought cultural unity to China; the imperial examination system in China established under Ming rule) |
| | 3. | Understands the social, economic, and cultural features of the Ottoman Empire (e.g., how Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, and Jewish peoples interacted in southeastern Europe under Ottoman rule, the role and legal status of women within the Ottoman Empire, sources of revenue and patterns in state spending in the Ottoman Empire) |
| | 4. | Understands cultural and religious influences on Mughal social and cultural conditions (e.g., the Indian, Persian, and European influences on Mughal artistic, architectural, literary, and scientific achievements; how Akbar unified diverse cultures and encouraged religious tolerance within his Mughal Empire; the synthesis of Muslim and Hindu influences in art of the Mughal Empire) |
| | 5. | Understands major political events in the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire (e.g., the emergence of the Ottomans as a regional and world power between 1450 and 1650, the Ottoman Empire in the context of the Byzantine and Roman Empires, Austrian and Russian responses to Ottoman aggression, significant events in the expansion and recession of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the 17th centuries) |
| | 6. | Understands the origins and development of the Safavid Empire (e.g., how Ismail created the Safavid Empire with the support of Qizilbash nomadic tribesmen; the evolution of Safavid social and political system from the nomadic-warrior years of Ismail to the golden age of Shah Abbas I) |
| | 7. | Knows similarities and differences between major empires and leaders (e.g., comparisons between the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires; differences and similarities in government, military, and religious patterns of the six major Mughal emperors) |
