History key terms

The enforced separation of people according to race, including in workplaces, public facilities or accommodation.

Selection by a random draw rather than by an election, used in Athens to distribute many public offices among eligible citizens.

Using force to protect oneself or others against an attack, rather than initiating violence.

The right of a people to decide their own political future, including who governs them.

The ability of a community to govern itself through its own leaders, laws and institutions.

Individual or collective action to meet people's needs without relying on government assistance.

Relying on a community’s own labour and resources rather than outside assistance; this was central to the official presentation of Dazhai.

A Turkish ruling dynasty whose armies defeated the Byzantines at Manzikert in 1071; Seljuk rulers subsequently established the Sultanate of Rum in Asia Minor.

Turkish Muslim rulers and armies who controlled much of Asia Minor in the late eleventh century. Their forces defeated the People’s Crusade in 1096.

A Catholic priest trained in a seminary, a college for educating priests. English priests trained abroad returned secretly to minister to Catholics in England.

A council of leading Romans which exercised considerable influence over government and policy.

Reporting that emphasises shocking or dramatic details to attract attention, often through exaggeration or speculation.

The practice of sending urban young people or professionals to rural areas to undertake labour and political re-education.

The principle accepted in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 that racial segregation was lawful if separate facilities were equal. In practice, facilities for Black Americans were often inferior.

The National Party policy, developed under Hendrik Verwoerd, of assigning African ethnic groups to separate homelands and confining their political rights to those territories rather than granting equal rights in South Africa.

A prison system that kept prisoners isolated from one another to prevent harmful influence and encourage reflection and reform.

Independent merchants who participated in African trade outside the Royal African Company; the 1698 legislation allowed them to trade legally subject to a duty.

The belief that believers should leave the established Church and form independent congregations rather than try to reform it from within.

Protestants who believed the Church of England could not be sufficiently reformed and wanted independent congregations outside it.

Jewish people whose family and cultural heritage is associated with Spain and Portugal.

An Indian soldier serving in an army organised by a European power, including the East India Company.

An unfree peasant tied to a lord’s land and required to provide labour or other dues.

The condition of peasants who were not fully free, were tied to a lord’s land and owed duties such as labour service.

Businesses and organisations that provide services rather than manufacture goods, such as banking, tourism, retail and healthcare.

An ancient account selected for study as evidence about a period, to be interpreted rather than treated as an unquestionable record.

Living ordinarily in the UK without an immigration restriction on how long a person may remain.

The establishment of a community in a place where people intend to live.

Israeli civilian communities established in territories captured by Israel in war. Their establishment helped strengthen Israel’s hold on occupied land.

The fifth Mughal emperor, originally named Prince Khurram, who took power after Jahangir’s death in 1627. His title means ‘King of the World’.

The new imperial capital that Shah Jahan began laying out in Delhi in 1638, beside the Jamuna river; his court moved there in 1648.