A soldier in the elite guard of the Ottoman Turks

The military and political head of state under the Seljuk Turks and the Ottomans

The private domain of an Ottoman sultan, where he and his wives resided

The Ottoman sultan's chief minister who carried the main burdens of the state and who led the council meetings

An appointed official of the Ottoman Empire who collected taxes, maintained law and order, and was directly responsible to the sultan's court

A group of religious advisers to the Ottoman sultan; this group administered the legal system and schools for educating Muslims

The ruler of Iran or Persia

Traditional beliefs, especially in religion

Political disorder, lawlessness

A local official in Mogul India who received a plot of farmland

The Hindu custom of cremating a widow on her husband's funeral pyre

The branded pigtail that was traditionally worn by Chinese males

A ceramic made of fine clay baked at very high temperatures

A group of related families

The head of noble families in Japan who controlled vast landed estates and relied on samurai for protection

Approximately 250 domains into which Japan was divided under the Tokugawa

Japan's outcast class whose way of life was strictly regulated by the Tokugawa

A policy of national isolation by abstention from alliances and other international political and economic relations

A part of a continent, as distinguished from peninsulas or offshore islands

An administrative organization that relies on non elective officials and regular procedures