One main factor that helped the Mughal empire succeed was it’s focus on expanding world trade. India had access to many raw materials that were very valuable to the current trade industry, but they had to be utilized properly in order to bring in profit. In order to have the most success for his own empire, Akbar cut out the middle men and opened his own indigenous materials factories. “The commercial side of the industry was in the hands of middlemen, but the Mughal government, like the earlier sultans, made its own contribution. The emperor controlled a large number of royal workshops, busily turning out articles for his own use, for his household, for the court, and for the imperial army” (Economic and Social Developments Under the Mughals, p. 2). This act along with Europe's extremely limited access to textiles allowed for extreme financial gain in exports. One main factor that undermined the success of the Mugahl empire was use of violence and threats on the subjects of the empire. For example, Akbar, although he was in favor of religious tollerance used mass murder to frighten subjects into submission. He also performed sick physiological experiments on babies just to “test the effects”. Then during Aurangzeb's rule, he was constantly traveling to the South to fight rebellions, which ironically led to unrest and worse conditions in the North. Overall, despite inappropriate flaunts of power through violence, the Mughal empire grew industry through foreign trade and maintained a majority of satisfied subjects by placing religious freedoms along with Jahangir’s 12 ordinances.
Tokugawa
Thee Tokugawa shogunate maintained power through a centralized economy and a class system. By keeping their economy local and cutting off all means of foreign trade, the shogunate were able to consolidate resources and grow the local economy. For example, rules two and three of the Edict of 1635 (Source A) read “(2) No Japanese is permitted to go abroad. If there is anyone who attempts to do so secretly, he must be executed. The ship so involved must be impounded and its owner arrested, and the matter must be reported to the higher authority. (3) If any Japanese returns from overseas after residing there, he must be put to death.” As seen here, the Tokugawa shogunate was extremely serious about their isolationist empire, with punishments as harsh as death for traveling abroad. The second strategy of maintaining power was the use of their feudal class system. By dividing the citizens into four classes, the Shogun were able to keep the locals in line, and didn’t fear rebellion until the rise of the Daimyō. In Source B, (Social Class Hierarchy of Feudal Japan) it breaks down the hierarchy during the Shogunate into the Emperor as the symbol leader at the top, then the Shogun holding the real power, followed by the Daimyō as the landlords, then Samurai, peasants, and merchants.
Qing
In order to intimidate their conquered subjects, the Qing ordered a decree that all men had to shave their heads or they would be put to death. This was a show of power and a test of obedience with no substantial reasoning behind it. As a strategy to legitimize their rule after a long and bloody battle to conquer China, the Qing used Ming dynasty era techniques in order to ease in their major policy changes. Another example of using elements of Chinese ideals and values was the writing of the sacred edict. This edict included many confucius-era ideals that were very popular in China.