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Unit 3: Land-Based Empires - Coggle Diagram
Unit 3: Land-Based Empires
Gunpowder empires: empires in Southwest Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia whose expansion was enabled by the utility of gunpowder weapons
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman empire had existed for a few hundred years during this period, but the seizure of Constantinople in 1453 accelerated their expansion. Having been a center of trade as well as the capital of the Byzantine empire, its conquest instilled a European fear of Ottoman expansion.
The Ottoman ruler maintained their power through the devshirme system, in which young Christian boys would be taken by the government, given an excellent education in philosophy, politics, and the arts. They would then grow up to be Janissaries, or the warrior elite of the Ottoman Empire.
Safavid Empire
Founded by Sufi missionaries shortly after 1500, the Safavid Empire saw the conquest of Persia and parts of Iraq under the leadership of Shah Ismail.
The relationship between the Shia Safavid Empire and Sunni Ottomans can be characterized by periodic conflict throughout the 1500s and 1600s.
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was founded in 1526 by Turkic invaders in India. Unlike the fiercely Sunni Ottomans and Shia Safavids, the Mughal Empire practiced religious tolerance for a period of time under emperor Akbar, who led the Mughal Empire into great prosperity and wealth. However, under the leadership of Aurangzeb, religious tolerance fell apart and led to the discrimination of the majority Hindu population.
Zamindars were regional officials who collected taxes and carried out the will of the emperor. It was a method of administration used by the Mughal Empire
Emperor Shah Jahan's construction of the Taj Mahal was an example of how rulers at the time legitimized their power. The magnificence of architecture such as this was conflated with the authority of the rulers who constructed them.
Ming Dynasty
After the collapse of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was established. Their administration and culture and founded on the elimination of any sign of Mongol rule and the restoration of traditional Chinese thinking. The revival of the civil service exam is a good example of this restoration.
They continued the construction of the Great Wall out of fear of another Mongol invasion. Ironically, the Ming dynasty was overthrown by the Manchu people.
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was founded after the Ming Dynasty by Manchu invaders.
They evolved China into a Central Asian empire. They relied on local elites for governance. Unlike most empires, they didn't assimilate with the cultures they conquered. This, in combination with Russian expansion, destroyed Central Asian nomadic societies.
Europe
This period saw the decline of European feudalism and the centralization of authority under monarchs. This period was also characterized by the recovery of Europe from the Black Death. The rise of different monarchical dynasties and the consolidation of political power throughout Europe led to the establishment of bureaucracies and a rising middle class.
Russia was also expanding under the rulership of the first Czar, Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible)
European monarchy was enforced through the Divine Right, the idea that the king was ordained by God to rule over the state. One method of administration was the use of Justices of the Peace, officials who carried out the will of the monarch throughout the empire.
In France, the consolidation of power went mostly unchecked, and this lack of restraint contributed to the rise of absolutism, particularly in France. King Louis XIV was essentially a dictator who wielded full power over both the legislative and judicial systems of France.
Expansion into the Western Hemisphere
Unlike the Chinese voyages of Zheng He, the European voyages to the Western Hemisphere were primarily for empire-building, crusading tradition, and to find the riches of the far east.
Columbus sailed to America in 1492, which kicked off the massive system of exchange between the Eastern and Western worlds known as the Colombian Exchange.
The arrival of the Portuguese in India under Vasco da Gama also kicked off the Portuguese maritime trading post empire.