1450 - 1750: The Gunpowder Empires - Ap World History

What happened before?

The Mongol Empire power began to wain, giving the advantage to the Gunpowder Empires to rise using Gunpowder spread by the Mongols during their conquest.

The Gunpowder Empires

• Land-Based

• Used Gunpowder

Ottoman Empire

• The most significant Islamic empire

  • Lasted for ___ from ___ to ___

    • Southeast Europe

    • West Asia

    • North Africa

• Expansion:

  • Dadernelles

    • A strategic choke point used to launch their campaigns of expansion

  • Gunpowder Weapons

  • Sacking of Constantinople

    • The heart of the Byzantine Empire in 1453

    • Led by Sultan Mehmed

      • Used Gunpowder weapons to break down the walls gaining access to Constantinople

      • Renamed to Istanbul

Safavid Empire

• Middle East

  • Iran

• Expand:

  • Shah Ismail

    • Declared his empire Shia or Shi’ite Muslim empire

      • Deepened

  • Shah Abbas

    • Expanded the Safavid military

    • Adopted and used Gunpowder weapons to expand the Safavid Empire

Mughal Empire

• Muslim rulers ruled the Hindu population

• South and Central Asia

  • Replaced the Delhi Sultanate

    • Conquered by Babur in the 16th Century

• Expansion:

  • Babur

    • Adopted and used gunpowder weapons

    • Established the Mughal Empire

    • Expanded the Mughal military and their territory

  • Akbar

    • Further expanded the Mughal Empire

    • Religious tolerance

    • Masterful Administrator

      • Led to the prosperity of the Mughal Empire during the 16th century

Ming Dynasty

• Ethnically Han

  • Only Chinese people

• Established peace and honor throughout East Asia

• Expanded through Gunpowder weapons

• Began to fracture due to internal divisions and external wars and fell in 1636

Qing Dynasty

• Manchus

  • Took advantage of the Ming Dystany fracturement, and established the Qing Dynasty in 1636

• Launch a 40-year campaign of conquest of all previous Ming territories

• Not Ethnically Han

Rivalries In the Empires

• Cause

  • Religion and Politics

• Safavid vs Mughal - 17 century

  • A series of war fought to take over the Persian Gulf

• Songhai vs Morrocan

  • Songhai Empire

    • Expanded in the 16th century through their participation and monopoly of the Trans-Saharan Trade

    • Began to weaken because of internal conflicts

  • Morrocan Empire

    • Took advantage of the Songhai fracturement taking control over the trade routes

      • Used Gunpowder Weapons

How rulers Legitimize and Consoliadate power

• Legitimize

  • Methods rulers used to tell their subject that they are in charge

• Consolidate

  • Methods used to take power from other powerful people

Legitimize and Consolidate power

• Large Impireal Bureaucracies

  • Devshirme System - Ottoman

    • A system used by the Ottomans to staff their bureaucracy and military with highly trained people.

      • These people were enslaved Christians from the Balkan region

      • It was also used for the Janissaries

• Military Expansion

  • Established by elite people

    • Janissaries - Ottoman

Religion, Art, ad Architecture

• Religion

  • Divine Rights of Kings - Europe (L)

    • Rulers claimed to be chosen by God to rule. So going against the king is going agaisnt God

  • Human Sacrifice - Aztecs (L)

    • Sacrificed prisoners infront of the whole city letting everyone reconized who was in charge

• Art

  • Portraits - Qing Dynasty

    • Emperor Kangxi displayed portraits of himself all over the Imperial City

      • These portraits served to convince everyone that Kangxi was their ruler

• Architecture

  • Palace of Versailles - France

    • Built by Louis in the 14th century

    • It was used staffed French nobles bringing power to himself

  • Sun Temple - Inca

    • The Inca rulers claimed to be direct descendants of the Sun gods

    • It was built by the Inca rulers

Finance Example

• Zamindar System - Mughal

  • Employed tax colletors called the Zamindars throughout the empires on behalf of the emperor

• Tax Farming - Ottoman

  • The highest bidder will be given authority to tax anyone at any amount. Enriching both the Ottoman government and the tax collectors

Belief Systems

Inlcudes the religion

• Christianity

• Islam

• Syncretism

Christianity in Europe

• Christianity has been the dominant belief system in Europe since the 4th century.

  • It also became a shared cultural glue among the Europeans

• During the 11th Century

  • The church leaders started to fight over doctrines causing a massive split creating two different branches of chr

    • Eastern Orthodox Church

      • Dominating the East

    • Roman Catholic Church

      • Dominating the West

Protestant Reformation

• Catholic Church corrupt practices during the 1500s

  • Sales of Indulgences

    • The payment of forgiveness of sins of oneself and deceased family members

  • Simony

    • The payment of church officials

      • These corrupt practices were used to fund and build St. Peter’s Basillica in Rome

• Martin Luther

  • A Catholic Monk

  • Studied the Bible

    • Wrote the 95 thesis

      • A series of complains denouncing the corrupt practices in the Church

      • Nailed on the church door in Wittenberg

    • Used the Printing press to spread his 95 theses across Europe

    • Got branded and excommunicated by the church

    • Sparked the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation effects on the Catholic Church

• Catholic/Counter Reformation

  • Council of Trent -

    • A series of meetings held by the Catholic Church

    • Change:

      • Removed all the corrupt practices in the Church

    • Continuity:

      • Reaffirmed salvation by grace and works

Effects:

• Rulers across Europe either stayed Catholic or imposed Protestantism on their people

• Intensified political division

• Led to series of Religious wars in Europe

Similarities:

• Sunni vs Shia

Ottoman vs Safavid

• Sunni vs Shai

• Shai

  • Believed that only blood relatives are the successor of Muhamad

• Sunni

  • Believed that anyone elected can be Muhamad successor

• Their political rivalry intensified the split between the Sunni and Shai Muslim

Changes in Mughal Empire (South Asia)

• Bhakti - Hinduism

  • Originated in the 7th century

  • An Innovation in Hinduism

  • Emphasized mystical experience with one of Hinduism’s gods

• Sufism - Islam

  • Emphasized mystical experience

• Similarity

  • Both shared similar beliefs and practices on mystical movement. Sparking exchanges and blending to occur.

• Sikhism

  • A religion blending Islam and Hinduism elements

  • Continuity:

    • Held on to significant doctrines of both beliefs

  • Change

    • Discarded the Caste System and Gender Hierarchies