Period 2 (1450-1750)

Gunpowder Empires

Muslim empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and the Mughals that employed gunpowder and cannons to advance their military causes.

armed trade

the use of weaponry and/or troops to open, expand, and forcibly control trade routes

Bureaucratic elites

a small political class with a specific material, intellectual, and moral superiority over those they govern; often employed by gunpowder empires to consolidate rule

Military Professionals

high ranking military members; often employed by gunpowder empires to consolidate rule

Ming Dynasty

A major dynasty that ruled China from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century. It was marked by a great expansion of oceanic Chinese commerce, then a period of state-imposed isolationism/restrictive trade policies; known for exporting porcelain, tea and silk and a silver-based economy

Ming tax collection

Collection of taxes in hard currency (silver)

Manchu Dynasty (Qing)

The last imperial dynasty of China, established by Manchu invaders; known for imposing will by force, oppression of ethnic Chinese, tolerance toward Jesuit missionaries, and the selling of trade privileges to Europeans

Mughal Empire

South Asian gunpowder empire established by Muslims of Turkic-Mongolian decent and ruling over a Hindu majority. Known for period of religious tolerance under Akbar the Great, building the Taj Mahal, wealth from export of cotton textiles, and a later period of Hindu oppression before their collapse.

Zamindar System

Tax system of the Mughal empire where decentralized lords collected taxes from peasants in exchange for land ownership rights

Maratha Conflict

Rebellion of Maratha regional Hindu rulers against the Mughals and Portuguese; attempt to maintain control of ports in the Gujarat region of India

Safavid Empire

SW Asian gunpowder empire of Turkic-Mongolian decent, known for establishing a Shiite Theocracy, armed conflict with the Ottomans, silk exports, and trade with European trading companies.

Ottoman Empire

Large Muslim gunpowder empire based in Anatolia, known for conquest of Byzantines, establishing Istanbul (in former Constantinople) ruling over a large, ethnically and religiously diverse population through the Millet System.

Devshirme

Ottoman policy of taking boys from Christian peoples to be trained as Muslim soldiers

Dhimi

People of the book (Jews and Christians) in Muslim empires.

Jizya tax

a tax required of people with Dhimi status (Jews and Christians) in Muslim empires such as the Ottoman Empire; also allowed Hindus freedom from persecution in the earlier era of the Mughal Empire

Tax farming

A government's use of private collectors to collect taxes. Individuals or corporations contract with the government to collect a fixed amount for the government and are permitted to keep as profit everything they collect over that amount. Was used in Ottoman Empire, leading to corruption and unrest.

Songhay Empire

Major Islamic state of West Africa that formed in the second half of the fifteenth century following the Mali Empire; known for gold, salt and slave trade on the trans-Saharan caravan routes, trade along the Niger River, and acceptance of African religious practice among the non-elite class.

Russian Empire

Empire stretching from E. Europe and the Baltic Sea to the Pacific. Known for overthrowing the Mongols, solidified a centralized rule, practice of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and expansion into Siberia for the fur trade.

Cossack Revolts

A series of military conflicts in which local elites resisted Russian territorial expansion

Tokugawa Shogunate

Semi-feudal era of Japan known for geographic unification, economic prosperity, isolationism, and persecution of Christians.

Feudal System

A political and social system in which landholders provide land to tenants in exchange for loyalty, military assistance, and other services; used in Europe and Japan

Samurai

Class of military/warrior elite in feudal Japan who pledged loyalty to a feudal lord (daimyo) in return for land; this class was also granted salaries for service during the Tokugawa era

Aztec/Mexica Empire

Empire in meso-America known for capital trade city of Tenochtitlan, tribute collection, extensive trade networks operated by pochteca, construction of monumental temples, practice of human sacrifice and polytheism, and chinampa irrigation; collapsed during Spanish expansion

Tribute collection/Tributary systems

Chinese and Aztec method of dealing with foreign lands and peoples that assumed the subordination of all conquered peoples and required the payment of tribute

human sacrifice

Killing of humans for a purpose like worshiping a god, practiced widely by the Aztecs and a little by the Maya and the Inca people

Pochteca

Special merchant class in Aztec society; specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items

Chinampas

floating farming islands made by the Aztec

Mita System

economic system in Incan society where people paid taxes with their labor and what they produced

Inca Empire

Empire in Andes Mountains of South America, known for massive network of trade routes, early system of socialism utilizing Mita labor system, polytheism, human sacrifice, and temple building; collapsed during Spanish expansion

monumental architecture

large man-made structures generally created for the public to legitimize rule (e.g., Taj Mahal in Mughal India, Pallace of Versailles in France, Inca sun temple, large mosques in Muslim empires)

Divine Right

Belief that a rulers authority comes directly from god/the pope; seen in Europe prior to the Enlightenment era

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism

Catholic Reformation

a 16th century movement in which the Roman Catholic Church sought to make changes in response to the Protestant Reformation

Spanish Inquisition

A program ordered by the Spanish monarchy to investigate and eliminate heresy in the kingdom

Sunni-Shia Split

The split in the Muslim community over the succession to Mohammed. The Safavids making Persia a Shia land alienated their Sunni Muslim neighbors and intensified the conflict with the neighboring Ottomans

Sikhism

the doctrines of a monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nanak and combining elements of Hinduism and Islam

Maritime technology improvements in 1400s

-adding sails (lateen sails)

-hull design (water tight)

-gun-power artillery (canons)

-charts and instruments for measuring latitude

-better understanding of prevailing winds and currents annually

Innovations in ship design

Caravel, Carrack, Fluyt

State-sponsored maritime exploration

States such as Spain and Portugal hired explorers to find alternate routes to Asian goods to circumnavigate trade routes under Muslim control, such as Spanish sponsorship of Columbian voyages

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

"Old World" Contributions

Smallpox, measles, influenza, wheat, sugar, horses, pigs, goats, Christianity

"New World" Contributions

Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cocoa, tobacco, syphilis

The Great Dying

Term used to describe the devastating demographic impact of European-borne epidemic diseases on the Americas (e.g., smallpox, measles, influenza)

Little Ice Age

Temporary but significant cooling period between the fourteenth and the nineteenth centuries; accompanied by wide temperature fluctuations, droughts, and storms, causing famines and dislocation.

Portuguese Maritime Empire

Exploration and establishment of ports along the coast of Africa, Calicut, and Malacca; relied on state-sponsored voyages and use of gun ships

trading post empire

Form of imperial dominance based on control of trade rather than on control of subject peoples (e.g., Portuguese in the Indian Ocean)

North Atlantic Crossing

Voyages undertaken by French, Dutch, and English with goal of finding an alternate route to Asia (the non-existent "NW Passage")

New Spain

Spanish controlled empire in the New World, known for forcibly spreading Catholicism and developing a system of large manors for cash crop production using indigenous people as laborers. With the death of Native American slaves, Spaniards began importing African slaves to supply their labor needs

Casta system

A system of social hierarchy in colonial Spain of determining a person's social importance according to different racial categories (e.g, Creole, Mestizo, Indio, Mulatto, Negro)

Encomienda System

A system whereby the Spanish crown granted the conquerors the right to forcibly employ groups of Indians; it was a disguised form of slavery.

Hacienda system

Spanish American labor system similar to the feudal system, Natives granted land in exchange for labor and had to buy their products from their owners

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

New Atlantic trade systems were made because of European empires in the Americas. This system was mainly from Africa to the Americas and mainly took people out of Africa.

cash-crop agriculture

Agricultural production, often on a large scale, of crops for sale in the market, rather than for consumption by the farmers themselves (e.g., sugar production in the Caribbean and cotton production in the Southern US)

Gender Restructuring

Occurred in Africa as a result of trans-Atlantic slave trade; the population of women increased due to export of male laborers, leading to increase polygyny, female slavery, but also a rise in women in influential positions

Maroon Societies

Runaway slaves in the Caribbean who established their own communities to resist slavery and colonial authorities

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought

joint-stock company

A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts (e.g., English and Dutch East India Companies)

Global flow of silver

Arose due to huge silver deposits found in Spanish America and Japan; Spanish silver was traded for spices and silk in the Indian Ocean trade, Japan almost entirely traded with China. Most of the silver went to China.

Peasant and Artisan Labor

Peasants and artisans continued to intensify in regions and consumer goods increased (e.g., Western Europe--wool and linen, India--cotton, China--silk)

Syncretism

The unification or blending of opposing people, ideas, or cultural practices, such as religion, architecture, language, music

Syncretic belief systems

Faiths that emerged from blending two or more religions traditions (e.g., Sikhism, Vodun, Santaria, Cult of Saints)

Pueblo Revolt

Native American revolt against the Spanish in late 17th century in response to forced conversions and maltreatment; expelled the Spanish for over 10 years; Spain began to take an accommodating approach to Natives after the revolt

Metacom's War

Native Americans battle New England colonies; large percentage of native americans died, making it one of the bloodiest wars in US; severely damaged the Native American presence in the new world

Ana Nzinga's resistance

African queen who led her people against the Portuguese when they tried to capture her people as slaves.