The Gunpowder Empires

Flashcards about the Gunpowder Empires: Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal.

Gunpowder Empires

Land-based empires in the Islamic world of the Middle East and South Asia that used high-quality gunpowder weapons to establish large-scale empires.

Name the three Gunpowder Empires

The Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe and the Middle East; the Safavid Empire in the eastern Middle East (Iran); and the Mughal Empire in South Asia, centered on the city of Delhi.

How did the Gunpowder Empires expand?

Imperial expansion using armies of infantry armed with handguns and supported by heavy cannons.

Imperial Administration

A complex system by which to extract wealth from subjugated lands to enrich the imperial government and fund wars, combining central bureaucracies with systems of governors and provinces.

Imperial Belief System

A system to unite diverse populations under the same state, differing most starkly among the three empires.

What event marked the Ottoman Empire as a major power?

Conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

What were the key components of the Ottoman army?

Timars (Turkish feudal cavalry) and Janissaries (elite infantry using gunpowder weapons, often taken as slave-soldiers).

Janissaries

Slave-soldiers taken from conquered people groups in a practice called Devshirme, trained in the Ottoman Empire to use gunpowder weapons

Ottoman Government Structure

A hereditary monarchy where the sultan held almost total political authority and, after claiming the title of Caliph, became the highest religious authority within Sunni Islam.

What was the Divan in the Ottoman Empire?

A council that headed a massive imperial bureaucracy, ruling over Ottoman territories through eyalets (provinces).

What was the Iltizam System?

A 'tax farming' system where rights to tax people in a region were sold to wealthy nobles, causing abuse of peasants.

Who was the Grand Vizier?

The leader of the Divan, who gradually gained more authority, eventually becoming the de facto leader of the Ottoman Empire.

What was the Millet System?

A legal system where Ottoman subjects were tried in courts run by their own religious leaders.

Dhimmi

Protected peoples of the book

Where did the Safavid Empire emerge?

Emerged in Iran and reestablished an Iranian state between the Zagros Mountains and the Hindu Kush.

Who were the Ghulams?

Slave-soldiers taken from Christians captured during wars in the Caucuses, experts in gunpowder weapons.

Who was the Shah in the Safavid Empire?

A hereditary monarch claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad through Ali, embracing Shia Islam.

What was the Safavid's Imperial Belief System characterized by?

Converting all Sunni Muslims to Shia Islam by force.

Where did the Mughal Empire emerge, and what areas did it subjugate?

Emerged from the successor states of the Timurids, subjugating nearly all of South Asia.

What was the Mansabdar system?

Granting tax revenues to nobles in exchange for recruiting and maintaining armed forces.

What was the Mughal government structure?

A hereditary monarchy led by an emperor who considered himself the Shadow of God on earth.

What were subah?

Provinces in the Mughal Empire overseen by provincial governors called subadars.

What was the Zamindar system?

Mughal feudal system where Muslim and Hindu vassal rulers received the right to tax Mughal subjects.

What was Din-i-Ilahi?

A synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, which failed to gain substantial traction.

Who are the Sikhs?

A new religious group emerged espousing a monotheistic creator revealed through gurus.

What led to the collapse of the Safavid Empire?

The Safavid Empire collapsed due to its position between the Ottomans and Mughals, decline of the Silk Road, and internal conflict.

What contributed to the decline of the Mughal Empire?

Religious intolerance, Maratha Wars, and appropriation of powers by feudal vassals.

Why did the Ottoman Empire survive longer than the other Gunpowder Empires?

Maintained internal peace and toleration through the millet system and conciliatory trade deals with Europeans.