Heimler APWH Unit 3

Constantinople/Istanbul

This city was the beating heart of the remainder of the once great Roman Empire. When the Ottomans conquered it in 1543, it opened the door to continue their expansion into Eastern Europe. In addition, this city controlled the Bosporus Strait, granting the Ottomans control of a crucial waterway.

Janissaries

An elite fighting force which the Ottoman Empire utilized to advance their military and expand their territory. As the Ottomans conquered the Balkans, they had a policy of enslaving many of the Christian boys there. They converted them to Islam and turned the best into this elite fighting force.

Shah Abbas

Since the Safavid Empire lacked any natural defense barriers, this leader built up their military with the adoption of gunpowder weapons. Like the Ottomans, he also established an enslaved army with Christians from the Caucasus region. They were highly trained and became full time solders in the service of the shah and were large contributors to the Safavids’ ability to expand.

Sunni

A sect of Islam that believe that the rightful successor of Muhammad could be anyone spiritually fit for the office.

Shi’a

The sect of Islam that believed that only blood relatives of Muhammad were his legitimate successors.

Babur

Rose to leadership in Central Asia and led campaigns against the Delhi Sultanate. He wiped the empire off the map and began the period of Mughal rule in South Asia. His empire expanded rapidly through a growing military that used gunpowder weapons.

Akbar

The grandson of Babur who expanded the Mughal Empire throughout almost all of South Asia. Previously, the Delhi Sultanate had a hard time enforcing Islam on a Hindu population, but Akbar, who was also a Muslim, expanded more easily by being tolerant of all belief systems. Through religious tolerance and masterful administration, the Mughals become the most prosperous empire of the 16th century.

Safavid-Mughal Conflict

A series of wars fought over territories in what is today Afghanistan. The Mughals previously controlled this territory, but the Safavid claimed it while they were off fighting elsewhere. What created more tension within this conflict ws the religious element, as the Safavids were Shi’a and the Mughals were Sunni. Each empire, thinking they were the accurate representation of Islam, fought to establish full dominance over this region.

Bureaucracy

The thousands of government officials that ensure laws are kept throughout the empire. Rulers used this system of government to consolidate power by making sure their laws were enforced throughout their vast territory.

Devshirme System

Used by the Ottomans to staff their bureaucracy with highly trained individuals. As they conquered Eastern Europe, they enslaved Christians from the Balkans and converted them to Islam. They were to Istanbul for education and training and the top performers were appointed to elite positions in the Ottoman bureaucracy. Their extension training made them not only wise administrators, but also loyal to the sultan.

Divine Right of Kings

The idea that monarchs were God’s representative on Earth. European monarchs used this religious belief to grow and legitimize their power over Christian populations.

Emperor Kangxi

Because this Manchu emperor ruled over a Han population, he hung imperial portraits of himself around the city surrounded by books which suggested Confucian wisdom.

Sun Temple of Cusco

An Inca temple with walls covered with gold sheets and the courtyards filled with golden statues. Within the temple, high religious festivals were held, and since Inca rulers were associated with god, magnificent buildings like this had a way of legitimizing power.

Palace of Versailles

Louis XIV of France used this building to transfer power to himself by requiring the French nobility to live there for at least part of the year, where he kept an eye on them and they competed for his attention. Since prior to this nobility held most of the power in France, this living arrangement transferred their power to Louis.

Zamindar System

Elite landowners were granted authority to tax peasants living on their land on belay of the imperial government. This system eventually grew corrupt and the landowners started skimming money off the top to enrich themselves, however this was a significant way the Mughals maintained control of their empire and consolidated power under themselves.

Tax Farming

The right to tax the subjects of the Ottoman Empire was awarded to the highest bidder. They had the right to collect taxes from a particular group of people and charged more than was required to enrich themselves.

Tribute Lists

When the Aztecs conquered a new place, they required them to send specific goods to the imperial seat in tribute. This ensured a steady flow of a wide variety of goods to the empire’s administrators and communicated who was in charge to those conquered peoples.

Protestant Reformation

Since the 1st century, Roman Catholicism was the dominant belief system in Western Europe. Despite its power, the Church had become plagued with corruption, such as simony and the sale of indulgences. Martin Luther was troubled by these practices and the church’s teachings about salvation since they weren’t in the Bible, so he made a list of his complaints and nailed them to the door of a church in Wittenberg. Denounced by the Catholic Church, Luther created this split in the church.

Printing Press

Thanks to this invention, Martin Luther’s ideas were able to spread throughout Europe after the Catholic Church denounced him as a heretic and he was excommunicated.

Shah Ismail

Safavid Ruler that declared that the empire would adhere to Shi’a Islam. Many argue that his decisions was among the most significant events in Islamic history since it intensified the split between the two branches and put the Safavids at odds with the other Sunni Muslim empires in the area. He also carried out this declaration with ferocity, often publicly slaughtering Sunni Muslims who resisted. There was even a division of the Safavid military whose sole responsibility was to ensure that everyone ritually and regularly cursed the first three caliphs who succeeded Muhammad since they were not his blood relatives.

Sikhism

A syncretic blend of both Hindu and Islamic doctrines. It retained important doctrines such as belief in on God and the cycle of reincarnation and death, but discarded the gender hierarchies of Islam and the caste system of Hinduism.