Key Figures and Events in Early Modern Empires

Abbas the Great

(1571-1629) Safavid ruler from 1587 to 1629; extended Safavid domain to the greatest extent; created slave regiments based on captured Russians, who monopolized firearms within Safavid armies; incorporated Western military technology.

Adam Schall

(1591-1666), along with Matteo Ricci, Jesuit scholar in the court of Ming emperors; skilled scientist; won few converts to Christianity.

Akbar

(1542-1605) Son and successor of Humayan; oversaw the building of military and administrative systems that became typical of Mughal rule in India; pursued a policy of cooperation with Hindu princes; attempted to create a new religion to bind Muslim and Hindu populations of India.

Amigos del Pais

Clubs and associations dedicated to improvements and reform in Spanish colonies; flourished during the 18th century; called for material improvements rather than political reform.

Asian Sea Trading Network

Prior to the intervention of Europeans, consisted of three zones: the Arab zone based on glass, carpets, and tapestries; India based on cotton textiles; and China based on paper, porcelain, and silks.

Asante Empire

Established in the Gold Coast among the Akan people settled around Kumasi; dominated by the Oyoko clan; many clans linked under Osei Tutu after 1650.

Asantehene

Title taken by the ruler of the Asante Empire; supreme civil and religious leader; authority symbolized by a golden stool.

Audiencia

A royal court of appeals established in the Spanish colonies of the New World. There were 16 audiencias throughout Spanish America as part of the colonial administrative system. They were staffed by professional magistrates.

Aurangzeb

(1618-1707) Mughal emperor who succeeded Shah Jahan; known for his religious zealotry.

Babur

(1483-1530) Founder of the Mughal dynasty in India; descended from Turkic warriors; first led the invasion of India in 1526.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

(1484-1566) Dominican friar who supported the peaceful conversion of the Native American population of the Spanish colonies; opposed forced labor and advocated Indian rights.

Batavia

Dutch fortress located after 1620 on the island of Java.

Caribbean

First area of Spanish exploration and settlement; served as an experimental region for the nature of the Spanish colonial experience; the encomienda system of colonial management initiated here.

Caravels

Slender, long-hulled vessels utilized by the Portuguese; highly maneuverable and able to sail against the wind; key to developing the Portuguese trade empire in Asia.

Captaincies

Strips of land along the Brazilian coast granted to minor Portuguese nobles for development; enjoyed limited success in developing the colony.

Catherine the Great

(1729-1796) German-born Russian tsarina in the eighteenth century; ruled after the assassination of her husband; gave the appearance of enlightened rule; accepted Western cultural influence; maintained nobility as a service aristocracy by granting them new power over the peasantry.

Charles III

(1716-1788) Spanish enlightened monarch; ruled from 1759 to 1788; instituted fiscal, administrative, and military reforms in Spain and its empire.

Chaldiran

Site of the battle between the Safavids and Ottomans in 1514; Safavids severely defeated by Ottomans; checked the western advance of the Safavid empire.

Chongzhen

(1611-1644) Last of the Ming emperors; committed suicide in 1644 when the Jurchens captured the Forbidden City at Beijing.

Comunero Revolt

One of the popular revolts against Spanish colonial rule in New Granada (Colombia) in 1781; suppressed as a result of divisions among rebels.

Consulado

Merchant guild of Seville; enjoyed virtual monopoly rights over goods shipped to America and handled much of the silver received in return.

Cortés, Hernán

(1485-1547) Led an expedition of 600 to the coast of Mexico in 1519; the conquistador responsible for the defeat of the Aztec Empire; captured Tenochtitlan.

Cossacks

Peasants recruited to migrate to newly seized lands in Russia, particularly in the south; combined agriculture with military conquests; spurred additional frontier conquests and settlements.

Council of the Indies

Body within the Castilian government that issued all laws and advised the king on all matters dealing with the Spanish colonies of the New World.

Creole Slaves

American-born descendants of saltwater slaves; the result of the sexual exploitation of slave women or a process of miscegenation.

Creoles

Whites born in the New World; dominated local Latin American economies and ranked just below peninsulares.

Dahomey

Kingdom developed among the Fon or Aja peoples in the 17th century; centered at Abomey 70 miles from the coast; under King Agaja, it expanded to control the coastline and the port of Whydah by 1727; accepted Western firearms and goods in return for African slaves.

Deshima

Island in Nagasaki bay; the only port open to non-Japanese after the closure of the islands in the 1640s; only Chinese and Dutch ships were permitted to enter.

Din-i-Ilahi

Religion initiated by Akbar in Mughal India; blended elements of the many faiths of the subcontinent; key to efforts to reconcile Hindus and Muslims in India, but failed.

Dutch Trading Empire

The Dutch system extending into Asia with fortified towns and factories, warships on patrol, and monopoly control of a limited number of products.

Edo

Tokugawa capital city; modern-day Tokyo; the center of the Tokugawa shogunate.

El Mina

Most important of early Portuguese trading factories in the forest zone of Africa.

Encomienda

Grant of Indian laborers made to Spanish conquerors and settlers in Mesoamerica and South America; the basis for the earliest forms of coerced labor in Spanish colonies.

Encomendero

The holder of a grant of Indians who were required to pay a tribute or provide labor. The encomendero was responsible for their integration into the church.

Factories

European trading fortresses and compounds with resident merchants; utilized throughout the Portuguese trading empire to assure secure landing places and commerce.

Ferdinand of Aragon

(r.1479-1516) Along with Isabella of Castile, a monarch of the largest Christian kingdoms in Iberia; marriage to Isabella created united Spain; responsible for the reconquest of Granada, initiation of exploration of the New World.

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

(c. 1510-1554) Leader of the Spanish expedition into the northern frontier region of New Spain; entered what is now the United States in search of mythical cities of gold.

Fulani

Pastoral people of western Sudan; adopted a purifying Sufi variant of Islam; under Usuman Dan Fodio in 1804, launched a revolt against Hausa kingdoms; established a state centered on Sokoto.

Galleons

Large, heavily armed ships used to carry silver from New World colonies to Spain; the basis for the convoy system utilized by Spain for the transportation of bullion.

Goa

Portuguese factory or fortified trade town located on the western India coast; a site for forcible entry into the Asian sea trade network.

Great Trek

The movement of Boer settlers in Cape Colony of southern Africa to escape the influence of the British colonial government in 1834; led to the settlement of regions north of the Orange River and Natal.

Haciendas

Rural estates in Spanish colonies in the New World; produced agricultural products for consumers in America; the basis of wealth and power for the local aristocracy.

Hispaniola

First island in the Caribbean settled by Spaniards; the settlement was founded by Columbus on his second voyage to the New World; Spanish base of operations for further discoveries in the New World.

Huancavelica

Location of the greatest deposit of mercury in South America; aided in American silver production; linked with Potosí.

Humayan

(1508-1556) Son and successor of Babur; expelled from India in 1540, but restored Mughal rule by 1556; died shortly thereafter.

Imams

According to Shi'ism, rulers who could trace descent from the successors of Ali.

Indies Piece

Term used within the complex exchange system established by the Spanish for the African trade; referred to the value of an adult male slave.

Isabella of Castile

(1451-1504) Along with Ferdinand of Aragon, a monarch of the largest Christian kingdoms in Iberia; marriage to Ferdinand created united Spain; responsible for the reconquest of Granada, initiation of exploration of the New World.

Isfahan

(1592-1629) Safavid capital under Abbas the Great; a planned city laid out according to the shah's plan; an example of Safavid architecture.

Ismâ'il

(1487-1524) Sufi commander who conquered the city of Tabriz in 1501; the first Safavid to be proclaimed shah or emperor.

Ivan III

(1440-1505) Also known as Ivan the Great; prince of Duchy of Moscow; claimed descent from Rurik; responsible for freeing Russia from Mongols after 1462; took the title of tsar or caesar—equivalent of emperor.

Ivan IV

(1530-1584) Also known as Ivan the Terrible; confirmed the power of tsarist autocracy by attacking the authority of boyars (aristocrats); continued the policy of Russian expansion; established contacts with Western European commerce and culture.

Janissaries

Ottoman infantry divisions that dominated Ottoman armies; forcibly conscripted as boys in conquered areas of Balkans; legally slaves; translated military service into political influence, particularly after the fifteenth century.

José de Gálvez

(1720-1787) Spanish minister of the West Indies and chief architect of colonial reform; moved to eliminate Creoles from the upper bureaucracy of the colonies; created intendants for local government.

Lesotho

Southern African state that survived the mfecane; not based on the Zulu model; less emphasis on military organization, less authoritarian government.

Letrados

University-trained lawyers from Spain in the New World; the juridical core of the Spanish colonial bureaucracy; exercised both legislative and administrative functions.

Luo

Nilotic people who migrated from the Upper Nile valley; established a dynasty among the existing Bantu population in the lake region of central eastern Africa; centered at Bunyoro.

Luzon

Northern island of the Philippines; conquered by Spain during the 1560s; the site of a major Catholic missionary effort.

Macao

One of two ports in which Europeans were permitted to trade in China during the Ming dynasty.

Marattas

Western India peoples who rebelled against Mughal control early in the eighteenth century.

Marquis of Pombal

Prime minister of Portugal from 1755 to 1776; acted to strengthen royal authority in Brazil; expelled Jesuits; enacted fiscal reforms and established monopoly companies to stimulate the colonial economy.

Matteo Ricci

(1552-1610) Along with Adam Schall; Jesuit scholar in the court of Ming emperors; skilled scientist; won few converts to Christianity.

Mfecane

Wars of the nineteenth century in southern Africa; created by Zulu expansion under Shaka; revolutionized the political organization of southern Africa.

Mexico City

Capital of New Spain; built on the ruins of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

Middle Passage

Slave voyage from Africa to the Americas (16th-18th centuries); generally, a traumatic experience for black slaves, although it failed to strip Africans of their culture.

Minas Gerais

A region of Brazil located in the mountainous interior where gold strikes were discovered in 1695; became the location for the gold rush.

Mindanao

Southern island of the Philippines; a Muslim kingdom that was able to successfully resist Spanish conquest.

Mita

Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and religion; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential aspect of Inca imperial control.

Moctezuma II

(1480-1520) Last independent Aztec emperor; killed during Hernán Cortés' conquest of Tenochtitlan.

Mughal Empire

Established by Babur in India in 1526; the name is taken from the supposed Mongol descent of Babur, but there is little indication of any Mongol influence in the dynasty; Mughal rule would flourish for almost two centuries, but became weak after the rule of Aurangzeb in the first decades of the eighteenth century.

Mullahs

Local mosque officials and prayer leaders within the Safavid Empire; agents of the Safavid religious campaign to convert all of the population to Shi'ism.

Mumtaz Mahal

(1593-1631) Wife of Shah Jahan; took an active political role in the Mughal court; entombed in the Taj Mahal.

Nadir Khan Afshar

(1688-1747) Soldier-adventurer following the fall of the Safavid dynasty in 1722; proclaimed himself shah in 1736; established a short-lived dynasty in a reduced kingdom.

New Spain

Spanish colonial administrative unit including Central America, Mexico, and the southeast and southwest of the present-day United States.

Nzinga Mvemba

King of Kongo south of the Zaire River from 1507 to 1543; converted to Christianity and took the title Alfonso I; under Portuguese influence, attempted to Christianize all of the kingdoms.

Nur Jahan

(1577-1645) Wife of Jahangir; amassed power in court and created a faction of male relatives who dominated the Mughal empire during the later years of Jahangir's reign.

Obeah

African religious ideas and practices in the English and French Caribbean islands.

Oda Nobunaga

(1534-1582) Japanese daimyo; first to make extensive use of firearms; in 1573 deposed the last of the Ashikaga shoguns; unified much of central Honshu under his command.

Old Believers

Russians who refused to accept the ecclesiastical reforms of Alexis Romanov (seventeenth century); many exiled to Siberia or southern Russia, where they became part of Russian colonization.

Ormuz

Portuguese factory or fortified trade town located at the southern end of the Persian Gulf; a site for forcible entry into the Asian sea trade network.

Osei Tutu

Member of the Oyoko clan of the Akan peoples in the Gold Coast region of Africa; responsible for creating the unified Asante Empire in 1701; utilized Western firearms.

Ottomans

A dynasty established beginning in the thirteenth century by Turkic peoples from Central Asia. Though most of their empire's early territory was in Asia Minor, the Ottomans eventually captured Constantinople and made it the capital of an empire that spanned three continents and lasted over 600 years.

Palmares

Kingdom of runaway slaves with a population of 8,000 to 10,000 people; located in Brazil during the 17th century; leadership was Angolan.

Partition of Poland

Division of Polish territory among Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793, and 1795; eliminated Poland as an independent state; part of the expansion of Russian influence in Eastern Europe.

Paulistas

Backwoodsmen from Sao Paulo in Brazil; penetrated the Brazilian interior in search of precious metals and slaves during the seventeenth century.

Pedro Álvares Cabral

(1467-1520) Portuguese leader of an expedition to India; blown off course in 1500 and landed in Brazil.

Pedro de Valdivia

(1497-1553) Spanish conquistador; conquered Araucanian Indians of Chile and established the city of Santiago in 1541.

Peninsulares

People living in the New World Spanish colonies but born in Spain.

Peter I

(1672-1725) Also known as Peter the Great; son of Alexis Romanov; ruled from 1689 to 1725; continued growth of absolutism and conquest; included a more definite interest in changing selected aspects of the economy and culture through the imitation of Western European models.

Potosí

Mine located in upper Peru (modern Bolivia); largest of New World silver mines; produced 80 percent of all Peruvian silver.

Pugachev Rebellion

During the 1770s in the reign of Catherine the Great; led by Cossack Emelian Pugachev, who claimed to be the legitimate tsar; eventually crushed; typical of peasant unrest during the eighteenth century and thereafter.

Purdah

The seclusion of Indian women in their homes.

Red Heads

The name given to Safavid followers because of their distinctive red headgear.

Recopilación

A body of laws collected in 1681 for Spanish possessions in the New World; the basis of law in the Indies.

Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian port; close to mines of Minas Gerais; importance grew with gold strikes; became the colonial capital in 1763.

Robert di Nobili

(1577-1656) Italian Jesuit missionary; worked in India during the early 1600s; introduced a strategy to convert elites first; the strategy was later widely adopted by Jesuits in various parts of Asia; the mission eventually failed.

Romanov Dynasty

Dynasty selected in 1613 at the end of the Time of Troubles; ruled Russia until 1917.

Royal African Company

Chartered in the 1660s to establish a monopoly over the slave trade among British merchants; supplied African slaves to colonies in Barbados, Jamaica, and Virginia.

Sail al-Din

(1253-1344) Early fourteenth-century Sufi mystic; began a campaign to purify Islam; the first member of the Safavid dynasty.

Saltwater Slaves

Slaves transported from Africa; almost invariably black.