Administering Land-Based Empires (1450–1750)

Vocabulary flashcards covering the methods used by rulers of land-based empires from 1450 to 1750 to legitimize and consolidate power, including bureaucracies, military cadres, religious and artistic monuments, and taxation systems.

Legitimizing Power

The methods a ruler uses to demonstrate to all underlings who is in charge.

Consolidating Power

The methods a ruler uses to take power away from other groups and claim it for him or herself.

Bureaucracy

A collection of government officials responsible for ensuring that laws are upheld throughout an empire.

Devshirme System

An Ottoman system in which Christian boys from the Balkans were enslaved, educated in Turkish and Islam, and trained to serve in the military or staff the imperial bureaucracy.

Janissaries

An elite cadre of enslaved Christian military professionals produced by the Devshirme system who formed the core of the Ottoman standing army.

Divine Right

The doctrine claimed by European monarchs asserting that they ruled with the approval of God or Jesus himself, making any opposition to the monarch an act of opposing God.

Aztec Human Sacrifice

A religious ritual performed by priests and rulers using captured prisoners of war to reinvigorate the sun god with blood and publicly signal imperial authority to gathered cities.

Kangxi's Imperial Portraits

Artworks displayed around the imperial city that depicted the ethnically Manchu Qing emperor adhering to traditional Confucian values to convince Chinese subjects of his legitimate rule.

Palace of Versailles

A massive French palace built for Louis XIV that showcased royal grandeur to legitimize his rule and forced French nobility to live there part-time to consolidate his authority.

Inca Sun Temple in Cusco

A gold-sheeted religious complex housing hundreds of golden statues, built to facilitate worship festivals and legitimize Inca rulers regarded as direct descendants of the gods.

Zamindar System

A Mughal system that employed local landowners to collect imperial taxes, helping Muslim rulers extend and consolidate authority over their predominantly Hindu population.

Tax Farming

An Ottoman fiscal arrangement where the right to collect taxes was auctioned to the highest bidder, securing upfront government revenue and allowing collectors to profit by taking more than the legal amount.