AP World History Unit 3

3.1 Empires Expand

What were the characteristics of land-based/gunpowder empires?

  • land-based: power derived from territorial holdings

  • were expanding geographically in this time period

  • main cause of expansion: adoption of gunpowder weapons

Ottoman Empire: rose in 14th century after the fall of the Mongol empire

  • Expanded rapidly with two reasons:

    1. Controlled the Dardanelles, a strateigc chokepoint which they used to launch their expansions

    2. Adopted gunpoweder weapons

  • Under Mehmed ll, sacked Constantinople in 1453 and renamed it to Istanbul with the use of gunpowder weapons

Savafid Empire: rose from Mongol ashes in 1500s

  • grew under Shah Ismal, who declared itself Shi’a muslim which caused tension with neighboring Sunni states

  • grew rapidly under Shah Abbas & adopted gunpowder weapons

Mughal Empire: replaced the Delhi Sultanate in 16th century under Babur

  • made use of military armed with gunpowder cannons and guns to expand empire

  • expanded even further under Akbar (Babur’s grandson)

    • religiously tolerant

    • masterful administrator of the empire

    • under his rule, the Mughal became the most prosperous empire of the 16th century

Qing Dynasty: replaced the Ming dynasty (who expanded with gunpowder) when internal conflict allowed Northern Manchu tribe to invade and establish the Qing Dynasty

  • 40-year militaery campaign to reconquer Ming territory including Taiwan

  • Were not ethnically Han but Manchu

Rivalries

Savafid-Mughal Conflict: series of wars fought in the 17th century between the two empires

  • fought over the Persian Gulf

  • Sunni vs Shi’a confict

  • No clear winner

Songhai-Morrocan Conflict

  • Songhai had expanded and grew rich through Trans-Saharan trade but when weakened by internal conflict, the Morrocans took this opportunity and invaded with gunpowder weapons

3.2 Empires: Administration

Define “legitimize” and “consolidate”

Legitimze- show who was in charge

Consolidate- take power from others to increase their own

What was the Devshrime System and how did it impact the Ottoman bureaucracies and their military?

  • The devshirme system allowed the Ottoman to staff their imperial bureaucracy with highly trained individual who were enslaved

    • enslaved Christian slaves sent to Turkish families to learn the language and sent to Istanbul to get an Islamic education

    • some joined the military while others continued their studies to join the bureaucracy

  • The devshrime system privded elite militarry professionals (Christian Jannisaries) who were a major part of the ottoman standing amry.

How was religion used to legitimze and consolidate power?

  • Divine Right: European Christian monarchs had the approval of god to rule

  • Human Sacrifice: Aztec rulers showed their power through big sacrifice rituals

How was art used to legitimze and consolidate power?

  • Emperor Kongxi portrayed following tradtional Confucian values in art in order to legitimize his power towards his Han subjects even though he was Manchu

How was architecture used to legitimze and consolidate power?

  • Palace of Versailles: built for King Louis XIV

    • its grandeur showed his power and wealth

    • also forced nobles to live in the palace, allowing him to control them, and consolidate power

  • Inca Sun Temple: walls and courtyard in gold

    • since rulers were consider descendants of gods, the temple allowed them to legitimize their power

What were some taxing systems to finance the expansion of empires?

  • Zaminder System (Mughal): the government appointed local land owners known as zaminders to collect taxes for the emperor

    • combatted Hindu population’s suspicions towards Muslim rulers

    • extened imperial authoruty and consolidated imperial power

  • Tax Farming (Ottomans): the right to collect taxes from a group of people was given to the highest bidder

    • providded a steady source of income in the begining of the year for the government from the bidding

    • did not have to pay the tax collectors since they weren’t par of the government and paid themselves by collecteg more than legally requirede

3.3 Empires: Belief Systems

Christianity was the _____ religion in Europe and became a shared cultural glue.

dominant

What was the first massive spilt in the Christianity called?

The Great Schism 1054

  • Roman Catholic

  • Eastern orthodox

Protestant Reformation

  • The church was rich and powerful, buidling great structures like the St. Peters Basicla

  • In order to pay for their activities, they started practicing the selling of indulgences (pay to get rid of sins and spend less time in purgatory) and simony (selling high church positions)

    • waning confidence in the church

  • Martin Luther did not see anything in the Bible that allowed such practices

  • Wrote a series of complaints known as the 95 thesis which denounced their corrriped prsctices and nailed it on the door of a church

  • the church excommunicated him and declared him a heretic

  • Though he wasn’t the first to challegne the church, it was his work that led to the Protestant Reformation and the split of the church

    • the prinitng press allowed him to spread ideas rapidly thoguhout Europe

Counter-Reformation: the church gathered in the Council of Trent and tossed out corrupt practices and made reforms to attract Protestants back

  • kept belief of salvation by faith and nature of biblical authority

  • made Catholic and Protestant split permanent

Effects of the split

  • rulers either remained Catholic or forced Protestantism among subjects

  • led to a seires of religious wars in Europe until 1648

Islam in the Middle East

  • Ottomans and Safavids wanted to beat back each other and win territory for themslevs

  • Ottomans eventually got the upperhand

  • Because of this political rivalry, the split between Sunni and Shia branches intensified

Changes in South Asia: Muslims (Mughal) held power in the South Asian Hindu region

  • Bhakti Movement was very similar to Sufism so cultural exchange occured

  • Sikhism: syncretic relgion between Islam and Hinduism

    • Continuties: some doctorines held onto such as one god and reincarnartion

    • Change: some distinctions discarded such as the caste system and gender heirachies