Land Based Empires (1450-1750)

Land-Based Empires (1450-1750)

Context

  • Great land-based empires flourished, including Songhai, Safavids, Mughals, Ottomans, and Manchus.

  • These empires controlled large regions and overland trade routes.

Expansion

  • Empires measured power in land, leading to frequent wars.

  • The Manchus (Qing Dynasty) tripled their land by 1911.

Centralization

  • Prospered by consolidating power in central government.

  • Employed bureaucratic elites and military professionals.

  • Collected tributes and taxes to fund government and defense.

  • Constructed palaces and religious buildings to demonstrate wealth.

Belief Systems

  • Empires were closely tied to religious faiths, intertwining political and religious conflicts.

  • Examples: Catholics vs. Protestants in Europe, Sunni Mughals vs. Shi'a Safavids in Asia.

Decline (After 1750)

  • Many land-based empires declined due to:

    • Rise of ethnic identities.

    • Increased importance of ocean routes.

    • Shifting economic relationships.

3.1: European, East Asian, and Gunpowder Empires Expand

Essential Question

  • How did certain land-based empires develop and expand from 1450-1750?

Gunpowder Empires

  • Large, multiethnic states in Southwest, Central, and South Asia using firearms.

  • Included Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires, and Russia.

  • Militaristic societies with artistic and architectural legacies.

Europe

  • 1450 marks the end of the medieval period and the beginning of the early modern period.

  • New monarchies centralized power by controlling taxes, armies, and religion.

  • Examples: Tudors in England, Valois in France, Isabella and Ferdinand in Spain.

  • Bureaucracies increased; the middle class gained power.

Russia

  • Russia was a pivotal position for trade between Europe and Asia.

  • Ivan IV (ruled 1547-1584) expanded eastward, utilizing gunpowder.

  • Control of the Volga River allowed trade with Persia and the Ottoman Empire.

  • Expanded to the Pacific Ocean by 1639.

East Asia

  • Ming Dynasty (1368) overthrew the Yuan Dynasty.

  • The Manchu established the Qing Dynasty in 1644.

  • Ming Dynasty expanded China, but later focused on the Great Wall for protection.

  • Emperor Kangxi (ruled 1661-1722) expanded into Taiwan, Mongolia, and Central Asia.

  • Emperor Qianlong (ruled 1736-1796) annexed Xinjiang and sent armies into Tibet and Nepal.

  • Conflicts with the West led to limited trading privileges in Guangzhou.

  • The White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) was brutally suppressed.

Islamic Gunpowder Empires

  • Shared traits: Turkic nomads, Turkic language, exploited Mongol power vacuums, used gunpowder.

  • Initial success due to military might and weak regimes they replaced.

Tamerlane

  • Tamerlane's (late 14th century) conquests set the stage for Turkic empires.

  • The ghazi ideal (warrior life blending nomadic culture and Islamic holy fighting) influenced warriors.

  • Tamerlane's rule encouraged learning and the arts in Samarkand.

  • His government depended on military and heavy artillery.

Ottoman Empire

  • Founded by the Osman Dynasty in the 1300s, lasting until 1918.

  • Mehmed II (ruled 1451-1481) conquered Constantinople in 1453, renaming it Istanbul.

  • Suleiman I (ruled 1520-1566) expanded into Hungary but failed to take Vienna.

  • The Ottoman navy controlled the island of Rhodes and Tripoli.

Safavids

  • Originated in the Safavid order of Sufism.

  • Shah Ismail conquered Persia and was proclaimed shah in 1501.

  • Shah Abbas I (ruled 1588-1629) strengthened the military with European weaponry and advisors.

  • Used Shi'a Islam as a unifying force, causing conflict with the Sunni Ottoman Empire.

  • Conflicts arose over trade routes.

Mughal India

  • Founded by Babur in the 1520s.

  • Akbar (Babur's grandson) established a centralized government and religious tolerance.

  • Overseas trade flourished.

  • The caste system influenced social structure.

Decline of the Gunpowder Empires

  • Declined as Western Europe grew in strength.

  • Russia modernized its army, while the Islamic empires did not.

Ottoman Empire

  • Defeated at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

  • Weak sultans and European neighbors led to decline.

Safavid Decline

  • Ineffectual leaders, lavish lifestyles, and military spending led to a weakened economy.

  • Rebellion by Sunni Pashtuns and territorial losses to Ottomans and Russians.

Mughal Decline

  • Aurangzeb (ruled 1658-1707) expanded the empire but drained the treasury.

  • Conflicts with Hindus and Sikhs, leading to instability and British/French influence.

3.2: Empires: Administrations

Essential Question

  • How did rulers in land-based empires legitimize and consolidate their power from 1450 to 1750?

Centralizing Control in Europe

  • England's King James I believed in the divine right of kings.

  • Tudors relied on justices of the peace.

  • The English Bill of Rights (1689) assured civil liberties and limited the monarchy.

  • France became absolute under Louis XIV, who espoused divine right.

Reigning in Control of the Russian Empire

  • The boyar class experienced tensions with rulers.

  • Ivan IV established the oprichnina to control the boyars.

  • Peter the Great (ruled 1682-1725) consolidated power by defeating rivals and integrating the military.

  • Peter reorganized government by creating salary-based provincial officials and a senate.

Centralizing Control in the Ottoman Empire

  • The devshirme system recruited Christian boys for military and government service.

  • Janissaries formed elite forces.

Centralizing Control in East and South Asia

  • The Ming Dynasty brought back the civil service exam to erase Mongol influence.

  • Japan was unified by powerful daimyo using gunpowder.

  • The Tokugawa shogunate centralized control over the feudal system.

Consolidating Mughal Power in South Asia

  • Akbar (ruled 1556-1605) established an efficient government and civil service.

  • Zamindars were in charge of taxation and construction.

Legitimizing Power through Religion and Art

  • European governments used divine right and built impressive structures like Versailles.

  • Peter the Great moved the capital to St. Petersburg.

  • Askia the Great promoted Islam in Songhai.

  • Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal.

Ottoman Architectural and Artistic Achievements

  • Constantinople (Istanbul) remained a trade center.

  • Cultural contributions included the restoration of Saint Sophia.

Financing Empires

  • Peter established state-owned industries and raised taxes.

  • Ottomans levied taxes, using tax farming, and Mughals used zamindars.

  • Ming China collected taxes in grain and silver.

  • Empires collected tributes from other states.

3.3 Empires: Belief Systems

Essential Question

  • How did different belief systems endure or change during the period from 1450-1750?

Protestant Reformation

  • The Roman Catholic Church faced challenges and corruption.

  • figures like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus spoke out.

  • Martin Luther challenged the Church with the 95 Theses, advocating "sola fide."

Lutheranism

  • Luther's teachings impacted the clergy and women.

  • Promoted women's literacy.

Calvinism

  • John Calvin reformed the religious community in Geneva.

  • Followers included Huguenots and Puritans.

  • Calvinists encouraged a "Protestant work ethic."

Anglicanism

  • King Henry VIII set himself as head of the Church of England to gain a male heir.

The Orthodox Church and Reforms in Russia

  • Peter abolished the patriarchate and incorporated the Church into the government.

Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation

  • The Roman Catholic Church responded with the Inquisition, the Jesuits, and the Council of Trent.

Wars of Religion

  • Europe's religious divisions led to wars, e.g., the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).

  • The Peace of Westphalia allowed states to choose Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism.

Islamic Religious Schisms

  • Religion and the state were closely tied in Islamic empires.

  • The Ottoman Empire followed Sunni Islam; Justinian Law was replaced by shariah.

  • The Safavids used Shi'a Islam, causing conflict with the Ottomans.

  • Akbar tolerated all religions in Mughal India and gave land grants for Sikhism.

  • He tried to create a syncretic religion called Din-i Ilahi, but it failed.

Scientific Revolution

  • Scientific thinking gained popularity, based on reason rather than faith.

  • Francis Bacon developed empiricism.

  • Isaac Newton published Principia (1687).

3.4 Comparison in Land-Based Empires

Essential Question

  • By what methods did empires increase their societal and cultural influence from c. 1450-c. 1750?

Military Might

  • Armies were well-trained and equipped.

  • Empires relied on gunpowder weapons.

  • Elite soldiers: Janissaries (Ottoman) and Ghulams (Safavid).

  • Warfare: Conflicts between Ottoman and Safavid and Safavid and Mughal.

Centralized Bureaucracy

  • Necessary to control large diverse population.

  • Recruiting bureaucratic elite through Civil service exams (China), deushirme system (Ottoman), scholars of Timbuktu (Songhai).

Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires, 1450-1750

  • Taxes, Military, Policies.

Striving for Legitimacy

  • Religious conversion, Religion , Monuments. Art