3.1: Empires Expand 1450-1750 a

Gunpowder empires in SE Asia, Asia, SW Asia

• States that relied on gunpowder to keep power and expand their territories

• Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal all arose from fall of Tamerlane’s empire

  • Tamerlane: military leader from Samarkand who took lots of land in Persia and India area, killing thousands at the gates of Delhi

    • Used military to control merchants on silk roads

    • Large amounts of funding required for military and internal (managing tribes) disputes resulted in its failure

• Ottoman Empire (1299-1922)

  • Largest and greatest of all islamic empires during this time

    • In 1433 under the leadership of Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror) sieged and took Constantinople from the Byzantine empire using gunpowder and advanced cannons

      • Changed name to Istanbul

      • Converted Hagia Sophia (cathedral) into mosque

      • Benefited from its location because it was at the center of many trade routes

  • Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566): was seen as the peak of the Ottoman Empire

    • Conquered more area around the Mediterranean and attempted to push further into europe past Hungary but was stopped

      • Regardless still made Europe scared of Ottomans

• Safavid Empire (1501-1736)

  • Ismail I conquered most of Persia, and parts of Iraq using gunpowder

    • Was Islamic, but Shia Islamic not Sunni like the Ottomans

      • Legitimized power by having a religion for the country but also rejected other countries that weren’t Shia, namely, the Ottomans

  • Persian/Iran

• Mughal Empire (1526-1761)

  • Descendent of Tamerlane named Babur founded Mughal Empire when India was in disarray

    • Babur completed conquest of Northern India using gunpowder and established central government similar to Suleiman

  • Akbar was an important ruler who led Mughal to be prosperous

    • He was Muslim but supported other religions in India such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity

      • Sikhism started in punjab india around 1500

      • Sikhism values equality, social justice, service to humanity, and tolerance for other religions

    • Akbar consolidated power by promoting differences, unlike other empires during the time

  • North India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

  • Cultural achievements

    • Taj Mahal

      • Built by Shah Jahan to honor dead wife but also to display power

• Fall of Gunpowder Empires

  • Failed to modernize economy and military unlike the Europeans

Asian Empires:

• Russian Empire (1721 to 1917)

  • Territory stretched from east to west, became wealthy with trade

  • Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) became tsar in 1547

    • Expanded Russia further east into mongolian territory with gunpowder

• Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868)

  • Centralization → peace

Europe: Black death was ending, Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) was ending, Gutenberg Printing Press spreading ideas

• Monarchies were coming out of feudal period and wanted to centralize power

  • Methods of consolidating power by kings: control over taxation, military, and religion

  • Bureaucracy expanded

  • Tudors in England

  • Valois in France

  • Isabella and Ferdinand in Spain

• Renaissance (c.1300-c.1600)

  • Rebirth of Roman and Greek ideals

  • Emphasis on humanism and individualism

  • Funded by Medici family

    • Michaelangelo, Brunelleschi, da Vinci, Donatello

• Rise of middle class arose from these new kingdoms

  • Happened at expense of nobility and clergy

• Protestant Reformation (see unit 4)

Asia: 

• Yuan Dynasty was replaced by Ming Dynasty in 1368 and ruled into 16th century

• 1636 Qing Dynasty established by Manchu Jurchens who overtook ming china for “seven grievances”

  • Restored the Great Wall of China against mongol threat in north

  • Emperor Kang Xi expanded chinese territory into Taiwan, Mongolia, Central Asia, Tibet with gunpowder