Unit 3: Land Based Empires (1450-1750)

• Land-based Empire


  An empire whose power comes from the extent of its territorial holdings
• 4 land-based empires to know


  • Ottoman Empire
  • Safavid Empire
  • Mughal Empire
  • Qing Dynasty
• Ottoman Empire


  • Founded in 14th century
  • Adopted gunpowder weapons
  • Conquered Constantinople in 1453
  • Enslaved Christians and converted them to Islam, forming the Janissary elite force
• Safavid Empire


  • Founded in early 16th century
  • Lacked natural defensive barriers, so built up military with gunpowder and enslaved Christian soldiers from Caucasus region
  • Shia Muslim, unlike the Sunni Ottoman Empire
• Mughal Empire


  • Established in first half of 16th century
  • Wiped out Delhi Sultanate
  • Under Akbar, became most prosperous 16th century empire and was tolerant of different beliefs
• Qing Dynasty


  • Ethnically Manchu, not Han Chinese
  • Took over from Ming Dynasty in 17th century
  • Built up military with gunpowder weapons and expanded through conquest
• Land-based empires expanding


  Inevitable clashes between them
• Safavid-Mughal conflict over territory in Afghanistan
• Legitimize power


  Methods a ruler uses to establish their authority
• Consolidate power

  Methods rulers used to transfer power from other groups to themselves
• How rulers legitimized and consolidated power


  1. Formation of large bureaucracies

  2. Reliance on elite military forces

  3. Promotion of state religions

  4. Dynastic succession
• Ottoman bureaucracy


  • Used the devşirme system to staff bureaucracy with highly trained individuals, many of whom were enslaved Christians converted to Islam
• Officials ensure laws are kept throughout the Empire so the emperor can enforce new laws, like making nachos illegal, without having to personally check on everyone
• Bureaucracies were used by rulers to maintain control of their Empires
• The Ottoman Empire used the devşirme system to staff their bureaucracy


  • Highly trained individuals, many of whom were Christians converted to Islam, were appointed to elite positions in the Ottoman bureaucracy
• Three ways rulers administered their Empires


  • Development of military professionals
  • Use of religious ideas, art, and monumental architecture
  • Innovations in tax collection systems
• Divine right of kings


  Monarchs perpetuated the idea that they were God's representative on earth, legitimizing their authority
• Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty


  • Hung Imperial portraits of himself surrounded by books to convince the Han population he was a legitimate Chinese ruler
• Inca sun Temple of Cusco


  • Walls covered in gold, courtyards filled with golden statues, used to legitimize Inca rulers' association with the gods
• Palace of Versailles built by Louis XIV


  • Communicated who was in charge and transferred power to the monarch by requiring French nobility to live there and compete for his attention
• Tax collection systems used by rulers


  • Zamindars in the Mughal Empire
  • Ottoman tax farming system
  • Aztec tribute lists
• The Roman Catholic Church in Europe became plagued with corruption, including the sale of indulgences and
• Martin Luther


  Catholic monk who made a list of complaints (95 Theses) about the Catholic Church's practices, leading to the Protestant Reformation
• The Sunni-Shia split in Islam was intensified by political rivalries, such as the Safavid Empire's declaration of Shia Islam and persecution of Sunnis
• Sikhism


  A syncretic belief system that blended Hindu and Islamic doctrines, retaining some elements of both while discarding gender hierarchies and the caste system
• Indulgence


  Buying Grants of salvation
• Simony 


  The purchase of church office roles
• Counter or Catholic Reformation


  The reaction of the Roman Catholic Church reaffirming the veneration of saints and the authority of the Pope, ended sale of indulgences and simony, created Jesuits, but also the Inquisition
• Jesuits


  -Society of Jesus

  -missionary order to resist the spread of Protestantism

  -to gain Catholic converts
• Inquisition


  Roman Catholic tribunal for investigating and prosecuting charges of heresy, reaction to the Protestant Reformation.
• Shogunate


  The Japanese government system under a shogun. The emperor was reduced to a figurehead
• Devshirme


  Christian boys were taken by the Ottoman state to serve as Janissaries
• Absolute Monarchy


  Monarch with almost complete power