Unit 3 - Land-Based Empires 1450-1750
(use presentations and all unit 3 chapters in the AMSCO)
Location: Anatolia, modern-day Turkey
Dates: 1280 to 1919 CE
Political / Military
● HOW did rulers legitimize and
consolidate power?
● Include any special military units
and use of bureaucratic elites.
Expansion
What methods did this empire utilize
to expand their empire?
Ottoman Empire
Location: Iran
Dates: 1501 to 1722 CE
● Founded at the end of the 13th
century, Osman I is ruler as a result
of filling power void left by the
Mongols
● Known as a Gun Powder Empire
● 1350s, Ottomans cross Bosporus
Strait into Europe, conquer Balkans;
the strategy was to surround
Constantinople before attacking
● Ruled by a sultan, who is an
absolute ruler
● Grand Vizier is the head of the
extensive bureaucracy and advisor
to the sultan
● didn’t have a problem in the 1st few
hundred years of the empire to have
not Turkic people in seats of gov’t –
Devshirme System and Janissary
Corp
● Law is based on Sharia, and
amended by Suleiman in the 16th
century (known as the Lawgiver to
his people and the Magnificent to
the Europeans); golden age
occurred under Suleiman
● In 1453, Mehmed II the Conqueror
led the Ottoman Turks in seizing the
ancient city of Constantinople, the
Byzantine Empire's capital.
● This put an end to the 1,000-year
reign of the Byzantine Empire.
Sultan Mehmed renamed the city
Istanbul and made it the new capital
Safavid Empire
Location: Indian subcontinent
Dates: 1556 to 1605 CE
● Sultan - autocrat/basis of power is
religious piety
● Large central bureaucracies
● Land grants to aristocracy (reward
for military service)
● Gunpowder empire - to withstand
powerful nomadic invaders and
enlarge territory; ghazi and Russian
slaves -slave infantrymen
● Inland capitals-sea vessels privately
owned -control of sea ports to
Europeans
● Shah Ismail - founder Shah Abbas -
the Great
● In 1501, the Safavid Shahs declared
independence when the Ottomans
outlawed Shi'a Islam in their
territory.
● The Safavid Empire was
strengthened by important Shi'a
soldiers from the Ottoman army who
had fled from persecution.
● The Empire was founded by the
Safavids, a Sufi order that goes back
to Safi al-Din (1252-1334).
● Over the following centuries, the
Safavids became stronger, by
attracting local warlords and by
political marriages.
● The Safavid Empire was
Mughal Empire
● The Mughal rulers established a
complex bureaucracy.
● Both Hindu rajas and Muslim
sultans could become officers of
the state, called mansabdars,
when the emperors awarded
them land grants.
● These military and civil leaders
maintained cavalry (armed
horsemen) ready for battle, and
they collected taxes on behalf of
the empire.
● In return, they got land rights,
payment, and status.
● noble titles were not inherited
and could be taken away by the
emperor.
● Mansabdars did not own the land
but only held the right to collect
taxes.
● The Mughal state was established
by Sultan Babur in the sixteenth
century, with his victory over the
Lodhi Sultan in 1526.
● Autocratic
● Power based on military might
and religious authority
● No navy, relied on army

Resistance & Rivalries
Did they encounter internal
rebellions? External conflicts?
Religion / Culture
(pgs. 167-173)
● HOW was religion used to maintain
and legitimize political authority?
● How was the use of this religion/belief
a continuity from previous periods?
Economics
(pgs. 155-163)
of the Ottoman Empire.
● Formed alliances with unlikely
forces (France)
● Reached its height under Suleiman
the Magnificent
○ Conquered Belgrade
○ Controlled the water traffic
between the Black and
Mediterranean Seas
○ Venice as a tributary state
● Ottoman sultans had large
bureaucracies centered in Istanbul
● The empire faced three main rival
powers that crop up again and again
in Ottoman history:
○ to the east, the Persian
Safavids;
○ to the north, the tsars of
Russia;
○ and to the west, the
Habsburgs.
● Majority Sunni Muslims
● As a result of expansion; large
numbers of Christians and Jews
● they conquered the Byzantines who
had been Greek Orthodox Christians
● Crossroads of trade & sultans
supported public works
● Invited religious scholars, artists,
poets, and architects
● Hagia Sophia restored as a mosque,
aqueducts built, city walls repaired
● Suleymaniye Mosque with
impressive domes to show ruler’s
might
● Vital position for trade, crossroads
between Europe and China- but due
strengthened by important Shi'a
soldiers from the Ottoman army who
had fled from persecution.
● established a highly efficient
governance structure.
● Extensive commercial activity, both
in trade and textile production,
created great wealth.
● As Safavids expanded they came into
conflict with the Ottomans
● Hostilities intensified by Shi’ite Sunni
split
● Safavids slaughtered, Ottomans won
the decisive victory but didn’t follow
up due to approaching winter
● Safavids recovered, built up artillery,
and continued to fight Ottomans for
two centuries
● Ottoman leadership was Sunni,
Safavids (their eastern neighbor) are
Shiites, causes conflict along borders
● Subjects were religiously diverse,
Christianity/ Judaism in Balkans,
Muslim in Africa, etc.
● Originally tolerated dhimmis, or
People of the Book (Jews and
Christians) because they were
worshipping the same god
● Persecution occurs later on,
Armenian Christians attacked in late
1800s and during WWI – Armenian
Massacre
● Non-Muslims were grouped into
religious ghettos called millets;
mostly found in the Balkan
● Shahs supported trade
● Isfahan (capital) major center of
● Each region surveyed and tax
rates based on the region's
potential for wealth
● Most local officials (usually
Hindu) kept positions if swore
allegiance to Mughals and paid
taxes
● Safavid rulers based authority on
military prowess and religious
authority
● Traced authority to the Sufi
religious order
● Expansion was seen as an
extension of Islam to new lands
● With the exception of Aurangzeb,
all of the Mughal rulers practiced
some degree of religious
toleration.
● Be that as it may, Akbar was still
the most religiously tolerant for a
number of reasons.
● One of those reasons is because
he was the only one to abolish
the non-Muslim Tax on the
Hindus.
● Mughal India had a thriving
manufacturing industry,
Be sure to include methods of tax
collection, if applicable
Social Structure &
Gender Roles
Nobles/Educated people next, includes
lawyers and other professions, only the
to conquest do not fully take
advantage;
● in phases of the early empire
building utilized the money coming
into the empire as a form of tribute
to build an empire
● The economy is mainly agricultural,
but the economy depends on the
conquest to increase revenue
● Imported more than they exported
but did craft Ceramics, and carpets
famous
● Individual merchants become the
middlemen as prior Muslim
merchants were in past empires
● European silver after the first wave
of imperialism caused inflation
● Very ethnically diverse: Serbian,
Greek, Macedonian, Bulgarian,
Turkic, Arab etc. – considerable level
of tolerance at first
● Jews and Christians were confined
to millets (religious ghettos) so they
were easier to handle and collect
the jizya (head tax for non-Muslims)
from
● More Muslim, more elite in social
system
● Initially Turkic women had more
rights (because they were pastoral)
but gradually adopted Islam and
were then veiled and secluded
Sultan on top, absolute ruler
Muslims though (Men of the Pen)
international trade
○ Network of road and
workshops to manufacture
textiles and rugs
○ Inland – not as many traders
as Istanbul
○ Guilds
■ Silk production
■ Carpets – signature
business
● Also negatively impacted by inflation
caused by flood of silver
● Not cosmopolitan
● Armenians kept in suburbs across
river; most people in the city were
Shi'ite
● Majority of people lived in rural
areas, farming
● Turkish chiefs challenged early shahs
○ Chiefs gradually transformed
into warrior elite
○ Supervised farms, asserted
political power, captured
powerful positions in the
imperial bureaucracy
● Shahs appointed Persians to fill
other bureaucratic positions
○ Gave authority to slave
infantrymen
producing a massive quantity of
hand-loom textiles for the Indian
Ocean economy.
● The trade-in cotton and silk
fabrics had brought great wealth
to India as early as the fifth
century BCE (during the Roman
Empire).
● High demand for these items had
attracted traders from as far as
China in the East and Persia in
the West. Yet this wealth made
the region a target for
competitive rivals.
● By the fifteenth century, Indians
had taken advantage of growing
global markets to expand textile
production and distribution.
● Trade of nutmeg, mace, cloves,
cardamom and cinnamon coming
out of Indonesia's "spice islands".
● Patriarchal
● Status of women overall low in
Indian society
● Child marriage common (brides
as young as nine)
● Sati spread even though
outlawed
● Seclusion (purdah) strictly
enforced for upper class women
● Women veiled

Tax collectors/Merchants/Artisans make
Decline of Empire
How and why did this empire
collapse? Be SPECIFIC.
Military comes next, Janissaries, cavalry,
etc. (Men of the Sword)
up something that resembles a middle
class (Men of Negotiation)
Farmers are second to last (Men of
Husbandry)
slaves (domestic)
● Empire too large empire, internal
decay resulted
● Rivals emerge
● Bureaucracy becomes corrupt, vizier
holds real power
● Military overpowered by Europeans
● Conquests stopped, and so did the
bonus revenue
● European explorations negate their
middleman position
● Silver from European colonies
caused inflation
● Janissaries become less elite, upper
class shrinks
● Peasants unhappy, rebellion occurs
● Less toleration of minority groups –
the rise of Nationalism
● Tanzimat is a period of reforms to
try to slow down a decline
(1839-1876); (ineffective)
● Young Turks form a nationalist group
and overthrow the sultan, but are
inept at governing, and are soon in
WWI
● Treaty of Versailles ends the
Ottoman Empire 1919; Rise of
Mustafa Kemal AKA Ataturk in 1922
and modern-day Turkey is formed
● Looked inward, felt superior
● tried to keep out new ideas,
which led to their eventual
decline and extinction
● Political decline by 1750's -
expansion dried up
● Safavid Shiites persecute Sunnis,
non-Muslims, and even Sufis
● Foreign trade controlled by
Europeans
● Military, administrative network
expensive to maintain
● Islamic empires were less
interested in the outside world -
● thus didn't understand the
tremendous changes Europe was
bringing to the world
● After the first 150 years of
Mughal rule, under Emperors
Jahangir and Shah Jahan, nobles
became increasingly rich,
emboldened by larger armies,
and able to challenge the weak
center in Delhi.
● Then, around 1700, the Mughal
state reached the limits of
territorial growth.
● When the state ran out of land,
since awarding land was how
they bought the mansabdars'
loyalty.
● Meanwhile, the mansabdars had
grown extremely powerful.
● European merchants and
governments started looking for
ways to get some of the empire's
wealth.
● Aurangzeb tried to restore the
empire but also to rid of
Hinduism; stirred up resentment
● Conquered more land but the
expenses of war left treasury
empty
● Local leaders plotted against him
● After he died the empire was
larger than ever but unstable
 Qing Dynasty China
Location: present-day China and
Mongolia, along with parts of Russia
Dates: 1644 to 1912
Political / Military ● it had a really strong centralized
● HOW did rulers legitimize and government, led by an absolute
consolidate power? monarch, the emperor.
● Include any special military
units and use of bureaucratic ● But the emperor also had a
elites. well-organized political structure
backing him up.
● Under this political system, the
emperor ruled over the Grand
Secretariat (administrative office),
which coordinated multiple
imperial ministries.
● The Qing also kept the civil service
system of the Ming, using the
imperial examination system to
vet officials.
● The Qing appointed officials from
a variety of ethnic backgrounds,
though some things were divided
along ethnic lines.
● Han elites, or those who had
passed state examinations, were
brought into the imperial center
as civil bureaucrats or military
leaders
● The military had also become
multi-ethnic.
● The early Qing organized their
military using a banner system.
Each banner, or administrative
unit, had a particular function like
taxation or recruiting soldiers.
Russian Empire
Location: the eastern portion of Europe and
the continent of Asia.
Dates: 1450 to1750
● In the late 19th century the Russian
people were ruled by the Romanov
Dynasty.
● The Tsar (Czar) took the title
'Emperor and Autocrat of all Russia'
and imposed autocratic rule -
government by one man.
● Unlike in most other European
countries, power had not passed
from the monarchy to the people.
● The Tsars of Russia did not take
advice from an elected parliament.
● Instead, the country was run by a ten
man ministerial council. Each minister
was both appointed and dismissed by
the Tsar.
● The Tsar also appointed the Chief
Procurator of the Russian Orthodox
Church. In fact, since 1721, the
Orthodox Church had been run as a
government department.
● The Tsar also had the power to grant
hereditary titles. These usually went
to men who had achieved high rank
in the armed forces and the civil
service.
● It 1900 it was estimated that there
were about 1.8 million members of
the nobility in Russia.
Tokugawa Japan
Location: modern-day Japan
Dates: 1603 to 1867
● was led by a military ruler, called a
shogun, with the help of a class of
military lords, called daimyō.
● It was similar to the European
feudal system (pope, emperor or
king, feudal barons, and retainers in
Europe compared to emperor, the
shogun, the daimyo, and samurai
retainers in Japan), but it was also
very bureaucratic, an attribute not
associated with European
feudalism.
● This political system was called the
bakuhan system.
● Baku comes from bakufu which was
the government the Tokugawa
leaders used to administer their
private affairs inside their own fief.
● Han means domain and refers to
the 250-plus domains that existed
throughout the Edo period.
● Thus, bakuhan refers to the
co-existence of the Tokugawa
government with separate,
independent governments in each
of the fiefs.
● Since each daimyo was a retainer of
the shogun, the bakufu or
shogunate had some power across
all of Japan.
● This was not a federal system or
even a centralized hierarchy of
political authorities; rather, it was a
system in which two levels of
government existed with a high
degree of independence.
Expansion
What methods did this empire
utilize to expand their empire?
Resistance & Rivalries
● Did they encounter internal
rebellions? External conflicts?
Religion / Culture
(pgs. 167-173)
● HOW was religion used to maintain
● The Manchus emerged as a
people when a Jurchen tribal ruler
named Nurhaci started to
conquer other Jurchen tribes in
1582. They subjugated the
Mongols, and absorbed their
troops. In a similar way to Genghis
Khan, he utilized the manpower
and knowledge of the people he
conquered.
● In 1625, Nurhaci conquered the
Ming city of Shenyang and made
it the Manchurian capital. The
Ming cities gave his empire a
greater base of population, and
the Manchu empire absorbed
them.
● Nurhaci's successor, his son, Hong
Taiji, continued the attack on the
Ming Empire, strengthening his
artillery with European
technology, and
Ming-technician-cast cannon.
● internal turmoil, expressed in a
series of devastating rebellions
beginning in 1794 with the White
Lotus rebellion, and ending with
the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901
and Wuchang Uprising of
1911–1912.
● Poetry and paintings were highly
appreciated by the Manchu
emperors.
● Ivan lll: promotes centralized rule.
● Ivan lV: Also known as Ivan the
Terrible; he continues expansion and
centralization of power and crowns
himself as the first czar. Commanded
the oprichnina that slaughtered those
disloyal to the crown.
● Peter the Great:
● Boyars were landowners who
controlled serfs.
● To support the military, he
restructured the government into a
bureaucratic state with its capital in
the newly built city of St. Petersburg.
● Creates a standing army along with a
navy with a fleet of ships.
● By the Table of Ranks, the
government had merit-based
employees because it was a system
of promotion based on personal
ability and performance rather than
on birth and genealogy.
● Strengthened power of the czar as an
absolutist monarch.
● Czar - the political and religous leader
(all church appointments made by
the czar).
● The Russian Empire was the
culmination of Muscovite Russia’s
dominance over its neighbors in
Europe and Asia, where, by the end
of the 19th century, only the British
Empire was its rival in terms of size.
● the cultural “Westernization” and
expansion of the Russian Empire in a
series of wars: the War of Polish
Succession (1733-35), the war with
the Ottoman Empire (1734-39), and
the Seven Years’ War (1756-63).
● By the nineteenth century the
Russian Empire had become an
empire of religions, the sole political
● Tokugawa Ieyasu's dynasty of
shoguns presided over 250 years of
peace and prosperity in Japan,
including the rise of a new
merchant class and increasing
urbanization.
● To guard against external influence,
they also worked to close off
Japanese society from Westernizing
influences, particularly Christianity.
● The shoguns also cemented their
power by taking charge of the
country's production and
distribution.
● The Tokugawa, agriculture and
commerce thrived.
● In the rural areas, they put
improved farming techniques into
place.
● Ieyasu Tokugawa unified the
country after the decisive Battle of
Sekigahara. Ieyasu established a
new government in Edo and
became the first shogun of the Edo
Bakufu in 1603.
● The leading military figures in Japan
now began to scheme against each
other and civil war again broke out.
● Resistance to the new government
continued, however, in northern
Japan through 1868 and into 1869.
● Culture shaped by Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Shintoism
● Elite influenced by Neo
 and legitimize political authority?
● How was the use of this
religion/belief a continuity from
previous periods?
Economics
(pgs. 155-163)
Be sure to include methods of tax
collection, if applicable
● Emperors continued to sponsor
literature which actually led to the
assembly of the largest collection
of poetry and prose of that time.
● The collection was completed in
1782.
● Calligraphy and painting were also
of high interest.
● Court painters and scholars were
often hired to work for political
figures and nobles.
● The economy revolved around
farming villages and towns, rather
than major urban centers.
● Qing leaders promoted agriculture
by encouraging people to settle
new land and by providing seeds,
livestock, and tax breaks.
● Trade between villages and
regions developed into a robust
network, creating the growth of
bustling towns like Suzhou.
● Domestic trade boomed, and
merchant guilds were established
to facilitate it.
● A merchant class grew and Qing
rulers tried to limit the power of
wealthy merchants by instituting
some restrictions on trade and
industry.
● Western trade was regulated
under the Canton system that
developed in the eighteenth
century.
● This system helped regulate
foreign trade, and it also enriched
entity in the world to be home to vast
populations from the four major
religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism,
and Buddhism).
● In the Kievan period (c. 10th–13th
century), the borrowings were
primarily from Eastern Orthodox
Byzantine culture.
● During the Muscovite period (c.
14th–17th century), the Slavic and
Byzantine cultural substrates were
enriched and modified by Asiatic
influences carried by the Mongol
hordes.
● Finally, in the modern period (since
the 18th century), the cultural
heritage of western Europe was
added to the Russian melting pot.
● In the east, modern-day Siberia, fur,
timber, gold, and iron were used for
trade.
● Instead of paid labor, extreme
serfdom was used for labor.
● Mainly a rural, agricultural economy,
but the serfs had no motivation to
work harder because the landowners
got all profit.
● Russia lacked a middle class (artisans
and merchants).
● Little industry and marketing.
● Traded mostly furs.
● Russia attempted to diversify their
economy through mining and
metallurgy
● the money went to fund the military
● To outfit the military, Peter created
iron foundries and textile mills
● Set systems of state control of the
purchase of raw materials and
establishment of factories
Confucianism
● Buddhism and Shintoism more
influential among common people
● Shintoism promoted as important
source of Japanese identity
● Edo period: artisans, merchants,
and a flourishing urban culture.
● Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory and
territorial unification paved the
way to a powerful new
government.
● Artisans and merchants became
important producers and
consumers of new forms of visual
and material culture.
● Political unification encouraged
economic growth
● Growth rooted in agriculture
○ Water control
○ Irrigation
○ Use of fertilizer
● Yields of rice and other foods
meant rapid population growth
● Curbed population growth by using
birth control, late marriage,
abortion, infanticide
○ Japan had limited space
available
○ Limited geography ,
mountainous land, poor
soil
● The Bakufu designated five official
highways and opened major sea
lanes.
● due to military reasons, Bakufu did
not encourage free movement of
people and merchandise.
● At major check points, sekisho
(passport controls) were created.
Some rivers were left without

Social Structure &
Gender Roles
Decline of Empire
How and why did this empire
collapse? Be SPECIFIC.
the members of these select
guilds.
● All men had to style their hair in a
very particular way:
○ the front of the head was
shaved,
○ and the rest of the hair
was pleated into a long
braid running down the
back or they were
executed for treason.
● Manchu women were not
permitted to bind their feet,
● upper-class Han Chinese women
maintained this custom.
● Confucian values reinforced the
idea that women should be
obedient to their male family
members.
● The elites' self-proclaimed
position as outsiders contributed
to their eventual demise.
● external forces, in the form of
● Russia expands west to Kiev and
Novgorod.
● Cossacks - bands of people from the
steppes; led conquest of Siberia.
● Land was given to local nobles as
rewards (from tsars).
● Population doubles in 1700s to 36
million due to...
● Westernization based on European
society.
● German influence on attire.
● Serf - agricultural laborer that set
services for the landlord.
● Boyars - Russian Aristocracy
● Russians were very diverse as the
empire expanded; Individuals
consisted of farmers, hunters,
builders, scribes, merchants, herders,
caravan workers, and soldiers.
● came to an end during the February
Revolution of 1917
● During World War I, over fifteen
million men joined the army, which
bridges, intentionally and for
military reasons.
● Hans were not allowed to build
ships or maintain navy.
● Social hierarchy influenced by
Confucianism
● Japan organized politically and
economically into feudalistic
hierarchies
○ Emperor ruled in name
only
○ Shogun (top military
authority) wielded most
real power
○ Powerful territorial lords,
daimyos, had great deal of
local control
● Middle class: Peasants and artisans
● Merchants at bottom (who else had
merchants at the bottom)
● As peace settled and trade
flourished, merchants became
more prosperous and were among
wealthiest
● Strict social hierarchy prevented
samurai from other professions;
many fell into debt
● By 1850, 250 years of isolation had
taken its toll on Japan.
● Stagnation, famines and poverty
among peasants and samurai were
 new Western technologies,
● as well as a gross miscalculation
on the part of the Qing as to the
strength of European and Asian
imperialistic ambitions.
● Internal changes played a major
role in the downfall of the Qing
dynasty, including:
○ corruption,
○ peasant unrest, ruler
incompetence,
○ and population growth
which led to food
shortages and regular
famine.
● the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 put
the final nail in the coffin when 18
provinces voted to secede from
the Qing dynasty.
● The Last Emperor, 6-year-old Puyi,
formally abdicated the throne on
Feb. 12, 1912, ending not only the
Qing dynasty but China's
millennia-long imperial period.
● Sun Yat-Sen was elected the first
president of China, and the
Republican era of China had
begun.
left a shortage of workers for the
factories and farms.
● This led to widespread shortages of
food and materials as well as famine.
● Workers had falling wages and
unbearable health and safety
provisions.
● Labor riots and strikes broke out
everywhere.
● For centuries, a small class of noble
landowners controlled a huge
number of indentured servants, who
were in essence tied to the land
(serfs).
● In 1861, Czar Alexander II
emancipated these peasants and
gave them each a pittance of land to
farm.
● The small amount of land they were
each given to farm proved insufficient
to feed and provide for a family's
basic needs, and thus mass riots
broke out in the countryside, too.
● Nicholas II reacted by ignoring them,
and occasionally with violence.
● Eventually, the Russian people came
together and suggested establishing a
constitutional form of government.
● Nicholas ignored the request, which
led to the February Revolution of
1917 and the collapse of Czarist
Russia.
● One year later, Nicholas II and his
family were executed.
commonplace.
● The samurai and daimyo class had
become corrupt and lost the
respect of the Japanese people, the
government had become bloated
and Tokugawa's social and political
structures had grown outdated.
● Ordinary Japanese paid huge taxes
on rice that was used to pay the
salaries of a large, dependent
samurai class that essentially had
nothing to do.
● In the meantime merchant families,
which had become increasingly
wealthy and powerful over the
years, put pressure on the
government to open up to the
outside world.
● A struggle arose in the face of
political limitations that the shogun
imposed on the entrepreneurial
class.
● The government ideal of an
agrarian society failed to square
with the reality of commercial
distribution.
● Drought, followed by crop
shortages and starvation, resulted
in twenty great famines between
1675 and 1837.
● Peasant unrest grew, and by the
late eighteenth century, mass
protests over taxes and food
shortages had become
commonplace.
● The frequency of peasant uprisings
increased dramatically, as did
membership in unusual religious
cults.