Gunpowder Empires: 1450-1750

Land- Based Gunpowder Empires: Examples

• Ottomans (Anatolia, N. Africa, Middle East, E. Europe)

• Safavids (Persia)

• Mughals (Afghanistan, Pakistan, N. India)

• Qing China

• Russian Empire

• Tokugawa Japan

Characteristics

• Land-based (unlike sea-faring powers in Europe)

• Cost of militaries = increased centralization

• Land-grant military systems

• Reliance on infantry, not cavalry

Islamic Flowering: Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal

• Vast, diverse Muslim world viewed themselves as self-sufficient & offering more to the world than others offered them

• Flowering of culture as in the Abbasid era

• Suleyman the Magnificent (Ottoman); Abbas I the Great (Safavid); Akbar (Mughal)

• Coffeehouses popular place for cultural life

Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul

Tiled Mosque, Isfahan

Persian Rug, 1539

Modern Version, pictured below

Taj Mahal, mausoleum for Shah Jahan’s wife, 1648

Common Problems

• TOO BIG (transportation & communication issues)

• Nomadic heritage led to unruly warrior elites

• Rise of European rivals– Europe = small states, strong rivalries &

competition, technologies & weapons developed more rapidly; trade routes moved to ocean routes controlled by Europe

Long-term consequences

• Ottoman, Safavid, & Muhgal Empires came from Turkish, nomadic roots BUT

• Central Asian nomadic threats ended w/ gunpowder – conquered and subjugated

Discussion!1. “Of the previous Sultans, there were many who ruled the

land, but few who ruled the sea. In the conduct of war at sea, the infidels are superior to us. We must overcome them.”

– Suleyman the Magnificent’s Grand Vizir

Why do you think Muslim empires didn’t adequately meet the challenges faced from Europe, and fell in power as Europe rose?

2. Create a T-chart with the headings Land Powers and Sea Powers. List at least 6 qualities of each type of power underneath.

3. Why do you think, long term, that sea power was more effective

than land-based empires?