Unit 3 · Land-Based Empires, c. 1450–1750

Gunpowder ● (core concept) — An explosive compound used in firearms and artillery. The CED identifies the increased use of gunpowder, along with cannons and armed trade, as the basis of imperial expansion from 1450 to 1750.

Cannons ● (core concept) — Large gunpowder artillery pieces. The increased use of cannons helped land-based empires conquer rivals and establish large empires in both hemispheres.

Armed trade ● (core concept) — Trade conducted with military backing or protection. Alongside gunpowder and cannons, armed trade was a tool empires used to establish large empires in both hemispheres from 1450 to 1750.

Manchu ● (core concept) — The people who ruled Central and East Asia as one of the great land-based empires of 1450 to 1750; they established the Qing dynasty.

Mughal Empire ● (core concept) — A land-based empire in South and Central Asia that expanded from 1450 to 1750, using gunpowder weapons such as cannons to defeat rival states.

Ottoman Empire ● (core concept) — A land-based empire in Southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa that expanded from 1450 to 1750 using gunpowder weapons.

Safavid Empire ● (core concept) — A land-based empire in the Middle East (Persia) that expanded from 1450 to 1750; its political and religious disputes with the Mughal and Ottoman empires fueled state rivalries.

State rivalries ● (core concept) — Conflicts between states driven by political and religious disputes. The CED identifies such rivalries and conflicts between states as a feature of imperial expansion from 1450 to 1750.

Songhai Empire ○ — A major West African empire of the 15th and 16th centuries. The CED cites its conflict with Morocco as an example of state rivalries and its promotion of Islam as an example of religious ideas used by rulers.

Bureaucratic elites ● (core concept) — Trained administrators recruited to run an empire's government. Rulers increasingly recruited and used bureaucratic elites to maintain centralized control over their populations and resources.

Military professionals ● (core concept) — Trained career soldiers and officers. Rulers increasingly developed military professionals to maintain centralized control over their populations and resources.

Religious ideas ● (core concept) — Beliefs used by rulers to legitimize their rule. Rulers continued to use religious ideas, along with art and monumental architecture, to justify their authority from 1450 to 1750.

Art and monumental architecture ● (core concept) — Grand artistic and building projects used to display imperial power. Rulers continued to use art and monumental architecture to legitimize their rule.

Tribute collection ● (core concept) — Requiring conquered or subordinate peoples to send goods or payments to the imperial center. Rulers used tribute collection to generate revenue to forward state power and expansion.

Tax farming ● (core concept) — A system in which the state sold the right to collect taxes to private agents. Rulers used tax farming to generate revenue to forward state power and expansion.

Tax-collection systems ● (core concept) — New or reformed methods of gathering state revenue, such as collecting taxes in hard currency. Rulers developed innovative tax-collection systems to generate revenue for state power and expansion.

Devshirme ○ — The Ottoman practice of recruiting young Christian boys from conquered territories to serve as elite soldiers (Janissaries) and administrators. The CED cites it as an example of the bureaucratic elites and military professionals rulers used to centralize control.

Divine right ○ — The European idea that a monarch's authority comes directly from God. The CED cites it as an example of the religious ideas rulers used to legitimize their rule.

Zamindar tax collection ○ — Mughal India's system in which local landholders (zamindars) collected taxes from peasants for the imperial government. The CED cites it as an example of innovative tax-collection systems.

Protestant Reformation ● (core concept) — The 16th-century break with existing Christian traditions. The CED marks it as a major rupture within Christianity, noting that both the Protestant and Catholic reformations contributed to the growth of Christianity.

Catholic Reformation ● (core concept) — The Catholic Church's reform movement in response to Protestantism, also called the Counter-Reformation. The CED notes that both the Protestant and Catholic reformations contributed to the growth of Christianity.

Christianity ● (core concept) — The Christian religion, whose reach expanded during 1450 to 1750. The CED states that both the Protestant and Catholic reformations contributed to the growth of Christianity.

Sunni-Shi'a split ● (core concept) — The division within Islam between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims. Political rivalries between the Ottoman and Safavid empires intensified this split during 1450 to 1750.

Ottoman-Safavid rivalry ● (core concept) — The political and religious competition between the Ottoman and Safavid empires. The CED states that this rivalry intensified the split within Islam between Sunni and Shi'a.

Sikhism ● (core concept) — A religion that developed in South Asia during 1450 to 1750. It arose in a context of interactions between Hinduism and Islam.

Hinduism ● (core concept) — The South Asian religion whose interaction with Islam during 1450 to 1750 formed the context in which Sikhism developed.

Islam ● (core concept) — The Muslim religion whose interaction with Hinduism in South Asia formed the context for the development of Sikhism. Its Sunni-Shi'a split was intensified by Ottoman-Safavid rivalries during this period.