Unit 3 Land-Based Empires 1450-1750 (12-15%)

Question 1

What did all gunpowder empires have in common?

Answer 1

1. They were land-based → power came from their territorial holdings.
2. They were expanding geographically.
3. The main cause of expansion was the adoption of the gunpowder weapons.

Question 2

The collapse of the _______ saw the rise of gunpowder weapons.

Answer 2

Mongol Empire

Question 3

How did the Ottoman Empire expand rapidly in the 14th century?

Answer 3

1. Strategic control of the Dardanelles → used it to launch military campaigns.
2. Adoption and development of gunpowder weapons.

Question 4

Fall of Constantinople in 1453

Answer 4

Mehmed II laid siege to the city using cannons.

Question 5

The Ottomans re-named Constantinople too . . .

Answer 5

Istanbul which became the crown jewel of the Ottoman Empire.

Question 6

What was the impact of Constantinople’s decline?

Answer 6

1. Ended the Byzantine Empire and marked the rise of the Ottomans.
2. Disrupted trade routes in Europe and Asia → Age of Exploration.

Question 7

The Safavid Empire declared itself as a _______ state.

Answer 7

Shi’a Muslim

Question 8

What was the major division of Islam?

Answer 8

Shia → successor should be a blood relative of Muhammad.
Sunni → successor can be elected.
This created conflict between the Safavids and the Ottomans & Mughals.

Question 9

Shah Abbas I

Answer 9

Greatly expanded the Safavid Empire.

Question 10

The Mughal Empire replaced the _______ in the 16th century under the leadership of Babur.

Answer 10

Delhi Sultanate

Question 11

Akbar the Great

Answer 11

Expanded the empire using gunpowder and the military → centralized government with fairly administrative laws.
He was tolerant of all religions.

Question 12

The _______ in China was established after the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

Answer 12

The ethnically Han Ming Dynasty.

Question 13

The Ming Dynasty

Answer 13

Restored traditional Chinese culture, expanded trade, and rebuilt the Great Wall of China → decline due to corruption and peasant uprisings.

Question 14

The Qing Dynasty was established by another group of outsiders called _______.

Answer 14

The Manchus

Question 15

The Qing Dynasty expanded its empire into . . .

Answer 15

Taiwan, Mongolia, and Central Asia.

Question 16

State rivalries were mainly caused by _______ and _______.

Answer 16

Religion & Politics

Question 17

Safavid-Mughal Conflict

Answer 17

Series of wars fought over the control of the Persian Gulf and Shi’a vs. Sunni.

Question 18

Songhai-Moroccan Conflict

Answer 18

The Moroccan Empire launched an attack on the internally weak Songhai Empire in order to take control of its trade routes.

Question 19

How did Europe centralize its power?

Answer 19

By controlling taxes, the military, and religion.

Question 20

How did land-based empires legitimize and consolidate power?

Answer 20

1. Large imperial bureaucracies
2. Military expansion
3. Religion, art, and architecture

Question 21

Devshirme System

Answer 21

System by which the Ottomans staffed their imperial bureaucracy with highly trained individuals, most often enslaved Christian boys → the Janissaries were elite soldiers loyal to the Sultan.

Question 22

How did Europe legitimize and consolidate its power?

Answer 22

Divine right of kings → gave kings absolute power.

Question 23

Justices of Peace

Answer 23

Officials that maintained peace and carried out the monarch’s laws in England.

Question 24

Intendant System

Answer 24

Royal officials to enforce the king’s laws, collect taxes, and maintain order in France.

Question 25

How did the Aztecs legitimize and consolidate their power?

Answer 25

Through human sacrifices which instilled fear in conquered people.

Question 26

Emperor Kangxi

Answer 26

Qing emperor who displayed imperial portraits of himself across the city according Confucian traditions → showed his power.

Question 27

Palace of Versailles

Answer 27

King Louis XIV used this palace to consolidate his power by keeping the French nobility there, preventing rebellions.

Question 28

The Inca Sun Temple

Answer 28

Rulers were associated with the gods so buildings like this legitimize their power.

Question 29

Zamindar System in the Mughal Empire

Answer 29

Mughals employed local land owners (zamindars) to collect taxes throughout the empire on behalf of the emperor → both expanded and consolidated power.

Question 30

Tax Farming in the Ottoman Empire

Answer 30

The government auctioned off the right to collect taxes → they became wealthy & corrupt. This provided the Ottoman Empire with a reliable source of income.

Question 31

Christianity had been a dominant religion in Europe since the 4th century so . . .

Answer 31

It became a shared cultural identity and the Church held significant power in most states.

Question 32

Great Schism of 1054

Answer 32

Break of Catholic Church into Western Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox.

Question 33

Protestant Reformation

Answer 33

Religious movement that aimed to reform the Roman Catholic Church → established Protestant denominations.

Question 34

The Catholic Church wielded enormous power in Europe despite . . .

Answer 34

Monarchies challenging that power.

Question 35

How did the Catholic Church become corrupt?

Answer 35

1. It sold indulgences (release from sins) and simony (Church positions). 2. The clergy abused its power.

Question 36

Martin Luther

Answer 36

Challenged the Church’s practices in his 95 Theses (1517), which criticized indulgences and other issues → his ideas spread quickly thanks to the printing press.

Question 37

Counter/Catholic Reformation

Answer 37

Efforts of the Catholic Church to oppose the Protestant Reformation.

Question 38

The Council of Trent

Answer 38

Addressed issues of corruption and abuse within the Church → represented change. However, it also represented continuity because they reaffirmed traditional Christian doctrines.

Question 39

The Jesuits

Answer 39

Religious group that aimed to fight the Protestant Reformation through education and missionary work in the Americas & Asia.

Question 40

Islamic Schism

Answer 40

Split into Shi'a Islam and Sunni Islam → conflicts between the Safavid and Ottoman Empires.

Question 41

The Mughal Empire was _______ in a _______ state.

Answer 41

A predominantly Muslim empire & Hindu state → Akbar created religious tolerance between Muslims and Hindus.

Question 42

The Bhakti and Sufi Movements

Answer 42

Both emphasized mystical experience and deep devotion to god → helped spread religions through missonaries.

Question 43

Sikhism

Answer 43

Developed from Hinduism and Islam.

Question 44

How did Sikhism represent continuity and change over time?

Answer 44

Held onto doctrines (one God & reincarnation) of both beliefs (continuity), however it got rid of the caste system & gender hierarchies (change).