Comparison in Land-Based Empires Foreigners appreciate only military power. . . . Thus, they submit to us wholeheartedly and do not dare to despise China once we display our hunting techniques to them. -Quinlong, Emperor of China, 1735 Essential Question: By what methods did empires increase their societal and cultural influence from c . 1450-c. 1750? Building and maintaining large land-based empires is a major theme in the period c. 1450-c. 1750. These empires grew as they incorporated lands they conquered. Their rulers implemented policies to solidify or legitimize their rule over a diverse population. However, the conquered often did not totally assimilate to the life and culture of their conquerors. In some cases the conquered influenced the conquerors, helping to shape a blended culture. The interconnection of hemispheres also led to blended cultures. Source: Wikimedia Commons As part of its conquest of present-day Hungary, the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman I besieged the Habsburg-controlled city of Esztergom in 1543 with the help of French artillery. The figure at the far left is a Janissary. Suleiman is on horseback. Not all empires were able to maintain their authority. For example, the Gunpowder Empires declined, unable to compete with European trading companies, especially the British, and unable to resolve conflicts of heirs motivated by harem politics (see Topic 3.1). Other factors in the decline included weak or corrupt leadership and failure to keep up with developments in military and naval technology. The expensive armies each empire needed to maintain control placed harsh financial burdens on the peasants and villages in the form of taxes and other obligations. Religious conflicts also divided and weakened the Gunpowder Empires. A deep religious schism divided Muslims and Hindus in Mughal India, just as a schism divided Sunni Ottomans and Shi' a Safavids and set the stage for conflict between the present-day countries of Iraq and Iran. (Connect: Write a paragraph comparing the decline of Mughal India with the decline of the Mongol Empire. See Topic 2.1.) Military Might The armies of these land-based empires were well trained, well organized, well equipped, and well led. Empires in Eurasia all relied on gunpowder weapons, including large cannons, in support of more traditional cavalry and infantry units. In the Americas, the fierceness of both the Aztec and Incan warriors allowed them to intimidate and conquer neighboring territories. Soldiers In some cases, the rulers of land-based empires developed an elite group of soldiers to use in solidifying their control over their territories. For instance, both the Ottoman sultan and Safavid shah used slave soldiers to offset the power of troops who had more loyalty to their tribe or local governor than to the sultan or shah. The Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire helped to preserve the power of the Ottoman sultan and the Ghulams helped to protect the Safavid shah from rival clans. Both the Janissaries and the Ghulams were often recruited from minority religious or ethnic groups found within the empires. The Janissaries were often slaves taken from Christian areas of the Ottoman Empire, while the Ghulams came from the Georgian, Armenian, or Circassian populations within the Safaviid Empire. The system of taking slaves as part of a "blood" tax (in the Ottoman Empire this was known as devshirme) or tribute was not limited to the Ottomans or Safavids. Aztecs also required slaves or prisoners as part of the tribute offered by conquered states. Warfare These strong militaries did not prevent conflict among the landbased empires. The Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire went to war over the territorial claims each had at its border. However, religion also played a role as an underlying cause of this conflict. The Ottoman Empire was a predominantly Sunni Muslim state, while the Safavids were mainly Shi'a. Each believed the other to practice a heretical type of Islam and was willing to go to war over this split. Religion was not as important a factor in the conflict between the Safavids and the Mughals as it was in the Ottoman-Safavid War. Instead, control over resources and trade routes in present-day Afghanistan was at the core of the war between these two land-based empires. Two Muslim powers conflicted when Morocco invaded the Songhai Empire in 1591. Moroccan forces sacked the capital of Gao and ended the empire. However, Morocco was unable to hold onto all the Songhai territory. Centralized Bureaucracy Controlling a large area with such diverse populations required land-based empires to establish an organized and centralized bureaucracy. Recruiting bureaucratic elites took several forms. In the Ming and Manchu dynasties of China, the civil service examination system was used to assess the abilities of the members of the scholar-gentry who wished to enter government service. In the Ottoman Empire, the devshirme system provided the sultan with a readymade pool of civil servants strictly loyal to him, while in the Safavid Empire, the shah would enlist a class ofbureaucrats from the Persian population of the empire, known as "the men of the pen." Taxes • Taxes on nonMuslims • Taxes on peasants • Taxation policies used to encourage adherence to Shi'a Islam • Taxes on unbelievers were abolished by Akbar but reinstated later • Taxes on peasants Military • Warriors (often trained Janissaries) were granted villages to provide for their subsistence • The military functioned as a dual authority with central government • Warriors were the Qizilbash, Turcoman militants who helped establish the empire • Leaders made the military independent of central government • Warriors were granted villages to provide their upkeep • Officials known as zamindars made the military independent of central government • Small navy • No significant navy • Strong navy In the Songhai Empire, the mansa, a Mandika word meaning "sultan," employed bureaucrats from the scholarly class educated in the schools, or madrasas, of Timbuktu. While the Incas did not use a dedicated scholarly class to rule their empire as the Ming and Manchus did, they did organize