How were ethnic and religious minorities treated in the following in the Ottoman, Manchu treatment of the Chinese, Spanish treatment of the natives Religion became a way for emperors to justify their actions and legitimize their rule. In divine right monarchies, the ruler claimed that their right to rule had been bestowed upon them directly by God, and that disobeying their word and power was practically equal to disobeying God. In the Shi’a Muslim Safavid Empire, political rulers legitimized their power through religion by claiming descent from Muhammad and his relatives. Religion also played a key role in the legitimization of a leader’s rule in the Aztec Empire. Human sacrifice was a religious practice as well as a political terror tactic that snapped the empire’s subjects into line. Public Confucian rituals where rulers venerated their ancestors helped these rulers gain ethos and legitimacy. Lastly, Songhay promotion of Islam attracted Muslim clerics and commerce to the empire. In the Ottoman Empire, non-Muslims, as dhimmi, were tolerated. They were not persecuted or forced to convert, but they did have to pay the jizya, a head tax. Non-Muslims were taken into the military through the Devshirme, a system where Christian boys from controlled areas were enslaved, recruited and voluntarily converted to Islam, which led to a lot of integration. Former non-Muslims made up the majority of the vastly significant elite janissary force, where they could rise to great power. Muslim superiority was still recognized, though. In China, the Manchu, a separate ethnic group, established political rule over the Han Chinese majority. They changed the social hierarchy so that they were on top and the Han Chinese majority was inferior to them. They used strict regulations on economics, social organization, and cultural interaction. Interaction between Manchus and Han Chinese were limited with special legislation was passed that prohibited intermarriage. Safavid Shiism Aztec human sacrifice Public performance of Confucian rituals Songhay promotion of Islam Republica de Indios
What European powers established empires in this period? Where were they? What was the nature of those empires? What were the major land based empires of the period? Where did these empires expand? Spain, Portugal, France, Britain, and the Dutch were the major European maritime empires. The Portuguese colonized Brazil, and some parts of Southeast Asia and Africa. The Dutch had much of Southeast Asia, the tip of Africa, and a small piece of the Americas. Spain had large holdings of parts of Latin America and some holdings in Africa and Southeast Asia. France had large parts of North America mostly in present day Canada. The British also had large parts in North America, had settler colonies in the Atlantic, and a colony in India. Trade was the main goal for the Europeans so they often took control of areas strategic to trade in the creation of trading post empires. The Muslim gunpowder empires were land based. The Ottoman Empire had expanded into the East Mediterranean, The Mughals were located in northern India, and the Safavids were in between them. maritime empires trading post empires What obstacles to empire building did empires confront, and how did they respond to those challenges? Rivalries were a major obstacle to empire building. There was a lot of competition over trade routes which resulted in piracy in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Valuable goods like sugar were being traded in the Caribbean which led to struggles over these goods. In the Mediterranean region, there was intense rivalry between the Christian Europeans and the Muslim Ottomans, which caused piracy sponsored by both sides. Rivalries in continental Europe led to land based conflicts such as the Thirty Years War. The Thirty Years War was due to rivalries between the French and the Hapsburgs. There was also rivalry between the Shi’a Safavid Empire and the Sunni Ottoman Empire, which resulted in the Ottoman-Safavid War. Even though conflicts could lead to terrible consequences, there were several challenges from within empires that challenged expansion. In the Mughal Empire, Hindus often rebelled. China often had peasant revolts like the Taiping Rebellion Competition over trade routes such as piracy in the Caribbean State rivalries like the Thirty Years War or the Ottoman-Safavid War Local resistance like peasant uprisings