State Consolidation: c. 1450 - c. 1750
AP Concept: 4.3 State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
Key Concepts
Ottoman Empire
Mughal Empire
African States
Japan
Key Concepts
- Rulers used a variety of techniques to consolidate power
- Trade competition and state rivalries threatened consolidation of power
- The Ottoman Empire (1453 - 1923) consolidated power as a centralized absolute monarchy led by sultans
- Islamic religious scholars and legal experts served as administrators
- As the empire grew more powerful, sultans began to remove themselves from the daily business of running an empire
the vizier in control of the bureaucracy developed more power than the sultan - The influx of silver from New World mining destabilized the empire in the 17th century
- When silver from Central and South America entered Ottoman commercial networks, it broke rigid imperial trade regulations that relied on autonomous trade
- Merchants created thriving black markets for Ottoman commodities, paid in silver loss of tax revenues contributed to the weakening of the sultan
- The Mughal Empire (1523 - mid-1700s) consolidated power through religious unity
- Akbar created the Divine Faith, a religious blend of Hinduism and Islam, which promoted religious unity in the empire and legitimized the ruler as the head of state and religion
- His promotion of cooperation between different faiths led to a flowering of artistic expression and architecture
- As the Mughals grew more prosperous through Dutch and English trade, local warrior elites began to challenge Mughal authority, especially when the despotic Aurangzeb died in 1707
- Without a strong central ruler, local elites asserted their independence and reduced the Mughal empire to a loose coalition of states
- Two powerful African states used systems of governors and officials to oversee their empires
- The West African state of Songhay (1464 - 1591) appointed governors to oversee provinces and report back to the ruler
- As Europeans began moving further into Africa to establish trade networks, these empires began to lose control of their subjects
- The centralized West African state of Kongo (1300s - 1665) developed trade relations with the Portuguese in 1482, and gradually the Portuguese became more powerful
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The Portuguese initiated slave raids in exchange for weapons undermined the king's authority
- The Tokugawa Shogunate (1600 - 1867) stabilized Japan and ended a period of civil war by controlling local warlords (daimyos) and contact with the outside world
- Since constant fighting among the daimyos had led to civil war, leader Tokugawa Ieyasu required all daimyos to spend every other year at the capital
- He also forbade Japanese from going to other countries, expelled all Europeans from the country, and only traded with a small number of Chinese and Dutch merchants
- These limitations and strict control allowed the economy and population to grow
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Related Links: AP World History Quizzes AP World History AP World History Notes Changes in Social Hierarchies: c. 1450 - c. 1750 |