• Mongols had the largest empire stretching from China to Africa.

• The empire collapsed due to decentralization and local resistance.

• After the Mongol Empire collapsed it created a vacuum.

Mongol Empire

Recap

These empires formed like others, through the conquest of economically or strategically important areas. However, there are a few unique ways these empires were forged. 

Many of these empires are also known as “Gunpowder Empires” because they were some of the first to use gunpowder armies on a large scale, several hundred years before Europe.

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3.1 Expansion

"Gunpowder Empires"

Empire: Ottoman Rule on Land & Sea

• Ottoman cannons breached Constantinople’s walls

• Master Orban’s cannon—legend vs. reality

• Ottoman innovation in gunpowder technology matched European advancements

Mastery of Gunpowder

• One of the world’s great gunpowder empires

• 1453: Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople, renaming it Istanbul

• Marked two centuries of expansion

A Booming Empire

Ottoman Empire

• Controlled North Africa, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Balkans

• Naval power: Challenged Spain, Venice, and Portugal in Mediterranean & Indian Ocean

Strength on Land & Sea

• Founded in 1299, lasted 623 years

• Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566): Peak of power

• Conquered Mesopotamia, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and besieged Vienna

Ottoman Expansion

Ottoman Empire

• Prisoners of war and enslaved people fueled the empire

• Devshirme: Christian boys taken, converted, and trained as soldiers or officials

• Janissaries: Elite soldiers loyal to the sultan

Slavery & the Devshirme System

• No hereditary aristocracy, unlike Europe

• Power centralized with the sultan

• Provincial governors managed vast territories

• Efficient taxation & administration system

Political Organization

Ottoman Empire

• Jews & Christians allowed self-governance in exchange for taxes

• Ottoman Empire: A center of trade, culture, and knowledge

• Languages: Turkish (military/government), Arabic (religion), Persian (poetry)

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Cultural & Religious Diversity

The Sultan as Caliph

• Ottoman sultans also served as caliphs of Sunni Islam

• Conquered Mecca & Medina (1517)

• Controlled pilgrimage routes & trade networks

Caliph: Muslim civil & religious leader.

Ottoman Empire

• Dominated Mediterranean and Indian Ocean trade for centuries

• Achievements in art, architecture, science, and medicine

• Declined but remained a major power until 1922

Legacy of the Ottoman Empire

• Janissary revolts: Armed elite soldiers demanded more power

• Internal struggles and wars with Europe & Safavid Persia

• By the 18th century, janissaries became hereditary aristocracy

Challenges & Decline