3: Expansive Cultures - 1500-1650
- Page ID
- 147159
- Analyze the impact of European expansion and Eurocentrism on other populations, including indigenous American populations, China, Africa, and Middle Asia.
- Understand the changes to geopolitics and the world market with Age of Exploration expansion and Empire growth.
- Describe the differences between various imperial societies and their treatment of women, slaves, and other minorities; analyze how these differences impacted interactions with other societies.
- Define “Empire”. What does this term mean in context of the growth of China, Russia, France, and the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal territories? How does it affect political and economic development in these areas?
- In what ways were the civilizations and empires of Eastern Asia and Western Africa similar? How did interaction – or lack thereof – with other outside cultures affect the development of these civilizations?
Introduction
When talking about world development during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many texts use a Eurocentrism perspective, meaning that the standards for development follow those of European nations, colonies, and society. By limiting those standards to only one small part of the world, students miss the rich tapestry of cultural connection woven in smaller ways that may not seem as important as what has historically been studied. While Europe certainly made a big impact on the world, particularly during this time, a number of larger regions of the world in the Asian and African continents also had marked advancement, both with and without European involvement.
Improvement in ship technology, which started in the Indian Ocean trading network among eastern civilizations made its way to Europe, allowing ships to traverse the Atlantic ocean, allowing European “discovery” and connection between them and the American and African continents. This resulted in European colonial establishment and growth, much to the detriment of the indigenous populations in those regions. However, their stories are just as important to the development of nation-states and territories as the European stories have been, and in many ways, are now more important than ever. This chapter aims to have those stories heard.
This period in world history was a time of turbulence and change, with major regions throughout the Eurasian continent having suffered through the Black Plague, a series of devastating diseases killing millions in the fourteenth century. Marked by religious and expansionary wars, the kingdoms, territories, dynasties, and empires of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were attempting to expand beyond borders. And not just physical borders, but intellectual and cultural borders as well. As a result, this era became known to Europeans as the Age of Exploration. In many areas of the world, this era marked a “golden age” of rule, from Tokugawa Japan and Ming and Qing China to the Ottoman territories of Sultan Suleiman, the Persian Shah Abbas I, and Tudor and Elizabethan England.
The expansions that took place weren’t limited to European colonization on African and American continents either. Empires grew in various regions, redefining both the word and the civilization. Within many of these territories, rulers attempted to hold on to absolute power of life and death over their subjects and citizens, as well as the indigenous populations of the lands they expanded to and whose resources they claimed to help the empire grow.
This chapter will explore the arrival of the first Europeans to the American continents, including the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English. During this time, new plants, animals, foods and crops, and even diseases started to travel across the Atlantic and throughout the world. This process is known as the Columbian Exchange, named for one of the men credited with the first interaction in what would later become known as the New World, Christopher Columbus. Although the Western European countries and nations initially had been looking for a way to circumvent the Afro-Eurasian trade route known as the Silk Road and reach Asian markets from the east, they would end up settling in this New World, exploiting the local populations and claiming the land for themselves, producing raw materials for European production and consumption.
Although slavery had already been prevalent throughout the African and Eurasian continents prior to the seventeenth century, race-based slavery would rise as colonialism gained traction in other parts of the world. We’ll be looking at the origins of this practice, with future chapters dedicated to the expansion and end of it. We’ll also explore the Pacific islands and Australia, the only country that is also a continent, as well as one of the farthest colonies under European rule.
- 3.1: Gunpowder Empires
- The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the Golden Ages of the "gunpowder" empires of what is now called the Middle East. This section focuses on the Ottoman Empire whose territory was spread throughout three continents and included countless ethnic groups, a diverse array of languages, Sunni, Shi’a, and Sufi Muslims.
- 3.2: Gunpowder Empires- Safavids
- The Safavid Empire was a close contemporary of the Ottoman Empire, and while there are significant differences between the two in terms of the manner of their formation, the empires also went through some of the same broad trends. This section looks specifically at the Safavid Persian Empire from its start in the early sixteenth century up to its height during the reign of Shah Abbas I. It focuses on the rise of the state politically, religiously, and economically.
- 3.3: Gunpowder Empires- Mughals
- At their peak in the first half of the sixteenth century, the Mughals were perhaps the richest and most powerful regime in the world. This section is the final section of the "gunpowder empires," looking at the rise and expansion of the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. It looks at the political and economic structures and issues, as well as setting the foundation for the religious issues that would eventually lead to the separation of states in that region (covered in
- 3.4: Women, Slaves, and Eunuchs in the Dar al Islam
- Life within the "gunpowder empires" was comparable to other, similar regions, territories, and empires throughout the rest of the world. The main difference came in the form of social norms and culture, which were heavily influenced by the local version of Islam practiced in the region. This section looks specifically at populations in the gunpowder empires that have been historically marginalized but without who, these empires would not exist.
- 3.5: Ming and Qing Chinese Society and Culture
- While China was busy developing the world’s largest bureaucracy for their government structures, they had help in the form of women, slaves, and eunuchs who also lived and worked during the Ming and Qing dynasties of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This section looks at the social and cultural side of Ming and Qing China.
- 3.6: Society and Culture of Tokugawa Japan
- The Tokugawa period is known for its distinct architecture and art style, which emphasized both function and beautiful form, as well as more opportunities for women.This section looks at the society and culture of a period of time considered to be a "golden age" of Japan, and focuses specifically on art, architecture, and the roles of women.
- 3.7: Empire of Mali
- Located in the larger northwestern region of the African continent, the Empire of Mali established itself in the twelfth century, reaching its peak in the fourteenth century, and finally declining by dividing into separate states in the early seventeenth century. This section explores an empire on the African continent and provides a comparison to the other empires in Eurasia.
- 3.8: American "Discovery"
- In 1500, the year which marks the start of the Age of Exploration, the populations of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas were quite similar. This section covers the European expansion and early colonization. It looks at the American indigenous populations prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, as well as the impact of colonization on these indigenous peoples, from the perspective of both involved parties.
- 3.9: Chapter Summary and Key Terms
- The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a massive increase in the interconnectedness between civilizations, a continuation of the globalization that started to take place in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and grew further in the fifteenth century during the Age of Exploration in Europe. As empires and countries, particularly European countries, expanded beyond their borders to look for new raw materials and markets for their finished goods, they invaded and overran many of the indig
Thumbnail: Sixteenth Century Safavid Scholars’ Intellectual Discussion, Walters Art Museum, in the Public Domain.