Cf. [2] Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history,[3] as well as one of the gunpowder empires. For this citation, Eaton and Wagoner reference Rainer Daehnhardt, The Bewitched Gun: The Introduction of the Firearm in the Far East by the Portuguese (Lisbon: Texto Editora, 1994), 39. The Safavids governed a comparatively small population in a semi-arid environment and, having access to large supplies of Central Asian horses, Matthee finds that they exhibited a strong preference for cavalry. Citing cultural factors that echo Ayalons conclusions regarding the Mamluks, the Safavid historian Rudi Matthee observes that Qizilbash troops also had strong cultural reasons to retain the emphasis on cavalry warfare rather than dismounting to fire muskets, again because of tradition and the social status associated with the cavalry as opposed to the lower infantry.73 Matthee further notes that, unlike the Mughals, the frequent Safavid conflicts with the Ottomans meant that the Safavids would not have had ready access to Ottoman military advisers. 84. It is the first of these periods, c. 1470c. Friday, March 17, 2023 History of Iran Safavid Empire 1502 - 1736 By: Shapour Ghasemi A fter the disastrous invasion of Mongols, in the 1200s, migrated Turks and Mongolian tribes adopted the Persian customs and even language. Richard M. Eaton and Philip B. Wagoner, Warfare on the Deccan Plateau, 14501600: A Military Revolution in Early Modern India?, Journal of World History 25, no. As noted, it is now generally accepted that the discovery of gunpowder happened in China and that the recipe reached the Middle East in the 13th century, at roughly the same time it was transmitted to Europe. What did the Safavids use as a unifying force? Cf. John A. Lynn, The Trace Italienne and the Growth of Armies, in Military Revolution Debate, ed. Gunpowder was invented in China and knowledge of it was transmitted from the East to the West.1 The earliest known reference to gunpowder is found in a 9th-century Tang manuscript.2 According to historian of Chinese science Joseph Needham, the author of this passage cautions alchemists experimenting with chemical compounds not to mix potassium nitrate (a chemical compound extracted from soil suffused with organic animal waste) together with sulfur and carbon-rich material (such as charcoal) because the result would be a fire-chemical or fire-drug that would violently combust with potentially deadly results. 74. Our right, left, centre and turning-parties having surrounded the enemy, rained arrows down on him and fought ungrudgingly. Why did the gunpowder empires craft artist and architectural legacies? Concurrently, the Shahs themselves also supported Persian literature, poetry and art projects including the grand Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp,[26][27] while members of the family and some Shahs composed Persian poetry as well.[28][29]. HOW THE WEST CAME TO POWERThe Gunpowder Empires EXPLAINED || WHAT HAPPENED? In 1955, Michael Roberts theorized a European Military Revolution that stemmed from the widespread implementation of mobile gunpowder weaponry in Sweden during the century from 15601660.16 Roberts argued that the introduction of improved muskets and other artillery led military commanders to devise new battlefield tactics and strategies that relied more heavily on infantry than cavalry. Then, as Ottoman and Safavid forces met on the battlefield of Chaldiran in 1514, Sultan Selims Janissaries used their artillery to great effect and soundly defeated their Safavid Qizilbash opponents. By the time of his death in 1227, Chinggis Khans Empire stretched westward across the Inner Asian steppe and southward through the sedentary stretches of Central Asia, reaching even into Persia. The same was true in Persia and South Asia, where the transition from the earlier cavalry-based steppe warfare was also gradual and uneven, and propelled forward as much by defeat as by victory. 27. 22. L. J. Andrew Villahon and Donald Kagay (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005), 429446. 87. All these empires were rather pragmatic in their decisions.82. Augmenting documentary sources with archaeological evidence, the work of Richard Eaton and Philip Wagoner strongly supports Khans conclusions, and makes several additional advancements. Andrade suggests that, following the conquest of Xinjiang in 17561759, the Qing Empire enjoyed an uncharacteristically long period of minimal military conflict during which, Chinas armies atrophied, and military innovation slowed.83 Of course, the Qing military remained substantial in its size and a formidable force in both East and Central Asia throughout this period. The Safavids, as you can see here, were really founded in the very early 16th century, officially 1501, by their founder Shah Ismail, sometimes known as Ismail I. By the middle of the 16th century, a substantial number of cities in Italy and Spain had already found constructing trace italienne fortifications to be a worthwhile investment. Gunpowder Empires Flashcards | Quizlet Firearms and the Qing Formation, in The Qing Formation in World-Historical Time, ed. Now, the Ottomans are also known for one of the earliest empires to very successfully to use gunpowder in battle. One key distinction is that, rather than the widespread implementation of muskets propelling the early modern Military Revolution as theorized by Roberts (who in 1968 served as the external examiner on Parkers thesis), Parker considers the driving force to have been the construction of dramatically improved fortifications. In sheer quantity, it was impossibly for the Safavids to compete with the two other empires, as theirs was by far the less populated and poorer among them. The Safavid Empire was a theocracy. Nadir Shah himself led another invasion three years later, and this time, knowing that they were faced with a technologically superior force, the Bukharans simply submitted. This new industry was expensive, but the Ottomans clearly found it to be a worthwhile investment for a power seeking to expand its territory when possible, and defend itself from hostile neighbors when necessary. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal dynasties established control over Turkey, Iran, and India respectively, in large part due to a Chinese invention: gunpowder . This is consistent with another recent argument that Geoffrey Parker and Sanjay Subrahmanyam advanced in a collaborative study of the various ways that certain early modern Asian societies received gunpowder weaponry. 16th century What did the 3 great Muslim empires base their authority on? The results were striking: during the 16th and 17th centuries, their astounding achievements ushered in a new age of Islamic cultural efflorescence, a brilliant renewal of political and cultural life.38, Hodgsons argument has been critiqued on multiple grounds and it now stands largely discredited. Documentary evidence demonstrates that Europeans were using cannons by 1331, and by mid-century, they were being used throughout the Continent.15. The search for this organic material represents another critically important aspect of the Military Revolution. A dramatic loss could, and did, dissuade observers from placing too much faith in the miracle of gunpowder. Michael Adas (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993), 103139. See also Allsen, Circulation of Military Technology, 265294. Still, within the Deccan there was a general trend toward innovation. Unlike in Europe or India, Safavid cities did not incorporate anything like trace italienne style fortresses. V. Minorsky, "The Poetry of Shh Isml I", establishing Twelver Shsm as the state religion of Iran, "The emergence of the Safavids as a mystical order and their subsequent rise to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries", "The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors", "Georgians in the Safavid administration", Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Safavids did have a strong military and are one of the so-called gunpowder empires, which were the first military dynasties who were able to truly implement gunpowder weapons, like cannons, in . Rather than the trace italienne, Black identifies the state as the principle driver behind technological innovation and the development of effective forces able to use concentrated and disciplined firepower with considerable success across the globe.30 Blacks third period of revolutionary change in European militaries falls between 1792 and 1815, a period that witnessed an exponential increase in the size of armies as a product of the leve en masse. 1 - Safavid, Mughal, and Ottoman Empires - Cambridge University Press R Savory, "Ebn Bazzaz" in. This is recognized by Gommans and Kolff, who overstate the case with their assertion that, apart from the earlier introduction of Central Asian cavalry warfare during the Ghaznavid and Delhi Sultanate eras, the real Military Revolution reached India only in the 18th century with the introduction of the much faster and more efficient flintlock muskets equipped with socket bayonets, combined with new modes of training introduced by European officers.71 As in Europe, the flexible and effective integration of artillery was an important factor that facilitated Mughal military and administrative successes. Reminiscent of Parkers trace italianne in Europe, already in 14681469, the proliferation of gunpowder weaponry in central Indias Deccan Plateau had motivated the Bahmanid rulers to enhance their great fortress Raichur by adding bastions and curtain walls constructed specifically to withstand artillery and incorporating gun ports from which the defenders could fire cannons.60 Similar architectural techniques can be found at other Bahmanid fortresses as well, dating at least as early as 1461.61. Over time, engineers experimented with increasing the size and capacity of the metal tubes, so that a controlled explosion within one could erupt with sufficient force to launch projectiles. War On 4 April 1648, encouraged by the Mughal reversal in Badakhshan, [6] Shah Abbas II marched from Isfahan with an army of 40,000. Roger M. Savory. But bamboo is also flammable, and so Chinese engineers developed more durable tubes out of metal to take their place. 1720 and which is of the most importance to concerns in early modern Asia.29 It was during this period that the addition of the bayonet rendered the pike antiquated, and most importantly, the widespread implementation of the flintlock musket dramatically improved the effectiveness of gunpowder weapons on the field. His strategic use of muskets and wheeled field cannons was the decisive factor in his victory, not least because the cannon fire frightened the Lodi Sultan Ibrahims war elephants, prompting them to break ranks and flee in reverse, trampling their own troops. By the end of the 10th century, the Chinese were already putting gunpowder in grenades and bombs, which could be launched against opposing forces. by John Davies (London, 1662), pt. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. 16. In the second half of the 15th century, the Ottomans further expanded their industrial capacity in mining for ore, weapons production, ammunition production, and the development and maintenance of supply lines. 49. Already in the 11th century, Chinese armies were using a great variety of highly inventive techniques to maximize the destructive capacity of gunpowder.6 These included early types of bombs, mortars, grenades, and landmines, as well as fire-lances: hollowed-out bamboo tubes to direct low-nitrate, slow-burning explosions as a defensive measure against enemy troops.7 The result would have appeared somewhat like a modern firework, an exceptionally large Roman candle, for example, which would have been quite effective at discouraging ones opponents. Most notably, all three overcame the corporate-style appanage system of the Central Asian Turks and other, similar obstacles to political centralization, although they did so in ways that fit their own unique contexts, and they achieved their goals at different rates and to varying degrees. A discussion of the literature on the Indian trade in Central Asian horses is found in Scott C. Levi, India, Russia and the Eighteenth-Century Transformation of the Central Asian Caravan Trade, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 42, no. Nicola di Cosmo, Did Guns Matter? In the 1970s, Marshall Hodgson and William H. McNeil theorized that the introduction of gunpowder weapons in the Islamic East and their monopolization by the ruling elite led to the development of new forms of absolutist governments, which they termed Gunpowder Empires. It is one thing to have a large army equipped with technologically current weaponry. At the same time, cities invested heavily in fortifications, and they devised new economic models to pay for it all. Some scholars have pointed to cultural preferences for traditional forms of military combat and a disdain for gunpowder weaponry in explaining the hesitance of some Asian powers to embrace the Military Revolution. Needham, Science and Civilisation, 67. 51. They included gunpowder weaponry into their military system and conquered, prospered, and developed as a whole from it. Contrary to long-held notions that gunpowder weapons technologies were devised in the West and gradually transmitted eastward into Asia, more recent scholarship indicates that innovations flowed in both directions. An abundance of published military handbooks, imperial chronicles, travel literature, and other sources offer information and insights into many aspects of early modern Asian military history. The Safavids were not as tolerant b/c they imposed Shia Islam supremacy Explain ONE reason the Gunpowder Empires rose during the period 1450-1750. Gunpowder Empires: Use of Weapons and Their Benefits | Sutori Wounded, the young Safavid Shah Ismail fled, his reign intact but his reputation in tatters. 7. Shah Tahmasp who has composed poetry in Persian was also a painter, while Shah Abbas II was known as a poet, writing Azerbaijani verses. Open Document. 2. Regardless of the precise chain of transmission, knowledge of gunpowder clearly reached Europe in the 13th century and spread rapidly. Gommans and Kolff, Warfare and Weaponry, 35; and Rudi Matthee, Firearms i. History, in Encyclopaedia Iranica (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982 ), vol. The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent. The Safavids attacked the Ottoman wings in an effort to avoid the Ottoman artillery positioned at the . Eastern, East Asian and Gunpowder Empires Expand - Quizlet Streusand, Islamic Gunpowder Empires, 83. In that environment, it was simply unnecessary to invest in building and maintaining expensive fortifications for even the most important cities in the interior. John Guilmartin, a specialist in early modern European military history, found 16th-century Ottoman weapons production to be every bit as advanced as that of Spain.49, Technological innovations were important and they could be decisive in specific instances. Turkey Where did the Safavid conquer? David Ayalon, Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom: A Challenge to a Medieval Society, 2nd ed. 34. This equipped the Persians with a decisive advantage over the Uzbeks, and it was one of several contributing factors behind the collapse of Chinggisid rule in Bukhara in 1747. Yet as the Portuguese were establishing themselves in the Indian Ocean in the early 16th century, they found Goan gunsmiths whose technical skills and knowledge exceeded those of even the best of the Europeans. Rogers, 41. Douglas Streusand, Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2010), 3.
Negative Decision-making,
Syracuse Nats Hockey Tryouts,
How To Fix Aternos Storage Issue,
25 Things To Consider When Choosing A College,
Why Are Birds More Closely Related To Reptiles,
Articles H
