American crops also spread to the old world. Crops like corn and potatoes dramatically increased the populations in Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, other than that, not much changed in China, India, and the Middle East. In China, the Ming would overthrow the Yuan Dynasty forcing the Mongols back onto the steppes and make China Chinese again: the Civil Service exam was restored and Chinese peasants and artisans continued to produce silk, porcelain, and tea for export. China maintained its position as the wealthiest, most urban, and most productive place on the planet. The Qing (pronounced ching) would overthrow the Ming were so confident in their superiority that the Emperors made it illegal for the Europeans to trade freely in China. “Western Barbarian” merchants could only get the silk and tea they were addicted to at two ports: the Portuguese at Macau and the British at Guangzhou. In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire would build an Islamic Empire that rivaled the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. The Ottomans were so powerful that in 1453, they would finally bring down the 1000 year-old Byzantine Empire. (Don’t worry, the Roman traditions will live on in Russia where the Romanov Dynasty would dub themselves “the Third Rome” and build a vast Asian empire while looking towards Europe for inspiration.) And lastly, in India, the Islamic Mughals would finally bring some political stability to the sub-continent while trying to maintain peace between its Hindu and Muslim subjects. Like the Chinese, these Islamic Empires looked down upon the Europeans trading on their shores. So while the Atlantic World was changing dramatically, Asians were not. . .Uh oh!
Ming and Qing(Manchu) |
Japan |
Ottomans |
Concepts to know
You should know what these concepts mean and how they are significant.
Safavid Mughal Ottoman Manchu devshirme samurai human sacrifice divine right of kings Incan monumental art Versailles Mughal zamindars Ottoman tax farming Ming tax collection Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Scientific Revolution Sunni/Shia Split Sikhism
Safavid Mughal Ottoman Manchu devshirme samurai human sacrifice divine right of kings Incan monumental art Versailles Mughal zamindars Ottoman tax farming Ming tax collection Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Scientific Revolution Sunni/Shia Split Sikhism