BUILDING EMPIRES IN ASIA ( ) Goodbye Pastoral Nomads RUSSIA Ivan the Great overthrew the last Mongol ruler in the late 1400s Ivan the Terrible began a conquest of Siberia Russian leaders expanded east, south, and west Ended the era of the nomadic pastoralists PETER AND CATHERINE Expanded empire But also sought to modernize and westernize the nation WESTERNIZATION Built a new capital city, St. Petersburg - Modeled after capitals of western Europe Modernized the military and invited foreign experts to advise the royal court Catherine proclaimed Russia to be a European nation - Also offered incentives for foreigners to settle in Russia BUT SOME THINGS Yet serfdom and absolute monarchy remained - No Constitution or Parliament to limit the Tsars power Westernization in terms of technology not political ideals - A window on the west for commerce, trade, technology not political reform THE OTTOMANS Stretched across North Africa into Southwest Asia and into modern Turkey, reaching almost to modern Austria Conquered Constantinople in 1453, renamed it Istanbul Tolerant of Jews and Christians - Millet System * Allowed to worship freely * As long as jizya was paid Yet non-Muslim families in the Balkans were required to give a certain number of young boys to the Ottoman rulers - These boys were raised to serve the empire as soldiers and converted to Islam DEVSHIRME Boys handed over to become soldiers were known as Janissaries The system of gathering or collecting the boys was known as Devshirme THE LIMIT But failed to conquer Vienna in Austria in the early sixteenth century and again in the late seventeenth century THE MUGHAL EMPIRE In the 1500s, Muslims from Central Asia, who claimed to be descendants of Chinggis Khan, entered South Asia Established the Mughal Empire A Muslim minority ruling a Hindu majority Its greatest ruler was Akbar - Religiously tolerant - Married a Hindu princess However, not all Mughal rulers were religiously tolerant - Aurangzeb reestablished the jizya and destroyed some Hindu temples THE BRITISH By the 1700s, the British through the British East India Company began ruling part of the subcontinent Eventually, the Mughal rulers became largely ceremonial THE TAJ MAHAL Built by Shah Jahan, a Muslim ruler of the Mughal Empire, in the heart of Hindu India THE QING The last dynasty in China - In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the Qing went on campaigns in Central Asia to separate China from Russia - Also conducted campaigns in Mongolia to end the threat of future Mongol invasions Did not force conquered peoples to adopt Chines practices - Tolerant of local faith and customs Allowed trade routes along the Silk Roads to wither away - Preferred ocean trade to camel caravans The Qing emperors forced all the men in China to shave the front of their heads and wear the rest of their hair braided into a long braid, or queue. The Qing were invaders from Manchuria While the Qing rulers did adopt the examination system, they still wanted to ensure that everyone knew who ruled China!