Gunpowder empires

The gunpowder empires, or Islamic gunpowder empires, is a collective term coined by Marshall G. S. Hodgson and William H. McNeill at the University of Chicago, referring to three early modern Muslim empires: the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Empire and the Mughal Empire, in the period they flourished from mid-16th to the early 18th century. These three empires were among the most stable empires of the early modern period, leading to commercial expansion, and patronage of culture, while their political and legal institutions were consolidated with an increasing degree of centralization. They stretched from Central Europe and North Africa in the west to Bengal and Arakan in the east. Hodgson's colleague William H. McNeill expanded on the history of gunpowder use across multiple civilizations including East Asian, South Asian and European powers in his "The Age of Gunpowder Empires". Vast amounts of territory were conquered by the gunpowder empires with the use and development of the newly invented firearms, especially cannon and small arms, in the course of imperial expansion. Like in Europe, the introduction of gunpowder weapons prompted changes such as the rise of centralized monarchical states.

According to G. S. Hodgson, in the gunpowder empires these changes went well beyond military organisation.^[1] The Mughals, based in the Indian subcontinent, inherited in part the Timurid Renaissance,^[2] and are recognised for their lavish architecture and for having heralded in Bengal an era of what some describe as proto-industrialization.^[3] The Safavids created an efficient and modern state administration for Iran and sponsored major developments in the fine arts. The sultans of the Ottoman Empire, also known as the Kaysar-i Rûm, controlled the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and hence were the recognised Caliphs of Islam; their powers, wealth, architecture, and various contributions significantly influenced the course of Islamic world history. Hodgson's colleague William H. McNeill expanded on the history of gunpowder use across multiple civilizations including East Asian, European, and South Asian powers in his 1993 work The Age of Gunpowder Empires.