Welcome to the Early Modern Period (1450-1750). You are about to meet some brand new empires. They will help branch the world of 1450 to the Modern world. Invest in these Empires because they will last (sorry, Safavids, Aztecs, and Incas…) for 80% of the course. Double down here. It will pay off for the rest of the course to have a good grip on these specifically (also, if you’re coming from a more Euro-centric historical background like I did; these will seem to be mostly new material/things you haven’t heard before. It’s OK. That’s a good thing. You’re learning the REAL history of the planet…). Let’s see how these Empires grew to some of the largest, longest lasting empires in all of earth’s history.

CLIP #1: HEIMLER HANDLES THE EXPANSION OF THESE EMPIRES

CLIP #1: RISE of the OTTOMAN EMPIRE

CLIP #2: HOW THE OTTOMANS GOT THEIR NAME (It really derives from their original founder Osman. It was called the Osmanli Empire but Europeans changed it to Ottomans because they don’t talk good)

CLIP #3: FALL of CONSTANTINOPLE

CLIP #4: The Etymology of Istanbul

CLIP #4: The SAFAVIVDS ( also some Sunni vs. Shi’a… narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley)

CLIP #5: Early Mughal rulers

CLIP #6: The MUGHALS (from CRASH COURSE World History)

CLIP #7: Ming and Qing China (this goes further than you need, but just watch the first part)

CLIP #8: Manchu Conquest of the Ming

CLIP #9: Rise and Fall of the Inca empire

CLIP #10: THE SONGHAI EMPIRE

1. SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1453, Niccolo Barbaro (VENICE)
2. POETRY COLLECTION, c. 1520, Shah Ismail I (SAFAVID EMPIRE)
3. BABURNAMA, c. 1530, Babur I (MUGHAL EMPIRE)
4. SEVEN GRIEVANCES, 1618, Nurhaci (JURCHEN/MANCHU TERRITORY)
5. LETTERS BETWEEN SULTAN SELIM I AND SHAH ISHMAIL, 1514, Shah Ismail & Sultan Selim I

1. PIECE OF THE ACTUAL CHAIN DEFENDING CONSTANTINOPLE (OK. It’s not art… but it’s pretty awesome), 1453 (ISTANBUL)

2. BLUE MOSQUE (Sultan Ahmed Mosque), 1616 (ISTANBUL)

3. TAJ MAHAL, 1653 (AGRA, MUGHAL EMPIRE)

4. Taking the Evening Cool by Ryōgoku Bridge (Woodblock Print), Okumura Masanobu, 1745 (EDO, TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE)

5. St. Basil’s Cathedral, 1561 (MOSCOW, RUSSIAN EMPIRE)

1. A ton of big new land empires pop up in this period.
2. You need to know: Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals, Manchu Dynasty (Qing), Russian Empire.
3. Also, don’t forget about the Incas and Aztecs. They are destroyed early on, but they still count.
4. This section wants you to know about their expansions… so know their beginnings.
5. These are the big empires that will last for many units going forward. Don’t skip this section.