You need to start thinking of religion a bit differently from here on. Yes, you need to know the tenets of each religion and a little of the history behind it. BUT, from here on: we need to look at religion in terms of GEOPOLITICS (how places interact with one another). Look at the map below, you can see the conflicts happening just from the Belief Systems. Without any political borders, you can see the Ottomans vs. Safavids or Spanish vs. Native Americans or the Northern Europeans vs. Southern Europeans. Notice that several of the religions from earlier in history have now fractured… there are 3 MAJOR BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY NOW! There are even more divisions than this, but the College Board seems content with keeping Buddhism and Hinduism as monolithic belief systems. Below, are the belief systems of the Early Modern Period…

1. The 95 Theses, 1517, Martin Luther (WITTENBERG, GERMANY)
2. Guru Granth Sahib, 1429, Gugu Arjan (PUNJAB, INDIA, MUGHAL EMPIRE)
3. Nahj al-Balagha, c. 1000, (Collection of sermons, sayings, etc attributed to Ali) Al Sharif al Radi (BAGHDAD)
4.
5.

1. HARMANDIR SAHIB (GOLDEN TEMPLE), 1577, (AMRITSAR, INDIA)

2. THESES DOORS (Bronze doors commemorating the original doors that were lost in a fire. Site where Luther posted his 95 Theses), Martin Luther (WITTENBERG, GERMANY)

3. 95 THESES, 1517, Original placard from 1517 (BERLIN, GERMANY)

1. All of these empires had belief systems at their core.
2. There are a few new ones this era: Sikhism in Punjab (between India/Pakistan) and Protestantism (Northern Europe)
3. Be sure you know how the Protestants broke off from the Catholic Church.
4. Protestants and Catholics fought for decades, but the only conflict brought up by the College Board is the Sunni-Shi’a rivalry. This is best seen between all of the wars between the Ottomans (Sunni) and the Safavids (Shi’a).
5. Don’t skip the Sikhs. (“Sick” in Punjabi, but Anglicized to “Seek”) It’s the 5th biggest religion on earth. It’s not a mix of Hinduism and Islam. It takes the truths from Islam and Hinduism and leaves out the rest…