Gunpowder empires
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Period of the Gunpowder Empires, also known as the Era of the Islamic Gunpowders, refers to the epoch of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires from the 16th century to the 18th century. These three empires were among the strongest and most stable economies of the early modern period, leading to commercial expansion, and greater patronage of culture, while their political and legal institutions were consolidated with an increasing degree of centralisation. The empires underwent a significant increase in per capita income and population, and a sustained pace of technological innovation. They were centralised from Southern Europe and North Africa in the west, to between today's modern Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east.
Vast amount of territories were conquered by the Islamic gunpowder empires with the use and development of the newly invented firearms, especially cannon and small arms, in the course of imperial construction. Unlike in Europe, the introduction of gunpowder weapons prompted changes well beyond military organization.
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