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Comparison in Land-Based Empires

Ethan Taylor

Ethan Taylor

8 min read

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AP World History: Modern - Unit 3 & 4 Study Guide 🚀

Welcome! This guide is designed to help you ace your AP World History exam, focusing on the crucial content of Units 3 and 4. Let's get started!

Units 3 and 4 are all about the rise of empires, both land-based and maritime. Understanding their similarities and differences is key to success on the exam. These units often account for a significant portion of the exam, so pay close attention!

🧭 Overview: Land vs. Maritime Empires

Key Concept

The big picture: Unit 3 and 4 explore how empires expanded across the globe, both on land and overseas. The main comparison point is the style of government and how they maintained power and legitimacy.

🔗 Jump to:


🌍 Land-Based Empires

These empires primarily derived their power and wealth from controlling land, agriculture, and overland trade routes.

🇮🇳 Mughal Empire

  • Time: Early 16th to mid-19th centuries
  • Location: South Asia (modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of Afghanistan)
  • Founders: Muslim dynasty of Turco-Mongol origin (descendants of Timur and Genghis Khan)
  • Key Features: Economic, cultural, and architectural prosperity; known for its art and cultural achievements.

🇹🇷 Ottoman Empire

  • Time: 14th to early 20th centuries
  • Location: Southeastern Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa
  • Founders: Turkish tribes who converted to Islam
  • Key Features: Centralized autocratic government; diverse population (Muslims, Christians, Jews); dissolved after WWI.

🇮🇷 Safavid Empire

  • Time: Early 16th to mid-18th centuries
  • Location: Modern-day Iran, parts of Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey
  • Founders: Ismail I, who made Shia Islam the official religion
  • Key Features: Known for Persian art, literature, and culture; military conflicts with the Ottoman Empire.

🇸🇳 Songhai Empire

  • Time: 15th and 16th centuries
  • Location: West Africa (modern-day Niger and Mali)
  • Founders: Songhai people
  • Key Features: Strong military; well-organized bureaucracy; centralized administration; declined due to internal conflicts and Moroccan invasions.

🇷🇺 Russian Empire

  • Time: 1721 to 1917
  • Location: Largest country by land area, covering more than one-sixth of the planet
  • Founders: Romanov dynasty
  • Key Features: Autocratic rule by the tsar; multiethnic state; dissolved after the Russian Revolution.

🇨🇳 Qing Empire (China)

  • Time: 1644 to 1912
  • Location: China
  • Founders: Manchu people
  • Key Features: Centralized government; social hierarchy; bureaucratic rule; multicultural state; significant economic, social, and cultural developme...

Question 1 of 14

🚀 Who were the founders of the Mughal Empire?

Han Chinese

Turco-Mongol dynasty

Inca people

Manchu people