How Did Empires Use Gunpowder

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Danny Culp Priovolos World History 5/31/24 How did the Gunpowder Empire gain, consolidate, and maintain power using gunpowder? In the early 800s, during the Tang Dynasty in China, the first formula for gunpowder was made and put to use. They would begin to use this new invention for fireworks and different flame mechanics. Around the year 1200, the Song Dynasty was making different bombs and weapons like cannons and would use gunpowder in them. Later Muslim groups such as the Ottomans, Safavid, and Mughal Empires would discover and use it to their advantage. They continued to develop it and would eventually find guns. Today these empires would be called the Gunpowder Empires for how they would gunpowder for their advantage. Starting in the …show more content…

They would have experienced gunmen to ensure victory against their enemies. However, all three of the Gunpowder Empires would use gunpowder to their advantage and begin to implement them in their military. With the many military successes, the Gunpowder Empires would expand their militias and want to further develop the innovation for new weapons. The Gunpowder Empires would use gunpowder to gain, consolidate, and maintain power by creating new weapons like guns and cannons for their military. With the empire’s powerful militia, they would then expand to making new and improved guns and cannons. The Ottomans would use this new technology to take over Constantinople. Eventually, iron and brass muskets would be made by the time that the Savafid and Mughal Empires came. They would also make bigger and better cannons and bombs, unlike the bombards that the Ottomans would use. The first innovation came when the Ottomans began to create advancements in the cannon. They would begin to create the arquebuses. It was a long gun that would be used for long-range attacks and would later be an inspiration for the …show more content…

Different guns would also be considered better and worse. A primary source from Fordham University Sourcebook gives details on how guns would be traded and their value for being a new invention from the old hand cannons. They write “When at last I desired permission to continue my journey, he demanded of me that I should give him our iron guns in exchange for his brass ones. He pressed me so hard that I was compelled to give in, and received 40 brass muskets in return for all the iron ones which we had left.” (Fordham, Sidi Ali Reis). This quote is saying that some guns could be worth more due to their innovation and how they would work much better compared to the old hand cannons that Ottomans and Savafids would use. These new weapons would be better because they would be able to trade and also shoot better from long range. This would help the empires with their conquests as they continued to take over much of the Middle East and Asia. Finally, the Gunpowder Empires would use gunpowder to create new defense and offense strategies to gain, consolidate, and maintain power. The Ottomans would create new ways to beat and fend off their enemies, using gunpowder to their

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