Unit 3--Reading and Writing Workshop
Land-Based Empires (c. 1450–c. 1750)
Theme: Power, Authority, and Legitimacy in Expanding States
Workshop Focus: How rulers consolidated, centralized, and legitimized power across Afro-Eurasia
Session 1 – SAQ Practice: Ruling by Faith and Force
Prompt
Answer all parts using your knowledge of world history 1450–1750:
a) Identify and explain ONE way rulers used architecture to legitimize power.
b) Identify and explain ONE method of bureaucratic or military centralization.
c) Identify and explain ONE way religion was used to unify rule.
Group Activity – “Empire Blueprint Challenge”
“This monument is so magnificent that it may be considered the wonder of the world. The light of the moon gives it a beauty superior to anything one can imagine.”
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – European Accounts of India
Discussion:
How does Tavernier’s description illustrate architecture as political propaganda? Which other empires used monuments similarly?
Session 2 – LEQ Practice: Governance and Change
Prompt
Evaluate the extent to which land-based empires maintained or changed methods of governance between 1450 and 1750.
Rubric Alignment (6 pts): Thesis (1) | Context (1) | Evidence (2) | Analysis (2)
Group Roles
“No distinction is attached to birth among the Turks; the man whom merit advances is noble. There is no struggle for office but for the favor of the Sultan, and promotion depends on a man's conduct and abilities.”
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – Busbecq’s Turkish Letters
Group Activity – “Bureaucracy in Action”
Session 3 – DBQ Practice: Legitimizing Power
Prompt
Evaluate the extent to which rulers of land-based empires used political, cultural, or military methods to legitimize and consolidate power (1450–1750).
Documents and Excerpts
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – Ottoman Documents
🔗 Columbia Asia for Educators – Akbar’s Religious Policy
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – Jesuit Reports on China
Group Activity – “Document Carousel: Power and Faith”
Session 4 – Synthesis and Reflection: Power Across Empires
Group Activity – “Empire Summit”
Each group represents an empire delegation (Ottoman, Mughal, Qing, Safavid, Russian).
At the “summit,” each delegation presents its argument:
“Our empire’s power rests primarily on ____ (military force, religion, bureaucracy, culture).”
Delegations then debate which model proved most effective for long-term stability.
Excerpt C – Voltaire, Essay on Manners (1756)
“The great empires of Asia were ruled by despotism adorned with the sciences and arts that softened their subjects. Authority was absolute, yet civilization flourished.”
🔗 Project Gutenberg – Essay on Manners by Voltaire
Discussion:
How does Voltaire’s observation reflect both admiration and critique of empire? Where do we see continuity in modern governance structures?
Individual Reflection Prompt:
In a short response (150–200 words), evaluate:
“Between 1450 and 1750, the most powerful empires governed not by sword or faith alone but by administrative order.”
Support with two specific examples from this workshop.
Workshop Deliverables
Land-Based Empires (c. 1450–c. 1750)
Theme: Power, Authority, and Legitimacy in Expanding States
Workshop Focus: How rulers consolidated, centralized, and legitimized power across Afro-Eurasia
Session 1 – SAQ Practice: Ruling by Faith and Force
Prompt
Answer all parts using your knowledge of world history 1450–1750:
a) Identify and explain ONE way rulers used architecture to legitimize power.
b) Identify and explain ONE method of bureaucratic or military centralization.
c) Identify and explain ONE way religion was used to unify rule.
Group Activity – “Empire Blueprint Challenge”
- Split into teams of four: Architect, Strategist, Theologian, and Historian.
- Each team creates a “blueprint board” for one empire (Ottoman, Mughal, Qing, Safavid, or Russia).
- Include three elements:
- Monumental architecture (e.g., Topkapi Palace or Taj Mahal)
- Administrative innovation (e.g., Devshirme or Russian Boyar service)
- Religious policy (e.g., Akbar’s toleration or Shi’a Islam in Safavid Iran)
- Present to class; other groups connect patterns of legitimacy across empires.
“This monument is so magnificent that it may be considered the wonder of the world. The light of the moon gives it a beauty superior to anything one can imagine.”
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – European Accounts of India
Discussion:
How does Tavernier’s description illustrate architecture as political propaganda? Which other empires used monuments similarly?
Session 2 – LEQ Practice: Governance and Change
Prompt
Evaluate the extent to which land-based empires maintained or changed methods of governance between 1450 and 1750.
Rubric Alignment (6 pts): Thesis (1) | Context (1) | Evidence (2) | Analysis (2)
Group Roles
- Contextualizer: Outlines the global shift from medieval to early-modern governance.
- Thesis Crafter: Builds a defensible “extent” claim.
- Evidence Collector: Finds at least three specific examples.
- Analyst: Adds comparison and complexity.
“No distinction is attached to birth among the Turks; the man whom merit advances is noble. There is no struggle for office but for the favor of the Sultan, and promotion depends on a man's conduct and abilities.”
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – Busbecq’s Turkish Letters
Group Activity – “Bureaucracy in Action”
- Analyze Busbecq’s observation of Ottoman meritocracy.
- Compare to Qing China’s civil service exams and Mughal mansabdari system.
- Construct a comparative chart showing how bureaucratic systems maintained control while adapting local traditions.
Session 3 – DBQ Practice: Legitimizing Power
Prompt
Evaluate the extent to which rulers of land-based empires used political, cultural, or military methods to legitimize and consolidate power (1450–1750).
Documents and Excerpts
- Suleiman the Magnificent, Imperial Decree (Ottoman Empire, 16th c.)
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – Ottoman Documents
- Akbar, Edict on Religious Toleration (Mughal Empire, 1590s)
🔗 Columbia Asia for Educators – Akbar’s Religious Policy
- Father Paul Ragueneau, Jesuit Relations (on Qing China, 17th c.)
🔗 Fordham Internet History Sourcebook – Jesuit Reports on China
Group Activity – “Document Carousel: Power and Faith”
- Set up three stations (Suleiman, Akbar, Ragueneau).
- At each station, identify POV, Purpose, Audience, and Context.
- Groups record how each ruler blends political authority and ideology.
- After rotations, groups synthesize into thematic clusters:
- Justice & Governance → Suleiman
- Religious Policy → Akbar
- Scholarship & Bureaucracy → Qing China
- Draft a thesis using an “extent” framework.
- Cite at least two documents as evidence and one outside example (e.g., Safavid Shi’ism, Tokugawa alternate attendance, St. Basil’s Cathedral).
- Include a complexity statement that contrasts ideological justifications with coercive power.
Session 4 – Synthesis and Reflection: Power Across Empires
Group Activity – “Empire Summit”
Each group represents an empire delegation (Ottoman, Mughal, Qing, Safavid, Russian).
At the “summit,” each delegation presents its argument:
“Our empire’s power rests primarily on ____ (military force, religion, bureaucracy, culture).”
Delegations then debate which model proved most effective for long-term stability.
Excerpt C – Voltaire, Essay on Manners (1756)
“The great empires of Asia were ruled by despotism adorned with the sciences and arts that softened their subjects. Authority was absolute, yet civilization flourished.”
🔗 Project Gutenberg – Essay on Manners by Voltaire
Discussion:
How does Voltaire’s observation reflect both admiration and critique of empire? Where do we see continuity in modern governance structures?
Individual Reflection Prompt:
In a short response (150–200 words), evaluate:
“Between 1450 and 1750, the most powerful empires governed not by sword or faith alone but by administrative order.”
Support with two specific examples from this workshop.
Workshop Deliverables
- SAQ Responses – three short answers and peer feedback.
- LEQ Outline – thesis, context, evidence, complexity.
- DBQ Organizer – document analysis and thematic grouping.
- Empire Blueprint Poster – visual representation of legitimacy.
- Summit Reflection – written synthesis of patterns in empire building.