What is a “gunpowder empire”? You might imagine soldiers armed with guns and cannon. This firepower allows rulers to conquer small kingdoms. In time, they create large empires and rule them at gunpoint.

That image is partly true. Historians William H. McNeill and Marshall G.S. Hodgson created the term “gunpowder empires.” They knew that three large empires emerged in central Asia around the same time. They were the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid Empire, and the Mughal Empire. These two historians wanted to know how these Islamic empires became so strong. They decided these empires grew and gained power from using weapons that used gunpowder.

But gunpowder wasn’t the only reason for their success. The three empires also developed some really powerful political tools. We will discuss both gunpowder and these new political tools.

Gunpowder and authority in the three Islamic empires

Gunpowder solved a major problem for rulers. In the 1400s, it was difficult to govern a large area. People still traveled overland by horse and camel. That made it difficult for rulers to travel long distances, which made it hard to govern large empires effectively. To work around this problem most Eurasian rulers made agreements with local nobles. The nobles were allowed to govern parts of the kingdom in their ruler’s name. In exchange, they agreed to serve and protect the ruler.

The problem is that when you give people power, they often want to keep it. Those local nobles built castles. They also trained skilled soldiers. Protected by armies and castle walls, the nobles could do what they wanted. For a while, the rulers didn’t have a way to deal with this problem.

Then, gunpowder changed things. First, gunpowder weapons were expensive. In fact, local nobles usually couldn’t afford them. Only sultans, kings, and emperors could pay for large numbers of musket guns and cannon. Second, cannon could reduce the walls of a castle to rubble. Finally, even peasants with little training could use muskets to destroy the nobles’ trained soldiers who had swords. Gunpowder brought a huge increase in power for the rulers. This was true in each of the three large Islamic states of the era.

Political technologies and historical events

So, gunpowder was clearly important. Yet, something else was even more important: advances in governance. These new “political technologies” weren’t physical things. Instead, they were ideas and ways of organizing the empire. They allowed a central government to rule over a big area.

First, the history. Each of the three central Asian empires emerged after the Mongol Empire collapsed during the fourteenth century, or 1300s. They all relied on tools of governance developed by the Mongols. These included the first of our political technologies: bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are large groups of government workers. These officials are paid by the central government. As a result, they are usually more loyal to the central government than to local powers, like nobles. Bureaucracies developed permanent, organized government agencies. Government officials built and maintained roads. They had police forces. They made sure food was distributed. Each of the gunpowder empires developed bureaucracies. This made them stronger and better able to rule larger areas.

Now, let’s look at a second important political technology: the alliance between rulers and religious officials. An alliance is when two sides work together to accomplish a goal. The Ottoman sultans had alliances with religious Muslim judges, who were called qadi. The Safavid rulers, meanwhile, worked closely with Shi’ite Muslim scholars to convert Sunni Muslims in Persia to Shi’ite Islam. These alliances with religious figures strengthened rulers’ control and made it easier for them to rule over large areas.

Ottoman and Safavid rulers made most of their subjects follow one religion. But rulers of gunpowder empires had to learn to rule areas where different religions existed. The Muslim Mughal rulers offer one example. They ruled over a population that was mostly Hindu. In addition, there were also large Buddhist and Muslim communities. Sultans sponsored Muslim mosques and relied on Muslim religious judges. However, some of the Mughal rulers were also very tolerant and accepting of other faiths.

The gunpowder emperors continued to rely on some local nobles. However, they took steps to tighten their control. The Mughal sultans, for example, created a set of military commanders known as the mansabdari. These commanders had to visit court often to prove their loyalty. Ottoman rulers also worked to keep their nobles, or sipahi, reliant on the sultan. These nobles had to do yearly military service in order to keep their power.

Beyond the three main gunpowder empires

Later historians noted that other parts of Eurasia experienced similar changes to those of the three gunpowder empires. Also, these changes occurred around the same time. The government of Russia began using gunpowder weapons to ensure its power. So did the government of Qing Dynasty China. In Russia, the government also made an alliance with the Orthodox Church. Meanwhile, China created the most advanced bureaucracy of the age. Further east, guns were making an impact in Japan. To the south, guns were being used in Morocco and other North African states.

Huge changes were also taking place in Europe. While there wasn’t a single vast empire there, many of the same trends can be seen. European kings and queens were centralizing power in their own hands. They were using cannon and muskets to weaken the power of their landholding nobles. Places like France and England were forming permanent systems of government run by bureaucratic professionals. French and English rulers were also making alliances with Christian religious leaders.

The invention of firearms certainly played a role in the growth of various major empires. But that wasn’t the whole story. The rise of bureaucracy and the alliances forged between rulers and religion were even more important changes. These developments were two of the most central features of the period.