Ayan
The wealthy landed elite that emerged in the early decades of Abbasid rule
Selim III
Sultan who ruled Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807; aimed at improving administrative efficiency and building a new army and navy; toppled by Janissaries in 1807
Mahmud II
(1785-1839) Ottoman sultan; built a private, professional army; fomented revolution of Janissaries and crushed them with private army; destroyed power of Janissaries and their religious allies; initiated reform of Ottoman Empire on Western precedents
Tanzimat reforms
Series of reforms in the Ottoman Empire between 1839 and 1876; established Western-style universities, state postal system, railways, extensive legal reforms; resulted in creation of new constitution in 1876
Abdul Hamid
Ottoman sultan who attempted to return to despotic absolutism during reign from 1878 to 1908; nullified constitution and restricted civil liberties; deposed in coup in 1908
Ottoman Society for Union and Progress
Organization of political agitators in opposition to rule of Abdul Harmid; also called the "Young Turks"; desired to restore 1876 constitution.
Murad
(1790-1820) Head of the coalition of Mamluk rulers in Egypt; opposed Napoleonic invasion of Egypt and suffered devastating defeat; failure destroyed Mamluk government in Egypt and revealed vulnerability of Muslim core.
Ali, Muhammad
Won power strugle in Egypt following fall of Mamluks; established mastery of all Egypt by 1811; introduced effective army based on Western tactics and supply and a variety of other reforms; by 1830s was able to challenge Ottoman government in Constantinop
khedives
Descendants of Muhammad Ali in Egypt after 1867; formal rulers of Egypt despite French and English intervention until overthrown by military coup in 1952.
Suez Canal
Built across Isthmus of Suez to connect Mediterranean Sea with Red Sea in 1869; financed by European investors; with increasing indebtedness of khedives, permitted intervention of British into Egyptian politics to protect their investment
al-Afghani
Muslim thinker at the end of the 19th century; stressed need for adoption of Western scientific learning and technology; recognized importance of tradition of rational inquiry.
Abduh, Muhammad
Disciple of al-Afghani; Muslim thinker at end of 19th century; stressed need for adoption of Western scientific learning and technology, recognized importance of tradition of rational inquiry
Ahmad Arabi
(1841-1911) Egyptian military officer who led a revolt against Turkic dominance in the army in 1882, which forced the Khedival regime to call in British forces for support.
Khartoum
River town that was administrative center of Egyptian authority in Sudan.
Ahmad, Muhammad
Head of a Sudanic Sufi brotherhood; claimed descent from prophet Muhhammad; proclaimed both Eygptians and British as infidels; launched revolt to purge Islam of impurities; took Khartoum in 1883; also know as the Mahdi
Mahdi
In Sufi belief system, a promise deliverer; also a name given to Muhammad Achmad, leader of late 19th century revolt against Egyptians and British in the Sudan
Abdallahi, Khalifa
Successor of Muhammad Achmad as leader of Mahdists in Sudan; established state in Sudan; defeated by British General Kitchener in 1598.
Nurhaci
(1559-1626) Architect of Manchu unity; created distinctive Manchu banner armies; controlled most of Manchuria; adopted Chinese bureaucracy and court ceremonies in Manchuria; entered China and successfully captured Ming capital at Beijing.
banner armies
Eight armies of the Manchu tribes identified by separate flags; created by Nurhaci in early 17th century; utilized to defeat Ming emperor and establish Qing dynasty.
Qing
Manchu dynasty that seized control of China in mid-17th century after decline of Ming; forced submission of nomadic peoples far to the west and compelled tribute from Vietnam and Burma to the south
Kangxi
Confucian scholar and Manchu emperor of Qing dynasty from 1661 to 1722; established high degree of Sinification among the Manchus
compradors
Wealthy new group of Chinese merchants under the Qing dynasty; specialized in the import-export trade on Chian's south coast; one of the major links between China and the outside world
Opium War
Fought between the British and Qing China beginning in 1839; fought to protect British trade in opium; resulted in resounding British victory, opening of Hong Kong as British port of trade
Lin Zexu
(1785-1850) Distinguished Chinese official charged with stamping out opium trade in southern China; ordered blockade of European trading areas in Canton and confiscation of opium; sent into exile following the Opium War
Taiping Rebellion
Broke out in south China in the 1850s and early 1860s; led by Hong Xiuquan, a semi-Christianized prophet; sought to overthrow Qing dynasty and Confucian basis of scholar-gentry
Hong Xiuquan
(1812-1864) leader of the Taiping rebellion; converted to specifically Chinese form of Christianity; attacked traditional Confucian teachers of Chinese elite
Zeng Guofan
Qing official who raised effective military forces against the Taiping assault on Northern China
self-strengthening movement
late 19th century movement in China to counter the challenge from the West; led by provincial leaders
Cixi
Ultraconservative dowager empress who dominated the last decades of the Qing dynasty; supported Boxer Rebellion in 1898 as a means of driving out Westerners.
Boxer Rebellion
popular outburst in 1898 aimed at expelling foreigners from china; failed because of intervention of armies of western powers in china; defeat of chinese enhanced control by europeans and the power of provincial officials
Sun Yat-sen
Head of Revolutionary Alliance, organization that led 1911 revolt against Qing dynasty in China; briefly elected president in 1911, but yielded in favor of Yuan Shikai in 1912; created Nationalist party of China (Guomindang) in 1919; died in 1925
Puyi
Last emperor of China; deposed as emperor while still a small boy in 1912