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
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
Young Turks
Young rebellious people in the Ottoman Empire who forced the Sultan to reform
Mamluks
Under the Islamic system of military slavery, Turkic military slaves who formed an important part of the armed forces of the Abbasid Caliphate of the ninth and tenth centuries. Mamluks eventually founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria (1250-1517)
Murad
defeated Serbs in Battle of Kosovo, established capital at Edirne, began Janissaries
Muhammad Ali
Leader of Egyptian modernization in the early nineteenth century; ruled Egypt as an Ottoman governor, but had imperial ambitions; descendants ruled Egypt until overthrown in 1952
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
Ship canal dug across the isthmus of Suez in Egypt, designed by Ferdinand de Lesseps. It opened to shipping in 1869 and shortened the sea voyage between Europe and Asia. Its strategic importance led to the British conquest of Egypt in 1882
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
Muhammad Abduh
Egyptian intellectual who launched modern Islamic reform movement; said Islam should return to purity of earliest, most essential doctrines, but still flexible and reasoned approach to change and foreign social ideas
Ahmad Orabi
Student of Muhammad Abduh; led revolt in 1882 against Turkish influence in Egyptian army; forced Khedive to call on British army for support
Khartoum
River town that was administrative center of Egyptian authority in Sudan
Muhammad Achmad
also know as mahdi; head of a sudanic sufi brotherhood; claimed descendent from prophry muhammad; proclaimed both egyptians and british as infidels; launched revolt to purge islam of impurities; took khartoum in 1883
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
Khalifa Abdallahi
Successor of Muhammad Achmad as leader of Mahdists in Sudan; established state in Sudan; defated by British General Kitchener in 1598
Nurhaci
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
Gained formal control of government at the age of 16; an intelectual prodigy who mastered classical Chinese, Manchu, and Mongolian at an early age
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
War between Britain and the Qing Empire that was, in the British view, occasioned by the Qing government's refusal to permit the importation of opium into its territories. The victorious British imposed the one-sided Treaty of Nanking on China.
Taiping Rebellion
(1854-1868) peasant led 14 year-long rebellion in China; demanded equality, no private propery, dividing of harvest
Hong Xiuquan
leader of the Taiping rebellion; converted to specifically Chinese form of Christianity; attacked traditional Confucian teachers of Chinese elite
Self-strengthening Movement
The Dowgar Empress's program to update China's educational system, diplomatic service and military; mixed results; China learned how to make their own war ships
Cixi
Conservative dowager empress who dominated the last decades of the Qing dynasty
Boxer Rebellion
1899 rebellion in Beijing, China started by a secret society of Chinese who opposed the "foreign devils"; ended by British troops
Sun Yat-sen
Chinese physician and political leader who aimed to transform China with patriotic, democratic, and economically progressive reforms
Puyi
Last emperor of China; deposed as emperor while still a small boy in 1912