Victory, Conquest, and Governance: Imperial Consolidation in the Gunpowder Empires
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Date
2011-10-19
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Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies
Abstract
The establishment of empire always required more than military success. Military victory, the elimination of direct competition for control of a particular territory, only began the process of transforming that territory into an orderly and productive province. Conquest required the establishment of governance. Governance required the active participation, not merely the passive consent, not only the indigenous elites that remained in place but of the general population. The terms of the initial establishment of governance defined the polities. The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals established governance in difference ways; their regimes penetrated into the societies to different degrees. But for all three empires, military success was only the beginning of establishment and expansion.
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Keywords
military, victory, international relations