AP Modern World History Flashcards: Empires: Administration
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Review key ideas with interactive flashcards. This set includes 10 cards to help you master important concepts.
How did rulers use religious ideas to legitimize their rule from 1450-1750?
Rulers used concepts like the European divine right of kings, the Songhai promotion of Islam, or Mexica human sacrifice to justify their power and authority.
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How did rulers use religious ideas to legitimize their rule from 1450-1750?
Rulers used concepts like the European divine right of kings, the Songhai promotion of Islam, or Mexica human sacrifice to justify their power and authority.
Provide two examples of how rulers used art and monumental architecture to legitimize their rule.
Qing emperors used imperial portraits to project power, while Mughal rulers built grand mausolea and European monarchs constructed opulent palaces like Versailles.
Contrast the tax collection methods of the Ming Dynasty and the Mexica Empire.
The Ming Dynasty innovated by collecting taxes in hard currency, while the Mexica Empire relied on extensive tribute lists from conquered peoples.
What is the 'divine right' of kings?
This was a European religious and political doctrine asserting that a monarch's legitimacy and right to rule came directly from the will of God.
What was the primary purpose for rulers in land-based empires (1450-1750) to recruit bureaucratic elites and develop professional militaries?
Rulers used these methods to maintain centralized control over their populations and resources, ensuring loyalty to the state.
What was the Ottoman devshirme system?
It was a system where the Ottoman Empire recruited military professionals and bureaucratic elites from Christian populations to serve the state.
How did the Mughal Empire's zamindar system work to collect revenue?
The Mughals used zamindars, a bureaucratic elite class, for tax collection, allowing the state to generate revenue to forward its power.
What is tax farming?
Tax farming is a system of revenue collection where rulers contract private individuals to collect taxes for the state, as practiced in the Ottoman Empire.
What was the main goal of implementing tribute collection and tax farming systems in land-based empires?
The main goal was to generate revenue in order to forward state power and finance imperial expansion.
Identify three distinct methods rulers used between 1450-1750 to consolidate and legitimize power.
Rulers used bureaucratic elites and professional militaries for control, religious ideas and monumental architecture for legitimacy, and tax farming or tribute for revenue.