The Mamluk Military, Ottoman Military And Gunpowder Weapons

instrument they used is described as an iron tube or vessel that was filled with a powder or

The Muslim army was well trained, disciplined, and capable of defeating any enemy that it encountered in war. Muslim forces were very violent and cruel. The army took countless captives and attacked with the cruelty of raging tigers. (Document 4) Two empires in

The Middle Ages which was known to be a very violent era in our world consisted of multiple weapons. The weapons that were used in this era were determined by the social class that you belonged to. These classes consisted of the lower class which would be the foot soldiers and then the knights. The weapons these two classes had though differed from one another. What types of weapons did each class have and how would these weapons have looked back in the middle age time period?

Kelly DeVries and Robert Douglas Smith. Medieval Military Technology, Second Edition. Toronto. University of Toronto Press Incorporated, 2012. XVIII + 356 pp. Illustrations, bibliographical references, Index. ISBN 978-1-4426-0497-1.

Both the Ottoman and the Mungal empires were not only among the most successful empires but also the greatest empires which have been highly esteemed in the history. The two empires had various military similarities despite the fact that there were many differences which existed. Both of the empires had gone through times of growth as well as prosperity. Despite the fact that Ottoman and Mungal Empire never forced conversions into Islam, the Ottoman Empire was heavily relying on the tough military training. Both of the empires had diverse military strategies that they use to ensure that they ruled throughout Asia, with the Ottoman Empire extending into the European region. My article thus analysis the various military capabilities

century in which Europeans embarked on extensive overseas expeditions. European nations, such as Portugal, Spain, England, and the Netherlands, participated heavily in global trade and set up many trade colonies and routes. Many people will say that the European’s only reason for exploration was to spread Christianity, obtain gold, and gain glory through their conquests and acquisition of lands. Some people might also say that the Ottomans heavily influenced the Europeans to participate in this period of exploration. Although the goals of “God, gold, and glory” are often associated with the Age of Exploration, the Ottoman Empire had a greater influence on the desire of European states to establish overseas empires and employ mercantilist economy

The invention of the powerful artillery guns would change man 's role in warring engagements. The artillery guns at first were very limited by their own design. The guns were very heavy and had to be transported by water, which meant that only towns and fortresses that were close to a body of water could be attacked with artillery also known as the cannon. There were also some fortresses that were impervious to the early cannon attacks based on strong designs or natural defenses. The French were able to penetrate the round shaped castles and large walls during the late 1400s by using concentrated fire of several small guns instead of a few large ones.

First off, I want to touch on the topic of weaponry and how they used it. During the movie, Kingdom of Heaven, they show trebuchets hurtling firing rocks at the walls to Jerusalem, horses armor, and they show Balian being able to fight and kill one Islamic servant after only one training session with his father, Baron Godfrey. Although this makes for a dramatic and exciting film, it just is not accurate and that makes many historians just shake their heads.

In any time period, wars rely heavily on having weapons at one’s own disposal. During the colonial era, the main weapon used in war were muskets. Although Muskets were relied upon, muskets were slow to be made, and repairs were timely.There was no system for making “batches” of muskets. Each musket was individually made by a gunsmith where each part fits only that specific musket. A man named Eli Whitney, born in Westborough, Massachusetts, 1765, changed that. Whitney innovated the musket making system, making parts interchangeable from one musket to another. This made musket making and repairs less costly and more speedy, inspired machinists to make interchangeable parts for other products, and paved the way for mass production.

Empires of the fifteenth and eighteenth century like spanning from Egypt, Iran, and Gujarat are covered under the denomination of “Gunpowder Empires” or Islamic empires. According to Traditions and Encounters, “The creation of these durable and powerful political entities brought to an end a century and a half of Muslim political disunity. ”(Pg. 610) Giving a look to this quote, the government administration derived a chain of events that abolished more than a century of political disunity. The “Gunpowder Empires” captured empires or neighboring state that did not adapt to the technological and weaponry changes occurring.

These innovations impacted Egypt in enabling their eventual transformation into a military superpower. G. Steindorff and K. Seele support this theory in asserting that this means of warfare allowed the Egyptians to turn “against the invaders in occupation of their land.” Thus, the technological innovations introduced by the Hyksos impacted Egypt in enabling their development of martial power.

Gunpowder has affected warfare in several different ways since it was discovered in the 11th century. In the several centuries that we’ve known of it, gunpowder has been used in many different ways; explosives, firearms, and sidearms. Even though it was a major breakthrough in science at the time of its discovery, gunpowder had a few drawbacks, which eventually led to the evolution of explosives and propellants for guns. Gunpowder had an incredible effect on warfare since its discovery in the 11th century. During the 11th century, gunpowder changed the way wars were fought, as until that time the weapons used in battle were melee weapons.

Gunpowder is believed to be originated in China, dating back to as early as 142 AD. A man by the name of Wei Boyang writes a substance with the properties of gunpowder, created by alchemist, mixing 3 powders said to be “explosive” in today’s terms. Scientists cannot be certain than this was actual gun powder he wrote of, but no other explosive know is made of only 3 powders. Over the next 700 years references are made to this Chinese gunpowder until finally in the 800’s AD the first confirmed references and formulas using a variety of different proportions of key ingredients - saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal to make the explosive occurred. The Chinese used the powder in military for multiple types of bombs and projectiles much like modern day

The long range infantry weapon of the 1700’s was the musket. The musket is stronger than the bow and arrow. The kinetic energy and momentum of an 18mm musket ball shooting from a Brown Bess musket are 1460 joules and 9.36 kg*m/s. The kinetic energy and momentum of an arrow being shot from a bow are 16.5 joules and 1.15 kg*m/s. The musket ball clearly has a much stronger momentum and kinetic energy than the arrow, which means it has more stopping power. Firearms of the 1700’s also have much greater maximum range than bows and arrows. If a Brown Bess was fired at a forty five degree angle in a frictionless environment, the musket ball would travel 9783 meters. If a bow fired it’s arrow at forty-five degrees in a frictionless environment, it would travel only one hundred and nineteen meters. The musket has more than eighty-two times the maximum range of the bow and arrow. Some might say that bows and arrows are stronger than muskets, but that is not entirely true. Most people refer to muskets and rifles of the eighteen and nineteenth century only as smooth-bore barrel muskets. Muskets barrels later became rifled in the nineteenth century and are much more accurate than their smooth-bore relatives. Not only are muskets more lethal than bows and arrows, but cannons and artillery are more lethal than medieval catapults.

The Ottoman Janissaries were different yet incredibly similar in many ways like the Mongol warriors. Just like the Mongol military, the Ottoman military was also considered to be extremely ruthless to all those that crossed their paths and powerful military forces. The Mongols used terror as a weapon and scare tactic, if the Mongols did keep any prisoners it would be those of whom they considered useful, for example engineers. As for those who were not viewed as an advantage to keep were killed to prove a point, and there was absolutely no question of obedience. Mongols were great warriors due to had psychological warfare and had good management skills. Along with those traits, Mongols did not believe in assimilation. No one was allowed to