“By the grace of the Almighty, the gunners and matchlockmen, under the command of Ustad Ali Quli and Mustafa, performed their duties with extreme skill. They fired their mortars and matchlocks from behind the line of carts, which had been chained together in the Ottoman fashion, causing immense terror and devastation among the enemy’s ranks. Our left wing and right wing swept around the enemy, driving them into the center where they were crowded together and easily cut down. Thus, a force that numbered one hundred thousand men was defeated in half a day, and the capital of Hindustan fell into our hands.”
—Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire, memoirs describing the Battle of Panipat, 1526
Which of the following developments in the period 1450–1750 is best illustrated by the passage?
- The diffusion of gunpowder technology and military tactics across Islamic empires to facilitate territorial conquest.Cevap
- BThe reliance of Mughal rulers on the devshirme system to conscript specialized gunpowder infantries.
- CThe successful expansion of the Safavid Empire into South Asia to control lucrative maritime trade networks.
- DThe military decline of Islamic empires in the post-classical era due to political fragmentation following the Mongol invasions.