Introduction

1. Early empires in the Afro-Eurasia strategized on how they could retain power in different ways.
2. Thesis

Early empires maintained power through the banning of freedom of expression, introducing economic reforms, establishing political status, social class differences as well as conquering neighboring states to become powerful.

How early empires maintained power

1. Qin

• Qin conquered neighboring states and established the Qin Dynasty
• Qin Shi Huangdi attained power and banned the freedom of expression (Khan Academy).
• He prohibited all historian records except for those in the state of Qin
• He threatened to execute anyone who criticized his leadership. Therefore people lived in fear, and he continued to maintain his position (Khan Academy).
• Qin Shi Huangdi used Confucianism philosophy to rule people. He believed that he was superior people had to obey him.
• He established an imperial bureaucracy to rule the peasantry directly
• Many people were victims of his wickedness, but those who reported crime received the reward
• The lawbreakers were executed; thus people reduced the chances of going against the established laws.
• It was during this period that the construction of The Great Wall of China took place.
• The Wall was meant to protect the Qin Dynasty from attack by the warring states
• Qin Shi also maintained power by controlling the process of minting coins as well as standardizing measures and weights (Khan Academy).
• The most notable example is when he created a standard length of a cart axel to ensure that all the trade wagons moved in the same while channel while in the road. He could, therefore, maintain trade activities and controlled the economic status of China
• He also demanded the establishment of a common language in China and abolished other languages. It was somehow an excellent strategy to understand what his critiques said about him, therefore, could have evidence to punish them thus remaining the most powerful man in China (Khan Academy). He also visited the immortal land to find the lingzhi mushroom which could grant him eternal life. Therefore, he could rule forever.

1. Assyrians

• The warrior Kings led the Assyrians in Mesopotamia.
• The whole Assyrian society was military, and men had an obligation to fight to protect the empire.
• The Assyrians were brutal and forced their enemies to retreat as they burned down their houses, cut their entire orchards and salted the fields. Therefore, they could no longer practice farming.
• Assyrians acquired excess wealth thus became more powerful than their neighboring states thus could not conquer them and remove the Assyrians in power.

1. Persians

• The leader of the Persian Empire was Cyrus the Great. He strategized on maintaining power by using religion and cultural tolerance in maintaining law and order (Khan Academy).
• Darius the Great later expanded Persian Empire and introduced standard currency to control the Persian economy.
• He also had provincial governors who were to rule different small regions on his behalf, therefore, becoming a great leader (Davidson).
• Darius acquired more wealth and power and built a new capital city named Persepolis thus extending his authority to different regions around the Empire.

1. Egyptians

• There was the divine kingship in which the Egyptians believe that their rule received power from the gods (Davidson).
• Egyptians used hieroglyphics to document all the activities regarding resource mobilization of large scale resources
• The leaders were powerful and could manage resources better than other civilians
• The leaders, therefore, facilitated the development of the project that would lead to increased agricultural production.
• There were the elites who were powerful and wealthy individuals who contributed to the division between the common people and powerful people (Davidson).
• Egypt thus maintained power through established classes of individuals.

1. Vedic society

• The Vedic society came into existence during the period of Rig Vedic in India.
• People could freely move and engage in different professions thus appreciated their leaders.
• They engaged in several economic activities such as agriculture, pottery, carpentry, and metal working (Davidson).
• They also engaged in a trade thus acquired wealth and powerful than their enemies thus maintained power.

Conclusion

Most early empires maintained their power by leaders being viewed as powerful thus others had no obligation but to obey them. The economic reforms different political status and social class made the empires powerful, and they could also conquer neighboring states.

Bibliography

Davidson P. Empire. (2009). Retrieved on March 24, 2019, from https://www.ancient.eu/empire/

This article provides detailed information about the ancient empires and defines the empire for easy understanding. The author also provides examples of empires such as the Egyptians and Assyrians and discusses them further thus revealing how they maintained power.

Khan Academy. Comparing the Rise and Fall of Empires. Retrieved on March 24, 2019, from

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-states-and-empires/a/rise-and-fall-of-empires

The article first gives an overview of the empire then provides the comparison with on different empires and the factors that contributed to their rise to power and fall. It is through these factors that one can understand how these empires maintained power.