The 1st Homework assignment will be a "Free Write" on the various elements you will read, watch and listen to on some of the major empires that arose from the devastation brought by the "Black Death." In particular, these were:

1. The Ming Dynasty in China -- will be talked about in lecture and via the Crash Course on 15th century Mariners

2. The Ottoman Empire in Turkey and the Middle East -- in textbook readings, primary documents, will be talked about a little in lecture and in the Crash Course on Venice and the Ottomans

3. The Mughal Empire in India -- in textbook readings and in the Crash Course on the Mughals

4. The Safavid Empire in Persia (Iran) -- in the textbook readings

5. Early Modern Russia -- in the Crash Course on Early Russia

What I want you to do in your Free Write Homework assignment is to discuss AT LEAST TWO of these new empires in the context of the post-Black Death Eurasian world with the Ottomans being REQUIRED. In particular, talk about a couple things you find interesting about those two empires and WHY you find them interesting. When doing this, reference specific materials from the course (i.e. lecture, videos, textbook, or primary documents). Write about 125-150 words or so for this assignment.