Which of the listed empires were named the so-called “Gunpowder Empires”?

The Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires were the three “Gunpowder Empires.” These three empires did not possess firearms before the European powers of the day, but these empires did employ novel methods of utilization and tactics very successfully.

The Ottoman Empire swiftly adopted artillery and small firearms against the Byzantine and other European foes. Their rapid construction and establishment of permanent troops for handling the weapons allowed for successful sieges of Salonica and Constantinople. The cannons developed by the Ottomans were powerful enough to batter the walls of Constantinople in 1453, much to the defenders surprise.

Conflict between the Ottomans and the Persian Safavids forced the Safavid Empire to quickly adopt gunpowder weapons. They used them to counter the Ottomans and also successfully used firearms against invading Uzbeks.

The Mughals employed an Ottoman expert, Ustad Ali Quli, to help them adopt some of the Ottoman methods and tactics. Their first utilization of firearms crushed a numerically superior opponent during the First Battle of Panipat in 1526.

The term was coined by Marshall G.S. Hodgson and his colleague William H. McNeill at the University of Chicago. Hodgson used the phrase in the title of Book 5 ("The Second Flowering: The Empires of Gunpowder Times") of his highly influential three-volume work, “The Venture of Islam” (1974).