How empires emerge

Abstract

The ‘rise and fall’ of empires has become a familiar trope. However, the rise is often taken for granted. The theories of hierarchical emergence we have usually focus on state formation, while studies of empire tend to look at how they are maintained or fall. In this article, I develop a framework for thinking about imperial emergence that goes beyond conquest or expansion. I call it an imperial ‘pincer movement’: empires emerge by simultaneously building direct ties to subject populations and constructing intermediaries. These two processes, legitimation and differentiation, and the feedback between them help convert territorial expansion into imperial logics of rule. Through two case studies – the Portuguese and Mughal empires – I illustrate how the pincer movement can help us make sense of the ways in which religion, trade, rituals and local institutions contributed to these dynamics. By looking at moments of emergence rather than maintenance, I also aim to contribute to debates on hierarchy in International Relations by expanding the conceptual tools we have for understanding how new orders come about.