11/2/2010 Today – Ottoman Culture

HW – p. 606 - Read “Power and Culture Under the Mughals” • List any evidence of continuity, destruction,

diffusion, syncretism

Chapter 14Cultures of Splendor and Power

1500 - 1780•As global connections increased due to international migrations and empire building, cultures were affected in different ways.

•How did the Ottomans, Mughals, Chinese, Japanese, and American societies respond culturally to heterogeneity within and contact with foreign peoples?

1. What is culture?2. When do we know we are witnessing it?3. Why is it important?

Culture- refers to the…• cumulative deposit of knowledge and Experience • Material objects and possessions• beliefs, values, and attitudes• Roles and hierarchies• meanings, religion, notions of time, spatial relations, and

concepts of the universe• …acquired by a group of people in the course of

generations through individual and group striving. It is NOT a static, unchanging phenomenon. It is a porous, evolving, negotiated

phenomenon and is perceived differently by in-group members and out-group members

What can occur when 2 or more cultures come into

contact? Cultural continuity – A society largely

maintains the practiced culture that existed prior to contact

Cultural destruction – Elements or large portions of a culture are extinguished, either voluntarily or involuntarily

Cultural diffusion – when cultural traits are spread from one culture to the other

Cultural syncretism – combining (sometimes contradictory) traits or elements of 2 or more cultures; often resulting in the creation of something new

Ottoman Culture

Religion Religious diversity

• Accommodated Sufis, Sunnis, Shias, and Ulama

Allowed minority autonomy• Dhimmis – Armenian and

Greek Orthodox Christians, Jews organized into…

• Millets – minority religious communities

3 Systems of Education

1. Administrative Schools – to educate the civil and military bureaucracy• Topkapi palace

2. Religious schools• Young schools• Madrasses

Graduates became Ulama, qadis, muftis, and teachers

3. Sufi Schools • Tekkes

Foreign contributions• Hungarian Ibrahim Muteferrika

(1674-1745) Including Copernicus, Galileo,

Descartes

Art Calligraphy –

Anatolian/Arabic origin

Miniatures – Islamic books

Portraiture • Italian painter Gentile

Bellini Tulip Era

• Sultans• warriors • 1700’s: tiles, fabrics,

public buildings, festivals

Mehmet I

Suleiman

Mirror calligraphy'Ali is the vicegerent (deputy) of God'

Blue Turkish TilesSignature of Mahmad II

Architecture

Suleiman mosquePersian

Seljuk

Byzantine Ottoman

Daily Life Coffeehouses Taverns (wine)

• Dance Carpets – nomadic

origin Jewelry –

Armenian, Jewish Luxury goods:

lemons, soap, pepper, metal tools

Mughals Cultural continuity – .

• Sharia• Little respect for European

knowledge and culture Cultural destruction

• Aurangzeb Cultural diffusion

• Danishmand Khan • Foreign scholars and artists in

courtly life. • Foreign foods• European military technology• Chinese products

Cultural syncretism • Din-il-llahi• Fatehpur Sikri (1571)• Taj Mahal (1630)