“Gunpowder” Empires

Why was the West Advancing?

• How did the Renaissance contribute?• How did the Reformation contribute?• How did Exploration & Absolutism

contribute?

Why did China fall behind?• What factors led to China not

dominating the West?

Why The West Was Advancing

• Renaissance– Humanism & the individual, classicism, secularism

• Reformation– Questioning (due to Middle Ages)– Competition for followers, missionary work

• Exploration & Absolutism– Spread of influence– Wealth from empire– Expansion of navy & army– Individual competition, national competition– Gain of knowledge (technology, science, medicine)

Why China Fell Behind

• No exploration, expansion of influence• No competition for wealth, power (no

need to enhance military, navy)• No foreign influence (new tech.,

knowledge)

The Anatolian Turks• No central power• “ghazis” or warriors for Islam• Military societies led by emir, or

chief commander• Strict Islamic code of

conduct• Raided territories of

“infidels”

Osman’s State• a.k.a. Othman – most successful

ghazi– Followers known as Ottomans

• Military use of gunpowder– Replaced archers on horseback

w/musket-carrying foot-soldiers– Among the 1st to use cannons as

weapons of attack

Ottoman Conquest• Osman’s son Orkhan I

declared himself sultan (“overlord”, “one with power”)

• Ottomans acted kindly towards conquered people– Local officials appointed by

sultan– Improved the lives of

peasants

Tamerlane• Timur the Lame =

rebellious warrior from Samarkand in C. Asia– Europeans called him

Tamerlane

• Burned Baghdad & crushed Ottoman forces at Battle of Ankara (1402)

• This defeat halted Ottoman expansion

Summary Questions• How was the Anatolian Turk

society organized?• Why was Osman’s military

successful?• How did the Ottomans treat the

people they conquered?• What was the significance of

Tamerlane?

Siege of Constantinople• Mehmed II (“the

Conqueror”) “Give me Constantinople!”

• Constantinople dominated Bosporous Strait– Having control of this

waterway meant controlling trade & transportation between Ottoman territories

The End of the Byzantine Empire

“Golden Horn”

Siege of Constantinople

• 1453 – began firing cannons on city walls• Turkish fleet dragged 70 ships over hill on

greased runners• Attacked Constantinople from two sides• After 7 weeks, Turks found break in wall

& entered city• Mehmed II opened Constantinople to new

citizens of many religions & backgrounds– Jews, Christians, Muslims, Turks, non-Turks

helped rebuild city, now known as Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia - interior

Ottomans & Islam• Selim the Grim defeated Safavids of

Persia• Conquered holiest cities of Islam

Mecca & Medina• Captured Cairo, the intellectual

center of Muslim world

Suleyman• Suleyman “the

Magnificent” • Great military leader

– Dominated Mediterranean– Controlled trade routes

• Moved northward into Hungary & Austria– Threatened central Europe

• Most powerful monarch of the time

Suleyman the Lawgiver

• Created law code to handle both criminal and civil actions– Simplified system of taxation – Reduced gov’t bureaucracy

• Bettered the daily life of almost every citizen

Summary Questions• What was the advantage to taking

Constantinople?• How was Mehmed II able to conquer

Constantinople?• What was the significance of

Mehmed’s military conquests?• Why was Suleyman given the name

“lawgiver”? Specific reasons

Structured Social Organization

• Palace bureaucracy staffed by 20,000 personal slaves

• Policy of devshirme army drafted boys from conquered Christian territories– Educated, converted to

Islam, trained as soldiers• Elite force of 30,000 soldiers

known as janissaries were trained to be loyal to sultan only

• Christian families sometimes bribed officials to take their children

Structured Social Organization

• Suleyman required to follow Islamic law– Granted freedom of worship to other religious

communities

• Treated communities as millets or nations– The heads of the millets reported back to

sultan– Minimized conflict between various religions

Cultural Flowering• Suleyman studied poetry,

history, geography, astronomy, mathematics, architecture

• Employed Sinan, one of world’s finest architects, to build Mosque of Suleyman– Complex w/domes, includes

four schools, library, bath, hospital

• Art & literature flourished• Painters & poets used

foreign influences to express Ottoman ideas

Why Didn’t Ottomans Dominate the West?• Military weakness

– Europeans were surpassing Muslim technologies (navy)

– Collapse of janissary system – too involved in politics

– Tamerlane halts expansion– Failure at Vienna

• Political weakness– Series of ineffective rulers– No expansion of influence, exploration

• Economic weakness– No dominance on trade

• Other weaknesses = no new technology/medicine

Ottomans exist until WWI

Summary Questions• What were the advantages of the devshirme system for the sultan?

• What was the importance of Suleyman’s religious tolerance?

• Which cultural achievements of Suleyman’s reign were similar to the European Renaissance?

• What factors led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire?

Safavid Empire

Isma’il & Islam• Forced conversion (to

Shi’ite sect), attacked Sunni• Defeated by Ottomans

Safavid Golden Age• Shah Abbas• Reformed military• New capital Esfahan• Reformed gov’t

– Punished corruption

• Religious toleration– Welcomed Christian religious

leaders

• Cultural blending– Chinese potters, Armenian

woven carpets

Decline of Safavids

• Weak or ineffective, corrupt, cruel leaders– Assassinations

• Attacks from Ottomans, Afghans

Main Points

• What similarities do you see between the “Golden Ages” of both the Ottomans & Safavids? What brings an empire to its height?

• What factors led to the decline of these empires? Why didn’t they dominate the West?