The Muslim Empires

Chapter 21: Summary and Review

Foundation and Overview

• Mongol conquests of the 13th and 14th centuries destroyed remaining Muslim unity in southern Asia

• Three new empires emerged: Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal

• All had strong militaries and gunpowder technology

• All had absolute monarchies and agrarian economies

Ottoman Empire: Beginning• Nomadic Turks who came to power following the Mongol defeat of the Seljuks

• 1453- Defeat Constantinople• Eventually spread throughout Anatolia,

Balkans, Eastern Europe (up to Vienna), Arabia, and Northern Africa

Ottoman Military Might• Society was heavily geared for

warfare• Turkic horsemen became the warrior

aristocracy ruling the empire controlling land and peasants they conquered

• Janissaries- elite gunpowder troops made up of boys conscripted from conquered Christian peoples come to dominate the military by the mid 16th century

Ottoman Government

• Absolute monarchy, loses touch with people over time

• Lacked clear rules for succession political turmoil and eventual decline of empire

• Sultans advised by viziers, rule huge bureaucracy

• Kept factions fighting against each other

Ottoman Culture

• Religiously tolerant: Christians and Jews considered “People of the Book”

• Merchants came to hold great power• Istanbul become important international center

of trade• Sultans beginning with Suleyman the

Magnificent, build mosques and other public works to beautify city and leave their mark

Ottoman Problems Decline

• Empire grows to big to be maintained• Problems with succession weaken government,

made worse by series of poor rulers• Siege of Vienna weakens military and drains

treasury• Oppressed peasants begin to revolt or flee

empire• Janissaries, hoping to maintain power block

attempts at reform

Ottoman Military Defeats

• 1571- Battle of Lepanto, lose control of Indian Ocean trade to joint Spanish-Portuguese fleet

• 1688- Siege of Vienna, Ottoman repelled, beginning of the end

Safavid Empire Formed• 1501- Isma’il as Sufi mysitic and

descendant of Sail al-Din established capital at Tabriz and names himself Shah

• Begin expanding• 1514- Battle of Chaldiran- defeated by

Ottoman, stops westward expansion of shi’ism

Safavid Politics and War

• Absolute monarchy, restored by Tasmaph I in 1534

• Abbas the Great- – rules during golden Age (1589-1627) –brought some Turkic warriors under

control – recruited Persians into bureaucracy–created elite gunpowder troops made up

of conquered Russian peoples (similar to Janissaries)

Safavid Culture• Originally wrote in Turkish, but

changed to Persian following the Battle of Chaldiran

• Create elaborate court based on Persian traditions

• Religious leaders and teachers grow in power and importance as Shi’ism spreads through empire

• Produced beautiful silk textiles• New capital built in Isfahan

Decline of the Safavid

• Abbas I kills his successors series of weak leaders

• Internal power struggles more weakness• 1722- Isfahan falls to Afghan raiders• 1736- Even Nadir Shah Afshar unable to

rally the empire

Ottoman and Safavid Compared

Similarities• Initially dominated by

warrior aristocracy• Oppression and turmoil

caused peasants to flee and rebel

• Encouraged trade and domestic production

• Women subordinate to men, lose power over time

Differences• Ottoman more

market driven• Safavid land

locked, limits trade

Mughals Establish an Empire in India

• Babur descendant of Tamerlain invades India in 1526 seeking wealth, get stuck and decide to stay

• by 1528 control most of the Indus and Ganges region

• Worked to reconcile problems with Hindu majority, religious toleration– Encouraged intermarriage– Ended special tax on Hindus– Respected most Hindu traditions– Granted land to Hindu and Muslim warriors in

return for loyalty• Din-i-ilahi- Universal faith, encourages

respect of all peoples’ beliefs

Akbar the Great

• Encourages social reforms like limiting alcohol

• Encourages widow remarriage while discouraging child marriage, tries to ban Sati, even tries to create special market day for women

• Most reforms not lasting, peasants continue to live in poverty, later rulers reverse religious toleration, women lose rights (daughters unlucky, child marriage resumes)

Mughal Achievements

• Many rulers were patrons of the arts–Painting workshops for miniatures–Textile and rug production–Great architectural works (Taj Mahal)

Mughal Decline

• 1707- Aurangzeb reverses religious toleration, drains treasury and weakens military and government bureaucracy

• Marattas and Sikh rebellions• Regional lords gain power as central

government declines• Foreign powers step in to gain land as

Mughal empire declines

Gunpowder Empires

• All three empires gain power with help of nomadic warriors

• Firearms became decisive in battle, ie) Chaldiran

• Governments used military technology to change the organization of their empires, warrior aristocray lose power as governments build professional armies

• All three empires ignored the growing threat of European expansion and military might

• Ignored or blocked European innovations• Lost international trade routes to

Europeans• European gold inflation