gunpowder empires compared

Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Empires - ComparedEmpires - Compared

Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Empires: comparedEmpires: compared

• They were Islamic.• They existed at about the same time –

Suleiman, Abbas I, Akbar were the rulers at the height of each empire and were contemporaries.

CAPITALSCAPITALSOttoman MughalOttoman Mughal

• Bursa then Istanbul

• Delhi

The Red FortSulimaniye Mosque

Safavid - IsfahanSafavid - Isfahan

Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Empires: comparedEmpires: compared

• They were Military Empires &

“Gunpowder Empires”

Ottoman Cannon 1600s

Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Empires: comparedEmpires: compared

• They were Military Empires & “Gunpowder Empires”

• Each had a centralized government with a Sultan, Shah, or Emperor as the key leader

• Bureaucracies managed the empires (Ottoman bureaucracy was the most extensive).

Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Empires: comparedEmpires: compared

• Each had Slavery as an institution – nonMuslims were slaves but the

status of slaves varied widely

Concubines of India

Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Ottoman, Safavid, & Mughal Empires: comparedEmpires: compared

Factors of Decline were similar –

• Inflation & Taxation of the lower classes

• The Land-Grant system (land given to military officers but not hereditary) limited development

• Weak rulers

Religious IntoleranceReligious Intolerance

• Religious minorities were persecuted at times – Sunnis, Shi’a, Sikhs, others

• non-Muslims paid higher taxes

• They launched missionary efforts and reforms aimed at religious nonconformists

Religious ToleranceReligious Tolerance

• Government positions were available to outsiders and nonMuslims

• Christians and Jews and their communities were given special status

• Some reforms were made to benefit nonMuslims