Muslim Empires

Or the Middle East under the Turks and the Persians >>>> It’s Istanbul

Not Constantinople…….

The Big three of the Muslim Empires

• Between 1400s and 1800s three Muslim Empires: the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire and the Mogul Empire; conquered and controlled much of Eastern Europe, central Asia and India respectively

• Strong leaders used powerful armies to amass key territories across major trade routes, and in doing so, helped to spread the religion and culture of Islam

Ottoman Empire • Formed in the late 1200s Turkish clans began to unite and carve out an Empire for

itself.• Called themselves Ottoman Turks after their first leader Osman (1299-

1326)

Settled in parts of Asia Minor (present day Turkey, Eastern Europe) and conquered territory from the declining Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)

• Made Constantinople their capital, renamed it Istanbul • Had very strong army and navy, • navy was defeated in battle of Lepanto in 1571, with Christian Fleet under

leadership of Phillip II of Spain but was rebuilt and remained a sea power until the 1700s….

• Was ruled by a Sultan (political ruler) who was also a caliph(religious ruler)• By the end of their rule in the 1900s they had territory across Eastern Europe, the

Balkan Peninsula, North Africa and the Middle East

The Ottoman Empire under Suleiman (1520-1566)

Suleiman 1st• Was one of the early Ottoman rulers who expanded the Ottoman Empire,

(ruled 1520-1566)• Called the “lawgiver” multitalented, skills in the military tactics,

administration and was a patron of the arts• Had a well trained bureaucracy and army under him to run the Empire,

chief advisor was called a grand vizier.• Ottomans recruited officers from among the conquered peoples

of their empire as a way of ensuring loyalty and integration of their empire

• One group of especially effective fighters/officers recruited from the Christian families of the Balkans called janissaries. Families were required by the Ottomans to give up their young (age 6) sons to serve in the Ottoman army as elite trained forces.

• Janissaries were well trained in brutal fashion but allowed the best foods and luxuries as they were trained for war

Ottoman Law/decline• Ottomans ruled a diverse group of people from Muslims in the Middle East and

North Africa and Central Asia, to Christians from the Balkans region of Southeastern Europe.

• Conquered peoples included Arabs, Greeks, Albanians, Slavs Armenians and even Jews

• Population divided into three classes: ruling class of the Sultan’s family and high government officials; the nobility which ran agricultural estates; and the largest group: the peasants to work on those estates

• Ottoman Law allowed Non-Muslims to practice their faith and choose their own community leaders to run their communities called millets

• Ottoman emp. Declined after 1600 as the Ottomans began to fight off both the Persians to the east and the Europeans to the West

• In 1800s Groups such as the Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians and Romanians began to rebel and break away from ottoman rule

• Last major battle/loss for Ottoman conquest took Place on 1683 as the Turks sieged Vienna but wereDefeated by the Polish relief army under King John III Sobieski

Siege of Vienna Left us Islamic free in Europe and an eye opening drink!