Muslim Empires

The Gunpowder

Empires1450-1750

Three DynastiesThree Dynasties• Why had Muslim unity dissolved?

–Mongol invasion of the 13th and 14th century

• New dynastic empires:• Ottomans – peaked in the 17th

century’

• Safavids – Persia and Afghanistan

• Mughals (Mogul) - India

The Ottoman Empire

The Fall of Constantinople, 1453

Mehmed II’s Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Ottoman Dominance• Turkic people who took over after the

Mongols defeated the Seljuks• 1453 captured Constantinople – Sultan

Mehmed II• Extended to include Middle East (Selim I)• North Africa, southeastern Europe

(Suleiman)• Invaded Vienna in the 16th and 17th

century / also conflicts with Venice• Vast navy superiority in Mediterranean

Ottomans: military• Early warrior aristocracy = Turkic

Horseman (eg: feudal nobility/askeri)

• Warrior class built up power by seizing land

• conscripted youth from conquered lands - janissaries

• janissaries expanded under Sultan Selim I

• Greatest expansion/height under Sultan Suleiman “the Lawmaker”

Devshirme -Recruitment of the Children

Sultans and Court

• Absolute Monarchs who focused on maintaining justice (adala)

• Large bureaucracies were formed that involved every ruler and son

• There were vague principles of imperial succession which led to strife

• new sultan would often execute brothers – later imprisonment

Ottoman GovernmentOttoman Government

• Sultan – Absolute Power – Caliph – Islamic Orthodoxy

• ’adala - justice

• Kanuna – body of law; Shari’a +

• Diwan – “couch”; Close advisory council to Sultan; vizier- chief minister

• Ulama Courts – Religious Courts

• Firman: Public declarations of laws and taxes

Important Sultans

• Mehmed II – conq. Constantinople

• Selim I – conq. Syria & Egypt

• Suleiman Kanuni/ the Magnificient – huge gain in Europe

• <Selim II / the drunkard>

• Kara Mustafa – attempted conquest of Austria again ---lost

Flowering Culture• Constantinople became the capital of

empire as Istanbul

• Hagia Sophia turned into a mosque – model for other Turkish mosques

• Artisan classes were very important

• Turkish language legacy by the late 17th century

• Artistic legacy in poetry, ceramics, carpet, and architecture

Ottoman Weaknesses• Too extensive; but slow…..decline• New territory became less available which

slowed growth• Corrupt bureaucracy and regional officials

used money for personal gain• Oppressed peasants led revolts and/or left

land• Civil strife increased and military efficiency

deteriorated• Conflicts with Venice/ Portuguese/Spain

Ottoman Decline• Spanish-Venetian naval victory in 1571

• Muslims lost control of eastern Africa to Portuguese

• Commercial decline was aggravated by inflation caused by New World bullion led to commercial decline

• Religious leaders blocked western inspired innovation

• Weaker, lazier less attentive Sultans

• 1663 – invasion of Vienna – eventually thwarted

• --Parthenon blown up by the Venetians

• 1699 – Peace of Karlowitz – Austria took Hungary & Transylvania

• Wars with Russia continual

Ottoman & Safavid Empires, c. 1683

Safavids

• Muslims in Azerbaijan region (probably Azeri) fought to purify and spread Islam to Turkic peoples – started out as a religious order

• Warrior groups called: quizilbash

• 1501 – Ismail seized Tabriz and was proclaimed Shah

• Was defeated at Chaldiran in 1514 by the Ottomans –

THE GUNPOWDER AGE

Safavid dynasty

State and Religion

• Shah Ismail – instituted forced conversion to Shi’ite Islam

• Shi’ite religious establishment in each city

• Actively anti-Sunni

• Shahs descent from imams

• Tension between Shi’a ulama (esp. ayatollahs) and govt

Safavid Shah

• Shah Abbas IShah Abbas I بزرگ عباس (1629-1587 )شاه –

• Empire reached its zenith• Persians counterbalanced the role of

the Turkic warriors• Used capture youth to fill military and

bureaucratic positions• Incorporated Persian court etiquette• Created infrastructure for trade and

Islamic culture

Society and Gender in Ottoman and Safavid

• Dominated by Warrior class/nobility (askeri / quizilbash)

• Nobility controlled the peasantry

• “slave” infantry & bureaucracy

• Artisans worked in Imperial workshops

• Safavid less market-oriented than Ottoman

• Women did not enjoy many outlets especially among the elite

The Royal Academy of Isfahan

Decline of the Safavid

• Weak succession after Abbas

• Internal strife between Turkic and Persian ethnic groups

• Foreign invasion from Afghani invaders

The Mughal Empire

Mughals

• Turkic invaders led by Babur invaded India in 1526 – sought plunder not conquest

• Stayed when prevented from going north

• Babur’s forces defeated Hindu confederation in 1527 – He then ruled the Indus and Ganges plains

Babur

Mughal weakness

• After Babur died in 1530 he left no central political infrastructure

• Feudal structure

• He also left no competent heir

• Humayn fled to Persia – from Persia launched attacks into India

• Humayn restored control of the North by 1556

Mughal’s Lasting Empire• Humayn’s son Akbar succeeded to the

throne

• Akbar was an outstanding military and administrative talent

• Policy of reconciliation with Hindu subjects

• Abolished head taxes

• Respected Hindus and allowed them in the administration

• Hindu Nobility stayed if taxes were collected and paid

Akbar’s Social Agenda• Encouraged

intermarriage and Widow remarriage

• Discouraged child marriage

• Prohibited sati

• Discouraged consumption of alcohol

• Created special market days for women only

Akbar’s Legacy & European Contact

• Social reforms failed in the immediate future (including child marriage and sati)

• After his death no new territory was added

• Most of the population lived in poverty

• Developed major commercial and manufacturing Empire in Indian cotton textiles

Court Politics & Women

• Nur Jahan – wife of Jahangir

–“The Twentieth Wife”

• Mumtaz Mahal – wife of Shah Jahan I

• Ordinary women’s rights decline under Jahangir and Shah Jahan

Nur Jahan Mumtaz Mahal

Mughal Era Achievements

• Taj Mahal – Shah Jahan

• blends Persian and Hindu traditions

Mughal Decline

• Aurangzeb fought many wars in India to reclaim much of the land that had been lost – depleted the treasury

• created resentment by beginning religious reform to rid Islam of Hindu influences – created internal weakness

• By early in the 18th century power passed to regional lords away from imperial control – allows for European inroads…