Muslim Empires

1. Muslim Empires Chapter 21

2. Foundation and Overview • Mongol conquests of the 13th and 14th centuries destroyed remaining Muslim unity in SE Asia • Three new empires emerged: Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal • All had strong militaries and gunpowder technology • “The Gunpowder Empires” • All had absolute monarchies and agrarian economies

3. Turkic speaking nomadic groups • Came from central Asia • Came to power following the Mongol defeat of the Seljuk Turks Conquered by Conquered by Conquered by Defeated Umayyads! Defeated Byzantines! Defeated EVERYONE.

4. Nomadic Turks • 1453 – defeated Constantinople • Eventually spread throughout Anatolia, Balkans, Eastern Europe (up to Vienna, Austria), Arabia, and Northern Africa

5. Ottoman Military Might • Society was heavily geared for warfare • Turkic horsemen became the warrior aristocracy • Controlled land and conquered peasants • Janissaries – elite gunpowder troops made up of boys conscripted from conquered Christian peoples come to dominate the military by the mid 16th century

6. 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

7. Ottoman Culture • Religiously tolerant: Christians and Jews considered “people of the book” • Merchants hold great power • Istanbul becomes important international center of trade • Sultans beginning with Suleiman the Magnificent, built mosques an other public works to beautify the city and leave their mark

8. Ottoman Problems -> decline • Empire grows too 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

9. Ottoman Military Defeats • 1571 – Battle of Lepanto, lose control of Indian Ocean trade to joint Spanish-Portguese fleet • 1688 – Siege of Vienna, Ottoman repelled…beginning of the end

10. Safavid Empire formed • 1501 – Isma’il as Sufi mystic and descendant of Saladin (influential Muslim leader of the 12th century, reconquered many Christian outposts for Islam during the crusades) established capital at Tabriz and names himself Shah • Began expanding • 1514 – Battle of Chaldiran – defeated by Ottomans, stopped westward expansion of Shi’a

11. Safavid Politics and War • Absolute monarchy restored in 1534 by Tasmaph I • 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 Russians (like the Janissaries)

12. More on Abbas the Great and Safavids • Originally wrote in Turkish, but changed to Persian following the battle of Chaldiran • Created elaborated court based Persian traditions • Religious leaders and teachers grow in power and important as Shi’ism spreads through empire • Produces beautiful silk textiles • New capital built in Isfahan

13. 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 – failed attempt to rally empire

14. 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 more power over time • Differences • Ottoman more market driven • Safavid land locked, limits trade

15. Mughals establish an empire in India • Babur invades India in 1526 seeking wealth, gets stuck and decides to stay • By 1528, he controls most of the Indus and Ganges regions

16. Akbar the Great • Worked to reconcile problems with Hindu majority, religious toleration • Encouraged intermarriage • Ended special tax on Hindus • Respected most Hindu tradition • Granted land to Hindu and Muslim warriors in return for loyalty • Din-i-ilahi – Universal faith, encourages respect of all peoples’ beliefs

17. More on Akbar • Encourages social reforms like limiting alcohol • Encourages widow remarriage while discouraging child marriage; tried to ban Sati, even tries to create special market day for women • Most reforms did not last • Peasants continue to live in poverty • later rulers reverse religious toleration • women lose rights (daughters are considered unlucky, child marriages resume)

18. Sati • Practice where a widow is immolated on her husband’s funeral pyre

19. Mughal Achievements • Many rulers were patrons of the arts • Painting workshops for miniatures • Textile and rug production • Great architectural works (TajMahal)

20. Mughal decline • 1707 – Aurangzeb reverses religious toleration, drains treasury and weakens military and government bureaucracy • Maratta and Sikh rebellions • Regional lords gain power as central government declines • Foreign powers step in to gain land as Mughal empire declines

21. Gunpowder Empires • All three empires gain power with help of nomadic warriors • Firearms became decisive in battle • Governments used military tech to change the organization of their empires, warrior aristocracy loses power as governments build professional armies

22. Gunpowder Empires cont. • 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 causes inflation