BRING TEXTBOOK TOMORROW AND FRIDAY! You will use it for your Ming Web Quest, and you may have time to work on reading notes!

MUSLIM E

MPIRES

14

50

- 17

50

BACKGROUND

• Seljuk Turks had occupied Constantinople since 1055 and preserved Muslim unity

• Mongols destroyed Muslim unity

• Post-Mongol world: 3 new Islamic Empires will emerge:

1. Ottoman- North Africa to Southern Russia and Turkey

2. Safavid- Iran, Afghanistan

3. Mughal- India

GUNPOWDER EMPIRES

All of these new empires can be called gunpowder empires because:

-Had considerable military exploits

-Made use of new technologies like firearms and cannons to gain land

THE OTTOMANS• Restored under Mehmed I following the Timurid

invasions

• Sacked Constantinople in 1453, ending the Byzantine Empire

• Sunni Muslims

• Role of the military

- Economy geared towards military and expansion

-Jannisaries- Islamic foot soldiers who were drafted as young boys from conquered areas, forced to convert to Islam, and trained in warfare

-Used firearms

OTTOMAN SULTANS

• Suleiman the Magnificent-expanded Ottoman Empire to greatest heights

• Usually absolute monarchs• Pitted other powerful factions (warrior elite, janissaries, and religious scholars) against each other to maintain power

• Grew increasingly distant from their subjects as empire expanded• By late 16th-century, the real power rested with a grand vizier, the head of the Ottoman bureaucracy

OTTOMAN CULTURE

• Mehmed II (who led the Ottoman sack of Constantinople) wanted to refurbish the city•Converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque•Built aqueducts•Bazaars with merchants were common (large merchant/artisan class)

OTTOMAN DECLINE

• Reached peak of power in late 17th century but ruled into the 20th century

• Reasons for decline:• Too large to maintain•No new possibilities for conquest•Government corruption• Peasant uprisings•Weak sultans•Silver brought in from Americas led to inflation

• Battle of Lepanto- 1571•Ottoman fleet is defeated by Spanish/Venetian force• Ends naval dominance

SAFAVID EMPIRE

• Founded by Shi’ite Muslims (that is why Iran is still one of the Shi’ite strongholds today)- bitter hostility with Sunni Muslims

• Rose to power through military power on the frontier

• Origins- Sufi mystics• Founded by Sufi Sail al-Din- wanted to purify and

reform Islam• Won many enemies until Isma’il led the Safavids to

victory in 1501 and declared himself shah, or emperor

BATTLE OF CHALDIRAN- AUGUST 1514

• Clash between Sunni Ottomans and Shi’a Safavids

• Demonstrated the importance of muskets and cannons during the “gunpowder age”

• Ottomans are victorious- put an end to Isma’il’s dreams of westward expansion

• Safavids retreat back to capital at Tabriz

• Consequences:• Shi’ism stays confined in Persia

SAFAVID RULERS• Abbas I- Empire reached

its height (1587-1629)• Built standing army of

40,000 troops • Increased artillery• Received advice from

Europeans• Encouraged trade• Elaborate capital at Isfahan-

mosques were most beautiful in the world

• Warrior leaders occupied key posts of power in the gov’t

• Had an army of slaves similar to janissaries- cause political struggles through revolts

• Often claimed descent from Muhammad (semi-divine)

SOCIETY AND GENDER: OTTOMAN VS. SAFAVID• Both….•Dominated by warrior aristocracy• Faced peasant rebellions as landlord class became more corrupt• Encouraged artistry and trade (Ottomans-Christian and Jewish merchants; Safavid-Portuguese)• Patronized public works projects •Restricted rights of women

But they differed in…..Safavid economy was less developedOttomans had advantage in trade through contact with the west

FALL OF THE SAFAVID

• Weak successor after Abbas’ death

• Outside threats to empire/internal rebellions•1722- Afghan tribes attack Safavid capital at Isfahan•Nadir Khan Asfhar, a soldier, emerges as a champion of Safavid restoration and declares himself emperor in 1736; dynasty is short-lived

MUGHAL EMPIRE

• Founded by Babur in the 16th century

• Located in Northern India

• Expansion was NOT motivated by religious fervor•Simply wanted land •Advanced military- gun carts, movable artillery, cavalry

MUGHAL RULE

• Ineffective bureaucracy under Babur and Humayan

• Akbar- one of the greatest leaders of all time• Goal- unite India• Policy of reconciliation and cooperation with Hindu princes• Encouraged intermarriage between Muslim and Hindu

rulers• Eliminated jizya, or head tax, on Hindus

• Strengthened military and government• Patron of the arts/philosophy• New religion- Din-i-Ilahi• Incorporated both Hinduism and Islam

SOCIAL REFORM UNDER AKBAR

• Women enjoyed a higher social status during Akbar’s reign• This will change in later years of the Mughals

• Discouraged child marriage and outlawed sati, or widows being burned alive with their dead husbands’ bodies

• Wives of emperors often had great power• Nur Jahan- patron of charities in major cities• Mumtaz Mahal- Taj Mahal built for her

MUGHAL ART/ARCHITECTURE

• Splendid cities at Agra, Delhi, and Lahore

• Taj Mahal- built by Shah Jahan for his dead wife

• Polo

Agra

Taj Mahal

DelhiLahore

FALL OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

• Corrupt bureaucracy

• Technologically inferior army

• Aurangzeb- last major ruler• Wanted to extend Mughal

control over all of India• Wanted to purify Indian Islam• Both disastrous• Reinstated head tax to finance

wars-unpopular• Wars put them into debt by

the time of his death in 1750• Internal rebellions made

Mughals lose control of empire- allowed for the rise of new religious sects like the Sikhs