Download Muslim Empires

Muslim Empires
The Gunpowder
Empires
1450-1750
Three Dynasties
• Why did Muslim unity dissolve?
–Mongol invasion of the 13th and 14th
century
• 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 and 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 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 - Constantinople
• Selim I – Syria & Egypt
• Suleiman Kanuni/ the Magnificient –
huge gain in Europe
• <Selim II / the drunkard>
• Muhammad Kuprili – rooted out
corruption
• Kara Mustafa – attempted conquest of
Austria ---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
Safavid dynasty
• 1501 – Ismail seized Tabriz and
was proclaimed Shah
• Defeated at Chaldiran in 1514 by
the Ottomans –
THE GUNPOWDER AGE
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 I
‫( شاه عباس بزرگ‬1587-1629) –
• 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
(quizilbash)
• Warrior class dominated the peasantry
• 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…