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The Gunpowder Empires
1450-1750
Modified by:
Pamela Hammond
AP World History
Brantley County High School
Nahunta, GA
Rise in Power
Osman I (Othman): 1299-1326
•Osman led group of Turks
in the Anatolian Peninsula
•Began to expand power by
taking over the Bosporus
and Dardanelle straits.
•Developed an elite military
guard, The Janissaries,
and a strong naval fleet.
•Defeated the Serbs in the
Balkans at the Battle of
Kosovo in 1389 and began
to dominate the region.
Major Leaders
Mehmet II
Mehmet II: 1444-1481- Called “The Conqueror”
• 1453 – 80,000 soldiers laid siege to Constantinople
and conquered the Byzantine Empire.
• Renamed city Istanbul and made it the capital.
• The Topkapi Palace “Iron Gate”
“What a city we have given to plunder and
destruction.”
Turks vs.
Europeans
The Fall of Constantinople: 1453
Major Leaders
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman: (1520-1566) – The Greatest Sultan
• Expanded Empire into Romania, Hungary, and parts
of Austria.
• Turkish Naval Fleet rules the eastern Mediterranean
• Patron of the arts, built bridges, public baths, schools
and mosques.
Major
Achievement
The Suleimaniye
Mosque
The Golden Age of the Ottomans
The Ottoman Centralized Bureaucracy
Led by Sultan –
Absolute power
SULTAN
Process of succession
was not distinct –
could cause conflict
Chief minister, or
adviser, to the Sultan
Grand Vizier
Provincial Governors (Beys)
And Military elite The Janissaries
Viziers
Muslims
Local Administrators
& Military
Landowners /
Tax Collectors
Heads of
Individual
Religious Millets
Jews
Christians
Who do you think
had the real power?
Positions were based
on merit, not birth.
The Janissaries



Ottomans formed captured Balkan
Christian men into a force called the
new troops (Janissaries)
 fought on foot and were armed with
guns.
recruited men for the Janissaries and
for positions in the bureaucracy
through the system called
devshirme—a levy on male Christian
children.
 Unable to marry
Practice of devshirme later stopped
 Janissaries become a powerful elite
 Marry, train sons in military
techniques
 Toward end of empire more
interested in crafts & trade rather
than military training
Religious Beliefs and Policies
• Ottomans were Sunni Muslims
• Sultans claimed the title of Caliph – guided and
maintained Islamic Law
• Religious advisors – Ulama – set up schools
• Tolerant of Non-Muslims
• Non-Muslims had to pay a tax, Jiyza,
but could freely practice religion
• Janissaries protected religious
minority
Conversations between
Christians and Muslims
Social Structure/Role of Women
• Four main Occupational Classes: peasants,
artisans, merchants, pastoral peoples.
• Merchants were most privileged, exempt
from taxes and government regulations.
• Women treated better
than other Islamic states
(Turkish traditions)
• Could own and inherit
property
• Were not forced to marry
and could seek a divorce
• Some gained political
power as officials and
governors
The Harem
• The Harem “Sacred Place”
• Sultan’s wives and concubines resided in private domain
• Sultan chose four wives as his favorites
• When a son was chosen as a Sultan, mother became “Queen
Mother” and gained power
Major Achievements
• Restored city of
Constantinople (Istanbul)
• Turned Hagia Sophia into
a Mosque
Islamic Calligraphy
Major Achievements
Prayer rugs and
textiles
Art work: Picture of Angel
Gabriel visiting Muhammad
What is unusual about this painting?
Illuminated
Qur’an
Major Achievements
Bazaars,
hospitals,
ceramics,
silk
Architecture –
Sinan, most
famous architect
Scholars in astronomy and
medicine. (Galata
Observatory, 1557)
Blue Mosque
Decline of Ottoman Empire
• The Siege of Vienna –
Suleiman's forces were
turned back in 1529
• The Battle of Lepanto,
1571
• Major naval battle
between Spanish and
Ottomans
• Spanish victory gave
hope to Christian empires
that Turks could be
stopped.
Decline
of Ottoman Empire
I’ll stop Jafar! Maybe I
can be Sultan!
• Sultans lose power to Vizier’s
and Janissaries
• Vague process of succession
• Internal government corruption
• Empire became
too large to control
• Loss of loyalty –
no more land to
conquer and give
away
• Lack of military
technology
• Economy suffered
• Silk Road Trade
monopoly ended –
European water
routes
• Inflation due influx
of silver
• Did not industrialize
– craft guilds
The Ottoman Empire During the 16c
Ottoman Empire will last until 1919
It’s a whole
new world!
Safavid Empire
(Persia)
Major Leaders


Shah Ismail (r. 1499-1524)
 Kurdish, Iranian, and Greek ancestry
 hereditary leader of a militant Sufi
brotherhood called Safaviya
Becomes Shah, proclaims official
religion of realm Twelver Shiism
 Twelve infallible imams after
Muhammad
 12th imam in hiding, ready to take
power
 Followers wore distinctive red hat,
called qizilbash (“red heads”)
 Forces all subjects to adopt Shia
Islam


Creates great rift between Iran and
Sunni neighbors
Empire called Safavid, after Safi al-Din
(1252-1334), Sufi thinker

Faced threat from all around



Northeast  Uzbeks
East  Mughals
West  Ottomans
Major Leaders

Shah Abbas the Great
(r. 1588-1629)
revitalizes weakened
Safavid empire




Persian version of
Suleiman
Reforms administration,
military
Expands trade
Military expansion


Regained territory
formerly lost to the
Ottoman Empire
Creates a slave army
armed with guns
Decline: Economic Crisis

Manufactures included silk and its famous
carpets


The agricultural sector did not
see any significant
technological developments


manufacturing sector was small
and not very productive.
the nomad chieftains had no
interest in building the agricultural
economy.
Inflation

cheap silver decline in overland trade
Decline: Military Crisis

Plagued by the expense of firearms and by
the reluctance of nomad warriors to use
firearms.


The Safavids never had a navy


Shah Abbas responded by establishing a slave
corps of year-round professional soldiers armed
with guns.
Relied on the English and the
Dutch.
An Afghan army took advantage of this

Captured Isfahan and ended Safavid rule in 1722.
Mughal Empire
Rise In Power




Babur invaded and
conquered Northern India.
So began the Mughal
Dynasty in 1526.
The Mughals trace their
heritage back to the
Mongols (1258-1335) and
the Timurids (1370-1501).
Mughal is Arabic for
Mongol.
Major Leaders
Babur (r. 1526-1530)
• Military general who led his people to victory
• Writer, loved music and art
• Did little to administer the empire
Akbar (r. 1556-1605)
• Great military commander
• Expanded the dynasty to twice the size of what it was
• Reformed government
• Accepted Hinduism –
•allowed intermarriage, no tax on non-Muslims, Hindus allowed high
government positions, allowed Hindu temples to be built
• Created the Din-i-Ilahi  a new religion mixing all monotheistic faiths with
Hinduism  did not survive Akbar’s death
Major Leaders
Jahangir (r.1605-1627)
• Patron of the arts
• Not the best ruler
• Jahangir indulged in courtly luxuries, such as opium
• Strong political and artistic influence of his wife, queen Nur Jahan
Shah Jahan (r.1628-1658)
• Patron of the arts
• Taj Mahal for his wife
• died in childbirth (13)
Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707)
• Restored Jaziya, the tax on non-Muslims.
• Razed temples, built mosques on their foundations.
• Forbade building of new temples, banned music at court,
abolished ceremonies
Form of Government
• Emperor
had absolute power
• Viziers – royal officials
• Patrons of the arts
• Wives of emperors gained power
• Anyone could gain high office
Religious Beliefs / Policy
• Belief
in God – Islamic
• Muslim and Hindu subjects
• Akbar and the Din-i-Ilahi faith
• Aurangzeb – Did not tolerate Hindus
Role of Women

The Mughal's treated women
with respect.



Babur and his officials often
asked women for their reasons
and information on political
affairs
Women could own land and they
were paid salaries for their work




Outlawed sati
educated and they learned how
to paint and write poetry
could participate in business
activities.
Elite women gained influence
Women were patrons of the arts
Major Achievements
• Enormous army
• Cotton textiles
• Polo
• Artwork – influence from Europe
• Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Akbar’s Tomb
• Literature: Baburnama (literally: "Book of Babur“)
Decline of the Mughal Empire








Emperors neglect people
Bureaucracy was corrupt
Army backwards in technology and tactics
High taxes on people
Lack of tolerance for Hinduism
Tried to conquer all of India
Peasant uprisings
European intervention (Portuguese, British, and
French)

East Indian Companies fought for trading rights
Common Elements of Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal
Empires



Empires based on military conquest
(“gunpowder empires”)
Prestige of dynasty dependent on piety and
military prowess of the ruler
Steppe Turkish traditions


Issuance of unilateral decrees
Intra-family conflicts over power

1595 Sultan massacres 19 brothers (some infants), 15
expectant women (strangulation with silk)
Agriculture and Trade

American crops effect less dramatic change
in Muslim empires



Coffee, tobacco important
Initial opposition from conservative circles, fearing
lax morality of coffee houses
Trade with English East India Company,
French East India Company, and Dutch East
India Company
Economic and Military Decline

Foreign trade controlled by Europeans


Military, administrative network expensive to
maintain




various East India Companies
Janissaries mutiny when paid with debased
coinage, 1589, other revolts follow
Unproductive wars
Islamic Empires make no attempt to regulate
trade internally or efforts externally
European military technology advances faster
than Empires could purchase it
Religious Diversity: Muslims +




Ottoman Empire: Christians, Jews
Safavid Empire: Zoroastrians, Jews,
Christians
Mughal Empire: Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians,
Christians, Sikhs
Mughal Akbar most tolerant

Received Jesuits politely, but feared committing to
any one religion would alienate many of his
subjects
Cultural Conservatism



Europeans actively studying Islamic cultures
for purposes of trade, missionary activities
Islamic empires less interested in outside
world
Swiftly fell behind in technological
development


E.g. Jews from Spain establish 1st printing press
in Anatolia in late 15th century
But printing of books in Turkish and Arabic
forbidden until 1729

Handwritten books preferred, but weak levels of
dissemination
Maritime Worlds of Islam
1500-1700
Muslims in Southeast Asia

Conversion and the formation of Muslim
communities began in port cities and royal
courts in the fourteenth century



Islam functioned as a political ideology that
strengthened resistance to European incursions
Archipelago of Indonesia
Royal courts and port cities began to adopt
the more orthodox practices advocated by
pilgrims returning from Arabia

the rural people incorporated pre-Muslim religious
and social practices
Muslims in Coastal Africa

Swahili Coast


Coastal cities were not well
connected with each other
Little contact with the people of
their dry hinterlands.



thick bush separated the tracts
of coastal land
the cities competed with each
other for trade.
The Portuguese conquered
all of the Swahili ports
except for Malindi, which
cooperated with Portugal.

Between 1650 and 1729, the
Arabs of Oman drove the
Portuguese out of the Swahili
Coast and created a maritime
empire of their own.
Europeans in the Indian Ocean

Dutch drove the Portuguese out of the Malacca in
1641





conquered local kingdoms on Sumatra and Java,
established a colonial capital at Batavia (now Jakarta).
impossible to maintain monopoly control over the spice
market.
turned to crop production, focusing on lumber and coffee.
English and French established
coastal trading in India
(East India Companies)


Mughals cooperated
England gains control over
all trade in India following the
Seven Years War (1756-1763)