THE MUSLIM EMPIRES Chapter 20

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THE MUSLIM EMPIRESChapter 20
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Map ExercisesMap 20.1 The Ottoman, Safavid,
Mughal Empires (page 451)Map 20.2 The Expansion
of the Ottoman Empire (page 456)Map 20.3 The
Safavid Empire (page 460)Map 20.4 The Mughal
Empire (page 467)

• 1. Which state governs the largest empire? Most
  multicultural? most populous?
• 2. How would the answers above make government
  difficult?
• 3. Which empire is nearest to Western Europe?
• 4. How would proximity to Europe affect an
  empire?
• 5. What modern states does each empire rule?
• 6. Which state would be the most dependent on sea
  power? Why?
• 7. Which state would be the easiest and the most
  difficult to defend? Why?

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Ottomans
Turkic peoples enter Anatolia after Mongols
Ottomans secure dominance
1453 capture Constantinople - end Byzantine
Empire
navy dominates Mediterranean
rule much of Middle East, Nth Africa SE Europe
threat to Western Europe
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military leaders had dominant role Ottomans
geared to war expansion
Turkic horsemen are warrior aristocracy - power
shrinks as central bureaucracy grows - build up
regional power bases
mid 1400s army dominated by Janissary infantry
divisions
controlled artillery firearms - intervened in
dynastic succession disputes
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Sultans
played off competing factions
Christians Jews people of the book
empire grows Sultans lose contact with people
vizier gains great power
problems with imperial succession weakens empire
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Constantinople - restored
combines different cultures under Ottoman rule
Hagia Sophia becomes a grand mosque
Suleymaniye mosque
urban
commercial center for Asia, Africa Europe
17th century Turkish language
artistic legacy in poetry, ceramics, carpets
architecture
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Ottoman Decline
late 17th century empire too big to be
maintained
begin to decline once acquisition of new
territory ends
- bureaucracy corrupts - oppressed peasants flee
or rebel - Sultans sons become weak lazy
rulers - civil strife increases, military
decreases
Janissaries block military reform - lose ground
to European rivals
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1571 navy loses at Lepanto, lose control of
eastern Mediterranean
Portuguese naval victories break Muslim
dominance in Indian trade
loss of commercial revenue - inflation / New
World bullion
major changes occurring in Europe not matched by
Ottomans
conservatism of Janissaries religious leaders
block innovation
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Shiite challenge of the Safavids
Safavids profit from struggles of rivals
Safavids were Shiite Muslims from a family of
Sufi mystics
early 1300s fought to purify spread Islam
Ismail followers conquer most of Persia lose
at Chaldiran in 1514
Shiism blocked from westward advance
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Politics War under the Safavids
empire at top under Abbas I (1587-1629)
brought Turkic warriors under control
Persians recruited into bureaucracy as a
counterbalance
recruit slave youths into army bureaucracy -
become backbone of army - monopolize firearm use
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State Religion
Persian language takes hold - use Persian
traditions of court etiquette
militant Shiite ideology modified by Persian
religious scholars
religious teachers receive state support
empire gradually converts to Shia Islam -
becomes integral part of Iran
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Abbas I wants empire to be major center of
international trade Islamic culture
trade encouraged
building mosques in Isfahan
demise of Safavid Empire
internal strife foreign invasions
1722 fall to Afghani invaders
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Ottoman vs. Safavid
both dominated by warrior aristocrats who shared
power with monarch
warriors gradually leave for estates where they
rule peasants
both encouraged growth of crafts trade
Safavids less market-oriented than Ottomans
women socially disadvantaged in both
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Mughal Empire

Babur Turks invade India 1526
used military tactics similar to Ottomans
within 2 years held much of Indus Ganges plain
Baburs death in 1530 brought invasion, successor
flees to Persia - re-invade restore control by
1556
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Akbar (Baburs grandson)
defeats enemies great military administrative
talent
reconciles with Hindu subjects
invents a faith incorporating Islam Hinduism
to unify subjects
Hindu Muslim warrior aristocracy granted land
labor for loyalty
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attempts to introduce social changes to benefit
regulate consumption of alcohol
improve position of women
most reforms not successful
powerful empire in 1600s yet most of population
live in poverty
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fall behind Europe in invention sciences
tolerance towards Hindus
cotton textiles world famous
Shah Jahan Taj Mahal - blend Persian Hindu
traditions
these rulers left daily administration alone
life of court women improves
position of women in the rest of society declines
- lack of opportunity - burden of dowry
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imperial decline
early 1700s Aurangzeb
- warfare drains treasury - ruler spends too much
time on war - internal revolt - religious
policies increase internal weaknesses
Hindus kept from highest government posts -head
tax restored
state revenues power passes to regional
lords - previous pattern in South Asia