The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires 1450-1750

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The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires1450-1750
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Overview

• All began w/Turkic nomadic culture
• All formed in wake of Mongols
• All contributed to artistic, cultural renaissance
  in Islam
• All spread Islam to new regions
• All were great military, political powers
• All built empires based on use of firearms
  (Gunpowder Empires)

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Ottomans

• Original power base-NW Turkey
• Expanded west into Byzantine Empire, Balkans
• Captured Constantinople in 1453-renamed Istanbul

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Ottoman Cannon- Wow, look at the size of that
thing!
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Want the Hagia Sophia to become a mosque? Just
add minarets.
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• Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Arabia all brought under
  Ottoman control (use of janissaries)
• Siege of Vienna failed-twice, limiting Ottoman
  expansion in Europe

Siege of Vienna
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Ottoman Rule

• Sultan was hereditary monarch
• Extensive bureaucracy established (viziers,
  pashas, etc.)
• Sharia law applied to Ottoman domains (ulema)
• Religiously tolerant, but non-Muslims paid jizya

Suleiman the Magnificent
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Decline

• Began by 1700
• Problem of overexpansion
• Bureaucracy became corrupt
• Sultans became isolated
• Failure to respond to challenge of Europeans
• Struggled on until broken up by Euros in 1923

Corrupting Western influence
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Safavids

• Founded by (Shah) Ismail Safavi in 1501
• Shia, not Sunni
• Empire reached apex under Shah Abbas
• New capital established in Isfahan

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Isfahan, Iran
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The Masjid-i Shah,
Isfahan (1612-37)
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• All challenges to Shia Islam suppressed
• Benefited as a crossroad of trade
• Declined after 1629-succession problems
• Afghans took Isfahan-1726 (religious and secular
  power remained separate)

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Mughals

• Empire founded by Babur in 1526
• Akbar brought most of India under his rule
• -Married a Rajput
• -Ended jizya
• Urdu became official language
• Art and architecture flourished

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• Delhi sacked by Persians in 1739
• Mughal Empire continued in name only
• British influence increasingly important after
  1750

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The Taj Mahal (1632-1653) built by Shah Jahan as
a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal