1450 - 1800
Concepts & Terms
 Ethnocentrism
 Safi al-Din
 Sulemaniye Mosque
 Imams
 Janissaries
 Vizier
 Chalderan
 Mullahs
 Isfahan
 Shah
 Sikhs
 Padishah
 Marattas
People
Mehmed II
Abbas I [Great]
Babur
Humayan
Akbar
Din-i-Ilahi
 Nadir Khan
Afsher
 Mumtaz Mahal
 Aurangzeb
 Nur Jahan
 Isma’il
 Safi al-Din
Ottoman
Safavid
Essential Questions
 How did the Shi’a / Sunni split effect
relations in Dar al-Islam 1450 to 1800?
 What is the political difference b/w the
Ottomans and the Safavids?
 How does cultural conservatism impact
the future of the Ottoman Empire?
 Why is there little impact from the
biological exchanges of exploration in Dar
al-Islam?
Ottoman Empire
 Osman Bey


Founder
Central Asian steppes- original location [Turks]
 Powerful military
 Ghazi - light cavalry
 Janissaries – slave troops
 DEVSHIRME – Balkan contributions
Young Christian boys – slave tribute
 Captured Constantinople 1453 – Istanbul
 Expanded into Serbia, Greece, Albania

Constantinople / Istanbul
Ottoman Expansion
 Suleiman the Magnificent
1556]
 Into Syria– Egypt -Southwest Asia
 Middle East
 Into Europe
 To Vienna, Italy, Malta
 Powerful navy
 Challenged European fleets
 Lepanto – defeated by Spain 1571
[1495-
Ottoman – Safavid Rivalry
 Ottomans
 Ruled from Turkey
 Sunni
 Persecuted Shia
 Secular Government
 Victory at Chalderan
 Safavid: [Shah]
 Shia
 Successors of Persia
 Less secular
 Ruled from Iran
 Defeated Uzbeks
 Central Asia
Safavid Empire / Shah Abbas
Mughal Dynasty
 Babur
 Descendent of Timur I lang
 Akbar
 Centralized government
 Expanded into southern
 Aurangzeb
 Entire Indian subcontinent
 Provoked the hostility of Hindus

Taxation & destroyed Hindu temples
India
Ottoman Imperial Rule
 Dynastic state [not Islamic state]
 Military creation
 Prestige & authority derived from piety
 Sultans: [Turk Ruler]
 Ruled w/o regard to religious or social
traditions
 Contested succession
Agriculture
 Food and cash crops
 Wheat & rice
 Tobacco
 Coffee houses b/c popular
 American crops did not impact
 Result > low population
greatly
growth
Trade
 Ottoman & Safavid
 Occupied trade routes
 Active involvement in global trade
 Precludes the need to participate in New
World trade.
 Mughal
 Not as focused on trade
 Empire was enriched by trade

Because of location
Wealth Through Trade
Religion & Empire
 Diversity often challenged rule
 Christian missions
 Goa - center of Portuguese missions
 Jesuits - failed to convert Akbar who embraced
the synchronized religion of Sikhs
 Religious minorities
 Conquered people protected
 Cooperation b/w Muslims & Hindus
Mughal
GOA
Famous Buildings
Taj Mahal
<>
Islamic Capitals
 ISTANBUL
 Constantinople
 Ottoman Empire
 Fatehpur Sikri
 abandoned b/c poor
water supply
 Topkapi Palace
 Sultan’s residence
 Suleymaniye
 blend of Byzantine and
Islamic elements
 Mughal Empire
 Taj Mahal
 famous tomb and
mosque
Empires in Transition
 Deterioration of Leadership 16th & 18th Centuries
 negligent rulers - factions - corruption
 Religious tensions b/c conservatives




Abandoned religious tolerance
Ottomans- protested telescope & printing press
Safavids-persecuted Sunnis, Sufis, non-Muslims
Mughals- Aurangzeb’s anti-Hindu policies
Decline
 ECONOMIC DECLINE
 Reversal of expansion
caused:
 Official taxation
 Corruption
 Lost initiatives to
European merchants
 MILITARY DECLINE
 Imported European
weapons

No internal armament
industries
 Unable to maintain
technological edge in
armaments
Cultural Insularity
 Cultural
Conservatism
 Confident of cultural
superiority
 Ignored European
cultural & technological
developments
 Ottomans:
 Banned printing in Arabic &
Turkish
 Mughals:
 no interest in printing
technology
 Islamic rulers preferred stability
 avoided the risks of imported
cultural & technological
innovations
Enduring Question
Give examples of cultural
conservatism [cultural insularity] at
work in the world today.