The Islamic Empires
Chapter 27
Intro: Formation of the Islamic Empires
• 3 empires divided up Dar al-Islam
• All began as warrior principalities in frontier areas,
expanded, developed administrative and military
techniques
The Ottoman Empire
• Founded by Osman Bey in 1289 (dynasty lasted
until 1923) on Byzantine borders
• 1300s: expanded, with capital at Bursa
• Military organization: light cavalry and volunteer
infantry (and later, heavy cavalry)
– Janissaries (Christian boys from
conquered Balkans) – specially trained,
known as excellent warriors
– Effective use of gunpowder weapons
The Ottoman Empire (cont.)
• 1453: Mehmed the Conqueror (r. 1451-1481)
conquered Constantinople (became capital,
Istanbul)
– Laid foundations for highly centralized absolute
monarchy
– Expansion: Serbia, S. Greece,
Albania, (later into Syria and Egypt)
The Ottoman Empire (cont.)
• Suleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566): height
of Ottoman imperialism
– Kanun (laws): “the lawgiver”
– Lots of expansion efforts: Baghdad, Siege of Vienna,
Yemen, Rhodes, etc.
– Became naval power ->
could challenge Christian vessels
The Safavid Empire
• Founded by Shah Ismail (r. 1501-1524) in Persian
heartland
• Used propaganda: Sufi ancestry, changed religion
– Twelver Shiism: 12 infallible imams, red hats (= red
heads), Ismail as 12th imam
• Mandated conversion to
Shiism -> enemies, esp.
Ottomans (feared spread
of propaganda)
The Safavid Empire (cont.)
• 1514: Battle of Chaldiran – Ottomans vs. Safavids
– Ottomans used gunpowder weapons, Safavids didn’t
(believed in protection of the Shah)
– Ottomans won, but didn’t occupy -> constant conflict
for next 200 years
• Safavids recovered: Persian bureaucracy and
admin. Techniques, abandoned extreme ideology
(maintained twelver shiism), land grants to red
heads = support
The Safavid Empire (cont.)
• Shah Abbas the Great (r. 1588-1629): revitalized
empire
– Moved capital to Isfahan (more central), encouraged
trade, reformed admin and mil institutions (slaves in
army, gunpowder weapons, alliances with Europeans)
– Military victories: Uzbeks, Hormuz
The Mughal Empire
• 1523, founded by Babur in Northern India using
gunpowder weapons to invade
– Goal was to use Indian wealth to expand into central Asia
(never happened)
• Grandson, Akbar (r. 1556-1605): brilliant, charismatic
– Centralized admin with bureaucracy to govern provinces
– Military campaigns to consolidate power in north and
expand in south
– Interest in religions and philosophy:
religious tolerance, syncretic religion
(divine faith)
The Mughal Empire (cont.)
• Aurangzeb (r. 1659-1707): ruled when empires
was at greatest extent
– Expansion efforts in south
– Problem: rebellions due to
religious tension (religious
intolerance, destroyed Hindu
temples, jizya tax)
Intro: Imperial Islamic Society
• Lots of similarities between the three empires:
– Turk/Mongol/Islamic steppe-based bureaucracy,
– economic policies,
– policies for dealing with multi-ethnic/religious
populations,
– legitimacy through providing welfare,
– association with literacy and the arts
The Dynastic State
• Absolute power over government and military,
plus ownership of all land
• Importance of religious piety (Sufi association,
devotion to Islam) and military prowess as source
of power and prestige
• Steppe tradition of relatives managing parts of
empire -> problems with succession
– Solution: locked sons away (S), killed brothers or
confined to palace (O)
The Dynastic State (cont.)
• Women in Politics: not supposed to have any, but
there were many exceptions, especially for
ruler’s mother and favorite/chief wife
Agriculture and Trade
• Agriculture (wheat and rice) = foundation of
empires
– Surplus supported bureaucracy and army
• American food crops were introduced, but didn’t
have huge impact on population
• Tobacco: spread quickly, along with coffee ->
coffeehouses (became
important social institutions
in O. empire)
Agriculture and Trade (cont.)
• Population growth: M – due to intensive agri.
Techniques, S – less rapid, O – changed with empire’s
boundaries
• Trade: all were part of global trade network
– O: British and French merchants, important in spice and
silk trade
– S: Isfahan as commercial center, foreign merchants,
provided silk, carpets, ceramics, traded with
English/French/Dutch East India Companies, developed
good rel. with English
– M: regional trade more important, allowed European
trading posts, some Indians formed their own companies
Religious Affairs in the Islamic Empires
•
•
•
•
All 3 had diverse populations
O: Christians, Jews
S: Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians
M: Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians,
Christians, Sikhs
– Portuguese Jesuit mission at Goa:
Jesuits tried to convert Akbar
(just wanted to talk)
– Akbar wanted religious synthesis to unify empire
– -> divine faith: heavily based on Islam (monotheistic, Shiite and
Sufi influence), loyalty to empire, elements from
Zoroastrianism
Religious Affairs (cont.)
• Religious minorities:
• Jizya and loyalty -> personal freedom, property,
religion, legal affairs
• Difficulty in Mughal Empire: Muslims were rulers
(with a few Hindu bureaucrats), population was
Hindu
– Akbar: abolished jizya, religious tolerance, discussions
among leaders of different religions
– Many Muslims feared this -> Aurangzeb reinstated jizya,
religious intolerance, promoted Islam -> Hindu bitterness
and tension
Cultural Patronage of the Islamic
Emperors
• Emperors tried to enhance prestige and power
through public works projects and patronage of
scholars
– Tried to attract religious scholars, poets, artists,
architects
– Spent a lot on mosques, palaces, gov’t buildings,
bridges, fountains, schools, hospitals, soup kitchens
Cultural Patronage of the Islamic
Empires (cont.)
• Istanbul: revived and prospered after conquest
– Topkapi palace, Suleymaniye Mosque (by Sinan Pasha)
– combines Islamic (minarets) and Byzantine (dome)
elements, Hagia Sofia mosque
Cultural Patronage of the Islamic
Empires (cont.)
• Isfahan: Shah Abbas focused on building up the
capital
– Markets, palace, mosques, polo field, shaded
avenues, bridges, courtyards, palace with balconies
and verandas (visibility of king)
Cultural Patronage of the Islamic
Empires (cont.)
• Fatehpur Sikri: Akbar’s capital (1569-1585)
– Mint, treasury, royal residence, mosque and
mausoleum for Sufi guru
– Combined C. Asian traditions with Hindu architectural
elements (verandas, stone elephants)
Cultural Patronage of the Islamic
Empires (cont.)
• The Taj Mahal: built by Shah Jahan as mosque
and mausoleum for his wife
Intro: The Empires in Transition
• Big changes in all 3 between 1500-1700
– 1722: Safavid collapse with invasion of Afghans
– 1707: Mughal weakening – rebellions, foreign
invasion, British rule (1750s)
– 1700s-1800s: Ottomans lost land, plus pol, econ, and
mil pressure from Europe and Russia
Deterioration of Imperial Leadership
• All 3 had strong rulers initially; but, eventually,
incompetent rulers who spent too much on
themselves and ignored the state
• Plus, factions formed in courts of all 3
– O: by locking away princes, they didn’t learn how to
rule -> increasingly weak rule -> army mutinies,
revolts, corruption, economic oppression, insecurity
Religious Tensions
• Also led to problems for rulers with conservative
Muslim clerics (strong influence due to education,
legal affairs)
– Disapproved of Sufism, women and non-Muslims in
gov’t roles, contradictions to sharia law
Economic and Military Decline
• increasing dependence on foreign items and control
by Europeans due to cost of mil and admin
• Expansion brings $ in, once it stops, resources
become limited
– Ottomans: empty treasury -> debased money -> revolts ->
raised taxes, sold public offices, etc.
• Also, relied on foreign trade for income, but didn’t go
abroad
– O: privileges to foreign merchants
– M: encouraged Dutch and English trading posts
Military Decline and Cultural
Conservatism
• Did not try to improve technology, instead, relied
on out of date European weapons
– By late 1700s, Ottoman navy stopped building it’s
own ships
• Also, made little effort to learn about the outside
world
– When they tried to introduce new
elements, conservative Muslims shut
it down (e.g., telescope, printing press)
-> fear of change