Early Modern
Muslim Empires
Early Modern Muslim Empires
Introduction

This lecture will examine the three
great empires whose heyday lasted
from approximately 1450 to 1800

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Ottoman Empire (centered in
modern Turkey)
Safavid Empire (centered in
modern Iran)
Mughal Empire (centered in
modern India)
What these empires had in common
was the rulers’ adherence to the
Muslim faith


Islam had burst into the Middle
East from Arabia through conquest
in the 7th and 8th centuries
Islam had spread into India in the
13th century, although it had been in
the Indus Valley (modern Pakistan)
for centuries before that
Early Modern Muslim Empires
Ottoman Empire (1)
 The Ottoman Empire emerged out of
the remnants of the Seljuk Turks,
and came to prominence in the 14th
century
 Being on the eastern edge of the
tottering Byzantine Empire, that was
the logical direction of conquest for
the Ottomans
They conquered Constantinople in
1453, extinguishing the last remnant
of the Roman Empire
 The Ottomans moved their capital
there and renamed the city Istanbul
 They proved tolerant of Christians
and Jews, as long as they paid the
jitza (the tax on non-Muslims)

 After extinguishing Byzantium, the
Ottomans conquered the Balkans
and would threaten the rest of
Eastern Europe for centuries
thereafter
Hagia Sophia
Instanbul, Turkey
Early Modern Muslim Empires
Ottoman Empire (2)
 The Ottomans would unsuccessfully
besiege Vienna in 1529 and 1683
 They were more successful extending their rule into Muslim lands,
conquering Syria, Palestine, Egypt,
and North Africa
Suleiman the
Magnificent
(1520-1566)
 Janissaries

The Ottomans famously built their
armies from Christians taken from
their parents while still small, raised
as Muslims, and trained as soldiers
 Decline

Yet over time, the Ottoman Empire
rotted from within, with the sultan’s
sons perpetually fighting each other
and far flung provinces establishing
de facto independence, with the final
collapse at the end of World War I
Ottoman
Janissary
Early Modern Muslim Empires
Safavid Empire (1)
 This empire emerged in the 16th
century in the area of the Islamic
world that had fallen to the Mongols
in the 13th century (the Persian
Khanate)
The Mongols had been particularly
cruel in this region, butchering 90
percent of the population
 Although taking natives into their
government, Mongol rule was never
accepted by the survivors, especially
the Persians
 Shia Islam became intimately
associated with the resistance
movement to Mongol rule

 Under the leadership of Ismail, the
Persians threw off Mongol Rule

Ismail declared himself “Shah,”
claiming to be a descendant of Ali, in
keeping with Shiite doctrine
Shah Ismail
(1502-1524)
Early Modern Muslim Empires
Safavid Empire (2)
 Shah Abbas
The height of the Safavid Empire
came under Shah Abbas
 He famously encouraged carpet
weaving, which helped turn this
cottage industry into a major source
of export earnings and establishing
the reputation of “Persian” carpets for
extremely high quality
 Yet he also did not trust his own
nobility, building his army from
Armenian and Georgian recruits
 He also feuded with the Ottomans,
who he saw as illegitimate because
they were Sunnis

 The successors of Abbas were not
as competent, and by the 18th
century the Safavid lands had fallen
to the Ottomans, Mughals, and
Russians
Shah Abbas
(1587-1629)
A “Persian”
carpet
Early Modern Muslim Empires
Mughal Empire (1)

While their empire was in India, the
Mughals were not Indian

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They were a Turkish people related
to the Mongols
“Mughal” is a corruption of Mongol
Indeed, rather than capturing India
from the Indians, they conquered its
last alien Muslim rulers, another
group of Turkish Moslems, known
as the Delhi Sultanate
Akbar the Great
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Arguably the greatest ruler in India
since Ashoka (3rd century BCE)
He established “sulahkul” as the
principal of his rule: universal
tolerance


Eliminated the jitza
Brought numerous Hindus into his
government
Akbar the Great
(1556-1605)
Early Modern Muslim Empires
Mughal Empire (2)
 The Mughal emperors of India
became justifiably famous for their
support of architecture and the arts
 Taj Mahal
Perhaps the most famous example of
the Mughal’s commitment was the Taj
Mahal, built by the Emperor Jahan as
tomb for his favorite wife
 It took over a decade to build, and is
today considered to be one of the
greatest romantic symbols

 Decline
Seeds of Mughal destruction sown
under the rule of Jahan’s son,
Aurangzeb (1658-1707) , who tried to
impose strict Islamic rule
 Mughal power collapsed later in the
18th century, leaving India disunited
until it was colonized by the British,
beginning later in that century

Taj Mahal
Agra, India