European Imperialism In
Muslim Lands and India
CH. 12 SEC. 3 & 4
European Empires in Muslim Lands
Objectives
•
Analyze the sources of stress in Muslim regions.
•
Explain the problems the Ottoman empire faced.
•
Describe how Egypt sought to modernize.
•
Understand European interest in Persia.
Three great Muslim empires—the
Ottomans in the Middle East, the Safavids
in Persia, and the Mughals in India—were
in decline by the 1700s. Napoleon’s
Egyptian campaign opened a new era of
European contact with Muslim regions.
European countries had established
footholds at the edges of Muslim
countries. Before long, they would strike at
their heartland.
A number of internal factors contributed to the
declines of the three Muslim empires.
•
Landowning nobles, military elites, and urban craft
guilds had gained power.
•
Corruption was widespread.
•
In some places, scholars and religious leaders
stirred up discontent.
In addition, each empire faced strong competition
from growing European powers.
A number of
reform groups
stressed piety
and strict rules
of behavior
and rejected
Western
influence.
• Usman dan Fodio led the
struggle to reform Muslim
practices in northern Africa.
• In Sudan, Muhammad
Ahmad claimed to be the
Mahdi, or savior.
• In Arabia, the Wahhabi
movement called for a
return to the simplicity and
purity of Muhammad’s day.
At its height, the Ottoman empire extended across the
Middle East, North Africa, and Southeastern Europe.
The Ottomans
faced internal
decay and foreign
challenges.
Nationalist revolts, especially
in the Balkans and Egypt,
threatened the empire, while
local pashas grew bolder.
The Russians, Germans, and British all sought to
capitalize on the Ottoman’s growing weaknesses.
Ottoman rulers
tried to adopt
reforms in the
late 1700s.
•
The bureaucracy and tax
systems were reformed.
•
Education was expanded.
•
Europeans advised on
military training.
•
Young men were sent to
the West for technological
and scientific training.
But reforms did not always help.
•
Improved health brought a population explosion
and increased competition for land.
•
Many local sultans objected to Western ideas
that threatened their autonomy and power
•
Reformers called “Young Turks” pressed for
liberal reform but were stopped by World War I.
Muhammad
Ali, appointed
governor by
the Ottomans,
modernized
Egypt in the
early 1800s.
•
Tax collection was improved,
and the landholding system
was reorganized.
•
Large irrigation projects
expanded farming.
•
Cotton and other industries
were promoted.
•
Military modernization led to
the conquest of weaker
neighbors.
After Muhammad Ali, Egypt came under
increasing control of foreigners.
• In 1858, a French entrepreneur, Ferdinand de
Lesseps, organized a company to build the Suez
Canal linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
• The English gained control of the canal when one
of Ali’s successors fell into debt to Britain.
•
Opened in 1869,
the 100-mile-long
Suez Canal cut
the distance for
ships traveling
from India to
London by over
5,000 miles.
•
It kept Egypt at
the crossroads of
the world.
In 1882, Egypt became a British protectorate.
In theory, the governor
was still an official
of the Ottomans.
In fact, he followed
policies dictated by
Britain.
Egypt continued
to modernize under
British rule.
But nationalist
discontent
continued.
The Safavid empire also fell under outside influence.
.
Teheran
Persia
Borders of the Safavid empire, 1629
•
The Qajar shahs held power
in Persia from 1794 to 1925.
•
They took steps to modernize,
such as building rail and
telegraph lines and
experimenting with
constitutional government.
The British Take Over India
Objectives
•
Understand the causes and effects of the Sepoy
Rebellion.
•
Explain how British rule affected India.
•
Describe how Indians viewed Western culture.
•
Identify the origins of Indian nationalism.
 For more than 200 years, Mughal rulers governed a
powerful empire in India. By the mid-1700s,
however, the Mughal empire was collapsing from a
lack of strong rulers.
 Britain then turned its commercial interests in
southern Asia into political interests and gained
control of India.
In the 1600s the
British East India
Company won trading
rights on the fringe of
the Mughal empire.
•As the Mughal empire
declined, the British
gained control.
•By the mid-1800s
the company controlled
about three fifths of
India.
The Mughal Empire
Although the
East India
Company’s
goal was to
make money,
British policies
aimed to
improve India
as well.
•
The British improved roads,
reduced banditry, and
introduced Western education
and legal procedures.
•
They pushed for social
changes such as ending
slavery and the caste system.
•
British officials banned sati, a
custom in which a wife was
expected to kill herself on her
husband’s funeral fire.
British insensitivity to local customs led to the
bloody Sepoy Rebellion in 1857.
•
The sepoys were Indian
soldiers hired to fight for
the British.
•
The British issued a
number of rules that
angered the sepoys and
finally provoked them to
rebel.
After the Sepoy Rebellion, Britain took control
of India from the East India Company.
•
Parliament placed India
directly under the British
crown.
•
Britain sent troops to
India and taxed Indians
to pay for them.
•
Indians were angered at
how Britain extracted
great wealth from India.
Parliament set up a system of colonial rule
called the British Raj.
•
A British viceroy ruled in the queen’s name.
•
High officials were British, but Indians held
lower posts.
•
With some local cooperation, India became the
crown jewel of the British Empire.
Indians were divided in their attitudes toward
modernization and Britain.
Upper-class
and educated
Indians adopted
more modern
ways.
Hindu and
Muslim religious
leaders opposed
British-style
modernization.
The British were also divided in their attitudes
toward Indian culture.
As Indian classics
were translated,
many Englishmen
gained respect for
Indian literature
and religious
ideas.
Paternalistic
English leaders
such as historian
Thomas Macaulay
had little respect
for other cultural
traditions.
British leaders provided promising young Indians
with a British education, thinking this would lead
them to accept British culture and rule.
Instead,
educated
Indians
returned home
and began
nationalistic
movements.
•
The Indian National Congress
formed in 1885 to propose selfrule within the British Empire.
•
Muslims feared that Hindus
might dominate any
government. In 1906, they
founded the Muslim League and
soon began talking about a
separate Muslim state.