Muslim Empires
Mr. White’s World History
Objectives
After we have studied this section, we
should be able to:
Describe how Muslim rulers in the
Ottoman, Persian, and Mughal empires
governed much of the Middle East,
North Africa, and India.
Understand the geography of the Middle
East and Indian Peninsula
Three Empires
Ottoman Empire – ruled in modernday Turkey, Palestine, North Africa,
and parts of Saudi Arabia, 1299-1923
Safavid Persia – ruled in modern-day
Iran from 1501-1722
Mughal Empire – ruled in modern-day
India from 1526 to mid-1800s
The Three Empires
The Ottoman Empire – Suleiman
the Magnificent
Suleiman was the first major ruler of
the Ottoman empire (1520-1566)
He served as both a political and
religious ruler
Sultan – political ruler
Caliph – religious leader
Suleiman used a well-trained army
and bureaucracy to carry out his rule
Ottoman Architecture
Suleiman, the Lawgiver
Suleiman had to
create laws to govern
many different types of
people – Christians,
Muslims, and Jews
Non-Muslims would be
allowed to worship as
they pleased, as long
as they were loyal to
him
He reformed the
administration of the
country as well, and
created laws to make it
run better
Decline of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman empire began a steady
decline in the 1600s.
During the 1880s, the Ottoman empire
reformed the military and government
By the end of the 1800s, the Ottoman
emperor took back many of Suleiman’s
reforms, and instituted absolute rule
By the end of World War I, the Ottoman
empire ceases to be a major power
Safavid Persia and Shah Abbas
Shah Abbas was the greatest ruler of
Safavid Persia.
Persia, at this time, is Shi’ite Muslim.
Ruled from 1581 to 1629.
Shah Abbas made alliances against the
Sunni Ottomans, sometimes with European
nations
The Persian language spread as the
language of culture, diplomacy, and trade
After Shah Abbas, Safavid Persia gradually
declines until 1722
The Mughals
Timur Lenk, a TurkoMongol, conquered
much of Central Asia,
and his empire would
become the empire of
the Mughals in India
Babur, a successor of
Timur’s, reconquered
northern India
Encouraged orderly
government
Expanded the arts
Akbar
After Babur, Akbar
brought peace and
order to the Mughal
empire.
Since most people he
ruled were Hindus and
not Muslims, he
encouraged religious
tolerance
Repealed a tax on
Hindus
Invited religious
scholars of other faiths
to his court to debate
religion
Art, Music, and Literature
Art, music, and literature flourished
under Akbar
As Akbar recognized the value of
education, he set up a library to
preserve educational writings
Mughal Architecture
The Decline of the Mughals
By the 1600s, Hindu rebellions and a
new emerging religion, Sikhism, led to
the decline of the Mughals
Most Indians had held on to Hindu
customs and had not converted to Islam
Later Mughal rulers abandoned religious
tolerance, so this made many Hindus
angry
Decline of Muslim Empires
These three Muslim empires declined as
Europe and its countries expanded
Rulers declined, and brought their countries
with them
Lack of innovation and change – not
“dynamic”, like Europe
Were all land empires – didn’t focus on sea
power or trade, like Europe
Superiority complex – considered
themselves superior to Europe, didn’t pay
much attention to European growth