BRING TEXTBOOK TOMORROW AND
FRIDAY!
You will use it for your Ming Web
Quest, and you may have time to
work on reading notes!
BACKGROUND
•
Seljuk Turks had occupied Constantinople since 1055 and preserved
Muslim unity
•
Mongols destroyed Muslim unity
•
Post-Mongol world: 3 new Islamic Empires will emerge:
1. Ottoman- North Africa to Southern Russia and Turkey
2. Safavid- Iran, Afghanistan
3. Mughal- India
GUNPOWDER EMPIRES
All of these new empires can be called gunpowder
empires because:
-Had considerable military exploits
-Made use of new technologies like firearms and
cannons to gain land
THE OTTOMANS
• Restored under Mehmed I following the Timurid invasions
• Sacked Constantinople in 1453, ending the Byzantine Empire
• Sunni Muslims
• Role of the military
- Economy geared towards military and expansion
-Jannisaries- Islamic foot soldiers who were drafted as young
boys from conquered areas, forced to convert to Islam, and
trained in warfare
-Used firearms
OTTOMAN SULTANS
• Suleiman the Magnificentexpanded Ottoman Empire to
greatest heights
• Usually absolute monarchs
• Pitted other powerful
factions (warrior elite,
janissaries, and religious
scholars) against each other
to maintain power
• Grew increasingly distant from
their subjects as empire
expanded
• By late 16th-century, the real
power rested with a grand
vizier, the head of the
Ottoman bureaucracy
OTTOMAN CULTURE
• Mehmed II (who led
the Ottoman sack of
Constantinople)
wanted to refurbish the
city
• Converted Hagia
Sophia into a mosque
• Built aqueducts
• Bazaars with
merchants were
common (large
merchant/artisan
class)
OTTOMAN DECLINE
• Reached peak of power in late 17th century but ruled
into the 20th century
• Reasons for decline:
• Too large to maintain
• No new possibilities for conquest
• Government corruption
• Peasant uprisings
• Weak sultans
• Silver brought in from Americas led to inflation
• Battle of Lepanto- 1571
• Ottoman fleet is defeated by Spanish/Venetian force
• Ends naval dominance
SAFAVID EMPIRE
• Founded by Shi’ite Muslims (that is why Iran is still one of the
Shi’ite strongholds today)- bitter hostility with Sunni Muslims
• Rose to power through military power on the frontier
• Origins- Sufi mystics
• Founded by Sufi Sail al-Din- wanted to purify and reform Islam
• Won many enemies until Isma’il led the Safavids to victory in
1501 and declared himself shah, or emperor
BATTLE OF CHALDIRAN- AUGUST 1514
• Clash between Sunni Ottomans and Shi’a Safavids
• Demonstrated the importance of muskets and cannons during
the “gunpowder age”
• Ottomans are victorious- put an end to Isma’il’s dreams of
westward expansion
• Safavids retreat back to capital at Tabriz
• Consequences:
• Shi’ism stays confined in Persia
SAFAVID RULERS
• Abbas I- Empire reached its height
(1587-1629)
• Built standing army of 40,000
troops
• Increased artillery
• Received advice from Europeans
• Encouraged trade
• Elaborate capital at Isfahanmosques were most beautiful in
the world
• Warrior leaders occupied key posts
of power in the gov’t
• Had an army of slaves similar to
janissaries- cause political
struggles through revolts
• Often claimed descent from
Muhammad (semi-divine)
SOCIETY AND GENDER: OTTOMAN VS. SAFAVID
• Both….
• Dominated by warrior aristocracy
• Faced peasant rebellions as landlord class became
more corrupt
• Encouraged artistry and trade (Ottomans-Christian
and Jewish merchants; Safavid-Portuguese)
• Patronized public works projects
• Restricted rights of women
 But they differed in…..
Safavid economy was less developed
Ottomans had advantage in trade through contact
with the west
FALL OF THE SAFAVID
• Weak successor after Abbas’ death
• Outside threats to empire/internal rebellions
• 1722- Afghan tribes attack Safavid capital at Isfahan
• Nadir Khan Asfhar, a soldier, emerges as a champion
of Safavid restoration and declares himself emperor
in 1736; dynasty is short-lived
MUGHAL EMPIRE
• Founded by Babur in the 16th century
• Located in Northern India
• Expansion was NOT motivated by religious fervor
• Simply wanted land
• Advanced military- gun carts, movable artillery,
cavalry
MUGHAL RULE
• Ineffective bureaucracy under Babur and Humayan
• Akbar- one of the greatest leaders of all time
• Goal- unite India
• Policy of reconciliation and cooperation with Hindu princes
• Encouraged intermarriage between Muslim and Hindu rulers
• Eliminated jizya, or head tax, on Hindus
• Strengthened military and government
• Patron of the arts/philosophy
• New religion- Din-i-Ilahi
• Incorporated both Hinduism and Islam
SOCIAL REFORM UNDER AKBAR
•
•
•
Women enjoyed a higher social status during Akbar’s reign
• This will change in later years of the Mughals
Discouraged child marriage and outlawed sati, or widows being burned
alive with their dead husbands’ bodies
Wives of emperors often had great power
• Nur Jahan- patron of charities in major cities
• Mumtaz Mahal- Taj Mahal built for her
MUGHAL ART/ARCHITECTURE
•
Splendid cities at Agra, Delhi, and Lahore
•
Taj Mahal- built by Shah Jahan for his dead wife
•
Polo
Taj Mahal
Agra
Lahore
Delhi
FALL OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
• Corrupt bureaucracy
• Technologically inferior army
• Aurangzeb- last major ruler
• Wanted to extend Mughal control
over all of India
• Wanted to purify Indian Islam
• Both disastrous
• Reinstated head tax to finance warsunpopular
• Wars put them into debt by the time
of his death in 1750
• Internal rebellions made Mughals
lose control of empire- allowed for
the rise of new religious sects like
the Sikhs