Ch 20: The Muslim Empires
The Ottomans
• Seljuk Turkic kingdom collapsed after Mongol
invasions in 1243, Ottomans took advantage
of Seljuk weakness
• Ottomans expanded from Anatolia into
Europe & Middle East in 1350s (see pg 452)
• Mehmed II, the Conqueror, took
Constantinople in what year?!?!
• Ottoman Empire strong enough to threaten
Vienna as late as 1683
• Warrior aristocracy became very important
in the OE
• Janissaries: elite infantry, usually forced
into the military as young boys; provided
with education, experts in firearms,
gradually replaced cavalry
• By the mid-1500s, janissaries were so
powerful they began to wield strong
political influence
Government
• Technically the sultans were absolute
monarchs, but janissaries & Muslim scholars
often challenged their rule & helped govern
• Ottomans were usually effective governors of
conquered territories, mostly tolerated
“peoples of the book”
• Daily functions of the empire carried out by a
large bureaucracy & grand vizier
• Plagued by succession crises, just like the
old Islamic states
Culture
• OE is very diverse, spanning 3 continents
• Mehmed II restores Constantinople to former
glory; converts Hagia Sophia to a mosque, builds
aqueducts, rebuilds walls
• Ottoman architecture flourishes
• The Suleymaniye Mosque is built in the 1550s
• Markets & coffeehouses thrive in the capitol city
• Government closely regulated trade. Why is this
ironic? Did they inherit this tradition?
• Turkic language used widely by 1600s
Decline
• OE was basically built on expansion; once
lands for expansion ran out (around 1700),
the OE slowly declined in power
• Corruption among officials grew,
increasingly difficult to manage massive
empire
• Sultans became weak & irrelevant
• Improvements in weapon tech
discouraged by janissaries. Why?
• Battle of Lepanto, 1571: OE lost control of
E. Mediterranean
• More importantly, new routes to India & E.
Asia reduced OE’s economic/political
status
• Dismissal of Euro ideas further caused OE
to fall behind
Lepanto: Catholic Nations defeats
Ottomans off the coast of Greece in
1571
ANSWER:
The Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto,
by the Italian painter Paolo Veronese
Background info: Several European
Catholic nations unite to defeat the
Ottoman navy in 1571. Europeans
were quick to claim that victory was a
result of divine will, while Ottomans
believed their defeat was a
punishment from Allah.
Questions:
What is going on in this painting?
Who painted it, and what might his
beliefs be? What is the painter’s
POINT OF VIEW?
What other document and/or painting
might be useful in order to analyze
the Battle of Lepanto?
The Safavids
• Safavid dynasty would come to control Persia
region, or modern-day Iran
• Began as a religious campaign by Sufi
mystics wanting to purify Islam
• When Mongols retreated in 1300s, Sail al-Din
and his Red Heads spread Safavid Empire
• Isma’il proclaimed shah (emperor) in 1501
• Expansion caused clashes with OE
• Safavids practiced Shi’i brand of Islam
Let’s Review...
• The Sunni / Shi’i split occurred in Islam after
Muhammad’s death in 632; the split
originated over succession
• None of Muhammad’s sons survived into
adulthood, so hereditary succession not
possible; Abu Bakr, a close friend of
Muhammad’s, elected first caliph
• Sunni: supported Abu Bakr as caliph
• Shi’i: argued that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin &
son-in-law, should be caliph
• Over time, other differences developed
• Most Muslims in OE
were Sunnis
• Battle of Chaldiran:
epic clash in 1514;
Safavid cavalry gets
shredded by
Ottoman guns
• Battle stopped
advance of Safavids
& Shi’i Islam, but
Ottomans turned
west instead of
invading Persia
Government & Religion
• Formed an aristocratic warrior class like
the OE
• Used slave boys from S. Russia for troops
• Abbas the Great: ruled from 1587-1629,
improved military & power of the shah;
turned to Europeans to learn about
weapon tech.
• Language of the government was Persian
• Safavid shahs claimed descent from Ali
• Strong government
control over religion
• Peoples of all faith
pressured to convert
to Shi’i Islam
• Under Abbas I, roads
& rest houses built,
workshops to
produce Persian
rugs, colleges
• Capitol was Isfahan
during Abbas reign
Women
• Both the OE & Safavids were very
restrictive societies for women
• Within the family, women were
subordinate to husband or father
• Seclusion and veiling imposed on women
of all classes
• Recent evidence suggests women did
have some freedoms, but overall it was a
bleak picture for Muslim women
Decline
• Paranoid about his sons, Abbas I killed or
blinded all of them; a series of weak rulers
followed
• Raiders from all directions took Safavid
territory from 1629-1722
• In 1722, Isfahan fell to an Afghani army,
ending the Safavid dynasty
• After the 1720s, Persia would be a
battleground for others to fight over
Comparing the Empires
Similarities
• Large influence from
warrior aristocrats
• Heavy burdens placed on
peasants
• Encourage commerce
and public works
• Very restrictive on women
• Islam practiced, but
tolerated other religions
Differences
• Sunni vs. Shi’i
• Ottomans more advanced
in trade & commerce
• Safavids relied more
heavily on assistance
from Europe, Ottomans
mostly turned down
European help
Mughal India
• Founded by Babur in 1526; Babur was a
king in central Asia but had lost his throne,
so he invaded India
• Babur’s 12,000 men defeat 100,000 man
army of the Lodi dynasty at Panipat; used
gunpowder, cavalry tactics, & scared the
Lodi elephants to win
• Mughal rule of northern India would be
challenged until 1560
Akbar
• In 1560, Babur’s grandson Akbar comes to the
Mughal throne; he is recognized as one of the
greatest leaders in history
• Akbar is a great general, patron of the arts, but
illiterate
• Akbar extended Mughal rule over much of India
through force, but compromised with various
groups
• Ended the jizya (non-Muslim tax), promoted
Hindus in his government, allowed the building of
Hindu temples, & ordered Muslims to respect
cows
• Akbar actually invents a new religion called
Din-i-Ilahi, hoping it could unite Muslims &
Hindus in India
• Like the OE, warrior class given privileges
and estates of villages/peasants
• Akbar builds houses for the poor, limits
consumption of alcohol, & tries to advance
the position of women
• Encouraged widows to remarry, discourages
child marriage, & bans sati
• India enjoys civil peace during Akbar’s reign
After Akbar
• Akbar dies in 1605, but Mughal India would
reach its peak in the centuries afterward
• Contact with Europe increases, & Indian cloth
& textiles become immensely popular with
Europeans
• Akbar’s successors left much of his reforms
& managing style intact, but focused on
pleasure rather than politics
• Artworks take off, including the Taj Mahal
• Jahangir ruled from 1605-1627 & Shah
Jahan from 1627-1658; their wives would
actually run India
• Jahangir’s wife Nur Jahan would run the
empire, but died giving birth to 19th child
• Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtza Mahal had less
power, she is buried in the Taj Mahal
• Despite this, women’s status in India
declined after Akbar
Decline
• Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb came to the
throne in 1658
• Aurangzeb was smart & hard-working, but
wanted to extend Mughal control & purify
Islam from Hindu influences
• Succeeded in conquering all of India, but
exhausted treasury in the process
• Discriminated more against Hindus, &
reinstated the jizya
• Mughal India became weak & decentralized
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1200-1350: _______ retreat from Middle East
1281: Founding of the _______ dynasty
1350s: Ottomans conquer ______ Peninsula
1501-1510: ________s conquer Persia
1526: _______ dynasty founded by Babur
1683: Last Ottoman siege of ______ fails
1722: Fall of the _______ dynasty