THE GUNPOWDER
DYNASTIES
The Ottoman Empire, The Safavid Empire, and the
Mughal Empire
Ottomans
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Known for acting kindly towards the people they
conquered
Improved lives of peasants
Non-Muslims had to pay tax
Timur the Lame (Persian) – halted growth of
Ottoman Empire
 Captured
the sultan (“overlord”; ruler of Ottomans)
Ottomans
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War broke out between the 4 sons of the Ottoman
sultan
Mehmet I won
His son Murad II restored Ottoman military
Ottomans kept expanding in 1566
Mehmet II – Murad’s son
 Took
power at 21
 Wanted Constantinople (most important city in
Byzantine Empire)
Byzantine Empire
Ottoman Empire
Mehmet II
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2 years – built a force of 125 ships and 100,000
foot soldiers
April 1453 launched attack on the Byzantines
Byzantines didn’t receive much help
After 5 weeks – Mehmet’s forces able to enter city
of Constantinople
Hagia Sophia – most important church in Eastern
Christian world; took it over and made it a mosque
Constantinople/Istanbul
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Opened city to new citizens of many religions and
backgrounds
City was now called Istanbul
Jews, Muslims, Christians, Turks, non-Turks all lived
there
Istanbul
Selim the Grim
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Took power in 1512 – had to murder his fathers
and brothers to do so
1514 – Defeated the Safavids at Persia
Captured Mecca and Medina
Took Cairo – intellectual center of Muslim world
Egypt became a part of Ottoman Empire
Suleiman the Lawgiver/Magnificent
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Selim’s son – Suleiman I
 1520
– ruled for 46 years
 West called him Suleiman the Magnificent
 Military leader
 Had immense navy
Suleiman
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Most powerful monarch on earth
Palace bureaucracy staffed 20,000 slaves
Suleiman’s Reign
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Conquered along North African coastline
Controlled trade routes to interior of Africa
Waged war on central Europeans, North Africans,
and central Asians
1525 – tried for Hungary and Austria
 Siege
of Vienna failed
 Suleiman then devoted himself to domestic affairs
Janissaries
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Members of elite force of soldiers
30,000
Could be chosen due to devshirme policy
Belonged to the sultan
Protectors of the sultan
Devshirme
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Sultan’s army took boys from their families
Many from Christian territories
Educated them and converted them to Islam
Trained them as soldiers
Some families bribed officials to take children into
janissary corps
 Had
chance to rise in government
Religious Freedom
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Freedom of worship to other religious communities
Treated these communities as millets (nations).
Could follow own religious laws and practices
Head of millets reported to sultan and staff
Suleiman’s Domestic Success
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Workable social structure
Simplified taxation system
Reduced government bureaucracy
Found time to study poetry, history, geography
Employed architect to build Mosque of Suleiman
 Had
4 schools, college, library, bath, and hospital
 It sounds like it was awesome
Mosque of Suleiman (Istanbul, Turkey)
Interior
Decline
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Suleiman killed ablest son (this is a theme)
Others into eile
Selim II – 3rd son
1571 – Spain & Italy destroyed Turkish fleet
Customary to have sultan’s brothers strangled with
string of a bow
Would keep sons prisoner
Dissolved after WWI
Safavids
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Iranian origin – descended from prophet
Muhammad
15th century – Shi’a branch of Islam
Built powerful army
1499 – Isma’il (14 years old)
 Shi’a
Islam state religion
 Had to convert to Shi’ism
 Destroyed Sunni population in Baghdad
Sunni vs. Shi’a
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What’s the difference?
Sunni vs. Shi’a
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Shi’a
 Successor
of Muhammad – Ali – husband of prophet’s
daughter Fatimah (designated by the Prophet)
 Iran, Iraq, Yemen
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Sunni
 Successor
of Muhammad – Abu Bakr, father of
Muhammad’s favorite wife, ‘A’ishah (elected by the
people of Medina)
Shah Abbas (Abbas the Great)
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Safavid culture drew from the best of Ottoman, Persian,
and Arab worlds
2 new armies loyal to him alone
Army of Persians
 Force like Ottoman janissaries
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Reformed govt – punished corruption
Established relations with Europe – industry and art
Brought Chinese artisans to Empire
Rebuilt capital city - Isfahan
Shah Abbas
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Killed/blinded ablest sons
Succeeded by incompetent grandson, Safi
 Same
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road that led to decline of Ottomans
1722 – Armies in Afghanistan took over eastern
portions of Safavid Empire
1736
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Ruler from Sunni Family – Nadir Shah Afshar took
command
 Conquered
all the way to India and created new
Persian Empire
 One of his own troops assassinated him
 Died in 1747 – empire almost fell apart
Safavid Culture
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Worldly and artistic features of Persian civilization
mingled with Shi’a Islam
Based on Ottoman model
 Welcomed
foreigners
 Created a slave army similar to janissaries
Mughal Empire
Akbar and Aurangzeb crash course
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbuM0aJjVgE
Mughal Empire
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People who invaded India – Mughals
Clashed with Hindus
1494 – 11 year old named Babur inherited
kingdom – Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
Babur
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Built strong army
Swept into India
Strong, sensitive
1526 – Led 12,000 troops to victory against army
of 100,000 led by sultan of Delhi
Grandson would also do good for Mughals
Akbar
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“Great One”
Ruled India from 1556-1605
Muslim and defended religious freedom
Allowed his many wives to practice their religious
rituals in his palace
Abolished tax on Hindu pilgrims (jizya) – tax on
non-Muslims
Appointed Spanish Jesuit to teach son
Cultural blending!
Taxes
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Effective taxation policy
Calculated tax as a percent of the value of the
peasants’ crops, similar to graduated income in US
Land Policies
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Gave generous land grants to bureaucrats
After they died, Akbar reclaimed lands and
distributed them as he saw fit
Prevented growth of feudal aristocracies
Did not encourage dedication and hard work by
Mughal officers – children would not inherit their
land
Military Strength
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Military power = root of strength
Believed in war for its own sake
Heavy artillery
Cannons
Unified land of 100 million people – more than all
of Europe put together
Culture
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Welcome other influences
Persian – language in high court
Common people spoke Hindi – mixture of Persian
and local language
Mughal armies – Urdu
 “Blend
of Arabic, Persian, and Hindi
 Official language of Pakistan today
Capital of Fetehpur Sikri (India)
Shah Jahan
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Assassinated all possible rivals to secure throne
Loved beautiful buildings
Loved his wife – Mumtaz Muhal
at 38 after giving birth to 14th child
 Ordered a tomb to be built “as beautiful as she was
beautiful”.
 20,000 workers labored for 22 years
 Does anyone know what this is describing?
 Died
Taj Mahal
Aurangzeb
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He’s important
Ruled fro 1658 – 1707
Master at military strategy
Aggressive Empire Builder
Expanded empire to its greatest size, but the power
weakened during his reign
 Why
do you think that was?
Aurangzeb
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Oppressed the people
Enforced Islamic laws
 No
drinking, gambling, and other vices
 Appointed censors
 Had to pray at appointed times
 Tried to erase gains Hindus made under Akbar
 Brought back tax on non-Muslims (what was this called?)
 Had Hindu monuments destroyed
Decline
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Rebellion against Aurangzeb
Drained empire of its resources
Most of his subjects felt little loyalty to him
Over 2 million died in famine when Aurangzeb was
waging war
Power of local lords grew
Decline
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Future emperors ruled not an empire but patchwork
of independent states
English traders began to reach India
 Didn’t
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feel threatened by them
Shah Jahan let them build a port at Bombay in
1661
He had no idea these would be India’s next
conquerors
Activity
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Take a few minutes to write a recipe for creating
and maintaining a successful empire. Use the
knowledge you just gained about the Ottomans,
Safavids, and Mughals as your gui to do so.