Islamic Empires

The Decline of the Caliphates  1055-Seljuk Turks invade Middle East from Central Asia  Adopt Islam, keep the caliph as a figurehead  1258-Mongols sack Baghdad, advance stopped by the Mamluks of Egypt  Late 1300s-Tamerlane sweeps through the Middle East

The Ottoman Empire  By the 13 th century, the Turks form an empire called the Ottoman Empire  The empire was ruled by a sultan  Sultan means power or authority  Sultan had political authority, but not religious authority  The first ruler of the Ottomans was Osman, or Uthman in Arabic

Ottoman Warfare  The Ottoman soldiers were very well trained  One type of soldier was a janissary, or new soldier  They were captured Christians who were property of the Sultan  Most converted to Islam  Extremely feared warriors  The Ottomans were one of the first empires to use gunpowder in warfare

Ottoman Expansion  The Ottomans expanded their empire very quickly  Their biggest goal was Constantinople, the capital of the crumbling Byzantine Empire  Constantinople was a great trade center and the “Gateway to Europe”

Constantinople

Constantinople’s Defenses  Constantinople had been under Byzantine (Christian) rule for 750 years  The city had a great fortress and was surrounded by water on three sides  It had three very thick defensive walls  The city had survived 22 sieges

The Defeat of Constantinople  Sultan Mehmet II hired an engineer named Urban to build a cannon that could smash the walls  Urban built the “Royal One,” 26 feet long, could fire a 1200 pound cannon ball one mile  With the help of the cannon, the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453

Changes  Mehmet II entered the Hagia Sophia church, prayed to Allah, and made the church into a mosque  Mehmet renamed the city Istanbul- “Into the City”

Suleiman the Magnificent  The greatest Ottoman ruler was Suleiman “The Magnificent”  He pushed the Ottoman Empire all the way to the walls of Vienna, Austria  Under Suleiman, the Ottomans ruled the world’s greatest empire

Ottoman Culture  Ottoman law was based on sharia, or Islamic law  Society was divided into classes  Men of the Sword-Soldiers, sultan’s bodyguard  Men of the Pen-Scientists, lawyers, poets  Men of Negotiation-Merchants, tax collectors  Men of Husbandry-Farmers and herders  Empire included Christians, Jews, and Muslims; non Muslims had to pay a tax.

Decline  After Suleiman’s death, the empire began to decline  Infighting and attacks by Europeans weakened it  The Ottomans supported Germany during World War I and lost, ending the empire  The Ottoman Empire was replaced by modern Turkey

Modern Turkey  Turkey was created under a leader named Kemal Ataturk  Ataturk ruthlessly executed opponents, but made many advances for Turkey  Separation of church and state  Emphasis on education  Women’s rights  Health care  Today, Turkey is one of the few democratic countries in the Middle East

Safavid Empire  Muslim empire in present day Iran  Ruled by a Shah  Great trading empire, centered around the capital city of Isfahan  The empire established Shia Islam in Iran