1. The Islamic Empires
Chapter 27

2. (Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal)
Formation of the Islamic Empires
(Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal)

3. The Ottoman Empire Osman & Mehmed the Conqueror Ottoman Expansion
Suleyman the Magnificent
Founder of dynasty
bey=chief, semi-nomadic
Turks
Osman & followers strive
To be ghazi=Muslim religious
Warriors
Waged holy wars
Capitals: Bursa & Edirne
Bursa became major
Commercial and intellectual
Center
Ghazi two forces: light
Cavalry & volunteer infantry
Devrshirme: conversion
Of Christian boy to
Administration or Janissaries=
Military soldiers
Gunpowder weapons
Captured Constantinople=
New Ottoman capital and
New name Istanbul
Istanbul became
Commercial center
Not just warrior but emperor
“two lands” “two seas”
Tightly centralized
Absolute monarchy
Military face no rivals
Continued to expand
Empire SW Asia & Europe
Became major naval
Power
Was able to challenge
Christian and Portuguese
vessels

4. Battle of Chaldiran & Shah
Safavid Empire
Battle of Chaldiran & Shah
Abbas the Great
The Safavids
Twelver Shiism
12 infallible imams
After Muhammed
Starting with prophet’s
Cousin Ali
Qizilbash=red heads
Suggested Ismail
Was a hidden imam or
Incarnation of Allah
Most Muslims saw
This as blasphemous
Qizilbash felt
Invincible in battle
Battle between Shiite Safavids
& Sunni Ottomans
Ottomans led with heavy
Artillery & Janissaries
Safavids thought they were
Protected
Intermittent for 2 centuries
After Ismail, successor s
Abandon radicalism & lean to
More conventional Twelver Shiism
Shah Abbas the Great (1588-
1629)
Encouraged trade, reformed
Administration & military
Shah Ismail ( )
Manipulated rise to
Power story
Ancestry traced back to
Sufi religious leader
Changed religious
Preference several times
Before settling, due to
Nomadic Turkish tribes

5. Mughal Empire Babur Akbar Aurangzeb Claimed descent From Chinggis Khan
& Tamerlane
Attempted to expand
Authority into India through
Firearms and gunpowder
Weapons
Cared little for land of India
Take spoils and leave
Began Mughal empire=
Persian for Mongol .
Embrace almost all Indian
subcontinent
Killed Adham Khan
Didn’t tolerate those
That challenged him
Centralized administration
w/ministries to watch over
Provinces
Allowed for religious toleration
(Hindu & Muslim)
Called for syncetic religious blend
That would focus emperor as a
Common ruler to all
Reached greatest
Extent
Presided over
Troubled empire
No religious
Toleration
Destroyed Hindu
Temples & taxed
Hindus
Local leaders
Begin rebellions &
resistance

6. Imperial Islamic Society

7. The Dynastic State The Emperors & Islam Steppe Traditions
Women and Politics
Early emperors often
Did as pleased with disregard
For religious and social norms
Steppe practices lead to
Problems of succession
Problems:Conflicts,
rebellions, challenges
In Ottoman empire legal to
Kill brother
Sons received administrive
Power in provinces in the
Ottoman empire
In Islam women have
No role in public affairs
Influence was often
Private
In Ottoman empire,
Emperor’s mother &
Chief wife receive
Privileges
Empires were military
Creations based off of
Possession
Prestige & authority
Derived from piety &
Military
Devotion of Islam leads
To expansion of new lands
Ghazi’s fight infidels

8. Agriculture and Trade Population Growth & Trade Food Crops Tobacco
Population in empires
Increased due to intensive
Agriculture
1600 Ottoman empire
Declines due to loss of land
Long-distance trade successful
In the Islamic empires
Ottoman empire had commercial
Capital Bursa
Safavids had commercial
Center Isfahan
Mughals allowed trading stations
In their land
Introduced by English
Merchants, medicinal
Entrepreneurs est.
Coffeehouses for coffee and
Tobacco
Some in society were
Against tobacco and coffee
Attempted to get rid of
It, proved unsuccessful
Agricultural economies
Financed armies and
Bureaucracies
Colombian exchange
Brought American crops
But little effects
Encouraged consumption
Of tobacco and coffee

9. Religious Affairs in the Islamic Empires
Religious Diversity
Christian Mission in India
Akbar’s Divine Faith
Wanted religious
Synthesis to unify
Empire
“Divine Faith”= loyalty
To emperor w/different
Religious traditions
Mostly drew on Islam,
Monotheistic
“Lord of Wisdom”
Religious and ethnically
Diverse, had to be kept under
Control
Ottomans: Christian & Jews
Safavids: Zoroastrian, Jews
Christians
Mughals: Muslims & Hindus
Portuguese Goa center
Of Christian mission in
India
Attempt to attract converts
(schools)
Attempt to convert Akbar
Emperor declined to commit
To exclusive faith

10. Religious Affairs in the Islamic Empires
Status of Religious Minorities
Promotion of Islam
Est method to deal w/non-
Muslims in the empire
“dhimmi”=protected people,
Paid “jizya”=tax
Retained personal freedoms
“millet”=autonomous religious
Communities retaining their civil
laws
Policies of religious tolerance
Not popular with Muslims
Worried it would lead to Hindu
Absorption in caste system
Mughals created Islamic state with
Islamic law
Aurengzeb reinstates jizya creates
Cultural tensions

11. Cultural Patronage of the Islamic Emperors
Fatehpur Sikri &
the Taj Mahal
Istanbul
Isfahan
Capital cities and royal
Palaces were visible
Expressions of imperial
Majesty
Ottoman pride in
Istanbul
Prosperous city
Topkapi palace=gov’t
Offices, mint, meeting
Places, sultan’s residence
One of the most precious
Jewels of urban architecture
Palaces emphasized
Natural settings with gardens
And pools, inner courts and gates
Mughal’s regarded their capital
Wherever their ruler was
Private residence and
Retreat for ruler
Mughal display of piety
And devotion
Incorporated Indian
Elements
Tah Mahal was a Mughal
monument

12. The Empires in Transition

13. Deterioration of Imperial Leadership
Dynastic Decline
Religious Tensions
All 3 dynasties had incompetent
Rulers who cared more for themselves
Than their empire
Late 17th c. provoked mutinies in
Armies, revolts, political corruption,
Economic oppression and insecurtiy
Political troubles arose from religious
Tensions.
Ottoman: disaffected religious students
Often joined the Janissaries in revolt

14. Economic and Military Decline
Economic Difficulties
Military Decline
The cost of military and
Administration led to decline
In Islamic empires
Became difficult to support
Empire that was limited in
Resources
Empires lost control over
Provinces, raised taxed after
Losing revenues, bribery, selling
offices
Military decline because they did
Not seek to improve their technologies
European technology was advancing
So quickly that it became difficult
For empires to keep up.

15. Cultural Conservatism
Piri Reis
Cultural Confidence
The Printing Press
Resistance from
Conservatives to the new
Inventions of the Europeans
Printing press was
Not as popular in Islamic
Empires as in Europe
Aesthetics were more
Preferred
Feared what the printing
Press could do to the
Islamic society
Believed in their superiority
And felt they had nothing to
Learn from Europeans
Remained oblivious to European
Culture and developments
Ottoman reconoittered
The Indian Ocean Basin from
East Africa to Indonesia
Produced large scale maps
And navigational texts