Chapter 21

The Muslim Empires

THE OTTOMANS

The Beginning • 1258 CE: Mongol invasion disrupts Seljuk Turk

government– Death of the last Abbasid caliph

• Ottomans fill power vacuum under leadership of Osman I (Sunni Muslims)

• A warrior aristocracy develops– Central Bureaucracy Sultan• The warrior aristocracy competed with one another for

power: Not a stable situation

The Good times

• 1453 CE: Control majority of eastern Mediterranean and capture Constantinople

• Reach the height of their power and control in the 16th century under Suliemann the Magnificent

Sultans

• Absolute rulers– With the use of the Warrior Aristocracy– Allowed for people of other beliefs as advisors– Like the Caliphate, the Sultans will grow more corrupt over

time• Day to day activity was left to the large Bureaucracy

– Headed by the grand vizier• Sometimes leaving him with more power than the sultan

• Inherited Islamic Principle of Political Succession:– Vague and easily contested– Death of the Sultan = Warfare between sons

Constantinople

• Constantinople is the culmination of an Empire of diverse cultures – Mehmed II took it in 1453– Restored to in former glory with great

achievements in architecture– Grand Bazaar with stuff from

everywhere

The fall • Empire begins a gradual decline that would last until its

eventual death in 1920 (end of WWI)– Lasted 600 years– Held off the combined efforts of Russia, Eastern/Western

Europeans and Safavids to conquer them– Extent of the empire probably made it impossible to govern

• Compounding issues– Corruption developed from the inside – Problems with succession: a series of weak leaders– Lavish lifestyle– Unwillingness to adapt to changes in technology– Inherit a contempt for all things western– Impact of Portuguese trade (loss of wealth) and Spanish Silver

Ottoman Vocab• Sultans: – Absolute rulers, but had to appease various political

factions to retain power• Janissaries– Soldiers taken from conquered regions and forcibly

converted to Islam– Become the cornerstone of the army and a political

power in their own right• Dhimmi: “people of the book”• Vizier: head of the Ottoman central bureaucracy

THE SAFAVIDS

The Beginning

• Came from the struggles of rival Turkic nomadic groups in the wake of Mongol invasion– Persia and present day Iran

• Safavids were Shi’a– The struggle between Sunni Ottomans and Shi’a

Safavids will be a pivotal part of Islamic History • Began with a Mystic Sufi Family– Sail al-Din: started to reform Islam and spread it

thorugh the tribes– Red Heads: Safavid’s followers because of the head

gear

The Good Times

• Shah Abbas I (Great)– Under his leadership was the height of the Safavid

Empire– Created a slave army similar to the Janissaries – Wanted to create an Empire at the center of

International trade and Islamic Culture• Roads and rest houses were built

• Isfahan: the capital

The Fall

• Rapid decline• Abbas so paranoid he killed all potential

successors • Ottomans and Mughals were taking territory• March 1722: Afghani tribes besieged Isfahan

Like the Ottomans, they. . . • Gain power after departure of Mongols• Are warriors of Islam• Fall victim to a lavish lifestyle once they have gained power• Make use of a feudal system• Lose political power to foreign advisors • Adopt foreign slaves as soldiers• Use religion as a political tool

– Practices of the “mullahs”• Promoted the arts and global trade• Suffer from internal problems that cause their collapse• Women were socially limited

– Harem and veil• Developed a paranoia of their heirs

Unlike the Ottomans, they. . .

• Were Shi’a rather than Sunni• Were founded by religious leaders (Sufis)• Leaders are referred to as “shahs” rather than “sultans”• Lacked the military power to establish a vast empire• Were willing to acknowledge and make use of Western

ideas (weapons and tactics)• Adopted the use of Persian, which the Ottomans discard• Were unable to maintain their empire, ultimately falling

in 1722.

THE MUGHALS

The Beginning

• Babur: founder of the Mughal Dynasty– Descendant of Mongol Khans and Turkic Warriors– Used the existing bureaucratic system of the

conquered areas to build a new empire • Little to do with religion

The Good times

• Akbar greatest ruler of the Mughals– Great military commander and expanded the

empire– Brilliant Administration system to bring together

the Muslims and Hindus so they could share the region • Reconciliation and cooperation with Hindu princes• Encouraged intermarriage• Ordered Muslims to respect cows

A new faith

• Akbar did many things to bring the two religions together

• Din-i-Ilahi– Tried to combine Islam and Hindu to create

something new – Did not work so well

Excess

• Two Shah’s were consumed by Art and Pleasure – Jahangir and Shah Jahan– Spent lavishly in art, music, architecture, gardens,

women, etc – Left the running of the empire to subordinates

The Fall

• Years of excess leaves the Empire struggling• Shah Jahan’s successor inherited– Empire in decay from the inside– Growing danger from external enemies– Years of the Shah’s ignoring reform– Corrupt Bureaucracy and backward army– Awful conditions for the poor

• Rebellion in the West: Marattas• A new Sect in the Northwest: Sikhs

Like the Ottomans/Safavids, they. . .

• Succeed through the use of gunpowder (artillery/muskets)• Shared an Islam heritage• Made use of a feudal system• Had a significant gap between upper and lower classes• Unwillingness to adopt Western advances and innovations • Support the arts• Fall victim to a lavish lifestyle that results in the fall of the

empire• Decline as a result of their addiction to military conquest

Unlike the Ottomans/Safavids they. . .

• Claimed to be descendents of Mongols• Had no desire for religious conquest…motivated by desire for

territory• Promoted/protected Hinduism over Islam, and attempted adoption

of new religion (Din-i-Ilahi)• Attempted to improve status of women• Were economically dominant, even with the West• Have a series of upper class women that are able to achieve a

significant degree of political power– nur Jahan and Mumtax mahal

• Gave fewer rights to average women– Practice of sati

• Also declined because of religious division

WOMEN

• In both the Ottoman and Safavid Empires– Women faced legal and social disadvantages– Subordinated to fathers and husbands– Little outlets for artistic expression– Seclusion and veiling continued

• Especially elites

• For the Mughals– Akbar

• Encouraged widows to marry and discouraged child marriages• Waned to end Sati and give women more freedom outside the home

– After Akbar's death many of these practices go back full force if not even worse.

Good stuff to keep in mind

Stuff from this chapter that goes with the APWH Themes

Key Concept 2. New forms of social organization and modes of production

• As new social and political elites changed, they also restructured new ethnic, racial and gender hierarchies– The power of existing political and economic elites

(such as the zarnidars in the Mughal Empire, the nobility in Europe or the daimyo in Japan) fluctuated as they confronted new challenges to their ability to affect the policies of the increasingly powerful monarchs and leaders

Key Concept 3: State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion

• Rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power– Visual displays of political power (such as monumental architecture, urban

plans, courtly literature or the visual arts) helped legitimize and support rulers

– Rulers used religious ideas (such as European notions of divine right, the Safavid use of Shiism, the Mexican or Aztec practice of human sacrifice, the Songhai promotion of Islam or the Chinese emperors’ public performance of Confucian rituals) to legitimize their rule

– States treated different ethnic and religious groups in ways that utilized their economic contributions while limiting their ability to challenge the authority of the state (such as the Ottoman treatment of non-Muslim subjects, Manchu policies toward Chinese or the Spanish creation of a separate “Republica de Indios”)

– Recruitment and use of bureaucratic elites, as well as the development of military professionals (such as the Ottoman devshime, Chinese examination system or salaried samurai), became more common among rulers who wanted to maintain centralized control over their populations and resources

• Imperial expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres– Land empires, including the Manchu's, Mughals,

Ottomans and Russians expanded dramatically in size

• Competition over trade routes (such as Omani-European rivalry in the Indian Ocean or piracy in the Caribbean), state rivalries (such as the Thirty Years War, and the Ottoman-Safavid conflict) and local resistance (such as bread riots) all provided significant challenges to state consolidation and expansion