Lecture 14

Mughal and the Safavid Empires

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Moving away from

Mercantilism

(late 17th century)

Definition: State control of foreign trade

(against free-trade)

1) Protectionist: importation of gold, silver; no importation of goods already at home.

2) Limited foreign merchants activities and workers’ rights.

3) Expansion of military and naval ships for trade and protection of merchants.

---Caused war: in order to promote prosperity.

---And colonial expansion.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) on

the Capitalist Market

“What is the species of domestic industry which his capital can employ, and of which the produce is likely to be of the greatest value, every individual, it is evident, can, in his local situation, judge much better than any statesmen or lawgiver can do for him…To give the monopoly of the home market to the produce of domestic industry, in any particular art or manufacture, is in some measure to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, and must, in almost all cases, be either a useless or a hurtful regulation.”

Putting Out System

The new entrepreneur paid workers from rural regions for their services.

Circumvent the Guilds.

Rural Labor: spent little

On wages and made

huge profits.

Protoindustralization

Exploitation of Labor

Exploitation of Commerce

Imperialism & Capitalism

Ming China(1368-1644)

Inland agricultural wealth

Taxes from agriculture

Manufacturing sector: porcelain and silk

1581 changed currency to silver (money was way too unstable in a competitive global economy)

But China needed sliver from Europeans

Imbalance of commerce: Europeans buy Chinese goods very cheap

Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

Kangxi Emperor (1661-1722)

Military power on land (defeated the

Russians)

but

Maritime naval weakness

Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1867)

Tokugawa Leyasu 1st Tokugawa shogun

(1543-1616)

Feudal military order

Tokugawa distant Japan from European

powers (1609)

Trading rights to the Dutch East India

Company

Feared Iberian powers

“Christian Expulsion Edict”: expulsion

of missionaries

European foreign policy &

Global Economy The rising merchant class had major

influence in foreign policy

Favored blocking imports and textile and

other goods from Asia

European domination over the seas also led

to the declining role of China in global

economy, a process that took a sharp turn in

the 17th century

“Islamic Empires”Ottoman(1299-1922); Safavid (1501-1722); Mughal

(1526-1707)

1. Mediterranean-Mesopotamia Zone.

2. Asian (sub) continent zone.

1. Mediterranean Sea

2. Indian Oceanic base.

Turkic People

EURASIA

The Mughal Empire

claim descent from the Mongols

Another Gunpowder State (though much

weaker than the Ottomans).

1523: Zahir al-Din Muhammad, known as

Babur (“The Tiger”), conquers northern India.

Conquest of Delhi

(1526)

● Akbar, grandson of

Babur.

(reigned 1556-1605).

Akbar, grandson of Babur.

(reigned 1556-1605).

Charismatic and shrewd

emperor.

● Created a centralized state

with ministries regulating

The various provinces of the

empire.

● Advanced syncretic religion:

Divine faith” with the emperor

as the common symbol to all

subjects of diverse ethnic,

religious and

social groups.

Taj Mahal (1653)

Muhammad Shah Jahan I

(reigned 1628-1658).

● Mughal architecture

a) Mix of Muslim and

Hindu features

b) delicate elegance

and refinement of

detail.

Mughal CourtMumtaz Mahal (1593 – 1631)

Nur Jahan

Military technology

Aurangzeb (1659-1707) 6th Mughal Emperor

Lacked religious toleration

Imposed taxes on Hindus and demolished

Hindu temples.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Waged an aggressive campaign against

southern Indian states.

18th century: almost ruled the entire

subcontinent.

Origin

Sheikh Safi (spiritual leader)

Sunni-Sufi movement.

Junayd (d. 1460s).

Haydar (d. 1488) married to the daughter of

the leader of Aqquyunlu (White Sheep), Uzun

Hassan.

Ismail in 1487.

Shah Ismail (1487-1524)

Established the Safavid Empire in 1501.

1501 conquered

Eastern Anatolia (Tabriz) to

Eastern Iran

(Heart)

A Prolific poet.

Battle of Chaldiran

August 23, 1514

Defeated by

Selim I

(1465-1520)

●End of Ismail’s

Claim to be a Mahdi

Qizilbash

“Red hats”

A Turkish-tribal confederacy.

Anatolia.

Supporters of Safavid

order.

Shia Islam

Ali: Son-in-law and the cousin of the Prophet.

Shia: Party of Ali.

Cult of martyrdom: 680 C.E. Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet and the son of Ali dies a martyr’s death on the battlefield of Karbala, Iraq.

Messianic: Hidden Imam: Will return at the end of time to bring justice to earth.

Karbala

Muharram Rituals

Religion of Qizilbash

Heterodoxy: Mixture of Christianity, mystical Islam and (central Asiatic) shamanic practices.

1. Doctrines:

a) Pantheism

b) Messianic

c) Music and drink

2. Organization:

a) Pir or Spirital-political leader

b) Tariq-e: order

c) Sufi-brotherhoods.

Establishment of Safavid Dynasty

1501 Shah Ismail captures Tabriz.

The third and most enduring Shia power in

Islamic history.

1501: Shia religion made official.

Conversion of Persia

Sunni to Shia Islam.

1) Popular Rituals.

2) And clerical migration from (southern)

Lebanon.

Muharram Rituals as state rituals

Ottoman Circumcision Rituals

Shah Tahmasp (1514-1576)

Consolidated Safavid Empire.

Promoted “Orthodox” Shia Islam:

Firman and Public Repentance (tawba)

Supported arts and literature.

Made peace with the Ottmans:

Amasya treaty with the Ottomans cedes Arab

Iraq to Ottomans.

Clerical Establishment

Ali Karaki (d. 1534)

Deputy of the Imam.

Orthodox Twelver Shi’ism.

Rise of clerical establishment.

Structure of the state

King

Qizilbash

Ministers

Governors/Emirs

Sadr Sheikh Vakil

Judiciary

Royal Hunt

Shah Abbas I (1587-1629)

Centralized State.

Replaced Qizilbash with

standing army

(Ghulams or slaves)

● European visitors.

● Promoted economic

activities (Armenians)

● Urbanization

New Isfahan:

Naqsh-e Jahan

Square

“Image of the World Square”

Economy

1. land-based:

a) Silk road (India and China)

b) Maritime (Persian Gulf: Bandar Abbas)

2. Main product of export: Silk.

3. Luxury goods: CARPET