Chapter 21: The Muslim Empires

AKA: Gunpowder Empires

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Where did the Ottomans come from?

• Name came from “Osman,” a leader of a western Anatolian nomadic group who began expansionistic moves in the 14th century.

• Gradually these nomads took over Anatolia and became the border between Islam and Byzantine Christian

The Ottoman Empire

• Ottomans gain ground in Asia Minor (Anatolia) throughout the 1350’s

• 1453: Ottoman capture of Constantinople under the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II

• Ottomans were a major power in the Arab World, the Balkans, and around the Black and Red Seas.

• Sunni Muslims

The Ottoman Empire• Turkic Cavalry quickly turns into a

warrior aristocracy

• Janissaries: infantry divisions which dominated the imperial armies – Usually conscripted as adolescents– Typically Christian children, taken

and converted/trained– Controlled the artillery and firearms– Gained tremendous power as time

went on

• Devshirme– Christian youths captured(sometimes

given) by the Ottoman agents and recruited for the Imperial civil service and standing army•Converted to Islam•The brightest 10% entered the Palace

school and were trained for civil service•The others were sent to Turkish farms and

were trained for toughness = Janissaries•Janissaries were the elite army corps who

were absolutely loyal to the Sultan

The Ottoman Empire• Sultans were absolute

monarchs• Ottoman conquest usually

meant effective administration and tax relief

• The grand vizier (wazir) was the true head of “state.”

• Political succession was vague and often contested however – Sons often battled after the

death of their father

Ottoman perk: Awesome vizier hats

• The Conquest of Constantinople = the Imperial phase of the Ottomans– Constantinople was

renamed Istanbul– Mehmet II cleaned

up the city and began many building mosques, markets, water fountains, baths, and other public facilities

The Ottoman Empire• Ottoman sultans worked tirelessly to improve the imperial

capital of Constantinople (Istanbul)

• Saint Sophia (remember Byzantine empire?) was converted to a mosque

• Built the Suleymaniye mosque (below)

Hagia Sophia as a Mosque

• Many Jewish people, who were cruelly oppressed in Western Europe (aka Reconquista), moved to Istanbul and found Turkey to be a “haven” = a mass migration of Jewish people soon followed

• Suleiman the “Lawgiver”– Sultanic law

codes– Reformed the

government– Balanced the

budget– Reinforced

Islamic law

• Suleiman the “Magnificent”– Grandeur of his court– Built palaces,

mosques, schools, libraries, hospitals, roads, bridges, etc.

– Cultural explosion (pax Ottomanica) – literary, artistic, and scientific achievements

– Pasha Sinan – Suleiman’s Architect

•Conversion to Islam•Millet system (non-Muslims

formed small communities and were allowed to keep their faith (Jewish or Christian) as long as they paid the jitza (a tax).

•Local officials were replaced by Ottoman government officials

The Ottoman Empire (Decline)• The empire did last into the 20th century, and lasted for

over 600 years!• However, later sultans were less prepared to rule

– Increasing power to the viziers, and Janissary corps.– Political instability in the region (more on this later

in the year)– Ottoman defeat at the battle of Lepanto against the

combined Spanish and Venetian fleet in 1571– Ottomans were unable to push the Portuguese from

the Indian Ocean in the 1500s• Ottoman tax collectors lose critical revenue

The Ottomans signed

capitulations with the

European countries =

loss of revenue

Capitulations• Foreign subjects now protected by their individual

country’s laws• They were no longer legally accountable in the

Ottoman Empire.• Possible for foreign governments to levy duties

(taxes) on goods sold in Turkish ports• Foreign powers were also able to set up banks,

post offices, and commercial houses on Turkish soil that were exempt from Turkish taxes and were able to compete with local firms.

The Ottoman Empire• Influx of silver bullion in the 16th century from the New

World also destabilized the Ottoman economy• Ottomans did not overly concern themselves with

developments in Europe, like Scientific Revolutions, enlightenment, and industrial advancements of the 17-1800’s.

• Ottomans fell behind in trade and warfare more than anything

• Janissaries block most modes of change in defense of their own power.

• We will revisit this decline just before WWI (when the Ottoman’s fall)

– Loss of intellectualism = loss of innovation = fall behind the Europeans in technology

THE SAFAVID EMPIRE

The Safavids created an empire inPersia in the 1500s.

The Ottomans and Safavids were rivals.

Sectarian Violence

• Violence between two sections of the same religion is called “sectarian violence”.

• Sail-al-Din re-ignited the push to spread Shia Islam

• Initially, followers wore red head gear and were called “Red Heads”

The Safavids• The Safavids established a Shi’ite state in Persia,

modern-day Iran.• The Safavids were in conflict with the Sunni

Ottomans.• Both the Shi’ite Safavids and the Sunni Ottomans

claimed to be the true leaders of the Islamic world.

Shahs

• Safavid rulers were called Shahs.

• A Shah was an absolute ruler of the Safavid Empire.

• Shahs used their large armies to maintain control of their empire.

Safavid• The Safavid Dynasty started

with Shah Ismail.

• He was a descendant of Safi al-Din who had been the leader of a Turkish ethnic groups in Azerbaijan near the Caspian Sea.

• Under Ismail, the Safavid took control of much of Iran and Iraq

Safavid• Ismail called himself “shah,” or

king, of the new Persian state.• Ismail was a Shi’a Muslim. He

sent preachers to different areas to convert members of the Ottoman Empire.

• Battle of Chaldiran: Fought against Sunni Ottomans (who had better firepower)– Essentially set the

boundaries for modern day Shi’a Islam

Modern Day distribution of Shi’a Muslims

Safavid• Shah Abbas, who ruled from 1588 to

1629, brought the Safavids to their highest point of glory.

• He usurped the throne from his father and imprisoned him. He later killed the man who helped him get the throne.

• He attacked the Ottoman Turks, with European help – they saw the Safavids as allies – to regain lost lands from the Ottomans.

• The Safavids could not keep territorial gains, but a treaty was signed in 1612 returning Azerbaijan to the Safavids.

Safavid

• The Safavid Empire went from Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea east to India; along the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea north to the southern border of Russia.

• When Shah Abbas died, religious orthodoxy, a pressure to conform to traditional religious beliefs, increased. Women were to give up freedom for a life of seclusion and the wearing of the veil.

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Safavid Trade• Safavid rulers greatly encouraged trade.

• The production of beautiful Persian rugs and miniature paintings flourished in the Safavid Empire.

Rugs from the period are highly valued today.

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Literature,medicine,

andthe study ofastronomythrived in

Safavid Persia.

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Safavid Decline• However, high taxes and continuous warfare

with the Ottoman Empire weakened the Safavids.

• In 1722, the Safavid Empire was conquered by neighboring Afghanistan.

THE MOGUL (Mughal) Empire

BABUR 1526-1530• He founded the empire in

1526 when he defeated a Delhi sultan

• His army of 12,000 defeated the sultan’s 100,000 men

• Moguls were descendants of the Mongols, Turks, Iranians and Afghans

Babur• Educated warrior

• Fond of poetry

• Created Persian gardens wherever he conquered because missed cool climate of his homeland (see painting)

• Ruled North India from 1526-30

• Died before the his administrative skills in consolidating the empire were tested.

• Empire passed to his son Humayan

Humayan

• Alternated between great energy and indolence

• Lost empire to rival, had to flee to Safavid empire (Persia / Iran) for help

• Son Akbar born during exile, left behind with mother and guardian

• With help of Safavids, Humayan regained the empire, 1555• Shortly thereafter, fell down stairs of his observatory,

probably under the influence of either opium or alcohol, and died (1556)

• In the words of one chronicler, he “stumbled out of this life much as he had stumbled through it”.

Humayan’s Tomb

AKBAR 1556-1605• He was Babur’s grandson

and took the throne at 13

• He spent most of his reign making and changing administrative policies

• Added many new territories to the empire and built the largest army in Mogul history

Akbar Restrains Haa'i, an Enraged Elephant by Basawan with Chitra c.

1590

Akbar attempts social reforms by:

Discouraging child marriage

He encouraged intermarriage

Encouraging widows to re-marry instead of the practice of sati

Sati: burning of widows on their husband’s funeral pyre

• Akbar was one of the first Mogul rulers to effectively rule the diverse ethnic make-up of the empire

• Appointed by Hindus to high ranking positions

• He accepted all religions and sects

• Sons fought over succession (as was becoming the norm)

Jahangir• Often drunken and cruel,

his later years found him often incapacitated by opium and alcohol abuse

• Married a 34 year-old Persian widow he renamed Nur Jahan (“Light of the World”). She would become one of the strongest personalities of the Mogul period

Jahangir

• Nur Jahan was the de facto ruler of the Mogul empire for the last half of Jahangir’s reign, due to his indolence and inebriation. She schemed to get her relatives in positions of power

• Replaced by his son Prince Khurram, who he renamed Shah Jahan (“Emperor of the World”)

SHAH JAHAN 1627-1658• Prince Khurram

took the throne at 35 and changed his name to Shah Jahan (King of the World)

• He spent most of his time trying to expand south

SHAH JAHAN• He was a competent commander with a strict sense of justice

• During his rule he built palaces, mosques and gardens

• The best known structure is the Taj Mahal, built for the love of his life, Mumtaz Muhal (in a time when romance was not common)

• The building of the Taj Muhal caused massive financial strain for the empire

• Shah Jahan became depressed after Muhal’s death and his leadership declined

SHAH JAHAN• When he became sick his sons fought for

control of the empire

• Eventually his son Aurangzeb captured the throne and imprisoned his father at Fort Agra because he supported Dara Shukoh (an older son)

• Although it sounds harsh, most Mogul rulers killed their fathers upon succession

TAJ MAHAL

• Shah Jahan built the mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal in Agra

• It took 23 years to complete

• It is constructed of materials from India and all over Asia

What did Mumtaz Mahal* look like?

• According to art historian Milo Beach, "There are paintings that are labeled 'Mumtaz Mahal,' but they are simply generalized depictions of a Mughal beauty. There's virtually no contemporary account of her, because none of the historians would have had contact with her. . . Under Mohammed's law of "purdah," the law of the veil, women were obliged to hide their faces from public view. The only women depicted in paintings were court dancers and entertainers; it was taboo to paint royal women. . . Royal women were kept in seclusion, but that has nothing to do with the power they held. They clearly were extremely powerful. Shah Jahan's father, Jahangir, married a woman named Nur Jahan who was really the person who ran the empire for the second half of Jahangir's reign, when he became addicted to opium and alcohol. He barely functioned as an emperor, and she ran the country."

*birth name: Arjumand Banu Begum

TAJ MAHAL

• The structure is 1900’ x 1000’• The best parts of all former Mughal tombs were

used to design it• While imprisoned Shah Jahan could see the Taj

from his window• Legend claims that Shah Jahan had the eyes of

the architect gouged out so nothing as beautiful could be created again.

• When he died he was buried next to his wife

The Taj from a window at Fort Agra

Semi precious stones were used to create mosaics

The exterior is covered in marble

Aurangzeb(Ruled 1658 - 1707)

• IThe more tolerant and scholarly son Dara Shikoh was defeated by Aurangzeb, a more pious Muslim.

• Shah Jahan recovered, but it was too late for Aurangzeb to back down. He had Shah Jahan imprisoned and the head of his brother sent to him in jail. Shah Jahan lived out his life looking at the Taj Mahal from his prison window.

• Aurangzeb killed all his brothers and any other collateral male relatives deemed a threat.Reading the Quran

Aurangzeb takes Shah Jahan

Prisoner

Mughal Expansion Under Aurangzeb

• Aurangzeb also known as Alamgir (“World Conqueror”)

• Aurangzeb launched military campaigns that eventually added most of the Deccan and South India to the empire

• The cost of these expeditions would later weaken the empire

Cost of Aurangzeb’s Deccan Campaigns• Casualities: approximately 100,000 lives per year for the last

several decades of his attacks, often the result of capturing a Maratha fort one week, losing it the next, then recapturing it.

• A moving capital city of tents 30 miles in circumference, over 250 bazaars, 500,000 camp followers, 50,000 camels, and 30,000 elephants, all of whom had to be fed

• The Deccan was stripped of its wealth. Famine and bubonic plague took even more lives among civilians

• The anger of Hindus was raised against this Moslem king as a result of his cruelty to non-believers. Ex. the Maratha ruler Sambhaji was captured, tortured, and butchered to death

• Nearing 90, Aurangzeb finally withdrew in 1705, reading and copying the Qur’an in preparation for his death. He confessed to his son, “I came alone, and I go as a stranger. I do not know who I am, nor what I have been doing. I have sinned terribly, and I do not know what punishment awaits me.”

End of Mughal Empire

• While at the beginning of the eighteenth century the Mughal empire looked strong, it was beginning to decline and decay

• Weak rulers, regional and factional rivalries, and foreign invasion all eventually brought the empire to an end

• The incursions of the Europeans, especially the British and the French, were setting the stage for the next period of Indian history(division and British conquest)

• Last emperor sent into exile by British following Great Mutiny of 1857