Back to Islam The Rise of the Ottoman Turks The Fall of Constantinople The Spread of the Ottoman Empire The Safavid Emkpire The Mongul Empire.

Back to Islam

•The Rise of the Ottoman Turks•The Fall of Constantinople•The Spread of the Ottoman Empire•The Safavid Emkpire•The Mongul Empire

The Ottoman Capital -- Constantinople

Anatolian Peninsula – between the Black Sea and Mediterranean

“Golden Horn” from space

Gunpowder Empires

•Refers to Ottomans, Safavid, and Mughal Empires

•During the 16 and beginning 17th c. the greatest gunpowder states were not European states but Islamic ones.

•Ottoman based in Constantinople

•Safavid – Based in Iran

•Mughal – Base in India

•Not nomadic empires

•Stable boundaries

•Religious impact

•ff

By 1500, Islam had become the dominate faith across a large part of the world from West Africa to Southeast Asia

Three large states dominated the Muslim world in the 1500s.

The Ottomans, the Safavids and the Mughals were reaching their peak of power

•The Turkic peoples entered Anatolia after the Mongols defeated the Seljuk's in the middle of the 13th c.

•During the 14th and 15th c. they moved into the Balkans

•In 1453, they captured Constantinople and ended the Byzantine Empire

•During the next two centuries they ruled much of the Middle East

Osman I (Othman): 1299-1326•Ottomans – Turkic people who

advanced into Asia Minor during the 14th century; established an empire in the Middle East, north Africa, and eastern Europe that lasted until after World War I.

•Osman I – founder of the Ottoman empire (the Ottomans took the title of sultan)

•Military leaders had a dominant role in the Ottoman state, a polity geared to war and expansion

The Ottomans

• The Ottoman became more militaristic, they mastered the use of gunpowder with muskets and cannon

• The Ottoman Empire qualified as on of the first “gunpowder empires.” These were created by ambitious rulers who unified regions that were not originally under their control

• There success based on the use of gunpowder• The achievements of the Turkish Empire can

also be attributed to its administrative structure

The Ottoman Bureaucracy

SULTANSULTAN

Divans - VizierDivans - Vizier

Social / MilitaryDivans

Social / MilitaryDivans

Heads of Individual

Religious Millets

Heads of Individual

Religious Millets

Local Administrators& Military

Local Administrators& Military

Landowners / Tax CollectorsLandowners / Tax Collectors

MuslimsMuslims JewsJews

ChristiansChristians

Each millet had its own religious leaders – responsible for education and legal matters

a. Men of the pen

b. Men of the sword

c. Men of negotiations

Vizier – Head of the Ottoman bureaucracy; after the 15th c. often more powerful that the sultan

Definition

• Harem – was the part of the household in which the wives and female slaves of the sultan lived. Generally, the sultan favored one or two wives and children over others in the harem, which caused much strife and political intrigue in the harem itself.

• A powerful player in the politics was the queen mother, the mother of the sultan. Generally she emerged as a major advisor to the throne. She had to make her son stand out from all of the other sons in the harm.

Mehmet II: 1444-1445; 1451-1481

(“The Conqueror”)•Defeated the Serbs at the famous Battle of Kossovo 1389

•Mehmed II – Ottoman sultan called the “Conqueror”, captured Constantinople and destroy the Byzantine Empire

•Turkish the chosen language of the Ottoman court

The End of the Byzantine Empire

The Fall of Constantinople: 1453

•By 1350 the Ottomans had advanced from their strongholds in Asia Minor across the Bosporus into Europe

Janissaries – Elite Soldiers of Sultan Army

•Janissaries – young Christian youths from conquered regions who were trained as Ottoman infantry divisions; became an important political influence after the 15th century.

•Janissaries – After being converted and educated they were enrolled in the elite regiments. The most famous slave-recruited army in Islamic history

•Greatest Slave Army in the Islamic world

Notable Quotable

• The Janissary corps was an elite group of soldiers and administrators of the sultan’s army. In general, they were young Christian men chosen for their good looks and physical abilities. After initial recruitment, the janissaries had sons who also inherited the right to be in the corps. But by the early 1800s, the force had become an undisciplined political power of over 100,000 men – so the sultan was forced to put its entire membership to death!

“Golden Horn”

Europeans vs. Turks

Battle of Lepanto (1571)

Spanish fleet defeat the Ottoman and gain control of the Mediterranean Sea

Battle of Lepanto (1571)

Major Point in History – The Ottoman Expansion was stopped – Also the Siege of Vienna in 1529

Hagia Sophia - Istanbul

Hagia Sophia - interior

Suleiman the Magnificent:(1520-1566)

Suleiman’s Signature

•1520-1566 – “Golden Age” – Ottoman ruled the largest empire, in Europe and the Middle East

•Suleiman advance deeper into Europe, finally stopped at the “Siege of Vienna”

The Golden Age of the Ottomans

Golden Age under Suleiman the Magnificent –– Know as the “Lawgiver” to his own people.

Collection of Taxes in Suleiman’s Court

•At its height his empire stretched from Hungary to Arabia and Mesopotamia and across North Africa

•Suleiman as sultan had absolute power, but he ruled with the help of a grand vizier

•Ottoman law was based on the Sharia, officials worked with religious scholars who interpreted the law

Qur’an Page:Arabic

Calligraphy•Ottomans ruled diverse peoples who had many religions

•Like the janissaries non-Muslim girls from Eastern Europe were brought to serve as slaves in wealthy Muslim households

•They might be accepted as members of the household

•Some were freed after the death of their masters.

Blue Mosque•The arts blossomed under

Suleiman

•Ottoman poets adapted Persian and Arab models to produce works in their own Turkish language

•The sultans of the Empire were patrons of Islamic art as caliphs.

Blue Mosque - interior

Qur’an Page: The Angel Gabriel

Visits Muhammad

A surge of artistic achievement in textiles, rugs, and wall hangings being produced with intricate and beautiful color schemes and Islamic designs

Scholars at the Galata Observatory

(Suleiman’s Constantinople), 1557

•By the 1700’s European advances in both commerce and military technology were leaving the Ottomans behind

•While European industry and trade pressed ahead the aging Ottoman empire remained dependent agriculture

•Russia and there European powers chipped away at Ottoman lands, while local rulers in North Africa and elsewhere broke away from Ottoman control

The Ottoman Empire During the 16c

The Decline

• Grand vizier and others exercised more power, sultans retreated to their harem

• Pashas became corrupt, with law and order secondary concerns

• Turkish culture became influenced by Western standards contrary to Islamic law. Alcohol, coffee and tobacco were used

• Unrest smoldered waiting for the right moment to flame up

Tamerlane (1336-1405)or “Timur, the Lame”

Timur the Lane fell in early 15th c.

Savaid dynasty founded by Ismail a descendent of Safi al-Din (thus the name Safavid)

•The Safavids profited from the struggles of rival Turkic groups after Mongol invasion -The Shi’a Muslims, came from a family of Sufi preachers and mystics

The Safavid (Sah SAH weed)

Safavid Empire in Persia

• Ismail and his successors called themselves shahs or kings of the Persian Empire and considered themselves to be the spiritual leaders of Islam not the Ottoman caliph!

• The Safavids were able to seize much of present-day Iraq and Iran

• The Savavid Empire was located in modern-day Iran, which still has a predominantly Shiite Muslim population. This population still has many conflicts with the Sunni Muslims of the region

The Safavid planted Shiite traditions firmly in Iran and gave Persians a strong sense of

their own identity

Tension between Shiite Safavid and Sunni Ottoman Turks arose in several events in the history of the Persian empire.

Abbas the Great – High Point

Outstanding Safavid Shah or King was Abbas the Great

He revived the glory of ancient Persia created a powerful military force modeled on the Ottoman Janissaries

•Abbas built a magnificent new capital at Isfahan (is fuh HAHN)

•The Shah welcomed artists, poets, and scholars to the court

•Safavid glory slowly faded after the death of Shah Abbas

•Pressure from Ottoman armies, conservative Shiite scholars challenged the authority of the shah

•In the end Sunni Afghans rebelled and defeated imperial armies

The Safavid cuture

Isfahan the capital, the arts flourished under Shah Abba, Silk and carpet weaving spread through the region.

•Chaldiran – Important battle between the Safavids and Ottomans in 1514; Ottoman victory demonstrated the importance of firearms and checked the western advance of their Shi’a state

•Imams – Shi’a religious leaders who traced their descent to Ali’s successors

•Mullahs – Religious leaders under the Safavids; worked to convert all subjects to Shi’ism

• qizilbash (Redheads) – called because of colorful red headgear – followers of Shah Ismail founder of Safavid dynasty – Ismail imposed Shi’a as main religion

The Quick Decline of the Safavid

• Shah Abbas death (power vacuum)• Shiite dissatisfied with peace with the

Sunnis• Bordering nations seized territory• Afghans invaded from the East, ottoman

Turks from the West, Persia fell into a state of political chaos and anarchy.

• Persia would remain in this state for many years

The Delhi Sultanate

•Delhi sultanate lasted from 1206 until 1526

•The start of Muslim rule in northern India

The Mogul Dynasty

• Founder Babur –father descended from Tamerlane and his mother from Genghis Khan

• He inherited the rule of what remained of Tamerlanes’ empire

• He established himself as the power of north India

• He loved learning and culture he even wrote his own memoirs

Babur – “the Tiger)

•Claimed descent from Genghiz Khan and Tamerlane

•Military genius, poet and author

•Started Mughal dynasty which ruled from 1526 until 1857

•Swept away Delhi Sultanate, ruled in its place

Akbar the Great•Babur grandson

•Started (Din-i-Ilahi) – a new religion it attempted to blend elements of the many faiths with which he was familiar as a means of reconciling Hindus and Muslims

•Religion was rejected by both Muslims and Hindus after Akbar’s death

•Akbar the Great strengthened Muslim rule by instituted a policy of religious toleration

•Mughal empire declined because of religious intolerance

Mogul Dynasty

Akbar used heavy artillery to conquer independent fortresses across India

Akbar created the greatest empire in India since the Mauryan dynasty

Moguls were Muslims ruling a Hindu nation

•Mughal dynasty – Established by Turkic invaders in 1526; endured until the middle of the 19th century

•Akbar the Great (1556-1605)–built up the military and administrative structure of the dynasty followed policies of cooperation and toleration with the Hindu majority

•Outlawed Sati – Ritual burning of high-caste Hindu women on their husband’s funeral pyres

The Decline of the Mogul Empire

• Akbar died in 1605 his son Jahangir fell under the influence of one of his wives in his harem arranged marriage to her son.

• Shah Jahan began the decline – spent too much on the construction of the Taj Mahal in his wife's honor completely draining the treasure

• His son ruled after him forbade suttee and was not tolerant of other religions

• Mogul and British trading increased, British army under Sir Robert Clive defeated Mogul army, gradually British forced dominated India until 1947

•Taj Mahal (1650)– Mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, built by her husband Shah Jahan; most famous architectural achievement of Mughal India

• Mumtaz Mahal – Wife of Shah Jahan; took an active political role in Mughal court; entombed in Taj Mahal

Hindu-Muslim Differences

Hinduism•Ancient religion evolved over thousand of years

•Many sacred texts, many gods and goddesses

•Hindus accepted differences in castes and honored Brahmans as a priestly caste

•Hindus celebrated religious occasions with music and dance

Muslims•Devout monotheists, saw the statues and carvings in Hindu temples as an offense to the one true god

•Muslims taught the equality of all believers before God no religious hierarchy

•Muslims condemned that practice

The Least You Need To Know

• The Ottoman Turks emerged from central Asia to create an empire out of the territories of the Middle East, North Africa, and eastern Europe

• Sulieman the Magnificent was the most able of all of the Ottoman sultans his reign also marked the high point in Ottoman power and culture

Continued

• The Safavid dynasty came out of the political chaos and anarchy of the Persia to dominate the region and create a short-lived empire

• The Moguls established an empire which united the Hindu and Muslim kingdoms in India for over 300 yearas