Muslim Empires

Mr. White’s World History

Objectives

After we have studied this section, we should be able to:

Describe how Muslim rulers in the Ottoman, Persian, and Mughal empires governed much of the Middle East, North Africa, and India.

Understand the geography of the Middle East and Indian Peninsula

Three Empires

Ottoman Empire – ruled in modern-day Turkey, Palestine, North Africa, and parts of Saudi Arabia, 1299-1923

Safavid Persia – ruled in modern-day Iran from 1501-1722

Mughal Empire – ruled in modern-day India from 1526 to mid-1800s

The Three Empires

The Ottoman Empire – Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman was the first major ruler of the Ottoman empire (1520-1566)

He served as both a political and religious ruler

Sultan – political ruler

Caliph – religious leader

Suleiman used a well-trained army and bureaucracy to carry out his rule

Ottoman Architecture

Suleiman, the Lawgiver

Suleiman had to create laws to govern many different types of people – Christians, Muslims, and Jews

Non-Muslims would be allowed to worship as they pleased, as long as they were loyal to himHe reformed the administration of the country as well, and created laws to make it run better

Decline of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman empire began a steady decline in the 1600s.During the 1880s, the Ottoman empire reformed the military and governmentBy the end of the 1800s, the Ottoman emperor took back many of Suleiman’s reforms, and instituted absolute ruleBy the end of World War I, the Ottoman empire ceases to be a major power

Safavid Persia and Shah Abbas

Shah Abbas was the greatest ruler of Safavid Persia.Persia, at this time, is Shi’ite Muslim.Ruled from 1581 to 1629.Shah Abbas made alliances against the Sunni Ottomans, sometimes with European nationsThe Persian language spread as the language of culture, diplomacy, and tradeAfter Shah Abbas, Safavid Persia gradually declines until 1722

The Mughals

Timur Lenk, a Turko-Mongol, conquered much of Central Asia, and his empire would become the empire of the Mughals in India

Babur, a successor of Timur’s, reconquered northern India

Encouraged orderly government

Expanded the arts

Akbar

After Babur, Akbar brought peace and order to the Mughal empire.

Since most people he ruled were Hindus and not Muslims, he encouraged religious toleranceRepealed a tax on HindusInvited religious scholars of other faiths to his court to debate religion

Art, Music, and Literature

Art, music, and literature flourished under Akbar

As Akbar recognized the value of education, he set up a library to preserve educational writings

Mughal Architecture

The Decline of the Mughals

By the 1600s, Hindu rebellions and a new emerging religion, Sikhism, led to the decline of the Mughals

Most Indians had held on to Hindu customs and had not converted to Islam

Later Mughal rulers abandoned religious tolerance, so this made many Hindus angry

Decline of Muslim Empires

These three Muslim empires declined as Europe and its countries expanded

Rulers declined, and brought their countries with themLack of innovation and change – not “dynamic”, like EuropeWere all land empires – didn’t focus on sea power or trade, like EuropeSuperiority complex – considered themselves superior to Europe, didn’t pay much attention to European growth