ISLAMIC LAND EMPIRES
Land
Area
|
Appx.
Population
|
Religious
Composition
|
Estimated
Size of Military Forces
|
Source
of Cannons/Firearms
|
|
Ottoman
Empire
c.
1566
|
1,200,000
mi2
|
30-35
million
|
Majority
= Sunni Muslim
Large
# Jewish & Christian Minorities
|
Largest
Army
2000,000
cavalry, infantry, artillery;
90+
warships
|
1st
imported from Christians →
Produced
locally
|
Safavid
Empire
1600
|
750,000
mi2
|
UNKNOWN
≈10-15
million
|
Majority=
Shi'a Muslim
Small
Sunni, Jewish & Christian minorities
|
40,000-50,000
cavalry, infantry, artillery; no navy
|
Imported
cannon not widely used, except by EUR mercenaries
|
Mughal
Empire
c.
1600
|
1,000,000
mi2
|
105-110
million
|
10-15%
Muslim (divided Sunni/Shi'a)
Great
Majority=Hindu & Sikh
Jewish
& Christian Minorities
|
Hundreds
of Thousands
No
Navy
|
Imported
& produced locally
|
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Turks
|
SAFAVID EMPIRE
Turkic
|
MUGHAL EMPIRE
|
|
1281-1918 (slow demise)
|
1501-1722
Rapid demise
|
most populated
1505- 1739
rapid demise-Britain
|
|
Geography
|
Anatolia, Balkans, ME, N Africa, Istanbul, Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem,
Cairo, Baghdad
|
C. Asia, Persia
Isfahan,
Tabriz
|
N. India up in Deccan Plateau
Delhi,
Agra, Lahore
|
Religion
|
Sufi Sunni
|
Sufi Shiite
theocracy dominated by mullah
|
Sunni
|
Government
|
Sultante
Devshirme Bureaucracy, Osman, Mehmet II,
Suleiman (1520-66)
|
Khan: Isma’il, Abbas the Great (1588-1629)
|
Sultanate: Babur Akbar (1556-1605), Shah
Jahan, Aurangzeb
|
Military
|
Janissaries: Gunpowder Empire
|
Warrior nobility and Janissary-like recruits
|
Large in #s
|
Minorities
|
Large Orthodox Christians, Jews, Gypsies, etc.
Different Regional Ethnicities; Religious/Social Freedom; Millets-social
organizations runs each group
Women-
strong gender roles; little political and social power
|
Mass conversion to Shi’ism; more homogeneous
population than Ottomans and Mughals
Women-
strong gender roles; little political and social power
|
Hindu
tolerance until Aurangzeb; large Hindu majority
Under Aurangzeb women lose power |
Economy
|
Agriculture; on all afro- Eurasian routes;
Minority groups- traders; decline brought on by shift in trade to Atlantic
Ocean and other sea routes; crafts
|
Agriculture, crafts, Iranian traders
|
Agriculture, Indian Ocean trade include
Europeans 17th and 18th century; increased population cloth industry
|
Architecture
|
grand
in scale ex. Sulimaniye Mosque, Topekeci Palace, Hagia Sophia
|
fine design, colorful
|
Grand structures- Taj Mahal, Red Fort; floral
patterns and geometric
|
THE
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
-Named
after Osman- first leader in Anatolia area
-
started as semi-nomadic Turks → becomes "settled" with conquest of
Byzantine city of Bursa
-Osman
and first few Turkish "sultans" are capable leaders
-Ottomans
expand westward into Orthodox Christian territory of weakening Byzantine Empire
because of desire not attack Muslim leaders
-
From 15th-18th century the Ottoman Empire has more Orthodox Christians than
Muslims
-Gunpowder
made the Ottomans powerful
-
Janissaries- elite fighting force
made up of enslaved Christian boys - recruited Christian children into army;
were converted Muslim, learned the Muslim ways (religion, language, etc.);
earned the best possible education and given high powers in the Empire
-
Janissaries selected by the process called devshrime
-
1453 captured Constantinople and ended Byzantine Empire
-
Added Syria, Egypt, N Africa to their empire
-
Ottomans were a threat to Hapsburg dynasty (Austria) from mid-1500 to 1683
-
height of territorial expansion in 17th century
-
Battle of Lepanto 1572- loses Mediterranean to Spain and the Italians - stopped
the Ottoman expansion to the West
-
Constantinople renamed Istanbul; sophisticated city- aqueducts, marketplace,
religious, schools, hospitals; merchants
-
gov.’t monitored trade
-
Sultan was political and religious ruler (incorporated the idea of
"caliph"
-
women: arranged marriages; not well educated; restricted from leaving the home
-
Harem: private domain of sultan -
slave origin: non-Muslim; trained in sewing, music, reading, Koran; concubines
and relatives lived there and women close to sultan were powerful; center of the
dynasty and it’s a place where you’re not on display
DECLINE:
-corrupt
and ineffective Sultans and Viziers
-cannot
unite because of large minority and Muslim populations
-
lose wealth as trade routes develop over ocean trade
-
Constant battles in Eastern Europe with numerous foes
-
Suleiman the Great stopped the first battle of Vienna and loses the second
battle in Vienna to the alliance of Christian states
-
Late 1700s- lose territories in Central Asia and Eastern Europe to Russian
expansion under Catherine the great
-
1850s- British and French intervention and helped in Crimean War against
Russian expansion to maintain balance of power
o
Ottomans came from the Asian steppe/
Anatolia and started conquering Bursa, and the Byzantine Empire - was important
because it was a large city
o
only expanded to the West because
north and eat were Muslim lands and back then, a Muslim could not fight another
Muslim
o
torganized their empire by taxation
and record keeping; developed a superior military and bureaucracy by janissaries
and gunpowder
o
Ghazis-
a Muslim fighter against non-Muslims
o
Turks and Muslims not permitted to
be core of army because the other rival Muslims held grudges against the
Ottomans
o
Extent of Ottoman territorial
conquest by the end of 1600s:
ü North:
Hapsburgs in Austria; Russia
ü South:
Saharan Desert
ü East:
Safavids
ü West:
Constantinople; Mediterranean
o
Istanbul life: center for merchants;
sophisticated city
o
Succession struggles of sultans were
overcome by the son who succeeded the father killing his brothers before
succession to reduce the overthrowing of himself
o
Constantinople was surrounded by
water on 3 sides and was well-fortified with high elevation walls along the
border, making it hard to conquer - Mehmet conquered Constantinople in 1453 w/
cannons and he cut off the Bosphorus Strait and bombarded Constantinople with
the 100,000 soldiers - Europeans didn’t help fellow Christians in
Constantinople fight against the Ottomans because they were incapable of going
against the rising Ottomans and they had their own economic and political
problems
o
The Hagia Sophia was a church that
was embellished with gold mosaics and made with marble and once conquered by
the Ottomans, was turned into a mosque
o
4 titles Ottoman rulers had: (1) Khan (2)
Sultan (3) Shahishah (4) Holy Roman Emperor
o
Suleiman the Great - well educated
whose fate was to be the next sultan; similar to Ibrahim Pasha because they
were both socially, personally the same, they were educated together, the same
age, and were best friends - proved to be worth a ruler by conquering and
taking over Rhodes; called the “Law Giver” because he created legal systems
that were used in other nations; trade = goldsmith
o
Failed to conquer Vienna b/c heavy
cannon w/ mud from heavy rain - left it behind. Every attack defended ferociously.
Later had to retreat his army with the coming of winter.
o
Harun (Roxelana) was Suleiman’s
lover and most trusted confidant: was a slave – Suleiman killed Ibrahim and 1st
son, Mustafa because Harun had told him to. She believed titles were only given
to sultans and not Ibrahim and she also said that Mustafa was trying to
overthrow him - Harun had avoided being in the harem’s separate quarters
because her old quarters were set on fire and moved into another palace. Once
her quarters were renovated, she never returned there.
o
The sultanate was viewed as a
mystique because it was so mysterious that it was almost divine
o
Sunni Muslims: had leader who
doesn’t need to be descendant of Muhammad
o
Fought with Safavids because of
land, wealth, prestige, and territory
o
Sinon was a major architect that
built the domed mosque and Suleiman’s “special” mosque while refurbishing the
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem
o
Topekeci Palace used for seat of government
and Suleiman’s personal setting
o
Art was more intricacy details and
showed sense of power
o
Suleiman the Great led his last war
campaign because he knew he wouldn’t come back alive and he died around his
generals and people
Historical
Background
o
most successful of all the Turkish
states
o
the first sultan Osman, ruled over a
mall region around the town Sogut in Northeast Anatolia
o
attack and plunder Byz. Emp., but
also brought gazi warriors - fought to expand the rule of Islam
o
Orhan, the 2nd sultan, expanded the empire to all of NW
Anatolia
o
early Ottoman conquests occur in the
Byzantine empire
o
Mehmet I conquered nearly all of
southern Europe
o
Mehmet II, to the Turks as Fatih, the conqueror; conquest extend
the Ottoman empire to Bosnia, Albania, Montenegro, Southern Greece, and part of
Romania
o
The conquest to Constantinople was
significant because it united the empire and Asia and secured easy lines of
communication between both part of the empire
o
the Christian crusades were never
able to unified and not a powerful force to oppose the Ottomans
o
the slaves (recruited through
devshirme) could rule, become rich, and own slaves themselves
o
richest and most powerful because
the conquer land; they control major ports of the East-West trade with India
and China
HW#
3 (Ottoman rule of a great Empire)
o
the size of the empire: from central
Europe to Eritrea and Southern Arabia, from the borders of Iran to Morocco.The
Empire' borders contained most or all of today's Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro,
Macedonia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria,
Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait,Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and
in some periods : Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia,
Saudi Arabia and Iran
o
not possible for rulers to watch
closely for such a massive empire - government and military leaders, rule the
provinces - due to the distance, the most important decisions could be in
Istanbul - Ottomans DID NOT have modern methods of communications and transport
o
due to the educational level in the
empire and the difficulty of collecting and compiling information forced the
empire of decentralized - taxes collected through local lords due to
decentralization - the administration used the proceeds from the land to pay
themselves, pay their workers and officials and provide services; the military
leaders would use proceeds from their land to feed and dress their soldiers;
they provide local security and went to war when the sultan called; other
government land were auctioned off to tax farmers; they agree to pay a set fee
to the sultan, then were allowed to collect taxes from local areas
o
to keep local officials from
disobeying or trying to gain independence, they have officials to watch each
other; often have a governor, a high judge, and a military commander; each were
expected to keep an eye on each other and report back to the central government
HW#4
- The Military, the Ottomans, as a "Gunpowder Empire"
o
began as an assemblage of nomad
warriors; never a stable source of power; nomads - fine cavalryman, but they
were too independent and often proved unwilling to adopt the latest military
techniques.
o
the Rum Seljuk had ever conquered
the independent spirit of the nomads; their leaders hole the rue power in the
Rum Seljuk Empire
o
the Ottoman sultan solve the problem
by settling the nomad and making their leaders part of the power structure
o
the leaders were given lands, timars, where their troops and them can
lead s more comfortable life
o
served as the main cavalry of the
empire; bows and spears were their main weapons, so they are useless against
muskets which were the weapons of the enemy army
o
Janissaries - troops were taken a children, and trained to
act as parts of a disciplined unit; they are trained to use the latest weapons;
primarily an infantry force
o
other slave soldiers were part of
the Ottoman cavalry; slave soldiers made up most of the specialized units of
the army
o
fortified cities could hold off
cavalry attacks for many years; if they could be supplied by the sea, they
could stand for decades
o
a cavalry force did not have the
siege machines necessary to breech a city's walls, nor did the nomads have the
patience to camp outside the city's gates → surrender
o
2nd sultan Orhan, was
only able to take the Ottoman's 1st real capital the city of Bursa,
after 5 years of siege.
o
to remedy the defect, the Ottomans
organized a cannon corps, they added a wagon corp to carry supplies
o
they relied on gunpowder weapons to
conquer land - latest military techniques, new gunpowder weapons - early form
of muskets; borrowed artillery from the Christian Europe
HW#5
o
Ottomans management of Empire:
ü created
an army of soldiers from the slaves of the sultan
ü settled
nomadic Turks on conquer land rather than raiding, but keep them available to
fight in wars
ü diplomacy
and cleverness keep each group (Turks, nomads, etc.) from dividing
ü officials
remained loal by appealing to sultan to keep power
ü the
Ottomans tied themselves to mystical religious organizations, some of the
sultans are believers
ü early
sultans must been train in a craft; such s leather work, goldsmiths, or crafting
armament
ü Sultans
= intimately part of the culture of
their people
ü the
sultan cannot be foreigners; they are part of the place and the people they
rule
ü borrowed
administrative systems from their enemies - Christian tax collector's and
bureaucrats best knew how to tax newly- conquered territories
ü they
purchase the best weapons from whoever could provide them
ü largest
cannons used by Mehemet II, were purchased from Christian cannon makers
ü balance
forces within their supporter so no one threatened the sultan's rule
ü duties
of the sultan were to protect and if possible expand the empire, protect and
foster Islam, and provide justice to his people
o
Grand
Vezir,
Vizier, were to meet in the council with other vezirs to advise the sultan
o
"Turkish notables" were
descendant of the leaders of Turkish nomads
HW#6
o
rulers were to be Muslim; Muslims
cannot convert to a different religion; non- Muslims cannot convert to Muslim
o
non-Muslims must wear distinctive
clothing and they must pay a special tax, jizya
o
the non- Muslims can practice their
own religion and have protection of the Islamic state
o
central government provides schools,
welfare establishments, courts, etc.
HW#7
o
Reason for religious tolerance: people might try to revolt – religion=most
important
o
millet:
religion group( means nation) - in charge of education, welfare, and personal
laws of their members; leaders represented the needs of their people to the
sultan's government
o
Mehmet gave the Patriarch of
Constantinople (Greek Orthodox Christian leader) b/c the Greek millet system
can be seen as a way to systematize the administration of all the non- Muslims
o
Mehmet II organized the Armenian community
by setting up an Armenian Patriarch in Istanbul; heir religion and villages often virtually independent in
their mountains - they ran their own affairs naturally
HW#8
o
Selim I's conquest of Syria and
Egypt affect the international trade because they controlled it, which pass the
Ottoman's territory
o
the Ottoman tax man took a sizable
cut of the profit
o
the Portuguese limited Muslim trade
and kept Muslim rulers from stopping Portuguese boats
o
the Middle Eastern transit trade
virtually disappeared
o
the fleets of England and the
Netherlands replaced Portugal in 17th century
o
European boats were in effect large
floating gun platforms
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
o
The Mongol invasions of the 13th
& 14th centuries→destroyed theoretical Muslim unity; regional
dynasties, like the Abbasids, were crushed. →3 new Muslim dynasties arose~
Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals.
o
The greatest, the Ottoman Empire,
reached its peak in the 17th century; Safavids ruled in Persia and Afghanistan;
Mughals ruled much of India.
o
All empires contributed to the
spread of Islam to new regions & originated from Turkic nomadic cultures - built
empires through military conquest based on the effective use of firearms - ruled
by an absolute monarchy.
o
The Mughals ruled mostly non-Muslim
peoples, the Safavids mostly Muslims, and the Ottomans a mixture of Muslims and
Christians.
o
The Safavids were Shi'a Muslims; the
others were Sunni.
o
The Turkic peoples entered Anatolia
after the Mongols defeated the Seljuks.
o
After a period of turmoil, the
Ottomans secured dominance.
o
During the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, they moved into the Balkans.
o
1453~ captured Constantinople and
ended the Byzantine Empire.
o
Their navy dominated the eastern
Mediterranean.
o
Even though the Ottomans failed to
capture Vienna in sieges during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they
continued as a serious threat to western Europe.
o
Military leaders had a dominant role
in the Ottoman state.
o
The Turkic horsemen became a warrior
aristocracy supported by control of conquered land and peasants.
o
From the middle of the fifteenth
century, imperial armies were dominated by Janissary infantry divisions
composed of conscripted youths from conquered lands.
o
Their control of artillery and
firearms gave them great power.
o
Ottoman rulers survived by playing
off the competing factions within their state.
o
The groups included religious and
legal scholars.
o
Muslim, Christian, and Jewish
merchants were important.
o
The latter two were "peoples of
the book" ~ tolerant
o
As the empire grew, the sultans lost
contact with their subjects.
o
Early rulers and their sons
participated in the administration.
o
The imperial capital at
Constantinople combined the disparate cultures under Ottoman rule.
o
After 1453~ new rulers restored the
city.
o
The church of St. Sophia became one
of Islam's grandest mosques.
o
Most sultans tried to add to the
city's splendor: Suleyman the Magnificent built the great Suleymaniye mosque in
the sixteenth century → Constantinople became the commercial center.
o
Many urban inhabitants belonged to
merchant and artisan classes.
o
The government closely regulated
both activities.
o
Artisan guilds were very important.
o
The Ottomans left a significant
artistic legacy in poetry, ceramics, carpet manufacturing, and architecture.
The
Problem of Ottoman Decline
-slow
decline from the champion of the Muslim world and the great adversary of
Christendom to the “sick man” of Europe
-long
decline = empire was actually quite strong
-endured
for more than 600 years, a feat matched by no other in all human history
-By
17th century – long retreat from Russia, Europe, and the Arab lands had begun
-Even
when it was at the height of its power, empire was too large to be maintained –
gave regional autonomy
-means
of maintaining oversized bureaucracy and army shrank
-officials
became corrupt
-local
leaders hold back money from incompetence of state bureaucrats
-some
rebellions at the local level
-growing
problems at center of imperial administration
-early
practice of assigning royal princes administrative/military positions, to
prepare them to rule died out
-possible
successors to throne were kept like hostages in special sections of palace,
where they remained until one of them ascended the throne
-monarchs
kept alive, but unprepared to rule
-leaders
– no longer fierce military leaders, addicted to drink/drugs/pleasure of harem
-power
of military start to fade
Military
Reverses and the Ottoman Retreat
-reliance
on huge siege guns, and Janissaries' determination to block all military
changes that might jeopardize the power they had gained within the state –
caused Ottomans to fall farther and farther behind European rivals in critical
art of waging war
-on
the sea, Ottomans were eclipsed as early as 16th century – end of their
dominance was presaged by their defeat by a combined Spanish and Venetian fleet
at Lepanto in 1571
-fleet
was rebuilt, soon launched assault on north Africa – but Portuguese have head
start
-Portuguese
naval victories – revealed decline of Ottoman galley fleets and
Mediterranean-style warships
-Spanish/Venetians
control Eastern Mediterranean
-Christian
European rivals get rich off of new goods
-tax
collectors/merchants lost critical revenues b/c no need to go through Ottoman Empire
-large
amounts of silver flowed into Ottomans' lands from mines worked by NA laborers
in Spanish empire in Peru & Mexico
-too
much bullion(silver) set off long term inflationary trend that further
undermined finances of empire
-Refusal
to accept European ideas dooms Ottoman empire
-falling
behind in scientific, technological, and commercial transformations
-Arab,
Persian, and Turkic predecessors believed Europe has nothing to offer
-Conservative
religious groups – nothing new
-
Janissaries want to protect position
The
Shi'a Challenge of the Safavids
o
History of Shi'a/Sunni Conflict
-like Ottomans →
rose from Turkic nomadic struggles and also represent militant Islam
-unlike Ottomans →
Safavids espoused Shi'a variant of Islam
-battle between Safavid Shi'a
and Ottoman Sunni – long rivalry
-Origins
of Empire -family of Sufi mystics and religious preachers
o
Sail
al-Din –Sufi (whom the
Safavid Empire was named after) want to purify/reform Islam →
led to a lot of enemies (Red Heads –
Safavid followers, called that because of headgear)
-eventually
Isma'il took Tabriz (1501) and became emperor(shah)
o
Battle of Chaldiran(August 1514)
-northwest
Persia – Shi'a vs. Sunni – battle for everything
-demonstrated
importance of muskets and field cannon in gunpowder age
-Isma'il's
cavalry destroyed by Ottoman empire
o
Significance of Chaldiran:
ü Ottoman
couldn't maintain empire
ü Safavid
empire can't move further west
ü spread
of Shi'a Islam doesn't go further west
ü Shi'a
mostly Iran and part of southern Iraq
THE
SAFAVIDS
-
The capital of the Safavids was Isfahan
-
The ethnic group of the Safavid was Turkic because they spoke Turkish
-
Shia: had to have a leader of Muhammad’s descendant
-
Art was more precious, eloquent, ceremonial, and scale is finer
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Akbar
and the Basis for a Lasting Empire
AKBAR: - only 13 years old – impressive – fought
back enemies
-
long rule, about the same time as Elizabeth I of England, Philip of Spain, and
the Muslim rulers Suleyman the
o
Military conquest and
social/economic changes:
ü personally
oversaw building of military and administrative systems that would form
backbone of Mughal Empire for
centuries
ü brilliant,
illiterate – but great memory
ü seldom
slept more than 3 hours a night
ü decades
after 1560 – took charge of government + armies greatly extend empire with
conquests throughout north and central India
ü Long
term religious plan:
-Reconciliation
and cooperation with Hindu princes
-encouraged intermarriage
between Mughal aristocracy and families of Hindu Rajput rulers
-Abolished much-hated
jizya, or head tax
-promoted Hindus to
highest ranks
-Muslims must respect cows
-tried
to invent new religion – Din-I-Ilahi - believed could be used to unite his
Hindu and Muslim subjects; Akbar reasoned that this religion would forever end
conflict in India
o
Connection between aristocrats and
monarchy
-Muslim + Hindu warrior aristocrats formed
core of supporters of Mughal dynasty - were granted peasant villages for their
support → required to maintain specific # of
cavalry and to be on call if emperor needed their services
-Local leaders had relative autonomy
Social
Reform and Social Change
-Attempts to alter
daily life
-improve calendar
-establish living quarters for large
population of beggars + vagabonds in large cities
-regulate consumption of alcohol – sons
was reputed to drink 20 cups of double-distilled wine per day
-Attempts to
improve role of women: encourage widow remarriage, discouraged child marriages
& legally prohibited sati, or burning of high-caste Hindu women on their
husbands' funeral pyres →
even though it went against the warrior class – tried to provide relief for
women trapped in purdah, or seclusion in their homes, by encouraging merchants
of Delhi and other cities to set aside special market days for women only
o
After defeat at Chaldiran, Isma’il,
retreated to his palace & tried to escape troubles through drink –
seclusion & struggles b/w factions backing each of his sons for right to
succeed Isma’il => left openings for subordinate Turkic chiefs to attempt to
seize power => turmoil => new shah, Tahmasp I (r. 1534 – 1576) won throne
& set about to restore power of dynasty - Turkic chiefs foiled in bid for
supreme power & Ozbegs driven from Safavid domains
o
Under Tahmasp I & successors'
efforts to bring Turkic chiefs under control → chiefs = gradually transformed
into a warrior nobility comparable to that in Ottoman domains - Safavid warrior
nobles were assigned villages, whose peasants were required to supply them (+
troops) w/ food & labor - most powerful warrior nobles occupied key posts
in imperial bureaucracy - from defeat at Chaldiran & onward, they became a
threat to Safavid monarchs → to counterbalance
threat: Safavid rulers recruited Persians for positions in the court &
rapidly expanding imperial bureaucracy → struggle for power & influence b/w
Persian notables & Turkic chiefs complicated by practice (initiated by
Tahmasp I) of recruiting slave boys captured in campaigns in S. Russia for army
& bureaucracy - many of slave boys rose to positions of power
o
Under Shah Abbas I (r.1587-1629) -
empire reached the height of its strength & prosperity, although
territories it control remained equivalent to those ruled by Isma'il &
Tahmasp I
o
Shah
Abbas I (Abbas the Great) made greatest use of captured
slave boys who were educated & converted to Islam → became backbone of
military, granted provincial governorship & high offices in court
o
"Slave" regiments monopolized firearms that became
increasingly prominent in Safavid armies - Abbas turned to European advisors
for knowledge on artillery ex. Sherley brothers from ENG - instruction of
casting of cannons & trained Abbas' slave infantry & special regiment
of musketeers recruited from Iranian peasantry
o
Safavid family originally of Turkic
stock - early shahs like Isma'il wrote in Turkish → after Chaldiran, Persian
gradually supplanted Turkish as language of court & bureaucracy - Persian
influences also felt in organization of court rituals & more exalted
position of shahs
o
Shahs began to take grand titles
such as padishah (king of kings) - ruled from high thrones over opulent
palace complexes crowded w/ servants & courtiers - pattern of palace life
set by elaborate court rituals & social interaction governed by refined sense of etiquette &
decorum
o
later shahs played down to claims of
divinity, continued to claim descent from one of Shi'a imams (successors of Ali)
o
changes in status accorded to the
Safavid rulers were paralleled by shifts in the religious impulses that had
been so critical to their rise to power
- militant, expansive cast of Shi'a ideology was modified as faith became major
pillar of dynasty & empire - early Safavids imported Arabic-speaking Shi'a
religious experts → shahs began to rely on Persian religious scholars who
entered the service of the state & were paid by gov.'t - Mullahs (mosque officials & prayer
leaders) were also supervised by state & given some support from it
o
all religious leaders required to
curse first 3 caliphs & mention Safavid ruler in Friday sermon - teaching
in mosque schools - planned & directed by mosque officials
o
bulk of Iranian pop. converted to
Shi'ism during the centuries of Safavid rule - Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews,
Zoroastrians & followers of Sufi preachers were pressured to convert to
Shi'ism
o
Shi'a religious festivals - commemorating martyrdom of Husayn (a son of
Ali) & involving public flagellation & public plays, pilgrimages to
Shi'a shrines (ex. Karbala in c. Iraq) => focal points of popular religion
on Iran
o
Shi'ism not only provided
ideological & institutional support for Safavid dynasty, but also became
integral part of Iranian identity - setting people of region off from most Arab
& Turkic neighbors
o
Abbas the Great had a network of
roads & rest houses built - strove to make merchants & travelers safe
within his domains, set up workshops to manufacture silk textiles &
splendid Persian carpets that were in great demand, encouraged Iranian
merchants to trade w/ Muslim neighbors, India, China, Portuguese, (later) Dutch
& English
o
Abbas devoted special attention to
building capital at Isfahan - shops,
great mosques, gov.'t offices, arches, gardens, colleges, public baths, rest
houses
o
social sys. dominated by warrior
aristocracy which shared power w/ absolute monarch - peasants suffered b/c they
were the ones supporting the funding for empire & foreign invasions, civil
strife, breakdown in vital services once provided by state => suffering
peasants → peasant uprisings, ↑banditry,
mass migrations out of land → ↓$ & resources for empire
o
early rulers encouraged handicraft
production & trade - established imperial wokshops that made miniature
paintings, rugs, weapons, metal utensils, etc.
o
rulers patronized publics works
projects & provided reasonable well-paid work for engineers, stonemasons,
carpenters, & other artisans
o
didn't participate in trade much -
most contact w/ Portuguese
o
►Women faced legal & social
disadvantages - subordinated to father & husband, seldom had any
political/religious power, meager outlets of artistic/scholarly expression -
seclusion & veiling imposed on women of all classes, but especially the
elite
o
►Women wore brightly colored robes,
didn't make effort to cover faces in public, active in trade &
money-lending, could invoke provisions on Islamic law that protected their
rights to inheritance, decent treatment by spouses, & even divorce - wives
& concubines of rulers & royal princes continued to exert influence behind
throne & were deeply involved in palace conspiracies
o
collapse of Safavid really rapid -
Abbas' fear of usurpation by one of his sons which was fed by plots on the part
of several of his closest advisors had led to death/blinding of all who could
legitimately succeed him during his reign - grandson (weak, thus high officials
thought he would be easy to manipulate) was placed on throne after Abbas' death
= DECLINE
o
practice of confining princes to
luxury = wasted $, too few able shahs
like Abbas II (1642-1666) that could halt decline of imperial admin. or to
deal effectively w/ many foreign threats
to empire - factional disputes & rebellions shook empire from within -
nomadic raiders, ottomans, & Mughals steadily reduced territory of Safavids
that they relied on for labor & revenue
o
1722 Isfahan was besieged by Afghani
tribes - over 80,000 of capital's inhabitants died of starvation & disease
after 7 months - city fell & Safavid power ended → decade of war for throne
b/w those that claimed descent from Safavid line - Nadir Khan Afshar won -
proclaimed himself shah in 1736 (but his dynasty was short-lived)
THE
MUGHALS
-
founded by Babur in 1526
-1st Islamic ruler to use muskets and artillery
Akbar
the great
-
abolished the head tax of non-Muslims
-
encouraged intermarriage between Muslims and Indians
-
Established din-i-llahi: a universal
religion that had elements of Zoroastrianism & Jainism (respect of animals)
-
Red fort: built in Agra under Akbar the Great
-
Taj Mahal: built in Agra under Shah Jahan; blend of Islamic domes, arches,
minarets, with Hindu decorations
-
Aurangzeb: tried to rid India of Hindu influence and he brought back the head
tax (jizya)
o
50% of Muslims live in South Asia
(Pakistan, India, Bangladesh)
o
Sultan of Mahmud of Ghazni - great
prince, holy man, Sufi, led expeditions to India, oppressor, fanatic, of high
culture, connected Islam to Indians; patron of “Book of Kings”
o
Sufi: Islamic mystic that first
brought Islam to India - taught people to strive to be with God
o
Hindus were different from Sufis in
terms of traditions, religions (ways of worship)
o
Delhi Sultanate: 1025-1526
o
Babur and Mughals came from
Afghanistan, went to Pakistan and then India
o
Mughals ruled Indian for 330 years
o
Akbar: confident, focused and keen;
conquered Bengal, Dekha, Lahore (connects all of India) - Ruled Mughal Empire
by wanting to connect Hindus and Muslims- embraced India’s religions by joining
their festivals, and lifting the jizya
(head tax) off Hindus
o
Nanak: religion that there is no
Hindus and Muslims, but rather one god with works of charity
o
Sikhism (mix of Hinduism and Islam):
5 Ks- (1) don’t cut hair (2) wooden stick in hair under turban (3) bracelet (4)
baggy shorts (5) sword/dagger-like
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
o
warrior prince Babur (founder of Mughal Empire) traced his descent on one side
from the Mongol Khans, but was also descended from Turkic warriors
v Mughal
Empire = "accidental empire" b/c Babur originally intended to get back original kingdom in Ferghana (c.
Asia) - led followers into India in 1526
o
After his father's death in 1498,
Babur (whom was 16) was thrown into a
fierce struggle w/ Ozbegs tribes for control of his ancestral realm - by 1504,
Babur & his supporters were driven back into Kabul (Afghanistan) - directed
raids into fertile & heavily populated India to get funding for his
campaigns of winning back Fergana - ended up conquering it, but continued to
long for homeland but had to give up & turned to conquer N. India
o
1526, Babur entered India as head of
an experienced & well-organized army - @ Panipat (N. of Delhi), his army of
12,000 met huge force of 100,000 sent by last ruler of Muslim Lodi Dynasty -
using gun carts, moveable artillery, & cavalry tactics, Babur routed Lodi
army
o
Tactics Babur used in conquering N.
India:
ü frightening
hundred of war elephants of the Lodi army - stampeded, trampled thousands of
Lodi infantrymen/ sent them in flight
ü a
year later, Babur's army outnumbered by the Lodi army managed to defeat a
confederation of Hindu-warrior kings at Khanua (small village near Agra)
o
Babur: fine military strategist,
fierce fighter who went into battle w/ troops, wrote one of the great histories
of India, fine musician, designed wonderful gardens for his new capital at Delhi - not a great administrator
o
Humayan
(son of Babur) succeeded Babur in 1530 - one of brothers disputed his
succession & armies from Afghanistan & Rajput states of w. India
marched on his capital → Humayan's forces were shattered in 1540 and was forced
to flee to Persia- remained in exile as an embarrassed guest at Safavid court
for nearly a decade
o
gained foothold @ Kabul in 1545 -
launched a series of campaigns into India that restored Mughal rule to northern
plains by 1556 - fell down library stairs w/ handful of books & died
shortly after victory
Mughal Splendor and
Early European Contacts
-Akbar died lonely
death
-Din-i-Ilahi (“universal religion”)
rejected by both Hindu + Muslim subjects
-neither of
successors Jahangir(r. 1605 – 1627) or Shah Jahan(r. 1627 – 1658) add much
territory to empire Akbar left behind
-European reaction
to Indian cities
-Europeans marveled at size + opulence of
chief Mughal cities: Delhi, Agra, and Lahore
-Armies dwarfed European armies
-BUT, huge poverty and soldiers not
trained
-Trade with Europe:
trade gap – no interest in European products, but huge demand for Indian
textiles b/c they were easily washed, inexpensive
-incident from reign of Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb(succeeded Shah Jahan) – daughter wore 3 layers of cotton clothing but
still can see through
-Techniques of weaving and dying – madras,
muslin, pajamas
Artistic
Achievement & Positions of Women
o
Jahangir & Shah Jahan cont.
Akbar's policy of religious tolerance twds. Hindu majority & retained most
if the alliances forged w/ Hindu princes & local leaders - made little
attempt to change admn. apparatus they had inherited from Akbar & gought
war the same way as the founders of the dynasty did - mounted campaigns to
crush potential enemies & in some cases to expand empire BUT neither was
interested in conquest & politics - fond of drink, female dancers, pleasure
gardens, polo mathces (invented by Indian princes), ox/tiger/elephant fights,
games of pachisi (on life-sized
boards w/ palace dancers as chips), elaborate court ceremonies, lavish
processions, palaces, jewel-studded wardrobes, & scented/sweetened ices
imported from cool mtns.
o
remembered for being patrons of arts
- expanded painting workshops to produce
exquisite miniature paintings
- devoted massive
resources to building architectural works - ex. Taj Mahal, Red Fort @ Delhi, Akbar's tomb @ Sikandra, tomb of
Itimad al-Dowleh @ Agra
-architecture
blends Persian & Hindu traditions - fuses Islamic domes, arches, minarets
w/ Hindu ornament -replaced Persian ceramic tiles w/ white marble w/
semiprecious stones arranged in floral & geometric patterns; extensive use
of marble in reflecting pools
o
Jahangir & Shah Jahan = too
absorbed in the arts & pursuit of pleasure => left most of tasks of
admn. in hands of subordinates - strong willed wives took advantage of
husbands' neglect of politics to win power
& influence in the Mughal court
- Nur Jahan (Jahangir's wife) continually
amassed power as Jahangir became more addicted to wine & opium - packed
court w/ male relatives & her faction dominated for a long time
- Mumtaz
Mahal (Shah Jahan's consort) - harder for ehr to amass power b/c Shah Jahan
was a more able & engaged ruler than Jahangir; was remembered for her love
& devotion to Shah Jahan - Shah Jahan built Taj Mahal as a tomb for her
o
position of women in the court
improved in the middle years of the dynasty's power - BUT for women in the rest
of Indian society, position ↓
ü child
marriage became more popular & age limit was lowered
ü widow
remarriage among Hindus died out
ü seclusion
became more strictly enforced among upper-caste (both Hindu & Muslim)
ü women could suffer verbal/physical abuse if
they went about unveiled
ü practice
of sati (burning widow on husband's
pyre) increased even though Shah Jahan tried to outlaw it
ü burden
of dowry needed to marry women off - birth of girl = bad thing; birth of son =
feasting & celebrations
Beginnings
of Imperial Decline
o
Aurangzeb
(son & successor of Shah Jahan) seized control of empire falling b/c of
decades of external enemies, & ignoring of needs for administrative,
military & social reforms - bureaucracy became corrupt, army became bloated
& backward in weaponry + tactics, peasants & urban workers'
productivity & living standards ↓
o
Aurangzeb was determined to extend
Mughal empire over entire Indian subcontinent & purify Indian Islam by
getting rid of Hindu influences
ü increased
# of adversaries, strained allegiance of its vassals + allies, &
overextended its huge but obsolete military forces - by end of Aurangzeb's
reign, most of Indian subcontinent was conquered, but all the wars drained the
treasury & enlarged inefficient bureaucracy + army w/o gaining revenues to
support projects
ü wars
also diverted Aurangzeb's attention from administrative tasks & reforms -
many peasant uprisings + revolts,
growing autonomy of local leaders (who diverted revenue from central
admin. to own funds), attacks by Persian + Afghan warrior bands ↑
ü religious
policies weakened internal alliances & disrupted social peace that Akbar
established
- Aurangzeb
continued to employ Hindus in the imperial service, but non-Muslims were given
fewer posts in upper levels of bureaucracy & contact w/ emperor was
restricted
- forbade building
of new temples & ended Hindu festivals in court
- reinstated jizya
(head tax on non-believers) to force them to convert to Islam → impacted the
poor and caused them to support sectarian movements that rose up to resist
Aurangzeb
o
@ end of Aurangzeb's reign, Mughal
Empire was larger, but more unstable b/c of internal rebellions by Marattas (Hindus of in w. India), rise
of new sects like Sikhs in NW -
strained declining resources of imperial sys.
o
Sikhs originally tried to bridge
differences b/w Hindu & Muslim, but Mughal persecution of sect =>
transformed Sikhism into an anti-Muslim force within subcontinent
o
Muslim kingdoms in central &
east India continued to resist Mughal domination, Islamic inaders waited at
poorly guarded passes through Himalayas to attack Mughals
EVENTS
1200s
1243 Mongol invasion of Asia Minor
1281 Founding of the Ottoman dynasty
1300s
1334 Death of the 1st Safavid Sufi
master at Ardabil
1350s Ottoman invasion of EUR; conquest of much
of the Balkans & Hungary
1400s
1402 Timur’s invasion; Ottoman setbacks under
Bayazid
c. 1450s Shi’a influences enter Safavid
teachings
c. 1450s Beginning of large-scale recruitment of
Janissary troops
1453 Ottoman capture of Constantinople
1500s
1501-1510 Safavid conquest of Persia
(present-day Iran)
1507 Portuguese victory over Ottoman-Arab fleet
at Diu in Indian Ocean
1514 Ottoman victory over Safavids at Chaldiran
1517 Ottoman capture of Syria & Egypt
1520-1566 Rule of Suleiman the Magnificent;
construction of Suleymaniye mosque in Constantinople
1526 Battle of Panipat; Babur’s conquest of
India
1529 1st Ottoman siege of Vienna
1540 Babur’s successor, Humayan, driven from
India
1540-1545 Humayan in exile at the Safavid court
1556 Mughal Empire reestablished in N India
1556-1605 Reign of Akbar
1571 Battle of Lepanto
1582 Akbar’s proclamation of his new religion
1588-1629 Reign of Abbas I (the Great) in Persia
1600s
1657 – 1658 Great war of succession b/w sons of
Shah Jahan
1658 – 1707 Reign of Aurangzeb
1683 Last Ottoman siege of Vienna
1680s Rajput & peasant revolts in N India
1699 Treaty of Carlowitz; Ottomans cede
territories in EUR
1700s
1722 1st Turkish-language printing
press founded
1722 Fall of the Safavid Dynasty
1730 Ottoman armies are defeated by Persian
forces under Nadir Khan (later Nadir Shah, emperor of Persia)
1730s 1st Western-modeled military
schools established
1736-1747 Reign of Nadir Shah
1739 Nadir Shah invades India from Persia, sacks
Mughal capital at Delhi
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