Similarities

• The peak of Islam’s political and military power

• All based on military conquest• All from Turkic nomadic

cultures• All absolute monarchies

Differences

• All were Muslim but Mughals ruled over a predominantly non-Muslim population

• Ottomans had large Christian minority

• Safavids were Shi’ite Muslims

• Ottoman Turks began to build power on northwest corner of the Anatolian Peninsula.

• With decline of Seljuk Turks, Ottomans expanded and founded the Ottoman dynasty

• 1300’s: Ottomans expanded into Balkan Peninsula

Serbian defeat at Battle of Kosovo

• Janissaries: young boys taken from the Christian population. Boys were converted to Islam and trained as elite soldiers or administrators to serve the Sultan

• Ottomans defeated the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo

• Controlled the Balkan Peninsula

Janissaries

• Under the leadership of Mehmet II, the Ottomans laid siege to Constantinople

• Fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought end to the Byzantine Empire

• The Ottomans made the city their capital renaming it Istanbul Mehmet II enters

Constantinople

• Under rule of Sultan Selim I, the Ottomans took control of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula with holy cities of Mecca and Medina

• Selim declared himself Caliph• Ottoman rule spread across North Africa

though by 1600’s this area was semi-independent

• Ottoman attempts to penetrate Eastern Europe were stymied by the Hungarians

• Greatest threat to Europe came under rule of greatest of Ottoman rulers, Suleyman I. Under his leadership, Ottomans seized Belgrade and won victory over Hungarians and occupied the country

Suleyman I

• The Ottomans laid siege to Vienna in 1529 • Ottoman advance into western Mediterranean

stopped at Lepanto in 1571 by Western coalition led by the Spanish

• In 1600’s, the Ottomans attempted to expand into Europe again

• Vienna was besieged• Combined European force

pushed Ottomans out of Austria and Hungary

• Ottomans would never threaten Central Europe again

Siege of Vienna

• Ottoman ruleThe Ottomans copied many aspects of

Byzantine political structure, especially imperial rule

A strong centralized government was established with the sultan at its head in Istanbul.

The position of sultan was hereditary- once in power, a sultan would murder all his brothers.

The private domain of the sultan was called the harem

The imperial bureaucracy was controlled by the sultan through his chief minister, the Grand Vizier

Most high government officials were Muslim by birth and many were chosen based on merit

The Ottomans administered their lands through local rulers called pashas

Pashas collected taxes (giving a percentage to the Ottomans) and maintained law and order

• As Caliph, the sultan was the supreme religious leader but he delegated many duties to the Ulema, who administered the legal system and education

• Islamic law applied to all Ottoman territory• The Ottomans were tolerant of non-

Muslims - head tax • Non-Muslim religions were headed by an

official who was responsible to the sultan

• Women had greater freedom under the Ottomans than in other Muslim nations

• Could own and inherit property, could not be forced into marriage, and were permitted to divorce Women in the Ottoman court

• Safavids descended from Turkic tribesmen in northern Iran

• Safavids – Shi’ite Muslims • 1501- Safi al-Din Ismail

seized much of what is today Iran and Iraq

• Ismail sent missionaries into Ottoman lands

• Massacred Sunni Muslims when he conquered Baghdad in 1508

Safavid soldier

• Selim I, the Ottoman sultan, marched against Safavids and won major victory

• After more attempts by the Safavids to take Ottoman lands, the Ottomans forced the Safavid leader, Shah Abbas, to sign peace treaty Selim I

• Safavids reached peak of power under Shah Abbas

• With help of Europeans, Shah Abbas attempted to take more lands from Ottomans

• Another peace treaty was signed but conflict continued for many years

Shah Abbas and wine boy

• The Safavids declined after death of Shah Abbas in 1629

• Afghan tribesmen invaded and captured the Safavid capital and forced the royal family to flee to Azerbaijan, their original homeland

• Safavid rule comparable to the Ottomans

• Safavids had vibrant middle class

• Greatest area of productivity in Safavid Empire was textiles

• Carpets were prized all over the world

• Founded by Babur, descended from Tamerlane and Genghis Khan

• Invaded India from Kabul and conquered Delhi

• Using that city as his base, he expanded into the subcontinent

Babur

• After Babur’s death, his son, Akbar, continued the expansion until most of India was under his control

• Although his empire appeared highly centralized it was in reality a collection of semi-independent states held together by the emperor

• The Mughal Empire was the greatest empire in India since the Mauryans

Akbar

• Although Muslim, Akbar adopted a policy of religious tolerance

• Hindus served in lesser positions in his court and even Christians were present in the form of Jesuit advisors

• Akbar even took a Hindu bride

• Local officials, called Zamindars, administered districts, taking a portion of the taxes as salary

• Political stability and peace = period of growth in trade and manufacturing

• Much of the trade was handled by Muslim merchants

• The Mughal dynasty went into decline after death of Akbar

• Akbar succeeded by his son, Jahangir

• Under Jahangir’s reign, the nobility took more power through the intrigues of one of his Persian-born wives

Jahangir

Mughal Art

Mughal Architecture

• Her son, Shah Jahan, succeeded Jahangir

• In order to secure hold on power, he had all rivals murdered

• Shah Jahan’s military campaigns and corruption in court impoverished state

• His son, Aurangzeb, killed brother and imprisoned Shah Jahan

• Shah Jahan built Taj Mahal for deceased wife

Shah Jahan

Jahan 1628-1658

Expanded Empire

Defeated the Portuguese

Known for magnificent architectural projects

Mumtaz Mahal

Jahan’s favorite wife

Died in 1631 giving birth to her fourteenth child

Jahan built the most magnificent tomb possible: The Taj Mahal

Combination of Indian, Persian, Chinese architectural styles

• Aurangzeb tried to eliminate many of India’s social evils including sati

• He forced Hindus to convert to Islam and forbade the construction of Hindu temples

• Social unrest resulted in a number of revolts

• Weakened from within, Delhi was sacked by Persians in 1739

Aurangzeb 1658-1707

Shah Jahan’s building projects and taxes caused rebellions among the Hindus

Aurangzeb overthrew and imprisoned his father in 1658 and became Shah

Expanded the Mughal Empire to its greatest extent

Aurangzeb 1658-1707

Devout Muslim who insisted Shar’ia become the law of the land

Persecuted Hindus, closed temples, outlawed practice of sati

Renewed taxes on non-Muslims which had been ended by Akbar the Great

Revolts began, aided by Europeans in India

By early 1700s Mughals were losing control of India and Europeans were gaining influence

• The Portuguese, Dutch, British, and French all sought influence in India

• War between British and French

• Increasing British influence under the East India Company

• Mughals and Hindus created a blended culture

• Both Muslim and Hindu cultures restricted women

• Purdah adopted by higher-class Hindus

Full purdah

• Some Hindus forcibly married Muslim women and converted them to Hinduism

• Hindus converting to Islam lost all rights within the Indian family

• Mughals married Hindu women and adopted Indian dress

Comparisons of the Declines of the Gunpowder Empires

Internal weaknesses and conflicts

Overexpansion

Weak, incompetent rulers

Muslim contempt for Europeans meant the Europeans were underestimated

Economic and military decline as Europeans gained power