The Muslim Empires

•The Ottoman Empire

•Safavid Dynasty

The Turks

• Anatolian Peninsula given by Seljuk Turks

• Expanded westward– Bosporus and Dardanelles

• Expanded into the Balkans– An elite guard called Janissaries

• Christians converted to Islam• Knowledge of firearms.

Ottoman Empire

• Mehmet II– Laid seige to Constantinople, 1453

• Renamed Istanbul

• Sultan Selim I (Selim the Grim)– Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Arabia

• Holy cities there.• Caliph= defender of the faith and successor to

Muhammad.

Ottomans

• Muslims

• Preferred to administer through local rulers.

• Pashas= govt appt’d officials

• Centralized government

• Killing off all contenders:– Killed brothers & close friends.

Europe

• Advanced into the Balkans, but stopped by Hungarians.

• Suleyman I, 1520 - 1566– Went up the Danube and took Belgrade.

• Conquered most of Hungary and moved into Austria, but were defeated at Vienna in 1529.– 1683 tried again, but Europeans defeated

them. (never again!)

Nature of Ottoman Rule

• “Gunpowder Empire”– Empire formed by outside conquerors who

unified the regions that they conquered through their mastery of firearms.

• Sultan – supreme authority (hereditary)– Struggles over succession– Centralized Administration– Harem (private domain)

• Wives, queen mother

Rule, cont’d.

• Imperial council

• Grand vizier

• Sultan sat behind a screen

• Empire divided into provinces

Religion & Ottomans

• Sunni Muslims

• Ulema= advisors; legal system; schools

• Generally tolerant of non-Muslims– Non members paid a tax– Most in Euro areas remained Christian

Ottoman Society

• Divided society was divided into five categories: Men of sword – soldiers Men of pen – scientists, lawyers, judges, poets Men of negotiation – merchants, tax collectors, artisans Men of husbandry- farmers and herders Millets – religious communities (Greek Christians, Armenian

Christians, Jews)

• All land belonged to the Sultan• Women: almost equal to men.

– Allowed to own and inherent property– Could not be forced to marry– In some cases could get divorced.– Some worked in government

Problems in the Empire

• Executed two sons suspected of treason.• Began to lose territory.• Internal disintegration.• Sultans became less involved in govt.• Training of officials declined.• Nepotism.• Central bureaucracy lost touch w/ rural areas.• Corruption, wars debt,• Cultural changes countered – executions….

Safavid Empire

The Rule of the Safavids

• Ardent Shittes, or Shia

• Founded by Shah Ismail– Called himself Shah, or king.– Sent preachers out to convert people in

Ottoman Empire.– Ordered massacre of Sunni Muslims in

Baghdad in 1508.– Capital moved from Tabriz to Isfahan.

Shah Abbas

• Ruled from 1588 – 1629Used a similar system to janissaries in

Ottoman Empire.He centralized government power unto

himselfHe used force and diplomacy against the

Ottomans; he allied himself with the enemies of the Ottomans.

The Fall of the Safavid Empire

• Dynasty lost vigor after Shah Abbas– Successors didn’t have the talent/political skills.– Intellectual freedom – Religious orthodoxy increased.

• Affected women

• The Safavid declined because of the growing power of the Shia clerics.– They challenged the authority of the shah.– They persecuted the non-Shias.

• Persia sank into a long period of social anarchy

Political and Social Structure

• Turkish + Persian

• Political System organized like a pyramid.– Shah– Bureaucracy and landed classes.– Common people

The Shah

• Shah Ismail was believed to be a direct successor of Muhammad.

• Shia Islam was the state religion.• Available to subjects.

– Faces engraved in cups.

• Shahs controlled the power of the aristocracy.– Government controlled the land.– Government positions based on merit (not birth)

Economy and Trade

• Large Urban Middle Class involved.

• Most goods traveled by horse or camel caravan.– Roads were poor, but government provided

resting places.

Safavid Culture

• Science, medicine, mathematics was equal to that of other societies in the region.

• Beautiful Architecture.

• Metalwork, elaborate tiles, glass– Isfahan, modern-day Iran.

• Silk

• Carpet weaving.