- Amanda Roraback
Muslim Empires
See post on Islam
SELJUK TURKS

Abbasid Dynasty
Was divided into a number of smaller empires
Seljuk Turks
From Central Asia
Served in Abbasid armies
Then took over
1055 Caliph recognized Seluk leader, Tughril Beg, as sultan (chieftain/ruler)
Caliphs served as figureheads
Tughril extended rule into Syria and Palestine
1071 Seljuk forces defeated Byzantine army at Manzikert
Took Byzantine emperor captive
Peasants in Anatolia saw Turks as liberators
In Anatolia, Turks
Levied taxes on Byzantine church and took church property
Set up political and social institutions.
Invasion of Holy Land and Manzikert led to Crusades
MONGOLS (see post)
Title of Ruler: Khan
First Ruler: Genghis Khan
Best Ruler: Kubilai Khan (Yuan Dynasty), Hulegu Khan (Ilkhanate)
Golden Horde
Took Russia
Ilkhanate of Persia
Founded by Hulegu Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan, brother of Kubilai Khan)
Finally defeated Abbasid Dynasty
1258 captured Baghdad
Looted city, killed caliph and 200,000 residents.
Turks sought refuge in Anatolia (set up beyliks)
Mongols in Persia allowed locals to serve as ministers, governors and officials
as long as they delivered taxes and maintained order.
1295, Ikhan Ghazan publicly (most Mongols followed)
Resulted in massacre of Christians and Jews
Collapse of Ilkhanate
Excessive spending
Over-exploitation of peasantry = reduced revenues
Paper money introduced in 1290s (no one trusted it, commerce stopped)
Factional struggles
Death of Ilkhan Ghazan 1304
Last Mongol ruler died without heir 1335.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1299-1923)
Ruler title: Bey (chief), then sultan, then caliph and sultan
Capital: Bursa (1326), Edirne (1352), Istanbul (1453)
First Ruler: Osman
Best Ruler: Suleyman the Magnificent

Rise
Osman (1280-1326)
After Mongol conquest of Persia, nomadic Turks migrated to Anatolia
Created beyliks
From Turkish beg "knight"
Bey Osman expanded his territory
Founded the Ottoman Empire (from "Osmanliks") in 1299
Expansion
1326 Captured Bursa (new capital)
1350s to Balkans under Orkhan I
1402 Tamerlane forces crushed Ottoman army and captured the sultan
After Tamerlane's death, Ottomans regained control
1440s Expanded into Byzantine Empire
Sultan Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror) (r. 1451-1481)
1453 Captured Constantinople with large cannons that could penetrate walls.
Constantinople renamed Istanbul
Became the commercial center.
Began foundation for tightly centralized, absolute monarchy
Then to Serbia, Greece, Albania
Selim the Grim (e. 1512-1520)
Defeated Safavids in 1514
Then turned to Mamluks in Syria (1516) and Egypt (1517)
Now had control over holy cities: Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina
Selim declared himself "caliph"
Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566)
Greatest Ottoman ruler
Lawmaker: Suleiman ordered Grand Vizier Lütfi Pasha to draw up general code of laws
Reformed bureaucracy and financial corruption (like foreign bribes to avoid customs, imprisonment without trial, favoritism)
Tried to balance govt. budget
Empire at its maximum extent
1526 Battle of Mohacs (Hungary)
Weapons: 300 new long-range cannons (Europeans had older cannons)
Battle over in 2 hours, prepared to go to Vienna.
1529 Unsuccessfully attacked on Vienna (Austria, Hapsburg Empire)
1543 conquered Baghdad - added Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Created a naval power.
Turkish corsair (pirate), Khayr al-din Barbarossa Pasha, challenged Spanish
Battle of Lepanto 1571
Ottomans defeated by Spanish

Ottoman military
Ghazi = Muslim religious warriors, swords of God, protector of believers, martyrs had eternal life.
Ghazi in two forces: light cavalry and volunteer infantry
Then more professional cavalry with heavy armor, financed by land grants
Devshirme system after expanding to Balkan
Required conquered Christians of Balkans to give up young boys to become slaves
Boys got special training, learned Turkish, became Muslim
Brightest 10% went into civilian administration, rest trained for military
Soldiers became Janissaries (from Turkish yeni cheri or "new troops)
Janissaries gained reputation for being elite force
Used new technology: gunpowder (used in battles and sieges)
For loyalty they held land for their lifetime (then land back to sultan)
Ottoman government
Sultan
Had total power
Passed to sons (from four wives or concubines)
Sons would compete to the death - chronic succession struggles
Eventually became more like emperor - enjoying luxury, isolated
Mothers of sultan considered important.
Grand Vizier
Chief minister to the sultan.
Almost all came from devshirme system.
Pashas
Ruled local territories (territory divided into provinces and district)
Collected taxes,
Paid fixed percentage of tribute to central govt.
Maintained law and order
Egypt
By early 18th c. the Mamluks had returned to power
Although Turkey still kept some control through viceroys appointed by Istanbul
Succession
Any son of a slave concubine could become the next emperor.
At age 10 or 11 they were given a province to rule (supervised by mother).
Fratricide when sultan died (some of the losers blinded or killed)
Nobility
Unlike Europe during feudal era, there was no hereditary nobility or local base of nobles independent of the ruler.
Women
Slave women captured for harem (read Quran, sewed, learned music, produced heirs)
Mother of sultan (Valide Sultan) had special place as adviser and diplomatic ambassador
Women of harem had a lot of political power because of proximity to sultan
Suleyman the Magnificent was infatuated with his favorite concubine, Roxelana
He elevated her to a legal wife and consulted her on state policy.
She told him to execute his oldest son for treason (so her own son would succeed as ruler)
Mausoleum was built for her.
Religion
Ottomans were Sunni Muslim
Sultans were caliphs (after Selim the Grim) = defenders of the faith.
Sharia law used. Islamic law and customs applied to all Muslims
Non-Muslims tolerated as long as they paid jizya.
Each religious group organized as administrative unit called "millets"
Each group had religious leaders (priest, rabbi, patriarch) who was intermediary with govt.
Each administered community according to own laws.
Art and Architecture
Topkapi Palace
Begun by Mehmed in Istanbul
Held government offices, harem, gardens and precious items (like Muhammad's mantle)
Suleymaniye (below)
Religious complex built by Sinan Pasha under Suleiman.
Blended Byzantine and Islamic elements - minarets and dome.
Similar to Hagia Sofia (Byzantine Church in Istanbul)

SAFAVID EMPIRE (1501-1722)
Title of rulers: Shah
Capital: Tabriz, then Isfahan (under Shah Abbas) - generally wherever the ruler stayed.
First Ruler: Shah Ismail
Best Ruler: Abbas the Great
Root of Safavids
Ancestors of Safi al-Din (1252-1334) leader of Sufi religious order.
Sufis were mystical type of Islam - believed in intimate relationship between man and God.
Father of Shah Ismail instructed Turkish followers to wear distinctive red hat with 12 folds in memory of twelve Shi'a imams (see below)
They became known as the qizilbash ("red heads")
Rise (Shah Ismail)
1499 14 year old Shah Ismail (r. 1501-1524) took Tabriz.
Declared official religion Twelver Shiism
Belief that 12 successors (Imams) to Muhammad were divine, last one (incarnation of Allah) was in hiding in 874 and will come back at end of days (or it was Shah Ismail himself)
Imposed Twelver Shiism by force over Sunni population.
Expanded to Caucasus, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Central Asia
Followers believed that Shah Ismaeil was divine and would make them invincible in battle.
Battle of Chaldiran 1514)
Sunni Ottomans hated Shi'a Safavids and feared propaganda.
Selim the Grim persecuted them
Battle of Chaldiran, Ottomans used heavy artillery and 1000s of Janissaries.
Safavids knew about gunpowder
But didn't use firearms because they thought it was unmanly
And trusted protection of Shah Ismail.
Ottomans won battle and occupied capital at Tabriz - but couldn't completely defeat them.
Ottomans and Safavids continued to fight.
Successors of Shah Ismail
More conservative, gave land to the qizilbash officers to keep their loyalty and give them a stake in the survival of the regime.
Shah Abbas the Great (r. 1588-1629)
Revitalized Safavid empire
Moved capital to Isfahan
Reformed administration and military using "slaves of the royal household.
Incrasaed use of gunpowder
Sought European help against Ottomans and Portuguese.
Shah Abbas led Safavids in numerous victories.
Defeated Uzbeks
expelled Portguese from Hormuz
Harassed Ottomans in series of wars.
Art and Architecture
Isfahan under Shah Abbas
Public square surrounded by markets, mosque and palace with balcony to show accessibility of shah.

MUGHALS (1526-1540, 1555-1857)
Title of ruler: Emperor
Capital;
First Ruler: Babur
Best Ruler: Akbar the Great
RISE
Babur (aka Zahir al-Din Muhammad, the "Tiger")
A Chagatai Turk who claimed descent from Genghis Khan and Tamerlane
Attacked India with gunpowder: artillery and firearms in 1523 and 1525
Based in Kabul (Afghanistan)
Founded Mughal Dynasty (from Persian word "Mongol"), in 1523
Took Delhi in 1526
Didn't care about the land he conquered -- only interested in wealth.
Humayun
Babur's son, Humayun, was driven out of India. Exiled to Persia where he established relations between Safavids and Mughals.
Returned to India from Persia in 1555 but died.
Akbar (r. 1556--1605)
Humayun's son and the real architect of Mughal empire
Took personal control of Mughal government - didn't tolerate challengers to his rule.
Created centralized administration with ministers regulating provinces.
Expansion
Military consolidated rule over Gujarat and Bengal
Also absorbed Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in southern India.
Religious toleration - created syncretic religion (Din-i-Ilahi) see below.
Jahangir
Akbar's son, addicted to opium
Overthrew his father
Criticized for letting his wife, Nur Jahan, have too much power.
Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658)
Zenith of cultural development (but expensive)
Created Taj Mahal in Agra for wife Mumtaz Mahal (see below)
Aurangzeb (r. 1659-1707)
Mughal Empire reached farthest extent under Aurangzeb.
Pushed Mughal authority deep into southern India - ruled everything except southern tip.
Aurangzeb was devout Muslim
Re instituted jizya (tax on non-Muslims)
No more toleration of Hindus.
Destroyed famous Hindu temples - put up mosques.
But he faced rebellion because of religious tensions.

Religion
Christian missionaries
Portuguese Goa became center of Christian mission in India
Priests established schools of religious insutruction.
1580 Portuguese Jesuits to Akbar's court
But Akbar didn't convert.
Mughals were Muslim but different degrees of tolerance
Akbar
Religiously tolerant to reduce tensions between Hindus and Muslims
Created hybrid religion called "Divine Faith" (Din-i-Ilahi)
Emphasized loyalty to the emperor while borrowing from other religions.
Monotheistic but reflected influence of Shiite, Sufi, Hindu, Sikh, Zoroastrian elements.
Akbar was "lord of wisdom" who would guide his subjects to understand God.
Aurangzeb
Very devout Muslim
Forced Islam on population, re-instituted jizya (tax on non-Muslims)
Art and Architecture
The city of Fatehpur Sikri planned by Akbar served as capital from 1569 to 1585.
Buildings incorporated Indian elements like verandas and elephants and Islamic character.
Taj Mahal
Mausoleum commissioned by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1632
Marble domes, minarets, semi-precious stones, geometric shapes (Islam forbids images of people or animals)

COMPARISONS: OTTOMAN, SAFAVID, MUGHAL
Government
All relied on bureaucracies inspired by steppe traditions of Turks and Mongols and Islam.
All tried to get legitimacy by prviding for public welfare and patronizing art.
All created by military (with rulers taking personal command of forces)
Economics
All rulers regarded territory as personal possession.
Rulers owned al the land and granted use of it to peasants on hereditary basis in return for payment of taxes.
Religion
Religious minorities (non-Muslims)
Called dhimmi ("protected people)
They had to pay jizya (tax on non-Muslims)
Not under Akbar
And had religious freedom
In Ottoman Empire
Religious minorities were called millets that kept their own laws, language, tradition, rituals, education.
Most powerful positions were reserved for Muslims
Art and architecture
Islamic rulers tried to enhance prestige by patronizing scholars and artists, poets
And building roads, mosques, palaces, schools, hospitals, soup kitchens.p
Ottomans: Topkapi Palace and Suleymaniye
Safavids: Isfahan palaces
Mughals: Fatehpur Sikri and Taj Mahal
Women
All revered their mothers and chief wives
Ottomans: Suleyman infatuated with Hurrem Sultana (Roxelana) a Ukrainian concubine
Safavids: Shah Abbas's mother was very powerful
Mughals: Jahangir gave a woman, Nur Jahan, have a lot of power. Shah Jahan built mausoleum, the Taj Mahal, for his late wife Mumtaz Mahal
Decline
All declined because rulers became more interested in spending money and pleasure than affairs of state. All suffered from infighting.
All exhausted resources
Resorted to raising taxes, selling public offices, allowing forenoon merchant to have too much control.
