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

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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.