Islam Empires [individual assignment]
The Islam Empires
The Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire emerged from a group of semi-nomadic Turks who migrated to northwest Anatolia in the thirteenth century.
Military might and gunpowder weapons drove the Ottomans to power. An elite fighting force of slave troops composed of Christian males (boys were collected as Devshirme tax), called Janissaries, formed the professional backbone of the Ottoman military.
In 1453 the Ottomans conquered Constantinople and brought an end to Byzantine rule.
Sultans like Mehmed the Conqueror and Suleiman the Magnificent created an absolute monarchy. Islamic religious scholars and legal experts served administrative functions in the government.
As the empire prospered, sultans grew more distant and removed themselves from government administration. The vizier headed the bureaucracy, and often had more control and actual power than the sultan. Political succession was often problematic, as many new sultans would execute their brothers to eliminate any challenge to their authority.
In the capital city of Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, the Christian cathedral Hagia Sophia was converted to a grand mosque. The city also had aqueducts, a flourishing marketplace, rest houses, religious schools, and hospitals. A large merchant and artisan class conducted business, but their work was closely regulated by the government.
The sultan’s harem, consisting of wives, concubines and female servants, was influential in Ottoman politics and society. Members of the harem were often of slave origin and non-Muslim, as the enslavement of Muslims was forbidden. Wives and concubines were awarded status when they produced male heirs to the sultan’s throne. They were educated in the Quran, reading, sewing, and music. The sultan’s mother served as an advisor to the throne, overseeing the imperial household and engaging in diplomacy.
The empire reached its peak in the mid-1600s, but became too large to maintain. The effectiveness of the administration declined, and was plagued by corruption. In addition, the Ottomans struggled to keep up with ongoing European military and naval advancements.
The Barbary states
The Barbary states of Islamic North Africa (present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya), which were technically ruled by the Ottomans but increasingly autonomous. Piratical corsairs from these states threatened European and American shipping and enslaved captives. Their raids embroiled the young United States in the Barbary Wars, commemorated in the line from the Marine hymn (“to the shores of Tripoli”), and partly provoked the French colonization of Algeria, starting in 1830.
The Mughal empire
In 1526, Babur, a descendant of Turkic nomads, began his conquest of India, unifying the subcontinent's regional kingdoms and establishing the Mughal empire. His grandson Akbar continued Babur's legacy and ushered in a period of economic stability and religious harmony.
Although the Mughal kings were Sunni Muslims, Akbar created a religion called the Divine Faith which combined elements of Islam and Hinduism together and legitimized his rule as head of state and religion. He initiated a policy of cooperation with Hindu rulers and the Hindu population by encouraging intermarriage. He also abolished the jizya (non-Muslim tax), and promoted Hindus to high-ranking government positions. Friendly relations among Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs (Sikhism believes that God is universe and all souls are equal and its part; Guru Nanak (the early 1500s) was the first teacher) were encouraged.
Akbar and his descendants, Jahangir (ruled 1605–1627) and Shah Jahan (ruled 1628–1658), were great patrons of the arts. Emperor Shah Jahan oversaw the construction of the Taj Mahal, built as a tomb for his late wife. The Taj Mahal is perhaps the greatest example of Mughal architecture's unique blend of Islamic domes, arches, and minarets with Hindu-inspired ornamentation.
Aurangzeb (1658–1707), Shah Jahan’s son, seized the throne with a neglectful and corrupt bureaucracy and pushed to extend Muslim control of India. He sought to rid India of all Hindu influences, purify Islam, and reinstate the jizya. His many wars drained the treasury, and peasant uprisings and revolts by both Muslim and Hindu princes weakened the empire. The Islamic militancy of the emperor Aurangzeb provoked the creation of a Sikh state in the Punjab and the breakaway if the Hindu Maratha Empire. Muslim states like Mysore won their freedom as well.
At this time, India had become a major overseas destination for European traders looking to fulfil demand for cotton. With a weakened empire, those traders were able to increase their influence in the region.
The Safavids (1501–1736)
It is worth mentioning the chief rivals of the Ottoman were their eastern neighbors, the Safavids, rulers of Iran. This centralized state was based on military conquest and dominated by Shia Islam. Its location between the Ottomans and the Mughals, in what is modern-day Iran, resulted in often contentious relationships between the Muslim states, alliances with European nations against the Ottomans, and a continuation of the long-standing rift between the Sunni and Shia sects.
Experts’ questions
1. What factors influenced the history of the Islamic nations?
2. What were the similarities and differences between the Ottomans and the Mughals of the given period? What were the causes of their prosperity and decline?
3. Compared to (with) nations from other geographical zones, what were the distinct features of the given Islamic ones? (Before answering, read other nations in the theme 9 section).