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Muslim Empires 1450-1750

Chapter 21

Unit 4

Gunpowder Empires

• Smaller armies overtook larger forces by

mastering advanced weapons, especially

cannons and muskets

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Ottoman Conquest • Originated in Anatolia

• Osman and Mehmet II led earliest conquests in 14th and 15th centuries

• Conquest of Constantinople in 1453

– Rebuilt as Istanbul

Administration

• Sultans started as a warrior-king

– Adopted the bureaucratic systems of earlier caliphs

• Viziers (advisors) gained more authority over the

centuries

• Tolerance of Jewish and Christian traders

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Warrior Empire

• Janissaries (devshirme) :

elite army unit comprised

of Christian slaves from

Balkans

• Extended into Syria, North

Africa, and Central Europe

– Failed siege of Vienna led to

invention of the croissant

Conflicting Ideologies

• Ottomans were Sunni, while the neighboring Safavid were Shi’a

• Battle of Chaldiran(1514) increased Ottoman territory and influence

– Massacres committed on both sides

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Safavid Empire

• Based in Persia (Modern day Iran)

• Shahs ruled as descendants of Shi’a Imams

• Abbas I established the city of Isfahan as a political and cultural center

– Combined Turkish and Persian Culture

Mughal Dynasty

• Founded in India by Babur, a descendent of Mongol and Turkic leaders

• Akbar extended the empire and united a Hindu majority under Muslim rule

– Social reforms to help lower classes and women

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Mughal Culture

• Taj Mahal built as a tomb

for the wife of Shah Jahan

– Architecture showcases

Muslim and Persian

influences

• Sikhism: monotheistic

religion incorporating

aspects of Hinduism and

Islam

Economic Systems

• All three empires were engaged

in trade

– Ottomans reconnected Middle East

with Mediterranean and Black Sea

traders

– Safavid and Mughals traded with

Europeans along Indian Ocean

• Europe had a high demand for

Persian rugs and Indian cotton

textiles

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Decline

• Corruption and weak leadership led to a gradual

decline of both the Ottomans and Safavid

– Unable to gain a part in trade with the Americas or

Asia

– Ottoman Empire exists until 1923

• Mughals failed to conquer entire subcontinent

– Internal revolts weakened the monarch’s rule