Quaestio: How did the Ottomans maintain order in

their Empire?

Nunc Agenda: Read “South Africa Struggles for Freedom” on pages 1048-1050 in the textbook and answer the question, “Why is Nelson Mandela remembered as a hero?”

Why were these three called the “Gunpowder Empires?”

OTTOMANSAFAVID

MUGHAL

Ottoman Empire

• Ottoman Turks- One of many Turkic groups in Asia Minor that rose to dominate the region and beyond

• COMMON PROBLEM- Central Rulers worry that local ruling nobles (aristocratic landowners) will challenge Central authority or even rebel

• OTTOMAN SOLUTION- Created both a bureaucracy and military from scratch that was loyal to the Sultan

• Devşirme- Policy of recruiting mostly Christian boys from the Balkans, teaching them Islam, and then training them for either Civil Service or Military

• Those in military were called Janissaries- elite soldiers

It’s Istanbul! (Not Constantinople!)

• 1453- Sultan Mehmet II (Mehmet the Conqueror) conquered Constantinople (renamed Istanbul) with cannons, then conquered the Balkans and Greece– Byzantium Constantinople Istanbul

• 1492- Catholics conquered Muslim Spain– Expelled Jews fled to the Ottoman Empire, brought banking

connections and other helpful expertise.

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

Inside the Hagia Sophia

Inside the Hagia Sophia

Suleiman the Magnificent• 1540-1566: Sultan Suleiman- extended

Empire throughout Middle East and as far as Vienna in Europe

• Four Social Classes–Men of the Sword–Men of the Pen–Men of Negotiation–Men of Husbandry

Hagia Sophia vs Suleymaniye Mosque (Byzantine) (Ottoman)

Inside the Suleymaniye

Timurid Dynasty (Tamerlane)

OTTOMANSAFAVID

MUGHAL

Safavid Empire• Safavid Persians defeated Timurids• Shia Muslims who converted Iran

to Shia Islam (still Shia today)• Shah Abbas the Great– Centralized government– Military was copy of Janissaries

• Decline– Shia scholars wanted to persecute non-Shias– Afghan Sunnis rebel– Qajars take over until 1925

SuleimanMagnificent or Lawgiver?