The Islamic Empires

The Islamic Empires

In early modern history, there were three major Islamic empires that became prominent. The Ottoman Empire, the Safavid Empire, and the Mughals. We will discuss

the Development of these empires by listing their similarities and differences, and their political, social and cultural backgrounds. Next, we will get into the three empires reign of power and also give a discription of some of the great leaders of these empires and their legacy.

All of these Islamic Empires had Turkish ruling dynasties. The Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals came from nomadic, Turkish-speaking peoples of the central Asia who conquered the settled agricultural lands of Anatolia, Persia and India. All of these dynasties retained political and cultural traditions that their ancestors had adopted while leading their nomadic lives, but, they also adapted readily to the city-based agricultyural societies that they conquered. All of these empires also embraced Islam and derived its cultural guidance from Islamic values. Each empire expanded its territory under authority of their great leaders, such as Mehmed the Conqueror for the Ottomans, Shah Abbas the Great for the Safavids and the reigh of Aurangzeb of the Muhgal empire. In these empires, the prestige and authority of the dynasty derived from personal piety and military aptitude of the ruler and his ancestors.

The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman Bey, founder of the dynasty that continued in unbroken succession from 1289 to 1923. the motives of Osman and his followers were to become ghazi, or Muslim religious warriors. “The Ghazi,(as the poet Ahmadi describes) is the instrument of religion of Allah, the sword of God, the protector and refuge of the believers.” It was believed that if to have died for the cause of your religion, you should not believe that the person is dead, but that he will live in beatitude with Allah and he has eternal life. The Ottomans waged a holy war which enabled them to expand their territory to the Anatolian city of Bursa, which became the capital of Ottoman principality. Under the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror, the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 and in turn lead to more Ottoman expansion. Mehmed presented himself as a true emperor and not just a warrior. He was ruler of two lands, Europe and Asia and two seas, the Black Sea and the Medditeranian and laid down an absolute monarchy as government. Sulayman the Magnificent also expanded the Ottoman territory under his rule dramatically by conquering Baghdad and adding the Tigris and Euphrates valleys to the Ottoman domain.

The Safavid empire was first ruled by Shah Ismail, a 14 year old boy. He gained control of the empire by entering Tabriz at the head of an army and laying claim to the ancient Persian imperial title of the shah. The Safavids traced their ancestry back to Safi al Din, leader of a sufi religious order in northwestern Persia. Shah Ismail also decided for the religion of the Safavid empire to be Twelver Shiism . Twelver Shiism held that there had been twelve infallible imams ( or religious leaders) after Muhammad, beginning with the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali. The belief was that the twelfth or “hidden” iman would one day return to take power and spread his true religion. Safavid propaganda suggested that Shah Ismail was himself the missing imam, or even the reincarnation of Allah. Shah Ismail’s followers believed that he had the power to keep them safe in battle. In the Battle of Chaldiran, Ismail’s forces attacked heavily the lines of the Ottoman empire and suffered devastating casualties. Shah Abbas the Great fully revived the Safavid Empire by moving the capital to a more centralized location and he encouraged trade with other lands. He also reformed the administrative and military institutions of the empire. Shah Abbas led the