The Islamic Empires Flashcards
In what year did Shah Jahan take his seat on the Peacock Throne
1635
Who is Shah Jahan?
The emperor of Mughal India, created the Taj Mahal
Who is Akbar?
The grandson of Babur and real architect of the Mughal Empire. His military campaigns consolidated power in parts of India.
Which two places did Akbar’s military campaigns take place?
Gujarat and Bengal.
What kind of government did Akbar create?
A centralized administrative structure with ministries regulating various provinces of the empire.
Did Akbar impose Islam upon his subjects?
NO.
Instead of imposing Islam on his subjects, what did Akbar do?
He encouraged the worship of a syncretic religion known as “divine faith”
What is “divine faith”?
A syncretic religion that focused on the emperor being the ruler of all religious, social and ethnic groups in India.
Which empire was associated with which geographic location/modern day country(ies), and which religious and political practices.
Ottomans
Anatolia, modern day Turkey, Sunni Islam
Which empire was associated with which geographic location/modern day country(ies), and which religious and political practices.
Safavids
Mesopotamia, Persia, Twelver Shiism
Which empire was associated with which geographic location/modern day country(ies), and which religious and political practices.
Mughals
Indian Subcontinent, India, Hindu
Two Minority religions and locations in Ottoman Empire
Christianity and Judaism in Balkans, Armenia, Lebanon, and Egypt.
Two Minority religions and location of one in Safavid Empire Empire
Zoroastrianism and Christianity in the Caucasus
Four Minority religions (not Muslim/Hindu) in Mughal Empire
Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Sikhism
Location of Christian mission in India and group that founded it
Gao and Jesuit priests
Dhimmi
Non-muslim conquered people, status “protected people”
Jizya
Non-muslim tax
Millet
Autonomous religious communities in the Ottoman empire
Topkapi Palace
The heart of Istanbul which housed government offices, mint, meeting places for imperial councils
Sinan Pasha and Suleymaniye
Sinan Pasha created the most celebrated of all the monuments in Istanbul, the Suleymaniye. The Suleymaniye was a building blending Byzantine and Islamic architecture
Hagia Sofiya and Aya Sofya
Hagia Sofiya - Byzantine Church in Istanbul
Aya Sofya - The Church converted into a mosque
Isfahan and description of Safavid palaces
- Capital of Safavid Empire
- Palaces in Isfahan were relatively small and emphasized natural settings with gardens and pools
Fatehpur Sikri and Shayk Salim Chishti
A city planted and constructed by Akbar, it served as a capital
Shayk Salim Chishti is Akbar’s Sufi Guru
Year of fall of Safavid Empire and origin of group that ended it
1772 and Afghan tribesmen
Wahhabi movement, printing press, and telescope
Huge revolt in Arabia denounced Ottomans as dangerous religious innovators who were unfit to rule. The conservative Muslims considered the Ottoman printing press and breaking the observatory of the Otttomans calling the telescope as impious technology
One war that did not lead growth for each Empire
Ottomans and Safavids has a conflict in Mesopotamia, as welll as problems with Aurangzeb in Southern India.
Piri Reis
Ottoman admiral and cartographer, produced several large-scale maps, and a major navigational text, the Book of Seafaring.
A comparison to Ming/Qing China and Tokugawa Japan
All denied western European cultured influences, political and social stability over cultural innnovations
What was the origin (modern-day country) and occupation of the leaders who transformed the major Islamic areas of the world into three vast regional empires.
Ottoman Empire- Turkey, leader Osman bey was a bey (chief) of a seminomadic Turks who migrated to Northwestern Anatolia in the 13th century
Safavid Empire- Persia, Ismail was a kid who left the swamps and came taking over Persia with an army
Mughal Empire- India, Babur was a prince said he is related to Chinggis Khan.
Describe the connection between the terms Ottoman, Bey, and Ghazi
- Ottoman derived from Osman Bey, founder of the dynasty.
- Bey means chief of a band of seminomadic Turks who migrated to Northwestern Anatolia in 13th century.
- Osman and his followers wanted to be Ghazis, Muslim religious warriors
Describe interactions between Ottomans and two cities
Ottoman’s first successful capturing was Anatolian city Bursa, it became the capital a thriving major commercial and intellectual center
Capital city of Edirne became the second capital, used to further Balkan Expansion
What was the connection between deshirme and Janissaries and what were Janissaries known for
Conquering Ottomans created an important force of slave troops called Janissaries through the institution called Devishirme
Janissaries were known for esprit de corps, loyalty to the sultan and readiness to employ new military technology
Mehmed conquered which city with two names?
Constantinople and Istanbul
What lands were gained for the Ottoman Empire under Selim the Grim and Suleyman the Magnificent
Selim the Grim took Syria and Egypt
Suleyman gained Europe and the Middle East
Baghdad, Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, and Belgrade.
What role did Khayr al-din Barbarossa Pasha play in the Ottoman Empire
Turkish Corsair, challenged Spanish fleets with his pirate fleet under an Ottoman flag in Tunisia and Algeria, became Suleyman’s head admiral
What role did Ismail play in the Safavid Empire, and which title did he claim as a ruler
Founder of Safavid Empire and claimed the Ancient Persian imperial title Shah
Who was Safi al-Din, and what was his connection to the Safavid Dynasty?
Leader of Sufi religious order in Northwestern Persia. Shah Ismail and his successors used him for ancestry to change their story.
Describe Twelver Shiism, including referencing the role of Ali and his connection to Prophet Muhammed
The religion of Shah Ismail’s realm. Twelver Shiism describes that there had been 12 infallible imans after Muhammed, beginning with the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali.
Who were the qizilbash, both in terms of their attire and beliefs
- Qizilbash wore a red hat with 12 pleats in memory of the 12 Shiite Imans and were loyalists.
- Qizilbash enthusiastically accepted that Ismail was an incarnation of Allah since Turkish conceptions of leadership involved divinity.
- They believed that Ismail is invincible in battle
Describe in detail the battle of Chaladiran
- Ottomans deployed heavy artillery and Janissaries.
- Qizilbash used cavalry attacked Ottoman lines and suffered devasted casualties
- Ismail slips and Ottomans temporarily gains control of the capital
Who “fully revitalized the Safavid Empire” Describe three of his actions
Shah Abbas the Great
- He moved the capital to the more central location of Isfahan
- Encouraged trade with other lands
- Formed the administrative and military intuitions of the empire.
Describe the interactions between Babur and modern-day India, including the origin of the Mughal Empire
- Babur invaded India and gained lots of wealth.
- Many of his entourage wanted to leave India but Babur stayed making a loosely knit empire that stretched from Kabul through the Punjab to the borders of the Bengal
- Mughal is the Persian term for Mongol
Who was the “real architect of the Mughal Empire” Describe three of his actions, including at least one from the last paragraph
Akbar
- Created a centralized government
- His military campaigns consolidated Mughal power in Gujarat and Bengal
- He pursued a policy of religious toleration that hoped would reduce Hindu and Muslim tensions.
Who was Aurangzeb, and why was Mughal Empire troubled in his reign?
- Mughal empire reached its greatest extent under Aurangzeb.
- Rebellions troubled his reign as well as religious tensions, so he broke Akbar’s policy and burnt many Hindu temples and replaced them with mosques.
Describe multiple similarities between the three empires
- Military created empires
- Rulers had personal command of the army.
- Appointed and dismissed officials as they will
Describe how the Columbian Exchange affected the Islamic Empires generally, including skipping forward just a bit to population growth aslo:
- Varity of food for humans and even for animals
- Growth of population surged
Describe how tobacco and coffee were relevant in the time period
- Was used and encouraged of consumption in Ottoman and Safavid
- Coffeehouses were established since customers can enjoy caffeine and nicotine at the same time.
- Religious leaders did not like this and Sultan Murad IV went so far as to outlaw coffee and tobacco
Which two empires traded more, and which one less, and why?
- Ottoman and Safavid empire traded more
- Mughal empire not so much since its size and they mainly focused on their own land.
Two of Shah Jahan’s artistic projects
Peacock Throne and Taj Mahal
What was the Taj Mahal built for?
It served as a monument both to the departed empress and to Shah Jahan’s Islamic faith
What are some aspects of the Taj Mahal which symbolize the day when Allah would cause the dead to rise and undergo judgment before his heavenly throne?
Its gardens represent the gardens of paradise
its four water channels running through symbolize the four rivers of the heavenly kingdom
The domed marble tomb represents the throne of Allah
The Ottoman Empire served which region?
It was a dynastic Muslim state centered in what is today, Turkey
What are the three Islamic empires
Ottoman empire, Safavid empire, and the Mughal empire
Why did the Safavid Empire prosper?
Its place in trade networks linking AfroEurasia
What peoples did the three Islamic empires come from
nomadic, Turkish-speaking peoples of central Asia who conuered the settled agricultural lands of Anatolia, Persia, and India
What did the term Ottoman derive from?
Osman Bey
Who is Osman Bey
Founder of the dynasty that continued in unbroken succession from 1289 unitl the dissolution of the empire in 1923
What is a bey
A chief of a band of seminomadic Turks who migrated to northwestern Anatolia in the thriteenth century.
What is a ghazi
Muslim religious warriors
What did Osman and his followers seek to become
ghazi
How is Ahmadic relevent to the text
He is a poet who describes the Ghazi
What and when was the Ottoman’s first great success in war
In 1326, with the capture of the Anatolian city of Bursa which became the capital of the Ottoman principality
What was the Ottomans second capital and what did it serve as?
Edirne and it served as a base for further expansion into the Balkans
What did the Bursa develop into?
A major commercial and intellectual enter with inns, shops, schools, libraries, and mosques
How did the Ottomans organize their army?
Into two forces: a light cavalry and a volunteer infantry
What is the devshrime
An institution which required the Christian population of the Balkans to contribute young boys to become slaves of the sultan
What were Jannissaries
soldiers who came from the devshrime process
Who is Mehmed the conquerer and his time period
1451-1481 and made massive achievement of expansion for the Ottoman empire
What did Mehmed conquer
He conquered Constantinople, Balkans, captured Genoese ports in Crimea, started a naval war with Venice, and aimed to march on Rome to capture the pope.
Who is Selim the Grim
A sultan who reigned from 1512-1520 and occupied Syria and Egypt
Who did Ottoman imperialism climax under
The reign of Suleyman the Magnificent
What did Suleyman the Magnificent conquer?
He conquered Baghdad and added the Tigris and Euphrates valleys to the Ottoman domain and Belgrade
Who is Aurangzeb?
A ruler who ruled during the peak of the Mughal Empire. He greatly expanded Mughal boundaries but it also led to many rebellions and religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims.
Was Aurangzeb religiously tolerant? If not, what did he do.
NO. He demolished several Hindu temples and imposed a tax on Hindus to encourage conversion to Islam.
What religion did Aurangzeb follow?
He was a devout muslim.
Where did the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals draw their inspiration for their bureaucracies from?
The Turkish peoples.
How did the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires form?
Through military conquest.
What were the Safavid prominent leaders from in ancestry? What about the Ottomans and Mughals?
A Sufi religious order. The Ottomans and Mughals were closely associated with famous Sufis.
What is the ghazi ideal of spreading Islam?
A way to spread Islam by fighting heretics.
What was the term for ruler in the Ottoman Empire?
Sultan.
What did early emperors do in the Ottoman Empire?
They issued numerous legal laws. The greatest of these were the many “kanun”
What is the meaning of “kanun”?
Laws
Who issued the “kanun”?
Suleyman the Magnificent.
What did the Europeans refer to Suleyman? What did the Ottomans refer to him as?
Europeans: Suleyman the Magnificent, Ottomans: Suleyman Kanuni (the Law giver)
What was the purpose of “divine faith”?
It was to glorify the emperor.
What religion did Shah Ismail force on his people?
His Shiite religion called Twelver Shiism.
Why were rulers afraid of relatives?
They were afraid that they would be assassinated to take their place in throne.
How did Mehmed the Conquerer protect his position after becoming ruler?
He made a rule that a ruler could legally kill off his brothers after taking the throne.
Who was Suleyman infatuated with in a romantic sense and what did he do for her?
Hurrem Sultana (also known as Roxelana). A concubine who Suleyman consulted to for even state policies and raised her to the status of legal wife. He built a mausoleum for her after her death.
In Safavid Persia, which woman was a de facto ruler? What happened to her?
Mahd-e Olya, a wife of a shah. She was murdered after she tried to limit the power of the qizibash.
What is qizibash?
Qizilbash loyalists who wore a red hat with 12 pleats in memory of the 12 Shiite Imans
Which Mughal emperor allowed his wife to run the government?
Jahangir let his wife Nur Jahan run government.
Which crops did the Islamic empires mainly rely on?
Wheat and rice.
How did the Columbian Exchange effect the Islamic empires?
It brought American crops to the Islamic empires and population surged
Which American crops became
popular in the Islamic empires?
Potatoes and tomatoes. Coffee and tobacco. Sugar was also popular.
Which food was fed to livestock?
Maize.
When was tobacco introduced and how was it introduced?
1600 and it was introduced as something used for medicinal purposes.
What did the popularity of coffeehouses bring?
Protest from moralists who were worried that the coffee houses distracted people from their religious duties.
Which Sultan outlawed tobacco and coffee?
Sultan Murad IV
Were Sultan Murad IV’s efforts to outlaw tobacco and coffee successful?
No, the two eventually became prominent social institutions in the Islamic empires.
Which empire did not pay as much attention to trade as the other two empires?
Mughal.
The early capital of the Ottoman Empire:
Bursa.
How was Bursa relevant to the trade of the Ottoman Empire?
It served as a final destination of a caravan route that brought raw silk from Persia.
How did Ottomans make alliances with places like England and France?
They gave merchants from those places special trading concessions.
Common enemies of Ottomans, England and France?
Spain and Central Europe.
The city Aleppo became an emporium and local headquarters for which company?
English Levant company.
What city did Shah Abbas promote as a trading center and how?
Isfahan. He extended trading privileges to foreign merchants and even allowed Christians to set up missions there.
What did the Europeans seek from the Safavids?
Raw silk, carpets, ceramics, and high-quality craft items.
Which companies traded actively with the Safavids?
The English East India Company, the French East India Company, and the Dutch VOC.
What did the Europeans do for the Safavids to gain their favor?
Gunpowder weapons. They also provided them a navy to retake Hormuz from the Portuguese.
Why were the Mughals not as involved with foreign trade as the Ottomans and Safavids?
Because of their enormous size and domestic Indian economy. They were also concentrated on their land empire and had little interest in maritime affairs.
Where did the Mughal treasury gain a significant amount of their income from?
Foreign trade.
