Chapter 18- The Muslim Worl Expands

Ghazi

A warrior for Islam.

Ottoman

The most successful ghazi was Osman. People in the West called him Othman and named his followers Ottomans. Osman built a small Muslim state in Anatolia between 1300 and 1326. His successors expanded is by buying land, forming alliances with some emirs, and conquering others. The Ottomans' military success was largely based on the use of gunpowder. They were among the first people to use cannons as weapons of attack.

Sultan

"Overlord," or "one with power"; title for the Ottoman rulers during the rise of the Ottoman Empire.

Timur the Lame

Early in the 1400s by a rebellious warrior and conqueror from Samarkind in Central Asia. Permanently injured by an arrow in the leg, he was called Timur-i-lang, or Timur the Lame. Europeans called him Tamerlane. Timbur burned the powerful city of Baghdad in present day Iraq to the ground. He crushed the Ottoman forces at the battle of Ankara in 1402. This defeat halted the expansion of the Ottoman empire.

Mehmed II

Murad's (One of the Ottoman sultan's sons) son, Mehmed II, or Mehmed the Conqueror, achieved the most dramatic feat in Ottoman history. Took power in 1451. Mehmed II wanted Constantinople, "Give me Constantinople!" in 1453 he launched his attack with his Turkish forces. Mehmed the Conqueor, proved to be an able ruler as well as a magnificent warrior. He opened Constantinople to new citizens of many religions and backgrounds. Jews, Christians, and Muslims, Turks and non-Turks all flowed in. They helped rebuild the city, which was now called Istanbul.

Suleyman the Lawgiver

The Ottoman Empire didn't reach its peak size and grandeur until the reign of Selim's son, Suleyman I. Suleyman came to the throne in 1520 and ruled for 46 years. His own people called him Suleyman the Lawgiver. He was known in the Westm as Suleyman the Magnificent. This title was a tribute to the splendor of his court and to his cultural achievements.

Devshirme

In the Ottoman Empire, the policy of taking boys from conquered Christians peoples to be trained as Muslim soldiers.

Janissary

A member of an elite force of soldiers in the Ottoman Empire.

Safavid

A member of a hi'a Muslim dynasty that built an empire in Persia in the 16th-18th centuries.

Isma'il

The Safavid military became a force to reckon with. In 1499, a 12 - year - old named Isma'il began to seize most of what is now Iran. Two years later he completed the task. To celebrate his achievement, he took the ancient Persian tile of Shah, or king, He also established Shi'a Isam as the state religion. Isma'il became a religious tyrant. Any citizen who did not convert to Shi'ism was put to death. He destroyed the Sunni population of Baghdad in his confrontation with the Ottomans.

Shah

Hereditary monarch of Iran.

Shah Abbas

Abbas the Great, took the throne in 1587. He helped create a Safavid culture and golden age that drew from the best Ottoman, Persian, and Arab worlds. He reformed the military, civilian life, and government, created a new capital, and used artwork and carpets as decorations.

Esfahan

The Shah built a new capital at Esfahan. With a design that covered four and a half miles, the city was considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It was a showplace for the many artisans, both foreign and Safavid, who worked on the buildings and the objects in them.

Mughal

One of the nomads who invaded the Indian subcontinent in the 16th century and established a powerful empire there.

Babur

In 1494, an 11 year old boy named Babur inherited a kingdom in the area that is now Uzbekistan and Tajikisatan. Babur was a brilliant general, built up an army, In the years that followed, he swept down into India and laid the foundation for the vast Mughal Empire.

Akbar

Babur's grandson was called Akbar, which means "Great." Akbar certainly lived up to his name, ruling India with wisdom and tolerance from 1556 to 1605. Akbar was a military conqueror, a liberal rulers, blended cultures when he extended Mughal Empire, and the arts, literature, and architecture flourished during his reign.

Sikh

A member of a nonviolent religious group whose beliefs blend elements of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sufism.

Shah Jahan

Jahangir's son and successor, Shah Jahan, could not tolerate competition and secured his throne by assassinating all his possible rivals. He had a great passion for two things: beautiful buildings and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Nur Jahan had arranged this marriage between Jahangir's son and her niece for political reasons. Shah Jahan fell genuinely in love with the Pesian princess.

Taj Mahal

A beautiful tomb in Agra, India, built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Aurangzeb

Shah Jahan third son, Aurangzeb moved first and most decisively. In a bitter civil war, he executed his older brother, who was the most serious rival. Then he arrested his father and put him in prison, were he died several years later.

A master at military strategy and an aggressive empire builder, Aurangzeb ruled from 1658 to 1707. He expanded the Mughal holdings to their greatest size. However, the power of the empire weakened during his reign. This loss of power was due largely to his oppression of the people. He rigidly enforced Islamic laws, outlawing drinking, gambling, and other activities viewed as vices. He appointed censors to police his subjects' morals and make sure they prayed at the appointed times. He also tried to erase all the gains Hindus had made under Akbar. He brought back the hated tax on non-Muslims and dismissed Hindus from high positions in his government. He banned the construction of new temples and had Hindu monuments destroyed.