gunpowder empire

THE GUNPOWDER EMPIRES 

The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals

I. From 1300 to 1700, three “__gunpowder__________________ ______empires__________” dominated parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia: the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), the Safavid Empire (Iran), and the Mughal Empire (India)

A.  These empires were unique but shared some SIMILARITIES: 

1. All three empires were able to _____conquer______________neighboring people by forming strong armies that used ______rifles_______ and _______artillery___________; this gave them the nickname “Gunpowder Empires” 

2. All three empires ____blended____________ their _____cultures____________with neighboring societies to create a high point of Islamic culture (cultural diffusion)

3. All three empires were ____islamic________ and ruled by Muslim leaders, with well-organized governments made up of loyal bureaucrats

B. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

1.  THE RISE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

a. Around 1300, the ___muslim turks_________ ___________ of Anatolia were unified and formed the ____Ottoman_________ _____empire________ (the name came from an early leader named Osman)

b. The Ottomans used ___muskets________ and _______cannons__________to form a powerful army and expand their territory

c. The Ottoman army included 30,000 ___elite______ soldiers_________ called  _________janissaries_______________; these fierce soldier-slaves were trained to be completely ___loyal___________to their Ottoman Turk rulers; Janissaries were usually Bosnian, Bulgarian, Greek, Serbian, or Albanian by blood and Christian by religion; they were taken from their homes at an ____early_________ ______age__, forced to ___convert________ to Islam, and ____forced to train___________ to be soldiers

d. The ___bysantine________________ ____empire___________had been around since the fall of the old Roman Empire in the late 400s; Byzantine ___territory________________ increased and decreased over the years, depending on the outcomes of its wars_______ with neighboring people, such as the ___seljuk turks____________ ____________

    i. By the 1400s, Byzantine territory was chiseled away to almost ___nothing______________, except for its capital city, _____constantonople____________________

    ii. Constantinople finally fell_______to the Turks in 1453; with the fall of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire was ___conqured____________________by the Seljuk/ottoman Turks 

    iii. The Byzantine people (which included Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, Georgians, Jews, Hellenized Asiatic tribes, and others) were made subjects of the _____new___ _____ottoman_________ ______empire__________; a thousand years of Byzantine rule was ____over_______

e. By the late 1600s, the Ottomans expanded a great deal, taking over much of the ___middle__________ _____east______, some of ________north________ ____africa________, and a large part of ________east________ _______europe_______

2. SULEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT

a. Ottoman kings/emperors were called ____sulatans___________and they governed with absolute power___________ ___________

b. The greatest Ottoman sultan was ________suleyman________ the_ _________magnificent__________, who came to power in 1520 

i. By the mid-1500s, Suleyman was the most ____powerful_____________ king___________ in the world 

ii. Under Suleyman, the Ottoman Empire reached its ___height____________, expanding deep into Eastern Europe; Suleyman’s fleet ruled the _____mediterranean ___________________ ___sea______ and controlled the ______silk___ _____road_____ trade routes that connected Europe and Asia

iii. Suleyman was ____stopped____________ by the Holy Roman Empire (various German kingdoms) from taking over ALL of Europe after the unsuccessful Siege of Vienna in 1529; this would be the ______limit________of _________ottoman_______ ______empire________ in Europe

iv. Suleyman’s greatest accomplishment was creating a ____stable__________ government for the Ottoman Empire

(1) He was known as “____suleyman_____________ the__ _____lawgiver______________” because he created a law____ _____code______ that governed criminal and civil issues within his empire

(2) He created a simplified and fair tax____system to raise money for his empire

(3) He granted ___freedom___________ of_ ______worship________to Christians and Jews living in the empire, wisely showing tolerance of his subjects’ ways

v. art____, poetry, and ________archetecture_______________ flourished under Suleyman as the Ottomans experienced a cultural “golden age”

3. THE DECLINE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

a. To maintain their power against ___rivals___________within their own families, Suleyman and other Ottoman sultans _____excecuted_______________ and/or jailed their sons and brothers, which led to progressively _____weaker_____________ leaders as the most capable sons were eliminated

b. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Ottoman Empire was so weak it was known as the “___sick_____ man__ ___of__ ____europe____________” and would end in 1922

C. THE SAFAVID EMPIRE

1. THE RISE OF THE SAFAVID EMPIRE

a. The _________Safavids__________were Turks living in _____persia___________who built a powerful gunpowder army and created an empire in modern-day ___iran________

b. Unlike the Ottomans (who were Sunni Muslims), the rulers of the Safavid Empire believed in _____shia______ Islam and strictly ____converted__________ the people they conquered  

c. Safavid rulers were called shahs__________, which is the Persian title for _____king_______

2. SHAH ABBAS

a. The greatest ruler of the Safavid Empire was ___shah abbas_______ ______________, who came to power in 1587 

i. Abbas ____borrowed________________ideas from outside groups to improve the Safavid Empire 

ii. He used the Ottoman idea of janissaries, used merit_______ to employ government workers, and introduced religious ______toleration______________ (which helped Safavids trade_______ with European Christians) 

iii. Art flourished, especially _____carpets___________that blended _____persian___________ and European designs; these became luxury items highly desired by Europeans 

3. THE DECLINE OF THE SAFAVID EMPIRE

a. Like the Ottomans, Shah Abbas ____blinded___________ or ______killed______his most capable sons in order to keep power 

b. As a result, ___weak______ ______leaders_________ led to a ____rapid________ ________decline_______of the Safavid Empire 

c. While the Ottoman Empire lasted until 1922, the Safavid Empire fell in ___1774_______

D. THE MUGHAL EMPIRE 

1. THE RISE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

a. The Mughals were _____muslims_______who descended from Turks, Afghans, and ____mongols__________living in Central Asia 

b. Like the Ottomans and Safavids, the Mughals built a powerful ___army__________ with guns and cannons

2. BABAR and AKBAR

a. In 1494, ___babur__________ became king of the Mughals; he expanded the army_________and began invasions into _____india________ to create his empire

b. In 1556, Babur’s grandson _______akbar_________became king of the Mughal Empire and expanded the empire into almost all of India 

i. Akbar was the ___greatest______________ of all the Mughal rulers

ii. Akbar’s greatest achievement was cultural ___blending_____________and ______religious____________toleration he instilled in his empire 

(a) He held religious discussions with ____hindu___________ and _________muslims_______scholars 

(b) Akbar ended the tax________ that ___non_____ - _______muslims_________ were required to pay, creating a fair and affordable tax system

(c) Because he was Muslim ruling in a largely Hindu region, Akbar allowed non-Muslims to _____worship________ _______freely_______ 

(d) Akbar had many wives, including muslims___________, _______hindus__________, and ______christians___________

iii. The best example of Akbar’s tolerance was his creation of a new religion called the ___divine_________ ____faith______

(a) The Divine Faith was an example of ______syncretism______________because it _____blended____________ ideas from Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism

(b) Akbar hoped the Divine Faith would end ______confilcts___________ between Muslims and Hindus

(c) The Divine Faith ____never__________ ____attracted_______________many Muslim or Hindu converts… when Akbar died______, so did the Divine Faith 

iv. During Akbar’s reign, ___art______ flourished 

(a) Mughal artists were known for their colorful paintings called _______minitaures________________

(b) Mughal ____arcetecture____________________ was known for blending of Hindu and Islamic designs 

(c) The greatest example of Mughal architecture is the taj_ _______mahal______, which was built in 1631 by Jahan

3. THE DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

a. The Mughal Empire grew weak by 1700, as rulers spent too much money on _____palaces___________ and war____ while _______famine_________ brought _____starvation____________________to millions 

b. Also, the large population of ____hindus_____________ in India began to ______revolt_________ against their Muslim rulers 

c. _____gret______ ______britian___________ took advantage of this weakness, ______conqured________________India, and removed the last Mughal emperor from power in 1858 

II. CONCLUSIONS

A. The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals built large ____islamic_____________ empires using ______gunpowder__________________ militaries

B.  These empires provided new contributions in law________, art_____, and ___religion_____________

C.  Their decline by the 1800s allowed newly industrialized____________________European nations to _______dominate______________ Asia