By: Alexandra Bowles
Decline of the Islamic Empires
Similarities Between the Declines of the Ottomans, Safavids & Mughals
The Deterioration of Imperial Leadership
-The weak, negligent, and corrupt rulers of the Islamic empires would allow institutions to become dysfunctional and social order to break down
-The Islamic empires had rulers who were incompetent or more interested in spending money for themselves than in tending to affairs of state
-The Islamic empires faced difficulties because of suspicion and fighting among competing members of their ruling houses
Religious Tensions
-Conservative Muslim clerics strongly objected to practices that they considered affronts to Islam
-The clerics:
*Had a lot of influence in the Islamic empires
*Mistrusted the emperors interests in unconventional forms of Islam like Sufism
*Complained when women or subjects who were not Muslim played influential political roles
*Protested any royal authority that contradicted Islamic law
Economic and Military Decline
-During the 18th century, domestic economies were under stress and foreign trade was declining
-Maintaining expensive military and administrative apparatus' helped bring about economic decline
-When expansion slowed they had problems with supporting their institutions with limited resources
-The wars fought by the Ottomans with the Habsburgs, by the Safavids and Ottomans with Mesopotamia, and by Aurangzed with southern India exhausted the treasuries of the Islamic empires without making fresh resources available to them
-Expansion slowed, empires lost control over remote provinces, and officials:
*raised taxes
*sold public offices
*accepted bribes
*resorted to extortion
*caused long term economic damage
-Foreign trade was viewed as a way to bring in revenue
*The Islamic empires didn't make serious efforts to establish communication stations abroad
*They organized their own private trading companies
-Their military declined because the Islamic empires didn't actively improve their technology
-European technology was advancing so quickly that the Islamic empires had to depend on old, dated European technology for their military because the Islamic empires couldn't keep up with the fast technological rates
Cultural Insularity
-Islamic Empires neglected cultural developments in the larger world
-Muslims believed they were superior and had nothing to learn from the Europeans
*few Muslims traveled to the infidel lands of “the Franks”
*Muslims remained oblivious to cultural and technological developments
*Ex: Not accepting the printing press because of conservative religious leaders
-Islamic empires drew little inspiration from European ideas and discouraged the circulation of writings that posed challenges to the Islamic way of life
-The weak, negligent, and corrupt rulers of the Islamic empires would allow institutions to become dysfunctional and social order to break down
-The Islamic empires had rulers who were incompetent or more interested in spending money for themselves than in tending to affairs of state
-The Islamic empires faced difficulties because of suspicion and fighting among competing members of their ruling houses
Religious Tensions
-Conservative Muslim clerics strongly objected to practices that they considered affronts to Islam
-The clerics:
*Had a lot of influence in the Islamic empires
*Mistrusted the emperors interests in unconventional forms of Islam like Sufism
*Complained when women or subjects who were not Muslim played influential political roles
*Protested any royal authority that contradicted Islamic law
Economic and Military Decline
-During the 18th century, domestic economies were under stress and foreign trade was declining
-Maintaining expensive military and administrative apparatus' helped bring about economic decline
-When expansion slowed they had problems with supporting their institutions with limited resources
-The wars fought by the Ottomans with the Habsburgs, by the Safavids and Ottomans with Mesopotamia, and by Aurangzed with southern India exhausted the treasuries of the Islamic empires without making fresh resources available to them
-Expansion slowed, empires lost control over remote provinces, and officials:
*raised taxes
*sold public offices
*accepted bribes
*resorted to extortion
*caused long term economic damage
-Foreign trade was viewed as a way to bring in revenue
*The Islamic empires didn't make serious efforts to establish communication stations abroad
*They organized their own private trading companies
-Their military declined because the Islamic empires didn't actively improve their technology
-European technology was advancing so quickly that the Islamic empires had to depend on old, dated European technology for their military because the Islamic empires couldn't keep up with the fast technological rates
Cultural Insularity
-Islamic Empires neglected cultural developments in the larger world
-Muslims believed they were superior and had nothing to learn from the Europeans
*few Muslims traveled to the infidel lands of “the Franks”
*Muslims remained oblivious to cultural and technological developments
*Ex: Not accepting the printing press because of conservative religious leaders
-Islamic empires drew little inspiration from European ideas and discouraged the circulation of writings that posed challenges to the Islamic way of life
Differences Between the Declines of the Ottomans, Safavids & Mughals
The Ottomans
The Deterioration of Imperial Leadership: -The Ottomans sought to limit problems by confining princes in the palace *They gained no experience in government but were exposed to plots of the various factions maneuvering to bring a favorable candidate to the throne -Problem rulers after Suleyman: *Selim the Sot, Ibrahim the Crazy (taxed and spent so much that gov officials deposed and murdered him) -The Ottoman's leaders weak rule: *provoked mutinies in the army *provincial revolts *political corruption *economic oppression *insecurity -Religious tensions: *Caused disaffected religious students to often join the Janissaries *Sparked the Wahhabi movement which denounced the Ottomans as dangerous religious innovators who were unfit to rule -Conservative Muslims: *Protested the construction of an astronomical laboratory in Istanbul and forced the sultan to demolish it *Forced the closure of the printing press Economic and Military Decline: -The Ottomans tried to pay the Janissaries in debased coinage and provoked a mutiny *Also caused over 6 more military revolts -The Ottomans expanded the privileges of foreign merchants to keep up with foreign trade -The Ottomans heavily relied upon European technology in gunnery, so it was an economic blow when they could no longer keep up with the latest European technology -The Ottoman navy which had long influenced maritime affairs in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea was stopping their shipbuilding and ordering military ships from foreign countries |
The Safavids
The Deterioration of Imperial Leadership:
-The Safavids fell under the domination of the Shiites (the ones they had originally supported)
-Shiite leaders made the Shahs persecute Sunnis, non Muslims, and Sufis which led to revolts
The Mughals
The Deterioration of Imperial Leadership:
-Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (conservative) rebuked Akbar for his religious tolerance and his interest in other faiths
-Aurangzeb required non Muslims to pay the poll tax and ordered the destruction of Hindu temples
*This inflamed tensions between the Sunnis, Shiites, and Sufis and fueled animosity among Hindus and other non muslim subjects
Economic and Military Decline:
-The Mughals encouraged the establishment of Dutch and English trading outposts in India because they weren't able to participate in as much foreign trade. This eventually led to the strict, Islamic society becoming compromised by outside beliefs.
The Deterioration of Imperial Leadership:
-The Safavids fell under the domination of the Shiites (the ones they had originally supported)
-Shiite leaders made the Shahs persecute Sunnis, non Muslims, and Sufis which led to revolts
The Mughals
The Deterioration of Imperial Leadership:
-Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (conservative) rebuked Akbar for his religious tolerance and his interest in other faiths
-Aurangzeb required non Muslims to pay the poll tax and ordered the destruction of Hindu temples
*This inflamed tensions between the Sunnis, Shiites, and Sufis and fueled animosity among Hindus and other non muslim subjects
Economic and Military Decline:
-The Mughals encouraged the establishment of Dutch and English trading outposts in India because they weren't able to participate in as much foreign trade. This eventually led to the strict, Islamic society becoming compromised by outside beliefs.
This engaging video provides a very visual representation of how much the Islamic Empires shrank and goes even farther by analyzing how western culture impacted the ideas of Dar-al Islam.