Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires Comparison

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

During the 15^th and 16^th centuries, three major Muslim empires were formed and established namely; the Mughal empire, which dominated the greater India, Safavid which ruled the greater Iran, and the Ottoman Empire which ruled much of the Middle East. These served as the foundation of the discoveries about gunpowder and a more organized structure of ruling the territory. However, the three empires had their downfall in the 19^th century and the last empire to decline was the Ottoman.

Initially, Mughal Empire was an imperial power that dominated almost all the subcontinent of India during the era of the 16th up t the middle of the 19th century. And it was a Persian- speaking Islamic imperial power and originally it was a Turkic clan. It was one of the greatest empires that India has ever had though and ruled a lot of people for about hundreds of millions. It is said that India owed its having a huge colony to the ruling of the Mughal Empire, as well as having an organized system of economy and politics.

During its dominion, the Mughal Empire maintained its power for about 150 years under Akbar, and other successors are Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb (Richard, 1993). The time of Akbar left a highly centralized administration that was associated with various regions while Aurangzeb, a later ruler, changed the current set- up of India during that time and operated the country in a manner of parity to the Indian people. However, the dynasty declined through the British Empire after the rebellion of Indians in the year 1857.

The Safavids on the other hand were Iranians that ruled Persia. It established a great empire as well like the establishment of the Mughal Empire in India. The dynasty originated from Safawiyyah that was established in Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region of Iran. It controlled the whole of Persia and fixed the Iranian identity of the region. Consequently, it became the first national dynasty after having the combined state of Iran. Regardless of their downfall in 1722, the Empire has left its markdown to the present-day era by establishing and spreading the religion in the major portion of the Caucasus and West Asia (Tapper, 1974).

The Ottoman Empire was a Turkish state which differs from the two Empires (Cleveland, 2004). The Empire was founded in the late part of the 13^th century and failed in the early 20^th century. It had been the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries. It controlled a huge area that stretches through the Balkan Peninsula to the Middle East and North Africa. Unfortunately, it was abolished and the Republic of Turkey took the power as it was proclaimed officially in the year 1923.

Discussion

Mughal Empire

The establishment of the Mughal Empire started when Babur, which was a Timurid prince, took control of the Doab and Eastern regions of the Khorasan and the valley of the Indus River. And by this began the power of dominion of Babur in a much larger territory. The son of Babur who was Humayun altered him in the year 1530 however experienced major opposition from the power of Pashtun Sher Shah Suri and successfully lost the hatchling empire before it could result away from a small regional state. After ten years, Humayun became a cast-out leader and reached the court of the ruler of Safavid in 1542where his forces still controlled some fortifications and minor regions.

Though the dominion started with a great leader the successors were more effective as they made the Empire developed and progress in the sense of culinary culture in the subcontinent of India. It got its food influences to form Europe, Middle East, China, and India as well. The Mughals were also known to be a great consumer of foods and tagged as having a vomiting sense of eating since the era of Babur and Humayun.

The religion that dominated the Mughal Empire appeared to be an Islamic preference. Throughout the entire history, before the time of Emperor Akbar, the people were obliged to convert to be Muslims and pay their taxes but in the latter part of the history, there appeared to have freedom on what religion the people wanted to opt to choose. The language that is used in the court was Persian while Urdu was used as their spoken language. In addition, Akbar made his dominion a great thing for the Empire because it made the people acquainted with its culture, know what their potentials as individuals were and be familiar with their homeland more.

The policy that Akbar accepted became the standard guiding principle of other Emperors after him. Thus, it appeared a lot to the music and art of the Mughals (Richard, 1993). The policies that were pushed by Babur and Humayun were indeed liberal but unfortunately, it did not last for a long time so it was not able to shape the toughness of the proclaimed policies. It opened the minds of the people about the freedom of expressing their thoughts and ideas as what the paintings depicted under the conformist Islamic Laws.

Safavid Empire

Safavid Empire was not like any other dynasties that were founded by the warlords and military chiefs which was one of the unique aspects of the Empire in post-Islamic Iran. It is sad that being an exceptional empire made Safavids become incomparable to the pre-Islamic Sassanid dynasty. One of the major problems of the Safavid Empire was the Ottoman Empire which was considered as the active recruitment of the tribes of Turkmen in Anatolia and this resulted in a major threat for the Safavid (Minorsky, 1942).

The Empire was ruled by a military force and appeared to be dominant because of the military influences of having a martial power among any other rulers. The official religion in Iran at that time was Shia Islam and that was also the man religion that was being accepted by the people of the Safavid Empire.

The progress of the Safavid Economy was influenced by the great civilization in Europe through the west, India, and Islamic central Asia up to its East and North. The trading aspects during that era have been improved and became widely known to other countries. The architectural development for the period of the Safavid Empire appeared to be healthy and politically unwavering as it thrived the expansion of knowledge about theological sciences. The conventional architecture changed in its patterns and technique parting its results on the subsequent era. It retained its cultural sense in a way that the artists made use of the natural elements within their vicinity.

The language used in the Empire had been Persian as it won over the standard Turkish language because Safavid did have many influences on the side of Persian culture. To be able to sort out the state, they used Persian bureaucrats to collect taxes and establish a religious union. The succeeding emperors did a great job of making policies that would generate a benefit for the entire system of the state. Promoting an independent state won through and the religious aspects remained which had been the way in achieving a unified society.

Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire was considered to be a threat for Safavid and conquered other Turks because they had the most advantageous position. The expansion of the Ottoman Empire also had the influences of Europe, just like what happened in Safavid, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It was also driven by the military forces of the Ottoman and progressed in the trading sense during the era of 1453. Ottoman got the most power when it comes to innovations in technology and emerged into a wealthy economy because of their successful trading industries (Shaw, 1976). The military forces were the driving forces that made the way of success came into the Ottoman Empire. Another colony perhaps looked up to them or maybe was afraid to battle out with them because of the said reason.

Being one of the three Muslims Empires, Islam was also the religion that governed the state. The whole Empire had been blatant in their religion though, but still, they tolerate other religions and non- Muslim religions for the people. Thus, the Ottoman possessed a liberal Empire which had been more advanced among the other Empires.

Conclusion

Generally, the comparison among the three Empires favored the latest Muslim Empire that ruled the Turkish. The most significant, powerful, and dominant empire was determined by the success of the Ottoman Empire though it still declined during that era. Trading emerged with the help of European civilization and was able to develop different kinds of techniques that made innovations for the Empire. The role of religion had been greatly dominant and needs to be the first thing to consider because it served as their guiding principles through the entire run of the system. Political structures also seemed to have a pattern of passing through generations of the rulers.

The status of women in the Ottoman Empire became very unfair for the feminine side. Still, women were sold to be treated as slaves and were not given privileges to handle such big work to become rulers (Cleveland, 2004). The conquest of lands became very easy for the Ottoman Empire because they handled their people with a tolerance of what they like but still appearing to respond to the policies that were imposed for the benefit of all.

A vivid example of this is having the group called Millet that has been tolerated by the rulers to do what they wanted to consider the principles of the Ottoman Empire. Also, the lifestyle of Ottoman people has had an assortment of western and eastern influences. It depicts the parted beliefs of people and independence to choose and patronize what they think and believe is right. The Empire’s legacy focused on the passage of thrones and the construction of statues for the successful rulers.

References

Cleveland, W. L. “The Ottoman and Safavid Empires: A New Imperial Synthesis” in A History of the Modern Middle East. Westview Press, 2004. pp. 37–56.

Richard, J. F. The Mughal Empire. Vol. I, Part 5, of the New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Minorsky, V. The Poetry of Shah Ismail, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 10, No. 4. (1942), pp. 1053.

Tapper, R.. “Shahsevan in Safavid Persia”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 37, No. 3, 1974, p. 324.

Shaw, S. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol I; Empire of Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1290–1808. Cambridge University Press, 1976.

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