Transcript Islamic Empires - Mr. Farrell's Social Studies Classes

Islamic Empires
The Decline of the Caliphates

1055-Seljuk Turks invade Middle East
from Central Asia

Adopt Islam, keep the caliph as a
figurehead

1258-Mongols sack Baghdad,
advance stopped by the Mamluks of
Egypt

Late 1300s-Tamerlane sweeps through
the Middle East
The Ottoman Empire

By the 13th century, the Turks form an
empire called the Ottoman Empire

The empire was ruled by a sultan


Sultan means power or authority

Sultan had political authority, but not
religious authority
The first ruler of the Ottomans was
Osman, or Uthman in Arabic
Ottoman Warfare

The Ottoman soldiers were very well
trained

One type of soldier was a janissary, or
new soldier


They were captured Christians who
were property of the Sultan

Most converted to Islam

Extremely feared warriors
The Ottomans were one of the first
empires to use gunpowder in warfare
Ottoman Expansion

The Ottomans expanded their empire
very quickly

Their biggest goal was Constantinople,
the capital of the crumbling Byzantine
Empire

Constantinople was a great trade
center and the “Gateway to Europe”
Constantinople
Constantinople’s Defenses

Constantinople had been under
Byzantine (Christian) rule for 750 years

The city had a great fortress and was
surrounded by water on three sides

It had three very thick defensive walls

The city had survived 22 sieges
The Defeat of Constantinople

Sultan Mehmet II hired an engineer
named Urban to build a cannon that
could smash the walls

Urban built the “Royal One,” 26 feet
long, could fire a 1200 pound cannon
ball one mile

With the help of the cannon, the
Ottomans conquered Constantinople
in 1453
Changes

Mehmet II entered the Hagia Sophia
church, prayed to Allah, and made
the church into a mosque

Mehmet renamed the city Istanbul“Into the City”
Suleiman the Magnificent

The greatest Ottoman ruler was
Suleiman “The Magnificent”

He pushed the Ottoman Empire all the
way to the walls of Vienna, Austria

Under Suleiman, the Ottomans ruled
the world’s greatest empire
Ottoman Culture

Ottoman law was based on sharia, or
Islamic law

Society was divided into classes


Men of the Sword-Soldiers, sultan’s
bodyguard

Men of the Pen-Scientists, lawyers, poets

Men of Negotiation-Merchants, tax
collectors

Men of Husbandry-Farmers and herders
Empire included Christians, Jews, and
Muslims; non Muslims had to pay a tax.
Decline

After Suleiman’s death, the empire
began to decline

Infighting and attacks by Europeans
weakened it

The Ottomans supported Germany
during World War I and lost, ending
the empire

The Ottoman Empire was replaced by
modern Turkey
Modern Turkey

Turkey was created under a leader
named Kemal Ataturk

Ataturk ruthlessly executed opponents,
but made many advances for Turkey


Separation of church and state

Emphasis on education

Women’s rights

Health care
Today, Turkey is one of the few
democratic countries in the Middle East
Safavid Empire

Muslim empire in present day Iran

Ruled by a Shah

Great trading empire, centered
around the capital city of Isfahan

The empire established Shia Islam in
Iran