Transcript Economics - Spring Branch ISD

• Abd al-Wahhab
wrote, “We do not
command the
destruction of any
writings except such
as tend to cast
people into
infidelity to injure
their faith, such as
those on Logic. . . .”
• Conquered lands sent tribute
to Istanbul.
• Merchants were middlemen
in Asian/European trade.
• Controlled the gold and
slave trade from West
Africa.
• Tolerance
towards
Christian
and Jewish
merchants
trade
agreements
with France,
allowed
trade to
flourish.
• Americas crops (tobacco) were being grown and traded in the
empire.
• Prohibited, Tobacco was very popular in empire.
• Levied taxes on peasants.
• Local tax collectors skimmed money from the taxes in their
areas.
• Corruption and large military contributed to the economic
decline.
• Warrior aristocracy
that competed for
positions in the
bureaucracy with the
ulama (scholars and
experts in Islamic law).
• Janissaries got
powerful enough to
mount coups against
the sultans.
• Advisors called viziers
came to occupy influential
positions in government.
• They spoke for the sultan.
•
•
“Harem politics” a reference to the harem, a residence where a man’s
wives and concubines lived.
Sultan’s wives and concubines promoted their children as heirs to the
throne.
• Continuities;
1. Constantinople remained
western end of the Silk
Road.
2. Coffeehouse, though banned
by Islamic law, continued to
thrive throughout the
empire.
3. Istanbul remained the center
of arts and learning.
• Change;
1. Eastern Orthodox
gave way to
Islam.
2. Byzantine
emperor by
Ottoman sultan.
3. Justinian law
replaced by
shariah, a system
of Islamic laws
that deals with all
aspects of life.
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Ismail, conquered most of Persia and Iraq
(1501).
Proclaimed shah (king or emperor).
Denied legitimacy to any Sunni.
This strict Shia rule that denied power to
Sunnis.
Hostility between the two groups still lives.
• Shah Abbas I (r. 15871629), Safavid Empire
at its height.
• Army used Christian
boys pressed into
service.
• Imported weaponry
from Europe.
• Using Shia practices, Safavid rulers created a state
religion and paved the way for the Iranian theocracy of
today.
•
•
•
Unable to stop a
rebellion by the
heavily oppressed
Sunnis in
Afghanistan (1722).
Ottomans and
Russians took
advantage of
weakened Safavids,
seized territories.
Safavid Dynasty
replaced by the Zand
Dynasty in 1760.
• Traded with the
Portuguese, who
controlled the
Strait of Hormuz.
•
•
Babur, founded dynasty (1520s).
Conquered northern India.
•
•
•
Akbar, (r. 15561605), defeated
Hindu armies and
extended the
empire southward
and westward.
Capital was Delhi.
Established an
efficient
government and a
system of fairly
administered
laws.
• Government officials
called Zamindars.
• Were giving grants of
land rather than salaries
and kept part of the taxes
paid by local peasants.
• With this money they
built personal armies of
soldiers loyal to them.
• Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707),
inherited an empire
weakened by corruption and
the failure to keep up with
the military innovations of
external enemies.
• British took political power
away from the Mughals in
the 19th century.
Religion
•
Akbar was tolerant to all religions.
•
Mediated conflicts between Hindus and
Muslims.
•
Gave Hindus positions in the government.
•
Married Hindu wives.
•
Exempted Hindus from the poll taxes paid by
all non-Muslims.
• Admired the belief of Sikhism that all religious traditions are equally
valid, rejecting the claim that a particular religion has a monopoly on
Absolute Truth.
• One principle or practice upheld in Sikhism he admired was the
equality of men and women.
• Encouraged
religious
blending of
faiths.
• The Bhakti
movement, a
form of
Hinduism,
shares
features with
mystical Sufi
forms of
Islam.
• As the Indian poet Kabir
wrote: “I am neither in
temple nor in mosque . . .
Neither am I in rites and
ceremonies.” The “I” refers
to God.
• Akbar created a state
religion, known as Din-illahi, or “divine faith,” for
the purpose of reconciling
Hinduism and Islam.
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Aurangzeb wanted to rid
the empire of Hindu
influence.
Decreed that all would
live a pious Islamic
lifestyle.
Led to peasant uprising.
Caused Sikhism to
evolve from a peaceful
religion into a militant
community so that they
could defend themselves
against Mughal.
•
•
Education;
Encouraged
learning.
Tried to stop child
marriages and sati,
the ritual where
wives killed
themselves after
husbands death.
Architecture;
• Mughal builders
combined the arts of
Islam (calligraphy, and
ceramics) with local arts
to create airy structures
distinguished by their
decorative geometric
designs.
• Shan Jahan (r. 1627-1658)
built the magnificent Taj
Mahal as a tomb for his
wife.
•
Overseas commerce
carried out by Arab
traders.
•
Domestic trade carried
out by merchant castes.
•
Merchant castes
allowed to participate
in banking.
That concludes the Islamic
Gunpowder Empires.