GHG - "Gunpowder Empires" (Lesson)

"Gunpowder Empires"

As the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V was a very busy man. His reign spanned from 1519 to 1556 CE during which he led Spain through a series of wars with the Dutch, he oversaw the colonial expansion of Spain into the "New World," and he represented the Catholic Church against the Schmalkaldic League. With all of that on his plate, no wonder he opted to retire his title and live in a monastery. Prior to that retirement, though, poor Charles V had another morsel to contend with during his reign—one that threatened the Holy Roman Empire's very existence.

 

The Ottoman Empire

If you will remember—the Mongols sacked Iraq and Persia in the mid-1200s CE. This opened the doors for Southwest Asian nomads to move into the previous empire territories. On the Anatolian Peninsula, the Ottoman Turks evolved from their nomadic roots into a military machine with the help of their recently acquired weapons—gunpowder and that which used it. That acquisition leveled the playing field between the Ottoman Turks and the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. In 1453 CE—under Sultan Mehmed II (also known as "the Conqueror)—the Ottoman Turks finally triumphed over the Byzantine Empire with their capture of Constantinople. In renaming the city to Istanbul, the Ottoman Turks established a capital for their up-and-coming empire. Over the next century, the Ottoman Empire expanded via its superior use of gunpowder (the Ottomans liked to use cannons on the battle field—a method most of Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa weren't practicing yet) and claimed almost all of the old lands of the Byzantine Empire.

The main territory left out of the Ottoman reclamation of former Byzantine lands was Italy. And this was not for a lack of trying, as you will see if you flip through the below timeline.... 

Based on this timeline, you can understand why the Ottoman Empire probably kept Emperor Charles V awake at night. For centuries, Europeans recognized that the Ottoman Empire was a constant threat to their existence—especially if one lived in the Holy Roman Empire. However, following Suleiman the Magnificent's death and Selim II ("the Drunkard's") rise, that threat abated.

Still, the Ottoman Empire lasted into the Twentieth Century—no easy feat. It did so through flexibility and tolerance. Despite the fact that most of the Ottoman Empire practiced Islam with a particular emphasis on the Sunni denomination, it still governed very diverse regions with separate histories, cultures and identities. Within all of its regions, from Europe to Southwest Asia to North Africa, local languages were spoken on the streets of locally governed cities. The central Ottoman authority kept tabs on those localities through janissaries (a combination of soldier/bureaucrat class with sole allegiance to the Ottoman sultans.) Through this delicate balance, the Ottoman Empire governed the crossroads of three continents for centuries. Many of the foundations for this balance came during the age of Suleiman I.

The Safavid Empire

With such a long history and wide span of territory, the Ottoman Empire had many adversaries—one of which lay just to their east in the Safavid Empire. Squeezed between two greater (in the sense that they were larger and wealthier) empires, the Safavid Empire encompassed modern-day Iran (or previous-day Persia.) This region was far more devastated by the Mongol invasions of the 1200s than the Ottoman home base of the Anatolian Peninsula. Therefore, the Safavid Empire emerged on the global scene later than did the Ottomans. The Safavid Dynasty unified the local tribes of the Iranian Plateau by promising them a better government. In 1501 CE, Ismail I founded his dynasty and empire by proclaiming himself shah—at the time, he was thirteen years old.

Shah Ismail I established the Safavid Empire with Shi'a Islam as its official religion. This would, at once, set them at odds with the neighboring Sunni Ottoman Empire. It also set a different path for their future. While the Ottoman Empire accepted diversity within its realm, the Safavid Empire did not and its rigidity (along with hostile neighbors) kept the empire from expanding. However, under its central, theocratic government, the people of the Iranian Plateau flourished culturally in ways not seen since the Muslim conquest of the region. Shah Ismail I was a poet and instituted a tradition of patronage for the arts in his domain. The epitome of Safavid accomplishments in art and culture was seen in its capital. At its peak, Isfahan was the home of over one hundred mosques, religious schools in the dozens, hundreds of shops, and over two hundred public baths. The streets were landscaped, the parks manicured and the libraries and public buildings stunned visiting Europeans.

And there were plenty of visiting Europeans. Envoys sent by Holy Roman emperors and Central European kings constantly visited the Safavid Empire in search of an alliance against the Ottomans. And despite the Safavid intolerance for differing religions, the empire struck many deals with Christian compatriots against the Sunni Ottomans. (The same can be said for the Sunni Ottomans in striking deals with French Catholic kings to combat the Catholic Holy Roman Empire. Politically speaking, there was nothing black and white about religion then.)

 

The Mughal Empire

Speaking of the grey areas that politically existed in religious empires of the time—let's turn our attention to the Safavid's eastern neighbor. The Mughal Empire rose out of the Delhi Sultanate on the Indian Subcontinent with the invasion of Northern India in 1526 CE by Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur—a Turkish prince with a long name that we will refer to as Babur the Tiger.

As the Delhi Sultanate died out and the Mughal Empire rose up, the region experienced a period of religious transformations. Old approaches blossomed within traditional religions while new sects were born. Their interconnectivity illustrates the religious tolerance and blending that existed on the Indian Subcontinent as the Mughal Empire formed.

 

Sufi Islam	Bhakti Hinduism	Sikhism
Sufism is a mystical practice within Islam that emphasizes a personal union with God (or Allah.) This Muslim emphasis on spiritualism began fairly early in Islamic history and existed throughout the Islamic World—so it isn't really a separate sect as much as it is a practice emphasizing one's spiritual connection. Therefore, when Islam arrived on the Indian Subcontinent, so did the practice of Sufism. In fact, Sufi missionaries were very important to the spread of Islam within the Indian Subcontinent. But in the period between the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, the practice experienced a revival. During the Mughal Empire, Sufism was held in high regard.   The picture above shows the gate to a city dedicated to a Sufi saint and commissioned by a Mughal emperor in Northern India.	Bhakti Hinduism is very similar to Sufism with regards to the emphasis on personal spiritualism. Again, this method of practicing Hinduism is not so much a separate sect as it is an approach within Hinduism that emphasizes divine love. And also like Sufi Islam, it existed within its parent religion well before the transference of power between the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire—but it did experience a revival during that time as Hindus revisited the ancient Vedic texts.   In many ways, the practices of Sufi Islam and Bhakti Hinduism blurred the lines between the two main religions of the Indian Subcontinent. The picture above depicts a 16th Century Hindu poet who became a Bhakti saint—Meera Bai—for her religious devotion.	Unlike the previous two religions, Sikhism was born during the 15th Century—making it a fairly young religion considering its influence on the world. It originated with the teachings of Nanak (1469-1539)—a former Bhakti Hindu inspired by Islam from the Punjab. In establishing a separate religion from both, Nanak called for the end of the caste system as all believers were equal before God (a tenet held within Islam) but rejected that any one religion held a monopoly on spiritual truths. Nanak continued the use of Hindu terminology but rejected traditional gender inequalities—again because all believers (male or female) were equal before God.   The picture above is of the Hamandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, and is the holiest shrine for Sikhs.

 

The Mughals were Muslim but ruled a majority Hindu nation with a long history of developing new religious sects. Therefore, it was in the government's best interest to be tolerant of diversity. This government formed upon Babur's invasion of Northern India in 1526. What you should know about that invasion, though, is that he was actually invited by the ruler there to invade.

Babur the Tiger's empire lasted for the next two (or so) centuries and became one of the wealthiest empires of the time due to trade. The Mughal Empire used this wealth to beautify their domain, build up a strong military, establish protective and economic alliances, and govern between 100 and 150 million diverse people. But this didn't happen overnight—it took roughly 150 years and a lot of gunpowder to unite the Indian Subcontinent.

Learn more in the activity below.

 

 

 

 

Recap Section

Watch the videos below to review what you've learned.

 

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