Differences Between The Three Gunpowder Empires

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Between 1450 and 1750, we saw the rise of the three Gunpowder Empires: the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals. Turkish-Muslim tribes conquered territory and settled down, establishing all three of these empires. They were able to do so after the decline of the Mongols. All of these also had a prominent Islamic population, though they differed in the type that they practiced. The Ottomans were primarily Sunnis, the Safavids were mainly Shi'a, and the Mughals were mostly Sunnis as well, but they had a strong Hindu population. The presence of Islam in these empires caused external conflicts between the three Gunpowder empires and the Europeans, as well as internal conflicts. The difference in the type of Islam that these empires practiced …show more content…

For example, as the Ottomans expanded into Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, the European countries became increasingly attuned to their actions. Eventually, they decided that enough was enough, and they banded together to kick the Ottomans out of the region. These countries, such as France and Great Britain, did not want Muslims to enter their Christian region, so they ended their strife, at least momentarily, to defeat the Ottomans and push them back. In this case, the fact that they were Muslim directly caused the conflict. Finally, Islam also caused some conflict internally in the three empires. While each of the empires had an Islamic majority, there were also several minorities of various sizes. In the Mughal empire, in particular, there was a very large population of Hindus. During the leadership of its earlier emperors, religious tolerance was prominent and encouraged. All the people in the empire got along fairly well and this system worked. However, toward its downfall, the Mughal leaders started to go against this policy. The most memorable example of this was Aurangzeb, who was against anyone who did not practice Sunni Islam. This created conflict within the empire between the Muslims and the other religions, eventually leading to the downfall of the empire. The Safavids and the Ottomans saw this type of conflict as well, but their minorities were much smaller so this was not as

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