A Comparison and Contrast of the Mughal Empire and the Safavid Empire
I chose the Mughal Empire and the Safavid Empire mainly because they practiced different forms of the Islamic religion. Like the Mughal Empire, most Muslims are Sunnis. The conflict between Sunnis and Shiites began after the Prophet Muhammad’s death. Sunnis wanted the followers of the religion to choose his successor. They chose a man named Abu Bakr. The Shiites wanted a member of the Prophet Muhammad’s family to be his successor. They chose a man named Ali who was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law. Unlike most Muslim Empires, the Safavid Empire was Shiite. As you will see in this essay, despite their differences over whom should assume power
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after Prophet Muhammad’s death, the Mughal Empire and the Safavid Empire had much in common. One thing that stood out to me is the founding rulers of the Mughal Empire and the Safavid Empire were very young, effective leaders. Babur, the first ruler of the Mughal Empire, had an impressive pedigree. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan through his mother and a descendent of Timur through his father. When Barbur’s father Umar Sheikh died, Barbur inherited the throne of Fergana at the age of fourteen. (Fergana is modern day Uzbekistan.) Despite Barbur’s age, he was an effective military leader. By 1530, through multiple military conquests, Barbur controlled Afghanistan and northern India from his headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. One of the reasons that Barber was successful in combat was the use of gunpowder. Though Babur was an excellent military commander, he was not a good bureaucrat. Like Babur, Ismail I, the first ruler of the Safavid Empire, commanded an army when he was only twelve-years-of-age. After seizing Tabriz and making it his capital, Ismail I declared himself Shah of Azerbaijan. Then, he conquered most of Iran and declared himself Shah of Persia. Many historians consider the Safavid Empire a theocracy because the Safavids fought and gained territory to be Shiite Muslims rather than Sunni Muslims like the Ottomans and Mughals. Both the Mughal Empire and the Safavid Empire had subsequent leaders who were even more effective military and bureaucratic leaders than their predecessors.
Babur’s grandson, Akbar or Akbar the Great is considered the greatest of all the Mughal rulers (1556 to 1605). He was an excellent military and bureaucratic strategist. Previous Muslim leaders were cruel to Hindus; therefore, Hindus did not like or trust Muslims. As a bureaucrat, Akbar sought to strengthen his position by incorporating Hindus into his empire. He encouraged intermarriage between Mughals and Hindus. He promoted Hindus to high-ranking positions. Of even greater importance, Akbar tolerated Hindu religious beliefs, including making cows sacred. At one point, Akbar tried to merge Islam and Hinduism into one religion. Merging the religions was unsuccessful. His military genius is evident by the territory he gained through military conquests. By the time he died in 1605, his empire had expanded farther north and farther south. The new territory included Bombay on the west coast of India and Calcutta on the east coast of India. However, at that time in history, India was not trading with England. Like Akbar the Great, Shah Abbas I is the most significant ruler of the Safavid Empire (1571-1629). Shah Abbas I became the ruler of the Safavid Empire when he was only sixteen-years-of-age. Despite his age, Shah Abbas I was an excellent military commander. Since the mighty Ottoman Empire and the …show more content…
mighty Safavid Empire were in the Middle East, they were constantly at war with each other. Shah Abbas I not only defended his empire against the Ottoman Empire, but also against local leaders.
Most of the people of Iran were tribal, nomadic people of Turkish descent who often tried to overthrow Shah Abbas I. He persuaded the Turkish warriors to fight for him. (This reminds me of Akbar the Great befriending the Hindus to strengthen his empire.) In return, the best warriors were treated like noblemen. As noblemen, they were granted land and peasant labor. The mightiest of warriors received high-ranking positions in his administration. However, Shah Abbas I never trusted the Turkish people. Therefore, he needed additional warriors. Shah Abbas I was responsible for kidnapping boys from Russia, placing them in foster families, and training them to be warriors. In fact, there were more slave warriors than Turkish warriors in the Safavid military. Eventually, Shah Abbas I became known as Abbas the Great. He was tolerant of Christians and sought military advice from an Englishman named Robert Shirley. (This reminds me of Akbar the Great being tolerant of Hindus.) After consulting Shirley, Akbar the Great reconfigured his military using the English military as a model. He was the first to use gunpowder extensively. I feel that one of Akbar the Great’s most important achievements was seizing control of trading in the Persian Gulf from the Portuguese. This transformed the empire. Trading with the English and the Dutch made the Safavid Empire wealthy and
cosmopolitan. The capital of the Safavid Empire was Isfahan. Isfahan was a beautiful city with gardens and ornamental buildings. Naqsh-e-Jahan Square was built to make an impressive, symbolic statement about the Safavid Empire. Imam Mosque is a majestic place of worship in Isfahan. In addition, Abbas the Great built another mosque called the Shrine of Imam Reza in the city of Mashhad. Mashhad is on the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Since Abbas the Great journeyed on foot to the Shrine of Imam Reza, many Shiite Muslims travel from Isfahan to Mashhad as a pilgrimage. (Both leaders transformed their empires.) Despite the similarities between the Safavid Empire and the Mughal Empire, both empires had distinct differences. Foremost, Safavids were Shiites, and Mughals were Sunnis. Another significant difference was the vast distance between the empires. The Safavids and Ottomans were in the Middle East. Therefore, the Safavids and Ottomans were constantly at war with each other. The Mughals were in Southeast Asia, specifically India. Both empires used imposing military force to conquer vast amounts of territory. However, the Safavids used gunpowder to a much greater extent than the Mughal Empire. With the aid of the English, the Safavids were able to seize control of the Persian Gulf from the Portuguese and trade with English and Dutch colonies. Trade made Isfahan an impressive, cosmopolitan city under Abbas the Great’s rule. Even though Akbar the Great seized the city of Bombay on the west coast of India and Calcutta on the east coast of India, Akbar the Great didn’t participate in trading like Abbas the Great. However, Akbar the Great’s ancestors traded extensively with other countries and built impressive cities. Akbar the Great’s grandson, Shah Jahan, built the Taj Mahal in Agra, India in 1648. However, Shah Jahan was not as religiously tolerant as Akbar the Great. Shahs who ascended to the throne after Shah Jahan were religiously intolerant as well. Religious intolerance led to oppression of the Hindus and other religious groups. Therefore, the Hindus and others often rebelled against the Mughal Empire. Since the Mughals did not rely on slave warriors for protection like the Safavids, succeeding emperors found it difficult to finance a military capable of defending their vast territory. Plagues, famine, and warfare took their toll on the Mughal Empire in the years to come. Eventually, the British forced the last Mughal Emperor into exile in 1857. In sharp contrast to Akbar the Great, Abbas the Great had no one to succeed him when he died in 1629. He had killed one son and had blinded two sons because he did not trust them. This led to shahs fighting for power. A council of wise men enacted Sharia Law and challenged shahs. By 1726, the Safavid Empire was so weak, an Afghan group destroyed the empire. In conclusion, the young founders of the Safavid Empire and the Mughal Empire had descendants who expanded both empires to unprecedented heights; however, the Safavid Empire and the Mughal Empire declined for different reasons. Overall, Abbas the Great impressed me as being more aggressive and ruthless than Akbar the Great. (I found the practice of kidnapping Russian children to be slave warriors disturbing.) In the end, Abbas the Great sealed the demise of the Safavid Empire by having no sons to succeed him. His death left a vacuum that others used to their advantage. With competing factions vying for power, the Safavid Empire was vulnerable to attack. In contrast, when Akbar the Great died, he had sons and grandsons to succeed him. Moreover, at the time of Akbar the Great’s death, Muslims and Hindus were living in peace, and the Mughal Empire expanded for over a century. However, when Akbar the Great’s grandsons showed religious intolerance, the Mughal Empire began to decline due to infighting. I think there is something to be learned from the decline of the Mughal Empire and Safavid Empires. An empire that is united succeeds, and an empire that is divided ultimately fails.
The political structure of the Arabian and Byzantine empires greatly differed from each other. The Arabian empire was ruled over by a Caliphate. The Caliphate was the successor to the great prophet Muhammad. Politically, the Caliphate sometimes caused trouble for the stability of the empire. With multiple groups such as the Umayyad and the Abbasid believing the were in charge of the Caliphate led to conflicts and violence. An example of conflict would be towards the end of the Abbasid empire when the death of Harun al-Rashid brought several full scale revolutions. Another example would be at the beginning of Abbasid empire when they went as far as too kill off all of the remaining Umayyad leaders to sustain full control with little to no interference. Politically, the Arab/Muslim empire stretched from India and the Middle East into the Africa, the Mediterranean, and Iberia. They also had a large influence in Southeast Asia. When they conquered these areas, there was no forced conversion. On the other hand, they did enforce a higher tax for non-Muslims which prompted people to convert. Only later were there violently forced conversions. A testimony to this would be when the Muslims invaded India and did not touch the Buddhist or Hindus already there. They even respected the Hindu leadership and allowed them to continue. The Muslim empire was successful in other parts of the world due to tolerance, and continued to operate in the face of power struggles.
C. Both the Safavid and Ming Dynasties had distinguished and powerful rulers who, influenced by their respective society and customs, built military and trade powerhouses.
Three Muslim empires rose during the spread of Islam. These empires are different, yet also similar. They are the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. They united other Muslims but also conquered other territories to form their own empires.
...nt power. As for the Gupta/Mauryan Empire they had the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism in their Empire. For all of the Empires since their religions had become a huge part of their beliefs the administrative government for each Empire had persuaded the beliefs as well. The administrative governments was the based of orders for the kingdom that is where the leaders were at and where the majority of their currency was going, for each Empire. Since Rome had overextended in military and economic wealth there were rebellions against their Empire and over time the Roman Empire came to an end. As for the Gupta/Mauryan Empires they decided on giving more of there political power toward the government that had been based on family lineage. When family members in the government died they became weaker and eventually their Empires came to an end.
Like several dynasties throughout history, power and the art of war have always been prominent. Both empires started off with unifying their government and military structure in order to be source of power. Their next step was to invade their surrounding areas in order to spread their own power and to have a greater influence. The conquest of Constantinople was the big accomplishment for the Ottomans, since Constantinople was Christian-based and it had proven to be difficult to conquer in the past. This not only was a conquest for power, but also for religion since they transformed the Orthodox cathedral into a Muslim mosque. The big conquest for the Mughals was north India, “Babur conquered India simply because he had lost the hope of establishing an empire in Mawarannahr or anywhere else, and so he turn his mulkgirlq, his “kingdom-seizing” ambitions, to India…” (Dale 73). Babur was more power driven since he had “kingdom-seizing” ambitions and the religious elements came in second for
Throughout the 1400-1600 there were many different Empires. Today we still talk about them. The Mughal Empire and the Mali Empire have some similarities and differences between this time period. They all the culture, religion and government. They both had different governments and they both believed in different gods and worshiped different people. They both would pray multiple times a day. They Mughal Empire and the Mali empire both had leaders that they worshiped.
In the distant land known as Sumeria, there were four empires that wanted to control all of Mesopotamia. They fought over water food land and many more things to fight about. All the civilization that lived in Mesopotamia rose and fell like the sun.
...nisms and used religious tolerance to obtain more people who would be “on their side”. The Persians were powerful because of the impact that they left on the world for other nations to grasp and understand in the future. They were the basis for many inventions that we use today, or have expanded upon. The differences between the Mongol and Persian Empire mostly dealt with religion and their motivation behind whether or not they were tolerant of other religions or not. The
Streusand, Douglas E. Islamic Gunpowder Empires Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. Boulder, Colo: Westveiw Press, 2011.
When Isma’il I became in charge of the Sufism order, he became the first Shah, the leader of the Safavids (“Safavid Dynasty”, Gale in Context World History). The Safavid Empire emerged in Persia, which is in modern-day Iran. Like the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid Empire would also conquer many places, but unlike the Ottomans, their main religion would be Shia Islam, another branch of Islam. Shia Muslims believe that Muhammad’s ancestors should be the next leaders of
Abbas I built a new city next to the old city. From this time the state began to take on a more Persian character. The Safavids ultimately succeeded in establishing a new national Persian monarchy. Abbas tolerance toward Christians was part of its policy of establishing diplomatic relations with the European powers to try to enlist their help in the fight against the common enemy, the Ottoman Empire. A correct term for the Safavid society is what we today call a meritocracy, that is, a society in which officials were appointed on the basis of value and merit, and not on the basis of his birth. However, during the Safavid Persian society it was a hierarchy, with the Shah at the top of the hierarchy, ordinary people, traders and farmers at the base, and the aristocrats in the middle. The legal system was made up of two branches: the civil law and traditional experience. The growth of the economy arises because Iran's position between the flourishing civilizations of West Europe and India and Central Asia to the east and north. The Silk Road that passed through northern Iran to India revived. Abbas also supported direct trade with Europe, particularly England and the Netherlands which sought Persian carpet, silk and textiles. Other exports were horses, goat hair and pearls. The main imports were spice, textiles (woolens from Europe, cotton in Gujarat), metals, coffee and sugar. Shah Abbas I recognized the commercial
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
The Safavid Empire, which lasted from 1501 to 1722 was an empire that covered all of what is now known as Iran, as well as most of Turkey and Georgia. The Safavid Empire was a theocracy, which is a government that was founded and ruled by religious beliefs and rulers. Its was founded by a leader who declared himself Shah of Persia, his name was Ismail. The Safavids followed a religion known as Shi’ism and with the help of their strong military forces, spread it to neighbouring countries. By 1722 the Empire had begun to fall apart due to the lack of effectiveness from its former rulers. Throughout the years that the Safavid Empire lasted, they accomplished many achievements, some of them related to art. [1]
Apart from Persian and Neo-Assyrian empires being good or bad based on the way they ruled their empire, it more about which empire had smarter leaders. The Neo-Assyrian empire fell before the Persian not only because of their oppressive way of ruling but also because they weren't smart about the ways that they could help their empire prolong. They put more importance to military and to showing off their power through propaganda (Pollard, 2014, p.130). Consequently, the empire fell to the hands of Nineveh along with forces from Medes and Neo-Babylonians. Unlike the Neo-Assyrians, the Persians lasted longer because had a good initiative towards their empire's rise. They not only had a better administration of the empire and treated
The Fatimid Caliphates were a 10th century Ismacili Shici dynasty that conquered the Ikhshidid dynasty in Egypt. The Fatimids claimed lineage rights from the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatima; and, existed during the Golden Age of Islam. “Unlike the cAbbasids or Umayyads, who were led by a caliph approved by the community, the Shica espoused the concept of designation, in which the Prophet Muhammad chose Ali as his successor and in which each subsequent religious leader was a divinely ordained, supreme, infallible Imam who had the final authority in both religious and social affairs.” In 909, the Fatimid was established by the self-proclaimed Imam, Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, who migrated his missionary work through the Palestine and Egypt before he finally came to settle in North Africa in the city of Raqqada. Throughout history, there have been differing views towards the establishment and core objectives of the Fatimid dynasty being established for economic or for Islamic progression during the Golden Age of Islam; and further, many claimed there was no separation of religion and government within the Fatimid.