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1. It replaced the the Byzantine Empire

2. -good military tactics
-gunpowder
-fair tax system
-religious freedom
-easy-to-follow law code

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1. new soldiers

2. Taken from peasant families in the Balkans

3. They received special privileges and benefits to secure their sole allegiance to the ruler

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1. Suleyman the Magnificent due to his fair tax system, stability within the empire, and religious freedom.

3a. The Mughal Empire promoted the most social and religious reform.

b. They tried to bring back peace to the empire.

3. I would want to live in the Ottoman Empire because they have a good tax system and religious freedom.

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1. The conquered people might resist control or try to fight back.

2. Respect each other.

3. Janissary

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They were known as that because of their efficient use of military technology to conquest.

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They were known as that because of their efficient use of military technology to conquest.

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1. The warriors of islam, similar to the christian knights

2. gunpowder

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1. the rise to power of the ottomans

2. solomon

3. the turks

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They made trading posts in india,they had ruthless ambition, and over time they got wealthier,with wealth came power

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1. wife who died in childbirth

2. 2 years

3. White,may domes and pillars

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1.they were both turkic and spoke turkish

2a. Safavids were Shia
b. Ottomans were Sunni

3.

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Because of their use of advanced firearms and cannons using gunpowder.

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Overview

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1. Which leader do you think was the most important / significant? Why?

2. A) Which Muslim Gunpowder Empires do you believe promoted the most social and religious reform?

B) What were those social and religious reforms?

3. If you lived during the time of these empires, which one would you have wanted to live in? Why?

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Read the following sections to the questions on your webquest:

The British East India Company

The Last Days of the Mughal Empire

1. How did the British East India Company gain control over India?

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The Mughal Empire (also known as Mogul, Timurid, or Hindustan empire) is considered one of the classic periods of India's long and amazing history. In 1526, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur, a man with Mongol heritage from central Asia, established a foothold in the Indian subcontinent which was to last for more than three centuries.

By 1650, the Mughal Empire was one of three leading powers of the Islamic world-the so-called Gunpowder Empires-which also included the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia. At its height, around 1690, the Mughal Empire ruled almost the entire subcontinent of India, controlling four million square kilometers of land and a population of about 160 million.

Economics and Organization

The Mughal emperors (or Great Mughals) were despotic rulers who relied upon and held sway over a large number of ruling elites. The imperial court included officers, bureaucrats, secretaries, court historians, and accountants, who produced astounding documentation of the empire's day-to-day operations. The elites were organized on the basis of the mansabdari system, a military and administrative system developed by Genghis Khan and applied by the Mughal leaders to classify the nobility. The emperor controlled the nobles' lives, from who they married to their education in arithmetic, agriculture, medicine, household management, and the rules of government.

The economic life of the empire was buoyed by a strong international market trade, including goods produced by farmers and artisans. The emperor and his court were supported by taxation and the ownership of a region known as the Khalisa Sharifa, which varied in size with the emperor. The rulers also established Jagirs, feudal land grants which were commonly administered by local leaders.

Rules of Succession

Although each classic period Mughal ruler was the son of his predecessor, the succession was by no means one of primogeniture-the eldest did not necessarily win his father's throne. In the Mughal world, every son had an equal share in his father's patrimony, and all males within a ruling group had a right to succeed to the throne, creating an open-ended, if contentious, system. Each son was semi-independent of his father and received semipermanent territorial holdings when he was deemed old enough to manage them. There were often fierce battles among the princes when a ruler died. The rule of succession could be summed up by the Persian phrase Takht, ya takhta (either throne or funeral bier).

The Founding of the Mughal Empire

The young prince Babur, who was descended from Timur on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's, finished his conquest of northern India in 1526, defeating the Delhi Sultan Ibrahim Shah Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat.

Babur was a refugee from the fierce dynastic struggles in Central Asia; his uncles and other warlords had repeatedly denied him rule over the Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Fergana, his birthright. Babur was able to establish a base in Kabul, though, from which he turned south and conquered much of the Indian subcontinent. Babur called his dynasty "Timurid," but it is better known as the Mughal Dynasty-a Persian rendering of the word "Mongol."

Babur's Reign

Babur was never able to conquer Rajputana, home of the warlike Rajputs. He ruled over the rest of northern India and the plain of the Ganges River, though.

Although he was a Muslim, Babur followed a rather loose interpretation of the Quran in some ways. He drank heavily at his famously lavish feasts, and also enjoyed smoking hashish. Babur's flexible and tolerant religious views would be all the more evident in his grandson, Akbar the Great.

In 1530, Babur died at the age of 47. His eldest son Humayan fought off an attempt to seat his aunt's husband as emperor and assumed the throne. Babur's body was returned to Kabul, Afghanistan, nine years after his death, and buried in the Bagh-e Babur.

Height of the Mughals

Humayan was not a very strong leader. In 1540, the Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri defeated the Timurids, deposing Humayan. The second Timurid emperor only regained his throne with aid from Persia in 1555, a year before his death, but at that time he managed even to expand on Babur's empire.

When Humayan died after a fall down the stairs, his 13-year-old son Akbar was crowned. Akbar defeated the remnants of the Pashtuns and brought some previously unquelled Hindu regions under Timurid control. He also gained control over Rajput through diplomacy and marriage alliances.

Akbar was an enthusiastic patron of literature, poetry, architecture, science, and painting. Although he was a committed Muslim, Akbar encouraged religious tolerance and sought wisdom from holy men of all faiths. He became known as Akbar the Great.

Shah Jahan and the Taj Mahal

Akbar's son, Jahangir, ruled the Mughal Empire in peace and prosperity from 1605 until 1627. He was succeeded by his own son, Shah Jahan.

The 36-year-old Shah Jahan inherited an incredible empire in 1627, but any joy he felt would be short-lived. Just four years later, his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child. The emperor went into deep mourning and was not seen in public for a year.

As an expression of his love, Shah Jahan commissioned the building of a magnificent tomb for his dear wife. Designed by the Persian architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, and constructed of white marble, the Taj Mahal is considered the crowning achievement of Mughal architecture.

The Mughal Empire Weakens

Shah Jahan's third son, Aurangzeb, seized the throne and had all of his brothers executed after a protracted succession struggle in 1658. At the time, Shah Jahan was still alive, but Aurangzeb had his sickly father confined to the Fort at Agra. Shah Jahan spent his declining years gazing out at the Taj and died in 1666.

The ruthless Aurangzeb proved to be the last of the "Great Mughals." Throughout his reign, he expanded the empire in all directions. He also enforced a much more orthodox brand of Islam, even banning music in the empire (which made many Hindu rites impossible to perform).

A three-year revolt by the Mughals' long-time ally, the Pashtun, began in 1672. In the aftermath, the Mughals lost much of their authority in what is now Afghanistan, seriously weakening the empire.

The British East India Company

Aurangzeb died in 1707, and the Mughal state began a long, slow process of crumbling from within and without. Increasing peasant revolts and sectarian violence threatened the stability of the throne, and various nobles and warlords sought to control the line of weak emperors. All around the borders, powerful new kingdoms sprang up and began to chip away at Mughal land holdings.

The British East India Company (BEI) was founded in 1600, while Akbar was still on the throne. Initially, it was only interested in trade and had to content itself with working around the fringes of the Mughal Empire. As the Mughals weakened, however, the BEI grew increasingly powerful.

The Last Days of the Mughal Empire

In 1757, the BEI defeated the Nawab of Bengal and French company interests at the Battle of Palashi. After this victory, the BEI took political control of much of the subcontinent, marking the start of the British Raj in India. The later Mughal rulers held on to their throne, but they were simply puppets of the British.

In 1857, half of the Indian Army rose up against the BEI in what is known as the Sepoy Rebellion or the Indian Mutiny. The British home government intervened to protect its own financial stake in the company and put down the rebellion.

Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was arrested, tried for treason, and exiled to Burma. It was the end of the Mughal Dynasty.

The Mughal Dynasty left a large and visible mark on India. Among the most striking examples of Mughal heritage are the many beautiful buildings that were constructed in the Mughal style-not just the Taj Mahal, but also the Red Fort in Delhi, the Fort of Agra, Humayan's Tomb and a number of other lovely works. The melding of Persian and Indian styles created some of the world's best-known monuments.

This combination of influences can also be seen in the arts, cuisine, gardens, and even in the Urdu language. Through the Mughals, Indo-Persian culture reached an apogee of refinement and beauty.

Asher, Catherine B. "Sub-Imperial Palaces: Power and Authority in Mughal India." Ars Orientalis 23, 1993.

Begley, Wayne E. "The Myth of the Taj Mahal and a New Theory of Its Symbolic Meaning." The Art Bulletin, 1979.

Chand, Shyam. "Book Review: Religious Dimensions of Indian Nationalism: A Study of the RSS by Shamsul Islam," Tribune India, 2006.

Faraqui, Munis D. "The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719." Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Foltz, Richard. "Cultural Contacts between Central Asia and Mughal India." Central Asiatic Journal, 1998.

Haider, Najaf. "Norms of Professional Excellence and Good Conduct in Accountancy Manuals of the Mughal Empire." International Review of Social History, 2011.

Mukhia, Harbans. "The Mughals of India, New Delhi." Wiley-Blackwell, 2004.

Schimmel, Annemarie & Burzine K. Waghmar. "The Great Empire of the Mughals: History, Art and Culture." Reaktion Books, 2004.

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The Mughal Empire (also known as Mogul, Timurid, or Hindustan empire) is considered one of the classic periods of India's long and amazing history. In 1526, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur, a man with Mongol heritage from central Asia, established a foothold in the Indian subcontinent which was to last for more than three centuries.

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1. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a memorial to his:

2. How long was Shah Jahan obsessed with building the Taj Mahal?

3. Describe the Taj Mahal.

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The Taj Mahal is a marvel of engineering that was built as a mausoleum for the wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

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Read the following sections to the questions on your webquest:

Introduction

Babur

Akbar

Aurangzeb

1. A) The Mughals were what religion:

B) and ruled a population that was mostly what religion:

1. Babur was a descendent of:

1. How did Babur rule the Hindus?

1. Which ruler of the Mughal Empire that is regarded as one of the great rulers of all time, regardless of country:

1. How far did Akbar expand the empire?

1. Describe 3 things Akbar did to win over the Hindus.

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1. Explain Din-i-ilahi:

1. A) Explain what Aurangzeb did regarding the Muslim Sharia law?

B) Why do you suppose he did this?

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BBC - Religions - Islam: Mughal Empire (1500s, 1600s)

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Learn about the Mughal Empire that ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries.

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1. How were the Safavid people similar to the people of the Ottoman Empire?

2. The bitter rivalry between these two empires was based on religion.

The Safavid were:

The Ottoman were:

3. Why did they allow Christian missionaries in the empire?

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Read the following sections to the questions on your webquest:

Summary

Origins

Religion

Art and Culture (under “Strengths”)

1. Summarize the origins of the Safavid Empire (how it began as a religious group then became a nation/empire).

1. The state religion of the empire was:            .  Describe how this impacted the people of the empire negatively and positively.

Negative-

Positive-

1. In terms of art and culture, what reached new heights of perfection? How so?

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Religion

Religion in the Safavid Empire - the negatives

One of Shah Ismail's most important decisions was to declare that the state religion would be the form of Islam called Shi'ism, that at the time was completely foreign to Iranian culture.

The Safavids launched a vigorous campaign to convert what was then a predominantly Sunni population by persuasion and by force. The Sunni ulama (a religious council of wise men) either left or were killed.

To promote Shi'ism the Safavids brought in scholars from Shi'ite countries to form a new religious elite. They appointed an official (the Sadr) to co-ordinate this elite - and ensure that it did what the Shah wanted. The religious leaders effectively became a tool of the government.

The Safavids also spent money to promote religion, making grants to shrines and religious schools. And most craftily of all, they used grants of land and money to create a new class of wealthy religious aristocrats who owed everything to the state.

In specifically religious terms the Safavids not only persecuted Sunni Muslims, but Shi'ites with different views, and all other religions. Alien shrines were vandalised, and Sufi mystic groups forbidden.

This was surprising, since the Safavids owed their origins to a Sufi order and to a form of Shi'ism that they now banned. They also reduced the importance of the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), replacing it with pilgrimage to Shi'ite shrines.

Religion in the Safavid Empire - the positives

The early Safavid empire was effectively a theocracy. Religious and political power were completely intertwined, and encapsulated in the person of the Shah.

The people of the Empire soon embraced the new faith with enthusiasm, celebrating Shi'ite festivals with great piety. The most significant of these was Ashura, when Shia Muslims mark the death of Husayn. Ali was also venerated.

Because Shi'ism was now a state religion, with major educational establishments devoted to it, its philosophy and theology developed greatly during the Safavid Empire.

Strengths

Strengths

The Safavid Empire, although driven and inspired by strong religious faith, rapidly built the foundations of strong central secular government and administration.

The Safavids benefited from their geographical position at the centre of the trade routes of the ancient world. They became rich on the growing trade between Europe and the Islamic civilisations of central Asia and India.

Art and culture

Under Safavid rule eastern Persia became a great cultural centre.

During this period, painting, metalwork, textiles and carpets reached new heights of perfection. For art to succeed at this scale, patronage had to come from the top.

This was not entirely for love of beauty. Much of the early art was devoted to celebrating the glories of the earlier Iranian kingdom, and thus, by implication, making legitimate the Safavids as that kingdom's current heirs.

The Safavids were often artists themselves. Shah Ismail was a poet and Shah Tahmasp a painter. Their patronage, which included opening royal workshops for artists, created a favourable climate for the development of art.

Isfahan

The artistic achievements and the prosperity of the Safavid period are best represented by Isfahan, the capital of Shah Abbas.

Isfahan had parks, libraries and mosques that amazed Europeans, who had not seen anything like this at home. The Persians called it Nisf-e-Jahan, 'half the world', meaning that to see it was to see half the world.

Isfahan became one of the world's most elegant cities. In its heyday it was also one of the largest with a population of one million; 163 mosques, 48 religious schools, 1801 shops and 263 public baths.

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Learn about the Islamic empire. It lasted from 1501 to 1722 and was strong enough to challenge the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east.

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Examine the image of the sultan and his court

Answer the following questions

1. What problems might conquered people present for a conqueror?

2. How might people of various religions and customs co-exist without giving up their ways of life?

3. After examining the image, what were the Christian boy soldiers called (hint: answer is in the sections above)?

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1. What is one of the most powerful dramas in history?

2. Sultan Suleyman was compared to which famous Hebrew king:

3. Who called Suleyman the “Lawgiver”?

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1. Who were the janissaries?

2. Explain their background. (religious background & where taken from)

3. Why were they given special privileges and benefits?

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JANISSARY. The Janissaries (from yenieri, meaning 'new soldier' in Turkish) were an elite standing force of infantrymen, first formed by the Ottoman Sultan Murad I around 1380. Legally slaves (kul ) of the sultan, they served over the centuries as bowmen, crossbowmen, and musketeers. The Janissaries were distinguished from the main body of the army, which was made up of cavalrymen (sipahis) drawn from the freeborn retinues of provincial officials and notables. Janissary recruits were chosen from groups of boys who were taken into Ottoman service in periodic levies on Christian peasant families, predominantly those in the Balkans. The boys were brought to Istanbul, converted to Islam, despite Islamic prohibitions against the forcible conversion of Christians, and then trained for military service.

ORGANIZATION AND TACTICS

The Janissary corps was originally organized in the late fourteenth century when a group of prisoners of war were converted to Islam and personally attached to the sultan. It grew from approximately 20,000 men in the late sixteenth century to well over 100,000 by the early nineteenth century, even though it came to include many non-combatants in later years.

The organization became an important Ottoman military force soon after it was established because the Janissaries were perceived to be the sultan's most trustworthy soldiers as well as disciplined troops with particular small arms skill. They received special privileges and benefits to secure their sole allegiance to the ruler, with their group solidarity reinforced by the way they were organized into small companies of celibate warriors living in barracks and receiving constant military training.

The colonel of each company was called the orbaci ('soup cook') and wore a soup ladle as his rank insignia to symbolize humility before the sultan although he never actually served food himself. The head of the whole Janissary force was the agha, one of the most important officials in the realm. He served on the Imperial Divan, ranking just below the main Ottoman viziers (ministers) but above other military commanders. The Janissaries lived together in large barracks within the cities in which they were stationed. They were forbidden to marry until they retired from active duty. Several Ottoman grand viziers and admirals had served as members of the Janissary corps during their careers.

The Janissaries' military technique was to rush very quickly into battle after a breach had been made in fortress walls or to outflank an enemy cavalry force that had already charged first. They would then attack with handguns or rifles as appropriate. In peacetime, Janissaries served as guards in fortresses and towns and as firefighters in major Ottoman cities. Although Janissaries were principally a land force, there were naval Janissaries who helped man Ottoman ships.

The Janissaries were famous for their distinctive marching style and headgear. Their special military bands are believed to have inspired military bands all over Europe. The Janissary corps was closely connected with Bektashi dervishes, a popular mystical order regarded by many Muslims as heterodox. To commemorate the Islamic millennium in 15911592, the sultan allowed the master of the Bektashi order and eight dervishes to become part of the Janissaries.

JANISSARIES IN WAR

The Janissaries made significant contributions to many important Ottoman victories, among them the conquest of Constantinople in the spring of 1453, the battle against the Iranian Safavids at Chaldiran in 1514, and the defeat of the Mamluk armies at Marj Dabik in 1516. In all these confrontations, the Janissaries administered the final decisive blow after a series of preliminary assaults, usually in swift gunfire attacks. Each of these encounters fueled European perceptions of the Janissary corps as a kind of Ottoman "secret weapon" able to use firearms more effectively than any adversary. Perhaps the greatest moment of Janissary victory was at the battle of Mohacs in 1526, when Janissaries were able to mow down scores of Hungarian cavalry with precise rifle volleys. Many contemporary observers believed that the quality of the Janissary corps diminished in the late sixteenth century when the sons of Janissaries, and freeborn Muslims generally, were permitted to join, and the corps' slave discipline was compromised. This assessment, however, is belied by subsequent Janissary victories in the seventeenth century. Many strains weighed on this group, including inflation and the continual devaluation of Ottoman money, which substantially lowered salary values.

JANISSARIES IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES

In the early seventeenth century, when economic and social unrest threatened the stability in the empire, the Janissaries became more deeply involved in royal politics. The young sultan in 1621, Osman II, blamed the Janissaries for the Polish defeat of the Ottomans at Khotin. Osman did not trust their loyalty since he associated them with his uncle and rival, the previous sultan Mustafa I, who had just been deposed. Within a year, Mustafa became Sultan again (with his mother behind the throne), and the Janissaries killed Osman II. Many of the regicides were hunted down and executed in retribution for Osman's death, but the Janissaries' kingmaker role was in no way diminished.

Throughout the seventeenth century, the Janissaries had a fearsome reputation for fomenting unrest instead of fighting in combat. The distinction between the urban craft guilds and the Janissaries had already started to blur, a development that reduced unit cohesion and undermined the Janissaries' fighting capacity. The Janissaries came to be blamed for a series of military defeats, beginning with unsuccessful Ottoman campaigns against the Habsburgs in the 1690s that led to the Treaty of Carlowitz, the first permanent Ottoman surrender of territory to European powers.

The "Tulip Era" of the 1720s was a time when European ideas and fashions became extremely popular in the Ottoman Empire, challenging the traditional system in the wake of a string of Ottoman military failures. This era of social change, combined with the financial weakness and inept administration of the government at that time, produced tensions that culminated in a popular revolt to overthrow Sultan Ahmed III (17031730). Patrona Halil, a noncombatant, illiterate Janissary, led this uprising.

JANISSARIES IN THE ERA OF OTTOMAN MILITARY REFORM

Count Alexandre de Bonneval was assigned in the 1730s to modernize the Janissaries. Despite slight improvements in their military capabilities, the Janissaries still had great difficulties adapting to modern warfare and did not receive adequate funding. Further disasters were in store, such as Janissary mismanagement of naval forces that led to a terrible defeat at Chesme in 1770 during the Russo-Ottoman War.

The Ottomans then turned to another European adviser, Baron de Tott, to begin modernizing the military by establishing a naval engineering school in the 1790s. This began an educational transformation in the Ottoman military that totally left out the Janissaries. New army units with no connection to them were organized under Sultan Selim III (ruled 17891807) in a military and financial program called the Nizam-i Cedid (' New Order').

By the late eighteenth century, though, the Janissaries would prove difficult to dislodge. As their importance as soldiers waned, they had developed considerable economic and coercive power in major Ottoman cities and were able to thwart reformers' direct assaults on their status for several decades. When they were ordered in 1807, for example, to wear European-style uniforms, the Janissaries staged a revolt and put a new sultan, Mustafa IV, on the throne.

However, general reform trends worked against them. Another sultan, Mahmud II, took power in 1808, and gradually developed strong alliances with advocates of change that resulted in drastic action against the Janissaries eighteen years later. During the so-called "Auspicious Event" in 1826, Mahmud carried out a secret plan to surround the Janissary barracks with artillery and kill everyone inside. The Bektashi order, so closely associated with the Janissaries, was outlawed in the Ottoman Empire in December 1826. This incident, which occurred as enemies with more modern armies were trouncing the Ottomans, ushered in the era of profound military and social reform that extended over the next few decades.

See also Islam in the Ottoman Empire ; Ottoman Dynasty ; Ottoman Empire ; Sultan ; Tulip Era (Ottoman Empire) ; Vizier .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Goodwin, Godfrey. The Janissaries. London, 1997.

Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 13001600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. New York, 1973.

Itzkowitz, Norman. Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition. Chicago, 1972.

Ernest Tucker

Military corps in the Ottoman Empire's army from the late fourteenth century to 1826.

The term janissary is the anglicized form of the Turkish (new troops). The Janissary corps was established in the late fourteenth century. The Janissaries' first recruits were from the ranks of young Christian prisoners of war; they were converted to Islam, taught Turkish, and given a rigorous military training. At the end of the sixteenth century, the Janissary corps began to admit untrained, mostly Muslim-born, recruits. The admission of untrained recruits marked the beginning of the janissaries' decline as a fighting force and their growing corruption. The basic regulations that had preserved the special character of the corps for some two centuries were treated with growing laxity, until they were abandoned altogether. The janissaries were allowed to marry and have families; then, in order to support their dependents, they were permitted to engage in gainful activities. Over the years, an ever-increasing number of janissaries gave up the practice of living at the barracks and training regularly, and the corps became largely a poorly trained and undisciplined militia. Commissions were sold to the highest bidders, and numerous civilians seeking to enjoy tax exemptions and other privileges bought their way into the corps. Consequently, the number of janissaries steadily increased from 12,000 in the early sixteenth century to 140,000 around 1820. The great majority of these men were not soldiers, but shopkeepers, artisans, porters, and followers of other trades, who rarely performed any military duties but zealously defended their privileged position. Identified with large segments of the urban population, they became a powerful caste resisting change.

The janissaries consistently opposed attempts to introduce military reforms because those required training and submission to discipline. They also objected to any attempts to create a new military force that might replace them or threaten their privileged position. In the last decade of the eighteenth century, Selim III (r. 17891807) hesitatingly introduced a new infantry corps known as the Nizam-i Cedit. The janissaries objected to the new force, and they eventually led a coalition of conservative forces that overthrew Selim and abolished his reforms (May 1807). An attempt by the grand vizier, Bayrakdar (Alemdar) Mustafa Paa, to reintroduce the Nizam-i Cedit also was foiled by the janissaries, and Bayrakdar himself was killed (November 1808).

Following Bayrakdar's death, Mahmud II (r. 18081839) concluded a pact with the janissaries, known as Sened-i Ita'at (Deed of Obedience), promising not to introduce military reforms in return for a janissary commitment not to intervene in political affairs. However, the Greek war of independence that broke out in 1821 (and lasted until 1830) confronted the Ottoman Empire with new and dangerous challenges, including the possibility of European intervention. The janissaries proved ineffective against the Greek insurgents, and the sultan was forced to enlist the support of his governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, who had a new, European-style, modern army. The contrast between the ineffectual janissaries and the disciplined, successful Egyptian troops softened public opinion toward military reform. Capitalizing on this new mood, early in 1826 Mahmud proposed a plan (the Ekinci/Ekenci project) to reform a small segment of the Janissary corps, transforming it into a regular, modern, European-style force. Although most of the senior officers approved the plan, soon after its implementation the janissaries once again rose in rebellion. The sultan, however, had taken precautions against such a threat. With the support of the ulama (body of Islamic scholars) and the general public, loyal forces including artillery and naval units quickly suppressed the rebellion with considerable bloodshed (15 June 1826). Mahmud seized the opportunity to abolish completely the Janissary corps and the Bektashi sufi order affiliated with it.

Thus ended an institution that had existed for almost five centuries and that had become a hallmark of Ottoman power, in both its greatness and decline. The suppression of the janissaries, which became known in Ottoman history as the Beneficial Event (Vaka-i Hayriye), made a great impression on
contemporaries in the Ottoman Empire and abroad. It also cleared the way for comprehensive, European-style military and administrative reforms that, in the long run, affected every aspect of society, and extended the life of the Ottoman Empire into the twentieth century.

see also bayrakdar, mustafa; vaka-i hayriye.

Bibliography

Levy, Avigdor. "The Ekenci Project: An Ottoman Attempt at Gradual Reform (1826)." Abr-Nahrain 14 (1974): 3239.

Shaw, Stanford J., and Shaw, Ezel Kural. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. 2: Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 18081975. New York and Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1979.

avigdor levy
updated by eric hooglund

More From encyclopedia.com

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JANISSARY. The Janissaries (from yenieri, meaning 'new soldier' in Turkish) were an elite standing force of infantrymen, first formed by the Ottoman Sultan Murad I around 1380. Legally slaves (kul ) of the sultan, they served over the centuries as bowmen, crossbowmen, and musketeers.

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Read the following sections to the questions on your webquest:

Introduction

Why was the Empire successful?

Constantinople

Effects of the fall of Constantinople

Other religions → the millet system

1. The Ottoman Empire replaced which Empire as the major powerful empire in the Eastern Mediterranean:

2. List 5 aspects that allowed for the Ottoman Empire’s success.

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3. Describe how the Ottomans acted toward their conquered people.

4. In what year did the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire:

5. What were the effects of the fall of Constantinople?

6. How did the empire treat people of other religions (millet system)?

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Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the heart of the Byzantine Empire. It became the capital of the Ottoman Empire when it was conquered in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II.

Mehmet slaughtered many of the population and forced the rest into exile, later repopulating the city by importing people from elsewhere in Ottoman territory.

Mehmet renamed Constantinople Istanbul - the 'city of Islam' - and set about rebuilding it, both physically and politically, as his capital.

Economics

Istanbul became not only a political and military capital, but because of its position at the junction of Europe, Africa, and Asia, one of the great trade centres of the world. Another important city was Bursa, which was a centre of the silk trade.

Some of the later Ottoman conquests were clearly intended to give them control of other trade routes.

Among the goods traded were:

Silk and other cloth

Musk

Rhubarb

Porcelain from China

Spices such as pepper

Dyestuffs such as indigo

The economic strength of the Empire also owed much to Mehmet's policy of increasing the number of traders and artisans in the Empire.

He first encouraged merchants to move to Istanbul, and later forcibly resettled merchants from captured territories such as Caffa.

He also encouraged Jewish traders from Europe to migrate to Istanbul and set up in business there. Later rulers continued these policies.

The siege of Constantinople

When Sultan Mehmet II rode into the city of Constantinople on a white horse in 1453, it marked the end of a thousand years of the Byzantine Empire. Earlier attempts to capture the city had largely failed - so why did the Ottomans succeed this time? What effect did the fall of Constantinople have on the rest of the Christian world?

Roger Crowley, author and historian; Judith Herrin, Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London; and Colin Imber, formerly Reader in Turkish at Manchester University discuss these questions.

Effects of the fall of Constantinople

The capture of Constantinople ended the Byzantine Empire after 1100 years. The effect of this on Christian Europe was enormous.

One unexpected effect was that many scholars fled from the new empire and went to Italy, where they were influential in sparking off the Renaissance, and increasing trade with the east.

Although the Pope demanded a crusade to recapture Istanbul from the Muslims, the Christian nations failed to produce an army for him, and no attempt to retake the city was made.

The Muslim dominance of the trading centre of the former Constantinople increased the pressure on Western nations to find new ways to the East by going westwards. This eventually led to the expeditions of Columbus, Magellan, and Drake.

Other religions

The millet system

Non-Muslim communities were organised according to the millet system, which gave minority religious/ethnic/geographical communities a limited amount of power to regulate their own affairs - under the overall supremacy of the Ottoman administration.

The first Orthodox Christian millet was established in 1454. This brought Orthodox Christians into a single community under the leadership of the Patriarch who had considerable authority given to him by the Sultan. Armenian Christian, Jewish and other millets followed in due course.

Some millets paid tax to the state as dhimmis, while others were exempted because they were seen to be performing services of value to the state.

The devshirme system

Non-Muslims in parts of the empire had to hand over some of their children as a tax under the devshirme ('gathering') system introduced in the 14th century. Conquered Christian communities, especially in the Balkans, had to surrender twenty percent of their male children to the state.

To the horror of their parents, and Western commentators, these children were converted to Islam and served as slaves.

Although the forced removal from their families and conversion was certainly traumatic and out of line with modern ideas of human rights, the devshirme system was a rather privileged form of slavery for some (although others were undoubtedly ill-used).

Some of the youngsters were trained for government service, where they were able to reach very high ranks, even that of Grand Vezir. Many of the others served in the elite military corps of the Ottoman Empire, called the Janissaries, which was almost exclusively made up of forced converts from Christianity.

The devshirme played a key role in Mehmet's conquest of Constantinople, and from then on regularly held very senior posts in the imperial administration.

Although members of the devshirme class were technically slaves, they were of great importance to the Sultan because they owed him their absolute loyalty and became vital to his power. This status enabled some of the 'slaves' to become both powerful and wealthy. Their status remained restricted, and their children were not permitted to inherit their wealth or follow in their footsteps.

The devshirme system continued until the end of the seventeenth century.

Life under Mehmet

After battles between Muslims and Christians, churches were converted into mosques and mosques into churches according to who was the winner.

Although Mehmet converted many churches into mosques, he did not suppress the Christian faith itself. There were practical reasons for this:

Christians were the largest group of the population and coexistence was likely to be more efficient than conflict

The institutions of the church provided a machine for implementing Mehmet's rule

But Mehmet was also influenced by the Islamic rule that Muslims should show respect to all religions.

Mehmet not only tolerated the Christians, he made special efforts to attract Jews to Istanbul. This was attractive to the Jews, who had previously been persecuted by the Orthodox Christian Church.

The non-Muslim communities (millets) were controlled by the Sultan acting through their religious leaders. These communities were given their own parts of towns in which to live and worship. They were given a great deal of freedom to lead their lives according to their particular faiths, and so were largely supportive of their Muslim overlords.

After Mehmet

Mehmet II died in 1481, and he nominated his eldest son Bayezid as the new Sultan. The Shi'a Muslims in the Ottoman Empire revolted in favour of Bayezid's brother Jem. The Janissaries suppressed the revolt and from then on became very important in Ottoman politics.

With Janissary support Bayezid's son Selim laid the foundations for a world Ottoman Empire based entirely on the despotism of the Sultan. The Shi'as were ruthlessly suppressed and they retreated to Persia, joining with the local groups of Shi'a and eventually forming their own state under the Safavid Shahs.

Fratricide

Sultan Selim introduced the policy of fratricide (the murder of brothers).

Under this system whenever a new Sultan ascended to the throne his brothers would be locked up. As soon as the Sultan had produced his first son the brothers (and their sons) would be killed. The new Sultan's sons would be then confined until their father's death and the whole system would start again.

This often meant that dozens of sons would be killed while only one would become Sultan.

In the later centuries of Ottoman rule, the brothers were imprisoned rather than executed.

Sultan and court

The Sultan's life

The Sultans lived in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.

The Sultan's life was run by rituals copied from the Byzantine court. For example, the Sultan wore his silk robes once and then they were discarded. (Many now are preserved in the Topkapi Musuem.)

The Topkapi Palace held many objects which were used to give legitimacy to the Ottomans and reinforce the Sultan's claim to be leader of all Muslims. The most important of these was the mantle of the Prophet Muhammad and his standard and footprint. These were brought from Egypt when Cairo fell to the Ottomans.

It was in the Harem that the Sultan spent his life. Every inhabitant of the 230 small dark rooms in the Topkapi palace was his to command. The number of concubines often exceeded a thousand and came from all over the world. The only permanent male staff consisted of eunuchs.

Access to the Sultan meant power. But no one was to be trusted. The Sultan moved every night to avoid assassination. Favoured males were promoted to rule places far away like Syria; males not in favour could be locked up inside the palace.

The harem was a paradox, since it was a feature of the Ottoman Empire (and other Islamic states) yet contained much that was not permissible in Islam. The harem was extravagant, decadent, and vulgar. The concentration of wealth, suffering and injustice toward women was far from the ideals of marriage and married life in Islam.

Despite this, the harem could bring benefits to a family who had a woman in the harem. It meant patronage, wealth and power; it meant access to the most powerful man in the Empire - the Sultan.

Influences and Structure

Although the Ottoman Empire was widely influenced by the faiths and customs of the peoples it incorporated, the most significant influences came from Islam.

The ruling elite worked their way up the hierarchy of the state madrassahs (religious schools) and the palace schools. They were trained to be concerned with the needs of government and to be mindful of the restrictions of Islamic law.

In its structure the ruling elite reflected a world of order and hierarchy in which promotion and status were rewarded on merit. Thus birth and genealogy, aristocracy or tribe became almost irrelevant to success in the system. Only one post, that of the Sultan, was determined by birth.

Suleiman - a golden age

The Golden Age of Suleiman

The Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its power during the rule of Selim's son, Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520 -66) and his grandson Selim II (1566 - 74).

Suleiman came to the throne as one of the wealthiest rulers in the world. His strength owed much to the work his father Selim had done in stabilising government, removing opposition, frightening (but not succesfully conquering) the Safavid Empire of Iran into adopting a non-aggression policy, and conquering the Mamluk empire of Egypt and Syria.

These conquests, which united the lands of Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean under a single ruler, brought a time of peace and stability, under which the Empire flourished.

Suleiman had no internal rivals for power. His father had seen to that by executing his own brothers and their sons, and all 4 of Suleiman's brothers.

The Ottoman Empire now included so much of the territory where Islam was practiced, and so many of the Islamic holy places, that Suleiman was widely regarded as the religious leader of Islam, as well as the earthly ruler of most Muslims.

The wealth and stability of the Empire at this time attracted the top Muslim brains of the period, and craftsmen, artists, intellectuals and writers were eager to move to Istanbul.

Suleiman was named 'The Magnificent' by the Europeans, but his own people called him 'The Lawgiver'.

Short-termism

Ottoman rulers had a very short-term policy. They rejected the idea of developing territory and investing in it for gain at some time in the future; land and peoples were exploited to the point of exhaustion and then more or less abandoned in favour of new ground.

This policy meant that the Ottoman Empire relied on continuous expansion for stability. If it did not grow, it was likely to collapse.

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Constantinople was the heart of the Byzantine Empire. It became the capital of the Ottoman Empire when it was conquered in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II. Mehmet slaughtered many of the population and forced the rest into exile, later repopulating the city by importing people from elsewhere in Ottoman territory.

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1. Define ghazi.

2. The Ottoman’s military success was largely based on the use of:

3.  Describe how this

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Origins
Many Turks saw themselves as ghazis (GAH*zees), or warriors for Islam. The ghazis were similar to the Christian knights in Europe during the Middle Ages. However, they formed military societies under the leadership of an empire and followed a strict Islamic code of conduct. They raided the territories of the "infidels," or people who didn't believe in Islam. These "infidels" lived on the frontiers of the Byzantine Empire.
The most successful ghazi was Osman. People in the West called him Othman, however, and named his followers Ottomans. Osman built a small state in Anatolia between 1300 and 1326. His successors expanded it by buying land, forming alliances with other empires, and conquering everyone they could. The Ottomans' military success was largely based on the use of gunpowder. They replaced their archers on horseback with musket carrying foot soldiers. They also were among the first people to use cannons as offensive weapons. Even heavily walled cities fell to an all-out attack by the Turks.
The second Ottoman leader felt strong enough to declare himself sultan, meaning "overlord" or "one with power." The Ottomans acted kindly toward the people they conquered, however. They ruled through local officials appointed by the sultan and often improved the lives of the peasants. Most Muslims were required to serve in Turkish armies but did not have to pay a personal tax to the state. Non-Muslims did not have to serve in the army but had to pay the tax.

Beck, Roger B. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005.

Beck, Roger B. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005.

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Origins Many Turks saw themselves as ghazis (GAH*zees), or warriors for Islam. The ghazis were similar to the Christian knights in Europe during the Middle Ages. However, they formed military societies under the leadership of an empire and followed a strict Islamic code of conduct.

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1. Why were these empires known as “gunpowder” empires?

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In the 15th and 16th centuries, three great powers arose in a band across western and southern Asia. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal dynasties established control over Turkey, Iran, and India respectively, in large part due to a Chinese invention: gunpowder.

In large part, the successes of the western empires depended on advanced firearms and cannons. As a result, they are called the "Gunpowder Empires." This phrase was coined by U.S. historians Marshall G.S. Hodgson (1922-1968) and Willian H. McNeill (1917-2016). The gunpowder empires monopolized the manufacture of guns and artillery in their areas. However, the Hodgson-McNeill theory isn't today regarded as sufficient for the rise of these empires, but their use of the weapons was integral to their military tactics.

The longest-lasting of the Gunpowder Empires, the Ottoman Empire in Turkey was first established in 1299, but it fell to the conquering armies of Timur the Lame (better known as Tamerlane, 1336-1405) in 1402. Thanks in large part to their acquisition of muskets, the Ottoman rulers were able to drive out the Timurids and reestablish their control of Turkey in 1414.

The Ottomans used artillery during the reign of Bayazid I (1360-1403) in the sieges of Constantinople in 1399 and 1402.

The Ottoman Janissary corps became the best-trained infantry force in the world, and also the first gun corps to wear uniforms. Artillery and firearms were decisive in the Battle of Varna (1444) against a Crusader force.

The Battle of Chaldiran against the Safavids in 1514 pitched a Safavid cavalry charge against Ottoman cannons and Janissary rifles with a devastating effect.

Although the Ottoman Empire soon lost its technological edge, it survived until the end of the First World War (1914-1918).

By 1700, the Ottoman Empire extended across three-quarters of the Mediterranean Sea coast, controlled the Red Sea, almost the entire coast of the Black Sea, and had significant ports on the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, as well as many modern-day countries on three continents.

The Safavid dynasty also took control of Persia in the power vacuum that followed the decline of Timur's empire. Unlike Turkey, where the Ottomans fairly quickly re-established control, Persia languished in chaos for around a century before Shah Ismail I (1487-1524) and his "Red Head" (Qizilbash) Turks were able to defeat rival factions and reunite the country by about 1511.

The Safavids learned the value of firearms and artillery early, from the neighboring Ottomans. After the Battle of Chaldiran, Shah Ismail built a corps of musketeers, the tofangchi. By 1598, they had an artillery corps of cannons as well. They successfully battled the Uzbeks in 1528 using Janissary-like tactics against the Uzbek cavalry.

Safavid history is rife with clashes and wars between the Shi'a Muslim Safavid Persians and the Sunni Ottoman Turks. Early on, the Safavids were at a disadvantage to the better-armed Ottomans, but they soon closed the arms gap. The Safavid Empire lasted until 1736.

The third gunpowder empire, India's Mughal Empire, offers perhaps the most dramatic example of modern weaponry carrying the day. Babur (1483-1530), who founded the empire, was able to defeat Ibrahim Lodi (1459-1526) of the last Delhi Sultanate at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Babur had the expertise of his commander Ustad Ali Quli, who coached the military with Ottoman techniques.

Babur's victorious Central Asian army used a combination of traditional horse cavalry tactics and new-fangled cannons; the cannon fire spooked Lodi's war-elephants, which turned and trampled their own army in their hurry to escape the fearsome noise. After this victory, it was rare for any forces to engage the Mughals in a pitched battle.

The Mughal Dynasty would endure until 1857 when the incoming British Raj deposed and exiled the last emperor.

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3 Gunpowder Empires of Asia: Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Dynasties

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In the 15th and 16th centuries, three great powers arose in a band across western and southern Asia. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal dynasties established control over Turkey, Iran, and India respectively, in large part due to a Chinese invention: gunpowder. In large part, the successes of the western empires depended on advanced firearms and cannons.