1. The World of the 15th Century
Strayer Chapter 13
Part III: The Islamic World

2. The Islamic World
• Stretched across southern Europe, northern
Africa, Southern Asia, and into the Indian
Ocean
• Dominated by 4 major empires:
– Songhay Empire in north-western Africa
– Ottoman Empire around the eastern
Mediterranean Sea
– Safavid Empire in modern Iran
– Mughal Empire in modern India andPakistan

4. Islamic Heartland: The Ottoman
Empire
• Lasted from 1362 until 1918
• Founded by Turkic warriors
from the Anatolian Peninsula
• Culturally & religiously diverse
• Dominated trade in the
Mediterranean and Red Seas
• Only Ming China and the Incas
matched the Ottoman in size
and wealth!

5. • Ottoman Sultans also claimed the title Caliph
• Turks claimed to be the “strong sword of
Islam”
• Became dominant power in the Middle East
• 1453: Conquered Constantinople defeating
the Byzantine Empire
• 1529: Lay siege to the city of Vienna causing
many Europeans to fear the rising power of
the Turks

6. • Conscripted soldiers
from the conquered
Christian lands into the
military to create
Janissaries (elite
gunpowder troops)
• Major weakness was not
having clear rule of
succession

7. Islamic Heartland: The Safavid Empire
• Safavid were also of Turkic origins
• Founded by a Sufi religious order
• Goal was to purify Islam
• Established strict Shia state after 1500
• Religion came to define the Persian people
over time

8. • Frequent conflict erupted between Safavid and
Ottoman Empires
• In 1514 the Ottoman Emperor sent this letter to
the Safavid ruler:
• “You have denied the sanctity of divine law… you have
deserted the path of salvation and the sacred commandments…
you have opened to Muslims the gates of tyranny and
oppression,,, you have raised the standard of irreligion and
heresy…. [Therefore] the Ulama and our doctors have
pronounced a sentence of death against you, perjurer and
blasphemer.”
• Sunni/Shia hostility continues to divide the
Muslim world today

9. • The Safavid lacked
good access to
ports for trade
• This limited their
economic growth
and contributed to
the decline of their
empire

10. The Frontiers of Islam: Songhay
• Songhay rose in the late 15th century
• Located in West Africa
• Controlled trade in the western Sahara
desert
• Most urban elites converted to Islam,
but maintained magical
superstitions
• 97% of people kept
traditional African
beliefs

11. • Leader Sonni Ali and his successors known as
“Caliph of the land of the Blacks”
• Muhammad Toure created a large
administration dominated by Arab
bureaucrats
• Declined as a result of the transatlantic slave
trade

12. Frontiers of Islam: Mughal Empire
• Similar to Songhay in that Muslim leaders
ruled over largely non-Muslim population
(Hindus)
• Established in 1526 by Turkic people
• Leader Akbar the Great attempted to ease
tension between Muslims and Hindus by
creating a universal faith Din il-Ilahi”

13. • Following the death of Akbar the Great,
Aurangzeb reduced religious tolerance leading
to uprisings and general weakening of Mughal
control
• Weakness would allow British to gain a greater
foothold in India later
• Mughals blended traditional Indian and
Muslim styles to create beautiful works of
architecture (Taj Mahal)

14. Impact of the Muslim World
• Four large kingdoms brought greater political
coherence to Muslim world
• Known as the “second flowering of Islam”
because of economic prosperity, and cultural
achievements

15. • Controlled commerce on the Indian Ocean
until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 when a
joint Spanish/ Portuguese force defeated the
Ottoman and claimed control of the Indian
Ocean
• Before 1571, trade was conducted by
individual merchants according to Sharia with
very little conflict.
• Rise of Malacca as an important center of
trade illustrated importance of location
“geography is destiny”

16. Questions
1. What differences exist between the four
major empires of the Islamic world of the
15th and 16th centuries?
2. What similarities exist between the four
major empires of the Islamic world of the
15th and 16th centuries?