PP Notes Islamic Dynasties

Islamic Empires Theme: The historical origins of today’s Islamic world Lesson 14 Ottoman Empire Begun by Osman Bey in 1289 Osman and his followers above all sought to become ghazi “the instrument of the religion of Allah, a servant of God who purifies the earth from the filth of polytheism; the Ghazi is the sword of God, he is the protector and the refuge of the believers. If he becomes a martyr in the ways of God, do not believe that he has died– he lives in beatitude with Allah, he has eternal life” Ahmadi Ottoman Empire The Ottoman’s location on the borders of the Byzantine Empire gave them ample opportunity for holy war Mehmed II Ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1451 to 1481 In 1453, he toppled the Byzantine Empire, capturing Constantinople, renaming it Istanbul, and making it the new Ottoman capital Expanded the empire to become the ruler of “two lands” (Europe and Asia) and “two seas” (the Mediterranean and the Black) Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II Suleyman the Magnificent Reigned from 1520 to 1566 and continued the expansion Conquered Baghdad in 1534 Like the other Ottomans, Suleyman was a Sunni Turkey Turkey is about 97% Moslem and about 80% of these Moslems are Sunni Iraq Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq was 60-65% Shia and 32-37% Sunni but Sunnis dominated the government and economy Safavid Empire Founded by Shah Ismail in 1501 and lasted until 1722 Shah Ismail reigned to 1524 and proclaimed his realm’s official religion would be Shiism Would impose Shiism by force if necessary over the formerly Sunni population Seized control of the Iranian plateau and centered his empire around the capital of Istahan Iran Differences Between Shia and Sunni Shiites About 15% of all Muslims Islam’s leader should be a descendant of Mohammad Qualified religious leaders have the authority to interpret the sharia (Islamic law) Sunnis About 85% of all Muslims Leaders should be chosen through ijma, or consensus The sharia was codified and closed by the 10th century Selim the Grim The Sunni Ottomans under Selim the Grim (reigned 1512-1520) detested the Shiite Safavids and launched a full-scale invasion of Safavid territory Battle of Chaldiran The critical battle in this campaign was the battle of Chaldiran in 1514 The Ottomans won and temporarily occupied the Safavid capital of Tabriz but could not completely destroy the Safavid state The Ottomans and Safavids continued to fight intermittingly for the next two centuries Modern Iran The US helped bring Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to power in 1953 Iran’s Shia Moslems despised the Shah’s secular rule and western influence In 1979 revolutionaries led by Ayatollah Khomeini seized power Shia militants captured 69 US hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran, 55 of which remained captive until 1981 Alternatives in Iran Revolution US Hostages in Iran, 1980 Failed Rescue Attempt Iraq Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq in 1979 Sunnis held power Iraq saw the revolution in Iran as an opportunity to invade The Iran-Iraq War lasted from 1980 to 1988 and killed as many as one million soldiers Iran-Iraq War Saddam used poisonous gas against Iraqi Kurds who he considered sympathetic toward Iran Back to the Ottomans…. By the late 17th Century the Ottoman expansion had reached its limits The Ottomans had neglected military training and technological advances and fell behind the European armies in strategy, tactics, weapons, and training They suffered a series of military defeats Ottoman Decline The loss of military power translated to declining effectiveness of the central government By the early 19th Century, semi-independent governors and local notables became increasingly autonomous Ottoman Decline The Ottoman government maintained its authority in Anatolia and Iraq, but it lost territory elsewhere Russia gained territory in the Caucasus and central Asia Austria gained territory on the western frontier After an unsuccessful invasion by the French, Egypt became an essentially autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire under the rule of Muhammad Ali Ottoman Decline In addition to military and territorial losses, the Ottomans suffered economically as merchants began to circumvent Ottoman intermediaries and trade directly with their counterparts in India and China The Ottoman Empire had little to export and became heavily dependent on foreign loans “Capitulation”– agreements exempting European visitors from Ottoman law and providing European powers the right to exercise jurisdiction over their own citizens in Ottoman territory– threatened Ottoman sovereignty “The Sick Man of Europe” “We have on our hands a sick man, a very sick man.” Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, 1853 Mahmud II Reigned from 1808 to 1839 and launched a reform program designed to restore the traditional Ottoman military The elite and powerful Janissaries opposed the reforms, but Mahmud massacred them He remodeled his institutions, especially his military, along European lines European-style uniforms European tactics and weaponry European education Other Reforms of Mahmud Created a system of secondary education for boys to facilitate the transition from mosque schools to newly established scientific, technical, and military academies Established European style ministries, built new roads and telegraph lines, and started a postal service Transferred authority to the sultan from traditional elites by Taxing rural landlords Abolishing the system of military land grants Undermining the ulama (the Islamic leadership) Ottoman Empire under Mahmud II The empire was smaller, but it was more consolidated and powerful than it had been since the early 17th Century Tanzimat The tempo of reform increased after Mahmud during the Tanzimat (“reorganization”) era from 1839-1876 Reformers drew inspiration from the Enlightenment thought and the constitutional foundations of western European states Principal target was the army, but other reforms involved law and education Tanzimat The legal reforms were designed to make Ottoman law acceptable to Europeans so the Ottomans could have the capitulations lifted and recover sovereignty Safeguarded the rights of subjects through guaranteed public trials, rights of privacy, and equality before the law Educational reforms resulted in a complete system of primary, secondary, and university education under the supervision of the state ministry of education Legal and educational reforms both undermined the ulama and there was opposition from religious conservatives and others Abd al-Hamid II An opposition group of radical dissidents from the Ottoman bureaucracy staged a coup in 1876 and installed Abd al-Hamid II as sultan Abd al-Hamid imposed a despotic regime and generated much opposition Young Turks The Ottoman Society for Union and Progress (better known as the Young Turks) was founded in 1889 by exiled Ottomans In 1908 they inspired an army coup and in 1909 they dethroned Abd al-Hamid and established a puppet sultan Ottoman sultans would now reign but not rule Agenda of the Young Turks Universal suffrage Equality before the law Freedom of religion Free public education Secularization of the state Emancipation of women Still the Sick Man The Young Turks sought to maintain Turkish hegemony within the larger Ottoman Empire which caused opposition from subject peoples outside the Anatolian heartland such as in Syria and Iraq The Ottoman Empire was crumbling and survived principally because the European powers could not decide how to dispose of it without upsetting the European balance of power World War I In 1914, the Ottomans became aligned with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) Successfully fended off the Allied landing at Gallipoli in 1915 and Mesopotamia in 1916, but then began retreating on all fronts Mustafa Kemal emerged as a great war hero World War I Arabs, assisted by the British and T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”), revolted against Turkish rule in Syria, Palestine, and Arabia The Central Powers sued for peace in November 1918 Treaty of Sevres (1920) and Treaty of Lausanne (1923) The Treaty of Sevres effectively dissolved the Ottoman Empire, calling for the surrender of Ottoman Balkan and Arab provinces and the occupation of eastern and southern Anatolia by foreign powers Turks led by wartime hero Mustafa Kemal successfully resisted the occupation The Republic of Turkey was officially recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne Mustafa Kemal Mustafa Kemal served as president of Turkey for 15 years until his death in 1938 Known as Ataturk or “Father Turk” “Westernized” Turkey Turkey under Ataturk New ideology of Kemalism stressed the republican form of government representing the power of the electorate, secular administration, nationalism, mixed economy with state participation in many of the vital sectors, the process of parliamentary and participatory democracy, modernization. Legacy of Ataturk Turkey became the first Moslem nation to become a republic Left Turkey with a divided identity — Europeanized but not quite European, alienated from the Islamic world but still a Muslim country The Turkish military still sees itself as the guardian of Turkish independence, nationalism, and secularism Turkey at the Crossroads Next Building of American States