Overview of Islamic Gunpowder Empires

Okay, so today, as part of week one, we will start, so for our first actual content lecture, not just kind of giving an overview introduction to the course, we will look at the Islamic gunpowder empires. So to understand these gunpowder empires, we first need to understand that gunpowder originates in China, and that gunpowder spread via the trade routes, becoming a powerful source of change between 1450. In 1750, when we hear the term gunpowder empires, it is referring to large multi-ethnic states in southwest, central, and south Asia that rely on firearms to conquer and control territories. The gunpowder empire societies tended to be militaristic where they rely on their military, but they're also leaving behind splendid artistic and architectural legacies. These architectural and artistic legacies are created in part to reflect the legitimacy of the ruler. The Qing Empire of China also expands during this time, and while it does experience several invasions, it does continue to prosper during long periods of stability. Europe's expansion was a trans-oceanic connection with the Americas, and armed trade becomes more and more common in expanding empires during this period. The different empires traded with one another. However, they kept troops and armaments at the ready in case another empire questioned their right to trade. This type of exchange does differ from the free markets of later eras. So what we get is we're going to start with the rise of Tamerlane. So the invasion of Central Asia and the Middle East by Tamerlane, or Tamir the Lame, a Mongol-Turkic ruler of the late 14th century. He sets the stage for the rise of the Turkic empires. He led an... army partly composed of nomadic invaders from the broad steppes of Eurasia, and moved out from the trading city of Samarkand for ruthless conquests in Persia and India. Eurasia's steppes were also the birthplace of the Ghazi ideal, which was a model for warrior life that blended the cooperative values of nomadic culture with the willingness to serve as a holy fighter for Islam. Some historians believe that... Tamerlane's violent takeover of areas of Central Asia included the massacre of some 100,000 Hindus before the gates of Delhi in India. Those patterns of violence that resulted in new dynasties include the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals. Tamerlane's rule in Samarkand encouraged learning and the arts, which is a trend that is very typical of these later empires. He also champions literature and he corresponds with European rulers and writes his own memoirs. The buildings are still standing in the city of Samarkand, which are lasting reminders of his interest in architecture and decorative arts. So the rule of Tamerlane, during his rule, his invasions were a testament to the significance of gunpowder. He used it to build a government dependent upon his military and the use of heavy artillery. He does protect land routes, including the Silk Roads, and he fails to leave an effective. Despite all of these achievements, he does fail to leave an effective political structure in many of the areas he does conquer. Without effective government, you see the expenses of wars eventually ravage the empire's economy. And Timurling's rule casts light on two major forces that have battled each other continually from the late 10th century to the 14th century. Mongols from the northeast versus Islamic forces from Arabia and the areas around the Mediterranean Sea. We will see those two forces, the Mongols versus the Islamics, clash continuously with the rise and fall of the three Asian gunpowder empires. So the rise of Islamic gunpowder empires, we have the Ottoman Empire, the Safavids, and the Mughals. They are all descendants from Turkic nomads from Central Asia. They all speak the Turkic language, and they take advantage of power vacuums left by Mongol Khanates that would... be covered in History 131. Further, all of these, per their name, rely on gunpowder weapons. So let's first start looking at the Ottoman Empire. So the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century was already becoming a major power. The Ottoman Empire was the largest and most endearing of the great Islamic empires of this period. Founded by the Osman dynasty in the 1300s, it lasted until its defeat. in nineteen eighteen by the allies in world war one this thing uh this empire had a single dynasty control it for more than six hundred years and we have the second called the conqueror ruled from fourteen fifty one to fourteen eighty one and he firmly established the empire's capital after his forces besieged Constantinople. Once establishing the capital of Constantinople, they do change the name to Istanbul. So what we have is they prosper because of the location of Istanbul. It was conquered with great technology, 26-foot bronze cannons that brought down the wall fortifications. but after it's conquered, it becomes a center for trade. They control the Bosporus Strait, which is the only waterway linking the Aegean Sea with the Black Sea, and the armies of Mehmed II next seize the lands around the western edge of the Black Sea in the Balkans in Southeast Europe. Mehmed then strengthens the Ottoman navy and attacks various areas of Italy. Although he does not conquer Venice, he is able to force the city to pay him a yearly tax. In the early 16th century, the Ottomans added to their empire lands in present-day Syria, Israel, Egypt, and Algeria. When the Mamluk dynasty's power starts to decline, Istanbul became a center of Islam. The Ottoman Empire did reach its peak under Suleiman I, who ruled from 1520 to 1566. Suleiman's armies overran Hungary in 1526, and by 1529, their attempt to take Vienna fell twice. The ability of the Ottomans, though, to send troops so far into Christian Europe does increase fear in Europeans, and further they show their strength when in 1522, Suleiman's navy captured the island of Rhodes, that's now part of Greece, in the eastern Mediterranean, which had long been a stronghold of Christian knights. In the 1550s, the Ottoman navy took control of Tripoli in North Africa, further expanding their empire. and you see that the Ottoman Empire would experience a transformation as the state adapts to new internal and external pressures. We see a period of reform followed by the 18th century, and challenges in defending Ottoman territory against foreign invasion and occupation led to the Ottoman defeat and the dissolution by 1918-22. Following the Ottomans, we have the Safavids. So the Safavid dynasty had its origins in the Safavid order of Sufism. Sufism would be a mystical kind of group of missionaries within Islam. And they established themselves in the northern Azerbaijan region, which is now Iran. Ishmael conquered most of Persia and then pushes into Iraq. And what's really cool about Ishmael is he's only 14 or 15 years old when he is doing this. And he soon conquers all of Iran and was proclaimed Shah, which the term Shah is equivalent to king or emperor in 1501. The Safavid Empire does, though, have two problems. First, despite being on the Arabian Sea, part of the Indian Ocean, they do not have a real navy. Second, the Safavids lack... natural defenses. So the Safavids rise to power in the 1500s due to their land-based military might and strong leadership. And we then have Abbas the Great or Shah Abbas I. He is coming to power and presided over the Safavid empire at its height. His troops include soldiers who were often Christian boys pressed into service from as far northwest as Georgia and Russia. Abbas imported weaponry from Europe. and he relied on Europeans to advise his troops about this newly acquired military technology. Slowly, the Shahs come to control the religion as well as politics, and using Shia Islam as a unifying force, Shah Ismail built a power base that supported his rule and denies any legitimacy to any Sunni leader. That strict adherence to Shia Islam, so it's like a division of denominations in a sense. Them being so strictly with Shia causes rivalries with the Ottoman Empire, who was Sunni. And in 1541, Safavid forces were stopped by the Ottomans at Tabriz, a city in Persia, that becomes part of the border between Sunni and Shia societies. Conflicts, it is to be noted, though, were not purely Sunni versus Shia between the Ottomans and the Safavids. A lot of it was control over the trade routes that were on land. Ottomans used trade embargoes, which are official trade bans, consistently against the Safavid silk traders as a way to assert dominance over their eastern rival, and women in the Safavid empire rarely mention local Safavid histories were permitted to participate in societies. They are, their movements are still restricted. They are still veiled, but they do have access to rights provided by Islamic laws for inheritance and in extreme cases, divorce. So now we move into Mughal India. In the 1520s, Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane, founded a 300-year dynasty during a time when India was in disarray. The completed conquest in northern India and under the new Mughal name formed a central government similar to that of Suleiman in Turkey. Akbar, Babur's grandson, achieved very great religious and political goals. It became some of the richest and best governed states in the world. And overseas trade flourished during this relatively peaceful period. Arab traders conducted most of the commerce, and traded goods included textiles, tropical foods, spices, and precious stones, all of which were often exchanged for gold and silver. Trade within the borders of the empire were carried on by merchant castes, and members of the merchant castes were allowed to participate in banking and the production of handicrafts. Do know that castes are very strict social classes designated at birth by birth, and it divides those who follow the Hindu religion into four categories, Brahmins, Ksatriyas, Vashyas, and the Sutras. Outside of the system are the atyuts or the dalits, which are considered the untouchables. The Indian caste system, as we see it in Mughal India, becomes the basis of educational and vocational opportunities for Indian society. Mughal India flourished from Babur's time through the early 18th century. And we also, again, see these magnificent architectural accomplishments are the remaining testaments to the wealth and sophistication of the Mughal Empire. So if all of these are doing so well, what happens? What goes wrong? And so let's look at the decline of the gunpowder. And again, I'm trying to keep this concise and short. As we get into the course, we will start digging more into things. But I do want this first week to be much more brief for you to get a hold of understanding what the course is about. So the decline of the gunpowder empire. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires are all declining, while Western Europe is growing in strength economically and militarily, particularly in terms of sea power. Russia does modernize and reorganize its army, modeling it after the armies of England, France, and the Netherlands. The Islamic empires do not modernize, and as a result, Russia remains powerful enough to survive as an independent nation, while the other gunpowder empires fall. The decline of the Ottoman Empire starts to occur in 1571 after Suleiman's death. Then we have a European force made up mostly of Spaniards and Venetians to defeat the Ottomans in a great naval conflict known as the Battle of Lepanto. After the reign of Suleiman, the Ottomans fell victim to weak sultans and strong European neighbors. So as they got weaker, their neighbors got stronger. And the empire became known as the Sick Man of Europe. Successors to Suleiman were often held hostage to heirloom politics, which means that the efforts of their wives and concubines of the sultan to promote their own children as likely heirs to the throne allowed a lot of women to become powerful behind the scenes. And a lot of pressures on the emperor were about who the next heir would be versus the betterment of the country. We also have the failed siege of Vienna in 1683 and then the British and French involvement in the Ottoman territories with Greece's independence in 1821 and the Russian expansion in the 19th century is further weakening the Ottoman Empire. Following the Ottoman Empire we have the Safavid Empire whose lavish lifestyles and military spending combines with falling revenues results in a weakened economy. In 1722 a rebellion by the heavily oppressed Sunni Pashtuns occurs in present-day Afghanistan, and the Afghan forces went on to sack Ishbahan, and their leader, Mahmud, declared himself Shah of Persia. While the Safavid dynasty does remain in some control, chaos was an impediment to centralization and tax collection. Ottomans and the Russians were able to seize some of their territories, and the Safavid dynasty declined rapidly until it was replaced by the Zan dynasty in 1760. Following that, we have Mughal decline. So Shah Jahan's son and successor Aurangzeb, ruled 1658 to 1707, inherited an empire that was weakened by corruption. He failed to keep up with the military innovations of external enemies, and he does have this grandiose hope and desire to increase the size of the empire and bring all of India under Muslim rule. Because he wants to bring all of India under Muslim rule, he wants to get rid of the, to rid the empire of its Hindu influences, and in expanding the empire to the south, he drained the empire's treasury and was unable to put down peasant uprisings. Some uprisings sparked by Aurangzeb's insistence on an austere and pious Islamic lifestyle and an intolerance of minority religions lead groups from Sikhs, Hindus, and others to consistently rebel. The empire grows increasingly unstable after Aurangzeb's death, and it allowed the British and French to gain more and more economic power in India. The British do eventually take political power away from the Mughals in the 19th century. With this, we get new forms of corruption in trade in the Islamic empires. So coffee drinking traces to Sufis in Yemen, and it's them seeking this trance-like concentration on God and found that coffee helped them stay awake. It is used for business and is an extension of hospitality to potential buyers. which then spreads to Egypt and Syria. Coffee is native to the Islamic world, but new products from the Columbian Exchange are added, including tobacco and opium becoming the main ones. Coffee houses make coffee and tobacco place for conversation and increase male sociability outside of the house. So we have some people here arguing that coffee and tobacco are intoxicating, which makes them the same as wine, which was banned. banned from to Muslims. Despite being debated uh is and you know if it should be allowed or not during this time it is very revolutionary because again it pushes social socialization to be no longer confined to the home. There are public spaces to that. With this we have by the 17th century the Dutch are gradually replacing the Portuguese as a dominant trading power in the Indian Ocean. the british and french are also exerting control in south asia with the beic formed in 1600 it gains important commercial concessions from the mughal empire or emperor johan gear in 1619 and by 1700 they found a city that became madras and calcutta and took over bombay mumbai or which is today mumbai which was portuguese and then they get trade with china 1700 This brings no direct benefit to Ottomans and Safavids. Europeans can now bypass them, but they're adaptable and find ways to benefit. The rapid increase in overall trade in India, for example, is one way. Akbar had to launch a wide-scale road-building campaign to facilitate commercial transportation. And throughout Muslim lands, both Jews and Christians were active in commerce. One particularly interesting case involves an Armenian Christians in the 16th to 18th centuries. Armenian merchants have been trading from their base in Armenia for centuries, and they were especially known for their trade in Persian silk. So when the Portuguese first appeared on the western coast of India in 1498 and began to settle in South India, they found many Armenian merchant communities already there. A few decades later Akbar invited Armenians to settle in its new capital, Agra. And in 1603, Shah Abbas captured much of Armenia, taking it from the Ottomans, and forced the Armenians to move more deeply into Persia. Armenian networks stretching from Venice and Amsterdam in Western Europe to Moscow and Russia and Ottoman-controlled Aleppo and Smyrna to all major trading cities of India. And many of these communities become substantial trading centers. So now looking at the British East India Company to the British Empire. You have the origins are coming from the desire to profit from trade. And at the time, London, the capital of England, discouraged unnecessary expenses and financial risk. And they're also opposing missionary activities, so trying to convert the locals, or any interference in local Indian politics. The British East India Company expands political control anyway. and the company's factories evolved into defensive installations manned by small garrisons of native troops from india called sepoys train who were trained in western military weapons and tactics the british became a dominant force in india and the french attempted to take control but the british navy held out the treaty of paris of 1763 recognized british control of much of india and marks the beginning of the British Empire in India. Eventually, the British East India Company is pushed out of the governing role because the English Parliament thought they had become corrupt. With the Regulating Act of 1773, they created the Office of Governor General to exercise political authority over the territory controlled by the company, and the East India Company Act of 1784 required that the Governor General be chosen from someone outside the East India Company and made company directors subject to parliamentary supervision, which again says a shift in it being something that's trade-based control to actual political control. That therefore concludes this lecture. As I said, I'm trying to keep these short and concise. I understand just listening to a recording can be a lot more tiresome than being in a classroom where there's interaction. Again, If I'm going too quickly, you always have the option of slowing the video down using YouTube. It's a great kind of perk to these videos. While they may go quicker than an in-class lecture, you can adjust the playback speed to suit your needs. So some people like it quicker. Some people say it's too quick and need it slower. That's up to you. And you also have the ability to go back and replay these. Again, I encourage all of you to reach out and ask any questions that you may have. Thank you so much and have a great day.

The Qing Empire of China also expands during this time, and while it does experience several invasions, it does continue to prosper during long periods of stability. Europe's expansion was a trans-oceanic connection with the Americas, and armed trade becomes more and more common in expanding empires during this period. The different empires traded with one another. However, they kept troops and armaments at the ready in case another empire questioned their right to trade.

This type of exchange does differ from the free markets of later eras. So what we get is we're going to start with the rise of Tamerlane. So the invasion of Central Asia and the Middle East by Tamerlane, or Tamir the Lame, a Mongol-Turkic ruler of the late 14th century. He sets the stage for the rise of the Turkic empires.

He led an... army partly composed of nomadic invaders from the broad steppes of Eurasia, and moved out from the trading city of Samarkand for ruthless conquests in Persia and India. Eurasia's steppes were also the birthplace of the Ghazi ideal, which was a model for warrior life that blended the cooperative values of nomadic culture with the willingness to serve as a holy fighter for Islam.

Some historians believe that... Tamerlane's violent takeover of areas of Central Asia included the massacre of some 100,000 Hindus before the gates of Delhi in India. Those patterns of violence that resulted in new dynasties include the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals.

Tamerlane's rule in Samarkand encouraged learning and the arts, which is a trend that is very typical of these later empires. He also champions literature and he corresponds with European rulers and writes his own memoirs. The buildings are still standing in the city of Samarkand, which are lasting reminders of his interest in architecture and decorative arts.

So the rule of Tamerlane, during his rule, his invasions were a testament to the significance of gunpowder. He used it to build a government dependent upon his military and the use of heavy artillery. He does protect land routes, including the Silk Roads, and he fails to leave an effective.

Despite all of these achievements, he does fail to leave an effective political structure in many of the areas he does conquer. Without effective government, you see the expenses of wars eventually ravage the empire's economy. And Timurling's rule casts light on two major forces that have battled each other continually from the late 10th century to the 14th century.

Mongols from the northeast versus Islamic forces from Arabia and the areas around the Mediterranean Sea. We will see those two forces, the Mongols versus the Islamics, clash continuously with the rise and fall of the three Asian gunpowder empires. So the rise of Islamic gunpowder empires, we have the Ottoman Empire, the Safavids, and the Mughals. They are all descendants from Turkic nomads from Central Asia.

They all speak the Turkic language, and they take advantage of power vacuums left by Mongol Khanates that would... be covered in History 131. Further, all of these, per their name, rely on gunpowder weapons. So let's first start looking at the Ottoman Empire. So the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century was already becoming a major power.

The Ottoman Empire was the largest and most endearing of the great Islamic empires of this period. Founded by the Osman dynasty in the 1300s, it lasted until its defeat. in nineteen eighteen by the allies in world war one this thing uh this empire had a single dynasty control it for more than six hundred years and we have the second called the conqueror ruled from fourteen fifty one to fourteen eighty one and he firmly established the empire's capital after his forces besieged Constantinople. Once establishing the capital of Constantinople, they do change the name to Istanbul.

So what we have is they prosper because of the location of Istanbul. It was conquered with great technology, 26-foot bronze cannons that brought down the wall fortifications. but after it's conquered, it becomes a center for trade.

They control the Bosporus Strait, which is the only waterway linking the Aegean Sea with the Black Sea, and the armies of Mehmed II next seize the lands around the western edge of the Black Sea in the Balkans in Southeast Europe. Mehmed then strengthens the Ottoman navy and attacks various areas of Italy. Although he does not conquer Venice, he is able to force the city to pay him a yearly tax. In the early 16th century, the Ottomans added to their empire lands in present-day Syria, Israel, Egypt, and Algeria.

When the Mamluk dynasty's power starts to decline, Istanbul became a center of Islam. The Ottoman Empire did reach its peak under Suleiman I, who ruled from 1520 to 1566. Suleiman's armies overran Hungary in 1526, and by 1529, their attempt to take Vienna fell twice. The ability of the Ottomans, though, to send troops so far into Christian Europe does increase fear in Europeans, and further they show their strength when in 1522, Suleiman's navy captured the island of Rhodes, that's now part of Greece, in the eastern Mediterranean, which had long been a stronghold of Christian knights. In the 1550s, the Ottoman navy took control of Tripoli in North Africa, further expanding their empire. and you see that the Ottoman Empire would experience a transformation as the state adapts to new internal and external pressures.

We see a period of reform followed by the 18th century, and challenges in defending Ottoman territory against foreign invasion and occupation led to the Ottoman defeat and the dissolution by 1918-22. Following the Ottomans, we have the Safavids. So the Safavid dynasty had its origins in the Safavid order of Sufism. Sufism would be a mystical kind of group of missionaries within Islam. And they established themselves in the northern Azerbaijan region, which is now Iran.

Ishmael conquered most of Persia and then pushes into Iraq. And what's really cool about Ishmael is he's only 14 or 15 years old when he is doing this. And he soon conquers all of Iran and was proclaimed Shah, which the term Shah is equivalent to king or emperor in 1501. The Safavid Empire does, though, have two problems. First, despite being on the Arabian Sea, part of the Indian Ocean, they do not have a real navy.

Second, the Safavids lack... natural defenses. So the Safavids rise to power in the 1500s due to their land-based military might and strong leadership.

And we then have Abbas the Great or Shah Abbas I. He is coming to power and presided over the Safavid empire at its height. His troops include soldiers who were often Christian boys pressed into service from as far northwest as Georgia and Russia. Abbas imported weaponry from Europe. and he relied on Europeans to advise his troops about this newly acquired military technology. Slowly, the Shahs come to control the religion as well as politics, and using Shia Islam as a unifying force, Shah Ismail built a power base that supported his rule and denies any legitimacy to any Sunni leader.

That strict adherence to Shia Islam, so it's like a division of denominations in a sense. Them being so strictly with Shia causes rivalries with the Ottoman Empire, who was Sunni. And in 1541, Safavid forces were stopped by the Ottomans at Tabriz, a city in Persia, that becomes part of the border between Sunni and Shia societies.

Conflicts, it is to be noted, though, were not purely Sunni versus Shia between the Ottomans and the Safavids. A lot of it was control over the trade routes that were on land. Ottomans used trade embargoes, which are official trade bans, consistently against the Safavid silk traders as a way to assert dominance over their eastern rival, and women in the Safavid empire rarely mention local Safavid histories were permitted to participate in societies.

They are, their movements are still restricted. They are still veiled, but they do have access to rights provided by Islamic laws for inheritance and in extreme cases, divorce. So now we move into Mughal India.

In the 1520s, Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane, founded a 300-year dynasty during a time when India was in disarray. The completed conquest in northern India and under the new Mughal name formed a central government similar to that of Suleiman in Turkey. Akbar, Babur's grandson, achieved very great religious and political goals.

It became some of the richest and best governed states in the world. And overseas trade flourished during this relatively peaceful period. Arab traders conducted most of the commerce, and traded goods included textiles, tropical foods, spices, and precious stones, all of which were often exchanged for gold and silver.

Trade within the borders of the empire were carried on by merchant castes, and members of the merchant castes were allowed to participate in banking and the production of handicrafts. Do know that castes are very strict social classes designated at birth by birth, and it divides those who follow the Hindu religion into four categories, Brahmins, Ksatriyas, Vashyas, and the Sutras. Outside of the system are the atyuts or the dalits, which are considered the untouchables. The Indian caste system, as we see it in Mughal India, becomes the basis of educational and vocational opportunities for Indian society. Mughal India flourished from Babur's time through the early 18th century.

And we also, again, see these magnificent architectural accomplishments are the remaining testaments to the wealth and sophistication of the Mughal Empire. So if all of these are doing so well, what happens? What goes wrong?

And so let's look at the decline of the gunpowder. And again, I'm trying to keep this concise and short. As we get into the course, we will start digging more into things.

But I do want this first week to be much more brief for you to get a hold of understanding what the course is about. So the decline of the gunpowder empire. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires are all declining, while Western Europe is growing in strength economically and militarily, particularly in terms of sea power.

Russia does modernize and reorganize its army, modeling it after the armies of England, France, and the Netherlands. The Islamic empires do not modernize, and as a result, Russia remains powerful enough to survive as an independent nation, while the other gunpowder empires fall. The decline of the Ottoman Empire starts to occur in 1571 after Suleiman's death.

Then we have a European force made up mostly of Spaniards and Venetians to defeat the Ottomans in a great naval conflict known as the Battle of Lepanto. After the reign of Suleiman, the Ottomans fell victim to weak sultans and strong European neighbors. So as they got weaker, their neighbors got stronger.

And the empire became known as the Sick Man of Europe. Successors to Suleiman were often held hostage to heirloom politics, which means that the efforts of their wives and concubines of the sultan to promote their own children as likely heirs to the throne allowed a lot of women to become powerful behind the scenes. And a lot of pressures on the emperor were about who the next heir would be versus the betterment of the country.

We also have the failed siege of Vienna in 1683 and then the British and French involvement in the Ottoman territories with Greece's independence in 1821 and the Russian expansion in the 19th century is further weakening the Ottoman Empire. Following the Ottoman Empire we have the Safavid Empire whose lavish lifestyles and military spending combines with falling revenues results in a weakened economy. In 1722 a rebellion by the heavily oppressed Sunni Pashtuns occurs in present-day Afghanistan, and the Afghan forces went on to sack Ishbahan, and their leader, Mahmud, declared himself Shah of Persia.

While the Safavid dynasty does remain in some control, chaos was an impediment to centralization and tax collection. Ottomans and the Russians were able to seize some of their territories, and the Safavid dynasty declined rapidly until it was replaced by the Zan dynasty in 1760. Following that, we have Mughal decline. So Shah Jahan's son and successor Aurangzeb, ruled 1658 to 1707, inherited an empire that was weakened by corruption.

He failed to keep up with the military innovations of external enemies, and he does have this grandiose hope and desire to increase the size of the empire and bring all of India under Muslim rule. Because he wants to bring all of India under Muslim rule, he wants to get rid of the, to rid the empire of its Hindu influences, and in expanding the empire to the south, he drained the empire's treasury and was unable to put down peasant uprisings. Some uprisings sparked by Aurangzeb's insistence on an austere and pious Islamic lifestyle and an intolerance of minority religions lead groups from Sikhs, Hindus, and others to consistently rebel.

The empire grows increasingly unstable after Aurangzeb's death, and it allowed the British and French to gain more and more economic power in India. The British do eventually take political power away from the Mughals in the 19th century. With this, we get new forms of corruption in trade in the Islamic empires.

So coffee drinking traces to Sufis in Yemen, and it's them seeking this trance-like concentration on God and found that coffee helped them stay awake. It is used for business and is an extension of hospitality to potential buyers. which then spreads to Egypt and Syria. Coffee is native to the Islamic world, but new products from the Columbian Exchange are added, including tobacco and opium becoming the main ones. Coffee houses make coffee and tobacco place for conversation and increase male sociability outside of the house.

So we have some people here arguing that coffee and tobacco are intoxicating, which makes them the same as wine, which was banned. banned from to Muslims. Despite being debated uh is and you know if it should be allowed or not during this time it is very revolutionary because again it pushes social socialization to be no longer confined to the home.

There are public spaces to that. With this we have by the 17th century the Dutch are gradually replacing the Portuguese as a dominant trading power in the Indian Ocean. the british and french are also exerting control in south asia with the beic formed in 1600 it gains important commercial concessions from the mughal empire or emperor johan gear in 1619 and by 1700 they found a city that became madras and calcutta and took over bombay mumbai or which is today mumbai which was portuguese and then they get trade with china 1700 This brings no direct benefit to Ottomans and Safavids. Europeans can now bypass them, but they're adaptable and find ways to benefit. The rapid increase in overall trade in India, for example, is one way.

Akbar had to launch a wide-scale road-building campaign to facilitate commercial transportation. And throughout Muslim lands, both Jews and Christians were active in commerce. One particularly interesting case involves an Armenian Christians in the 16th to 18th centuries. Armenian merchants have been trading from their base in Armenia for centuries, and they were especially known for their trade in Persian silk. So when the Portuguese first appeared on the western coast of India in 1498 and began to settle in South India, they found many Armenian merchant communities already there.

A few decades later Akbar invited Armenians to settle in its new capital, Agra. And in 1603, Shah Abbas captured much of Armenia, taking it from the Ottomans, and forced the Armenians to move more deeply into Persia. Armenian networks stretching from Venice and Amsterdam in Western Europe to Moscow and Russia and Ottoman-controlled Aleppo and Smyrna to all major trading cities of India.

And many of these communities become substantial trading centers. So now looking at the British East India Company to the British Empire. You have the origins are coming from the desire to profit from trade.

And at the time, London, the capital of England, discouraged unnecessary expenses and financial risk. And they're also opposing missionary activities, so trying to convert the locals, or any interference in local Indian politics. The British East India Company expands political control anyway. and the company's factories evolved into defensive installations manned by small garrisons of native troops from india called sepoys train who were trained in western military weapons and tactics the british became a dominant force in india and the french attempted to take control but the british navy held out the treaty of paris of 1763 recognized british control of much of india and marks the beginning of the British Empire in India. Eventually, the British East India Company is pushed out of the governing role because the English Parliament thought they had become corrupt.

With the Regulating Act of 1773, they created the Office of Governor General to exercise political authority over the territory controlled by the company, and the East India Company Act of 1784 required that the Governor General be chosen from someone outside the East India Company and made company directors subject to parliamentary supervision, which again says a shift in it being something that's trade-based control to actual political control. That therefore concludes this lecture. As I said, I'm trying to keep these short and concise. I understand just listening to a recording can be a lot more tiresome than being in a classroom where there's interaction.

Again, If I'm going too quickly, you always have the option of slowing the video down using YouTube. It's a great kind of perk to these videos. While they may go quicker than an in-class lecture, you can adjust the playback speed to suit your needs. So some people like it quicker.

Some people say it's too quick and need it slower. That's up to you. And you also have the ability to go back and replay these. Again, I encourage all of you to reach out and ask any questions that you may have.

Thank you so much and have a great day.

Transcript for:Overview of Islamic Gunpowder Empires

Transcript for:
Overview of Islamic Gunpowder Empires