Fromthe late thirteenth century, three new empires emerged, the Ottoman, Safavid,and Mongol. The Osman Turks on the Anatolian Peninsula in Turkey started theOttoman Empire. The Safavid Dynastystarted with Shah Ismail. And Babur was the founder of the Mongol Empire andunited the Hindu and Muslim kingdoms of India.
The Ottoman, Safavid, and MongolEmpire all had great impact in the history of Middle East. However, theirsuccesses were on the base of their unified empire. As one of the indispensableprogress led an empire to success, there are some factors that help theemperors to unify the empire. From 1300 to 1700 CE many countries dominatedparts of Middle East because of strong military strength, flourished economy,and strong government. To begin with, highmilitaristic was one of the elements that help unify an empire. The Ottoman Empire could be an example toshow that empire with strong military forces could unified themselves andquickly spread its power. The Ottoman Empire was established by the Osman I in1299 CE.
The rise of the Ottoman Empire was with the fall of the ByzantineEmpire. 1In the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan was the supremecontroller of the Ottoman armies, which was very well organized and funded.Military concepts and procedures penetrated the operations of the court, ministries,and bureaucracy.
Warfare was the one of the business of the state, and thatbusiness was very cost-effective for the Turks. Every year the sultan plannedand usually led a meticulous designed campaign intended to attain the aim—theconquest of a new territory and spread the empire. A new force of army wasassembled for every campaign season.
They recruited soldiers from the conqueredpeople and at the height of its military power the Ottoman forces totaled over20,000 men. The Ottoman Empire was like most Muslim empires of the time; it wasa “gunpowder empire” 2since its success largely based on themastery of the technology of firearms. The firearm of the Ottoman Empire wascalled Janissaries; they were elite gunpowder troops. They were recruited fromthe local Christian population and converted them to Islam and were trained asfoot soldiers to serve the Sultan.3 Another evidence could be the MongolDynasty.
Mongol conquests of the 13th and 14th centuriesdestroyed remaining Muslims unity in Southern Asia. Babur, a descendant ofTamerlane invaded India in 1526 for seeking wealth. He got stuck and decided tostay in India. By 1528, the Mongols controlled most of the Indus and Ganges region.Babur’s armies were usually smaller than his army but had weapons, artillery,and used them with great effect. TheSafavid Empire also trained strong armies. The military force of the SafavidEmpire was led by the ruler, which they called the Shah. The Shah of the Safavidempire also trained firearms as other empires at that time in the middle eastdid.
In a nut shell, all three of theseEmpires possessed great militaries that conquered most of their empires land.Besides, the Mongol, Ottoman, and Safavid Empires were known as the “militarypatronage state” due to their success with firearms during their conquests.4 In addition to military strength, tounify an empire must have a good government and strong leaders. Another reasonfor the success of the Ottomans is tied to religion. The citizens of theOttoman Empire were devout Muslims and they believed they were on a mission toexpand Islam.
Besides, the government of the Ottoman Empire was on the base ofits religion so the religious leaders of the empire were also the politicalleaders. This made it easy for the citizens to obey their ruler. And thereligion related government prevented the political disturbance that occurredin other empires. Also, the Ottoman released policies to tolerant thenon-Muslims. The non- Muslims paid a tax, but they were allowed to practicetheir religion or convert to Islam. Furthermore, took the Mongol Dynasty as anexample, one of the famous Mongol emperor, Akbar the Great, who was thegrandson of Babur.
He placed most of India under Mogul control by use ofartillery and negotiation. Akbar the Great was best known for his humanecharacter of his rule: he adopted a policy of religious tolerance and encourageintermarriage—even marrying a Hindu princess himself. He had many achievementsduring his rule: worked to reconcile problems with Hindu majority, endedspecial tax on Hindus, granted land to Hindu and Muslim warriors in return forloyalty, as well as encourages social reforms like limiting alcohol, and triesto ban Sati, even tries to create special market day for women. Toleration ofpolitical administration, and military superiority characterized the MongolEmpire under the rule of Babur and Akbar the great.
51 Elliott Ramm, “TheRise of the Ottoman Empire”, Sultan reigns and significant event. Accessed January22, 2018. https://www.sutori.
com/story/the-rise-of-the-ottoman-empire-f1022 Jeffery Hays, “OttomanMilitary. Government and Commerce”, Ottoman Army. Accessed January 20, 2018, http://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat65/sub424/item2686.html.3 Burak Sansal, “AllAbout Turkey”, the Ottoman Sultans and their Dynasty.
Accessed January 22,2018. http://www.allaboutturkey.com/ottoman_sultans.htm4 Sally MacEachern, “The 16thand 17th Centuries.
” In The New Cultural Atlas of The Islamic World.Accessed January 20, 2018. https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bbbatisl/the_16th_and_17th_centuries/0?institutionId=91855 DouglasAustin, “Gunpowder Empires Three of the Great Empires of History.
” Mongols inIndia. Accessed in January 25, 2018. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i=j==s=images==rja=8=0ahUKEwjB5obRqfzYAhWPzVMKHYRnBJMQjRwIBw=http%3A%2F%2Fslideplayer.com%2Fslide%2F9909273%2F=AOvVaw2HPaeqGsRKPnqORxmEjjP8=1517286046083054
