Kinlore
c. 1453–1700 (at their height)

The Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires

Three great Muslim empires dominate a belt from the Balkans to Bengal, leaving the Blue Mosque, Isfahan and the Taj Mahal, and a lasting Sunni–Shia map.

  • The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals — Stephen F. Dale, Cambridge University Press (2010)
  • Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923 — Caroline Finkel, John Murray (2005)
  • The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization — Marshall G. S. Hodgson, University of Chicago Press (1974)
  • The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800 — Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, Yale University Press (1994)

Well established empireculturefaith

The Ottoman Turks, who began as a small principality in Anatolia around 1300, took Constantinople in 1453 under Mehmed II and made it their capital, Istanbul. In 1516–17 Selim I conquered Mamluk Syria and Egypt, bringing Mecca and Medina under Ottoman protection; later sultans used the title of caliph. Under Süleyman the Magnificent (1520–1566) the empire reached Vienna’s walls, and the architect Sinan filled its cities with mosques.

  • Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923 — Caroline Finkel, John Murray (2005)
  • The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals — Stephen F. Dale, Cambridge University Press (2010)
  • The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800 — Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, Yale University Press (1994)

In Iran, the young Shah Ismail founded the Safavid dynasty in 1501 and made Twelver Shi’ism the state religion of a largely Sunni land. Over the next two centuries Iran became the Shia heartland it is today. Shah Abbas I (1588–1629) rebuilt Isfahan around a vast square whose mosques are among the masterpieces of Islamic architecture.

  • The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals — Stephen F. Dale, Cambridge University Press (2010)
  • An Introduction to Shi'i Islam — Moojan Momen, Yale University Press (1985)
  • The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800 — Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, Yale University Press (1994)

In India, Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, won the Battle of Panipat in 1526 and founded the Mughal empire. Akbar (1556–1605) ruled a mostly Hindu population with notable tolerance; Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife; Aurangzeb (1658–1707) ruled more strictly and is still argued over in India today.

  • The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals — Stephen F. Dale, Cambridge University Press (2010)
  • The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization — Marshall G. S. Hodgson, University of Chicago Press (1974)
  • The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800 — Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, Yale University Press (1994)
The rivalry between Sunni Ottomans and Shia Safavids hardened the sectarian divide, while Islam spread further in Southeast Asia mainly through traders and Sufis rather than conquest.
  • The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals — Stephen F. Dale, Cambridge University Press (2010)
  • The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization — Marshall G. S. Hodgson, University of Chicago Press (1974)

Why it matters today

Islam

Many of the buildings people picture when they think of Islamic art come from these empires. Their borders also shaped today's religious map: Iran is overwhelmingly Shia because the Safavids made it so, and South Asia's huge Muslim population, now split between Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, grew under centuries of Muslim rule including the Mughals.