THE GUNPOWDER EMPIRES

The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals

I. From 1300 to 1700, three “____________________ ________________” dominated parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia:
the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), the Safavid Empire (Iran), and the Mughal Empire (India)
A. These empires were unique but shared some SIMILARITES:

1. All three empires were able to ___________________neighboring people by forming strong armies that used
_____________ and __________________; this gave them the nickname “Gunpowder Empires”
2. All three empires ________________ their _________________with neighboring societies to create a high point of
Islamic culture (cultural diffusion)
3. All three empires were ____________
and ruled by Muslim leaders, with
well-organized governments made up
of loyal bureaucrats
B. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
1. THE RISE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
a. Around 1300, the _____________
___________ of Anatolia were
unified and formed the
_____________ _____________
(the name came from an early
leader named Osman)
b. The Ottomans used ___________
and _________________to form a
powerful army and expand their
territory
c. The Ottoman army included 30,000
_________ _____________ called
________________________; these fierce soldier-slaves were trained to be completely ______________to their
Ottoman Turk rulers; Janissaries were usually Bosnian, Bulgarian, Greek, Serbian, or Albanian by blood and
Christian by religion; they were taken from their homes at an _____________ ________, forced to ___________
to Islam, and _______________ to be soldiers
d. The ___________________ _______________had been around since the fall of the old Roman Empire in the late
400s; Byzantine ___________________ increased and decreased over the years, depending on the outcomes of
its ___________ with neighboring people, such as the _______________ ____________
i. By the 1400s, Byzantine territory was chiseled away to almost _________________, except for its capital city,
_________________________
ii. Constantinople finally ___________to the Turks in 1453; with the fall of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire
was _______________________by the Seljuk Turks
iii. The Byzantine people (which included Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, Georgians, Jews, Hellenized Asiatic tribes,
and others) were made subjects of the ________ ______________ ________________; a thousand years of
Byzantine rule was ___________
e. By the late 1600s, the Ottomans expanded a great deal, taking over much of the _____________ ___________,
some of ________________ ____________, and a large part of ________________ ______________
2. SULEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT
a. Ottoman kings/emperors were called _______________and they governed with _______________ ___________
b. The greatest Ottoman sultan was ________________ _____ ___________________, who came to power in 1520
i. By the mid-1500s, Suleyman was the most _________________ ___________ in the world
 ii. Under Suleyman, the Ottoman Empire reached its _______________, expanding deep into Eastern Europe;
Suleyman’s fleet ruled the ________________________ _________ and controlled the _________ __________
trade routes that connected Europe and Asia
iii. Suleyman was ________________ by the Holy Roman Empire
(various German kingdoms) from taking over ALL of Europe
after the unsuccessful Siege of Vienna in 1529; this would be
the ______________of ________________ ______________
in Europe
iv. Suleyman’s greatest accomplishment was creating a
______________ government for the Ottoman Empire
(1) He was known as “_________________ ____
___________________” because he created a ________
___________ that governed criminal and civil issues within
his empire
(2) He created a simplified and fair ________system to raise
money for his empire
(3) He granted ______________ _____ ______________to
Christians and Jews living in the empire, wisely showing
tolerance of his subjects’ ways
v. ________, poetry, and _______________________ flourished
under Suleyman as the Ottomans experienced a cultural “golden age”
3. THE DECLINE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
a. To maintain their power against ______________within their own families, Suleyman and other Ottoman sultans
____________________ and/or jailed their sons and brothers, which led to progressively __________________
leaders as the most capable sons were eliminated
b. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Ottoman Empire was so weak it was known as the “________ ______
_____ ________________” and would end in 1922
C. THE SAFAVID EMPIRE
1. THE RISE OF THE SAFAVID EMPIRE
a. The ___________________were Turks living in ________________who built a powerful gunpowder army and
created an empire in modern-day ___________
b. Unlike the Ottomans (who were Sunni Muslims), the rulers of the Safavid Empire believed in ___________ Islam
and strictly ______________ the people they conquered
c. Safavid rulers were called ______________, which is the
Persian title for ____________
2. SHAH ABBAS
a. The greatest ruler of the Safavid Empire was __________
______________, who came to power in 1587
i. Abbas ____________________ideas from outside
groups to improve the Safavid Empire
ii. He used the Ottoman idea of janissaries, used
___________ to employ government workers, and
introduced religious ____________________ (which
helped Safavids ___________ with European Christians)
iii. Art flourished, especially ________________that
blended ________________ and European designs;
these became luxury items highly desired by Europeans

3. THE DECLINE OF THE SAFAVID EMPIRE

a. Like the Ottomans, Shah Abbas _______________ or ____________his most capable sons in order to keep power
b. As a result, _________ _______________ led to a ____________ _______________of the Safavid Empire
 c. While the Ottoman Empire lasted until 1922, the Safavid Empire fell in __________

D. THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

1. THE RISE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
a. The Mughals were ____________who descended from Turks, Afghans, and ______________living in Central Asia
b. Like the Ottomans and Safavids, the Mughals built a powerful _____________ with guns and cannons
2. BABAR and AKBAR
a. In 1494, _____________ became king of the Mughals; he expanded the _____________and began invasions into
_____________ to create his empire
b. In 1556, Babur’s grandson ________________became king of the Mughal Empire and expanded the empire into
almost all of India
i. Akbar was the _________________ of all the Mughal rulers
ii. Akbar’s greatest achievement was cultural ________________and __________________toleration he instilled
in his empire
(a) He held religious discussions with _______________ and ________________scholars
(b) Akbar ended the __________ that ________ - ________________ were required to pay, creating a fair and
affordable tax system
(c) Because he was Muslim ruling in a largely Hindu region, Akbar allowed non-Muslims to _____________
______________
(d) Akbar had many wives, including _______________, _________________, and _________________
iii. The best example of Akbar’s tolerance was his creation of a new religion called the ____________ __________
(a) The Divine Faith was an example of ____________________because it _________________ ideas from
Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism
(b) Akbar hoped the Divine Faith would end _________________ between Muslims and Hindus
(c) The Divine Faith ______________ ___________________many Muslim or Hindu converts… when Akbar
__________, so did the Divine Faith
iv. During Akbar’s reign, _________ flourished

(a) Mughal artists were known for their colorful paintings called _______________________
(b) Mughal ________________________ was known for blending of Hindu and Islamic designs
(c) The greatest example of Mughal architecture is the _____ _____________, which was built in 1631 by Jahan
3. THE DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
a. The Mughal Empire grew weak by 1700, as rulers spent too much money on ________________ and ________
while ________________ brought _________________________to millions
b. Also, the large population of _________________ in India began to _______________ against their Muslim rulers
c. ___________ __________________ took advantage of this weakness, ______________________India, and
removed the last Mughal emperor from power in 1858

II. CONCLUSIONS
A. The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals built large
_________________ empires using
________________________ militaries
B. These empires provided new contributions in
__________, _________, and ________________
C. Their decline by the 1800s allowed newly
________________________European nations to
_____________________ Asia