Indian Civilization in the Early Modern Period: Diversity

and Disunity

I. Diversity in Geography and People==>How diverse?

*Geographic diversity: the Himalayas, the Ganges, the Indus valley, the Deccan,
and the island of Ceylon
*Peoples: Dravadians, Aryans, and hill peoples as well as the Arabians
II. Diversity in Society and Religions
*The Caste tradition: Brahmans, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Shudras,
and Pariahs ==>What is the Caste System? Difference between the Four Orders
and the Caste System?
Note: The caste system was more hierarchical and rigid than the Four Orders.
Peoples caste status could not be changed throughout their lives. Inter-caste
marriage was prohibited. There was no social mobility in the caste system.
*Religious Diversity ==> Explain the reasons why Hinduism became most
popular in India? What were major doctrines of Jainism?
=>Jainism
Note: Because of its too much emphasis on non-violence, Jainism was not
popular among the peasantswhose agricultural work might kill creatures in
the soilbut attractive to artisans, merchants, and intellectuals in the urban
areas.
=>Hinduism: evolved from the old Bramin religion
=>Islam
Note: By 1500, Islamic expansion in India strengthened "diversity" in the
indian society and failed to achieve unification.
=>Sikhism

Note: Nanak and his following gurus tried to integrate the best of Islam and
Hinduism into one single religion. Butneither Islam nor Hinduism liked this
new religion. Sikhism suffered from the attack and persecution from the two
larger religious forces and finally developed into a very militant religion to
protect itself.
III. Political Division ==>Why?
*Political disunity as normal throughout much of Indian history
*No long-time centralized imperial authority
*Islamic conquest did not achieve unity: Islam separated from Hinduism ==>The
impacts of Islam on India?
IV. The Mughal Empire
*The founding of the Mughal dynasty: Babur (1483-1530), the conquer and the
ruler ==> Who was he?
=> Babur's will to Humayun: "My son take note of the following: Do not harbour
religious prejudice in your heart. You should dispense justice while taking note of
the people's religious sensitivities, and rites. Avoid slaughtering cows in order that
you could gain a place in the heart of natives. This will take you nearer to the
people. Do not demolish or damage places of worship of any faith and dispense
full justice to all to ensure peace in the country. Islam can better be preached by the
sword of love and affection, rather than the sword of tyranny and persecution.
Avoid the differences between the shias and sunnis. Look at the various
characteristics of your people just as characteristics of various seasons." ==>Not
only a conqueror but also a ruler
*Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605): building the Mughal empire ==> His major
achievements?
Note: Akbars political and religious reforms focused on toleration and aimed
to unite his Muslim and Hindu subjects and centralize the political power into
his own hands. His Din-i-Ilahi was similar to Nanaks approach, incorporating
together various elements from Islam, Hinduism, and other religions. In this

new faith, Akbar himself became God. But Akbar's reform did not last long
but actually ended after his death. His reform did not last long but ended after
he died. The reason for the failure of Akbars reform was that his reforms
aimed to achieve a kind of unity and eliminate the diversity causing conflicts
and thus violated the Indian tradition and historical trend, that is, diversity
and disunity. So the failure was inevitable.
*Jahangir (r. 1605-1627), Shah Jahan (r.1628-1658), and Awrangzeb (r.1658-1707):
the expansion of the Empire, Taj Mahal, and religious fanaticism ==>Their
achievements?
[Note: See the illustrations below:

[Taj Mahal, built during the reign of Shah Jahan (Akbar's successor),
perfectly combined Islamic and Hindu elements together. Its symmetrical
design, arch-shaped doorways, and domes all showed Islamic architecture
style. But the top of its finial consisted of a new moonagain, an Islamic
designand an arrow pointing heavenward. This combination reminded
people of Shiva holding a trident weapon and representing destroyer and
transferor.]

*The decline of the Empire after the early 16th century: A return to normalcy?
==>Why declined?

The following is the outline of the Mughal section in The Earth and
Its Peoples (pp. 512-14):
III. The Mughal Empire, 1526-1739
A.

Political Foundations

1. The Mughal Empire was established and consolidated by the Turkic warrior
Babur (14831530) and his grandson Akbar (r. 15561605). Akbar established a
central administration and granted nonhereditary land revenues to his military
officers and government officials.
2. Akbar and his successors gave efficient administration and peace to their
prosperous northern heartland.
3. Foreign trade boomed, but the Mughals, like the Safavids, did not maintain a
navy or merchant marine, preferring to allow Europeans to serve as carriers.
B.

Hindus and Muslims

1. The Mughals inherited traditions of religious tolerance from earlier Muslim

rulers, both inside and outside India. For example, fifteen percent of Mughal
officials holding land revenues were Hindus, most of them from northern Rajput
warrior families.
2. Akbar was the most illustrious of the Mughal rulers: he took the throne at
thirteen and commanded the government on his own at twenty. Akbar worked for
reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims by marrying a Hindu Rajput princess
and by introducing reforms that reduced taxation and legal discrimination against
Hindus.

3. Akbar made himself the center of a short-lived eclectic new religion (Divine
Faith) and sponsored a court culture in which Hindu and Muslim elements were
mixed.
C.

Central Decay and Regional Challenges

1. The Mughal Empire declined after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. Factors
contributing to the Mughal decline include the land grant system, the failure to
completely integrate Aurangzebs newly conquered territory into the imperial
administration, and the rise of regional powers. The real power of the Mughal
rulers came to an end in 1739 after Nadir Shah raided Delhi; the empire survived in
name until 1858.
2. As the Mughal government lost power, Mughal regional officials bearing the
title of nawab established their own more or less independent states. These regional
states were prosperous, but they could not effectively prevent the intrusion of
Europeans such as the French, whose representative Joseph Dupleix captured the
English trading center of Madras and became a power broker in southern India
until he was recalled to France in 1754.
[Note: After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire substantially
declined and quickly collapsed. The final collapse of the Mughal Empire
meant that the Indian historical development returned to normalcy.]

Middle East Islamic Empires in the Early Modern Period

The textbook discussed well the Ottoman and Safavid empires in the Middle East.
Here I first provide some background information on the Islamic tradition and then
outline pp. 498-512 of Chapter 20 with some supplementary notes.

I. The Islamic Tradition

Since Muhammad founded Islam in the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century, the
Muslims (those who believe in Islam) continuously expanded the Islamic
influence. In the 1500s, there were three major Islamic empires in Asia (Ottoman
and Safavid in the Middle East and Mughal in India). But Islam influenced larger
areas. The map below shows the Islamic zone:

Obviously, by the 16th century, the Muslim zone had covered a large portion of the
Asian area and extended to Europe and Africa.
1. Koran, the Five Pillars, and Shriah
Like Christianity, Islam was monotheistic and believed that Allah is the only allpowerful being who created the universe and everything in the universe. Anyone
who wants to achieve salvation should follow Allahs will. And Koran, the Five
Pillars, and Shriah guided Muslims to act upon the will of Allah.
At the core of Islam is Koran (Quran) which literally means recitation. It is

Muhammads revelations collected and compiled in the mid 7th century by his
followers. Koran contains all the principles and precepts by which Muslims are to
live.
The Five Pillars constitute the core requirements of faith, observation of which
would lead to salvation:
1). belief in Allah and Muhammad as his prophet;
2). standard prayer five times a day and public prayer on Friday at midday;
3). alms-giving: certain portion of annual income voluntarilygiven to the poor
of the community;
4). fast during daylight hours in Ramadan; and
5). a possible pilgrimage to Mecca in ones life.
Shariah, the Islamic law code, provides Muslims with a set of prescriptions to
regulate their daily lives.
2. Jihad
The Koran, the Five Pillars and Shariah closely combined the Muslims together.
After the death of Muhammad, Muslims started their expansion and tried to spread
Islam to other areas. Such an expansion was called Jihad. Westerners sometimes
translate this word into holy war. Muslims interpret Jihad as striving in the way
of Allah, which does necessarily refer to the war. Nevertheless, from the
historical perspective, Jihad resulted from the Arabian traditional tribal raids
but was granted with a new religious meaning with the rise of Islam.
3. The Sunni-Shiite Split
Following the death of Muhammad, Muslims split into two major sections: Sunnis
and Shiites. The split resulted from the issue of succession: who should succeed
Muhammad?
Some Muslims believed that only AliMuhammads cousin who also married
Muhammads daughter (Muhammad had no son)and Alis son should succeed
Muhammads position. These Muslims were called Shiat Ali (Alis Party), which
evolved into the term Shiite. The textbook mentions that, according to Shi'ite
doctrine, all temporal rulers are temporary stand-ins for the socalled "Hidden
Imam"--the twelfth descendant of Ali (p. 509).

But other Muslims did not accept this arrangement. They insisted that only the
person who was elected from the general council of community leaders could
became Caliph, successor to Muhammad. These Muslims were called Sunnis,
followers of Sunna (community tradition).
As a result of the split, most Muslims adopted the Sunni belief, but large
Shiite communities still survived in the Middle East area.

II. The Textbook Outline

The following is a brief outline of pp. 498-512 of the textbook (I have added some
notes to it):
I. The Ottoman Empire, to 1750
A. Expansion and Frontiers
1. Osman established the Ottoman Empire in northwestern Anatolia in 1300. He
and his successors consolidated control over Anatolia, fought Christian enemies in
Greece and in the Balkans, and captured Serbia and the Byzantine capital of
Constantinople.
2. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 15201566) conquered Belgrade (1521)
and Rhodes (1522) and laid siege to Vienna (1529), but withdrew with the onset of
winter.
3. The Ottoman Empire fought with Venice for two centuries as it attempted to
exert its control over the Mediterranean. The Ottomans forced the Venetians to pay
tribute but continued to allow them to trade.
4. Muslim merchants in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean requested Ottoman naval
support against the Portuguese. The Ottomans initially responded vigorously to
Portuguese threats against nearby ports such as Aden, but they saw no reason to
commit much effort to the defense of non-Ottoman Muslim merchants elsewhere
in the Indian Ocean, as goods still flowed from there to Ottoman markets
unimpeded.
B.

Central Institutions

1. The original Ottoman military forces of mounted warriors armed with bows
were supplemented in the late fourteenth century when the Ottomans formed
captured Balkan Christian men into a force called the new troops (Janissaries), who

fought on foot and were armed with guns. In the early fifteenth century, the
Ottomans began to recruit men for the Janissaries and for positions in the
bureaucracy through a levy on male Christian children.
2. Ottoman land forces were powerful enough to defeat the Safavids, but the
Ottomans were defeated at sea by combined Christian forces at the Battle of
Lepanto in 1571.
3. The Ottoman Empire was a cosmopolitan society in which the Osmanlispeaking, tax-exempt military class (askeri) served the sultan as soldiers and
bureaucrats and were exempt from paying taxes.
4. In the view of the Ottomans, the sultan supplied justice and defense for the
common people (the raya), while the rayasupported the sultan and his military
through their taxes. In practice, the common people had little direct contact with
the Ottoman government, being ruled by local notables and by their own religious.
[Note: Here the textbook does not discuss in detail the Ottoman political
system. Actually, in the vast conquered territory, the Ottoman did not destroy
the existing administrative, social, and economic structures but integrated
them into the Ottomans own system. For example, the Ottoman
administrative system was built upon the three groups: the qadis,
the timariots, and the ghulam system.
The qadis were the traditional Islamic judges who were assigned
administrative functions at the village level before the Ottoman conquest. And
the Ottoman leaders preserved this system and allowed the qadis to fulfill
their old administrative functions.
The timariots were the old frontier warriors. They were granted recently
conquered villages and towns and could receive the tax revenue from there,
and in return, they did not serve in the central government as viziers or grand
viziers but served as local police to protect these villages and towns.
The ghulam system was the Ottoman practice of appointing men who were
nominally slaves to high positions in government. Since theoretically slaves
had no right against their masters, this practice aimed to eliminate the
possible insubordination problem. Janissaries and even grand viziers (the
government heads) as well as many other high-ranking government officials

all were nominal slaves. As a result, those nominal slaves acquired the key
administrative and military positions in government. And in the local
level, qadis and timariots maintained the existing political and social order.]

C.

Crisis of the Military State, 15851650

1. The increasing importance and expense of firearms meant that the size and
cost of the Janissaries increased over time, while the importance of the landholding
Turkish cavalry decreased. At the same time, New World silver brought inflation
and undermined the purchasing power of the fixed tax income of the cavalry.
2. Financial deterioration and the use of short-term mercenary soldiers brought a
wave of rebellions and banditry to Anatolia. The Janissaries began to marry, went
into business, and enrolled their sons in the Janissary corps, which grew in number
but declined in military readiness.
D.

Economic Change and Growing Weakness

1. The period of crisis led to significant changes in Ottoman institutions. The

sultan now lived a secluded life in his palace, the affairs of government were in the
hands of chief administrators and the Janissaries had become a politically powerful
hereditary elite who spent more time on crafts and trade than on military training.
2. In the rural areas, the system of land grants in return for military service had
been replaced by a system of tax farming. Rural administration came to depend on
powerful provincial governors and wealthy tax farmers.
3. In the context of disorder and decline, formerly peripheral places like Izmir
flourished as Ottoman control over trade declined and European merchants came to
purchase Iranian silk and local agricultural products. This growing trade brought
the agricultural economies of western Anatolia, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean
coast into the European commercial network.
4. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was clear that the Ottoman Empire
was in economic and military decline. Europeans dominated Ottoman import and

export trade by sea, but they did not control strategic ports or establish colonial
settlements on Ottoman territory.
5. During the Tulip Period (17181730), the Ottoman ruling class enjoyed
European luxury goods and replicated the Dutch tulip mania of the sixteenth
century. In 1730, the Patrona Halil rebellion indicated the weakness of the central
state; provincial elites took advantage of this weakness to increase their power and
their wealth.
II. The Safavid Empire, 15021722
A. Safavid Society and Religion
1. Ismail declared himself shah of Iran in 1502 [Note: With strong Shiite
fervor, Ismail and most of his followers militarily rejected to adopt the new
advanced firearms and religiously persecuted Sunnis and other non-Shiite
groups. ] and ordered that his followers and subjects all adopt Shiite Islam, in the
end creating a deep chasm between Iran and its Sunni neighbors.
2. Conversion to Shiite belief made permanent the cultural difference between
Iran and its Arab neighbors that had already been developing. From the tenth
century onward, Persian literature and Persian decorative styles had been diverging
from Arabic culturea process that had intensified when the Mongols destroyed
Baghdad and thus put an end to that citys role as an influential center of Islamic
culture.
3. Under the Safavids, Iranian culture was further distinguished by the strength
of Shiite beliefs, including the concept of the Hidden Imam and the deeply
emotional annual commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn.
B.

A Tale of Two Cities: Isfahan and Istanbul

1. Isfahan and Istanbul were very different in their outward appearance. Istanbul
was a busy port city with a colony of European merchants, a walled palace, and a
skyline punctuated by brick domes and soaring minarets. Isfahan was an inland
city with few Europeans, unobtrusive minarets, brightly tiled domes, and an open
palace with a huge plaza for polo games.

2. Both cities were built for walking (not for wheeled vehicles), had few open
spaces, narrow and irregular streets, and artisan and merchant guilds.
3. Women were seldom seen in public in Istanbul or in Isfahan, being confined
in womens quarters in their homes; however, records indicate that Ottoman
women were active in the real estate market and appeared in court cases. Public
life was almost entirely the domain of men.
4. Despite an Armenian merchant community, Isfahan was not a cosmopolitan
city, nor was the population of the Safavid Empire particularly diverse. Istanbuls
location gave it a cosmopolitan character comparable to that of other great
seaports, in spite of the fact that the sultans wealth was built on his territorial
possessions, not on the voyages of his merchants.

C. Economic Crisis and Political Collapse

1. Irans manufactures included silk and its famous carpets but, overall, the
manufacturing sector was small and not very productive. The agricultural sector
(farming and herding) did not see any significant technological developments
partly because the nomad chieftains who ruled the rural areas had no interest in
building the agricultural economy.
2. Like the Ottomans, the Safavids were plagued by the expense of firearms and
by the reluctance of nomad warriors to use firearms. Shah Abbas responded by
establishing a slave corps of year-round professional soldiers armed with guns.
[Note: Actually, compared with other Safavid Shahs, Shah Abbas I was more
open-minded and more tolerant on other faiths.]
3. In the late sixteenth century, inflation caused by cheap silver and a decline in
overland trade made it difficult for the Safavid state to pay its army and
bureaucracy. An Afghan army took advantage of this weakness to capture Isfahan
and end Safavid rule in 1722. [Note: The Safavid conflicts with Afghanis largely
resulted from Safavids insistence on imposing the Shiite faith on Afghani
tribes which largely were Sunnis. This showed that Abbas Is successors
retreated from Abbass toleration and open-mindedness and moved to a kind
of fanaticism. ]

[Note: The textbook mentiones the economic problems of the Muslim empires.
Here be sure to understand that, among the three Islamic empires, both
Ottoman and Safavid encouraged commercial activities and granted some
privileges to the merchants including European merchants. In comparison,
Mughal did not pay much attention to forerign trade, partly because of the
economic size and productivity of the domesitic Indian economy and partly
because of Mughal's focus on the land empire without much interest in
maritime affairs, although the Mughal treasury still derived significant
income from foreign trade.
Nevertheless, in all of these three empires, agricultural production was far
more important than trade. Actually,productive agricultural economics instead
of trade were the foundations of all the Islamic empires. Each empire extracted
surplus agricultural production and used it to finance army and
bureaucracies. Mostly the three empires relied on crops of wheat and rice that
had flouriched for centuries in the lands they ruled. The Columbian exchange
brought American crops to all the Islamic empires but without the same
dramatic effects as in Europe and other places, although maize, potatoes,
tomatoes, and other crops were introduced to the Islamic empire by European
merchant.]