The Beginning's of the Mamluk Dynasty

The Mamluk Dynasty can be characterized as the “slave dynasty of Egypt” during its time frame. During its reign, the Mamluk Dynasty was a self-governing state from 1250 until 1517. This dynasty came to power by the formation of an aristocracy of white slaves, which was known as the Mamluks. By law the Mamluk slaves had restricted rights to transfer positions and wealth to their offspring’s in order to prevent them from developing hereditary dynasties.

As time progressed the Mamluks rose to power and become the strongest and best organized organization in Egypt under the ruling of Ayyubid Sultan. Overall, Ayyubid during his reign helped capture large quantities of slaves from foreign lands in order to protect his own position. After his death the Mamluks decided to have his wife and rightful heir to the throne murdered. After the murder of Ayyubid’s wife, the Mamluks began to transfer power within their own ranks.

Overall, these events helped re-establish the caliphate in Cairo causing the Mamluk Dynasty to prosper.

Fall of the Safavid Empire

Not only did recurrent enemies, such as the Ottomans and Uzbeks, cause the Safavid Empire to fall, new enemies during the 17th century began to rise. During this time frame Russian began to pose a threat to the Middle Eastern regions. Eastern empires, such as the Mughal dynasty, began to expand into Afghanistan; this inevitably caused the take over of Qandahar. Not only were foreign powers picking apart the Safavid Empire, trade began to shift. Overall, trade routes between the East and West had shifted away from Iran, causing a substantial loss of business and trade. This caused the Shah Abbas to switch his military system, due to lack of funds, to a ghulam-based military.
Even though the first two Shahs’ were great rulers during their reign, the Shahs preceding them were ineffectual. By the end of Shah Abba’s era in 1666, the Safavid Empire was plagued and marked by failure. Because of lavish lifestyles, of the Shahs, and “the finer things in life,” so they thought, they were blinded by the falling revenues and military threats imposed by the Europeans. As you can see the once great Safavid Empire fell victim to poor ruling, military failures, and economic turmoil, like the Ottoman Empire.

The Falling of the Ottoman Empire

While learning about the Ottoman Empire, I learned that this unique empire had district qualities, such as their military and trade, that helped them flourish. Even though the Ottoman Empire symbolizes one of the greatest empires in the Middle East, it inevitably fell due to economic problems, lack of trade, and military. During this time frame the Ottoman economy started exhibit failure, overall leading to its decline. During this time, the western civilizations began to move toward industrialization. Even though this seemed like a good idea for the west, the Ottomans failed to adapt from agricultural to industrialization. Because of this, the Ottoman Empire began to lose trade opportunities.
Do to their economic problems; the once great Ottoman military began to suffer as well. By trying to keep the empire intact due to internal and external affairs, it became a costly process, because of casualties and economical expenses. Due to the lack of technology, weaponry became obsolete. The Ottomans needed to develop better weaponry in order to defeat the Europeans. Because of this, the Ottomans began to equip their infantry with better firearms, even though this was a great expense. In order to fuel the military with men and the proper weaponry the Ottoman Empire moved toward taxation. Heavy taxation became a huge burden on the Ottoman society, this inevitably caused numerous revolts. An example of a revolt during this time frame was Anatolia. Overall, this revolt caused abandonment of farm lands, and depopulation of villages.

The Great Safavid Empire

The Safavid Empire can be seen as one of the greatest of the empires in the Middle East. There are multiple reasons why I feel this way, some of which are the trade networks, art, culture, and the growth of Isfahan. As trade grew in this empire, other countries such as Europe were astounded by the variety of goods that the Safavid Empire had to offer. Some of the goods that the Safavid Empire offered were sugar, bread, and silk. Due to trade, culture as well the growth of Isfahan developed. As quoted in class Isfahan was considered "half the world." I feel that this is true due to the beauty and prestige of this capital.

The Safavid Empire is truly one to be admired by the rest of the world. For centuries, it was one of the most powerful empires aside from the Ottomon Empire. It shared various aspects with the Ottomon Empire (such as the establishment of well put out laws), but the Safavids stood out in different ways. While the Ottomons used much of the Kanun law, the Safavids were less secular about their laws.

In these different ways, the Safavids shined out from their fellow empire builders and established themself as extremely successful.

The Ottoman Empire and Military Prosperity

I was amazed to hear that during the Ottoman Empire’s reign, they developed one of the most powerful militaries along with weaponry. From 1299 to 1923 the Ottoman Empire was feared by a multitude of countries including Europe. During their reign, they acquired complex military techniques as well as advanced weapons. Their military system consisted of Janissary, Sipahi, Akinic, and Mehterân. Each unit played a significant role in the way the Ottoman military functioned. Another attribute that the Ottoman Empire obtained, that no other empire or country attained, was gun powder. With the discovery of gun powder, the Ottoman military was able to delve into the technology of modern weapons. For example instead of using daggers, the Ottoman soldiers were able to develop weapons such as muskets and cannons. Because of this, Ottoman soldiers were able to vanquish their enemies from any distance.

World Religions

After today’s class I was interested in how easy it is to practice the Islamic religion. Unlike other religions, such as Catholicism and Buddhism, Islam is relatively easy to practice due to its one teaching. The religion Islam teaches that if you just practice the five pillars you are being a devoted worshiper of Islam. The five pillars consist of faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophet-hood of Muhammad, the establishment of the daily prayers, the concern for and almsgiving to the needy, self-purification through fasting, and the pilgrimage to Makkah. With the completion of these of the Five Pillars you can be considered devoted to the Islamic faith.

Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land

Even though I support this country, at times I feel that we act before we think. In this case I don't like the fact that the Israelis have persicuted and treated the Palestinians unjustly. For example I never knew that the Israelis invaded Palestine and forced the Palestinians out of their own country. It was evident that the Israelis were forcing the Palestinians out of their own country, taking over their properties, and even their own children. As seen in the video observed in class, the American media portayed that the Israelis were being percicuted by the Palestinians but in actuality the Palestinians were just defending themselves.