The Ottomans and the Mughals Empire

Essay by bekenA, February 2006

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The Ottomans and the Mughals are two of the greatest and most powerful civilizations of the modern period. Their moments of glory in the sixteenth century represent high points in human creativity and art. They built empires, which were the largest and most influential of the Muslim empires of the modern period, and their culture and military influence extended into Europe. Most of the triumphant moments of the two empires came during the reigns of Suleyman I the Magnificent in Ottoman Empire and Akbar the great Mughal. Just as the reigns of these two leaders marked highpoints in the growth of their empires, their deaths marked starting points for the decline of their great empires.

Under the rule of Suleyman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire reached its zenith. Beginning in 1520 when Prince Suleyman became the sultan and running for 46 years until his death in 1566, there was a true Ottoman Renaissance underway.

During his reign, Suleyman doubled the area of the Ottoman territories that he inherited from his father, creating a multi-national, multilingual empire. Building on the conquests of his father, the Sultan Suleyman established a great city of Istanbul, a remarkably efficient military machine, a huge empire, and an impressive culture. Suleyman himself was instrumental in creating and running a successful empire through the administrative and military forces he established.

His military empire extended to the east and west, and extended well into the heart of Europe itself. His conquests were so impressive that he made the Europeans know fear as they had never known it from any other Islamic state. Like most other non-Europeans, Suleyman fully understood the consequences of European expansion and saw Europe as the principle threat to Islam. Responding to an aggressively expanding Europe. Suleyman himself not only invaded Europe to destabilize...