Interactions And Connections Between The Ottoman Empire And The Mughal Empire

Interactions and Connections between the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire, Safavid Persia, and Southern Europe

It has been in the nature of the Ottoman Empire to conquer for gain from their beginning, but they have been fairly tolerant to other religions and active in the arts as well. Of all the Islamic empires the Ottomans have had by far the best relations with Europe and its largely Christian population. However, in relation to the other gunpowder empires, the Ottomans had a very tense relationship. The Ottomans were able to connect with Europe through the arts and achieve a great deal of impact on the western arts through their attempts to gain knowledge of one another and one another’s culture. The Ottomans also had a great amount

Due to the confliction between the Safavid Shi’ite state religion and the Ottoman Sunni state religion, relations between these two groups were mostly hostile. Though the Ottoman Empire was relatively tolerant towards other religions (only taxing people of other faiths), the Safavid dynasty was less accepting of other religions. The Safavid Empire sought religious expansion through conversion of groups to Shi’ite Islam. Conflict arose quickly, as both governments were religions based. The Sultan Selim I responded to threat and slander by the Shah Isma’il with aggressive actions which culminated in the Battle of Chaldiran. The Ottoman Empire amassed a large army which consisted of Ottomans, Turks, and a converted Christian force, Janissaries. With the Ottoman Empire's wealth, they were equipped with advanced weaponry. Safavid Persia, on the other hand, had no such army. Their army was poorly funded and had less advanced weapons. The Ottoman Empire won the Battle of Chaldiran and quickly moved to conquer land from the Persians. The battle set a definite border for the empires and initiated a long period of border conflicts. After a 41 year long destructive war, a peace agreement was finally reached by the 1555 Treaty of Amasya. This ushered in 20 years of peace between the empires. Small conflicts arose between the empires throughout their history. Though brief periods of peace occurred, the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia had a very cold relationship. In the early 18th century, the Treaties of Erzurum established a century of peace among the nation by declaring a singular Islamic world