Islamic Empire Research Paper

While they were all Muslim, the Islamic empires, or the Gunpowder Empires, dealt with other religions differently from one another. The first of the empires to emerge in 1280, the Ottoman empire, had a religious tax, or jitza, for being non-Islamic. The next empire to emerge in 1487, the Safavid empire, made their Islamic sect of Shiism required by law. The last of the Islamic empires to emerge in 1504, the Mughal empire, began as a religiously tolerant empire, especially during the rule of Akbar, but later changed to being extremely intolerant of religion. The Ottoman empire started to break down 400 years after its foundation, while the Safavid empire and the Mughal empire lasted for 200 years. Although these collapses can be attributed to other events such as Western advance, the religious tolerance of these empires helped cause these collapses. The Ottoman empire, the most tolerant empire overtime, had the longest reign, while the Safavid empire and the Mughal had less religious tolerance overall and therefore a smaller life overall. The Ottoman empire lasted the longest amount of time, and religion was generally tolerated well throughout the empire. The religious minorities in the Ottoman empire were charged a Jitza for being non muslim. All the religious groups,

From the founding of the empire, the rulers claimed to be a descendant of Ali, one of the first caliphs of Islam. Compared to the Ottoman empire, this empire was extremely religious. The Safavid rulers made their religion, Shiism, a required religion in the empire. Abbas, a ruler of the Safavid empire, slowly pressured each non-Muslim community to change to the religion of Islam. After this conversion, all non-Muslim buildings, books, and other religious items, were taken from the communities. Unlike the Ottoman empire, there were many internal wars, since the rulers took a lot of control over the lives of their