Beginning in the 15th Century, nations such as Spain, Portugal, Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands started exploring for new lands and colonizing them. Driven for power, trade, or expansion, many European powers colonized the New World. Yet when looking at the Muslim contemporaries, the Ottoman, Persian and Mughal Empires did not set sail for new land like their Western counterparts. Why did the Muslim world not partake in exploration and colonization of the New World, despite having equivalent wealth and technology? Factors limiting the Ottoman and Mughal Empires colonial participation include, their status as large, land based countries with significant resources and prosperous trade within their empires, resulting in little need to …show more content…
Since the formerly mentioned European States had maritime trade, they also had a strong Naval Force, and thus their naval technology was more advanced and superior compared to the Ottomans in the 15th and 16th Centuries. (CITE) Bordering the Atlantic also contributed to a larger curiosity towards exploration for European states, while the Ottomans were completely bordered by well-known and established civilizations. Powerful European states bordered the West and North while the Safavids and Mughals bordered the East. To the South was the Saharan Desert. In the Ottoman Empire’s peak, their Navy in the Mediterranean was used for trade, battling piracy and militaristically. Their ships were not equipped to explore.
There are two ways the Ottomans could have sailed to the Americas: Through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic, or through the Red Sea and around Africa. The Ottomans were not as geographically predisposed for exploration. For the Ottomans to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar during the time of exploration and colonization, they would have had to face Spain, which was now mainly Catholic, who were the nations that discovered the Americas trying to avoid the Ottomans in the first place. (CITE)
As Spain, Britain, and the Netherlands established new colonies, and had easy access to new trade routes, they relied more on their new colonies for trading goods, rather than on the Ottoman Empire. This eventually lead to the Ottoman Empire’s decline.
European
Hello! I'm Veronica, a Muslim soldier. I'm here to explain why Islam spread so quickly. In document A, it is stated that Mecca was a good place for trade and these traders went to many places for their dealings. While they were doing this, they also brought their religion and beliefs, and spread it upon the people they met. In document B, some of Islam's beliefs are stated. Many people seem to enjoy these beliefs, therefore converting to the Islam religion. In document C, traders took routes through Medina, Isahan, Merv, Bukhara, Kabul, Damascus, Constantinople, Cairo, Aswan, Caliruan, Tangler, Cordoba, Toledo, Saragossa, and Tours. These are all places where the brought and expressed their religious beliefs.
An even better idea was trade. The idea is talk to a lot of merchants and get them on your side. Then build a lot of roads across the desert and spread the news about paradise (Document B). This will happen fast because all of those camels I mentioned.
Islam spread so quickly because they had strict religious rules, trade, the military and mercy to muslims and other races.
While taking the class of Early Modern European History there was two states that really stuck out and peaked my interest the most. They were the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. If you compare and contrast both the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe during the 16th Century through the 18th Century, you will see that there are a number of similarities as well as differences when you look at the expansion of the states. You will also see many of these contrasts as well when you look in terms of each states military and commerce. Although the Ottoman Empire existed before the 16th century and continued to exist past the 18th century and in great decline until the early 20th century, when looking at the state as a whole the time
People living the the 15th century had multiple reasons for venturing beyond its confinement of land. Scientific curiosity of the world played a major part in the advancement of naval travel, but it was not the main cause of exploration in these times. The Age of Exploration was sparked by Europeans wanting to find sea routes to East Asia, which they called the Indies. Merchants and crusaders were bringing goods to Europe from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. These trade routes were controlled by the Muslims and the Italians. However, flaws
The early Islamic empire expanded in several different ways, such as winning wars, signing peace treaties with enemies, and giving gifts to soldiers and nobles. In document A it states “by Allah’s help, some 70,000 of them (the Greeks) were put to death” infuring that they had killed off the Greeks army and they had won the war. With the wining of the war they could expand into the land of their enemies. They also signed treaties with their enemies so they won’t revolt against them. This helped them expand without anyone trying to prevent them outside the people they are attacking. Another thing that helped them expand is that they gave money to soldiers and nobles as a gift. In source C it says they gave nobles money “
Around the years of 632-750 C.E., Islamic followers created an empire that reached across North Africa into Europe and dominated the Middle East. Due to several aspects leading up to expansion such as war, geography, and establishing an organized impressionable government, the Islamic empire grew rapidly.
Europe expanded across the Atlantic Ocean because they were geographically at an advantage. They had access to this new land the for the other places to get to it would either take too long or they would physically have to go through the European’s land to get there. They had this advantage and took it
Technologically, European exploration was pushed forward through the development of new technology such as the astrolabe, which was an instrument used for triangulation, location of celestial bodies, and finding the local time when given longitude as well as latitude. In addition, Europeans improved the compass, maritime maps, and the design of ships. The caravel, a small ship developed by the Portuguese, was used to navigate around the African and European coasts due to its maneuverability and fast speed. Politically, many rulers were drawn to exploration because of the discovery, pursuit for wealth (gold), and a way to harm the Islamic empires. For example, Prince Henry of Portugal organized expeditions to the African coast in the 15th century. In addition, Spain tried to make their naval force and
12. In what ways was the Ottoman Empire important for Europe in the early modern era?
The Ottoman and Habsburg Empires were two well recognized empires of the 1400’s. They were conquerors with fairly large imperial goals. Though both of them were strong and formidable, they both had their own share of weaknesses. The Ottoman Empire was more than capable of holding their own on land, but when it came to the waters, the Habsburg held the upper hand. This come from the Habsburg looking to the seas for expansion. This is how they became advantageous across the sea.
Western Europe and the Islamic Empires may have had many differences, but they also had many similarities. The Western Europeans got a revival of learning from the Islamic Empires. The Muslims had libraries filled with works of Greek writers and philosophers. They shared these works in libraries in Spain. This allowed scholars to translate the work into Latin, so Western Europeans could understand it. These works allowed Europeans to acquire a huge body of knowledge. They had more information on science and mathematics, thanks to the
In the realm of economy, the Ottoman Empire faced challenges from the Portuguese who had established a cheaper trade route via the Cape of Good Hope and thus obtained the pepper monopoly. By the conquest of Egypt and the Levant in 1516-17, the Ottomans controlled the whole Red Sea and the one end of the Persian Gulf that were extremely advantageous for the spice trade. Giancarlo Casale introduced three main strategies—designating convoy of spice galleys to ship state-owned pepper, setting customized tax regime in different regions, and establishing imperial factors in overseas emporiums—that the Ottomans “experiment[ed] with to increase the total volume of the spice trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, and to maximiaze the
In AoE III, a player can choose to play from a selection of seven European civilizations that were prominent at periods of time during the Age of Exploration through the Industrial Revolution. While general mechanics of the game are the same from civilization to civilization, their strengths and weaknesses are rooted in historical fact. Take the French for example. Historically, the French originally came to the New World as independent trappers and merchants who spread across the wilderness (unlike other settlers who largely came as colonialists on behalf of their respective crowns). They appropriately have the strongest settler units in the game, uniquely titled Coureur des Bois or “runners in the woods”. They are more expensive than settlers of other civilization, but they collect resources faster and are more resistant early attacks. As the French age through in the game, their military strengths reflect the rise in military prominence the French historically experienced initially under Kings Louis XII and XIV and later under Napoleon Bonaparte, which were both supported by a backbone of heavy cavalry of gendarmes and cuirassiers. Similarly, among a few of the other playable civilizations, the Dutch have the unique ability to build banks to generate coin without having to mine for it, the British have the strongest navy, and the Portuguese get a new town center with every age. The Ottomans, who are also a playable civilization in AoE III, may seem like an odd addition to a game based primarily in the New World, but its presence is one of the many ways Age of Empires subtly engages its player in thinking more broadly about history. At the time when many Western European nations sought to exploit trade in Asia (and ended up in the New World), they wanted to tap into what was the Ottoman’s market. Istanbul was the cultural and economic capital that
The Ottoman Empire’s geographic regions made it impossible for the Empire to keep up the neutrality. The empire controlled the Dardanelle and Bosporus Straits—an important route for transportation between Britain and Russia—and Constantinople, a center for German spy networks aiming to destabilize the British Empire, as well as Mesopotamia where they captured British oil fields (Crouse.) In fact even before World War I, the European nations, such as Russia and Great Britain were already seeking to overturn these territories for their own benefits (Steel.) No matter what decision