Article 3: Decline of Islamic Gunpowder Empire

            When the Mongol Empire began to decline the Islamic Empire was reestablished and conquered by Timor I Lang. But when he died, the Islamic Empire was broke into three empires called Islamic Gunpowder Empires. The empires were called this for their quick mastery of using guns. By using guns they were able to expand their empires and maintain a strong rule.

            One of the empires, called the Ottoman Empire was governed by Sunni Muslims. Osman Bay was the king or Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and conquered all of Asia Minor. The Ottoman Empire began to expand and conquered Greece, Middle East, and North Africa. But eventually the Ottoman Empire began to decline because of trying to expand by attacking Eastern Europe. However they were never available to get past the Holy Roman Empire. All of these attacks made it difficult to advance while Western Europe got stronger.

            Another Islamic Gunpowder Empire was called the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire was ruled by Muslims like Babur who was the Sultan. A constant issue was between the Muslims and Hindus. Akbar (Babur’s grandson) accepted Hindus in his bureaucracy to solve the issue, but once he died the persecution of Hindus grew. There was also a problem with the Mughal Empire’s trade. The Mughal Empire’s trade was mostly cotton which made them wealthy and powerful in the beginning. But after the European traders came, they slowly took their power. At first the Mughal rulers saw them as no threat until it was too late. The Europeans had taken over the Indian Port cities and moved in land.

            The final empire was called the Safavid Empire that is ruled by Shiias. The Safavid Empires decline occurred because they believed they were the rightful caliphs and should rule over all the Muslims. This made both sides of the Islamic Gunpowder Empires fight constantly because the Mughal and Ottoman were both Sunni. The warfare eventually led them in dividing Islam into two sects that increased their hate for one another.