The Empires of the East

Abstract

The early sixteenth century saw the rise of three distinct Islamic empires, ruled by the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. In each, rulers had to find ways to legitimize their authority and their expansionist agenda, co-opting elites while also responding to the exigencies of economic change and military developments. The Ottomans became increasingly identified with Sunni Islam and the Safavids with Shi’ite interpretations of faith, but all three empires were religiously heterogeneous and they needed to cultivate an administrative structure and ideal of service which was not simply tied to a particular spiritual path. In the Ottoman empire there was an important debate about the relationship between those policies and principles which seemed necessary for stability and prosperity, and the demands of the divine law as understood by religious elites. The Mughal emperor Akbar, on the other hand, countered religious orthodoxy with his own version of saintliness and divine favour. In contrast to the lands of Western Europe, there was little interest in developing a concept of natural law whose purpose was earthly flourishing rather than spiritual fulfilment. Political thinking in the Islamic empires tended to emphasize universal principles, although in the Ottoman lands there came to be a recognition of the particular circumstances and challenges faced by that Empire.