Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450-1750 PDF

 Learn more at www.oerproject.com Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450–1750 By Amy Elizabeth Robinson Between 1450 and 1750, there was an explosion of religious change across...

 Learn more at www.oerproject.com Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450–1750 By Amy Elizabeth Robinson Between 1450 and 1750, there was an explosion of religious change across multiple regions. These diverse religious transformations have had a lasting impact on our world. Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450–1750 Amy Elizabeth Robinson Introduction: Changing world, changing belief systems Between 1450 and 1750 there was an explosion of religious change across multiple regions. This change was tied to long processes of transformation as well as short-term upheavals. Cities were growing, and market networks were extending into the countryside. The world got colder, with the Little Ice Age lasting from about 1500 to 1800. People were hungry, and prices were rising. New kinds of states were emerging, led by absolutist rulers, meaning the ruler held all the state’s power. These rulers used gunpowder to defend territory and taxation to fund courtly life. There were new tensions, and sometimes new alliances, between different segments of society: warriors, bureaucrats, merchants, craftspeople, peasants, and religious leaders. By the 1500s, there was a sense in some places that the very ground of human experience was shifting, perhaps even that the “end-times” were near. In 1530 Martin Luther, known as the founder of Protestantism, now the second largest form of Christianity, wrote: “Everything has come to pass and is fulfilled: … the world is crackling in all places, as if it is going break apart and crumble.” At the very least, many people felt that they needed new forms of worship and understanding. Here, we will examine three early modern belief systems that fractured or emerged in Eurasia. The first is the intensification of divisions within Islam. The second is the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in Europe. Finally, the third is the emergence of Sikhism as a new religion in northern India.1 Islamic rifts: Sunni and Shi’a The division between Sunni and Shi’a schools of Islam became increasingly important in the early 1500s. By then, the Sunni-led Ottoman Empire had become a formidable power in southeastern Europe and western Asia. But it was just one of several regional Muslim dynasties. For example, the Mamluk Sultanate had ruled in Egypt since 1250. Also, Ottoman leaders and scholars did not think it necessary for their empire to be a caliphate—meaning a state ruled by a caliph, who is a legitimate successor to Muhammad. Then, in 1501, a young warrior named Ismail established the Safavid Empire on the eastern edge of Ottoman lands. Ismail claimed descent from Safi al-Din, the founder of a popular Sufi order, and from Ali, the first Shi’a successor to Muhammad. At age fourteen, Ismail conquered the city of Tabriz, and proclaimed himself shah, emperor of Iran. Ismail belonged to the Twelver Shi’a community. They believe there are only twelve legitimate successors The Battle of Chaldiran between the Ottoman and Safavid Empire, to Muhammad, and that the twelfth is alive but in in which the army of Selim I defeated Shah Ismail I. As a result, hiding. As a messianic belief system, it is based on the Ottomans seized control of Eastern Anatolia and part of Iraq. © Getty images. 1 There is another article that focuses on religious change in the Americas in this period. 2 Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450–1750 Amy Elizabeth Robinson an expectation that a true leader will emerge. Like other Shi’a groups, it asserts that only divinely-ordained imams (Muslim prayer leaders) can serve as caliph, ruler of the Muslim world. That excludes any leaders chosen through a scholarly or political process. The power and popularity of the Safavid Empire created a crisis for Selim I, the Ottoman sultan. His territory was now threatened by Spain and Portugal to the west, and the militant Safavids to the east. Shi’ites lived inside Ottoman borders, too. Selim and Ottoman Sunni scholars dealt with this by defining all Safavids and Shi’a Muslims, inside or outside of Ottoman territory, as heretics, meaning “unbelievers.” Imperial orders throughout the 1500s authorized the arrest, punishment, and killing of anyone loyal to Shah Ismail or Twelver Shi’ism. Marriage between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims was outlawed. Both the Sunni Ottomans and the Shi’a Safavids claimed to be protectors of Islam. In the 1600s and 1700s, these “gunpowder empires” relied less on warlike expansion and more and more on expensive symbols and projects. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt Jerusalem, the third holiest city in Islam. Shah Abbas I established madrasas (religious schools) in Iran and made a display of his religious piety. Both empires lost territory and economic power by the mid-eighteenth century. But competing claims of Sunni and Shi’a leaders to be the only rightful leaders of Islam continue today. The Protestant and Catholic Reformations In 1517, the same year that Selim I proclaimed himself caliph, another man published a document that would end up rocking the entire Christian world. Martin Luther, author of the Ninety-Five Theses, was a German priest who challenged the Catholic Church’s sale of “indulgences.” Indulgences allowed people to pay the church in order to reduce their punishment for sins. Though Luther merely wanted to debate the practice with other Christian scholars, his Ninety-Five Theses unleashed something much bigger: the Protestant Reformation. Other priests and scholars questioned the Catholic Church. That same year, a Catholic council had recommended reforms, and humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus published a stinging critique of the Church’s wealth and power. There were also dissenting Christian communities that dated back several hundred years. But Luther’s particular ideas were like a match to a waiting bonfire. The next two hundred years in Europe felt, in the words of historian Christopher Hill, like a “world turned upside down.” Protestants like Luther and John Calvin proclaimed the “priesthood of all believers.” What really mattered, they said, was grace; that is, the certainty of an inner First page of Basel pamphlet edition of Ninety-five Theses. relationship with God. The printing press enabled © Getty images. these ideas to spread through Europe’s hierarchical society. For merchant elites, Protestant ideas matched 3 Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450–1750 Amy Elizabeth Robinson their new sense of importance and independence. Many monarchs and princes, meanwhile, saw Protestantism as a useful way to evade or challenge the Church’s power. Henry VIII in England, for example, left the Catholic Church when it would not annul the first of his many marriages. Many peasants, artisans, and craftspeople believed Protestantism could offer a path towards social and economic change. “No one but God, our creator … shall have bondsmen [serfs or slaves],” proclaimed German villagers during the Peasant War of 1524. The Catholic Reformation was a response to this turmoil. The Spanish Inquisition had been established in 1478. The Portuguese and Roman Inquisitions followed in 1536 and 1542. These tribunals policed Catholic behavior across Europe and the Spanish and Portuguese empires. In 1540, the Spanish priest Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus. Its members, called Jesuits, vowed obedience to the Pope in Rome and served as missionaries, spreading Catholicism from South America to China and Japan. The Council of Trent met from 1545–1563. Its participants decided how Catholicism should be interpreted and what counted as heresy. By the 1560s, it was clear that Christian debates were evolving into large-scale violence. Across a continent already stressed by inflation and famine, conflicts over faith became explosive. Both Catholic and Protestant leaders tried to control the way ordinary people practiced religion and folk traditions. This was the deadliest era of European witch- hunts. Tens of thousands of people, mostly women, were tortured and killed. The French Wars of Religion lasted from 1562–1598, the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish king from 1598–1648, the chaotic Thirty Years War in eastern Europe from 1618–1648, and the English Civil War from 1642–1651. Through all this, people did speak up against religious violence. “So many grievous crimes religion has inspired!” said the French Catholic writer Michel de Montaigne, who had Protestant patrons and friends.2 Despite rampant war and persecution, many Europeans continued to live and work alongside those who held different beliefs. Sikhism, syncretism, and the Mughal Empire In northern India in the late 1400s, Hindu, Muslim, and popular traditions existed alongside one another. Sufi Muslim dervishes and Hindu sadhus were both revered. While most local rulers were Hindu at the time, the Muslim Timurid invasion of 1398 had introduced Muslim monarchs as well. Whether Hindu or Muslim, local rulers could ask for support and blessing from leaders of either faith. It was in this environment of cultural blending, or syncretism, that Sikhism emerged. Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born in the Punjab region. His family belonged to the Hindu Khatri merchant caste.3 Nanak was trained in accounting, but he would become distracted and leave work to sit with Hindu and Sufi teachers. His best friend was a Muslim singer and storyteller. One day, while bathing in a river, Nanak had a mystical experience. He emerged saying: “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim.” He began to preach and attract followers, becoming known as Guru Nanak. He traveled widely, wearing clothes associated with both Hindu and Muslim communities, and composing new devotional songs. In the 1520s, Guru Nanak returned to the Punjab and formally set up a new religious community. Its members were called Sikhs, meaning “learner” or “disciple”. Originating from the Khatri caste, Sikhism spread along merchant networks. But Sikhs rejected caste divisions. The divine, according to Guru Nanak, was accessible to farmers and traders, women and men, as well as priests or mystics. It was not separate from the activities of everyday life. Converts to Sikhism came from all major castes, including “outcaste” communities who were considered impure in Hinduism, and from Islam. Sikh scriptures were written in vernacular languages so people of all classes and backgrounds could read them. 2 Montaigne was quoting Roman poet Lucretius: “Tantum relligio potuit suadere malorum!” 3 Caste is a term that describes a South Asian class system. It is often misunderstood. In brief, castes are groups whose members inherit their job, or occupation, from their parents. 4 Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450–1750 Amy Elizabeth Robinson In the early years of the Mughal Empire, rulers promoted sulh-i kull, translating to “peace with all.” Specifically, this meant the toleration of all traditions and faiths. That tolerance declined with later emperors, who increasingly insisted on Muslim dominance. Several Sikh gurus and their family members were executed in the 1600s. In response, Sikhism grew more militant. In the early 1600s gurus began surrounding themselves with armed guards. In 1699 the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa, an order of male Sikh devotees. They set themselves apart from Muslims and Hindus through dress, eating, and marriage practices. And by the early 1700s, Punjabi Sikhs were in open rebellion against the Mughal Empire. Conclusion The early modern period has been called the “age of religious violence” by some historians. But “age of religious transformation” might be more accurate. The economic, social, and political changes of these centuries produced tremendous stress. In the midst of this, some people reached for new forms of worship and understanding, while others held more tightly to their existing beliefs. Both were reactions to a world in transformation. Religious figures of many faiths at the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar. © Getty images. 5 Transformations in Eurasian Belief Systems, 1450–1750 Amy Elizabeth Robinson Sources Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011. Harman, Chris. A People’s History of the World. London: Verso Books, 2017. Hill, Christopher. The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. NY: Penguin Books, 1972. Jakobsh, Doris. Sikhism. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2012. Kern, Karen. Islamic Citizen: Marriage and Citizenship in the Ottoman Frontier Provinces of Iraq. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2011. Legros, Alain. “Montaigne on Faith and Religion.” In The Oxford Handbook of Montaigne, edited by Philippe Desan, 525-43. Oxford University Press, 2016. Po-Chia Hsia, R. “Introduction: The Reformation and Its Worlds.” In A Companion to the Reformation World, edited by R. Po-Chia Hsia, xii-xix. London: Blackwell, 2006. Streusand, Douglas E. Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. Boulder, CO: Routledge, 2011. Syan, Hardip Singh. ”The merchant gurus: Sikhism and the development of the medieval Khatri merchant family.” Indian Economic and Social History Review 51, 3 (2014): 303-330. Wiesner-Hanks, Merry. A Concise History of the World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Amy Elizabeth Robinson Amy Elizabeth Robinson is a freelance writer, editor, and historian with a PhD in the history of Britain and the British Empire. She has taught at Sonoma State University and Stanford University. Image credits Cover image: Baptism, communion and preaching in the Lutheran Church, on the right Martin Luther preaching from the pulpit, 1561. © DEA/A. DAGLI ORTI/Contributor/Getty Images. The Battle of Chaldiran between the Ottoman and Safavid Empire, in which the army of Selim I defeated Shah Ismail I. As a result, the Ottomans seized control of Eastern Anatolia and part of Iraq. © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images. First page of Basel pamphlet edition of Ninety-five Theses. © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images. Religious figures of many faiths at the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar. © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images. OER Project aims to empower teachers by offering free and fully supported history courses for middle- and high-school students. Your account is the key to accessing our standards-aligned courses that are designed with built-in supports like leveled readings, audio recordings of texts, video transcripts, and more. Offerings include a variety of materials, from full-year, standards-based courses to shorter course extensions, all of which build upon foundational historical thinking skills in preparation for AP, college, and beyond. To learn more about The OER Project, visit www.oerproject.com 6  Learn more at www.oerproject.com Unit 3 Introduction: Land-Based Empires 1450 to 1750 By Trevor Getz From the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, five vast, multicultural empires took power where the collapsing Mongol Empire used to rule. Gunpowder weapons were a great advantage, but they developed many other strategies to maintain control. Unit 3 Introduction: Land-Based Empires 1450 to 1750 Trevor Getz A quick note Dear Europe, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas: Don’t be mad, but we’re kind of ignoring you for this unit, which has enough on its hands covering the vast landmass of Eurasia and the connected northern part of Africa. This huge region stretches overland from China to Morocco, and between about 1450 and 1750, it was dominated by vast, multicultural empires, so we are already freaking out. We’ll for sure make it up to you by spending the whole of Unit 4 with you, k? Sincerely, World History Project Collapse or restructuring? The large, multicultural Eurasian empires that we look at in this unit all emerged in the vacuum left by the collapse of the Mongol Empire. You may remember that the Mongol Empire—arguably the largest in human history—had stretched from China through Central Asia and much of the Islamic world in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. However, it fell victim to the forces of decentralization and local resistance, suffering even worse damage when the Black Death plague savaged trade and decimated populations from China to Europe from about 1331 to 1352. As Mongol governance began to collapse, local leaders rose to take their places. In 1368, the Daoist Red Turban movement in China overthrew the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and installed their leader, Zhu Yuanzhang, as the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In Islamic Southwest Asia, the Ottoman Sultanate, which had once paid tribute to the Mongols, established itself as the regional power controlling the vital trade routes of this region in the early fifteenth century. To their east, their great rivals, the Safavids, established a base of power in Persia after 1501, inheriting many institutions the Mongols had left behind. To the Southeast, Muslim warrior leaders claiming descent from the Mongols swept out of Afghanistan to conquer much of South Asia. This was the Mughal Empire, whose rulers had extended control across half of the Indian peninsula by 1526 and continued to expand. To the north, Christian princes on the edge of Europe who The Battle Preceding the Capture of the Fort at Bundi, Rajasthan, in had also once paid tribute to the Mongols recovered 1577. The Mughals were one of several large empires that ruled much much of their power and began to spread eastward. of Eurasia and parts of Africa in this era. © Getty Images. 2 Unit 3 Introduction: Land-Based Empires 1450 to 1750 Trevor Getz This was the Slavic state of Russia, which began as the Grand Duchy of Muscovy and which by the 1480s had taken control of many neighboring states and become the dominant Slavic power. By no later than the 1550s, five large empires dominated Eurasia (and bits of North Africa). There were still lots of smaller states around and between them—from France to Vietnam to Morocco. In addition, the Afro-Eurasian trading system was also fully rebuilt. But things worked differently post-Black Death. Rather than being structured around a single dominant central power, it was now a competitive system of exchange between smaller states and empires. “Gunpowder” empires? So although the Mongol empire perished, it spawned five children in the form of the states that succeeded it. Their leaders, in many cases, retained lessons learned from the Mongols about how to rule vast territories. They were all relatively centralized, meaning that they put as much power as possible in their own hands, rather than spreading it out among their followers and allies. They managed this centralization through increasingly large bureaucracies, employing professionals whose job was to help the state gather taxes and rule. One of the major strengths that helped these governments control large empires was gunpowder, a relatively new innovation. The explosive substance that would eventually be called gunpowder had been developed in China prior to the Mongol age, but it took a while for technology to make it an effective battlefield tool. Many of these empires mastered the use of gunpowder and firearms in war. The Ottomans used the first really efficient cannon to conquer Constantinople and rename it as their new capital, Istanbul, in 1453. The Mughal Emperor Babur used cannons and muskets to neutralize the cavalry of the Sultan of Delhi at the Battle of Panipat, in 1526. The Russians defeated the remnants of the Mongol Khanate of Crimea in 1532 using gunpowder weapons. But they should have called it cannon-powder since those could blast the walls of castles, forts, and even huge cities like Constantinople to much greater effect than the smaller weapons being fired on the battlefield. For thousands of years, regional nobles with small armies had used stone walls to repel the larger armies of their own kings and emperors. The emergence of large, efficient cannons neutralized this form of local resistance. Now, emperors with successful economies and vast armies could conquer territory quickly and force the loyalty of their nobles. Managing a multicultural empire It wasn’t just gunpowder, though. The successful empires of Eurasia grew for a variety of reasons and managing their newly acquired territories and diverse populations took more than cannons. Each empire—indeed, each emperor—adopted a unique set of policies for controlling their subjects. But as you will see in this unit, there were some common and shared strategies that were pretty effective. One strategy was to appeal to a sense of unity or togetherness, at least for part of the population. Emperors often tried to depict themselves as champions of a state religion—like the Orthodox faith in Russia, or Islam in the Ottoman Empire, for example. They also frequently claimed to be descendants of older powers. The Russian Emperors called themselves Tsars, derived from the Roman title of Caesar. The Ming Emperors in China claimed to be connected to the Song Dynasty who had ruled before the Mongols came. They also built toward unity, of course, creating systems of roads and shared law codes to make travel faster and to bind people together. 3 Unit 3 Introduction: Land-Based Empires 1450 to 1750 Trevor Getz Similarly, all emperors turned to allies—belonging to their own societies but not their governments—for help. They recruited nobles, of course, like the Mughal mansabdars, or military commanders, or the Ottoman sîpahîs; basically knights. They also often turned to merchants. But the most common allies were religious leaders like the Muslim ulamâ, or judges, of the Ottoman Empire. Sometimes emperors turned to allies in different states, even to unite against a common enemy. Emperors recognized just how multicultural their empires were and frequently used that diversity to their advantage. They elevated people of different communities, languages, and religions to serve in government. Many Mughal emperors, for example, had Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh mansabdars. Sometimes, emperors recognized special legal status for particular communities, like the millet laws of the Ottoman Empire. These strategies had one particular goal: Keep a vast empire chugging along. Europe: Variety or exception? Europe seems like an exception to the trends across Eurasia at this time. It’s not the only exception. Empires struggled to dominate any areas where geography was broken up by natural barriers such as islands, peninsulas and mountains. Both Southeast Asia and Europe had these obstacle Coronation of Russian Tsar Ivan IV. © Getty Images. courses. And maybe Europe isn’t entirely an exception. For part of this period, the Habsburg Empire controlled much of Europe using gunpowder weapons and many of the strategies listed above. But it never really achieved dominance. In fact, throughout this period, economic and political power in Europe slowly moved toward smaller states—some very small—in Northwest Europe. Countries like Portugal, England, France, and the tiny but significant Netherlands. We often hear how the governments and economic systems of these countries made them very different from empires. But were they? They also used gunpowder to build empires in this period— but remotely, with conquests overseas instead of overland. In the next unit, we’ll dig into this, and also discuss their overseas interactions with peoples in sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. 4 Unit 3 Introduction: Land-Based Empires 1450 to 1750 Trevor Getz Trevor Getz Trevor Getz is a professor of African and world history at San Francisco State University. He has been the author or editor of 11 books, including the award-winning graphic history Abina and the Important Men, and has coproduced several prize-winning documentaries. Trevor is also the author of A Primer for Teaching African History, which explores questions about how we should teach the history of Africa in high school and university classes. Image credits Cover image: The Battle of Qurman (The Great Victory of Qurman), c. 1766. Found in the Collection of National Palace Museum, Taipei. © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images. The Battle Preceding the Capture of the Fort at Bundi, Rajasthan, in 1577. The Mughals were one of several large empires that ruled much of Eurasia and parts of Africa in this era. © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images. Coronation of Russian Tsar Ivan IV. © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images. OER Project aims to empower teachers by offering free and fully supported history courses for middle- and high-school students. Your account is the key to accessing our standards-aligned courses that are designed with built-in supports like leveled readings, audio recordings of texts, video transcripts, and more. Offerings include a variety of materials, from full-year, standards-based courses to shorter course extensions, all of which build upon foundational historical thinking skills in preparation for AP, college, and beyond. To learn more about The OER Project, visit www.oerproject.com 5