The+Islamic+Empires+-+Religious+Affairs+in+the+Islamic+Empires+(766-770)

= The Islamic Empires - Religious Affairs in the Islamic Empires (766-770) = = = A. All Islamic empires were religiously and ethnically diverse. B. Imperial rules had challenge of maintaining harmony between different religious communities. C. Ottoman empire included Christians and Jews in the Balkans, Armenia, Lebanon and Egypt. D. Safavid embraced Zoroastrian and Jewish communities as well as Christians in the Caucasus. E. Mughal - most were Hindus but there were large number of Muslims and small communities of Jains, Zoroastrians, Christians and devotees of syncretic faiths such as Sikhism.
 * __I. Religious Diversity__**

__**II. Christian Mission in India**__ A. Portuguese Goa became the center of a Christian mission in India. Priests sought to attract converts to Christianity and established schools that provided religious instruction for Indian children. B. In 1580, several Portuguese Jesuits traveled to Mughal court at Akbar's invitation. They had visions of converting the emperor to Christianity and then spread it throughout India. Akbar welcomed them and listened, and then he declined them.

__**III. Akbar's Divine Faith**__ A. Akbar tried to find a religious synthesis that we be a cultural foundation for unity in his empire. B. He supported the efforts of early Sikhs. They combined Hinduism and Islam. C. He also attempted to make his own faith that emphasized loyalty to the emperor, but borrowed traditions from other religions. His divine faith was monotheistic and was influenced by Shiite and Sufi teachings. D. Akbar referred to himself as "lord of wisdom" E. The divine faith was tolerant of Hinduism and drew inspiration from Zoroastrianism.

M. Swartz

__**IV. Status of Religious Minorities**__ A. Islamic Empires relied on a long established model to deal with subjects who were not Muslims. B. They did not require conquered peoples to convert to Islam- extended to them the status of being protected. (called dhimmi) C. In return for loyalty and a special tax (jizya), dhimmi communities were allowed to keep personal freedom, practice their religion, and handle legal affairs. D. Akbar: Worked to integrate Muslim and Hindu elites. He: 1) Abolished jizya 2) Tolerated all faiths 3)Sponsored discussions and debates between religions.

__**V. Promotion of Islam**__ A. Policies of religious tolerance were not popular with many Muslims. B. They were worried they would lose religious identity. C. Aurangzeb reinstated the jizya and promoted Islam as official faith of Mughal India.

Z. Tien

__**VI. Istanbul**__ A. As empires matured they competed to attract religious scholars, poets, artists, and architects to their courts. B. Istanbul was a particularly majestic city home to more than a million people. C.Sultan Suleyman the magnificent created a vast religious project called the Suleymaniye, blending Islamic and Byzantine architectural elements.

A. Shah Abbas made his capital, Isfahan, into one of the most urban architectural developments anywhere on Earth B. Abbas concentrated markets, the palace, and the royal mosque around a public square. C. Safavid palaces were relatively small and emphasized natural settings with gardens and pools. D. Palaces were also more open to enable the shah to observe outside activities. E. Early Mughals regarded the capital as wherever the ruler camped.
 * __VII. Isfahan__**

C. Williams

__**VIII. Fatehpur Sikri**__ A. A city constructed by Akbar that served as his capital from 1569 to 1585, commemorated his conquest of Gujarat that headed off Portugese attacks and Ottoman intervention. B. The city had a mint, records office, treasury, and an audience hall, which demonstrated Akbar's strength and imperial ambitions. C. Also contained a cathedral mosque and mausoleum of Akbar's Sufi guru, displaying Mughal piety and devotion. D. The buildings had much Islamic character, but incorporated many Indian and Hindu elements.

__**IX. The Taj Mahal**__ A. The most famous Mughal monument and most prominent of all Islamic edifices. B. 20,000 workers worked for 18 years to build the white marble mosque and tomb, for Shah Jahan's wife. C. Shah Jahan planned to build a similiar structure out of black marble for himself, but was deposed by his son Auzrangzeb before he could begin the project.