Islamic Empires In The 20th Century

In the Medieval Middle East, three empires rose from the ashes in response to the constant invasions from the east: The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires. Even though all three of these empires had huge impact on Islam and the Middle East in general, only one of these empires lasted in the 20th century. The empire that lasted was the Ottoman Empire which had enormous impact on Islam and the Middle East from a cultural and political standpoint. Although the Ottoman Empire lasted centuries it broke apart during WWI. The factors that sustained the empire for all those centuries and the factors led to it dissolution will be closely examined. The origins of the Ottoman government came about as a result of the “gaza” conquests of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire (Cleveland 37). Osman and his son conquered the surrounding territories and through that the government of the Ottoman Empire came into existence. The Ottomans organized …show more content…
This is one of the reasons why the Ottoman Empire lasted so long. Another unique aspect of Ottoman society was the relative ease in which slaves of the Ottoman Empire were able to climb the socioeconomic ladder to the point where they could work in the Sultan’s government and create great life for themselves (Cleveland 43). The slavery system of the Ottoman Empire was far cry from what slavery normally during that time including modern times. In short, in this uncommon situation for this time period, many diverse elements of this Muslim ruled society were able to live their lives and flourish along their Muslim neighbors under the umbrella of Ottoman