Religious Diversity In The Islamic Empires

Religious Diversity in the Islamic Empires
The Islamic Empires reside in history as some of the most influential and powerful empires of their time. Also regarded to as the Gunpowder empires for their innovative weaponry, the 3 different groups of the Islamic Empires were the Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals. Known for their form large empires in a short period of time, they are also seen as some of the most diverse communities. However, some their cultural identities were massively affected due to the myriad of different traditions of their conquered lands. A large cultural aspect that was at risk for being massively changed was each empires respective religion. Each empire dealt with religious tolerance by either grand schemes or none at all, …show more content…
The Safavid Empire was created by Shah Ismail, and he founded it on principals of a fully Shi’ite immersed religion. He named himself caliph and began Shiism as the compulsory religion, if one did not comply, they would face imminent death. Since the Safavid Empire resided over a mainly Persian ethnicity, their reasoning for no religious tolerance did not harm many in their own empire. However, the Safavids were constantly at war with the Ottomans, for the Safavids tried constantly to convert the Ottoman Sunnis into Shi’ites. Their religious intolerance, even to another sect of their own religion, resulted in a very close-minded empire that did not last a very long …show more content…
The Mughal Empire shifted from near Afghanistan to a fully submerged empire within modern-day Pakistan and India, as the capital resided at Deli. The initial religion was Islam, of the Sunni sect. Like their fellow Sunni Ottomans, the Mughal Empire tried to maintain a somewhat religiously tolerant way of life. Since they were so far submerged into a different area, the prominence religion of the majority of their ruling states was Hinduism, and the small amount of Sunni Muslims was a minority within them. So, under the rule of Akbar ‘the Great’ a large amount of religious tolerance was made. Although he was an absolutist in his usage of power, he still allowed the local rulers to retain a strong amount of autonomy and freedom over their respective lands. To promote religious diversity and interest, Akbar worked with other faiths by using Hindu and Christian residents as officials in his government, giving them powerful positions in his empire. One of his wives was also a Hindu woman, as he tried to promote the diversity in his personal life as well. He abolished the jitza, the tax on non-Muslims as to abolish any hatred from the majority of non-Muslims on the government for the unfair tax. Akbar was seen as magnificent and great for his efforts in appreciation and inclusion of all religions, as well as the fact that he did these acts to create a wholesome empire where the