Lectures History of the Middle East 2 (1500-present) (Lecture 1-6)
2020-2021
Leiden University – Bachelor Middle Eastern Studies– year 2 – semester 2
Midterm 1
Hoorcollege 1 History of the Middle East 04022021
Studying the history of the Middle East is important to understand its present. Secondly, the history
of the Middle East will demonstrate that the region is connected to global processes. Thirdly, it will
teach us that there is no singular experience of the Middle East. The region is way too vast, eclectic
and diverse for that. Fourthly, it goes against stereotypes that the Middle East had no renaissance, or
is a violent place.
Middle East is a problematic term. The term does not describe what exact geographic region it is
about. There is also some discussion on which countries are part of the Middle East and which are
not. The place is not self-defined, which makes defining it difficult. The term was coined a few
decennia ago, by scholars outside the region. Inhabitants of the region then did not define
themselves as Middle Eastern. For Europe, the region is between itself and the Far East. The region is
also sometimes described with other terms, to avoid the quite Eurocentric term Middle East.
Key assumptions
The idea that nation-states were always in existence. And if nation states did not exist, at
least the nations did. This is wrong. No nation state now is a lineal descendant of what came
before it (the nation state Egypt for example, is no linear descendant from the pharaoh
Egypt). Mono-ethnicism is also a very recent development, connected to nation states. What
mattered in earlier times was mostly religion and not language or ethnicity. The basis of
nationality was more fluid before the creation of the nation state.
We are experiencing unprecedented globalization. This is wrong. The pace and form may be
unprecedented, but globalization has existed for centuries. Modern globalization began with
seaborne empires, that shifted the global balance of power.
Safavid Empire
The empire was located where contemporary Iran is now located, but it was a little larger. It started
off with Turkic and Mongol chieftains being in power in this region. Safavids start contesting their
power.
Shah Isma’il (1500-1524): he transformed the system into an imperial institution. He also established
Twelver Shi’ism as the religion of the empire. He wanted to define his empire against the rival, the
Ottoman Empire (and this is probably why he chose Shi’ism). He imported Shi’a ulama from Lebanon
to establish the religion and his religious authority/legitimacy. During this period there was no
sectarian violence (that came later), but they did use religion to define themselves against the
Ottomans but also for themselves.
Shah Abbas I (1588-1629): the height of the empire. He built a large standing army and a centralized
bureaucracy to make direct taxation and administration possible. He established the capital at
Isfahan and made it a flourishing city. He recovered lost territory, religious freedom for non-Muslims
,and patronized arts and culture. The standing army was composed of slaves, modelled after the
Ottoman Empire’s army. Many provincial governors in the Safavid Empire were also slaves. Slaves
could rise in social hierarchy. Died without direct male successor and the period after him until the
end of the empire did not have a successor like him.
After Shah Abbas we saw:
Discord and rebellion
Lost territory
Economic corruption
Not one strong single leader. Women often hold central power, just like slave eunuchs
(possible because the weak shahs create for a political vacuum).
Stationary monarchs rather than visible one.
Sacking of Isfahan by Afghans in 1722.
Ottomans take Georgia and Tabriz.
Revolts in Kurdistand and Khurasan
The empire was not extremely religious. Shi’ism was more of a way to define itself against the
Ottoman Empire. For example, religious leaders often stated they were very much against stimulants
and whoring, but for them to remain relevant, stimulants and whoring also had to stay relevant. If
these issues were to be solved, these religious leaders would lose their significance.
Ottoman Empire
The origins of the empire go back to the late 13 th century. Post-Abbasid reconstruction of state and
society provided institutional and cultural presence for later Ottoman society. Anatolia becomes
much more a Muslim society, as result of Seljuk rule and Sufi influences.
Syncretism: combination of different beliefs/elements of different beliefs. Played an important role in
conversion of inhabitants of Anatolia.
Janissaries: elite troops. Organized cavalry and infantry. Firm military discipline.
Internal autonomy: as long as you pay your taxes and obey the sultan, there can be much local
autonomy.
Strong central state with Istanbul as an important city. There is a very organized bureaucracy, ulama
become a function of the state and a source of the state’s authority/legitimacy. The empire was very
multi-ethnic and multi-religious. Subjects were organized into smaller communities.
Millet system: served to administer affairs of each smaller religious minority. The major millets were
Arminian, Jewish and Greek. Each millet was headed by a religious leader and they enjoyed a great
deal of internal autonomy.
Eventually, the slave elite ends up serving their own purposes instead of those of the sultan.
Growth:
Capture of Constantinople.
Most of the Middle East taken by 1517.
Siege of Vienna (1529).
Largest and longest living empire. Huge expanse of territory.
Gradually take over North Africa. It was governed using local political leaders and systems.
Use of local rulers in the whole empire.
Growth and institutional development were not steady or linear.
, Sources of authority:
Regime not built on ethnic homogeneity.
Able to suppress rival political bodies by making them part of the bureaucracy.
Patronized ulama and Sufis, making them functionaries of the state. They neutralized
possible enemies by making them part of the imperial bureaucracy.
Shaykh al-Islam to legitimize the state.
Sultan as main lawgiver, supplemented by Islamic law.
Economic governance:
Record keeping.
Regulation of production through extensive guild system.
International trade important.
Conquest of Arab provinces and Egypt gave control over trade routes in the Levant.
Commercial autonomy.
Hoorcollege 2 History of the Middle East 11022021
