THE MUSLIM CENTER: Turkey, Persia, India (1450-1650)

Concepts: The teacher should focus the students' attention on the following: Islam as a transregional culture, divisions and invasions of Islam after 1000, the Ottoman conquests, structure of Ottoman government, the Shiite heresy in Persia, achievements of Shah Abbas, phases of Akbar's development, Islamic society, Persian culture and its influence, Muslim art, Muslim architecture.

Facts: Students should learn to identify the following: Islam, Allah, Middle East, Muslim center, qadi, Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals, Seljuk Turks, Mongols, Saladin, ghazi, Muhammad the Conqueror, Suleiman the Magnificent, Istanbul, timariot. janissary, Ismail, Shah Abbas I, kizilbashi, Isfahan, Babur, Akbar the Great, Divine Faith, Sunnite, Shiite, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Persian miniature, Arabic calligraphy, Ottoman mosques, Taj Mahal.

What evidence could you suggest to support the assertion that the Ottoman Empire was the most impressive state in western Eurasia in the middle of the sixteenth century?

"Religion can be a great source of strength--and of weakness-in a nation." Illustrate both sides of this proposition from the history of Safavid Persia.

Compare and contrast the careers and achievements of the Mughal leaders Babur and Akbar. Whose accomplishment do you feel was the greater? Why?

Open Question: The Muslim nations had much in common in the sixteenth century, as the Christian nations did. But like the European countries, Muslim states also differed significantly from one another. Which do you think was more important--the similarities or the differences?

The World In Balance: (p. 343) Be able to describe the locations of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires.

The Muslim Center of the Old World: (p. 363) Describe the extent of the Muslim world and thelocations of the empires of the Ottomans, Safavid and Mughals.