BVALL WINTER 2018 – The Modern Middle East: An Introduction Sara Farhan Week II: The & Legacies Turkic migration from Mongolian terrain in Asia towards the Caucuses and the Middle East occurred in waves. These tribes are diverse and formed confederations in times of conflict to defend themselves or acquire resources. They had an equestrian pastoral based economy. Ambush and raiding tactic warfare. Skilled Turkic militia serviced the various governors and dynasties in the Middle East and integrated with those communities. Turkic tribes were allowed to settle on the empire’s peripheries: .

Following the series of Crusades and the Mongolian invasion, the Abbasid collapsed. Various dynastic governates sprouted across the empire. In Anatolia, Osman, leader of , took advantage of this opportunity, and claimed autonomy of the territories he governed. This is recognized as the inception of the Ottoman Empire. His descendants would continue their campaign of expansion into the , leading the Fall of Constantinople in the 15the century (Figure 1).

Figure 1:Ottoman Siege of Constantinople Figure 2: Ottoman and Safavid Empires

Safavids claimed to be decedents of grandson of the Prophet, Husain, and therefore, the true and legitimate leaders of the Muslim community. Confrontation with the Ottoman Empire became inevitable, specifically, because Ottoman realm extended into , a site that hosts many shrines important to the Shia Sect. The Safavid employed a conversion policy that converted the majority Sunni population into Twelve Shiism. This policy attempted to reunify Iran as a sovereign and Shia realm. However, the policy extended beyond the Empire. While the policy targeted Muslims only. Jews and Christians were not targeted in the Conversion Campaign. However, we have incidents where Jews and Christians were coerced (by a carrot or a stick) to convert to Shiism during Abbas II’s reign.

The Ottoman Administration System endorsed a self-governing of the Dhimmis (non- Muslims living in the Ottoman Realm). Dhimmis still paid Jizaya to the state but they were permitted to run their own courts of law and govern their own communities. This practice continued throughout the reign of the Ottomans (14th – 20th century).

Suggested Reading (popular histories) Caroline Finkel, Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire, 2005 James Barr, A Line in the Sand: Britain, France, and the Struggle for the Mastery of the Middle East, 2011.