The Ottoman and Safavid empires

The Ottoman Empire began around 1300 in Anatolia and grew into one of the most powerful states in the world, using gunpowder weapons and an elite infantry corps called the Janissaries. In 1453 Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire and making the city, later called Istanbul, his capital. Under Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520-1566), the empire stretched across Southeast Europe, including the Balkans and Hungary, as well as the Middle East and North Africa, though the siege of Vienna in 1529 failed. Ottoman rule shaped Eastern Europe for centuries, and the empire generally allowed religious communities to govern many of their own affairs. Because the Ottomans controlled key land routes between Europe and Asia, European states had strong reasons to search for sea routes around them, feeding the Age of Exploration. To the east, the Safavid Empire, founded in 1501 by Shah Ismail I in Persia (Iran), made Shia Islam its state religion, which made it a lasting rival of the Sunni Ottomans; under Shah Abbas I its capital, Isfahan, became a center of art and architecture.

This explanation is AI-generated and can occasionally be wrong. 🚩 Report