The Early Modern Period, c. 1450 to c. 1750: 4.4: Modern Islamic Empires (Sources 1–9)

Inviting and employing foreign technicians was the major means throughout Europe to acquire new technology. (Source 3)

While miners from the mining centers of medieval Serbia, Bosnia, Greece and Asia Minor brought their knowledge of metallurgy into Istanbul [the Ottoman capital that was formerly Constantinople], Muslim blacksmiths added their knowledge of metalworking techniques of the Islamic East that produced the world-renowned Damascus blades. (Source 3)

Another field where this technological dialogue was apparent was the Ottoman navy, which…also played a crucial role in the transportation of heavy ordnance and ammunition. (Source 3)

Another field where this technological dialogue was apparent was the Ottoman navy, which…also played a crucial role in the transportation of heavy ordnance and ammunition. (Source 3)

The Mughals entered the city of Golconda (capital of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty) after an eight-month siege when a Qutb Shahi military official defected to the Mughals’ side and let them in through a back entrance. (Source 4)

Alienated from the Christian religion, little by little they forgot faith, parents, brothers and sisters, and all their blood relatives, so that when they later encountered their parents they no longer even recognized them. (Source 5)

To parents who had just barely begun to instruct their children in Christian teaching, the hardest thought was that the evildoers would soon succeed in seducing them away from the religion of their forebears and in turning them into dreadful enemies of the Christian religion and of Christian people. (Source 5)

The grand venture that Safavid Iran represented in its origins…was one of imperial, universal aspirations articulated by a charismatic warrior-king who presented himself to his followers and the world at large as divinely appointed. (Source 8)

The grand venture that Safavid Iran represented in its origins…was one of imperial, universal aspirations articulated by a charismatic warrior-king who presented himself to his followers and the world at large as divinely appointed. (Source 8)

The grand venture that Safavid Iran represented in its origins…was one of imperial, universal aspirations articulated by a charismatic warrior-king who presented himself to his followers and the world at large as divinely appointed. (Source 8)

Most importantly, the Safavid state was undergirded by a strong ideology…articulated by way of a language that in its expressions embodied the sense of a shared Persianate culture, thus counteracting the extreme diversity of language and culture. (Source 8)

The Safavids dealt with heretical forces with great brutality, but in practice accommodated those on the margins just enough to enable them not just to survive but occasionally to operate near the center of power, to the point where even toward the end the shah [emperor] had a Sunni grand vizier [chief advisor] serve him. (Source 8)

For the remainder of the dynasty’s life span, the Safavids would show a relative lack of external aggressiveness, certainly in their ongoing military confrontation with the Ottomans. (Source 8)

This was in part a function of being surrounded by inaccessible mountains and remote deserts and being wedged in between two empires endowed with far greater resources. (Source 8)

This was in part a function of being surrounded by inaccessible mountains and remote deserts and being wedged in between two empires endowed with far greater resources. (Source 8)

The Safavid rulers soon turned their doctrine from one suitable for popular, enthusiastic, egalitarian revolt and conquest into one suitable for stable, conservative rule. (Source 9)

The Safavid rulers soon turned their doctrine from one suitable for popular, enthusiastic, egalitarian revolt and conquest into one suitable for stable, conservative rule. (Source 9)

The Safavid rulers soon turned their doctrine from one suitable for popular, enthusiastic, egalitarian revolt and conquest into one suitable for stable, conservative rule. (Source 9)

Extremist ideas were increasingly suppressed, and by late Safavid times the word Sufi, which had once designated a supporter of the Safavids, became a term of dishonor as Sufi orders were suppressed as a danger to the state and the official religion. (Source 9)

Extremist ideas were increasingly suppressed, and by late Safavid times the word Sufi, which had once designated a supporter of the Safavids, became a term of dishonor as Sufi orders were suppressed as a danger to the state and the official religion. (Source 9)

Extremist ideas were increasingly suppressed, and by late Safavid times the word Sufi, which had once designated a supporter of the Safavids, became a term of dishonor as Sufi orders were suppressed as a danger to the state and the official religion. (Source 9)

More than most Islamic dynasties the Safavids worked for conversion to their [Shia] branch of Islam and for ideological conformity. (Source 9)

More than most Islamic dynasties the Safavids worked for conversion to their [Shia] branch of Islam and for ideological conformity. (Source 9)

One of the main reasons for such rigor was to give Iran an ideological distinction and identity vis-à-vis its (Sunni) military-political enemies, the Ottoman Empire. (Source 9)

One of the main reasons for such rigor was to give Iran an ideological distinction and identity vis-à-vis its (Sunni) military-political enemies, the Ottoman Empire. (Source 9)