Outline of the March 12th Lecture / M. Toksöz

OTTOMAN SAFAVID MUGHAL RULE

Three cases of state building in a geography from western Anatolia to the east of South Asia

Similarities in their formation:

- Relying on military bureaucracies inspired by the traditions of Turco-Mongol steppe peoples and Islam
- Adopting economic policies based on agriculture that fed the military
- Ruling over or conquering multi-ethnic and/or multi-religious societies
- Depending on the legitimacy of the ruler
- Developing after frontier principalities, the Ottoman Principality, the İlkhans and the Delhi Sultanate, from decentralized formations to central dynastic rule
- Adapting to the city-based agricultural societies

Warrior aristocracies in multi-faceted environments on geographies of co-existence in a chaotic era turning into ruling dynasties with armies, land tenure systems and central administration.

Religious basis of Sufism. Emergence of shiisim with the Safavids.