Think about the empires we've encountered so far and the different ways that they deal with diversity. WRITE a blog post in which you consider the following: in which ways do the three primary Islamic empires tolerate diversity and in which ways do they seek to eradicate or stifle diversity? And is there a qualitative difference between religious and ethnic tolerance?
Diversity is way to unify an Empire because it will lead to future success.
Ottoman Empire: In the Ottoman empire by the sixteenth century in Balka, 19% were Muslim and 81% were Christians. In the Ottoman Empire the primary religion was Islam but they tolerated Christians and the Christian population soon grew so that in Balka they made up more then 80% of the population. One of the rules the Islamic made "Devshirme" which was that the Balkan Christian communities were required to to hand over a quota of young boys, who were removed form their families, required to learn Turkish, and converted to Islam, and trained for military services. So that shows that the Ottoman had a very diverse community which consisted of Islamic perople and Chirstian people,they did not really try to eradicate diversity because they only took a handfull of teens/children to convert.
Mughal Empire : In the Mughal about 20% were Muslims and the rest was made up of people practicing Hinduism. So their was a good portion of diversity in the Mughal Empire because they had mostly Hinduists in all of the Mughal Empire and the rest was Islam even though Islam was the main religion. Emperor Akbar imposed a policy of toleration, deliberatly restraining the more militantly Islamic ulama, and he got rid of the special tax on non-muslims. Also the Mughal allowed Persians int their empire. Then Aurangzeb went and reversed Akbar's policy accomadation towards non-muslims, Also he went and forbade most of Hindu practices so the Hinu's eventually revolted which led to much uneeded violence. So Aurangzeb tried to eradicate diversity in the Mughal Empire by trying to elinate the Hindu people living there, so it would only be an Islamic Empire
Sufavid Empire: In the Sufavid they tried to eradicate all diversity by trying to force everyone to convet to Shi'a Islam. The founder was Shah Ismail who they thought was a direst succesor to Muhammad. In return, the shahs declared Shia Islam to be the State's religion. They were very intolerate towards non-muslims because people were some times killed because they practiced religions besides Islam.
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ReplyDeleteThe wealth of information that you are able to store in this fairly compact discussion on diversity in Empires is unbelievable. I love having the percentages laid out so that there is a specific and qualitative sum to weigh in one's mind. Some constructive criticism: there were a bunch of typos later in the work (understandable - everyone get lazy the closer they are to finishing, especially on homework). Also, in the very beginning you make a statement and leave it hanging. I see that it was mostly an opener for the real subject, but it was a strong idea that would have been interesting to follow through with. Though your point is made if one really thinks about the information you give, with a readers, you really need to hold their hands through the entire argument.
ReplyDeleteYou also say that the Ottomans and the Mughals "had a very diverse community." Is two different groups in a society the standard of diversity? If you believe so, then I beg to differ. In my mind, diversity constitutes a community in which there are at least four ethnic groups or religions present. That is my take in any case. I understand that there were more that you just weren't discussing, but if I knew nothing about the subject I would be terribly confused.
Nick, I definitely agree with your very first sentence. I think that it has been shown with these empires that religious diversity is the key to future success. If all religions are tolerated, then the people who practice those religions will feel safe. A feeling of safety, will then lead to a feeling of loyalty, which is what the empires needed to be able to continue expanding and thriving. I think that the fact that the Safavid did not let people be free to practices the religions that they were born into is the reason that it was the first empire to collapse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicole 100% and also on the fact that you can write so much on a compact discussion. And also the way you introduced your topic was really good and well thought out.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little confused by your post. At the very beginning you say that diversity is a good way to unify an empire, but then all the other information you give seems to show that it doesn't unify an empire at all. According to your post the Sufavids and Mughals tried rather hard to stomp out religious diversity and it caused some problems for their governnment. I'm not saying that I disagree with you, just wondering what your thesis is.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I really agree with your statement that diversity is the way to success. Diversity, especially religious diversity, can lead to clashing opinions, and when ruling a nation, this isn't something you would want. However, religion isn't something that can be easily removed if you have lived your life according to it. If an empire can find a way to unite the people outside of their religions, I think that this would be a much better solution than to simply allow complete diversity.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel that diversity is not as important as people believe this day in age. It's true that having people with different beliefs can make an environment richer, but ethnic diversity is not too significant. In the end, people are all very similar, regardless of their ethnic background. With the Muslim empires gaining people from other regions, the main advancement was not in the culture, but just in the population increase.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying about the three empires. The Ottomen were tolerant but had a firm policies that they would prefer that you were Muslim, also how the Mughals blended Islam and Hinduism under Akbar, which led to the expansion of the empire, but under rulers like Aurangzeb, the empire fell because they got rid of the diversity that they once had under Akbar.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicole as well. Especially about diversity. You seem to contradict yourself a little throughout your post. At the beginning, diversity seems to be the key to success. However by the end, it is the opposite. Also, I guess at the time, having two different religions was diverse. But only for the time. Nowadays, two religions in one community would not be diverse at all.
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