The Taj Mahal

This site offers a spirited look at not only the Taj Mahal, but also the Mughal Empire as a whole.

http://rubens.anu.edu.au/raid1/student.projects/tajmahal/home.html

Questions for further exploration:

Discuss the basic questions that surround the Taj Mahal. Why was it built and for whom? How have Europeans tried to claim it as their own? How have Hindu nationalists tried to claim it as a Hindu design?

Interview with Akbar, Emperor of the Mughals

This site explores the life of the Emperor of the Mughals.

http://itihaas.com/medieval/akbar2.html

Questions for exploration:

What early experiences shaped Akbar's attitude towards religion? What experiences led him to develop the Din-i-Illahi? How well would the values embodied in this semi-official religion have served the Mughal Empire had it been widely adopted? Could it have been widely adopted? Who would have opposed its wider adoption?

Aurangzeb

This site introduces the character and policies of the last of the Great Mughals, Aurangzeb, also known as Alamgir I.

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/Aurang.html

Questions for further exploration:

Using the information provided at this site and its links to Aurangzeb’s religious policies, discuss how Aurangzeb’s religious policies, his intolerance for rival politics on the subcontinent, and his expensive military campaigns eroded the foundations of the empire laid by Akbar without providing a new basis for its administration.

The British East India Company in India

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/British/EAco.html

Questions for further exploration:

What brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy and led to government intervention in its affairs? What impact did early British rule have on Bengal? What was “indirect rule” and the “Doctrine of Lapse (which had no basis in India Law as the British well knew)? What policies eventually brought about the end of the Honorable Company?

Fundamentals of Ottoman Rule

This site offers a lecture that encapsulates the chief characteristics of Ottoman rule.

http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lecture3.html

Questions for further exploration:

What were the chief elements of Ottoman rule? How did these serve as both the pillars of Ottoman strength and sources of weakness?

Suleiman the Magnificent

These sites offer insight into the life and career of the greatest of Ottoman Sultan’s, Suleiman.

http://www.honeysucklewhite.com/just_for_fun/lonesome_turkey/support/magnificent.html,
http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/~nwhist/mideast/MHope.html and
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/socialstd/MWH/11013_3.html

Questions for further exploration:

After reading the two brief biographies of Suleiman, turn to the “Activity” site at www.mcps and answer the following questions itemized as 5 and 6 on the acitivity outline: How did visitors form Western Europe regard Suleiman and his court? Why does Suleiman deserve his status as a great legal reformer and administrator? Also, how would Suleiman compare with a contemporary Western ruler? In his own view, Suleiman ruled over the lands of many ancient empires. Could any ruler in Western Europe make such a claim?

Roxelana

These sites provide histories of Roxelana, the brilliant and beloved wife of Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent

http://www.ucalgary.ca/HIST/tutor/islam/empires/ottoman/roxelana.html and
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1550sultanavisit.html

Questions for further exploration:

What were the origins and impact of the career of Roxelana in the Ottoman Court? How does the account of a European visitor summoned into her presence indicate that she was a formidable intelligence-gatherer for her husband? How were her court intrigues typical of Mughul and Ching court politics?

The Janissaries

This site provides a closer look at the military backbone of the Ottoman Empire and evaluates its decline in terms of the major social and political changes that marked the transition in Europe from the medieval to the modern world.

http://www.maki.simplenet.com/cgm/tnet/janisary.htm

Questions for further exploration:

Why was the recruitment of troops from non-Muslim peoples considered a good idea? How did the tradition start? How did the Janissaries become more than merely a military institution? How was the reform of the Ottoman military typical of Ottoman reforms in general? How did this style of reform differ from that in Western Europe?

Ottoman Science: Smallpox Vaccination

This site offers the text of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s description of a Smallpox vaccination in the Ottoman Empire.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/montagu-smallpox.html

Questions for further exploration:

What is Lady Montague’s seeming opinion of Ottoman society and their attitude towards medical preparations? What is her seeming opinion of Western doctors?

The Safavids

This site examines the arts of the world’s greatest empires. The art of the Safavid Empire of Iran is presented here with an engaging text to accompany its exhibits. Go to the Safavid gallery and cruise the files, which will discuss the place of Shism in Iran, the Safavid’s relations with the neighboring Mughal and Ottoman Empires, and also conduct tours of their palaces. Then study closely the gallery labeled “Painting under the Safavids,” using the link at the bottom of each page to pilot you through a discussion of the Shahnama.

http://www.smcm.edu/academics/aldiv/art/webcourses/arth100/empire/emphome.html

Questions for further exploration:

How would the use of legends from pre-Islamic Iran or Persia be of use to the Safavids? How does the composition and richness of the paintings reflect the influence of Chinese art and the wealth of the Safavid state?