Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals

Islamic Gunpowder Empires provides readers with a history of Islamic civilization in the early modern world through a comparative examination of Islam's three greatest empires: the Ottomans (centered in what is now Turkey), the Safavids (in modern Iran), and the Mughals (ruling the Indian subcontinent). Author Douglas Streusand explains the origins of the three empires; compares the ideological, institutional, military, and economic contributors to their success; and analyzes the causes of their rise, expansion, and ultimate transformation and decline. Streusand depicts the three empires as a part of an integrated international system extending from the Atlantic to the Straits of Malacca, emphasizing both the connections and the conflicts within that system. He presents the empires as complex polities in which Islam is one political and cultural component among many. The treatment of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires incorporates contemporary scholarship, dispels common misconceptions, and provides an excellent platform for further study.


About the Author
Douglas E. Streusand has studied Islamic civilization for thirty years. He is professor of international relations at the US Marine Corps Command & Staff College and adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics. He has previously taught at the University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland University College, and The Johns Hopkins University School of Continuing Studies. His publications include The Formation of the Mughal Empire in addition to numerous articles and reviews. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago.