The Ottoman Empire (1289-1923) and the Mughal Empire (1526-1858) both constituted the large Muslim Empires established by the Turkish speaking rulers who migrated from the central region of Asia and conquered the lands that were previously harmed due to the invasions by Mongols. They effectively employed the gun-powder arms and ammunition for establishing their ruler over the regions which were extremely diversified on the basis of religions and ethnicity.
The Ottoman Empire
In 1453, the religious warriors of Islam called ghazis successfully conquered Constantinople that was the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The ottoman Turks made Constantinople as their capital and named it as Istanbul. They also transformed the great cathedrals in to their mosques as their mission was to spread Islam. However, they were quite receptive towards the followers of other religions as well. Nevertheless, they also differentiated between the non-Muslims and the Muslims to some extent. As for instance, the stature of dhimmi was given to the Jews and the Christians, which means ‘the protected people’. The dhimmis were permitted to exercise their system of beliefs only if they remained loyal to the Ottoman Empire and regularly paid their taxes called jizya. But, later, the religious execution rose with the further expansion of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans formed an exclusive army of Janissaries, post the expansion of their Empire in to the Balkans, by means of the deyshirme institution. The Christian young boys were forced to serve as the slaves to the King and to become the soldiers in the force of Janissaries. Some of these Christian boys were posted in the civilian administration of Ottoman due to which some Christian families sent their sons by their consent to avail the opportunity at the upward mobility.
The Mughal Empire
Babur was the founding father of the Mughal Empire who conquered India in the year 1526 with the help of his Turk soldiers. The Babur’s army employed the same military strategy and technology as those adopted by the Ottomans. Akbar was the grandson of Babur who became King after the death of his father Humayun. Akbar governed the Mughal Empire during the period of 1556 to 1605. During his reign, the Mughal Empire became even stronger. Akbar was more tolerant towards non-Muslims than the Ottomans and any other Muslim rulers in the history. He lifted the jizya tax from the non-Muslims as opposed to the Ottomans. He also, allowed the non-Muslims to openly practice their religion unlike the Ottomans who only allowed the freedom of worship to the non-Muslims until they paid their taxes. Akbar also ended the ancient custom of Hindu culture to burn the woman in to the flames of the funeral pile of her husband. Akbar even encouraged inter-marriages by marrying to a Hindu woman himself and allowing her to carry on with her religious practices even after her marriage. He also welcomed non-Muslims to hold government positions. Akbar warmly welcomed the catholic priest, Padre Farmaliun, at the Imperial Court and placed some intelligent young men under him for instructions in order to extend knowledge and to secure the translation of Greek books.
The two magnificent Muslim Empires, namely: the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire had much in common. They both were formed through the strength and capabilities of their military
