The Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires had been ones of the major influences on the territories of Europe, Asia, and Africa for generations and centuries. All of them covered huge territories, which today belong to many different countries. Conquest of the new territories and taking over the lands of other tribes and people has been the main strategy of spreading power and influence of the Empires.
The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires managed to take large territories under their control. Besides, the dynasties of rulers of these Empires also succeeded at maintaining their immense states for centuries, making them grow and protecting them from the conquest attempts of the powerful neighbors. The Ottoman Empire was so huge that it occupied the parts of three continents; it spread to Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The Safavid Empire was spread through the territories of modern Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Iran; it also took parts of Turkey, Pakistan, Georgia, and Tajikistan. Mughal Empire lied on the lands of modern India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Bangladesh, Afghanistan. All of the three Empires had strong political and cultural sides, their scholars were responsible for many of scientific discoveries that the experts of nowadays still use to base their studies on.
Choosing one out of these three Empires to live in I would prefer the Ottoman Empire. First of all, it is the biggest and the strongest one out of all three Islamic Empires that built their influences and conquest on the use of gunpowder. The rulers of the Ottoman Empire were very determined about the security of their state.
This is why its borders and territories were carefully guarded, the Empire led wise outer and inner policies, and the lands within the Empire were given autonomous rights in order to avoid rebellions that would weaken the Empire.
Besides, the practice of creating janissary guards helped to establish order within the state and to protect it from the constant attempts of invasion. Janissaries were an elite military force well trained and loyal to the sultan (Miller, 3).
Secondly, to my mind, it is important that the inner situation in the state is stable. The rulers of the Ottoman Empire were good at providing proper control and setting order throughout their territories. The rare unstable times, rebellions, invasions, political betrayals were handled quickly and the peaceful atmosphere was re-established quite fast.
Finally, I think it is very important that the rulers of the Ottoman Empire supported the equality of religions and nations on their own territory. People that did not practice Islam were not forced to convert or mistreated for their religious preferences.
Of course, the Empire’s main beliefs were Islamic, but the rulers were wise enough not to discriminate people coming from other cultures even after conquering their lands. Stability, security, and tolerance are the three reasons why I would prefer to live in the Ottoman Empire
The Safavid Empire was based on religious discrimination and its rulers often used unfair ways of gaining power and conquering more territories, they betrayed their initial allies and took over the thrones. These are the factors that make me avoid choosing this Empire as a place to live in. It seems very unstable and insecure due to its constant wars and conflicts with powerful neighbors.
The Mughal Empire is known for its outstanding culture and science development, besides the Mughal rulers led wise social policy, although religious tolerance was not a part of it. This resulted in inner instability of the Empire and exposed it to the attacks from abroad (Miller, 25).
In conclusion, all of the three Islamic gunpowder Empires had their stronger and weaker sides. The generations of rulers were very different and practiced various styles of the ruling, but I think that the Ottoman Empire survived from medieval times to the times of the First World War for a reason.
Works Cited
Miller, Christine. Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires. 2010. Web.