Describe in detail the major similarities between the Safavid and Mughal Empires, particularly the cultural effects of Islam

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER:
The mandated conversion to Shi'ite Islam by Ismail set Iran apart from its neighbors. Eventually 90 percent of the population became Shi'ite, and the qizilbash viewed Ismail as a living god and therefore embraced and enforced his mandate. It took over a century and considerable warfare and repression to institute Shi'ism and repress Sunnism. Since the majority of states near Iran were Sunni, this was a significant challenge. Culture was affected as well: Iran used Persian, while neighboring regions spoke and wrote in Arabic or Turkish and were less willing to learn or use Persian. This did provide Iran with a connection to Muslim India, however, whose rulers preferred Persian to Arabic. Although the ruling elite of the Mughal Empire were Muslim, the majority of the population was Hindu. There was no widespread mandated conversion to Islam, but the presence of Islamic rulers posed a problem in India, which had previously seen unification under Hinduism with significant religious toleration for Buddhism and Jainism, and in general the fusion of the Brahmin and Dravidian cultures had provided a religiously tolerant atmosphere (in part because differences were construed on the basis of race or varna). Finally, constant fighting by Babur and his successors created a considerable distraction from Muslim-Hindu rivalry. As in Iran, Islam was often enforced with violence; Muslims destroyed Hindu monuments, enslaved prisoners of war, and forced some to convert, behaviors that conflicted greatly with Hindu traditions; however, although there were periodic movements of resistance from the Deccan or regions in the west, the Hindus were unable to find unification within religion as the Muslims had (despite their differences) and hence remained unable to overthrow their Muslim overlords. Although Akbar the Great attempted to create some compromises to alleviate Hindu-Muslim differences, these attempts at religious, social, and cultural fusion of the disparate elements of India did not survive his death.