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 Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Reviews
"With Islamic Gunpowder Empires, Douglas Streusand has contributed a masterful comparative analysis and an up-to-date reinterpretation of the significance of the early modern Islamic empires. This book makes profound scholarly insights readily accessible to undergraduate students and will be useful in world history surveys as well as more advanced courses." -Hope Benne, Salem State College "Streusand creatively reexamines the military and political history and structures of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires. He breaks down the process of transformation and makes their divergent outcomes comprehensible, not only to an audience of specialists, but also to undergraduates and general readers. Appropriate for courses in world, early modern, or Middle Eastern history as well as the political sociology of empires." -Linda T. Darling, University of Arizona "Streusand does a very good job of narrating and describing these three empires, despite their unique sets of conditions and characteristics. He is to be commended for navigating these hearty and substantial historiographies to pull together an analytical textbook which will be both informative and thought provoking for the undergraduate university audience." -Colin Mitchell, Dalhousie University "Douglas Streusand has brilliantly complemented, filled out, and updated Marshall Hodgson's pioneering study of the Islamic gunpowder empires of the early modern era. This is an absolute 'must' for students of early modern world history, especially those who focus on political and military structures." -Alfred J. Andrea, Professor Emeritus of Medieval History, University of Vermont; Past-President, World History Association "Islamic Gunpowder Empires is a significant contribution. We now have a scholarly, but concise, history filling what is usually a gap in World, Eurasian, and Middle-Eastern texts for middle and upper level undergraduate courses ... [Douglas E. Streusand] restores action and reaction to the imperial and provincial leaders, who emerge as anything but the doctrinaire, 'lock-step' authorities presiding over inevitably expanding states, which many histories portray... I recommend the book highly." -Ray Zirblis, Norwich University



Book Information
ISBN 9780813313597
Author Douglas E. Streusand
Format Paperback
Page Count 408
Imprint Westview Press Inc
Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight(grams) 560g