1. E UROPEAN C HALLENGES TO THE M USLIM W ORLD :) By: Kyla Galley

2. F ERMENT I N THE M USLIM WORLD There were three major Muslim empires, the Mughals in India, the Ottomans in the middle east, and the Safavids in Iran. In the 1700’s they were all in decline. The decay had many causes. Central government had lost control over powerful groups. Corruption was widespread. In some places Muslim scholars and religious leaders were allied with the state, and then in other areas they helped to format discontent against the government.

3. F ERMENT IN THE M USLIM WORLD ISLAMIC REFORM MOVEMENTS: In the 1700’s and the early 1800’s reform movements began to spread across the Muslim world. Islamic revivals rose in Africa also. In Sudan Muhammad Ahmad said that he was the long awaited savor of the faith. In the 1880’s Mahdi and his followers resisted British expansion into the region. In modern Sudan, followers of the Mahdi still have a great influence.

4. C HALLENGES TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE NATIONALIST REVOLTS: As ideas of nationalism spread from western Europe, internal revolts posed constant challenges within the multi-ethnic Ottoman empire. The Balkans, Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Romanians gained there independence. Britain, France, and Russia each wanted to benefit from the slow crumbling of the Ottoman empire. Then in 1898 the new German empire was hoping to increase its influence on the region by building a Berlin-to-Baghdad railway.

5. E FFORTS AT REFORM Since the late 1700’s, Ottoman rulers thought that they needed a reform. The reforms brought better and restored farming. The improvements were good and bad. Better living conditions resulted in a population explosion. The growing population increased pressure on the land which led to unrest.

6. EGYPT SEEKS TO MODERNIZE Egypt in 1800 was a semi-independent Ottoman province. MUHAMMAD ALI: He was sometimes called the “father of modern Egypt.” He was an unsuccessful soldier. He improved tax collection, reorganized the landholding system.

7. I RAN AND THE WESTERN POWERS Like the Ottoman empire, Iran faced major challenges in the 1800’s. The government improved finances and sponsored the building of telegraph lines and railroads. But the reform didn’t save Iran from western imperialism. For a little while Russia operated in the north and Britain in the south.