How The Ottoman Empires, Mughal Empire and Tokugawa Japan Leaders Used Religious Justifications

Religious Justifications

Religious justifications for power were used by the leaders of the Ottoman Empire, Tokugawa Japan and, Mughal Empire, these justifications were accepted because religion was a driving force in these societies and anyone who opposed or disagreed with these religious beliefs risked being persecuted. Some of these civilizations offered more tolerance than others but overall, persecution of religions, other than the accepted one, was common because often authority would feel threatened by the increasing popularity of a religion other than the commonly accepted and advocated one.

The Ottoman Empire was ruled by a sultan named Suleiman from 1520 to 1566. He proclaimed his power by stating, “I am God’s slave and sultan of this world. By the grace of God I am head of Muhammad’s community. God’s might and Muhammad’s miracles are my companions”(60). Since the sultan ruled through the power of their god, any religion other than Islam could seem threatening to his authority, and if his authority was threatened he would feel the need to control the growth and spread of religions that opposed the belief that authority was given by a divine force. This would lead to persecution. Though the Ottoman Empire was relatively tolerant to “people of the book (Christians and Jews), there was still persecution and discrimination against them. Two major displays of this persecution where: Christians had to pay an extra tax in order to be allowed to practice their religion, and the Devshirme which took christian boys from their families and sent them to the capitol where they would be converted to Islam and trained to become administrators, soldiers in the Janissary corps, or palace officials. During the time of the Ottoman Empire this would have been considered very tolerant but if this where to happen in modern times it would be illegal and there would be numerous problems.

The Mughal Empire was started by a man named Babur, who used religious reasons to justify his brutal conquering of lands, he called himself “the sword of Islam”, but he also demonstrated tolerance to the Hindus, “To solidify his new dynasty Babur carefully avoided acts of intolerance against Hindus”(360). His acts of tolerance continued with his grandson Akbar, who believed that all religions should be tolerated, and all believers should be treated equally, “Akbar was remarkably open minded to other religious traditions, including christianity”(67). He removed the tax that non-muslims had to pay, allowed non-muslims to have their own laws and institutions, and his government included many Hindus in positions of responsibility. Akbar was so accepting of hinduism that he “married a Hindu princess and allowed Hindu women to practice their religion open”(360). The beginning of the Mughal Empire was very tolerant and did not persecute people because of their religions. The demolishing of the tolerant structure of the Mughal Empire began with Jehan but was most noticeable when his son Aurangzeb, who was the last Mughal emperor ended the religious tolerance that the other emperors had upheld, he also reinstated the non-muslim tax and forced the Hindu community to live under the Islamic law. This discrimination was not caused by religious justifications for power but happened because Aurangzeb was a very religious Muslim and did not accept the Hindu tradition.

Tokugawa Japan was ruled by an Emperor but Shoguns were the ones who had actual power in ruling because they ruled in the name of the emperor. The Emperor claims descent from Amaterasu (goddess of the sun) through the Mandate of heaven, which is how he justifies his right to rule. The Tokugawa Shogunate unified japan, and encouraged traditional beliefs such as Confucianism because it taught to be obedient to authority, “The Tokugawa rulers depended less on personal ties with feudal lords and more on an efficient bureaucracy imbued with Confucian values”(379). When Japan began to have western contact for trading, the merchants that came to Japan were accompanied by missionaries who wanted to spread christianity. When Daimyo’s who had converted to Christianity began to question the Shogun's authority, the Shoguns became worried that the rise in popularity of Christianity would cause them to lose power. The Shogun leaders began to take action against Christianity, “Christianity which had been spread widely in southern Japan beginning in the 1550s, was banned and driven underground”(82), the Shoguns began to persecute and kill Christians as well as banning most foreign trading. The Shoguns felt their authority was being threatened because Christianity had beliefs that contradicted the emperor's right to rule, because the emperor ruled through the Mandate of Heaven. The Emperor justifying his power by saying that he was chosen through the Mandate of Heaven led to the persecution of Christians because by having a different belief it threatened his right to rule.

Religious justifications for power were accepted because religion was a driving force in these societies. Although sometimes there would be tolerance, most times when a new religion with different beliefs was introduced the rulers often felt threatened because without the religious justifications they would have no authority.When the rulers would feel threatened, to avoid loss of power, they would persecute the people of the other religion to assure that those beliefs would be stopped and their authority would remain intact.