DBQ Documents – Strength of Diversity / Weakness Within
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Document 1
From: Bertrandon de La Broquiere (French traveler through Turkish territory in 1453)
“They [the Turks] are a tolerably handsome race, with long beards, but of moderate size and strength. I know well that it is a common expression to say ‘as strong as a Turk’, nevertheless, I have seen an infinity of Christians excel them when strength was necessary, and I myself, who am not of the strongest make, when circumstances required labour, found many Turks weaker than I.”
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Document 2
From: Sultan Bayezid II (c.1500)
“You know well the unwashed [Christians] and their ways and manners, which certainly are not fine. They are indolent, sleepy, easily shocked, inactive; they like to drink much and to eat much; in misfortunes they are impatient, and in times of good fortune proud and overbearing…
… They are ignorant of any military stratagems…
… They are unable to bear hunger or cold, or heat, effort and menial work…
… In short, there is no good in them.”
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Document 3
From: Bertrandon de La Broquiere (French traveler through Turkish territory in 1453)
“It is the policy of the Turks to have their armies twice as numerous as those of the Christians…
Their armies [the Turks] I know commonly consist of 200,000 men, … They have amongst them a great number of Christians who are forced to serve … All these people detest the Turk, because he holds them in severe subjection; and should they see the Christians. and above all, the French, march in force against the Sultan, I have not the slightest doubt but they would turn against him and do him great mischief.”
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Document 4
From: Sultan Bayezid II (c.1500)
“And then the Christians fight constantly among themselves, because everyone desires to be a king, or a prince, or the first among them… Everyone takes care of himself only; no one thinks of the common interest…”
“When they [Christians] lose a battle they always say… ‘We were too few in number and the Turks were far more numerous’…
Well, that is what they say, being not willing to confess truly and rightly: ‘God is on the side of the Turks.’”
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Document 5
From: Suleiman the Magnificent circa 1526
“I am Suleiman and my name is read in all the prayers in all the cities of Islam. I am the Shah of Baghdad and Iraq… master of the lands of Caesar and Alexander the Great… Caesar of all the lands of Rome, and the Sultan of Egypt. I seized the Hungarian crown and gave it to the least of my slaves.”
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Document 6
From: Father Simon (Christian missionary describing Shah Abbas in 1604)
“So, the more he demonstrates kindliness to his subjects and the more familiarly he talks with them, they tremble before him, even the greatest among them, for, while joking, he will have their heads cut off. He is very strict in executing justice and pays no regard to his own favorites in this respect… While we were at his Court, he caused the bellies of two of his favorites to be ripped open, because they had behaved improperly to an ordinary woman. From this it comes about that in his country there are so very few murderers and robbers.”
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Document 7
From: Father Simon (Christian missionary describing Shah Abbas in 1604)
“He has to be obeyed absolutely: anyone failing in the slightest will pay for it with his head… Because of the great obedience they pay him, when he wills to have one of the nobles killed, he dispatches one of his men to fetch the noble’s head: the man goes off to the noble, and says to him: ‘The Shah wants your head.’ The noble replies: ‘Very well,’ and lets himself be decapitated.”
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Document 8
From: Father Antonio Monserrate (Portuguese missionary describing Akbar c.1580)
“This Prince [Akbar] is of a stature and of a type of countenance well-fitted to his royal dignity… He has an acute insight, and shows much wise foresight both in avoiding dangers and in seizing favorable opportunities for carrying out his designs… He is a great patron of learning… He has an excellent judgment and a good memory, and has attained a considerable knowledge of many subjects…
…Yet all these fine qualities both of body and mind lose the greater part of their splendor because the luster of the True Faith [Christianity] is lacking.”
Document 9
From: Inscription on mosque commissioned by Akbar the Great
"So said Jesus upon whom be peace: The world is a bridge; pass over it, but build no house upon it."
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Document 10
From: Dalpat Vilas (a contemporary Hindu document)
When Akbar began his Qamargah hunt in the Bhera-Rohtas-Girjhaka area, many of the (Hindu) Rajput chiefs accompanying the emperor were encamped on the bank of the river Jhelum. On Akbar's reaching there the chiefs went to meet him. One Rajput chief, Danhaji, was a bit late. Akbar whipped him himself. A young Rajput prince, Prithvidipa, was allowed to play on by his maternal uncle. Akbar ordered the poor uncle to be whipped, and the self-respecting Rajput, unable to bear the insult, stabbed himself thrice with his own dagger, thereby infuriating the emperor even further and making him pass an order for having the dying rajput trampled to death by an elephant. ... When prince Dalpat Singh of Bikaner and his companions saw Akbar after cremating the Rajput's body they found him shouting "Let the Hindus consume cows (sacred to Hindus) .....". Stories of the way Akbar treated Hindu rajputs must have reached Maharana Pratap and made him realize the utter ignominy of submitting to Akbar.
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Document 11
From: Conversation between Akbar the Great and his son Jahangir
Jahangir: “Father, how is it that you have allowed one of your Hindu Ministers to erect a temple and spend so much money? The top of the temple is even studded with diamonds. Why did you allow him to spend so much money for the Hindu religion?"
Akbar: "My son, I love my own religion. Is there anything that I will not do for my religion? Will money ever stand in my way? If I wanted to build a beautiful mosque, would I care about the amount of money that it cost? The Hindu Minister also loves his religion. If he wants to spend money for his religion, what right do I have to prevent him?
"I love something because it is my very own. Does he not have the right to love the thing that is his very own? I cannot ask him not to spend money on his religion, for I know that I would do the same thing for my religion."
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