Question

How did political power in the ottoman, safavid, and mughal empires shift as a result of the economic difficulties of the latter half of the eighteenth century?

Answer 1

Political power shifted from the central government to local notables and military strongmen.

This led to civil wars in the kingdoms that furthermore weakened the initially powerful governments. The weak central governments could also not withstand the emerging imperialistic pressures from western powers. As a result the empires crashed one by one, and parts of their territories were taken over by the major imperial powers.