Not Always “The Sick Man of Europe”. As the Mongol Empire fell, the Muslim Ottoman Empire, founded by Osman Bey, rose in Anatolia (eastern parts of.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Not Always “The Sick Man of Europe”

IN THE BEGINNING

As the Mongol Empire fell, the Muslim Ottoman Empire, founded by Osman Bey, rose in Anatolia (eastern parts of Turkey)

Osman Bey’s soldiers, the ghazis, had only one reason to exist, to fight for their Muslim faith

In the middle years of the 1300s, the Ottomans pushed out the last Byzantine governors of Anatolia and installed their own leaders

Farms that were once held by Greeks or Armenians were turned over to sipahis, the Ottoman cavalrymen

The land remained the property of the Ottoman sultan (Muslim ruler) but was distributed to his soldiers

Sipahis could use the land as long as they were enlisted in the Ottoman army

EXPANSION AND CONFLICT

During the reign of Sultan Murad I, the Ottomans were acknowledged as the leading power of Anatolia and the Balkans

Murad had interests in both In Anatolia, a number of Turkish

principalities had to be brought under Ottoman control, a task that was almost concluded when once again the Mongols attacked

This time the Mongol leader was Timur the Lame or Timur Leng

In 1402 C.E., Timur the Lame’s army was at Ankara, awaiting the then Ottoman Sultan Bayezid

Battle ensued and the Ottomans were crushed

Sultan Bayezid was captured Timur the Lame kept the once proud

sultan in a cage to display to his enemies

Timur’s forces reached as far as Izmir; then Timur the Lame turned eastward, and the rest of Southwest Asia breathed easier

REGAINING ANATOLIA After a period of war, the

Ottomans regained Anatolia, although their hold was threatened by other Turkish leaders who wanted to be free of Ottoman rule

But in 1500 C.E., the reigning sultan, Bayezid II, could well be satisfied with the accomplishments of his ancestors

Anatolia was now safely Ottoman, and the Greek and Armenian population was resigned to a minority position

The Turkish element in Anatolia was on the increase as more nomadic people poured into the region

Mamluk Egypt was a rival in Syria and Palestine, but that could be solved later

And Persia was still reeling from the Mongols

The future of the Ottomans looked very bright

1453 In 1453, the Ottomans had invaded

Constantinople, thereby ending the Byzantine Empire

The Ottomans made Constantinople their capital city, renamed it Istanbul, and converted the great cathedrals such as the Hagia Sophia into mosques

In the expanding empire, Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their religions, making the empire one of the more tolerant of the time

Within a hundred years, Ottomans conquered most of the regions previously held by the ancient Roman Empire, except for Italy westward

The Ottoman empire extended from Greece eastward to Persia, and then all the way around the Mediterranean into Egypt and northern Africa

As the empire grew, so too did religious persecution

To conquer large territories, the Ottomans enslaved children of their Christian subjects and turned them into fighting warriors, known as Janissaries

SELIM I Much of this expansion occurred during

the reign of Selim I, who came to power in 1512

Significantly, Selim claimed that he was the rightful heir to Islamic tradition under the Arab caliphs

With that claim, and with a huge empire, Istanbul became the center of Islamic civilization

SULEIMAN I Just eight years later, Suleiman I

(a.k.a. Suleiman the Magnificent) rose to power

Suleiman not only built up the Ottoman military, but also actively encouraged the development of the arts

For this reason, the Ottoman Empire experienced a golden age under his reign, which lasted from 1520 until 1566

During this time, the Ottomans tried to push to Europe through Hungary

The Holy Roman Empire had been weakened by the Protestant Reformation

The Ottoman armies took advantage of this weakness; after taking parts of Hungary, the Turks tried to move into Austria

In 1529, the empire laid siege to Vienna, a significant cultural center

But Vienna was as far as the Turks ever got

Although the Austrian princes and the Ottomans battled continually for the next century, the Ottomans were never able to expand much beyond the European territories of Byzantine influence

STILL, IT LASTED Still, the Ottoman Empire lasted until

1922, making it one of the world’s most significant empires

In that time, it greatly expanded the reach of Islam, while also keeping eastern Europe in a constant state of flux

This allowed the powers of Western Europe to dominate, and once they started exploring the oceans, they were able to circumvent their eastern neighbors and trade directly with India, China, and their American colonies

It is, however, worth remembering that the chief rivals of the Ottoman Empire was their eastern neighbor, the Safavid Empire

The Safavid Empire was based on military conquest and was dominated by Shia Islam unlike the Sunni dominance of the Ottoman Empire

The Safavid Empire’s location between the Ottomans and the Mughals, in what is present-day Iran, resulted in often contentious relationships between Muslim states, alliances with Europeans against the Ottomans, and a continuation of the long-standing rift between Sunni and Shia sects

A RELIGIOUS EMPIRE The Ottoman Empire was the one of the

largest and longest lasting Empires in history

It was an empire inspired and sustained by Islam, and Islamic institutions

It replaced the Byzantine Empire as the major power in the Eastern Mediterranean

RECIPE FOR A SUCCESSFUL EMPIRE

Highly centralized Power was always transferred to a

single person, and not split between rival princes -The Ottoman Empire was successfully

ruled by a single family for 7 centuries

State-run education system Religion was incorporated in the

state structure, and the Sultan was regarded as "the protector of Islam"

State-run judicial system Ruthless in dealing with local leaders Promotion to positions of power

largely depended on merit Created alliances across political and

racial groups United by Islamic ideology United by Islamic warrior code with

ideal of increasing Muslim territory through Jihad

United by Islamic organizational and administrative structures

Highly pragmatic, taking the best ideas from other cultures and making them their own

Encouraged loyalty from other faith groups

Private power and wealth were controlled

Very strong military Strong slave-based army Expert in developing gunpowder as a

military tool Military ethos pervaded whole

administration

THE MILLET SYSTEM Non-Muslim communities were

organized according to the millet system, which gave minority religious/ethnic/geographical communities a limited amount of power to regulate their own affairs - under the overall supremacy of the Ottoman administration

Some millets paid tax to the state as dhimmis, while others were exempted because they were seen to be performing services of value to the state

THE DEVSHIRME SYSTEM Non-Muslims in parts of the empire

had to hand over some of their children as a tax under the devshirme (“gathering”) system introduced in the 14th century

To the horror of their parents, and Western commentators, these children were converted to Islam and served as slaves

Although the forced removal from their families and conversion was certainly traumatic, the devshirme system was a rather privileged form of slavery for some

Some of the youngsters were trained for government service, where they were able to reach very high ranks, even that of Grand Vezir

Many of the others served in the elite military corps of the Ottoman Empire, called the Janissaries, which was almost exclusively made up of forced converts from Christianity

Although members of the devshirme class were technically slaves, they were of great importance to the Sultan because they owed him their absolute loyalty and became vital to his power

This status enabled some of the “slaves” to become both powerful and wealthy

Their status remained restricted, and their children were not permitted to inherit their wealth or follow in their footsteps

The devshirme system continued until the end of the seventeenth century

FRATRICIDE Sultan Selim introduced the policy of fratricide

(the murder of brothers) Under this system whenever a new Sultan

ascended to the throne his brothers would be locked up

As soon as the Sultan had produced his first son the brothers (and their sons) would be killed

The new Sultan's sons would be then confined until their father's death and the whole system would start again

This often meant that dozens of sons would be killed while only one would become Sultan

In the later centuries of Ottoman rule, the brothers were imprisoned rather than executed

THE SULTAN’S LIFE The Sultans lived in the Topkapi Palace in

Istanbul The Sultan's life was run by rituals copied

from the Byzantine court For example, the Sultan wore his silk robes

once and then they were discarded

It was in the Harem that the Sultan spent his life

Every inhabitant of the 230 small dark rooms in the Topkapi palace was his to command

The number of concubines often exceeded a thousand and came from all over the world

The only permanent male staff consisted of eunuchs

Access to the Sultan meant power But no one was to be trusted - The

Sultan moved every night to avoid assassination

THE HAREM The harem was a paradox, since it was a

feature of the Ottoman Empire (and other Islamic states) yet contained much that was not permissible in Islam

The harem was extravagant, decadent, and vulgar - The concentration of wealth, suffering and injustice toward women was far from the ideals of marriage and married life in Islam

Despite this, the harem could bring benefits to a family who had a woman in the harem - It meant patronage, wealth and power; it meant access to the most powerful man in the Empire - the Sultan

DECLINE The power of the empire was waning by

1683 when the second and last attempt was made to conquer Vienna

It failed Without the conquest of Europe and the

acquisition of significant new wealth the Empire lost momentum and went into a slow decline

Economic problems Competition from trade from the Americas Competition from cheap products from India

and the Far East Development of other trade routes Rising unemployment within the Empire

Ottoman Empire became less centralized, and central control weakened

Sultans being less severe in maintaining rigorous standards of integrity in the administration of the Empire

Sultans becoming less sensitive to public opinion

The low quality Sultans of the 17th and 18th centuries

The ending of the execution of Sultan's sons and brothers, imprisoning them instead This apparently humane process led to men

becoming Sultan after spending years in prison - not the best training for absolute power