Download Rise of the Ottoman Empire

Rise of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was 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 region.
The Ottoman state was founded by Turkish tribes under Osmen Bey in north-western Anatolia
in 1299. This small state was in conflict with several other small Muslim states, each competing
with each other for territory. By 1400, the Ottomans had managed to extend their influence
over most of Anatolia and into Byzantine territory in Eastern Europe. In 1402, the Ottomans
moved their capital to Edirne in Europe where they threatened the last great stronghold of the
Byzantine Empire, its capital, Constantinople. The city seemed to defy the great expansion of
Islam. No matter how much territory fell to the Muslims, Constantinople resisted every siege
and every invasion. Not only would the seizure of Constantinople represent a powerful symbol
of Ottoman power, but it would make the Ottomans master of east-west trade.
At its peak it included:
Turkey
Egypt
Greece
Bulgaria
Romania
Macedonia
Hungary
Palestine
Jordan
Lebanon
Syria
Parts of Arabia
Constantinople
Constantinople was finally captured by Sultan Mehmet II. He completed the conquest of the
Byzantine Empire by successfully storming Constantinople after a 50-day siege, for which he
constructed the largest cannons the world had seen to break down the triple walls. Byzantine
Emperor Constantine XI Constantine died fighting with the last of his men.
To Greek and Armenian citizens of Constantinople Mehmet granted the privileges that they
were to enjoy throughout Ottoman rule, including the freedom to practice Orthodox Eastern
Christianity. This was contrast to the typical Christian practice which was to slaughter most of
the population of a conquered town and convert the remainder to Christianity.
Mehmet moved his capital to Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul, which means "To the
City". From that point on, the capital of the Ottoman Empire would remain fixed in Istanbul and
under the patronage of the Ottoman sultans, become one of the wealthiest and most cultured
cities of the world. Mehmet restored the greatness of that city by settling there the populations
of other conquered towns. Within Istanbul, the Church of Hagia Sophia became a mosque and
Mehmet undertook a vast rebuilding program of the city.
The Ottoman State
The Ottomans inherited a rich mixture of political traditions from vastly disparate ethnic
groups: Turks, Persians, Mongols, Mesopotamian and, of course, Islam. The Ottoman state
rested on a principle of absolute authority in the monarch. The nature of Ottoman autocracy,
however, is greatly misunderstood and misinterpreted in the West, particularly in world history
textbooks.
The central function of the ruler or Sultan in Ottoman political theory was to guarantee justice
('adala in Arabic) in the land. All authority hinges on the ruler's personal commitment to justice.
Officially, the Sultan was the government. He enjoyed absolute power and was personally
involved in every governmental decision. In the Ottoman government, everything representing
the state government issued from the hands of the Sultan himself.
The Sultan also assumed the title of Caliph, or supreme temporal leader, of Islam. The
Ottomans claimed this title for several reasons: the two major holy sites, Mecca and Medina,
were part of the Empire, and the primary goal of the government was the security of Muslims
around the world, particularly the security of the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. As Caliph, the
Sultan was responsible for Islamic orthodoxy. Almost all of the military conquests and
annexations of other countries were done for one of two reasons: to guarantee the safe
passage of Muslims to Mecca (the justification for invading non-Muslim territories) and the
rooting out of heterodox or heretical Islamic practices and beliefs (the justification for invading
or annexing Muslim territories).
Religion
Although the Ottoman Empire was widely influenced by the faiths and customs of the peoples
it incorporated, the most significant influences came from Islam.
The ruling elite worked their way up the hierarchy of the state madrasahs (religious schools)
and the palace schools. They were trained to be concerned with the needs of government and
to be mindful of the restrictions of Islamic law.
In accordance with the Muslim dhimmi system, Christians and Jews were not considered equals
to Muslims and were granted limited freedoms. The system commonly known as devsirme
(“blood tax”) was effectively used in the Ottoman Empire for centuries: in this system a certain
number of Christian boys, mainly from the Balkans and Anatolia, were periodically recruited
before they reached adolescence and were brought up as Muslims. These boys were trained
either in the arts of statecraft or in the military to form the ruling class and the elite fighting
force, Janissaries, of the empire.
The Ottoman Empire was tolerant towards Christians and Jews, but not towards the
polytheists. Such tolerance was subject to a non-Muslim tax, the Jizya. Non-Muslim people
were considered subjects of the Empire, but were not subject to the Muslim faith or Muslim
law.
Suleiman the Magnificent
The Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its power during the rule of Suleiman the Magnificent
(ruled 1520 -66) and his grandson Selim II (1566 - 74).
Suleiman came to the throne as one of the wealthiest rulers in the world. His strength owed
much to the work his father Selim had done in stabilising government, removing opposition,
frightening (but not succesfully conquering) the Safavid Empire of Iran into adopting a nonaggression policy, and conquering the Mamluk empire of Egypt and Syria.
These conquests, which united the lands of Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean
under a single ruler, brought a time of peace and stability, under which the Empire flourished.
Suleiman had no internal rivals for power. His father had seen to that by executing his own
brothers and their sons, and all 4 of Suleiman's brothers.
The Ottoman Empire now included so much of the territory where Islam was practiced, and so
many of the Islamic holy places, that Suleiman was widely regarded as the religious leader of
Islam, as well as the earthly ruler of most Muslims.
The wealth and stability of the Empire at this time attracted the top Muslim brains of the
period, and craftsmen, artists, intellectuals and writers were eager to move to Istanbul.
Suleiman was named 'The Magnificent' by the Europeans, but his own people called him 'The
Lawgiver'.
Decline
The power of the empire began declining by 1683 when the second and last attempt was made
to conquer Vienna. It failed and without the conquest of Europe and the acquisition of
significant new wealth the Empire lost momentum and went into a slow decline. Throughout
the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ottoman Empire was ruled by poor quality sultans who were
less sensitive about public opinion. Also, Sultans stopped executing their sons and brothers and
began imprisoning them which gave them little training if they did come to power. Sultans also
did not maintain the standards of integrity in the administration as had been seen with earlier
Sultans.
Several other factors that contributed to the Empire's decline included:
•
The European powers wanted to expand
•
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
Also, The Ottomans were on the losing side of World War I and their lands were dispersed to
the Allied powers, including Great Britain and France. The empire officially ended on the 1st
November 1922, when the Ottoman sultanate was abolished and Turkey was declared a
republic. The Ottoman caliphate continued as an institution, with greatly reduced authority,
until it too was abolished on the March 3, 1924.