The Ottoman EmpireSOCIAL STUDIES FOR 10° EGBTEACHER: MAURICIO TORRES

Introduction & Background• In the 13th century Anatolia, a new

nation was rising under the flag of Osman I.

• This powerful nation rose mostly based on a combination of military and religious forces which gave it impetus and power.

• From here, they advanced towards the West, to the lands of the “Rumeli” (Romans).

Ottoman Advance• Under the leadership of Murad (late 1300s),

they conquered or had these nations paying tribute to them:• Serbia, Bulgaria and even the Byzantines. Also, some

other Muslim nations to the East.

• Under the leadership of Mehmed II (second half of the 1400s) the Ottomans conquered:• Hungary and many Balkan kingdoms. But most

importantly: Constantinople.

• His successors, Selim I and Suleyman the Magnificent in turn (mid 1500s) conquered:• Iraq, defeated the Shiite Safavids, Syria and Egypt,

Mecca and Medina; much of the eastern Mediterranean and as far as failing to capture Vienna.

Early Sultans of the Ottoman EmpireReign Significant Conquests

Osman 1290-1326 Establishes the kingdom

Murad 1359-1389 Serbia, Bulgaria

Mehmed II 1451-1481Constantinople, Bosnia, Albania, Wallachia, large areas around the

Black Sea

Selim I 1512.1520 Safavid Empire, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Arabian Peninsula

Suleyman I 1520-1566 Rhodes, Hungary, siege of Vienna

Secrets of their Success: Adaptability

• The Ottomans owed much to their first ten Sultans, but in reality their capability to adapt and overcome gave them remarkable advantages:• Good leadership

• Champions of Islamic faith

• Flexible military ideology

• Lack of elaborate traditions made them flexible

• They were both tolerant and fanatics

• Learned from their enemies (ex: their fleet was based on the Venetians’)

• Conscription through “child tribute” (Janissaries)

• All means were acceptable if they served the ends of a holy war.

The Sultan and Sunni beliefs• The state was designed to be a centralized entity, focused on the Sultan.

• As many other Islamic states, the sultan, being the leader was also the eternal defender of the faith.• They would enforce the Shariah under their reign

• Faced with the threat of the Safavids from Shiite Iran, their Sunni orthodoxy became stronger.

Tolerance and Segregation• Even though the Turks were very orthodox in their

faith, they allowed other religious groups to exist within their empire, without persecuting them.• But even though there was tolerance, they were segregated to

their own communities, called millets. Just like the ghettos during WWII.

• In these communities, Patriarchs or Rabbis were responsible for all the activities.

• But there was a special group called the Kapi Kullari:• They were legally slaves of the Sultan.

• They had been born Christians and converted to Islam.

• They were trained by the state to serve official functions.

Ottoman Extent• The Ottomans enjoyed many of these

external factors to increase their power outside of the Muslim world:• Kapi Kullari system

• Technological superiority in war.

• Centralized supervision of state in all matters.

• Tolerance

• Exploiting the skills of the Jews who fled persecution in Spain and sought asylum in a more tolerant society.

• Wealth derived from trade.

• A far superior system of government (at that time)

Stagnation• Between the years 1683 and 1827, the empire no longer grew in

huge steps as it did on its golden years.

• The Sultans became less interested in becoming able rulers and instead were turning into pompous princes.• But even through this change, they did realize they had to modernize their

country, because the West was quickly surpassing them: the Ottomans could no longer rely in old formulas of success that were now obsolete.

• Many reforms were attempted and they were continuously blocked by religious authorities.• When it the turn came to reform the army, the Janissaries turned on the

Sultan Selim III and killed him!

• His successor eliminated them in turn, in what was called the Auspicious Event.

• Finally, nationalist awakening in the Balkans, led to internal and continuous strife.

Ottoman Empire

• Empire rises with Osman

• Quickly grows outside Anatolia

Beginning

• Mehmed, Selim, Suleyman and Murad expand the Sultanate in less than 3 centuries

Expansion • In the 1800s the

empire begins to weaken with the rise of European powers and their Imperialistic goals along with its own failure to adapt.

Stagnation

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