Ottoman Empire.

ROLCAM · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:37 am Post subject: Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Empire was the most powerful empire in the world during the 1500's and 1600's. At its height, it controlled what is now Turkey and parts of northern Africa, southwestern Asia, and southeastern Europe. The empire began about 1300 and lasted until 1922. The Ottomans were nomadic Turkish tribes that migrated to the Middle East from central Asia. The term Ottoman comes from Osman, also called Othman, the founder and first sultan (ruler) of the empire.

Before the arrival of the Ottomans, the Byzantine Empire had occupied parts of Asia Minor (now Turkey) and southeastern Europe for almost 1,000 years. That empire ended in 1453, when the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul). They made the city their capital. By the mid-1500's, the Ottomans ruled Asia Minor, the Balkans, and parts of northern Africa and present-day Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. The Ottomans were Muslims and they spread their religion, Islam, throughout the empire.

The Ottoman Empire slowly declined during its last 300 years. When World War I began in 1914, the Ottoman Empire consisted of only Asia Minor, parts of southwestern Asia, and part of the Balkans. The Ottomans were defeated in the war, and the empire came to an end in 1922.

Ways of life

People of the Ottoman Empire, in addition to Turks, included many Arabs, Armenians, Greeks, and Slavs. The official language was Ottoman Turkish. The empire had two classes of people. The ruling class included the imperial family, owners of large estates, and military and religious leaders. These wealthy people lived in stone mansions. The rest of the people belonged to the rayah (protected flock). The sultan had the responsibility of protecting them from invasion and other perils. The rayah had homes of bricks and mud. Most people of both classes dressed in long shirts and baggy, knee-length trousers.

Almost all the women of the Ottoman Empire lived restricted lives. Islamic law permitted a man to have as many as four wives at a time. Muslim women lived most of their lives in seclusion, usually in a separate section of a household. This section was called a harem (see HAREM). Some women gained power within their harem and had great influence over their husbands and sons. Muslim women also were required to wear veils in public. Many of these restrictions affected non-Muslim women as well.

Most Muslims strictly followed the rules of Islam as set down in their holy book, the Koran (see ISLAM [Customs and ceremonies]). However, the Ottomans allowed all religious groups to practice their own faiths. Christians and Jews made up the largest non-Muslim groups. Each religious group, including the Muslims, formed a millet (nation), whose leader represented its members before the government.

Cultural life. Neighborhood mosques (Muslim houses of worship) served as both religious and social centers for Muslims. Other millets had their own religious ceremonies and social events. The people of the empire also enjoyed carnivals and such sports as archery and wrestling. The Ottomans adopted many styles of Byzantine and Persian art and literature. Major Ottoman contributions came in the fields of architecture, carpet weaving, and tile making.

Ottoman education emphasized religious studies. Beginning in the 1300's, boys attended schools in the mosques. The best students went on to high schools called medreses. Girls began to go to elementary school in the mid-1800's.

Economy. Most of the people of the Ottoman Empire worked as farmers. Grain was grown in fertile areas of Egypt, Syria, and lands surrounding the Black Sea. Craftworkers and merchants practiced their trade in the cities and towns.

The Ottoman Empire gained great wealth through trade. Some of the busiest trade routes between Asia and Europe ran through the empire. Merchandise offered in the markets of Ottoman cities included Chinese porcelains, European woolens, Persian silks, and spices from Asia.

Government. The Ottoman sultans made all important governmental decisions for the empire. The sultans appointed officials to collect taxes and to keep peace within the empire. The powers of the sultans were limited in some ways. For example, the rulers needed the support of the army to maintain their position. In addition, new laws were subject to the approval of the empire's chief religious judge, the grand mufti, before they could take effect.

After the death of a sultan, he was succeeded by his oldest son or by a favorite son whom he had chosen. Some sultans eliminated threats to their rule by murdering their brothers or confining them to the royal palace.

History

The beginning of the empire. The Turkish tribes led by Osman settled in the province of Anatolia (now Turkey) during the late 1200's. The tribes captured the city of Bursa in 1326 and then began to attack the surrounding territory, including the Byzantine Empire. In the late 1300's, the Ottomans formed a group of highly trained soldiers called Janissaries (see JANISSARIES).

Expansion and decline. By the mid-1400's, the Ottomans had conquered the entire Byzantine Empire except for the city of Constantinople. Ottoman troops, led by Sultan Muhammad II, succeeded in capturing Constantinople in 1453. The city then became the center of the Ottoman Empire.

Under Muhammad II, or Mehmed II, the Ottomans also conquered much of southeastern Europe and territory near the Black Sea. They took over Syria in 1516 and Egypt in 1517. The empire reached its peak of power and wealth under Sultan Suleiman I, who ruled from 1520 to 1566. His armies conquered Hungary, northern Africa, and territory on the east coast of the Red Sea down to what is now Yemen.

In 1571, naval forces from Spain, Venice, and the Papal States of Italy almost destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Lepanto. But the navy was rebuilt and the empire continued to grow. In 1683, Austrian and Polish troops turned back an Ottoman attack on Vienna, Austria. This defeat ended the Ottoman Empire's territorial expansion.

During the next 200 years, many nations won independence from Ottoman rule. Government corruption, inflation, and weak sultans also contributed to the decline of the empire.

The empire ends. In 1908, a group of Ottoman military officers called the Young Turks forced Sultan Abdul-Hamid II to restore the empire's constitution, which guaranteed an elected parliamentary government. The constitution had been adopted under Abdul-Hamid in 1876, but he suspended it the next year following a Russian invasion.

After World War I ended in 1918, troops of several Allied nations, including Britain and Greece, occupied the Ottoman Empire. The empire's forces had supported Germany in the war. A Turkish military hero named Mustafa Kemal (later called Kemal Ataturk) led a nationalist movement that ended the occupation of Turkey in 1922. The Turkish government abolished the Ottoman Empire that year and created the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
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Roland Camilleri

Moderator

Sydney , Australia.