The Ottoman Turkish Empire (1450-1750)

Mr. Blankenship’s Lecture Notes

AP World History

I. Early Rise of the Ottomans

A. Historical Origins: We have been talking about the movement of Turkic peoples from north of the
Caspian and Aral Seas / Central Asia for a very long time now. We introduced them as warriors for the
Abbasid Caliphs and specifically we went over the Mamluk and Seljuk Turks in the 11 th century that
caused havoc in Anatolia with the Byzantine Empire and the weak Abbasids. With the sacking and the
murder of the last Caliph by the Mongols in 1258 in Baghdad a power political vacuum was created. A
variety of Turkic peoples migrated to the Middle East – some in search of booty / others to escape the
Mongol advances. In the same year that Baghdad fell to the Mongols – a boy named Othman was born to
a leading Ghazi family in Anatolia. His descendants were called Othmanlis, or Ottomans, as people in
the West pronounced it. What was super ninja was the fact that his recent ancestors had been pastoral
nomads out of Central Asia, a clan of about 400 guys fleeing the Mongols that were trying to beat them
down – so Othman was not too removed from his ancestral roots. His palace was his horse, his throne his
saddle, and his office his saddlebag, his capital was wherever he camped for the night. In the next few
decades, the followers of Othman came to dominate much of Anatolia and crossing the Bosporus straits
into Europe – they were able to do it because of the shear will of Osman and using the new gunpowder
technology. Their greatest victory in the 14th century came in 1389 when the Ottomans defeated the
Serbians in Kosovo (if you have a friend from Serbia…just mention 1389 and that’s it and see his
response).

1. An Early End to the Ottomans?: So, eventually a guy by the name of Bayezid the Thunder Bolt
(1389-1402) would come to power and he really wanted to spread the borders of the Ottoman Empire.
He launched a campaign into modern day Bulgaria at a place called Nicopolis and defeated an army
of the Kings of France and Hungary but beat them down. At this point – he started calling himself –
Sultan – a secular version of the Calip – and said he spoke for Dar-al-Islam – the Islamic community.
The guy had some A.D.H.D because he launched a new military campaign every year – he would
strike in the West and then in the following year – turn his armies to the East. Since he moved with
some ninja speed – he got the name the Thunder Bolt! But then…he messed with the wrong guy, in
the East he came into contact with a guy named Timur-i-lang – not a nice guy and somebody who
made the claim that he was a direct descendant of Genghis khan. In 1402 they met at the battlefield of
Ankara. The Ottomans got BEAT down and Ottoman Sultan Bayezid was taken hostage and clapped
up in a cage like some zoo animal and was hauled back to the city of Samarkand. It looked like the
end of the Ottoman Empire but then came the rise to power of Sultan Mehmet II.

2. The Rise of Mehmet II and The Sacking of Constantinople: In 1451 there would be a turning
point event for the young Ottoman Empire – a 19 year old boy had become Sultan – Mehmed II – and
since he was young many questioned his leadership abilities. But Mehmed believed what better way
to achieve legitimacy would be to conquer Constantinople. In 1452 he constructed a castle called
Rumeli Hisari – which means: Fortress in the Land of the Roads - on the European side of the
Bosporus where it is at its narrowest – 2,300 ft. across from a Turkish castle built by Bayezid I and
controlled the path from the Black Sea north of Constantinople to cut off trade and supplies from
Roman allies in the Black Sea– the castle will also go by its nickname – The Throat Cutter. In 1453
he began the assault – with an army of close to 100,000 he would approach the giant walls (the
innermost was 90ft high and 30 ft thick) – which were defended only by 7,000 soldiers. For weeks the
Byzantines were able to repulse attack after attack until the Sultan ordered 2 things: the first was that
he had a Hungarian cannon maker named Urban - who was hired by the Byzantine Emperor but who
 could not afford him – Mehmet paid 4 times his asking price to make him 26ft cannons that could
launch 1,200 pound stone balls 1 mile in distance into the large walls – the explosion could be heard
10 miles away. The cannon could only be fired 3 times a day because of the heat that it generated –
they had to keep it cool with olive oil. It took 90 oxen and 400 men to move the cannons into place
and took 3 hours to load. The biggest of these cannons was called: The Basilica. Urban had built
cannons to place on the Boghaz castle which put to a test suck a Venetian ship that refused to stop.
Mehmed had a navy of 150 ships but could not get into the harbor of the golden horde so he dragged
80 of his ships over land so that they could go into the harbor. After 7 weeks the walls were finally
breached on May 29th. According to Ottoman tradition he was supposed to give his men 3 days of
looting – but he entered the 2nd day to stop the destruction – he had larger plans for it. The sacking of
the city had a couple of significant meanings:

 It officially ended the Byzantine Empire – which lasted 1,000 years – and was in a sense
the “2nd” Rome – something that the Ottomans made the claim to continue.
 It would give the Ottomans control of the traditional trade routes of the Eastern
Mediterranean.

3. The European Théâtre - Mehmet v. Vlad the Impaler (Yeah – the Dracula guy): Mehmed
continued solidify his power in Anatolia and also sought to expand the empire in Eastern Europe –
Wallachia (Romania) which had excepted tributary status witnessed a uprising in a sense by Prince
Vlad III of Dracul – who in the 1460’s stop paying tribute to the Turks. Vlad had grown up as a
slave child along with Mehmet in the Ottoman capital. However, once he was released, he takes the
throne in Wallachia in 1456. At an Easter banquet he hosts a party in the capital city of Targoviste,
Wallachia – at the party he has all the nobles and their wives arrested and then impaled. The word on
the street is that Vlad is in talks with the Hungarians and even with the Pope to perhaps to launch at
attack on the Ottoman Empire and Mehmet. Mehmet sends some ambassadors to Vlad – to demand
the prince to come to Istanbul and pay his tribute and homage to the Sultan – this is in 1461. Instead –
Vlad gets insulted – especially when the Ottoman officials refuse to remove their hats in the presence
of Prince Vlad – so he has their hats nailed to their heads. Vlad then discovers a Turkish plan to have
him kidnapped with the Sultan sending old friends of Vlad while he was growing up in the Ottoman
court – but Vlad has counter spies and is able to launch a counterattack and arrest the embassies. Out
of revenge – Vlad then invades Ottoman controlled Bulgaria and kills thousands of Turks and
Bulgarian Muslims in 1462.

4. Further Ottoman Expansion into the Middle East: Under the leadership of Selim who came to the
throne by poisoning his father, killing his 2 brothers fratricide and 5 nephews – he ruled as Sultan
from 1512-1520 - and he did something that was not suppose to be done – he attacked other Islamic
states – but he made the argument that they were not pure – such as the Persian Shah Ismail – who
promoted Shiism – he even massacred 40,000 of his followers in Anatolia. Nonetheless, he would
double the size of the Empire as he took: Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia and brought in the holy
cities of: Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem into the Empire Selim would take on the title of Caliph
as well. In Egypt – he destroyed the famous Turkish Mamluks in 1517. It is said that while in Cairo –
the Ottomans took a sword that supposedly belonged to the Prophet Muhammad and took it back to
Istanbul. With all these religious holy Islamic sites falling to the Ottomans – the Sultan could make
the legitimate claim that he was the Caliph of all of Islam. So, on top of being the Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire, and now Caliph (leader of all Sunni Muslims), he now added the titles of King of
the Two Lands (Europe/Asia), Admiral of the Two Seas (Mediterranean and Red), Conqueror of the
Two Armies (Safavids/Mamluks), and Servants of the Two Holy Shrines (Mecca/Medina) – that is a
lot of titles – GUY. By the time of his death in 1520 – he controlled a billion acres of land and over a
population 2nd only to the Chinese Empire. So - Selim ruled as a tyrant – eliminating anybody in his
way – he had 7 Grand Vezirs beheaded – which gave rise to a saying, “May you be Selim’s Vezir” –
which was a way to tell somebody that you wished them dead, but he also doubled the size of the
Ottoman Empire. There is another development that is very important and is an AP theme and that is
the conflict between the Ottoman and Persian Safavid Empires – but I will address this and the battle
of Chaldrian in 1514 when I do my lecture on the Safavids.
 5. Ottoman Naval (Mediterranean) Campaign: The creation of an Ottoman imperial Navy was quite
impressive – remember that Turks from Central Asia typically fought on horseback with bows – so in
order to be able to transition to a Naval power was impressive. Remember out other awesome Central
Asian guys – the Mongols – that when they attempted to launch a maritime attack in Japan and
Southeast Asia – it didn’t work out for them. The Turks did not possess a tradition of naval warfare
but they really came to dominate the Mediterranean in the course of the 16 th century. This would
bring them into conflict with the traditional maritime powers of the Italian city-states of Venice and
Genoa and then later with Habsburg Spain. The Ottomans would eventually come to control the
eastern half of the Mediterranean, the Aegean and Black Seas – which they would control until the
18th century – when they were defeated at the 1770 Battle of Cesme. The types of ships for warfare
were called the Galley – which was perfected around 1400 – which was the best sailing ship
propelled by oars, oarsmen. Commercial ships really used sails, but the Galley warships relied on
heavily on human muscle. They were about 130 ft long – 16ft across at its widest point, propelled by
a large square sail and smaller lateen sails but for the majority of the movement of the fleet it
depended heavily on the oarsmen. It would take between 100 and 150 men to row these ships. The
Ottomans would suffer a crushing blow at the Battle of Lepanto in 1577 but would eventually
rebuild their navy.

II. The Ottoman State

A. Ottoman Rule:

1. The Sultan: In “theory” the Sultan held absolute power – had personal command of the
Armies, appointed, and dismissed officials – passed Royal edicts / and in “theory” owned all of
the land of the Empire. The title was hereditary – but not necessary the oldest – which caused
succession struggles amongst heirs – which could be numerous because the Sultan would have
several concubines (mistresses) which resided in isolated area of the palace (the Harem – the
Sacred Place). The purpose of the Harem was to produce an heir to the throne – once a
concubine produced a male heir she no longer slept with the Sultan – it was argued that a possible
heir to the throne should not have to share his mother. Once a son became a Sultan his mother
would become Queen Mother – and would serve the Sultan as an advisor. Since so much ride on
which son would be named to succeed his father – the politics / maneuvering / and murders
amongst rival mothers was commonplace. Sultans would then eliminate rivals by having their
brothers killed by strangling them with a silk bowstring. Mehmed III in 1595 killed 19 brothers
- fratricide – mostly infants – and 15 expecting mothers some who were sewn up in sacks and
thrown into the Bosporus.

 Authority / Legitimacy / Power in the Ottoman Empire: I have told you since the
beginning of our class – when Hunter/Gatherers began to settle – the question that seems
to be one of the most important for each society is: Who is in charge? Who is the guy that
makes the decisions and more importantly – on what basis is that claim made? Who gives
a person or group the authority to make the claim that their decisions should be followed
– why is that more legitimate than another person or group? Well, this is a BIG THEME
in AP World History – How do rulers justify their rule? Well – one of the arguments is
that of religion. What better way to say: Hey man…follow my rule because you know the
god that we worship? Well – guess what? I am his representative here on Earth…so you
do not want to cross me! So, being an Islamic emperor – the Sultan can say to all the
Muslims in his empire…hey bro…look…I control all the most important historical sites
in Islamic tradition like: Mecca / Medina / Jerusalem AND…remember the old capital of
Baghdad in the Abbasid Empire – well – I control that as well. So maybe that makes me
the new Caliph and guy in charge of the Islamic World…. what do you think? So, this
would be a great example of: How rulers use RELIGION to justify their rule. And
additional method that rulers use to justify their rule is with regards to monumental
ARCHITECUTRE – this really is to “awe” not only the local population and authorities
but more importantly – visitors from other empires. Think about when you drive by
Buford High School – everybody is like – BRO – what is that???? A university? No, just
a high school where 17 kids go…so as parents visiting to see where they might want to
 live in the area – they will be awed at the ability of Buford to build such an awesome
building – which could only mean that they are just so awesome! So, for the Ottoman
Empire – the first thing I would mention would be that of Aya Sofya – the old Byzantine
(Christian) church of the Hagia Sophia. Now, the Ottomans did not create the building,
but they would eventually convert it into a mosque. And let me tell you – I have been in
that building…it is very impressive. But if you want to mention “new” Ottoman building
endeavors – you could mention the new Topaki palace for the Sultan or the Blue or
Suleiman Mosques – so please look these up so you can see what I am talking about

2. Governmental Structure: The Sultan controlled a centralized bureaucracy through an imperial

council called the Divan that met 4 days a week and contained a series of advisors known as
Viziers and was headed by a chief minister known as the grand Vizier – conducted the meetings
of the council. The Sultan could attend but privately attended them behind a screen. The Viziers
would eventually have a lot of power as later Sultans became secluded into their palaces and
harems. Members of the imperial bureaucracy were at least partly chosen from merit from a
palace school for trained officials. The Empire was divided into provinces and districts each
governed by officials – who were responsible for collecting taxes and supplying armies to the
empire from this landed area.

 The Millet System: Since the Ottoman expansion brought together such a variety of ethnic /
religious diverse peoples – the Ottomans would rule over this diversity through a semi-
autonomous “nations” called Millets – which would be in charge of its own religious rites,
education, justice, charities and social services. The leader of each Millet represented his
people at the imperial court and answered directly to the Sultan. Muslims were also
administered under a Millet as well. The top leader – the Sheikh al Islam – “Old Man of
Islam” who legislated according to the shari’a and presided over an army of muftis – who
interpreted the law, judges who applied the law, and mullahs who inducted youngsters into
the religion, provided basic religious education, and administrated rites in local
neighborhoods and villages. The Shari’a, however, was not the only law in the land. There
was also the Sultan’s code, a parallel legal system that dealt with administrative matters,
taxation, interaction between Millets, and relationships among various classes, especially the
subjects class and the ruling class.

 Religion and Ethnicity in the Empire (AP Theme): Until Selim began to
encompass traditional Islamic lands – most of the individuals that the Ottomans came
to rule in Anatolia and the Balkans were Christians – therefore they were relative
tolerant of these non-Muslims within their empire. They were however forced to
pay the head tax because of their exemption from military service but were allowed
to practice their religion or to convert to Islam – Muslims however were forbidden to
adopt another faith. Many of these Christians had welcomed Ottoman conquest
because taxes were lighter and oppression less pronounced than under their former
Christian rulers. Christian communities such as the Eastern Orthodox and Armenian
churches were granted considerable autonomy in regulating their internal social,
religious, educational and charitable affairs. A substantial number of these Christians
(Balkan landlords, Greek merchants, government officials, and high ranking clergy)
became part of the Ottoman elite, without converting to Islam. Jewish refugees,
fleeing Christian persecution in a Spain recently “liberated” from Islamic rule –
likewise found greater opportunity in the Ottoman Empire – where they became
prominent in trade and banking circles. The Sultan Bayezid sent ships to Spain after
1492 to bring the Jews safe passage to the Ottoman Empire. And this is a major
theme in AP World History during the Early Modern Period of 1450-1750 – and that
is - how do peoples of different religions treat each other? Is there cultural diffusion
or syncretism? How do different (Sects) within the same religion interact with each
other? This would be – within the Christian branch – The East Orthodox
Church/Catholic Latin Church/ Protestant and then within Islam – the college board
will want you to know the conflict between Sunni Ottomans v. Shi’a Safavid.
  Limitations: Now – when I use the word “toleration” it is not the toleration
as the word is understood in today’s language. It is closer to the literal sense
of the Latin word that tollo-tollere-sustuli sublatus, a kind of very irregular
third conjugation verb, which means: “in which I suffer you to exist” – nice
translation Mr. B! It’s like saying that I suffer in order to permit you to
continue. So, it really does not mean any sense of approval or deep
understand of what the other religion is all about. So, this type of toleration
had a number of important limits – Jews and Christians were definitely 2 nd
class citizens in the Ottoman Empire. Christians were allowed their Churches
but were not allowed to have bells…. because they make A LOT of noise and
will bother other peoples. Christians couldn’t wear clothes that made them
stand out in Turkish society – so maybe it was better that you even dressed
like a Turkish guy so that you blended into society. Churches had to be
walled off so that they could not be seen from the street. The big money
Churches – like Hagia Sophia were just converted into Mosques. Public
celebrations of the Eastern Orthodox Church had to stop – all activities had
to be conducted inside of the Church. Jews and Christians were not allowed
to bear arms – except for the Christians that were part of the Janissaries. Jews
and Christians were not allowed to ride horses. Now, they were not forced to
convert to Islam but there were a couple of places in which massive
conversion did happen – and that centered around the city of Sarajevo – in
modern Bosnia and in the region of Albania.

 How to Pay for Stuff in the Empire: The Timars or Tax Farmers – would provide the
Sultan with the taxes that he needed to pay for armies, monuments of architecture, roads,
schools, etc…Tax farmers would pay the Sultan in advance based on how much land he was
given authority over and then he would turn around and collect the taxes from the peasants.
Tax farmers had permission to collect as much as they wanted from these people. In
exchange for this privilege, they had to pay the government a fixed fee every year. Whatever
they collected beyond that sum was theirs to keep, and there was no limit on how much the
tax farmer collected. If a property produced beyond all expectations, the tax farmer benefited,
not the government. If a Timar did poorly, the tax farmer took the hit. If he could not pay his
fee – the land was taken from him and given to another tax farmer.

3. A Society Geared Towards War: The early economy of the Ottoman state was geared to
warfare and expansion. The Turkic Cavalry which was responsible for the early conquests from
the 13th to the early 16th centuries gradually developed into a warrior aristocracy – they were
granted control over land and peasant producers in annexed areas for the support of their
household and military retainers. As long as the Empire was growing it seemed that their were
spoils for everybody – but as the Ottoman conquests became less frequent and as they began to
actually lose battles and territories – maintaining an oversized bureaucracy and army shrank and
the old guard began to look for new avenues for revenue.

 The Janissaries – The Devshirme (AP Theme): From the mid-15th century he imperial
armies were dominated by infantry division made up of troops called the Janissaries.
Many of them had been forcibly conscripted as adolescent boys in conquered areas –
specifically – the Balkans where the majority of the population retained its Christian
faith. Sometimes the boys’ parents willingly turned their sons over to the Ottoman
recruiters because of the opportunities for advancement that came with the service for the
Sultan. Though legally slaves, the youths were given extensive schooling and converted
to Islam – some went on to serve in the palace or bureaucracy, the royal guard, could
rise up the ranks – even the position of Grand Vizier – and served governmental
positions throughout the empire. They controlled the new gunpowder technology in the
artillery and firearms and were paid a salary year round – not during war time like other
soldiers – they also marched to a particular music – a music that became famous around
the world as “Turkish” music. became involved in court politics – to the point that they
were able to depose Sultans and killing – Osman II in 1622.
 B. Ottoman Society:

1. Restoration of Constantinople: Soon after Mehmed captured the city he set about restoring the
city to its ancient glory. He had the cathedral of Saint Sophia converted into one of the grandest
mosques in the Islamic world – and new mosques and palaces were built throughout the city.
Aqueducts were built to bring more water into the expanding city’s walls. Later Sultans built
mansions, rest houses, religious schools, gardens and hospitals throughout the city. Several
Bazaars and ports lined the Ottoman coastline where merchants and travelers from throughout the
Empire and afar came to trade. Coffeehouses – emerged after tobacco from America was
introduced – men came to gossip, do business, and play chess. The palace itself had: 175 acres, 2
hospitals, 10 mosques, 12 libraries, 5 schools, 22 marble fountains and ice from the mountains
were brought on 200 donkeys once a week to cool the sherbet in the palace. Bread from a
particular town was made and sent to the city – or wherever the Sultan was located.

2. “Western Influences”: Despite an attempt to restrict the influences from the “West” – particular
aspects of Western Europe filtered into Ottoman society. Sophisticated officials and merchants
began to imitate the habits and lifestyles of Europeans. They wore European clothes, bought
Western furniture and art objects and ignored Muslims rules against the drinking of alcohol.
When cafes emerged where Ottomans drank coffee and smoked tobacco some Sultans and
officials became alarmed. Murad IV who ruled from 1623-1640 issued a decree prohibiting
the use of both coffee and tobacco. He even began to wander incognito in the streets of
Constantinople at night if he caught any of his subjects in immoral of illegal acts they were
immediately executed – and their bodies were left on the streets with signs as an example to
others.

III. State Rivalries (The Ottoman-Safavid) Conflict (AP Theme)

A. Origin of the Safavid Empire: The roots of the Safavids go back to a Sufi brotherhood that took shape just
after the Mongol conquest of the Middle East. The order coalesced in northern Persia around a spiritual
master named Sheikh Safi al-Din and came to be known as the Safavids. The type of Islam that would be
adopted by the Safavids – would be that of Twelver Shiism. They believed that there had been 12 infallible
imams (or religious leaders) after Muhammed, beginning with the prophet’s cousin and son in law – Ali. The
12th or “hidden” imam had gone into hiding around 874 to escape persecution but is believed to still be alive
and that he would one day return to take power and spread the true Islam.

B. The Conflict between Sunni and Shi’a – the Battle of Chaldiran: In the early 1500’s – Safavid success and
the support their followers received in the Ottoman borderlands from Turkic speaking peoples brought them
into conflict with the Ottoman rulers. In 1514 at Chaldiran in northwest Persia – the armies of the two empires
met in one of the most fateful battles in Islamic history – it was more than a battle between the two most
powerful dynasties in the Islamic world at the time – it was a clash between the champions of the Shi’a and
Sunni variants of Islam. The Safavids were dealt a devastating defeat – but the Ottomans could not follow up
the battle with conquests that would have put an end to their Safavid rivals. The defeat at Chaldiran put an
end to Isma’il’s dreams of further westwards expansion, and most critically it checked the rapid spread of
conversions to Shi’a Islam in the western borderlands that had resulted from the Safavid’s recent success in
battle. The outcome at Chaldiran determined that Shi’ism would be concentrated mainly in Persia – or
present-day Iran – and neighboring areas in what it today southern Iraq.

IV. Seeds of Decline in the Ottoman Empire – the 17th Century:

E. The Seeds of Decline:

1. The Imperial Level:

 Early practice of assigning royal princes administrative or military positions was abandoned –
therefore successors to the throne were kept hostage in the palace – which gave them no
practical experience to rule – the rest were kept as hostages and the practice of fratricide was
stopped in the early 1600’s.

 Early Sultans had led armies and were very engaged in ruling – while from the early 1600’s
there were more Sultans who were more interested in drink, drugs, and the pleasures of the
harem.

 The fact that Portuguese and later Europeans sailed around Africa meant that a large portion
of the flow of certain goods no longer passed through Muslim trading centers in the eastern
Mediterranean and therefore the Ottomans lost critical revenues.

 The Ottomans in the early 1500’s were outflanked by Portuguese seafarers who sailed down
and around the coast of Africa – they failed to drive the Portuguese from Asian waters –
which proved to be far more harmful in the long run than the Ottoman defeats in the
Mediterranean!