The Ottoman Empire

HIST 10041/14/13

“Wars of Religion”• Enforcement of religious preferences of kings• Spain and Portugal defend Catholicism

– Inquistion against Protestants• French Wars of Religion (1562-1598)

– Kings accept majority Catholicism but give religious freedom to the Protestants (until 1598)

• Anglican Church (1533)– Puritans want to remove all traces of Catholicism– Oliver Cromwell (r. 1653-1658) and the English Civil War(1642-1649)– “No bishops, no king” James I (of King James Bible fame)

• Frictions between Lutherans, Catholics, and Calvinists finally result in all out war by 1618.

• 30 Years War begins as a complicated religious conflict and evolves into a much more complicated religious AND political conflict that does not end until 1648

Thirty Years’ War 1618 - 1648

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

• Ushers in the concept of sovereign states.• Independent states are sovereign and do not answer

to any other power• Choice of religion is up to that country.• Does not end all conflict but establishes the groundwork for the structure of ‘modern’ Europe.

Gunpowder/Muslim/Early Modern/Turko-Persian Empires

• Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)• Safavid Empire (1502-1722)• Mughal Empire (1526-1761)

Why Gunpowder Empires?• Term used to categorize the three great Muslim empires of the early modern period.• Emphasizes their impressive military exploits.• Adoption of new technologies as keys to success.

Early 16th century Ottomanvolley gun

The Gun• 9th century: Gunpowder developed in China• 12th century: Chinese fire lance• 13th century: Gunpowder and early firearms travel with the

Mongols• 1260: Battle of Ain Jalut, perhaps first use of a canon• 14th century: hand-held canons become predecessor to handguns and rifles

Turko-Persian Culture

• 11th-13th centuries, series of Turko-Mongol nomads from Inner Asian steppe come to dominate Muslim world (militarily and politically).

• Nomads enter through Central Asia and Iran, take on Persian language and cultural traditions.

• Mongol Empire (1206-1368)

• Timurid Empire (1370-1526)

Mahmud of Ghazna, ruler of Afghanistan(997-1030)

Turko-Persian Empires

• Not just a shared culture…• Shared story of transition from tribalism to empire.• Turkic-Mongol social organization combined with Persianate-Islamic institutions and culture.

The Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)

Ottoman Origins

• Ghazi Emirates: born out of decline of Seljuqs of Rum• Frontier Society: Tribes, Nomads, and Mercenaries• Egalitarian Structure• Distribution of Plunder: Wealth, Slaves, Land• Warriors of the Faith?

Osman’s Dream• Osman I (r. 1299-1324)• Focus on the Byzantine Empire• Bursa: Western Anatolia (1323)• Shrewdness of Osman• Strategic location, theDardanelles strait• Combination of Turkish cavalrywith gunpowder infantry

Trade Routes

Bursa

• Conquered by Ottomans – 1323• Commercial Center – Merchants, Artisans, and

Guilds• Capital City – Administration and Stability• Infrastructure – Mosque and Caravanserai

Bursa Bazaar (1340)

Bursa Ulu Mosque

Ottoman Expansion

Mehmed “The Conqueror”• Mehmed II (r. 1444-1446, 1451-1481)• May 29th, 1453: Conquest of Constantinople• Cannon, navy (carried across land), and infantry• End of the Byzantine Empire (330-1453), the Fall of the Second Rome• Kayser-i Rum• One foot in Asia, the other in Europe

Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566)

• Golden Age of Ottoman expansion and power• Known for military conquests in the West• 1516-1517: Syria and Egypt, end of Mamluk Sultanate• 1529: Siege of Vienna• Known for codification of legal system in the east (Kanuni)• Shift from Turkic tribal ruler to ruler of a state

Diversity and the millet System• Pattern of Ottoman expansion meant they ruled over large numbers of non-Muslims.• Reach of the Sultan not very deep into society (taxes and military)• Local courts and local leaders enforced most laws and dealt with most disputes.• Courts divided by millet based on religion.

– Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Syrian Orthodox, and Jewish

Diversity and the millet System

• Exchange religious and cultural freedom for taxation.• Certain restrictions, but each millet could act independently within its boundaries.

Mamluks, Ghilman, and Janissaries

• How can an empire run on slave soldiers?• How about slave administrators?• Are these really slaves?• 9th century: al-Mu`tasim and the Turks• Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517)• `Abid al-Bukhari: Morocco, 17th-19th centuries• Numerous other military units and body

guards throughout the Islamic world.

What do slave soldiers do for you?

• Effectiveness, expense, and loyalty…• Control over training regiments, may train whole life;

compared to conscription and reliance on tribal levies.

• How do you pay for a standing army? Salary? Land grants? Where’s the money when you really need it?

• Social dislocation and dependency on the ruler (caliph, sultan, shah, etc.); compared to people with traditional loyalties within the empire.

Janissaries• Mid-14th century: expanding empire requires standing army, less reliance on ghazis and Turkic tribes.• devshirme: (1365-1648), every five years, Christian boys from the Balkans aged 10-12 were collected as a tax• Boys were taught Turkish, lived in Turkish households, and converted to Islam• They were then sent to Janissary academies

Palace Schools• 15th – 20th Centuries• Princes and Peasants• Education

– Languages and Literature– Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Greek– Mathematics, Administration and Finance– Personal Conduct, Music and Sports– Law and Theology– History– Military Science

• Merit as an Organizing Principle

Janissaries• Traditional Ottoman army based on Turkic cavalry• Janissary Corps focused on infantry and use of gunpowder weapons• Depending on talents, boys enlisted in the Janissaries became infantry, palace guards, or administrators• Improvements in gunpowder technologies increased the size and influence of the Janissaries (well over 50,000 strong at peak).