Ottoman Empire Institutions - Essay Example

of Affiliation Ottoman Empire s Turkish Empire, which is commonly referred to as Ottoman Empire existed fromaround 1300 to 1922. At its peak, this empire stretched across to cover three different continents. The area covered included Iranian frontier found in the east, Algeria in the west, Hungary in the north and Aden in the south. Ottoman managed to extend its territory to cover southern Russia and Ukraine, thanks to the vassal state of Crimea led by Khanate. The empire name follows its founder Osman, a Turkish Muslim warrior, who established Ottoman dynasty that ruled all the way until 1922 when it collapsed. This work serves to outline the major institutional structures depicted by this empire (Faroqhi 5). Ottoman Institutions The ottoman state’s main economic activity was war as suggested the various historical accounts following its collapse. For this reason, it maintained a powerful army that was also its most valuable institution. The initial Ottoman army was made of Turkish cavalry also called sipahis, who were remunerated from government grants (mostly revenue collected from people owning land in the region). This simply implies that conquest of additional land translate to more revenue that mostly benefited the Turkish Muslim ghazis. By mid-14th century, the empire had expanded much such that the ghazi light horsemen could not sufficiently secure the conquered regions. This necessitated a move to recruit independent troops that would be paid for their services. The outsourced troops came from slaves, prisoners of wars and mercenaries. In the mid-15th century, the Ottoman government began using Balkan Christian youth, also called the devshirme, as army’s army men in exchange for a levy. This new forces joined up to form the famous Ottoman highly disciplined infantry or the Janissaries, who were the main force behind Ottoman Military triumphs realized in the later years. In addition, the Ottoman government established specialized corps who served as engineers and artilleries (Faroqhi 45). The needs depicted by the forces discussed above constituted the main factor considered in shaping the Ottoman administration. Here, provincial administration followed a military districts system led by officials whose main mandate was summoning the timariots for campaigns. With these structures in place, the central government main duty was to raise revenue and supplies needed to maintain the Kapikulli forces. As part of the move that will ensure the effectiveness of the troops with regard to keeping the region under full control, bridges and roads were constructed. The Ottoman administration played a major role throughout its glorious days and it was divided into three separate parts. The first part is Sultan’s extensive household, followed by divisions of government that were considered subjects of Grand Vizer, the sultan’s deputy with regard to matters of the state. The last department comprised of the Muslim religious bodies formed from Muslim functionaries involved in education and law. This department came under leadership of shaykh al-Islam and had the qadis (a section set aside to look into matters related to criminal and local administration law) as the most important group. The period before 17th century realized freeborn Muslims serving at the capacity of Sipahis (religious institutions). The other state administration and even the Kapikulli were reserved majorly for the Christian converts to Muslim recruited as kapikulli military men. These men serves in the capacity of sultans slaves, although their job description did not match the one mostly associated with slavery in the west. Ottoman state appeared unique, especially to contemporary Europeans, who marveled at the way it was led with men chosen by merit and showed full support for the sultan. In addition, this state showed no sign of aristocracy. The language used in this state is “the Ottoman Turkish Language” comprised of Turkish grammar, Arabic vocabularies and written in Arabic script. Majority of the other roles presently under state governance were performed by non-governmental organizations (Faroqhi 78). Ottoman Empire population was mixed both culturally, linguistically and even with regard to religion. The bigger portion of the population found in European provinces belonged to the Orthodox Church. This Christians found the Ottomans leadership less burdensome when compared to the Roman Catholic domination and thus offered to work under its cover. Muslim settlements included Thrace, Albnia, Bulgaria and Bosnia, which recorded a huge conversion of Christian into Islam. The Asian provinces had Muslims as the majority but most of the urban dwellers came from Christian faith. More Christians lived Egypt, Syria, Armenia and Anatolia Ottoman Empire dwellers were organized basing on two criteria, namely economic and social. On economic grounds, the people were grouped into villages, guilds and tribes in towns. Majority of the people lived as peasants who were either nomads or semi nomads and only 15% lived in towns. For social reasons that include personal law, education and most other ordinary life, people were organized in religious groupings that later changed to be referred as millets (Ottoman Institutions). The larger Muslim grouping identified itself with Sufism, which represented a mystical order. Ottoman government concerned itself with head of various religious groupings who would in turn attend to individuals without interference from the government. Following this arrangement, the religious communities earned the mediator position between the people and the overall government. The Tribal chiefs, big landowners other influential men were equally considered as intermediaries and were referred as notables or ‘(a’yan).’ The first three years of Ottoman Empire existence was marked with great success reflected by a brilliant culture characterized by; Turkish literature (that included geography, history and poetry), music, painting and most important architecture. A good illustration of this architecture is the suleimeniye mosque constructed by Sinan Pasha, suleiman’s great architect. The much-adored music depicted influence from many cultures that include Armenian music, byzantine music, Persian music and Arabic music. Composition of music was based on rhythmic units commonly called usual equivalent of meter in western composition, and mekam that equals musical modes in western compositions (Ottoman Empire Documentary). The Ottoman Empire depicts one of the most successful regimes in the world that stretched over a large area and existed for many years. Many reasons contributed to this success but the major ones take in the strong army that was well organized and the efficient governance supported with a centralized political structure. This well laid institutions worked together to conquer new territories and at the same time maintain the ones conquered. Large areas would not be easy to administer without good governance. Such is the case that the Ottoman Empire maintained a well-structured system of governance that ensured all-important matters are attended. For instance, remuneration of the many army men outsourced to offer military services and handling disputes; no wonder the people maintained their loyalty to the sultan for all that period. Works Cited "Ottoman Empire Documentary - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. . "Ottoman Institutions - Manhattanville Ottoman History." Manhattanville Ottoman History Home - Manhattanville Ottoman History. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. . Faroqhi, Suraiya. The Ottoman Empire: a short history. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2008. Print. Read More