Background of the Ottoman Empire - Report Example

Ottoman Empire Introduction The Ottoman Empire is, without doubt, one of the most expansive and long lasting empires in human history, as it was nurtured and driven by Islamic religion and regulations which provided the basis for leadership, legal practice and education. The empire took over from the Byzantine Empire, which had been the most important and influential power in the eastern part of the Mediterranean region.1 Under the rule of Suleiman the Magnificent, the empire rose to its peak between 1520 and 1566, and during this time it expanded to engulf Hungary and almost went up to Vienna.2 The reign of Suleiman also marked the end of the Golden Age that had peaked during his tenure, and after his death the empire’s fortunes began to reduce especially after its defeat in the battle of Lepanto in 1571. During this Golden Age, the empire was under three sultans, namely Bayezid II (1481–1512), Selim I (1512–20), and Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–66). 3 Background of the Ottoman Empire There is very little documentation about the early history of the Ottoman Empire. Much of the information is based on myths and legends, which are not very credible. According to Estugrul, Khan a Kayi tribe legend, the Oguz Turks run-away from Persia in the Mid-13th century and went to the serve the sultan of Rum as army forces. The sultan gave him Bithynia which was a territory near the Byzanitine strongholds in Bursa, he was able to conquered it and establish his rule. After his death, his son Osman 1 took over power between 1299 and 1326 and he became the founder of what came to known as the Osmanli dynasty or Ottoman dynasty as known by the west, which started as a relatively minor power but proceeded to have world dominance and persevered for 600. To achieve his ends, Osman the 1st would invite Gazis who would in turn be attracted by the plunder of new conquests with which they maintained their extravagant and war-like way of life. They would plunder and take power from other empires that they conquered and this way gradually lent the ottoman state a considerable amount of military stature far outweighing its size at the time. Osman acquired the title sultan and cleverly put together a highly centralized political and military administration, which manipulated and subordinated the conquest of the Gazis to suit its own expansion needs. In the final year of his reign, Bursa was toppled and Orkhan his successor reigned from 1326 to 1359, and continued with his predecessor’s methods of conquest where in 1354 he crossed the Dardanelles and set-up a permanent seat of power in Gallipoli, which become the Empire’s first European base.4 The Gazis who were aligned to Ottoman conquered the Serbs in the battle of Kosovo but their leader Murad died in the fighting, however they continued to fight and win in the Balkans under Bayezid 1 who reigned from 1389 -1403. In 1393, he defeated and took over Bulgaria when a crusade led by the French that attempted to thwart his streak of victories was annihilated in the famous battle of Nilopolis. The Ottoman Dynasty was not however without its challenges, in Anatolia, where their policy had predominantly been directed to the consolidation of the Sultan’s control of the Gazi, the Mongols confronted and served them with a resounding victory that ended in the capture and subsequent death of the Sultan.5 However, after his death, his four heirs continued for over a decade to fight back and recover the territories and power of the ottoman empires that the Mongols had taken away. The process of recovering the lost glory was very slow but eventually the empire got back to its feet again and commenced with conquest this time directing its attention to Greece. It is during this time that Mehmet II reigned and after his succeeds in capturing Constantinople which was Europe’s most important base in the region, Ottoman power begun a steady rise in the period that came to be known as the golden age lasting form 1451 to 1566. The fall of Constantinople Mehmet II begun to plot the capture of Constantinople as soon as he ascended to Ottoman throne owing to its previous capture in 1204 in which the cities external defences were considerably weakened and he planned to capitalize on this.6 He built a fort on the European seashore recognized as Rumeli Hisami and took governance of the strait leading to Constantinople, and he effectively made it near impossible for the city to receive aid from any of the territories allied to Italy. Realizing that Mehmet was planning to attack him, Constantine asked the pope Nicholas V to intervene and despite the centuries old rivalry between the catholic and the Orthodox churches, the latter concede, however no European nation could spare the resources to come to their aid. Constantine worked on the city’s defences with the help of few soldiers who come to his aid alongside his regular army, and he ordered a greet chain to be extended across the harbour to prevent Ottoman incursion in to the golden horn walls. He also had most of his men guard the Theodosian walls, while Mehmet on the other hand approached the city ready to lay siege accompanied by around 100,000 men and one of the first canons of the time to help batter the walls.7 After laying Siege in the city for 41 days and meeting stiff resistance, Mehmet was only able to make progress after the defendants of the fort learnt that they would not receive any reinforcements as they had been hoping.8 Disheartened they lost their will to fight believing themselves already beaten and Mehmet kept sending troops to attempt to find a way through the wall until he finally succeeded.9 The soldiers poured into the city and proceeded to overpower the defendants who were outnumbered, it is said that Constantine died leading a final assault against the Arabs near the gates. Although it is not known how many men the Turks lost, it is believed the defendants losses were as high as 4000 men, this loss and the fall of Constantinople was seen as severe blow to Christendom owing to the strategic importance of the City. Pope Nicholas IV called for the city’s recapture but there was no single European power willing or able to take up the task as thus Constantinople remained in the hands of the Turks until the early 20th century. The fall of the city is said to have activated a series of chain reactions that came to have great bearing on the history of making more so in regard to exploration and knowledge. Having being one of the bases from which explorations to Africa and India would be launched, the Europeans were forced to look for alternative routes and this was how they came to discover America. In addition, Constantinople’s fall marked the end of the middle ages and the start of the renaissance since many Greek scholars fled to Italy taking with them priceless manuscripts and much knowledge, which helped bring about the age of enlightenment.10 His conquest of the city earned Mehmet the title the conqueror11 and from the strategic position it offered, he was able to launch attacks in Europe to conquer even more territory and expand his dynasty. There are several reasons as to why this period was known as the golden period for the Ottomans, one of them was the conquest and capture of Constantinople, which was in more ways the pearl of the Christian world. In fact, the city was only second to Rome both figuratively and literally since before it assumed the name, it had been dubbed “Second Rome”. The conquest of this significant city is without doubt one of the Golden achievements made by the Ottoman Empire for several reasons, one, it marked the end of Byzine rule, which had been in place for over 1100 years. The fact that the Ottomans were able to take down the centuries old dynasty was no mean achievement, in addition one of the reason Constantinople was so hard to capture was literary golden. The city was built on the “Golden Horn”,12 and on the seven hills all which contributed to its strategic position as an impregnable fort in which were enclosed magnificent palaces towers and domes and a “golden gate”. The city’s wealth was so extensive in terms of both the economical and architectural masterpieces that its capture and occupation can be seen as a valid explanation for the title golden age. It is unequivocal that the Ottoman capture an occupation of Constantinople heralded the golden age of art, this is attested to by the art renaissance that flowered in the city around the 16th century. The goldenness of the art was explicit both in the literal and symbolic aspects since court artists produced with unprecedented prolificacy magnificent artist objects and designs made and inlaid with gold silver jade ivory and other precious metals and stones. This were often used both for functional and ceremonial to adorn, armour and religious robes and places. The city’s artists and artisans produced other items such as kaftans, decorated mats and rugs, and a myriad of other masterpieces that combine Turkish, Islamic, and European art with deep-seated impact on Turkish and to some extent world art, impacts that are visible even today in contemporary art inspired by the golden age of art.13 This amazing burst of creative and creative liveliness took place during the reign of Sultan Suleiman I (1520-1566) and it was possible because for most part of the half century the economic and political power of the empire was at its Zenith. In addition, the Sultan was in addition to being a brilliant legislator and an avid fan and patron of the arts so his government strongly supported the artistic endeavours that made the city so “golden”. Bayezid II Bayezid II also known as Sultân Bayezid-î Velî , reigned from 1447 to 1512, he was the successor of Mehmnt two who had captured Constantinople and who was his father, in his time in power, he is known to have strengthen the Ottoman empire and prevented the Safavid rebellion. Shortly after, he abdicated the throne to his second oldest son Suleiman 1, he was known for being just and fair and one of the most remarkable acts he did was to welcome Jews into his empire after they were expelled from Spain. Owing to his welcoming of the Jews into his land, he benefited greatly from their Knowledge and technology; in fact, a Jewish inventor made the first printing press in Constantinople. In 1509, Constantinople was severely damaged by an earthquake and this seemed to weaken not just the city but the leadership, his sons Ahmet and Selim 2 were fighting for power and after they had each engage the other in battles, Selim managed to force his father to abdicate the throne. Bayezid II left the city for retirement in his place of birth but he died before he could arrive. Selim I Selim I was also commonly known by his nickname Yavuz, the stern or steadfast, the Europeans referred to him as the grim; thus, his reign is associated with significant expansion of the empire. He was born in Amasya and to become the Sultan, he overthrew his father Bayezid II , who later died in captivity. Among the any polices he instituted, Fratricide is probably the most diabolical one, at least by today’s standards, aiming to avoid the bouts of civil war that frequently challenged his father because of the opposition from his brothers he put to death both his brothers and nephews to safeguard against future challenges to his power. He was a skilled warrior and just as good a diplomat who it is said loved discussing politics and was quite fond of fighting. He conquered and occupied Sham, Hejaz, Tihamah and even Egypt effectively controlling the large part of the Arab world. This made the Ottomans very powerful both as Arabs and Muslims and to cement his supremacy in both aspects he took the title, Caliph of Islam and with this marked the beginning of the Ottoman Caliphate.14 The Sharif of Mecca also bestowed upon him the title, "Khâdim ül Haramain ish Sharifain" (Servant of the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina). His policies on expansion brought about unprecedented and radical changes and he shifted from the predominant raiding of European and Turkish beyliks, when he died, his empire stretched over a billion kilometres which was triple the among to territory he had inherited from the previous Sultan. 15 By all accounts, as a man he was ruthless and very taxing to his subordinates, in fact he was known for having his advisors killed whenever they fielded to live up to his expectations. Despite his unsavoury appetite for death and carnage, he was one of the most respected if not feared rulers in Europe and many historians claim that without his expansion polices, the apogee of the ottoman empire under his successor Suleiman the magnificent would never have been possible. Suleiman - a golden age Suleiman is without doubt the most influential Sultans to rule the Ottoman Empire and it was during his reign that it reached its Zenith making his period the Apogee of the golden age. However, it would be unfair to assume that he achieved so much purely by virtue of his own personal strengths; in fact, he owed much of his success to his father Selim.16 When Suleiman came to the throne, he inherited one of the wealthiest and most expansive empires on all of earth; in addition, Selim had effectively stabilized his government by defeating or at least intimidating his main enemies, the Safavid Empire in Iran, into adopting non-aggressive policies. He had also conquered Egypt, Syria, and several other empires thus effectively uniting areas in Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia under centralized rule. In addition, Suleiman had no internal rivals since his father had put to death all his own brother and their children as well as Suleiman’s male siblings so there were not contender to the throne. Owing to the high concentration of Islam in the empire and the fact that he was in-charge of most Muslim territories in the world, he came to be recognized as the leader of Islam as well as the ruler of majority of Muslims. The wealth and prestige of the empire truly made the period golden under Suleiman and attracted the best Muslim brains in the form of writer, scientists and philosophers who were eager to settle in Istanbul, Europe called him the Magnificent but his people knew him as the lawgiver.17 This was because he wrote down many laws for them and he strictly applied them thus the epithet, he was a gracious ruler and did not oppress his people. In fact, he went out of his way to protect them from oppression and he was known to punish leaders who found said to be tyrannizing their subjects. As aforementioned, he appreciated the arts and was a patron to many of them. He was also an artist in his own right being distinguished as one of the best poets in the Arab world; indeed even today, his poetry is still considered among the best in retrospect. In addition to the geographical expansion, Suleiman’s reign saw phenomenal growth in trade and economic growth with developments occurring I almost every cultural and intellectual field. Apart from the arts, the architectural achievements of the period were remarkable and worth the title golden among the best of this, which still stand today is are the Mosque complex of Suleymaniye and Istanbul.18 In addition, he commissioned the construction of schools, Hospitals public baths sporting arena and numerous other facilities, which considerably improved the lives of his subjects. Through him, education was promoted and the schools were run and funded by the state, in fact during the golden age, there were more educated people in the Ottoman empire than there were in Europe since in the former, education went and to hand with religion and was government sponsored.19 It is worth noting however that after Suleiman, the Empire declined gradually and although it remained in power for several centuries, it never again reached the peaks it had in the golden age. One of the reasons given for the decline was the Sultans expansionist and short-term policy; they were against the idea of limiting themselves to single area that could be developed with time. To them, the only way to progress was to conquer new territory, exploit and move on, however with time it became more difficult to do this especially since Europe was proving too strong to allow ottoman expansion. As a result, without conquering nations, the empire begun to lose its strength and stability since they for them progress was only to be found in conquering new territory. Conclusion In conclusion, based on the information examined herein, there is no doubt that the Ottoman empire saw its best years in the golden age which was made possible by Mehmet’s capture of Constantinople and through the collective albeit differentiated effort of the other two sultans before Suleiman who realized its apex. At the end of the day, one appreciates that the golden age was more than just about the wealth and power of the empire, as it had to do with the overall achievements that were made by the Ottoman dynasty in numerous other fields. The Ottomans drove Europeans to discover America and spurred the renaissance by forcing the best intellectuals together into Italy and these actions have greatly contributed to shaping the destiny of the world.20 The artistic renaissance, which was spawned in the empire, also proved the goldenness of the period not just by virtue of the fact that gold was used but by the richness and diversity which emerged as a result of the cooperation and interaction of different culture in the cosmopolitan Constantinople. Bibliography Atıl, Esin. The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art. 1987. Babinger, Franz. Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. New Jersey. Princeton University Press. p. 51. 1992. Barber, Noel. Lords of the Golden Horn : From Suleiman the Magnificent to Kamal Ataturk. London: Pan Books. 1976. Mango, Cyril. The Oxford History of Byzantium. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2002. Hatzopoulos, Dionysios. "The Fall of Constantinople" n.d. http://www.greece.org/Romiosini/fall.html (accessed 17/01/14). Egger, Vernon O. A History of the Muslim World Since 1260: The Making of a Global Community. London: Prentice Hall. 2008. p. 82. Imber, Colin . The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 2009 McCarthy, Justin,. The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923. London: Longman, 1997. Phillip, Mansel. Constantinople : City of the Worlds Desire, 1453–1924. New York: St. Martins Griffin. 1996. Kinross, Patrick, The Ottoman centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire. New York: Morrow. 1977. Runciman, Steven. The Fall of Constantinople: 1453, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Streusand, Douglas E. Islamic Gunpowder Empires. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. 2010. Read More