Overview

One of the major empires in the history of Islamic civilizations was the long lasting and well established Ottoman Empire. It rose during the 14th century from humble beginnings as Turkic warrior tribes united and began taking control of surrounding territory. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, seeking to bring unity to the Islamic world and serve as a protector of the faith, the Ottoman Empire dramatically expanded its control. The empire was stretched from the Middle East and Coastal North Africa to the lands around the Black Sea, and far into Eastern Europe.

The Power of the Ottoman's modernized army was demonstrated when the "strong sword of Islam" fell on Constantinople. Seized in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire, it caused European Christians to fear the "Muslim takeover of all of Europe". Now controlling the old trade routes from the east, the Ottomans astonished European powers as they watched their power and wealth grow in the Mediterranean. The Ottoman's Dominance was felt again when Vienna was besieged in 1529 and 1683.

The Ottoman Empire lasted until the early 20th century. The end of World War I proved to be fatal, when the declining Ottoman Empire was dismantled, and the new nations of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Palestine rose to fill the power vacuum left behind.

The Sultans

The sultans in the Ottoman Empire were an essential part of it. They were the ones who laid out the policies that ultimately determined the well-being of the state. The following were among the most important Sultans between 1400-1750 CE.
Celebi Mehmet was the son of Beyazid I. He was a benevolent ruler both towards his Muslim as well as Christian subjects. He was a brilliant politician who unified all the clans in Anatolia. He was considered the second founder of the Ottoman Empire and died in 1421.

Mehmet II was born in 1432 whose father was Murat II. He was a military leader and fluent in seven languages. Ascended to the throne at age 20 and was the one who conquered Constantinople in 1453. Under his rule, the Empire greatly expanded. He died in 1481.

Selim I was born in 1470 and was the son of Beyazit II. He improved the Ottoman relations with the neighboring states. He was fiscally conservative and was very generous and modest. He died in 1520.
Perhaps the greatest Sultan in the empire’s history was Suleyman I. He was born in 1495 and was the son of Selim I who put great emphasis in Suleyman’s education. The Ottoman Empire enjoyed the most prosperous time under Suleyman’s rule and started its slow decline after him. Suleyman made written rules and applied them strictly. He was considered a fair ruler and died in 1566.

Murat III who was born in 1546 to Selim II, ascended to the throne in 1574. He led a life of pleasures and was heavily influenced by the women in palace. He was always inclined toward mysticism and died in 1595.

Sultan Ahmet I was born in 1590 to Mehmet III. Ahmet came to the throne in 1603. He was the first Sultan since Suleyman I who organized administrative regulations and was an excellent politician. He died at age 28 after 14 years in power.
Osman II was the son of Ahmet I and was born in 1604. He was enthroned at 14 years of age and his first act was to make changes in the administrative duties and among council of state members. He reformed many governmental issues. Osman was ultimately dethroned and murdered.

Murat IV was born 1612 and was the son of Ahmet I. He banned tobacco and alcohol and supported the sciences. He recovered military discipline and ensured compliance with the law. He implemented measures for the regular collection of taxes. Murat died at age 28.

Ahmet III was Mehmet IV’s son and was born in 1673. Ahmet followed the reforms and improvements in Europe closely. He brought the print to the Ottoman Empire. Under his rule tensions between the Ottomans and the Russians increased. He left the throne in 1730.

Ottoman Trade

The Ottoman Empire thrived in the area of trade because of a few key factors. First of all they originated in Anatolia which had a lot of fertile land within the empire which would aid in trading agricultural products. They also were a militaristic society which would give them more trading partners as they conquered new lands. Last but not least, they Ottoman Empire was right in the middle of all land trade routes between Europe and Asia.

Europeans would trade the Ottoman for goods they had received in trade with the Asians such as silk, spices and incense. In return the Europeans would give the Ottomans wood, fur, metal, and even gems in some cases. However the most profitable trade that the Ottoman had with Europe was that of firearms and ammunitions. The Catholic Church forbid the sale of firearms to the Ottoman, but the profits were too high to pass up. These firearms are what led to many Ottoman military victories.
The Persian silk merchants were also pretty high on the Ottomans list of trade partners because they were highly interested in the slave trade. Ottoman slave merchants would follow the military and take on some conquered people as slaves. Most of the slaves were utilized in Ottoman society, however these Persian silk merchants would pay high prices for slaves.

The Asians traded what everyone wanted which was the porcelains, spices, silk, etc. to the Ottomans and they had to pay mostly with bullion (gold and silver). Some attribute this export of gold to aiding the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Military

Militarily, the Ottomans had a massive power force. They dominated during its peak days. The first military of the Ottoman Empire was an army that was organized by Osman I. This group was organized from the collection of Turks that inhabited western Anatolia in the late 13th century. These horsemen became an irregular force of raiders whom were armed with simple weapons like bows and spears.

In 1389 a system of conscription was introduced in the Ottoman military. In times of need every town, quarter, and village should present a man to be drafted at the recruiting office. The new force of irregular infantrymen was called Azabs and they were used in many different ways. These men were generally the front-line; they dug roads and built bridges. On rare occasions they were used as cannon fodder to keep the opposing army from advancing. They became notorious for being brutal and undisciplined and were recruited through the homeless and corrupt criminals.
The Ottomans began using guns sometime between 1444 and 1448. Following that, other troop types began to appear, such as the regular rifle infantry. For all practical purposes, Janissaries belonged to the Sultan, carrying the title “the gate keepers” hence their strong bond with the Sultan. Janissaries were taught to consider the corps as their home and family, and the Sultan as their father. Only those who proved strong enough earned the rank of true Janissary at the age of twenty four or twenty five. This brigade inherited the property of dead Janissaries, which explained the mass amount of wealth they collected.

The Ottomans were the first state to maintain a standing army in Europe since the Roman Empire. The janissary troop was effectively the soldier's family. They lived in their barracks and served as policemen and firefighters during peacetime. In 1321 the Ottoman fleet made its first landings on Thrace in southeastern Europe, and vastly contributed to the expansion of the Empire's territories on the European continent. The Ottoman navy was one of the first to use cannons, and the Battle of Zonchio in 1499 went down in history as the first naval battle where cannons were used on ships. It was also the Ottoman navy which initiated the conquest of North Africa, with the addition of Algeria and Egypt to the Ottoman Empire in 1517. The Battle of Preveza in 1538 and the Battle of Djerba in 1560 marked the apex of Ottoman naval domination in the Mediterranean Sea.

Major Battles of the Ottoman Empire

The Fall of Constantinople is one of the biggest events and turning
points in history. Constantine, which once belonged to the Byzantine
Empire (Christians) was completely over taken by the Ottoman Turks. The
doorway to the city of Constantine, was finally opened with the Battle
of Varna in 1443. During this time, the union of the Orthodox and
Catholic churches was looking very good, and the threat of the Turk was
very real for Eastern Europe. Taking advantage of the nearing
unification of the church, Pope Eugenious IV issued a call to stand
against the Ottoman Turks…very few responded. The ruler of Transylvania
John Hunyadi and King Ladislas of Hungary heeded the call, and they
accompanied by 20,000 men, conquered the city of Varna which had been in
the hands of the Ottoman Turks. However, shortly thereafter, the Turkish
Sultan Murad came with a much larger army, and once again, Varna was in
Ottoman hands. This opened the door for the final onslaught against the
Byzantine Empire. On May 29, 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the
Ottomans under the leadership of Sultan Mehmed II. Three years later,
Athens surrendered to the Ottomans, and by 1478, Serbia, Bosnia,
Wallachia, and the Khanate of Crimea all came under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire.

The Battle of Lepanto was a key naval engagement during the Ottoman-
Habsburg wars. To confront the ever growing threat of the Ottoman
empire, and to challenge their naval supremacy, the Christian powers
assembled a large fleet under the leadership of Don John of Austria in
1571. The Christian fleet consisted of ships from the nations of Venice,
Spain, the Papal States, Genoa, Savoy, and Malta. In total, this fleet
consisted of 206 galleys and 6 gallasses (large galleys that mounted
artillery). In the Gulf of Patras, off the coast of Greece, they
encountered the Ottoman navy of Ali Pasha, which consisted of 230
galleys and 56 galliots. The aftermath of the battle was harsh on both
sides. The Christian powers lost 50 galleys and suffered approximately
13,000 casualties. The Ottomans on the other hand, lost 210 ships, 130
of which were captured. In addition to the death of Ali Pasha, the
Ottomans lost 25,000 men. This battle stemmed Ottoman expansion in the
Mediterranean.

Religion and Political Philosophies

Religion and Political Philosophies went hand in hand for the Ottomans. The laws for governance where considered holy, holy laws that were believed to be the only means for maintaining order and civility within the Ottoman Empire. With these laws being “divine revelation”, to understand and disperse the law must also take diving understanding; thus sultans were considered to be mouth pieces of divine justice. According to Bogaca A Ergene, “The Ottoman sultans possessed the ability to establish justice not only because justice is "bonded in the character of the Ottoman sultans," who are the "shadows of God's several mercies," but also because they promoted what is "canonically permissible" with reference to the holy law.” In other words, sultans possessed a divine wisdom for governance and justice. With the religious and political structures tied, citizens of the Ottoman Empire would have felt religion as an ever present and all pervading influence on their lives.

Jerusalem During the Ottoman Empire

When the Ottoman Turks defected the Mameluke forces in 1517, Palestine came under the rule of a new empire that was to dominate the entire Near East for the next 400 years. At the outset, particularly during the reign of Sultan Suleiman, known in Arabic as "the Law maker," but better known as Suleiman the Magnificent, Jerusalem flourished. Walls and gates, which had lain in ruins since the Ayyubid period, were rebuilt. The ancient aqueduct was reactivated and public drinking fountains were installed. After Suleiman's death, however, cultural and economic stagnation set in, Jerusalem again became a small, unimportant town. For the next 300 years its population barely increased, while trade and commerce were frozen; Jerusalem became a backwater.

Although the renewal of Jerusalem's Jewish community is attributed to the activity of Nahmanides, who arrived in the city in 1267, the community's true consolidation occured in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the influx of Jews who had been expelled from Spain.

Science and Technology in the Ottoman Empire

The Muslims are of course known for their early inventions such as the Astrolabe, Algebra, and of course the number system that we use today. During the Ottoman Empire, we begin to see the influence of European Science work its way to the Arab world.

During the reign of Mehmed II, the Ottoman Empire began to see their first major growth in the fields of science. After the fall of Constantinople, Mehmed II created several institutions dedicated to education. He was fascinated with European culture and the sciences that they were working on. Most of the work done during the 16th Century was converting works such as the geography book of Ptolemy to Arabic. This will give the Ottomans the first world map in the Arabic language. He also had various works transcribed to Persian. Mehmed II promoted debates and advancements in scholar’s specific fields. One of the most debated topics was that of Metaphysics.

The Ottoman Empire also saw a large growth in Math under Süleymân the Magnificent. Several books were written on the topics of Astronomy, Accounting, Algebra, and Geometry. These writings became critical to the Arabic Educational system.

The Ottomans also created early applications using gunpowder that are currently used in Militaries all over the world. Europeans were first noted using matchlock rifles in 1475, however, the Ottoman Jannisaries were noted using them as early as the 1420's. The Turkish Bombard under Mehmed II used cannons at the capturing of Constantinople in 1453.

Ottomans also began to test theories of flight as early as 875. Abbas Ibn Firnas created a hang glider, but had problems with landings. Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi was able to create a working design for artificial wings and is credited with the first flight with artificial wings between 1630 and 1632. During the birth celebration of Murad IV's daughter in 1633 Lagari Hassan Celebi became the first rocket propelled flight. He used a seven wing design with a large conical cage filled with gun powder. The landing was successful with the use of the wing system and parachutes.

Because of the early applications of Ottoman Discoveries, we have developed our current math systems, transportation, and military technology.