Ottoman Empire 1

The Ottoman Empire

Introduction

The Ottoman Empire had several distinguishing characteristics. Islam effected

the separation of the world and its inhabitants into the world of Islam and the world of

the non-Muslim heretics. Differences of ethnic nationality had been ignored, and the

population lived under the tight reign of the Ottoman system. The populace was

divided on the basis of the following criteria. The major categorization was on the

basis of religion into millets. The interaction of the people with the state was via the

leaders of their millet. In addition, Muslims were made responsible to the ulema for

taxes and legal issues. The bearing of arms was restricted to the Muslim millet who

were exempt from several taxes (Sowards, 2008).

The Orthodox Christians of the Balkans were placed under the authority of the

Patriarch of Constantinople. In the event of conflict, Islamic law and state practice

would be enforced. However, in other cases, the institutions and laws of the

Orthodox millet would be applicable. Due to the fact that a considerable amount of

administrative, legal and fiscal business was transacted through the millet, the

Orthodox church attained the status of a state within a state (Sowards, 2008).

The chief rabbi at Istanbul administered the Jews, and they included the

Sephardic Jews of the Eastern Mediterranean from Spain, as well as the Ashkenazi

Jews who had been ousted from Central Europe. In addition, several small Christian

minorities, including the Armenians were administered by the Gregorian archbishop

of Bursa (Sowards, 2008).

Moreover, the rights of the common people were influenced by the place of

residence. For instance, peasants were not permitted to migrate from their land to
 Ottoman Empire 2

the cities. This was due to the apprehension of the Turks that the rural regions would

undergo a severe depletion of population. The rural populace found life in the urban

areas to be very attractive. The urban dwellers were not required to pay certain taxes

and labour dues. In addition, they were exempt from auxiliary military duties. The

peasants had to remit their taxes in kind, and around a tenth of their produce had to

be surrendered to their timariot landlord. The major portion of the remainder of their

produce was procured by the state at a low price, in order to provide sustenance to

the urban poor (Sowards, 2008).

Villages were required to carry out certain duties as a community. This

included a cash rent for the use of the land of the sultan, and contribution of labour to

the estate of the timariot. The nomadic tribes were granted mountain regions that did

not support agriculture. These tribes had to pay their taxes in kind, namely, butter,

cheese, oil, yogurt and other food items, in order to feed the army or the cities

(Sowards, 2008).

The Ottoman Empire followed the practice of grouping its subjects on the

basis of their occupation. Thus, craftsmen were members of guilds that frequently

exercised a monopoly over production. These guilds regulated their industries and

collected taxes to fund welfare schemes for their members. Moreover, guild

representatives were members of city councils that advised the mayor or kadi. In

addition, hospitals, fire departments and other urban services were provided support

by the vakf or tax-exempt endowments (Sowards, 2008).

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was a Turkish empire that remained in existence from

1300 AD to 1922 AD. This empire had developed radially from the region of modern
 Ottoman Empire 3

Turkey. At its zenith, it had encompassed three continents from Hungary in the north

to Aden in the South, and from Algeria in the west to Iran in the east. Via its vassal

state of the Khanate of the Crimea, the power of the Ottomans had extended into

southern Russia and the Ukraine. This empire owed its name to its founder, the

Turkish Muslim warrior, Osman. This redoubtable ruler established a dynasty that

exercised sovereignty over the Ottoman Empire throughout its existence (Microsoft

Encarta, n.d.).

One of the primary reasons for the rapid ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire

was the infirmity of the old political formations in the Middle East. At the time of

expansion of the Ottoman Empire, Southern Eastern Europe and the Middle East

had been emasculated by barbaric wars. As such, Greeks, Persians, Romans and

Arabs had displaced each other sequentially. This had resulted in the destruction

and construction of great civilisations. This proved to be a cycle characterised by

great achievements followed by periods of decline. The Ottoman Empire utilised this

opportunity to expand during such decline (The Montreal Review, 2014).

The Ottoman Empire was distinguished by being absolutist, bureaucratic,

agrarian, militaristic, universal and highly pragmatic. This empire had adopted

several principles, which included the following: First, Ghaza or holy war of

expansionism against non – Muslims. Second, absolutism as demonstrated by the

presence of an imperial dynasty and a sophisticated court system (The Montreal

Review, 2014).

Third, a system of Muslim law or Shariah, which was based upon the Quran

and the Sunnah, and the independence of the ulemas or Islamic teachers, scholars

and learned men who were adept in the Islamic doctrine. Fourth, an efficient and
 Ottoman Empire 4

explicit taxation system that was flexible and practical. Fifth, allocation of duties on

the basis of traditions and traits of each community and province. Sixth, division of

society into the rulers or askeris and the ruled or raya (The Montreal Review, 2014).

The Ottoman sultan maintained a group of high rank advisers, imperial council

or divan. The bureaucracy’s hierarchy was headed by the vizier. As such, the

succession among Sultans involved considerable violence and bloodshed. The

princes in the family were trained and educated in the provinces, and only one of

them could rule. In order to preserve political stability, the new sultan would have his

brothers assassinated (The Montreal Review, 2014).

Devshirme or the collection of slaves was a major feature of the Ottoman

state system. Accordingly, the sultan appropriated young boys from Christian

families residing in European provinces. These boys were converted to Islam,

provided with education and training, and placed in the service of the empire.

Subsequent to such training, these slaves were provided with top civil and military

posts. Thus, the Ottoman empire was run by slaves, and from the 15 th to the 17th

centuries, the majority of the viziers were slaves who had been converted from

Christianity to Islam. The objective behind this strategy was to generate an elite

class of warriors whose loyalty was strictly restricted to the Sultan (The Montreal

Review, 2014).

The Janissaries or infantry of slave soldiers were the illustrative of the

Devshirme system. These soldiers constituted the most efficient military unit of the

15th and 16th century Europe. During that epoch, the janissaries had the highest

discipline in the world, in comparison to other corps. These slave soldiers remained

unmarried during their service, were paid and equipped exemplarily by the empire
 Ottoman Empire 5

and resided in barracks. They used to keep themselves in readiness for any war

expedition (The Montreal Review, 2014).

On the other hand, the solders of Turkish origin were employed in the cavalry

and were termed sipahi. These soldiers were utilised as tax collectors by the sultan,

in addition to fighting in the cavalry. The sipahi were granted land by the sultan, and

this was known as timar. In timar, these soldiers had a specific piece of land called

chiflik. However, they did not own such property, due its location in the feudal states

of the West. At any instant, the sultan could appropriate such land and deploy the

sipahi to some other province (The Montreal Review, 2014).

During the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire experienced continuous growth

in extent and size. Thus, it expanded into North Africa and commenced hostilities

with the Safavid Empire that was located to its east. During the Battle of Chaldiran, in

eastern Anatolia in 1514, the forces led by Sultan Selim I achieved a decisive victory

against the Safavids. This ensured security to the Ottoman Empire on its eastern

front. (New World Encyclopedia, 2015)

Subsequently, the focus shifted back to the west. Thus, Suleiman I, after

ascending to the throne in 1518, conducted several campaigns into the Balkans. The

Ottoman Empire made steady progress towards the north, under the brilliant

strategies of Suleiman I. As a consequence, this empire defeated Hungary in the

1526 Battle of Mohács and besieged Vienna in the year 1529. Expansion in the

Ottoman Empire had been promoted by rivalry with the nations of Europe. In

addition, religion emerged as a dominant motive in the expansion of the Ottoman

Empire. As such, the aim of that empire had been to extend Islamic rule across the

globe (New World Encyclopedia, 2015).

 Ottoman Empire 6

At that juncture, and not surprisingly, the terms Muslim and Turk became

synonymous throughout Europe. As such, the Ottomans regarded themselves

primarily as Muslims and not as members of specific ethnic groups. In this system,

the chief jurist of Shaikh-al-Islam constituted the third highest ranking official of the

state. The Ottoman sultans were convinced that they had been elevated to the

Caliphate by God. In fact, these individuals used to claim that they had the best

qualification to administer the Muslim world (New World Encyclopedia, 2015).

It was firmly believed by the Ottomans that as the best among the ghazis or

holy warriors, and as fighters in the Holy War against non-believers and to expand

the sway of Islam, they constituted the rightful heirs to the Prophet and the

Patriarchal Caliphs. The Ottoman rulers believed that the war against non-believers

had to be conducted against the realms of the latter, and that such war had to

continue without break until their surrender and submission to Islam. Thus, the

ghaza was the basis of the Ottoman Empire. It dominated the history of this empire,

and was the basic principle behind the administration and policies of the Ottoman

Empire (New World Encyclopedia, 2015).

During the 1500s and later, Ottoman expansion was facilitated by their

outstanding expertise with firearms and tactics, and their advanced military and

administrative mechanism. Moreover, the Ottoman forces had considerable skill in

laying sieges, which they employed to a major extent. For instance, during the 1453

siege of Constantinople, a massive cannon was employed for breaching the triple

walls. This cannon had fired shells that weighed more than a ton (New World

Encyclopedia, 2015).
 Ottoman Empire 7

As such, the Ottoman Empire had the distinction of being one of the longest

lasting, most extensive and greatest empires of the world. It had conquered the

majority of the territories of the eastern Roman Empire and had subjugated several

portions of the northern Balkans and north Black Sea coast. In addition, the Ottoman

Empire retained control over its territories for a considerable period. This empire had

emerged in the same century in which the Sung state of China had come to an end,

in the period when Genghis Khan had ravaged the Euro-Asiatic world and created an

empire that ranged from China to Poland, and during the epoch when England and

France were on the verge of commencing their Hundred Years War (Quataert,

2005).

Balkan Wars

In October 1912, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia declared war on

the Ottoman Empire. The objective behind this move was to acquire territory from

the Ottoman Empire, as these nations had traditionally believed that the majority of

the territory under the control of that empire belonged to them. Despite the

overlapping of their claims, these nations decided to postpone further discussion in

that context. As a result, an attack was launched against the Ottoman Empire from

all sides (Mccarthy, 2014).

The Ottoman Empire soon realised the critical nature of its situation. Its

troops, which were separated along the vast borders, were defeated swiftly by the

Balkan nations or were compelled to retreat into fortress towns. The Bulgarian armed

forces attacked from the south and blocked Europe from the rest of the Ottoman

Empire, thereby making retreat impossible (Mccarthy, 2014).

 Ottoman Empire 8

In fact, the Bulgarians had almost accessed Istanbul prior to being stopped by

the Ottomans at defensive lines to the north of Istanbul. By April of 1913, Scutari,

Yanina and Edirne had been captured. These cities had been full of Ottoman

soldiers and Muslim refugees. Thereafter, the treaty of London was formed on 30

May 1913, whereby the majority of the Ottoman Empire, with the exception of a

small region in Istanbul, had been lost (Mccarthy, 2014).

The times were turbulent and Europe outside the Balkans was beset with

seemingly unending problems. During the 14 th century, the Black Death had caused

untold damage to life across Europe. In addition, the Italian city states had managed

to escape the German attempts to make Italy a part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Moreover, Germany experienced a civil war and by the middle of that century, the

Holy Roman Empire had been reduced to a federation of independent states

(Mccarthy, 2014).

At that juncture, Poland was involved in a bitter battle with the expansionist

ambitions of the Teutonic knights, facing challenges from Hungary and Lithuania,

and experiencing internal conflicts between the king and the nobles. In addition,

England and France were engaged in the Hundred Years War, which lasted from

1338 to 1453. Furthermore, the Papacy’s power reduced from their Zenith in the 13 th

century rapidly, and was weakened considerably by the 14 th century (Mccarthy,

2014).

From 1303 to 1378, the Popes had to live in Avignon, which was termed the

Babylonian Captivity. In the year 1378, the Great Schism commenced, which

witnessed competing Popes at Rome and Avignon. In this manner, neither the Pope
 Ottoman Empire 9

nor the Holy Roman Emperor had the power to gather a major force and commence

action against the redoubtable Ottoman Empire (Mccarthy, 2014).

Rome, as the legend states, was founded by Romulus. The Ottoman Empire

owed it origin and development to Osman. This empire proved to be extremely

successful. Osman had not been a member of the indigenous community of that

region, and this had been established by family chronicles. The Roman nation had

developed from a peripheral region to the very crux of the Greco-Roman civilisation,

which it expanded tremendously (Kafadar, 1995).

Similarly, the Ottoman state had its origins in an insignificant chieftainship that

was located at the very edge of the abode of Islam. Subsequently, it acquired the

status of a supreme power in a highly expanded Islamdom. The Ottomans were

similar to the Romans due to the fact that they performed as better administrators

and warriors. The Ottomans were not given to philosophical finesse. However, they

were experts at inventing and using technologies of power (Kafadar, 1995).

In the words of an eminent scholar of the Islamic Middle east, the Ottoman

Empire was a novel and unique development. At the same time, it denoted the

culmination of the entire history of Muslim political societies. Consequently, the

Ottomans could be rightly designated as the Romans of the Islamic world (Kafadar,

1995).

With the fall of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire acquired a capital city

that was located at the junction of its Asian and European territories. This conquest

served to secure the Straits that connected the Mediterranean Sea and the Black

Sea. With this victory, Mehmed II was accorded considerable spiritual prestige as the
 Ottoman Empire 10

conqueror of the city, which had been predicted in the eschatological Muslim

tradition (Imber, 2009).

Moreover, Mehmed II acquired secular glory as the heir to the seat of the

Caesars. In addition, Mehmed II appointed George Scholarios as Patriarch. The

latter was an eminent anti-unionist cleric. This enabled Mehmed II to proclaim

primacy over the Greek Orthodox Church, and provided him with eternal fame

(Imber, 2009).

Subsequent to the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, Roma remained inside

the boundaries of the one nation Balkan states on a permanent basis. Thereafter,

the destiny and development of the single Balkan states has been intertwined with

that of their majority populations. Nevertheless, the heritage of the Ottoman Empire

has persisted in several ways, including the established ethnic culture of Islam that

has been inherited by innumerable Roma in the Balkans or as the influence that

Ottoman traditions continue to exert upon life in the single Balkan states (Council of

Europe, n.d.).

As such, the Ottoman Empire is not regarded as a European kingdom.

Nevertheless, expansion of the Ottoman Empire produced a profound effect upon a

continent that had been ravaged by the terrible calamities of the 14 th and 15th

centuries. The comparative ease with which this empire procured military victories

served to convince Western European powers that its successes would destroy the

socio-political infrastructure of the west and result in the downfall of Christendom.

Being unable to accept this terrible threat, several crusades were mounted against

the Ottoman Empire by the Europeans. However, these ended in failure, and the

Ottoman Empire continued with its conquest of new territories (Sansal, 2016).
 Ottoman Empire 11

Osman and the Ottomans were Oghuz Turks of Central Asia. They

successfully established a vast empire that included the entire south eastern Europe

up to the northern frontiers of Anatolia, Hungary and the Middle East. In addition, the

Ottoman Empire had stretched to the Mediterranean coast of North Africa to the

Atlantic Ocean. This was the last of the great Islamic empires (Shaw & Çetinsaya,

2016).

Severe economic, financial and social strains emerged from the rapid

expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, these were resolved during the

reign of Sultan Bayezid II, who ruled from 1481 to 1512. This ensured tremendous

expansion beyond the boundaries of the first empire across the Danube through

Hungary to Vienna and into the territories of the traditional Islamic empires (Shaw &

Çetinsaya, 2016).
 Ottoman Empire 12

References

Council of Europe, n.d. Ottoman Empire. [online] Available at: <http://romafacts.uni-

graz.at/index.php/history/early-european-history-first-discrimination/ottoman-

empire> [Accessed 21 April 2016].

Imber, C., 2009. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power. 2nd ed.

London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kafadar, C., 1995. Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State.

London, UK: University of California Press.

Mccarthy, J., 2014. The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923. Routledge.

Microsoft Encarta, n.d. Ottoman Souvenir. [online] Available at:

<http://www.ottomansouvenir.com/more_on_ottoman_empire.htm> [Accessed

21 April 2016].

New World Encyclopedia, 2015. Ottoman Empire. [online] Available at:

<http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ottoman_Empire> [Accessed 21

April 2016].

Quataert, D., 2005. The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK:

Cambridge University Press.

Sansal, B., 2016. The Ottoman Empire. [online] Available at:

<http://www.allaboutturkey.com/ottoman.htm> [Accessed 21 April 2016].

Shaw, S. J. & Çetinsaya, G., 2016. Ottoman Empire. [online] Available at:

<http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0611> [Accessed 21

April 2016].
 Ottoman Empire 13

Sowards, S. W., 2008. The principles of Ottoman rule in the Balkans. [online]

Available at: <http://staff.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lecture3.html>

[Accessed 21 April 2016].

The Montreal Review, 2014. The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire. [online]

Available at: <http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/The-Ottomans.php>

[Accessed 21 April 2016].