Ottoman Empire
Turkey, 1299–1922. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Turkoman tribal leader Osman I founded a beylik, or principality, in northwestern Anatolia in c. 1299, and the empire emerged from it. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire became a global power. The Ottoman Empire entered World War I in 1914, during which the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian subjects.
Seat of power: Istanbul
Rulers
Osman I
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1299–1324
He was the eponymous founder of the Ottoman Empire, first known as a beylik or emirate. Owing to the scarcity of historical sources dating from his lifetime, very little factual information about Osman has survived.
Portrait of Osman I: Ottoman miniature painting, Public domain, file
Orhan
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1326–1362
In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering most of northwestern Anatolia. He won his first battle at Pelekanon against the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos.
Portrait of Orhan: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Murad I
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1362–1389
Murad I conquered Adrianople in the 1360s and made it the new capital of the Ottoman Sultanate. He expanded the Ottoman realm in Southern Europe by bringing most of the Balkans under Ottoman rule, and forced the princes of Serbia, the emperor of Bulgaria as well as the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos to pay him tribute.
Portrait of Murad I: Painting: Unknown artist Photograph: Sonia Halliday Photographs, Public domain, file
Murad II
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1421–1444
He was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Murad II won the Crusade of Varna in 1444 against John Hunyadi.
Portrait of Murad II: 1584-1588 artist, Public domain, file
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Mehmed II
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1451–1481
Upon his restoration to the throne in 1451, he strengthened the Ottoman Navy and made preparations to attack Constantinople. In 1453, at the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople and effectively brought an end to the Byzantine Empire.
Portrait of Mehmed II: Gentile Bellini, Public domain, file
Bayezid II
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1481–1512
During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne to Selim I, his son. Bayezid evacuated Sephardi Jews from Spain following the fall of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada and the proclamation of the Alhambra Decree and resettled them throughout Ottoman lands, especially in Salonica.
Portrait of Bayezid II: 16th century artist, Public domain, file
Suleiman the Magnificent
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1520–1566
The longest reign among the Ottoman sultans, his rule brought about a notable peak in the Ottoman Empire's economic, military and political power, and raised the number of the empire's subjects to at least 25 million people. Belgrade fell to him in 1521 and Rhodes in 1522, and at Mohács in 1526, Suleiman broke the strength of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Portrait of Suleiman the Magnificent: Circle of Titian, Public domain, file
Murad III
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1574–1595
His rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavids. However, the empire was beset by increasing corruption and inflation from the New World which led to unrest among the Janissary and commoners.
Portrait of Murad III: 1583, Seyyd Lokman Ashuri, Public domain, file
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Mehmed IV
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1648–1687
He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. While the initial and final years of his reign were characterized by military defeat and political instability, during his middle years he oversaw the revival of the empire's fortunes associated with the Köprülü era.
Portrait of Mehmed IV: Koppmayer, Jacob (1640-1701), Public domain, file
Ahmed III
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1703–1730
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha and the Sultan's daughter, Fatma Sultan, directed the government from 1718 to 1730, a period referred to as the Tulip Era.
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Mahmud I
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1730–1754
He delegated government affairs to his viziers and devoted time to writing poetry. In 1748, he outlawed Freemasonry within the Ottoman Empire.
Portrait of Mahmud I: Jean Baptiste Vanmour, Public domain, file
Selim III
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1789–1807
Selim III made the first major attempts to modernise the army, but his reforms were hampered by the religious leadership and the Janissary corps. He was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne.
Portrait of Selim III: Konstantin Kapıdağlı, Public domain, file
Mahmud II
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1808–1839
Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms. His disbandment of the conservative Janissary Corps removed a major obstacle to his and his successors' reforms in the Empire, creating the foundations of the subsequent Tanzimat era.
Portrait of Mahmud II: Henry Guillaume Schlesinger, Public domain, file
Abdülmecid I
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1839–1861
Abdulmejid's greatest achievement was the announcement of the Tanzimat Edict upon his accession, prepared by his then Foreign Minister Mustafa Reshid Pasha, which effectively began the Tanzimat era, or era of reorganization, in the Ottoman Empire. He was a mild-mannered monarch, giving the Sublime Porte the autonomy needed for its reform projects.
Portrait of Abdülmecid I: Konstantin Cretius, Public domain, file
Abdul Hamid II
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1876–1909
Elevated to power in the wake of Young Ottoman coups, he promulgated the Ottoman Empire's first constitution, a sign of the progressive thinking that marked his early rule. He was the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state.
Portrait of Abdul Hamid II: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Culture
- Ruling over diverse peoples, the empire granted varying levels of autonomy to its many confessional communities, or millets, to manage their own affairs per Islamic law.
- The Ottomans were holders of the Caliph title, meaning they were the leaders of Muslims worldwide.
- Following Mahmud II's reign and the Tanzimat reforms over the course of the 19th century, the Ottoman state became more powerful and organised internally as a new Ottoman identity took hold.
Picture
From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1853, Topkapı Palace served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire and was the main residence of its sultans.
Image: Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.