History - The Ottoman Empire: A Captivating Guide to the Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire and its Control Over Much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa

A Captivating Guide to the Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire and Its Control Over Much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa

Copyright 2018

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The Ottoman world was nothing like an exotic fairytale featuring tyrant sultans, mean pashas, and ill-fated harem women. The true stories of genuine sultans and princes are a bit more complicated but no less exciting. This society was not a backwards one, as Western thought presented it around a century ago, by calling it The Sick Man of Europe. That image was created during the period of the states irreversible decline. For centuries, the Ottoman Empire had been a dominant force with a clear hierarchy, advanced administration (similar to the Roman system of provinces), and wise rulers. Bad rulers were usually regarded as crazy, then overthrown or killed so that they couldnt harm their subjects and do damage to the empire.

At first, the Ottomans (known as the Osmanli at the time) were merely one among many Turkish tribes that populated Anatolia. Then, in 1301, they encountered and devastated a Byzantine army at Bapheus near Constantinople. The Byzantine failure was due to unfortunate circumstances, but within a century, the Ottoman force was indeed on par with the Eastern Roman Empire. Eventually, this Turkish empire not only evolved, but also became the sole inheritor of both Byzantine and other Turkish (e.g., Seljuk) states.

Incredible facts about this empire still surprise anyone who starts discovering these stories. Youll find out that, for quite a while, this Islamic state was effectively ruled by women, and thats just the beginning. Youll learn that the Ottomans knew how to keep their enemies close and how sometimes they used them to resolve internal issues. Several sultans paid Byzantine emperors to keep their brothers (those that they hadnt managed, or didnt want, to kill) confined. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, and the Byzantines became history, one sultan still received this same servicefrom the Pope.

For six hundred years, Ottoman forces threatened not only European armies but also those of Iran and other Muslim countries and regions. At the same time, Ottoman architects constructed the impressive mosques that still present the most memorable buildings in cities throughout the empire. Military might and construction works may be the most apparent signs of power, but the real strength came from the inside. The Ottomans produced a comprehensive legal system that was flexible enough to deal with the complicated ethnic and cultural issues found in the Balkans and the Middle East.

The Ottoman story had begun somewhere during the years 699-700 in the Islamic calendar, which corresponds to 1299 AD. The beginning was not spectacular; no epic battles took place at that particular moment. The land that was to become the Ottoman territory belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and was ruled from Constantinople. The land of the Osmanli was close to Constantinople, which meant they could hope for great rewards should they manage to conquer the city. On the other hand, the Byzantine army was determined to protect its capital, and it wasnt easy for a Turkish tribe to persist in such conditions. Somehow, the Ottomans one of many Turkish (or Turkoman) tribes that threatened the Byzantine borders and the one that was closest to the firebuilt their resilience and started dreaming an imperial dream.

Two centuries earlier, in the eleventh century, another tribe, the Seljuk Turks, invaded the eastern frontier of the Christian Byzantium. The Turks then migrated into the Middle East and Anatolia and toward the Byzantine coastlines. Near the end of the twelfth century, they grew so strong that they defeated the Byzantine army led by the Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. The Byzantine forces were weak during the Fourth Crusade, and the Turks were able to expand almost effortlessly. However, their domination was not meant to last. Soon after the peak of the Seljuks success, another invader came and overwhelmed the Turks. The mighty Mongol army, led by the successors of the formidable Genghis Khan, sacked the territories of the Seljuks.

The Mongols did not intend to stay in Anatolia and the Balkans, and they left shortly after, but the situation in the region was now much different than it had been when they came. Instead of a single Seljuk empirewhich was taking shape when the new invaders appeared at the beginning of the fourteenth centurythere were numerous Turkish emirates in Anatolia. One of them was the emirate of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Their time had just begun.

Various Turkish tribes had already occupied the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Organized as emirates or beyliks (principalities), they led the holy war against the Eastern Roman Empire. Influenced by their highly sophisticated enemy, they abandoned the nomadic way of life and chose to settle, cultivate the land, and even organize a tax system.

New tribes and families kept arriving. Some of the newcomers were wealthy enough to buy ships from Christian traders and use them to invade the coastlines of Thrace and Greece. Many Greek border guards changed their side after Byzantium failed to protect their borderlines. However, there were also many footloose warriors, adventurists, landless peasants, misfits, and runaways from all around the world, and even Christians.