The Ottoman Empire

Question 1

Early Ottoman

Answer 1

Turkic ghazi warriors
– arrived in Anatolia ca.
1071
– one of many small
states that emerged after
fall of Rum Saljuqs in
1243
– took name from Osman
Bey (d. 1326)
– grew until Battle of Ankara in 1402

Question 2

Early Ottomans: Where?

Answer 2

Eastern Mediterranean

Question 3

Mehmet II The Conqueror (r.
1451-1481)

Answer 3

1453: captured
Constantinople
– restored city to former
glory
– expansion: Serbia 1455,
Greece 1460, Albania
1463, Iraq 1468, Otranto
1480
– began process of
formalizing qanun/kanun
(secular law)

Question 4

Selim I (r. 1512-1520)

Answer 4

defeated Safavids at
Chaldiran in 1514
– defeated Mamluks at
Marj Dabiq in 1516
– doubled size of land
empire
– came to control E.
Anatolia, Syria, Egypt, & Hijaz
– first Ottoman sultan to
serve as “Protector of the
Sanctuaries” in Arabia

Question 5

Sulayman the Magnificent
(r. 1520-1566)

Answer 5

known as “the
Lawgiver” in the Mid
East
– rivals: Habsburgs,
Safavids, Venice
– responsible for legal
reforms at home
(qanun over sharia)
–responsible for
military victories &
expansion abroad

Question 6

Sulayman the Magnificent
(r. 1520-1566): Wars

Answer 6

wars with Habsburgs
in Europe = Ottomans
expand into Hungary
– wars with Habsburgs
in Mediterranean =
Ottomans expand to
Libya & control Algeria
– wars with Safavid
Persia 1534-5, 1548-9,
1554-5 = Ottomans
expand to Iraq

Question 7

Sulayman the Magnificent
(r. 1520-1566): Public Works

Answer 7

known as “the
Lawgiver” in the Mid East
– rivals: Habsburgs, Safavids, Venice
– responsible for legal reforms at home
(qanun)
–responsible for military victories & expansion abroad; e.g. Battle of Mohacs in
1526 (image at left)

Question 8

Hürrem Sultan: Roxelana

Answer 8

– slave captured in Ukraine/Poland
– sent to Istanbul & trained to be
concubine
– broke precedent & tradition: bore
many children, stayed in Istanbul,
moved women into Topkapi Palace
– endowed many public works, most
of which still exist
– conducted her own internal &
international politics
– was accused of witchcraft
– great example of how male
historians try to discredit strong
women, e.g traditional “Sultanate of
Women” historiography

Question 9

Ottoman Decline through Treaties

Answer 9

Karlowitz (1699): 1st time OE negotiated as loser;
Austria gained Hungary; Poland & Venice also gained
territory; Russia gained in Treaty of Contantinople in
1700
– Passarowitz (1718): Austrians gained Temesvar &
territory in Balkans; Aus. got trade privileges
– Kucuk Kaynarca (1774): Russia gained in Ukraine &
Black Sea; made Russia protector of all Orthodox
Christians in OE
– Jassy (1792): Russian dominance of Black Sea, but
also returned Romania to OE

Question 10

Ottoman Decline? Or Unprecedented European
Dominance?

Answer 10

European economic penetration due to Capitulations
– exchanging raw material for European manufactured goods =
economic and industrial decline and stagnation
– abuse of tax farming system
– incompetent sultans and widespread corruption
– military stagnation degeneration
– scholars (‘ulama’) hidebound by conservatism, tradition, &
superstition; extremely hostile toward change
– 1699 Treaty of Carlowitz = the beginning of the end for the
Ottoman Empire

– the Voyages of Discovery led to European dominance
of world economies & politics ( Murphy’s Golden Rule)
– the Enlightenment created an intellectual
environment that encouraged risk-taking and
innovation
– the Protestant Reformation altered the role of
religion in economics & politics across Europe
– the Scientific Revolution saw unusual scientific &
technological advances in Europe
– the 30 Years War in Europe ushered in a new age of
military thinking

Question 11

Shah Ismail (d. 1524)

Answer 11

– a charismatic Sufi leader
from E. Anatolia
– Quizilbash were his fanatical
followers
– thought by some to be divine, semi-divine, the returned 12th
Imam, or even Jesus
– threat to Ottomans in
Anatolia & Caucasus
– defeated by Ottomans at Chaldiran in 1514
– retreated to Tabriz in Iran, which became base of Safavid
state
– right: Italian painting based on descriptions of Ismail I

Question 12

Shah Abbas (r. 1588-1629)

Answer 12

– created ghulam (slave) army to
counter Qizilibash (Kizilbash)
– suffered defeats & made
concessions to enemies (1589-90), but
gained it all back & more (1605-21)
– established relations with Europe; acquired modern firearms; became “gunpowder empire”
– silk was major source of revenue
– centralized bureaucracy (= made government more efficient)
– built-up the city of Isfahan
–left: image of Shaykh Lutfallah
Mosque, Isfahan; built under Shah Abbas I

Question 13

The Safavids and Shi’ite
Islam

Answer 13

– original Safavid movement was charismatic
but heretical religious movement
– charisma & zeal depleted after Battle of
Chaldiran & defeat of Ismail I
– Safavids turned to mainstream Shi’ite clergy for popular legitimacy
– in return for legitimation, Safavids
supported Shi’ite Islam
– Ottman-Safavid rivalry became Sunni- Shi’ite rivalry as well