Unit 5: The Ottoman empire Flashcards
5 Pillars
- To say: “ There is no God but God (Allah), and Muhammad is the rasul (prophet or messenger of God)”
- 5 times a day prayer, called by the muezzin, wherever you are, whatever you are doing
- almsgiving- small percentage of wealth to give to the needy
- fats of the Ramadan (28 days0); no eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset
- Pilgrimage to Mecca (Haji) that most be done if possible at least once in a lifetime
Muhammad
- the rasul of God (prophet or messenger)
- first Muslim
- visited by Angel Gabriel
- after being thrown out of Mecca because of his ideas of a new religion, he recaptured it with his followers
- last and final prophet
- turned the Ka’Bah into a mosque
- 570-632
- was an illiterate member of the Quryash tribe
- married a much older woman (Khadijah)– his followers wrote his revelations
- in 610 visit Mount Hira to mediate– receives first revelations
- went to Medina after being thrown out of Mecca, with his followers, his voyage starts i 622 AD, and took 8 years– it is called the Hijra
- only muslims can enter Mecca, because it is a holy place
Hijra
- the trip that Muhammad made from 622-630 with his followers to Medina (Yathrib), when he was thrown out of Mecca– gathered more followers
Qur’an
basis for law for Muslim societies
-the holy scripture of Islam
-the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad and considered by the Muslims to be the true words of God, Allah
-the sovereignty of God
-does not tell a story, more “factual”, and the revelations
-a miracle according to Islamic people
-revelas how God thinks and feels
shares some beliefs from Judaism and Christianity
Sultan
political, military and religious leader of the Muslim land (lead of the Ottoman empire)
Mehmet II (The Conqueror)
ruled: 1451-1481
-conquered Constantinople
genius statesman and military leader
-renaissance man
-conquered Istanbul, parts of Greece, Anatolia
Constantinople
-fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 ( loss for the Christinas, gain for the Ottomans– trade)
-center of trades
crossroad between Europe and Asia
Suleiman I
- the Magnificent
-regarded as the most significant ruler in the world, by both Muslims and europeans
-imbellished Istanbul
-wealthy court under his rule;e
maximum empire
Timars
- landed granted by the Sultan to a Turkish noble/ruling class/upper class/aristocrat
- given to conquered nobles/important families in compensation for the Ottoman Way
- all land belongs to the Sultan, so it cannot be inherited, and can be removed at any moment
Harem
- the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants
- wealthy muslim men would keep their women in there as much as possible, as “harem” means “sacred” in arabic
Concubines
- a being contracted as a “second wife”, with very few legal rights
- imperial palace (wealth, prestige, power)
Hürrem
-concubine gift to the Sultan
-became the Sultan’s lawful wife
very influence and powerful
Devshirme
- a system of human taxation under the Ottoman wimpier, from the 15th century until the 19th century. Young Christian boys were taken away from their families (mostly) in the Balkans and made into the property of the Sultan in order to become part of the army or the (Ottoman government) administration
- from Turkish, meaning “gathering”
Janissaries
imperial guard, usually composed of Christian boys that got recruited by force at a young age
-only loyal to the Sultan
Ottoman Decline
- economic challenges
- interna problems (sultan’s power)
- corruption for the devshirme (turkish control, not taxable anymore)
- trade routes closed by dutch and British
- precious metals going to Europe from the Americas (Europe getting the trade)
- more taxes, more confiscations of land, underpaid people (timers became private property )
- large population growth–distress
