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TURKEY > HISTORY >> Turkish Period
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THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
Ottoman Turks Period (1299-1923)
| 1299 |
Establishment of the Ottoman Principality
by Osman Bey in Sogut and Domanic (east of Bursa) |
| 1326-1362 |
Orhan Bey period. Accepted as the real
founder of the Ottoman State by his military and administrative organization and
forming the divan. The first ruler to use the title of
sultan. |
| 1326 |
Ottomans under Sultan Orhan take Bursa
and establish their first capital there |
| 1364 |
Turks under Sultan Murat I capture
Adrianople (Edirne) and establish Ottoman capital there |
| 1389 |
Murat I wins the Kosova I Battle; He
establishes the Janissary Corps |
| 1396 |
Ottoman force led by Bayezit I defeats
Crusader army at Nicopolis (Nigbolu) |
| 1397 |
First Ottoman siege of
Constantinople |
| 1402 |
Tamerlane defeats Ottomans under Bayezit
I at Ankara; the Sultan is captured and eventually commits suicide. Mongols
overrun Anatolia, and Ottoman power in the subcontinent is temporarily crushed
|
| 1413-1421 |
Reign of Mehmet I; revival of Ottoman
power in Anatolia |
| 1421-1451 |
Reign of Murat II; Ottoman armies sweep
through the Balkans and also regain lost territory in Anatolia |
| 1451-1481 |
Reign of Mehmet II, the
Conqueror |
| 1452 |
He builds the Rumeli Fortress on the
Bosphorus |
1453
(May 29) |
Turks under Mehmet II conquer
Constantinople, which becomes the fourth and last Ottoman capital under the name
of Istanbul; he is entitled as the conqueror |
| 1453-1579 |
Rise in the Ottoman
Empire |
| 1481-1512 |
Reign of Bayezit II |
| 1512-1520 |
Reign of Selim I; Battles of Caldiran,
Mercidabik, Ridaniye |
| 1517 |
Selim I captures Cairo and adds the title
of caliph to that of sultan |
| 1520-1566 |
Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent (the
longest in the Ottoman Empire; 46 years); zenith of Ottoman power; because he
organizes the state by making new laws, he is called Kanuni meaning
law-giver; the Mediterranean Sea becomes a Turkish lake with many
captures |
| 1526 |
Battle of Mohacs (Mohac) and the conquest
of Buda and Pest (Peste) |
| 1529 |
First and unsuccessful Siege of
Vienna |
| 1534-1535 |
Suleyman the Magnificient's expedition
into Iran and Iraq |
| 1538 |
Preveze naval battle, Barbaros Hayrettin
Pasa (Barbarossa) becomes Kaptan-i Derya (Commander in chief of the
fleet) |
| 1566-1574 |
Reign of Selim II |
| 1569 |
The great fire of
Istanbul |
| 1571 |
At Lepanto naval battle allied fleet
defeat the Ottomans except one squadron of Kilic Ali Pasa. |
| 1588 |
Death of Sinan |
| 1579-1699 |
The rule of women. Ineffectual sultans
give up control of Ottoman Empire to their women and grand viziers; Reforms and
Renaissance in Europe |
| 1607 |
Celali uprisings, rebellions against the
land tenure system of the provincial fief-holding cavalry |
| 1638 |
Murat IV captures
Baghdad |
| 1648 |
Great earthquake of
Istanbul |
| 1661 |
Another great fire in
Istanbul |
| 1666-1812 |
Period of intermittent wars between Turks
and European powers; Ottoman Empire loses much power in southern
Europe |
| 1683 |
Second and unsuccessful Siege of Vienna
by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasa of Merzifon |
| 1686 |
Ottomans are forced to evacuate
Hungary |
| 1699 |
Treaty of Karlowitz (Karlofca);
the first loss of territory by the Ottoman Empires |
| 1699-1792 |
Decline of the Ottoman
Empire |
| 1711 |
Grand Vizier Baltaci Mehmet Pasa's battle
of Pruth against Russians. According to a spicy tradition, Pasa surrounded Peter
the Great's army but then let him avoid humiliation because he was persuaded by
a secret nocturnal visit to his tent by the czar's mistress (later empress)
Catherine |
| 1718-1774 |
Treaties of Passarowitz (Pasarofca) and
Belgrade with Austrians, Kucuk Kaynarca with Russians |
| 1718-1730 |
Tulip period; Istanbul is decorated with
beautiful palaces and gardens; the first printing house in Istanbul and the
first paper factory in Yalova are set up |
| 1750 |
Another great fire in
Istanbul |
| 1754 |
Major earthquake in
Istanbul |
| 1782 |
Fire in Istanbul |
| 1789-1807 |
Recovery period; Selim III; education
becomes obligatory, reform in the army; Nizam-i Cedit (organized
army) |
| 1790 |
Ottoman-Prussian alliance against Austria
and Russia |
| 1808-1839 |
Mahmut II period |
| 1826 |
Mahmut II abolishes the Janissary Corps;
Medical and military schools are opened; General Post Office is set up;
Ministries are established instead of the Divan; Government officers obliged to
wear trousers |
| 1839-76 |
The Tanzimat Period; Mahmut II puts the
westernizing Imperial Reform Decree of the Tanzimat into operation; Abdulmecit
and Mustafa Resit Pasa prepare a new program of reform: laws are made instead of
sultan's orders; equal rights for everybody; equal taxes according to incomes;
no punishment without trials |
| 1856 |
Paris Treaty: Ottoman Empire to be
accepted as a European state |
| 1876-1909 |
Reign of Abdulhamit II |
| 1876-1877 |
Short-lived first Constitutional
Regime |
| 1876 |
First Constitution is prepared by Young
Turks and the first Turkish Parliament is established |
| 1877 |
Parliament is dissolved by Abdulhamit
II |
| 1877-1908 |
Autocracy of Abdulhamit
II |
| 1881 |
Birth of Mustafa Kemal in
Salonika |
| 1908 |
Constitutional Regime II |
| 1908 |
Abdulhamit is forced to accept
constitutional rule; parliament restored |
| 1909 |
Abdulhamit deposed; Young Turks take
power |
| 1912-13 |
Balkan Wars; Turks lose Macedonia and
part of Thrace |
| 1914 |
Ottoman Empire enters World War I as an
ally of Germany |
| 1915 |
Turks, led by Mustafa Kemal, repel Allied
landings on Gallipoli Peninsula |
| 1918 |
Turks surrender to Allies; Istanbul
occupied by Anglo-French Army |
| 1919-1922 |
War of Independence |
| 1914 |
Ottoman Empire enters World War I as an
ally of Germany |
| 1915 |
Turks, led by Mustafa Kemal, repel Allied
landings on Gallipoli Peninsula |
| 1918 |
Turks surrender to Allies; Istanbul
occupied by Anglo-French Army |
| 1919-1922 |
War of Independence |
| 1919 |
Sivas Congress; Ataturk leads Turkish
Nationalists to start the struggle for national sovereignty; Greek army lands at
Smyrna |
| 1920 |
Treaty of Sévres; Ottoman Empire
dissolved |
| 1920 |
Establishment of the Grand National
Assembly of Turkey with Ataturk as the president |
| 1922 |
Turks defeat Greeks and drive them out of
Asia Minor; sultanate abolished |
| 1923 |
Treaty of Lausanne establishes
sovereignty of modern Turkey, defines its frontiers and arranges for exchange of
minorities between Greece and Turkey; Turkish Republic is proclaimed; Mustafa
Kemal is elected president; Ankara replaces Istanbul as the
capital |
The Ottoman Empire was a Moslem Turkish state that encompassed Anatolia, Southeastern
Europe, the Arab Middle East and North Africa from the 14C to the early 20C.
The Ottoman Empire succeeded both the Byzantine Empire (1453) and the Arab Caliphate,
the mantle of descent from Mohammed after the conquest of Egypt (1517).
Expansion of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Turks were descendants of Turkoman nomads who entered Anatolia
in the 11C as mercenary soldiers for the Seljuks. At the end of the 13C, Osman
I (from whom the name Ottoman is derived) asserted the independence of his small
principality in Sogut near Bursa, which adjoined the decadent Byzantine Empire.
Gazis from all over Anatolia hitched themselves to Osman's rising star,
following the usual custom of adopting the name of their leader and thus calling
themselves Osmanli. Their fight for their religion, holy war, was called
gaza, and was intended not to destroy but to subjugate the non-Moslem
world.
Within a century the Osman Dynasty had extended its domains into an Empire stretching
from the Danube to the Euphrates. In Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia the
conquered Christian princes were restored to their lands as vassals, while the
subjects were left free to follow their own religions in return for loyalty.
The Ottomans accepted submissive local nobility and military commanders into
their service, along with their troops, instead of killing them.
The empire was temporarily disrupted by the invasion of the Tatar conqueror
Timur, who defeated and captured the Ottoman Sultan Bayezit I at the Battle
of Ankara (1402). However, Mehmet I (1389-1421), the Restorer, succeeded in
reuniting much of the Empire and it was reconstituted by Murat II and Mehmet
II. In 1453, Mehmet II conquered Constantinople, the last Byzantine stronghold.
During the reigns of Murat II and Mehmet II the devsirme system of recruiting
young Christians for conversion to Islam and service in the Ottoman army and
administration was developed. The Christians in the army were organized into
the elite infantry corps called the Janissaries. Urban families,
those with particular skills vital to the local economy, or families with only
one son were excluded in this devsirme system. From the poor families' point
of view, it was a great chance for their sons to be offered a high level of
education especially in the palace which would provide good future prospects.
The empire reached its peak in the 16C. Sultan Selim I (r. 1512-20) conquered
Egypt and Syria, gained control of the Arabian Peninsula and beat back the Safavid
rulers of Iran at the Battle of Caldiran (1514). He was succeeded by Suleyman
I (the Magnificent, r. 1520-66), who took Iraq, Hungary and Albania and established
Ottoman naval supremacy in the Mediterranean. Suleyman codified and institutionalized
the classic structure of the Ottoman state and society, making his dominions
into one of the great powers of Europe.
Decline of the Ottoman Empire
The decline of the empire began late in the 16C. It was caused by a
myriad of interdependent factors, among which the most important were the flight
of the Turco-Islamic aristocracy and degeneration of the ability and honesty
both of the sultans and of their ruling class. The devsirme divided into
many political parties and fought for power, manipulated sultans and used the
government for their own benefit. Corruption, nepotism, inefficiency and misrule
spread.
Reform Attempts
Sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1807) attempted to reform the Ottoman system
by destroying the Janissary corps and replacing it with the Nizam-i Cedit
(new order) army modeled after the new military institutions being developed
in the West. This attempt so angered the Janissaries and others with a vested
interest in the old ways that they overthrew him and massacred most of the reform
leaders. Defeats at the hands of Russia and Austria, the success of national
revolutions in Serbia and Greece and the rise of the powerful independent Ottoman
governor of Egypt, Mohammed Ali, so discredited the Janissaries, however, that
Sultan Mahmut II was able to massacre and destroy them in 1826.
Mahmut then inaugurated a new series of modern reforms, which involved the abolition
of the traditional institutions and their replacement with new ones imported
from the West. This affected every area of Ottoman life, not just the military.
These reforms were continued and brought to their culmination during the Tanzimat
reform era (1839-76) and the reign of Abdulhamit II (1876-1909). The scope of
government was extended and centralized as reforms were made in administration,
finance, education, justice, economy, communications and army.
Financial mismanagement and incompetence, along with national revolts in the
Balkans and eastern Anatolia, the French occupation of Algeria and Tunisia,
the takeover by the British in Egypt and the Italians in Libya, threatened to
end the very existence of the Empire, let alone its reforms. By this time the
Ottoman Sultanate was known as the "Sick Man of Europe," and European diplomacy
focused on the so-called Eastern Question how to dispose of the Sick Man's territories
without upsetting the European balance of power. Abdulhamit II, however, rescued
the empire, at least temporarily, by reforming the Ottoman financial system,
manipulating the rivalries of the European powers and developing the pan-Islamic
and pan-Turkic movements to undermine the empires of his enemies. The sultan
granted a constitution and parliament in 1876, but he soon abandoned them and
ruled autocratically so as to achieve his objectives as rapidly and efficiently
as possible. He became so despotic that liberal opposition arose under the leadership
especially in the palace which would provide good future prospects.
The empire reached its peak in the 16C. Sultan Selim I (r. 1512-20) conquered
Egypt and Syria, gained control of the Arabian Peninsula and beat back the Safavid
rulers of Iran at the Battle of Caldiran (1514). He was succeeded by Suleyman
I (the Magnificent, r. 1520-66), who took Iraq, Hungary and Albania and established
Ottoman naval supremacy in the Mediterranean. Suleyman codified and institutionalized
the classic structure of the Ottoman state and society, making his dominions
into one of the great powers of Europe.
Decline of the Ottoman Empire
The decline of the empire began late in the 16C. It was caused by a
myriad of interdependent factors, among which the most important were the flight
of the Turco-Islamic aristocracy and degeneration of the ability and honesty
both of the sultans and of their ruling class. The devsirme divided into
many political parties and fought for power, manipulated sultans and used the
government for their own benefit. Corruption, nepotism, inefficiency and misrule
spread.
Reform Attempts
Sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1807) attempted to reform the Ottoman system
by destroying the Janissary corps and replacing it with the Nizam-i Cedit
(new order) army modeled after the new military institutions being developed
in the West. This attempt so angered the Janissaries and others with a vested
interest in the old ways that they overthrew him and massacred most of the reform
leaders. Defeats at the hands of Russia and Austria, the success of national
revolutions in Serbia and Greece and the rise of the powerful independent Ottoman
governor of Egypt, Mohammed Ali, so discredited the Janissaries, however, that
Sultan Mahmut II was able to massacre and destroy them in 1826.
Mahmut then inaugurated a new series of modern reforms, which involved the abolition
of the traditional institutions and their replacement with new ones imported
from the West. This affected every area of Ottoman life, not just the military.
These reforms were continued and brought to their culmination during the Tanzimat
reform era (1839-76) and the reign of Abdulhamit II (1876-1909). The scope of
government was extended and centralized as reforms were made in administration,
finance, education, justice, economy, communications and army.
Financial mismanagement and incompetence, along with national revolts in the
Balkans and eastern Anatolia, the French occupation of Algeria and Tunisia,
the takeover by the British in Egypt and the Italians in Libya, threatened to
end the very existence of the Empire, let alone its reforms. By this time the
Ottoman Sultanate was known as the "Sick Man of Europe," and European diplomacy
focused on the so-called Eastern Question how to dispose of the Sick Man's territories
without upsetting the European balance of power. Abdulhamit II, however, rescued
the empire, at least temporarily, by reforming the Ottoman financial system,
manipulating the rivalries of the European powers and developing the pan-Islamic
and pan-Turkic movements to undermine the empires of his enemies. The sultan
granted a constitution and parliament in 1876, but he soon abandoned them and
ruled autocratically so as to achieve his objectives as rapidly and efficiently
as possible. He became so despotic that liberal opposition arose under the leadership
of the Young Turks, many of whom had to leave the country from Abdulhamit's
police.
Overthrow of the Ottoman Empire
In 1908 a revolution led by the Young Turks forced Abdulhamit to restore
the parliament and constitution. After a few months of constitutional rule,
however, a counterrevolutionary effort to restore the sultan's autocracy led
the Young Turks to dethrone Abdulhamit completely in 1909. He was replaced by
Mehmet (Resit) V (r. 1909-18), who was only a puppet of those controlling the
government.
Rapid modernization continued during the Young Turk era (1908-18), with particular
attention given to urbanization, agriculture, industry, communications, secularization
of the state and the emancipation of women.
The empire was involved in World War I to take sides with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The defeat of these Central Powers led to the breakup and foreign occupation
of the Ottoman Empire.
The Administration
The head of the empire was the sultan and the sultanate passed from
father to son. The orders of the sultan were accepted as laws. His three major
duties were commanding the army, appointing the statesmen and supervising the
Divan, today's Cabinet. Members of the Divan were the chief vizier
(prime minister), viziers (state ministers), kazasker (minister
responsible for the military), two defterdars (finance ministers), nisanci
(general secretary), seyhulislam (authorized head of the religious matters)
and kaptan-i derya (Commander in chief of the fleet).
The functions of the ruling class were limited to exploiting the resources of
the empire, largely for their own benefit; expanding and defending the state
and maintaining order and preserving the faith and practice of Islam as well
as the religions of all the subjects of the sultan.
The vast class of subjects were left to carry out all other functions of the
state through autonomous religious communities, artisans' guilds, popular mystic
orders and confederations, which together formed a substratum of popular society.
The Use of Land
In the Ottoman Empire the lands belonged to the state. The right to
use the land was given to people and some revenue from the income received was
given to the state. However, when people failed to use their land effectively
for three consecutive years it had to be returned.
The lands in general were divided into two categories; Vakif and Dirlik.
Vakif estates were spared for charity institutions and public use like mosques,
hospitals, caravansaries and suchlike. Dirlik (fief) lands were given to statesmen
according to their incomes; each of these lands was classified as Has,
Zeamet, or Timar. Owners used some part of them for themselves
and spared other parts for the expenses of a certain number of soldiers. With
this system, the state had a powerful army without costs.
The Army
The Ottoman army was mainly divided into three classes:
a) Kapikulu soldiers were professionals who acted directly under the
strict command of the sultan. They were not even allowed to marry. They did
not have any connection to the land holding system as they worked for salaries.
Ulufe was the name given to their salaries which they received every
3 months. The majority of these Kapikulu soldiers consisted of janissaries.
There were both foot-soldiers and cavalrymen.
b) Eyalet soldiers were Dirlik-holding soldiers. The majority of the
Ottoman army were Eyalet soldiers. They were the front line soldiers and like
Kapikulu soldiers they were divided into both foot-soldiers and cavalrymen.
c) Reinforcements were soldiers who came from annexed rulers.
Education
The two main arteries of education were Enderun and Medrese.
Enderun was a royal school with a very high level of education. The aim of this
school was to educate statesmen. Students were treated with considerable discipline
and by the age of 30 approximately, they finished their schooling and attained
their posts.
Although the medrese was originally a theological school, in the Ottoman period,
education in the medrese was conducted in four faculties; 1-religion
and law, 2-language and literature, 3-philosophy, 4-basic
sciences. The language of education was Arabic. There was no set period, students
had to finish particular books rather than years. Students lived in cells, ate
in imarets (kitchens for the public, generally the poor) and received
some pocket money from the school Foundations.
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