THE+OTTOMAN+EMPIRES+IN+WORLD+HISTORY

[|Lisa Balabanlilar], Rice University Dept of History balabanlilar@rice.edu

__**THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN WORLD HISTORY**__

__**PART ONE: ORIGINS**__ __**PART 2: HOW TO RULE A MULTI-ETHNIC, MULTI-RELIGIOUS EMPIRE?**__
 * Central Asian Turks; semi-nomadic tribal equestrians; area where stirrup was invented; good horseback warriors; possibly related to the Mongols
 * Migrated to Anatolia--> encroached on Byzantine Empire--neighbors for hundreds of years with areas of mututal influence
 * Seljuk Turks conquer Muslim caliphate in Baghdad in 1055 (Seljuks had converted to Sunni Islam)--> Muslim caliph is Sunni surrounded by Shi'a---> he asks Seljuks for help--they come in and take over
 * Conquer Anatolia in 1071--> [|Battle of Manzikert]--> for several hundred years, the Seljuks hold to the eastern part of Anatolia and stay as neighbors with the Byzantines--lots of collaboration (marry into Byzantine royal family; use Greek/Byzantine gov't administration
 * In 1200s--> Seljuks lose half to Mongols but Seljuks protect the western half of Byzantium from Mongol invasion
 * Turkish organization: Beylick: area ruled by a group; Bey is the lord; Sipahis arecalvary--> Elite followers are paid in land but not given to own...but to tax and cover expenses/profit from it--> land is not given to son when they die--> leads to infighting and conflict; when the central govt is strong; system works...when it is weak...conflict occurs
 * 1300 CE: [|Sultan Osman] founds Ottoman Beylick: had the ability to hold the loyalty of his followers--> story from Ottomans is that the Seljuks gave him his bey; legitimizing narrative: ORIGIN MYTHS.....HOW DO LEADERS JUSTIFY THEIR RULE? (Osman's dream)
 * Osman: expands territories; he is right next to the Byzantines; middle area "March land" very "Wild West" in nature; lots of rival Turkish Beylicks around
 * Were they GHAZIS or not? (Holy Warriors for Islam)--> got legitimacy because they were destroying Christendom; what if Christians are your commanders and you are attacking Muslim territories more often than not? In reality...they were probably just EMPIRE BUILDERS.....MULKGIRLIK (mulk= kingdom/ girlik= he who grasps the world)--> Ottoman language is half Persian with Turkish grammar
 * BALKAN CONQUESTS-- Balkans are in disarray---easy to conquer; start using firepower more and more; : Gallipoli 1353; Kosovo 1389; 1st: Constantinople 1397 (broken by arrival of [|Tamerlane] in 1400); [|Ottoman interregnum] (Fitret Devri) 1402-1413-- sultan is captured by Timur--puts sultan's son in charge of area; later Timur dies; ended by [|Mehmet I] who defeats his brothers/rivals reunites small part of Ottoman empire; identify as successors of Roman empire (rumi)
 * Mehmet begins building Ottoman palace next to Hagia Sophia....why? SYNCRETISM
 * Topkapi Sarai: Palace
 * inclusive culture- Greek influences
 * [|MIllet system]: minority self-rule for religious groups
 * The [|devshirme]: tribute army; Christian villages mostly in BALKANS must give up to Sultan's people every 4 years a tribute of boys--average age 16 no one younger than 8--every village gave 8 and village leadership decided who they would be; who will become Muslims and gov't advisors; becomes a road to power through the slave bureaucracy; Turks are not allowed to have positions of power- Turks become rustics/farmers; Turkish villages begged to have their children participate in the program; WHY? loyalty/become infantry (janissaries)--> many become important leaders (grand viziers)
 * Devshirme IMPACT: become main part of janissary corps--> only professional standing army in Europe since the Romans (founded by Sultan Murad c 1365); allowed minority subjects to participate in empire/join elite; creates deeply loyal professional military; reduces dependence on perhaps unreliable or rival Turkish sipahi--mounted warriors; not an inheritable postion, but later it will be passed down
 * HOW TO DEAL WITH JEWS & CHRISTIANS: Dhimmi: People of the Book---> revelation to Mohammed--> people of the Book needed to be given respect (People having a revealed text from God); expectation: could not enslave/force conversion--> this gave them an opportunity to live side by side....not that everything was perfect but there was a political policy of negotiation--however Muslims were favored; dhimmis had to pay an extra tax as a non-Muslim & had to
 * HAGIA SOPHIA converted to mosque: no temple or church can be larger; no repairs to them;
 * TIMAR: land grant system that Sultans use to give Sipahis to control and rule at Sultan's command; in theory--> Sultan owns the land; Sipahis manage the land and take the profit; if Sultans dislike the heir...land can be taken back; silken cord

> sex with sterile women)
 * WOMEN IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE**
 * Ottoman marriage and the seraglio (harem-- sacred/forbidden space)--> not specifically sexually related or female related
 * WHAT IS THE HAREM: place where the family lives; wives, sisters, neices, concubines etc not all are sexual partners; After the 1st two sultans--> every sultan is born to a slave girl---not to the married to mother; marriages are mostly for diplomatic purposes but often don't marry at all; Concubines usually from Caucuses; gifted by parents of elites; captured
 * Sultans mother chooses the woman to be with the Sultan; quote from Haseki Sultan= sultan's favorite in the harem/ [|Sultan Valide- sultan's mother>]
 * Women who were not good enough for the Sultan were used as a marriage market for janissary/devshirme boys
 * Women have status by having sons---> once a concubine has a son your relationship with sultan is severed...your main focus is to raise your son
 * SLAVE SOLDIERS/SLAVE BUREAUCRATS/SLAVE WOMEN who are producing the children of the dynasty--> Slavery as the system is the norm/non-violent--> NO RIVALS; NO COMPETING LOYALTIES---In theory...the loyalty is only to one--the sultan
 * Ottomans---> don't intermarry; limits some of the health problems that Russian/European royal families have
 * OTTOMAN HAREM: tight control over family and sexuality; girls live in dorms; woman watches for lesbian sex; western images of highly sexualized debauchers---> some but not so much
 * Sons of sultan are trained (can't grow a beard until their father dies--mail in beard clippings; can't father children until father dies (can only have
 * TRAINING OTTOMAN PRINCES: TANSTRY & SUCCESSION WARS= LEGITIMACY--> every male member of the family is eligible to rule:
 * All trained to rule (provincial areas); mother's are main advisors and a make atake/ateke (foster father/uncle)
 * Why good? leadership experience; strongest leads
 * When father dies--> sons rush back with Istanbul to seize control; father can show favor by giving them control over closest province; late in 17th century janissaries play political role in succession
 * because brothers have legitimate right to rule: FRATRICIDE is common. Early on, brothers could opt out and say they don't want to rule; but by 16th century it becomes common to kill even non-combatant brothers brothers are usually killed; later it becomes LAW to kill your brothers before taking the throne (SILKEN CORD-GARDENER-ASSASSIN; back-up plan Crimean Khan steps in
 * EUNUCHS: guards and managers of the palace community. Black eunuch (most cases--> everything was removed; Black African--> put in charge of the women) White eunuch may not be fully castrated--> put in charge of palace schools--> slaves purchased from the N. African slave market
 * 16th century: Selim II stops assigning sons governorships and keeps them in the harem and establish kafes "golden cage"--> set of apartments in family quarters; stayed there 24/7--> resulted in rulers who were weaker; no experience, no training; easily manipulated; all the mothers there protecting their sons position--> referred to as SULTAN OF THE WOMEN (harem is huge)--> Early 17th century the agnatic system is revived by Mustafa I (oldest MALE member of family inherits the throne--> doesn't always get the BEST ruler?

__**PART THREE: OTTOMAN RELIGION**__: Sunni Islam and the Hanafi School of Law Turks converted to Islam in central Asia in 19th century (Sunni Hanifi)--> How does ruling a multi-ethnic/religious empire affect their religion?
 * Sufism (mystical Islam) From the orthodox to the ecstatic; by the time of Ottoman expansion, all Turkish men belong to various sufi orders--> gave an expressional opportunity to connect to God
 * Some fusions from previous shamanistic/spiritual aspects in Turkish Islam (pre-Islamic religious practices)
 * How do you get people to convert to Islam when you can't use force? access to education, jobs etc....privilege given to Muslims;
 * SUFI ORDERS ALLOWED FOR A VARIETY OF TYPES OF SPIRITUAL EXPRESSION
 * NAQSHBANDI: VERY STRICT; SILENT PRAYER;
 * BEKTASHI (ORDER OF JANISSARY CORPS) TOLERANT OF MANY CHRISTIAN PRACTICES & SHAMANIST PRACTICES
 * MEVLEVI: WHIRLING DERVISHES
 * WHY POPULAR: Allows for enormous variation in styles and understandings of worship in a extremely diverse community of worshipers
 * Many sultans started to see the threat of the Sufi orders competition for loyalty and squash them

__**PART FOUR: NEIGHBORS & RIVALS**__


 * Hapsburgs vs Ottomans: imperial rivals; who inherits the legacy of Rome? steady rivalry for territory & influence
 * Meanwhile the Hapsburgs are forced to cope with the PRotestant Ref and rivalry with France--at various times both England and France ally with Turks against the Hapsburgs (letters between Queen Elizabeth and Sultan's mother)--> English sold statues from churches to Turks to be melted down for munitions
 * To the EAST: Safavid Iran: founded in 1501 by [|Shah Ismail] (1487-1524)--> Turkamon tribal people; leadership is from a Sufi order (Suni scion of the Safaviyyah--> messianic and shifting towards a Shi'a flavored/messiah orientation). Shah Ismail perceived himself to be a messiah (myths and rumors of his soldiers going into battle naked b/c of his presence); troops known as Quzilbash (wore red turbans/ means red-headed)--> Safavids go into battle but are slaughtered by the Ottomans (shocked b/c they thought they had the messiah)--> Shah Ismail goes into a downspiral/becomes an alcholic until his death--> sons regroup and maintain dynasty until the early 18th c.--> very weak Shahs (same succession as Ottomans (golden cage)
 * BIG RIVALS: Mamluks of Egypt (they controlled Mecca & Medina)--> they were slave soldiers (ghulam) who took over the empire from teh Caucasus and Georgia and ruling elites of Islamic heartand: only slave soldiers can rule; had a very strong cavalry; saw themselves as protectors of Islam--> Ottomans want to the the protectors of Islam--> Ottomans defeat Mamluks (Battle of Chaldiran 1514)
 * Becoming Protectors of Islam---> this claim of legitimacy changes how they rule: transition begins when they use Arabic script; traditional relationships evolve--> gave sultan title of caliph--title not always used until the 19th century when they begin the fight against the western power
 * After they conquer the Mamluks....the majority of their population is Muslim for the first time
 * Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (golden age- architecture, calligraphy, painting, portrait) marries his haseki; gets sickly son as successor; starts the beginning of the decline of the empire; no more advancement; acquisition of territory; end of military acheivement; economy starts to collapse; problems in jannissary corp; succession issues
 * The Blue Mosque
 * Battle of Lepanto 1571: seen as a turning point in Ottoman decline
 * Becomes an empire of bureacrats and sultan retreats into harems; weakening happening as European powers are on the rise---> they start to work in Balkan areas to undermine Ottoman authority
 * Tanzimat Reform: cries for modernization/westernization; remove tax on non-Muslim minorities but asked to serve in the military (outrage); age of empire ending...call for nation-state
 * Young Turk Revolution: July 3 1908: Turk word reclaimed....states forming around an ethnic identity is what is the norm....TURKISH IDENTITY
 * Wrong side in WWI
 * Arabs in revolt
 * Mandate System: Treaty of Sevres in 1920: occupied by 5 diff European states (France, Greece, Italian, England, Russia)--> Middle East divided between European powers--> Emprire disbanded in 1922--- Republic of Turkey in 1924 (modern, western, secular values--> Attaturk--> push the Russians, French, English & Russians out....to push Greece out leads to destruction on both sides
 * Textbooks produced in 3rd/5th graders that don't mention the Ottoman empire....it's old fashioned....primitive

BOOK SUGGESTION: [|Colin Imber]-THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE