Transcript Ottoman Empire - Episcopal Academy

Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire –
Political/Military
• Expansion and Frontiers
– Ultimately benefited from:
• shrewdness of its founder Osman,
• control of Gallipoli/Dardenelles strait and
• gunpowder.
– Ottoman name comes from original ruler "Osman".
– 1300s - Starts in Anatolia (Map p. 532)
– 1389 - Battle of Kosovo - takes over modern day Serbia - West
– 1453 - The Sultan Mehmed II seiges/takes over Constantinople
(now Istanbul) using canon fire, dragging warships over land to
skip Bosporus strait/sea defenses, and attack by infantry
– Takes over Anatolia, focuses west on Greece,
– 1514 - holds off attack of Safavid Shaw in Iran - Battle of
Childiran
Osman I Thazi
(1258-1326)
1. EAST/WEST PUSH: Osman established
the Ottoman Empire in northwestern
Anatolia in 1300.
– He and his successors consolidated control
over Anatolia, fought Christian enemies in
Greece and in the Balkans, captured Serbia
and the Byzantine capital of Constantinople,
and established a general border with Iran.
• After Constantinople becomes Istanbul (“To the
City") , it is resurrected to become a large
cosmopolitan city - 700,000 by 1600, larger than any
other European city, up from approximately 30,000 at
end of Constantinople's time prior to fall.
2. SOUTH: Egypt and Syria were
added to the empire in 1516–1517, and
the major port cities of Algeria and Tunis
voluntarily joined the Ottoman Empire in
the early sixteenth century. Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566)
conquered Belgrade (1521) and Rhodes
(1522) and laid siege to Vienna (1529),
but withdrew with the onset of winter.
• Vienna
represented as
far as soldiers
could march
during summer
from Istanbul outer limits of
reach of military
campaigns.
• 3. WEST: The Ottoman Empire fought
with Venice for two centuries as it
attempted to exert its control over the
Mediterranean. The Ottomans forced the
Venetians to pay tribute but continued to
allow them to trade.
• 4. SOUTH: Muslim merchants in the
Red Sea and Indian Ocean requested
Ottoman naval support against the
Portuguese. The Ottomans responded
vigorously to Portuguese threats against
nearby ports such as Aden, but they saw
no reason to commit much effort to the
defense of non-Ottoman Muslim
merchants in the Indian Ocean.
Economic:
• Ottoman Empire sat at boarder of Europe and
Asia
– Effectively blocked land trade routes with far
east/south east asia.
– However, as Ottoman Empire rises/peaks, so too
does Ship technology and ability of European powers
(who cannot rally together to counter Ottoman control
of inland routes) such as Portuguese to go around
Africa (and Ottoman empire holdings) to engage in
trade.
Social:
Central Institutions:
• 1. The original Ottoman military forces of mounted
warriors armed with bows were supplemented in the late
fourteenth century when the Ottomans formed captured
Balkan Christian men into a force called the new troops
(Janissaries), who fought on foot and were armed with
guns.
• In the early fifteenth century, the Ottomans began to
recruit men for the Janissaries and for positions in the
bureaucracy through the system called devshirme—a
levy on male Christian children.
• 2. The Ottoman Empire was a cosmopolitan
society in which the Osmanli-speaking, taxexempt military class (askeri) served the sultan
as soldiers and bureaucrats. The common
people—Christians, Jews, and Muslims—were
referred to as the raya (flock of sheep).
• On the other hand, there was a level of tolerance of nonislamic peoples in the Ottoman empire (and in Istanbul
particularly) that made it more cosmopolitan and more
inclusive than for example Spain during the time of the
Inquisition.
• 3. During the reign of Suleiman the
Magnificent, Ottoman land forces were
powerful enough to defeat the Safavids,
but the Ottomans were defeated at sea by
combined Christian forces at the Battle of
Lepanto in 1571. The Turkish cavalry were
paid in land grants, while the Janissaries
were paid from the central treasury.
• 4. In the view of the Ottomans, the
sultan supplied justice and defense for the
common people (the reaya), while the
reaya supported the sultan and his military
through their taxes. In practice, the
common people had little direct contact
with the Ottoman government, being ruled
by local notables and by their religious
leaders (Muslim, Christian, or Jewish).
Crisis of the Military State, 1585–1650
1. The increasing importance and expense of
firearms meant that the size and cost of the
Janissaries increased over time, while the
importance of the landholding Turkish cavalry
(who disdained firearms) decreased.
– At the same time, New World silver brought inflation
and undermined the purchasing power of the fixed tax
income of the cavalry and the fixed stipends of
students and professors at the madrasas.
2.Financial deterioration and the use of
short-term mercenary soldiers brought a
wave of rebellions and banditry to
Anatolia. The Janissaries began to marry,
went into business, and enrolled their sons
in the Janissary corps, which grew in
number but declined in military readiness.
D. Economic Change and Growing Weakness,
1650–1750
1. The period of crisis led to significant changes in
Ottoman institutions. The sultan now lived a
secluded life in his palace, the affairs of
government were in the hands of chief
administrators, the devshirme had been
discontinued, and the Janissaries had become a
politically powerful hereditary elite who spent
more time on crafts and trade than on military
training.
2.In the rural areas, the system of land
grants in return for military service had
been replaced by a system of tax farming.
Rural administration came to depend on
powerful provincial governors and wealthy
tax farmers.
3.In the context of disorder and decline,
formerly peripheral places like Izmir
flourished as Ottoman control over trade
declined and European merchants came
to purchase Iranian silk and local
agricultural products. This growing trade
brought the agricultural economies of
western Anatolia, the Balkans, and the
Mediterranean coast into the European
commercial network.
4.By the middle of the eighteenth century, it
was clear that the Ottoman Empire was in
economic and military decline. Europeans
dominated Ottoman import and export
trade by sea, but they did not control
strategic ports or establish colonial
settlements on Ottoman territory.
5.During the Tulip Period (1718–1730), the
Ottoman ruling class enjoyed European
luxury goods and replicated the Dutch tulip
mania of the sixteenth century. In 1730,
the Patrona Halil rebellion indicated the
weakness of the central state; provincial
elites took advantage of this weakness to
increase their power and their wealth.
The Safavid Empire 1502-1722
The Rise of the Safavids
• Similarities between Safavids and
Ottoman Empire:
– initially used land grants to support all
important cavalry
– population spoke several languages
– Focused on land rather than sea power
– urban notables, nomadic chieftains and
religious scholars served as intermediaries
between people and government.
• Differences
– Farther East - Persian Gulf
• Despite long coastline, never had a Navy
• Portuguese held Persian Gulf in 1517 anbd held it
until 1622
• Entirely Land-Oriented; relied on England and
Dutch for assistance at sea.
Society and Religion
• Ismail
• 1502 - age 16 - declares himself shaw of Iran
• Declares that realm will be Shi'ite, not Sunni, and revere son-in-law
of Muhammad, Ali
• Difference between Shi'ite and Sunni?
• Shi'ite Doctrine/Shi'ism
– All temporal rulers, regardless of title, are temporary stand-ins for for the "hidden
imam", the twelfth descendant of Ali, who was the prophet Muhammad's cousin
and son-in-law.
– Shi'ites believe that leadership of the Muslim community rests solely with the
divinely appointed Imams from Ali's family
– that the Twelfth descendant (the Hidden Imam) disappeared as a child in the ninth
century, and that the shi'ite community will lack a proper religious authority until he
returns.
• Sunni – Neighboring countries were mostly Sunni
• A Tale of Two Cities: Isfahan and Istanbul
– Isfahan becomes capital of Iran in 1598 by decree of
Shah Abbas I.
– Physical/Geographic differences
• Istanbul on coast; Isfahan inland
• Istanbul skyline dominated by gray domes from churches
turned mosques and tall minarets; Isfahan dominated by
brick domes, smaller minarets.
• High walls surround sultan's palace in Istanbul; Isfahan
focused on giant royal plaza - airy palace overlooking the
plaza.
– Women's treatment/place in society
• Seldom appeared in public
• Separate sections of the residence, apart from
where men met visitors.
• Were able to buy (through male agents) real estate
• Some women helped establish religious
endowments
• Women held on to property after marriage gave
them stake in economy and relative
Independence.
• Veiled outside of home.
• Men rather than women dominated /monopolized
public life.
– Isfahan • Armenian Flavor/club in Isfahan, but not truly
cosmpolitan city - few visitors
• Located near center of domain; versus Istanbul
located on coast at crossroads of European trade
• Istanbul had manytraders living or spending time in
city; although most money came from taxes on
land rather than trade.
The Ardabil Carpet, Iran, 1539-40
The Ardabil Carpet (detail), Iran, 1539-40
•
Facts about the Ardebil Carpet
Originally woven as a pair in either 1540 or 1586 making it one of the oldest carpets still in
existence.
•
The carpets were commissioned by Shah Tahmasp (1514-1576) who ruled Iran from the age of
10.
•
They would have taken about 4 years to complete.
•
They covered the floor of the Sheikh Safi Shrine for 3 centuries before being bought by a British
traveller in 1890.
•
They each measure 10.5m by 5m (34 ½’ by 17 ½’) and contain approximately 30 million knots.
•
The lamps at either end of the design are different sizes to create an illusion of perspective – this
is because they were intended to be viewed primarily from one side.
•
The room in which it is displayed is fully lit for only 10 minutes every half hour.
•
Both of the original carpets are signed and dated with an ode by the 14th century poet Hafez:-
•
I have no refuge in this world other than thy threshold
My head has no resting place other than this doorway
• Economic Crisis and Political Collapse
The Mughal Empire 1526-1761
• Political Foundation
• Hindus and Muslims
• Central Decay and Regional Challenges
1707-1761
The Maritime Worlds of Islam,
1500-1750
• Muslims in Southeast Asia
• Muslims in Coastal Africa
• European Powers in Southern Seas
•