“Gunpowder” Empires

• Why do you think these empires got this nickname?

• Where do you think these empires are located?

• What do you expect the culture of the empires to be?

The Ottoman EmpireToday’s Goal You will be able

to…

Describe the rise, characteristics, and decline of

the Ottoman Empire.

The Anatolian Turks• No central power• “ghazis” or warriors for Islam• Military societies led by emir, or

chief commander• Strict Islamic code of

conduct• Raided territories of

“infidels”

Osman’s State• a.k.a. Othman – most successful

ghazi– Followers known as Ottomans

• Military use of gunpowder– Replaced archers on horseback

w/musket-carrying foot-soldiers

• Among the 1st to use cannons as weapons of attack

Ottoman Conquest• Osman’s son Orkhan I

declared himself sultan (“overlord”, “one with power”)

• Ottomans acted kindly towards conquered people– Local officials appointed by

sultan– Improved the lives of peasants

• Muslims required to serve in armies– Non-Muslims did not have to

serve in army, but had to pay tax instead

Tamerlane• Timur the Lame =

rebellious warrior from Samarkand in C. Asia– Europeans called him

Tamerlane

• Burned Baghdad & crushed Ottoman forces at Battle of Ankara (1402)

• This defeat halted Ottoman expansion

Summary Questions• How was the Anatolian Turk

society organized?• Why was Osman’s military

successful?• How did the Ottomans treat the

people they conquered?• What was the significance of

Tamerlane?

Siege of Constantinople• Mehmed II (“the

Conqueror”) “Give me Constantinople!”

• Constantinople dominated Bosporous Strait– Having control of this

waterway meant controlling trade & transportation between Ottoman territories

Siege of Constantinople• 1453 – began firing

cannons on city walls• Turkish fleet dragged 70

ships over hill on greased runners

• Attacked Constantinople from two sides

• After 7 weeks, Turks found break in wall & entered city

• Mehmed II opened Constantinople to new citizens of many religions & backgrounds– Jews, Christians, Muslims,

Turks, non-Turks helped rebuild city, now known as Istanbul

Ottomans & Islam• Selim the Grim defeated Safavids of

Persia• Conquered holiest cities of Islam

Mecca & Medina• Captured Cairo, the intellectual

center of Muslim world

Suleyman• Suleyman “the

Magnificent” • Great military leader

– Dominated Mediterranean– Controlled trade routes

• Moved northward into Hungary & Austria– Threatened central Europe

• Most powerful monarch of the time

Suleyman the Lawgiver

• Created law code to handle both criminal and civil actions– Simplified system of taxation – Reduced gov’t bureaucracy

• Bettered the daily life of almost every citizen

Summary Questions• What was the advantage to taking

Constantinople?• How was Mehmed II able to conquer

Constantinople?• What was the significance of

Mehmed’s military conquests?• Why was Suleyman given the name

“lawgiver”? Specific reasons

Structured Social Organization

• Palace bureaucracy staffed by 20,000 personal slaves

• Policy of devshirme army drafted boys from conquered Christian territories– Educated, converted to

Islam, trained as soldiers• Elite force of 30,000 soldiers

known as janissaries were trained to be loyal to sultan only

• Christian families sometimes bribed officials to take their children

Structured Social Organization

• Suleyman required to follow Islamic law– Granted freedom of worship to other religious

communities

• Treated communities as millets or nations– The heads of the millets reported back to

sultan– Minimized conflict between various religions

Cultural Flowering• Suleyman studied poetry,

history, geography, astronomy, mathematics, architecture

• Employed Sinan, one of world’s finest architects, to build Mosque of Suleyman– Complex w/domes, includes four

schools, library, bath, hospital

• Art & literature flourished• Painters & poets used foreign

influences to express Ottoman ideas

Decline of Ottomans• Became customary for

each new sultan to have his brothers strangled

• Kept sons as prisoners – cut off from education or contact w/world

• This produced line of weak sultans who led to decline

Summary Questions• What were the advantages of the devshirme system for the sultan?

• What was the importance of Suleyman’s religious tolerance?

• Which cultural achievements of Suleyman’s reign were similar to the European Renaissance?

• What factors led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire?