The Ottoman Empire

1500 1700 1900

1526 Babur founds the Mogul c., 1740 Nader Shah 1856 The Hatt-I dynasty in India. expands the empire Humayun decree of Safavid Persia. sets out reforms for the Ottoman Empire. Section 1 Muslim Empires

Read to Find Out etween the 1400s and the 1800s, three Muslim empires—the Ottoman Main Idea Muslim rulers controlled Empire, the Persian Empire, and the and governed much of the Middle East, B Mogul Empire—conquered and controlled much of North Africa, and India between the 1500s eastern Europe, central Asia, and India respectively. and 1800s. Strong leaders used powerful armies to amass terri- > Terms to Define tory that gave them economic control over major sultan, grand vizier, janissary, millet trade routes. As these empires spread into new areas, > People to Meet the religion and culture of Islam also expanded. Suleiman I, Shah Abbas, Babur, Akbar > Places to Locate Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi The Ottoman Empire During the late 1200s, Turkish clans—calling The themselves Ottoman Turks after their first leader, Storyteller Osman—settled part of Asia Minor and began conquests to build an empire. They conquered much of On the day that Jahangir was crowned emper- Byzantine territory, making Constantinople their or of the Moghuls [Moguls], favorable omens capital in 1453. Extending their Muslim empire abounded. His coronation was a scene of splendor, even farther, by the 1500s the Ottomans controlled illuminated by nearly three thousand wax lights in the Balkan Peninsula and parts of eastern Europe. branches of gold and silver. By his command, the By the end of their rule in the early 1900s, they had imperial crown was brought to him. On each of the acquired much of the Middle East, North Africa, twelve points of this crown was a single dia- and the Caucasus region between the Black and mond.… At the point in the center was a single Caspian Seas. pearl … and on different The Ottoman Empire maintained a strong navy parts of the same were set in the Mediterranean to protect the lucrative trade two hundred rubies. The they controlled there. Alarmed by the threat to their Emirs of his empire, wait- trade and to Christianity, Europeans under Philip II ing for Jahangir’s com- of Spain fought and defeated the Ottoman fleet at mands, were covered from the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. But the Ottomans head to foot in gold and rebuilt their navy and remained a significant jewels. seapower until the 1700s.

—adapted from Memoirs Suleiman I of the Emperor Jahangir Suleiman I was one of the early Ottoman rulers Written by Himself, trans- who strengthened Muslim forces prior to the Battle lated by David Price, of Lepanto. He was a multitalented man—a heroic reprinted in The Human military commander, a skillful administrator, and a Record, Alfred J. Andrea patron of the arts. Ruling from 1520 to 1566, and James H. Overfield, Suleiman received the name “The Lawgiver” for his Mogul warriors 1990 work in organizing Ottoman laws.

232 Chapter 7 Empires of Asia Expansion of the Ottoman Empire

ATLANTIC 0° 20°E 40°E OCEAN Vienna

HUNGARY 60°E 40° N C a SPAIN ITALY s Bla p ck Sea ia n Rome S Kosovo e Constantinople a (Istanbul) ASIA MINOR Lepanto

SYRIA Me Baghdad N dite rranean Sea W PERSIA E S P e rs AFRICA ian EGYPT Gulf

R e d ARABIA 2 S 0°N e a

In 1350 In 1481 In 1683 Battle sites n de 0 500 1,000 mi. A of 0500 1,000 km lf Lambert Conic Conformal Projection u G

After making Constantinople their capital in 1453, the Ottoman Turks Map expanded their empire. Study Human/Environment Interaction How do you think the geography of the Ottoman Empire affected conquests after 1481?

Suleiman acted as both the sultan, or political Ottoman Law ruler, and the caliph, or religious leader; he enjoyed Because the empire was so large, Ottoman absolute authority. To rule effectively, however, Muslims ruled diverse peoples, including Arabs, Suleiman needed support from his personal advis- Greeks, Albanians, Slavs, Armenians, and Jews. ers, the bureaucracy, a group of religious advisers The population was divided into several classes: a known as the Ulema, and a well-trained army. A ruling class made up of the sultan’s family and high grand vizier, or prime minister, headed the bureau- government officials; the nobility, which adminis- cracy. The Ulema made rulings on questions of tered agricultural estates; and the largest class, the Islamic law, and the army held much power by con- peasants who worked on those estates. quering and controlling new territories. To accommodate these diverse populations, the The Ottomans recruited officers from among government made special laws affecting those who the conquered peoples of their empire. An elite did not practice Islam, the empire’s official religion. corps of officers called janissaries came from the Non-Muslims were allowed to practice their faith. Balkans, where Christian families were required by Ottoman law also permitted the empire’s diverse the Ottomans to turn over young boys to the govern- religious groups to run affairs in their own millets, ment. Converted to Islam, the boys received rigor- or communities, and choose their own leaders to ous training that made them a loyal fighting force. present their views to the Ottoman government.

Chapter 7 Empires of Asia 233 The Ottoman Islamic civilization borrowed enemies on its borders. Conquests ended as the from the Byzantine, Persian, and Arab cultures they Ottomans tried to fight both Persians and had absorbed. Mosques, bridges, and aqueducts Europeans. In 1683 Polish King John III Sobieski led reflected this blend of styles. The Christian city of European forces in ending an Ottoman siege of Constantinople was transformed into a Muslim one Vienna. This European victory dealt a decisive and renamed Istanbul. Ottoman architects renovat- blow to the Ottoman Empire. When Ottoman mili- ed Hagia Sophia into a mosque and built new tary conquests ceased, massive poverty and civil mosques and palaces. Ottoman painters produced discontent afflicted Ottoman lands. detailed miniatures and illuminated manuscripts. Reform Decline of the Ottomans By the 1700s, the Ottoman Empire had fallen By 1600 the Ottoman Empire had reached the behind Europe in trade and military technology. peak of its power; thereafter it slowly declined. Russia and other European nations began taking Even at its height, however, the empire faced Ottoman territory, and local rulers in North Africa gradually broke away from Ottoman control. In the 1800s uprisings in the Balkans led to freedom for the Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Romanians. Unsuccessful revolts in Armenia and Arabia were brutally crushed. Wanting to halt Ottoman decline, Ottoman rulers during the 1800s used European ideas to reform and unify the empire. In 1856 Sultan Abdul- Mejid I issued the Hatt-I-Hamayun, a sweeping reform decree that created a national citizenship, reduced the authority of religious leaders, and opened government service to all peoples. Reaction Powerful resistance to change grew among the religious leaders, who had lost civil authority in their own communities. Although many Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders protested reform, merchants and artisans in the individual communities welcomed it. Non-Turkish groups, such as Armenians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, and Serbs, however, had little interest in any reform that would save the empire. They wanted nation-states of their own. After Abdul-Mejid’s death in 1861, the reform movement lacked the strong leadership needed to guarantee its success. To gain public support, reformers known as the Young Ottomans over- Visualizing Portrait of Suleiman, “The Lawgiver,” threw the weak sultan Abdul-Aziz and replaced History from the late 1600s. What provision him with Abdul-Hamid II. did the Ottoman law make for peoples of diverse religions? At first the new sultan went along with the reformers. In 1876 he proclaimed a new constitution. He affirmed the unity of the empire and promised individual liberties for his subjects. In 1877 the first Ottoman parliament met in Istanbul. But later that Student Web Activity 7 year Abdul-Hamid II suddenly dissolved the parliament and ended constitutional rule. He believed Visit the World History: The Modern Era Web site at worldhistory.me.glencoe.com and click on that liberalism would ruin the government. To fur- Chapter 7—Student Web Activities for an ther protect the empire from change, he exiled activity relating to Suleiman I. many of the Young Ottomans and imposed absolute rule.

234 Chapter 7 Empires of Asia