A Brief History of the Ottoman Empire

Many empires have taken rise and leave through the short history of humanity. But few leave a mark as deep as the Ottomans. Their reach, their fierceness, and the simple fact that no empire of that size has ever lasted for nearly a millennia. Ottoman culture controlled, shaped, Mediterranean life and economics for centuries, and either stinted or endorsed the trade between east and west. They were in essence, the penultimate inland super power, spanning three continents and controlling every inch of the roads that connected them. The only other military power to achieve this was Genghis Khan and His Golden Horde. Their unique qualities allowed them to become the longest ruling, most elegant, and significant Islamic empire. Their art sublime and unmatched till today. There can't be much question as to why they introduced to us, humanity, the beginning of the Modern Era.

Origin

It's rather hard to believe how such a historically impacting Islamic empire was first beget as a rather diminutive Islamic state, not a gargantuan empire as it is generally known. The Ottoman Turks were at first in the early 15^th century nothing more then a chain of states in Asia, most specifically in Asia Minor. As time continued to progress it began to merge with other states, gaining momentum under the guidance of Osman I.

Economy

The economy, greatly influenced through monopoly in trade in the North-Eastern region of Africa, gave a chance for the Ottoman Turks to prosper and expand its borders to such that none believed. Through the controlling of widely used trade routes in the area they managed to gather up enough resources, money, and courage to expand.

Ottomans were not by nature producers. Yes they were artistic, and yes, they were masters of technological innovation. But just like the great inventors of now, the great Ottomans refuse to produce it themselves when all is said and done. Instead, the Ottomans spread these secrets of wealth to others, allowing them the greatest leeway possible: the position of the middleman. For you see, Ottoman wealth came almost totally from trading of new and expensive goods. A look at a bazaar in Istanbul only furthers the point that cash crop and produce were no problem for any successful Ottoman Trader and merchant.

As I have said, the Ottomans were known for their ingenious techniques in trading and commerce. One of the most brilliant cash crops brought about by these people was kahve. Kahve is what most today would refer to as coffee, made by "finely ground coffee with a dash of cardamom". The coffee offered by these people were of great quality, top of the line, and a large reason for their large income. Turkish coffee, another term for kahve, was well-known for its complexity, intensiveness, and finesse. This coffee was so incredible, it can be found in the dictionary as an antonym for shoddy, and despicable.

Aside from kahve, the widespread trade of other cash crops (not necessarily all produced by them) allowed a large variety of goods from the Ottomans. These other cash crops are comprised of drugs, such as cannabis, and silk.

The Ottomans were masters of the sea, inheriting the ancient Greek Tradition of sailing and conquering far of lands through those ships. From Galleys to Galleons, the ottomans utilized only the latest in trading technologies to grant them the upper-hand in sea trade. Of this sea trade, the North African shore is of infinite importance in the legacy of the ottomans. The reasons were simple enough: Gold. North Africa proved to be quite wealthy in the resource (Mansa Musa had so much gold, and gave up so much of it, that the price of gold dropped everywhere he set foot). Ottomans traded for this abundant resource ardently, knowing that their success depended on controlling the path of gold. The Mediterranean proved to help in the transportation of this trade.

Inventions and Innovations

The Islamic empires and states were known for their desirability for knowledge. Bringing to the world new ideas and philosophies as time walked slowly by. Not only that, but due to the Qur'an and the need to expand the Islamic beliefs its was the will of the Islamic government to expand on education for all within their domain, constructing schools and universities. The Islamic Golden Age, thought to have ended at the 14^th century, gladly expanded for 2 more centuries as a cause to the brilliant contributions of the Ottoman Empire.

Multiple fields of science under these groups of people flourished, reformed, and were polished in their ideas and advancements. Astronomy, one of the sciences which grew most under the guidance of this Islamic empire provided observations out of this world at the time. Many scholars believe it was because of their idea to separate philosophy and science into two completely different fields, enabling astronomy to become empirical, or completely based on mathematical calculations, experiments, and observations. Through this astronomical breakthrough many things were unraveled. Kuscu, an Islamic astronomer, modified and improved eminent Turkish scholar Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's model of the planet, Mercury. As well, Earth's rotation was discovered through the observing of comets.

Medicine: One of the most important books for medical history was written by the Ottoman empire. Most specifically it was written by Serafeddin Sabuncuoglu an author of many traits, one who wrote multiple scientific related books. Serafeddin wrote the Imperial Surgery (Cerrahiyyetu'l-Haniyye) , which is the world's first surgical atlas comprised not only of writing but of pictures for the surgical procedures.

Physics: Multiple sublime books were written relating to this field. One of them, which has been a great base on the study of optics, was called Book of the Light of the Pupil of Vision and the Light of the Truth of the Sights. This book covered subjects such as vision, reflection, and refraction. The Islamic scholars utilized this book due to its wide range of provided information. The author talked about different shaped mirrors, such as spherical, cylindrical, concave, and convex mirrors.

The Devsirme

The Big question now is what the Devsirme were. The Devsirme were a people, a system, a machine, and a shield. They were young boys taken at far too young an age, absorbed into a torrent of politics and warfare that was quickly overcoming the people of the Ottoman empire. The young boys were trained in either politics or warfare, and eventually became individuals known as Janissaries. They became slaves.

Before one begins to feel all sympathetic for these young boys who were taken from their families, think about this: those young boys would be receiving he epitome of an education, one stronger than what nearly all young men would receive from even the best universities. Best of all, when their education was completed, they were to be given full paying jobs and positions of power. Devsirme were the ruling class of men in the Ottoman world.

Living in the lap of luxury, the devsirme were given every chance possible to enjoy a high lifestyle. For that reason alone did many families consider it a great honor for their son to become a devsirme. But this minor detail should not be forgotten: the devsirme were nothing more than the sultan's slaves. He had no right to sell them when they reached the rank of Janissary, but he controlled their actions. In the view of nearly all sultans, the devsirme were an army and a pacifier for Non-Muslim citizens; no more no less. Even the Grand Viziers were no more than powerful slave.

Language

The Ottoman Empire, just like other caliphates and Muslim Empires, had it's main language to be a mixture of Persian and Arabic within its populations. However, a factor which was different from other empires ruled by Muslim leaders was that Turkish also comprised part of the languages spoken by this distinguished empire. When you think about this fact, you may think ," Okay, what's the point." The point is, that due to Turkish influence sullying the Arabic and Persian language, it greatly debased the literacy rate. As a matter of fact, in the beginning of the 19^th century the literacy rate stood at about 2%-3% ! Greatly flabbergasting.

Religion

The religion which pertains to the Ottoman Empire is one, one could easily deduce with common sense, Islam. Islam was assimilated since the war of 751 when the Abbasids conquered over the dispute of Battle of Talas, as the Turkish area in Central Asia began to then accept the Islamic beliefs. This passed on to the Ottoman Empire, which reigned in this region most of all. After finally usurping the widely known Constantinople, a wider tolerance was allowed for Christians and those of Orthodox belief. Not only that, but an example of acceptance of multiple religions can be shown when the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II sent troops to help those which looked for an asylum from the Spanish Inquisition.

Law

Through the establishment of law, life would be balanced and fair, this was the thought which was held by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire laws were set up to accept and collaborate with those of their religion, allowing a larger tolerance of the people which they ruled over which supported and believed in Islamic, and Christian belief. The Ottoman Empire government was unlike those of other empires at the time, those which aspired for total control and a benevolent country through demonstration of punishments and pain, but instead a government which consisted of laws that accepted those as they were, regardless of difference in religion and culture.

The administration of the Ottoman Empire government was established through Islamic courts. These Islamic courts were utilized to terminate any incessant dispute between two people, be it because of trade, or other altercation provoking situations. The Islamic courts, are incredibly fair, allowing Christians and Jews to bring their dilemmas on the table even though they don't follow its beliefs. The Islamic courts follow the Qur'an and the Hadith as the ethics and principles one must look for guidance.

Military

The Ottomans were, among all things, experimenters. In one field particularly does this hold true: defensive technologies. Ottoman inventors were among the first to properly utilize the true power of muskets. Their success however, was not solely due to their experimentation with weapon based warfare. Of the many empires that have come and gone, the ottomans were one of the most avid experimenters with the structure of their military, and not just the technologies. Their success came as a result of an evolving military, one with many ranks, grades, and above all else, pay. In many ways, the structure of the ottoman military force is an unfinished version of ours.

Weapons

Historically speaking, the ottomans were not the inventors of the musket (the weapon of choice in the late middle ages to up until the end of the catholic counter reformation). The Ming did that. But the ottomans perfected the technology, and reformed their military to accompany this new and exciting technology. The same process was applied to all other firearms that were readily available. Cannons were made lighter and more powerful, and swords were made using only the highest quality of steel. Guns and artillery came to be a specialty of the ottoman empire, and specifically, the Janissary corps.

Organization

The greatest military revolution did lie on the organization of the Ottoman forces, and not the weapons utilized. Understand that there were in essence two separate armies. The first was the Kapikulu (which quickly lost its' #1 position due to the slowly decreasing power of Turkish nobles to kings) and the devsirme forces. The Kapikulu forces were mercenaries controlled by noble families, similar to knights and European feudalist military. The Devsirme were an elite class of slaves trained to be either politicians, bodyguards, or infantrymen. The Bodyguards and Infantrymen made up a group called the Janissaries. The Janissaries are known throughout history as being one of the most efficient soldiers to ever be created. If it isn't already obvious, the Janissaries and Kapikulu were in essence slaves to the Ottoman emperor. Interestingly enough, accepting the position of a slave or ward to the state was the only way to have a position in the government.

Conclusion

Ottoman culture, power, and society lies at the very heart of our history. Their existence lies in a long line of empires that have been born in the west. Western culture born out of Greek blood, ink, and stone, has been passed through the centuries, from Romans to Byzantines to even the Ottomans. That Roman culture reaches us, even. We feel the Ottomans in our art (one would spend more time looking at the rug than standing on it), in our bloodlust (It isn't called self defense anymore if we aren't fighting anyone who poses a substantial threat, now is it?), and in our innovation (the history of artillery and firearms didn't start with them, but after them, it was a heck lot more eventful). They sound more like Grandparents to the Americas, what with their demise leading to the European age of conquest, which in turn lead to "us".

Their rich history has been one fraught with violence, conquest, and restoration. Their rise was a turning point for the entire history of Europe and the world (the rise of Osman I), and their demise was the climax of the second largest conflict in the history of the world (World war I). I end this report by saying that over a period of six centuries, the evolution of a vibrant and aggressive culture in the place of the Byzantines is one of only the select few cultures that hold the title of being the west.

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