11.36 Recovery: Forms of Renewal and Rebuilding I – The Ottoman Empire

Islamic world after the Black Death 

The old political order ended in the Muslims world 

• 3 new islamic state emrge 

  • Ottomans  

  • Safavids – ancient persia 

  • Mughals – india/south asia 

Ottomans

Most powerful of the Islamic states 

• They were in a good location to take over 

Ottoman Empire 

• 1300-1919 CE 

• Founded by Turkish warrior nomads 

• Ottomans called themselves the shadow of god on earth 

• Multi ethnic/ multilingual empire 

expansion in the 15th century 

• Vast military power helped their expansion move fast and wide 

• Wanted to spread their one religion mostly in byzantine territories 

Mehmed the Conqueror 

• Spent 40 days of siege to take over Constantinople 

• 1451-1481 

• Did it with heavy artillery fire 

Constantinople/Istanbul 

• Christian island surrounded by turks 

• Falls in 1453  

  • Byzantine goes with it after their last empire was killed by Mehmed 

• Turned into the headquarters for the ottoman empire 

• Renames it Istanbul 

expansion into the 16th century 

Ottoman spread from: 

• Anatolia 

• Eastern Europe and outwards 

• Mesopotamia 

• Arabian peninsula 

• Egypt 

• Dominate medd sea 

• Access to Asia over land and eastern sea routes 

• North africa 

methods of control 

The slave aristocracy & Flexibility & tolerance

Devshirme 

• Conscription of Christian boys 

• Eastern European lands were supposed to hand over a certain amount of Christian boys to convert to Islam 

• Christian boys taken from their families in villages, taught to speak Turkish, and trained to either be imperial bureaucrats or janissaries 

Janissaries 

Elite corps of infantry soldiers 

balance of strategy 

• Handling diverse population with flexibility and tolerance 

• But also at the same time they created a ruling class of bureaucrats and soldiers loyal only to the sultan

Ottoman Culture 

Cultural synthesis: 

• A Sufi (Sufism = emotional mystical form of Islam) 

• An ultraorthodox ulama 

• A government bureaucrat or a military man 

• A member of a minority religion (like Christianity) 

Three educational systems 

• Different schools that culminated in the palace schools at topkapi 

  • For civil and military bureaucrats 

• Religious elementary schools and higher schools (madrasas) 

  •  For ulma (scholars) who served as judges, experts in religious law, or teachers 

• Religious schools called tekkes  

  • For Sufi masters 

The arts 

• Portraits became popular 

• Combine styles 

• Weren't interested in western literature and music (kept their own styles for most things)

Topkapi palace 

• Reflected a vision of the city of Istanbul as the center of the world 

• It was also the command post of the empire 

  • Future bureaucrats trained 

  • People would ask for favors and seek justice if the sultan would come out which was rare 

• Meant to project a majestic distant wonder around the sultan 

• Home of the sultan and his family 

  • Imperial hall has his throne in the harem 

Gate of Felicity 

Gate inside the palace to the third courtyard to get in 

Sultan

defender of sunni Islam

Osman 1299-1326

founded of the ottoman

• Supported schools 

• Took up expansion 

• Blend of religion within the ottomans 

Flexibility & tolerance: 

• Tolerance of diversity 

• Respect for multiple languages and cultures 

• Religious diversity 

The slave aristocracy

• Needed people who were loyal to the sultan and not a part of the region 

• Sultans created a new class so they didn’t lose control over people 

• The boys were called this because they held a special position as servant solely to the sultan