Ottoman Empire Lecture Notes

The most effective sultans in the Ottoman Empire were those who balanced the power of the three institutions:
- Military
- Imperial bureaucracy
- Clerics
They played each one off against each other.
They adhered to the protection of religious minorities.

The Ottoman dynasty was a Turkish Muslim dynasty that identified with Sunni Islam.
The Ottoman Empire contained diverse populations, including Christian and Jewish communities.
Ottoman Sultans protected these religious communities, and the empire was seen as a haven for them.
Example: In 1492, Spain expelled Jewish people, who then found refuge in the Ottoman Empire. This was a social and economic disaster for Spain but a great economic boost for the Ottomans.
The Ottomans maintained a multi-ethnic state.

The Ottomans were at a crossroads of trade between east and west.
Istanbul (Constantinople) became a major trade nexus.
The Ottomans encouraged trade to flow through their empire.
However, they did not conduct much trade by sea and did not develop a large merchant fleet.
Their sea presence was kept in check by the Venetians and the Portuguese.

Suleiman the Magnificent was the greatest Ottoman sultan.
Battle of Chaldiran (1514): The Ottomans fought against the Safavid Empire for control of Mesopotamia.
- The Ottomans won due to incorporating more gunpowder technology which established a boundary between the two empires.
Siege of Vienna (1529): The Ottomans invaded Central Europe and besieged Vienna, but they were not successful in taking the city.
- At this time, the rest of Europe feared Ottoman power.

The Ottomans started to decline in the 1600s (17th century), similar to the Ming dynasty.
Weaker sultans came to power.

The Janissary Corps changed from an elite military contingent to a political constituency.
Janissaries were no longer considered slaves of the sultans but instead independent individuals.
They were able to make money, own land, marry, and start families.
They started to pass down their Janissary status to their sons.
They were able to buy substitutes to fill their place in the ranks of the Ottoman army.
The Janissary Corps became less effective in battle.
With the weakening of the Janissaries, the sultans lost control of the imperial bureaucracy.

The Ottomans adopted the practice of tax farming.
The central government allowed bureaucrats and landowners to purchase a contract to collect taxes in a particular region.
The person who bought the contract collected as much as possible to maximize their profits, impoverishing the area they controlled.
Tax farming ceded power to local officials/tax farmers and impoverished the empire at large.