The Early Empire, 1300-1481
The dynasty that Othman (1258-1326) founded was called Osmanli, meaning
"sons of Osman." The name evolved in English into Ottoman. The Ottoman
Empire was Islamic in religion. During the 11th century bands of nomadic
Turks emerged from their home in Central Asia to raid lands to the west.
The strongest of the Turkish tribes was the Seljuks. In time they
established themselves in Asia Minor along with other groups of Turks.
Following the defeat of the Seljuks by the Mongols in 1293, Othman emerged
as the leader of local Turks in the fight against the tottering Byzantine
Empire. The final conquest of the Byzantines was not achieved until 1453
with the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul), but by that date all the
surrounding territory was in Ottoman hands.

The initial areas of expansion under Othman I and his successors Orkhan
(ruled 1326-59) and Murad I (ruled 1359-89) were western Asia Minor and
southeastern Europe, primarily the Balkan Peninsula. During Orkhan's reign
the practice began of exacting a tribute in children from Christian subjects.
The boys were trained to become soldiers and administrators. As soldiers
they filled the ranks of the infantry, called the Janizaries Janizaries (also spelled
Janissaries), the most fearsome military force in Europe for centuries.

Murad I conquered Thrace, to the northwest of Constantinople, in 1361. He
moved his capital to Adrianople (now Edirne), Thrace's capital and the
second city of the Byzantine Empire. This conquest effectively cut off
Constantinople from the outside world. Adrianople also controlled the
principal invasion route through the Balkan Mountains, giving the Ottomans
access to further expansion to the north.

During Murad I's last victorious battle against Balkan allies, he was killed.
His successor, Bayezid I (ruled 1389-1402), was unable to make further
European conquests. He was forced to devote his attention to eastern Asia
Minor to deal with a growing Turkish principality, Karaman. He attacked and
defeated Karaman in 1391, put down a revolt of his Balkan subjects, and
returned to consolidate his gains in Asia Minor. His successes attracted
the attention of Timur Lenk (Tamerlane). Encouraged by Turkish princes who
had fled to his court from Bayezid I's incursions, Timur Lenk attacked and
overwhelmed him in 1402. Taken captive by Timur Lenk, Bayezid died within a year.

Timur Lenk soon retired from Asia Minor, leaving Bayezid's sons to take up where
their father had failed. The four sons fought for control until one of them,
Mohammed I, killed the other three and took control. He reigned from 1413
to 1421 and his successor, Murad II, from 1421 to 1451. Murad II suppressed
Balkan resistance and eliminated all but two of the Turkish principalities
in Asia Minor. The task of finishing the Balkan conquests and seizing all
of Asia Minor fell to Murad II 's successor, Mohammed II (ruled 1451-81). It
was he who completed the siege of Constantinople in 1453 and made it the
capital of the Ottoman Empire. The whole Balkan Peninsula south of Hungary
was incorporated as well as the Crimea on the north coast of the Black Sea.
Asia Minor was completely subdued.

In addition to conquering a large empire, Mohammed II worked strenuously
for consolidation and an adequate administrative and tax system. He was
assisted by the fact that the whole Byzantine bureaucratic structure fell
into his hands. Although Islamic, Ottoman sultans were not averse to using
whatever talent they could attract or capture.

The Golden Age, 1481-1566
Three sultans ruled the empire at its height: Bayezid II (1481-1512),
Selim I (1512-20), and Suleyman I the Magnificent (1520-66). Bayezid
extended the empire in Europe, added outposts along the Black Sea, and put
down revolts in Asia Minor. He also turned the Ottoman fleet into a major
Mediterranean naval power. Late in life he became a religious mystic and
was displaced on the throne by his more militant son, Selim I.

Selim I's first task was to eliminate all competition for his position. He
had his brothers, their sons, and all but one of his own sons killed. He
thereby established control over the army, which had wanted to raise its
own candidate to power. During his short reign the Ottomans moved south-
and eastward into Syria, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Arabia, and Egypt. At Mecca,
the chief shrine of Islam, he took the title of caliph, ruler of all
Muslims. The Ottoman sultans were thereafter the spiritual heads of Islam
thereby displacing the centuries-old caliphate of Baghdad.

By acquiring the holy places of Islam, Selim I cemented his position as the
religion's most powerful ruler. This gave the Ottomans direct access to the
rich cultural heritage of the Arab world. Leading Muslim intellectuals,
artists, artisans, and administrators came to Constantinople from all parts
of the Arab world. They made the empire much more of a traditional Islamic
state than it had been.

An added benefit of Selim I's efforts was control of all Middle Eastern trade
routes between Europe and the Far East. The growth of the empire had for
some time been an impediment to European trade. In time this led European
states to seek routes around Africa to China and India. It also impelled
them to face westward and led directly to the discovery of the Americas.

Selim I's surviving son, Suleyman, came to the throne in an enviable
situation. New revenues from the expanded empire left him with wealth and
power unparalleled in Ottoman history. In his early campaigns he captured
Belgrade (1521) and Rhodes (1522) and broke the military power of Hungary.
In 1529 he laid siege to Vienna, Austria, but was forced to withdraw for
lack of supplies. He also waged three campaigns against Persia. Algiers in
North Africa fell to his navy in 1529 and Tripoli (now Libya) in 1551. In
more peaceful pursuits he adorned the chief cities of Islam with mosques,
aqueducts, bridges, and other public works. In Constantinople he had several
mosques built, among them the magnificent Suleymaniye Cami named for him.

Imperial Decline, 1566-1807
During Suleyman's long reign the Ottoman Empire was at the height of its
political power and close to its maximum geographical extent. The seeds of
decline, however, were already planted. As Suleyman grew tired of campaigns
and retired to his harem, his viziers, or prime ministers, took more
authority. After his death the army gained control of the sultanate and was
able to use it for its own benefit. Few sultans after Suleyman had the
ability to exercise real power when the need arose. This weakness at home
was countered by a growing power in the west. The nation-states of Europe
were emerging from the Middle Ages under strong monarchies. They were
building armies and navies that were powerful enough to attack a decaying
Ottoman military might.

In 1571 the combined fleets of Venice, Spain, and the Papal States of Italy
defeated the Turks in the great naval battle of Lepanto, off the coast of
Greece. This defeat, which dispelled the myth of the invincible Turk, took
place during the reign of Selim II (ruled 1566-74). But the empire rebuilt
its navy and continued to control the eastern Mediterranean for another
century.

As the central government became weaker, large parts of the empire began to
act independently, retaining only nominal loyalty to the sultan. The army
was still strong enough, however, to prevent provincial rebels from
asserting complete control. Under Murad III (ruled 1574-95) new campaigns
were undertaken. The Caucasus was conquered, and Azerbaijan was seized.
This brought the empire to the peak of its territorial extent.

Reform efforts undertaken by 17th-century sultans did little to deter the
onset of decay. The Ottomans were driven out of the Caucasus and Azerbaijan
in 1603 and out of Iraq in 1604. Iraq was retaken by Murad IV (
(ruled 1623-40) in 1638, but Iran remained a persistent military threat in
the east. A war with Venice (1645-69) exposed Constantinople to an attack
by the Venetian navy. In 1683 the last attempt to conquer Vienna failed.
Russia and Austria fought the empire by direct military attack and by
fomenting revolt by non-Muslim subjects of the sultan.

Beginning in 1683, with the attack on Vienna, the Ottomans were at war with
European enemies for 41 years. As a result, the empire lost much of its
Balkan territory and all the possessions on the shores of the Black Sea. In
addition, the Austrians and Russians were allowed to intervene in the
empire's affairs on behalf of the sultan's Christian subjects.

The weakness of the central government, as manifested by its military
decline, also showed itself in a gradual loss of control over most of the
provinces. Local rulers, called notables, carved for themselves permanent
regions in which they ruled directly, regardless of the wishes of the
sultan in Constantinople. The notables were able to build their power bases
because they knew of the sultan's military weakness and because local
populations preferred their rule to the corrupt administration of the
faraway capital. The notables formed their own armies and collected their
own taxes, sending only nominal contributions to the imperial treasury.

Selim III (ruled 1789-1807) attempted to reform the empire and its army. He
failed and was overthrown. When Mahmud II (ruled 1808-39) came to the
throne, the empire was in desperate straits. Control of North Africa had
passed to local notables. In Egypt Muhammad Ali was laying the foundation
of an independent kingdom. Had the European nations cooperated, they could
have destroyed the Ottoman Empire.

In 1826, five years after Greece began its fight for independence, the
Janizaries revolted to stop reforms. Mahmud had them massacred and
constructed a new military system in the style of European armies. He also
reformed the administration and gained control over some of the provincial
notables, with the exception of Egypt. By the time of Mahmud's death the
empire was more consolidated and powerful, but it was still subject to
European interference.

Mahmud's sons, Abdulmecid I (ruled 1839-61) and Abdulaziz (ruled 1861-76)
carried out further reforms, especially in education and law. Nevertheless,
by mid-century it was evident that the Ottoman cause was hopeless. Czar
Nicholas I of Russia commented on the Ottoman Empire in 1853: "We have on
our hands a sick man, a very sick man."

The Sick Man of Europe, 1850-1922
The conflicting interests of European states propped up the Ottoman Empire
until after World War I. Great Britain especially was determined to keep
Russia from gaining direct access to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea.
Britain, France, and Sardinia helped the Ottomans during the Crimean War
(1854-56) to block the Russians.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 brought Russia almost to Constantinople.
The Ottomans were forced to sign the harsh Treaty of San Stefano , which
would have ended their rule in Europe except that the European states called
the Congress of Berlin. It succeeded in propping up the old empire for a
few decades more.

Abdulhamid II (ruled 1876-1909) developed strong ties with Germany, and the
Ottomans fought on Germany's side in World War I. Russia hoped to use the
war as an excuse to gain access to the Mediterranean and perhaps capture
Constantinople. This aim was frustrated by the Russian Revolution of 1917
and withdrawal from the war. Ottoman defeat in war inspired an already
fervent Turkish nationalism. The postwar settlement outraged the
nationalists. A new government under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal,
known as Ataturk, emerged at Ankara. The last sultan,
Mohammed VI, fled in 1922 after the sultanate had been abolished. All
members of the Ottoman Dynasty were expelled from the country two years
later. Turkey was proclaimed a republic, with Ataturk as its first
president.