THE
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
The Classical Age, 1453-1600
1481-1512,
Bayezit II. A man of intellectual tastes but the least significant
of the first ten Ottoman sultans; comes to the throne with the
support of the Janissaries; his position challenged by younger
brother, Jem, who has himself proclaimed sultan at Bursa; in
the ensuing civil war, Jem is defeated,
flees to Egypt, then to Rhodes; Knights of St. John send him
to France; Jem dies at Naples under suspicious circumstances
in 1495. In 1489, Venetians get Cyprus by bequest from its Catholic
ruler; leads to resumption of Ottoman-Venetian wars; Ottoman
fleet commanded by Kemal Reis defeats Venetians; Ottoman cavalry
aids within sight of Venice; Venetians sue for peace, lose more
trade stations, but keep control of some lonian Islands. Otherwise,
another period of respite making possible consolidation of recent
conquests, internal reforms, regularization of the financial
systems, and expansion of economic and commercial life
1512-1520. Selim I, Yavuz (The Grim). Forces
his father to abdicate after a civil war among Bayezit’s sons;
Selim defeats his brother, Ahmet, in Anatolia and has him executed
in1513; resumption of expansionist policy; rise of Safavi dynasty
in Persia; war against Ismail Safavi who had supported Ahmet;
political rivalry accentuated by religious differences (Sunni
Ottomans, Shi’i Safavis); Battle of Chaldiran, 1514, a victory
for Selim; occupies Tabriz but obliged to withdraw when Janissaries
object to further advance; Selim subdues Eastern Anatolia and
Kurdistan in 1515, provoking the Mamluks; 1515, Selim embarks
on second campaign against Persia, is diverted by Mamluk Sultan
Kansu al- Gauri, ally of the Safavis; defeats Mamluks in battle
near Aleppo in which Mamluk sultan is killed; Aleppo and Damascus
surrender to Selim who offers peace to new sultan, Tuman Bey’,
on condition he accept Ottoman suzerainty; offer is refused
and Selim’s army moves against Egypt. Cairo falls on Jan. 22,
1517; Tuman Bey executed but Mamluks continue to be a powerful
force in Ottoman Egypt. Last Abbasid ”Shadow Caliph” Mutavakkil
is sent to Istanbul but returns to Cairo after Selim’s death.
Sherif of Mecca acknowledges Ottoman suzerainty; Ottoman sultan
assumes responsibility for the two Holy Cities and the pilgrimage
routes. Expansion of Ottoman fleet; continuing rivalry in Mediterranean
with Venice. Beginnings of unrest in Anatolia known as the Jelali
Revolts.
1520-1556, Suleyman I, Kanuni (The Lawgiver, The Magnificent). Suleyman’s
reign marks the zenith of Ottoman grandeur and power. Conquest
of Hungary and Baghdad; expansion across North Africa to Morocco;
naval supremacy in the Mediterranean and naval operations in
the Red Sea and Indian Ocean; capitulations (commercial treaties)
with European states; alliance with Francis I of France against
the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V; first Ottoman siege
of Vienna in 1529; further development and regularization of
law, administration, medrese education; the nakkashhane and
patronage of the arts; the master architect, Sinan Pasha; Hurrem
Sultan vs. Gulbahar Hatun, harbinger of the ”Sultanate of the
Women”; population explosion (from about 12 million to about
22 million) leading to or exacerbating social and economic problems;
revolts with imperial princes implicated; Sulayman dies while
on a final campaign in Hungary.
1566 - 1574,
Selim II, Sarhosh (The Sot). Incompetence of ruler permits political
dominance of Grand Vezir Mehmet Sokollu; conquest of Cyprus
from the Venetians, reestablishment of the Cypriot Orthodox
Patriarchate, and the repopulation of the island; Battle of
Lepanto (1571), nava1 defeat of Ottomans by fleets of the Holy
League; the Ottoman Empire has reached the limit of its geographical
expansion.
1574 - 1595,
Murat III. Last of the Ottoman sultans to have had training
and experience in military and administrative matters before
taking the throne; growing power of the women of the Imperial
Harem; death of Mehmet Sokollu (1579) marks end of period of
relative stability at the center of the Ottoman system; wars
with the Hapsburgs and with Persia; shifting trade routes, influx
of New World silver, inflation, and other factors precipitate
economic crisis at the end of the 16th c.; decentralization
follows in17th and 18th centuries as Ottoman statesmen
respond to new challenges, both domestic and foreign.
Assembled
by Richard L. Chambers,
The University of Chicago
Pictures from THY, Skylife Magazine.
