OTTOMAN EMPIRE

• Ottoman Empire

  Came to power after they busted through the walls of Constantinople
• Ottoman Empire's win

  • Use of gunpowder prevailed
  • Byzantine Empire fell
• Ottoman Empire's expansion

  1. Expanded outward along the trade routes

  2. Ruled over much of the Mediterranean
• Dev-Sherman system

  • Kidnapped children from their territories in Eastern Europe
  • Castrated them
  • Brought them back to Istanbul
  • Trained them in one of four categories: work at the palace, become a religious scholar, work as a scribe, or work in the military (Janissaries)
• Purpose of Dev-Sherman system

  Most converted to Islam and fueled their expansions
• Tax Farming

  • Empire let others bid on the right to tax people
  • Ottomans would not have to worry about tax collection
  • Sultan would also get a guaranteed set amount from the tax forms
• Ottomans

  Clashed with Safavids (who were Shia, while Ottomans were Sunni)
• Millet System

  • Divided their empire into different religious nations
  • People would feel accepted and ultimately lie their loyalty to the sultans
• The Ottomans were very tolerant of other religions in their empire
• What factors contributed to Ottoman success?

  • gunpowder
  • trade
  • ships
  • political organization
  • religious tolerance
• Why was the lack of a permanent aristocracy an advantage?

  • The absence of a permanent aristocracy allowed for social mobility and meritocracy, where individuals could rise based on their abilities rather than their birth status. This fostered innovation, diversity of ideas, and a more dynamic society
• What was the devshirme?

  • Forcing Christian families in the Balkans to sell their children into the service of the Sultan
• What other title did the sultans claim? Why was this important?

  • The title of Caliph, which meant leader of Sunni Islam. This was important because it unified the empires in their wars against Christian states and against the Savafids, who were Shi’a
  • Placed Ottoman Empire at the heart of Sunni Islam
  • Each year, millions of Muslim pilgrims made their way through the empire on their Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca
• similarities between the Ottoman Empire and other empires you have encountered in Units 1 & 2?

  • like other empires, the Ottoman Empire was expansive, controlling diverse territories and peoples
  • it had a centralized government with a powerful ruler, the sultan, similar to other empires with strong monarchies
  • the Ottomans, like many other empires, faced internal challenges such as revolts and succession crises
• differences between ottoman and other empire

  • The Ottoman Empire had a unique system of governance with the devshirme and the janissary corps, unlike the bureaucratic systems of empires like China
  • Unlike China, which was concentrated in East Asia, the Ottoman Empire spanned across Europe, Asia, and Africa, strategically positioned as a bridge between East and West
• • The Ottoman Empire's interactions with European powers, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, were characterized by conflict and negotiation, unlike the relationships of other empires like the Aztec or Inca with European colonizers
• • turkish nobles could not raise armies and challenge the sultans
• • power was centralized in the hands of the sultan
• • the sultan relied on provincial governors to manage his dispered territories 
• • a robust legal system helped the sultans and their agents ensure efficient taxation and administration
• • promotion was based on merit
• • some of the systems created problems
  • early 17th & 18th centuries, several sultans found themselves at the mercy of their janissaries when elite soldiers revolted to demand better pay and privileges 
  • Janissary revolts led to the overthrow, captivity, or death of several sultans
  • by the 18th century, the janissaries had transformed into a form of aristocracy, with land inheritance among members rather than returning to the sultan as intended by devshirme
• • despite internal challenges and conflicts with European states and the Persian Safavid Empire, the Ottomans maintained dominance well into the 18th century