The Ottoman Era

Founding of the Empire

The origins of the Ottoman Empire lie in a remote part of Anatolia. Osman, the founder, was an Oghuz Turk. By 1299, he had established a small state that was engaged in continuous battle with other similarly sized states for survival. By 1400, the Ottomans had extended their influence through Anatolia and beyond, into Byzantine-controlled parts of Eastern Europe. In 1402, they moved their capital to Edirne, across the Bosporus in Europe. Yet the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, consisting of present-day Istanbul and an island in the Ottoman Sea, resisted conquest, no matter how much surrounding territory fell to the Muslims. Constantinople therefore came to represent a prize that would put the Ottomans in control of East-West trade. In 1453, Sultan Mehmed, also known as the Conqueror, finally captured the outstanding Byzantine jewel and renamed it Istanbul. It became the new Ottoman capital, and under sultan rule, one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities of the early-modern era.

The foundations for the largest empire in Islamic history had been laid. Powerful tribal chieftains were replaced by loyal servants to the crown. Religious scholars (ulama) were organized under a “Sheikh of Islam.” The borders were expanded significantly under Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) and then again under his son, Sultan Suleyman, “The Magnificent” (1520-1566). During Suleyman’s reign the empire would achieve its greatest territorial size, stretching across Asia and Europe as well as into North Africa.

Ottoman longevity rested, to a great extent, on the legitimacy it held among Muslims. The Ottomans created a society which included educational institutions and Islamic courts. Military force was aimed at spreading Islam, defending Shari’a law, and protecting the interests of Muslims. Local leaders, usually drawn from socially prominent families, had considerable autonomy in day-to-day affairs. In turn, they were required to meet their tax obligations to Istanbul, maintain order, and acknowledge the suzerainty of.

An Empire in Decline

The Ottomans also had a formidable military that included elite, foreign-born infantry troops (janissaries). Yet, their professionalism deteriorated over time as they married into communities to which they were billeted, and adopted a local perspective. The balance of military power also shifted when Europeans attained naval superiority in the 16th and 17th centuries. This opened up a western front that disrupted Ottoman communication with North Africa and caused difficulties in the control of Egypt.

By the 19th century, the Ottomans confronted threats from multiple sources: 1) European designs on their territory; 2) uprisings orchestrated by Christians in the Balkans; 3) reformist demands from within. As the Ottomans cast about for a means to maintain their empire, the doctrine of Ottomanism was promoted as a means to secure the loyalty of a diverse population by synthesizing Islamic ideas into a Western enlightenment package. It called for loyalty, not to one’s sultan or millet (ethno-religious community), but to an Ottoman vatan (homeland) that was to supersede all other forms of identification.

Ultimately Ottomanism did not succeed in achieving its intended objectives of thwarting sub-group identity among the Balkan Christian population. While non-Muslims chaffed under Ottoman control, Arabs remained committed to maintaining the state. Local grievances were something to be addressed within the political order, not grounds for breaking away. For most Muslims, membership in the multi-ethnic Muslim order was in keeping with their sense of identity. Thus Ottoman authority was broadly accepted despite outside efforts to undermine it.

During the 1860s and 1870s, a group of Western-oriented Turkish intellectuals referred to as the “Young Ottomans” issued a call for reforms that would create the basis for a strong state. This included the establishment of an elected parliament and a written constitution. When Abdul Hamid II became sultan in 1876, he implemented several key elements of the reformist program. Within a year, however, the newly drafted constitution was suspended and the empire’s first parliament was dissolved.