Transcript “Gunpowder” Empires

“Gunpowder” Empires
• Why do you think these empires got this
nickname?
• Where do you think these empires are
located?
• What do you expect the culture of the
empires to be?
The Ottoman Empire
Today’s Goal  You will be able to…
Describe the rise, characteristics, and
decline of the Ottoman Empire.
The Anatolian Turks
• No central power
• “ghazis” or warriors for Islam
• Military societies led by emir, or chief
commander
• Strict Islamic code of
conduct
• Raided territories of
“infidels”
Osman’s State
• a.k.a. Othman – most successful ghazi
– Followers known as Ottomans
• Military  use of gunpowder
– Replaced archers on horseback
w/musket-carrying foot-soldiers
• Among the 1st to use cannons as
weapons of attack
Ottoman Conquest
• Osman’s son Orkhan I declared
himself sultan (“overlord”, “one
with power”)
• Ottomans acted kindly towards
conquered people
– Local officials appointed by sultan
– Improved the lives of peasants
• Muslims required to serve in
armies
– Non-Muslims did not have to serve
in army, but had to pay tax instead
Tamerlane
• Timur the Lame = rebellious
warrior from Samarkand in C.
Asia
– Europeans called him Tamerlane
• Burned Baghdad & crushed
Ottoman forces at Battle of
Ankara (1402)
• This defeat halted Ottoman
expansion
Summary Questions
• How was the Anatolian Turk society
organized?
• Why was Osman’s military successful?
• How did the Ottomans treat the people
they conquered?
• What was the significance of Tamerlane?
Siege of Constantinople
• Mehmed II (“the
Conqueror”)  “Give
me Constantinople!”
• Constantinople
dominated Bosporous
Strait
– Having control of this
waterway meant
controlling trade &
transportation between
Ottoman territories
Siege of Constantinople
• 1453 – began firing cannons
on city walls
• Turkish fleet dragged 70 ships
over hill on greased runners
• Attacked Constantinople
from two sides
• After 7 weeks, Turks found
break in wall & entered city
• Mehmed II opened
Constantinople to new citizens
of many religions &
backgrounds
– Jews, Christians, Muslims, Turks,
non-Turks helped rebuild city,
now known as Istanbul
Ottomans & Islam
• Selim the Grim defeated Safavids of Persia
• Conquered holiest cities of Islam  Mecca &
Medina
• Captured Cairo, the intellectual
center of Muslim world
Suleyman
• Suleyman “the Magnificent”
• Great military leader
– Dominated Mediterranean
– Controlled trade routes
• Moved northward into Hungary
& Austria
– Threatened central Europe
• Most powerful monarch of the
time
Suleyman the Lawgiver
• Created law code to handle both
criminal and civil actions
– Simplified system of taxation
– Reduced gov’t bureaucracy
• Bettered the daily life of almost
every citizen
Summary Questions
• What was the advantage to taking
Constantinople?
• How was Mehmed II able to conquer
Constantinople?
• What was the significance of Mehmed’s
military conquests?
• Why was Suleyman given the name
“lawgiver”? Specific reasons
Structured Social Organization
• Palace bureaucracy staffed by 20,000
personal slaves
• Policy of devshirme  army drafted
boys from conquered Christian
territories
– Educated, converted to Islam,
trained as soldiers
• Elite force of 30,000 soldiers known as
janissaries were trained to be loyal to
sultan only
• Christian families sometimes bribed
officials to take their children
Structured Social Organization
• Suleyman required to follow Islamic law
– Granted freedom of worship to other religious
communities
• Treated communities as millets or nations
– The heads of the millets reported back to sultan
– Minimized conflict between various religions
Cultural Flowering
• Suleyman studied poetry, history,
geography, astronomy, mathematics,
architecture
• Employed Sinan, one of world’s finest
architects, to build Mosque of
Suleyman
– Complex w/domes, includes four schools,
library, bath, hospital
• Art & literature flourished
• Painters & poets used foreign
influences to express Ottoman ideas
Decline of Ottomans
• Became customary for
each new sultan to have
his brothers strangled
• Kept sons as prisoners –
cut off from education or
contact w/world
• This produced line of
weak sultans who led to
decline
Summary Questions
• What were the advantages of the devshirme
system for the sultan?
• What was the importance of Suleyman’s
religious tolerance?
• Which cultural achievements of Suleyman’s
reign were similar to the European
Renaissance?
• What factors led to the decline of the
Ottoman Empire?