Political intrigue within the sultanate, strengthening of European powers, economic competition because of new trade routes, and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution all destabilized the once peerless empire. Until then, there had always been new territory to conquer and new lands to exploit, but after the empire failed to conquer Vienna for a second time in 1683, it began to weaken. But in the 17th century, it began to lose its stronghold. But the imperial court left casualties behind, too: female slaves forced into sexual slavery as concubines male slaves expected to provide military and domestic labor and brothers of sultans, many of whom were killed or, later, imprisoned to protect the sultan from political challenges.Īt its height, the Ottoman Empire was a real player in European politics and was home to more Christians than Muslims. Under the reign of Süleiman the Magnificent, whose 16th-century lifetime represented the peak of the Ottomans’ power and influence, the arts flourished, technology and architecture reached new heights, and the empire generally enjoyed peace, religious tolerance, and economic and political stability. The rest of the Ottoman Empire’s elite had to earn their positions regardless of birth.
Though it was a dynasty, only one role-that of the supreme ruler, or sultan-was hereditary. Now a dynastic empire with Istanbul as its capital, the Ottoman Empire continued to expand across the Balkans, the Middle East, and North Africa. The city named for Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, then also became known as Istanbul (a version of stin polis, Greek for “in the city” or “to the city.” In 1453, Osman’s descendants, now known as the Ottomans, finally brought the Byzantine Empire to its knees when they captured the seemingly unconquerable city of Constantinople.
Around 1299, he declared himself supreme leader of Asia Minor, and his successors expanded farther and farther into Byzantine territory with the help of foreign mercenaries. Osman I, a leader of a nomadic Turkic tribe from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), began conquering the region in the late 13th century by launching raids against the weakening Christian Byzantine Empire.
0 kommentar(er)
