Introduction To Ottoman Empire - Arts And Architecture

Brief Introduction :

Forced to evacuate their homes on the plains of Asia by the Mongols, the migrating Turkish tribes converted to Islam during the eighth and ninth centuries. By the tenth century, one of the Turkish tribes, the Seljuks, had become a major power in the Islamic world and embraced a stable life that included Islamic teaching, middle class, and taxation. However, many other Turkish groups remained nomadic and, following the Blood tradition, sought to conquer the Islamic world and gain the spoils of war. This led to a confrontation with the Seljuks in Teljuk, and to appease the nomadic tribes, the Seljuks directed them to the eastern part of the Byzantine Empire, Anatolia. The nation known as the Ottomans emerged from one of the small thieves established in northwestern Anatolia after 1071. The monarchy was named after Osman Gazi (1259-1326), who began expanding his empire into the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor and moved to Bursa in 1326.

The Empire :

A political and local organization controlled by the Ottoman Turks. Their empire was centered in modern-day Turkey and increased its influence in southeastern Europe and the Middle East. Europe was only able to withstand their progress for a while: a change came at the Battle of Varna in 1444 when the European Union failed to stop Turkey's progress. Only Constantinople (Istanbul) occupied Byzantine territory, and its defeat in 1453 seemed inevitable. The Turks regained control of Anatolia and southeastern Europe, which lasted until the early 20th century.

Although the Ottoman Empire could not be considered a simultaneous European empire, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire had a profound impact on a continent already plagued by the tragedies of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and the Ottoman Turks must, therefore, be considered in any European study by the end. of the Middle Ages. The simplicity of the Ottoman Empire gained from military victory led Western Europeans to fear that the continued success of the Ottoman Empire would bring down Western political and social infrastructure and bring about the fall of Christendom. Such a great threat could not be ignored and the Europeans invaded the Ottoman army in 1366, 1396, and 1444, but to no avail. The Ottomans continued to conquer new territories.

One of the many ethnic groups in Turkey that migrated from the plateau of central Asia, the Ottomans were originally nomadic peoples who followed the ancient shamanistic religion. Contact with various stable people led to the introduction of Islam and under the influence of Islam, the Turks acquired their greatest fighting tradition, that of the bloodthirsty warrior. Well-trained and highly skilled bloodthirsty heroes strive to conquer this believer, gain land and riches in it.

While the bloodthirsty warriors fought for Islam, the largest military property in the Ottoman Empire was a permanent paid army of Christian soldiers, the Janissaries. Originally created in 1330 by Orhan Gazi, the janissaries were Christian captives from conquered lands. Taught in Islam and trained as a soldier, court officials were forced to pay an annual tribute to the military. To meet the challenges of the bloodthirsty nobleman, Murad I (1319-1389) turned a new army into a Sultan's army. They were rewarded for their loyalty to the newly acquired land grants, and the magistrates soon rose to fill important administrative offices of the Ottoman Empire.

During the early history of the Ottoman Empire, political parties within Byzantium used Turkish Turks and military commanders as mercenaries in their war for supremacy. In the 1340's, an invasion of the Ottoman Empire led to the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire in Thrace on the northern border of the Byzantine Empire. The defeat of Thrace provided the Ottomans with a place in Europe where the next campaigns for the Balkans and Greece were established and Adrianople (Edirne) became the Ottoman capital in 1366. In the next century, the Ottomans formed the empire that took Anatolia again and again. large parts of Byzantine areas in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor.

The expansion of the Turkish Empire to Europe was in full swing in the late 14th century. Gallipoli was defeated in 1354 and a large army was defeated in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. The tragedy was so great that Western troops were reluctant to start a new campaign against the Turks. The emergence of Tatars under Tamerlane in the early fifteenth century temporarily delayed Turkey's development but the Ottomans soon resumed invading Byzantium and Eastern Europe. Hungarian and Polish troops were assassinated in Varna in 1444 by Murad II and the Ottoman conquest was not stopped during the reign of his son, Mehmed II Conqueror (1432-1481).

Constantinople itself was captured in 1453, sending a shocking wave across Europe, and its name was changed to Istanbul. With the fall of Byzantium, a wave of Byzantine refugees fled to the West West, carrying ancient and Hellenistic knowledge that gave added impetus to the tense character of the Renaissance.

Athens fell in 1456 and Belgrade narrowly escaped captivity during the Hungarian-led poor Janos Hunyadi's siege that same year, however, Serbia, Bosnia, Wallachia, and the Crimean Cantate were all under the Ottoman rule in 1478. The Turks demanded that the Black Sea and the northern Aegean and that many trade routes be closed when European ships were shipped. The Islamic threat was even greater when the Ottoman beachhead was established in Otranto, Italy, in 1480.

Although the Turkish presence in Italy was short-lived, it seemed that Rome itself should fall into the hands of the Muslims. By 1529, the Ottomans had invaded the Danube and besieged Vienna. The siege was unsuccessful and the Turks began to retreat. Although the Ottomans continued to cause panic during the 16th century, internal strife began to undermine the once-mighty military power of the Ottoman Empire. The outcome of the battles was over and the Europeans began to gain points for the Turks' victory.

Despite the military success of the expansion of their territory, there were still organizational and governmental problems within the Ottoman Empire. Murad II attempted to limit the influence of the nobility and blood by elevating slaves and janissaries to positions of responsibility. These rulers came to give another voice to that of the nobles and, as a result, Murad II and successive Sultans were able to play one team against another, a feature that would suit the Ottoman Empire. The power of the janissaries' rulers often overshadowed the weak sultan and the elite army occasionally acted as "king's servants".

Another weakness was that primogeniture was not used in Islam and that the transfer of power from the deceased to his son was often opposed. When the Sultan died without a male heir or left several sons, the succession was violently opposed. In the first instance, to prevent further controversy, all male relatives of the newly crowned sultan were assassinated. Later, however, former rivals were arrested for life. Some historians have noted that this policy of imprisonment contributed to the decline of the Ottoman Empire as mentally and politically unstable individuals were released from prison and placed on the throne. However, in addition to the usual succession issues, the Ottoman Empire was able to produce effective leaders by the end of the Middle Ages and a comprehensive government policy was developed.

Despite the difficulties of succession and administrative control, the Ottomans had many advantages that contributed to their success, the great wealth of the State being the most valuable asset. As the Ottoman Empire grew, it gained control of trade routes to the East, and many European powers, such as Venice and Genoa, paid exorbitant fees to access these routes.

Although the brutality of the "Infidel Turk" brought fear into the hearts of all Christians toward the end of the Middle Ages, the Ottomans generally allowed religious groups to continue their practice in the conquered lands. They also tend to maintain established institutions and, in many cases, allow for the co-existence of racial and religious law codes. Their administrative and government systems were well developed and very efficient and many countries under Ottoman rule were well-governed during this time.