The Ottoman Empire
By Eman M. Elshaikh
The Ottoman Empire stretched across Asia, Europe, and Africa beginning
in the late thirteenth century. Centuries later, its growth slowed and it
transformed in many ways.
860L
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The Ottoman Empire: Transformations and New Directions, Study notes of World History
An overview of the Ottoman Empire, its expansion, military, transformations, and social hierarchies. It covers the empire's founding, conquests, the role of the Janissaries, and its greatest extent. The document also discusses the Ottoman Empire's relationships with other states, its focus on European models, and the impact of new trade routes on its power.
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By Eman M. Elshaikh
The Ottoman Empire stretched across Asia, Europe, and Africa beginning in the late thirteenth century. Centuries later, its growth slowed and it transformed in many ways. 860L
Eman M. Elshaikh Transformations and new directions
The Ottoman Empire was founded in 1299 by a
Turkish leader. It was based in modern-day Turkey.
The Ottomans also conquered much of the Balkan
peninsula. This includes modern-day Albania,
Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia.
The empire began to expand and gain power in the
1400s, especially after it conquered Constantinople
(modern-day Istanbul) in 1453. Constantinople
became the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
Much of this success was a result of the Ottoman
military, which included an elite force called the
Janissaries. They were young male Christian slaves
captured during wars. The Janissaries were raised in
the Islamic faith and trained as soldiers from an early
age. When they grew up they became administrators,
bodyguards to the Ottoman leader—called a sultan—
or part of the military. The Ottomans also had
advanced weapons that used gunpowder.
The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest size in the late 1600s and lasted until 1922. It was one of the largest and
most long-lasting empires in world history. At its greatest extent, the empire extended to three continents: Europe,
Asia and Africa.
Transformations and new directions
The 1700s was a period of change for the Ottoman Empire. It lost (and gained back) some important territories.
Ottoman leaders began to focus on keeping the territories it had. The borders of the empire became clearer.
The political structure started to shift around this time, too. The Ottoman leaders, called sultans, lost some of the
power. The empire’s system of government officials became stronger. Power was less centralized. This stood in
contrast to Europe at the time. Most European monarchs had absolute power over their territories and subjects
Central authority still mattered, but the balance had shifted. Local leaders worked with the sultan to manage the
vast empire.
An empire of nations
The Ottoman Empire did not have a single identity unifying all of its peoples. This is due to its massive size. It was
multi-ethnic and multi-religious.
Islam did play a central role in the empire, however. The Ottoman state based its authority on religion. The sultans
(Ottoman leaders) claimed the title of Caliph and acted as Islamic religious leaders. For the most part, Christians
and Jews had relatively lower social rank than Muslims. The empire did allow them to have their own communities
called millets. The millet structure allowed Christians and Jews to control their own religious and civil affairs.
The Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent. By Chamboz, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Eman M. Elshaikh The Ottomans and the world
The Ottoman Empire bordered numerous states on multiple continents. It had tense relationships with some of
them. The Safavid Empire was another Islamic empire located to the east in modern-day Iran. The Ottomans and
Safavids clashed over their beliefs about Islam.
At the same time, the Ottoman state often collaborated with other European powers. They also wanted to imitate
European models. For example, Ottomans enlisted European military advisors to modernize their military. Ottoman
leaders felt that recent military defeats were due to their less technically advanced militaries.
The Ottoman state also looked to Europe for new ideas and technologies. As the 1700s began, Ottoman elites
became more connected to global cultural movements. The printing press allowed translations of European and
Asian works to reach intellectuals in the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman elites brought in more foreign goods such as art
and food.
This was also a time where the Ottoman Empire began to lose some of its power and influence. For centuries, it had
been at the center of trade between Europe, and Asia. It grew rich as goods passed along trade routes known as the
Silk Road. New sea routes made it possible for goods to bypass the Silk Road. With less trade passing through its
land, Ottoman power faded.
Eman M. Elshaikh Sources Faroqhi, Suraiya, ed. The Cambridge History of Turkey: Later Ottoman Empire, 1603-1839. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Goodwin, Jason. Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Henry Holt, 1999. Karpat, Kemal H. Studies on Ottoman Social and Political History: Selected Articles and Essays. Boston: Brill, 2002. Kasaba, Re ş at. A Moveable Empire: Ottoman Nomads, Migrants, and Refugees. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009. Peirce, Leslie Penn. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. New York: Oxford University Press,
Quataert, Donald. The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ———. “Clothing Laws, State, and Society in the Ottoman Empire, 1720-1829.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 29, no. 3 (1997): 403–25. Quataert, Donald, Suraiya Faroqhi, Mehmet Genc, and Caglar Keyder, eds. Manufacturing in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, 1500-1950. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994. Zilfi, Madeline C. “A Medrese for the Palace: Ottoman Dynastic Legitimation in the Eighteenth Century.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 113, no. 2 (1993): 184–91. https://doi.org/10.2307/603023. ———. Women and Slavery in the Late Ottoman Empire: The Design of Difference. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Eman M. Elshaikh The author of this article is Eman M. Elshaikh. She is a writer, researcher, and teacher who has taught K-12 and undergraduates in the United States and in the Middle East and written for many different audiences. She teaches writing at the University of Chicago, where she also completed her master’s in social sciences, focusing on history and anthropology. She was previously a World History Fellow at Khan Academy, where she worked closely with the College Board to develop curriculum for AP World History. Image credits Cover : Reception at the Court of the Sultan Selim III (1761-1807) (oil on canvas). © Turkish School / Getty Images The Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent. By Chamboz, CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire#/media/ File:OttomanEmpireMain.png Depiction of a janissary from a book about costumes from the late seventeenth century. Public domain. https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/File:Ralamb_Janissary_1.jpg Illustration of recruitment of Christian boys for the devsirme. Ottoman miniature painting, 1558. By Ali Amir Beg, public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Janissary_Recruitment_in_the_Balkans-Suleymanname.jpg