Importance of Ottoman Empire for Turkey: Analytical Essay

Why did they decline? What are their major legacies?

1. Ottomans (1335-1920) – Istanbul, Turkey

The Ottoman Empire first began as the Turks Tribe under the Rum Seljuk Sultanate in Anatolia after the Mongolian invasion in 1243. They were pushed to Western Anatolia and started to create small states, called be like, under loose Mongol overlordship. Osman, I was the leader of one of those beyliks which then led to the creation of the Ottoman Empire (Streusand, 2011, p.34-6). In the early thirteenth century, the Ottoman Empire began its expansion on Byzantine territories from near the Sea of Marmara and successfully took over Bursa in 1326 which then became their first capital (Ruthven, 2004, p.84-5). In 1453, the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II took over Constantinople which then became their basis for further expansion. The expansion continued over Modavia, the Crimea, and Trebizond, turning the Black Sea into an Ottoman Lake. With Constantinople as their new capital, the Ottoman Empire had control over the trade of the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean (Streusand, 2011, p.31-2:41-2). In addition to that, Constantinople became the center of the Sunni world, not in Syria or Damascus anymore (Streusand, 2011, p.113-4).

The great periods of the Ottoman Empire showed by its massive expansion until the reign of Sulyman. Under Sulayman, the Ottoman Empire controlled most of Southern Europe, parts of Central Europe, Western Asia, parts of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and North Africa (Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire). Malise Ruthven in his book “Historical Atlas of Islam” summarizes the chronology of the Ottoman Empire expansion as listed below:

• The Ottomans successfully occupied Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and the Western Balkans in 1389 as the Byzantine weakened.
• They defeated the Safavids at Chaldiran in 1514 and took control of the central Asian trade routes linking Tabriz and Bursa.
• In 1514, the Ottoman Empire merged eastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia.
• They took control over the holy places of Hejaz after defeating the Mamluk Empire in Syria and Egypt in 1516-1517.
• In 1521, the Ottomans captured Belgrade from the Hungarians.
• In 1529, the Ottomans made their expansion to Vienna, they reached the Habsburg capital but failed to occupy Vienna.
• The Ottomans took over Algiers in 1529, Tunis in 1534, Jerba in 1560, Malta in 1565, and Cyprus in 1570.

At first, the Ottoman Empire relied its economic sources on agricultural land, then commerce became major source of wealth. Bursa as the first Ottoman capital became a major center of international trade, particularly because it used as the destination for caravans carrying silk from Iran. After the conquests of Mehmed II and Bayazid II in the last half of the fifteenth century, the empire dominated the trade of the Black Sea as well as the eastern Mediterranean. Then later, the conquests of Selim and Sulayman gave the empire control of both of the traditional trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Euphrates River, and the Red Sea. Control of trade routes determined the Ottoman grand economic strategy and allowed the acquisition of agricultural land (Streusand, 2011, p.31-32).

In addition to that, the conquest of Belgrade made the Ottomans the central player in European politics. The Ottoman state was strongly influenced by Greek culture, especially from the Roman-Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans created a millet system of the non-Muslim community, each had its own communal leadership, civil law, and system and provided its own social welfare and educational system (Streusand, 2011, p.31).

Although religious autonomy was allowable through the millet system of autonomous minorities the Ottoman state was extremely centralized. The rulers appointed the qadis (judges) however in most other alternative respects allowed alternative spiritual establishments like the mosques and madrasas to flourish severally. The Ottomans dominated, controlled, and formed the societies they ruled. The Sultans supplemented the law with decrees regulating the status and duties of all their subjects. They brought ulama, the Sufi lodges, and the guilds of artisans under state control by dictating appointments, grading, and licenses. Society was divided into two classes: the rulers and the ruled, the principal distinctions being the right of the rulers to exploit the wealth of the subjects through imposts and taxes (Ruthven, 2004, p.86-87).

The entire governmental machinery, civil administration and military forces, and even religious functionaries were treated as part of the military establishment and they were considered as the ruling class (Streusand, 2011, p.31). Douglas E. Streusand in his book “Islamic Gunpowder Empires” said that “The constitutive principles of the Ottoman Empire thus included Islamic and Turko-Mongol ideological components; central, provincial, and frontier armies; extensive transit trade and agriculture; the integration of civil, military, and religious authority, including non-Muslims, into a single ruling class”. As for the military matter in the Ottoman Empire, the soldiers were recruited through “devshirme” or blood tax. Christian boys from Eastern and Southeastern Europe were taken into the palace and to be raised for later to serve the state. This kind of tax was imposed on non-Muslims who live under the Ottoman Empire. The boys were later converted to Islam and were provided military training, offered for military or civil service to the empire. Through this system, the Ottoman Empire got what so-called “free soldiers” to strengthen its military power.

As the expansion of the Ottoman Empire continued, huge territories became an issue. It was not easy to control a very large territory, threats to the empire territories came from almost everywhere: threats from the north by the growing power of Muscovy, threats from the east by the Safavids and the Mamluks, as well as the threats from the west by the Hapsburgs. In addition to that, the decline of the Ottoman Empire was due to the incapability of the ruler and lacked experience in the politics and military. Provincial governors got the position through bribes, hiring private armies, or raising taxes for themselves. There were large-scale nepotism and misrule in the administration. Land that should have for nurtured agriculture became tax farms, driving cultivators off the land, creating gangs of rural bandits or urban migrants who drifted into cities already overcrowded and subject to famine, plague, and disorder. The millet system, which allowed the Christian and Jewish communities a high degree of administrative autonomy, undermined the legitimacy of the state by privileging Western traders and encouraging Greek and Balkans Christians to look toward the empire’s enemy in Russia and Western Europe for inspiration and support (Ruthven, 2004, p.90-1).

During the reign of Mustafa (1617-1618), Osman II’s brother, he was incapable of dealing with the uncontrolled armed forces, led to an uprising in Istanbul which then creating a financial crisis because the provincial governors refused to remit revenue to the capital. When Sultan Ibrahim (1640-1648) took over the throne, official corruption once again became rampant, and the financial mechanism of the empire broke down (Streusand, 2011, p.41-59). Weakened military and economic power due to internal administration issues gave no power to the Ottoman Empire against the rising of European power due to its better military and economic systems.

In the Ottoman times, there were great achievements in Islamic Science, arts including architecture and painting, music, prose, and poetry. Douglas E. Streusand in his book “Islamic Gunpowder Empires” listed some of the Ottoman Empire legacies as below

1. Fatih Jami, Sultan Mehmet II Mosque Complex in Istanbul was built as a symbol of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, it replaced the Byzantine Church of the Holy Apostles.
2. Selimeye Jami, Sultan Selim II Mosque Complex in Edirne was built by a military engineer named Koca Sinan under the Ottomans sultans Sulayman, Selim II, and Murad III.
3. Sultan Ahmet Jami, Ahmet I Mosque in Istanbul or is known as the Blue Mosque symbolized the political and cultural order of the Ottoman Empire.

2. Safavids (1510-1722) – Isfahan, Iran

The Safavid Empire was first established through the Safavid Sufi order found by Shaykh Safi al-Din (1252-1334) in the city of Ardabil, Azerbaijan (Ruthven, 2004, p.92; Streusand, 2011, p.140-2). In 1501, his descendant, Shah Ismail, successfully conquered Tabriz, the most important commercial center of western Iran, and then became the capital of the Safavids Empire (Streusand, 2011, p.143). Shah Ismail claimed himself as the Hidden Imam, a reincarnation of Ali and a manifestation of God and he established Shi’ism as the state religion. Although the dynasty was started by a Sufi teacher and mujaddid of Sunni allegiance, the Safavid Sufi order later altered by Ismail to fit his Twelver Shi’ism belief (Ruthven, 2004, p.92).

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In 1537, the Safavid Empire under the reign of Tahmasp successfully conquered the city and province of Qandahar from Timurids. Qandahar controlled an important overland trade route between the Iranian plateau and the Ind-Gangetic plain. The capital of the empire also moved from Tabriz southwest to Qazvin during his time (Streusand, 2011, p.148).

The power of the Safavid Empire began when Shah Abbas took over the throne. He changed the administration system from provincial to central administration. The central government took over control over the silk - the most valuable export-producing regions and ensured that most of the profits went into the central treasury. With this new revenue, Shah Abbas constructed a new capital in Isfahan, Iran. He also reformed the military system by expanding the infantry, cavalry, and artillery units with soldiers primarily of slave origin. In 1603, he successfully took Tabriz back from the Ottoman Empire and Erivan in eastern Anatolia in 1604(Streusand, 2011, p.152). Streusand (2011) said that “This victory marked the transformation of the Safavid Empire into a bureaucratic polity with a gunpowder army”. In 1662, Shah Abbas conquered back Qandahar from the Mughals and established a new port which became the major outlet for exports (Streusand, 2011, p.153).

Under the reign of Shah Abbas, the establishment of Twelver Shiism dominated the social, religious, and cultural history of the Safavid Empire. The Twelver Shiism became the principal source of legitimacy which gave the ulama domination in the regime. In terms of military power, the Turkmens tribes had the most military manpower in the country. The settled population had a little military potential. The Safavids recruited few peasants for military service, and they never became a political force, unlike in the Ottoman case; Muslim nomads and mainly Christian outsiders recruited primarily through the mechanism of military slavery dominated the armed forces (Streusand, 2011, p.139). The lack of military power caused the decline of the empire. In addition to that, the later Safavid rulers had no interest in politics or military matters, only focused on their own piety. The Ulama had no political interest only cared about their own agenda of eliminating all other religions in Iran including Sunni Islam (Streusand, 2011, p.198). Streusand (2011) said that “the unmilitary nature of the leadership reflected the change in the character of Safavid rulers, which may well have reflected a change in the conception of monarchy, with piety replacing military prowess.”

The decline of the empire was also caused by the economic weaknesses of the Safavid regime, the inability of the administration to halt the steady outflow of specie, currency devaluations, and price inflation. In the 1660s and 1670s, the empire suffered a series of poor harvests which led to famines. In 1680, the empire also suffered from serious outbreaks of plague. These events caused a serious shortfall in the empire's revenue (Streusand, 2011, p.155). Furthermore, Streusand (2011) emphasized that “The fall of Isfahan was an inevitable consequence of the steady weakening of the empire after the death of Abbas I, of the darkness of the fanatical religious orthodoxy amid military, political and economic chaos and weak leadership at the center”.

The Safavid Empire produced some of the greatest achievements of Iran-Islamic civilization including art, architecture, and paintings. Douglas E. Streusand in his book “Islamic Gunpowder Empires” listed some of the Ottoman Empire legacies as below:

1. Feast of Sada: folio from the Shah Tahmasp Shahnama, containing the finest paintings in the history of Persian arts. This Shahnama manuscript was among the gifts from Shah Tahmasp to the Ottoman Sultan Selim II in 1568.
2. Firdawi’s Parable of the Ship of Shiism: folio from the Shah Tahmasp Shahnama. It emphasizes the Safavid`s claim to descent from Ali.
3. The Maydan-i Shah in Isfahan, it is the forecourt of the Shah Mosque, the Ali Qapu, and the Shaykh Luftullah Mosque and a venue for state ceremonies and public entertainments.
4. The Ali Qapu was the main royal residence with a loggia where Shah Abbas and members of the court could observe activities on the Maydan.
5. The Shaykh Luftullah Mosque, was used by the Shah’s family as a women’s sanctuary.

3. Mughals/Timurids (1526-1857) – Delhi, India

In 1526, Timur’s grandson Barbur captured Delhi and developed the Timurid Mughal Empire with Delhi as its capital. The Mughal Empire absorbed many independent Muslim dynasties that had been established in Bengal, Kashmir, Gujerat, and the Deccan.

The Mughals/Timurid Empire was an Islamic dynasty built by Muslims on Hindu land. The religious differences had a strong effect on the division between Muslims and Hindus which most of the time led to conflicts between the two communities. However, Barbur emphasized religious tolerance by permitting the Hindus to build temples as well as forbidding the killing of cows to respect the Hindus. The practice of slavery was diminished during his times as well. The high point of Hindu-Muslim religious harmony was reached until the reign of Akbar who instituted the Din-i-Elahi, an imperial cult with Akbar at its center combining the roles of Sufi master and philosopher-king (Ruthven, 2004, p. 96). He believed in religious tolerance, the Hindus were allowed to regulate themselves with their own law and institutions. He removed the tax practice that had been imposed on non-Muslims.

However, everything changed when Akbar’s grandson, Aurungzed, took over the empire. Aurangzeb was inspired by the more orthodox teachings. He imposed the Sharia law, deemphasizing the solar Ilahi calendar, banning music performances at court, and even destroying the Hindu temples. He imposed the tax on non-Muslims again (Streusand, 2011, p.235-6). His actions were to define the Muslims as the ruling class of the Mughal Empire. Despite his controversies, the Mughal Empire successfully extended its territories from Kabul, Ghazni, and Qandahar beyond Bengal into Assam and south to the Cauvery River under the reign of Aurangzeb. He conquered the city of Bijapur and Golconda which gained the empire's political and economic power (Streusand, 2011, p.233-8). Streusand (2011) mentioned that “Mughal expansion was most successful in Arid India and in those parts of Monsoon India that were accessible by riverboats. The Mughal unification of the subcontinent consists of a series of “nuclear zones of power” that had the desired combination of agricultural surpluses, extensive grazing lands, and access to major trade routes”.

The Mughal/Timurids Empire started to decline due to Aurungzed intolerance, the taxation he imposed as well as the larger territories that became harder to control. The constant threat from the Hindu Maratha Empire supported by the British added to the struggle faced by the empire (Streusand, 2011, p.238-9). Irfan Habib argues that the “Mughal administration inevitably produced a steadily increasing agriculture-revenue demand and thus growing privation of the peasantry. Hunger and oppression produced a series of revolts” (Streusand, 2011, p. 283) which then led to the loss of economic power in the Mughal/Timurids Empire.

One of the Mughal/Timurid's greatest legacies is the Taj Mahal: the tomb of Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal in Agra - a symbol of sovereignty, spirituality, and romance. The other well knows legacy is The Humayan’s Tomb in Delhi, the first monumental Mughal dynasty mausoleum, which formed a symbol of Mughal rule and continuity (Streusand, 2011, p. 280-1).