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Can any one please guide/help regarding the topic of Ottomon Empire ! And if any generous one can share notes

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Introduction

Ottoman Empire , vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution in 1918. Modern Turkey formed only part of the empire, but the terms "Turkey" and "Ottoman Empire" were often used interchangeably.

Origins

The Ottoman state began as one of many small Turkish states that emerged in Asia Minor during the breakdown of the empire of the Seljuk Turks. The Ottoman Turks began to absorb the other states, and during the reign (1451–81) of Muhammad II they ended all other local Turkish dynasties. The early phase of Ottoman expansion took place under Osman I, Orkhan, Murad I, and Beyazid I at the expense of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Bursa fell in 1326 and Adrianople (the modern Edirne) in 1361; each in turn became the capital of the empire. The great Ottoman victories of Kosovo Field (1389) and Nikopol (1396) placed large parts of the Balkan Peninsula under Ottoman rule and awakened Europe to the Ottoman danger. The Ottoman siege of Constantinople was lifted at the appearance of Timur, who defeated and captured Beyazid in 1402. The Ottomans, however, soon rallied.


Organization of the Empire

Economically, socially, and militarily, Turkey was a medieval state, unaffected by the developments in the rest of Europe. Turkish domination over the northern part of Africa (except Tripoli and Egypt) was never well defined or effective, and the eastern border was inconstant, shifting according to frequent wars with Persia. Of the vassal princes, only the khans of Crimea were generally loyal.

The sultans themselves had sunk into indolence and depravity. Until the ascension (1603) of Ahmad I, the succession to the throne was habitually contested by all the sons of the deceased sultan, and it was the patriotic duty of the victor to kill his rivals in order to restore order. Although this practice was barbarous, when it ceased other problems arose. The eldest male member of the family was recognized as the heir-designate, but to prevent threats to the sultan the imperial prince was denied any involvement in public affairs and was kept in luxurious imprisonment. When the prince finally ascended the throne, he was often alcoholic or lunatic.

Actual rule was usually exercised by the grand viziers, many of whom were able men (notably those of the Köprülü family). The sultans themselves often were the creatures of the Janissaries, whose favor was purchased by large gifts at the ascension of a sultan.

One of the most nefarious aspects of the court of Constantinople (known as the Seraglio and the Sublime Porte) was the all-pervading corruption and bribery that had been raised to a system of administration. The pashas and hospodars (governors) who administered the provinces and vassal states purchased their posts at exorbitant prices. They recovered their fortunes by extorting still larger sums from their subjects. The peasantry was thus reduced to abject misery.

A positive feature in Ottoman administration was the religious toleration generally extended to all non-Muslims. This, however, did not prevent occasional massacres and discriminatory fiscal practices. In Constantinople the Greeks and Armenians held a privileged status and were very influential in commerce and politics. The despotic system of government was mitigated only by the observance of Muslim law.


The Period of Great Expansion

The empire, reunited by Muhammad I, expanded victoriously under Muhammad's successors Murad II and Muhammad II. The victory (1444) at Varna over a crusading army led by Ladislaus III of Poland was followed in 1453 by the capture of Constantinople. Within a century the Ottomans had changed from a nomadic horde to the heirs of the most ancient surviving empire of Europe. Their success was due partly to the weakness and disunity of their adversaries, partly to their excellent and far superior military organization. Their army comprised numerous Christians—not only conscripts, who were organized as the corps of Janissaries, but also volunteers. Turkish expansion reached its peak in the 16th cent. under Selim I and Sulayman I (Sulayman the Magnificent).

The Hungarian defeat (1526) at Mohács prepared the way for the capture (1541) of Buda and the absorption of the major part of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire; Transylvania became a tributary principality, as did Walachia and Moldavia. The Asian borders of the empire were pushed deep into Persia and Arabia. Selim I defeated the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, took Cairo in 1517, and assumed the succession to the caliphate. Algiers was taken in 1518, and Mediterranean commerce was threatened by corsairs, such as Barbarossa, who sailed under Turkish auspices. Most of the Venetian and other Latin possessions in Greece also fell to the sultans.

During the reign of Sulayman I began (1535) the traditional friendship between France and Turkey, directed against Hapsburg Austria and Spain. Sulayman reorganized the Turkish judicial system, and his reign saw the flowering of Turkish literature, art, and architecture. In practice the prerogatives of the sultan were limited by the spirit of Muslim canonical law (sharia), and he usually shared his authority with the chief preserver ( sheyhülislam ) of the sharia and with the grand vizier (chief executive officer).

In the progressive decay that followed Sulayman's death, the clergy ( ulema ) and the Janissaries gained power and exercised a profound, corrupting influence. The first serious blow by Europe to the empire was the naval defeat of Lepanto (1571; see Lepanto, battle of), inflicted on the fleet of Selim II by the Spanish and Venetians under John of Austria. However, Murad IV in the 17th cent. temporarily restored Turkish military prestige by his victory (1638) over Persia. Crete was conquered from Venice, and in 1683 a huge Turkish army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa surrounded Vienna. The relief of Vienna by John III of Poland and the subsequent campaigns of Charles V of Lorraine, Louis of Baden, and Eugene of Savoy ended in negotiations in 1699 , which cost Turkey Hungary and other territories.

Decline

The breakup of the state gained impetus with the Russo-Turkish Wars in the 18th cent. Egypt was only temporarily lost to Napoleon's army, but the Greek War of Independence and its sequels, the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29 , and the war with Muhammad Ali of Egypt resulted in the loss of Greece and Egypt, the protectorate of Russia over Moldavia and Walachia, and the semi-independence of Serbia. Drastic reforms were introduced in the late 18th and early 19th cent. by Selim III and Mahmud II, but they came too late. By the 19th cent. Turkey was known as the Sick Man of Europe.

Through a series of treaties of capitulation from the 16th to the 18th cent. the Ottoman Empire gradually lost its economic independence. Although Turkey was theoretically among the victors in the Crimean War, it emerged from the war economically exhausted. The Congress of Paris (1856) recognized the independence and integrity of the Ottoman Empire, but this event marked the confirmation of the empire's dependency rather than of its rights as a European power.

The rebellion (1875) of Bosnia and Herzegovina precipitated the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, in which Turkey was defeated despite its surprisingly vigorous stand. Romania (i.e., Walachia and Moldavia), Serbia, and Montenegro were declared fully independent, and Bosnia and Herzegovina passed under Austrian administration. Bulgaria, made a virtually independent principality, annexed (1885) Eastern Rumelia with impunity.

Sultan Abd al-Majid, who in 1839 issued a decree containing an important body of civil reforms, was followed (1861) by Abd al-Aziz, whose reign witnessed the rise of the liberal party. Its leader, Midhat Pasha, succeeded in deposing (1876) Abd al-Aziz. Abd al-Hamid II acceded (1876) after the brief reign of Murad V. A liberal constitution was framed by Midhat, and the first Turkish parliament opened in 1877, but the sultan soon dismissed it and began a rule of personal despotism. The Armenian massacres of the late 19th cent. turned world public opinion against Turkey. Abd al-Hamid was victorious in the Greco-Turkish war of 1897, but Crete, which had been the issue, was ultimately gained by Greece.


Collapse

In 1908 the Young Turk movement, a reformist and strongly nationalist group, with many adherents in the army, forced the restoration of the constitution of 1876, and in 1909 the parliament deposed the sultan and put Muhammad V on the throne. In the two successive Balkan Wars (1912–13), Turkey lost nearly its entire territory in Europe to Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and newly independent Albania. The nationalism of the Young Turks, whose leader Enver Pasha gained virtual dictatorial power by a coup in 1913, antagonized the remaining minorities in the empire.

The outbreak of World War I found Turkey lined up with the Central Powers. Although Turkish troops succeeded against the Allies in the Gallipoli campaign (1915), Arabia rose against Turkish rule, and British forces occupied (1917) Baghdad and Jerusalem. Armenians, accused of aiding the Russians, were massacred and deported from Anatolia beginning in 1915; an Armenian uprising in Van (1915) survived until relieved by Russian forces. In 1918, Turkish resistance collapsed in Asia and Europe. An armistice was concluded in October, and the Ottoman Empire came to an end. The Treaty of Sèvres confirmed its dissolution. With the victory of the Turkish nationalists, who had refused to accept the peace terms and overthrew the sultan in 1922, modern Turkey's history began.

Source:Ottoman Empire

__________________
To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

Source:Ottoman Empire

__________________
To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

Timeline: Rise, Growth and Fall

Rise Of The Ottoman Empire

Year : Event
1299 : Ottoman Empire Founded, Osman I's reign begins.
1389 : Battle of Kosovo resulting in the capture of a chunk of Serbia.
1396 : Conquest of Bulgaria in the Battle of Nicopolis
1444 : Crusade of Varna comes to an end on Ottoman victory of the Battle of Varna.

Subsequent Growth Of The Ottoman Empire

Year : Event
1453 :Constantinople captured by Mehmed II; Constantine (Christian emperor) dies during battle; Mehmed II claims the titles Caesar of Rome as the Roman Byzantine Empire finally yields to the Ottoman force.
1460 :Morea conquered by Mehmed II
1461 :Trabzon conquered by Mehmed II, putting an end to the Empire of Trebizond
1463 : Conquest of Bosnia
1473 : Mehmed II defeats Uzun Hassan of Akkoyunlu Turkmens in the Battle of Otlukbeli
1475 : Caffa captured by Gedik Ahmet Pasha; Crimea declared vassal state of the Ottoman Empire.
1478 :Conquest of Albania
1480 : Otranto, the southeastern corner of Italy, is conquered by Gedik Ahmet Pasha as a strategic move to create a base for orchestrating further conquest of Italy.
1481 : Death of Mehmed II and Bayezid II's ascension to the Ottoman Throne.
1498 : Conquest of Montenegro
1514 : Ismail I of Safavid Persia defeated by Selim I, bringing East Anatolia under the Turkish rule in the Battle of Chaldiran.
1516 : Al-Ashraf Quansuh al-Ghawri of Mamluk Sultanate (Egypt) defeated by Selim I in the Battle of Marj Dabiq, bringing Palestine and Syria under control of Ottoman Empire.
1517 :Tuman bay II of Mamluk Sultanate (Egypt) defeated by Selim I in the Battle of Ridaniya; Selim I assumes the title of Caliph.
1519 : Conquest of Algeria
1520 : Beginning of the reign of Suleiman I, also known as Suleiman the Magnificent.
1521 : Belgrade captured by Suleiman I
1522 : Rhodes captured by Suleiman I
1526 :Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia defeated by Suleiman I in the Battle of Mohacs
1529 :Siege of Vienna
1533 :Turks take over Iraq
1538 :A big part of Mediterranean Sea brought under Turkish control in the Sea Battle of Preveza.
1550 -c.1650s :Sultanate of Women, when women of the Imperial Harem exercised considerable political influence over the affairs of the State.
1551 : Conquest of Libya
1541: Budapest captured by Suleiman I, followed by conquest of a significant portion of Hungary.
1547: Hungary divided between Suleiman I and Ferdinand I of Austria by agreement.
1566: Suleiman I's reign comes to an end.
1570 :Piyale Pasha conquers Cyprus.
1574: conquest of Tunisia
1571 : Turks face defeat from the Spanish and the Venetians in the Battle of Lepanto.
1578 :Conquest of Tbilisi and a good part of Georgia.
1590 : Treaty of Istanbul

Intermediate Period

Year : Event
1610 : Jelali Revolts suppressed by Kuyucu Murat Pasha with great loss to Turkmens.
1612 : Treaty of Nasuh Pasha
1615 :Treaty of Serav
1683 :Ottomans defeated in the Battle of Vienna
1686 : Evacuation of Hungary
1687: Death of Mehmed IV
1699 : Treaty of Karlowitz
1718 :Treaty of Passarowitz
1718 : Tulip Era begins
1730 : Tulip Era ends with the revolt of Patrona Halil, resulting in the dethronement of Ahmet III.
1739 : Treaty of Belgrade
1774 : Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
1807 :Kabakçi rebellion resulting in dethronement of Selim III.
1808 :Kabakçi rebellion suppressed by Alemdar Mustafa Pasha. Mahmut II succeeds Selim III as the new Sultan after the latter's demise.
1813 : Second Serbian Uprising
1821 : Beginning of the Greek War of Independence

Gradual Decline Of The Ottoman Empire

Year : Event
1830 :Algeria gradually surrendered to French rule
1832 :Greek sovereignty officially established as a result of the Greek War of Independence
1831-1833: Egyptian-Ottoman War
1853 :Crimean War
1862 : Establishment of a consolidated autonomous state of Romania.
1876 :Beginning of the Constantinople Conference.
1877: Russo-Turkish War
1878: Serbian independence acknowledged by the Treaty of San Stefano during the Russo-Turkish War and an autonomous Bulgarian principality is established under very limited Ottoman power. Bosnia occupied by Austria-Hungary and Britain takes over Cyprus.
1881: Tunisia converted to a French colony.
1882 :Egypt included under the British aegis.
1885 :Bulgaria takes Eastern Rumelia under its jurisdiction.
1908 :Second Constitutional Era, Bulgarian Independence, Annexation of Bosnia to Austria-Hungary.
1912: 340 year old presence of the Ottoman empire brought to an end by Italy defeating the Ottomans and taking over Libya. Albania declared independent in the First Balkan War.
1913 :Save for Istanbul and a small surrounding area, the Ottoman Empire is completely erased from the political map of Europe.
1914 :The Ottoman Empire joins the World War I and sides with the Central Powers. Britain annexes Cyprus.


The Ottoman Empire, was partitioned after World War I, , creating the modern Arab World (Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc.) and the Republic of Turkey.

Source :Ottoman Empire Timeline

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To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

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