Page 100 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

ottoman empire 1401

Further Reading tors that included geography, the proximity of weak ene-
Imber, C. (2003). The Ottoman empire, 1300–1650: The structure of mies, and luck. But we must also give substantial credit
power. New York: Palgrave.
Inalcik, H. (2001). Phoenix: The Ottoman empire: The classical age, to Ottoman policies and achievements.After all, there were
1300–1600. London: Phoenix Press. many small states and principalities struggling for su-
Kafadar, C. (1996). Between two worlds:The construction of the Ottoman premacy in Anatolia following the migrations of Turkish
state. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Lindner, R. P. (1983). Nomads and Ottomans in medieval Anatolia. peoples from Central Asia.The Ottoman family emerged
Bloomington: Indiana University Press. on the Byzantine borderlands not far from Constanti-
Shaw, S. J. (1976). History of the Ottoman empire and modern Turkey:Vol. nople. The dynasty and its supporters employed prag-
1. Empire of the Gazis: The rise and decline of the Ottoman empire,
1280–1808. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. matic statecraft and methods of conquest.They rewarded
the human material at hand and cared little if it was
Christian or Muslim or Greek, Bulgarian, Serb, or Turk-
ish.Thus, on these early battlefields, the Ottoman dynasty
Ottoman Empire commonly led troops that were a combination of both

Muslim and Christian warriors.These pragmatic policies
he Ottoman empire (c. 1300–1922) is among the also included an exceptional openness to innovation, in-
Tmost durable and successful empires in world his- cluding military technology. Until sometime during the
tory. It spanned the late medieval, early modern, and seventeenth century, the Ottomans typically enjoyed tac-
modern periods and, at its peak, held possessions on the tical battlefield superiority. Overall, openness and inno-
continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Although offi- vation go far in explaining why the Ottoman principal-
cially an Islamic state for nearly all its history, the ity emerged as a world power. Like Rome, the Ottoman
Ottoman state ruled over primarily Christian subjects emergence to empire status was not overnight but built
until its final half-century, offering a comparatively toler- on a steady record of achievement and determination.
ant model of imperial rule quite unlike the rabid exclu- The Ottoman Empire offered a durable example of state
sivist nationalisms that plague our own day. building in its combination of military power and an
eye to justice and toleration of differences among its
International Political subjects.
Developments During the seventeenth century, however, Ottoman
The Ottoman empire first emerged in the northwest cor- preeminence slipped away. Just as explanations of the
ner of Anatolia, then in the midst of its transformation rise of empires remains elusive, so too are those regard-
from a Greek-speaking Christian to a Turkish-speaking ing their decline. In the Ottoman case, it seems clear that
Muslim cultural zone. Indeed, the formation of the Otto- factors at work well beyond its frontiers played a large
man state accompanied and completed this transforma- role in the deterioration of the Ottoman international
tion.The Ottoman state achieved world empire status in position.There is no doubt that the rise of capitalism and
1453, when it conquered Byzantine Constantinople. Be- industrialism in Europe, western Europe’s conquest of
tween the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Otto- the New World, and its monopoly access to American
man empire was among the most powerful states in the wealth, are keys in understanding the mounting imbal-
Mediterranean and European regions. Indeed, for a time ance between Ottoman and European military and eco-
it may have surpassed all other states in the world except nomic power. By the beginning of the nineteenth cen-
Ming dynasty China (1368–1644) in political, military, tury, the Ottoman empire had become a second-class
and economic power. economic, military, and political power, and it shared a
The Ottoman transition from principality to a world common fate with the entire non-European world save
empire, in common with imperial achievements else- Japan after around 1850. Economically, the wealth gap
where in the globe, derived from a complex mix of fac- between Ottoman subjects and residents in most west