During the fifteenth century the Ottomans reconstructed the state following the damaging civil war (which ended 1412 CE) and the devastating Mongol invasion under Timur (in 1402 CE). The period ends with the Ottoman conquest of Mamluk Egypt and Syria, which began a "stronger Islamisation of the Empire."
[1]
Ottoman government had an elaborate set of institutions but was ultimately highly autocratic, run out of the court of the Sultan
[2]
who would frequently execute men of high rank in rituals of death that "symbolised the absolute power of the sultan within his own household, and the abject status of even his most powerful counsellors."
[3]
The court often "by-passed formal structures of government such as in diplomatic negotiations" and Colin Imber notes that there was an informal aspect to policy making that depended a great deal on the personality of the Sultan "and the individuals or factions who had his ear."
[4]
The main institution of government was the Imperial Council (divan) which was under the presidency of the Grand Vizier.
[4]
In the regions provinces were run by governors (beylerbeyi).
[5]
The Ottoman army was financed by land grants: between 1400-1590 CE army officers were assigned timar holdings from which they could raise revenue as a form of salary. Numbering 27,500 in 1527 CE they "formed the most important element in the Ottoman army."
[6]
[7]
At this time the Ottoman Empire was very heterogeneous in language and culture and while Islam predominated as the state religion the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Churches retained some influence within the Ottoman government and served large concentrations of Christians. After their expulsion from Spain in 1492 CE there were also many Jews, in addition to Maronites and Druzes.
[8]
After the final conquest of Byzantine Constantinople in 1453 CE, the city became the Ottoman capital, now called Istanbul, and boomed in size again from about 50,000 to perhaps as many as 400,000 residents.
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 437) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Imber 2002, 156) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[4]: (Imber 2002, 154) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[5]: (Imber 2002, 177-178) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[6]: (Imber 2002, 256-257) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[7]: (Lapidus 2012, 440) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[8]: (Imber 2002, 1-2) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
35 T |
Ottoman Empire I |
Adrianople | |
Constantinople | |
Edirne |
Ottoman Dynasty | |
Osmanli Dynasty | |
Othman Dynasty |
none |
Turkish | |
Islamic |
Ottoman Empire II |
[4,500,000 to 5,000,000] km2 |
continuity |
Succeeding: Ottoman Empire II (tr_ottoman_emp_2) [continuity] | |
Preceding: Ottoman Emirate (tr_ottoman_emirate) [continuity] |
unitary state |
[50,000 to 60,000] people | 1453 CE |
70,000 people | 1478 CE |
[200,000 to 410,000] people | 1500 CE |
522,000 km2 | 1420 CE |
633,000 km2 | 1440 CE |
866,000 km2 | 1460 CE |
1,220,000 km2 | 1480 CE |
2,310,000 km2 | 1500 CE |
7,000,000 people | 1450 CE |
9,000,000 people | 1500 CE |
present |
present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
absent |
present |
inferred present |
present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
present |
absent |
present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
unknown |
present |
absent | 1402 CE 1440 CE |
present | 1440 CE 1517 CE |
unknown | 1402 CE 1422 CE |
present | 1422 CE 1517 CE |
present |
present |
absent |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
Year Range | Ottoman Empire I (tr_ottoman_emp_1) was in: |
---|---|
(1421 CE 1516 CE) | Konya Plain |
[1]
[2]
[3]
Adrianople: 1413-1453 CE; Constantinople: 1453-1718 CE
Murad II’s (1421-1451 CE) capital was Edrine.
[4]
Murad II had a second palace built at Edrine.
[5]
[2]: (Palmer 1992)
[3]: (Davidson 2011, 122)
[4]: (Imber 2002, 143) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[5]: (Imber 2002, 145) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Adrianople: 1413-1453 CE; Constantinople: 1453-1718 CE
Murad II’s (1421-1451 CE) capital was Edrine.
[4]
Murad II had a second palace built at Edrine.
[5]
[2]: (Palmer 1992)
[3]: (Davidson 2011, 122)
[4]: (Imber 2002, 143) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[5]: (Imber 2002, 145) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Adrianople: 1413-1453 CE; Constantinople: 1453-1718 CE
Murad II’s (1421-1451 CE) capital was Edrine.
[4]
Murad II had a second palace built at Edrine.
[5]
[2]: (Palmer 1992)
[3]: (Davidson 2011, 122)
[4]: (Imber 2002, 143) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[5]: (Imber 2002, 145) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
"Period marked in the beginning by reconstruction after defeat at Ankara 1402 (resp. after the following civil war until 1412) and in the end by the conquest of Mamluk Egypt and Syria, which marks the beginning of a period of stronger Islamisation of the Empire."
[1]
Period can be considered to begin, officially, in 1413.
[2]
Succession
[3]
Mehmed I (1413 -)
Murad II (1421 -)
Mehmed II (1444 -)
Murad II (1446 -) -- 1449 CE reached Danube.
Mehmed II (1451 -) -- 1453 CE conquest of Constantinople. New naval base "based on Italian designs and Greek seamanship".
[4]
Bayzid II (1481 -) -- 1507 CE Portuguese cut off commerce to Red Sea and Mediterranean
[5]
Selim I (1512 -) -- after Battle of Chaldiran (1514 CE) Ottomans annex eastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia, control trade routes from Tabriz to Aleppo and Bursa." 1516-1517 CE Ottomans take Syria and Egypt from Mamluks.
[5]
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[2]: (Cosgel, Metin. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email)
[3]: (Lapidus 2012, 430)
[4]: (Lapidus 2012, 436)
[5]: (Lapidus 2012, 434)
Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Turkish. [1] Persian was used for international correspondence. Turkish was the official language of state. However, it was a "highly Persianate Turkish" called Osmanli. [2] On a regional non-governing basis: "in no province of the Empire was there a unique language." [3] Other languages: Slavonic, Greek, Albanian, romance-speaking Vlachs, Greek, Armenian, Kurdish, Arabic. [4]
[2]: (Hodgson 1961, 562)
[3]: (Imber 2002, 2) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan.
[4]: (Imber 2002, 2) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Turkish. [1] Persian was used for international correspondence. Turkish was the official language of state. However, it was a "highly Persianate Turkish" called Osmanli. [2] On a regional non-governing basis: "in no province of the Empire was there a unique language." [3] Other languages: Slavonic, Greek, Albanian, romance-speaking Vlachs, Greek, Armenian, Kurdish, Arabic. [4]
[2]: (Hodgson 1961, 562)
[3]: (Imber 2002, 2) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan.
[4]: (Imber 2002, 2) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
People. Istanbul.
[50,000-60,000]: 1453 CE; 70,000: 1478 CE; [200,000-410,000]: 1500 CE. Good estimates; in 1478, there were 16,326 households in Constantinople.
[1]
Istanbul
1453 CE. 50,000-60,000.
[2]
1500 CE: 410,000.
[3]
1500 CE: 200,000.
[4]
1478 CE: 70,000 CE. Figure derived from a census which counted 14,803 families.
[5]
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 449)
[3]: (Haywood 2011, 116)
[4]: (Chase Dunn Spreadsheet)
[5]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 18)
People. Istanbul.
[50,000-60,000]: 1453 CE; 70,000: 1478 CE; [200,000-410,000]: 1500 CE. Good estimates; in 1478, there were 16,326 households in Constantinople.
[1]
Istanbul
1453 CE. 50,000-60,000.
[2]
1500 CE: 410,000.
[3]
1500 CE: 200,000.
[4]
1478 CE: 70,000 CE. Figure derived from a census which counted 14,803 families.
[5]
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 449)
[3]: (Haywood 2011, 116)
[4]: (Chase Dunn Spreadsheet)
[5]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 18)
People. Istanbul.
[50,000-60,000]: 1453 CE; 70,000: 1478 CE; [200,000-410,000]: 1500 CE. Good estimates; in 1478, there were 16,326 households in Constantinople.
[1]
Istanbul
1453 CE. 50,000-60,000.
[2]
1500 CE: 410,000.
[3]
1500 CE: 200,000.
[4]
1478 CE: 70,000 CE. Figure derived from a census which counted 14,803 families.
[5]
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 449)
[3]: (Haywood 2011, 116)
[4]: (Chase Dunn Spreadsheet)
[5]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 18)
People.
Population of Ottoman Empire
[1]
1,000,000: 1325 CE
2,500,000: 1350 CE
5,000,000: 1400 CE
7,000,000: 1450 CE
9,000,000: 1500 CE9,000,000: 1500 CE Seems possible, according to tax registers, there were 872,000 households in Ottoman Anatolia in 1520, cf. H. İNALCIK, An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Volume I: 1300-1600. Cambridge 1997.
[2]
[1]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 137)
[2]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
People.
Population of Ottoman Empire
[1]
1,000,000: 1325 CE
2,500,000: 1350 CE
5,000,000: 1400 CE
7,000,000: 1450 CE
9,000,000: 1500 CE9,000,000: 1500 CE Seems possible, according to tax registers, there were 872,000 households in Ottoman Anatolia in 1520, cf. H. İNALCIK, An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Volume I: 1300-1600. Cambridge 1997.
[2]
[1]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 137)
[2]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
1. Capital city (Istanbul)
2. Provincial city3. District cityBy 16th century Sanjaks based around a town with a population of about 100,000.
[1]
4. Town5. Village6. Nomadic tribes (Turcomans)
[2]
[1]: (Imber 2002, 184 Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[2]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 34)
[1]
1. Sultan
Suleiman I called himself "caliph of all the Muslims in the world"
[2]
2. Chief Mufticalled seyhulislam. Part of the ulema religious establishment.
3. Inner Circlecalled ilmiye. Part of the ulema religious establishment.
4. Imams
"The population of the Empire was heterogenous in religion, language and social structure. As the Faith of the sultans and of the ruling elite, Islam was the dominant religion, but the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Churches retained an important place within the political structure of the Empire, and ministered to large Christian populations which, in many areas, outnumbered Muslims." There were also Jews (especially after expelled from Spain 1492), Maronites and Druzes.
[3]
[1]: (Palmer 1992)
[2]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 20)
[3]: (Imber 2002, 1-2) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
1400-1590 CE: timar holders and their retainers number about 50,000 and "formed the most important element in the Ottoman army."
[1]
Emir Orhan: "A regularly paid force of Muslim and Christian cavalry and infantry was created by his vizier, Allah al Din. The horsemen were known as müsellems (tax-free men) and were organised under the overall command of sancak beys into hundreds, under subaşis, and thousands, under binbaşis. The foot-soldiers, or yaya, were comparably divided into tens, hundreds and thousands. These infantry archers occasionally fought for Byzantium, where they were known as mourtatoi. Müsellems and yayas were at first paid wages, but by the time of Murat I (1359) they were normally given lands or fiefs in return for military service, the yayas also having special responsibility for the protection of roads and bridges."
[2]
1. Sultan
2. sancak beys3. Thousands4. Hundreds5. Tens6. Individual soldier (yaya or müsellems)
"Both [yaya] and the müsellems were gradually relegated to second-line duties late in the 14th century, and by 1600 such units had either been abolished or reduced to non-military functions."
[2]
"On mobilization, one of every ten sipahis remained at home to maintain law and order. The rest formed into alay regiments under their çeribaşi, subaşi and alay bey officers. These led them to theş local sancak bey’s two-horse-tail standard. The men of each sancak then assembled around a provincial governor or beylerbeyi before riding to the Sultan’s camp."
[3]
1. Sultan
2. Commander in chief3. Beylerbeyi4. Sancak bey5. çeribaşi, subaşi and alay bey officers of the alay (regiment)6.7.8. Individual sipahissipahis (timar holders).
9. cebeluslarger timar holders of zeamets could equip mounted retainers (cebelus).
[3]
Version based on Shaw (the following structure was the same for the administration and military)
[4]
implies that the çeribaşi and subaşi Nicolle mentions are below the alay beys.
1. Sultan
2. Commander in chief3. eyalets lead by beylerbeyis or "beys of beys", ruled provinces4. sancak or liva commanded by sancek bays (who ruled local administration. They appointed police chiefs. Religious judges - kadis - oversaw justice).5. alay regiment, commanded by alay beys6. sipahitimar or fief holder (mounted soldier). Siphai had no rights of ownership, he was the Sultan’s representative, whose job was to maintain order, over-see agriculture and collect taxes from the peasants. Distribution most concentrated in Balkans and Anatolia.
7. Man-at-armsAccording to an Albanian register of 1431-1432 CE one timar holder had to be present on campaign together with one man-at-arms.
[5]
[1]: (Imber 2002, 256-257) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 9)
[3]: (Nicolle 1983, 12)
[4]: (Shaw 1976, 24)
[5]: (Imber 2002, 198) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
See C. IMBER, The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power. Basingstoke. 2009.
[1]
1. Sultan
Mehmet II also took the title "caesar" and "ruler of the two continents and the two seas"
[2]
The Ottoman Empire was a dynastic state. Rule was passed on to male heir.
[3]
Sultans "ruled the Empire through members of their own household, whom they had appointed to government office. This was a tendency which began probaby in the late fourteenth century, and had become very pronounced by the late fifteenth."
[4]
"The sultans ruled the Empire through their court as much as through formal organs of government" and sometimes by-passed formal structures of government such as in diplomatic negotiations. "There never, it seems, was a formal mechanism for policy making. All decisions in theory were the sultan’s own. What mattered, therefore, was the character of the sultan, and the individuals or factions who had his ear."
[5]
"At the center of the centralizing Ottoman state was an elaborate court, palace, and household government."
[6]
_ Central government line _
2. Imperial Council (divan) under presidency of the grand vizier
[5]
Issued decrees of Sultan and made less important and administrative policy decisions.
[5]
"These scattered references suggest that probably during the fourteenth and certainly during the fifteenth century, a small group of viziers advised the sultan on political and administrative affairs, and had the power to make appointments in his name."
[7]
According to Ottoman tradition, grand vizirate may have come about after Mehmed II stopped attending meetings.
[7]
3. Military judges (kadi’asker)
[8]
3. Treasurers (defterdar)
[8]
of the Imperial Treasury of the Porte4. Pages of the treasuryPages of the treasury were responsible to a eunuch.
[9]
Heads of treasury administration, chancery services etc.
[10]
Officials rotated.
[11]
3. Chancellor (nishanji)
[8]
"it was the chancellor who oversaw the clerks who drew up decrees and other documents"
[8]
4. Clerks under the ChancellorAfter 1520 CE all scribes were Muslim but before this time a diversity of languages were used and an anonymous contemporary source suggested there was "a Chancellery for each language".
[12]
_ Provincial line _
2. Provinces with governors (beylerbeyi)
[13]
Governor-generals (beylerbeyi) were the Sultan’s appointees and they could be moved or changed at his request. They were not hereditary positions and not held for life.
[14]
3. Judgeship of a town or city judge (kadi)
[15]
"The judge, unlike the sanjak governor, had authority throughout his area, with judgeships forming what has been called ’a parallel system’ of administration
[16]
3. Districts (Sanjaks) under district governor (Sanjak beyi)
[17]
who was also a military commander
[18]
Role of sanjak included law and order (with fief holder), pursuing bandits, investigating heresy, supplying army, materials for shipbuilding, and those on the frontier special military duties.
[19]
4. Fief-holding soldiers responsible for local law and order
[20]
"The troops of each sanjak, under the command of their governor, would then assemble as an army and fight under the banner of the governor-general of the province. In this way, the structure of command on the battlefield resembled the hierarchy of provincial government."
[14]
[19]
Fiefs were only one form of land-holder in Sanjacks. Other land was privately owned, formed part of a trust, or controlled by the Sultan. Beglik or miri land was given out by Sultan as fiefs.
[21]
By 1500 CE the smallest fiefs were called timar (village or group of villages and their fields). Larger ones subashilik (or zeamet). Largest called a hass.
[22]
[23]
[24]
2. beylerbeyliks
[25]
or BeylerbikProvince run by a beylerbey.
1500 CE four central provinces: Rumelia, Anatolia, Rum and Karaman under direct rule.
[25]
3. sanjak beyliks
[25]
or sanjakCounty run by a bey
4. timarliks
[25]
"districts assigned to military officiers in lieu of salary" 37,500 timar holders in 1527 CE
[26]
timar holder was chief law enforcement officer on his lands.
[25]
"In the early seventeenth century, they replaced assignment of tax revenues to timar holders with direct taxation. Timars were sold to wealthy investors as tax farms." 1597 CE. in 1695 CE tax farms "sold as life tenures (malikane).
[27]
5. Council of Elders / Intermediaries of timar holders
[25]
run by headman or mayor
[28]
"timar holders themselves used intermediaries to oversee their domains. Local landowners, merchants, and village notables or headmen were important in tax collection and the administration of local affairs."
[25]
2. Vassal provinces
"In matters of provincial government, the empire was never truly centralized. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it was still common for newly conquered regions to remain vassal provinces, under the control of their former lords, often Christians, in return for tribute and military manpower."
[29]
Millet"Christians and Jews were expected to have their own laws. Everyone was organised in the so-called ’millets’, communities based on faith, and as long as the millet did not come into conflict with Islamic organisation and society, paid its taxes and kept the peace, its leaders were largely left to run their own affairs."
[30]
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[2]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 18)
[3]: (Imber 2002, 87) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[4]: (Imber 2002, 148) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[5]: (Imber 2002, 154) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[6]: (Lapidus 2012, 437)
[7]: (Imber 2002, 156) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[8]: (Imber 2002, 157) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[9]: (Imber 2002, 149) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[10]: (Lapidus 2012, 439)
[11]: (Lapidus 2012, 444)
[12]: (Imber 2002, 170-171) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[13]: (Imber 2002, 177-178) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[14]: (Imber 2002, 182) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[15]: (Cosgel, Metin. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. April 2020)
[16]: (Imber 2002, 191) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[17]: (Imber 2002, 184) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[18]: (Imber 2002, 189) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[19]: (Imber 2002, 190) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[20]: (Imber 2002, 194) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[21]: (Imber 2002, 193) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[22]: (Imber 2002, 193-194) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[23]: (Palmer 1992)
[24]: (Nicolle 1996, 135-181)
[25]: (Lapidus 2012, 443)
[26]: (Lapidus 2012, 440)
[27]: (Lapidus 2012, 473)
[28]: (Shaw and Shaw 1977, 90)
[29]: (Lapidus 2012, 442)
[30]: (Turnbull 2003, 77)
"By 1400, therefore, most of the troops in the Ottoman army served on a contractual basis, allowing the sultan to levy a predictable number of reliable troops year after year."
[1]
Emir Orhan: "A regularly paid force of Muslim and Christian cavalry and infantry was created by his vizier, Allah al Din. The horsemen were known as müsellems (tax-free men) and were organised under the overall command of sancak beys into hundreds, under subaşis, and thousands, under binbaşis. The foot-soldiers, or yaya, were comparably divided into tens, hundreds and thousands. These infantry archers occasionally fought for Byzantium, where they were known as mourtatoi. Müsellems and yayas were at first paid wages, but by the time of Murat I (1359) they were normally given lands or fiefs in return for military service, the yayas also having special responsibility for the protection of roads and bridges."
[2]
"Both [yaya] and the müsellems were gradually relegated to second-line duties late in the 14th century, and by 1600 such units had either been abolished or reduced to non-military functions."
[2]
Janissaries were paid a monthly salary.
[3]
[1]: (Imber 2002, 256-257) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 9)
[3]: (Nicolle 1983, 10)
Ulema means "scholars" - they are scholars of the Quran and the holy law, but not priests in the sense of rituals etc. But one should discuss this categorisation with an expert on Islam. [1] "Religious employees included the imams , the hatibs and the muezzin, who led daily prayers and served in local mosques. Some state employees, such as the muftis, the kadıs and the muderris, had both a legal and religious identity. The Ulema, scholars of the Quran and the holy law, are not priests in the sense of rituals etc." [2]
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[2]: (Cosgel, Metin. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. April 2020)
Emir Orhan: "A regularly paid force of Muslim and Christian cavalry and infantry was created by his vizier, Allah al Din. The horsemen were known as müsellems (tax-free men) and were organised under the overall command of sancak beys into hundreds, under subaşis, and thousands, under binbaşis. The foot-soldiers, or yaya, were comparably divided into tens, hundreds and thousands. These infantry archers occasionally fought for Byzantium, where they were known as mourtatoi. Müsellems and yayas were at first paid wages, but by the time of Murat I (1359) they were normally given lands or fiefs in return for military service, the yayas also having special responsibility for the protection of roads and bridges." [1]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 9)
Merit promotion present within the slave class.
Bureaucracy was staffed mostly from a slave class of boys raised from the devsirme tribute system, every five years, from Christian families (mostly from the Balkans region). They were taught Turkish, converted to Islam and educated from childhood to work in the military and government, excluding sons of most Muslim fathers within the Empire.
[1]
However, amongst the slave class promotion was usually on merit
"Appointments to judgeships required the attainment of appropriate levels in the educational system."
[2]
[1]: (Palmer 1992)
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 440)
[1]
Bureaucracy was staffed mostly from a slave class of boys raised from the devsirme tribute system, every five years, from Christian families (mostly from the Balkans region). They were taught Turkish, converted to Islam and educated from childhood to work in the military and government, excluding sons of most Muslim fathers within the Empire.
[1]
Emir Orhan: "A regularly paid force of Muslim and Christian cavalry and infantry was created by his vizier, Allah al Din. The horsemen were known as müsellems (tax-free men) and were organised under the overall command of sancak beys into hundreds, under subaşis, and thousands, under binbaşis. The foot-soldiers, or yaya, were comparably divided into tens, hundreds and thousands. These infantry archers occasionally fought for Byzantium, where they were known as mourtatoi. Müsellems and yayas were at first paid wages, but by the time of Murat I (1359) they were normally given lands or fiefs in return for military service, the yayas also having special responsibility for the protection of roads and bridges."
[2]
[1]: (Palmer 1992)
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 9)
"Appointments to judgeships required the attainment of appropriate levels in the educational system."
[1]
"The iç oğlani were trained forup to seven years in palace schools which concentrated on character-building, leadership, military and athletic prowess, languages, religion, science, and a creative art of the pupil’s choosing. Three further examinations selected men for the Kapikulu cavalry, to be Kapikulu officers and, at the top of the tree, to become military or administrative leaders. All remained bachelors until their training ended, when most married women who had been through a parallel schooling in the Palace harem."
[2]
[1]: (Lapidus 2012, 440)
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 10)
Called a Kadi.
[1]
"The Ottoman state appointed all important judges, jurisconsults, and professors of law."
[2]
Military judges (kadi’asker) were the "chief judges of the Empire, who were responsible for judicial matters that came before the council."
[3]
[1]: (Finkel 2012)
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 440)
[3]: (Imber 2002, 157) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
From 15th century Ottomans had secular law called kanun which coexisted with the religious law, shari’a.
[1]
"Kanun regulated areas where the provisions of the sacred law were either missing or too much at at odds with reality to be applicable. These, in the Ottoman Empire as in other Islamic polities, were above all in the areas of criminal law, land tenure, and taxation. The origins of the secular law lay in custom, and it was long usage that in the first place gave it legitimacy."
[1]
Justice system was the seriat, Islamic law, decided by the ulema religious establishment.
[2]
Mehmet II "promulgated the first systematic legal codes dealing with the organization of the state and the obligations of subjects."
[3]
"In matters of government administration, Ottomman law applied to all subjects, but in matters of family and business law, it applied only to Muslims. Non-Muslims had their own communal law and courts. In practice, however, Jews and Christians commonly had recourse to Ottoman courts in order to assure enforcement, or to have state guarantees for commercial and property transactions, or to win an advantage in marital and inheritance disputes."
[4]
[1]: (Imber 2002, 244) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[2]: (Palmer 1992)
[3]: (Ira Lapidus with Lena Salaymeh 2012, 442)
[4]: (Lapidus 2012, 442)
Mehmet II built commercial centres including a covered bazaar in the Old City of Istanbul. ( [1] Endowment funds were invested in bazaars and shops. [2] Fixed economy in Istanbul. "The state required traders to guarantee the delivery wheat, salt, meat, oil, fish, honey, and wax directly to the palace and the capital city at fixed prices. Merchants were thus made agents of the state to meet the fiscal and provisioning needs of the capital." [3]
[1]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 18)
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 449)
[3]: (Lapidus 2012, 450)
inferred present from territory held
The elaborate water supply system of Constantinople was restorated and enlarged by the Ottomans, cf. EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/3217/original/DPC0748.pdf?1384773927 ; also Adrianople had such a system EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/3221/original/DPC0760.pdf?1384773938 [1]
[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[1] Ali Kuscu 1403-1474 CE. Samarkand tradition. Twelve works on mathematics and astronomy. Kadizade-i Rumî 1337-1437 CE. Mirim Celebi (d. 1525) mathematics and astronomy. Musa b. Hamun (d. 1554) Jewish physician. Nasuh al-Silahi al-Matraki (d. 1564) mathematics and geography. Taki al-Din al-Rasid (d. 1585) "wrote more than thirty books in Arabic on the subjects of mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, and medicine." [2] Piri Reis (d. 1553 CE) - maps.
[1]: (Agoston and Masters 2009, 338)
[2]: (http://www.theottomans.org/english/art_culture/science.asp)
Piri Reis geography, first map 1511 CE. The Book of Bahriye (Book of Navigation). Admiral Seydi Ali Reis (d. 1562) maritime geography. [1] "Legal and financial records." [2]
[1]: (http://www.theottomans.org/english/art_culture/science.asp)
[2]: (Imber 2002, 149) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
Molla Lutfi (Bayezid II period) classification of sciences and geometry. [1] "Legal and financial records." [2]
[1]: (http://www.theottomans.org/english/art_culture/science.asp)
[2]: (Imber 2002, 149) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
Ibn Kemal. [1] Unknown author wrote Tarih-i Hind-i Garbi (History of Western India). Presented to Sultan Murad III in 1583 CE. [2]
[1]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 19)
[2]: (http://www.theottomans.org/english/art_culture/science.asp)
[1] Unified currency from 17th century. [2] Venetian and other European coins also circulate in the Ottoman Empire. [3]
[1]: (Pamuk 2000, 62)
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 473)
[3]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.
"Kilidülbahir castle overlooks the Dardanelles from the Gelibolu peninsular. It was first built by the Ottomans in the late 15th century." [1] Yeni Kule (Seven Towers fort) 1458 CE. Kars, Erivan had a double wall and 51 towers. Maintained fortifications that had been built by Hungarians along Danube and Carpathian borders. [2] On the Examples include one on the Asiatic Bosphorus called Anadolu Hisar, and one on the European coast called Rumeli Hisar. The latter was completed in 1452 CE and allowed the Ottomans to control, using artillery, the route to and from the Black Sea. [3]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 7)
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 23-24)
[3]: (Turnbull 2003, 37)
Janissaries. From yeni ceri "new troops"; possibly founded in 1326 CE. [1] Hand-guns first used by Janissaries against the Hungarians 1440-1443 CE. [2] Only by end of 16th Century did the majority of Janissaries use gunpowder weapons, tufek matchlocks. [2]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 9)
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 10)
Janissaries. From yeni ceri "new troops"; possibly founded in 1326 CE. [1] Hand-guns first used by Janissaries against the Hungarians 1440-1443 CE. [2] Only by end of 16th Century did the majority of Janissaries use gunpowder weapons, tufek matchlocks. [2]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 9)
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 10)
Used at the Siege of Constantinople 1453 CE [1] and an earlier siege of the city in 1422 CE, according to John Kananos. [2] Possibly used at Karamania 1388 CE, Kosova 1389 CE and Nikopol 1396 CE. [3] By 1420s CE Ottomans began to use cannon for sieges. [4]
[1]: (Hodgson 1961, 560)
[2]: (Turnbull 2003, 31)
[3]: (Nicolle 1983, 18)
[4]: (Imber 2002, 268) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
Used at the Siege of Constantinople 1453 CE [1] and an earlier siege of the city in 1422 CE, according to John Kananos. [2] Possibly used at Karamania 1388 CE, Kosova 1389 CE and Nikopol 1396 CE. [3] By 1420s CE Ottomans began to use cannon for sieges. [4]
[1]: (Hodgson 1961, 560)
[2]: (Turnbull 2003, 31)
[3]: (Nicolle 1983, 18)
[4]: (Imber 2002, 268) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
Early Janissaries used weapons such as bows, slings, crossbows and javelins. [1] At some stage crossbow came into use, mainly for use in fortresses. [2] Janissaries, founded in second half of the 14th century, were less numerous. [3]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 10)
[2]: (Imber 2002, 267) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[3]: (Imber 2002, 257) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
Early Janissaries used weapons such as bows, slings, crossbows and javelins. [1] Siphai cavalry carried a bow. [2] Turkish bow fired from horseback. [3]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 10)
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, Plate B)
[3]: (Imber 2002, 267) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
Yara carried sword. [1] Timar-holding cavalrymen also carried short sword. [2] Janissaries, founded in second half of the 14th century, were less numerous. [3]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, Plate B)
[2]: (Imber 2002, 267) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[3]: (Imber 2002, 257) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
1456 CE fleet of 60 ships. 1470 CE 92 galleys. Soon after galleys plus transports numbered about 500. At its height in 17th Century the Mediterranean fleet had three squadrons, at North Africa, Egypt and the Aegean. [1] Murat II built a fleet which captured Thessaloniki from Venice in 1430 CE. [2] Mehmed II (1444-1446 CE and 1451-1481 CE) was the first Sultan to build up large naval forces. [3] assisted by Genoese engineers. [4]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 24-25)
[2]: (Nicolle 1983, 24)
[3]: (Hodgson 1961, 563)
[4]: (Inalcik and Quataert 1997, 19)