• Anatolia (Asia Minor), where Turkey is located, was the cradle of many civilizations in ancient times. By the time the ancestors of modern Turks arrived, the Byzantine Empire existed here - a Greek Orthodox state with its capital in Constantinople (Istanbul). The Arab caliphs who fought with the Byzantines invited Turkic tribes to military service, which were allocated border and empty lands for settlement.
• The state of the Seljuk Turks arose with its capital in Konya, which gradually expanded its borders to almost the entire territory of Asia Minor. Destroyed by the Mongols.
• In the lands conquered from the Byzantines, the Turkish Sultanate was founded with its capital in the city of Bursa. The Janissaries became the basis of the power of the Turkish sultans.
• The Turks, having conquered lands in Europe, moved their capital to the city of Adrianople (Edirne). Turkey's European possessions were named Rumelia.
• The Turks took Constantinople (see Fall of Constantinople) and made it the capital of the empire.
• Under Selim the Terrible, Türkiye conquered Syria, Arabia and Egypt. The Turkish Sultan deposed the last caliph in Cairo and became the caliph himself.
• The Battle of Mohacs took place, during which the Turks defeated the Czech-Hungarian army and occupied Hungary and approached the walls of Vienna. At the height of its power, during the reign of Suleiman "the Magnificent" (-), the empire stretched from the gates of Vienna to the Persian Gulf, from the Crimea to Morocco.
• The Turks captured Ukrainian territories west of the Dnieper.

Rise of an Empire

The Ottomans clashed with the Serbian rulers and won victories at Chernomen () and Savra ().

Battle of Kosovo Field

Early 15th century

His strong opponent was the Albanian hostage Iskander Beg (or Skanderbeg), who was brought up at the Ottoman court and was Murad’s favorite, who converted to Islam and contributed to its spread in Albania. Then he wanted to make a new attack on Constantinople, which was not dangerous for him militarily, but was very valuable due to its geographical position. Death prevented him from carrying out this plan, carried out by his son Mehmed II (1451-81).

Capture of Constantinople

The pretext for the war was that Constantine Palaeologus, the Byzantine emperor, did not want to hand over to Mehmed his relative Orkhan (son of Suleiman, grandson of Bayazet), whom he was saving for inciting unrest, as a possible contender for the Ottoman throne. The Byzantine emperor had only a small strip of land along the shores of the Bosphorus; the number of his troops did not exceed 6,000, and the nature of the administration of the empire made it even weaker. There were already quite a few Turks living in the city itself; the Byzantine government, starting from Orthodox churches. Only extremely convenient geographical position Constantinople and strong fortifications made it possible to resist.

Mehmed II sent an army of 150,000 people against the city. and a fleet of 420 small sailing ships blocking the entrance to the Golden Horn. The armament of the Greeks and their military art were somewhat higher than the Turkish, but the Ottomans also managed to arm themselves quite well. Murad II also established several factories for casting cannons and making gunpowder, which were run by Hungarian and other Christian engineers who converted to Islam for the benefits of renegadeism. Many of the Turkish guns made a lot of noise, but did no real harm to the enemy; some of them exploded and killed a significant number of Turkish soldiers. Mehmed began preliminary siege work in the fall of 1452, and in April 1453 he began a proper siege. The Byzantine government turned to Christian powers for help; the pope hastened to respond with a promise to preach a crusade against the Turks, if only Byzantium agreed to unite the churches; the Byzantine government indignantly rejected this proposal. Of the other powers, Genoa alone sent a small squadron with 6,000 men. under the command of Giustiniani. The squadron bravely broke through the Turkish blockade and landed troops on the shores of Constantinople, which doubled the forces of the besieged. The siege continued for two months. A significant part of the population lost their heads and, instead of joining the ranks of the fighters, prayed in churches; the army, both Greek and Genoese, resisted extremely courageously. It was led by Emperor Constantine Palaiologos, who fought with the courage of despair and died in a skirmish. On May 29, the Ottomans opened the city.

Rise of Ottoman power (1453-1614)

The conquest of Greece brought the Turks into conflict with Venice, which entered into a coalition with Naples, the Pope and Karaman (an independent Muslim khanate in Asia Minor, ruled by Khan Uzun Hasan).

The war lasted 16 years in the Morea, the Archipelago and Asia Minor simultaneously (1463-79) and ended in victory for the Ottoman state. According to the Peace of Constantinople of 1479, Venice ceded to the Ottomans several cities in Morea, the island of Lemnos and other islands of the Archipelago (Negropont was captured by the Turks back in the city); The Karaman Khanate recognized the power of the Sultan. After the death of Skanderbeg (), the Turks captured Albania, then Herzegovina. In the city they waged war with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray and forced him to recognize himself as dependent on the Sultan. This victory was very important for the Turks. military significance, since the Crimean Tatars supplied them with auxiliary troops, at times 100 thousand people; but later it became fatal for the Turks, as it pitted them against Russia and Poland. In 1476, the Ottomans devastated Moldavia and made it a vassal state.

This ended the period of conquest for some time. The Ottomans owned all Balkan Peninsula to the Danube and Sava, almost all the islands of the Archipelago and Asia Minor to Trebizond and almost to the Euphrates, beyond the Danube Wallachia and Moldavia were also very dependent on them. Everywhere was ruled either directly by Ottoman officials or by local rulers who were approved by the Porte and were completely subordinate to it.

Reign of Bayazet II

None of the previous sultans did as much to expand the borders of the Ottoman Empire as Mehmed II, who remained in history with the nickname “Conqueror”. He was succeeded by his son Bayazet II (1481-1512) in the midst of unrest. The younger brother Cem, relying on the great vizier Mogamet-Karamaniya and taking advantage of the absence of Bayazet from Constantinople at the time of his father’s death, proclaimed himself sultan.

Bayazet gathered the remaining loyal troops; The hostile armies met at Angora. Victory remained with the older brother; Cem fled to Rhodes, from there to Europe and after long wanderings found himself in the hands of Pope Alexander VI, who offered Bayazet to poison his brother for 300,000 ducats. Bayazet accepted the offer, paid the money, and Cem was poisoned (). Bayazet's reign was marked by several more uprisings of his sons, which ended (except for the last one) successfully for the father; Bayazet took the rebels and executed them. However, Turkish historians characterize Bayazet as a peace-loving and meek man, a patron of art and literature.

Indeed, there was a certain halt in the Ottoman conquests, but more due to failures than to the peacefulness of the government. The Bosnian and Serbian pashas repeatedly raided Dalmatia, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola and subjected them to cruel devastation; Several attempts were made to take Belgrade, but without success. The death of Matthew Corvinus caused anarchy in Hungary and seemed to favor Ottoman designs against that state.

The long war, waged with some interruptions, ended, however, not particularly favorably for the Turks. According to the peace concluded in the city, Hungary defended all its possessions and although it had to recognize the right of the Ottoman Empire to tribute from Moldavia and Wallachia, it did not renounce the supreme rights to these two states (more in theory than in reality). In Greece, Navarino (Pylos), Modon and Coron () were conquered.

The first relations between the Ottoman state and Russia date back to the time of Bayazet II: ambassadors of Grand Duke Ivan III appeared in Constantinople to ensure unimpeded trade for Russian merchants in the Ottoman Empire. Other European powers also entered into friendly relations with Bayazet, especially Naples, Venice, Florence, Milan and the Pope, seeking his friendship; Bayazet skillfully balanced between everyone.

His main attention was directed to the East. He started a war with Persia, but did not have time to end it; in the city, his youngest son Selim rebelled against him at the head of the Janissaries, defeated him and overthrew him from the throne. Soon Bayazet died, most likely from poison; Selim's other relatives were also exterminated.

Reign of Selim I

The war in Asia continued under Selim I (1512-20). In addition to the usual desire of the Ottomans for conquest, this war also had a religious reason: the Turks were Sunnis, Selim, as an extreme zealot of Sunnism, passionately hated the Shia Persians, and on his orders, up to 40,000 Shiites living on Ottoman territory were destroyed. The war was fought with varying success, but the final victory, although far from complete, was on the side of the Turks. Around the world, Persia ceded to the Ottoman Empire the regions of Diyarbakir and Mosul, which lie along the upper reaches of the Tigris.

The Egyptian Sultan of Kansu-Gavri sent an embassy to Selim with a peace offer. Selim ordered to kill all members of the embassy. Kansu stepped forward to meet him; the battle took place in the Dolbec Valley. Thanks to his artillery, Selim achieved a complete victory; The Mamelukes fled, Kansu died during the escape. Damascus opened the gates to the winner; after him, all of Syria submitted to the Sultan, and Mecca and Medina surrendered under his protection (). The new Egyptian Sultan Tuman Bey, after several defeats, had to cede Cairo to the Turkish vanguard; but at night he entered the city and destroyed the Turks. Selim, not being able to take Cairo without a stubborn fight, invited its inhabitants to surrender with the promise of their favors; the inhabitants surrendered - and Selim carried out a terrible massacre in the city. Fog Bey was also beheaded when, during the retreat, he was defeated and captured ().

Selim reproached him for not wanting to obey him, the Commander of the Faithful, and developed a theory, bold in the mouth of a Muslim, according to which he, as the ruler of Constantinople, is the heir of the Eastern Roman Empire and, therefore, has the right to all the lands ever included in its composition.

Realizing the impossibility of ruling Egypt solely through his pashas, ​​who would inevitably eventually become independent, Selim retained next to them 24 Mameluke leaders, who were considered subordinate to the pasha, but enjoyed a certain independence and could complain about the pasha to Constantinople. Selim was one of the most cruel Ottoman sultans; besides his father and brothers, besides countless captives, he executed seven of his great viziers during the eight years of his reign. At the same time, he patronized literature and himself left a significant number of Turkish and Arabic poems. In the memory of the Turks he remained with the nickname Yavuz (unyielding, stern).

Reign of Suleiman I

Union with France

The closest neighbor of the Ottoman state and its most dangerous enemy was Austria, and to enter into serious fight, without enlisting anyone's support, it was risky. France was the natural ally of the Ottomans in this struggle. The first relations between the Ottoman Empire and France began in the city; Since then, both states have exchanged embassies several times, but this did not lead to practical results. In 1517, King Francis I of France proposed to the German Emperor and Ferdinand the Catholic an alliance against the Turks with the aim of expelling them from Europe and dividing up their possessions, but this alliance did not take place. : the interests of the named European powers were too opposed to each other. On the contrary, France and the Ottoman Empire did not come into contact with each other anywhere and they had no immediate reasons for hostility. Therefore, France, which once took such an ardent part in the Crusades, decided to take a bold step: a real military alliance with a Muslim power against a Christian power. The final impetus was given by the unfortunate Battle of Pavia for the French, during which the king was captured. Regent Louise of Savoy sent an embassy to Constantinople in February 1525, but it was beaten by the Turks in Bosnia, undoubtedly against the wishes of the Sultan. Not embarrassed by this event, Francis I sent an envoy from captivity to the Sultan with a proposal for an alliance; the Sultan was supposed to attack Hungary, and Francis promised war with Spain. At the same time, Charles V made similar proposals to the Ottoman Sultan, but the Sultan preferred an alliance with France.

Soon after, Francis sent a request to Constantinople to allow the restoration of at least one catholic church, but received a decisive refusal from the Sultan in the name of the principles of Islam, along with a promise of all kinds of protection for Christians and protection of their safety ().

Military successes

Reign of Mahmud I

Under Mahmud I (1730-54), who was an exception among the Ottoman sultans with his gentleness and humanity (he did not kill the deposed sultan and his sons and generally avoided executions), the war with Persia continued, without definite results. The war with Austria ended with the Peace of Belgrade (1739), according to which the Turks received Serbia with Belgrade and Orsova. Russia acted more successfully against the Ottomans, but the conclusion of peace by the Austrians forced the Russians to make concessions; Of its conquests, Russia retained only Azov, but with the obligation to demolish the fortifications.

During the reign of Mahmud, the first Turkish printing house was founded by Ibrahim Basmaji. The Mufti, after some hesitation, gave a fatwa, with which, in the name of the interests of enlightenment, he blessed the undertaking, and the Sultan Gatti Sherif authorized it. Only the printing of the Koran and holy books was prohibited. In the first period of the printing house’s existence, 15 works were printed there (Arabic and Persian dictionaries, several books on the history of the Ottoman state and general geography, military art, political economy, etc.). After the death of Ibrahim Basmaji, the printing house closed, a new one appeared only in the city.

Mahmud I, who died of natural causes, was succeeded by his brother Osman III (1754-57), whose reign was peaceful and who died in the same way as his brother.

Attempts at reform (1757-1839)

Reign of Abdul Hamid I

The Empire at this time was almost everywhere in a state of ferment. The Greeks, excited by Orlov, were worried, but, left by the Russians without help, they were quickly and easily pacified and cruelly punished. Ahmed Pasha of Baghdad declared himself independent; Taher, supported by Arab nomads, accepted the title of Sheikh of Galilee and Acre; Egypt under the rule of Muhammad Ali did not even think of paying tribute; Northern Albania, ruled by Mahmud, Pasha of Scutari, was in a state of complete rebellion; Ali, Pasha of Yanin, clearly sought to establish an independent kingdom.

The entire reign of Adbul Hamid was occupied with pacifying these uprisings, which could not be achieved due to the lack of money and disciplined troops from the Ottoman government. This was joined by a new war with Russia and Austria (1787-91), again unsuccessful for the Ottomans. It ended with the Peace of Yassy with Russia (1792), according to which Russia finally acquired Crimea and the space between the Bug and the Dniester, and the Peace of Sistov with Austria (1791). The latter was relatively favorable for the Ottoman Empire, since its main enemy, Joseph II, died, and Leopold II directed all his attention to France. Austria returned to the Ottomans most of the acquisitions it made during this war. Peace was already concluded under Abdul Hamid's nephew, Selim III (1789-1807). In addition to territorial losses, the war brought one significant change to the life of the Ottoman state: before it began (1785), the empire entered into its first public debt, first internal, guaranteed by some state revenues.

Reign of Selim III

Kuchuk-Hussein moved against Pasvan-Oglu and waged a real war with him, which did not have a definite result. The government finally entered into negotiations with the rebellious governor and recognized his lifelong rights to rule the Viddinsky pashalyk, in fact on the basis of almost complete independence.

The war with the French had barely ended (1801) when the uprising of the Janissaries began in Belgrade, dissatisfied with the reforms in the army. Their oppression sparked a popular movement in Serbia () under the leadership of Karageorgi. The government initially supported the movement, but it soon took the form of a real popular uprising, and the Ottoman Empire was forced to take military action. The matter was complicated by the war started by Russia (1806-1812). Reforms had to be postponed again: the Grand Vizier and other senior officials and military personnel were at the theater of military operations.

Coup attempt

Only the kaymakam (assistant to the grand vizier) and deputy ministers remained in Constantinople. Sheikh-ul-Islam took advantage of this moment to plot against the Sultan. The ulema and janissaries took part in the conspiracy, among whom rumors were spread about the Sultan’s intention to distribute them among the regiments of the standing army. The Kaimaks also joined the conspiracy. On the appointed day, a detachment of Janissaries unexpectedly attacked the garrison of the standing army stationed in Constantinople and carried out a massacre among them. Another part of the Janissaries surrounded Selim's palace and demanded that he execute people they hated. Selim had the courage to refuse. He was arrested and taken into custody. Abdul Hamid's son, Mustafa IV (1807-08), was proclaimed Sultan. The massacre in the city continued for two days. Sheikh-ul-Islam and Kaymakam ruled on behalf of the powerless Mustafa. But Selim had his followers.

Even in the territory remaining with the empire, the government did not feel confident. In Serbia, an uprising began in the city, ending only after Serbia was recognized by the Peace of Adrianople as a separate vassal state, with its own prince at its head. The uprising of Ali Pasha of Yanin began in the city. As a result of the treason of his own sons, he was defeated, captured and executed; but a significant part of his army formed cadres of Greek rebels. In the city, the uprising, which developed into the War of Independence, began in Greece. After the intervention of Russia, France and England and the Battle of Navarino (sea) which was unfortunate for the Ottoman Empire, in which the Turkish and Egyptian fleets were lost, the Ottomans lost Greece.

Army reform

In the midst of these uprisings, Mahmud decided to boldly reform the Janissary army. The Janissary corps was replenished with annual intakes of Christian children of 1000 annually (in addition, service in the Janissary army was inherited, for the Janissaries had families), but at the same time it was reduced due to constant wars and rebellions. Under Suleiman there were 40,000 Janissaries, under Mehmed III - 1,016,000. During the reign of Mehmed IV, an attempt was made to limit the number of Janissaries to 55 thousand, but it failed due to their rebellion, and by the end of the reign their number rose to 200 thousand. Under Mahmud II it was probably even greater (salaries were given to more than 400,000 people), but it is completely impossible to accurately determine it precisely due to the complete indiscipline of the Janissaries.

The number of orts or ods (detachments) was 229, of which 77 were stationed in Constantinople; but the agis themselves (officers) did not know the true composition of their odes and tried to exaggerate it, since in accordance with it they received salaries for the Janissaries, which partly remained in their pockets. Sometimes salaries, especially in the provinces, were not paid at all for entire years, and then even this incentive to collect statistical data disappeared. When rumors spread about the reform project, the Janissary leaders at a meeting decided to demand that the Sultan execute its authors; but the Sultan, who foresaw this, sent a standing army against them, distributed weapons to the population of the capital and proclaimed a religious war against the Janissaries.

A battle took place in the streets of Constantinople and in the barracks; government supporters broke into homes and exterminated the Janissaries with their wives and children; The Janissaries, taken by surprise, offered almost no resistance. At least 10,000, and according to more accurate information, up to 20,000 Janissaries were exterminated; the corpses were thrown into the Bosphorus. The rest fled across the country and joined bandits. In the provinces, arrests and executions of officers were carried out on a large scale, while the mass of the Janissaries surrendered and were distributed to the regiments.

Following the Janissaries, on the basis of the Mufti's fatwa, the Bektashi dervishes, who had always served as faithful companions of the Janissaries, were partly executed and partly expelled.

Military losses

Getting rid of the Janissaries and Dervishes () did not save the Turks from defeat both in the war with the Serbs and in the war with the Greeks. These two wars and in connection with them were followed by a war with Russia (1828-29), ending with the Peace of Adrianople in 1829. The Ottoman Empire lost Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Greece, and the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

Following this, Muhammad Ali, Khedive of Egypt (1831-1833 and 1839), broke away from the Ottoman Empire. In the fight against the latter, the empire suffered blows that put its very existence at stake; but she was saved twice (1833 and 1839) by the unexpected intercession of Russia, caused by the fear of a European war, which would probably be caused by the collapse of the Ottoman state. However, this intercession also brought real benefits to Russia: around the world in Gunkyar Skelessi (), the Ottoman Empire granted Russian ships passage through the Dardanelles, closing it to England. At the same time, the French decided to take Algeria from the Ottomans (since 2006), which had previously, however, been only nominally dependent on the empire.

Civil reforms

The wars did not stop Mahmud's reform plans; private reforms in the army continued throughout his reign. He also cared about raising the level of education among the people; with him () began to go out to French the first newspaper in the Ottoman Empire that had an official character (“Moniteur ottoman”), then () the first Ottoman also official newspaper “Takvim-i-vekai” - “Diary of Incidents”.

Like Peter the Great, perhaps even consciously imitating him, Mahmud sought to introduce European morals among the people; he himself wore a European costume and encouraged his officials to do so, prohibited the wearing of a turban, organized festivities in Constantinople and other cities with fireworks, with European music and generally according to the European model. He did not live to see the most important reforms of the civil system conceived by him; they were already the work of his heir. But even the little he did went against the religious feelings of the Muslim population. He began to mint coins with his image, which is directly prohibited in the Koran (the news that previous sultans also removed portraits of themselves is subject to great doubt).

Throughout his reign, Muslim riots caused by religious feelings incessantly occurred in different parts of the state, especially in Constantinople; the government dealt with them extremely cruelly: sometimes 4,000 corpses were thrown into the Bosphorus in a few days. At the same time, Mahmud did not hesitate to execute even the ulema and dervishes, who were generally his bitter enemies.

During the reign of Mahmud there were especially many fires in Constantinople, some of them caused by arson; the people explained them as God's punishment for the sins of the Sultan.

Results of the board

The extermination of the Janissaries, which at first damaged the Ottoman Empire, depriving it of a bad, but still not useless army, after several years ended up in highest degree beneficial: the Ottoman army rose to the level of European armies, which was clearly proven in the Crimean campaign and even more so in the war of 1877-78 and in the Greek war. Territorial reduction, especially the loss of Greece, also turned out to be more beneficial than harmful for the empire.

The Ottomans never allowed military service Christian; regions with a solid Christian population (Greece and Serbia), without increasing the Turkish army, at the same time required significant military garrisons from it, which could not be put into action in a moment of need. This applies especially to Greece, which, due to its extended maritime border, did not even represent strategic benefits for the Ottoman Empire, which was stronger on land than at sea. The loss of territories reduced the state revenues of the empire, but during the reign of Mahmud, trade between the Ottoman Empire and European states somewhat revived, and the country's productivity increased somewhat (bread, tobacco, grapes, rose oil, etc.).

So, despite everything external lesions, despite the terrible battle of Nizib, in which Muhammad Ali destroyed a significant Ottoman army and was followed by the loss of an entire fleet, Mahmud left Abdülmecid a state strengthened rather than weakened. It was also strengthened by the fact that from now on the interest of the European powers was more closely connected with the preservation of the Ottoman state. The importance of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles has increased enormously; The European powers felt that the capture of Constantinople by one of them would deal an irreparable blow to the others, and therefore they considered the preservation of the weak Ottoman Empire more profitable for themselves.

In general, the empire was still decaying, and Nicholas I rightly called it a sick person; but the death of the Ottoman state was delayed indefinitely. Beginning with Crimean War, the empire began to intensively make foreign loans, and this gained it the influential support of its numerous creditors, that is, mainly the financiers of England. On the other hand, internal reforms that could raise the state and save it from destruction became increasingly important in the 19th century. It's getting more and more difficult. Russia was afraid of these reforms, since they could strengthen the Ottoman Empire, and through its influence at the court of the Sultan tried to make them impossible; Thus, in 1876-77, she killed Midhad Pasha, who was capable of carrying out serious reforms that were not inferior in importance to the reforms of Sultan Mahmud.

Reign of Abdul-Mecid (1839-1861)

Mahmud was succeeded by his 16-year-old son Abdul-Mejid, who was not distinguished by his energy and inflexibility, but was a much more cultured and gentle person in character.

Despite everything Mahmud did, the Battle of Nisib could have completely destroyed the Ottoman Empire if Russia, England, Austria and Prussia had not entered into an alliance to protect the integrity of the Porte (); They drew up a treaty, by virtue of which the Egyptian viceroy retained Egypt on a hereditary basis, but undertook to immediately cleanse Syria, and in case of refusal he had to lose all his possessions. This alliance caused indignation in France, which supported Muhammad Ali, and Thiers even made preparations for war; however, Louis-Philippe did not dare to take it. Despite the inequality of power, Muhammad Ali was ready to resist; but the English squadron bombarded Beirut, burned the Egyptian fleet and landed a corps of 9,000 people in Syria, which, with the help of the Maronites, inflicted several defeats on the Egyptians. Muhammad Ali conceded; The Ottoman Empire was saved, and Abdulmecid, supported by Khozrev Pasha, Reshid Pasha and other associates of his father, began reforms.

Gulhanei Hutt Sheriff

• providing all subjects with perfect security regarding their life, honor and property;
• The right way distribution and collection of taxes;
• an equally correct way of recruiting soldiers.

It was considered necessary to change the distribution of taxes in the sense of their equalization and abandon the system of farming them out, determine the costs of land and naval forces; publicity of the proceedings was established. All these benefits applied to all subjects of the Sultan without distinction of religion. The Sultan himself took an oath of allegiance to the Hatti Sheriff. All that remained was to actually fulfill the promise.

Tanzimat

The reform carried out during the reign of Abdul-Mejid and partly his successor Abdul-Aziz is known under the name tanzimat (from Arabic tanzim - order, arrangement; sometimes the epithet khairiye - beneficent is added). The tanzimat includes a number of measures: continuation of army reform, a new division of the empire into vilayets, governed one at a time general pattern, establishment of the State Council, establishment of provincial councils (Majlis), first attempts at transfer public education from the hands of the clergy into the hands of secular authorities, the criminal code of 1840, the trade code, the establishment of the ministries of justice and public education (), the charter of commercial proceedings (1860).

In 1858, the trade in slaves within the Ottoman Empire was prohibited, although slavery itself was not prohibited (formally, slavery was only abolished with the declaration of the Turkish Republic in the 20th century).

Gumayun

Was besieged by rebels. Detachments of volunteers moved from Montenegro and Serbia to help the rebels. The movement aroused great interest abroad, especially in Russia and Austria; the latter turned to the Porte demanding religious equality, lower taxes, revision of real estate laws, etc. The Sultan immediately promised to fulfill all this (February 1876), but the rebels did not agree to lay down their weapons until the Ottoman troops were withdrawn from Herzegovina. The ferment spread to Bulgaria, where the Ottomans, in response, carried out a terrible massacre (see Bulgaria), which caused indignation throughout Europe (Gladstone's brochure about the atrocities in Bulgaria), entire villages were massacred, including infants. The Bulgarian uprising was drowned in blood, but the Herzegovinian and Bosnian uprising continued in 1876 and finally caused the intervention of Serbia and Montenegro (1876-77; see.

In which countries is Khoja Nasreddin a folklore anti-hero?

Khoja Nasreddin, a popular folklore character of the Muslim East, appears in parables as a learned vagabond and cunning man, capable of finding a way out of any situation and defeating any opponent with a word. However, in Bulgaria and Macedonia, long time under Ottoman rule, Khoja Nasreddin often appears as an anti-hero, over whom his local counterpart, Cunning Peter, who also travels on a donkey, wins arguments.

Why did the crescent become a symbol of Islam?

The crescent with a star acquired the status of a symbol of Islam relatively recently. During the life of the Prophet Muhammad and those who continued his work, the new religion did not have any signs. The crescent first began to appear on the flags of Arab countries in the 14th century, but the most significant contribution to its spread was made by the Ottoman Empire, which for several centuries was the most powerful Muslim state. That is why the symbol subsequently became identified with all of Islam.

In which country could a person sentenced to death escape punishment by outrunning the executioner in a race?

The power of the Ottoman Empire for a long time was reinforced by the absence of civil and internecine wars, not least thanks to the constant executions of high-ranking officials, which were carried out with the sanction of the ruling Sultan. However, not every death sentence was carried out due to a curious custom that arose around the 18th century. A convict from among the highest nobility could challenge the chief executioner and compete in a race from the main gate of the Topkapi Palace to the place of public execution at the fish market. In case of victory, the execution was usually canceled and replaced by exile from Istanbul.

Where and when did the monarchs who ascended the throne have the habit of killing all their brothers?

In the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire broke out Civil War between claimants to the throne, as a result of which Mehmed I became the sultan, who united all the lands. His grandson Mehmed II, in order to avoid such destructive civil strife, introduced the practice of killing brothers who could also have designs on the throne. The bloodiest in this aspect was the reign of Mehmed III, who killed 19 siblings and half-brothers. The tradition was abolished in the 17th century by Sultan Ahmed I, replacing murder with imprisonment in so-called “cafes”, where prisoners were completely isolated from the outside world, but had servants, concubines and entertainment.

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The very beginning of the eleventh century was marked by the fact that in the colossal territories of the Asian, free steppes, countless hordes of Sljuks rushed around, crushing more and more territories under their own rule. The country captured by these tribes included Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, but mainly the territory of modern Turkey. During the reign of the Seljuk Sultan Melek, who quite successfully ordered a long life in 1092, these Turks were the most powerful people for many thousands of kilometers around, but after his untimely death, and according to historians, he did not die from old age, having sat on the throne just two decades later, everything went to hell, and the country began to be torn apart by civil strife and the struggle for power. It was thanks to this that the first Ottoman Sultan appeared, about whom legends would later be made, but let’s take things in order.

The beginning of the beginning: the Sultanate of the Ottoman Empire - the history of its origin

To understand how everything really happened, the best option will present the course of events exactly in the chronology in which it happened. So, after the death of the last Seljuk sultan, everything fell into the abyss, and the large, and, moreover, quite strong state fell into many small ones, which were called beyliks. Beys ruled there, there was unrest and everyone tried to “revenge” according to their own rules, which was not only stupid, but also very dangerous.

Just where the northern border of modern Afghanistan lies, in an area that bears the name Balkh, the Oguz Kayi tribe lived from the eleventh to twelfth centuries. Shah Suleiman, the first leader of the tribe, had already handed over the reins of government to his own son Ertogrul Bey. By that time, the Kayi tribes had been pushed back from their nomadic camps in Trukmenia, so they decided to move towards the sunset until they stopped in Asia Minor, where they settled.

It was then that a quarrel between the Rum Sultan Alaeddin Kay-Kubad and Byzantium, which was becoming powerful, was planned, and Ertogrul had no choice but to help his ally. Moreover, for this “disinterested” help, the Sultan decided to endow the Kays with land, and gave them Bithynia, that is, the space that lay between Bursa and Angora, without the above-mentioned cities, rightly believing that this would be a little too much. Just then Ertorgul transferred power to his own son, Osman I, who became the first ruler of the Ottoman Empire.

Osman the First, son of Ertorgul, first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

It is worth talking about this truly outstanding person in more detail, since he undoubtedly deserves close attention and consideration. Osman was born in 1258, in a small town with only twelve thousand people called Tebasion, or Segut, which means “willow”. The mother of the young heir to the bey was a Turkish concubine, who was famous for her special beauty, as well as her tough disposition. In 1281, after Ertorgul successfully surrendered his soul to God, Osman inherited the territories occupied by the nomadic hordes of the Turks in Phrygia, and began to gradually expand.

At that time, the so-called wars for faith were already in full swing, and Muslim fanatics began to flock to the newly formed state with the young Osman at the head, and he took the place of his beloved “daddy” at the age of twenty-four, having proven his own worth more than once from all over the area. Moreover, these people firmly believed that they were fighting for Islam, and not for money or rulers, and the smartest leaders skillfully used this. However, at that time Osman still hardly understood what he wanted to do and how to continue what he himself had started.

The name of this particular person gave the name to the entire state, and from then on the entire Kayi people began to be called Ottomans or Ottomans. Moreover, many wanted to walk under the banners of such an outstanding ruler as Osman, and legends, poems and songs were written about his exploits in honor of the beautiful Malkhun Khatun, which still exist today. When the last of Alaeddin’s descendants passed away, Osman the first had his hands completely untied, since he owed his rise to the sultan to no one else.

However, there is always someone nearby who wants to grab a bigger piece of the pie for themselves, and Osman had such a half-enemy, half-friend. The name of the disgraced emir, who was constantly plotting, was Karamanogullar, but Osman decided to leave his pacification for later, since the enemy army was small and the fighting spirit was strong. The Sultan decided to turn his attention to Byzantium, whose borders were not reliably protected, and whose troops were weakened by the eternal attacks of the Turko-Mongols. Absolutely all the sultans of the Ottoman Empire and their wives went down in the history of the rather great and powerful Ottoman Empire, skillfully organized by the talented leader and great commander Osman the First. Moreover, a fairly large part of the Turks living there also called themselves Ottomans before the empire fell.

Rulers of the Ottoman Empire in chronological order: in the beginning there were the Kays

It is imperative to tell everyone that during the reign of the famous first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the country simply blossomed and shone with all its colors and wealth. Thinking not only about personal well-being, fame or love, Osman the First turned out to be a truly kind and fair ruler, ready to take harsh and even inhumane actions if necessary for the common good. The beginning of the empire is attributed to 1300, when Osman became the first Ottoman Sultan. Other sultans of the Ottoman Empire that appeared later, a list of which can be seen in the picture, numbered only thirty-six names, but they also went down in history. Moreover, not only the sultans of the Ottoman Empire and the years of their reign are clearly visible on the table, but also the order and sequence are strictly observed.

When the time came, in 1326, Osman the First left this world, leaving his own son on the throne, named Orhan of Turkey, since his mother was a Turkish concubine. The guy was very lucky that he had no rivals at that time, because people always kill for power in all nations, but the boy found himself on a horse. The “young” khan had already turned forty-five, which did not at all become an obstacle to daring exploits and campaigns. It was thanks to his reckless courage that the sultans of the Ottoman Empire, the list of which is a little higher, were able to gain possession of part of the European territories near the Bosporus, thereby gaining access to the Aegean Sea.

How the government of the Ottoman Empire advanced: slowly but surely

Brilliant, isn't it? Meanwhile, the Ottoman sultans, the list provided to you is completely reliable, should be grateful to Orhan for another “gift” - the creation of a real, regular army, professional and trained, at least cavalry units, which were called yayas.

• After Orhan died, his son Murad I of Turkey ascended the throne, who became a worthy successor to his work, moving further and further to the West and annexing more and more lands to his state.
• It was this man who brought Byzantium to its knees, as well as into vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire, and even invented the new kind troops - the Janissaries, who recruited young Christians, aged about 11-14, who were subsequently raised and given the opportunity to convert to Islam. These warriors were strong, trained, hardy and brave; they did not know their own tribe, so they killed mercilessly and easily.
• In 1389, Murad died, and his place was taken by his son Bayazid I the Lightning, who became famous throughout the world for his exorbitant predatory appetites. He decided not to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors, and went to conquer Asia, which he successfully succeeded in doing. Moreover, he did not forget about the West at all, besieging Constantinople for a good eight years. Among other things, it was against Bayazid that King Sigismund of the Czech Republic, with the direct participation and help of Pope Boniface IX, organized a real crusade, which was simply doomed to defeat: only fifty thousand crusaders came out against the two hundred thousand Ottoman army.

It was Sultan Bayezid I the Lightning, despite all his military exploits and achievements, who went down in history as the man who stood at the helm when the Ottoman army suffered its most crushing defeat, at the Battle of Ankara. Tamerlane (Timur) himself became the Sultan’s opponent and Bayezid simply had no choice; fate itself brought them together. The ruler himself was captured, where he was treated with respect and politeness, his Janissaries were completely destroyed, and his army was scattered throughout the area.

• Even before Bayezid died, a real squabble for the Sultan’s throne broke out in the Ottoman lobbies; there were many heirs, since the guy was overly prolific; ultimately, after ten years of constant strife and showdowns, Mehmed I the Knight was seated on the throne. This guy was fundamentally different from his eccentric father; he was extremely reasonable, selective in his connections and strict with himself and those around him. He managed to reunite the shattered country, eliminating the possibility of rebellion or rebellion.

Then there were several more sultans, whose names can be seen in the list, but they did not leave a special mark on the history of the Ottoman Empire, although they successfully maintained its glory and reputation, regularly performing real feats and aggressive campaigns, as well as repelling the attacks of enemies. It is worth dwelling in more detail only on the tenth sultan - it was Suleiman I Kanuni, nicknamed the Lawgiver for his intelligence.

Famous history of the Ottoman Empire: Sultan Suleiman and the novel about his life

By that time, the wars in the West with the Tatar-Mongols had ceased, the states they had enslaved were weakened and broken, and during the reign of Sultan Suleiman from 1520 to 1566, they managed to very significantly expand the borders of their own state, both in one and and the other way. Moreover, this progressive and advanced person dreamed of a close connection between East and West, of increasing education and prosperity of sciences, but this is not what made him famous.

In fact, fame throughout the world came to Suleiman not at all because of his brilliant decisions, military campaigns and other things, but because of an ordinary Ternopil girl named Alexandra, according to other sources Anastasia) Lisovskaya. In the Ottoman Empire, she bore the name Hurrem Sultan, but she became more famous under the name that was given to her in Europe, and this name is Roksolana. Everyone in every corner of the world knows their love story. It is very sad that after the death of Suleiman, who, among other things, was also a great reformer, his and Roksolana’s children squabbled among themselves for power, which is why their descendants (children and grandchildren) were mercilessly destroyed. All that remains is to find out who rules the Ottoman Empire after Sultan Suleiman and how it all ended.

Interesting Facts: Women's Sultanate in the Ottoman Empire

It is worth mentioning the period when the female sultanate of the Ottoman Empire arose, which seemed simply impossible. The thing is that, according to the laws of that time, a woman could not be allowed to govern the country. However, the girl Hurrem turned everything upside down, and the sultanas of the Ottoman Empire were also able to have their say in world history. Moreover, she became the first concubine who became a real, legal wife, and, therefore, was able to become valid Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, that is, give birth to a child who has the right to the throne, in fact, simply the mother of the Sultan.

After the skillful reign of a brave and courageous female sultana, who so unexpectedly took root among the Turks, the Ottoman sultans and their wives began to continue new tradition, but not for very long. The last valid sultan was Turhan, who was also called a foreigner. They say her name was Nadezhda, and she was also captured at the age of twelve, after which she was raised and trained like a real Ottoman woman. She died at the age of fifty-five, in 1683; there were no more similar precedents in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

Female Sultanate of the Ottoman Empire by name

• Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska
• Nurbanu
• Safiye
• Kösem
• Turhan

Fall and collapse are just around the corner: the last ruler of the Ottoman Empire

It is worth saying that the Ottoman Empire held power for almost five centuries, while the sultans passed the throne by inheritance, from father to son. It must be said that the rulers of the Ottoman Empire after Sultan Suleiman somehow suddenly sharply shrank, or maybe different times have simply come. Moreover, there is even evidence, for example, the sultans of the Ottoman Empire and their wives, photos of which are in museums, and pictures can be found on the Internet if you really can’t wait to look. There were still quite a lot of sultans of the Ottoman Empire after Suleiman, until the last one appeared. The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire was called Mehmed VI Vahideddin, who took power in early July 1918, and by the autumn of 22 of the last century he had already left the throne due to the complete abolition of the sultanate.

The last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, whose biography is quite interesting and fascinating and deserves a separate story, having really done a lot for his country, for the people, was forced at the end of his life to beg the British to take him away from sin. In the cold autumn of 1922, the British Navy battleship Malaya carried Mehmed VI Vahideddin away from Constantinople. A year later, he made a real pilgrimage to the holy place for all Muslims - Mecca, and three years later he died in Damascus, where he was buried.

In the TV program Genç Bakış, historian Erhan Afyoncu answered students' questions about the Ottoman Empire. He drew attention to both misconceptions that we know about and some details that are completely unknown to us.

Below we present its main theses.

Ottoman Empire - Russia

— In the last periods of its existence, the Ottoman Empire suffered a lot from Tsarist Russia. It is Russia that is one of the countries that played an important role in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire; another such country is Great Britain. But Britain is more diplomatic. Russia is rude and tough. Now we are again witnessing this rudeness of Tsarist Russia.

— The Russians have chosen their range of action. the main objective- access to warm seas. Russia appeared as the protector of the Orthodox. Its expansion was unfavorable for the Ottoman Empire.

Context

Patriarch Kirill: a lesson for Pope Francis

Milli Gazete 01/27/2016

The world is falling into chaos

Cicero 08/06/2015

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire: the process continues

InoSMI 05/12/2015

Fratricide in the Ottoman Empire

Bugün 01/23/2014 - In the last two centuries of the Ottoman Empire, it faced a serious demographic problem. At the time of joining the First world war The population of Russia was 175 million, the Ottoman Empire - just over 20 million. Russia is calling up 12 million troops, we are calling up two million 750 thousand. In historical literature, this fact is rarely paid attention to.

— Russo-Turkish War 1877-1878 - one of the largest disasters in Turkish history. As a result, the backbone of the Ottoman Empire was broken. The Russians could easily take Istanbul!

— If not for the revolution of 1917 and the destruction of the tsarist regime in Russia, we would not be able to exist within our current borders. Russia occupied large parts of Eastern Anatolia. We returned it thanks to Kazim Karabekir (Ottoman military and political figure, commander Eastern Front at the end of the First World War, - approx. translation).

— Until the 90s of the 20th century, there were two main forces in the world. One of them is Russians. Now they are nostalgic for this time. The plane crisis in our relations with Russia dealt a blow to its reputation. Now they are trying to take revenge.

Woman in the Ottoman Empire

— Most Turkish historians, who have been mostly men since the Ottoman Empire, express concern about the interference of women in the affairs of the Ottoman state. This point of view persists during the republican period.

- However, examples of intervention by Valide Sultan, Kesem Sultan, Turhan Sultan in the affairs of the state show that it was mainly of a forced nature. How can an 11-year-old child rule the state?

— The participation of women bearing the title Valide Sultan in governing the country in the 17th century was prudent and beneficial for state development. They sacredly revered the state during the period of weakening of the ruling dynasty and brought the country out of the crisis.

Hurrem Sultan did not rule the state herself; her era was in the 16th century, and thanks to the series she gained popularity among her contemporaries.

Wives of the Padishah

“The strengthening of any family on the territory of the Ottoman lands was also undesirable. Giving your daughter to marry a padishah means becoming related to him and gaining influence. And when more than one center of power arises, the state wobbles.

— After the 18th century, the wives of the padishahs were mainly of Caucasian origin.

—Women were bought into the harem with the status of slaves.

— Conversion to Islam was not mandatory. Murad II's wife Mara was not a Muslim.

— According to the law of the Ottoman Empire, you could marry four women. But monogamy dominated 90-95%.

Prominent figures

— Murad II is the only padishah of the Ottoman Empire who voluntarily abdicated the throne before his death. Bayezid II, who abdicated the throne, was forced to do this.

— Fatih Sultan Mehmet stands apart in the list of Ottoman statesmen. This is a politician with an integral character who studied philosophy and art. He personally participated in 17 campaigns as commander-in-chief of his army. He read a lot, and translations of foreign literature were carried out on his orders.

— Yavuz Sultan Selim is also versatile statesman. When he was in Egypt, he became very interested in the Egyptian pyramids.

— Suleiman Qanuni sat on the throne for 46 years. His son Sultan Selim II is considered an incompetent ruler. However, this is not the case. Cyprus, Tunisia, and Yemen were taken under him.

— Evliya Celebi is another one significant person in the history of the Ottoman Empire. The name of this traveler should be given to the third airport currently under construction in Istanbul. The ten volumes of written sources that remained after him are an invaluable work related not only to our country, but also to the history of more than 20 states and peoples.

— The personality of Ibrahim Muteferrika (Muslim pioneer of printing, statesman of the Ottoman Empire, diplomat, translator - translator's note) should also be awarded, perhaps even more analysis in history textbooks than the Ottoman sultans.

— Architect Mimar Sinan was given importance, albeit not quite enough. This is a great genius and the author of almost 400 works.

“The name of Abdullah Efendi, who authorized the printing house, should also be mentioned here.

Sultans did not perform Hajj

— During the Ottoman Empire, the Hajj lasted nine months. They sent deputies to him. The sultans did not have such a tradition. The road to Hajj was unsafe. It was necessary to set off with a large escort in order to protect against nomadic robbers.

— With the advent of steamships in the 19th century, performing the Hajj became easier. Sultan Abdulaziz travels to London, Egypt. But not for Hajj!

— Sultan Cem was the only representative of the Ottoman dynasty who performed the Hajj. Vahdettin went on Hajj after he was dethroned. But he was unable to complete it due to security reasons.

— The Ottoman Empire was a Turkish state. The great-grandfathers of Osman Ghazi in all genealogies are associated with the legendary ancestor of the Turks - Oguz Khan. IN Lately identities began to be given special significance. Although during the Ottoman Empire, Muslim identity was sufficient.

— The enlightened intelligentsia that emerged in the Ottoman Empire began to think about how we could save ourselves from collapse. They suggested: let's say “we are Ottomans, not Turks.” They defended this thesis and did so quite sincerely. But nothing worked out. Then they said: “We are Muslims.” But then the Albanians and Greeks rebelled. These disputes also arose from time to time in Turkey. Namely, disputes about “Turkish” national identity. And this is the main skeleton of the people, the state. When you give it up, it disappears.

Education and religion

- Functioned everywhere primary schools. Elite education was to be the priority goal. The Ottoman Empire managed to do this. It ensured a fair hierarchical distribution. First of all, they accepted talented children.

— The Ottoman Empire was a state that tried to implement Islamic law. But in the last period of the empire, European law prevailed. Many trials took place not in Sharia courts, but in regular courts European style. Westernization took place.

— Drinking wine was the personal sin of the padishah.

- IN public life the sale of alcoholic beverages to Muslims has never been free. But in the Galata region this rule did not apply.

— The system of devshirme (forced recruitment of boys from Christian families, - approx. translation.) was not universal. Much more often the palace chose its people. The bureaucracy and the class of ulema (Muslim theologians and lawyers - approx. trans.) were controlled by the Turks. There weren't even Arabs. All Sheikh-ul-Islams (the title of the highest official on Islamic issues, - approx. translation.) - Turks.

There are so many lessons to be learned from history!

For almost 400 years, the Ottoman Empire controlled most of the territories of Southeast Europe, Turkey and the Middle East. It was founded by brave Turkic horsemen, but the empire soon lost much of its original power and vitality, falling into a state of functional dysfunction that held many secrets.

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10

Fratricide

IN early periods The Ottoman sultans did not practice the principle of primogeniture, when the eldest son is the only heir. Therefore, all available brothers claimed the throne at once, and the losers then went over to the side of enemy states and for a long time caused many problems for the victorious Sultan.

When Mehmed the Conqueror tried to conquer Constantinople, his uncle fought against him from the walls of the city. Mehmed solved the problem with his characteristic ruthlessness. After ascending the throne, he simply ordered the killing of male relatives, including not sparing his infant brother. Later, he issued a law that deprived more than one generation of life: “And the one of my sons who leads the Sultanate must kill his brothers. Most ulema allow themselves to do this anyway. So let them continue to act like this.”

From that moment on, each new sultan took the throne by killing all his male relatives. Mehmed III tore out his beard out of grief when his younger brother asked not to kill him. But he "did not answer a single word," and the boy was executed along with 18 other brothers. The sight of their 19 wrapped bodies being driven through the streets was said to have made the whole of Istanbul cry.

Even after the first round of murders, the rest of the Sultan's relatives were also dangerous. Suleiman the Magnificent watched silently from behind the screen as his own son was strangled with a bowstring; the boy became too popular in the army, so that the Sultan could not feel safe.

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9
In the photo: Kafes, Kuruçeşme, İstanbul

The principle of fratricide was never popular among the people and the clergy, so it was quietly abolished after sudden death Sultan Ahmed in 1617. Instead, potential heirs to the throne were kept in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul for special premises, known as "Kafes" ("cells").

One could spend one's entire life imprisoned in Kafes under the constant supervision of guards. Imprisonment was generally luxurious in terms of conditions, but with very strict restrictions. Many princes went crazy from boredom, or went into debauchery and drunkenness. When the new sultan was brought to the Gate of the Sovereign so that the viziers could pledge their loyalty to him, it may have been the first time he had gone outside in several decades, which did not bode well for the abilities of the new ruler.

In addition, the threat of liquidation from the ruling relative was constant. In 1621, the Grand Mufti refused Osman II's request to strangle his brother. Then he turned to the chief judge, who made the opposite decision, and the prince was strangled. Osman himself was later overthrown by the military, who were to remove his surviving brother from Kafes by dismantling the roof and pulling him out on a rope. The poor man spent two days without food or water, and was probably too distraught to notice that he had become Sultan.

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8

Silent Hell in the Palace

Even for the Sultan, life in Topkapi could be extremely boring and unbearable. It was then considered that it was indecent for the Sultan to talk too much, so a special sign language was introduced, and the ruler spent most of his time in complete silence. Sultan Mustafa found this completely unbearable and tried to lift such a ban, but his viziers refused. Mustafa soon went crazy and threw coins from the shore to the fish so that they would spend them.

Intrigues were constantly woven in the palace and in large quantities, as viziers, courtiers, and eunuchs fought for power. For 130 years, the women of the harem had great influence, a period that became known as the "female sultanate." Dragoman (chief translator) was always an influential person, and always a Greek. Eunuchs were divided along racial lines, with the chief black eunuch and the chief white eunuch often being bitter rivals.

At the center of this madness, the Sultan was under surveillance wherever he went. Ahmet III wrote to the Grand Vizier: “If I go from one room to another, 40 people line up, when I need to put on my pants, I do not feel the slightest comfort in this environment, so the squire must dismiss everyone, leaving only three or four people to I could be calm." Spending their days in complete silence under constant surveillance and in such a poisonous atmosphere, several Ottoman sultans of the last period lost their minds.

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7

The authorities in the Ottoman Empire had complete control over both the life and death of their subjects. Moreover, death was quite commonplace. The first courtyard of the Topkapi Palace, where petitioners and guests gathered, was a terrible place. There were two columns on which severed heads hung and a special fountain in which only executioners could wash their hands. During periodic total “cleansings” in the palace, entire mounds of cut-out tongues of the guilty were piled up in this courtyard, and a special cannon fired every time another body was thrown into the sea.

It is interesting that the Turks did not specifically create a corps of executioners. This work was performed by the palace gardeners, who divided their time between executions and growing delicious flowers. They beheaded most of their victims. But shedding the blood of members of the royal family and high-ranking officials was forbidden; they would be strangled. As a result, the head gardener was always a huge, muscular man who was capable of strangling any vizier at a moment's notice.

In the early periods, the viziers were proud of their obedience, and any decision of the Sultan was accepted without complaint. The famous vizier Kara Mustafa very respectfully greeted his executioner with the humble words “Let it be so,” while kneeling with a noose around his neck.

In subsequent years, attitudes towards this type of business management changed. In the 19th century, Governor Ali Pasha fought so hard against the Sultan's men that he had to be shot through the floorboards of his house.

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6

There was one way for the faithful vizier to avoid the wrath of the Sultan and stay alive. Beginning in the late 18th century, a custom arose that a convicted grand vizier could avoid execution by defeating the head gardener in a race through the palace gardens.

The condemned man was brought to a meeting with the head gardener, and after an exchange of greetings, the vizier was presented with a cup of frozen sherbet. If the sherbet was white, it meant that the Sultan had granted a reprieve. If it is red, then an execution must take place. As soon as the vizier saw the red sherbet, he had to immediately run away.

The viziers ran through the palace gardens between shady cypress trees and rows of tulips, while hundreds of eyes watched them from behind the windows of the harem. The convict's goal was to reach the fish market gate on the other side of the palace. If the vizier reached the gate before the head gardener, he was simply exiled. But the gardener was always younger and stronger, and, as a rule, was already waiting for his victim at the gate with a silk cord.

However, several viziers managed to avoid execution in this way, including Hachi Salih Pasha, the last to participate in this death race. After running with the gardener, he became the governor of one of the provinces.

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5

Mauling of Viziers

In theory, the Grand Vizier was second in command to the Sultan, but it was he who was executed or thrown into the crowd whenever things went wrong. Under Sultan Selim the Terrible there were so many great viziers that they always began to carry their wills with them. One day one of them asked Selim to let him know in advance if they were going to execute him, to which the Sultan cheerfully replied that there was already a queue lined up to replace him.

The viziers also had to reassure the people of Istanbul, who had the habit of coming to the palace and demanding execution in case of any failures. It must be said that people were not afraid to storm the palace if their demands were not met. In 1730, a rag-clad soldier named Patrona Ali led a crowd into the palace and they were able to take control of the empire for several months. He was stabbed to death after trying to get a butcher to lend him money for the ruler of Wallachia.

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4

Perhaps the most terrible place in the Topkapi Palace was the imperial harem. It numbered up to 2,000 women - the wives and concubines of the Sultan, most of them were bought or kidnapped as slaves. They were kept locked up in the harem, and for a stranger, one look at them meant immediate death. The harem itself was guarded and controlled by the Chief Black Eunuch, whose position was one of the most powerful in the empire.

Very little information has reached us about the living conditions in the harem and about the events taking place within its walls. It was believed that there were so many concubines that the Sultan had never even seen some of them. And others were so influential that they participated in the administration of the empire. Suleiman the Magnificent fell madly in love with a concubine from Ukraine, whose name was Roksolana, married her, and made her his main adviser.

Roxolana's influence was so great that the Grand Vizier ordered the kidnapping of the Italian beauty Julia Gonzaga in the hope that she could capture the attention of the Sultan. The plan was foiled by a brave Italian who broke into Julia's bedroom and carried her away on horseback just before the kidnappers arrived.

Kösem Sultan had even more influence than Roksolana, effectively ruling the empire as regent for her son and grandson. But Turhan’s daughter-in-law did not give up her position without a fight, and Kösem Sultan was strangled with a curtain by Turhan’s supporters.

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3

Tax in blood

In the early Ottoman period, there was a devşirme (“blood tax”), a type of tax in which boys from the Christian subjects of the empire were taken into the service of the empire. Most of the boys became janissaries and slave soldiers, who were always at the forefront of all Ottoman conquests. The tax was collected irregularly only when the empire's available number of soldiers fell short. As a rule, boys aged 12-14 were taken from Greece and the Balkans.

Ottoman officials collected all the boys in the village and checked names against baptismal records from the local church. Then the strongest were selected, at the rate of one boy for every 40 households. Selected children were sent on foot to Istanbul, the weakest were left to die on the roadsides. Getting ready detailed description each child so that they can be tracked if they escape.

In Istanbul, they were circumcised and forcibly converted to Islam. The most beautiful or intelligent were sent to the palace, where they were trained so that they could join the elite part of the Sultan's subjects. These guys could eventually reach very high ranks, and many of them became pashas or viziers, like the famous Grand Vizier from Croatia Sokollu Mehmed.

The rest of the boys joined the Janissaries. They were first sent to work on farms for eight years, where they learned Turkish and grew up. At the age of 20, they officially became Janissaries - the elite soldiers of the empire with iron discipline and ideology.

There were exceptions to this tax. It was forbidden to take away from the family the only child or children from men who served in the army. For some reason, orphans and Hungarians were not accepted. Residents of Istanbul were also excluded on the grounds that they "have no sense of shame." The system of such tribute ceased to exist in early XVIII centuries when the children of the Janissaries were allowed to become Janissaries

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2

Slavery remained main feature Ottoman Empire until the end of the 19th century. Most slaves came from Africa or the Caucasus (the Circassians were especially valued), and the Crimean Tatars provided a constant flow of Russians, Ukrainians and even Poles. It was believed that Muslims could not legally be enslaved, but this rule was quietly forgotten when the recruitment of non-Muslims ceased.

Renowned scholar Bernard Lewis argued that Islamic slavery emerged independently of Western slavery and, therefore, had a number of significant differences. For example, it was easier for Ottoman slaves to gain freedom or occupy high positions. But there is no doubt that Ottoman slavery was incredibly cruel. Millions of people died from raids or from

exhausting work in the fields. This is not even mentioning the castration process used to obtain eunuchs. As Lewis pointed out, the Ottomans brought millions of slaves from Africa, but there are now very few people of African descent in modern Turkey. This speaks for itself.

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1

In general, the Ottoman Empire was quite tolerant. Apart from the devshirme, they made no real attempt to convert their non-Muslim subjects to Islam and welcomed the Jews when they were expelled from Spain. Subjects were never discriminated against, and the empire was practically run by Albanians and Greeks. But when the Turks themselves felt threatened, they could act very cruelly.

Selim the Terrible, for example, was very concerned that the Shiites, who rejected his authority as a defender of Islam, could be double agents for Persia. As a result, he swept through the east of his empire, destroying livestock and killing at least 40,000 Shiites.

As the empire weakened, it lost its former tolerance, and minorities had a hard time. By the 19th century, massacres became more and more common. In the terrible year of 1915, just two years before the collapse of the empire, the massacre of 75 percent of the Armenian population was organized. About 1.5 million people died then, but Turkey still refuses to fully recognize these atrocities as the Armenian genocide.

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Conclusion

This was an article Secrets of the Ottoman Empire. TOP 10 interesting facts. Thank you for your attention!