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THE
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
The
Classical Age, 1453-1600
1481-1512, Bayezit II. A man of intellectual
tastes but the least significant of the first ten Ottoman sultans; comes to the throne
with the support of the Janissaries; his position challenged by younger brother, Jem, who
has himself proclaimed sultan at Bursa; in the ensuing civil
war, Jem is defeated, flees to Egypt, then to Rhodes; Knights of St. John send him to
France; Jem dies at Naples under suspicious circumstances in 1495. In 1489, Venetians get
Cyprus by bequest from its Catholic ruler; leads to resumption of Ottoman-Venetian wars;
Ottoman fleet commanded by Kemal Reis defeats Venetians; Ottoman cavalry aids within sight
of Venice; Venetians sue for peace, lose more trade stations, but keep control of some
lonian Islands. Otherwise, another period of respite making possible consolidation of
recent conquests, internal reforms, regularization of the financial systems, and expansion
of economic and commercial life
 1512-1520. Selim I, Yavuz (The Grim). Forces his father
to abdicate after a civil war among Bayezit’s sons; Selim defeats his brother, Ahmet, in
Anatolia and has him executed in1513; resumption of expansionist policy; rise of Safavi
dynasty in Persia; war against Ismail Safavi who had supported Ahmet; political rivalry
accentuated by religious differences (Sunni Ottomans, Shi’i Safavis); Battle of
Chaldiran, 1514, a victory for Selim; occupies Tabriz but obliged to withdraw when
Janissaries object to further advance; Selim subdues Eastern Anatolia and Kurdistan in
1515, provoking the Mamluks; 1515, Selim embarks on second campaign against Persia, is
diverted by Mamluk Sultan Kansu al- Gauri, ally of the Safavis; defeats Mamluks in battle
near Aleppo in which Mamluk sultan is killed; Aleppo and Damascus surrender to Selim who
offers peace to new sultan, Tuman Bey’, on condition he accept Ottoman suzerainty; offer
is refused and Selim’s army moves against Egypt. Cairo falls on Jan. 22, 1517; Tuman Bey
executed but Mamluks continue to be a powerful force in Ottoman Egypt. Last Abbasid
”Shadow Caliph” Mutavakkil is sent to Istanbul but returns to Cairo after Selim’s
death. Sherif of Mecca acknowledges Ottoman suzerainty; Ottoman sultan assumes
responsibility for the two Holy Cities and the pilgrimage routes. Expansion of Ottoman
fleet; continuing rivalry in Mediterranean with Venice. Beginnings of unrest in Anatolia
known as the Jelali Revolts.
 1520-1556, Suleyman I, Kanuni (The Lawgiver, The
Magnificent). Suleyman’s reign marks the zenith of Ottoman grandeur and power. Conquest
of Hungary and Baghdad; expansion across North Africa to Morocco; naval supremacy in the
Mediterranean and naval operations in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean; capitulations
(commercial treaties) with European states; alliance with Francis I of France against the
Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V; first Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1529; further
development and regularization of law, administration, medrese education; the nakkashhane
and patronage of the arts; the master architect, Sinan Pasha; Hurrem Sultan vs. Gulbahar
Hatun, harbinger of the ”Sultanate of the Women”; population explosion (from about 12
million to about 22 million) leading to or exacerbating social and economic problems;
revolts with imperial princes implicated; Sulayman dies while on a final campaign in
Hungary.
1566 - 1574, Selim II, Sarhosh (The Sot).
Incompetence of ruler permits political dominance of Grand Vezir Mehmet Sokollu; conquest
of Cyprus from the Venetians, reestablishment of the Cypriot Orthodox Patriarchate, and
the repopulation of the island; Battle of Lepanto (1571), nava1 defeat of Ottomans by
fleets of the Holy League; the Ottoman Empire has reached the limit of its geographical
expansion.
1574 - 1595, Murat III. Last of the Ottoman
sultans to have had training and experience in military and administrative matters before
taking the throne; growing power of the women of the Imperial Harem; death of Mehmet
Sokollu (1579) marks end of period of relative stability at the center of the Ottoman
system; wars with the Hapsburgs and with Persia; shifting trade routes, influx of New
World silver, inflation, and other factors precipitate economic crisis at the end of the
16th c.; decentralization follows in17th and 18th centuries as
Ottoman statesmen respond to new challenges, both domestic and foreign.
Assembled by
Richard L. Chambers,
The University of Chicago
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