The Ottoman Empire: An Islamic Gunpowder Empire
Islamic Gunpowder Empires



: 1299-1922
: 1501-1722
: 1526-1858
Ottoman Expansion

defeated by
(mid 13th C)
 Mongols retreat

expand into
 Byzantine Empire collpases
o
fall (14th & 15th C)
o
falls (1453)
 control much of
 navy dominant in
o The “
 Western Europe worried
o failed sieges of
(15th & 16th C)
An Empire of Warfare
 Focus on
 Sipahis
o
o
o
o
 Janissaries
o
o
o Check Turkic cavalrymen’s power
o Controlled
o Influential upon
o Later intervened in
Ottoman Politics
 Sultan (absolute monarch)
o Ex.
o
o
o
o
 Vizier
o Head of
o Gained great power


Topkapi Palace: What was it?
Istanbul

 Constantinople restored  Istanbul
 Among the most

 Focus of many
o Africa, Asia, Europe
o
o
o
o
o
Ottoman Decline
 Economic Decline:
o Began
o Reached limits of
o Heavy taxation on
o Impacts from Western Europe
 Failed sieges of
 Navy defeated at
(1571)  Mediterranean power lessens
 New trade routes to


 fail to keep up with

Political Decline:
o central government lost control of
o local gov’t
o
o Sultanate
o Sheltered, pleasure-loving, & less-competent rulers
o Demands of
o
o ethnic groups demand
o Ottoman Empire remained until 1922