Lecture 8

History I I IA. History of the Turks Professor Stanford J. Shaw Back to Syllabus

Lecture 8. The Peak of Ottoman Power, 1512-1566: The Second Ottoman Empire

1 . Selim I Yavuz('The Grim), 1512-1520. Kills off all princes but one (Süleyman), all his brothers, in order to deprive political parties of candidates to support for succession. Janissary corps becomes private guard of Sultan.

2. Campaign against Safavids of Iran (Shah Ismail) culminates in victory at Battle of Chaldiran (23 August 1514). Ismail and remnants of Iranian army withdraw into central Iran. Ottomans occupy Tabriz (Azerbaijan), but forced to leave due to winter, enabling Safavids to reoccupy province. Selim left in control of Eastern Anatolia.

3. Conquest of Syria and Egypt, 1516-1517. Battle of Marj dabik (24 August 1516) near Aleppo routs Mamluk army, kills Mamluk sultan. Battle of Ridaniye near Cairo (22 January 1517)-remnants of Mamluk army defeated, Ottomans occupy Egypt, Arabia. Control of Holy Cities, Muslim pilgrimage makes Ottoman Empire most important Islamic state, though Iraq remains under Safavid rule. Did Ottomans take over Abbasid Caliphate? Ottomans now assimilated to classical Islamic, Middle Eastern civilization---end to Byzantine, Roman influences.

4. Süleyman the 'Law Giver' (Kanuni), 'The Magnificent.' 1520-1566.Wealth and power resulting from Selim's conquests, Bayezid II's reorganization of Ottoman administration.

5. European campaigns. Capture of Belgrade (1521) enables Ottoman to cross Danube, invade Hungary, a divided feudal kingdom, ruled by King Louis II under Habsburg influence. Hungarian army destroyed at Battle of Mohacs (29 August 1526), ending Hungarian independence. Hungary autonomous vassal kingdom under Ottoman suzerainty (1526-154 1), ruled by John Zapolya, prince of Transylvania. Habsburg prince Ferdinand controls northern Hungary in name of father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles 11. Ferdinand marries Louis II's sister Anna, claims all of Hungary. Uses Suleyman's preoccupation with campaigns in Anatolia (1528) to occupy Budapest, Hungary. Suleyman returns, restores Zapolya, besieges Vienna (1529) unsuccessfully, but convinces Habsburgs not to try to conquer Hungary again. Leaves Hungary as Ottoman vassal, buffer between Ottomans and Habsburgs. Zapolya secretly agrees with Ferdinand to leave Hungarian throne to Ferdinand after his death. Then has son Sigismond Janos, asks Suleyman to support his claim to throne (1539). Zapolya's death (1540) leads Ferdinand to claim right to rule all Hungary. Suleyman responds by conquering Hungary and placing it under direct Ottoman rule. Starts third period of Ottoman-Habsburg relations (1540+), with constant guerilla warfare but no substantial advances on either side. Ottomans allied with France against Habsburgs enables French to establish commercial domination within Ottoman Empire.

6. Conflict in Mediterranean. Spanish Habsburgs create new fleet led by Andrea Doria, which captured Tunis (1535), made it base against Ottoman advance in Mediterranean. Raids Ottoman shores in eastern Mediterranean. Suleyman creates Ottoman fleet led by Hayruddin Barbarossa, pirate governor of Algiers. Raids shores of Italy and Spain. Pope responds by organizing fleet of Holy League under Andrea Doria (1538). Defeated by Ottomans at Battle of Preveze (1538), off Albanian coast, leaving Ottoman naval supremacy throughout Mediterranean until end of 16th century.

7. Suleyman campaigns through Anatolia against Safavids in 1534-5 (captures Iraq, Baghdad, Caucasus, Armenia), 1548-1550. Takes Tabriz but unable to keep it, leaving boundary on western frontiers of Azerbaijan. Control of Iraq enables Ottomans to send fleet into Eastern Seas through (Persian) Gulf and Red Sea (Piri Reis), counteract Portuguese,British and Dutch naval efforts to blockade international trade, force it to go around southern Africa instead of through Middle East.

8. Structure of Ottoman Society. Divided into Ruling Class of Ottomans (Osmanlilar) and Subject class of Rayas (Reaya), Ruling Class duties to conquer and defend the Empire and keep order and to collect enough taxes to support itself. Everything else left to Subject class.

Mülkiye

Seyfiye, Ehl-i Seyf

Kalemiye, Ehl-i Kalem

Ulema

b. Subject class (Rayas,/i>). Includes all who were not members of Ruling Class or who flee out of Ruling Class due to failure to practice its requirements. Divided into 4 millets: Muslim (led by Seyhülislam), Greek Orthodox, Armenian Gregorian (Apostolic) , both led by their Patriarchs, and Jewish. First three organized under leadership of religious hierarchies. Jewish millet organized into autonomous synagogue communities-effort to establish Grand Rabbi unsuccessful until 1835. Millets dealt with all things not carried out by Ruling Class: education, justice, social security, etc, according to their own religious laws and regulations and cultural traditions. Never forced to convert to Islam. Subject class also divided into mystic religious orders and economic guilds, which organized market place. .Theoretically millets were equal, but Muslim millet had superior position since its leaders were members of Ruling Class. And Jewish millet superior to Christian millets due to presence in Ottoman court of Jewish physicians, bankers, and due to Ottoman mistrust of Christians.

9. Muqata'a (Iqta' ) as basic Ottoman unit of finance and administration. All wealth in Empire belonged to Sultan. Sultan able to exploit it by dividing it into Muqata'as, which differed according to what was done with revenues, collected in form of taxes, custom duties, or fees (bahsis). . Muqata'a in which all revenues went to holder in return for military or administrative service called Timar. ('fief ?) Muqata'a in which all collected revenues went to Treasury called Emanet, held by Emin rewarded with separate salary in return for his work of collecting money. Muqata'a where revenues divided between holder and treasury called Iltizam,/i> (tax farm), held by Tax Farmer (Mültezim).

10. Despite divisions, Ottoman society held together through common loyalty to Sultan, common membership in Middle Eastern civilization, way of life. Institutions common to all elements of Ottoman society:

Hadd (boundary). Idea that every individual had his own place in life, limited by boundaries (hadd), in which he was absolute and could not be violated, even by Sultan. Manifested as his Honor ((Seref). If Hadd was violated, the individual involved would lose that much of his place in life unless he took vengeance (Intikam). Importance of relationship (Intisab) between individuals, united in households, placed in positions by master, working together for common ends. Vengeance against one involved vengeance against all those united in Intisab.

11. Decline in Süleyman's later years. Sultan retires from active role in government and army, appoints Devsirme Ibrahim Pasa as Grand vezir and retires to pleasures of Harem. Grand Vezir uses position to get rid of Turkish Aristocracy, who flee to estates in Anatolia. Devsirme no longer balanced off, use positions to exploit state for own benefit, leading to corruption, nepotism, misrule. Harem political parties unit with Devsirme political parties. Instead of assuring succession to ablest of sons, politics leads ablest sons to be killed, and weakest of sons, the degenerate Selim II succeeds father in 1566, starting Ottoman Empire on long and painful road of decline.