Ottoman Empire, Part 2

Question 1: Describe how Ottoman domestic troubles helped motivate Timur’s attack on the Ottoman Empire.

Answer 1: Tamerlane fought the Ottoman Empire at Ankara in 1402, when Bayezid I was sultan. In addition to concerns over Ottoman aggression and the concerns of Anatolian exiles, Tamerlane was motivated by Ottoman domestic troubles. Bayezid had become less popular among his people for religious and cultural reasons. There was talk under Bayezid of forming a single religion based on Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, appalling Muslims. Bayezid also engaged in homosexual activity and drank wine; many Muslims found these behaviors abhorrent. Bayezid also introduced new and more elaborate court customs and manners, in contrast to those of simpler predecessors. Under Bayezid’s rule, Ottoman soldiers had less freedom, which led to discontent among the army. All of this contributed to dissatisfaction with Bayezid among his own subjects, weakening Bayezid’s power and making him more vulnerable to attack.

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Question 2: Identify Mehmed II and Selim I and briefly describe their significance for the Ottoman Empire.

Answer 2: Mehmed II – sultan from 1444-1446 and 1451-1481, Mehmed II was also called Mehmed the Conqueror. He conquered Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), then a Byzantine stronghold, and made that city the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed significantly expanded the empire, conquering Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Anatolia, and most of Greece. Mehmed also enacted legal, land, and tax reforms in the empire.Selim I – sultan from 1512-1520. Selim I doubled the size of the Ottoman Empire. He defeated the Safavids on the Eastern border of the Ottoman Empire, preventing the Safavids from capturing Ottoman territory (without destroying the Safavid Empire). He defeated the Mamluk Empire, which meant that the Ottoman Empire acquired control of the important cities of Mecca and Medina. This in turn suggested that the Ottomans sultans were protectors of Islam itself (Sunni Islam in particular).

Question 3: Explain the role of the sultan in the government of the Ottoman empire.

Answer 3: The actual power enjoyed by individual sultans changed somewhat throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire, but in general, the sultan was the supreme ruler, and his authority was absolute. For instance, in theory all military forces reported to the sultan. Therefore, the sultan was responsible for decisions about war, defense, and territorial expansion (occasionally, however, the military took action without consulting him). The sultan also oversaw other branches of government: bureaucrats and administrative officials, religious officials (the ulama), and justice officials (also the ulama). Especially as the empire was thriving, the sultan was seen also as a religious authority, a leader of Sunni Islam. Because the Ottoman government was Sunni and followed sharia (Islamic law), in this sense the sultan’s political authority was also religious authority.

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