Tughril, a valiant warrior, was the head of the Genghis Khan hordes that appeared in Europe and later vanished. They eventually settled on the borders of the Rum Empire. They were a few people hence the settlement in this new region went almost unnoticed. One day, Ertughrul noticed a cloud of dust from the horizon, which was as a result of a battle near Eskic involving the Seljuk and Mongol. Ertughrul made a very historic decision, which brought about unexpected consequences. He helped the losing side to win and because of his assistance, he played a very great role in saving the Rum Empire.
As a sign of gratitude, the Seljuk Sultan Kaihusrev II (Kaikosrau) gave a strip of land encircling the battlefield to Ertughrul (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006). This strip of land ran from Eskic along Sakarya and was commensurate with the Roman province of Bithynia that had been captured by the Seljuks from the Byzantines almost a century earlier. It was here that Osman I established a small empire known as the “Memalik Osmanya”/ “The Principality of Osman” as indicated in Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006. He later made Bursa the capital city in 1305. He captured Gemlik in 1326 and this enabled him to establish the Ottoman Empire (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006).
Bursa grew and flourished very fat while the Rum Empire on the other hand declined gradually. The Rum Empire eventually became part of the Ottoman Empire alongside the tomb of the Seljuks, which was transformed to become the cradle of the Ottomans.
The Ottoman’s expansion continued to prevail. They occupied the whole Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor and Sultan Orhan (1326-1359), son of Osman ensured the achievement of the goal set to conquer the Balkans and capture Constantinople (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006). Orhan strengthened his army and expanded his territories just as earlier Ottomans had done. However, it was during the reign of Orhan that coins were used for the first time. Murad I (1359-1389) succeeded him after his death.
Murad, I benefited from the reforms set in place by his father. He also captured new lands and used them to expand and strengthen the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Serbia in the battle of Kosovo in 1989 has a great significance with regard to the Ottoman Empire because it was this battle that saw the death of Murad. Bayazid later succeeded his father Murad. Bayazid conquered several regions especially in Anatolia but his greatest achievement was his defeat against the Hungarian army in 1396. Unfortunately, he did not live long to enjoy his victory because he was later defeated in 1402 at Ankara by Timur, a Mongol. During the period 1402-1413, the empire created by Osman was shaken off.
In 1413 however, Mehmed I (1413-21), reconstructed the Ottoman state and by the end of his son’s (Murad II) reign (1421-1451), eastern and central Anatolia, as well as southern and eastern Balkans was under the Ottoman’s control (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006). The Ottoman rule at the time was less oppressive than the one which superseded it. The earlier Ottoman rule comprised of feudal dues imposed labor, and peasantry as Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006 implies. Mehmed II/the conqueror (1451-81) was the reason for the emergence of the Ottoman state as a world power after conquering Constantinople in 1453 hence allowing the expansion of the Ottoman’s state into northern Anatolia and gaining dominance in the Straits and southern shores of the Black Sea (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006).
The Ottoman empire culminated in the golden age, the reign of Sultan Suleyman I (1520-66). Suleyman I was referred to as the lawgiver due to the new codification prevalent during his reign. During Suleyman’s reign, the Ottoman Empire had regained its power and a majority of the great cities were under the sultan’s crescent flag. Other provinces and several other regions were under the sultan. Suleyman is considered to be the best Islamic ruler in all history. He embodied the theme of justice and harmony in most Islamic states.
Suleyman was known as ‘the magnificent’ by the Europeans and ‘Kanuni/law giver’ by the Ottomans. He was greatly involved in the politics of Europe. He is known to stir up trouble in Europe hence the split of Europe based on Christianity, where there emerged Catholic and Protestant states. He is in a large part linked to the success and spread of Protestantism. His golden age is associated with building projects including palaces, bridges, and mosques that were incomparable to any other building in the world during that century (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006).
Pasha Sinan was an employee of Suleyman and who, because of his intelligence, is deemed as the greatest and most brilliant architect in human history. Sinan built mosques that are seen as the greatest architectural achievements in Islam and possibly the rest of the entire world as told in the Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006. The greatest unique ability of Sinan is in his capability of handling engineering setbacks that are seen as nearly insurmountable.
Suleyman, since he was an artist himself through poetry, cultivated the theme of art during the Ottoman Empire (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006). During his reign, Istanbul became the center of visual art, philosophy, writing, and music in the Islamic world. The reign of Suleyman represented and possibly continues to represent the most creative period during the Ottoman Empire. Suleyman’s reign was the peak of the Ottoman’s culture and history but on the other hand, the internal and external power of the state continually declined (Karalahana Karadeniz Forum, 2006).
The decline in power was attributed to reduced vigilance over the government’s functionality by Suleyman and resultant corruption. The British Empire was deemed to principally contribute to the decline of the Ottoman Empire during its last century (19th) of existence.
References
Karalahana Karadeniz Forum. (2006). The Ottomans. Karalahana. Web.