Ottoman Empire embraced a distinct appearance at the time Mehmed II took control. Mehmed II reigned over Ottoman Empire for two separate periods where one was considerably shorter than the other as it started from fourteen forty-four to fourteen forty-six. The other period was a bit longer which started from fourteen fifty-one and lasted for thirty years, ending in fourteen eighty-one.
Throughout his entire ruling, Mehmed was outstandingly active and his main mission was to conquer empires as well as cities where he employed his military proficiency to invade the regions at ease. The conquest of Constantinople is considered the most significant of his invasions since his predecessors’ efforts to conquer it had failed. Together with other conquests, Mehmed managed to considerably increase the region covered by Ottoman Empire.
Introduction
Ottoman Empire originated from a Turkish principality that has its roots in Asia. This empire arose in the late thirteenth century at a time when the Empire of Byzantine was in the process of crumbling and the Seljuk Turks Empire had already collapsed. The name Ottoman came from Osman I who was crowned the outstanding royal empire’s initiator. The area covered by Ottoman Empire stretches from Asia Minor otherwise known as modern Turkey to North Africa, Middle East, and Southeastern Europe to Egypt.
Mehmed II carried out his ruling in Ottoman Empire outstandingly to a point that he was recognized as a legend for his contribution to the army. When Mehmed was aged twenty-one, he went out to lead young men that comprised an army into a war where they had the privilege of capturing Constantinople which is currently known as Istanbul. Since then his name and personality have been upheld as he is credited for being the first ruler in Ottoman Empire to portray such a high level of imperialism. Goffman (2002 pp 28-32)
Mehmet II Portraits
Mehmet II’s two portraits give a description of his appearance which was very unique and according to a scholar known as Philip; Mehmet II’s appearance was quite terrible. Philip recognized some features of Mehmet II’s face that were quite striking and those that made him so outstanding as they were in line with his dictatorial character. These features were a curved nose that was raised at the middle extending to the mouth section and shifty eyes. Some of Mehmet II’s portraits were found in Paolo’s museum who claimed that one of the portraits was original and that it was painted by Gentile Bellini who lived during Mehmet II’s reign.
From this portrait; Mehmet II also had eagle-like eyes, a small mouth, and a circular chin which formed part of the characteristic appearance whose effect was felt even in his style of ruling. Another of Mehmet II’s portraits that have some form of Gentile originality is the Layard picture which is found in the National gallery. In this particular portrait, Mehmet II is less energetic which shows that the portrait represents his appearance at the age of fifty-two, the age he died at. However, his unique appearance is still evident in the same way his outstanding character persisted all through his reign. Gray (1932 pp.4-6)
Conquest of Constantinople
Before Mehmed took over the reign of the Ottoman Empire, his predecessors had managed to conquer lands that surrounded Constantinople city, and the land on which the city lay was the only one they had not managed to conquer. Constantinople was conquered during Mehmed II’s reign in the year fourteen fifty-three and its entire capture was led and supported by Mehmed II. This was among the most significant events that characterize Ottoman Empire during Mehmed II’s reign. Conquering Constantinople took place in a very systematic manner where the first step was to block the city to control the fighting appropriately.
Mehmed led his men to Hagia Sophia which was previously a church, where he established a fighting operations base. Muslims also made a significant contribution to this practice where they made use of cannons, very big guns, which were powerful weapons to attack their rivals. Muslims employed their cannons to attack Constantinople’s walls to a point that they destroyed them completely. After they had conquered the city, they proceeded to make some adjustments in the way it operated with the first change being the conversion of the previously Christian city to a city of Islam. Ottoman’s main objective was to have a completely new appearance of Constantinople which made it necessary to enlarge and mark the Empire’s border correctly.
Therefore, the Ottomans connected the continent of Africa to that of Asia which allowed the Empire to cover a wider area than before. This was followed by several other conquests by the Ottomans where they subsequently overpowered Christians. The conquest of the Balkan Peninsula was among the subsequent invasions led by Mehmed II where he took possession of Bosnia, Aegean islands as well as Greece.
This caused him to have several friends including Khan who offered to collaborate with him as he carried out his invasions. Trebizond Empire which is in Asia was also seized by Mehmed II during his ruling. It is during this particular time that Mehmed dissolved all independent empires that existed in Turkey to come up with only a single empire namely Ottoman Empire. The ruling families of Turkish Empires were subdued by being put to death which was aimed at eliminating any of their traces that would erupt thereafter in protest. Kennedy (2004 p.69-75)
Trade treaties within Ottoman Empire under Mehmed’s reign
Several agreements were initiated by Mehmed II at the time when Constantinople fell including trade agreements with the leaders of the Genoese colony which had fallen together with Constantinople. This particular agreement allowed leaders and citizens of Genoese colonies to retain several trading privileges that they previously enjoyed. Several parties were not happy with the Ottoman’s series of conquests among them being Western contemporaries who were particularly concerned with Byzantine’s invasion which they considered an extraordinary tragedy.
Latin contemporaries also analyzed the losses incurred from the city’s destruction where they regarded them as death that had occurred to a learning center. Holy places, as well as great churches, were also considered to have been destroyed during the city’s invasion by Mehmed II’s army. Constantinople’s fall was considered a very significant event and that was symbolic in a unique manner as it marked the absorption of a large part of Byzantine territory to a point that it was only left with a very small portion under its name. Duiker (2006 85-86)
Some misleading inferences have concluded that the invasion by Ottoman marked the point where Latin trade which was conducted in the territory of Turkey began its declination. This is referred to as a misleading inference since no evidence is available to confirm that the main aim of invading the city was to terminate trading relations that had been previously agreed upon between Latinos and Ottomans. Contrary to the inferences, the economic policy of the Ottoman portrayed a situation where trade agreements were to be a continuation from his predecessors which showed that he would not have a good reason to terminate a long-term agreement.
The policy also showed that trade relations with Latinos were of great importance to Ottoman and would not equally have any interest in having them destroyed. Genoese, which was part of the empires attacked by Mehmed II’s army maintained good relations even after being conquered. The only interruptions that took place were during the time merchants were moving to Aegean islands where they were to investigate developments after which trade operations went back to normal. Duiker (2006 87-88)
Ottoman Empire Administration under Mehmed II
Mehmed made several adjustments to Ottoman Empire’s administration and also to other empires that he had managed to conquer. Among the empires that he made administrative adjustments to is old Byzantine where he combined its administrative operations with that of the Ottoman state to enable him to control Byzantine more closely.
His first step in making adjustments within Byzantine was to introduce politics in Byzantine where political factors may have previously prevailed but Caesars who were in control had not referred to their actions as political. Mehmed established a court where he assigned Greek Scholars as well as Italian humanists several duties that added to the operational court staff. The church was allowed to proceed with its functions only that patriarchs were ordered to embrace the Turkish faith and abandon the Christian faith.
Furthermore, Mehmed asked one of the gentiles to make his portrait and paint it accordingly which was aimed to indicate that he had taken over the city and that he was in full control as his portrait would replace those of former leaders of Byzantine. The invasion efforts portrayed by Mehmed were so intense as he was determined to conquer powerful empires including the Roman Empire which was evident when he showed interest in becoming the ruling Caesar of the Roman Empire. At this particular time, Mehmed’s main intention was to capture both Italy and Rome which he did not succeed as his plans were realized before he took action. The two empires took defense before they could be attacked by Mehmed’s army.
Muslim artists were also integrated into Mehmed’s court which he had established in Constantinople where he wanted to have full representation of each empire that he conquered. This would enable him to rule those empires appropriately. New infrastructure was set up in Byzantine as some of the previous ones had been destroyed during invasion where new infrastructure included a university, waterways as well as mosques. Quataert (2000 p.17)
Mehmed employed a very unique method in his conquest mission where he was particularly concerned with the religious status of his conquests. He ensured he did not only conquer the empires and cities but also significantly influenced their religious status. In this case, Mehmed attempted to transform Christians into Muslims which was the faith he supported. He took young Christians from the already conquered regions and recruited them as part of his army.
After being recruited, Mehmed ordered for the young men to be separated where some were assigned duties in Sultans court while the other group was integrated with his army. Mehmed ensured that he gained the favor of Christians by appointing one of the Patriarchs to govern them though he was to be directly answerable to him. This allowed him to comfortably introduce the city’s remodeling where he converted Byzantine to Turkish capital in which the dominant religion was to be Islamic.
The main interest of Mehmed’s adjustment of administrative operations in the Ottoman Empire was to tighten his control which also made him make considerable adjustments in areas he conquered as they were incorporated into Ottoman Empire. This enabled Mehmed II to have his ruling power centralized in one main operating system from where he would be able to directly or indirectly control his Empire. By the time Mehmed was through with his reign, he had managed to extend the region covered by Ottoman Empire to great lengths as it covered Asia, the African region as well as European regions. Faroqhi (1994 pp 59-60)
Conclusion
It is clear; that Mehmed II was a unique Ruler who conducted his ruling in a very outstanding manner. Mehmed II employed his military competency to undertake invasions where he conquered cities and Empires. The already conquered regions were integrated into Ottoman Empire and appropriate adjustments were implemented to enable Mehmed II to control them. Mehmed II was not comfortable with the Christian religion and he made efforts to influence Christians to abandon their faith.
They were encouraged to join Islam but in cases where they objected, he forced them into Islamic. Administrative operations were also adjusted to a form that would favor Mehmed II’s ruling. This included incorporating scholars and artists to his court operations where they were allocated duties that concerned their Here, he ensured that the governors he appointed were directly answerable to him, which made him chose persons who were familiar to the specific regions but not those from the former ruling. Faroqhi (1994 pp 61-64)
References
Duiker W. World History: Cengage Learning, 2006 pp85-88.
Faroqhi S. An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire: Cambridge University Press, 1994 pp59-64.
Goffman D. The Ottoman Empire and early modern Europe: Cambridge University Press, 2002 pp28-32.
Gray B. Two portraits of Mehmet II: The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd, 1932 p 4-6.
Kennedy P. The rise and fall of the great powers: Vintage Books, 2004 pp. 69-75.
Quataert D. Article on the Ottoman Empire: Cambridge University Press, 2000 p17.