For over 600 years the Ottoman Empire ruled lands across three continents, from the Balkans to North Africa and the Middle East, becoming one of the most powerful states in world history.
Rise of the Ottomans
The Ottomans began around 1300 as a small Turkish state in Anatolia (modern Turkey), named after their leader Osman. Over the next century they grew steadily, absorbing neighbouring territories and building a disciplined army.
- They used skilled cavalry and, later, gunpowder cannon and firearms.
- The Janissaries were an elite infantry corps, famous for their discipline.
The conquest of Constantinople, 1453
In 1453 Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople, the ancient capital of the Byzantine Empire, after a long siege using enormous cannon. The city was renamed Istanbul and became the Ottoman capital. This event is often used to mark the end of the medieval period.
Suleiman the Magnificent
The empire reached its height under Suleiman I (ruled 1520–1566), known in the West as “the Magnificent” and to Ottomans as Kanuni, “the Lawgiver”.
- He reformed and organised Ottoman law.
- He was a great patron of art, poetry and architecture; the architect Sinan built magnificent mosques.
- Ottoman armies reached the gates of Vienna in 1529.
Put these events in Ottoman history in order, earliest first:
- Osman founds a small Turkish state in Anatolia (c.1300)
- Mehmed II captures Constantinople, which becomes Istanbul (1453)
- Ottoman armies reach the gates of Vienna under Suleiman I (1529)
- The empire begins a long, slow decline (from the late 1600s)
- The empire collapses and the Republic of Turkey is founded (1923)
Government, culture and decline
The Ottomans governed a very diverse empire. Under the millet system, Christian and Jewish communities were allowed to run many of their own religious and legal affairs, though non-Muslims paid a special tax and did not have equal status. The empire was a centre of learning, trade and craftsmanship.
From the late 1600s the empire slowly weakened as European rivals grew stronger, trade routes shifted, and internal problems mounted. It survived, shrinking, until it finally collapsed after the First World War, and the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923.