Ottoman History

Ottoman History

For women who ruled, it seemed as if power and enduring happiness could not often coexist. While they lived, these women proved they could be as competent, decisive, and cruel when necessary, similar to their male counterparts.



In the seventeenth century, Sultan Mehmed III fathered a son, Ahmet I, who became ruler of the Ottoman Empire in 1603, at the age of thirteen. Until then, Ahmet had spent several years in isolation within Topkapi Palace's Golden Cage, an apartment reserved for princes younger than the reigning sovereign. Two years later, a fifteen year-old Greek girl born in 1590 entered his harem, a slave re-named Kosem. Daughter of a priest, Kosem entered the harem and in 1612, bore him their first son, Murad. She later became the mother of the princes Ibrahim and Bajezit.

Turkey is located in the Center of the Caucasus, Middle East and the Balkans which are the most unstable regions in the World. Therefore the defense policy is designed to preserve and protect the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and vital interests of the country. The Turkish Armed Forces missions and responsibilities are clearly stated in the Constitution and determined by laws as to react against new security problems and crises in the new century, to be ready to face the uncertainties, and to ensure the security of Turkey against internal and external risks.

The Western Front, a 400-plus mile stretch of land weaving through France and Belgium from the Swiss border to the North Sea, was the decisive front during the First World War. Whichever side won there – either the Central Powers or the Entente – would be able to claim victory for their respective alliance. Despite the global nature of the conflict, much of the world remembers the First World War through the lens of the Western Front, in large part thanks to the success of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic, All Quiet on the Western Front. This article looks at the war on the Western Front from 1914-1918, its major events, battles, and strategies.

Introduction↑

Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onward by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations.[1] It is thus a very difficult art to define because it covers many lands and various peoples over some 1,400 years; it is not art specifically of a religion, or of a time, or of a place, or of a single medium like painting.[2] The huge field of Islamic architecture is the subject of a separate article, leaving fields as varied as calligraphy, painting, glass, pottery, and textile arts such as carpets and embroidery.

Ahmed I (Ottoman Turkish: احمد اول‎ Aḥmed-i evvel; Turkish: I. Ahmed; April 18, 1590 – November 22, 1617) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empirefrom 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the end of the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth Ottoman rulers would no longer execute their brothers upon accession to the throne.[1] He is also well known for his construction of the Blue Mosque, one of the most famous mosques in Turkey.

Reign
Ahmed was the son of Mehmed III and Handan Sultan, a Greek slave. When he ascended the throne, his aunts Ayşe Sultan, Fatma Sultan, Mihrimah Sultan, Fahriye Sultan, Mihriban Sultan, and Rukiye Sultan as well as his powerful grandmother Safiye Sultan were still alive. He had two siblings, Mustafa I and a daughter of Mehmed III which was married toKara Davud Pasha.

(Note: Be careful when you Google her name. Nothing bad, but there is a Kosen Sultan who appears to hold the Guinness record for being the world’s tallest man, so not to be confused.)

So the “harem” is one of my favorite not-favorite Orientalist tropes. (“Favorite not-favorite” is one of my favorite phrases.) It’s also a very misunderstood concept, heavily romanticized in Western art and literature and imagined as a sexually debauched space where scantily clad women lounge on divans smoking hookah and pleasuring, well, pretty much any dude who walks in the door. You can see why it’s been popular.

Selim I (Ottoman Turkish: سليم اوّل, Modern Turkish: I.Selim), also known as "the Excellent," "the Brave" or the best translation "the Stern", Yavuz in Turkish, the long name is Yavuz Sultan Selim; (October 10, 1465/1466/1470 – September 22, 1520) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520.[1] He was also the first Ottoman Sultan to assume the title of Caliph of Islam.
Selim carried the empire to the leadership of the Sunni branch of Islam by his conquest of the Middle East. He represents a sudden change in the expansion policy of the empire, which was working mostly against the West and the Beyliks before his reign.[2] On the eve of his death in 1520, the Ottoman empire spanned almost 1 billion acres (trebling during Selim's reign).

Life

Life and death of Suleyman the Magnificent’s childhood friend and Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Pasha
Our hotel is named after the neighbouring 16th century Ottoman palace (now the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum) built by Ibrahim Pasha, the most popular Grand Vizier of Ottoman history. Below is a short biography (taken from Wikipedia).

The Ottoman Empire was the preeminent Muslim state of the early-modern and modern periods. Arising in Anatolia in the thirteenth century, the Ottomans came to dominate the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeastern Europe. Although often perceived as a Middle Eastern power only, the Ottomans were an integral part of Europe.

Mehmed II (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثانى‎, Meḥmed-i s̠ānī; Modern Turkish: II. Mehmed Turkish pronunciation: [ˈmeh.met]; 30 March 1432 – 3 May 1481), best known as Mehmed the Conqueror (Turkish: Fatih Sultan Mehmet), was an Ottoman sultan who ruled first for a short time from August 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to May 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and brought an end to the Eastern Roman Empire. Mehmed continued his conquests inAnatolia with its reunification and in Southeast Europe as far west asBosnia. Mehmed is considered a hero in modern-day Turkey and parts of the wider Muslim world. Among other things, Istanbul's Fatih district, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Fatih Mosque are named after him.

Early reign
Mehmed II was born on 30 March 1432, in Edirne, then the capital city of theOttoman state. His father was SultanMurad II (1404–51) and his mother Hüma Valide Hatun, born in the town ofDevrekani, Kastamonu.

Osman III (Ottoman Turkish: عثمان ثالث‎ ‘Osmān-i sālis;‎ 2/3 January 1699 – 30 October 1757) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1754 to 1757.[1]
Biography
The younger brother of Mahmud I (1730–54) and son of Mustafa II (1695–1703) and Valide Şehsuvar Sultan, he was born at Edirne Palace.
His brief reign saw rising intolerance of non-Muslims (Christians and Jewsbeing required to wear distinctive clothes or badges)[citation needed] and is also notable for a fire in Constantinople.[2][3] His mother was Şehsuvar Sultan, a Serbian valide sultan.

Audience of French ambassadorCharles de Vergennes with Sultan Osman III in 1755.
Osman III lived most of his life as a prisoner in the palace, and as a consequence on becoming Sultan he had some behavioural peculiarities. Unlike previous Sultans, he hated music, and banished all musicians from the palace. He died at the Topkapı Palace, Constantinople.

The Ottoman entry into World War I began on 29 October 1914 when it attacked Russia's Black Sea Coast in a surprise naval action. Following the attack, Russia and its allies, Britain and France, declared war on the Ottomans in November 1914. The Ottoman commencement of military action came after three months of formal neutrality, although it had signed a secret alliance with the Central Powers in August 1914.

The political reasons for the Ottoman Sultan's entry into the war are disputed.[1] The Ottoman Empire was an agricultural state in an age of industrialized warfare.[2] The economic resources of the empire were depleted by the cost of the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913.

Turkey–United States relations [1] in the post-World War II period evolved from the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943 and Turkey's entrance into World War II on the side of the Allies in February 1945, as a result of which Turkey became a charter member of the United Nations.[1] Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in much US military and economic support.[2] This support manifested in the establishment of a clandestine stay-behind army, denoted the "Counter-Guerrilla", under Operation Gladio. After participating with United Nations forces in the Korean War, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organizationin 1952.[3]

In 1913, the Ottomans asked the Germans to assist in the development of a new military force, the Germans sent officer Liman von Sanders in reply. Sanders established the Ottoman I Corps in the city of Constantinople. Initially, the Germans viewed a relationship with the Ottomans as purely a means to secure the trade of military arms.[1] The Ottoman Empire was also not initially interested in establishing an alliance with Germany, the empire originally attempted to form an alliance with Britain. Britain however ignored three Ottoman proposals for alliance in 1908, 1911, and 1913.[2]

Kösem was born Anastasia and was of Greek ancestry. While still young, she was sent to Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. There she was sold, at the age of 15, to the harem of Sultan Ahmed I. The etymology of harem is Arabic, meaning ‘forbidden because sacred/important”. Harems were women’s quarters, intended to keep them safe. These harems contained wives, daughters, concubines, distant female relatives, and slaves. It was here that Anastasia’s name was changed to Mâhpeyker. She also converted to Islam from Orthodox Christian, the major religion of the Empire. Later Sultan Ahmed changed her name again, this time to Kösem.