Ottoman History

Ottoman History

Ottoman Turkish /ˈɒtəmən/, or the Ottoman language (لسان عثمانى‎‎Lisân-ı Osmânî) (also known as تركجه‎ Türkçe or تركی‎ Türkî, "Turkish"), is the variety of the Turkish language that was used in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows, in all aspects, extensively from Arabic and Persian, and it was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. During the peak of Ottoman power, Persian and Arabic vocabulary accounted for up to 88% of its vocabulary,[2] while words of Arabic origins heavily outnumbered native Turkish words.[3]
Consequently, Ottoman Turkish was largely unintelligible to the less-educated lower-class and rural Turks, who continued to use kaba Türkçe("raw Turkish"), which used far fewer foreign loanwords and is the basis of the modern Turkish language.[4] The Tanzimât era saw the application of the term "Ottoman" when referring to the language (لسان عثمانی‎ lisân-ı Osmânî or عثمانليجه‎ Osmanlıca) and the same distinction is made in Modern Turkish (Osmanlıca and Osmanlı Türkçesi).

Ertugrul is a Turkish historical adventure television series created by Mehmet Bozdag , starring Engin Altan Düzyatan in the title role. It is filmed in Riva , a village in Beykoz , Intracity district of Istanbul , and premiered on TRT 1 in Turkey on December 10, 2014. The show is based on the history of the Oghuz Turks and takes place in the 13th century and Centers around the life of Ertugrul , the father of Osman I , the leader of the Ottoman Turks and the founder and namesake of the dynasty that established and ruled the Ottoman Empire. While only a small principality during Ertugrul's lifetime, would prevail as a world empire under the dynasty's feelings last for the next six centuries after feeling death.

Plot

Suleyman Shah (Ottoman Turkish: سلیمان شاه‎; Modern Turkish: Süleyman Şah) was, according to Ottoman tradition, the son of Kaya Alp and the father of Ertuğrul, who was, in turn, the father of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. However, early Ottoman genealogies did not all agree on this lineage, some failing entirely to mention Suleyman Shah as one of Osman's ancestors. The connection between Osman I and Suleyman Shah may then have been invented at a later date. His other son was Saru Yatı, the father of Bay Hodja. It is said that Suleyman Shah drowned in the river Euphrates in Syria. An Ottoman tomb in or near Qal'at Ja'bar has historically been associated with Suleyman Shah.

Suleiman

Selim III (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثالث Selīm-i sālis) (24 December 1762 – 28 July 1808) was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. Selim was killed by a group of assassins subsequently after a Janissary revolt.

Biography and family

From his early youth, the Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim I "The Mad" (±1616-1648) had been locked up in the "Cage", a large building without windows. When he was finally proclaimed Sultan, he sought compensation for his lost years, indulging in debauchery with an endless supply of fresh virgins. One day, however, he had his entire harem of 280 women thrown into the Bosporus, tied up in weighted sacks. He became known as "The Crazy One".

Mehmed II, the Conqueror (ca. 1432-1481) was a Turkish sultan who conquered Constantinople and ruthlessly consolidated and enlarged the Ottoman Empire with a military crusade into Asia and Europe.

Mehmed Celebi, the third son of the Ottoman sultan Murad II, was born on March 30, 1432 (or 1430, as cited in some sources). Though much is known of his father, very little is known of his mother. According to some traditions she was a French princess, while others refer to her simply as an Italian woman named Estella. In later custom, she is referred to as Huma Hatan, after the bird of paradise of Persian legend. Yet most likely, Mehmed's mother was a slave, and there is evidence to suggest that she was a recent convert from Judaism.

The language of the court and government of the Ottoman Empire wasOttoman Turkish,[3] but many other languages were in contemporary use in parts of the empire. Although the minorities of the Ottoman Empire were free to use their language amongst themselves, if they needed to communicate with the government they had to use Ottoman Turkish.[4]

The Ottomans had three influential languages: Turkish, spoken by the majority of the people in Anatolia and by the majority of Muslims of the Balkans except in Albania, Bosnia, and various Aegean Sea islands;Persian, only spoken by the educated;[5] and Arabic, spoken mainly inArabia, North Africa, Iraq, Kuwait and the Levant. Throughout the vast Ottoman bureaucracy Ottoman Turkish language was the official language, a version of Turkish, albeit with a vast mixture of both Arabic and Persian grammar and vocabulary.

Kosem Sultan was a woman who did not accept her position as just a widow on the Ottoman court, and instead became a real ruler of the Empire. She had such an effect, that after her death noblemen in her country decided to never allow a woman to become so powerful again.

At the beginning of the 17th century, sultans ruled the Ottoman Empire. They were still trying to maintain traditions from the Golden Age which began with Suleiman the Magnificent. After Suleiman died in 1566, his son Selim II, grandson Murad III, and great grandson Mehmet III took their turns on the throne.

Ahmed I (Ottoman Turkish: احمد اول‎ Aḥmed-i evvel; Turkish: I. Ahmed; April 18, 1590 – November 22, 1617) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 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.

Early life

Osman Gazi (Ottoman Turkish: عثمان غازى‎ ʿOsmān Ġāzī; or Osman Bey orOsman Alp); (died 1323/4),[1][2] sometimes transliterated archaically asOthman or Ottoman or Atman (from the contemporary Byzantine Greek version of his name, Άτμαν), was the leader of the Ottoman Turks and the founder of the Ottoman dynasty. He and the dynasty bearing his name later established and ruled the nascent Ottoman Empire (then known as the Ottoman Beylik or Emirate). The state, while only a small principality during Osman's lifetime, transformed into a world empire in the centuries after his death.[4] It existed until the abolition of the sultanate in 1922, or alternatively the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 or the abolition of the caliphate in 1924.

Mustafa I (1591 – January 20, 1639) (Ottoman Turkish: مصطفى اول‎), often called Mustafa the Mad, was the son of Mehmed III and was theSultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1617 to 1618 and from 1622 to 1623.
Biography
He was born in the Manisa Palace, as the younger brother of Ahmed I(1603–17). His mother was an Abkhazian concubine whose name is lost.[1]
Before 1603 it was customary for an Ottoman Sultan to have his brothers executed shortly after he gained the throne (Mustafa's fatherMehmed III had executed 19 of his own brothers). But when the thirteen-year-old Ahmed I was enthroned in 1603, he spared the life of the twelve-year-old Mustafa.[2]

During the Ottoman Empire (1453~1920), the Turks were one of many linguistic and ethnic groups living in Turkey. There were 3 languages used at that time: Arabic which was used as the primary language of religion; Persian which was the language of art, refined literature, and diplomacy; and at the official level, the Ottoman Turkish that was used only for the administration of the empire. Members of the civil, military, and religious elite talked and conducted their business in Ottoman Turkish, which was a mixture of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Ottoman Turkish not only borrowed vocabulary from Arabic and Persian but also lifted entire expressions and syntactic structures out of these languages and incorporated them into the Ottoman idiom.

Biography
Ahmed I's mother was Valide Sultan Handan Sultan, an ethnic Greek who was originally named Helena. He was born at Manisa Palace. He succeeded his father Mehmed III (1595–1603) in 1603 at age 13. He broke with the traditional fratricide and sent his brother Mustafa to live at the old palace at Bayezit along with their grandmother Safiye Sultan. He was known for his skills in fencing, poetry, horseback riding, and fluency in numerous languages.

He was married twice, to Valide Sultan Mahfiruze Hatice Sultan, originally named Maria, a Greek, mother of Osman II, and to Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan or Mahpeyker, originally named Anastasia, a Greek, mother of Murad IV and Ibrahim I. He married with Mahpeyker and had five children from her: Murad IV, Ibrahim I, Ayşe Sultan, Shahzade Suleiman and Shahzade Kasim. A half-brother of Ahmed, Yahya, resented his accession to the Ottoman throne in 1603, and spent his life scheming to become Sultan.

As one of the most famous and controversial historical figures in Ottoman history, Hürrem Sultan is usually depicted as an ambitious and power-hungry character that manipulated Sultan Süleyman. But is this really the truth?
Hürrem Sultan was born in Ruthenia in western Ukraine, which was under the rule of the Kingdom of Poland at the time. Thereafter, she was known as "Roxelane," which means "the Girl from Ruthenia." Although her birth name was Aleksandra Lisowska, the nickname "Roxelane" was so prominent that even the authors who wrote about her believed it was her real name.

Lisowska, whose father was an Orthodox priest, was taken prisoner by the Crimean cavalries at the age of 12 and sent to Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. After being educated and trained according to palace etiquette for many years, she was given the name "Hürrem," which means "the cheerful one" in Middle Persian, since she was a good-humored girl with a smiling face.

The foreign relations of the Ottoman Empire were characterized by competition with the Persian Empire to the east and Europe to the west. The foreign relations of the Ottomans began to collapse in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire eventually leading to the loss of many important territories. Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence soon followed, and eventually most of the Arab lands became independent soon before the Empire entered World War I.

Structure
The Ottoman Empire's diplomatic structure was unconventional and departed in many ways from its European counterparts. Traditionally, foreign affairs were conducted by the Reis ül-Küttab (Chief Clerk or Secretary of State) who also had other duties. In 1836, a Foreign Ministry was created.[1]

Ambassadors