Questions tagged [ottoman-empire]
The Ottoman Empire was an empire lasting from 1299--1923 AD, centered in modern-day Turkey and spanning at its height across much of eastern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. Sometimes referred to as the Turkish Empire.
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Why are there so few people of sub-Saharan African descent in the lands of the former Ottoman Empire compared to the Americas?
Starkey's assertions about Islamic slavery are predicated on the following assumptions. Are these plausible? What data is available on which to better compare Islamic and European slavery frameworks?
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Is there any evidence to back up David Starkey's claim that infanticide of mixed-race children was integral to the Ottoman slave trade?
David Starkey made some controversial remarks in an interview a couple of years ago, in which he compared the Atlantic Slave Trade to its Ottoman counterpart. This question is not an appropriate forum ...
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Bismarck urged not to hinder Russia from going deeper into the "oriental dead end." What did he mean by "oriental dead end?"
In his letter of 03 May 1888, Otto von Bismarck, the then-Chancellor of Germany, wrote to Prince Heinrich VII Reuß, the then-Ambassador of Germany to Austria-Hungary:
Durch einen Angriff auf das ...
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What does it mean for an empire to fight for relevance?
I read about the Armenian genocide that it was a last-ditch effort from the Ottomans to fight for relevance. Is "fighting for relevance" a common expression in historic commentary? What does ...
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Why did Ottoman Sultans prioritize the title of Sultan over that of Caliph?
Upon the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517 which led to the defeat of the Memluk Sultanate, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III was captured and sent to Constantinople where he surrendered to Sultan ...
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Why did the Siege of Ceuta (1694-1720) take so long?
Why and how exactly did the Siege of Ceuta (1694-1720) take so long? I was reading on sieges, and I am aware they are basically used to force a city into surrender by draining them of resources and ...
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Are there copies of the Iliad in Greek made by Ottomans with pages ordered from right to left?
This question is indeed more about classic philology than history. Feel free to close if it is not suitable here.
In the Netflix Turkish series Rise of Empires: Ottoman (S2:E4, around minute 10) we ...
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Did the Ottoman government inherit every person's property when they died?
Here is a link to a worldbuilding SE question:
It asks about a system where the government, and not someone's family, inherits their property when they die, and whether that system would reduce ...
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What was the difference between the Sykes Picot and League of Nations Mandate? [duplicate]
I can't really understand. I read history that says the Sykes-Picot Agreement was this secret agreement and it is why the Middle East is the way it is today.
But then there's this other League of ...
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Was there ever a male-equivalent to a harem in the Ottoman Empire?
I am currently doing research on Ottoman views toward homosexuality. I have also researched homosexuality relationships that Ottoman Sultans have had.
Seeing how there were harems, it made me wonder: ...
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Did the Ottomans conquer Poland-Lithuania?
Türk Tarihi | History of Turks claims that the Ottomans took Poland-Lithuania as a vassal in the late 1570s. Where did they get this from? I searched everywhere but I couldn't find anything.
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Was Ottoman control a factor in the voyage taken by Christopher Columbus? [duplicate]
I am reading A People's History of The United States by Howard Zinn and it says after the Ottomans conquered Constantinople they controlled the land routes to Asia, making sea routes necessary. But I ...
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Who coined the phrase "City of the World's Desire"?
In 1995, the British author Philip Mansel published a book titled Constantinople: City of the World's Desire. The same phrase also appears in the game Europa Universalis IV: one of the Ottomans' ...
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What are these Ottoman artifacts and what, if any, is their significance and inscriptions?
A relative has these items - what is the metal thing used for, and what language is inscribed on it? Does the belt have any naval importance?
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Why did the Ottoman Empire gave exclusive trading rights to Venice? [closed]
Why did Ottoman Empire decided to give Venetian merchants exclusive trading rights, which allowed them to monopolize spice trade? Wouldn't it be more profitable for Ottomans to allow free trade so ...
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What was the status of Shia Muslims in the Ottoman empire?
It's my understanding that the Ottoman Empire was mostly tolerant of other religions throughout most of its history*.
For example, they welcomed Jews who had been exiled from Spain during the ...
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Did the Kayı tribe fight the Templars at any point?
The highly popular Turkish TV drama series Diriliş: Ertuğrul has Ertuğrul and his Kayı tribe fighting the Templars based in a "castle" which apparently should be identified with the real-...
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What was the best way to travel across Anatolia in 1914?
What was the best way to travel across Anatolia in 1914?
Specifically, I'm writing a story in which a character needs to travel from Constantinople to Van (a city which would later see protracted ...
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Where was the Turkish Navy based in July 1914?
I'm trying to figure out whether, if not for the July crisis, Russia could have tried an amphibious invasion of Turkey in 1914, and what the outcome would have been if so.
It seems to me the answer ...
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Was Russia ready for amphibious invasion of Istanbul in 1914?
I've been reading The Russian Origins of the First World War by Sean McMeekin, in which he makes some very interesting claims about what the strategic situation prior to the July crisis looked like ...
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Why was the Ottoman flag changed from an eight-pointed star to five-pointed in the 19th century?
According to Wikipedia, alongside the crescent, the flag of the Ottoman empire had an eight-pointed star until 1844 or so, when the star was changed to five points.
It seems the eight-pointed star was ...
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Is the famous painting of Kösem Sultan breastfeeding authentic?
Kösem Sultan was a woman of the Ottoman harem who served as Haseki Sultan (chief consort) and then Valide Sultan (queen mother) to several rulers. Given the youth and/or weakness of the sultans she ...
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Why did marriage and multiple children make Hurrem Sultan special?
As far as I have learnt there was a princess named Ayesa (Hatun), daughter of Meñli I Giray of Crimean, who was first married off to Shehzade Mehmed, brother of Sultan Selim 1. After the death of the ...
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Why were Austrian forces ineffective during the war of 1787 against Ottomans?
In the French Wikipedia article about Roger de Damas d'Antigny, it is said that this French officer was not satisfied by Austrian armies in the war against Ottoman empire, so he joined the Russian ...
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Is there any historical evidence that Sultan Mehmed II bought the Hagia Sophia? [closed]
Due to current events regarding the status of Hagia Sophia, I have heard from some people, saying that Sultan Mehmed II bought the Hagia Sophia before using it as a mosque.
I have searched for proof, ...
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Was the title of Pasha bestowed or used in the Indian subcontinent?
Was the title of pasha often bestowed or used in the Indian subcontinent before, say, 1914? If so, which authority bestowed these titles? Are there any well-known examples of pre-1914 pashas?
The ...
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How were the ladies of the Mughal harem titled and styled?
The ladies of the contemporaneous Ottoman harem were, for most of its history, organised as follows:
The sultan's mother, under the title of Valide Sultan, stood at the apex of the hierarchy.
Next ...
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Why do some 17th and 18th century maps depict Ottoman sanjaks north of the Danube in Wallachia?
Note: I am editing this question constantly, because after posting it I have realized that there are more maps involving the same description, beside Homann's of 1720. (That doesn't mean that they are ...
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Were the Ottomans imperialists? [duplicate]
I read that the Japanese were considered imperialists, mainly for their occupation of Manchuria and Korea. Would it be correct to say then that the Ottomans were also imperialists? They did occupy ...
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Who or what were the Nassadista?
I have encountered several references to Nassadista in a 16th century Latin manuscript. As far as I can tell the noun is masculine, first declension (nominative plural Nassadistæ).
Context implies ...
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Was there a bribery attempt by the UK to get the Ottomans to switch sides in World War I?
While perusing Wikipedia article on Gallipoli Campaign, I saw an intriguing statement:
an attempt by the British to bribe the Ottomans to join the Allied
side ... failed.
Wikipedia citing an ...
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Why did a Venetian colonel defect to the Ottomans during the siege of Candia?
Following up on my interest in the Knights of Malta, I got to reading about their part in the Cretan War which went on from 1645 to 1669. This led me to the siege of Candia. This started in 1648 and ...
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What was the reason the Maronites lobbied for a state of Greater Lebanon?
I'm currently reading A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered (1988) by Kamal Salibi. In the first chapter he argues that it was initially the Christian minorities of historic ...
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Did the Ottoman empire suppress the printing press?
I overheard this conversation a while back that the Ottoman Empire which flourished in all fields during the Golden Age of Islam were left behind after the introduction of the printing press in Europe ...
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Is there a reason why Turkey took the Balkan territories of the Ottoman Empire, instead of Greece or another of the Balkan states?
After the Ottoman Empire collapsed, why did Turkey (i.e. its successor state) retain control of the Empire's Balkan holdings? Considering the historical origins of the Empire Turkey should have gotten ...
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What was the relationship between Ottoman emperor Murat IV and his mother Kosem Sultan?
Was the relationship between Murat IV and his mother Kosem Sultan really bad? Did Kosem Sultan intervene a lot when her son assumed absolute power?
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Why did the Ottoman Empire not industrialize like France, Germany or Belgium? [closed]
Why did the Ottoman Empire not industrialize or not reach the level of those nations?
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Is today's Old City of Jerusalem the Jerusalem of the Crusades' period?
In 1099 the Christian crusaders besieged the walled city of Jerusalem and took it. Here is a map of the Old City of Jerusalem today:
It clearly shows the walls (I don't know when they were built) ...
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Why couldn't the Ottoman Empire modernise at the same time as Meiji Japan did? [closed]
It appears to me that Japan modernised during the late 19th century to come to a level of advancement comparable to Western powers was, unlike Ottoman Empire
Japan had universal compulsory education
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What would the Wikipedia page for Spain have said in 1490?
I'm trying to understand the Spanish empire prior to the discovery of America - I'm not looking for a book length answer, just a broad summary like what would have been on a Wikipedia page at that ...
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How did Mehmed II die?
The different Wikipedias offer different stories.
English Wikipedia claims poison as a likely cause of death:
In 1481 Mehmed marched with the Ottoman army, but upon reaching Maltepe, Istanbul he ...
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Was there a rule against non-Muslims wearing the colour green in the Ottoman empire?
On the wikipedia page titled Green in Islam, it is stated that:
In the Ottoman Empire, the wearing of a green turban was a privilege afforded to the descendants of Muhammad
Also, in the book ...
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Who is in this c.1866 photo?
This photo was found with (but not in) an envelope containing seven photos of European royals, all but two of which have been positively identified (one of them here by Evargalo).
Below is a photo of ...
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Why didn't the Hungarians help the battle of Kosovo?
I am curious why the Hungarians, as the first neighbor of then Serbia and Bosnia, who sent troops to confront the invasion of the Ottomans, didn't also participate given that it was obvious that the ...
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Did Sultan Mehmet IV defeat a Persian champion in single combat?
From Jason Goodwin's popular history of the Ottoman Empire, Lords of the Horizons:
At the siege of Baghdad in 1683, when the Persians demanded the
contest be decided by single combat, they put up ...
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What's the difference between Potur and Şalvar?
I'm researching the clothing of 16th-century Ottoman clothing, and I keep getting Potur and Şalvar as "trousers." Was there a difference between them or were the words synonymous?
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Did teenage Sultan Osman II use people as targets?
Long ago I read in The Story of the Greatest Nations and the World's Famous Events (or in some other edition), that the teenage Ottoman Sultan Osman II (reigned 1618-1622) used prisoners of war for ...
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What information would be contained on an Ottoman Tapu deed in the 1830s?
I'm working on a project, and during this project, the subject of a Tapu deed in the Ottoman Empire came up. Tapu was a permanent lease by the government to someone.
I was able to find this picture ...
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International mail in the early 1900s
I am currently studying Middle East Political history and have come to some correspondences between British diplomats and Arab leaders. The dates on these outgoing correspondences are 14 July 1915, ...
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Why were there "Tributary States" to the Ottoman Empire?
Here's something that's always puzzled me:
Whenever there was agitation for independence in the territories struggling for independence from the Ottoman Empire, a lot of times the places concerned ...
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