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 were Albanians the only nation in the Balkans who converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation?
The Ottoman Empire conquered the Balkans and occupied it for half a millennium. They managed to convert most of the Albanians to Islam, however, all the other nations in the area remained Christian.
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How did the ruling class in the Muslim world react to the discovery and colonization of the Americas?
Since Columbus' voyage in 1492, the Europeans began to explore and colonize the Americas. During the next century, the Spanish (and the Portuguese?) extracted a lot of wealth from the Americas, ...
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How significant was the Fall of Constantinople as an event leading to the Age of Exploration?
I have been hearing that the Fall of Constantinople was the most important event that ultimately led to the Age of Exploration, mainly the discovery of the New World by Columbus and of the sea route ...
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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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Why is it called the "Ottoman" Empire in English language?
I don't get why in English language it is called the "Ottoman" Empire.
The name of the state derives from its founder, Osman I., however how can "Osman" be transformed to "Ottoman"? For me this doesn'...
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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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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 "Europe" support the Byzantine Empire against the Turks?
Why didn't Catholic Europe support the Byzantine empire against the Turks? Or did they? How? Yes, there were some differences between the Catholic and Orthodox interpretation of Christianity but the ...
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Is Kemal Atatürk responsible for Armenian Genocide?
There is a controversy discussed here about Atatürk's responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.
However, yahoo answers says that that Atatürk actually may have ended it.
I want to know about ...
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Was it not clear to the WWI allies that they were over-reaching with the treaty of Sevres?
In the treaty of Sevres, the Ottoman Empire was made to cede not only all (?) territories outside modern-day Turkey, but also:
Control of the Bosphorus straight and the Dardanelles
Significant ...
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Why did the Ottomans not change their capital to an Arab city?
As of 1517 A.D., the Ottmans have acquired the whole Levant, Egypt and they've largely become Muslim. Why they did not move their capital to a historically Islamic city like Damascus, Baghdad, or ...
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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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When was the Ottoman mosque within the Parthenon demolished?
After the Great Turkish War of 1683 - 1699, the Ottomans built a small mosque in the ruined Parthenon using salvaged materials from Parthenon itself. This was after it was catastrophically damaged by ...
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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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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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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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What did contemporary countries in Europe call the Ottoman Empire?
In present texts, it is common to call it "the Ottoman Empire", although the name refers to the ruling dynasty rather than the nation, people or the region. This is not the case with other ...
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Why did Ottoman Army use camels in the Siege of Vienna 1683?
I was reading up on Siege of Vienna 1529. I saw a rather curious image with camels in it:
For full resolution image, click here.
I was surprised to see Ottoman Empire using camels in the ...
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Was there any new military innovation during the Siege of Malta?
In the Siege of Malta, the Knights Hospitaller defended the island despite being heavily outnumbered by the invading Ottoman troops. Malta was such a small island, the Turks were the masters of the ...
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What is the real story of the Lion of Gripsholm Castle?
In 2011, one of the popular stories over the Internet was a history of The Lion of Gripsholm Castle. The Swedish language version of the linked blog entry was the one responsible for spreading this ...
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What was the reason for the Ottoman empire to adopt the crescent moon as its flag/coat of arms?
The Ottoman empire used the crescent moon as its symbol extensively. Any reasons for the symbolism?
I have read references to polythesim of Turks contributing to the crescent and star (which predates ...
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How did Egypt become a protectorate of the British empire?
How did Egypt become a protectorate of the British empire in 1914?
(Feel free to add more content to this question)
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Did the Ottoman government rationalize the Armenian Genocide and other instances of ethnic cleansing as a response to Russian expansion?
The course I took on Ottoman history was 2-3 years ago and relatively short, so please correct any and all inaccurate statements I make. Also, I want to emphasize that neither genocide nor ethnic ...
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Why didn't the Ottomans conquer (what is now known as) Morocco?
As far as I know the Ottoman Empire stopped its expansion in northern Africa in (northern) Algeria.
Why didn't they try to take over Morocco?
Or did they try to and fail?
What is the reason why ...
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Was it ever deemed illegal to translate the Qu'ran?
In England it was illegal to translate the Bible from Latin into English until the 14C when when John Wycliffe campaigned to have this situation changed.
I have often heard that the Qu'ran is ...
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How stable was the Middle East under Ottoman rule?
Since the outbreak of WWI, the Middle East has been a strategic area; many powers have vied for control.
How stable was the region under Ottoman rule?
Stable is, for the purposes of this question, ...
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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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Does Little Hagia sophia still contain Greek mosaics under the plaster?
Little Hagia Sophia is a small church in Istanbul located close to the famous and large Hagia Sophia. It was built around the same time and is said to have contained very beautiful mosaics.
At the ...
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Why did nationalism in all of Europe surge in the 19th century?
Nationalism in all parts of Europe surged in the 19th century, the centuries old multinational states of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary broke apart and by the end of the century this jingoism ...
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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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Why was the Ottoman empire not seen as an Arabic empire?
Here is the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire (circa 1590):
Here is the propagation of Arabic culture, prior to the modern era:
As you can see there is quite an overlap.
However, while these ...
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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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How was the relation between the Ottoman Empire and Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro during the Second Balkan War?
As pointed out by Tom Au in this answer to "Has there ever been a truly multi-sided war?", Turkey fought and lost to Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro in the First Balkan War. However, shortly ...
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Was the religious and cultural diversity a core structural cause of the Ottoman Empire's decline?
To what extent did the bureaucratic structure of the state that were required to sustain the Ottoman’s wealth and power undermine (damage or weaken) the foundations of the Ottoman state in the late ...
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Why did Britain object to the Ottomans bringing its ships-of-the-line against Russia in the beginning of the Crimean War?
I came across this in the "Background section" of Wikipedia article Battle of Sinop.
Fighting at sea between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire had
been going on for weeks, and the Ottomans ...
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What autonomy did Bosnia lose when it was annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908?
Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia in 1878 by forcing the Ottomans to leave after 400+ years of dominion. So I understand that Bosnia then became a territory of Austria-Hungary. In 1908, Austria-...
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Was there a Spanish plan to retake Malta, had the siege of 1565 been succesful?
H. J. A. Sire speculates in The Knights of Malta (p71) that the Spanish fleet would quickly move and retake the island, had the siege been successful. The same claim is made - in passing - in Tim ...
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Why didn't the European Christians take back Constantinopole?
Constantinople was the focal point for the Fourth Crusade. The Christians lost and Constantinople went to the Ottoman Empire. Then, the European Christians became stronger and went about colonizing ...
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Why did Fakhr-al-Din seek a treaty with Tuscany, of all places?
In an interesting vignette, it turns out that the Druze emir of Lebanon, Fakhr-al-Din, had traveled in the early 17th century to Florence and tried to conclude a military alliance with the Grand Duchy ...
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Did the Ottoman Empire lose some control over Egypt during the Crimean War?
What were the effects of the Crimean War on the relationship between the British and Ottoman empires? Did they lose partial control over Egypt?
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What does it mean: "French was a lingua franca in the Ottoman caliphal court?"
According to the Economist: The Ottoman caliphate: Straddling two worlds
Ruling from Istanbul, the caliphs kept polyglot courts, reflecting the
multiple religions and races represented there. ...
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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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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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What are the current obligations of Treaty of Lausanne?
The Turkish President Erdogan and his followers are always talking about that they should update the Treaty of Lausanne or even they are claiming that it will expire on 2023 and they are saying that ...
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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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What religion did Mustafa Kemal Atatürk self-identify as following?
He was born in the Ottoman Empire (later Turkey), so I assume he was a Muslim. But when I checked his attitude towards religion, it became clear that he saw religion as an obstacle in making ...
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What were the causes of the "Dardanelles" fiasco in World War I
During World War II, the Allies sent supplies to the Soviet Union via Murmansk/Archangelsk in the north, via Persia and the Caspian Sea in the south, and via the Tran-Siberian railroad.
Why didn't ...
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What was the reason for the Ottoman invasion of Otranto?
In 1480, the Ottomans invaded Otranto and briefly occupied it. However, it didn't seem that the city was strategically important or held particular value to the Ottomans, nor did they seem to follow ...
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What was the name of the Ottoman-Spanish truce in 1580?
As I'm reading the history of the Western Mediterranean about this period, I found many references to a truce between the Ottomans and Habsburg Spain in 1580.
For example, Wikipedia - Habsburg Spain:
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