Ottoman Empire

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
The Ottoman state to 1481: the age of expansion
- Origins and expansion of the Ottoman state, c. 1300–1402
  - Osman and Orhan
  - Murad I
  - Bayezid I
- Restoration of the Ottoman Empire, 1402–81
  - Mehmed I and Murad II
  - Mehmed II
- Ottoman institutions in the 14th and 15th centuries
  - Changing status of the Ottoman rulers
  - Institutional evolution
  - Military organization
The peak of Ottoman power, 1481–1566
- Domination of southeastern Europe and the Middle East
  - Bayezid II
  - Selim I
  - Süleyman I
- Classical Ottoman society and administration
The decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1566–1807
- Internal problems
  - The triumph of the devşirme
  - Corruption and nepotism
  - Economic difficulties
  - Social unrest
- External relations
- Reform efforts
- Military defeats and the emergence of the Eastern Question, 1683–1792
- Imperial decline in the 18th and early 19th centuries
  - Resistance to change
  - Contacts with the West
  - Military reforms
  - Selim III and the nizam-ı cedid
The empire from 1807 to 1920
- Rule of Mahmud II
  - Internal reform
  - Move toward centralization
- The Tanzimat reforms (1839–76)
  - Purpose of the Tanzimat
  - Reform in education
  - Reforms in law
  - Obstructions to reforms
- The 1875–78 crisis
- The Ottoman constitution, 1876
- Rule of Abdülhamid II
  - Pan-Islamism
  - Preservation of the empire
  - The Young Turk Revolution of 1908
- Dissolution of the empire
  - Rise of the CUP
  - Internal developments
  - Turkish nationalism
  - Foreign relations
  - The people
  - World War I, 1914–18
  - Allied war aims and the proposed peace settlement
Sultans of the Ottoman Empire

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

This map shows the territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire from 1300 to its greatest extent in 1683-99, highlighting different periods under rulers such as Mehmed II, Selim I, and Süleyman the Magnificent, and marking key cities, seas, and geographical boundaries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Rumeli Fortress, Istanbul

Inside the powerful Ottoman army

For Students

Orhan

Ottoman Empire Timeline

Murad I

Key People of the Ottoman Empire

Atatürk

Decline of the Ottoman Empire

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Ottoman Empire: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Date	c. 1300 - 1922

Did You Know?

Ottomans invented currently used surgical instruments such as forceps, scalpels, and catheters.
The capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans caused many scholars to flee to Italy and bring with them knowledge that helped spark the Renaissance.
Europeans have given Suleiman the moniker "The Magnificent", but he was called "The Lawgiver" by his own subjects.

Photos and Videos

This map shows the territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire from 1300 to its greatest extent in 1683-99, highlighting different periods under rulers such as Mehmed II, Selim I, and Süleyman the Magnificent, and marking key cities, seas, and geographical boundaries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Rumeli Fortress, Istanbul

Mosque of Süleyman, Istanbul

Inside the powerful Ottoman army

The Ottomans' failed siege of Vienna explained

Listen to a Turkish perspective on the Gallipoli Campaign, known to Turkish people as the Battle of Çanakkale, 1915–16

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Examine how the Allied powers dismembered the Central Powers of World War I by a treaty that failed to prevent World War II

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Topics

Young Turks Janissary Associations for the Defense of Rights Blue Mosque Young Ottomans Philikí Etaireía Phanariote Sublime Porte Soviet Union Holy Roman Empire Roman Empire Third Reich ancient Egypt East Germany Prussia Austria-Hungary Sumer Assyria

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Major Events

World War I

World War I

Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon I

French Revolutionary wars

Byzantine Empire

Fall of Constantinople

Uncovering the history of the Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide

Battle of Balaklava

Battle of Balaklava

Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars

“Big Four”

Treaty of Versailles

Russo-Turkish wars

Battle of Lepanto

Battle of Lepanto

Sykes-Picot Agreement

Sykes-Picot Agreement

Second Northern War

World War I: Allied troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula

Gallipoli Campaign

Crimean War

Crimean War

The Siege of Malta (1565)

Siege of Malta

Young Turk Revolution

Young Turk Revolution

Kayaköy, Turkey: church

Greco-Turkish wars

War of Greek Independence

Timur

Battle of Ankara

The Death of King Wladyslaw II at Varna

Battle of Varna

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Israel

Turkey

Syria

Egypt

Ukraine

Greece

Romania

Iraq

Cyprus

Albania

Hungary

Jordan

Bulgaria

Key People

Kemal Atatürk

Kemal Atatürk

president of Turkey

Mehmed II

Ottoman sultan

Philip II

Philip II

king of Spain and Portugal

Leopold I

Leopold I

Holy Roman emperor

János Hunyadi

János Hunyadi

Hungarian general and governor

ʿAbbās I

ʿAbbās I

Ṣafavid shah of Persia

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani

Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī

Muslim journalist and politician

Fernand Braudel

French historian and educator

Süleyman I

Süleyman the Magnificent

Ottoman sultan

Muḥammad ʿAlī

Muḥammad ʿAlī

pasha and viceroy of Egypt

Bayezid II

Ottoman sultan

St. Teresa of Calcutta

Mother Teresa

Roman Catholic nun

Köprülü Mehmed Paşa

Ottoman grand vizier

Mimar Sinan: Mosque of Süleyman I the Magnificent

Sinan

Ottoman architect

Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Paşa

Ottoman vizier

Roxelana

wife of Süleyman the Magnificent

Ismāʿīl I

shah of Iran

Faisal I

Faisal I

king of Iraq

Nikolay Pavlovich, Count Ignatyev

Nikolay Pavlovich, Count Ignatyev

Russian statesman

Mahmud II

Ottoman sultan

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Quiz

Caption: It May be Turned to Mourning for its Loss. Our picture shows a group of the wounded lately from the Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire (Turkey) at the festivities, ca. 1914-1918. (World War I)

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Ottoman Empire. Wall hanging of a an Ottoman empire coat of arms. Sultans of the Ottoman Empire had their own monograms or tughras which served as a royal symbol. Turkey, Turkish Culture

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Ottoman Empire. Wall hanging of a an Ottoman empire coat of arms. Sultans of the Ottoman Empire had their own monograms or tughras which served as a royal symbol. Turkey, Turkish Culture

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Squadron of soldiers of the Ertugrul Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard of Abdulhamid II of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey.

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List

Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint

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