C OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Osman He built a small state in Anatolia (present day Turkey) between 1300 and 1326 Westerners called him Othman His followers were called Ottomans

Ottomans The military success was largely based gunpowder. Replaced archers on horseback with musket carrying foot soldiers. Used cannons as offensive weapons. Treated conquered people kindly. Used local officials, improved the lives of peasants. Most Muslim had to serve in the army but did not pay taxes. Non-Muslims did not serve in the army but did pay taxes.

Timur the Lame Also known as Timur-i-Lang, or Tamerlane, was a rebellious warrior. Interrupted the Ottoman Empire briefly in the 1400s. He claimed he was a descendant of Genghis Khan. Conquered both Russia and Persia, burned the city of Baghdad, and butchered the people in Delhi. Timur died on his way to conquer China.

Ottomans Conquer Constantinople The Byzantine Empire had been reduced to just the city of Constantinople. Constantinople's population shrunk from 1 million to 50,000 by the 1450s. It still controlled and dominated the Bosporus Strait, which could choke off traffic between the Ottomans territories. Mehmet II, also known as Mehmet the Conqueror, spent 2 years building a force of 125 ships and 100,000 and in 1453 he attacked the city.

Suleiman the Lawgiver Also known as Suleiman the Magnificent. Under his reign the conquered the city of Belgrade, the island of Rhodes, city of Tripoli, and the coast line of North Africa. He tried to take Vienna in 1529 but failed.

Devshirme System The Sultan’s army would take boys from their families, educate them, convert them to Islam, and train them as soldiers. They were a superb fighting machine. Janissaries who were an elite force of about 30,000.

Decline Spain and Italy were able to destroy the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in Corruption within the bureaucracy. The new sultan killing his brothers, keeping sons prisoners, cutting them off from education and contact with the world – led to weak and ignorant sultans. The empire would slowly crumble until it dissolved with the end of World War I and the creation of the nation of Turkey.