Ottoman Empire_1566

Imperial Decline Starting from the last quarter of the 16th century, Ottoman intellectual life was imbued with a sense of decline. The Ottoman intellectuals seem to have felt that their social order was crumbling down and their military supremacy becoming questionable. For a long time period, not only Ottoman intellectuals, but also Ottoman historians interpreted the developments in the late sixteenth and early-seventeenth century as symptoms of imperial decline.

Royal Women In the palace, we observe the increasing political influence of royal women, especially queen mothers (valide sultan) and the sultans’ favorite concubines (haseki) by the late sixteenth century. Two examples, one from the reign of Suleyman the Lawgiver and the other one from the early seventeenth century.

Soldiers As an outcome almost constant warfare in Eastern and Western frontiers, changes in military technologies, and warfare tactics, total numbers of salaried soldiers increased several times in the period between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Both the janissaries and segbans played an important role in the political life both in the imperial capital and provinces. Example: 1603 rebellion in Istanbul

Palace Officials and Ulema Starting in latter part of the long reign of Süleyman I, the Ottoman ruling viziers had accumulated enormous power and wealth, which often imposed certain limitations on the sultan’s authority. A similar development can be observed among the members of the Ottoman ulema. As the ultimate decision-makers in religious affairs, these scholar-jurists gained tremendous power and prestige in the course of the sixteenth century while at the same time turning into a sort of nobility with the ability to pass their status on to their sons.