2.2: The Ottoman Empire

Cultural Diversity

Of the major Muslim Empires, none survived across so many eras and with anything like the sustained success of the Ottoman Empire which endured through the end of the First World War. By 1600, the empire encompassed most of southeastern Europe, including present-day Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, and much of the Arab Middle East. To recruit followers, the Ottomans promised wealth and glory to new subjects. Overall, territorial expansion generated vast rewards. Expansion ended by 1600 and then the empire faced defeats and reverses. The Ottoman Empire in 1600 ruled 20-30 million people.

The Ottoman government sought to convince its population that it would be a protector not an exploiter of its new subjects. Conversion to Islam was not required, making its population one of the most diverse in the world. The government saw it as vitally important to understand and manage differences within its territory. Non-Muslims were not allowed to join the army or the civil service. However, Christians and Jews and men from the humblest backgrounds could rise to the highest levels in the government provided that they convert to Islam. At its height from roughly 1400-1700, a period in which religious differences in Christian Europe spurred continual violence, the Ottoman Empire experienced no large-scale religious conflict.

The Ottoman territory included countless ethnic groups, a diverse array of languages, Sunni, Shi’a Muslims, significant Jewish populations, and Christians. One of the striking things about the Ottoman Empire when it comes to its dealings with subject people is how little they concerned themselves with diversity as a problem to be solved. Within the Ottoman system, Muslims were privileged in the formal governing structure, with both the military and the bureaucracy closed to non-Muslims, and Islamic law was paramount in Islamic courts. Nevertheless, Jews and Christians lived in self-governing communities called millets which were allowed significant amounts of autonomy. Jews and Christians had their own local government, laws, and courts in these millets. Religious minorities had to pay a tolerance tax. Figure 2.2.1 show the Ottoman Empire at its height. This empire stretches from North Africa and the Balkans in the west to Iraq in the east.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Ottoman Empire, Rice University & OpenStax, CC BY

Government

Without a doubt, the Ottoman emperor or sultan was at the top of the Ottoman hierarchy. The sultans claimed to be caretakers for the welfare of the Islamic faith. Therefore, they devoted substantial resources into the construction of great mosques and supported Islamic schools. Since Islam united a diverse ethnic mix, elite administrators were trained in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian at the palace. The ruling class consisted of army officers, senior civil servants, and high clerics. Arab Muslims formed the majority of the population in the Asian and North African provinces. However, they were not treated as second class citizens, but Ottoman governors and administrators were imposed on them. These governing elites were Turkish but there was no Turkish colonization in these areas. Also, there was no attempt to impose Turkish culture on Arabs.

Early on, regional administrators acted independently of the sultan and kept large amounts of tax revenues for themselves. For this reason, the Ottomans then established a corps of infantry soldiers called janissaries and administrators who owed direct allegiance to the sultan. The government conscripted Christian youths from villages in the Balkan region of Europe. Uprooted from their families and villages, these conscripts converted to Islam. They then received an extensive education, being not only trained in martial arts and warfare, but also in mathematics, the sciences, reading, writing, and other skills. Families sometimes volunteered their children for this, because these boys would receive a good education and could even rise in administrative or military ranks. Janissaries were forbidden to marry and lived monastic lives which were devoted to the sultan. They were then sent out all over the realm to govern.

Economy

The Ottoman Empire in the 1500s had a tremendous amount of wealth. The capital, Istanbul, had 400,000 people and was the largest city outside of China. For the most part, the Ottoman authorities took a special interest in caravan trade since the government got revenue from taxes on it. To facilitate and secure the movement of caravans, the Ottomans maintained inns and military stations along routes. Some of these inns were elaborate with rooms, food, and water for people and pack animals alike. These taxes contributed to the support of Ottoman armies and a powerful navy which controlled the sea lanes of the eastern Mediterranean.

However, there were some major weaknesses in the Ottoman economy. First, the empire did not have a safe and cheap water transportation system like the Chinese. Camel caravans could only carry smaller quantities of goods consisting of luxuries rather than bulk goods. Muslim ships and merchants did not transform Ottoman society. Secondly, fewer peasants participated in a market economy compared to China. The peasants were mostly impoverished substance farmers or farm workers on one of the estates of the elites.

Review Questions

• What were strengths and weaknesses of the Ottoman Empire?
• How was there religious tolerance in the Ottoman Empire?