1.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
2.
Turkish people
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Turkish people, or the Turks, also known as Anatolian Turks, are a Turkic ethnic group and nation living mainly in Turkey and speaking Turkish, the most widely spoken Turkic language. They are the largest ethnic group in Turkey, as well as by far the largest ethnic group among the speakers of Turkic languages, ethnic Turkish minorities exist in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. In addition, a Turkish diaspora has been established with modern migration, the ethnonym Turk may be first discerned in Herodotus reference to Targitas, first king of the Scythians, furthermore, during the first century AD. Pomponius Mela refers to the Turcae in the north of the Sea of Azov. The first definite references to the Turks come mainly from Chinese sources in the sixth century, in these sources, Turk appears as Tujue, which referred to the Göktürks. Although Turk refers to Turkish people, it may sometimes refer to the wider language group of Turkic peoples. In the 19th century, the word Türk only referred to Anatolian villagers, the Ottoman ruling class identified themselves as Ottomans, not usually as Turks. In the late 19th century, as the Ottoman upper classes adopted European ideas of nationalism the term Türk took on a more positive connotation. The Turkish-speakers of Anatolia were the most loyal supporters of Ottoman rule, Turkish Jews, Christians, or even Alevis may be considered non-Turks. On the other hand, Kurdish Arab followers of the Sunni branch of Islam who live in eastern Anatolia are sometimes considered Turks, article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a Turk as anyone who is bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship. Anatolia was first inhabited by hunter-gatherers during the Paleolithic era, most of the Turkic peoples were followers of Tengriism, sharing the cult of the sky god Tengri, although there were also adherents of Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism. However, during the Muslim conquests, the Turks entered the Muslim world proper as servants, during the booty of Arab raids, the Turks began converting to Islam after Muslim conquest of Transoxiana through the efforts of missionaries, Sufis, and merchants. Although initiated by the Arabs, the conversion of the Turks to Islam was filtered through Persian, under the Umayyads, most were domestic servants, whilst under the Abbasids, increasing numbers were trained as soldiers. By the ninth century, Turkish commanders were leading the caliphs’ Turkish troops into battle, as the Abbasid caliphate declined, Turkish officers assumed more military and political power taking over or establishing provincial dynasties with their own corps of Turkish troops. During the 11th century the Seljuk Turks who were admirers of the Persian civilization grew in number and were able to occupy the province of the Abbasid Empire. By 1055, the Seljuk Empire captured Baghdad and began to make their first incursions into the edges of Anatolia, when the Seljuk Turks won the Battle of Manzikert against the Byzantine Empire in 1071, it opened the gates of Anatolia to them. Although ethnically Turkish, the Seljuk Turks appreciated and became the purveyors of the Persian culture rather than the Turkish culture, in dire straits, the Byzantine Empire turned to the West for help setting in motion the pleas that led to the First Crusade. Once the Crusaders took Iznik, the Seljuk Turks established the Sultanate of Rum from their new capital, Konya, by the 12th century the Europeans had begun to call the Anatolian region Turchia or Turkey, meaning the land of the Turks
3.
Pasha
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Pasha or Paşa, in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitaries and others. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is similar to a British peerage or knighthood, popular view connects it with Turkish baş, or the similar-sounding compound baş-ağa. Etymologist Sevan Nişanyan rejects both these explanations and instead derives it from Turkish beşe, which is cognate with Persian baççe, old Turkish had no fixed distinction between /b/ and /p/, and the word was spelled başa still in the 15th century. According to Josef W. Meri and Jere L. Bacharach, the same view is held by Nicholas Ostler, who mentions that the word was formed as a shortening of the Persian word Padishah. As first used in western Europe, the title appeared in writing with the initial b, the English forms bashaw, bassaw, bucha etc. general in the 16th and 17th century, derive through the medieval Latin and Italian word bassa. Due to the Ottoman presence in the Arab World, the title became used frequently in Arabic, within the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Sultan had the right to bestow the title of Pasha. It was through this custom that the title came to be used in Egypt, moreover, Muhammad Ali harboured ambitions of supplanting the Osman Dynasty in Constantinople, and sought to style his Egyptian realm as a successor sultanate to the Ottoman Empire. As such, he bore the title of Pasha, in addition to the title of Wāli. It was also part of the style of the Alpina Kursuncu Pasha. Pashas ranked above Beys and Aghas, but below Khedives and Viziers, if a Pasha governed a provincial territory, it could be called a pashaluk after his military title, besides the administrative term for the type of jurisdiction, e. g. eyalet, vilayet/walayah. Both Beylerbeys and valis/wālis were entitled to the style of Pasha, the word pashalik designated any province or other jurisdiction of a Pasha, such as the Pasha or Bashaw of Tripoli. Ottoman and Egyptian authorities conferred the title upon both Muslims and Christians without distinction and they also frequently gave it to foreigners in the service of the Ottoman Empire, or of the Egyptian Khedivate, e. g. Hobart Pasha. As an honorific, the title Pasha was a title and could be hereditary or non-hereditary. The title did not bestow rank or title to the wife nor was any religious leader elevated to the title, in contrast to western nobility titles, where the title normally is added before the given name, Ottoman titles followed the given name. In contacts with emissaries and representatives, holders of the title Pasha were often referred to as Your Excellency. The sons of a Pasha were styled Pashazada or Pasha-zade, which means just that, in modern Egyptian and Levantine Arabic, it is used as an honorific closer to Sir than Lord, especially by older people. Among Egyptians born since the Revolution of 1952 and the abolition of aristocratic titles, although it is no longer an official title, high-ranking officers of the Turkish Armed Forces are often referred to as pashas by the Turkish public and media. In the French Navy, pasha is the nickname of the Commanding Officer, yusuf Karamanli, Pasha of Tripoli Ottoman Empire Ottoman titles This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
4.
Mehmed IV
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Mehmed IV was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of seven after his father was overthrown in a coup, Mehmed went on to become the second longest reigning sultan in Ottoman history. Mehmed IV was known by contemporaries as a pious ruler. Under his reign the empire reached the height of its expansion in Europe. From a young age he developed a keen interest in hunting, in 1687 Mehmed was overthrown by soldiers disenchanted by the course of the ongoing War of the Holy League. He subsequently retired to Edirne, where he resided until his death in 1693. Soon after his birth, his father and mother quarreled, and Ibrahim was so enraged that he tore Mehmed from his mothers arms, fortunately, Mehmed was rescued by the harem servants. However, this left Mehmed with a scar on his head. Mehmed ascended to the throne in 1648 at the age of seven and it was under these circumstances that Mehmeds mother granted Köprülü Mehmed Pasha full executive powers as Grand Vizier. Köprülü took office on September 14,1656, Mehmed IV presided over the Köprülü era, an exceptionally stable period of Ottoman history. Sultan Mehmed IV is known as Avcı, the Hunter, as this outdoor exercise took up much of his time and his reign is notable for a revival of Ottoman fortunes led by the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed and his son Fazıl Ahmed. They regained the Aegean islands from Venice, and Crete, during the Cretan War and they also fought successful campaigns against Transylvania and Poland. When Mehmed IV accepted the vassalage of Petro Doroshenko, Ottoman rule extended into Podolia and his next vizier, Köprülü Mehmeds adopted son Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa, led campaigns against Russia, conquering Chyhyryn in 1678. He next supported the 1683 Hungarian uprising of Imre Thököly against Austrian rule, marching a vast army through Hungary, after the second Battle of Mohács, the Ottoman Empire fell into deep crisis. There was a mutiny among the Ottoman troops, the commander and Grand Vizier Sarı Süleyman Pasha became frightened that he would be killed by his own troops and fled from his command, first to Belgrade and then to Istanbul. When the news of the defeat and the mutiny arrived in Istanbul in early September, Abaza Siyavuş Pasha was appointed as the commander, Sultan Mehmed IV appointed the commander of Istanbul Straits Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha as the Grand Viziers regent in Istanbul. He made consultations with the leaders of the army that existed, after these, on 8 November 1687 it was decided to depose Sultan Mehmed IV and to enthrone his brother Suleiman II as the new Sultan. Mehmed was deposed by the forces of Yeğen Osman and the janissaries
Ottoman Empire
