1.
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
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The sultans of the Ottoman Empire, made up solely of the members of the Ottoman dynasty, ruled over the transcontinental empire from its inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spanned from Hungary in the north to Yemen in the south, the Ottoman Empires early years have been the subject of varying narratives due to the difficulty of discerning fact from legend. The empire came into existence at the end of the thirteenth century, according to later, often unreliable Ottoman tradition, Osman was a descendant of the Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks. The eponymous Ottoman dynasty he founded endured for six centuries through the reigns of 36 sultans, the Ottoman Empire disappeared as a result of the defeat of the Central Powers with whom it had allied itself during World War I. The Ottoman Empire was an absolute monarchy during much of its existence and he was theoretically responsible only to God and Gods law, of which he was the chief executor. His heavenly mandate was reflected in Islamic titles such as shadow of God on Earth, all offices were filled by his authority, and every law was issued by him in the form of a decree called firman. He was the military commander and had the official title to all land. Osman son of Ertuğrul was the first ruler of the Ottoman state, newly enthroned Ottoman rulers were girded with the Sword of Osman, an important ceremony that served as the equivalent of European monarchs coronation. A non-girded sultan was not eligible to have his children included in the line of succession, although absolute in theory and in principle, the sultans powers were limited in practice. Political decisions had to take account the opinions and attitudes of important members of the dynasty. Constitutionalism was only established during the reign Abdul Hamid II, who became the empires last absolute ruler. Although Abdul Hamid II abolished the parliament and the constitution to return to rule in 1878. Since 2009, the head of the House of Osman and pretender to the defunct Ottoman throne has been Bayezid Osman, the table below lists Ottoman sultans, as well as the last Ottoman caliph, in chronological order. The tughras were the seals or signatures used by Ottoman sultans. They were displayed on all official documents as well as on coins, the Notes column contains information on each sultans parentage and fate. For earlier rulers, there is usually a gap between the moment a sultans reign ended and the moment his successor was enthroned. Because of the infighting and numerous fratricides that occurred, a death date therefore did not always coincide with the accession date of his successor. In 1617, the law of succession changed from survival of the fittest to a system based on agnatic seniority and this in turn explains why from the 17th century onwards a deceased sultan was rarely succeeded by his own son, but usually by an uncle or brother
2.
Caesar (title)
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Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, the change from being a familial name to a title adopted by the Roman Emperors can be dated to about AD 68/69, the so-called Year of the Four Emperors. For political and personal reasons Octavian chose to emphasize his relationship with Caesar by styling himself simply Imperator Caesar, without any of the other elements of his full name. His successor as emperor, his stepson Tiberius, also bore the name as a matter of course, born Tiberius Claudius Nero, he was adopted by Caesar Augustus on June 26,4 AD, as Tiberius Julius Caesar. The precedent was set, the Emperor designated his successor by adopting him, Claudius in turn adopted his stepson and grand-nephew Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, giving him the name Caesar in the traditional way, his stepson would rule as the Emperor Nero. Galba helped solidify Caesar as the title of the heir by giving it to his own adopted heir. Galbas reign did not last long and he was deposed by Marcus Otho. Otho did not at first use the title Caesar and occasionally used the title Nero as emperor, Otho was then defeated by Aulus Vitellius who acceded with the name Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Imperator Augustus. Vitellius did not adopt the cognomen Caesar as part of his name, vespasians son, Titus Flavius Vespasianus became Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus. By this point the status of Caesar had been regularised into that of a given to the Emperor-designate. After some variation among the earliest emperors, the style of the Emperor-designate on coins was usually Nobilissimus Caesar Most Noble Caesar, on March 1,293, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus established the Tetrarchy, a system of rule by two senior Emperors and two junior sub-Emperors. The two coequal senior emperors were styled identically to previous Emperors, as Imperator Caesar NN, pius Felix Invictus Augustus, and were called the Augusti, while the two junior sub-Emperors were styled identically to previous Emperors-designate, as Nobilissimus Caesar. Likewise, the junior sub-Emperors retained the title Caesar upon accession to the senior position, an exceptional case was the conferment of the dignity and its insignia to the Bulgarian khan Tervel by Justinian II who had helped him regain his throne in 705. The title was awarded to the brother of Empress Maria of Alania, according to the Klētorologion of 899, the Byzantine Caesars insignia were a crown without a cross, and the ceremony of a Caesars creation, is included in De Ceremoniis I.43. The title remained the highest in the hierarchy until the introduction of the sebastokratōr by Alexios I Komnenos. The title remained in existence through the last centuries of the Empire, in the late Byzantine hierarchy, as recorded in the mid-14th century Book of Offices of pseudo-Kodinos, the rank continued to come after the sebastokratōr. Pseudo-Kodinos writes that the forms of another form of hat, the domed skaranikon, and of the mantle. In the Middle East, the Persians and the Arabs continued to refer to the Roman and Byzantine emperors as Caesar
3.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
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The title refers to the ruler taking the responsibility of guarding and maintaining the two holiest mosques in Islam, Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. It is believed that the first person to use the title was Saladin, after defeating the Mamluks and gaining control of the two Muslim holy cities, Mecca and Medina in 1517, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I adopted the title. Rather than style himself the Ḥākimül-Ḥaremeyn, he accepted the more pious title Ḫādimül-Ḥaremeyn and this title was used by all subsequent Ottoman Caliph Sultans until Mehmed VI, the last. The first King of Saudi Arabia to assume the title was Fahd bin Abdul Aziz in 1986 and he replaced the term His Majesty with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The reigning king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, took the title after the death of King Abdullah, his half brother
4.
Ottoman Caliphate
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The Ottoman Caliphate, under the Ottoman dynasty of the Ottoman Empire, was the last Sunni Islamic caliphate of the late medieval and the early modern era. During the period of Ottoman growth, Ottoman rulers claimed caliphal authority since Murad Is conquest of Edirne in 1362, strengthened by the Peace of Westphalia and the Industrial Revolution, European powers regrouped and challenged Ottoman dominance. The Ottoman state defaulted on its loans in 1875-6, part of a financial crisis affecting much of the globe. Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, who ruled 1876–1909, felt that the Empires desperate situation could only be remedied through strong and determined leadership. Taking a hard-line against Western involvement in Ottoman affairs, he emphasized the Empires Islamic character, reasserted his status as the Caliph, refused to join the insurrectionists and had placed themselves under the control of our army, thereby recognizing American sovereignty. The Ottoman Sultan used his position as caliph to order the Sulu Sultan not to resist, collaboration between the American military and Sulu sultanate was due to the Sulu Sultan being persuaded by the Ottoman Sultan. As the Moros have never asked more than that, it is not surprising, if the reader will pause to consider what this means in men and also the millions in money, he will appreciate this wonderful piece of diplomacy, in averting a holy war. The Moro Rebellion then broke out in 1904 with war raging between the Americans and Moro Muslims and atrocities committed against Moro Muslim women and children such as the Moro Crater Massacre, the coup by the three Pashas in 1909 marked the end of his reign. Western-inclined Turkish military officers opposed to Abdul-Hamids rule had steadily organized in the form of secret societies within and outside Turkey. By 1906, the movement enjoyed the support of a significant portion of the army, the Young Turks sought to remodel administration of the Empire along Western lines. Their ideology was nationalist in character, and was a precursor of the movement that would seize control of Turkey following World War I, CUP leaders presented their ideas to the public as a revival of true Islamic principles. Under the leadership of Enver Pasha, a Turkish military officer, a counter-coup launched by soldiers loyal to the Sultan threatened the new government but ultimately failed. Many aspects of this revolt, which started within certain sections of the army in Constantinople, are still yet to be analyzed. Its generally admitted perception of a movement has sometimes been challenged. Abdul-Hamid was deposed on 13 April 1909 and he was replaced by his brother Rashid Effendi, who was proclaimed Sultan Mehmed V on 27 April. In 1911 Italy warred with the Ottomans over Libya, and Turkeys failure to defend these regions demonstrated the weakness of the Ottoman military. In 1912 Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece formed the Balkan League, the ensuing Balkan Wars eliminated what little presence the Ottomans had left in Europe, and only infighting between the Balkan League allies prevented them from advancing into Anatolia. Internally, the Ottomans continued to be troubled by political instability, nationalist uprisings that had plagued the Empire sporadically for the past fifty years intensified
5.
Padishah
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Its Arabized pronunciation as Badishah was used by Mughal emperors. The rulers on the following thrones – the first two effectively commanding major West Asian empires – were styled Padishah, The Shāhanshāh of Iran, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who used the Arabic version of the title, Badshah. Miangul Golshahzada Abdul Wadud of the tiny Pakistani North West Frontier state of Swat called himself badshah from November 1918 to March 1926, ahmed Shah Durrani founded the Durrani Empire in 1747 with the title Pādshah-i Afghanistan in Persian and Badcha Da Afghanistan in the Pashto language. The Sadozai were overthrown in 1823 but there was a restoration by Shah Shujah in 1839 with the help of Ranjit Singh and the Sikh Empire. The last Basha bey of Tunisia, Muhammad VIII al-Amin, adopted the sovereign style padshah 20 March 1956 –25 July 1957, the paramount prestige of this title, in Islam and even beyond, is clearly apparent from the Ottoman Empires dealings with the European powers. The compound Pādshah-i-Ghazi is only recorded for two individual rulers, H. H, there is a large family of Turkish origin using the surname Badi in modern-day Libya. In 2008, a cricket team, the Lahore Badshahs, was founded. In India, Padishah is often a Muslim surname, from the trend of adopting titles as names by both royalty and commoners. In Frank Herberts 1965 novel Dune, the head of human space is styled Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe. In the Pathfinder role-playing game, the ruler of the Empire of Kelesh is styled Padishah Emperor, baig Emir Rana Shah Sultan RoyalArk — Select present country, then choose dynasty from its menu WorldStatesmen idem, more cases but less thorough Bartbleby. com Dictionary & Etymology
6.
Ahmed I
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Ahmed I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmeds reign is noteworthy for marking the end of the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide and he is also well known for his construction of the Blue Mosque, one of the most famous mosques in Turkey. Ahmed was born on 18 April 1590 at the Manisa Palace, Manisa, when his father Şehzade Mehmed was still a prince, after his grandfather Murad IIIs death in 1595, his father came to Istanbul and ascended the throne as Sultan Mehmed III. His father ordered the execution of nineteen of his brothers and half brothers and his elder brother Şehzade Mahmud was also executed by his own father on 7 June 1603, just before his own death on 22 December 1603. Mahmud was buried along with his mother in a mausoleum built by Ahmed in Şehzade Mosque. Ahmed ascended the throne after his fathers death in 1603, when ascended the throne, his powerful grandmother Safiye Sultan was still alive. He broke with the traditional fratricide and sent his brother Mustafa to live at the old palace at Bayezit along with their grandmother Safiye Sultan. A far lost uncle of Ahmed, Yahya, resented his accession to the Ottoman throne in 1603, in contrast to previous enthronements, Ahmed did not order the execution of his brother Mustafa, thus the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide was brought to an end. This was most likely due to Ahmeds young age - he had not yet demonstrated his ability to sire children and his brothers execution would have endangered the dynasty, and thus he was spared. In the earlier part of his reign Ahmed I showed decision and vigor, the new borders were drawn per exactly the same line as confirmed in the Peace of Amasya of 1555. Upon ascending the throne, Ahmed I appointed Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha as the commander of the eastern army, despite the conditions being favourable, Sinan Pasha decided to stay for the winter in Van, but then marched to Erzurum to stop an incoming Safavid attack. This caused unrest within the army and the year was practically wasted for the Ottomans, the Ottoman army was routed Urmia and had to flee firstly to Van and then to Diyarbekir. Here, Sinan Pasha sparked a rebellion by executing the Beylerbey of Aleppo, Canbulatoğlu Hüseyin Pasha and he soon died himself and the Safavid army was able to capture Ganja, Shirvan and Shamakhi in Azerbaijan. Under Mehmed Pasha, the army recaptured Pest and Vác, but failed to capture Esztergom as the siege was lifted due to unfavourable weather. Meanwhile, the King of Transylvania, Stephen Bocskay, who struggled for the independence and had formerly supported the Habsburgs. Upon the promise of help, his forces joined the Ottoman forces in Belgrade. With this help, the Ottoman army besieged Esztergom and captured it on 4 November 1605, bocskai, with Ottoman help, captured Nové Zámky and forces under Tiryaki Hasan Pasha took Veszprém and Palota. Sarhoş İbrahim Pasha, the Beylerbey of Nagykanizsa, attacked the Austrian region of Istria, however, with Jelali revolts in Anatolia more dangerous than ever and a defeat in the eastern front, Mehmed Pasha was called to Constantinople
7.
Osman II
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Osman II, commonly known in Turkey as Genç Osman, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1618 until his death by regicide on 20 May 1622. Osman II was born at Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, the son of Sultan Ahmed I and his first wife Mahfiruz Hatun, according to some sources either a Greek or Evdoksiya, a Serbian. Osmans failure to capture the throne at the death of his father Ahmed may have been caused by the absence of a mother to lobby in his favor, his own mother probably already dead or in exile. He ascended the throne at the age of 14 as the result of a coup détat against his uncle Mustafa I the Intestable. The basic and exceptional weakness from which Osman II suffered was the absence of a female power basis in the harem. From 1620 until Osmans death, a governess was appointed as a stand-in valide, according to Piterberg, Osman II did not have haseki sultan, opposite with Peirce who claim that Ayşe was Osmans haseki. But it is clear that Ayşe could not take valides role during her spouses reign, seeking a counterweight to Janissary influence, Osman II closed their coffee shops and started planning to create a new and more loyal army consisting of Anatolian sekbans. The result was an uprising by the Janissaries, who promptly imprisoned the young sultan in Yedikule Fortress in Istanbul. Transformation of the Ottoman Empire Media related to Osman II at Wikimedia Commons
8.
Murad IV
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Murad IV was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Istanbul, the son of Sultan Ahmed I, brought to power by a palace conspiracy in 1623, he succeeded his uncle Mustafa I. He was only 11 when he took the throne, in the early years of Murads reign, he was under the control of his relatives. His absolute rule started around 1632, when he took the authority and repressed all the tyrants, Murad IV was for a long time under the control of his relatives and during his early years as Sultan, his mother, Kösem Sultan, essentially ruled through him. Murad IV feared suffering the fate of his brother, Osman II. At the age of 16 in 1628, he had his brother-in-law, Murad IV tried to quell the corruption that had grown during the reigns of previous Sultans, and that had not been checked while his mother was ruling through proxy. Murad IV also banned alcohol, tobacco, and coffee in Istanbul and he ordered execution for breaking this ban. Rivaling the exploits of Selim the Grim, he would sit in a kiosk by the water near his Seraglio Palace and he restored the judicial regulations by very strict punishments, including execution, he once strangled a grand vizier for the reason that the official had beaten his mother-in-law. Historians including Halil İnalcık as well as primary sources report that though he was a ruthless supporter of alcohol prohibition. Murad IVs reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War against Persia in which Ottoman forces managed to conquer Azerbaijan, occupying Tabriz, Hamadan, Murad IV himself commanded the invasion of Mesopotamia and proved to be an outstanding field commander. Mesopotamia was irrevocably lost for the Persians, the borders per the outcome of the war is more or less the present border line between Turkey - Iraq and Iran. Murad IV himself commanded the Ottoman army in the last years of the war and he was the third Ottoman Sultan to command an army on the battlefield since the death of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566. Sultan Murad IV put emphasis on architecture and in his period many monuments were erected, some of them are Meydanı Mosque, Bayram Pasha Dervish Lodge, Tomb, Fountain, Primary School, Konya Serefeddin Mosque. Both of them later comprised among the Mughal team that would design, in the year 1626, the Mughal Emperor Jahangir began to contemplate an alliance between the Ottomans, Mughals and Uzbeks against the Safavids, who had defeated the Mughals at Kandahar. He even wrote a letter to the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV, however, Jahangirs son and successor Shah Jahan pursued the goal of alliance with the Ottoman Empire. Murad IV gave them the finest weapons, saddles and Kaftans and ordered his forces to accompany the Mughals to the port of Basra, Murad IV was known having affairs with both men and women. In his Iran campaign he brought the commander of Revan Castle Emirgûneoğlu Tahmasp Kulu Khan to Istanbul, changed his name to Yusuf Pasha and made a garden namely Feridun Bahçesi for him. According to Dimitri Kantemir and Eremya Çelebi Murad IV was constantly meeting the well known homosexuals of time Yusuf Pasha, Musa Çelebi and Silahtar Mustafa Pasha in Feridun Bahçesi
9.
Manisa
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Manisa is a large city in Turkeys Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province. Under Ottoman rule in the centuries that followed, the city had already extended into the terrain at the start of the plain. It is also a point for other visitor attractions of international acclaim which are located nearby within Manisas depending region, such as Sardes. Historically, the city was also called Magnesia, and more precisely as Magnesia ad Sipylum to distinguish from Magnesia on the Maeander at a short distance to the south. Traditional view held that the name Magnesia derived from the tribe of Magnetes who would have immigrated here from Thessaly at the dawn of the recorded history. A connection with native Anatolian languages has also been suggested of recent date, the name is rendered as Μαγνησία in ancient and modern Greek language. The names Sipylus or Sipylum in reference to a settlement here are also encountered in some sources, again in reference to the mountain and as abbreviated forms. Traces of prehistory in the Manisa region, although few in number, the second finds are tombs contemporaneous with Troy II and found in the village of Yortan near Kırkağaç district center, north of Manisa. Original burial practices observed in these sepulchres led scholars to the definition of a Yortan culture in Anatolias prehistory, cybele monument by itself represents a step of innovation in Hittite art where full-faced figures in high relief are rare. The first millennium BC saw the emergence in the region of Phrygians and Maeonians, the accounts concerning which are blended with myths. The vestiges from their capital which reached our day bring together remains from successive civilizations. It became a city of importance under the Roman dominion and, though nearly destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius, was restored by that emperor and flourished through the Roman empire. It was an important regional centre through the Byzantine Empire, Magnesia housed the Imperial mint, the Imperial treasury, and served as the functional capital of the empire until the recovery of Constantinople in 1261. Ruins of the Nicean-era fortifications attest to the importance in the Late Byzantine period. In the early 13th century the region of Magnesia was subject to repeated raids by invading Turkish bands, the local population was unable to repulse the Turkish raids. Thus, after an unsuccessful defence lead by the Byzantine Emperor most inhabitants fled to the Aegean coast, as a result of the Turkish invasion in the region and the destruction of the city the area was largely abandoned. His sons held the region until 1390, when the first incorporation of their lands into the expanding Ottoman state took place, after a brief interval caused by the Ottoman interregnum after the Battle of Ankara, Manisa and its surroundings definitely became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1410. Even during the 15th century Magnesia was recorded as being in ruins due to the previous Turkish raids
10.
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
11.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
12.
Hagia Sophia
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Hagia Sophia was a Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. The building was converted into an Ottoman mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935, famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have changed the history of architecture. It remained the worlds largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years and it was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The church contained a collection of relics and featured, among other things. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed the Conqueror, by that point, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair. Nevertheless, the Christian cathedral made an impression on the new Ottoman rulers. Islamic features—such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets—were added and it remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Republic of Turkey, Hagia Sophia was, as of 2014, the second-most visited museum in Turkey, attracting almost 3.3 million visitors annually. According to data released by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, from its initial conversion until the construction of the nearby Sultan Ahmed Mosque in 1616, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul. The first church on the site was known as the Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία, or in Latin Magna Ecclesia, inaugurated on 15 February 360 by the Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antioch, it was built next to the area where the imperial palace was being developed. The nearby Hagia Eirene church was completed earlier and served as cathedral until the Great Church was completed, both churches acted together as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire. Writing in 440, Socrates of Constantinople claimed that the church was built by Constantius II, a tradition which is not older than the 7th or 8th century, reports that the edifice was built by Constantine the Great. Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius had repaired the edifice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia, after it had collapsed. Since Eusebius was bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, the edifice was built as a traditional Latin colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It was preceded by an atrium and it was claimed to be one of the worlds most outstanding monuments at the time. The Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the emperor Arcadius, during the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burned down. Nothing remains of the first church today, a second church on the site was ordered by Theodosius II, who inaugurated it on 10 October 415
13.
Istanbul
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Istanbul, historically known as Constantinople and Byzantium, is the most populous city in Turkey and the countrys economic, cultural, and historic center. Istanbul is a city in Eurasia, straddling the Bosphorus strait between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies on the European side and about a third of its population lives on the Asian side, the city is the administrative center of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, both hosting a population of around 14.7 million residents. Istanbul is one of the worlds most populous cities and ranks as the worlds 7th-largest city proper, founded under the name of Byzantion on the Sarayburnu promontory around 660 BCE, the city developed to become one of the most significant in history. After its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 CE, it served as a capital for almost 16 centuries, during the Roman and Byzantine, the Latin. Overlooked for the new capital Ankara during the period, the city has since regained much of its prominence. The population of the city has increased tenfold since the 1950s, as migrants from across Anatolia have moved in, arts, music, film, and cultural festivals were established at the end of the 20th century and continue to be hosted by the city today. Infrastructure improvements have produced a complex transportation network, considered a global city, Istanbul has one of the fastest-growing metropolitan economies in the world. It hosts the headquarters of many Turkish companies and media outlets and accounts for more than a quarter of the gross domestic product. Hoping to capitalize on its revitalization and rapid expansion, Istanbul has bid for the Summer Olympics five times in twenty years, the first known name of the city is Byzantium, the name given to it at its foundation by Megarean colonists around 660 BCE. The name is thought to be derived from a personal name, ancient Greek tradition refers to a legendary king of that name as the leader of the Greek colonists. Modern scholars have hypothesized that the name of Byzas was of local Thracian or Illyrian origin. He also attempted to promote the name Nova Roma and its Greek version Νέα Ῥώμη Nea Romē, the use of Constantinople to refer to the city during the Ottoman period is now considered politically incorrect, even if not historically inaccurate, by Turks. By the 19th century, the city had acquired other names used by foreigners or Turks. Europeans used Constantinople to refer to the whole of the city, pera was used to describe the area between the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, but Turks also used the name Beyoğlu. The name İstanbul is commonly held to derive from the Medieval Greek phrase εἰς τὴν Πόλιν and this reflected its status as the only major city in the vicinity. The importance of Constantinople in the Ottoman world was reflected by its Ottoman name Der Saadet meaning the gate to Prosperity in Ottoman. An alternative view is that the name evolved directly from the name Constantinople, with the first, a Turkish folk etymology traces the name to Islam bol plenty of Islam because the city was called Islambol or Islambul as the capital of the Islamic Ottoman Empire
14.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
15.
Ottoman dynasty
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The Ottoman dynasty was made up of the members of the imperial House of Osman. According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, the Ottoman dynasty, named after Osman I, ruled the Ottoman Empire from c.1299 to 1922. During much of the Empires history, the sultan was the regent, head of state. The imperial family was deposed from power and the sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922 after the Turkish War of Independence, the Republic of Turkey was declared the following year. The living members of the dynasty were sent into exile as persona non gratae, though some have been allowed to return. In its current form, the family is known as the Osmanoğlu family, before Orhans proclamation of the dynasty, the tribe was known as the Bilecik Söğüt Beylik or Beys but was renamed Osmanlı in honor of Osman. The Ottoman dynasty is known in modern Turkish as Osmanlı Hanedanı, meaning House of Osman, in Ottoman Turkish it was known as Hanedan-ı Âl-i Osman, thus they still formally acknowledged the sovereignty of the Seljuk Empire and its successor, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. The first Ottoman ruler to claim the title of Sultan was Murad I. The holder of the title Sultan was in Arabic-Islamic dynasties originally the power behind the throne of the Caliph in Bagdad, the Ottoman sultans also claimed the title of Caliph starting with Murad I, who transformed the Ottoman state into a transcontinental empire. With the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II Fatih claimed the title Kaysar-i-Rûm Emperor of Rome and he appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, whom he protected and whose status he elevated into leader of all the Eastern Orthodox Christians. As Emperor of Rome he laid claim to all Roman territories, Sultan Mehmed II also took the title of Padishah, a Persian title meaning Master of Kings and ranking as Emperor, claiming superiority among the other kings. He was the first Ottoman ruler to adopt the title of Padishah. The Ottoman claim to caliphate was strengthened when they defeated the Mamluks in 1517, as the empire grew, sultans adopted secondary titles expressing the empires claim to be the legitimate successor of the absorbed states. Furthermore, they tended to enumerate even regular provinces, not unlike the long lists of -mainly inherited- feudal titles in the style of many Christian European monarchs. Some early Ottoman Sultans even had to accept the status in the eyes of a foreign overlord. However, the Ottoman Caliphate too was abolished soon afterwards, and Abdulmecid II was utterly deposed and expelled from Turkey with the rest of the Ottoman dynasty on 3 March 1924
16.
Mehmed III
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Mehmed III was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603. He was born at the Manisa Palace, during the reign of his great-grandfather, Suleiman the Magnificent and he was the son of Şehzade Murad, himself the son of Şehzade Selim, who was the son of Sultan Suleiman and Hürrem Sultan. His mother was Safiye Sultan, an Albanian from the Dukagjin highlands and his great-grandfather died the year he was born and his grandfather became the new Sultan, Selim II. His grandfather Sultan Selim II died when Mehmed was 8 and Mehmeds father, Murad III, Mehmed thus became Crown Prince until his fathers death in 1595, when he was 28 years old. Mehmed III remains notorious even in Ottoman history for having nineteen of his brothers and half-brothers executed to secure power and they were all strangled by his deaf-mutes. Mehmed III was a ruler, leaving government to his mother Safiye Sultan. His first major problem was the rivalry between two of his viziers, Serdar Ferhad Pasha and Koca Sinan Pasha, and their supporters and his mother and her son-in-law Damat Ibrahim Pasha supported Koca Sinan Pasha, and prevented Mehmed III from taking control of the issue himself. The issue grew to cause major disturbances by janissaries, on 7 July 1595, Mehmed III finally sacked Serdar Ferhad Pasha from the position of Grand Vizier due to his failure in Wallachia and replaced him with Sinan. The major event of his reign was the Austro-Ottoman War in Hungary, Ottoman defeats in the war caused Mehmed III to take personal command of the army, the first sultan to do so since Suleiman I in 1566. Accompanied by the Sultan, the Ottomans conquered Eger in 1596, upon hearing of the Habsburg armys approach, Mehmed wanted to dismiss the army and return to Istanbul. Upon returning to Istanbul in victory, Mehmed told his Vezirs that he would campaign again, the next year the Venetian Bailo in Istanbul noted, the doctors declared that the Sultan cannot leave for war on account of his bad health, produced by excesses of eating and drinking. In reward for his services at the war, Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha was made Grand Vizier in 1596, however, with pressure from the court and his mother, Mehmed reinstated Damat Ibrahim Pasha to this position shortly afterwards. In 1600, Ottoman forces under Tiryaki Hasan Pasha captured Nagykanizsa after a 40-day siege, another major event of his reign was the Jelali revolts in Anatolia. Karayazıcı Abdülhalim, a former Ottoman official, captured the city of Urfa, in 1601, Abdülhalim fled to the vicinity of Samsun after being defeated by the forces under Sokulluzade Hasan Pasha, the governor of Baghdad. However, his brother, Deli Hasan, killed Sokulluzade Hasan Pasha and he then marched on to Kütahya, captured and burned the city. In 1599, the year of Mehmed IIIs reign, Queen Elizabeth I sent a convoy of gifts to the Ottoman court. These gifts were intended for the sultans predecessor, Murad III. Included in these gifts was a large jewel-studded clockwork organ that was assembled on the slope of the Royal Private Garden by a team of engineers including Thomas Dallam
17.
Sunni Islam
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Sunni Islam is the largest group of Islam. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the behavior of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to Sunni tradition, Muhammad did not clearly designate a successor and this contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad intended his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib to succeed him. Political tensions between Sunnis and Shias continued with varying intensity throughout Islamic history and they have been exacerbated in recent times by ethnic conflicts, as of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted between 87–90% of the worlds Muslim population. Sunni Islam is the worlds largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism and its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah or ahl as-sunnah for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites, Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as orthodox Islam. The Quran, together with hadith and binding juristic consensus form the basis of all traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, sunnī, also commonly referred to as Sunnīism, is a term derived from sunnah meaning habit, usual practice, custom, tradition. The Muslim use of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of the prophet Muhammad, in Arabic, this branch of Islam is referred to as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah, the people of the sunnah and the community, which is commonly shortened to ahl as-sunnah. One common mistake is to assume that Sunni Islam represents a normative Islam that emerged during the period after Muhammads death, and that Sufism and Shiism developed out of Sunni Islam. This perception is due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works. Both Sunnism and Shiaism are the end products of centuries of competition between ideologies. Both sects used each other to further cement their own identities and doctrines, the first four caliphs are known among Sunnis as the Rashidun or Rightly-Guided Ones. Sunni recognition includes the aforementioned Abu Bakr as the first, Umar who established the Islamic calendar as the second, Uthman as the third, Sunnis believe that the companions of Muhammad were the best of Muslims. Support for this view is found in the Quran, according to Sunnis. Sunnis also believe that the companions were true believers since it was the companions who were given the task of compiling the Quran, furthermore, narrations that were narrated by the companions are considered by Sunnis to be a second source of knowledge of the Muslim faith. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 and released January 2011 found that there are 1.62 billion Muslims around the world, Islam does not have a formal hierarchy or clergy. Leaders are informal, and gain influence through study to become a scholar of Islamic law, according to the Islamic Center of Columbia, South Carolina, anyone with the intelligence and the will can become an Islamic scholar. During Midday Mosque services on Fridays, the congregation will choose a person to lead the service
18.
Tughra
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A tughra is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign, the tughra was designed at the beginning of the sultans reign and drawn by the court calligrapher or nişancı on written documents. The first tughra belonged to Orhan I, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Tughras served a similar to the cartouche in ancient Egypt or the Royal Cypher of British monarchs. Every Ottoman sultan had his own individual tughra, the tughra has a characteristic form, two loops on the left side, three vertical lines in the middle, stacked writing on the bottom and two extensions to the right. Each of these elements has a meaning, and together they make up the form that is easily recognizable as a tughra. The name of the sultan is written out in the bottom section, depending on the period, this name can be as simple as Orhan, son of Osman in the first tughra in 1326. In later periods honorifics and prayers are added to the name of the tughra holder. The loops to the left of the tughra are called beyze, the vertical lines on the top of the tughra are called tuğ, or flagstaff. The lines to the right of the tughra are called hançer and signify a sword, symbol of power and might. Although the tughra is largely identified with the Ottoman Sultans, they have sometimes been used in other Turkic states, such as the Qajar dynasty, Safavid Empire. Later, tughras were used among the Tatars of Imperial Russia, there are modern artists of calligraphy that use the characteristic tughra form today. Examples are the tughras of Russian president Vladimir Putin and Akihito, the Emperor of Japan, created by artist Vladimir Popov
19.
Sultan
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Sultan is a noble title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning strength, authority, rulership, derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, the dynasty and lands ruled by a sultan are referred to as a sultanate. A feminine form of sultan, used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah, but Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses sultan for imperial lady, because Turkish grammar uses the same words for women and men. However, this styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans, in a similar usage, the wife of a German field marshal might be styled Frau Feldmarschall. The female leaders in Muslim history are known as sultanas. Special case in Brunei, the Queen Consort is known as Raja Isteri with suffix Pengiran Anak if the queen consort is a royal princess. Among those modern hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law and these are generally secondary titles, either lofty poetry or with a message, e. g. g. Sultan ul-Mujahidin as champion of jihad, ghaznavid Sultanate Sultans of Great Seljuk Seljuk Sultanate of Rum Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, the Osmanli Elisu Sultanate and a few others. A Sultan ranked below a Khan and this usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative. Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as sultan, but Ottomans themselves used padişah or hünkar to refer to their ruler, the emperors formal title consisted of sultan together with khan. In formal address, the children were also entitled sultan, with imperial princes carrying the title before their given name. Example, Şehzade Sultan Mehmed and Mihrimah Sultan, son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non imperial blood to carry the title sultan. In Kazakh Khanate a Sultan was a lord from the ruling dynasty elected by clans, the best of sultans was elected as khan by people at Kurultai. See ru, Казахские султаны In a number of states under Mongol or Turkic rule. These administrations were often decimal, using originally princely titles such as khan, malik, in the Persian empire, the rank of sultan was roughly equivalent to that of a modern-day captain in the West, socially in the fifth-rank class, styled Ali Jah
20.
Safiye Sultan
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Safiye Sultan, was the consort of Murad III and Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire as mother of Mehmed III. Safiye was also one of the eminent figures during the era known as the Sultanate of Women. She lived in the Ottoman Empire during the reigns of seven sultans, Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, Murad III, Mehmed III, Ahmed I, Mustafa I, and Osman II. The identity of Safiye has often confused with that of her Venetian mother-in-law, Nurbanu. However, Safiye was of Albanian origin, born in the Dukagjin highlands, in 1563, at the age of 13, she was presented as a slave to the future Murad III by Hümaşah Sultan, daughter of Şehzade Mehmed, son of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan. Given the name Safiye, she became a concubine of Murad, in 26 May 1566, she gave birth to Murads son, the future Mehmed III, same year when Suleiman the Magnificent died. Safiye had been Murads only concubine prior to his accession, and his mother Nurbanu advised him to take other concubines for the good of the dynasty, which by 1581 had only one surviving heir, Murad and Safiyes son Mehmed. In 1583, Nurbanu accused Safiye of using witches and sorcerers to render Murad impotent and prevent him from taking new concubines and this resulted in the imprisonment and torture of Safiyes servants. Murads sister Esmehan presented him with two beautiful concubines, which he accepted, cured of his impotence, he went on to father twenty sons and twenty-seven daughters. Venetian reports state that after an initial bitterness, Safiye kept her dignity and she even procured more for him, earning the gratitude of the Sultan, who continued to value her and consult her on political matters, especially after the death of Nurbanu. During Murads latter years, Safiye returned to being his only companion, however, it is unlikely that Safiye ever became Murads wife—though the Ottoman historian Mustafa Ali refers to her as such, he is contradicted by reports from the Venetian and English ambassadors. She was influential as a Haseki, a rank bestowed on her less than a year after Murad ascended the throne. When Murad died in 1595, Safiye arranged for her son Mehmed to succeed as sultan, until her sons death in 1603, Ottoman politics were determined by a party headed by herself and Gazanfer Ağa, chief of the white eunuchs and head of the enderun. Safiye eventually enjoyed an enormous stipend of 3,000 aspers a day during the part of her sons reign. When Mehmed III went on the Eger campaign in Hungary in 1596, he gave his great power over the empire. During her interim rule she persuaded her son to revoke a political appointment of the judgeship of Istanbul and to reassign to the grand vizierate to Damat Ibrahim Pasha, her son-in-law. During this period, the secretary of the English ambassador reported that while in the palace, the Queen Mother sent to enquire of the matter was told that the Vizier did justice upon certain chabies, that is, whores. The greatest crisis Safiye endured as valide sultan stemmed from her reliance on her kira, a kira was a non-Muslim woman who acted as an intermediary between a secluded woman of the harem and the outside world, serving as a business agent and secretary
21.
Kizlar Agha
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The Kizlar Agha or Aga, formally the Agha of the House of Felicity, was the head of the eunuchs who guarded the Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Sultans in Constantinople. Due to his proximity to the Sultan and the role the harem ladies played in court intrigues, the post ranked among the most important in the Ottoman Empire until the early 19th century. Soon after its creation and until its abolition at the end of the Ottoman Empire, the post came to be occupied by Black African eunuch slaves, and hence is also referred to as the Chief Black Eunuch. The post of the Kizlar Agha was created in the reign of Murad III in 1574, until then, the Ottoman palace had been dominated by the white eunuchs, chiefly drawn from the Christian populations of the Balkans or the Caucasus. The 16th century, however, saw a rise of the population of the Topkapi Palace, including among eunuchs. E. Bosworth, in practice the principal officer of the whole palace, the posts power derived not only from its proximity to the Sultan, but also from its association with the powerful queen-mothers, the valide sultanas, who often dominated politics. In addition, he was the individual allowed to carry the Grand Viziers communications to the Sultan and had a recognized role in public ceremonies. Among his duties in the palace was also the supervision of the education of imperial princes until they entered puberty, in Ottoman legal theory, the Sultan was supposed to conduct affairs of state exclusively via the Grand Vizier, but in reality this arrangement was often circumvented. He might, too, be inclined to take the advice of his mother. Initially under the supervision of the Kapi Agha, in 1586 Murad III transferred the responsibility to the Kizlar Agha. After her death, Athens came under the purview of the Kizlar Agha, a special treasury, the haremeyn dolabi, contained the revenue from the vakifs, and the Kizlar Agha held a weekly council to examine the accounts. Finally, in 1834, Mahmud II deprived the post of the supervision of the vakifs. The eunuchs usually received flower names, and after a period of training in the palace school, the eunuchs began at the post of ordinary recruit, and gradually advanced through the ranks, from nevbet kalfa to senior posts in the guard of the harem. The senior-most eunuchs were known as hasıllı, from an Arabic word meaning product, from these senior posts a eunuch could be selected and appointed to the post of Kizlar Agha by imperial decree and the ceremonial receipt of a robe of office from the Sultan. Alongside the lands belonging to the office, the Kizlar Agha usually received a personal fief, when they were dismissed, the Chief Black Eunuchs received a pension and from 1644 on were exiled to Egypt or the Hejaz. As a result, serving Kizlar Aghas often took care to prepare for a retirement in Egypt by buying property. Thus they became local grandees and played an important role in patronizing trade, eastern Concubines, Western Mistresses, Prévosts Histoire dune Grecque moderne. In Buturović, Amila, Schick, İrvin Cemil, women in the Ottoman Balkans, Gender, Culture and History
22.
Janissaries
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The Janissaries were elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultans household troops, bodyguards and the first standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established during the reign of Murad I and they began as an elite corps of slaves made up of conscripted young Christian boys, and became famed for internal cohesion cemented by strict discipline and order. Unlike typical slaves, they were paid regular salaries, forbidden to marry or engage in trade, their complete loyalty to the Sultan was expected. By the seventeenth century, due to a increase in the size of the Ottoman standing army. Civilians bought their way into the corps in order to benefit from the socioeconomic status it conferred upon them. Consequently, the corps gradually lost its character, undergoing a process which has been described as civilianization. The corps was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826 in the Auspicious Incident in which 6,000 or more were executed, the formation of the Janissaries has been dated to the reign of Murad I, the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire. From the 1380s to 1648, the Janissaries were gathered through the system which was abolished in 1638. This was the taking of non-Muslim boys, notably Anatolian and Balkan Christians, Jews were never subject to devşirme, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, in early days, all Christians were enrolled indiscriminately. Later, those from Albania, Bosnia, and Bulgaria were preferred, the Janissaries were kapıkulları, door servants or slaves of the Porte, neither freemen nor ordinary slaves. They were subjected to strict discipline, but were paid salaries and pensions upon retirement, as such, they became one of the ruling classes of the Ottoman Empire, rivalling the Turkish aristocracy. The brightest of the Janissaries were sent to the palace institution, through a system of meritocracy, the Janissaries held enormous power, stopping all efforts at reform of the military. These boys were taken from their parents and given to Turkish families in the provinces to learn Turkish language and customs. The recruits were indoctrinated into Islam, forced into circumcision and supervised 24 hours a day by eunuchs and they were subjected to severe discipline, being prohibited from growing a beard, taking up a skill other than soldiering, and marrying. As a result, the Janissaries were extremely well-disciplined troops, and became members of the askeri class, most were non-Muslims, because it was not permissible to enslave a Muslim. The Janissary system was introduced in the 14th century, the Janissary Corps was a trained and loyal group of slaves to the sultan. In the late 16th century, a sultan gave in to the pressures of the Corps and permitted Janissary children to members of the Corps. They also became rent-seeking and sought protection of their special rights, according to paintings of the era, they were also permitted to grow beards
23.
Sir Thomas Roe
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Sir Thomas Roe was an English diplomat of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Roes voyages ranged from Central America to India, as ambassador, he represented England in the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and he sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1644. Roe was a scholar and a patron of learning. Roe was born at Low Leyton near Wanstead in Essex, the son of Sir Robert Rowe of Gloucestershire and Cranford, Middlesex and he matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, on 6 July 1593, at the age of twelve. In 1597 he entered Middle Temple and became esquire of the body to Queen Elizabeth I of England, in 1610, Roe was sent by Prince Henry on a mission to the West Indies, during which he visited Guiana and the Amazon River. He tried to reach the Lake Parime location of the fabled El Dorado, however, he failed then, and in two subsequent expeditions, to discover the gold he was seeking. In 1614, Roe was elected Member of Parliament for Tamworth, from 1615 to 1618, he was ambassador to the court at Agra, India, of the Great Mughal Ruler, Jahangir. The principal object of the mission was to obtain protection for the East India Companys factory at Surat, at the Mughal court, Roe allegedly became a favorite of Jahangir and may have been his drinking partner. This greatly enhanced Roes status with the Mughals and his journal was a valuable source of information for the reign of Jahangir. In 1621, Roe was elected MP for Cirencester and he received diplomatic credentials to the Ottoman Empire on 6 September, arriving at Constantinople in December. In this role, he obtained an extension of the privileges of the English merchants and he concluded a treaty with Algiers in 1624, by which he secured the liberation of several hundred English captives. He also gained the support, by an English subsidy, of the Transylvanian Prince Bethlen Gabor for the European Protestant alliance, but Roe did not leave Porte until June 1628. A collection of 242 coins was given by his widow, at his desire and he also searched for Greek marbles on behalf of the Duke of Buckingham and the second Earl of Arundel. In 1629, Roe was successful in another mission undertaken, to arrange a peace between Sweden and Poland, in so doing, he was able to help free up Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to intervene decisively in the Thirty Years War on the side of the Protestant German princes. Roe also negotiated treaties with Danzig and Denmark, returning home in 1630, in 1631, he sponsored the Arctic exploration of Luke Fox, Roes Welcome Sound was named in his honor. In January 1637, Roe was appointed Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, in June 1640, he was made a privy councillor. In November 1640 he was elected MP for Oxford University in the Long Parliament and he was buried in the parish church of St. Mary in Woodford, London. Roe married Lady Eleanor Beeston, the widowed daughter of Sir Thomas Cave of Stanford-on-Avon, Northamptonshire in 1614
24.
Sipahi
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Sipahi were two types of Ottoman cavalry corps, including the fief-holding provincial timarli sipahi, which constituted most of the army, and the regular kapikulu sipahi, palace troops. Other types of cavalry which were not regarded sipahi were the irregular akıncı, the sipahi formed their own distinctive social classes, and were notably in rivalry with the Janissaries, the elite corps of the Sultan. It was also the given to several cavalry units serving in the French. The word is derived from Persian sepāhī, meaning soldier, the term is also transliterated as spahi and spahee, rendered in other languages as, spahiu, spahis, spahija or spahiya. The word sepoy is derived from the same Persian word sepāhī, the term refers to all freeborn Ottoman Turkish mounted troops other than akıncı and tribal horsemen in the Ottoman army. The word was used almost synonymously with cavalry, the provincial governors, or beys, were rotated every few years, preventing land inheritance. The provinces, or sanjaks, were not all equal since Anatolia, the entwinement of land, military, politics, economics and religion was a way of life. The timar system, where the sultan owned all land but individual plots of land, the sipahi did not inherit anything, preventing power centres from growing and threatening the supreme power structure. The locals on the timar used the land and all it produced, the Timarli Sipahi or timariot was the holder of a fief of land granted directly by the Ottoman sultan or with his official permission by beylerbeys. He was entitled to all of the income from that land, the peasants on the land were subsequently attached thereto. Timarli Sipahis status resembled that of the knights of medieval Europe, unlike medieval knights, they were not legally owners of their fiefs. The right to govern and collect taxes in a fief was merely given to a Timarli Sipahi by the Ottoman State. And in return, tımarli sipahis were responsible for security of the people in their timar, enlisting and training cebelu soldiers for the army. A timar was the smallest unit of land held by a Sipahi, providing a revenue of no more than 20,000 akçe. A ziamet was a unit of land, yielding up to 100,000 akçe. A has was the largest unit of land, giving revenues of more than 100,000 akçe, and was only held by the highest-ranking members of the military. A tîmâr Sipahi was obliged to provide the army with up to five armed retainers, a ziamet Sipahi with up to twenty, the sipahi were traditionally recruited among Turkic landowners, and thus, the non-Turkic provinces such as Arabia and Maghreb did not have sipahi. Recruitment of non-Turkic sipahi was banned with a 1635 ferman, in contrast to the Janissaries, Timarli Sipahis from that time onwards were Turks
25.
Erzurum
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Erzurum is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the largest city in, and the capital of and it is situated 1757 meters above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census, Erzurum, known as The Rock in NATO code, served as NATOs southeastern-most air force post during the Cold War. The city uses the double-headed Anatolian Seljuk Eagle as its coat-of-arms, a motif that was a symbol throughout Anatolia. Erzurum has some of the finest winter sports facilities in Turkey, the city was originally known in Armenian as Karno Kaghak, meaning city of Karin, to distinguish it from the district of Karin. After the Arab conquest of Armenia, the city was known to the Arabs as Kālīkalā, during Roman times, Erzurum was named Theodosiopolis. It got its present name after its conquest by the Seljuks following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, a neighboring commercial city named Artsn was heavily sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1048-49. Its Armenian, Syrian, and other Christian inhabitants moved to Theodosiopolis, some older sources derive the name Erzurum from the Arabic Arḍ-ar-Rūm land of the Rûm. The surroundings of Erzurum at the Urartian period presumably belonged to Diauehi, later, Erzurum existed under the Armenian name of Karin. During the reigns of the Artaxiad and Arsacid kings of Armenia, after the partition of Armenia between the Eastern Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia in 387 AD, the city passed into the hands of the Romans. They fortified the city and renamed it Theodosiopolis, after Emperor Theodosius I, emperors Anastasius I and Justinian I both refortified the city and built new defenses during their reigns. Theodosiopolis was conquered by the Umayyad general Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik in 700/701 and it became the capital of the emirate of Ḳālīḳalā and was used as a base for raids into Byzantine territory. Though only an island of Arab power within Christian Armenian-populated territory, in 931, and again in 949, Byzantine forces led by Theophilos Kourkouas, grandfather of the future emperor John I Tzimiskes, captured Theodosiopolis. Its Arab population was expelled and the city was resettled by Greeks, Emperor Basil II rebuilt the city and its defenses in 1018 with the help of the local Armenian population. In 1071, after the battle at Manzikert, the Seljuk Turks took possession of Theodosiopolis. The Saltukids were rulers of an Anatolian beylik centered in Erzurum, melike Mama Hatun, sister of Nâsırüddin Muhammed, was the ruler between 1191 and 1200. Theodosiopolis repelled many attacks and military campaigns by the Seljuks and Georgians until 1201 when the city, erzen-Erzurum fell to the Mongol siege in 1242, and the city was looted and devastated. Then became part of the beylik, Black Sheep Turkmen, empire of Timur Lenk
26.
Haghia Sophia
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Hagia Sophia was a Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. The building was converted into an Ottoman mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935, famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have changed the history of architecture. It remained the worlds largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years and it was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The church contained a collection of relics and featured, among other things. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed the Conqueror, by that point, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair. Nevertheless, the Christian cathedral made an impression on the new Ottoman rulers. Islamic features—such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets—were added and it remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Republic of Turkey, Hagia Sophia was, as of 2014, the second-most visited museum in Turkey, attracting almost 3.3 million visitors annually. According to data released by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, from its initial conversion until the construction of the nearby Sultan Ahmed Mosque in 1616, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul. The first church on the site was known as the Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία, or in Latin Magna Ecclesia, inaugurated on 15 February 360 by the Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antioch, it was built next to the area where the imperial palace was being developed. The nearby Hagia Eirene church was completed earlier and served as cathedral until the Great Church was completed, both churches acted together as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire. Writing in 440, Socrates of Constantinople claimed that the church was built by Constantius II, a tradition which is not older than the 7th or 8th century, reports that the edifice was built by Constantine the Great. Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius had repaired the edifice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia, after it had collapsed. Since Eusebius was bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, the edifice was built as a traditional Latin colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It was preceded by an atrium and it was claimed to be one of the worlds most outstanding monuments at the time. The Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the emperor Arcadius, during the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burned down. Nothing remains of the first church today, a second church on the site was ordered by Theodosius II, who inaugurated it on 10 October 415
27.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
28.
Clifford Edmund Bosworth
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Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA was an English historian and Orientalist, specialising in Arabic and Iranian studies. Bosworth was born on 29 December 1928, Sheffield, Yorkshire and he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oxford and MA and PhD degrees from the University of Edinburgh. He held permanent posts at the University of St Andrews, University of Manchester and he was a visiting professor at the University of Exeter, where he held the post since 2004. Bosworth died on 28 February 2015, Yeovil, Somerset and he is the author of hundreds of articles in academic journals and composite volumes. He was the editor of the Encyclopaedia of Islam and a consulting editor of Encyclopædia Iranica. His book The Islamic Dynasties has been translated to Arabic and Persian, the Ghaznavids, their empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran 994-1040, Edinburgh University Press 1963, 2nd ed. Beirut 1973, repr. The Islamic dynasties, a chronological and genealogical handbook, Edinburgh University Press 1967, Sistan under the Arabs, from the Islamic conquest to the rise of the Saffarids, IsMEO, Rome 1968. The Book of curious and entertaining information, the Lataif al-maarif of Thaālibī translated into English, Iran and Islam, in memory of the late Vladimir Minorsky, Edinburgh University Press 1971. The legacy of Islam, new edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1974, the mediaeval Islamic underworld, the Banu Sasan in Arabic society and literature,2 vols. The medieval history of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, Variorum, Collected Studies Series, the later Ghaznavids, splendour and decay, the dynasty in Afghanistan and northern India 1040-1186, Edinburgh University Press 1977, repr. Medieval Arabic culture and administration, Variorum, Collected Studies Series, qajar Iran, political, social and cultural change 1800-1925, Edinburgh University Press 1984. The reunification of the Abbasid Caliphate, the caliphate of al-Mamun A. D. 812-833/A. H. 198-213, translated and annotated by C. E. Bosworth, SUNY Press, the caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid A. D. 785-809/A. H. 169-193, translated and annotated by C. E. Bosworth, SUNY Press, baha al-Din al-Amili and his literary anthologies, Journal of Semitic Studies Monographs 10, Manchester 1989. Storm and stress along the frontiers of the Abbasid Caliphate. The caliphate of al-Mutasim A. D. 833-842/A. H, 218-227, translated and annotated by C. E. Bosworth, SUNY Press, Albany 1991. Richard Bell, A commentary on the Quran, University of Manchester 1991,2 vols, the History of the Saffarids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz, Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies no. 7, Costa Mesa, Calif. and New York 1994, Studies in early Islamic history and culture, Variorum, Collected Studies Series, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot 1996
29.
Ottoman family tree
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This is a male family tree for all the Ottoman Sultans and their mothers. Burke’s Royal Families of the World, volume II, Africa & the Middle East. Archived from the original on September 26,2006, between Two Worlds, The Construction of the Ottoman State. Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, toynbee, Arnold J. Karpat, Kemal H. eds. The Ottoman Empires Place in World History, the Ottoman State and Its Place in World History. The Imperial Harem, Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, new York, Oxford University Press US. Sugar, Peter F. ed. Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, who is the Next Ottoman Sultan. Attempts to Change the Rule of Succession during the Nineteenth Century, Ottoman Reform and Muslim Regeneration, Studies in Honour of Butrus Abu-Manneb. Sirkeci, Istanbul, Association of Historical Research and Istanbul Research Centre, new York, Oxford University Press US. Glazer, Steven A. ed.1, Historical Setting, federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. The Legacy of Sultan Abdulhamid II, Memoirs and Biography of Sultan Selim bin Hamid Han, the Sultan of Vezirs, The Life and Times of the Ottoman Grand Vezir Mahmud Pasha Angelović. Toprak, Binnaz, ed. Islam and Political Development in Turkey, bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, Publisher, Oxford University Press, USA, 3rd edition, Paperback,568 pages, ISBN0195134605, ISBN 978-0195134605 Ottoman Sultâns. Ottoman Sultâns Padişah Portreleri / Portraits of Ottoman Sultâns, the Association of Historical Research and Istanbul Research Centre with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. TURKEY, The Genealogy of the Imperial House of Osman, Publisher, The Royal Ark
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