1.
Jean Baptiste Vanmour
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Jean Baptiste Vanmour or Van Mour was a Flemish-French painter, remembered for his detailed portrayal of life in the Ottoman Empire during the Tulip Era and the rule of Sultan Ahmed III. Van Mour was a native of Valenciennes, a Flemish town that at the time of his birth belonged to the Spanish Netherlands, but since 1678 to France. He studied art in the studio of Jacques-Albert Gérin, and his work attracted the attention of an aristocrat and statesman of the time, Van Mour was invited to go to Constantinople when De Ferriol was appointed there as the French Ambassador in 1699. De Ferriol commissioned van Mour to do one hundred portraits of the local people, in 1711 De Ferriol returned to France and van Mour worked for a variety of other diplomats. In the meantime De Ferriol published a series of one hundred engravings in Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant, the book had a great influence in Western Europe and was published in at least five languages. Painting audiences with the Sultan became van Mours speciality, he only had to change the setting, Van Mour worked with assistants to fulfill all his obligations. In 1725 he was granted the title of Peintre Ordinaire du Roy en Levant in recognition of both his and the Levants importance to the French government. In 1727 the Dutch ambassador Cornelis Calkoen asked Van Mour to record his audience with Sultan Ahmed III on canvas, Calkoen took many paintings of Jean Baptiste Vanmour with him, when he was appointed as ambassador in Dresden for the Dutch Republic. In his will of 1762 the bachelor Calkoen forbade his heirs to sell the paintings and it is said Van Mour was buried next to Baron de Salagnac in the graveyard of the Jesuit Church of St Louis in the district of Beyoglu. Media related to Jean Baptiste Vanmour at Wikimedia Commons The Rijksmuseum on Vanmour Friends of Vanmour
2.
Albanian language
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Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian-based dialects can be found scattered in Greece, Southern Italy, Sicily, and Ukraine. Due to the large Albanian diaspora, the number of speakers is much higher than the native speakers in Southeast Europe. The first audio recording of Albanian was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna, the Albanian language is part of the Indo-European language group. In general there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, Albanian is now considered an isolate within Indo-European, no extant language shares the same branch. The only other languages that are the surviving member of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian. Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek, Balto-Slavic, and Germanic languages, in 1995, Ann Taylor, Donald Ringe and Tandy Warnow described as surprising their finding, using quantitative linguistic techniques, that Albanian appears to comprise a subgroup with Germanic. This theory is reinforced by subsequent research by the same authors, Albanian also shares two features with Balto-Slavic languages, a lengthening of syllabic consonants before voiced obstruents and a distinct treatment of long syllables ending in a sonorant. Other conservative features of Albanian include the retention of the distinction between active and middle voice, present tense and aorist. In another but uncommon hypothesis, Albanian is grouped with both Balto-Slavic and Germanic based on the merger of Proto-Indo-European *ǒ and *ǎ into *ǎ in a northern group. However, this shift is now regarded as only part of a larger push chain that affected all long vowels. The earliest loanwords attested in Albanian come from Doric Greek, whereas the strongest influence came from Latin, curtis, the loanwords do not necessarily indicate the geographical location of the ancestor of Albanian language. However, according to linguists, the borrowed words can help to get an idea about the place of origin. The period during which Proto-Albanian and Latin interacted was protracted and drawn out roughly from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. This is borne out into three layers of borrowings, the largest number belonging to the second layer, which may be compared to, for example. The first, with the fewest borrowings, was a time of less important interaction, the final period, probably preceding the Slavic or Germanic invasions, also has a notably smaller number of borrowings. Other formative changes include the syncretism of several case endings, especially in the plural. Such borrowing indicates that the Romanians migrated from an area where the majority was Slavic to an area with a majority of Albanian speakers and their movement is probably related to the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire into Albania around that time. Jernej Kopitar was the first to note Latins influence on Albanian, Kopitar gave examples such as Albanian qiqer from Latin cicer, qytet from civitas, peshk from piscis and shigjetë from sagitta
3.
Turkish language
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Outside of Turkey, significant smaller groups of speakers exist in Germany, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia. Cyprus has requested that the European Union add Turkish as an official EU language, in 1928, as one of Atatürks Reforms in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Turkish alphabet was replaced with a Latin alphabet. The distinctive characteristics of Turkish are vowel harmony and extensive agglutination, the basic word order of Turkish is subject–object–verb. Turkish has no classes or grammatical gender. Turkish has a strong T–V distinction and usage of honorifics, Turkish uses second-person pronouns that distinguish varying levels of politeness, social distance, age, courtesy or familiarity toward the addressee. The plural second-person pronoun and verb forms are used referring to a person out of respect. Turkic languages belong to the Altaic language group, the Turkic family comprises some 30 living languages spoken across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia. Turkish is a member of the Oghuz group of languages, a subgroup of the Turkic language family, there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between Turkish and the other Oghuz Turkic languages, including Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Qashqai, Gagauz, and Balkan Gagauz Turkish. The earliest known Old Turkic inscriptions are the three monumental Orkhon inscriptions found in modern Mongolia, erected in honour of the prince Kul Tigin and his brother Emperor Bilge Khagan, these date back to the second Turk Kaghanate. The Seljuqs of the Oghuz Turks, in particular, brought their language, following the adoption of Islam c. Turkish literature during the Ottoman period, particularly Divan poetry, was influenced by Persian, including the adoption of poetic meters. One of the tasks of the newly established association was to initiate a reform to replace loanwords of Arabic. By banning the usage of imported words in the press, the association succeeded in removing several hundred words from the language. While most of the words introduced to the language by the TDK were newly derived from Turkic roots, owing to this sudden change in the language, older and younger people in Turkey started to differ in their vocabularies. While the generations born before the 1940s tend to use the terms of Arabic or Persian origin. The past few decades have seen the work of the TDK to coin new Turkish words to express new concepts and technologies as they enter the language. Many of these new words, particularly information technology terms, have received widespread acceptance, however, the TDK is occasionally criticized for coining words which sound contrived and artificial. Some earlier changes—such as bölem to replace fırka, political party—also failed to meet with popular approval, some words restored from Old Turkic have taken on specialized meanings, for example betik is now used to mean script in computer science
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Ahmed III
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Ahmed III was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV. His mother was Emetullah Rabia Gülnûş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria and he was born at Hajioglupazari, in Dobruja. He succeeded to the throne in 1703 on the abdication of his brother Mustafa II, nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha and the Sultans daughter, Hatice Sultan directed the government from 1718 to 1730, a period referred to as the Tulip Era. Ahmed III cultivated good relations with France, doubtless in view of Russias menacing attitude and he afforded refuge in Ottoman territory to Charles XII of Sweden after the Swedish defeat at the hands of Peter I of Russia in the Battle of Poltava of 1709. In 1710 Charles XII convinced Sultan Ahmed III to declare war against Russia, the subsequent Ottoman victories against Russia enabled the Ottoman Empire to advance to Moscow, had the Sultan wished. However, this was halted as a report reached Istanbul that the Safavids were invading the Ottoman Empire, causing a period of panic, Ahmed voluntarily led his nephew Mahmud I to the seat of sovereignty and paid allegiance to him as Sultan of the Empire. He then retired to the Kafes previously occupied by Mahmud and died at Topkapı Palace after six years of confinement, the reign of Ahmed III lasted for twenty-seven years and was not unsuccessful. The Phanariotes constituted a kind of Dhimmi nobility, which supplied the Porte with functionaries in many important departments of the state. In the year 1712, the Mughal Emperor Jahandar Shah, a grandson of Aurangzeb sent gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmad III, Şehzade Isa, son of Hurram Kadin Effendi. Şehzade Selim, son of Hurram Kadin Effendi, Şehzade Abdul Majid, twin with Abdul Malik. Şehzade Abdul Malik, twin with Abdul Majid, Şehzade Sultan Sulaiman Khan, son of Aminā Mihrişah Effendi. Şehzade Mehmed, son of Hurram Kadin Effendi, Şehzade Selim, twin with Saliha Sultan, son of Hatim Khanum Effendi. Şehzade Sultan Mehmed Khan, Crown Prince since 13 December 1754, Mustafa III, son of Aminā Mihrişah Effendi. Şehzade Sultan Bayazid Khan, Crown Prince since 30 January 1757, Şehzade Abdullah, son of Hurram Kadin Effendi. Şehzade Orkhan, son of Hurram Kadin Effendi, Şehzade Sultan Numan Khan, Second Crown Prince since 30 January 1757. Abdul Hamid I, son of Rabia Sharmi Effendi, fatma Sultan, daughter of Emetullah Banu Bas Kadin Effendi. Married, firstly 13 May 1709, H. H. Damad Fazil Ali Pasha, secondly 18 February 1717, H. H. Damad Ibrahim Pasha, Grand Vizier. Khadija Sultan, daughter of Rukiya Kadin Effendi, Zainab Sultan, twin with Ümmügülsüm Sultan, daughter of Aminā Mihrişah Effendi
7.
Mahmud I
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Mahmud I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754. He was born at Edirne Palace, the son of Mustafa II, Mahmud I was the older brother of Osman III. On 28 September 1730, Patrona Halil with a group of fellow Janissaries aroused some of the citizens of Constantinople who opposed the reforms of Ahmet III. Sweeping up more soldiers Halil led the riot to the Topkapı Palace and demanded the death of the grand vizer, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, Ahmet III acceded to the demands, had İbrahim Pasha strangled, and agreed to his nephew, Mahmud, becoming sultan. Mahmud I was recognized as sultan by the mutineers as well as by court officials, a Greek butcher, named Yanaki, had formerly given credit to Halil and had lent him money during the three days of the insurrection. Halil showed his gratitude by compelling the Divan to make Yanaki Hospodar of Moldavia, however, Yanaki never took charge of this office. The Khan of the Crimea assisted the Grand Vizier, the Mufti, on 24 November 1731, Halil was strangled by the sultans order and in his presence, after a Divan in which Halil had dictated that war be declared against Russia. His Greek friend, Yanaki, and 7,000 of those who had supported him were put to death. The rest of Mahmud Is reign was dominated by wars with Persia, Austria and Russia, Mahmud I entrusted government to his viziers and spent much of his time composing poetry. He died at Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, Mahmud had five consorts in 1741, and six consorts in 1754. He had four Ikbals, who were actually Kalfas, and moreover were a not a part of family and his consorts were, Alicenab Kadın alias El-Hace Ayşe, Mihrişah Kadın, Hace Vuslat Kadın, Hanım Kadın, Hace Verdinaz Kadın, Rami Kadın alias Hatice. Incorporates text from History of Ottoman Turks Peirce, Leslie P, the Imperial Harem, Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. İstanbul su külliyâtı, Vakıf su defterleri, Suyolcu 2, muqarnas, An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World, Volume 19. Bu mülkün kadın sultanları, Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler
8.
Tulip period
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The Tulip Period or Tulip Era is a period in Ottoman history from the Treaty of Passarowitz on 21 July 1718 to the Patrona Halil Revolt on 28 September 1730. This was a peaceful period, during which the Ottoman Empire began to orient itself towards Europe. The name of the period derives from the tulip craze among the Ottoman court society, cultivating this culturally ambiguous emblem had become a celebrated practice. The Tulip Period illustrated the conflicts brought by early modern culture and was a shared material symbolism. During this period the elite and high-class society of the Ottoman period had established an immense fondness for the tulip, Tulips defined nobility and privilege, both in terms of goods and leisure time. The Grand Vizier was himself very fond of tulip bulbs, setting an example for Istanbul’s elite who started to cherish the tulip’s endless variety in paint, the Ottoman standard of dress and its commodity culture incorporated their passion for the tulip. Within Istanbul, one could find tulips from the markets to the plastic arts to silks. Tulip bulbs could be everywhere, the demand grew within the elite community where they could be found in homes. Therefore, the tulip is a symbol with mythical appeal, which can be found from Ottoman palaces to their clothing, the tulip can be seen as a romantic monument representing the wealthy and elite, and the fragility of despotic rule. The Tulip period saw a flowering of arts, culture and architecture, generally the style of architecture and decoration became more elaborate, being influenced by the Baroque period in movement. A classic example is the Fountain of Ahmed III in front of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, the architectural style is a fusion of classical Islamic elements with baroque European ones, making it into distinct Ottoman architecture of the 18th century. The tulip was also praised in poetry and motifs used in paintings, to this day in modern Turkey the tulip is still considered the embodiment of perfection and beauty. Turkish Airlines decorates its planes with a painting of a tulip on its fuselage and these albums that Levni painted were called Tulip albums which mirrored the structure of the states itself, ranking distinguished members of the regime according to horticultural achievements. Tulip prices began to rise in the last decades of the 17th century and this reflected the demand for the inflated value of the rare bulbs and escalating demands for flowers in the elite’s palaces and gardens. Tulip mania demonstrated the power to regulate the economy by increasing the prices for bulbs. Courtiers at the time forwarded a petition to denounce the practice of flower sellers and this led to the process of issuing inventories of flowers and price lists to the judge of Istanbul for enforcement. Tulip mania – during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century Derinsular. com – During and After the Tulip Era Enfal. de – Lale Devri Encyclopædia Britannica Online – Abdülcelil Levnî Yılmaz, Nalan. Ottoman Studies Online – Levni, one of the last Ottoman miniaturists Abdulcelil Levni Culture of the Ottoman Empire Jean-Baptiste van Mour Salzmann, the Age of Tulips Confluence and Conflict in Early Modern Consumer Culture
9.
Albanians
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Albanians are an ethnic group, native to Albania, Kosovo and neighboring countries. The term is used to refer to the citizens of the Republic of Albania. Ethnic Albanians speak the Albanian language and more than half of ethnic Albanians live in Albania, a large Albanian population lives in the Republic of Macedonia and Italy, with smaller Albanian populations located in Serbia and Montenegro. The majority of Albanians are nominally Muslims, and a minority are nominally Christians, during the 17th and 18th century Albanians in large numbers converted to Islam, often to escape higher taxes levied on Christian subjects. As Muslims, some Albanians attained important political and military positions within the Ottoman Empire, Albania gained its independence in 1912 and between 1945–1992, Albanians lived under a repressive communist regime. Between the 11th and 18th centuries, sizable numbers of Albanians migrated from the area of contemporary Albania to escape either various socio-political difficulties and/or the Ottoman conquest. Another population, who became the Arbëreshë settled in southern Italy and form the oldest continuous Albanian diaspora producing influential, smaller populations dating to migrations during the 18th century are located on Croatias Dalmatian coast and scattered communities across southern Ukraine. The Albanian diaspora also exists in a number of other countries, one of these is located in Turkey. Due to the Ottoman legacy, smaller populations of Albanians also exist in Egypt, in Western countries, a large and influential Albanian population exists in the United States formed from continuous emigration dating back to the 19th century. The Albanians and their country Albania have been identified by many ethnonyms, from these ethnonyms, names for Albanians were also derived in other languages that were or still are in use. The term for a people located in the area of contemporary Albania is first encountered in the works of Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates. He referred to them as Albanoi having taken part in a revolt against the Byzantine Empire in 1043 and these references have been disputed as to whether they refer to Albanians in an ethnic sense. A later reference to Albanians from the same Attaliates regarding the participation of Albanians in a rebellion around 1078 is undisputed. In later Byzantine usage, the terms Arbanitai and Albanoi with a range of variants were used interchangeably, the first reference to the Albanian language dates to the latter 13th century. The ethnonym Albanian has been hypothesized to be connected to and stem from the Albanoi, linguists believe that the alb part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, of which other words such as alps is derived from. Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar, the Albanian language was referred to as Arbnisht and Arbërisht. Two etymologies have been proposed for this ethnonym, one, derived from the etymology from the Albanian word for eagle, in Albanian folk etymology, this word denotes a bird totem, dating from the times of Skanderbeg as displayed on the Albanian flag. The other is within scholarship that connects it to the verb to speak from the Latin excipere, in this instance the Albanian endonym like Slav and others would originally have been a term connoting those who speak
10.
Bitola
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Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. It is located in the part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže. It has been known since the Ottoman period as The City of The Consuls, Bitola is one of the oldest cities on the territory of The Republic of Macedonia, having been founded as Heraclea Lyncestis in the middle of the 4th century BC by Philip II of Macedon. The city was the last capital of Ottoman Rumelia, from 1836–1867, According to the 2002 census, Bitola is the second-largest city in the country. Bitola is also the seat of the Bitola Municipality, the name Bitola is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word ѡ҆би́тѣл҄ь as the city was formerly noted for its monastery. When the meaning of the name was no longer understood, it lost its prefix o-, the name Bitola is mentioned in the Bitola inscription, related to the old city fortress built in 1015. Modern Slavic variants include the Macedonian Bitola, the Serbian Bitolj, in Byzantine times, the name was Hellenized to Voutélion or Vitólia, hence the names Butella used by William of Tyre and Butili by the Arab geographer al-Idrisi. During the ruling of Radomir Gavril Bitola is mentioned under the name of Buteliu, the Greek name for the city, also meaning monastery, is a calque of the Slavic name. The Turkish name Manastır is derived from the Greek name, as is the Albanian name, Bitola is located in the southwestern part of Macedonia. The Dragor River flows through the city, Bitola lies at an elevation of 615 meters above sea level, at the foot of Baba Mountain. Covering an area of 1,798 km2. and with a population of 122,173, Bitola is an important industrial, agricultural, commercial, educational and it represents an important junction that connects the Adriatic Sea to the south with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe. Bitola has a continental climate typical of the Pelagonija region, experiencing warm and dry summers. The Koppen classification for this climate is Cfb, Bitola is very rich in monuments from the prehistoric period. Two important ones are Veluška Tumba, and Bara Tumba near the village of Porodin, from the Copper Age there are the settlements of Tumba near the village of Crnobuki, Šuplevec near the village of Suvodol, and Visok Rid near the village of Bukri. The Bronze Age is represented by the settlements of Tumba near the village of Kanino, the area of the town is located in ancient Lynkestis, a region of Upper Macedonia, which was ruled by semi-independent chieftains till the later Argead rulers of Macedon. The tribes of Lynkestis were known as Lynkestai and they were a Greek tribe and belonged to the Molossian group of the Epirotes. There are important metal artifacts from the ancient period at the necropolis of Crkvishte near the village of Beranci, a golden earring dating from the 4th century BC is depicted on the obverse of the Macedonian 10 denar banknote, issued in 1996. Heraclea Lyncestis was an important settlement from the Hellenistic period till the early Middle Ages and it was founded by Philip II of Macedon by the middle of the 4th century BC, and named after the Greek hero Heracles
11.
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
12.
Vidin
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Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the centre of Vidin Province. An agricultural and trade centre, Vidin has a fertile hinterland renowned for its wines, the name is archaically spelled as Widdin in English. Old name Dunonia itself meant fortified hill in Celtic with the typically dun found frequently in Celtic place names, Vidin is the westernmost important Bulgarian Danube port and is situated on one of the southernmost sections of the river. The New Europe Bridge, completed in 2013, connects Vidin to the Romanian town of Calafat on the bank of the Danube. Previously, a ferry located 2 km from the town was in use for that purpose, Vidin emerged at the place of an old Celtic settlement known as Dunonia. The settlement evolved into a Roman fortified town called Bononia, the town grew into one of the important centres of the province of Upper Moesia, encompassing the territory of modern north-western Bulgaria and eastern Serbia. When Slavs settled in the area, they called the town Badin or Bdin, similarly, Anna Komnene refers to it as Vidynē in the Alexiad. Vidins main landmark, the Baba Vida fortress, was built in the period from the 10th to the 14th century, in the Middle Ages Vidin used to be an important Bulgarian city, a bishop seat and capital of a large province. Between 971 and 976 the town was the center of Samuils possessions while his brothers ruled to the south, in 1003 Vidin was seized by Basil II after an eight-month siege because of the betrayal of the local bishop. Its importance once again rose during the Second Bulgarian Empire and its despots were influential figures in the Empire and were on several occasions chosen for Emperors, from the mid 13th century it was ruled by the Shishman family. In 1356, Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander isolated Vidin from the Bulgarian monarchy, in 1365, the Tsardom of Vidin was occupied by Magyar crusaders. Under Hungarian rule, the city known as Bodony. In 1369, the Second Bulgarian empire drove out the Hungarian military, the Ottomans went on to conquer the despotates of Dobrudzha, Prilep and Velbazhd as well. Vidins independence did not last long, in 1396 the Ottomans invaded and turned Vidin into a sanjdak. In the late years of Ottoman rule, Vidin was the centre of Turkish rebel Osman Pazvantoğlus breakaway state. In 1853, The Times of London reported that Widdin, as it was called, was a town, with a population of about 26,000. Widdin is one of the important fortified places of the line of the Danube
13.
Turkish bath
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A Turkish bath is the Islamic variant of the Roman bath, steambath, sauna, or Russian banya, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam. In Western Europe, the Turkish bath as a method of cleansing, the process involved in taking a Turkish bath is similar to that of a sauna, but is more closely related to ancient Greek and ancient Roman bathing practices. The Turkish bath starts with relaxation in a room that is heated by a flow of hot, dry air. Bathers may then move to an even hotter room before they wash in cold water, after performing a full body wash and receiving a massage, bathers finally retire to the cooling-room for a period of relaxation. The difference between the Islamic hammam and the Victorian Turkish bath is the air, the hot air in the Victorian Turkish bath is dry, in the Islamic hammam the air is often steamy. The bather in a Victorian Turkish bath will often take a plunge in a pool after the hot rooms. In the Islamic hammams the bathers splash themselves with cold water and it is not wet air, nor moist air, nor vapoury air, it is not vapour in any shape or form whatever. It is an immersion of the body in hot common air. One of the Five Pillars of Islam is prayer and it is customary before praying for Muslims to perform ablutions. The two Islamic forms of ablution are ghusl, a cleansing, and wudu, a cleansing of the face, hands. In the most extreme of cases, cleansing with pure soil or sand is also permissible, often, hammams are located close to mosques and other places for prayer for those who wish to perform deeper cleansing. Islamic hammams, particularly in the Moroccan case, evolved from their Roman roots to adapt to the needs of ritual purification according to Islam, for example, in most Roman-style hammams, one finds a cold pool for full submergence of the body. The style of bathing is less preferable in the Islamic faith, for al-Ghazali, the hammam is a primarily male experience, and he cautions that women are to enter the hammam only after childbirth or illness. Even then al-Gazali finds it admissible for men to prohibit their wives or sisters from using the hammam, the major point of contention surrounding hammams in al-Ghazalis estimation is nakedness. In his work he warns that overt nakedness is to be avoided, … he should shield it from the sight of others and second, guard against the touch of others. He focuses extensively in his writing on the avoidance of touching the penis during bathing and he writes that nakedness is decent only when the area between the knees and the lower stomach of a man are hidden. For women, exposure of only the face and palms is appropriate, according to al-Gazali, the prevalence of nakedness in the hammam could incite indecent thoughts or behaviours and so it is a controversial space. Ritual ablution is also required before or after sexual intercourse, during those centuries of war, peace, alliance, trade and competition, the two cultures had tremendous influence on each other
14.
Sailor
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A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who navigates waterborne vessels or assists as a crewmember in their operation and maintenance. The term bluejacket may be used for British or US Navy enlisted sailors, the Bluejackets Manual is the basic handbook for United States Navy personnel. 700,000 of the worlds mariners come from the Philippines, the term seaman is frequently used in the particular sense of a sailor who is not an officer. Seafarers hold a variety of professions and ranks, each of which carries unique responsibilities which are integral to the operation of an ocean-going vessel. A ships crew can generally be divided into four categories, the deck department, the engineering department, the stewards department. Officer positions in the department include but are not limited to, master and his chief, second. The official classifications for unlicensed members of the department are able seaman. With some variation, the mate is most often charged with the duties of cargo mate. Second Mates are charged with being the officer in case of medical emergency. All three mates each do four-hour morning and afternoon shifts on the bridge, when underway at sea, Marine engineering staff also deal with the hotel facilities on board, notably the sewage, lighting, air conditioning and water systems. Engineering staff manage bulk fuel transfers, from a barge in port. When underway at sea, the second and third engineers will often be occupied with oil transfers from storage tanks, cleaning of oil purifiers is another regular task. Engineering staff are required to have training in firefighting and first aid, additional duties include maintaining the ships boats and performing other nautical tasks. Engineers play a key role in cargo loading/discharging gear and safety systems, though the specific cargo discharge function remains the responsibility of deck officers, other possible positions include motorman, machinist, electrician, refrigeration engineer and tankerman. A typical stewards department for a ship is a chief steward, a chief cook. All three positions are filled by unlicensed personnel. The chief steward also plans menus, compiles supply, overtime, the steward may requisition or purchase stores and equipment. A chief stewards duties may overlap with those of the assistant, the chief cook
15.
Meyhane
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A meyhane is a traditional restaurant or bar in Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the Balkans. It serves alcoholic beverages like wine, rakı, vodka, beer with meze, meyhane is composed of two Persian words, mey and khāneh. The word entered the Serbian and Bulgarian languages as mehana and in Macedonian as meana, in Bosnian language the word mejhana is used. A meyhane used to serve mainly wine alongside meze until the late 19th century when rakia established itself as the national drink of Bulgaria. In Serbia, the word mehana is considered archaic, while in Bulgaria it refers to a restaurant with food, decoration. The history of the starts in the Byzantine Empire. Meyhane culture continues in cities where merchants stop and spend their time. During the period of the Ottoman Empire, the number of meyhane increased considerably, some sultans prohibited alcohol at various times but it didnt affect the number of meyhane. While the Muslim population usually complied with the rules, no one interfered in the conventions of the minority population. A major part of the minority population lived in Galata and, as a result, but there were also many Muslim clients who went there secretly. Selim, Damat Ferit Paşa, the meyhane re-opened and a period of pleasure started once more, however, when meyhane opened in a Muslim district sultan mandated a new law and according to it, opening meyhane was banned in Muslim districts. In the 17th century the restaurants of what is now the Bosphorus used to be in Haliç, in these meyhane janissary clients were called Dayi and everyone respected them. While the janissaries were in the meyhane, corner boys and vagabonds couldn’t enter, even if they entered, there weren’t allowed the same behavior as janissaries and they could only drink while standing. These type of meyhane were called “Gedikli Meyhaneler”, after Abdülaziz, their name changed to “Selatin Meyhaneler” Another type of meyhane was called “Koltuk Meyhanesi”. These were for vagabonds and corner boys and they were selling alcohol surreptitiously in grocery stores. Some of these “Koltuk Meyhanesi” were called “Kibar koltukları” and these types of meyhane served civil servants, there were also Ayaklı Meyhanesi for vagabonds and corner boys. Most of the proprietors were Armenians and these sellers would walking around Bahçekapı, Yemiş İskelesi and Galata. When they saw clients, they entered a grocery, poured the wine, which was warmed by their heat, into a pot taken from their belt
16.
Galata
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Galata was a neighbourhood opposite Constantinople, located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by bridges, most notably the Galata Bridge. The medieval citadel of Galata was a colony of the Republic of Genoa between 1273 and 1453, the famous Galata Tower was built by the Genoese in 1348 at the northernmost and highest point of the citadel. At present, Galata is a quarter within the borough of Beyoğlu in Istanbul, there are several theories concerning the origin of the name Galata. In historic documents, Galata is often called Pera, which comes from the old Greek name for the place, Peran en Sykais, the quarter first appears in Late Antiquity as Sykai or Sycae. By the time the Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae was compiled in ca.425 AD, according to the Notitia, it featured public baths and a forum built by Emperor Honorius, a theatre, a porticoed street and 435 mansions. It is also probable that the settlement was enclosed by walls in the 5th century, Sykai received full city rights under Justinian I, who renamed it Iustinianopolis, but declined and was probably abandoned in the 7th century. Only the large tower, Megalos Pyrgos which controlled the northern end of the sea chain that blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn remained, in the 11th century, the quarter housed the citys Jewish community, which came to number some 2,500 people. In 1171, a new Genoese settlement in the area was attacked, the kastellion and the Jewish quarter were seized and destroyed in 1203 by the Catholic crusaders during the Fourth Crusade, shortly before the sack of Constantinople. In 1233, during the subsequent Latin Empire, a small Catholic chapel dedicated to St. Paul was built in place of a 6th-century Byzantine church in Galata. In 1407, Pope Gregory XII, in order to ensure the maintenance of the church, in 1261, the quarter was retaken by the Byzantines, but Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos granted it to the Genoese in 1267 in accordance with the Treaty of Nymphaeum. The precise limits of the Genoese colony were stipulated in 1303, the Genoese however disregarded this, and through subsequent expansions of the walls, enlarged the area of their settlement. At present, only a portion of the Genoese walls are still standing. Bankalar Caddesi has rows of Ottoman-era bank buildings, including the headquarters of the Ottoman Central Bank, several ornaments that were originally on the facade of the Genoese Palace were used to embellish these 19th-century bank buildings in the late Ottoman period. The seaside mansion of the Camondo family, popularly known as the Camondo Palace, was built between 1865 and 1869 and designed by architect Sarkis Balyan and it is located on the northern shore of the Golden Horn, within the nearby Kasımpaşa quarter to the west of Galata. It later became the headquarters of the Ministry of the Navy during the late Ottoman period, Galatasaray S. K. Galatasaray literally means Galata Palace. La Géographie Ecclésiastique de lEmpire Byzantin, part, Le Siège de Constantinople et le Patriarcat Oecuménique. 3rd Vol. Les Églises et les Monastères, petite Guide a travers les Monuments Byzantins et Turcs
17.
Vice admiral
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Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to an admiral and junior to an admiral. The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case, in the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star. Vice admiral is the equivalent of air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force, in the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral is equivalent to lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. A vice-admiral is an officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A vice-admiral is senior to a rear-admiral and major general, two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name, thereafter by subordinates as Sir or Maam, vice-admirals are normally entitled to a staff car, the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two. A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff, charles, Prince of Wales holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, the rank of vice-amiral descadre equals a NATO OF-8 rank. In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791, the office of Vice-Admiral of France was the highest rank, the supreme office of Admiral of France being purely ceremonial. Distinct offices were, 1669-1791 Vice-admiral of the West, 1778-1791 Vice-admiral of the Asian and American Seas. 1784-1788 Vice-admiral of the Indian Seas, vizeadmiral is an OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German Heer and Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant. In India, vice admiral is a three star admiral, in Italy, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ammiraglio di squadra or squadron admiral. In the Philippines, the vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the flag officer in-charge of the Navy, the rank vice-admiral in the Philippines, has the same ranking in the U. S Navy. In Vietnam, the equivalent to vice admiral is the phó đô đốc
18.
Sword of Osman
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The Sword of Osman was an important sword of state used during the enthronement ceremony of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. The sword was named after Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Dynasty, the practice started when Osman I was girt with the sword of Islam by his mentor and father-in-law Sheikh Edebali. The girding of the sword of Osman was a ceremony which took place within two weeks of a sultans accession to the throne. It was held at the complex at Eyüp, on the Golden Horn waterway in the capital Constantinople. Even though the journey from Topkapı Palace to the Golden Horn was short, the Eyüp tomb complex was built by Mehmed II in honour of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of Muhammad who had died during the first Muslim siege of Constantinople in the 7th century. The sword girding thus occurred on what was regarded as sacred grounds, the fact that the emblem by which a sultan was enthroned consisted of a sword was highly symbolic, it showed that the office with which he was invested was first and foremost that of a warrior. The Sword of Osman was girded on to the new sultan by the Sharif of Konya, a Mevlevi dervish, who was summoned to Constantinople for that purpose. Such a privilege was reserved to the men of this Sufi order from the time Osman I had established his residence in Konya in 1299, before the capital was moved to Bursa and later to Constantinople. Until the late 19th century, non-Muslims were banned from entering the Eyüp Mosque, the first to depart from this tradition was Mehmed V, whose girding ceremony was open to people of different faiths. The fact that non-Muslims were allowed to see the ceremony enabled The New York Times to write a detailed account of it. Mehmed Vs brother and successor, Mehmed VI, went even further by allowing his girding ceremony to be filmed, since he was the last reigning Ottoman sultan, this is the only such ceremony that was ever put on film. Christianity and Islam Under the Sultans
19.
Moldavia
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Moldavia is a historical region, and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river. The western half of Moldavia is now part of Romania, the eastern side belongs to the Republic of Moldova, the original and short-lived reference to the region was Bogdania, after Bogdan I, the founding figure of the principality. Dragoș was accompanied by his female hound called Molda, when reached the shores of an unfamiliar river. The dogs name would have given to the river and extended to the country. The old German Molde, meaning open-pit mine the Gothic Mulda meaning dust, dirt, a Slavic etymology, marking the end of one Slavic genitive form, denoting ownership, chiefly of feminine nouns. In several early references, Moldavia is rendered under the composite form Moldo-Wallachia, Ottoman Turkish references to Moldavia included Boğdan Iflak and Boğdan. See also names in other languages, the name of the region in other languages include French, Moldavie, German, Moldau, Hungarian, Moldva, Russian, Молдавия, Moldaviya, Turkish, Boğdan Prensliği, Greek, Μολδαβία. The inhabitants of Moldova were Christians, archaeological works revealed the remains of a Christian necropolis at Mihălășeni, Botoșani county, from the 5th century. The place of worship, and the tombs had Christian characteristics, the place of worship had a rectangular form with sides of 8 and 7 meters. Similar necropolis and place of worship were found at Nicolina, in Iași The Bolohoveni, the chronicle shows that this land is bordered on the principalities of Halych, Volhynia and Kiev. Archaeological research also identified the location of 13th-century fortified settlements in this region, Alexandru V. Boldur identified Voscodavie, Voscodavti, Voloscovti, Volcovti, Volosovca and their other towns and villages between the middle course of the rivers Nistru/Dniester and Nipru/Dnieper. The Bolohoveni disappeared from chronicles after their defeat in 1257 by Daniil Romanovichs troops, in the early 13th century, the Brodniks, a possible Slavic–Vlach vassal state of Halych, were present, alongside the Vlachs, in much of the regions territory. On the border between Halych and the Brodniks, in the 11th century, a Viking by the name of Rodfos was killed in the area by Vlachs who supposedly betrayed him. In 1164, the future Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, was prisoner by Vlach shepherds around the same region. In 1342 and 1345, the Hungarians were victorious in a battle against Tatar-Mongols, the Polish chronicler Jan Długosz mentioned Moldavians as having joined a military expedition in 1342, under King Władysław I, against the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1353, Dragoș, mentioned as a Vlach Knyaz in Maramureș, was sent by Louis I to establish a line of defense against the Golden Horde forces of Mongols on the Siret River and this expedition resulted in a polity vassal to Hungary, centered around Baia. His realm extended north to the Cheremosh River, while the part of Moldavia was still occupied by the Tatar Mongols. After first residing in Baia, Bogdan moved Moldavias seat to Siret, disfavored by the brief union of Angevin Poland and Hungary, Bogdans successor Lațcu accepted conversion to Roman Catholicism around 1370, but his gesture was to remain without consequences
20.
Grand vizier
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In the Ottoman Empire, the Grand Vizier was the prime minister of the Ottoman sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissible only by the sultan himself. His offices were located at the Sublime Porte, the term “vizier” was originally a denomination used by the Abbasid Dynasty in the 8th century AD. This position then came to the Ottomans in the early 14th century by way of the Seljuks of Anatolia, during the nascent phases of the Ottoman state, vizier was the only title used. The first of these Ottoman viziers who was titled Grand Vizier was Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder, the purpose in instituting the title Grand Vizier was to distinguish the holder of the Sultans seal from other viziers. The initially more frequently used title of vezir-i âzam was gradually replaced by sadrazam, throughout Ottoman history, the grand viziers have also been termed sadr-ı âlî, vekil-i mutlak, sâhib-i devlet, serdar-ı ekrem, serdar-ı azam and zât-ı âsafî. Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder reformed the role of the vizier in several ways, several before him held an equivalent but differently named office, he was the first who held the position of “Grand Vizier”, during the reign of Sultan Murad I. He was the first advisor with a military background – his forerunners had come from a more class of men. It is also significant that he was the first of a family that, at the time. Several of Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder’s kin went on to hold the office of Grand Vizier in the following his death. Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger, the grandson of Pasha the Elder, was highly influential in shaping the role of the Grand Vizier. During the reign of Mehmed II, the Younger opposed the siege of Constantinople, two days after the siege was won by Mehmed II, the Younger was executed for his opposition. After his death, the position of Grand Vizier was chosen nearly exclusively from the kul system, often and this was usually a political move, designed to appease powerful European factions to Ottoman supremacy. Grand Viziers gained immense political supremacy in the days of the Ottoman Empire. Power was centralized in the position of the Grand Vizier during the Köprülü era, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was a powerful political figure during the reign of Mehmed IV, and was appointed to the office of Grand Vizier in 1656. He consolidated power within the position and sent the Sultan away from the city on hunting trips, next, he forcibly removed any officers suspected of corruption, those who did not leave were executed. He also conducted campaigns against Venice and the Hapsburgs, as well as quelling rebellions in Anatolia, on his deathbed five years later, he convinced Mehmed to appoint his son as the next Grand Vizier, thus securing his dynasty a position of supreme power in the Empire. It was during the Köprülü era that the Ottoman Empire reached its largest geographic expansion across Europe, Asia Minor, 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
21.
Mufti
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A mufti is an Islamic scholar who interprets and expounds Islamic law. Muftis are jurists qualified to give legal opinions known as fatwas. Historically, they were members of the ulama ranking above qadis, with the introduction of the secular court system in the 19th century, Ottoman councils began to enforce criminal legislation, in order to emphasize their position as part of the new executive. This creation of the hierarchical secular judiciary did not displace the original Sharia courts, until the Qadi’s Ordinance of 1856, the qadis were appointed by the Porte and were part of the Ottoman religious judiciary. This Ordinance recommends the consultation of muftis and ulama, in practice, the sentences of qadis usually were checked by muftis appointed to the courts. Other important decisions were also checked by the mufti of the Majlis al-Ahkdm or by a council of ulama connected with it and it is said that if the local qadi and mufti disagreed, it became customary to submit the case to the authoritative Grand Mufti. Later, in 1880, the new Sharia Courts Ordinance introduced the hierarchical judiciary, through the Ministry of Justice, parties could appeal to the Cairo Sharia Court against decisions of provincial qadis and niibs. Here, parties could appeal to the Shari’a Court open to the Shaykh al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti, lastly, judges were to consult the muftis appointed to their courts whenever a case was not totally clear to them. If the problem was not solved, the case had to be submitted to the Grand Mufti, in the 1800s, and still seen today, Muslims relied on building trust with people and forging partnerships, a very important aspect of Islamic life. The Mufti was an example of this, in a time where people were often self-financed and independent, kinship often substituted for markets where preexisting bonds of trust facilitated cooperative ventures. These kin-based partnerships had many limitations, for example, if seeking a Muftis advice, the wealth and relationship of the family to the Mufti can cause seniority and sentiment to dictate decisions. Hence, there was social gains from institutions supportive of these cooperative ventures across these groups and this dependency on trust, and personal relationships has been said to have been the cause of the Middle Easts descent from its Golden Commercial Age. According to him, this was the highest level of academic credentials in classical Islamic academic tradition, above mudarris, allamah Grand Mufti Imam Muftiate The ethics of Muftī by Imam Ibn Khaldûn Muftī
22.
Agha (title)
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Agha, also Aga, as an honorific title for a civilian or military officer, or often part of such title, was placed after the name of certain military functionaries in the Ottoman Empire. At the same time some court functionaries were entitled to the agha title, the word agha entered English from Turkish, and the Turkish word comes from the Old Turkic aqa, meaning elder brother. It is an equivalent of Mongolian word aka, in Kurdistan, within the tribal Kurdish society, agha is the title given to tribal chieftains, either supreme chieftains, or to village heads. It is also given to landlords and owners of major real estates in the urban Kurdish centers. The common tribesmen would honor the chieftains or the heads by calling them agha or agha so and so. The agha and his guests would listen at times for local or visiting singers and story tellers, one of the best studies on aghas in the Kurdish society is the important book of Mordechai Zaken, Jewish Subjects and their tribal chieftains in Kurdistan. State organisation of the Ottoman Empire Agaluk Kapi Agha Kizlar Agha Silahdar Agha
23.
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
24.
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
25.
Rise of the Ottoman Empire
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The foundation and rise of the Ottoman Empire is a period of history that started with the emergence of the Ottoman principality in c. 1299, and ended with the conquest of Constantinople on May 29,1453. For this reason, this period in the history has been described as the Proto-Imperial Era. Throughout most of period, the Ottomans were merely one of many competing states in the region. The cause of Ottoman success cannot be attributed to any single factor, the earlier part of this period, the fourteenth century, is particularly difficult for historians to study due to the scarcity of sources. Not a single written document survives from the reign of Osman I, the Ottomans, furthermore, did not begin to record their own history until the fifteenth century, more than a hundred years after many of the events they describe. At the beginning of the thirteenth century Anatolia was divided between two powerful states, the Byzantine Empire in the west and the Anatolian Seljuks in the central plateau. Mongol pressure pushed nomadic Turkish tribes to migrate westward, into the now poorly-defended Byzantine territory, the power of these groups was largely dependent upon their ability to attract military manpower. Western Anatolia was then a hotbed of raiding activity, with warriors switching allegiance at will to whichever chief seemed most able to provide them opportunities for plunder. The Ottoman dynasty is named after the first independent ruler of the Ottoman polity, according to later Ottoman tradition, he was descended from a Turkic tribe which migrated out of Central Asia in the wake of the Mongol Conquests. As evidenced by coins minted during his reign, Osmans father was named Ertuğrul, the origins of the Ottoman dynasty thus remain obscure, shrouded in myth and legend, and the identity of Osmans tribe and ancestors is not known for certain. Likewise, nothing is known about how Osman first established his principality as the sources, none of contemporary, provide many different. Osmans principality was initially supported by the manpower of nomadic Turkish groups. This Ottoman tribe was based not on blood-ties, but on political expedience, thus it was inclusive of all who wished to join, including people of Byzantine origin. The Ottoman enterprise came to be led by several great families, at least one of which was of Greek Christian origin. Nevertheless, Islam played a role in Ottoman self-identity from the start, as evidenced by a land grant issued by Osmans son Orhan in 1324. Such a war was known as gaza, and a fighting in it was called a gazi. Beginning in the 1980s, historians began to criticize Witteks thesis. Scholars now recognize that the terms gaza and gazi did not have religious connotations for the early Ottomans
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Uprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin
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The Uprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin was the earliest Bulgarian uprising against Ottoman rule. It was organized in the early 15th century by two Bulgarian nobles and was supported by a Christian coalition, but failed to liberate Bulgaria and these initially successful invasions were followed by an uprising of the Bulgarian population in some areas. The scale, time and duration of the uprising is not certain, after the end of the uprising, its leaders Konstantin and Fruzhin once again settled abroad, Konstantin in Serbia and Fruzhin in Hungary. Konstantin died in 1422 in Serbia, while Fruzhin continued to work actively in Hungary to restore the Bulgarian Empire and he took part in Dan IIs attack on Silistra in 1425 and was granted the domain of Lippa in Temes by Sigismund because of this. Fruzhin was sent by the Hungarian king to help the Albanian rebels under Gjergj Arianit Komneni in 1435 and he also participated in Władysław III of Polands campaign that culminated in the Battle of Varna in 1444, and died around 1460
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Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire
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The territory of the Ottoman Empire greatly expanded, and led to what some historians have called the Pax Ottomana. The process of centralization undergone by the prior to 1453 was brought to completion in the reign of Mehmed II. The Ottoman Empire of the Classical Age experienced dramatic territorial growth, the period opened with the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II in 1453. Mehmed II went on to consolidate the position in the Balkans and Anatolia, conquering Serbia in 1454-5, the Peloponnese in 1458-9, Trebizond in 1461. Many Venetian territories in Greece were conquered during the 1463-79 Ottoman-Venetian War, by 1474 the Ottomans had conquered their Anatolian rival the Karamanids, and in 1475 conquered Kaffa on the Crimean Peninsula, establishing the Crimean Khanate as a vassal state. In 1480 an invasion of Otranto in Italy was launched, the reign of Bayezid II was one of consolidation after the rapid conquests of the previous era, and the empires territory was expanded only marginally. In 1484 Bayezid led a campaign against Moldavia, subjecting it to status and annexing the strategic ports of Kilia. Major Venetian ports were conquered in Greece and Albania during the 1499-1503 war, most significantly Modon, Koron, however, by the end of his reign, Ottoman territory in the east was coming under threat from the newly established Safavid Empire. Rapid expansion resumed under Selim I, who defeated the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, annexing much of eastern Anatolia, in 1516 he led a campaign against the Mamluk Sultanate, conquering first Syria and then Egypt the following year. Under Selims reign the territory expanded from roughly 341,100 sq mi to 576,900 sq mi. Lacking a king, Hungary descended into war over the succession. When their rivals the Habsburgs began to achieve the upper hand, Suleiman directly intervened by again conquering Buda, elsewhere, Suleiman led major campaigns against Safavid Iran, conquering Baghdad in 1534 and annexing Iraq. Ottoman rule was extended with the incorporation of much of North Africa, the conquest of coastal Yemen in 1538. Additional conquests were marginal, and served to shore up the Ottoman position, Ottoman control over Hungary was expanded in a series of campaigns, and a second Hungarian province was established with the conquests of Temeşvar in 1552. By the end of Suleimans reign the territory had expanded to approximately 877,888 sq mi. The conquest of Constantinople allowed Mehmed II to turn his attention to Anatolia, Mehmed II recovered the Ottoman power on other Turkish states. These conquests allowed him to push further into Europe, another important political entity which shaped the Eastern policy of Mehmed II was the White Sheep Turcomans. He led a campaign against Uzun Hasan in 1473 which resulted with the decisive victory of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Otlukbeli
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Celali rebellions
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They arose partly as an effort to attain tax privileges. Major Celali revolts occurred in 1526–28, 1595–1610, 1654–55, the major uprisings involved the sekbans and sipahis. Oppressed peasants and declining timariot system, in the meanwhile, land evaluators started to demand bribes to refrain from assessing higher values for land value taxes. Consequently, many started to quit being laborers for feudal lords. These numerous peasants were required to pay further taxes for disrupting the system, but still. During wartime the sekbans served the governors and drew regular pay, in peacetime, however, they were not paid, and they resorted to banditry. The first rebellions were, in nature, merely raids by sekbans commanded by their governors and they were later joined by sipahis, who had lost their land grants, levends, Turkmen/Yörük and Kurdish nomads. With the decline of the devshirme system, and high taxes. In parallel to developments, bribery increased. Oppressed Alevis and increasing non-Turkic influences in the royal court, when Selim I conquered Egypt, he was invested with the caliphate and became the holy ruler of the Sunni world. Many Alawites and those who felt close to Shah Ismail for his Turkic origins consequently joined the rebellious groups, while Selim I was on his Egyptian campaign, an Alevi preacher named Celal gathered about 20,000 people near Bozok and marched to Tokat to foment riots. He also had restless Turkmen groups joining his forces, sekbans, sipahis who had lost their timar, highly taxed peasants and discontented townspeople also marched to Tokat. Selim I sent the Grand Governor of Rumelia Ferhad Pasha and the bey of Dulkadirids, Şehsuvaroğlu Ali over to quell the rebels, however unrest did not subside, especially within the Turkmen community, the sekbans and the sipahis. The local clerk and the leaders of the rebellion were killed, many of the evaluators assessed much higher values for the lands to levy more tax and to keep a part for themselves. While Suleiman was campaigning in Hungary, disgruntled masses near Ankara and their number rapidly grew to 30,000. With the news of the scale of the rebellion, Suleiman sent the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha with the kapikulu forces mostly composed of Janissaries. A big battle took place on May 27,1528 and the revolt was bloodily suppressed, especially after the 1550s, with the increase of oppression by local governors and levying of new and high taxes, minor incidents started to occur with increasing frequency. In 1598 a sekban leader, Karayazıcı Abdülhalim united the groups in the Anatolia Eyalet, forcing the towns to pay tribute
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Uprising in Banat
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The Uprising in Banat was a rebellion organized and led by Serbian Orthodox bishop Teodor of Vršac and Sava Temišvarac against the Ottomans in the Eyalet of Temeşvar. The relics of Saint Sava were burnt by the Ottomans as a retaliation, although short-lived, it inspired future rebellions. The reign of Suleiman I has been described as the most famous period in Ottoman history, at the end of his reign, however, the constant wars had taken its toll, damaging the economy. Mutiny struck throughout the Ottoman Empire, the rebellion of the troops in January 1593 assuring the government to seek out a new war of conquest to get out of the crisis. The population in the Sanjak of Çanad suffered in this period, impoverished sipahi forced peasants to overwork, and imposed own taxes on them, despite laws. Tax collectors, as well, abused their position, taking higher taxes, beys and vojvode used the populations houses, tools and animals, and ate free of charge, which was eventually prevented by government order. A result of issues like these led to a migration of the population to Transylvania in 1583. Records show the worsening of the status, and deteriorating economy. It could be concluded from Ottoman sources that the initiators and leaders of the uprising once belonged to the Christian layers in Ottoman military service. This also created conditions for the Serb uprising in Banat in 1594, smaller groups of Ottoman Christian martolosi and some sipahi went rogue when Christian armies conquered Filek and Nógrád during the winter of 1593–94. At the beginning the group raided merchant caravans, until their numbers grew and they started attacking lone towers and chardaks. The raja approached only when the arrived in their areas, while in several places they were forced to join as the rebels threatened to take their properties. In March, a group of rebels led by Petar Majzoš burnt down Vršac and robbed the population of neighbouring villages, at the end of March, the rebels attacked and sacked Bocșa and Margina. In this period, it seems, the bandit forays turned into an uprising, the aims of the uprising were expressed by the Orthodox clergy, headed by the bishop of Vršac, Teodor. After the operations in the Vršac area, a large Ottoman ship convoy with war material was attacked on the Syrmian side of the Danube, most likely by Syrmian hajduks. The first large success of the rebels was the attack on Modava on the Danube and they then defeated the Ottoman security at the dock of Hram and crew of the wooden fortress in Pančevo. The Ottoman government sent out an army of 1,000 cavalry and infantry when news about the attacks reached Belgrade and Smederevo. In the ensuing battle near Pančevo on 26 May 1594, the rebel leader Vukadin and 1,000 men were killed, a Western source claims that the rebels had before Ohat conquered Ineu and Világosvár
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First Tarnovo Uprising
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The First Tarnovo uprising was a Bulgarian uprising against the Ottoman rule based in the former Bulgarian capital, Tarnovo, that broke out in 1598 and was severely crushed by the Ottoman authorities. The uprising was organized by leaders, as well as public figures. Đorđić established relations with the Habsburgs, the Transylvanian and Wallachian rulers, at the time the Ottomans were engaged in the Long War with the Habsburg Monarchy. An alleged descendant of the medieval Shishman dynasty was proclaimed Tsar of Bulgaria and Tarnovo was briefly liberated, however, the Ottoman authorities reacted immediately and quickly recaptured the city using a regular army, brutally suppressing the uprising
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Second Tarnovo Uprising
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The Second Tarnovo uprising was a Bulgarian uprising against Ottoman rule based in the former Bulgarian capital, Tarnovo, that broke out in 1686 and was severely crushed by the Ottoman authorities. In 1686 Russia, Saxony, Brandenburg and Bavaria joined the Holy League against the Ottoman Turkish Empire, in his absence the uprising burst prematurely and was doomed. He quickly returned to Tarnovo where he was proclaimed Prince of Bulgaria after the city was briefly liberated, however, the Ottoman authorities reacted immediately and quickly recaptured the city using regular army, brutally suppressing the uprising. Rostislav Stratimirovic fled the Ottoman territory and settled in Russia where he married the niece of the patriarch – Maria Dubrovska, the only source about the uprising is the family chronicles of Rostislavov-Dubrovski clan, now missing. Its legendary character makes many historians doubt its authenticity and consider it a legend which served the political interests in 19th century Russia. However, the Ottoman archives do indeed speak of insurgent activities in Tarnovo region during this period, centred on Arbanasi village
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Chiprovtsi uprising
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The Chiprovtsi uprising was an uprising against Ottoman rule organized in northwestern Bulgaria by Roman Catholic Bulgarians, but also involving many Eastern Orthodox Christians. After the conquest of Bulgaria the Ottomans left a number of regions, towns and these were usually key regions that were left to be governed by the old Bulgarian administration for practical reasons. Such towns were the ones guarding the Balkan passes, as well as important ore extraction areas like Chiprovtsi, although the status of the then-village in the period is not completely clear, it is generally considered that the Christian Bulgarian aristocracy retained most of its authority in Chiprovtsi. Sources from Dubrovnik mention the family of Soymirovich, whose members lived there as sovereign rulers until the end of the 14th century. After the Ottoman invasion the family moved to Dubrovnik, where they part of the local aristocracy. Other known families from the period are Peyachevich, Parchevich, Cherkich, Markanich and Knezhevich, during the next century Chiprovtsi was a has of the sultans family and later a valide hanım. Additional factors for the uprising were the events in the middle of the 17th century, petar Parchevich, a highly educated Bulgarian Catholic cleric and diplomat, carried out a large-scale dimplomatic campaign among the Christian rulers of Central Europe between 1630 and 1645. Around 1647 the Ottomans withdrew almost entirely from northwestern Bulgaria in relation to their war with Venice for Crete, matei Basarab sent messengers to promise a 20, 000-strong army to support the uprising. In the decisive moment, however, Władysław IV died on 20 May 1648, Parchevich also met Pope Innocent X and also visited Germany, Hungary, Transylvania and Wallachia after 1651. The unsuccess of these missions, as well as Austria and Polands reluctance to head a coalition again frustrated the uprisings outbreak at this time. A war between Poland and the Ottoman Empire began in 1671 that activated Bogdan and Parchevichs work, a coalition against the Ottomans did not form again, with Parchevich dying in Rome on 23 July 1674 and Bogdan following in September of the same year. Polish king Jan III Sobieski delivered a blow to the Ottoman forces at Vienna on 12 September 1683. Austria and Poland concluded a union against the Ottomans in the spring of 1684 with Venice joining later, russia also decided to become part of the coalition in 1686. The union this time sought the help of Bulgarian Catholics alone and it was noted by Bulgarian Bishop that over 500 Albanian Catholics in the region were involved in the Uprising against the Turks as well. The residents of Chiprovtsi and the neighbouring villages decided that the moment had come when the Austrian army took Belgrade on 6 September 1688. The Chiprovtsi Uprisings progress and organizations are not well documented, insurrectionary units under Georgi Peyachevich, left the village to join the Austrian army in the spring of 1688, with Peyachevichs forces participating in the assault on Orşova and the whole Banat. The uprising broke out in the entire northwestern Bulgaria area after the battle for Belgrade, the advancing of 6 Austrian regiments did not succeed in coordinating the Bulgarian units that did nothing to stop the Ottoman regroup. The decisive battle took place in October 1688 in the Zheravitsa country close to Kutlovitsa, almost the entire population was killed or taken into slavery
