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February 1

February 1

February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 333 days remaining, (334 in leap years).

Events


- 1662 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
- 1713 - The Kalabalik or Tumult in Bendery results from the Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.
- 1788 - Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patent the steamboat.
- 1790 - In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.
- 1793 - France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
- 1796 - The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
- 1814 - Mayon Volcano, in the Philippines, erupts, killing around 1,200 people; most devastating eruption of Mayon Volcano.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
- 1862 - Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published for the first time in the Atlantic Monthly.
- 1880 - The first edition of theatrical newspaper The Stage is published.
- 1884 - Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
- 1893 - Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio (West Orange, New Jersey).
- 1896 - The opera La bohème premieres (Turin).
- 1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince Luis Filipe are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon.
- 1913 - New York City's Grand Central Terminal opens as the world's largest train station.
- 1918 - Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
- 1919 - The first Miss America is crowned in New York City.
- 1920 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.
- 1924 - United Kingdom recognizes USSR.
- 1929 - Frenchman Charles Rigoulet is the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181 kg) in the "clean and jerk" method.
- 1943 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Premier of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.
- 1946 - Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General.
- 1958 - Merger of Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.
- 1960 - Four black students stage a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
- 1968 - Vietnam War: Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The execution was videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams and helped sway public opinion against the war. Official unification of the three former military services of Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force became the united Canadian Armed Forces. Merger of the historic New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad to form ill-fated Penn Central Transportation.
- 1974 - In São Paulo, Brazil, a fire in a 25-story office building kills 189 and injures 293.
- 1974 - Kuala Lumpur declared a Federal Territory.
- 1978 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.
- 1979 - Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
- 1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
- 1982 - Senegal and Gambia form a loose confederation known as Senegambia.
- 1992 - The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case.
- 1994 - In Portland, Oregon Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly pleads guilty for his role in attacking figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.
- 1995 - Manic Street Preachers lyricist Richey James Edwards goes missing from the Embassy Hotel in London, UK.
- 1996 - Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress
- 1999 - North Dakota Public Radio is launched.
- 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts onboard.
- 2004 - At least 244 people trampled to death in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
- 2004 - Janet Jackson exposes her breast on American television

Births


- 1261 - Walter de Stapledon, English bishop (d. 1326)
- 1462 - Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer (d. 1516)
- 1552 - Edward Coke, English colonial entrepreneur and jurist (d. 1634)
- 1635 - Marquard Gude, German archaeologist (d. 1689)
- 1690 - Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (d. 1768)
- 1761 - Christian Hendrik Persoon, South African mycologist (d. 1836)
- 1844 - G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist (d. 1844)
- 1859 - Victor Herbert, Irish composer (d. 1924)
- 1874 - Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian writer (d. 1929)
- 1882 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent, twelfth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1973)
- 1884 - Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian writer (d. 1937)
- 1887 - Charles Nordhoff, English-born author (d. 1947)
- 1894 - John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)
- 1894 - James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (d. 1955)
- 1901 - Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)
- 1902 - Langston Hughes American writer (d. 1967)
- 1904 - S. J. Perelman, American humorist and author (d. 1979)
- 1905 - Emilio G. Segrè, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
- 1906 - Hildegarde, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
- 1907 - Günter Eich, German lyricist (d. 1972)
- 1908 - George Pál, Hungarian-born director and producer (d. 1980)
- 1909 - George Beverly Shea, Canadian singer
- 1915 - Stanley Matthews, English football player
- 1918 - Dame Muriel Spark, Scottish author
- 1922 - Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (d. 2004)
- 1931 - Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia
- 1936 - Azie Taylor Morton, U.S. Treasurer (d. 2003)
- 1937 - Don Everly, American musician (Everly Brothers)
- 1937 - Garrett Morris, American comedian
- 1938 - Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor
- 1940 - Bibi Besch, Austrian-American actress (d. 1996)
- 1941 - Karl Dall, German television moderator.
- 1942 - Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer
- 1947 - Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)
- 1948 - Rick James, American musician and composer (d. 2004)
- 1948 - Elisabeth Sladen, British actress
- 1954 - Bill Mumy, American actor and musician
- 1956 - Exene Cervenka, American musician (X)
- 1961 - Volker Fried, German field hockey player
- 1962 - José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer =)
- 1962 - Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese guitarist
- 1965 - Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
- 1965 - Brandon Lee, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1965 - Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
- 1966 - Michelle Akers, American soccer player
- 1968 - Lisa Marie Presley, American singer and actress
- 1968 - Pauly Shore, American comedian
- 1969 - Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer
- 1969 - Joshua Redman, American musician
- 1971 - Yoshi DeHerrera, American television personality
- 1971 - Jill Kelly, American actress
- 1971 - Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian footballer
- 1975 - Big Boi, American musician (Outkast)
- 1977 - Kevin Kilbane, Irish footballer
- 1984 - Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer

Deaths


- 1248 - Henry II, Duke of Brabant (b. 1207)
- 1328 - King Charles IV of France (b. 1294)
- 1542 - Girolamo Aleandro, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1480)
- 1563 - Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia (died of fever)
- 1590 - Lawrence Humphrey, English clergyman and educator
- 1691 - Pope Alexander VIII (b. 1610)
- 1718 - Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician (b. 1660)
- 1733 - King Augustus II of Poland (b. 1670)
- 1734 - John Floyer, English physician and writer (b. 1649)
- 1743 - Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (b. 1657)
- 1761 - Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French historian (b. 1682)
- 1768 - Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (b. 1685)
- 1793 - William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman (b. 1717)
- 1851 - Mary Shelley, English author (b. 1797)
- 1893 - George Henry Sanderson, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1824)
- 1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal (b. 1863)
- 1928 - Hughie Jennings, baseball player (b. 1869)
- 1944 - Piet Mondriaan, Dutch painter (b. 1872)
- 1957 - Friedrich Paulus, German general (b. 1890)
- 1958 - Clinton Davisson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
- 1966 - Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist (b. 1885)
- 1966 - Buster Keaton, American actor (b. 1895)
- 1976 - Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- 1976 - George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878)
- 1981 - Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1892)
- 1981 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
- 1986 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1902)
- 1988 - Heather O'Rourke, American actress (b. 1975)
- 1989 - Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1819)
- 1997 - Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1916)
- 1999 - Paul Mellon, American philanthropist (b. 1907)
- 2002 - Hildegard Knef, German actress, singer, and writer (b. 1925)
- 2003 - The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, astronauts:
  - Michael P. Anderson (b. 1959)
  - David Brown (b. 1956)
  - Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961)
  - Laurel Clark (b. 1961)
  - Rick D. Husband (b. 1957)
  - Willie McCool (b. 1961)
  - Ilan Ramon (b. 1954)
- 2003 - Mongo Santamaria, Cuban percussionist and band leader (b. 1922)
- 2005 - John Vernon, Canadian actor (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances


- St. Brigid of Kildare -one of the three patron saints of Ireland, the others being St. Patrick and St. Columcille.
- Imbolc - the first day of Spring in Ireland (Irish Calendar), one of the eight solar holidays in the Wheel of the Year.
- 2003 - Chinese New Year - Year of the Ram.

Fiction


- In Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the fictional character Willy Wonka gives an unprecedented tour of his chocolate factory on February 1 (year unspecified).

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050201.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- January 31 - February 2 - January 1 - March 1 -- listing of all days February 01 ko:2월 1일 ms:1 Februari ja:2月1日 simple:February 1 th:1 กุมภาพันธ์



1662

Events


- March 18 – Short-timed experiment of the first public buses holding 8 passengers begins in Paris
- May 3/May 2 - Catherine of Braganza marries Charles II of England – as part of the dowry, Portugal cedes Bombay and Tangier to England
- May 9 - Samuel Pepys witnessed a Punch and Judy show in London; the first on record.
- October 27 - Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France for £400.000 (or 2.5 million livres)
- Royal Society receives royal charter
- Milton, Massachusetts is incorporated as a town.
- John Graunt, in one of the earliest uses of statistics, published statistical information about the births and deaths in London.
- Foundation of the "Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg" in Germany

Births


- January 27 - Richard Bentley, English classical scholar (d. 1742)
- April 30 - Mary II of England, Scotland, and Ireland (d. 1694)
- May 3 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (d. 1737)
- May 18 - George Smalridge, English Bishop of Bristol (d. 1719)
- July 11 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1726)
- August 5 - James Anderson, Scottish historian (d. 1728)
- August 13 - Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician (d. 1748)
- August 25 - John Leverett the Younger, American President of Harvard (d. 1724)
- October 18 - Matthew Henry, English non-conformist minister (d. 1714)
- December 13 - Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1729)
- December 18 - James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711) See also :Category:1662 births.

Deaths


- February 13 - Elizabeth of Bohemia (b. 1596)
- March 20 - François le Métel de Boisrobert, French poet (b. 1592)
- April 14 - William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English statesman (b. 1582)
- May 23 - John Gauden, English bishop and writer (b. 1605)
- June 14 - Henry Vane the Younger, British Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1613)
- August 19 - Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1623)
- September 3 - William Lenthall, English politician (b. 1591)
- September 22 - John Biddle, English theologian (b. 1615)
- October 21 - Henry Lawes, English composer (b. 1595)
- November 20 - Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1614)
- December 30 - Ferdinand Charles of Austria, regent of the Tyrol and Further Austria (b. 1628) See also :Category:1662 deaths. Category:1662 ko:1662년

Koxinga

Koxinga (國姓爺; Taiwanese: Kok-sèng-iâ/Kok-sìⁿ-iâ; pinyin: Gúoxìngyé) is the popular name of Zheng Chenggong (; POJ: Tēⁿ Sêng-kong) (1624 - 1662), who was a military leader at the end of the Chinese Ming Dynasty. He was a prominent leader of the anti-Qing movement opposing the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and a Han Chinese general who recovered Taiwan from Dutch colonial occupation in 1661.

Names


- Popular name: Koxinga or Coxinga is the Dutch Romanization of his popular name "Lord with the Royal Surname" (國姓爺).
- Surname: Zhèng (鄭)
- Birth name: Sēn (森)
  - Japanese name: Tei Seikō (鄭 成功)
  - Childhood name: Fukumatsu (福松)
- Courtesy name: Dàmù (大木)
- Royal surname: Zhū (朱)
  - Granted by Prince Tang of Southern Ming
- Royal title: Prince of Yánpíng and Zhāotǎo Grand General (延平郡王招討大將軍)
  - Awarded by Prince Gui of Southern Ming

Childhood

Koxinga was born to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant and pirate, and Tagawa Matsu, a Japanese woman, in 1624 in Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. He was raised there until seven and moved to Quanzhou, in the Fujian province of China. He studied at Nanjing Taixue (The Imperial Central College in Ming dynasty of China) when he was young. He is still known in Japan by his birth name as Tei Seīkō, or by his popular name as Kokusen'ya.

Loyalty to the Ming Empire

Beijing fell in 1644 to rebels led by Li Zicheng, and the last emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on a tree at modern-day Jingshan Park in Beijing. Aided by Wu Sangui, Manchurian armies knocked off the rebels with ease and took the city. In the areas below the Yangtze River, there were many anti-Qing people of principle and ambition who wanted to restore descendants of the Ming Dynasty to the Imperial throne. One of these descendants, Prince Tang, was aided to gain power in Fuzhou by Huang Daozhou and Zheng Zhilong, Koxinga's father. When the Qing captured Prince Tang, Koxinga was in Zhangzhou raising soldiers and supplies. He heard the news that his father was preparing to surrender to the Qing court and hurried to Quanzhou to persuade him against this plan, but his father refused to listen and turned himself in.

Death of his mother

Not long afterwards the Qing army captured Quanzhou, and Koxinga's mother either committed suicide out of loyalty to the Ming Dynasty or was raped and killed by Qing troops (like many other aspects of Koxinga's life the facts seem to have been obscured by ulterior purposes). When Koxinga heard this news he led an army to attack Quanzhou, forcing the Qing troops back. After giving his mother a proper burial Koxinga went directly to the Confucian temple outside the city. Legend has it, that he then burned his scholarly robes in protest. There he is rumored to have prayed in tears, saying, "In the past I was a good Confucian subject and a good son. Now I am an orphan without an emperor. I have no country and no home. I have sworn that I will fight the Qing army to the end, but my father has surrendered and my only choice is to be an unfilial son. Please forgive me." He left the Confucian temple and proceeded to assemble a group of comrades with the same goal who together swore an allegiance to the Ming in defiance of the Qing.

Fighting the Qing

He sent forces to attack the Qing forces in the area of Fujian and Guangdong. While defending Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, he once fought all the way to the walls of the city of Nanjing. But in the end, his forces were no match for the Qing. The Qing court sent a huge army to attack him and many of Koxinga's generals had died in battle, which left him no option but retreat.

Taiwanese landing

In 1661, Koxinga led his troops to a landing at Lu'ermen to attack Taiwan. By the end of the year, he had chased out the Dutch, who had controlled Taiwan for 38 years. Koxinga had devoted himself to making Taiwan into an effective base for anti-Qing sympathizers who wanted to restore the Ming Dynasty to power. At the age of 39, Koxinga died of malaria, although speculations said that he died in a sudden fit of madness upon hearing the death of his father under the Qing. His son, Zheng Jing, succeeded as the King of Taiwan.

Legacy

There is a temple dedicated to Koxinga and his mother in Tainan County, Taiwan. The play Kokusen'ya Kassen (国姓爺合戦; formally 国性爺合戦) was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon in Japan in the 18th century, first performed in Kyoto. A movie with the same title was produced by the PRC and Japan in 2002 in Mandarin Chinese. In politics, Koxinga is an interesting figure for the fact that conflicting political forces have invoked him as a hero. The historical narratives in which Koxinga is a hero are interesting because of the conflicting views national identities they attribute to Koxinga and his opponents and the different motives which they attribute to Koxinga. He has been considered a national hero by Chinese nationalists both in Mainland China and on Taiwan because he was a Ming loyalist and an anti-Manchu leader and for his role in expelling the Dutch from Taiwan which Chinese nationalists portray as establishing Chinese rule over the island. During the Japanese rule of Taiwan Koxinga was honored as a bridge between Taiwan and Mainland Japan for his maternal linkage to Japan. Koxinga has been utilized by the Kuomintang too. Chiang Kai-shek invoked Koxinga as fighter who retreated to Taiwan and used it as base to launch counterattacks to Mainland China. Although supporters of Taiwan independence have historically had mixed feelings toward Koxinga, recent Taiwanese Independence historiography presents him in a positive light, portraying him as a native Taiwanese hero seeking to keep Taiwan independent from a mainland Chinese government (i.e. the Manchus). Some historians have expressed concern at the way that all sides have attempted to co-opt Koxinga for two reasons. The first is that all of the historical narratives tend to simplify a very complex character by focusing on one attribute of the man to the exclusion of others. In doing so they ascribe motives to Koxinga that make sense to people living in the 21st century but which might not have made any sense to people living in the 17th. The second problem is that by seeking to portray Koxinga as a hero, all sides play down the less savory aspects of the character.

External links


- [http://www.macabe.net/koxinga.html Research on Koxinga]: short bio and more links to articles about Koxinga
- [http://www.etaiwannews.com/History/2001/04/30/988602340.htm 3-part copyrighted biography]: written by a Taiwanese history professor
  - Erratum: Koxinga's mother is not surnamed Tamura (田村). The Chinese half has it right, but the English half got it wrong.

See also


- Kingdom of Tungning
- History of Taiwan Category:1624 births Category:1662 deaths Category:History of Taiwan Cheng Che'ng-kung zh-min-nan:Tēⁿ Sêng-kong ja:鄭成功

1713

Events


- April 11 - War of the Spanish Succession: Treaty of Utrecht
- June 23 - French residents of Acadia given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia Canada
- first Orrery built by George Graham

Ongoing events


- Great Northern War (1700-1721)
- War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713)

Births


- January 2 - Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
- March 15 - Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (d. 1762)
- March 21 - Francis Lewis, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1803)
- March 29 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (d. 1789)
- April 10 - John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist (d. 1788)
- April 12 - Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French writer (d. 1796)
- April 21 - Louis, 4th duc de Noailles, Marshal of France (d. 1793)
- May 3 - Alexis Claude Clairault, French mathematician (d. 1765)
- May 6 - Charles Batteux, French philosopher (d. 1780)
- May 25 - John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1792)
- June 11 - Edward Capell, English critic (d. 1781)
- June 16 - Meshech Weare, Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1786)
- June 22 - Lord John Philip Sackville, English cricketer (d. 1765)
- July 22 - Jacques-Germain Soufflot, French architect (d. 1780)
- August 1 - Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1780)
- September 23 - King Ferdinand VI of Spain (d. 1759)
- October 5 - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encyclopedist (d. 1784)
- October 7 - Granville Elliott, British military officer (d. 1759)
- October 8 - Yechezkel Landau, Polish rabbi and Talmudist (d. 1793)
- October 13 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter (d. 1784)
- November 24 - Junipero Serra, Spanish Franciscan missionary (d. 1784)
- November 24 - Laurence Sterne, Irish writer (d. 1768)
- December 4 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (d. 1786)
- December 15 - Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (d. 1802)

Deaths


- January 8 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (b. 1653)
- January 11 - Pierre Jurieu, French protestant leader (b. 1637)
- February 4 - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher (b. 1671)
- February 25 - King Friedrich I of Prussia (b. 1657)
- May 20 - Thomas Sprat, English minister (b. 1635)
- July 7 - Henry Compton, Bishop of Oxford and privy councillor (b. 1632)
- October 20 - Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (b. 1652)
- November 7 - Elizabeth Barry, English actress (b. 1658)
- November 17 - Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1653)
- December 14 - Thomas Rymer, English historian (b. 1641)
- Thomas Ellwood, English religious writer (b. 1639) Category:1713 ko:1713년 ms:1713

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: دولتِ عَليه عُثمانيه, Devlet-i Aliye-i Osmaniye, literally "Ottoman Sublime State") was an imperial power, centered around the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, that existed from 1299 to 1922. At the height of its power in the 16th century, it included Anatolia, the Middle East, parts of North Africa, much of south-eastern Europe to the Caucasus in the north. It comprised an area of about 19.9 million km², though much of this was under indirect control of the central government. The Empire was situated in the middle of East and West, and interacted throughout its six-century history with both the East and the West. It was established by a tribe of Oghuz Turks in western Anatolia, and was ruled by the Osmanlı dynasty, the descendants of those Turks. The Empire was founded by Osman I (in Arabic ʿUthmān, عُثمَان , hence the name Ottoman Empire). In 1453, after the Ottomans captured Constantinople (modern İstanbul), the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire, it became the Ottomans' third capital. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman Empire was among the world's most powerful political entities, and the countries of Europe felt threatened by its steady advance through the Balkans and the southern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At its highest point, the Empire contained many of the important places of classical antiquity, including Homer's Olympus and Dardenus, Zeus' Europa, Io's Bosporus, temple of Diana in Ephesus, sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, the Garden of Eden, Noah's Mount Ararat, Abraham's oasis and wells, Nile, Mount of the Sermon, the Hill of Golgotha. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was a consequence of World War I, when Allied forces including the Arabs eventually defeated Ottoman forces in the Middle East. At the end of the war the Ottoman government collapsed completely; and the empire was divided among the victorious powers. The following couple of years ended with declarations of new states. One of the new states was the Republic of Turkey. The members of the Ottoman dynasty were banned from the lands of Anatolia, where they once built one of the great empires of the world. In 1999, Turkey's parliament granted Turkish citizenship to the members of the Ottoman family, after 76 years.

Timeline

:See Timeline of the Ottoman Empire.

History

Origins

The Ottoman Empire originated as a Uç Beyliği (cf. Marquisate, Marches) within the Seljukid State of Anatolia in the late 13th century; which, by then, was a puppet and vassal of Ilkhanate, itself. Traditionally, in 1299, Osman I declared independence for the Beylik.

Rise (1299–1453)

With the rise of the empire, the characteristics and nature of the state were defined, and the Ottomans definitively carved out their own preserve in history under the rule of Mehmed II. One of the first things the devout Islamic Turks did was name the city previously known as Constantinople, to its new name "Islambol" (meaning "Islam-Bound" or "lots of"). Bol in Turkish means "a lot of" so this name reflected the new state of the city and its people. The name of Islambol was used throughout the empire by the Ottomans right upto the beginning of the twentieth century. Even though Ottoman state existed before Osman I, he is regarded as the founder of the Empire, having given it its name and being the first bey to declare his independence. He extended the frontiers of the empire towards the Byzantine Empire, while other Turkish beyliks suffered from infighting. Under Osman I, the Ottoman capital was moved to Bursa. He published the first coin under his name, demonstrating the trust he built. For the coming centuries his time was recalled with the words "May he be as good as Osman". coin] Mehmed II was only 12 years old when he became sultan, and was reputed to have been an erudite warrior. His military prowess was demonstrated with his conquest of Constantinople (see the Fall of Constantinople). Mehmed also enjoyed the full support of the empire. He used this to reorganize the state structure and military.

Growth (1453–1683)

Fall of Constantinople–1683]] The growth of Ottoman power can be grouped into two main, characteristic periods. The first period is one of stable conquest and growth; from the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, to the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, in 1566. This was a period of amazing achievements for the Ottoman Empire. Following the acquisition of Constantinople, the Ottomans ended Serbian power at the Battle of Kosovo, which paved the way for expansion into Europe. Sultan Selim I (1512–1520) expanded the Empire's eastern frontiers, defeating Safavid Persia in the Battle of Chaldiran and establishing a navy in the Red Sea. His successor, Suleiman the Magnificent, would increase the Empire's size and power even further. After capturing Belgrade, Suleiman would conquer Hungary at the Battle of Mohacs, moving right up to Vienna. In the east, he would take Baghdad in 1535 from the Persians, giving the Ottomans control of the Middle East. Koca Mimar Sinan Agha was a skilled architect and engineer during this period. He took part in Selim's engineering corps. Later Sinan was promoted chief architect and was given the privilege of design, develop and implementation of the captured cities (according to the city plan). He was also appointed the command of the artillery. During a Persian campaign in 1535 he built ships for the army to cross Lake Van. For this he was given the title Haseki'i, Sergeant-at-Arms in the body guard of the Sultan, a rank equivalent to that of the Janissary Ağa. The Ottomans reached their "Golden Age" during Suleiman the Magnificent's reign. The end of these 230 years of growth marked with the end of extension into Europe. The Siege of Vienna was not part of an Ottoman extension into Germany. The Turks wanted to react to interventions of Austrian Habsburg interference into Hungary. But this turned some of the Ottoman allies against it. The Pope abandoned his secular interests, to agitate for a general Crusade against the Ottoman Empire. With the coming decades, the Ottoman Empire was not just an occupying force; it became an instrument in European politics. The Battle of Vienna brought a long period of stagnation, as it was a turning point in the 300-year struggle between the forces of the Central European kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire.

Stagnation (1683–1827)

Eventually, after the defeat of Kara Mustafa by Jan III Sobieski of Poland at the Battle of Vienna, in 1683, the Ottoman Empire lost some of its standing in Europe. In 1699, for the first time in its history, the Ottomans acknowledged that the Austrian empire could sign a treaty with the Ottomans on equal terms, and actually lost a large territory which had been in Ottoman possession for two centuries. There was a long succession of sultans after that, who were not as good as the generation of Mehmed II, Selim I and Suleyman I. During the stagnation, the Ottomans were weakened by wars, especially against Persia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia and Austria-Hungary. The Russian expansionism was a series of ten wars, fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The Ottoman Empire demonstrated notable resilience among these setbacks for long time. The Ottomans managed to pull themselves together to defeat the Russians in in the Battle of Pruth in 1712, and the Austrians in 1736, regaining some of their European territories. Later, during the Crimean War, the Empire would enter into alliance with Britain and France to defeat Russia. Crimean War The Treaty of Passarowitz produced a short, peaceful era between 1718–1730. The change in Ottoman policies toward Europe already had given its signals. The Empire began to improve the cities along the Balkans, that would become their defense against the expansionist movements of the Europeans. More public policies were sought, such as drops in the taxation rates; public relations improvements, such as the institution of consulates, and the first civilian industrial investments all fall into this period. It was called the "Tulip Era" as this motif was extensively used. However, the scientific advantage the Ottomans had over the European countries decreased. While the Ottomans were stagnating in a stalemate with their European and Asian neighboring countries, the European development sped up. The Ottoman Empire did not keep up technologically with its European rivals, especially Russia. Wars and territories were lost, to Austria and Russia. Areas of the empire such as Egypt, became independent in all but name only. During this time, beginning with Selim III, there were efforts to modernize the system. Many of the reforms the sultans tried to impose to revitalise the Empire, were reverted by conservative forces within the Empire, either by the religious cadre, or by the now-corrupt Janissaries, even after the Janissaries were disbanded in 1826.

Decline (1828–1908)

1826 The declining period of the Empire was shaped by reorganization, and transformations in every aspect of the Empire. The caricature on the left is from the period and shows the sentiments of the Ottomans. It is a parody of clerks in the legal bureau of the Ottoman foreign office by Yussuf Bey (the duck). The parrot, monkey and pig (British, Italians, Germans) that nag him are the chief custodians and interpreters (European powers). The Russians are in the background as bears. The Tanzimat was a period of reform, that lasted from 1839 to 1876. During this time, a fairly modern conscripted army was formed. The banking system was also reformed, and the guilds were replaced with modern factories. Economically, the Empire had trouble re-paying the loans to European banks. Militarily, it had trouble defending itself from foreign occupation (e.g. Egypt was occupied by the French in 1798; Cyprus was occupied by the British in 1876, etc.). A significant change of this period was this: the Empire stopped going into conflicts alone, and started entering into alliances with European countries. There was a series of alliances with countries such as France, Holland, Britain and Russia. A prime example of this was the Crimean War, in which the British, French, Ottomans and others united against Tsarist Russia. Of all the ideas that Ottomans acquired from west; the ethnic nationalism, or named at that time as religion of the modern world was the most influential ideology. Ottomans were not just dealing with ethnic nationalism within their boundaries, but across boundaries. Uprisings had many effects on other groups during the 19th century. It was claimed that these uprisings determined the path that Ottomans had to take during the 20th century, but the rhetoric regarding the cause of 19th century uprisings is sharply divided. Ottomans claim that the source of the inter-ethnic conflicts should be sought within their dynamics and the sources that were supporting the conflicts with hidden goals. The decline period had many achievements, such as organization of the economy, military, communication, etc, but whether the Ottoman state was strong and influential on a scope that would have any effect on the ethnic uprisings is another question. ethnic conflicts Young Turks was a group of Ottomans who were educated in western universities and believed that constitutional monarchy could create an ease to the social unrest in the Empire. Mesrutiyet Era explains the political and social dynamics of the first constitution written by İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti and its social and economical consequences. Through a military coup, İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti had forced Sultan Abdülaziz to leave his position to Murad V. However, Murad V turned out mentally ill and had to be deposed in a few months. Heir apparent Prince Abdülhamid had been invited to assume power under the promise that he would declare constitutional monarchy, which he did at 23 November 1876. Constitution was called Kanun-i Esasi (Basic Law in Turkish).

Dissolution (1908–1922)

The dissolution period begins with the onset of II. Constitutional government. Basic Law Three new Balkan states were shaped during the end of the 19th century. All three as well as Montenegro sought additional territories within the large Turkish-ruled regions known as Albania, Macedonia, and Thrace. The background to the wars lies in the incomplete emergence of nation-states on the fringes of the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century. Initially under the encouragement of Russia, a series of agreements were concluded: between Serbia and Bulgaria in March 1912 and between Greece and Bulgaria in May 1912. Montenegro subsequently concluded agreements between Serbia and Bulgaria respectively in October 1912. The Serbian-Bulgarian agreement specifically called for the partition of Macedonia, that resulted with the First Balkan War. The second Balkan War followed the first. second Balkan War second Balkan War In a final effort to keep power in their hands by regaining at least some of the lost territories, the triumvirate led by Enver Pasha joined the Central Powers in World War I. The Ottoman Empire had some successes in the beginning years of the war. The Allies, including the newly formed ANZACs were defeated in the Battle of Gallipoli, Iraq and the Balkans, and some territories were regained. In the Caucasus the Ottomans lost ground in a series of battles and Russians moved to a line from Trabzon, Erzurum, to Van. The Russian revolution gave the Ottomans a chance to regain these areas. The Ottomans were eventually defeated at the end of the war by the Allies, Arabs, and Republic of Armenia, which Armenian Republic was being declared during the war, in contrast to Arab nations. Ottoman territories were annexed. The initial agreement was Mundros treaty, and was followed by the Sevres treaty. After a century, what it seems came out of Serves was the achievement of British policy in the Near East. Great Britain had obtained most of her desires, in the partition of the Ottoman Empire. However, for other powers of Entente, we have to look at the results of Turkish War of Independence. Turks were raised against the Serves, to expel the Greeks, to confront the Republic of Armenia, the Italians, the French and to threaten the British in the region of Straits. Finally Turks asserted their right to an independent national existence. Turkish independence resulted with the 'coup de grâce' to the Ottoman state, in 1922, with the overthrow of Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin by the new republican assembly of Turkey. Republic of Turkey was founded on October 29, 1923 from the remnants of the empire, like many other states.

State

There are some Ottoman State characters which did not change throughout the centuries. 1923 The Ottoman state revolutionized the system with the aid and experience of Christians, and Jews, while other states were holding on to their religion and national identity. That was an eclectic path for the rapidly expanding state, which needed local sources to manage the system, such as the adaptation of advisors (vizier) to the sultans, sometimes being selected from loyal Christians, Greeks, Italians, and so many others. Even from the western perspective the developments over the Byzantine structure were highly apparent in the diplomatic correspondence of the rising state, which was performed in Greek language. In diplomatic circles, the empire was often referred to as the Divan: بابِ علی Bâb-i-âlî ("great gate"), the grand Palace Gate of the Imperial Topkapı Palace, where the sultan greeted foreign ambassadors. It has also been interpreted as referring to the Empire's (and especially the capital Istanbul's) position as "gateway" between Europe and Asia. In its day, the Ottoman Empire was also commonly referred to as the Turkish Empire or Turkey by Westerners, though it should not be confused with the modern nation-state of Turkey. The Ottomans were administrators and not producers, except for the Turkish peasants producing foodstuff. The Ottoman Empire was not the program of economic exploitation, like the colonial empires of the modern Europe states. The government under Ottoman understanding was shaped around defending the land, building the security and harmony within the land. Against the common belief among the Christians, the source of violence during the last years of Ottoman Empire was the nation building process, not the Ottoman way of administration.

Sultans

The Sultan, was the sole regent and government of the empire, at least officially. The dynasty is most often called the Osmanli or the House of Osman. The first rulers called themselves bey thereby acknowledging the sovereignty of the Seljuk sultanate and its successor the Ilkhanate sultanate. Murad I was the first Ottoman to claim the title of "sultan" (king). With the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the state was on its way to becoming a mighty empire, with Mehmed II as its emperor, or padishah, in Europe sometimes the Grand Turk. From 1517 onwards, the Ottoman Sultan was also the Caliph of Islam, and the Ottoman Empire was from 1517 until 1922 (or 1924) synonymous with the Caliphate, the Islamic State. The sultan enjoyed many titles such as Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, and from 1517 onwards, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe, i.e. Caliph, which theoretically also gave him overlordship over other Muslim rulers around the world. For example, among the Mughal Emperors of India, only Aurangzeb had the Khutba read in his own name.

Organization

Khutba] Although the Ottoman state had many reorganizations, several main structures remained the same. There was a person who was totally responsible, always in command of the state. That was called the Sultan of the Empire. The decisions were always taken by a court of people at the divan, with the last word on Sultan. At the initial stages, court was composed from the elders of the tribe. Then it was modified to include professionals from military and local elites, such as high-ranking religious and political advisors. They were named as the viziers. This structure was later modified to include Grand Vizier to lift of some of the responsibilities from the Sultan. The Sublime Porte was the open court of the Sultan, named after the gate to the headquarters to the Grand Vizier, where the sultan held the greeting ceremony for foreign ambassadors. At times, the Grand Vizier became as or more important than the Sultan. From 1908 onwards the state was constitutional monarch without executive powers, with parliament consisting of chosen representatives from the provinces.

Subdivisions

Even though there is no election, there was a very interesting democratic structure within the Ottoman State. From an outside view, Ottoman state organization was based on a hierarchy with the Sultan, but there were many historical incidences that local governors acted by their own, sometimes just opposite of the Sultan. There are eleven incidences that Sultans were dethroned as they were perceived threats to the state. Sultans were chosen from the sons of the previous Sultan, but one has to understand the educational system and how it eliminates the unfit, or builds a common trust among the ruling elite for the son before they were throned. There were only two failed attempts to overthrow the ruling family, which suggests an extreme political stability. At the height of its power, the Ottoman Empire had 29 provinces plus three tributary principalities and Transylvania, a kingdom which swore allegiance to the Porte.

Failures of the state

The fall of the Ottoman state is attributed to the failure of its economic structure. Many of the Ottoman Empire's failures are commonly attributed to an inability to establish economic and political hegemony over other nations, despite the fact that it was an empire. The term "the sick man of Europe" originated from these frustrations. Without economic participation the inns, hospitals, libraries, or indeed on this term any public benefit depended on public investments, named as vakif. The economy of the Ottoman state was no match to its counterparts. With the change of trade roads, the Ottoman Empire lost its main income source. Inability to industrialize the state and too great a dependence on farmers as a source of revenue through taxation were also factors. Inefficiencies originating from the size of the empire were also significant. Trying to keep the empire intact through internal and external wars was a costly process which compromised the Ottoman Empire's capacity to introduce reform. With improvements in communication the population that was distributed along the trade routes became concentrated on the centers. This population was highly affected by the economic competition of that time. The populations that moved into cities were faced with hardships which tested their patience, persistence, and adaptability. The Ottomans had to keep the system running under these social pressures. The dynamics of trade were curious—even as early as the 1470s Greeks and Jews were the premier traders, not the Ottomans. Consequently, the Ottomans were forced to protect the Greek elite in order to maintain a functioning economy. They were, moreover, constantly obliged to deal with social unrest among the empire's Greek community. When the Greek elite turned against the Ottomans, the Empire lost control. The Greek elite blamed the economic problems on the Ottomans and offered an escape route to Greeks by pursuing a nation of their own. In reality, even after the Greek revolution, the same elite was controlling the economy with the trade routes having already been altered. By many accounts, the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Ottoman Empire closely paralleled the fall of Byzantium, particularly in terms of the ongoing tensions among the empires' populations and its inability to relate with them. In the case of the Ottomans, the introduction of a parliamentary system during the Tanzimat was too late to reverse the damage.

Economy

Tanzimat The economical structure of the Empire was defined by the geopolitical structure. The Ottoman Empire stood in between West and East, thus blocking the route eastward forcing Spanish and Portuguese navigators set out in search of a new route to the Orient. The Empire was holding the same path that Marco Polo once used. When Columbus discovered America, the Ottoman Empire was in its highest position as an economical power that extended over three continents. The current Ottoman studies imply that the change in politics between Ottomans and Central Europe did depend on the opening of the new sea routes. It is also possible to see the decay of the Ottoman Empire by tracing the loss of significance of the land routes. Decay is a very relative term, in reality while central Europe is moving forward, Ottoman were holding on to their traditions. The pragmatic thinking of Ottomans that once helped to reform the systems left behind by Roman Empire was once again giving out the same signs which Ottomans found centuries ago.

Law

The Ottoman empire was legally based around the philosophy of local jurisprudence. Local legal systems that did not conflict with the state as a whole were largely left alone. The Ottoman system had three court systems, one for the Muslims run by kadi (judges), one for non-Muslims (appointed Jews and Christians ruled over their religious areas), and another for trade (originated after the capitulations). The court used depended on the sides of the conflict. On top of everything was the Kanun Law (administrative in nature). These court categories were not exclusive; Muslim courts could be used for a trade conflict or inter-religious cases. The primary law system was the Islamic courts. As for systems of law, there were Sharia Law and the Kanun Law. The Ottoman State did not interfere with religious law systems for other recognized faiths, even if it had a voice through local governors. Sharia Law evolved out of the Koran and from the word of Mohammed. Kanun Law was the secular law of the Sultan. Both were taught at law schools, which existed in Bursa and Istanbul. The court was run by sultan-appointed kadi. Often Jews and Christians went to Islamic courts to get a more forceful ruling on an issue. Women almost always went to Islamic courts, as they tended to side more often with and gave fairer payments to women. In truth, the political judicial system was run for the betterment of the rulers. The Kanun overruled the Sharia Law, which showed a level of respect for the Sultan over religion.

Military

The Ottoman military was a complex system of recruiting and fief-holding. In the Ottoman army, light cavalry long formed the core and they were given fiefs called timars. Cavalry used bows and short swords and made use of nomad tactics similar to those of the Mongol Empire. The Ottoman army was once among the most advanced fighting forces in the world, being one of the first to employ muskets. The famous Janissary corps provided élite troops and bodyguards for the sultan. After the 17th century, however, the Ottomans could no longer produce a modern fighting force because of a lack of reforms, mainly because of the corrupted Janissaries. The abolition of the Janissary corps in 1826 was not enough, and in the war against Russia, the Ottoman Empire severely lacked modern weapons and technologies. The modernisation of the Ottoman empire in the 19th century started with the military. This was the first institution to hire foreign experts and which sent their officer core for training in western European countries. Technology and new weapons were transferred to the Empire, such as German and British guns, Air force and a modern navy. The empire was successful in modernising its army. However, it was still no match against the major western powers. “The beginnings of legal reform in the Middle East were initiated in the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the nineteenth century through the promulgation of commercial and penal codes such as the Ottoman Commercial code (1850) and the Ottoman Penal code (1858).” (Haddad, Y.Y., Byron H. and Ellison F., Eds.)

Culture

1826 Ottoman culture covers expressive activities and the symbolic structures that happened under the umbrella of Ottoman Empire. That is an inclusive statement for all the religious and ethnic cultures of the state. Also, there is a specific intersecting culture that originated from living multi-culturally that reached to its highest levels among the Ottoman elites. Ottoman elites were not monolithic and composed of many different ethnic and religious people. With the turn of the 19th century, nationalistic states including Turkey began to write their own history. Most of the references to Ottoman culture were buried either in the archives or destroyed. What we know about that period mainly originates from opposing state archives and their official view points. These references can not be claimed fair or inclusive. It is also hard to reach defending views given the fact that Ottomans ceased to exist. Current studies show that empire culture was very rich and colorful. Opposing to wide spread beliefs, coming from a nomadic culture, Ottoman Turks was in peace with different cultures that they have in contact. Originally Ottomans belong to central-Asian culture. Ottomans later integrated Persian and Byzantine cultures into their way of life, instead of being assimilated into these cultures. When considering the Turkish folkloric or Ottoman elite art, we can see that they have conserved the colors and symbols that were inherited from their origins. Ottoman elites used Persian in their art to express their own inner world. The Ottoman court life was a harmony of Turkish and the Persian Shahs, but had many Byzantine and European influences. This Ottoman multicultural perspective reflects on their policies. One of the reasons that the Ottoman Empire lasted this long was the high tolerance policies pursued originating from their nomadic inheritance. This statement should be taken as a comparison to assimilative and ignorant medieval times (east and west). The Ottoman State pursued multi-cultural and multi-religious politics. When we talk about Ottoman tolerance, we talk about the structures that accommodate different perspectives. A good example was the Ottoman justice system. Another can be cited with the local governors to the regions. As the Ottomans moved further west, the Ottoman leaders themselves absorbed some of the culture of the conquered regions. With the intercultural marriages, the new cultural structures were gradually added to the Ottomans, creating the characteristic Ottoman elite culture. When compared to common Turkish arts (folkloric), the assimilation of the Ottoman elites to these new cultures is apparent.

Religion

marriages] Before the Turks adopted Islam, they practiced a polytheistic religion. After their first contact with Arabs and the battle of Talas, a number of Turkic tribes accepted Islam and propogated their new faith further into Turkistan. The process of conversion was over long before the birth of the Ottoman empire. As early as 1453, after having conquered Constantinople, they granted special privileges to the Christian people who had belonged to the old Byzantine Empire. Christians became subjects of the Ottoman Empire but not subject to Muslim faith or law. The Ottoman State never officially enforced religious conformity, nor did it harshly pursue a policy of individual conversion. The fact that opposition to the Ottoman state had always been on a national scale supports this idea. Going back to 1391, Bayezid I with Thessalonica(Selanik) actively adopted policies of lenient behaviors towards those with different faiths. Sultans took their primary concern to be service of the interests of the state, as the Ottoman Empire could not survive without toil, cooperation and taxes. For centuries, the Ottoman Empire was often as a refuge for the Jews of Europe, who were often persecuted or expelled from the countries of Christian Europe (see History of the Jews in Turkey). The Ottoman State's relation with the Orthodox Church was very peaceful. The Ottoman state kept the orthodox structure intact until the national uprisings. Currently under Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople we can see encompassing national Orthodox jurisdictions such as Bulgarian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox. Some of these policies were slowly changed with the adoption of parliamentary monarchy. Constantinople was "Turkified" externally, changing its name to Istanbul. Some churches, including the Hagia Sophia, were converted to mosques. The sultans were careful not to destroy the Christian mosaics but covered them with plaster. In 1935, after five centuries, the complete removal of the plaster was carried out after the new Republic of Turkey, "in the interest of art", converted the Hagia Sophia into a museum. This very treatment of those old Christian mosaics — a treatment not of destruction but of conscious preservation — illustrates the similar fate of the Christian people of the Balkans who likewise had a cultural revivification as nations and states.

External links


- [http://www.osmanli700.gen.tr/english/engindex.html Ottoman Web Site] – Contains detailed information about the Ottoman Empire
- [http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Turkey/turkey.htm Royal Ark: Turkey] – Extensive site with a lot of detailed information
- [http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/OTTOMAN/OTTOMAN1.HTM World Civilizations: The Ottomans] – Comprehensive site that covers much about the state and the government
- [http://www.turkcebilgi.com/Osmanl%FD%20%DDmparatorlu%F0u Turkcebilgi.com Ottoman Empire Pages] (in Turkish)
- [http://www.theottomans.org The Ottomans] – Covers various aspects of the Ottoman Empire in detail
- [http://www.discoverturkey.com/haberler/osmanli-bayrak.html Flags of Ottoman Empire]
- [http://www.ottomansouvenir.com/Capitals/Capitals_of_Ottoman_Empire.htm Capitals of Ottoman Empire]
- [http://www.osmanlimedeniyeti.com Everything About Ottoman Empire] – Everything about the history and culture of Ottoman Empire (in Turkish)
- [http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/ottoman/module3/lecture2.htm More on the 16 & 1700's] - Emerging Nationalisms, Declining Empire?

References


- Barbara Jelavich, History of the Balkans, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Cambridge University Press, 1983. ISBN 0521252490. See "Balkan Christians under Ottoman Rule", pages 39–126.
- Colin Imber, The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power, 2002. ISBN 0333613864.
- Gülru Necipoglu Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, 1991. ISBN 0262140500.
- Caroline Finkel Osman's Dream. The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1923, 2005. ISBN 0719555132.
- Ottomans Category:Former countries in Europe Category:Empires ko:오스만 제국 ms:Empayar Turki Uthmaniyyah ja:オスマン帝国

Sultan

A sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings.

Muslim monarch ruling under the terms of shariah

The title carries moral weight and religious authority, as the ruler's role was defined in the Qur'an. The sultan however was not a religious teacher himself. In the Byzantine Empire and the traditional spheres of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a comparable unity of church and state in the person of the ruler is termed Caesaropapism. The last Western ruler with comparable authority was Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, though formally (if not in practice) the British monarch represents a similar union of church and state, being both the head of state and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England; in practice, the Queen is merely the titular leader of church and state; this status is also under question as Charles, Prince of Wales has indicated he intends to rule as 'defender of the faiths' rather than 'defender of the faith'. The first to carry the title of 'Sultan' was the Turkmen chief Mahmud of Ghazni (ruled 998 - 1030). Later, 'Sultan' became the usual title of rulers of Seljuk and Ottoman Turks and Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers in Egypt. The spiritual validation of the title was well illustrated by the fact that it was the shadow caliph in Cairo that bestowed the title "sultan" on Murad I, the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire in 1383. The earlier leaders had been beys. At later stages, lesser rulers assumed the styling "sultan", as was the case for the earlier leaders of today's royal family of Morocco. Today, only the Sultan of Oman, the Sultan of Brunei, and some titular sultans in the southern Philippines, Java, and in the former Malay States which are now part of Malaysia still use the title. The sultan's domain is properly called a sultanate. A feminine form, used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah; the very styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans. In a similar usage, the wife of a German Field-Marshal might be styled Feldmarschallin. Among those modern hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law, the term is gradually being replaced by 'king'.

Princely and aristocratic titles

In the Ottoman dynastic system, every close relative, male and female, of the ruling Padishah (in the west also known as Great Sultan), was styled Sultan, either before or after the name, so equivalent to a western prince of the blood. In certain muslim states, Sultan was also an aristocratic title, as in the Tartar Astrakhan Khanate

Military rank

In a number of post-caliphal states under Mongol of Turkic rule, there was a feudal type of military hierarchy, often decimal (mainly in larger empires), using originally princely titles (Khan, Malik, Amir) as mere rank denominations. In the Persian empire, the rank of Sultan was roughly equivalent to a western Captain, socially in the fifth rank class, styled 'Ali Jah

Former sultans and sultanates

Middle East & Central Asia


- Ghaznavid Sultanate
- Sultans of Great Seljuk
- Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm
- Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, the Osmanli
- Ayyubid Sultans of Damascus
- Ayyubid Sultans of Egypt
- Mamluk Sultans of Egypt
- Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultans in Hadhramaut (Yemen)
- Sultans of Nejd in Arabia
- Sultans of the Hejaz in Arabia

Hami

This was the authentical style, commonly rendered as sultan, of the Islmaic monarchs of the ruling house of Oman, in both its realms:
- Oman — Sultan of Oman, on the southern coast of the Arabian peninsula, still an independent sultanate, since 1784, two years before the imamate lost temporal power in 1786 (assumed the formal style of Sultan in 1861)
- Sultanate of Zanzibar two incumbents (from the Omani dynasty) since the de faco separation from Oman in 1806, the last assumed the style Sultan in 1861 at the formal separation under British auspices; since 1964 union with Tanganyika part of Tanzania)

East Africa


- Comoros sultanates
- in Kenya
- Northern Somali sultanates

Southeast Asia


- Sultanate of Malacca, Malaysia
- Sultanate of Aceh, Indonesia
- Sultanate of Maguindanao, Philippines
- Sultanate of Ternate, Indonesia
- Sultanate of Tidore, Indonesia
- Sultanate of Mataram, Java, Indonesia
- Sultanate of Sulu, Philippines

India


- Bahmani Sultanate
- Sultanate of Bengal
- Deccan sultanates: Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmednagar
- Sultanate of Delhi
- Sultanate of Gujarat
- Sultanate of Jaunpur
- Sultanate of Kandesh
- Maldives Sultanate
- Sultanate of Malwa
- Sultanate of Mysore

Contemporary sultanates


- Brunei
- Indonesia — Sultan of Yogyakarta is governor of that province
- Malaysia
  - Note: Sultan is the title of seven (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu) of the nine rulers of the Malay states. The head of state for all Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is selected from among the Rulers, but is usually styled "King" in foreign countries. Political power, however, lies with Prime Minister. See also: Malay titles
- Philippines — Sultanate of Sulu

See also


- Emir (Amir)
- Atabeg
- Bey
- Caliph
- Datu
- Ilkhan, Khan
- Malik
- Padishah
- Shah
- Sultan of Sultans

Sources and References


- [http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Persia/persia-glossary.htm| RoyalArk - here the Persian Empire]
- [ WorldStatesmen] Category:Arabic words Category:Heads of state Category:Islam Category:Military ranks Category:Monarchy Category:Noble titles Category:Positions of authority Category:Titles ko:술탄 ja:スルターン

Charles XII of Sweden

Carl XII, Karl XII or Carolus Rex, (June 17, 1682 – November 30, 1718), the Alexander of the North, nicknamed in Turkish as Demirbaş Şarl (Charles the Habitue), was a King of Sweden from 1697 until his death in 1718. He was the fourth king of the Wittelsbach dynasty in Sweden. As a child, many people thought he was going to be sickly. This was proved to be wrong, though: he hardened his body for war by riding on horseback and hunting the wolves of Sweden's fir forests. When his father died, he was ready. He came to the throne at the age of fifteen and left the country three years later to embark on a series of battles overseas, that briefly made Sweden the predominant power in Northern Europe. These battles were part of the Great Northern War, and many of them were fought against Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia. His youth gave other nations a decent pretext with which to invade Sweden; Saxony, Denmark-Norway, and Russia joined in a coalition to attack Sweden, beginning the Great Northern War. Charles XII turned out to be more astute than the other powers imagined, a great tactician, defeating all of the invaders. However, his strong tactical abilities were not accompanied by strategic and political wisdom. He is quoted by Voltaire as saying upon the outbreak of the Great Northern War, "I have resolved never to start an unjust war but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies." He took this resolution to an extreme level, which eventually resulted in the end of the Swedish Empire and its dominance of the southern