The Ottoman Empire

An Empire on Three Continents

Some empires last only a few years before they crumble. The Ottoman Empire lasted for more than 600 years — one of the longest-lasting empires in all of history. At its height it spread across three continents, ruling lands in southeastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and controlling some of the most important cities and trade routes in the world.

The Ottomans began as a small group of Turkish warriors and grew into a mighty world power that shaped the history of Europe, Asia and Africa for centuries. Their capital, the great city of Istanbul, sits at the very crossroads between Europe and Asia, and stands at the heart of this story.

In this book we will follow the Ottomans from their small beginnings, through the dramatic capture of an ancient city, to the golden age of a famous sultan, and on to the empire's long and eventful history. It is a story of warriors and rulers, magnificent buildings and many peoples living side by side.

The Rise of the Ottomans

The Ottoman story begins around the year 1300, in the land we now call Turkey. At that time the region was home to many small Turkish states. One of them was led by a chief named Osman, and it was from his name that the word "Ottoman" comes. Osman's followers were skilled warriors, and under him and his successors, his small state began to grow.

Year by year, the Ottomans won new lands. They were excellent soldiers and clever leaders, and they steadily expanded both into Asia and across into Europe, conquering territory in the Balkans. Their rulers were called sultans, and each new sultan tried to add to the empire his ancestors had built.

The Ottomans built a strong, well-organised army. Among their most famous soldiers were the Janissaries, an elite force of highly trained, disciplined infantry who served the sultan directly. The Ottomans were also quick to adopt powerful new weapons, especially gunpowder and cannons, which would soon help them achieve one of the most famous victories in history.

The Fall of Constantinople

For a thousand years, one city had stood as a mighty Christian capital guarding the crossroads between Europe and Asia: Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire (the eastern part of the old Roman Empire). It was protected by enormous, legendary walls that had turned back many attackers over the centuries. For the rising Ottomans, capturing it became a great goal.

In 1453, a young and determined sultan named Mehmed II laid siege to Constantinople with a huge army. Crucially, he brought enormous cannons that could batter even the city's mighty walls. After weeks of fighting, the Ottomans broke through, and Constantinople fell. The thousand-year-old Byzantine Empire came to an end, and Mehmed became known as Mehmed the Conqueror.

The capture of Constantinople sent shockwaves across the world and is often used to mark the end of the Middle Ages. Mehmed made the great city his new capital. Over time it became known as Istanbul, a busy, wealthy capital filled with grand buildings. The famous old cathedral of Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque, and the city flourished once again as the heart of a growing empire.

Suleiman the Magnificent

The Ottoman Empire reached the height of its power in the 1500s, under a sultan so impressive that he became known as Suleiman the Magnificent. To his own people he was often called Suleiman the Lawgiver, because he reformed and organised the empire's laws so fairly and carefully.

Under Suleiman, the empire grew enormously, winning new lands and great victories, and becoming one of the most powerful states in the world. His armies and navies were feared across the Mediterranean and beyond. But Suleiman's reign was about far more than conquest. It was a golden age of art, poetry, architecture and learning. The empire's greatest architect, Sinan, designed magnificent mosques with soaring domes and slender towers called minarets, some of which still stand today and are admired as masterpieces.

Suleiman ruled for nearly half a century, and under him the Ottoman Empire was rich, splendid and respected. His reign is remembered as the empire at its most glorious.

Life in the Empire

The Ottoman Empire was home to a huge variety of peoples, languages and religions. As it grew, it came to rule over Turks, Arabs, Greeks, Slavs, Armenians, Jews and many others. The ruling faith was Islam, and the empire built beautiful mosques, schools and libraries, and supported scholars and scientists.

Importantly, the Ottomans usually allowed people of different religions, including Christians and Jews, to keep their faiths and run many of their own community affairs, as long as they obeyed the sultan and paid their taxes. This system helped such a vast and varied empire hold together for centuries, and it made Ottoman cities lively, mixed places where many cultures met.

The empire's capital, Istanbul, was one of the greatest cities in the world: a bustling centre of trade, crafts and learning, crowded with grand mosques, busy markets called bazaars, and the magnificent palace of the sultan. Because the Ottomans controlled key routes between Europe and Asia, merchants and goods from across three continents flowed through their lands, making the empire wealthy and important.

The Long Decline

No empire lasts forever, and after its golden age the Ottoman Empire slowly began to weaken. This happened gradually over a very long period — the empire still lasted for hundreds more years after its peak.

There were many reasons. Other powers, especially in Europe, were growing stronger, building bigger navies and finding new sea routes around the world that bypassed the old land routes the Ottomans controlled, reducing their trade and wealth. The empire faced costly wars and lost territory bit by bit. Over time, it struggled to keep up with rapid changes in science, industry and weapons happening elsewhere. Because it was shrinking but still vast, some called it "the sick man of Europe."

Ottoman rulers tried hard to reform and modernise the empire, bringing in new ideas, schools and armies. But the challenges were great, and the empire kept losing lands. Even so, it remained an important power right into the 20th century.

The End of the Empire

The Ottoman Empire finally came to an end after the First World War (1914–1918), in which it fought and was defeated alongside Germany and the other Central Powers. After the war, the empire's lands were broken up.

Out of the heartland of the old empire, a new country was born: the modern Republic of Turkey, founded in the 1920s under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The age of sultans was over, and in 1922 the Ottoman Empire, after more than six centuries, came to its end.

Yet the Ottomans left a deep mark on the world. Their magnificent mosques and buildings still stand in many countries. Their influence can be seen in the food, music, art and customs of a huge region stretching across parts of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. And the great city of Istanbul, once Constantinople, remains one of the most fascinating cities on Earth, still bridging two continents just as it has for thousands of years.

What We Learned

We have explored the long story of the Ottoman Empire.

We saw how the Ottomans rose from the small state of Osman around 1300 into a great power, with strong armies including the Janissaries and powerful cannons. We witnessed the dramatic capture of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed the Conqueror, which ended the Byzantine Empire and gave the Ottomans their splendid capital. We met Suleiman the Magnificent, under whom the empire reached its golden age of conquest, law, art and architecture. We saw how this empire of many peoples and religions was governed, how it slowly declined, and how it finally ended after the First World War, giving birth to modern Turkey.

The Ottoman Empire lasted for over 600 years and shaped three continents. Its story is a vital part of the history of the whole world.

Want to keep exploring great empires? Visit the rulers who came before in The Ancient Romans, or gallop across Asia with the conquerors in The Mongol Empire.