Outline of the February 28th Lecture / D. Terzioğlu

Ottoman Conquest and Expansion

1. General remarks

The need to examine Ottoman expansion as a part of a global history of expansion and exploration – parallels as well as differences with the Spanish episode
What the paradigm of European exploration/Ottoman warfare hides: the cultural and intellectual repercussions of Ottoman expansion.

2. Frontier warfare, 1300-1453

Frontier/borderlands: Social, political, economic and cultural characteristics
Early Ottomans and the gaza ethos. -- In the frontier context, it was perfectly possible for self-professed gazis to ally with with Christians or to fight against other Muslims.
Early Ottoman military performance. -- Raiders. Gradual mastery of siege and field battle tactics. Turning point: mid 14th c.
Growth of a regular Ottoman army
Timarlı cavalry
Janissary/Yeni Çeri army
Adoption and institutionalization of gunpowder

3. The growth of Ottoman imperial power, 1453-1580

A brief overview:

The conquest of Constantinople as a turning point: creation of a unitary empire in Anatolia and the Balkans
Consolidation under Bayezid II
Acceleration of expansion during the reign of Selim I (1512-1520) and the early years of the reign of Süleyman I (1520-1566)

Spheres of Ottoman military operations

Mediterranean (main rivals: Venice in the East; Habsburgs in the West)
C. Europe (main rival: Habsburgs; contention over Hungary)
Islamic “heartlands” (main rival: Safavids in Iran; contend over Iraq, Persian Gulf; defeat of Mamluks and conquest of Egypt, Syria and Hijaz)
Indian Ocean (main rival: Portuguese)

Growth of Ottoman naval power

Early Ottoman shipping: Gallipoli

New incentives for developing a navy
Capture of Constantinople/Istanbul
Capture of Egypt
The submission of the Turkish corsair and governor of Algiers, Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa and the acquisition of several coastal cities in N. Africa

A Mediterranean power: the effectiveness of Ottoman shipping techniques reassessed
Cf. Venice in the Mediterranean
Cf. Portuguese in the Indian Ocean

Ottoman involvement in the Indian Ocean, 1517-1589
The Egyption factor: Safeguarding the old trade routes through the Red Sea (and later the Persian Gulf)
Ottoman strategies against the Portuguese
Sokullu Mehmed Paşa and his “soft empire”

4. Cultural ramifications

Relationship between the growth of Ottoman imperial power and the creation of an Ottoman imperial identity
A regional identity: Ottomans and Rumi-ness
Emphasis on universalism:
Byzantine/Roman legacy
Islamic universalism – the titles of “the servant of the two holy sanctuaries” (khadim al-haramayn al-sharifayn) and “caliph” (halife)

The Ottoman discovery of the world: growth of Ottoman geographical literature
Piri Reis – Seydi Ali Reis – Tarih-i Hind-i Garbi