The Ottoman Empire and the army of Islam

The Ottoman Empire and the army of Islam

Introduction

Among the Islamic empires that occurred in the history of the last but not least important was the Ottoman Empire that took place between the thirteenth and twentieth century, although it has to go back to the eleventh century to find the first Arab raids on the peninsula Anatolia, the geographical center of the Ottoman Empire. They were nomadic Turkmen tribes that taking advantage of the destruction of the Byzantine army occupied Anatolia in successive waves. For the thirteenth century Anatolia all consisted of a mosaic of small Arab emirates and wandering shepherds. Amid the disorder arose Osmanli Emirate, founded by Osman I (1281-1324), the emirate founded as a Guerrero state Santo combining the principles Gazi, one of the most radical factions, with the past Islam. Since the beginning of the Ottoman Empire, the Osmanlis conceived as missionaries in holy war against infidels. At the same time, its territory included the main trade route from Asia Minor, attracting both merchants and artisans and to the religious scholars, who were the essential elements of the old Islamic state.

The Ottoman Empire suffered a major expansion in the early sixteenth century, this period coincided with the peak of its economy and its institutions, both political and Muslim. By 1512 the empire encompassed the entire peninsula of Anatolia, the Balkan Peninsula and had a clear dominance in the Black Sea. Under Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) expanded the empire to the east, to protect and safeguard the Safavids in the rear of the empire, whose goal was the holy war against the Christian kingdoms of Europe. During this period, the empire also extended southward to protect the trade routes of the Portuguese, and grab the holy cities of Medina and Mecca. After Selim I tube place, the Sultanate of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), during this period conquered Hungary and besieged Vienna for the first time in the history of the Ottoman Empire in 1529. In addition to the European conquests during this period there was a significant expansion in the Mediterranean whose star was Khayr al-Din, called Barbarossa by Christians, which went from pirate admiral of the Ottoman fleet. The territories conquered in the Mediterranean cover the entire coast of Africa and several islands such as Crete and Cyprus, the Ottoman advance stopped by Christians at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The defeat at Lepanto by sea and the impossibility of conquering Vienna halted the momentum Ottoman land in half a century had been impressive. After these defeats and Selim II came to power, that Christians known as the Drunkard, the Empire remained devoted to the defense to keep their borders. With this policy change began the decline of central power that sustained throughout the Empire (Eddinger, 2010). During Vizirate Koprulu (1656-1661), his son Ahmed (vizier from 1676 to 1683) and his grandson Mustafa Kara (vizier from 1676 to 1683) is trying to cut the abuses they had corrupted the Ottoman political system, and managed by a years to restore internal order of the empire, but this ...