The
name Turk refers to two different Muslim groups of the Middle East-first
the Seljuks and then the Ottomans. The Seljuks were nomads from the
steppes near the Caspian Sea that converted to Islam around the 10th
century. Approximately 70,000 Seljuk Turks were purchased as slaves
to fill the ranks of the Islamic army of the caliph of Baghdad. These
slaves converted to the Sunni branch of Islam. In 1055 they became
the real power behind the caliph in Baghdad and began extending their
rule. Their leaders took the title "sultan," meaning "holders of power."
By 1100 they controlled most of Anatolia (taken from the Byzantines),
Palestine, the lands surrounding the Persian Gulf, the holy cities
of Arabia, and as far east as Samarkand.
In 1071 the Seljuks achieved a stunning victory over a Byzantine
army at Manzikert in modern Turkey that led to Turkish occupation
of most of Anatolia. At nearly the same time, they successfully
captured Jerusalem from its Egyptian Muslim rulers. These two events
shocked the Byzantines, the Papacy, and the Europeans. The result
was the Crusades that carried on for the next 200 years.
The Seljuk Turks were worn down by the recurring wars with the
Crusaders, even though they were successful ultimately in regaining
control of Palestine. They were threatened simultaneously by the
activities of the Assassins, a heretical sect of Islam. Internally,
Islam entered a period of introspection because of the popularity
of Sufi mysticism. During this period of exhaustion and weakness,
they were attacked suddenly by the Mongols and collapsed. Baghdad
fell to the invaders in 1258 and the Seljuk Empire disappeared.
Islamic peoples from Anatolia (modern Turkey in Asia Minor) were
unified in the early 14th century under Sultan Osman I and took
the name "Osmanli," or "Ottomans," in his honor. The Ottomans swore
a jihad against the crumbling Byzantine Empire and took their campaign
around Constantinople into the Balkans and Greece. In 1389 the Serbs
were defeated. In 1396 a "crusader" army from Hungary was defeated.
Ottoman successes were temporarily halted by the Mongols under Tamerlane,
but he moved on with his army and the Ottomans recovered.
Dark Age
Feudal Age
Castle Age
Imperial Age
Mehmet II The Conqueror at last captured Constantinople on May 29, 1453. The great walls of Constantinople were battered by 70 guns for eight weeks and then 15,000 Janissaries led the successful assault.
The Ottomans pushed on into Europe following the capture of Constantinople and threatened a sort of reverse Crusade. They were stopped by a Hungarian army at Belgrade in 1456, however. Attacks on Vienna were repulsed in 1529 and again in 1683. At its peak in the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire reached up into Europe to Budapest and Odessa, included all of Greece and the Balkans, the lands surrounding the Black Sea, Asia Minor, the Levant, Arabia, Egypt, and most of North Africa. The Ottoman Empire remained a significant world power until World War I in the 20th century.
The
name Turk refers to two different Muslim groups of the Middle East-first
the Seljuks and then the Ottomans. The Seljuks were nomads from the
steppes near the Caspian Sea that converted to Islam around the 10th
century. Approximately 70,000 Seljuk Turks were purchased as slaves
to fill the ranks of the Islamic army of the caliph of Baghdad. These
slaves converted to the Sunni branch of Islam. In 1055 they became
the real power behind the caliph in Baghdad and began extending their
rule. Their leaders took the title "sultan," meaning "holders of power."
By 1100 they controlled most of Anatolia (taken from the Byzantines),
Palestine, the lands surrounding the Persian Gulf, the holy cities
of Arabia, and as far east as Samarkand.
