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| Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye | |
|---|---|
| Native name | دولتِ عَلِیّهٔ عُثمانیه |
| Conventional long name | Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye |
| Common name | Ottoman Empire |
| Era | Early modern period; Modern period |
| Status | Empire |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Year start | 1299 |
| Year end | 1922 |
| Event start | Foundation by Osman I |
| Event end | Abolition of the Sultanate |
| Capital | Bursa, Edirne, Istanbul |
| Languages | Ottoman Turkish; Arabic language; Persian language |
| Religion | Sunni Islam; Greek Orthodox Church; Armenian Apostolic Church; Judaism in the Ottoman Empire |
| Currency | Akçe, Kuruş, Ottoman lira |
Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye was the official Ottoman chancery name for the polity commonly known as the Ottoman Empire, a transregional imperial dynasty and state centered in Anatolia and Balkans that at its height controlled territories in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Arabia, North Africa, Caucasus, and Hejaz. Founded under Osman I and expanded under rulers such as Mehmed II and Suleiman the Magnificent, the polity engaged with actors including the Byzantine Empire, Safavid dynasty, Habsburg Monarchy, Mughal Empire, and Russian Empire. Over centuries it underwent reforms linked to events like the Tanzimat and treaties such as the Treaty of Karlowitz and the Treaty of Sèvres before dissolution after World War I and the Turkish War of Independence.
The chancery style "Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye" reflects Ottoman use of Persian language and Arabic language honorifics combined with dynastic identity tied to Osman I. Contemporary European sources used names such as the Sublime Porte, Ottoman Porte, Turkish Empire, and Ottoman State, while diplomatic correspondence referenced titles like Padishah and Sultan of Rum. Nineteenth-century reforms and the adoption of terms in documents from the Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire introduced Western legal language alongside Ottoman titulature, affecting how actors including the British Empire and French Republic named the polity.
Originating in the late thirteenth century after incursions into former Byzantine Empire territories, the polity consolidated under leaders including Orhan and expanded culminating in the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II in 1453. The reign of Suleiman the Magnificent marked territorial apex with campaigns against the Safavid dynasty, Habsburg Monarchy, and sieges such as the Siege of Vienna (1529). Military setbacks and diplomatic shifts—exemplified by the Long Turkish War, the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), and engagements with the Russian Empire—precipitated gradual territorial contraction. The nineteenth century saw administrative and legal modernization in the Tanzimat era, reform acts like the Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane and the Hatt-ı Hümayun, constitutional experiments including the Ottoman Constitution of 1876, and crises such as the Crimean War and the Balkan Wars. The empire’s participation in World War I alongside the Central Powers led to occupation by Allied Powers and partitioning plans addressed at conferences including Sykes–Picot Agreement and the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. The abolition of the sultanate in 1922 and the Treaty of Lausanne formalized successor arrangements leading to the Republic of Turkey.
Central authority rested with the Sultan and institutions such as the Imperial Council (Divan-ı Hümayun), the Grand Vizierate, and offices like the Sheikh ul-Islam and Kapudan Pasha. Provincial administration employed systems including the timar land grant, governorates such as the Eyalet and later Vilayet reforms under Midhat Pasha, with notable provincial notables like the Wāli of Egypt and local elites including ayans. Diplomatic machinery operated through the Sublime Porte and foreign ministries interacting with missions from states such as the United Kingdom, France, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. Legal pluralism combined codes like the Mecelle with Islamic jurisprudence represented by Sharia courts and non-Muslim communal courts under the millet system.
The polity encompassed diverse peoples including Turks, Armenians, Greeks, Kurds, Jews, Albanians, Bosniaks, Slavs, and Assyrians, with major urban centers like Istanbul, Alexandria, Salonika, and Cairo. Religious communities organized under millets such as the Rum Millet, Armenian Millet, and Jewish Millet, led by figures like the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the Chief Rabbi of Istanbul. Demographic change resulted from migrations, population exchanges including the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish population exchange (1923), and conflicts such as the Armenian Genocide and the Balkan Wars that reshaped ethnic and confessional balances.
Economy combined agrarian structures tied to timar allocations with commercial networks linking the empire to the Silk Road, Mediterranean trade routes, and Indian Ocean circuits involving ports such as Alexandria and Izmir. Merchant communities included Levantine traders, Armenian merchants, Greek merchants, and European chartered companies like the British East India Company and Dutch East India Company, while institutions such as the Ottoman Bank and fiscal reforms addressed fiscal crises exemplified by the Ottoman Public Debt Administration. Commodities like silk, coffee, grain, cotton, and spices moved through caravanserais and marketplaces influenced by competition from industrial production in the United Kingdom and policies enacted in treaties including the Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire.
Military organization evolved from cavalry-based timariot forces and the Janissaries to nineteenth-century reforms creating modern armies under commanders such as Murat Pasha and reformers like Mahmud II who abolished the Janissaries in 1826. Naval engagements involved the Ottoman Navy confronting powers including the Spanish Empire, Venetian Republic, and later navies of the British Empire and Russia. Key conflicts included the Battle of Lepanto, Siege of Vienna (1683), the Crimean War, and campaigns in Arabia and North Africa, with industrial-era logistics and artillery reshaping battlefield outcomes.
Cultural life featured literary traditions in Ottoman Turkish, Persian language, and Arabic language, patronage of architecture by architects like Mimar Sinan, and arts including calligraphy, miniature painting, and music influenced by Sufi orders and institutions such as the Mevlevi Order. Legal modernization produced codifications like the Mecelle and laws influenced by French civil law during the Tanzimat, while education reforms established institutions such as the Darülfünun and military academies including the Ottoman Military College, and fostered intellectual debates involving figures like Namık Kemal and Ziya Gökalp that fed into emerging nationalist movements.