The borders of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire appeared at the end of the Middle Ages on the borders of the Islamic world with Europe.
It rose and expanded in Asia Minor to become a great power among the powers that existed at the time, and the Ottoman State became a great value among the balance of major powers. Then it extended to southern Europe and the ancient Near East, and in the middle of the fifteenth century AD, the Ottoman Empire extended to include several areas of the Balkans and Greece, and during the period 1516-1517 AD, the Ottoman Empire controlled Syria, Egypt and Palestine, in addition to controlling most of the lands of Hungary in 1526 AD, then Iraq in 1530 AD. The Ottoman Empire reached its maximum extent by the middle of the sixteenth century AD. The Ottomans seized the Arabian Peninsula, most of the countries of North Africa, addition to many Mediterranean islands. The Ottoman expansion began to stop in 1683 AD when it failed to control Vienna, and the Ottomans lost Budapest three years later.
The weakness began to creep into the Ottoman Empire in conjunction with the expansion of Russia in the north, the emergence of the Safavid state, which was in complete animosity with the Ottoman Empire, and the emergence of other countries on the scene such as Portugal, Spain, England, and France, who contested the Ottoman Empire by seizing some of the Ottoman lands and many parts of the world The Islamic caliphate fell and ended completely with the occurrence of the First World War, which resulted in the independence of the countries that were affiliated to it, and we will talk in this article briefly about the stages of the expansion of the Ottoman Empire.
The origins and history of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottomans are a group of Turkic tribes, and back their origin to their grandfather Supreme Suleiman Shah, who belongs to the clan Kaba Alp, and after the death of Suleiman Shah divided his family into two parts, the first part of their country returned, while the second section has walked under the leadership of the founder of the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia, Ertugrul, and his assistant, Aladdin, who was given the leader of the Scott plains from western Anatolia, and the eastern slopes of the Tomatje Mountains located on the borders of the Byzantine state as a reward. 1289 AD, called Sultan Alaeddin to give him the title of Bey and give him all the lands and castles that he could seize and gave him many privileges, including that he was allowed to mint coins in his name as he mentioned his name and his accomplishments in the Friday sermon.
After the death of Sultan Aladdin, the heads of tribes met and agreed to grant Othman the caliphate, as Othman fortified his city and gradually expanded his empire, starting from the city of Nicaea to reach the Byzantine lands in Anatolia, and from Othman’s confrontations with the Byzantines a battle took place in 1301 AD in the Qarin Hisar area, which resulted in for the fall of the Byzantine and the victory of the Ottomans and their control over many areas, and cities dominated by Osman city of Bursa in 1329 m, and the city of Nicaea in the year 1331 AD, then dominated the city Nicomedia in 1337, the actual founder of the Ottoman Empire and the enactment of laws and the drafting of the constitution and the systems of State On the various political, administrative and economic levels, and the division of powers in it is Sultan Orhan, who ruled in the period 1326-1359 AD.
The sultans continued over the Ottoman EmpireWhen Sultan Murad I assumed power, the Ottomans had settled using the Gallioli fortress as a headquarters for their war operations. Sultan Murad I controlled the Balkans, Thrace, and Macedonia, and Edirne became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. In 1389 AD, the famous Battle of Qusuh took place, and then the borders of the Ottoman Empire expanded to include Ankara. And other large lands, but when Bayezid I took power, he decided to install his bases in Anatolia and the Balkans, but he was defeated by Tamerlane in the Battle of Ankara, and this defeat was in 1402 AD and resulted in Bayezid I being captured in the hands of Tamerlane, and as a result, Tamerlane occupied the Asian part of the state The Ottoman Empire, then Sultan Muhammad I received the rule, and was succeeded by his son Murad II, who succeeded in restoring the Ottoman Empire to what it was, and continued his war against Europe, and marched on his reign after him Sultan Muhammad II, bearing the title Muhammad the Conqueror, to reach the Ottoman Empire the height of its prosperity, and to complete The abolition of the Byzantine EmpireForever, it was during his reign that Constantinople was conquered in 1435 AD.
The extension of the Ottoman Empire in the Arab world
During the reign of Sultan Selim I in the period 1512-1520 AD, the Ottoman Empire turned to the Arab world after it stopped moving toward Europe, and there were many disputes between the Mamluks and the Ottomans to seize the border emirates, especially the Emirate of Dhul Qadr, and the disputes ended with the control of the Mamluks and the Safavids and the defeat of the Ottomans.
Ottoman control of the Levant
The Mamluk state wrested power from the Ayyubids in the thirteenth century and ruled the Levant, Egypt, Yemen, and the Hijaz, and after the political, economic, and social conditions of the Mamluk state declined due to the shift of the trade route from the east to the Cape of Good Hope, it became obliged to impose many taxes on the people Which led to his displeasure, and the state’s administrative and military systems declined, at a time when the Ottomans’ military and administrative systems developed, and the confrontation took place in Syria near Aleppo between the Ottoman Empire led by Selim I, and the Mamluk state led by Qansuh al-Ghouri, in the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516 AD. The Ottomans were victorious and Qansuh was killed, the Mamluk forces withdrew from Syria to Egypt, and the influence of the Ottoman Empire extended over the southern part of Syria, and the Levant was divided into two parts: the northern part of Damascus under the administration of the governor of Aleppo, and the southern part under the administration of the governor of Damascus.
Ottoman control of the Levant
The Mamluk state wrested power from the Ayyubids in the thirteenth century and ruled the Levant, Egypt, Yemen, and the Hijaz, and after the political, economic, and social conditions of the Mamluk state declined due to the shift of the trade route from the east to the Cape of Good Hope, it became obliged to impose many taxes on the people Which led to his displeasure, and the state’s administrative and military systems declined, at a time when the Ottomans’ military and administrative systems developed, and the confrontation took place in Syria near Aleppo between the Ottoman Empire led by Selim I, and the Mamluk state led by Qansuh al-Ghouri, in the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516 AD. The Ottomans were victorious and Qansuh was killed, the Mamluk forces withdrew from Syria to Egypt, and the influence of the Ottoman Empire extended over the southern part of Syria, and the Levant was divided into two parts: the northern part of Damascus under the administration of the governor of Aleppo, and the southern part under the administration of the governor of Damascus.
Ottoman control over Egypt, Hejaz, and Yemen
As for the Ottomans’ control over Egypt, Yemen, and the Hijaz, Sultan Selim I offered the new Mamluk ruler Tuman Bey, who was elected in Egypt to remain the ruler of Egypt in exchange for being subject to the control of the Ottoman Empire and recognizing it, but he refused, and the Mamluks rose again to confront the Ottomans, However, they failed. The Ottomans took control of the city of Gaza and reached the Delta. Then a major confrontation took place between the two parties on the outskirts of Cairo in 1517 AD, which led to the Ottomans’ victory over the Mamluks, and their entry into Egypt, to announce the end of the Mamluk state, whose rule lasted from 1250 AD to 1517 AD. As for the Hejaz, it was subject to the Ottoman Empire after the Sharif of Mecca Zain al-Din Barakat declared his loyalty to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, who gave him safety and handed him the keys of the honorable Kaaba, thus officially announcing Sultan Selim I, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
As for Yemen, the Ottoman Empire extended to it through the arrival of a Yemeni delegation to Cairo after the Ottomans took control of it to pledge allegiance to Sultan Selim I. Suleiman Pasha’s campaign aimed at annexing Yemen to it before the Portuguese preceded them. Thus, the Ottoman Empire took control of Yemen by annexing Aden and closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait; To prevent the arrival of foreign fleets in Yemen.
Ottoman control of Iraq
In 1534 AD, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent led his campaign against Baghdad, which had been ruled by the Safavid state since the sixteenth century. Sultan Selim I controlled the northern region of Iraq, which made Suleiman the Magnificent. He plans to invade the Safavids, and thus fought the war against Persia, and defeated them to reach Tabriz, the capital of the Safavid state, and enter it without resistance from its people, then Suleiman the Magnificent advanced to Iran, and from there he headed to Baghdad, and entered it without a fight because its Persian ruler fled from it, and then a sheikh came The clans have loyalty to the Sultan, who kept him as the governor of Basra who receives his orders from him, the Ottomans officially annexed Basra and continued their march towards the northern coasts of the Arabian Gulf, and the development of Iraq during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, where he carried out major reforms in agriculture and irrigation, established schools, and proceeded to implement a feudal military system During his reign, Iraq was divided into five states: Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Al-Ahsa, and Shahrouz.