Ottoman Turks

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Ottoman Turks
Osmanlı Türkleri
Painting of an Ottoman Turkish sipahi, 1657
Total population
Regions with significant populations
 Ottoman Empire (esp. Anatolia and Balkans)[1]
Languages
Old Anatolian Turkish[note 4]
Ottoman Turkish[note 5]
Religion
Sunni Islam (majority)
Alevism (minority)
Related ethnic groups
Turkish people
  1. Vilayet of the Hejaz
    .
  2. Vilayet of the Hejaz
    .
  3. ^ Muslims of Anatolia and some parts of the Balkans.
  4. ^ Among peasantry and non-elite urban population.
  5. literature
    and by elites.

The Ottoman Turks (Turkish: Osmanlı Türkleri) were a Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the entirety of the six centuries that it existed. Their descendants are the present-day Turkish people, who comprise the majority of the population in the Republic of Turkey, which was established shortly after the end of World War I.

Reliable information about the early history of the Ottoman Turks remains scarce, but they take their Turkish name Osmanlı from

Perso-Arabic script, developed into the modern Latinized
Turkish language.

History

Further information:
History of the Turkish people
Ottoman miniature from 1579/1580 depicting Osman I, who founded the House of Osman and the Ottoman Empire around 1299. Located at Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi in the city of Istanbul.

Migration to Anatolia from Central Asia

The Ottomans first became known to

Kayı tribe, first established a principality as part of the decaying Seljuk empire. His son Osman expanded the principality; the polity and the people were named "Ottomans" by Europeans after him ("Ottoman" being a corruption of "Osman"). Osman's son Orhan expanded the growing realm into an empire, taking Nicaea (present-day İznik) and crossed the Dardanelles
in 1362. All coins unearthed in Söğüt during the two centuries before Orhan bear the names of Illkhanate rulers. The Seljuks were under the suzerainty of the Illkhanates and later the Turco-Mongol conqueror Tamerlane. The Ottoman Empire came into its own when
Mehmed II captured the reduced Byzantine Empire's well-defended capital, Constantinople in 1453.[5][6]

Ottoman Empire until World War I

The Ottoman Empire came to rule much of the

Misak-ı Milli
(National Pact).

Definition of a Turk

Not all Ottoman Empire citizens were Muslims and not all Ottoman Muslims were Turks, but starting from 1924, every citizen of the newly found Turkish Republic became considered as "Turk". Article 88 of 1924 Constitution, which was based on the 1921 Constitution, states that the name Turk, as a political term, shall be understood to include all citizens of the Turkish Republic, without distinction of, or reference to race or religion.[7]

Culture

Main article: Culture of the Ottoman Empire

The conquest of Constantinople began to make the Ottomans the rulers of one of the most profitable empires, connected to the flourishing Islamic cultures of the time, and at the crossroads of trade into Europe. The Ottomans made major developments in calligraphy, writing, law, architecture, and military science, and became the standard of opulence.

Calligraphy

Because Islam is a monotheistic religion that focuses heavily on learning the central text of the Quran and Islamic culture has historically tended towards discouraging or prohibiting figurative art, calligraphy became one of the foremost of the arts.

The early Yâkût period was supplanted in the late 15th century by a new style pioneered by

Nesih version of the script, which became the standard for copying the Quran (see Islamic calligraphy
).

The next great change in Ottoman calligraphy came from the style of Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698), whose rigorous and simplified style found favour with an empire at its peak of territorial extent and governmental burdens.

The late calligraphic style of the Ottomans was created by Mustafa Râkim (1757–1826) as an extension and reform of Osman's style, placing greater emphasis on technical perfection, which broadened the calligraphic art to encompass the sülüs script as well as the Nesih script.

Poetry

Main article: Turkish literature

Ottoman poetry included epic-length verse but is better known for shorter forms such as the gazel. For example, the epic poet Ahmedi (-1412) is remembered for his Alexander the Great. His contemporary Sheykhi wrote verses on love and romance. Yaziji-Oglu produced a religious epic on Mohammed's life, drawing from the stylistic advances of the previous generation and Ahmedi's epic forms.

Painting

Main article: Ottoman miniature

By the 14th century, the Ottoman Empire's prosperity made manuscript works available to merchants and craftsmen, and produced a flowering of miniatures that depicted pageantry, daily life, commerce, cities and stories, and chronicled events.

By the late 18th century, European influences in painting were clear, with the introduction of oils, perspective, figurative paintings, use of anatomy and composition.

See also

References

Citations

  1. JSTOR 162768
    .
  2. ^ Tolan, John; Veinstein, Gilles; Henry Laurens (2013). Europe and the Islamic World: A History. Princeton University Press. pp. 167–188.
    ISBN 978-0-691-14705-5
    .
  3. ^ İnalcık, Halil (1989). "Chapter VII. The Ottoman Turks and the Crusades, 1329-1451". In Zacour, N. P., and Hazard, H. W. (ed.). A History of the Crusades: Volume VI. The Impact of the Crusades on Europe. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp.175-221.
  4. ^ İnalcık, Halil (1989). "Chapter VII. The Ottoman Turks and the Crusades, 1451-1522". In Zacour, N. P., and Hazard, H. W. (ed.). A History of the Crusades: Volume VI. The Impact of the Crusades on Europe. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 311-353.
  5. ^ Bréhier, Louis René. (1912). "Turkish Empire". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  6. ISBN 978-0-691-14705-5
    .
  7. ^ "Turkish Constitution of 1924". T.C. Anayasa Mahkemesi (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 26 August 2011.

Sources

Library resources about
Ottoman Turks
Primary sources
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ottoman Turks.
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