The formation of the Ottoman state is brief. Ottoman (Ottoman) Empire. The history of the emergence of the Ottoman Empire

(1656–1703)

Formation of the Ottoman Empire- the period that began with the collapse of the Konya Sultanate around 1307 until the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453.

The rise of the Ottoman state correlates with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, which produced a change in power from an exclusive Christian European society to Islamic influence. The beginning of this period was characterized by the Byzantine-Ottoman wars, which lasted for one and a half centuries. At this time, the Ottoman Empire gained control over both Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula.

Immediately after the establishment of the Anatolian beyliks, some Turkic principalities united with the Ottomans against Byzantium.

Over the next century, the Seljuks occupied the territories of their weaker neighbors, and in 1176 the Kony Sultan Kilich-Arslan II utterly defeated the army of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus at the Battle of Myriokephalus, after which the Seljuks began to advance to the coast.

In the first half of the 13th century, the Mongols attacked the Seljuks from the east. After the Battle of Kose-dag in 1243, the Sultan of Kony became a vassal of the Mongol Khan, and later the Ilkhan-Hulaguids of Iran. The sons of the last independent sultan Kay-Khosrov II began to dispute their inheritance with the support of various Turkic and Mongolian groups, as a result of which Asia Minor turned into a conglomerate of rival beyliks. One of them was the Ottoman Beylik.

Timur divided the Ottoman state between the sons of Bayazid, and civil wars began. The sultan managed to revive state unity Murad II(1421-1451), and the power of the country is the sultan Mehmed II ( 1451-1481), nicknamed the "Conqueror". His cherished dream was the capture of Constantinople. The Sultan is credited with the following words: “There must be one world empire, with one faith and one rule. There is no better center for restoring such unity than Constantinople. "

In April 1453, Mehmed II surrounded Constantinople with a huge army of tens of thousands of soldiers. He was opposed by almost 7 thousand defenders of the city. The Byzantine capital was doomed. Emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus refused to surrender the city and for 53 days the courageous defenders of the city fought off storm after storm.

At dawn on May 29, 1453, the Turks launched their last assault. Twice they retreated, leaving the dead and wounded. But Mehmed threw fresh forces into battle. At the most difficult moment for the defenders of Constantinople, the Genoese mercenaries left their positions, and the sultan threw the janissaries into battle. The people of Constantinople wavered and retreated, and the Turks, breaking into Constantinople, began plundering. On the evening of May 29, everything calmed down, and only in basements and houses in some places were the Gurkas still scouring, looking for hidden treasures. Mehmed forbade robberies and pogroms in Constantinople and on the same day proclaimed it his capital, calling it Istanbul (Istanbul). Christian shrine - the temple of Hagia Sophia - by order of the Sultan was turned into muslim mosque... The green flag of the Prophet Muhammad was hoisted over the Bosphorus.

XVI century Ottoman historian Saad-ed-Din on the capture of Constantinople

... Before the sultan began the siege, the emperor suggested that he take all the cities and their outskirts outside Istanbul [Constantinople], but leave him, the emperor, the city, for which the emperor would pay the sultan an annual tribute. Po Sultan, not listening to these proposals, replied that his saber and religion are inseparable and insisted that the emperor surrender the city to him. Having received a refusal, the emperor installed artillery on the towers and walls, soldiers armed with muskets and large reserves of resin.

At the end of the first day before nightfall, the sultan ordered the installation of batteries in the right places, and as soon as the cannons were installed, he ordered to fire at the walls, not to mention the continuous hail of arrows and stones that threw throwing machines that, like rain, covered the city. The besieged, in turn, continuously fired from muskets and cannons loaded with stone cannonballs, with which they inflicted great losses on the Muslims, who irrigated the land with their blood ...

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  The earliest information about the Ottomans dates back to the beginning of the XIV century. According to reports from Byzantine sources, in 1301, the first military clash took place between the army of Byzantium and the army led by the leader Osman I.

  After this victory, the Ottomans became impossible to ignore. The Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus, seeking to create a reliable alliance against the growing threat, offered one of the princesses of his house as a wife to the nominal suzerain of Osman, the Ilkhanid Gazan Khan, and then, after the death of Gazan, to his brother. However, the expected help in men and weapons did not come, and in 1303-1304 Andronicus hired Spanish adventurers-crusaders from the "Catalan company" to protect his possessions from further Turkish attacks. Like most bands of mercenaries, the Catalans acted at their own discretion, calling on the Turkic warriors (although not necessarily the Ottomans) to join them on the European side of the Dardanelles. Only the alliance between Byzantium and the Serbian kingdom prevented the Turkic-Catalan advance.

  Osman I, apparently, died in 1323-1324, leaving to his heirs a significant territory in the northwest of Asia Minor.

  Orhan I's reign

  The reign of Bayezid I

  Bayazid brutally avenged his father's murder by exterminating most of the Serbian nobility who were in the Kosovo field. With Stefan Vulkovich, the son and heir of the Serbian prince Lazar, who died in the battle, the sultan entered into an alliance, according to which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Stefan, in exchange for preserving his father's privileges, pledged to pay tribute from the silver mines and provide the Ottomans with Serbian troops at the first request of the Sultan. Stephen's sister and Lazarus' daughter, Oliver, were given in marriage to Bayezid.

  While the Ottoman troops were in Europe, the small Anatolian beyliks tried to regain control over the territories taken from them by the Ottomans. But in the winter of 1389-1390, Bayazid transferred his troops to Anatolia and conducted a rapid campaign, conquering the western beyliks of Aydin, Sarukhan, Germiyan, Menteshe and Hamid. Thus, for the first time the Ottomans came to the shores of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, their state took the first steps towards the status of a maritime power. The nascent Ottoman fleet devastated the island of Chios, raided the coast of Attica and tried to organize a trade blockade of other islands in the Aegean Sea. However, as seafarers, the Ottomans were not yet comparable to the representatives of the Italian republics of Genoa and Venice.

  The revolt of the Janissaries and the appearance of Georg Kastriot Skanderbeg in Albania forced Murad to return to the Turkish throne in 1446. Soon the Turks captured Morea and launched an offensive in Albania. In October 1448, a battle took place in the Kosovo field, in which the 50,000-strong Ottoman army opposed the crusaders under the command of Hunyadi. A fierce three-day battle ended in complete victory for Murad and decided the fate of the Balkan peoples - for several centuries they were under the rule of the Turks. In 1449 and 1450, Murad made two campaigns against Albania, which did not bring significant success.

  The reign of Mehmed II: the conquest of Constantinople

  After the death of his father in 1451, Mehmed II killed his only surviving brother and began to strengthen the borders: he extended his father's contract with the Serbian despot Georgy Brankovic, concluded a three-year agreement with Janos Hunyadi, confirmed the agreement with Venice in 1446, conducted a campaign against Karaman, not allowing the emir of the latter to support the contenders for power over the territories in Asia Minor, which not so long ago became part of the Ottoman state.

  In 1451-1452, Mehmed II built the Bogaz-Kesen fortress in the narrowest part of the Bosphorus on the European coast. As soon as the construction of the fortress was completed, the sultan returned to Edirne to oversee the final preparations for the siege, and then marched against Constantinople with a 160,000-strong army. On April 5, the city was besieged, and on May 29, 1453, it fell. Constantinople became the new capital, marking a new stage in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

  For the history of the Turkish people, as well as the countries of South-Eastern Europe, the formation of the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire had very great consequences. The Ottoman state was formed in the process of the military expansion of the Turkish feudal lords in Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula. The policy of conquest led by the Ottoman state led to the centuries-old struggle of the population of the South Slavic countries, the peoples of Hungary, Moldavia and Wallachia against the Turkish conquerors.

  Asia Minor by the beginning of the XIV century Ottomans

  During the invasion of the Mongol conquerors in Central Asia, the nomadic union of the Oghuz Turks from the Kayy tribe in only a few thousand tents, migrated west along with the Khorezmshah Jelal-ad-Din and then entered the service of the Seljuk Sultan Rum, from whom the leader of the Oghuz-Kaiyy Ertogruli in the 30s of the XIII century. a small feudal possession along the Sakarya River (in Greek Sangaria), on the very border of the Byzantine possessions, with a residence in the city of Shogud. These Oguzes became part of the Turkish nationality that was developing in Asia Minor under the Seljukids.

  By the beginning of the XIV century. The Ruman Sultanate of the Seljukids split into ten emirates, including the Ottoman Emirate. Most of the possessions of Byzantium that remained in the northwestern part of Asia Minor were conquered by Ertogrul's son and successor Osman I (approximately 1282-1326), who made his capital the city of Bursa (in Greek, Brusa, 1326). Osman gave his name to the dynasty and his emirate of the Asia Minor Turks, who became part of the Ottoman state, were also called the Ottomans (Osmanli).

  Formation and growth of the Ottoman Empire

  The Ottoman Turks from the very beginning directed their conquests against the decaying and extremely weakened Byzantium. Many volunteer warriors of various ethnic origins from other Muslim countries entered the service of the Ottoman state, and most of all Turkish nomads from the Emirates of Asia Minor. The feudalized nomadic nobility with its militias was attracted by the possibility of easy conquests, the seizure of new lands and military booty. Since among the nomads all men were warriors, and the light cavalry of the Turks, like all nomads, had great mobility, it was always easy for the Ottoman state to concentrate large military forces at the necessary moment for an attack. The stability of patriarchal-feudal relations among nomadic tribes made their militias, distinguished by their high fighting qualities, more united and stronger than the militias of Byzantium and its Balkan neighbors. The Turkish nobility, receiving from the Ottoman sovereign a significant part of the newly conquered lands into fief, helped the Ottoman Emirate to make extensive conquests and strengthen. Under the son and successor of Osman I - Orhan (1326-1359), who took Nicaea (1331), the conquest of Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor was completed.

  On the possessions of Byzantium on the Balkan Peninsula (Rumelia ( Rumelia - in Turkish "Rum eli", or "Rum or", that is, the country of the Greeks.), as the Turks said), the Turks at first only raided for the sake of war booty, but in 1354 they occupied an important stronghold on the European coast of the Dardanelles - the city of Gallipoli and began to conquer the Balkan Peninsula. The success of the Turks was facilitated by the political fragmentation of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, feudal strife within these states and their struggle with each other, as well as with Genoa, Venice and Hungary. After Orhan's death, his son Murad I (1359-1389), who already bore the title of Sultan, conquered Adrianople (1362), and then almost all of Thrace, Philippopolis, the valley of the Maritsa River and began to move rapidly westward. Murad I moved his residence to Adrianople (Turkish Edirne). In 1371 the Turks won the battle on the banks of the Maritsa. On July 15, 1389, they won an even more important victory in the Kosovo field.

  The conquests of Murad I were facilitated by the large numerical superiority of his militias over the scattered forces of the Balkan states and the transfer to his side of a part of the Bulgarian and Serbian feudal lords who converted to Islam in order to preserve their possessions. The invasive campaigns of the Ottoman state were carried out under the ideological cover of the "war for the faith" of Muslims with "infidels", in this case with Christians. The wars of conquest of the Ottoman sultans were distinguished by great cruelty, the plunder of the occupied territories, the taking of civilians into captivity, devastation, fires and massacres. The population of the conquered cities and villages was often completely driven into slavery. Greek historian of the 15th century. Duka reports that due to the mass deportation of the population by the Ottoman troops and the massacre, "the whole of Thrace until Dalmatia became deserted." The Bulgarian author, the monk Isaiah Svyatorets, wrote: “... Some of the Christians were killed, others were taken into slavery, and those who remained there (ie, in their homeland) were mowed down by death, for they were dying of hunger. The land emptied, lost all benefits, people died, cattle and fruits disappeared. And truly then the living envied those who had died earlier. "

  Tribute was imposed on the feudal lords of the conquered countries, who remained Christians, but recognized themselves as vassals of the Sultan, but it did not always save their possessions from raids. Local feudal lords who converted to Islam, and sometimes even remained Christians, were included in the ranks of the Turkish military feudal nobility as Lenniks (Sipahs). The son and successor of Murad I-Bayazid I (1389-1402), nicknamed Yildirim ("Lightning"), completed the conquest of Macedonia (by 1392), with the capture of Vidin (1396) completed the conquest of Bulgaria, which had begun in the 60s years of the XIV century, and imposed a tribute on Northern Serbia. Bayezid also conquered all of Asia Minor, except for Cilicia and the Greek Kingdom of Trebizond, annexing the lands of the former emirates of Asia Minor to the Ottoman state, although the nomadic feudal lords of Asia Minor did not want to put up with the loss of their independence for a long time, sometimes rebelled against the Ottoman sultan. Despite the fact that the Byzantine emperors John V and Manuel II had paid tribute to the Sultan and sent him auxiliary militias since 1370, Bayezid still took Thessalonica from Byzantium (1394) and blockaded Constantinople, seeking its surrender.

  By the time of Bayezid's reign, the Turkish military-feudal elite, having seized new lands and enormous wealth, passed to sedentary life and replaced the simple and austere life of the nomadic horde for refined luxury and splendor. At the same time, there were contradictions between the sedentary and nomadic military nobility. The latter - mainly in Asia Minor - was relegated to the background. Among the mass of the Turkish population who settled on the newly acquired lands, especially in Rumelia, the process of transition to settled life also took place. But in Asia Minor, this process took place much more slowly.

  Venice and Genoa seen in Ottoman conquests a great threat to their possessions and their commercial dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean. Many other Western European states, in turn, were thoroughly afraid of the invasion of Ottoman troops into Central Europe. In 1396, a crusade was undertaken against Ottoman Turkey with the participation of Hungarian, Czech, Polish, French and other knights; from the French, the author of the famous memoirs about this campaign, Marshal Busico, the son of the Burgundian duke John the Fearless, and others, took part in it. King Sigismund and disagreements between the "crusader" leaders were the reason that their army suffered a severe defeat at Nicopolis on the Danube. Up to 10 thousand crusaders were captured, the rest fled. Bayezid killed almost all the captives, except for 300 noble knights, whom he released for a huge ransom. After that, the Ottoman troops invaded Hungary (1397), which they then began to systematically devastate, taking tens of thousands of people out of it into slavery.

  But the crusade of 1396 and the soon following invasion of Timur's troops into Asia Minor prevented Bayazid from capturing Constantinople. A decisive battle between the troops of Bayazid and Timur took place at Ankara on July 20, 1402. During the battle, the militia of the former Asia Minor emirates, seeing their former emirs in Timur's camp, betrayed the Ottoman Sultan and suddenly struck the center of his troops. The Ottoman army was defeated, Bayazid himself was captured while fleeing and soon died in captivity. Timur devastated Asia Minor and left, restoring seven of the former ten emirates of Asia Minor. The Ottoman Empire was weakened for some time. The death of Byzantium was delayed; it regained Thessalonica.

  Feudal relations in the Ottoman state

  In Turkish society, the process of development of feudalism continued, which took place in Asia Minor already under the Seljukids. Almost the entire land fund in Asia Minor and in Rumelia was seized by the conquerors. There were four types of feudal land ownership: state land (miri); lands of the sultan family (khas); lands of Muslim religious institutions (waqf) and private lands, such as allod (mulk). But most of the state land was distributed as a hereditary conditional award to the military ranks of the mounted feudal militia (sipakhi). Small flax was called timar, large flax - ziamet. Lenniks-sipakhi were obliged to live in their possessions and, by order of the sultan, appear in the militia of the sanjak-bey (chief of the district) with a certain, depending on the profitability of the len, the number of armed horsemen from the subordinate people. This is how the Ottoman military-fief system developed, which contributed significantly to the military successes of Turkey.

  Some of the sultan's domains were distributed into the possession of large military and civil dignitaries for the duration of the administration of a certain position. Such awards were called, like the sultan's domains, hass and were assigned to certain positions. Large feudal ownership of land and water in the Ottoman state was combined with small peasant holdings. The peasants of paradise ( The Arabic term "raaya" (plural from rayat) in Turkey, as in other Muslim countries, denoted the tax-paying class, especially peasants, regardless of religion; later (from the 19th century) only non-Muslims were called so.) were attached to their land plots (in Asia Minor, attachment has been noted since the 13th century) and, without the permission of the feudal lord, the owner of the land, did not have the right to transfer. A ten-year period was set to search for fugitive peasants. Feudal rent was levied partly in favor of the state, partly in favor of the landowners, in a mixed form (in products, money and in the form of forced labor). Muslim farmers paid tithes (ashar), and Christians from 20 to 50% of the harvest (kharaj). Non-Muslims (Christians and Jews) also paid a capitation tax - jizya, which later merged with the kharaj. Many other taxes gradually appeared.

  Wars of conquest created an abundant influx and cheapness of captive slaves. Some of them were used as servants, servants, eunuchs, etc., but slave labor was also used in production - in nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding, in arable work, in horticulture and viticulture, in the Sultan's mines, and from the 15th century. also on military galleys - hard labor (in Turkish kadyrga), where the rowers were slaves. The sultan's power, in order to ensure the interests of the military-feudal nobility, waged constant predatory wars with non-Muslim states, going on up to the 16th century. only for temporary truces.

  State Organization of the Ottoman Empire

  The Ottoman Empire was a military feudal despotism. The hereditary sultan from the Ottoman dynasty with unlimited secular power combined in his hands the spiritual power (imamate) over the Muslims of Turkey. The first dignitary of the Sultan was the great vizier. Since the XV century. other viziers also appeared. Together with the great vizier, they made up the sofa - the supreme council. During the campaigns, the great vizier had the right to issue firman (decrees) on behalf of the sultan, appoint dignitaries and distribute military fiefs. Of the other most important dignitaries, the defterdar was in charge of the collection of taxes and finances, and the nishanjy-bashy prepared decrees on behalf of the sultan and drew a tughra on them - a cipher with the monogram of the sovereign. The great vizier applied the big state seal to the decrees. No matter how great the power of the great vizier was, the sultan could depose and execute him at any moment, which often happened.

  The court, with the exception of litigation between gentiles, was in the hands of Muslim spiritual judges - qadi. Qadi was judged according to the Hanefi Muslim Sunni law, and partly also by the customary law of the Oghuz nomads, the ancestors of the Turks. Two kadi-askers (one for Rumelia, the other for Anatolia, i.e. Asia Minor), originally military spiritual judges, in the 15th century. in charge of all affairs of the Muslim clergy and their waqf property. The districts were ruled by the sanjak-beys, who at the same time commanded the local feudal militias, collecting them by order of the Sultan and coming with them to the gathering place of the troops of the entire empire. The Ottoman army consisted of three main parts: the mounted feudal militia, the cavalry - akinjy and the corps of regular infantry - the janissaries (yeni cheri - "new army").

  Akinjs made up the irregular equestrian vanguard of the army; they received not fiefs, but only a share of the spoils of war, which is why they gained a reputation as fierce robbers. The Janissary corps arose in the 14th century, but received a solid organization in the second quarter of the 15th century. The ranks of the Janissaries were at first recruited from captive youths, but from the 15th century. The Janissary troops began to be replenished by means of compulsory recruits (devshirme), at first once every 5 years, and later even more often, from the Christian population of Rumelia - Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians and Greeks, sometimes from Armenians and Georgians. At the same time, the most physically complete boys and unmarried boys were selected. All janissaries were brought up in the spirit of Muslim fanaticism and were considered dervishes of the Bektashi order; up to the XVI century. they were forbidden to marry. They were divided into companies (orta), fed from a common cauldron, and the cauldron (cauldron) was considered a symbol of their army. The Janissaries enjoyed a number of privileges and received generous handouts, and many of the Janissary commanders were promoted to the highest military and administrative positions of the empire. Legally, the janissaries were considered slaves of the Sultan, like the Gulyam (Mamluk) guard in Egypt and in other Muslim states. The capture of many people into slavery and the recruitment of boys and youths into the janissaries served as a direct means of forcible assimilation of the conquered population. The high taxation of non-Muslims - the giaurs, their inequality and the regime of arbitrariness served as indirect means of the same assimilation. But this policy ultimately failed.

  Popular movements at the beginning of the 15th century.

  The son and successor of Bayezid I Mehmed I (Muhammad, 1402-1421), nicknamed Chelebi (“Noble”, “Knightly”), had to wage wars with his brothers - claimants to the throne, with the Seljuk emirs restored by Timur in their domains, especially with the emir of Karaman, who robbed and burned Bursa, as well as with the Venetians, who defeated the Ottoman fleet at Gallipoli (1416). On the other hand, Mehmed I made an alliance with Byzantium, returning some of the seaside cities to it.

  These wars ruined the small fiefdoms and caused an increase in the tax burden on the peasants. As a result, an uprising of small fiefdoms broke out, joined by peasants and artisans, which grew into a real civil war (in 1415-1418, but according to other sources - in 1413-1418). The movement was headed by the dervish sheikh Simavia-oglu Bedr-ad-din, who expanded his activities in Rumelia. The dervishes Berkludzhe Mustafa (in the Izmir region, in Greek Smyrna) and Torlak Kemal (in the Manisa region, in Greek Magnesia), acting on his behalf in Asia Minor, relying on artisans and peasants, demanded the establishment of social equality of all people and the community of all property , "Except for wives", namely: "food, clothing, harness and arable land", and first of all - the community of land ownership. The rebels introduced the same simple clothes and common meals for everyone and proclaimed the principle of equality of the three monotheistic religions - Muslim, Christian and Jewish.

  Through his friend, a Christian monk from the island of Chios, Berkludzhe Mustafa called on the Greek peasants to rise up together with the Turkish peasants against the common oppressors - the Ottoman feudal nobility led by the Sultan. Indeed, the peasants of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, both Turks and Greeks, rebelled almost without exception. They defeated the feudal militia gathered in the western part of Asia Minor. Only two years later, having gathered sipahis from all over the state, the sultan finally suppressed the movement and inflicted a bloody massacre on the rebels. After that, by the end of 1418, the militia of Sheikh Bedr-ad-din was defeated in Rumelia.

  At the beginning of the 15th century. among the urban lower strata of Turkey, which emerged at the end of the XIV century, was widely spread. in Khorasan, the heretical teaching of the secret Shiite sect of the Hurufites, with antifeudal tendencies and the preaching of social equality and community of property. There were also uprisings among the non-indigenous peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, who did not reconcile with Ottoman rule (the uprising in the Vidip region in Bulgaria in 1403, etc.).

  Turkey in the first half of the 15th century. Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks

  Under Murad II (1421-1451), the Ottoman Empire strengthened and resumed its policy of conquest. A formidable danger loomed over Constantinople again. In 1422 Murad II laid siege to the city, but to no avail. In 1430 he took Thessalonica. In 1443, the participants of the new crusade (Hungarians, Poles, Serbs and Wallachians) led by the King of Poland and Hungary Vladislav and the famous Hungarian commander Janos Hunyadi twice defeated the army of Murad II and occupied Sofia. But the following year, the crusaders suffered a heavy defeat at Varna from the forces of Murad II, which outnumbered their army. After this, the attempts of the popes to organize a new crusade against Turkey no longer met with sympathy in Western Europe. However, the victories of the troops of Janos Hunyadi in 1443 nevertheless facilitated the struggle for the independence of Albania, which had already been almost conquered by the Ottoman troops. The Albanian people, under the leadership of their illustrious commander and prominent statesman Skanderbeg, fought successfully against the Turkish conquerors for more than twenty years.

  The successor of Murad II was his young son Mehmed II (Muhammad, 1451-1481), nicknamed Fatih ("Conqueror"). The personality of Mehmed II is vividly depicted in Greek and Italian sources. He received a good education, knew five languages, was familiar with Western culture, shunned religious fanaticism, but at the same time was a capricious and cruel despot. Turkish historiography glorified him as a talented military leader. In fact, the conquests of Mehmed II were mainly victories over weak feudal states, which most often paid tribute to the Ottoman Empire earlier. Mehmed II suffered defeats more than once from the Hungarians, Albanians and Moldovans.

  The siege of Constantinople by the Turks took about two months (April - May 1453). After the capture and three-day robbery of Constantinople, Mehmed II entered the city and, proceeding to the church of St. Sofia, dismounted and performed the first Muslim prayer in this temple. As a result of the massacre and the removal of the population into slavery, the city was almost completely depopulated. To repopulate it, Mehmed II transferred all the inhabitants of the Asia Minor city of Aksaray there, but since the Turkish population was still not enough, he resettled many Greeks from Morey and other places, as well as Armenians and Jews, to Constantinople. The Genoese colony of Galata, founded shortly after 1261 on the outskirts of Constantinople, was also forced to surrender. At the same time, the Genoese retained personal freedom and property, but lost their autonomy, and Galata has since been ruled by the Turkish administration. The capital of the Ottoman Empire was transferred from Adrianople to Constantinople (Istanbul, more precisely Istanbul) ( The name “Istanbul” comes from the modern Greek expression “istin polin” - “to the city” and was used by both the Greeks and the Arabs, Persians and Turks already in the XII-XIII centuries.).

  Domestic politics of Mehmed II

  Mehmed II issued in 1476 a set of laws ("Qanun-name"), which defined the functions of state dignitaries and the size of their salaries, established the organization of the Muslim Sunni clergy (more precisely, the estates of theologians), the regime of military fiefs, etc. Mehmed II also established a statute for non-Muslim religious communities, approving the Orthodox (Greek) and Armenian patriarchs and the Jewish chief rabbi in Constantinople. All Orthodox peoples (Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, some of the Albanians, Georgians, Vlachs and Moldavians) were henceforth regarded as one "Greek community" - the Rum Milleti, over which the Patriarch of Constantinople used not only ecclesiastical, but also judicial power. The patriarch and bishops could pass judgments against the Orthodox, including exile to hard labor (galleys). But if an Orthodox was suing a Muslim, then the case was examined by a Muslim spiritual judge, a qadi. The patriarch and bishops had control over the schools and books of the Orthodox peoples, and they were given some personal privileges. The Armenian patriarch and the Jewish chief rabbi received the same rights over their communities.

  Giving some rights to the highest Christian and Jewish clergy, the Sultan's government sought to keep the gentiles in obedience with the help of their own clergy. The mass of the Gentiles was completely disenfranchised. They were deprived of the right to have weapons, they had to wear clothes of special colors, they did not have the right to acquire land, etc. However, some restrictions for the Gentiles were not always observed in practice. The practice of non-Muslim cults was subject to serious restrictions: it was impossible, for example, to build new religious buildings. Even worse was the situation of Muslim heretics - Shiites, of whom there were very many in Asia Minor. They were brutally persecuted and forced to hide their faith.

  Further conquests of Mehmed II

  In Asia Minor, Mehmed II conquered the weak Greek Kingdom of Trepezud (1461) and all the Emirates of Asia Minor. In Crimea, his troops captured the Genoese colonies with the most important trading city of Kafa (now Feodosia) and subjugated the Crimean Khanate to Turkey (1475). This was a real disaster for Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and the Russian state, for the Crimean Tatars, with the support of Ottoman Turkey, almost every year began to carry out deep horse raids into these countries in order to seize war booty, especially prisoners, then resold to Turkey. Between 1459 and 1463 Mehmed II conquered Serbia, the Greek principalities of the Moray and the Duchy of Athens ( Founded after the fourth crusade in 1204; the duchy was consistently ruled at first by the French, from the beginning of the XIV century. - Spanish, and from the end of the XIV century - Italian feudal lords.), as well as the Slavic kingdom of Bosnia. At the same time, Turkey began long war with Venice, which was supported by Uzun Hasan, the sovereign of Ak Koyunlu. The troops of Uzun Hasan were defeated by the Turks in 1473, while the war with Venice was fought with varying success.

  The attempt of the Turks to take Belgrade, defended by Janos Hunyadi, ended in a heavy failure for them (1456). Ottoman troops also suffered a complete defeat in Albania during the siege of the fortress of Krui (1467), in Moldavia (1475) and in an attempt to seize the island of Rhodes, which belonged to the knights-Ioannites. Wallachia submitted only after long resistance, retaining its autonomy (1476). In 1479, after the death of Skanderbeg, the Ottoman army finally managed to occupy the territory of Albania, but the Albanians did not submit and continued the partisan war in the mountains for a long time. According to the Peace of Constantinople with Venice (1479), the latter ceded its islands in the Aegean Sea to Turkey and pledged to pay an annual tribute of 10 thousand ducats, but retained the islands of Crete and Corfu and received the right of extraterritoriality and duty-free trade for the Venetians in Turkey. In the summer of 1480, Mehmed II landed in southern Italy, planning to conquer it, and ravaged the city of Otranto to the ground. He died shortly thereafter.

  

  The son of Mehmed II, Bayezid II Dervish (1481-1512), abandoned the plan to conquer Italy, although he waged a generally unsuccessful war with Venice. Wars were also fought with Hungary, the Austrian Habsburgs and Egypt. Moldova recognized the suzerainty of Turkey, securing autonomy for itself through diplomatic negotiations (1501). In 1495 the first Russian embassy arrived in Constantinople. The Sultan allowed Russian merchants to trade in Turkey. Subsequently, while formally remaining in peace with Russia, Ottoman Turkey systematically set the hordes of the Crimean Khan against her, not giving the Russian state the opportunity to strengthen its military power and striving to receive from there, as well as from Ukraine, prisoners for slave markets and for galleys.

  The Ottoman conquest slowed down the development of the conquered Balkan countries. At the same time, the unbearable oppression caused the struggle of the peoples of these countries against the Ottoman Empire. The growth of feudal exploitation made the Sultan's government deeply alien to the mass of the Turkish people. Anti-popular policy of the sultans of the 15th century had as its consequence large uprisings of Turkish peasants and nomadic poor in Asia Minor in the next century.

  The culture

  Having settled in Asia Minor in the 11th century, the ancestors of the Turks, the Seljuk Oghuz, were for a long time under the cultural influence of Iran and, to a lesser extent, Armenia and Byzantium. Many Persians settled in the cities of Asia Minor, and the New Persian language was for a long time the official and literary language of the Seljuk Asia Minor.

  On the basis of the revised traditions of the art of Iran, Armenia and partly Byzantium in Asia Minor, a "Seljuk" architectural style was formed, the main features of the buildings of which were high portal, richly ornamented with stone carvings, and a conical dome, probably borrowed from the Armenians. The best monuments of this style were the Chifte-minare madrasah in Erzurum (XII century) and the monuments of the XIII century. in Konya - the Karatay-madrasah, the Syrchaly-madrasah and the Inje-minareli mosque with a wonderful carved portal and a slender minaret. This style was replaced by the so-called "Bursa style" under the Ottomans, which prevailed in the XIV-XV centuries. Its monuments are the Ulu Jami Mosque built in Bursa (at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries) and the Yesil Jami Mosque (Green Mosque), decorated with faience tiles glazed with turquoise and greenish glaze. The mosques of Sultan Mehmed II and Sultan Bayezid II in Istanbul mark the transition from the “Bursa style” to the “classical” Turkish style, created by assimilating the Byzantine traditions in a revised form (central domed mosques, built according to the plan of the Church of St. Sophia, with a round dome, apses, etc.).

  The representatives of the oral folk poetry of the Oguz Turks of Asia Minor, heroic and love, were wandering singers - ozans and ashyks. Literature in the Turkish language emerging in Seljuk Asia Minor, using the Arabic alphabet, developed for a long time under strong Persian influence. The son of the famous poet of Asia Minor Jalal-ad-din Rumi, who wrote in Persian, Sultan Veled (died in 1312) began to write poetry in Turkish ("The Book of the Lute"). Major Turkish poets of the XIV century. there were Ashyk Pasha, a moralist poet, Yunus Emre, a Sufi lyricist who used motifs from Turkish folk poetry, and Burkhan ad-din Sivassky, a warrior poet.

  In the XV century. the heyday of Turkish fiction... Its most prominent representative was the poet Necati (1460-1509), the best Turkish lyricist. The themes of his poems were spring, love, grief, the separation of lovers, etc. Hamdi Chelebi (died 1509), the author of the poem "Leili and Majnun" and other works, was a brilliant poet. Poetess Mihri-Khatun (died in 1514) and poet Mesikhi (died in 1512) were singers of earthly love and fought for the secular character of poetry, against Sufism. Until the XIV century. inclusive historical writings(albeit very few) were written in Persian. In the XV century. a descendant of the poet Ashyk Pasha, Ashyk Pasha-zade, and Neshri laid the foundation for historical literature in Turkish.

  The beginning of the state-political definition of the Turkish people fell on the X-XI centuries. In the second half of the 10th century. tribal associations of Oghuz Turks (Seljuk), pastoralists and farmers, were ousted from Central Asia and Iran to the Armenian Highlands to the borders of Byzantium. With the collapse of the state-tribal union of the Great Seljuks (in the XI-XIII centuries. Occupied Iran), the Oguz horde gained independence. As was typical for nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, the first proto-state organization among the Turks had military-clan features. Such an organization is historically interconnected with an aggressive military policy. Starting from mid. XI century., Seljuks led the conquest of Iran, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia. In 1055, the Seljuk army captured Baghdad, and their ruler received the title of Sultan from the Caliph. The conquest of the Byzantine possessions was going on successfully. During these conquests, big cities Asia Minor, the Turks came to the coast. Only the Crusades drove the Seljuks away from Byzantium, forcing them into Anatolia. Here the early state was finally formed.

  Seljuk Sultanate (late XI-early XIV century) was an early state formation that retained the features of a military nomadic association. The unification of the conquered peoples under the rule of the new sultans was facilitated by the fact that the first ruler, Suleiman Kutulmush, gave freedom to the Byzantine serfs, and the established single general tax was significantly less than the previous tax burden. At the same time, on the conquered lands, the Byzantine system of state feudalism began to revive (close to the military-service relations of the Arab Caliphate): the land was declared state property, which was distributed by the Sultan in large grants (ikta) and small, secondary (timar). From the allotments, according to the income, the Lenniks were supposed to carry out military service. This created the basis for a powerful, mainly cavalry army (about 250 thousand), which became the striking force of the new conquests. At the same time, the Sultan's tribal monarchy began to acquire an organization familiar to a sedentary early state: assemblies of the military nobility (Majlis) began to perform a general political function, including electing a ruler, and administrative offices (kapu) appeared.

  After the collapse of Byzantium at the beginning of the XIII century. the sultanate reached the highest power. External conquests resumed. However, during the Mongol invasion (see § 44.2), he was defeated and remained as a vassal sultanate in the Hulagu ulus. The supreme administrators (vezirs) under the sultan received their posts from the great khan. The state was ruined by the tax burden (5-6 times greater than in the Western states of that era). Weakened, among other things, by internal unrest, tribal uprisings, the sultanate disintegrated by the end of the 13th century. for 12-16 separate principalities - beilikov... In 1307, the Mongols strangled the last Seljuk sultan.

  A new and more historically significant stage in the formation of the Turkish state was Ottoman Sultanate.

  One of the weakest beyliks of the former Seljuk Sultanate - Ottoman (named after the ruling sultans) - by the beginning of the XIV century. became a powerful military principality. Its rise is associated with the dynasty of the ruler of one of the Turkmen tribes, ousted by the Mongols, - Ertogrul, and most importantly, his son - Osman(since 1281 of the Sultan) *. At the end of the XIII century. (1299) the principality became practically independent; it was the beginning of a new independent state.

  * The dynasty of 37 sultans founded by Osman ruled in Turkey until 1922 - the time of the fall of the monarchy.

  The principality expanded due to the possessions of the weakened Byzantium in Asia Minor, reached the seas, and subdued the former beyliks of the former Seljuk state. All R. XIV century. the Turks defeated the remnants of the Mongol state in Iran. In the second half of the XIV century. the feudal states of the Balkan Peninsula fell under the rule of the Turks, and suzerainty was established even over Hungary. During the reign of Sultan Orhan (1324-1359), a new political and administrative organization, represented by the feudal bureaucracy, began to take shape in the emerging state. The country received Administrative division into 3 appanages and dozens of districts, which were headed by the pashas placed from the center. Along with the main military force- a lonely militia - a permanent army began to be formed on a salary of prisoners of war (yenichera - "new army"), which later became the guards of the rulers. To the board Bayezid I of the Lightning(1389-1402) The Ottoman state won a number of important victories over the Byzantine and European troops, became the most important subject of international affairs and politics in the Black and Mediterranean Seas. From the complete defeat of the Turks, Byzantium was saved only by the invasion of the revived Mongol state under the leadership of Timur; The Ottoman state split into several parts.

  The sultans managed to retain power, and at the beginning of the 15th century. revived united state... During the XV century. the remnants of the former fragmentation were eliminated, new conquests began. In 1453 the Ottomans laid siege to Constantinople, putting an end to Byzantium. Renamed to Istanbul, the city became the capital of the empire. In the XVI century. the conquests were transferred to Greece, Moldavia, Alabania, southern Italy, Iran, Egypt, Algeria, the Caucasus, and the coast of North Africa were subordinated. To the board Suleiman I(1520-1566) the state received a complete internal administrative and military organization. The Ottoman Empire became the largest state in terms of territory and population (25 million inhabitants) of the then European-Middle Eastern world and one of the most influential politically. It included the lands of different peoples and a variety of political structures with the rights of vassalage and other political subordination.

  From the end of the 17th century. The Ottoman Empire, while remaining the largest power, entered a long period of crisis, internal turmoil and military setbacks. The defeat in the war with a coalition of European powers (1699) led to a partial partition of the empire. Centrifugal tendencies were indicated in the most distant possessions: Africa, Moldavia and Wallachia. The possessions of the empire were significantly reduced in the 18th century. after unsuccessful wars with Russia. The state-political structure of the empire basically remained the same as it had developed in the 16th century.

  Power and control system

  Sultan's power(officially he was called padishah) was the political and legal axis of the state. According to the law, the padishah was "the organizer of spiritual, state and legislative affairs", he equally belonged to spiritual, religious and secular powers ("The duties of the imam, khatib, state power - everything belongs to the padishah"). As the Ottoman state strengthened, the rulers accepted the titles of khan (15th century), sultan, "kaiser-i Rum" (according to the Byzantine model), hudavendilyar (emperor). Under Bayezid, the imperial dignity was even recognized by the European powers. The Sultan was considered the head of all warriors ("men of the sword"). As the spiritual leader of the Sunni Muslims, he had an unlimited right to punish his subjects. Tradition and ideology imposed purely moral and political restrictions on the sultan's power: the sovereign should have been God-fearing, just and wise. However, the inconsistency of the ruler with these qualities could not serve as a basis for refusing state obedience: "But if he is not like that, then the people are obliged to remember that the Caliph has the right to be unjust."

  The most important difference between the power of the Turkish sultan and the caliphate was the initial recognition of his legislative rights; this reflected the Turkic-Mongol tradition of power. (According to the Turkic political doctrine, the state was only a political, not a religious-political community of the people; therefore, the power of the Sultan and spiritual authorities coexist under the leadership of the first - “kingdom and faith.”) After the capture of Constantinople, the tradition of coronation was also adopted: girdle with a sword.

  The Turkish monarchy adhered to the principle of the ancestral heritage of the throne. Women were definitely excluded from the number of possible applicants (“Woe to the people ruled by a woman,” the Koran said). Until the 17th century. the rule was the transfer of the throne from father to son. The law of 1478 not only allowed, but also prescribed, in order to avoid internecine strife, to one of the sons who inherited the throne, to kill his brothers. Since the 17th century. established new order: the throne was succeeded by the eldest of the Ottoman dynasty.

  An important part of the top administration was the sultan's courtyard(already in the 15th century it numbered up to 5 thousand servants and stewards). The courtyard was subdivided into outer (sultan's) and inner parts (women's quarters). The outer was headed by a steward (the head of the white eunuchs), who was practically the minister of the court and disposed of the sultan's property. Inner - the head of the black eunuchs, who was especially close to the sultan.

  Central administration empire developed mainly in the middle. XVI century Its main figure was the grand vizier, whose office was established from the very beginning of the dynasty (1327). The Grand Vizier was considered, as it were, the state deputy of the Sultan (he had nothing to do with religious issues). He always had access to the Sultan; he had the state seal at his disposal. The Grand Vizier practically had independent state powers (except for legislative ones); local rulers, military commanders and judges obeyed him.

  In addition to the great, the highest circle of dignitaries consisted of simple viziers (their number did not exceed seven), the duties and appointments of which were determined by the sultan. By the XVIII century. the viziers (who were considered, as it were, the deputies of the grand vizier) acquired stable specialized powers: the vizier-kiyashi was the clerk of the grand vizier and the commissioner for internal affairs, the reis-effendi was in charge of foreign affairs, the chaush-bashi was in charge of the lower administrative and police apparatus, the kapudan was the fleet, etc. etc.

  The Grand Vizier and his assistants constituted the great imperial council - Sofa... It was an advisory body for the grand vizier. Since the beginning of the XVIII century. The sofa also became an executive body, a kind of government. It also included two kadiaskers (chief judges of the army, in charge of justice and education in general, although subordinate to spiritual authority), defterdar (ruler of the financial department; later there were several of them), nishanji (ruler of the grand vizier's office, who at first was in charge of foreign affairs ), commander military guard- the Janissary corps, the highest military commanders. Together with the office of the grand vizier, administrations of cadiaskers, defterdars, all this constituted, as it were, a single administration - the High Gate (Bab-i Ali) *.

  * According to the French equivalent (gate - la porte), the administration received the name Porta, later transferred to the entire empire (Ottoman Porta).

  Under the Sultan, there was also an advisory Supreme Council from the members of the divan, the ministers of the palace, the highest military leaders and, necessarily, the governors of certain regions. He met from time to time and did not have any specific powers, but was, as it were, the spokesman for the opinion of the government and military nobility. Since the beginning of the XVIII century. it ceased to exist, but at the end of the century it was revived in the form of a Majlis.

  The spiritual and religious part of state affairs was headed by Sheikh-ul-Islam (the post was established in 1424). He headed the entire class of ulema (Muslim clergy, which also included judges - qadis, theologians and jurists - muftis, teachers of theological schools, etc.) Sheikh-ul-islam possessed not only administrative power, but also influence on legislation and justice, since many laws and decisions of the Sultan and the government assumed his legal approval in the form of a fatwa. However, in the Turkish state (as opposed to the caliphate), the Muslim clergy stood under supreme authority Sultan, and Sheikh-ul-Islam was appointed by the Sultan. Its greater or lesser influence on the course of state affairs depended on the general political relations of the secular authorities with the Sharia law, which have changed over the centuries.

  Numerous officials of various ranks (the duties and status of all were written in special Sultan codes from the 15th century) were considered “slaves of the Sultan”. The most important feature the social system of Turkey, important for the characterization of the government bureaucracy, was the absence, in the proper sense of the word, of the nobility. Titles, incomes, and honor depended only on the place in the service of the Sultan. The same codes were used to sign the due salary for officials and high dignitaries (expressed in monetary income from land plots). Often the highest dignitaries, even the viziers began their life path real slaves, sometimes even non-Muslims. Therefore, it was believed that both the position and the life of officials were completely in the power of the Sultan. Violation of official duties was considered according to the state crime, disobedience of the padishah, and was punishable by death. The rank privileges of officials were manifested only in the fact that the laws prescribed on which tray (gold, silver, etc.) the head of the disobedient would be exposed.

  Military-fief system

  Despite the outward toughness of the supreme power, the central administration of the Ottoman Empire was weak. A more solid connecting element of statehood was the military-fief system, which subjugated the main mass of the independent free population of the country to the sultan's power in an organization that was both military and economic-distributive.

  Agrarian and military-service relations with them were established in the empire according to the traditions of the Seljuk Sultanate. Much was taken from Byzantium, in particular from its femic system. Legally, they were legalized already under the first autocratic sultans. In 1368, it was decided that the land is considered the property of the state. In 1375, the first act was adopted, later enshrined in the Sultan's codes, on service allotments-fiefs. Lenas were of two main types: large - zeamets and small - timars. Zeamet was usually allocated either for special service merit, or for a military leader, who later undertook to collect an appropriate number of soldiers. Timar was given directly to the rider (sipakhi), who gave obligations to go on a campaign and bring with him a number of peasant soldiers corresponding to the size of his timar. Both Zeamets and Timars were conditional and lifelong possessions.

  Unlike the Western European ones, the Ottoman ones differed from the Russian feudal-service fiefs not in their actual size, but in the income from them, registered by the census, approved by the tax service and prescribed by law, according to the service rank. Timar was maximally calculated in 20 thousand acche (silver coins), zeamet - in 100 thousand. Large holdings in terms of income had a special status - khass. Hass was considered to be the domain of the members of the Sultan's house and the ruler himself. Highest dignitaries (viziers, governors) were endowed with Khasses. Losing his post, the official was also deprived of the khasa (possible property on other rights remained with him). Within the framework of such fiefs, the peasants (raya - "flock") had rather stable rights to the allotment, from which they bore in kind and monetary obligations in favor of the fief (constituting his fief income), and also paid state taxes.

  From the second half of the 15th century. Zeamets and Timars began to be subdivided into two legally not equivalent parts. The first - chiftlik - was a special allotment granted personally for the "courage" of a warrior; henceforth, no state duties were to be performed from it. The second - hisse ("surplus") was provided to meet military service needs, and it was necessary to strictly perform the service from it.

  Turkish fiefs of all types differed from western ones in one more property. Giving the Lenniks administrative and tax powers over the peasants (or other population) of their plots, they did not provide judicial immunity. Lenniks, thus, were financial agents of the supreme power without judicial independence, which violated centralization.

  The disintegration of the military-fief system was already marked in the 16th century. and affected the general military and administrative state of the Ottoman state.

  The non-regulation of the hereditary rights of the Lenniks, together with the large number of children inherent in Muslim families, began to lead to an excessive fragmentation of the Zeamets and Timars. The Sipahs naturally intensified the tax burden on the paradise, which led to the imminent impoverishment of both. The presence of a special part - the chieflik - in the Lena aroused a natural interest in turning the entire Lena into an allotment without service. The governors of the provinces in the interests of people close to them began to allot lands themselves.

  The central government also contributed to the collapse of the military-fief system. Since the XVI century. the sultan increasingly resorted to the practice of general confiscation of land from the Sipahi. Tax collection was transferred to the ransom system (iltezim), which became a global robbery of the population. Since the 17th century. tax farmers, financial officials gradually replaced the fiefs in state and financial affairs. The social decline of the military-service stratum led to a weakening of the military organization of the empire, which, in turn, led to a series of sensitive military defeats from the end of the 17th century. And military defeats - to a general crisis of the Ottoman state, which was created and maintained by conquests.

  The main military force of the empire and the sultan in such conditions became janissary corps... It was a regular military formation (first recruited in 1361-1363), new in relation to the Sipakhi ("yeni cheri" - a new army). Only Christians were recruited into it. In the second quarter of the 15th century. for the recruitment of the Janissaries, a special recruiting system- defhirme. Once every 3 (5, 7) years, recruiters forcibly took Christian boys (mainly from Bulgaria, Serbia, etc.) from 8 to 20 years old, gave them up to Muslim families for upbringing, and then (if they had physical data) into the corps janissary. The Janissaries were distinguished by their special fanaticism, closeness to some aggressive Muslim mendicant orders. They were located mainly in the capital (the corps was divided into orts - companies of 100-700 people; in total, up to 200 such orts). They became a kind of guard for the Sultan. And as such a guard, over time, they strove to distinguish themselves more in the inner-palace struggle than on the battlefield. Many troubles are also associated with the Janissary corps and its uprisings, which weakened the central power in the 17th-18th centuries.

  The growing crisis of Ottoman statehood was also facilitated by the organization of local, provincial government in the empire.

  Local government

  The provincial organization of the empire by its roots was closely linked with the military-feudal principles of Turkish statehood. The local commanders, who were appointed by the Sultan, were simultaneously the military commanders of the territorial militia, as well as the financial chief commanders.

  After the first historical stage of the conquests (in the XIV century), the empire was divided into two conditional areas - pashalyk: Anatolian and Rumeli (European territories). Each was headed by a governor - beylerbey. He practically had complete supremacy in his territory, including the distribution of land allotments and the appointment of officials. The division into two parts also matched the existence of two posts of supreme military judges - kadiaskers: the first was established in 1363, the second - in 1480. However, the kadiaskers were subordinate only to the sultan. And in general, the judicial system was outside the administrative control of local authorities. Each of the regions was subdivided, in turn, into districts - sanjaks, headed by sanjak-beys. Initially, there were up to 50 of them. In the XVI century. a new administrative division of the sprawling empire was introduced. The number of sanjaks was increased to 250 (some were reduced), and the larger units became the provinces - eilaets (and there were 21 of them). Beylerbey was traditionally at the head of the province.

  At first, the administrators of the Beylerbeys and Sanjaks were only appointees of the central government. They lost their land holdings, losing their post. Although the law is still in the XV century. it was envisaged that "neither hit nor beylerbey, while he is alive, should not be removed from his post." Arbitrary replacement of local bosses was considered unfair. However, the dismissal of the beys for the “injustice” shown in the administration was also considered mandatory (for which there were always suitable reasons or “complaints from the localities”). The manifestation of "injustice" was seen as a violation of the Sultan's decrees or laws, therefore, the removal from office, as a rule, ended in reprisals against officials.

  For each sanjak, all significant issues of taxation, the size of taxes and land allotments were established by special laws - provincial kanun-name. Taxes and taxes in each sanjak varied: throughout the empire there were only generally established types of taxes and fees (cash and in kind, from non-Muslims or from the entire population, etc.). Land and tax accounting was carried out on a regular basis, based on censuses carried out approximately every 30 years. One copy of the scribal book (defter) was sent to the capital for the financial department, the second remained in the provincial administration as an accounting document and a reference point for current activities.

  Over time, the independence of the provincial rulers increased. They turned into independent pashas, ​​and some were endowed with special powers by the Sultan (commanding an infantry corps, a fleet, etc.). This aggravated the administrative crisis of the imperial system already from the end of the 17th century.

  The special military-feudal features of the Turkish statehood, the almost absolute nature of the sultan's power made the Ottoman Empire in the eyes of historians and political writers of the West, starting from the 17th-18th centuries, an example of a special eastern despotism where the life, property and personal dignity of the subjects did not mean anything in the face of an arbitrarily operating military-administrative machine, in which the administrative power supposedly completely replaced the judiciary. This view was far from reflecting the principles of the state organization of the empire, although the regime of the supreme power in Turkey was distinguished by its special features. The absence of any estate corporations, representations of the ruling strata, also provided space for the autocratic regime.

  Omelchenko O.A. General history state and law. 1999

  Formation and development of the Ottoman state

  After the victory Seljukov over Byzantium in the battle of Manzikert in 1071, the influx of Turkic-speaking tribes into the territory of Anatolia increased. In the ten years that have passed after this battle, the Turkic nomadic tribes reached the coast of the Aegean Sea 1. Seljuk rulers tried to send nomadic or semi-nomadic Türkic tribes driven from Central Asia to the regions bordering with the Byzantine Empire. There they could be useful for protecting the territory of the Seljuk state. At the same time, in this way, the possible damage that these nomadic tribes could inflict on the local sedentary population was prevented. Having settled in the new border territories, the tribes continued to lead a traditional nomadic or semi-nomadic way of life. Sometimes they made predatory raids on weaker neighbors, thus acquiring land, wealth and numerous slaves.

  This led to a gradual change in the composition of the population in Anatolia. Under the pressure of the newly arrived tribes, the local population either gradually left for the western parts of Anatolia, or was forced to obey the new rules 2 and sometimes even accept the religion of the new conquerors 3. In turn, this led to an increase in the Turkic element among the population of Anatolia, and two hundred years after the Battle of Manzikert, the Turkic population began to prevail over the local. As the borders of the Byzantine Empire shrank, the number of the local population living in its former territories also decreased. At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. most of Anatolia and neighboring lands, with the exception of Vitania, the territory around Trebizond and the islands located in the Aegean Sea, was under the rule of the Anatolian Seljuk state and various other small Turkic principalities - beyliks.

  Battle of Manzikert. French miniature of the 15th century.

  After being defeated by the Mongols at the Battle of Kosedag in 1243, the Seljuk rulers recognized their vassal dependence on Mongol khans (Ilkhanov). Despite the fact that the Seljuks formally retained their power over most of Western and Central Anatolia, this defeat nevertheless accelerated the collapse of the Seljuk state. In border areas (uj), where the bulk of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes were concentrated, new political formations were formed 4. Formally, they recognized the supreme power of the Mongol governors (Ilkhans), as well as the rulers of the Seljuk state. However, in fact, taking advantage of the remoteness of the Ilkhans and the weakness of the Seljuk rulers, they pursued an independent policy in ujah. They soon became independent state formations... In the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XIV century. on the territory of Western and Central Anatolia, about twenty such principalities (beyliks) have already arisen 5. Some of them did not last long and, due to internal and external problems, quickly disintegrated. Beyliks led the most strong personalities- the leaders of the tribes inhabiting this territory, or the former Seljuk commanders. In addition, many Muslims who wanted to join the ranks of "fighters for the faith" (gazi) and raid (akyn) into the territory of the "infidels", rushed to the Turkic beyliks, strengthening and strengthening them. At the initial stage of the formation and development of the beyliks, the opportunity to make predatory raids into the territory inhabited by Christians contributed to the enrichment of the raiders. Therefore, the beyliks attracted more and more people who wanted to participate in these raids. After the border of the Beiliks reached the coast of the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles, the ability to make successful forays into neighboring territories decreased, and this led to a decrease in the sources of wealth for the Beiliks.

  The political, social and economic situation in Asia Minor in the 13th - early 14th centuries, as well as a special geographical position played an important role in strengthening one of these political entities - the Ottoman Beylik. This small principality was founded in the northwestern part of Anatolia and was surrounded by stronger beyliks - Germiyanogullara, Jandarogullary, Karesiogullary. In addition, it bordered on the Byzantine Empire. From the first days of its existence, the Ottoman Beylik became an influential and continuously growing political entity.

  Having emerged as a frontier principality at the time of the weakening of the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Sultanate, the Ottoman Beylik expanded its territory at their expense. It was this that determined the future of this beylik, who gradually annexed the regions captured from the Byzantine Empire, the lands belonging to the Seljuk rulers, as well as the territories of other Turkmen tribal formations located in the neighborhood. Another factor that influenced the rapid rise of the Ottoman Beylik was the constant influx of tribes who maintained a semi-nomadic lifestyle. In addition to nomads, sheikhs of dervishes (Sufi) brotherhoods flocked to the beylik with their supporters. Among them, a special place is occupied by the leaders of the association. ahi, who, with their determination, gave strength and religious coloring to the Ottoman raids 7, and also participated in the defense of cities 8. Thanks to the leaders ahi, as well as to sheikhs and various semi-mythical dervishes, the usual raids on the territory of neighboring Christian states turned into a struggle for faith (gazavat). Over the next two centuries after its formation, the small Omani beylik turned into one of the most powerful states of that time.

  After the Mongol invasion, the dependence of the Beylik rulers on the Seljuk government became purely nominal. It is generally accepted that around 1299 Osman freed himself from subordination to the Seljuk sultans and began to pursue a relatively independent policy aimed at expanding his possessions. At the same time, he nevertheless recognized his nominal dependence on the Seljuk sultans, and also tried to maintain good relations with the Mongol governors, recognizing their power. Compared to the neighboring principalities, the territory of the Ottoman Beylik was small, but the favorable geographical position, as well as the political situation that had developed in Asia Minor by the beginning of the XIV century, favored its rapid expansion. In contrast to the rulers of other beiliks, the Ottomans behaved relatively calmly in the first years, quite peacefully adjacent to other small political formations of this region. Even the warlike Osman Bey pursued a rather friendly policy towards the Byzantine governors 9, who were only nominally subordinate to the Byzantine Empire. After the weakening and liquidation of the Seljuk state, thanks to the remoteness of the Mongol governors, whose power they recognized, the Ottomans were able to lead a completely independent internal and foreign policy... And also the Mongol governors who were in distant Tabriz, like the neighboring beyliks, did not give of great importance the initial successes of the Ottomans. Unlike other beyliks, the Ottomans gradually increased their territory. This led to an influx of people into the Ottoman beylik from the interior regions of Anatolia and from other beyliks, where raids on neighboring territories either completely stopped or did not bring the expected income. These beiliks were either surrounded by the territories of other beiliks, or they went out to the sea, which was a natural obstacle to successful raids.

  Despite the fact that some of these beyliks attempted sea raids on the islands and the opposite coast of the sea, these raids were dangerous, and their results were unpredictable; they also did not bring the expected wealth. The Ottomans, on the other hand, reached such natural barriers only by 1340, when their territory spread to the outskirts of the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

  Despite the similarity of the education process with other Turkic principalities of Anatolia, the development of the Ottoman beylik, named after its first ruler, Osman (1288–1324), was significantly different from the rest. The Ottoman beylik was formed in the northwestern part of Asia Minor in the vicinity of the town of Shogut not far from the Byzantine fortress Bilecik (Belokoma). At the end of the 13th century, Osman's father Ertogrul received a small uj in the Karajadag region and later expanded this territory to Shogut and the Bilecik fortress, which eventually became the center of Beylik 10.

  

  Ottoman miniature.

  After the death of his father in 1281, Osman Bey was elected leader of the tribe at the council of elders and began to lead clashes with neighbors. The territory of the tribal formations led by Osman Bey covered a narrow strip from Shogut to Mount Domanich. In 1284, the Seljuk sultan, by his decree, confirmed the rights of Osman Bey in the territory that belonged to his father. In 1289, he presented Osman Bey with the territory with the cities of Eskisehir and Inonu, and also appointed him the head of the ujja, uj-bey 11 .

  Until the end of the 13th century, several fortresses belonging to the Byzantine governors were captured ( tekfur). Among them are Karajahisar, Yarkhisar, Bilejik, Inegol, Yenishehir and Kopru-hisar. In addition to these territories, the territories of smaller Turkmen tribal formations living in these territories were annexed to the Ottoman Beylik. The leaders of these tribal formations, and among them Samsa Chavush, Konur Alp, Aygut Alp and Gazi Abdurrahman, forcedly or voluntarily became supporters of Osman Bey. Some minor Christian governors, for example, Kose Michal, also sided with Osman Bey and sometimes participated in border disputes with him. After several military successes with neighboring governors, Osman Bey began armed raids on the regions of the Byzantine Empire and expanded the boundaries of his beylik in the northwest and southwest directions.

  After the collapse of the Seljuk state at the beginning of the XIV century, Osman Bey began to act relatively independently. He recognized the authority of the Mongol governors and, at their request, sent a well-armed detachment to help the Ilkhans in their campaign in Syria in 1302. 12 However, due to bad weather conditions, his soldiers soon returned back.

  Despite the appearance of the leaders of the Turkmen tribes in Osman Bey's entourage, who assisted him in campaigns aimed at expanding the territory, the bulk of Osman's soldiers were the male population of the beylik. As it gains

  Ottoman beylik and the expansion of its borders, some changes began to take place in the internal structure of the beylik. Part of the population began to engage in agriculture and trade and refused to participate in armed raids. On the other hand, military raids did not generate a stable income that would make it unnecessary to look for other occupations.

  The tribe was dominant in the Ottoman beylik kayy, to which Osman and his ancestors belonged, and no one disputed the rights of this family to lead the beylik. However, there were no strict rules on this score. To become the leader of the Beylik, each member of the Ottoman family had to win the favor of all members of this community, or rather their leaders 13.

  By tradition, all members of this family (House of Osman) participated in the management of the beylik, and one of them was recognized as the supreme ruler. The rest of the family members relatively independently ruled various areas of the beylik, recognizing the supreme power of the ruler. In addition to his family members, the supreme ruler surrounded himself with people who had moved out of the community, and relied on them in government. Thus, the first Ottoman rulers were not the absolute rulers of their beylik. They were the most respected people and were leaders during military raids, as well as protection from the enemy. On the other hand, they had to ensure the safety of their community and ensure justice at its borders. In ensuring order and justice, they were assisted by sheikhs of dervishes and other religious leaders. At the beginning of his reign, Osman Bey relied on the leaders of the brotherhood ahi, who simultaneously participated in the resolution of disputes. For example, the most revered person in the Ottoman Beylik was Sheikh Edebala, who enjoyed great prestige and supported Osman Bey.

  As new territories were seized, Osman Bey gave the administration of these territories, with the right to collect taxes, to members of his family, as well as to tribal leaders and military leaders 14.

  Capturing small towns and villages of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottomans had to maintain order among the sedentary population. For people from a nomadic environment, this was a rather difficult task. It was solved thanks to people who flocked to the Ottoman Beylik from other regions of Anatolia. These people brought with them the laws and orders that existed in their home towns and villages. The Ottoman beylik needed a sedentary population no less than participants in military raids. Nomadic tribes and other population groups came or forcibly moved to the territories occupied by the Ottomans from other regions of Anatolia.

  

  Orhan, son of Osman I.

  V last years life, Osman Bey entrusted the management of the beylik to his son Orhan. After the death of Osman Bey, leaders of various clans and military leaders recognized Orkhan's authority both out of respect for the choice of Osman Bey and on the basis of his personal qualities. Members of the Osman family also recognized Orhan as the head of the beylik. Since there was no established procedure for the transfer of power, all members of the Osman family had to demonstrate to the population, as well as to the military leaders, courage, intelligence, love of justice and other positive character traits that could attract them to their side in the struggle for supreme power. Subsequently, the Ottoman rulers established a certain order for the members of the dynasty to come to power.

  The organizational structure of the Ottoman state carried some specific features that were inherent in other, previously existing Turkic-Islamic states. However, the Ottomans greatly changed the structure of the court and some of the functions of the central and local administration, and also created such institutions of power and administration that their predecessors did not have. These institutions in the Ottoman application acquired their own special features that distinguished them from similar institutions from their predecessors and neighbors.

  The years of Orhan's reign were a transitional period from a border principality to an independent state. Various institutions were formed to govern the state, the Ottoman coin 16 began to be minted. True, in parallel with this, a coin was also minted on behalf of the Ilkhans. However, after the elimination of the Ilkhans in 1335, the Ottoman Beylik became completely independent.

  After the capture of the city of Bursa in 1326, it became necessary to change the composition of the armed forces. At the suggestion of Qadi Bursa Jandarly Kara Khalil, new armed forces were created, which consisted of infantry (yaya) and cavalry ( musell) buildings 17. They were recruited during a military campaign and received 1 acne(later they began to pay 2 acche) per day, while they were on a hike. After the completion of the military campaign, they returned to their usual activities and were exempted from paying taxes. Initially, 1000 people were recruited into each of these corps.

  Even during the reign of Osman Bey there was sofa, which was in the capital of the beylik. This sofa was headed by the ruler of the beylik himself. During the reign of Orkhan Bey, he was first appointed vizir, who dealt with state affairs and participated in the divan with the ruler. The first vizier was Khadzhi Kemaletdin-oglu Alauddin Pasha, who came from the class of ulema. Military issues were dealt with subashi. Thus, before the appointment of Jandarla Khalil Hayretdin Pasha to the post of vizier, military and civil affairs in the beylik were conducted separately. Since Jandarli Khalil Hayretdin Pasha was at the same time beylerbey, he could consider both military and civil cases 18.

  The lands captured during the military raid were distributed to the relatives of the ruler and the commanders of military formations as dirlikov nineteen . In addition, smaller plots of land were distributed to distinguished soldiers. They collected taxes from these lands in their favor and, upon conscription, had to participate in military campaigns. During the reign of Orhan in the regions, which became land grants, they began to send judges-kadiys who were supposed to deal with judicial and administrative issues in these territories. These cadias were subordinate to the chief cadi, who was called the cadi of Bursa. (bursa kadylygy). At first, such qadis, who were educated in madrasahs, came from other Anatolian beyliks, but after the capture of Iznik and Bursa, Orkhan-bey established madrassas in these cities, in which from now on the training of qadis took place.

  During the reign of Orkhan Bey, the post of beylerbey arose, who headed all the armed formations of the beylik. When several beylerbeyes appeared in the country, they began to be appointed governors. (get out) to various provinces (ealety) Ottoman state. During the reign of Orhan, beylerbey was considered the commander of all armed formations 20. At the beginning of the formation of the Ottoman Beylik, its rulers were both tribal leaders and military leaders, and also engaged in civil affairs, regulating various issues. The emergence under Orkhan Bey of the posts of a vizier for the consideration of civil cases and a beylerbey for the leadership of all armed formations raised the status of the ruler himself. Although the ruler participated in the work of the divan and led significant military campaigns, nevertheless, in terms of his status, he stood above the named officials.

  Orkhan Bey expanded the territory of his beylik both by capturing various cities that belonged to Byzantine governors and by smaller tribal formations, most of which were Turkmen tribes. These conquests were an important moment for the strengthening and strengthening of the Ottoman beylik. However, the seizure of the territory of the rather strong beylik Karasi, inhabited by Muslims, co-religionists of the Ottomans, is a more significant event in the history of the Ottoman state. First, the seizure of the territory of this beylik was of strategic importance for expanding the borders of the Ottoman state and gave the Ottomans the opportunity to move to the European part of the Byzantine Empire, where there were great opportunities for military raids. Secondly, along with the expansion of their borders, the Ottomans received numerous manpower resources, with a ready-made military organization, to continue their military campaigns.

  In the middle of the XIV century, the Ottomans began to interfere in the internal affairs of the Byzantine Empire 21. During the fourteen years since the death of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus in 1341 and until 1355, Byzantium became the arena of the struggle for the throne, in which Orhan Bey played an active role. He provided military assistance to Cantacuzen in the fight against John Palaeologus. As a result of this struggle, Orhan's troops managed to gain a foothold in the European part, called the Osmans Rumeli (Rumelia) 22.

  

  Byzantine emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus. Miniature of the XIV century.

  As a result of the strengthening of the Ottomans on the Gelibolu Peninsula, the nature of the usual predatory raids that they made in Anatolia gradually changed. The seizure of lands in order to expand the borders and levy various kinds of duties from the conquered peoples has become increasingly important. At the same time, the Ottomans used a kind of tactics for the conquest of these territories. First akyndzhy, now turned into gaziev(fighters for the faith), made several raids into the territory where it was planned to make a military campaign. As a result of several predatory raids, the local population was already so devastated that it could not offer serious resistance to the advancing military forces. After the seizure of these territories, the previous raids ceased, and the order that existed there usually remained, being only slightly adapted to the order that existed in Ottoman society. Thus, in a short time after the transition to European territory in the middle of the XIV century, a small border beylik turned into a vast state, the territory of which spread from the foothills of the Taurus to the coast of the Danube River. As the territory expanded, the internal structure of this political entity also changed.

  Over time, its rulers began to add various titles to their personal name, which elevated and distinguished them from other commanders. The first rulers of the Ottoman Beylik had only titles hit and gazi the last title underlined their commitment to gazavat, which was seen as conducting a "holy march into non-Muslim territory" 23. The third ruler of the Beylik, Murad Bey, received the title hudaven-digar(a shorter version of this term is hunkar), which spoke of increasing and strengthening the beylik. The next ruler, Bayazid, already called himself "Sultan of Rum" ( sultan-i room), that is, the ruler of the territory belonging to the Byzantine Empire, which among Muslims was known as the "country of Rum" ( diyar-i room).

  Unlike other such beyliks, the Ottomans held in their hands the border areas, which were raided by troops. akyndzhy 24, dependent on the central government - the Ottoman ruler. In turn, the akinja detachments constantly needed an influx of fresh forces interested in military raids for the sake of prey. These forces could be provided to them by the central authority, which was in the hands of the Ottoman family, headed by the most powerful member of this family. All hungry for raids gathered around them, which the Ottoman rulers sent to the border areas under the command of their trusted commanders or members of the Ottoman family. To maintain a strong state, the central government needed successful military raids led by the leaders of the akinja. In turn, to replenish their ranks, the leaders of the akinja gathered around a strong central government. In the Ottoman beylik, the commanders of the akinja detachments constantly felt their dependence on the ruler and recognized his supreme power. This led to their cohesion around the Ottoman ruler 25.

  

  Cristofano del Altissimo. Portrait of Sultan Bayazid.

  Due to the fact that the Ottomans were able to prevent the division of their state between members of the Ottoman family, and also kept the akinja leaders operating in the border territories under their control, they managed to preserve not only the unity of their state, but also its advantages over its neighbors. To achieve this goal, the Ottoman rulers, at the beginning of the formation of the beylik, began to give their sons command of the military forces operating in Rumelia. The commander of the armed forces operating on the territory of Rumelia was the eldest son of Orhan, Suleiman Pasha, and after his death in 1359, the command of these forces passed to his other son, Murad.

  An important factor that distinguished the Ottoman beylik from other Anatolian beyliks was the continued dependence of the leaders of the akinjy-gazi on the central government. For example, such strong clans as Mihalogullar and Evrenosogul-lary, which in their wealth and political power were no different from other independent Anatolian beys, and even surpassed some of them, depended on the central government, which provided them with the necessary human resources, which only by with the permission of the central authorities, they could move to the territory of Rumelia. An important factor was also the fact that after carrying out military raids, these commanders came back to the territory of the Ottoman state and brought the central authorities the necessary information about the desired territory.

  Another important factor was the receipt by the central government of a share in military raids, which accounted for one fifth of all military booty. The foundations of this order were laid during the reign of Orkhan Bey. However, during the reign of Murad I, through the efforts of the Qadi Bursa Jandarla Khalil (later, having received the post of Grand Vizier, he began to be called Hayreddin Pasha) and Kara Rustem, this order also began to apply to prisoners of war 27. Thus, the ruler, even if he himself did not participate in the military campaign, nevertheless received his share of the booty. This led to the accumulation of enormous wealth in the hands of the central government, as well as to an increase in the composition of the Sultan's personal slaves, kapykulu, some of which participated in military campaigns.

  One of important changes in the structure of the military forces was the creation of a second beylerbeing. During the reign of Orkhan Bey, military operations took place mainly in Anatolia. With the expansion of borders, as well as in connection with the need to conduct military operations simultaneously in Anatolia and Rumelia, the need arose for a second Beylerbei; now one beylerbey headed the territorial military forces of Anatolia, the other - Rumelia.

  All the occupied territories of the Ottoman state were given to the commanders who separated during the raid and ordinary akinjs who had done well during the seizure. Some areas, while recognizing the supreme power of the Ottomans, retained their old structure. In return, they had to pay an annual tribute and, if necessary, participate in the military campaigns of the Ottomans. If former rulers the conquered region converted to Islam, then they could retain their power, having received the post sandjakbeya or another senior government official.

  The entire territory of the Ottoman state, with the exception of vassal territories, was divided into sanjaki, which were both military and administrative units 28. Each Ottoman sanjak was ruled by a sandjakbey who was appointed by the Ottoman authorities. However, he had to adhere to certain rules established during the formation of this sanjak and approved by the supreme authorities. When identifying a sanjak, the Ottomans first of all determined its border and created a set of laws for this particular sanjak ( sanjak kanunnamesi): these laws stipulated the amounts and types of various taxes, types of punishment for the guilty and other important moments for the life of this sanjak. A census of all economic units and human forces of a given sanjak was carried out, and these data were entered into special notebooks called defter-i hakani or tahrir defterleri("Cadastral inventories") 29. In such notebooks, each settlement was described separately, indicating the size of the population, all residents, their land plots, what agricultural product is produced in a given area and what is the amount of tax that must be collected from the population of this settlement.

  Notebooks, which indicated the population and the size of the agricultural product produced, were called mufassal defterler("Extensive registries") 30. In special notebooks called ijmal defterlery("Short registers"), the names of all owners were recorded dirlik, located in this sandjak 32. Notebooks with the names of all the owners of the sanjak were kept in the capital, and a copy of it was sent to the sanjak. System dirlik helped to facilitate the collection of taxes by the state, ensured the creation of a disciplined army, and also maintained order on the territory of the state.

  The amount of tax levied was indicated in kanunname sanjaka. The Ottomans designated persons who could collect taxes. Usually, instead of a salary to the ruler of a particular territory, the Ottomans gave him the right to collect certain taxes from this area. This kind of award was called dirlik. Term dirlik was used mainly to express the income given to persons from the estate asceria as timara, zeameta and hassa for their service. Sometimes the term was also used to express an award awarded to government officials and ulema. System dirlik(this system is also called thymar or the military-fief system) 32 facilitated the collection of taxes by the state, ensured the creation of a disciplined army, and also maintained order on the territory of the state.

  Term timar used to denote a dirlik with insignificant annual income. In the 16th century, a law was established providing for an annual income timara up to 20,000 acche. The taxes collected in the countryside were distributed among ordinary soldiers, who were called sipahis. For the commanders, richer dirliks ​​were allocated, the tax on which reached from 20,000 to 100,000 akche. Such dirliks ​​were called zeamat. Even richer settlements or the centers of the sanjaks had hasses, tax revenues from which amounted to more than 100,000 acce. Such hasses were allocated to viziers or other high-ranking officials and military leaders. Sometimes hasses were allocated to the sultans themselves; they received in this case the name hawass-i humayun. The sultans favored such hasses to their mothers or other family members 33.

  It must be emphasized that the dirlik was not a land property. Term dirlik did not mean land, but the annual income collected from a certain territory in favor of the state 34. Sipahi Timariot was not the owner of this land allotment: with the permission of the state, he collected tax from this land allotment in his favor. The dirlik included not only income from a land plot, but also various fees or taxes collected from trade and production, as well as monetary fines levied in this territory. Thus, the owner of the dirlik took part in the management of this territory. Therefore, in the Ottoman state, dirlik performed financial, military and administrative functions. Many historians note that the dirlik system is one of the foundations on which the Ottoman state was built 35.

  The number of dirliks ​​in each sanjak was different. However, in a sandjak with average incomes, there were on average 80-100 timars, 10-15 zeamats, and at least one khass, which belonged to the sanjak ruler, sanjakbay. In the richer sanjaks, there was also a khass allocated for the beylerbey, to which this sanjak was subordinate. In the richest sanjaks, or in the sandjaks with very high rates of collected taxes, there were Hasses of viziers or other high-ranking officials of the Ottoman state. Usually these were important shopping centers, or sanjaks, on the territory of which minerals were mined.

  One of the features of the timar system is that each owner of the dirlik had to participate in military campaigns. Depending on the income from the timar, they were supposed to support a soldier ( jabels). At the announcement of a military gathering, each owner of a dirlik, along with his weapons and a horse, had to come to his sandjakbey. He also had to bring with him a certain number of armed and trained equestrian warriors. The number of such warriors ( jabels) depended on the income received by the timariot and the lower bound of the income set for this timar. In the 15th century, the income from the smallest timar averaged 1000-1500 acche. If the timar brought in income twice as much as the established amount, then the owner had to bring one jabel with him. As the income of the timar increased, the number of jabels that the timariot had to bring with him during the military gathering also increased. Later, in the 16th century, when determining the lowest income of the owner of a timar at 2000 acce, each owner of the timar had to join the military gathering himself and bring with him one jabel for every 2000 acce of income. For example, a timariot with an income of 20,000 acche for the military tax came with 9 jabels. Later, the order changed, and each owner of a timar was obliged to maintain one jabel for every 3000 acce of their income, and the owner of a zeamet or hasse - for every 5000 acce. The Jebeli were fully supported. The owner of the dirlik had to pay all expenses for their maintenance, including the horse, weapons, clothing and food. After the end of the military campaign, such a jabeli was with the owner of the dirlik and carried out his various assignments. Jebeli sanjakbey and beylerbey were in their retinue during the campaign and in peacetime 36. Such jabels were chosen from local young people who sought to show their prowess and strength during a military campaign.

  The owners of the Zeamets and Hasses had to contain and bring with them a large number of armed and trained jabeli warriors. To recruit such soldiers, they used various sources, including prisoners of war. Those recruited from prisoners were called drippers("People who have taken refuge with someone") or kapykulu; it was believed that these people would be faithful servants. Number drippers at rulers were much more than other commanders, and it was they who were called kapykulu("Servants of the court") 37. Kapikhalki other dignitaries were named bend.

  At the beginning of its appearance, the term kapykulu belonged to various permanent military formations that received a salary from the ruler. Later, with the beginning of the application of the system devshirme, kapykul began to include all persons called askeri. Term cool literally means "slave". However, the kapykula cannot be compared to ordinary slaves used in household or agricultural work. These were people selected after being captured or taken from their parents in childhood, and specially trained in various fields to serve Ottoman rulers... The most capable of them could rise to the highest government positions.

  System kapykulu contributed to the strengthening of the power of the ruler of the Ottoman state. During the reign of Sultan Mehmed II Fatih, the entire management elite, except for the posts of qadis and whipped, which were in the hands of people from the class of ulema, in the capital and in the localities began to form from the kapykulu. In a narrow sense, the kapykula can be compared with the courtyard people of the Moscow grand dukes. According to I.E. Zabelin, "the state was ruled not by the state, that is, by the people's zemstvo forces, but by the forces of the sovereign's court, which, secretly, always took precedence in the boyar duma" 38. At their core, they were the privileged slaves of the ruler, who at his discretion could execute them without trial or investigation. After the execution or death of the kapykul, their property passed to the master. Thus, the kapykulu could not inherit their wealth received for serving the ruler.

  

  Gentile Bellini. Portrait of Sultan Mehmed II.

  During the reign of Murad I, the number of captive captives increased greatly. Then it was decided to create new armed forces from the kapykulu, called the Janissaries - (lit. yeni peri("New army")) 39. This contributed to the strengthening of the ruler's power, as well as the dependence of the commanders of the border armed formations, since the increase in the number of well-trained soldiers from the ruler limited the actions and interests of local feudal lords 40.

  In connection with the cessation of military campaigns to Christian territories at the beginning of the 15th century, sources of replenishment of the Janissary corps were lost. During the internecine wars between the sons of Sultan Bayezid I, it became necessary to increase the number of loyal troops that could be constantly "at hand". Since the troops sipahs were in the provinces and could go over to the side of whoever could seize this territory; to replenish the ranks of the kapykulu during the reign of Sultan Murad II, a system was created devshirme 41.

  According to this system, as needed in three or five years, sometimes seven to eight years 43, specially selected officials from the janissary corps were sent to those areas of the state where the non-Muslim population lived and produced a set of boys. Initially, such recruitment was carried out on the territory of Rumelia. Later, it began to be produced in the Anatolian territory of the state 42. At the suggestion of the aga of the Janissary corps, which indicated the required number of boys, a special sultan ferman was published. Until the first half of the 16th century, local rulers produced boys' sets. Then high-ranking officials of the janissary corps began to deal with this. When the official appointed by the Sultan was sent, he was given the Sultan's farman about the recruitment of boys from certain territories, indicating the number of boys for each locality. In addition to the farman, these officials carried a letter from the aga of the Janissaries. Local authorities had to do their best to facilitate the recruitment. The settlements in which the boys were to be recruited were determined in advance. At the appointed time, local authorities gathered all adolescents between the ages of eight and fifteen (depending on the number of boys recruited, this age sometimes reached twenty years) to the centers kaza. Young people came with their parents, accompanied by a local priest; they were obliged to bring church books with them. Usually, one boy was taken from every forty households 43, paying attention to appearance, growth and other external data. When examining the boys, in order to avoid any misunderstandings, the local cadi and sipahs or his representative. The official looked through the church books and selected the boys by age. Preference was given to boys between the ages of 14 and 18. If among them there were married, then they were immediately released to their homes. If someone had two children at this age, then only one of them was taken away. The only son of the family and the orphan were not taken away either. The sons of the village headman, brawlers, the sons of shepherds, and those circumcised from birth were considered unfit for recruitment. In addition, boys who knew the Turkish language, were engaged in some kind of craft, who traveled to Istanbul and were undersized were rejected. They tried to take boys of average height, and tall boys were selected specifically for the service. bostanjs in a palace.

  After the capture of Bosnia, the system devshirme embraced children who converted to Islam local residents... They were called potur ogullary and were intended for palace service and service in bostanjy ojagy. They were not given to the Janissary corps. Besides, in devshirme they did not take the children of some peoples and from some specific places. For example, it was forbidden to take Turkic, Russian, Iranian, Gypsy and Kurdish children, as well as boys from the area of ​​Harput, Diyarbakir and Malatya 45.

  The selected boys were sent to the capital in groups of 100 or 200. The leaders of these groups were given lists of boys so that on the way they could not replace some boys with others. Therefore, after the selection of the required number of boys, special notebooks were drawn up, with a list of the names of the boys, indicating the native village and sanjaka, names of parents, name sipahs, to whom this family paid taxes, dates of birth and external signs. Such notebooks were drawn up in duplicate, one of which was at the head of the group for delivering boys to the capital. The second notebook remained with the official responsible for the recruitment. In the capital, these notebooks were compared and subsequently kept by the aga janissaries 46.

  When sent to the capital, boys were dressed in golden outerwear and a cone-shaped headdress. The money for these clothes was collected in the form of a tax from the population of the same localities in the amount of 90-100 acre for each boy. Over time, this amount increased and at the beginning of the 17th century it reached 600 acce 47.

  Two or three days after arriving in the capital, the boys converted to Islam. After that, they were examined by the agha of the Janissary corps and the surgeon ajemi ojagi. Then the Sultan personally examined the arriving boys and selected the ones he liked for the palace. Some were selected for bostanji ojagi 49. The remaining boys were given for a small fee to Turkish peasants, so that they would learn the language for several years and be introduced to agricultural life. A few years later, these boys were enrolled in the corps ajemi. After serving there for several years, they were transferred to the Janissary corps.

  The boys selected for the palace were transferred to the palaces of Edirne, Galata and Ibrahim Pasha, where they began their studies. After a certain time, the most prepared boys from these palaces were transferred to the Enderun school. For them, there were also certain rules for further advancement in the career 50.

  Another feature of the sanjak was that in each sanjak, a qadi was appointed from the center for a period of one or two years, whose responsibility was to control the application of Sharia and Ottoman ( orphy) laws in sanjaks. But the qadis also participated in the day-to-day management of the Sanjaks, as they constantly reminded the local population of their rights and obligations to the authorities. Despite the difference in functions, the qadis had to cooperate with the rulers of the sanjak in their daily affairs and administration and thus “contributed to the establishment of the autocratic principles of the Ottoman regime” 51. Such a territorial management system was applied before the formation of the Ottoman state in other political formations. However, the Ottomans followed a stricter application of this system, especially in the conquered territories in the European part of the state. In addition, the owners of timars, who belonged to the military class askeri, and the qadis, belonging to the spiritual class of the ulema, were to jointly participate in the administration of the territory entrusted to them.

  The Ottoman state was characterized by the absence of a serious struggle between the sons of the rulers for the paternal throne during the formative years of the state. The Ottomans used the power struggle in the Karasi beylik, as a result of which this beylik ended up in their hands 52. The internal political struggle for the throne, which took place not only in this beilik, but also in the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria and Serbia, contributed to the expansion of the borders of the Ottoman state due to the weakening and territorial losses of these states. After the death of Osman Bey, his son Orkhan Bey took his father's place. According to the chroniclers, his brother had no claim to supreme power 53. In addition, Orkhan, during his father's lifetime, began to perform some of his functions as the supreme ruler. At the time of Orhan's death, his son Murad was the most experienced member of the ruling family. After coming to power, he eliminated two of his younger brothers who could pose a threat to his rule. When Savja's son rebelled against his father, Murad I instructed another son, Bayazed, to oppose him. Bayazed soon caught and executed his brother. After elevating him to his vacated father's throne by the commanders who participated in the Battle of Kosovo, Bayazed immediately killed his brother Yakub-bey, who commanded the troops of the armed forces and did not know about the death of his father. Thus, the Ottomans during the formation of the state managed to avoid the struggle between the brothers for supreme power, which faced them in subsequent years.

  In the Ottoman beilik (later in the Ottoman state), the supreme power belonged to the ruling family, the head of which was simultaneously considered the head of the beilik (later of the state and the empire) and was called ulu bey(senior or great bey) 54. Other family members held the title hit. Management of important key territories, with the exception of the border areas, where the akinjy-gazi commanders operated, was entrusted to members of the ruling family. At the head of the troops of this sanjak, at the call of the supreme power, they participated in military campaigns. The lack of rules for coming to power created certain difficulties after the death of the ruler. To gain the throne, they had to win over experienced and strong commanders, as well as viziers, beylerbeys and leaders. ahi. It was practically impossible to come to power without their support.

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  Having become the ruler of the mountainous region, Osman received the title of bey from the Seljuk sultan in 1289. Having come to power, Osman immediately set out to conquer the Byzantine lands and made the first captured Byzantine town Melangia his residence.

  Osman was born in a small mountainous area of ​​the Seljuk Sultanate. Osman's father, Ertogrul, received the neighboring Byzantine lands from the Sultan Ala ad-Din. The Turkic tribe, to which Osman belonged, considered the seizure of neighboring territories a sacred deed.

  After the escape of the deposed Seljuk sultan in 1299, Osman created independent state based on your own beylik. For the first years of the XIV century. the founder of the Ottoman Empire managed to significantly expand the territory of the new state and moved his headquarters to the fortress city of Episehir. Immediately after this, the Ottoman army began to raid the Byzantine cities located on the Black Sea coast, and the Byzantine regions in the Dardanelles Strait.

  The Ottoman dynasty was continued by Osman's son Orhan, who began his military career with the successful capture of Bursa, a powerful fortress in Asia Minor. Orhan declared the prosperous fortified city the capital of the state and ordered the minting of the first coin of the Ottoman Empire, the silver akce, to begin. In 1337, the Turks won several brilliant victories and occupied territories up to the Bosphorus, making the conquered Ismit the main shipyard of the state. At the same time, Orhan annexed the neighboring Turkish lands, and by 1354, under his rule were the northwestern part of Asia Minor to the eastern shores of the Dardanelles, part of its European coast, including the city of Galliopolis, and Ankara, recaptured from the Mongols.

  Orhan's son Murad I became the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire, who added territory near Ankara to its possessions and set off on a military campaign to Europe.

  Murad was the first sultan of the Ottoman dynasty and a true champion of Islam. The first schools in Turkish history began to be built in the cities of the country.

  After the very first victories in Europe (the conquest of Thrace and Plovdiv), a stream of Turkic settlers poured onto the European coast.

  The sultans fastened the firman decrees with their own imperial monogram - tugra. The intricate oriental pattern included the name of the Sultan, the name of his father, title, motto, and the epithet "always victorious."

  New conquests

  Murad paid much attention to the improvement and strengthening of the army. For the first time in history, a professional army was created. In 1336, the ruler formed a corps of janissaries, which later became the Sultan's personal bodyguard. In addition to the janissaries, the Sipah cavalry army was created, and as a result of these fundamental changes, the Turkish army became not only numerous, but also unusually disciplined and powerful.

  In 1371, on the Maritza River, the Turks defeated the united army of the southern European states and captured Bulgaria and part of Serbia.

  The next brilliant victory was won by the Turks in 1389, when the Janissaries took up firearms for the first time. That year, the historic battle took place on the Kossovo field, when, after defeating the crusaders, the Ottoman Turks annexed a significant part of the Balkans to their lands.

  Murad's son Bayazid continued his father's policy in everything, but unlike him, he was distinguished by cruelty and indulged in debauchery. Bayazid completed the defeat of Serbia and turned it into a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, becoming the sovereign master in the Balkans.

  For the rapid movements of the army and energetic actions, Sultan Bayazid received the nickname Ilderim (Lightning). During a lightning march in 1389-1390. he subdued Anatolia, after which the Turks took possession of almost the entire territory of Asia Minor.

  Bayazid had to fight simultaneously on two fronts - with the Byzantines and the Crusaders. On September 25, 1396, the Turkish army defeated a huge army of crusaders, gaining control over all the Bulgarian lands. On the side of the Turks, according to the description of contemporaries, more than 100,000 people fought. Many noble Europeans-crusaders were taken prisoner, later they were ransomed for huge sums of money. In the capital of the Ottoman Sultan, caravans of pack animals with gifts of Emperor Charles VI of France were drawn: gold and silver coins, silk fabrics, carpets from Arras with paintings woven on them from the life of Alexander the Great, hunting falcons from Norway and many others. True, Bayazid did not make further trips to Europe, distracted by the eastern danger from the Mongols.

  After the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople in 1400, the Turks had to fight the Tatar army of Timur. On July 25, 1402, one of the greatest battles of the Middle Ages took place, during which an army of Turks (about 150,000 people) and an army of Tatars (about 200,000 people) met near Ankara. Timur's army, in addition to well-trained soldiers, was armed with more than 30 war elephants - a fairly powerful weapon in an offensive. The Janissaries, showing extraordinary courage and strength, were nevertheless defeated, and Bayazid was captured. Timur's army plundered the entire Ottoman Empire, destroyed or captured thousands of people, burned down the most beautiful cities and towns.

  Muhammad I ruled the empire from 1413 to 1421. Throughout his reign, Muhammad was on good terms with Byzantium, turning his main attention to the situation in Asia Minor and making the first trip to Venice in the history of the Turks, which ended in failure.

  Murad II, the son of Muhammad I, ascended the throne in 1421. He was a just and energetic ruler who devoted much time to the development of the arts and urban planning. Murad, coping with internal strife, made a successful campaign, capturing the Byzantine city of Thessalonica. The battles of the Turks against the Serbian, Hungarian and Albanian armies were no less successful. In 1448, after Murad's victory over the united army of the crusaders, the fate of all the peoples of the Balkans was sealed - for several centuries Turkish rule hung over them.

  Before the start of the historic battle in 1448 between the united European army and the Turks through the ranks of the Ottoman army, a letter was carried at the tip of a spear with the armistice agreement, violated once again. Thus, the Ottomans showed that they were not interested in peace treaties - only battles and only offensive.

  From 1444 to 1446 the empire was ruled by the Turkish sultan Muhammad II, the son of Murad II.

  The rule of this sultan for 30 years turned the state into a world empire. Starting his reign with the now traditional execution of relatives who potentially claimed the throne, the ambitious young man showed his strength. Muhammad, nicknamed the Conqueror, became a tough and even cruel ruler, but at the same time he had an excellent education and spoke four languages. The Sultan invited scientists and poets from Greece and Italy to his court, and allocated a lot of funds for the construction of new buildings and the development of art. The sultan set the conquest of Constantinople as his main task, and at the same time treated its implementation very thoroughly. In March 1452, opposite the Byzantine capital, the fortress of Rumelihisar was founded, in which they installed the latest cannons and placed a strong garrison.

  As a result, Constantinople was cut off from the Black Sea region, with which it was tied by trade. In the spring of 1453, a huge Turkish land army and a powerful fleet approached the Byzantine capital. The first assault on the city was not crowned with success, but the sultan ordered not to retreat and organize the preparation of a new assault. After being dragged to the bay of Constantinople along the deck of part of the ships specially built over the iron barrage chains, the city found itself in a ring of Turkish troops. Battles were fought daily, but the Greek defenders of the city showed examples of courage and tenacity.

  The siege was not a strong point for the Ottoman army, and the Turks won only due to the thorough encirclement of the city, the numerical superiority of forces by about 3.5 times and thanks to the presence of siege weapons, cannons and a powerful mortar with cannonballs weighing 30 kg. Before the main assault on Constantinople, Muhammad invited the inhabitants to surrender, promising to spare them, but, to his great amazement, they refused.

  A general assault was launched on May 29, 1453, and elite janissaries, supported by artillery, broke into the gates of Constantinople. For 3 days the Turks plundered the city and killed Christians, and the Hagia Sophia temple was later turned into a mosque. Turkey has become a real world power, proclaiming the most ancient city as its capital.

  In subsequent years, Muhammad made the conquered Serbia his province, conquered Moldova, Bosnia, a little later - Albania and captured all of Greece. At the same time, the Turkish sultan conquered vast territories in Asia Minor and became the ruler of the entire Asia Minor peninsula. But he did not stop there either: in 1475 the Turks captured many Crimean cities and the city of Tanu at the mouth of the Don on the Sea of ​​Azov. Crimean Khan officially recognized the authority of the Ottoman Empire. Following this, the territories of Safavid Iran were conquered, and in 1516 Syria, Egypt and Hejaz with Medina and Mecca were under the sultan's rule.

  At the beginning of the XVI century. the conquest campaigns of the empire were directed to the east, south and west. In the east, Selim I the Terrible defeated the Safavids and annexed the eastern part of Anatolia and Azerbaijan to his state. In the south, the Ottomans suppressed the warlike Mamluks and took control of trade routes along the coast of the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, in North Africa they reached Morocco. In the west, Suleiman the Magnificent in the 1520s. captured Belgrade, Rhodes, Hungarian lands.

  At the peak of power

  The Ottoman Empire entered the stage of its highest flowering at the very end of the 15th century. under Sultan Selim I and his successor Suleiman the Magnificent, who achieved a significant expansion of territories and established a reliable centralized government of the country. The reign of Suleiman went down in history as the "golden age" of the Ottoman Empire.

  Starting from the first years of the 16th century, the Turkish empire became the most powerful state in the Old World. Contemporaries who visited the lands of the empire, in their notes and memoirs, enthusiastically described the wealth and luxury of this country.

  Suleiman the Magnificent
  Sultan Suleiman is the legendary ruler of the Ottoman Empire. During his reign (1520-1566), the huge power became even larger, cities more beautiful, palaces more luxurious. Suleiman (Fig. 9) also went down in history under the nickname Legislator.

  Having become a sultan at the age of 25, Suleiman significantly expanded the borders of the state, capturing Rhodes in 1522, Mesopotamia in 1534, and Hungary in 1541.

  The ruler of the Ottoman Empire has traditionally been called Sultan, a title of Arab origin. It is considered correct to use terms such as "shah", "padishah", "khan", "caesar", which came from different peoples under the rule of the Turks.

  Suleiman contributed to the cultural prosperity of the country; during his reign, beautiful mosques and luxurious palaces were built in many cities of the empire. The famous emperor was a good poet, leaving his works under the pseudonym Muhibbi (in love with God). During the reign of Suleiman, the remarkable Turkish poet Fizuli lived and worked in Baghdad, who wrote the poem "Leyla and Medjun". The nickname Sultan Among Poets was given to Mahmud Abd al-Baqi, who served at the court of Suleiman, who reflected the life of the high society of the state in his poems.

  The Sultan entered into a legal marriage with the legendary Roksolana, nicknamed the Ridiculous, one of the slaves of Slavic origin in the harem. Such an act was exceptional at that time and according to the Sharia. Roksolana gave birth to an heir to the Sultan, the future emperor Suleiman II, and devoted a lot of time to patronage. The spouse of the Sultan had great influence on him in diplomatic affairs, especially in relations with Western countries.

  In order to leave a memory of himself in stone, Suleiman invited the famous architect Sinan to create mosques in Istanbul. The emperor's associates also erected large religious buildings with the help of the famous architect, as a result of which the capital was noticeably transformed.

  Harems
  Harems with several wives and concubines, permitted by Islam, could only be afforded by wealthy people. Sultan's harems have become an integral part of the empire, its hallmark.

  Harems, except for the sultans, were possessed by viziers, beys, emirs. The overwhelming majority of the population of the empire had one wife each, as it should be in the entire Christian world. Islam officially allowed a Muslim to have four wives and several slaves.

  The Sultan's harem, which gave rise to many legends and traditions, was in fact a complex organization with strict internal orders. This system was ruled by the Sultan's mother, "Valide Sultan". Her main assistants were eunuchs and slaves. It is clear that the life and power of the ruler of the Sultan directly depended on the fate of her high-ranking son.

  In the harem lived girls captured during the wars or acquired in the slave markets. Regardless of their nationality and religion, before entering the harem, all the girls became Muslims and learned the traditional arts of Islam - embroidery, singing, conversation skills, music, dancing, and literature.

  Being in the harem for a long time, its inhabitants passed several steps and titles. At first they were called jariye (beginners), then quite soon they were renamed shagirt (students), over time they became gedikli (companions) and usta (craftswomen).

  There were also isolated cases in history when the sultan recognized the concubine as his legal wife. This happened more often when the concubine gave birth to the long-awaited son-heir to the ruler. A striking example is Suleiman the Magnificent, who married Roksolana.

  Only girls who reached the level of craftswomen could gain the sultan's attention. From among them, the ruler chose his constant mistresses, favorites and concubines. Many representatives of the harem, who became the sultan's mistresses, were awarded their own housing, jewelry and even slaves.

  Legal marriage was not provided for by Sharia, but the sultan chose four wives from all the inhabitants of the harem, who were in a privileged position. Of these, the main one became the one who gave birth to the sultan's son.

  After the death of the Sultan, all his wives and concubines were sent to the Old Palace outside the city. The new ruler of the state could allow retired beauties to marry or go to his harem.