# The Ottoman Empire > Osman's small frontier state grows into the Balkans, survives defeat by Timur, takes Constantinople in 1453, conquers Egypt and the holy cities under Selim, reaches Vienna under Suleiman, rules through the devshirme, Janissaries and millets, projects power from the Mediterranean to Aceh, turns back from Vienna in 1683, attempts Tanzimat reform, and ends after the First World War with the founding of the Republic of Turkey. Episode 10 of the World Empires series. Interactive film: https://www.planetpast.com/stories/empires-ottoman/ Publisher: PlanetPast (https://www.planetpast.com/) · Published 2026-10-13 · History ## Prologue ### The Ottoman Empire *World Empires · Episode 10* Six centuries on three continents. Around 1290, Anatolia was a patchwork. The Seljuk Turkish sultanate had been broken by the Mongols, and many small Turkish principalities, called beyliks, competed for land. To the west lay what was left of the Byzantine Empire, still ruling from Constantinople. Prologue · Episode 10 of the World Empires series #### A frontier of many lords Turkish-speaking peoples had moved into Anatolia from Central Asia since the 1000s. On the Byzantine frontier, warriors, dervishes and farmers mixed, and Greek and Turkish were both heard. Grey outlines show other powers of the time. Outlines are approximate. Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) ## Chapter I · Rise ### Osman’s small state *Chapter I · 1299–1354* The house of Osman. One beylik, led by a chief named Osman, lay right on the Byzantine border near Söğüt. Tradition dates its founding to 1299. The dynasty took his name: Osmanlı, in English, Ottoman. His son Orhan took the Byzantine city of Bursa in 1326 and made it his capital. In 1354, after an earthquake damaged its walls, the Ottomans took Gallipoli, their first foothold in Europe. Chapter I · Step 1 #### Osman’s small state - c. 1299 Osman I, traditional founding - 1326 Bursa taken; first capital - 1354 Gallipoli: a foothold in Europe Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) ### Into the Balkans *Chapter I · 1354–1402* Victory, then near-collapse. The Ottomans spread through the Balkans and moved their capital to Edirne. In 1389 they defeated a Serbian-led army at Kosovo. By 1400 Constantinople was an island of Byzantine rule inside Ottoman lands. Then in 1402 Timur, a conqueror from Central Asia, crushed the Ottoman army at Ankara and captured Sultan Bayezid. The state nearly broke apart, but recovered within twenty years. Chapter I · Step 2 #### Into the Balkans - 1360s Edirne becomes the capital - 1389 Battle of Kosovo - 1396 Nicopolis: crusade defeated - 1402 Ankara: defeat by Timur Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) ### Constantinople *Chapter I · 1453* The end of Rome, the start of Istanbul. Sultan Mehmed II, aged 21, besieged Constantinople in April 1453. Giant cannons pounded its thousand-year-old walls, and ships were hauled over land into the Golden Horn. On 29 May the city fell. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, died in the fighting. The Hagia Sophia became a mosque. Mehmed made the city his capital and brought in settlers of many faiths. For the Ottomans, he was now also “Caesar of Rome”. Chapter I · Step 3 #### Constantinople - **Siege**: 6 Apr – 29 May 1453 - **Mehmed II**: “the Conqueror” This is where Episode 06 ended: the last remnant of the Roman Empire. Sources: [Wikipedia: Fall of Constantinople](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople); [UNESCO: Historic Areas of Istanbul](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/356/) ## Chapter II · Height ### Selim the Grim *Chapter II · 1512–1520* The empire doubles in eight years. Sultan Selim I defeated the Shia Safavids of Iran at Chaldiran in 1514, thanks largely to cannon and muskets. In 1516 and 1517 he destroyed the Mamluk Sultanate and took Syria, Egypt, and the protection of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Ottoman sultans now presented themselves as leaders of the whole Sunni Muslim world, and later also used the title of caliph (Episode 07). Chapter II · Step 4 #### Selim the Grim - 1514 Chaldiran: Safavids defeated - 1516 Marj Dabiq: Syria taken - 1517 Cairo taken; Mamluks end Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) ### Suleiman the Magnificent *Chapter II · 1520–1566* The lawgiver at the gates of Vienna. Suleiman I took Belgrade in 1521 and Rhodes in 1522. In 1526 he destroyed the Hungarian army at Mohács, and in 1529 besieged Vienna, but failed to take it. In the east he took Baghdad in 1534. Ottoman power now reached from Hungary to the Persian Gulf. Ottomans remember him as Kanuni, the Lawgiver. His architect, Mimar Sinan, built the Süleymaniye mosque and hundreds of other buildings. Chapter II · Step 5 #### Suleiman the Magnificent - 1521 Belgrade - 1526 Mohács: Hungary defeated - 1529 First siege of Vienna fails - 1534 Baghdad - 1550–1557 Süleymaniye mosque Sources: [Britannica: Suleyman the Magnificent](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Suleyman-the-Magnificent) ### How the empire worked *Chapter II · 16th century* Slaves who ruled, and communities that governed themselves. Through the devshirme, Christian boys from the Balkans were taken from their families, converted to Islam and trained as soldiers or officials. The best rose to become grand viziers. The Janissaries, an elite infantry with firearms, were drawn from them. Cavalrymen were paid with the income of land grants called timars. Religious communities, called millets, such as Orthodox Christians and Jews, ran their own courts, schools and charities under their own leaders. Chapter II · Step 6 #### How the empire worked - devshirme Levy of Christian boys for state service - Janissaries Elite infantry with firearms - timar Land income in return for cavalry service - millet Self-governing religious communities For many, the devshirme was a cruel separation; for some families it was also a path to power. Historians stress both. Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) ### A sea power *Chapter II · 1538–1571* From the Mediterranean to Sumatra. Under the admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Ottoman fleet beat a Christian alliance at Preveza in 1538 and dominated the Mediterranean. In the Indian Ocean, the Ottomans competed with the Portuguese. In the 1560s, the Sultan of Aceh in Sumatra asked for help, and Ottoman gunners and cannon were sent. In 1571 a Holy League fleet destroyed the Ottoman navy at Lepanto. The Ottomans rebuilt it within a year, but their naval expansion slowed. Chapter II · Step 7 #### A sea power - 1538 Preveza: Ottoman victory - 1560s Ottoman aid to Aceh, Sumatra - 1571 Lepanto: Ottoman defeat Episode 07 told how Islam reached Southeast Asia through trade; the Ottoman link with Aceh came much later. Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman expedition to Aceh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_expedition_to_Aceh); [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) ## Chapter III · Long decline ### Vienna again *Chapter III · 1683–1699* The tide turns. In 1683, near its greatest size, the empire besieged Vienna a second time. A relief army led by the Polish king Jan Sobieski broke the siege. A long war followed. By the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, the Ottomans lost most of Hungary. It was the first major treaty in which the Ottomans gave up large lands to European powers. Chapter III · Step 8 #### Vienna again - **Peak area**: ~5.2M km² c. 1683 - **Second siege of Vienna**: 1683 - **Treaty of Karlowitz**: 1699 Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire); [Wikipedia: List of largest empires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires) ### Reform under pressure *Chapter III · 1774–1878* The “sick man of Europe” tries to modernise. Russia defeated the Ottomans in 1774. Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798. Greece won independence in 1830, and Egypt became autonomous under its governors. Sultans tried to catch up. In 1826 the Janissaries were abolished. The Tanzimat reforms from 1839 promised equality for all subjects, new schools and new laws. In 1876 the empire adopted its first constitution and parliament, though the sultan suspended them two years later. Chapter III · Step 9 #### Reform under pressure - 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca with Russia - 1826 Janissaries abolished - 1830 Greek independence - 1839 Tanzimat reforms begin - 1876 First constitution Sources: [Wikipedia: Tanzimat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzimat) ### Revolution and world war *Chapter III · 1908–1918* The last decade. In 1908 the Young Turks forced the sultan to restore the constitution. The empire then lost almost all its Balkan lands in the wars of 1912 and 1913. In 1914 it entered the First World War on Germany’s side. It defeated an Allied landing at Gallipoli in 1915. In 1915 and 1916 the government deported Armenians from Anatolia; hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million, died. Most historians and many countries call this genocide; Turkey rejects the term. An Arab revolt and British armies took the Arab provinces. In 1918 the empire surrendered. Chapter III · Step 10 #### Revolution and world war - 1908 Young Turk Revolution - 1912–1913 Balkan Wars - 1915 Gallipoli - 1915–1916 Deportation and mass killing of Armenians - 1916–1918 Arab Revolt - Oct 1918 Armistice of Mudros Sources: [Wikipedia: Armenian genocide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_genocide); [Wikipedia: Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Ottoman_Empire) ## Chapter IV · The end ### From empire to republic *Chapter IV · 1918–1924* The house of Osman leaves. The victors planned to divide even Anatolia. A national movement led by Mustafa Kemal fought back from Ankara and won the Turkish War of Independence. The sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922, and the last sultan left on a British warship. On 29 October 1923 the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed, with Ankara as its capital. In 1924 the caliphate was abolished too. Chapter IV · Step 11 #### From empire to republic - 1919–1923 Turkish War of Independence - 1 Nov 1922 Sultanate abolished - 29 Oct 1923 Republic of Turkey - 1924 Caliphate abolished Sources: [Wikipedia: Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Ottoman_Empire) ## Epilogue ### Six hundred years *Epilogue* One of history’s longest-lived empires. The Ottoman dynasty ruled for over six hundred years, longer than almost any other. Its lands now belong to dozens of countries, from Algeria to Iraq and from Hungary to Yemen. Its food, music, architecture and words are shared across the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa. Next: the Americas, where the Aztec and Inca empires rose and fell just as the Ottomans reached their peak. Epilogue #### Six hundred years - 1299 Osman - 1453 Constantinople - 1520–1566 Suleiman - 1683 Vienna; peak size - 1922 Sultanate abolished #### The series - **00**The Rise and Fall of Empires (overview) - **01**The First Empires: Mesopotamia - **02**Egypt of the Pharaohs - **03**Persia and Alexander - **04**The Maurya Empire of India - **05**China Unified: Qin and Han - **06**Rome - **07**The Islamic Caliphates - **08**The Khmer Empire of Angkor - **09**The Mongol Empire - **10** The Ottoman Empire (this film) - **11**The Aztec and Inca Empires - **12**The Age of Sea Empires - **13**The End of Empires The still images on the chapter cards are AI-generated illustrations. Outlines are approximate. Sources: [Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire); [Wikipedia: Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Ottoman_Empire); [Wikipedia: List of largest empires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires)