(since the decline of Byzantium), was formed in Anatolia by Turkic tribes. The state existed until 1922 - the moment of the formation of the Turkish Republic. Named after the first sultan - the founder
At the beginning of his reign, the Sultan expanded his inheritance, annexing territories from the Marmara and Black Seas, a significant part of the land west of the Sakarya River.
After Osman's death, Orhan ascended the throne. During his reign, the capital of the state was established - Bursa (a former Byzantine city).
After Orhan, his eldest son Murad 1 became the ruler. This great statesman managed to strengthen the presence of his state’s troops in Europe. Murad 1 defeated the Serbian prince in 1389. As a result of this battle, the Ottoman Empire acquired most of the southern territory of the Danube.
The system of government in the country was built on a combination of Byzantine, Seljuk and Arab traditions and customs. In the lands that the Ottomans conquered, they tried to preserve local traditions as much as possible and not destroy historically established relations.
The territory of the Ottoman Empire expanded even further during the reign of Murad 1's son, Bayezid 1. The most significant victory was the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 (on the Danube). However, despite external prosperity, the Ottoman Empire experienced quite serious difficulties, both external and internal. Mainly, the ruler's mannered behavior, his huge harem, and elaborate ceremonies in the palace irritated many ghazis. In addition, Bayezid's campaigns against Muslims and other ghazis in Asia Minor also caused concern. As a result, most of the local beys went over to Tamerlane and convinced him to start a war against the Ottoman ruler.
As a result of the battle in 1402, Bayazid's army was defeated and the ruler himself was captured. The Ottoman Empire was fragmented as a result of Tamerlane's subsequent campaigns. However, the sultans retained power over some territories of the country.
During the 15th century, the Ottoman state pursued a policy of internal reconstruction and external expansion and strengthening of borders.
The 16th century became “golden” for the empire. During this period, the country was ruled by Suleiman 1, who attached great importance to strengthening the naval power of the state. The mid-16th century saw the heyday of architecture and literature.
In the Ottoman Empire at that time feudal relations dominated, and military organization and the administrative system were structured by legislation.
It should be noted that after this time (after the reign of Suleiman 1) most of the sultans turned out to be rather weak rulers. At the beginning of the 17th century, a government reform was carried out in the state. Previously, there was a rather cruel tradition in the empire - the sultan who ascended the throne killed all his brothers. Since 1603, the brothers of the rulers and their relatives were imprisoned in a special, remote part of the palace, where they spent their entire lives, until the death of the ruler. When the Sultan died, the eldest of the prisoners took his place. As a result, almost all the sultans who reigned in the 17th and 18th centuries were not intellectually developed and, of course, had no political experience. Due to the fact that there was no worthy ruler, the huge country began to lose its unity, and the power itself began to weaken very quickly.
As a result, the Ottoman Empire lost much of its power in the Mediterranean in the 18th century. The end of the Seven Years' War provoked new attacks on the state. Thus, the empire acquired, in addition to the old enemy of Austria, a new enemy - Russia.
Start
The transformation of the Ottoman Empire from a tiny state in Asia Minor in the mid-15th century to the greatest empire in Europe and the Middle East by the mid-16th century was dramatic. In less than a century, the Ottoman dynasty destroyed Byzantium and became the undisputed leaders of the Islamic world, wealthy patrons of a sovereign culture, and rulers of an empire stretching from the Atlas Mountains to the Caspian Sea. The key moment in this rise is considered to be the capture of the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople, by Mehmed 2 in 1453, the capture of which turned the Ottoman state into a powerful power.
History of the Ottoman Empire in chronological order
The 1515 peace treaty concluded with Persia allowed the Ottomans to gain the regions of Diyarbakir and Mosul (which were located on the upper reaches of the Tigris River).
Also, between 1516 and 1520, Sultan Selim 1 (reigned 1512 - 1520) expelled the Safivids from Kurdistan and also destroyed the Mameluke power. Selim, with the help of artillery, defeated the Mameluke army at Dolbec and took Damascus; he subsequently subjugated the territory of Syria, took possession of Mecca and Medina.
S ultan Selim 1
Selim then approached Cairo. Having no other opportunity to capture Cairo except by a long and bloody struggle, for which his army was not prepared, he offered the inhabitants of the city to surrender in exchange for various favors; the residents gave up. Immediately the Turks carried out a terrible massacre in the city. After the conquest of the Holy Places, Mecca and Medina, Selim proclaimed himself caliph. He appointed a pasha to rule Egypt, but left next to him 24 rains of Mamelukes (who were considered subordinate to the pasha, but had limited independence with the ability to complain about the pasha to the Sultan).
Selim is one of the cruel sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Execution of their relatives (the Sultan’s father and brothers were executed on his orders); repeated executions of countless prisoners captured during military campaigns; executions of nobles.
The capture of Syria and Egypt from the Mamelukes made Ottoman territories an integral part of a vast network of overland caravan routes from Morocco to Beijing. At one end of this trade network were the spices, medicines, silks and, later, porcelain of the East; on the other - gold dust, slaves, precious stones and other goods from Africa, as well as textiles, glass, hardware, wood from Europe.
The struggle between Ottoman and Europe
The reaction of Christian Europe to the rapid rise of the Turks was contradictory. Venice sought to maintain as large a share as possible in trade with the Levant - even ultimately at the expense of its own territory, and King Francis 1 of France openly entered into an alliance with (reigned 1520 - 1566) against the Austrian Habsburgs.
The Reformation and the subsequent Counter-Reformation led to the fact that they helped the slogan of the Crusades, which once united all of Europe against Islam, to become a thing of the past.
After his victory at Mohács in 1526, Suleiman 1 reduced Hungary to the status of his vassal and captured a significant part of European territories - from Croatia to the Black Sea. The siege of Vienna by Ottoman troops in 1529 was lifted due to winter cold and long distances, which made it more difficult to supply the army from Turkey than due to the opposition of the Habsburgs. Ultimately, the Turks' entry into the long religious war with Safavid Persia saved Habsburg Central Europe.
The peace treaty of 1547 assigned the entire south of Hungary to the Ottoman Empire until Ofen was turned into an Ottoman province, divided into 12 sanjaks. Ottoman rule in Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania was consolidated by peace from 1569. The reason for such peace conditions was the large amount of money that was given by Austria to bribe Turkish nobles. The war between the Turks and the Venetians ended in 1540. The Ottomans were given the last territories of Venice in Greece and on the islands in the Aegean Sea. The war with the Persian Empire also bore fruit. The Ottomans took Baghdad (1536) and occupied Georgia (1553). This was the dawn of the power of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire's fleet sailed unhindered in the Mediterranean.
The Christian-Turkish border on the Danube reached a kind of equilibrium after the death of Suleiman. In the Mediterranean, the Turkish conquest of the northern coast of Africa was facilitated by a naval victory at Preveza, but the initially successful offensive of Emperor Charles 5 in Tunisia in 1535 and the extremely important Christian victory at Lepanto in 1571 restored the status quo: rather conventionally, the maritime border ran along a line running through Italy, Sicily and Tunisia. However, the Turks managed to restore their fleet in a short time.
Equilibrium time
Despite endless wars, trade between Europe and the Levant was never completely suspended. European merchant ships continued to arrive in Iskenderun or Tripoli, in Syria, in Alexandria. Cargoes were transported across the Ottoman and Saphivid Empires in caravans that were carefully organized, safe, regular, and often faster than European ships. The same caravan system brought Asian goods to Europe from Mediterranean ports. Until the mid-17th century, this trade flourished, enriching the Ottoman Empire and guaranteeing the Sultan's exposure to European technology.
Mehmed 3 (ruled 1595 - 1603) upon his accession executed 27 of his relatives, but he was not a bloodthirsty sultan (the Turks gave him the nickname the Just). But in reality, the empire was led by his mother, with the support of great viziers, often replacing each other. The period of his reign coincided with the war against Austria, which began under the previous Sultan Murad 3 in 1593 and ended in 1606, during the era of Ahmed 1 (reigned from 1603 to 1617). The Peace of Zsitvatorok in 1606 marked a turning point in relation to the Ottoman Empire and Europe. According to it, Austria was not subject to new tribute; on the contrary, it was freed from the previous one. Only a one-time payment of indemnity in the amount of 200,000 florins. From this moment on, the Ottoman lands did not increase anymore.
Beginning of decline
The most costly of the wars between the Turks and Persians broke out in 1602. Reorganized and re-equipped Persian armies regained lands captured by the Turks in the previous century. The war ended with the peace treaty of 1612. The Turks ceded the eastern lands of Georgia and Armenia, Karabakh, Azerbaijan and some other lands.
After the plague and severe economic crisis, the Ottoman Empire was weakened. Political instability (due to the lack of a clear tradition of succession to the title of Sultan, as well as due to the increasingly growing influence of the Janissaries (initially the highest military caste, into which children were selected mainly from Balkan Christians according to the so-called devshirme system (forcible abduction of Christian children to Istanbul , for military service)) was shaking the country.
During the reign of Sultan Murad 4 (reigned 1623 - 1640) (a cruel tyrant (approximately 25 thousand people were executed during his reign), a capable administrator and commander, the Ottomans managed to regain part of the territories in the war with Persia (1623 - 1639), and defeat the Venetians. However, the uprisings Crimean Tatars and the constant raids of the Cossacks on Turkish lands practically drove the Turks out of the Crimea and the adjacent territories.
After the death of Murad 4, the empire began to lag behind the countries of Europe in technology, wealth, and political unity.
Under Murad IV's brother, Ibrahim (ruled 1640 - 1648), all of Murad's conquests were lost.
The attempt to capture the island of Crete (the last possession of the Venetians in the Eastern Mediterranean) turned out to be a failure for the Turks. The Venetian fleet, having blocked the Dardanelles, threatened Istanbul.
Sultan Ibrahim was removed by the Janissaries, and his seven-year-old son Mehmed 4 (reigned 1648 - 1687) was elevated to his place. Under his rule, a number of reforms began to be carried out in the Ottoman Empire, which stabilized the situation.
Mehmed was able to successfully complete the war with the Venetians. The position of the Turks in the Balkans and Eastern Europe was also strengthened.
The decline of the Ottoman Empire was a slow process, punctuated by short periods of recovery and stability.
The Ottoman Empire alternately waged wars with Venice, Austria, and Russia.
Towards the end of the 17th century, economic and social difficulties began to increase.
Decline
Mehmed's successor, Kara Mustafa, launched a final challenge to Europe by laying siege to Vienna in 1683.
The answer to this was the alliance of Poland and Austria. The combined Polish-Austrian forces, approaching besieged Vienna, were able to defeat the Turkish army and force it to flee.
Later, Venice and Russia joined the Polish-Austrian coalition.
In 1687, the Turkish armies were defeated at Mohács. After the defeat, the Janissaries rebelled. Mehmed 4 was deposed. His brother Suleiman 2 (ruled 1687 - 1691) became the new sultan.
The war continued. In 1688, the armies of the anti-Turkish coalition achieved serious successes (the Venetians captured the Peloponnese, the Austrians were able to take Belgrade).
However, in 1690, the Turks managed to drive the Austrians out of Belgrade and push them beyond the Danube, as well as regain Transylvania. But, in the Battle of Slankamen, Sultan Suleiman 2 was killed.
Ahmed 2, brother of Suleiman 2, (ruled 1691 - 1695) also did not live to see the end of the war.
After the death of Ahmed 2, the second brother of Suleiman 2, Mustafa 2 (ruled 1695 - 1703), became the sultan. With him the end of the war came. Azov was taken by the Russians, Turkish forces were defeated in the Balkans.
Unable to continue the war any longer, Türkiye signed the Treaty of Karlowitz. According to it, the Ottomans ceded Hungary and Transylvania to Austria, Podolia to Poland, and Azov to Russia. Only the War between Austria and France preserved the European possessions of the Ottoman Empire.
The decline of the empire's economy was accelerated. The monopolization of trade in the Mediterranean Sea and oceans practically destroyed the trading opportunities of the Turks. The seizure of new colonies by European powers in Africa and Asia made the trade route through Turkish territories unnecessary. The discovery and development of Siberia by the Russians gave merchants a way to China.
Türkiye ceased to be interesting from the point of view of economics and trade
True, the Turks were able to achieve temporary success in 1711, after the unsuccessful Prut campaign of Peter 1. According to the new peace treaty, Russia returned Azov to Turkey. They were also able to recapture the Morea from Venice in the war of 1714 - 1718 (this was due to the military-political situation in Europe (the War of the Spanish Succession and the Northern War were going on).
However, then a series of setbacks began for the Turks. A series of defeats after 1768 deprived the Turks of the Crimea, and a defeat in the naval battle at Chesme Bay deprived the Turks of their fleet.
By the end of the 18th century, the peoples of the empire began to fight for their independence (Greeks, Egyptians, Bulgarians, ...). The Ottoman Empire ceased to be one of the leading European powers.
Japan 17-18
State tuning: 2 heads of state: 1) really - SEGUN
2) nominally - TENNO (emperor, the cat cannot be called by name) - could conduct spiritual rituals.
1603 - the third dynasty of shoguns came to power - Takugawa (founder - Takugawa Ieyasu).
A centralized state, 1/4 of the well-cultivated land belonged to the shogun personally.
1573-1603- gr. war for the unification of the country (Mamoyamo period)
1603-1868 - reign of the Takugawa shoguns (EDO period)
1605 - Takugawa Ieyasu abdicated the throne, but retained real power until his death (1616)
Subordinate to the Shogun was TAYRO (Prime Minister), the cat performed the duties of the Shogun during his minority.
The government of the country was subordinate to the RODZYU (6-7 people) - the Council of Ministers.
RODJU did not have the right to enter into relations with SHOGUNS, but could communicate through intermediaries - SABAYONIN
ROZYU's assistants were WAKADOSHYORI (young old men)
Class system:
SINOKOSHO system (four-state)
SI - warriors (samurai)
BUT - peasants
KO - artisans
SOE - traders
---- "sword hunting" - weapons only for samurai
Outside the class stood a certain group of people - ETA - people of lower professions.
Samurai - a hired warrior, the cat was supposed to keep the peasants in the villages, had the right to carry two swords, but not all feudal lords were samurai., had the right to bear a surname, you cannot execute a samurai (only suicide); did not have the right to divide the land!
Daimyo (prince) - feudal lords, the pinnacle of samurai, headed the KHAN princedom, Daimyo led the samurai clan.
1) Fudai Daimyo - close daimyos, hereditary vassals, daimyos supporting the TAKUGAWA clan
2) Tuzamo daimyo - distant daimyos, former opponents of Takugawa
The authorities were constantly watching the Daimyo (his actions)!
HATAMOTO is a samurai directly subordinate to the Shogun.
Government apparatus from HATOMOTO.
1653 - confiscation of land from all samurai, except the daimyo. => crisis of the samurai class.
1597 - last Japanese intervention in Korea
Peasants - 80%
The most powerless and oppressed.
The peasants are attached to the land, do not move from landowner to landowner, do not change
occupation...they cannot be transferred or purchased.
Peasants could not drink alcohol, smoke, wear silk clothes (only cotton)
Meadows and wastelands are for the common use of the peasants!
The village - MURA was divided into five-yards, the members of the five-yards were bound by mutual responsibility
Mass of social layers:
3) GOSI (peasants descended from samurai) =>
4) DOGO (Rich peasants, Kulaks, owners of large plots) =>
5) HOMBYAKUSE (full members of the community, indigenous peasants =>
6) GENII - Tenants (not included in the village community and five-yard) =>
7) HIKAN - servant of hombyakuse - courtyard =>
8) MIZUNOMIBYAKUSHO - peasants drinking water.
City life:
Large cities: Kyoto and Edo => TOKYO - - - - half a million people,
The territory of Japan is approximately equal to the territory of Germany (3/4 are mountains!!!)
1633,1636,1639 - decrees on self-isolation of Japan
Reasons for self-isolation:: Fear of the authorities about the destruction of SINOKOSHO
The Japanese were prohibited from leaving the country;
Japanese expatriates are prohibited from returning to Japan
The city is open for trade - NAGASAKI; Foreigners are prohibited from going ashore.
An island for trade was also built - Dejima
Trade was carried out with China, Korea, and Holland.
Now Japan is a closed country!
The Rise of Japanese Culture
Deterioration of the economy: Bags of rice replaced money, the development of the country stopped.
SAKAN is the only autonomous city
Houses are numbered according to how recently they were built - hence the navigators.
Kyoto and Edo are cities with a population of over a million; the cities have been large since ancient times. The population is not growing due to high mortality. The territory of Japan is ¾ mountains.
1633, 1636, 1639 – three decrees on self-isolation of Japan were adopted. Reasons for self-isolation - (hypothesis) the authorities were afraid that foreigners would raise a peasant uprising and overthrow the government. Foreigners are prohibited from entering Japan and Japanese are prohibited from leaving the country. At the same time, before the adoption of the decrees, the Japanese often left the country. Japanese immigrants are prohibited from returning to Japan, as are their descendants. The policy of self-isolation did not mean that the authorities knew nothing... Nagasaki is the only city open to trade. In this city, foreigners were not allowed to go ashore. For trade, they created the artificial island of Dejima (20x40 m, height - 1 m), where trade was carried out with China, Korea and Holland, only they were allowed to trade. As a result, Japan became a closed country, and as a result:
1) the rapid rise of urban culture (Ganroku period, 15 years, 1688-1703) – “+”
2) instead of money, bags of rice began to circulate, the development of the country practically stopped “-”
there was a coin RIO.
The only autonomous city is Sakai.
The two lower classes were structured into guild organizations. Before Tokugawa they were called "Za". They usually had their own patrons (a large feudal lord or a monastery), the majority of the Za opposed Tokugawa, and upon his arrival they were almost all disbanded, with the exception of those who did not fight against Tokugawa. New organizations loyal to Tokugawa were created, called Kabunakama - guilds of merchants and artisans. Some artisans infiltrated the samurai, usually through adoption. Often the privilege was enjoyed by the Kakeya, the financial agents of the government. The two lower classes were freer than the peasants. A rice exchange was established in the city of Osaka. Rice brokers - Kuramoto - Shogun and Daimyo gave them orders to sell rice, and received a percentage from it. The Kuramotos gradually became richer and soon a layer of Fudasashi appeared - moneylenders.
(Reign of the Tokugawa Shogun - Edo.)
OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN 17-18 CENTURIES.
European superpower. 6 million km 2. An absolute monarchy, headed by a sultan (the Europeans called it) = khan, ... united political and religious power. When Mecca and Medina became part of the empire, the khan called himself a prophet... The ideal of government is a constant struggle with the infidels. The Sultan has the right to kill all his brothers upon ascending the throne. The Sultan's main enemy is his son. Under the Sultan, the diwan functioned - the government of the country. It included four pillars of the state, each with its own administration.
The first pillar - the Grand Vizier (wore white clothes, had privileges) exercised military and administrative power, commanded the army, i.e. really ruled the country
The second pillar is Kadiasker = “judge of the soldiers” - the chief military judge of the country. At first there was one, later there were two.
The third pillar is Bashdefterdar - financier.
The fourth pillar - Nishanji - issued firmans.
Sheikh-ul-Eslam is the highest cleric of the empire, he had the right to life - he was not executed.
Reis Efendi - Minister of Foreign Affairs.
There was court etiquette, each official had his own elkab - a form of address. There was no nobility in the country. All officials wear a Kavuk headdress. Muslims wore turbans, non-Muslims wore caps. Huge Sultan's courtyard - approx. 10,000 people The courtyard was divided into external and internal. The outer one included servants, and the inner one included Dar-i Saaded - a harem. The outer courtyard was led by the eunuch Kapu-Agasy, the inner courtyard by the eunuch Kyzlar-Agasy.
The specifics of the Ottoman Empire - in economic terms, did not represent a single whole, because arose as a result of conquest and rested on military force, political power was pure tyranny. The economic parts of the empire were not connected with each other. There was no national market in the country (it appeared only in the mid-20s, forcibly). As soon as military power weakened, territories began to fall away from it.
The armed forces were clearly divided into two parts: Kapykulu - a professional army, 2nd part - local feudal cavalry - (sepahi). The main part of the kapikulu are the Janissaries. Once every three or 5 years, Janissaries were recruited. external service, internal service. Execution is only strangulation. Janissaries did not wear beards. The Janissary corps was divided into orts (companies, initially 40 people, later 100), most of the Janissaries were engaged in economic activities. Janissaries received salaries 3-4 times a year - they were given books with which they could receive a salary.
Organization of local self-government. The country was divided into Eyalets (Vilayets). Originally 2 – Umelian and Anatolian. Later there were up to 28 eyalets. The eyalet was ruled by Beylerbey - he exercised military and administrative power, commanded the troops of the eyalet, and had his own divan and courtyard. Beylerbey had the right to distribute small Timars - service fiefs, awards. The boundaries between eyalets were constantly changing. The eyalets were divided into Sanjaks (“Districts”), headed by Sanjakbey, Ayan - defended the interests of local service feudal lords before the authorities, was elected by local service feudal lords
Feudal relations.
Empire of the Seljuk Turks. The vassal-feudal system originated here. The Ottoman Empire preserved this system. The essence: the feudal lord was given a berat (letter of grant for the estate), with which he appeared on the estate. The estate was divided into three parts: Timar, Zeamet, Hass.
Timar consisted of two parts: HassA-chiftlik, and HissE. HassA-chiftlik was awarded by right of the sword (for bravery), there is no need to send warriors from this land. HissE - warriors must be fielded.
Military service feudal lords are timariots. Timar owners were entitled to a share of the income from the timar and to limited administrative and judicial rights. The owners of hasses and zeamets had full administrative rights.
Waqf is church land, land belonging to a mosque or holy place. It arose as a result of a donation, was not subject to taxes, could not be sold, and could be exchanged for equivalent ones. The person who donated the waqf continued to manage it and retained part of the income. Their number increased (due to lack of taxes?).
Mulk is a private landholding. Land donation from the Sultan.
The specifics of the economy of the Ottoman Empire - the state needed money, subsistence farming dominated in the country - where did the money come from? A system of tax farming is being created - iltizam. The main figure is the tax farmer Multezim, who deposits a certain amount into the treasury, then, on this basis, confiscates part of the harvest from the peasants, sells it on the market - the difference is his net income. At the same time, the state receives money, but this is destructive for the peasantry.
The situation of the peasantry. There was no official nobility in the country, but the population was divided into two parts: Beraaya and Reaya. Beraaya is a non-taxable population, reaya (“herd”) is a tax-paying population. The peasants lived poorly in Mulki and waqfs.
Peasants are obliged to support the feudal lords. For a long time there was no lordly smell.
The lands of the feudal lords were divided among the peasants; for the use of the land, they gave the feudal lord a share of the harvest. The feudal lord provided the peasant with Chift (chiftlik) - a plot of land from 6 to 16 hectares per family. For the first receipt of a chief, you need to pay a tax to the feudal lord - Tapu (300 acche). When transferring by inheritance, no tapu was charged. The peasant loses the land if he does not cultivate it. The period of non-cultivation of the land is at first 1 year, later they did 3. (peasants were recruited into the military forces = they were often sent on campaigns = the period of non-cultivation was increased). Failure to cultivate is the only reason for the loss of an allotment. The duties of the peasant were determined by custom, which does not mean that custom can be violated. The peasant was assigned to an allotment, and the feudal lords could search for fugitives. The period of investigation is from 15 to 20 years. The exception is Istanbul, where the length of the investigation is 1 year and 1 day (in 1453, Mehmet II captured Constantinople and invited fugitive peasants). Three forms of rent were present in the Ottoman Empire, namely in-kind, labor and cash, with natural (grocery) rent prevailing. There was almost no money. There was a small labor period (work for the feudal lord for 7 days a year). Muslim peasants paid ASHAR - 1/10 of the harvest. Non-Muslim peasants paid KHARAJ - 1/3 of the harvest. A mill tax was collected in favor of the feudal lord. There was a tax - AGNAM - tax on small cattle: to the feudal lord per year 1 head per 50, in favor of the state - 1 akche per three heads. Marriage tax to the feudal lord - depending on the income of the peasant, from 10 to 50 akche. Land tax - RESMI-CHIFT was paid to the state. Adult non-Muslim men paid the state tax JIZYA - for non-service in the army. ISPENDJE – all non-Muslims pay the feudal lord.
The feudal lord appeared on the estate extremely rarely = did not take care of the farm. In favor of the state they bore AVARIZ - emergency duty in favor of the war. Subsequently, AVARIZ was replaced with a cash payment.
Ortakchi is a farm laborer who works from a share of the harvest.
There were a small number of slaves, but in the 17th century. the slaves disappeared.
In addition to the rural population, there was a nomadic population (20% of us) - the Turkmens (Yuryuks). Their situation was better than that of the peasants. They were organized into tribal unions (leaders - Khans) and could move around the empire in any direction. Pastures were specially allotted to them; plowing them was forbidden. The nomads did not pay taxes, but at the first call of the emperor, every fifth man had to go on a campaign.
City life.
The government needed the craft (weapons production) and encouraged it. Funds were invested in road construction and were stolen. A network of caravanserais was created. There was no industrial bourgeoisie, there was a trade bourgeoisie - not Turkish in origin. Islam initially did not recognize interest on loans; it was believed that if someone borrows money at interest, then he is paying money for time, and time belongs to Allah, one cannot pay for it.
In the center of the city there are houses of merchants (Greeks, Jews,...), on the outskirts there are houses (Turks). Turk is a “fool”. All subjects of the empire were called Ottomans, nothing else! Sultan Mehmet 2 established a sales tax (quite liberal). Pack is a measure. The main markets of Istanbul are ET-MAYDAN (“meat square”) and BESISTAN (“land of linen”). The Janissaries restored order. For violating the rules of trade, the merchant was nailed behind the ear to the door of the shop.
The subsistence economy of the peasants led to the organization of artisans and merchants of the cities into guild structures - ESNAF. ESNAFs had a monopoly. Craftsmen who did not enter Esnaf were expelled from the city. There was no division of labor between masters; hired labor was rarely used. Tools are manual and primitive. The workshops had self-government, the head was ESNAFBASHY. There was no unified city government. Mukhtars are neighborhood elders. Imams are leaders of prayer.
AVANI – illegal extortions from the authorities. Bilerbeys and sanjebeys openly robbed the population.
For a long time, the Ottoman Empire was the most tolerant state in Europe. The government recognized 3 non-Muslim faiths (Armenian-Gregorian, Greek Orthodox and Jewish). The government, with special charters, granted these denominations liberties: they did not pay taxes, religious publications of non-Muslim denominations could not be converted into mosques, complete freedom of worship. Finally, non-Muslim church sculptures controlled marriage and family relations and civil law among their adherents. In a dispute between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, the judge was KADI, a Muslim cleric. A person was subject to judgment by a priest of his faith. The trial was held in a mosque. Two women's certificates were equal to one man's.
The workshops regulated prices, determined production standards, trading days (you can’t trade all the time!), it was strictly forbidden to lure customers, property was not protected from the state. Owners of large fortunes transferred them abroad, invested money in real estate or turned them into treasure)). THIS STOPPED the development of the country.
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By the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman state, as a result of the aggressive policy of the Turkish sultans and military-feudal nobility, turned into a vast feudal empire. It included Asia Minor, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina and vassal Moldavia, Wallachia and the Crimean Khanate.
The plunder of the wealth of the conquered countries, along with the exploitation of their own and conquered peoples, contributed to the further growth of the military power of the Turkish conquerors. Many seekers of profit and adventure flocked to the Turkish sultans, who carried out a policy of conquest in the interests of the military-feudal nobility, calling themselves “ghazi” (fighter for the faith). Feudal fragmentation, feudal and religious strife that took place in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula favored the implementation of the aspirations of the Turkish conquerors, who did not encounter united and organized resistance. Capturing one region after another, the Turkish conquerors used the material resources of the conquered peoples to organize new campaigns. With the help of Balkan craftsmen, they created strong artillery, which significantly increased the military power of the Turkish army. As a result of all this, the Ottoman Empire by the 16th century. turned into a powerful military power, whose army soon inflicted a crushing defeat on the rulers of the Safavid state and the Mamluks of Egypt in the East and, having defeated the Czechs and Hungarians, approached the walls of Vienna in the West.
The 16th century in the history of the Ottoman Empire is characterized by continuous aggressive wars in the West and in the East, the intensification of the offensive of the Turkish feudal lords against the peasant masses and the fierce resistance of the peasantry, which repeatedly rose up in arms against feudal oppression.
Turkish conquests in the East
As in the previous period, the Turks, using their military advantage, pursued an offensive policy. At the beginning of the 16th century. The main objects of the aggressive policy of the Turkish feudal lords were Iran, Armenia, Kurdistan and Arab countries.
In the battle of 1514 at Chapdiran, the Turkish army led by Sultan Selim I, which had strong artillery, defeated the army of the Safavid state. Having captured Tabriz, Selim I took out huge military booty from there, including the personal treasury of Shah Ismail, and also sent a thousand of the best Iranian craftsmen to Istanbul for serving the court and Turkish nobility. Iranian craftsmen brought to Iznik at that time laid the foundation for the production of colored ceramics in Turkey, which was used in the construction of palaces and mosques in Istanbul, Bursa and other cities.
In 1514-1515, Turkish conquerors conquered Eastern Armenia, Kurdistan and Northern Mesopotamia up to and including Mosul.
During the campaigns of 1516-1517. Sultan Selim I sent his armies against Egypt, which was under the rule of the Mamluks, who also owned Syria and part of Arabia. The victory over the Mamluk army gave all of Syria and Hejaz, along with the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, into the hands of the Ottomans. In 1517, Ottoman troops conquered Egypt. Modest war booty in the form of precious utensils and the treasury of local rulers was sent to Istanbul.
As a result of the victory over the Mamluks, the Turkish conquerors acquired control over the most important shopping centers in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Cities such as Diyarbakir, Aleppo (Aleppo), Mosul, Damascus were turned into strongholds of Turkish rule. Strong Janissary garrisons were soon stationed here and placed at the disposal of the Sultan's governors. They carried out military and police service, guarding the borders of the Sultan's new possessions. The named cities were also the centers of the Turkish civil administration, which mainly collected and recorded taxes from the population of the province and other revenues to the treasury. The collected funds were sent annually to Istanbul to the court.
Wars of conquest of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Suleiman Kanuni
The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest power by the middle of the 16th century. under Sultan Suleiman I (1520-1566), called the Lawgiver (Kanuni) by the Turks. For his numerous military victories and the luxury of his court, this sultan received the name Suleiman the Magnificent from the Europeans. In the interests of the nobility, Suleiman I sought to expand the territory of the empire not only in the East, but also in Europe. Having captured Belgrade in 1521, the Turkish conquerors undertook throughout 1526-1543. five campaigns against Hungary. After the victory at Mohács in 1526, the Turks suffered a serious defeat in 1529 near Vienna. But this did not free Southern Hungary from Turkish domination. Soon Central Hungary was captured by the Turks. In 1543, the part of Hungary conquered by the Turks was divided into 12 regions and transferred to the management of the Sultan's governor.
The conquest of Hungary, like other countries, was accompanied by the robbery of its cities and villages, which contributed to the even greater enrichment of the Turkish military-feudal elite.
Suleiman alternated campaigns against Hungary with military campaigns in other directions. In 1522, the Turks captured the island of Rhodes. In 1534, Turkish conquerors launched a devastating invasion of the Caucasus. Here they captured Shirvan and Western Georgia. Having also captured coastal Arabia, they reached the Persian Gulf through Baghdad and Basra. At the same time, the Mediterranean Turkish fleet drove the Venetians out of most of the islands of the Aegean archipelago, and on the northern coast of Africa Tripoli and Algeria were annexed to Turkey.
In the second half of the 16th century. The Ottoman feudal empire spread over three continents: from Budapest and Northern Taurus to the northern coast of Africa, from Baghdad and Tabriz to the borders of Morocco. The Black and Marmara Seas became the internal basins of the Ottoman Empire. Vast territories of South-Eastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa were thus forcibly included within the borders of the empire.
The Turkish invasions were accompanied by the brutal destruction of cities and villages, the plunder of material and cultural values, and the abduction of hundreds of thousands of civilians into slavery. For the Balkan, Caucasian, Arab and other peoples who fell under the Turkish yoke, they were a historical catastrophe that delayed the process of their economic and cultural development for a long time. At the same time, the aggressive policy of the Turkish feudal lords had extremely negative consequences for the Turkish people themselves. By promoting the enrichment of only the feudal nobility, it strengthened the latter's economic and political power over its own people. The Turkish feudal lords and their state, depleting and ruining the country's productive forces, doomed the Turkish people to lag in economic and cultural development.
Agrarian system
In the 16th century In the Ottoman Empire, developed feudal relations were dominant. Feudal ownership of land came in several forms. Until the end of the 16th century, most of the land of the Ottoman Empire was state property, and its supreme administrator was the Sultan. However, only part of these lands was under the direct control of the treasury. A significant part of the state land fund consisted of the possessions (domain) of the Sultan himself - the best lands in Bulgaria, Thrace, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia. The income from these lands went entirely to the personal disposal of the Sultan and for the maintenance of his court. Many regions of Anatolia (for example, Amasya, Kayseri, Tokat, Karaman, etc.) were also the property of the Sultan and his family - sons and other close relatives.
The Sultan distributed state lands to feudal lords for hereditary ownership on the terms of military fief tenure. Owners of small and large fiefs (“timars” - with an income of up to 3 thousand akche and “zeamets” - from 3 thousand to 100 thousand akche) were obliged, at the call of the Sultan, to appear to participate in campaigns at the head of the required number of equipped horsemen (in according to the income received). These lands served as the basis of the economic power of the feudal lords and the most important source of the military power of the state.
From the same fund of state lands, the Sultan distributed land to court and provincial dignitaries, the income from which (they were called khasses, and the income from them was determined in the amount of 100 thousand akche and above) went entirely to the maintenance of state dignitaries in return for salaries. Each dignitary enjoyed the income from the lands provided to him only as long as he retained his post.
In the 16th century the owners of Timars, Zeamets and Khass usually lived in cities and did not run their own households. They collected feudal duties from the peasants sitting on the land with the help of stewards and tax collectors, and often tax farmers.
Another form of feudal land ownership was the so-called waqf possessions. This category included huge areas of land that were fully owned by mosques and various other religious and charitable institutions. These land holdings represented the economic base of the strongest political influence of the Muslim clergy in the Ottoman Empire.
The category of private feudal property included the lands of feudal lords, who received special Sultan's letters for any merit for the unlimited right to dispose of the estates provided. This category of feudal land ownership (it was called "mulk") arose in the Ottoman state in early stage his education. Despite the fact that the number of mules was constantly increasing, they specific gravity until the end of the 16th century it was small.
Peasant land use and the position of the peasantry
Lands of all categories of feudal property were in the hereditary use of the peasantry. Throughout the territory of the Ottoman Empire, peasants living on the lands of feudal lords were included in the scribe books called raya (raya, reaya) and were obliged to cultivate the plots allocated to them. The attachment of rayats to their plots was recorded in laws at the end of the 15th century. During the 16th century. There was a process of enslavement of the peasantry throughout the empire, and in the second half of the 16th century. Suleiman's law finally approved the attachment of peasants to the land. The law stated that the rayat was obliged to live on the land of the feudal lord in whose register it was entered. In the event that a raiyat voluntarily left the plot allotted to him and moved to the land of another feudal lord, the previous owner could find him within 15-20 years and force him to return back, also imposing a fine on him.
While cultivating the plots allotted to them, the peasant rayats bore numerous feudal duties in favor of the land owner. In the 16th century In the Ottoman Empire, all three forms of feudal rent existed - labor, food and cash. The most common was rent in products. Raya Muslims were required to pay tithes on grain, garden and vegetable crops, taxes on all types of livestock, and also perform fodder duties. The landowner had the right to punish and fine those who were guilty. In some areas, peasants also had to work several days a year for the landowner in the vineyard, building a house, delivering firewood, straw, hay, bringing him all kinds of gifts, etc.
All the duties listed above were also required to be performed by non-Muslim rayas. But in addition, they paid a special poll tax to the treasury - jizya from the male population, and in some areas of the Balkan Peninsula they were also obliged to supply boys for the Janissary army every 3-5 years. The last duty (the so-called devshirme), which served the Turkish conquerors as one of the many means of forcible assimilation of the conquered population, was especially difficult and humiliating for those who were obliged to fulfill it.
In addition to all the duties that the rayats performed in favor of their landowners, they also had to perform a number of special military duties (called “avaris”) directly for the benefit of the treasury. Collected in the form of labor, various kinds of natural supplies, and often in cash, these so-called Diwan taxes were more numerous the more wars the Ottoman Empire waged. Thus, the settled agricultural peasantry in the Ottoman Empire bore the main burden of maintaining the ruling class and the entire huge state and military machine of the feudal empire.
A significant part of the population of Asia Minor continued to lead the life of nomads, united in tribal or clan unions. Submitting to the head of the tribe, who was a vassal of the Sultan, the nomads were considered military. IN war time from them cavalry detachments were formed, which, led by their military commanders, were supposed to appear at the first call of the Sultan to the indicated place. Among the nomads, every 25 men formed a “hearth”, which was supposed to send five “next” ones from their midst on a campaign, providing them at their own expense with horses, weapons and food during the entire campaign. For this, nomads were exempt from paying taxes to the treasury. But as the importance of the captive cavalry increased, the duties of the detachments made up of nomads increasingly began to be limited to performing auxiliary work: the construction of roads, bridges, baggage service, etc. The main places of settlement of the nomads were the southeastern and southern regions of Anatolia, as well as some areas of Macedonia and Southern Bulgaria.
In the laws of the 16th century. traces of the unlimited right of nomads to move with their herds in any direction remained: “Pasture lands have no boundaries. Since ancient times, it has been established that where cattle go, let them wander in that place. Since ancient times, it has been incompatible with the law to sell and cultivate established pastures. If someone forcibly cultivates them, they should be turned back into pastures. Village residents have no connection with pastures and therefore cannot prohibit anyone from roaming them.”
Pastures, like other lands of the empire, could be the property of the state, clergy, or private individual. They were owned by feudal lords, which included the leaders of nomadic tribes. In all these cases, the exercise of ownership of land or the right to possess it belonged to the person in whose favor the corresponding taxes and fees were collected from the nomads who passed through his lands. These taxes and fees represented feudal rent for the right to use land.
Nomads were not attributed to the owners of the land and did not have individual plots. They used the pasture land together, as communities. If the owner or proprietor of pasture lands was not at the same time the head of a tribe or clan, he could not interfere in the internal affairs of nomadic communities, since they were subordinate only to their tribal or clan leaders.
The nomadic community as a whole was economically dependent on the feudal owners of the land, but each individual member of the nomadic community was economically and legally dependent completely on his community, which was bound by mutual responsibility and dominated by tribal leaders and military leaders. Traditional clan ties covered social differentiation within nomadic communities. Only the nomads who broke ties with the community, settling on the land, turned into rayats, already attached to their plots. However, the process of settling the nomads on the land occurred extremely slowly, since they, trying to preserve the community as a means of self-defense from oppression by landowners, stubbornly resisted all attempts to speed up this process by violent measures.
Administrative and military-political structure
Political system, administrative structure and military organization of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. were reflected in the legislation of Suleiman Kanuni. The Sultan controlled all the income of the empire and its armed forces. Through the great vizier and the head of the Muslim clergy - Sheikh-ul-Islam, who, together with other high secular and spiritual dignitaries, formed the Divan (council of dignitaries), he ruled the country. The office of the Grand Vizier was called the Sublime Porte.
The entire territory of the Ottoman Empire was divided into provinces, or governorates (eyalets). At the head of the eyalets were governors appointed by the Sultan - beyler beys, who kept all the feudal rulers of a given province and their feudal militia under their subordination. They were obliged to go to war personally, leading these troops. Each eyalet was divided into regions called sanjaks. At the head of the sanjak was the sanjak bey, who had the same rights as the beyler bey, but only within his region. He was subordinate to the Beyler Bey. The feudal militia, supplied by the fief holders, represented the main military force of the empire in the 16th century. Under Suleiman Kanuchi, the number of feudal militia reached 200 thousand people.
The main representative of the civil administration in the province was the qadi, who was in charge of all civil and judicial affairs in the district under his jurisdiction, called “kaza”. The borders of the kazy usually, apparently, coincided with the border of the sanjak. Therefore, the kediyas and sanjak beys had to act in concert. However, the qadis were appointed by Sultan's decree and reported directly to Istanbul.
The Janissary army was on government pay and was staffed by Christian youths, who at the age of 7-12 were forcibly taken away from their parents, brought up in the spirit of Muslim fanaticism in Turkish families in Anatolia, and then in schools in Istanbul or Edirne (Adrianople). This is an army whose strength in the middle of the 16th century. reached 40 thousand people, was a serious striking force in the Turkish conquests especially important it had garrison guards in the most important cities and fortresses of the empire, primarily on the Balkan Peninsula and in the Arab countries, where there was always the danger of popular indignation against the Turkish yoke.
From the middle of the 15th and especially in the 16th century. Turkish sultans paid great attention creating your own navy. Using Venetian and other foreign specialists, they created a significant galley and sailing fleet, which, with constant corsair raids, undermined normal trade in the Mediterranean Sea and was a serious opponent of the Venetian and Spanish naval forces.
The internal military-political organization of the state, which responded primarily to the tasks of maintaining a huge military machine, with the help of which conquests were carried out in the interests of the class of Turkish feudal lords, made the Ottoman Empire, in the words of K. Marx, “the only truly military power of the Middle Ages.”( K. Marx, Chronological extracts, II “Archive of Marx and Engels”, vol. VI, p. 189.)
City, crafts and trade
In the conquered countries, the Turkish conquerors inherited numerous cities, in which a developed craft had long been established and a lively trade was conducted. After the conquest big cities were turned into fortresses and centers of military and civil administration. Handicraft production, regulated and regulated by the state, was obliged primarily to serve the needs of the army, court and feudal lords. The most developed industries were those that produced fabrics, clothing, shoes, weapons, etc. for the Turkish army.
Urban artisans were united into guild corporations. No one had the right to work outside the workshop. The production of artisans was subject to the strictest regulation by the guilds. Craftsmen could not produce those products that were not provided for by the guild regulations. So, for example, in Bursa, where weaving production was concentrated, according to the workshop regulations, for each type of fabric it was allowed to use only certain types of threads, it was indicated what the width and length of the pieces should be, the color and quality of the fabric. Craftsmen were strictly prescribed places to sell products and purchase raw materials. They were not allowed to buy threads and other materials in excess of the established norm. No one could enter the workshop without a special test and without a special guarantee. Prices for handicraft products were also regulated.
Trade, like crafts, was regulated by the state. The laws established the number of shops in each market, the quantity and quality of goods sold and their prices. This regulation, state taxes and local feudal levies prevented the development of free trade within the empire, thereby restraining the growth of the social division of labor. The predominantly subsistence nature of peasant farming, in turn, limited the possibilities for the development of crafts and trade. In some places there were local markets where exchanges were made between peasants and townspeople, between sedentary farmers and nomadic pastoralists. These markets operated once a week or twice a month, and sometimes less often.
The result of the Turkish conquests was a serious disruption of trade in the Mediterranean and Black Seas and a significant reduction in trade relations between Europe and the countries of the East.
However, the Ottoman Empire was not able to completely break the traditional trade ties between the East and the West. Turkish rulers benefited from the trade of Armenian, Greek and other merchants, collecting customs duties and market duties from them, which became a profitable item for the Sultan's treasury.
Venice, Genoa and Dubrovnik were interested in Levantine trade back in the 15th century. obtained permission from the Turkish sultans to conduct trade in the territory subject to the Ottomans. Foreign ships visited Istanbul, Izmir, Sinop, Trabzon, and Thessaloniki. However, the internal regions of Asia Minor remained almost completely uninvolved in trade relations with the outside world.
Slave markets existed in Istanbul, Edirne, in Anatolian cities and in Egypt, where an extensive slave trade was carried out. During their campaigns, the Turkish conquerors took tens of thousands of adults and children from the enslaved countries as prisoners, turning them into slaves. Slaves were widely used in the domestic life of Turkish feudal lords. Many girls ended up in the harems of the Sultan and the Turkish nobility.
Popular uprisings in Asia Minor in the first half of the 16th century.
Wars of the Turkish conquerors from the beginning of the 16th century. entailed an increase in the already numerous exactions, in particular exactions in favor of the active armies, which in a continuous stream passed through the villages and cities of Asia Minor or were concentrated in them in preparation for new offensives against the Safavid state and Arab countries. The feudal rulers demanded more and more funds from the peasants to support their troops, and it was at this time that the treasury began to introduce emergency military taxes (avaris). All this led to an increase in popular discontent in Asia Minor. This discontent found expression not only in the anti-feudal protests of the Turkish peasantry and nomadic herders, but also in the liberation struggle of non-Turkish tribes and peoples, including residents of the eastern regions of Asia Minor - Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, etc.
In 1511-1512 Asia Minor was engulfed in a popular uprising led by Shah-kulu (or Shaitan-kulu). The uprising, despite the fact that it took place under religious Shiite slogans, was a serious attempt by the farmers and nomadic pastoralists of Asia Minor to provide armed resistance to the increase in feudal exploitation. Shah-kulu, proclaiming himself a “savior,” called for refusal to obey the Turkish Sultan. In battles with rebels in the Sivas and Kayseri regions, the Sultan's troops were repeatedly defeated.
Sultan Selim I led a fierce struggle against this uprising. Under the guise of Shiites, more than 40 thousand inhabitants were exterminated in Asia Minor. Everyone who could be suspected of disobedience to the Turkish feudal lords and the Sultan was declared Shiites.
In 1518, another major popular uprising broke out - under the leadership of the peasant Nur Ali. The center of the uprising was the areas of Karahisar and Niksar, from there it later spread to Amasya and Tokat. The rebels here also demanded the abolition of taxes and duties. After repeated battles with the Sultan's troops, the rebels scattered to the villages. But soon a new uprising, which arose in 1519 in the vicinity of Tokat, quickly spread throughout Central Anatolia. The number of rebels reached 20 thousand people. The leader of this uprising was one of the residents of Tokat, Jelal, after whom all such popular uprisings subsequently became known as “Jalali”.
Like previous uprisings, Celal's uprising was directed against the tyranny of the Turkish feudal lords, against countless duties and extortions, against the excesses of the Sultan's officials and tax collectors. Armed rebels captured Karahisar and headed towards Ankara.
To suppress this uprising, Sultan Selim I had to send significant military forces to Asia Minor. The rebels in the battle of Aksehir were defeated and scattered. Jalal fell into the hands of punitive forces and was brutally executed.
However, the reprisal against the rebels did not pacify the peasant masses for long. During 1525-1526 The eastern regions of Asia Minor up to Sivas were again engulfed in a peasant uprising, led by Koca Soglu-oglu and Zunnun-oglu. In 1526, an uprising led by Kalender Shah, numbering up to 30 thousand participants - Turks and Kurdish nomads, engulfed the Malatya region. Farmers and cattle breeders demanded not only a reduction in duties and taxes, but also the return of land and pastures that had been appropriated by the Sultan's treasury and distributed to Turkish feudal lords.
The rebels repeatedly defeated punitive detachments and were defeated only after a large Sultan's army was sent from Istanbul against them.
Peasant uprisings of the early 16th century. in Asia Minor testified to a sharp aggravation of the class struggle in Turkish feudal society. In the middle of the 16th century. A Sultan's decree was issued on the deployment of Janissary garrisons in the largest points of all provinces of the empire. With these measures and punitive expeditions, the Sultan's power managed to restore calm in Asia Minor for some time.
External relations
In the second half of the 16th century. The international importance of the Ottoman Empire, as one of the strongest powers, increased greatly. Its range of external relations has expanded. The Turkish sultans pursued an active foreign policy, widely using not only military but also diplomatic means to fight their opponents, primarily the Habsburg Empire, which faced the Turks in South-Eastern Europe.
In 1535 (according to other sources in 1536), the Ottoman Empire entered into an alliance treaty with France, which was interested in weakening the Habsburg Empire with the help of the Turks; At the same time, Sultan Suleiman I signed the so-called capitulations (chapters, articles) - a trade agreement with France, on the basis of which French merchants received, as a special favor of the Sultan, the right to freely trade in all his possessions. The alliance and trade agreements with France strengthened the position of the Ottoman Empire in the fight against the Habsburgs, so the Sultan did not skimp on benefits for the French. French merchants and French subjects in general in the Ottoman Empire enjoyed especially privileged conditions on the basis of capitulations.
France controlled almost all of the Ottoman Empire's trade with European countries until the beginning of the 17th century, when Holland and England managed to achieve similar rights for their subjects. Until then, English and Dutch merchants had to trade in Turkish possessions on ships flying the French flag.
Official relations between the Ottoman Empire and Russia began at the end of the 15th century, after the conquest of Crimea by Mehmed P. Having conquered Crimea, the Turks began to obstruct the trade of Russian merchants in Kafe (Feodosia) and Azov.
In 1497, Grand Duke Ivan III sent the first Russian ambassador, Mikhail Pleshcheev, to Istanbul with a complaint about the said harassment of Russian trade. Pleshcheev was given an order to “give a list of the oppressions inflicted on our guests in Turkish lands.” The Moscow government repeatedly protested against the devastating raids of the Crimean Tatars on Russian possessions. The Turkish sultans, through the Crimean Tatars, attempted to extend their rule north of the Black Sea coast. However, the struggle of the peoples of the Russian state against Turkish aggression and the defensive measures of the Russian authorities on the Don and Dnieper did not allow the Turkish conquerors and Crimean khans to carry out their aggressive plans.
Culture
The Muslim religion, which sanctified the domination of the Turkish feudal lords, left its mark on the science, literature and art of the Turks. Schools (madrassas) existed only at large mosques and served the purpose of educating clergy, theologians, and judges. The students of these schools sometimes produced scientists and poets with whom the Turkish sultans and dignitaries liked to surround themselves.
The end of the 15th and 16th centuries are considered the heyday, the “golden age” of Turkish classical poetry, which was strongly influenced by Persian poetry. From the latter, such poetic genres as qasida (ode of praise), ghazal (lyrical verse), as well as subjects and images were borrowed: traditional nightingale, rose, singing of wine, love, spring, etc. Famous poets of this time - Ham- di Celebi (1448-1509), Ahmed Pasha (died 1497), Nejati (1460-1509), poetess Mihri Khatun (died 1514), Mesihi (died 1512), Revani (died 1524), Ishak Chelebi (died 1537) - wrote mainly lyric poems. The last poets of the “golden age” - Lyami (died 1531) and Baki (1526-1599) repeated the plots of classical poetry.
The 17th century in Turkish literature is called the “century of satire.” The poet Veysi (died 1628) wrote about the decline of morals (“Exhortation to Istanbul”, “Dream”), the poet Nefi (died 1635) for his cycle of satirical poems “Arrows of Fate”, in which evil was exposed not only know, but also the Sultan, paid with his life.
In the field of science, Katib Chelebi (Haji Khalife, 1609-1657) gained the greatest fame during this period with his works on history, geography, bio-bibliography, philosophy, etc. Thus, his works “Description of the World” (“Jihan-nyuma”), “Chronicle of Events” (“Fezleke”), a bio-bibliographic dictionary of Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Central Asian and other authors, containing information about 9512 authors, have not lost their value to this day. Valuable historical chronicles of events in the Ottoman Empire were compiled by Khoja Sadddin (died 1599), Mustafa Selyaniki (died 1599), Mustafa Aali (died 1599), Ibrahim Pechevi (died 1650) and other authors XVI and first half of the XVII centuries.
Political treatises by Aini Ali, Katib Chelebi, Kochibey and other authors of the 17th century. are the most valuable sources for studying the military-political and economic state of the empire at the end of the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries. The famous traveler Evliya Celebi left a wonderful ten-volume description of his travels through the Ottoman Empire, southern Russia and Western Europe.
The art of construction was largely subject to the whims of the Turkish sultans and nobility. Every sultan and many major dignitaries considered it obligatory to mark the period of their reign by building a mosque, palace or some other structure. Many of the monuments of this kind that have survived to this day amaze with their splendor. Talented architect of the 16th century. Sinan built many different structures, including more than 80 mosques, of which the most architecturally significant are the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul (1557) and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1574).
Turkish architecture arose on the basis of local traditions in the conquered countries of the Balkan Peninsula and Western Asia. These traditions were diverse, and the creators of the architectural style of the Ottoman Empire primarily sought to unite them into something whole. The most important element of this synthesis was the Byzantine architectural scheme, especially manifested in the Constantinople Church of St. Sofia.
The prohibition by Islam to depict living beings resulted in the fact that Turkish fine art developed mainly as one of the branches of construction craftsmanship: wall painting in the form of floral and geometric patterns, wood, metal and stone carvings, relief work on plaster, marble, mosaic work made of stone, glass, etc. In this area, both forcibly resettled and Turkish craftsmen achieved a high degree of perfection. The art of Turkish craftsmen in the field of decorating weapons with inlay, carving, notching in gold, silver, ivory, etc. is also known. However, the religious prohibition of depicting living beings was often violated; for example, in many cases miniatures were used to decorate manuscripts, depicting both people and animals.
The art of calligraphy has reached high perfection in Turkey. Inscriptions from the Koran were also widely used to decorate the walls of palaces and mosques.
Beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire
By the end of the 16th century, at a time when strong centralized states, in the vast and multi-tribal Ottoman Empire, internal economic and political ties not only did not strengthen, but, on the contrary, began to weaken. The anti-feudal movements of the peasantry and the struggle of non-Turkish peoples for their liberation reflected irreconcilable internal contradictions that the Sultan’s government was unable to overcome. The consolidation of the empire was also hampered by the fact that the central region of the empire - economically backward Anatolia - did not and could not become a center of economic and political gravity for the conquered peoples.
As commodity-money relations developed, the interest of feudal lords in increasing the profitability of their military fief possessions increased. They began to arbitrarily turn these conditional possessions into their own property. Military fiefs began to evade the obligation to maintain detachments for the Sultan and to participate in military campaigns, and began to appropriate income from fief possessions. At the same time, a struggle began between individual feudal groups for the possession of land, for its concentration. As a contemporary wrote, “among them there are people who have 20-30 and even 40-50 zeamet and timar, the fruits of which they devour.” This led to the fact that state ownership of land began to weaken and gradually lose its significance, and the military-feudal system began to disintegrate. Feudal separatism intensified. At the end of the 16th century, undoubted signs of a weakening of the Sultan's power appeared.
The extravagance of the sultans and their courtiers required enormous funds. A significant share of state revenues was absorbed by the continuously growing bureaucratic military-administrative and financial apparatus of the state in the center and in the provinces. A very large part of the funds was spent on maintaining the army of the Janissaries, whose numbers increased as the feudal militia supplied by the fiefs decayed and declined. The number of Janissary troops also increased because the Sultan needed military force to suppress the growing struggle of the Turkish and non-Turkish masses against feudal and national oppression. The Janissary army at the beginning of the 17th century exceeded 90 thousand people.
The state authorities, trying to increase treasury revenues, began to increase old taxes and introduce new ones from year to year. The jizya tax, at the beginning of the 16th century equal to 20-25 akche per person, by the beginning of the 17th century reached 140 akche, and tax collectors who extremely abused their powers sometimes brought it up to 400-500 akche. Feudal taxes levied by landowners also increased.
At the same time, the Treasury began to give the right to collect taxes from state lands to tax farmers. Thus, a new category of land owners appeared and began to strengthen - tax farmers, who actually turned into feudal owners of entire regions.
Court and provincial dignitaries often acted as tax farmers. A large amount of state land, through taxation, fell into the hands of the Janissaries and Sipahii.
During the same period, the aggressive policy of the Ottoman Empire encountered increasingly serious obstacles.
Strong and ever-increasing resistance to this policy was provided by Russia, Austria, Poland and, in the Mediterranean, Spain.
Under Suleiman Kanuni's successor, Selim II (1566-1574), a campaign was launched against Astrakhan (1569). But this event, which required significant costs, was not successful: the Turkish army was defeated and was forced to retreat.
In 1571, the combined fleet of Spain and Venice inflicted a crushing defeat on the Turkish fleet in the Gulf of Lepanto. The failure of the Astrakhan campaign and the defeat at Lepanto testified to the beginning of the military weakening of the empire.
Nevertheless, the Turkish sultans continued to wage wars that were exhausting for the masses. Started in 1578 and bringing enormous disasters to the peoples of Transcaucasia, the war of the Turkish Sultan with the Safavids ended in 1590 with the signing of a treaty in Istanbul, according to which Tabriz, Shirvan, part of Luristan, Western Georgia and some other regions of the Caucasus were assigned to Turkey. However, she was able to keep these areas (except for Georgian ones) under her rule only for 20 years.
Peasant uprisings at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries.
The state treasury sought to compensate for its military expenses through additional levies from the tax-paying population. There were so many all kinds of emergency taxes and “surcharges” to existing taxes that, as the chronicler wrote, “in the provinces of the state, emergency taxes brought the subjects to the point that they were disgusted with this world and everything that is in it.” The peasants went bankrupt in droves and, despite the punishments that threatened them, fled from their lands. Crowds of hungry and ragged people moved from one province to another in search of tolerable living conditions. Peasants were punished and forced to pay increased taxes for leaving the land without permission. However, these measures did not help.
The arbitrariness of officials, tax farmers, all kinds of duties and labor associated with the need to serve the Sultan's army during camps, caused outbreaks of discontent among the peasants during the last quarter of the 16th century.
In 1591, there was an uprising in Diyarbakir in response to the brutal measures taken by the Beyler Bey when collecting arrears from the peasants. Clashes between the population and the army occurred in 1592-1593. in the Erzl Room and Baghdad areas. In 1596, uprisings broke out in Kerman and neighboring areas of Asia Minor. In 1599, discontent became general and resulted in a peasant uprising that swept through the central and eastern regions of Anatolia.
This time the indignation of the rebels was directed against feudal exactions, taxes, bribery and the arbitrariness of the Sultan's officials and tax farmers. The peasant movement was used by small peasants, who in turn opposed the usurpation of their rights to land by people from the court-bureaucratic aristocracy, large landowners and tax farmers. The small Anatolian feudal lord Kara Yazıcı, having gathered an army of 20-30 thousand people from rebel farmers, nomadic cattle breeders and small farmers, took possession of the city of Kayseri in 1600, declared himself the sultan of the captured regions and refused to obey the Istanbul court. The struggle of the Sultan's armies against popular anti-feudal uprisings continued for five years (1599-1603). In the end, the Sultan managed to come to an agreement with the rebellious feudal lords and brutally suppress the peasant uprising.
However, in subsequent years, throughout the first half of the 17th century, the anti-feudal protests of the peasantry in Asia Minor did not stop. The Jalali movement was especially powerful in 1608. This uprising also reflected the struggle of the enslaved peoples of Syria and Lebanon for liberation from the yoke of Turkish feudal lords. The leader of the uprising, Janpulad-oglu, proclaimed the independence of the regions he had captured and made efforts to attract some Mediterranean states to fight against the Sultan. He concluded, in particular, an agreement with the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Using the most brutal terror, the Sultan’s punishers mercilessly dealt with participants in the “Jalali” movement. According to chroniclers, they destroyed up to 100 thousand people.
Even more powerful were the uprisings of the non-Turkish peoples of the empire in Europe, especially in the Balkans, directed against Turkish rule.
The fight against anti-feudal and people's liberation movements required enormous funds and constant effort from the Turkish rulers, which further undermined the regime of the Sultan's despotism.
The struggle of feudal groups for power. Role of the Janissaries
The Ottoman Empire was also shaken by numerous feudal-separatist uprisings throughout the first half of the 17th century. the uprisings of Bekir Chavush in Baghdad, Abaza Pasha in Erzurum, Vardar Ali Pasha in Rumelia, the Crimean khans and many other powerful feudal lords followed one after another.
The Janissary army also became an unreliable support for the Sultan's power. This large army required huge funds, which were often not enough in the treasury. The intensified struggle for power between individual groups of the feudal aristocracy made the Janissaries a force actively participating in all court intrigues. As a result, the Janissary army turned into a hotbed of court unrest and rebellion. So, in 1622, with his participation, Sultan Osman II was overthrown and killed, and a year later his successor, Mustafa I, was overthrown.
Ottoman Empire in the first half of the 17th century. was still a strong power. Vast territories in Europe, Asia and Africa remained under the rule of the Turks. The long war with the Austrian Habsburgs ended in 1606 with the Treaty of Sitvatorok, which fixed the former borders of the Ottoman state with the Habsburg Empire. The war with Poland ended with the capture of Khotyn (1620). As a result of the war with Venice (1645-1669), the Turks took possession of the island of Crete. New wars with the Safavids, which lasted with short interruptions for almost 30 years, ended in 1639 with the signing of the Kasri-Shirin Treaty, according to which the lands of Azerbaijan, as well as Yerevan, went to Iran, but the Turks retained Basra and Baghdad. Nevertheless, the military power of the Turks was already undermined. It was during this period - in the first half of the 17th century. - those trends developed that later led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1455, troops of the warlike Turks invaded the Middle East and captured Baghdad. They accepted Islam. Successor Arslan conquered Syria, Palestine and defeated Palestine in the battle of Monazikert. The Rum Sultanate fell, but Osman 1 was able to gain a foothold in new lands. After the defeat, the Ottoman possessions were established. Sultan Bayazit 1 was a great warrior. But during the battle of Ankara his army was defeated. Timur's empire collapsed. . 1455-1481 Mahmed 2 accumulated enough strength for the state. The rushing Turks penetrated the Balkans, the northern Black Sea region and climbed to the East. And then all of Arabia came under control. Turkish power reached its apogee. The Ottomans rushed to Hungary. Also the Turks throughout the kingdom and became a threat to the Austrian Habsburgs. The Turkish border flew 130 km from Vienna. Suleiman's troops were victorious. They conquered Armenia. No one encroached on the lands of the Ottoman Empire. At that time the empire was growing stronger. The Ottoman Empire was increasingly in crisis. In 1699, the Karlavit Peace was concluded, the empire had to make concessions.
The Ottoman Empire was "the only truly military power of the Middle Ages." The military nature of the empire affected its government system and administrative structure. The entire territory of the empire was divided into provinces (eya-lets). During the reign of Suleiman, 21 eyalets were created, they were divided into sanjaks (districts). Warriors of the mounted feudal militia (sipahi) received land grants - timars and zeamets. They were obliged, by order of the Sultan, to personally participate in military campaigns and, depending on the income from the land grant they received, to field a certain number of equipped horsemen. Judicial functions were isolated and performed by qadis (Muslim judges), who were subordinate not to the local administration, but only to the qadiaskers in the eyalts and the head of the Muslim community in the empire - the Sheikh-ul-Islam.
India in the 16th-17th centuries. Formation of the Great Mongols Empire.
The sultans of the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties, who ruled Northern India in 1414–1526, at times strengthened their power and vigorously pursued their opponents, even making campaigns against their neighbors, mostly unsuccessful. The Vijayanagar state came into being almost simultaneously with the Bahmanis. Having conquered and annexed a number of independent principalities, Vijayanagar already at the turn of the 15th–16th centuries. turned into a large Hindu state, the like of which had never existed in southern India. And although the power of the ruler-maharaja himself here was not very stable, so as a result palace coups one dynasty sometimes replaced another. The first minister, Mahapradhan, was practically a version of the grand wazir. Under him there was a council of heads of departments and representatives of princes, as well as some segments of the population, including merchants. The forms of land tenure were also very complex. The lands of the country were mainly state-owned and were either under the direct control of the treasury or in the conditional possession of soldiers. Conditional allotments for the military, Amaram - something like Islamic iqt. Some categories of state land were donated on behalf of the rulers to Hindu temples and especially often to groups of Brahmins, which was a typical Indian tradition. Competing with the Muslim states of the Deccan, Vijayanagar sometimes resorted to the help and mediation of the Portuguese. The fact is that in India, like in China, there were no conditions for breeding and raising horses - they were usually purchased by bringing them from afar. They came to India mainly from Arabia and Iran. In 1526, the Timurid Babur invaded India. His army, well armed with muskets and cannons, including cavalry, defeated the last of the Delhi sultans and the Rajput militia in two large battles, after which it occupied a significant part of the Ganges valley. This was the beginning of the Mughal Empire, which united almost all of India under its rule at its peak. Babur himself did not rule India for long. Already in 1530, he was replaced on the throne by his son Humayun. wars with his brothers over his father’s inheritance weakened his power so much that the influential ruler from Bihar and Bengal, Farid Sher Khan, a native of the Afghan Sur tribe that had long settled in eastern India, managed to seize power in Delhi, forcing Humayun to seek refuge in Iran. Having accepted the title of Shah, Sher Shah did a lot to strengthen the central government during the short six years of his reign (1540–1545). In 1555, Humayun regained the throne in Delhi, but a year later he died in an accident, and power went to his 13-year-old son Akbar.
China in the 16th-17th centuries.
During this period, feudal exploitation of the population and private owners intensified. There was a process of landlessness among peasants, especially in the northern and central provinces. Not only landowners, but also merchants and rural rich people became owners of land. The original owners of the land were replaced by other owners. In 1581, tax reform was carried out. China's economy has developed extremely unevenly. Handicraft production was more developed in the southeastern province. Most of the city's artisans united in trade and craft unions, while a minority worked separately. From the end of the 16th century, labor conscription began to be replaced by monetary ones. Large private manufactories were increasingly developed. However, the state defended the interests of state-owned workshops. At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, the class struggle intensified. An uprising of peasant artisans, they were supported by merchants against tax collectors. Discontent grew among the ruling class, the learned class, and petty feudal lords. The movement for government reform began. In the second half of 16, Zhang Ju carried out a number of reforms. Most of which were canceled after his death. At the end of the 16th century, the opposition created the first political group, the center of which became Donglin.
57. Japan in the XVI-XVII centuries. The struggle for the unification of the country. In the 16th century The preconditions have matured for eliminating the fragmentation of the country. The struggle for the unification of Japan began. One of the most powerful feudal lords, Oda Nobunaga, having entered into an alliance with the feudal lords of the Tokugawa and Takeda houses, subjugated 30 of the country's 66 provinces by 1582. At the same time, he carried out a number of reforms, many of which were aimed at developing cities and trade - roads were built between separate provinces, local outposts were liquidated, and obstacles were put in place for moneylenders. After his death in 1582, the work of unifying Japan was continued by one of his closest associates, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As a result of Hideyoshi’s successful military campaigns, by the end of the 16th century. subjugated almost all of Japan and concentrated military and administrative power in his hands. A population census was carried out and a land cadastre was compiled. Peasants were attached to the land and were bound by mutual responsibility; taxes were set depending on the yield and fertility of the soil. The peasants had to pay taxes in rice in the amount of one ton of the harvest. Measures of area and weight were unified. Simultaneously with the land reform, a decree was issued to confiscate weapons from peasants. Peasants were strictly instructed to engage only in agriculture. In the field of foreign policy, Hideyoshi set as his goal the conquest of Korea and then China. After the death of Hideyoshi, under his three-year-old heir, a regency council was created, which included the largest feudal lords. The winner of the struggle that began between them was Tokugawa Ielyasu. In 1603, Tokugawa was proclaimed shogun. The House of Tokugawa dominated Japan until the mid-19th century.
58. XVI-XVII centuries. Cultural and historical connections between the peoples of the West and the East. From the end of the 15th century. Europe has entered new era international relations, main feature which was the formation of nation states. The world system of international economic relations began to take shape. The clash of interests of European states in Asia, Africa and America also had an impact on European politics. Great geographical discoveries expanded international connections and, filling the market with new products, stimulated European production. The 16th century witnessed the rise and fall of the multinational power of Charles V of Habsburg. The political map of Europe is changing. By the beginning of the 16th century. England, France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Sweden have already achieved significant success in establishing state unity. Beginning with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, European diplomacy was finally secularized, becoming the diplomacy of the New Age. The intensity of international relations already in the first half of the 16th century. caused a transition to a new (modern) system of organizing embassy service - permanent diplomatic mission. This system originated in Italy in the 60-70s of the 15th century. In the 90s of the 15th century. it was adopted by France and Spain, in 1510 by the Papal State, in 1530 by England, and by the middle of the 16th century. Most European countries have adopted this practice. A major role in the establishment of interstate relations was played by the system that appeared in the 16th century. postal service. In addition to permanent diplomatic missions, emergency embassies continued to retain their importance, equipped, for example, on the occasion of the accession to the throne of a new sovereign. In the second half of the 16th century, the international law. The struggle of national states for their clearly recognized interests gave rise to trade wars, the struggle for the mastery of sea routes, markets for raw materials and sales, and for the monopoly exploitation of colonies. The contradictions between large states, to which medium-sized and small countries adjoined, come to the fore. Clashes between states grew into pan-European conflicts. In the 16th century in Europe, three main nodes of international contradictions emerged that threatened wars: 1) the clash of trade and colonial interests of Spain, on the one hand, and France and England, on the other, which resulted in the late 15th - first half of the 16th centuries. in the Italian Wars, and in the second half of the 16th century. - in the war between Spain and England; 2) relationships between European states and the Ottoman Empire; 3) the struggle between the countries of Northern Europe for dominance in the Baltic. In trade competition between countries, success begins to be determined by the level of socio-economic development. The victory of England was the beginning of the triumph of early capitalism, which was gaining strength. By the end of the 16th century. In Western European international relations, a new balance of power emerged, which relegated Spain and the Italian states to secondary roles. Contradictions between nation-states and the fractured Habsburg power created the threat of new clashes in the next century. One of the serious sources of danger in Europe, prompting military clashes as well as diplomatic maneuvers, was the policy of the Ottoman Empire. The 16th century was the beginning of a fierce struggle for a trade monopoly in the Baltic. The Scandinavian countries sought to take control of the Baltic ports and secure a monopoly on the use of trade intermediation in the exchange of goods between different regions of Europe.
