Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: Devlet-i Aliye-i Osmaniye; Modern Turkish: Osmanl? ?mparatorlu?u; Arabic: ?????? ?????????, Al-Dawla Al-?Uthmaniyya) was an imperial power, centered around the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, that existed from 1299 to 1922. At the height of its power, it included Anatolia, the Middle East, parts of North Africa, and much of south-eastern Europe. It was established by a tribe of Oghuz Turks in western Anatolia, and was ruled by the Osmanl? dynasty, the descendants of those Turks.

Culture

Ottoman culture covers expressive activities and the symbolic structures that happened under the umbrella of Ottoman Empire. That is an inclusive statement for all the religious and ethnic cultures of the state. Also, there is a specific intersecting culture that originated from living multi-cultural that reached to its highest levels among the Ottoman elites. Ottoman elites were not monolytic and composed of many different ethnic and religious people.

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With the turn of nineteen century nationalistic states, including Turkey, begin to write their own history. Most of the references to Ottoman culture were buried either in the archives or destroyed. What we know about that period mainly originates from opposing state archives and their official view points. These references can not be claimed fair or inclusive. It is also hard to reach defending views given the fact that Ottomans sized to exist. Current studies show that empire culture was very rich and colorful.

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Opposing to wide spread beliefs, coming from a nomadic culture, Ottoman Turks was in peace with different cultures that they have in contact. Originally they had a polytheistic religion, and before they selected Islam, they were Buddhist as most of the central-asian cultures were. Ottomans later integrated Persian and Byzantine, instead of being assimilated into these cultures. When considering the Turkish folkloric or Ottoman elite art, we can see that they have conserved the colors and symbols that were inherited from their origins. Ottoman elites used Persian in their art to expressed their own inner world. The Ottoman court life was a harmony of Turkish and the Persian Shahs, but had many Byzantine and European influences.

Related Topics:
Islam - Buddhist - Persian - Shah - Byzantine

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This Ottoman multicultural perspective reflects on their policies. One of the reasons that Ottoman Empire lasted as long as it did, was the high tolerance policies pursued originating from their nomadic inheritance. This statement should be taken as a comparison to assimilative and ignorant medieval times (west and east). Ottoman State persuaded multi-cultural and multi-religious politics. When we talk about ottoman tolerance, we talk about the structures that accommodate different perspectives. A good example was Ottoman justice system. Another can be cited with the local governors to the regions. As the Ottomans moved further west, the Ottoman leaders themselves absorbed some of the culture of the conquered regions. With the intercultural marriages, the new cultural structures were gradually added to the Ottomans, creating the characteristic Ottoman elite culture. When compared to common Turkish arts (folkloric), the assimilation of the Ottoman elites to these new cultures is apparent.

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After the capture of ?stanbul in 1453, most churches were left intact, however many, including the Hagia Sophia, was turned into mosques.

Related Topics:
1453 - Hagia Sophia - Mosque

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