User:Chamboz/sandbox

Necipoğlu 257-8 - relaxation of seclusion by the time of Mehmed IV, complete breakdown under Ahmed III.

=Transformation=

Law
The increased political activity of the Şeyhülislams also came with increased risk, as many lost their offices and even their lives when they made enemies of the empire's leading political forces.

Beginning from the middle of the sixteenth century, under the direction of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Şeyhülislam Ebussuud Efendi, an official corpus of judicial texts were selected as authoritative, to be taught to students in all of the empire's educational institutions. Subsequently it was the duty of the Şeyhülislam to regulate which texts were to be taught and relied upon by jurists.

From the late-sixteenth century onward, unappointed muftis were increasingly marginalized and restricted in favor of the officially appointed members of the imperial learned hierarchy, ensuring judicial conformity throughout the empire to the norms established by the Şeyhülislams.

Crimean Khanate
The Tatars were nevertheless unreliable allies, frequently failing to appear on campaign, raiding targets against the will of the Ottomans, and demanding excessive cash bribes in exchange for their cooperation.

North Africa
Ottoman control over Algeria was significantly reduced following the overthrow of its governor in 1659. Despite receiving a request from the local Algerian administration that they send another governor, the Ottomans refused to do so, indicating that they had ceased to consider it a worthwhile province.

Social and cultural life (17)
Despite occasional religious and government opposition, coffeehouses were never successfully suppressed in their entirety. Neither was opposition to their establishment universal. Several prominent şeyhülislams of the mid-seventeenth century were explicitly opposed their oppression, and wrote also in favor of the legalization of tobacco, demonstrating that the religious class was by no means universally conservative.

Military
Increasingly lengthy and casualty-heavy campaigns in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to a greater demand for military manpower, and a move away from traditional methods of recruitment.

Janissaries
The unprecedented demand for fresh military manpower by the end of the sixteenth century overwhelmed this traditional method of recruitment. The average age of recruitment had increased to 16.6 from 13.5 a century earlier. By the middle of the seventeenth century the devşirme had been largely abandoned as a method of recruitment.

The size of the Janissary corps increased from 21,094 in 1574 to 47,033 in 1609, including cadets not yet full members of the corps, but excluding the thousands of janissaries garrisoning provincial fortresses. Rapid numerical increase led to some loss of quality, but the degree of this loss has often been exaggerated. The Janissary corps continued to innovate in tactics, and in the early seventeenth century became one of the first armies in Europe to put volley fire to effective use on the battlefield.

The percentage of janissaries who participated in a given campaign was variable: in 1624 the proportion on campaign was 69%.

Civilianization

Cavalry
Despite the modern-day fame and greater number of the janissaries, it was in fact the members of the cavalry corps which earned higher pay and greater social status. The number of cavalry grew from 5,957 in 1574 to 20,869 in 1609. In the late sixteenth century the cavalry corps began to be equipped with short-barrelled arquebuses.

The cavalry of the standing army came to play a major role in the administration of the empire. From the early seventeenth century until the reforms of Murad IV, the cizye tax was collected almost exclusively by veterans from the cavalry corps, and from then until the 1650s they dominated the collection of the avarız. Likewise, during the first half of the seventeenth century the cavalry came to control a significant proportion of the empire's tax farms.

In 1657 and 1658 the grand vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha instituted dramatic cuts to the size of the cavalry corps in response to their rebelliousness and support for the revolt of Abaza Hasan Pasha. Many cavalrymen had their names struck from the muster rolls, while others were massacred. The size of the corps was reduced by some 7,000 men, about a third of its strength. The empire's financial situation was greatly improved; while in the first half of the century salary payments for the cavalry cost upwards of 120 million akçe annually, following Köprülü's reforms this was reduced to 80 million, and by the end of the century had been further reduced to 67 million.

Artillery
The study of Ottoman artillery is plagued by a number of enduring myths. One of these is that the Ottomans were reliant on European technical expertise for the construction of their cannon; the other is that the cannons which the Ottomans produced were oversized and unwieldy, unsuitable for field battles. In fact the Ottomans of this period were largely self-sufficient with regard to cannon and gunpowder production, and cast cannon which were essentially similar to those produced in Europe.

Timariots
A significant proportion of Ottoman forces were timariots, cavalrymen granted the right to collect provincial revenue, typically in Anatolia or the Balkans, in exchange for service in the army. During the reign of Murad IV, the number of timariots available for service was approximately 106,000, although only a fraction of them would be called forth for any given campaign. This ensured that the Ottomans always had a large reserve of military manpower available.

By the 1690s the proportion of timariots in the Ottoman army had dropped to 10-15 percent.

Irregulars and auxiliaries
In times of great need the Ottomans could temporarily conscript able-bodied men from among the peasantry as musketeers (tüfenkendaz). Volunteers and conscripts typically served for three years in fortress garrisons before being eligible for promotion into the Janissary or cavalry corps.

Although far less numerous than in previous eras, there still existed a small hereditary class of akıncıs (raiders), descended from the irregular forces which participated in the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. These were irregular cavalry who traveled at the vanguard of the Ottoman army, looting and raiding enemy lands. They were increasingly marginalized by the Crimean Tatars, who occupied a similar role in the army, and were often relegated to performing subsidiary tasks as a result, such as clearing trees or constructing bridges. Similarly, the yaya and müsellem corps, which in previous eras had respectively served as irregular infantry and cavalry, had been by the middle of the sixteenth century relegated to entirely non-combat roles in support of the main army.

The Crimean Khanate frequently contributed to imperial campaigns, particularly those in Europe. The Crimean army consisted of light cavalry, and was used as a vanguard for Ottoman forces. They performed reconnaissance functions, and also launched raids against the enemy front. While the main Ottoman army concentrated its power against a single target, the Crimean Tatars could spread out across the entire front, rapidly advancing to loot unprotected targets and disrupt enemy communications and organization, as well as creating diversions. In times of war with the Habsburgs, Tatar forces could raid as far as Austria and Moravia. The Tatars developed a ferocious reputation and were highly feared by their enemies, making their presence on campaign a significant psychological boon to the Ottomans. It is estimated that the Crimean Khan could raise armies of more than 50,000 men.

Logistics
The imperial campaign which conquered Uyvar in 1663 took 119 days to march from Edirne to the Hungarian frontier at Esztergom, while during Murad IV's 1638-9 campaign against the Safavids, the imperial army took 197 days to march from Istanbul to Baghdad. This great difference demonstrates the severe logistical challenges involved in eastern campaigns. Nevertheless, each front presented its own peculiar difficulties. Troop movements could be severely delayed by the need to construct bridges for river-crossings, or by inclement weather conditions. In the European theater, a significant role was played by the Crimean Tatars, who acted as scouts for the Ottoman army, traveling at its vanguard and acting as informants for Ottoman commanders, aiding in their strategic planning.

Military supplies reached the eastern theater by sea to Trabzon, where they were offloaded for overland transportation. The Ottomans maintained flotillas on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for transporting supplies into Iraq.

Hungary as well presented its own unique problems. The region was filled with rivers and their tributaries, the crossing of which presented a severe logistical challenge for the Ottoman army. Military supplies, including cannon, were transported by water from Istanbul to Varna, then overland to Belgrade where they would be loaded onto transport barges on the Danube River, ready for transfer upriver to the frontier.

Military industries
The Ottoman Empire was abundant in the natural resources necessary for military industries, lacking only tin, which was mostly imported from England.

The Safavid frontier
For most of this period, the border between the Ottomans and Safavid Iran followed the boundary established in the 1555 Treaty of Amasya, following more or less the modern border between Iraq and Iran. The major exceptions to this were the period from 1578-1603, when the Ottomans temporarily conquered and annexed much of Azerbaijan and western Iran, and 1623-39, when Baghdad and much of Iraq was in Safavid hands.

In times of warfare with the Safavids military expenses could rise to astronomical levels. In 1585, at the height of the offensive into the Caucasus, the yearly cost of garrisoning the Armenian and Georgian fortresses amounted 50 million akçe, fully half of which was dedicated to the fortress of Yerevan (Revan), with a garrison of 5,600 men.

Economy
The Black Sea coast of Anatolia may also have suffered some degree of depopulation during this period as families migrated inland to escape Cossack raids, although the extent of this is not known.

Trade
Hungary was home to a thriving cattle export trade, which expanded during the period of Ottoman rule.

Taxation
The cizye grew at a rate which barely kept pace with inflation, remaining consistent at 20% of the imperial budget.

The avarız was expanded at a faster rate than inflation, increasing by 236% (adjusted) from 1560-1660. While initially only constituting 4% of the imperial budget, by 1670 it provided 20% of all imperial revenue. Of all sources of state revenue, it was this which grew the fastest during the seventeenth century.

=Classical Age=

Sunni Islam
Mehmed II established a major academy for religious education, known as the "Eight Courtyards" (S aḥn-ı S emān). This gave the Ottoman Empire an educational institution with prestige comparable to those in the Mamluk and Timurid realms.

Sufis
Despite a turn toward Sunni Islamic orthodoxy, the Ottomans continued to offer patronage for the Sufi orders they found agreeable, particularly the Mevlevis, Halvetis, and Zeynis.

Also active in the Ottoman Empire during this period were several prominent dervish groups distinct from regular Sufis, termed "renunciationists". These ranged from internationally prominent orders such as the Kalenderis and Haydaris, to more regional groups such as the Abdals of Rum and the Bektashis. Such groups engaged in practices meant to distance themselves from society, intentionally breaking social norms and ignoring the tenets of Islam in an effort to bring themselves personally closer to God. Renunciationist practices included mendicancy, the shaving of all hair on the head, self-inflicted injury, nakedness, and other manifestations of extreme asceticism. Such practices earned them admiration and followers, as well as the scorn and castigation of orthodox religious scholars, who saw them as deviants and heretics. One such dervish from the Kalenderi sect attempted to assassinate Sultan Bayezid II in 1492, which prompted the expulsion of that order from Rumelia.

The Bektashi sect took shape during the sixteenth century and grew to become immensely influential in the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the century it was a renunciationist dervish group like the Kalenderis, based on the teachings of Hacı Bektaş, a dervish of the thirteenth century. Unlike more orthodox Sufi groups, the renunciationists were placed under immense pressure by the Ottoman government to relinquish their deviant practices. While other dervish groups were weakened and eventually eliminated, the Bektashis were able to transform into full-fledged Sufi order, the success of which was directly related to their close relationship with the Janissary corps. As other dervish groups faded away, their members merged into the Bektashi order.

Conversion and religious change
As divorce was extremely difficult to obtain in Christianity, women in unhappy marriages frequently converted to Islam in order to escape their husbands.

Government
The process by which Constantinople (قسطنطینية, Ḳosṭanṭīnīye, popularly known as Istanbul) became the capital of the Ottoman Empire began shortly after its conquest, when Mehmed II ordered the construction of an imperial palace there in 1454. Shortly thereafter, in 1459, a second began to be constructed near the imperial mosque of Hagia Sophia, called the "New Imperial Palace" (Sarāy-ı Cedīd-i ʿĀmire), and is today known as Topkapı Palace. This palace came to serve as the center of Ottoman government and political life for centuries, until the construction of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856. Topkapı Palace was meant to enhance dynastic prestige through seclusion. Surrounded by imposing walls and multiple interior courtyards, the ruler's sacredness and mystique was increased through his separation from the general population and the difficulty of access to him, in contrast to previous eras in which the Ottoman ruler appeared before his subjects on a regular basis. While early in his reign Mehmed II continued to make regular public appearances, from in the last years of his reign he codified the practice of seclusion in dynastic law (kanun). Henceforth the Ottoman ruler would only appear in public on the two Muslim religious holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. This change in the nature of Ottoman sovereignty was likely a result of the influence of Byzantine and Persian dynastic practice. Court ceremonial grew more elaborate and ostentatious during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), and the practice of seclusion developed further as well. The sultan no longer rose to greet foreign ambassadors, and even ceased to move or speak during audiences. Even within his private quarters, pages were no longer allowed to so much as whisper while in the sultan's presence, and a sign language was developed to take the place of regular speech. These changes were all meant to enhance Suleiman's aura of solemnity and grandeur.

Patrimonialism
Following the conquest of Constantinople and Mehmed II's centralizing of the empire, Ottoman government was predicated upon a system of patrimonialism, whereby all power ultimately resided in the sultan, who functioned as an absolute monarch.

Mehmed II reformed the system of succession, decreeing that the ruler must execute his brothers upon taking the throne. This ensured that the unity of the empire would be preserved. While civil wars over the succession continued, the possibility of political fragmentation was removed.

Kanun
The idea of kanun, that each dynasty should have a distinct set of laws and administrative practices distinct from the Islamic Sharia, was borrowed from the Mongols following their invasion of the Middle East in the thirteenth century.

Sharia
Beginning in the reign of Mehmed II, the Islamic religious establishment in the Ottoman Empire began to develop in a radically different manner from those of its contemporaries. While in most Muslim states the clergy (Arabic: ʿUlamāʾ) were largely independent of state authority, the Ottomans established an institutionalized hierarchy of judicial offices and educational institutions, headed by a single chief judicial figure, the Şeyhülislam, a term often translated as Grand Mufti. The Islamic judiciary, rather than being allowed to handle its own affairs, was thus integrated directly into the Ottoman state as a branch of its central government. Religious-judicial officeholders were directly appointed by the Şeyhülislam and his subordinates, while he himself was appointed by the sultan.

Despite their non-binding nature, fatwas carried significant weight in legal disputes. Litigants who could produce favorable fatwas almost always won their case.