The Ottoman Empire: a Historical Encyclopedia [2 Volumes]
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The failure of the campaigns in the Balkans forced the sultan to leave the palace and assume the leadership of the Ottoman forces in the field. After a long march, which took them from Istanbul to Edirne, Sofia, Nish, and Belgrade, the Ottoman forces entered the territory of present-day Hungary. The decisive battle was fought at Mezőkeresztes in northern Hungary. On the first day of the battle, October 25, 1596, the Habsburgs scored a minor victory and forced the Ottoman forces to retreat. On the second day, however, the exhausted Ottoman army routed the Habsburgs and their Transylvanian allies, scoring an impressive victory.
See also: Sultans: Mehmed III; Murad III
Further Reading
Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Somel, Selçuk Akșin. Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Sugar, Peter. Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354–1805. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
Mohács, Battle of (1526)
A battle fought between the armies of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary on August 29, 1526, at Mohács in present-day southern Hungary on the right bank of the river Danube, near the border between Hungary and Croatia. King Louis of Hungary died on the battlefield. With the death of King Louis, the independent Kingdom of Hungary ceased to exist. The Ottoman forces under the command of their sultan, Süleyman I (r. 1520–1566), went on to capture the city of Buda.
Süleyman began his reign by planning an invasion of Belgrade, which controlled the road to the southern plains of Hungary. The Ottomans were determined to take advantage of the opportunities presented by an internally divided Hungarian state. They were fully aware that the unfolding conflict between France and the Habsburgs would allow Süleyman to play an important role in European politics. In forming an alliance with France, Süleyman increased the pressure on the Habsburgs, forcing them to retreat from Hungary. The Ottoman sultan also had become aware of negotiations among Iran, Hungary, and the Habsburgs about the possibility of forming an anti-Ottoman alliance. The Iranian shah, Tahmasp I, had sent his envoys to King Louis of Hungary and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, proposing an alliance between the Safavid Empire and the two Christian powers.
The Ottoman forces, under the leadership of their sultan, attacked and captured Belgrade on August 29, 1521. Before pushing farther north, Süleyman turned his attention to the island of Rhodes, where he defeated the Knights Hospitallers of St. John and forced them to withdraw after a prolonged siege on January 21, 1522. By 1525 the rivalry between the Habsburg Charles V and Francis I of France had erupted into open warfare between the two Christian monarchs. When Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1521, the two Christian monarchs split the Catholic world into warring factions and provided Süleyman with a golden opportunity to attack and occupy Belgrade. The conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor and the king of France reached a new height when Francis I was defeated and captured in 1525, forcing the French to send emissaries to Istanbul to seek Ottoman assistance and support.
The Battle of Mohács, fought between the Hungarian king, Louis II, and the Ottoman sultan, Süleyman I the Magnificent, on August 29, 1526, ended with the defeat and death of the Hungarian monarch on the battlefield. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
Süleyman was determined to prevent Charles V from dominating central Europe. Exploiting the conflict between France and the Habsburgs, Süleyman struck, marching against a divided Hungary fighting a civil war over the role of the Habsburgs. Lacking unity and cohesion, the Hungarian army under the leadership of King Louis suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the Ottomans on the plain of Mohács on August 29, 1526. The deaths of King Louis and thousands of his men on the battlefield sealed the fate of the Hungarian state. The road was now open to Buda, which was captured by Süleyman’s army on September 10. When the Ottoman army returned to Hungary in 1529, Süleyman focused his campaign on recapturing Buda and laying siege to Vienna. The long journey and heavy rain, however, made the roads impassable and the transportation of men and artillery impossible. The arrival of a cold and rainy autumn, which deprived the horses of forage and rendered the Ottoman cavalry useless, forced Süleyman to lift the siege on the Habsburg capital after three weeks, on October 16.
See also: Sultans: Süleyman I
Further Reading
Clot, André. Süleiman the Magnificent. London: Saqi Books, 2005.
Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973.
Kunt, Metin, and Christine Woodhead, eds. Süleyman the Magnificent and His Age. London: Longman House, 1995.
Lybyer, Howe Albert. The Government of the Ottoman Empire in the Time of Suleiman the Magnificent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.
Passarowitz, Treaty of (1718)
A treaty signed on July 21, 1718, at the conclusion of the Austro-Ottoman and Venetian-Ottoman wars of 1716–1718, at Passarowitz (now Požerevac) in present-day Serbia. According to this treaty, the Ottoman Empire lost substantial territories in southeastern Europe to Austria. Austria imposed its control over the Banat of Temeşvár, which incorporated parts of present-day western Romania and northern Serbia.
In 1715 the Ottoman forces attacked Venetian positions and imposed their control over the Morea; their advances against Croatia forced the Habsburgs to ally with the Venetians and declare war on the sultan. Once again the confrontation between the Ottoman forces and the Habsburg army, led by Eugene of Savoy, proved to be disastrous for the sultan and his overly confident grand vizier, Damad Silahdar Ali Pasha, whose forces were routed at Petrovaradin (Peterwardein or Pétervárad) on August 5, 1716. The Ottoman defenses collapsed, and they lost Temeşvár, followed by Belgrade, which fell into the hands of the Habsburgs on August 18, 1717. The demoralizing defeats undermined the position of the war party in the court and allowed the sultan to appoint his closest adviser, Nevşehirli Damad Ibrahim Pasha, as his new grand vizier in May 1718. The peace negotiations resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Passarowitz on July 21, 1718, with both sides agreeing to maintain possession of the territory they had conquered. The Habsburgs received the Banat of Temeşvár and northern Serbia, which included Belgrade and Oltenia (Wallachia west of the river Olt) (Jelavich: 68). They also received assurances that their merchants could operate freely in the sultan’s domains. Catholic priests also regained their old privileges, which allowed the Habsburg emperor to interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire by acting as the champion and protector of the Catholic community (Shaw: 1:232–3). The Treaty of Passarowitz dealt a deadly blow to the self-confidence of the Ottoman ruling elite. The Habsburg’s victory attested to the military, technological, and organizational supremacy of modern European armies. It became essential for the Ottoman state to avoid continuous warfare, establish a peaceful relationship with its European neighbors, and use this opportunity to rebuild its shattered economy and demoralized army.
See also: Battles and Treaties: Karlowitz, Treaty of; Beys and Pashas: İbrahim Pasha; Sultans: Ahmed III
Further Reading
Black, Henry Campbell. Black’s Law Dictionary. 6th ed. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1990.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Jelavich, Barbara. History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Vol 1. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern T
urkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Somel, Selçuk Akșin. Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Sugar, Peter. Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354–1805. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
Preveza, Battle of (1538)
A naval engagement between the Ottoman fleet under the command of the legendary pirate and admiral, Hayreddin Pasha, also known as Barbarossa or Barbaros, and the naval forces of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The naval battle, which took place off the Albanian coast on September 28, 1538, resulted in victory for the Ottoman fleet. This victory forced Venice to surrender the Morea (the Peloponnese) in present-day southern Greece and Dalmatia on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, thus securing Ottoman supremacy and control over the waters of the eastern Mediterranean until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
See also: Beys and Pashas: Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha; Sultans: Süleyman I
Further Reading
Clot, André. Süleiman the Magnificent. London: Saqi Books, 2005.
Crowley, Roger. Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World. New York: Random House, 2009.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Fisher, Godfrey. Barbary Legend: War, Trade and Piracy in North Africa 1415–1830. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957.
Glete, Jan. Warfare at Sea, 1500–1650: Maritime Conflicts and the Transformation of Europe. London: Routledge, 2002.
Goffman, Daniel. The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Greene, Molly. “Barbarossa Brothers.” In Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Gábor Ágoston and Bruce Masters, 77–78. New York: Facts On File, 2009.
Hess, Andrew. The Forgotten Frontier: A History of the Sixteenth Century Ibero-African Frontier. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973.
Lybyer, Howe Albert. The Government of the Ottoman Empire in the Time of Suleiman the Magnificent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.
Quinn, Rodney S. Barbarosa: The Sword of Islam. Gorham, ME: Trafford Publishing, 2005.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Somel, Selçuk Akșin. Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Qasr-i Shirin (Kasr-i Şirin), Treaty of (1639)
A treaty of peace between the Ottoman Empire and Iran signed on May 17, 1639, on the plain of Zohab (Zuhab) near the town of Qasr-i Shirin in present-day western Iran. The treaty of Qasr-i Shirin ended nearly 140 years of hostility and warfare between the two Islamic empires. The Treaty of Qasr-i Shirin established the Ottoman sultan as the master of Iraq, while the Safavid dynasty, based in Iran, maintained control over Azerbaijan and the southern Caucasus. The Safavids promised to end their Shia missionary activities and military raids in Ottoman territory. As a symbolic gesture, the Iranians also agreed to cease the practice of publicly cursing the Sunni caliphs, which had become widespread among the Shia population in Iran.
See also: Empire and Administration: Abbas I, Shah of Iran; Sultans: Murad IV; Primary Documents: Document 5
Further Reading
Börekçi, Günhan. “Murad IV.” In Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Gábor Ágoston and Bruce Masters, 403. New York: Facts On File, 2009.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Hurewitz, J. C. Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: A Documentary Record. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1956.
Parry, V. J. “The Period of Murad IV, 1617–1648.” In A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730, edited by M. A. Cook, 137. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Roemer, H. R. “The Safavid Period.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, edited by Peter Jackson and Lawrence Lockhart, 6:189–350. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Somel, Selçuk Akșin. Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Sykes, Sir Percy. History of Persia. 2 vols. London: Macmillan, 1951.
Ridaniya, Battle of (1517)
The last battle fought between the armies of the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk sultanate, on January 22, 1517, which resulted in the defeat and collapse of the Mamluk sultanate in Egypt. After defeating the armies of the Safavid dynasty at the battle of Chaldiran on August 22–23, 1514, the Ottoman sultan, Selim I (r. 1512– 1520), shifted his focus to the Arab world. His objective was to conquer Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, which had been ruled since the 13th century by the Mamluks. The Mamluks frequently had supported pretenders to the Ottoman throne. They also laid claim to territories in southern Anatolia, particularly the region of Cilicia, which blocked Ottoman access to the Arab world. Finally, by holding claim to the holiest sites in Islam, Mecca and Medina, the Mamluks challenged the claim of the Ottoman sultan to act as the principal defender of Sunni Islam. On August 24, 1516, the Ottoman forces inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Mamluk armies at Marj Dabiq (Mercidabik) north of Aleppo in present-day Syria. The Mamluk sultan, Qansu al-Ghawri, was killed on the battlefield. The Ottoman cannons and muskets proved to be the most significant factors in the Ottoman victory over the Mamluks.
The victory at Marj Dabiq allowed Selim to seize Syria. Despite their best efforts to reorganize their forces under Tuman Bey, who had proclaimed himself the new sultan, the Mamluks once again were defeated, at Ridaniya near Cairo, on January 22, 1517. Tuman Bey was captured and executed by the Ottomans, who established themselves as the new masters of the Arab world. With the defeat of the Mamluks, Egypt, Syria, and Hijaz (western Arabia) were incorporated into the Ottoman state, and the sultan was proclaimed “Guardian of the Two Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina.”
See also: Empire and Administration: Ismail I, Shah of Iran; Sultans: Selim I
Further Reading
Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973.
Muslu, Cihan Yüksel. The Ottomans and the Mamluks: Imperial Diplomacy and Warfare in the Islamic World. London: I. B. Tauris, 2014.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Somel, Selçuk Akșin. Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Sugar, Peter. Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354–1805. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
Uğur, Ahmed. The Reign of Sultan Selim I in the Light of the Selim-name Literature. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1985.
Wasserstein, David J., and Ami Ayalon, eds. Mamluks and Ottomans: Studies in Honour of Michael Winter. London: Routledge, 2010.
Waterson, James. The Knights of Islam: The Wars of the Mamluks. Barnsley, UK: Greenhill Books, 2007.
Sèvres, Treaty of (1920)
The Treaty of Sèvres was signed between the European victors of World War I, namely Great Britain, France, and Italy, and the representatives of the Ottoman government, on August 10, 1920, at Sèvres, “the Paris suburb which is home to the renowned French porcelain works” (Mango: 284). The treaty practically abolished the Ottoman Empire and forced the Ottoman government to renounce all its rights over
its former Arab provinces in the Middle East. The humiliating treaty also called for the establishment of a “free and independent Armenia” with its boundaries determined by “the President of the United States of America” (Hurewitz: 2:83). An autonomous Kurdish state (i.e., Kurdistan) was conceived in southeastern Anatolia, but the final decision was left to the League of Nations to determine whether the Kurds desired and deserved independence. The treaty also allowed Greece to establish a foothold in eastern Thrace and the western coast of Anatolia in the region surrounding the city of Izmir. Greece also was handed control of the Aegean islands commanding the Dardanelles, while the straits were internationalized. France was granted the right to establish a mandate in Syria and Lebanon. A part of southern Anatolia also was handed over to France as its sphere of influence. The British were allowed to establish the mandates of Iraq, Transjordan, and Palestine. Southwestern Anatolia was designated as the sphere of influence of Italy. The only region left to the Ottoman government was a small area in northern Anatolia and the city of Istanbul, which remained under Allied control. The Treaty of Sèvres was denounced by the Turkish nationalist movement under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk). After establishing itself as the legitimate government of Turkey, the new nationalist regime discarded the Treaty of Sèvres and negotiated the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
See also: Empire and Administration: Atatürk, Kemal; Sultans: Mehmed VI
Further Reading
Hurewitz, J. C. Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: A Documentary Record. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1956.
Jelavich, Charles, and Barbara Jelavich. The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 1804–1920. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.