The Ottomans are one of the greatest and most powerful civilizations of the modern period. Their moment of glory in the sixteenth century represents one of the heights of human creativity, optimism, and artistry. The empire they built was the largest and most influential of the Muslim empires of the modern period, and their culture and military expansion crossed over into Europe. Not since the expansion of Islam into Spain in the eighth century had Islam seemed poised to establish a European presence as it did in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Like that earlier expansion, the Ottomans established an empire over European territory and established Islamic traditions and culture that last to the current day (the Muslims in Bosnia are the last descendants of the Ottoman presence in Europe).

The Ottoman empire lasted until the twentieth century. While historians like to talk about empires in terms of growth and decline, the Ottomans were a force to be reckoned with, militarily and culturally, right up until the break-up of the empire in the first decades of this century. The real end to the Ottoman culture came with the secularization of Turkey after World War II along European models of government. The transition to a secular state was not an easy one and its repercussions are still being felt in Turkish society today, nevertheless, secularization represents the real break with the Ottoman tradition and heritage.

The Ottoman Empire was a vast state founded in the late 13th century by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution in 1918. Modern Turkey formed only part of the empire, but the terms ³Turkey² and ³Ottoman Empire² were often used interchangeably.

Economically, socially, and militarily, Turkey was a medieval state, unaffected by the developments in the rest of Europe. Turkish domination over the northern part of Africa (except Tripoli and Egypt) was never well defined or effective, and the eastern border was inconstant, shifting according to frequent wars with Persia. Of the vassal princes, only the khans of Crimea were generally loyal.

The sultans themselves had sunk into indolence and depravity. Until the ascension (1603) of Ahmad I, the succession to the throne was habitually contested by all the sons of the deceased sultan, and it was the patriotic duty of the victor to kill his rivals in order to restore order. Although this practice was barbarous, when it ceased other problems arose. The eldest male member of the family was recognized as the heir-designate, but to prevent threats to the sultan the imperial prince was denied any involvement in public affairs and was kept in luxurious imprisonment. When the prince finally ascended the throne, he was often alcoholic or lunatic.

Actual rule was usually exercised by the grand viziers, many of whom were able men (notably those of the Köprülü family). The sultans themselves often were the creatures of the Janissaries , whose favor was purchased by large gifts at the ascension of a sultan.

One of the most nefarious aspects of the court of Constantinople (known as the Seraglio and the Sublime Porte) was the all-pervading corruption and bribery that had been raised to a system of administration. The pashas and hospodars (governors) who administered the provinces and vassal states purchased their posts at exorbitant prices. They recovered their fortunes by extorting still larger sums from their subjects. The peasantry was thus reduced to abject misery.

A positive feature in Ottoman administration was the religious toleration generally extended to all non-Muslims. This, however, did not prevent occasional massacres and discriminatory fiscal practices. In Constantinople the Greeks and Armenians held a privileged status and were very influential in commerce and politics. The despotic system of government was mitigated only by the observance of Muslim law.

The Ottoman state began as one of many small Turkish states that emerged in Asia Minor during the breakdown of the empire of the Seljuk Turks. The Ottoman Turks began to absorb the other states, and during the reign (1451-81) of Muhammad II they ended all other local Turkish dynasties. The early phase of Ottoman expansion took place under Osman I, Orkhan , Murad I , and Beyazid I at the expense of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Bursa fell in 1326 and Adrianople (the modern Edirne ) in 1361; each in turn became the capital of the empire. The great Ottoman victories of Kosovo (1389) and Nikopol (1396) placed large parts of the Balkan Peninsula under Ottoman rule and awakened Europe to the Ottoman danger. The Ottoman siege of Constantinople was lifted at the appearance of Timur , who defeated and captured Beyazid in 1402. The Ottomans, however, soon rallied.

The empire, reunited by Muhammad I , expanded victoriously under Muhammad's successors Murad II and Muhammad II . The victory (1444) at Varna over a crusading army led by Ladislaus III of Poland was followed in 1453 by the capture of Constantinople . Within a century the Ottomans had changed from a nomadic horde to the heirs of the most ancient surviving empire of Europe. Their success was due partly to the weakness and disunity of their adversaries, partly to their excellent and far superior military organization. Their army comprised numerous Christiansnot only conscripts, who were organized as the corps of Janissaries , but also volunteers. Turkish expansion reached its peak in the 16th cent. under Selim I and Suleyman I (Sulayman the Magnificent).

The Hungarian defeat (1526) at Mohács prepared the way for the capture (1541) of Buda and the absorption of the major part of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire; Transylvania became a tributary principality, as did Walachia and Moldavia . The Asian borders of the empire were pushed deep into Persia and Arabia. Selim I defeated the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria , took Cairo in 1517, and assumed the succession to the caliphate . Algiers was taken in 1518, and Mediterranean commerce was threatened by corsairs, such as Barbarossa , who sailed under Turkish auspices. Most of the Venetian and other Latin possessions in Greece also fell to the sultans.

During the reign of Sulayman I began (1535) the traditional friendship between France and Turkey, directed against Hapsburg Austria and Spain. Sulayman reorganized the Turkish judicial system, and his reign saw the flowering of Turkish literature, art, and architecture. In practice the prerogatives of the sultan were limited by the spirit of Muslim canonical law ( sharia ), and he usually shared his authority with the chief preserver ( sheyhülislam ) of the sharia and with the grand vizier (chief executive officer).

In the progressive decay that followed Sulayman's death, the clergy ( ulema ) and the Janissaries gained power and exercised a profound, corrupting influence. The first serious blow by Europe to the empire was the naval defeat of Lepanto (1571; see Lepanto, battle of ), inflicted on the fleet of Selim II by the Spanish and Venetians under John of Austria. However, Murad IV in the 17th cent. temporarily restored Turkish military prestige by his victory (1638) over Persia. Crete was conquered from Venice, and in 1683 a huge Turkish army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa surrounded Vienna. The relief of Vienna by John III of Poland and the subsequent campaigns of Charles V of Lorraine, Louis of Baden , and Eugene of Savoy ended in negotiations in 1699 (see Karlowitz, Treaty of ), which cost Turkey Hungary and other territories. Decline

The breakup of the state gained impetus with the Russo-Turkish Wars in the 18th cent. Egypt was only temporarily lost to Napoleon's army, but the Greek War of Independence and its sequels, the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29 (see Adrianople, Treaty of ), and the war with Muhammad Ali of Egypt resulted in the loss of Greece and Egypt, the protectorate of Russia over Moldavia and Walachia, and the semi-independence of Serbia. Drastic reforms were introduced in the late 18th and early 19th cent. by Selim III and Mahmud II , but they came too late. By the 19th cent. Turkey was known as the Sick Man of Europe.

Through a series of treaties of capitulation from the 16th to the 18th cent. the Ottoman Empire gradually lost its economic independence. Although Turkey was theoretically among the victors in the Crimean War , it emerged from the war economically exhausted. The Congress of Paris (1856) recognized the independence and integrity of the Ottoman Empire, but this event marked the confirmation of the empire's dependency rather than of its rights as a European power.

The rebellion (1875) of Bosnia and Hercegovina precipitated the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, in which Turkey was defeated despite its surprisingly vigorous stand. Romania (i.e., Walachia and Moldavia), Serbia, and Montenegro were declared fully independent, and Bosnia and Hercegovina passed under Austrian administration. Bulgaria, made a virtually independent principality, annexed (1885) Eastern Rumelia with impunity.

Sultan Abd al-Majid , who in 1839 issued a decree containing an important body of civil reforms, was followed (1861) by Abd al-Aziz , whose reign witnessed the rise of the liberal party. Its leader, Midhat Pasha , succeeded in deposing (1876) Abd al-Aziz. Abd al-Hamid II acceded (1876) after the brief reign of Murad V. A liberal constitution was framed by Midhat, and the first Turkish parliament opened in 1877, but the sultan soon dismissed it and began a rule of personal despotism. The Armenian massacres (see Armenia ) of the late 19th cent. turned world public opinion against Turkey. Abd al-Hamid was victorious in the Greco-Turkish war of 1897, but Crete, which had been the issue, was ultimately gained by Greece.

In 1908 the Young Turk movement, a reformist and strongly nationalist group, with many adherents in the army, forced the restoration of the constitution of 1876, and in 1909 the parliament deposed the sultan and put Muhammad V on the throne. In the two successive Balkan Wars (1912-13), Turkey lost nearly its entire territory in Europe to Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and newly independent Albania. The nationalism of the Young Turks, whose leader Enver Pasha gained virtual dictatorial power by a coup in 1913, antagonized the remaining minorities in the empire.

The outbreak of World War I found Turkey lined up with the Central Powers. Although Turkish troops succeeded against the Allies in the Gallipoli campaign (1915), Arabia rose against Turkish rule, and British forces occupied (1917) Baghdad and Jerusalem. In 1918, Turkish resistance collapsed in Asia and Europe. An armistice was concluded in October, and the Ottoman Empire came to an end. The Treaty of Sèvres (see Sèvres, Treaty of ) confirmed its dissolution. With the victory of the Turkish nationalists, who had refused to accept the peace terms and overthrew the sultan in 1922, modern Turkey's history began.

Memoirs of Babur

Enlarged image

Memoirs of Babur
British Library Or. 3714, ff.6v-7
Copyright © The British Library Board
A high-quality version of this image can be purchased from British Library Images Online. For more information email imagesonline@bl.uk

This is the personal journal of Emperor Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty. It records the events of his remarkable life from the age of 12 until his death in 1530. His grandson Akbar had the memoirs translated into Persian from their original Chaghatay Turkish so his grandfather’s achievements might be more widely known. This is the largest of four major illustrated copies made during Akbar’s reign. Written and illustrated around 1590, it contains 141 paintings by many different artists.

Who was Babur?

Babur was the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which ruled the north and central Indian subcontinent from 1526 until its colonisation by the British, after which the Mughal Emperors ruled in name alone. Descended on his father’s side from the Turkish conqueror Timur, Babur also claimed Kenghis Khan as a maternal ancestor.

His first exercise of military and political power came with his claiming the throne of Samarkand, in modern-day Uzbekistan, and taking control of the region around the fertile Fergana Valley. It was at this time that Babur began his memoirs – among the first autobiographies in Islamic literature. In June 1494 AD, he wrote the opening lines, “In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Compassionate. In the month of Ramadan of the year 899 and in the 12th year of my age, I became ruler in the land of Fergana.”

Seven years later Babur was driven out of Samarkand, but he had more far-reaching ambitions. From his new powerbase at Kabul in modern-day Afghanistan, he set out to conquer the Sultanate of Delhi. In 1526 he defeated Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat and founded the Mughal dynasty. Babur first established his capital at Agra, which became the cultural and intellectual focus of one of the greatest empires of the late-medieval world.

Though a hardened warrior, Babur was far from a barbarous, ignorant soldier. He was a cultured and pious man who wrote fine poetry and schooled himself in the culture, natural history and geography of Central Asia and India. His inquiring and observant mind and literary skill add a higher dimension to the battles and body counts of his memoirs.

Who translated Babur’s memoirs?

The translation was ordered by Babur’s grandson, the Emperor Akbar, who ruled the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605. He had amasses a graet library devoted to subjects such as history, classical Persian literature and translations of Sanskrit texts. Akbar entrusted the work of translating Babur’s memoirs into Persian to an army general and close friend called Abd al-Rahim, who enjoyed the title Khan-i khanan, meaning ‘commander of commaders’

In the Mughal world, conquest and culture went hand in hand. The Khan-i khanan was not only one of Akbar’s greatest army commanders; he was also known for his poetry and his writings on astrology. His combination of military experience and literary discernment made him ideal for the job. The two men had known each other since their youth: Abd al-Rahim’s father, Bayram Khan, had served as Akbar’s mentor in his early years.

Do we know who made this manuscript copy?

This copy of the ‘Memoirs of Babur’ was made around 1590. The Persian text is written in the flowing ‘nasta‘liq’ script, sometimes also known as the ‘bride of scripts’ because it was created by combining two earlier scripts: ‘naskhi’ and ‘ta‘liq’. From the 15th century on, naskhi continued to be used for Islamic religious writings, while nasta‘liq came into its own for secular literature, especially poetry. Good nasta‘liq is distinguished by its more horizontal and cursive appearance, and by subtle transition and contrast between thick and thin lines.

The elegant calligraphy is richly complemented by miniatures and decorative borders of outstanding quality painted by a team of at least 54 artists drawn from over two hundred employed in Akbar’s studio in Lahore. Of its 141 pictures, 68 are whole-page illustrations of Babur’s narrative. Akbar insisted on the highest standards from his artists.

Though Akbar was a Muslim, his Hindu subjects were allowed to rise to high office. Most of the miniatures in this manuscript carry Hindu names. Four among them, Kisu, Sanwala, Jagannath and Mahesh are noted elsewhere as being master-painters in the royal studio. Fewer in number, the Muslim artists include Mansur, Ibrahim Qahhar and Farrukh.

What do these two pages show?

This opening comes from a passage in which Babur describes the country around the Fergana Valley. The right-hand page, painted by Bhavani, shows the almond harvest in Kand-i Badam, whose name means ‘almond town’. Babur writes: “Kand-i Badam is a dependency of Khujand; although it is not a fully-fledged township, it is close to one. Its almonds are excellent, hence its name; they are all exported to Hormuz or Hindustan. It is 18 miles east of Khujand.”

The left-hand picture was painted by Thirpal and illustrates a story about the windy wasteland between Kand-i Badam and Khujand. “Its violent, whirling winds continually strike Marghilan to the east and Khujand on its west,” Babur notes, adding “People say some dervishes, encountering a whirlwind in this desert, lost one another and kept shouting out, ‘Hay Darvesh! Hay Darvesh!’ until all had perished, and that the waste has been called Ha Darvesh ever since.” Dervishes were mostly members of Sufi religious orders; some were homeless wanderers who depended on alms for their living.

Why are the ‘Memoirs of Babur’ important?

Covering some 36 years in the life of one of Central Asia and India’s most powerful figures, Babur’s detailed and insightful autobiography presents vivid picture of his life and times, the peoples he ruled, and the lands they inhabited. For example, we read in his own words the story of events leading up to the defeat of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi and fall of Delhi:

“During the seven or eight days we lay in Panipat, our men went close to Ibrahim’s camp a few at a time, rained arrows down on the ranks of his troops, cut off and brought back their heads. Still he made no move, nor did his troops venture out. At length, we acted on the advice of some Hindustani well-wishers and sent four or five thousand men to deliver a night attack on his camp. It being dark, they were unable to act well together and, having dispersed, could achieve nothing on arrival. They stayed near Ibrahim’s camp until dawn, when nagarets [kettle drums] sounded and his troops came forth in force with elephants…”

Alongside accounts of military conflicts and strategies, there are well-observed descriptions of landscapes and cities, local economies and customs, plants and animals. Subjects discussed by the Emperor Babur and illustrated in this manuscript include Hindu ascetics at Bagram (today in Afghanistan); the elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo; the peacock, parrot, and stork; the water-hog, and crocodile; trees and shrubs such as the plantain, tamarind, and oleander; and the author supervising work on his own gardens in Kabul. Babur also provides what is probably the first reliable record of the famous diamond known as Koh-i-Noor, the ‘Mountain of Light’.

Selected links to other relevant websites

Find out more about the Mughal Emperors at this Australian National University website.