Empires Age Of Exploration Sparknotes

When discussing the age of exploration, imperialism and expansions the Ottomans are not often mentioned as members at the forefront of the race. In fact, very rarely are any Muslim countries associated with the idea of explorers of “new worlds”. In the piece by Giancarlo Casale titled the Ottomans Age of Exploration he discusses the role this great power played in the era of exploration and their struggle, primarily with the Portuguese, in the Indian Ocean. His work makes an attempt to argue the idea that maritime explorations were solely performed by the European nations or that this new era halted the growth of Muslim countries. In fact he offers numerous accounts and examples of the Ottomans readily taking part in expeditionary acts. Casale emphasizes that the beginning of the Ottoman’s expansion era can be attributed to Sultan Selim and his initial invasion of the Mamluk Empires holding of Egypt, although it is unknown as to why this was done it would eventually double the empire making the Ottomans the most powerful Islamic state in the world.
However, Casale’s main focus throughout the book remains the Ottomans exploration via maritime expeditions to the Indies region and the fact that the Ottomans shared many of the European traits when it came to exploration and to some extent met the same fate.
The reasons given behind the increasing desire to expand are similar to those of many European countries at the time: the realization of the vast wealth in different lands, increasing desire to grow ones’ own economy and the desire for power attained through size of ones’ empire. However, the three previous listed reasons were still second to the ottomans fear of the Portuguese intrusion of the Indian trade routes initiated by the conquests of Vasco de
Gama. First and foremost Casale stresses the importance of the Ottoman conquest over the Mamluk controlled territory of Egypt. Prior to this invasion the Indian Ocean had been viewed as a distant region not of concern to the Ottomans, but upon annexing Egypt to the empire the Ottomans had direct access to the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea opening up an entirely new trade option. That being said even with this new found opportunity and desire to explore/expand the empire there was no observable reason (in the eyes of the Ottoman Sultans) to actually go about forcing their way into the India trade. It was once the Europeans began to show interest in this rich new land that the Ottomans saw all the opportunities at their feet to expand their economy and influence. Casale goes into great detail over the “Indian Ocean Lobby” and the Ottomans attempt to make the Indian front as important to the empire as was Arica or their other recent expeditions. The term used by Casale was “Soft Empire” which meant effectively creating diplomatic bonds and alliance which would help further the Ottomans influence and trading partners. However the Ottomans faced the serious issue of inferior technology and tactics. The Portuguese “Round Ship” and later Galleon, which would be employed by later naval powers such as the British and the Dutch, were faster, required fewer men, had more firepower, carried more cargo, and could travel greater distances than the Ottomans Oar Ships. While the Ottomans achieved great victories in the new lands and gained many riches they also lost entire fleets in single battles. Casale’s use of the word new does not imply that the Ottomans were oblivious to the existence of India or the Indian Ocean but rather that they had simply never ventured to these lands as previously stated they were simply uninterested or considered it out of their sphere of influence. Meanwhile in their newly acquired territories in Egypt along the Red Sea the Ottomans were making efforts to increase defenses in order to maintain a hold on Red Sea. The efforts made required substantial amounts of work relocating Ottoman resources such as wood across an entire desert. Casale writes that while the immediate costs clearly outweighed the benefits, the officials of the Ottoman consulate argued that in the long run this imperial construction would benefit the empire greatly. Throughout the era of Ottoman exploration they would consider these constructions to be the main defense against the Portuguese and would use Yemen as a base to launch many offensives against the Portuguese. In another attempt to battle the Portuguese influence while simultaneously achieving the goal of increasing the Ottomans own influence the Ottomans made allies not only with surrounding or even nearby countries but also with state across the Indian Ocean. This also helped boost the spice trade around the Indian Ocean. However, one of the biggest obstacles Casale points out that the Ottomans faced was the superior Portuguese galley. While the Ottoman ships fared just fine along the Mediterranean Sea, on the open seas they were no match for the advanced ships or even the elements faced on the Oceans. Even being more maneuverable and versatile the ram and board methods used by the Ottomans just could not handle the shear firepower of the enemy galleons. Another issue was the shortage of wood near the Suez region which again was accounted for by having even more ottoman resources shifted over the desert and into Egypt. One solution to this problem was presented through the alliance with a sultanate whose shipbuilding knowledge and competency rivaled that of the Portuguese. But even advanced ships the tactics that needed to be employed with these kinds of ships had been used by the enemy for ages now while the Ottomans were just now getting these new ships. In addition to this issue of not being able to properly use these new ships, while the Ottomans had possibly the most vast and diverse alliance system, they were not the only ones with alliances, nor did they have all the alliances. There were still many countries or territories that viewed Portuguese trade as beneficial and shied away from the idea of Ottoman dominance in the region. That being said the lack of se fairing ability the Ottomans suffered from can be attributed as the primary reason behind the collapse of the “Indian Ocean Lobby”.
At the very begging of Casale’s piece he simply lays out the “bottom line up front” short and simple, “Did the Ottomans participate in the Age of Exploration?” He also replies with the simple answer of yes but goes on to a great extent of detail to prove his point. Almost all European progress can be attributed to the era of exploration and according to Casale this is also true of the Ottoman Empire. As the author argues, the desire for a country to explore new lands has the 4 basic requirements: relative isolation, a desire of expansive political ideologies, advancements in military technology almost always specifically naval, and finally a resulting massive interest in knowledge of outside worlds. Just as the British, French and Portuguese met these requirements so did the Ottomans. Throughout the book Casale discusses the obstacle the Ottomans Had to overcome in order to begin exploration and ultimately the results and affect all of this had on the greatest Islamic empire of the time. Ultimately, Casale puts forth a convincing argument for the idea that exploration was in fact not Eurocentric and that Muslim world, specifically the Ottomans, also took part and played a role in the development of exploration of the Indies region.