Essay On The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire is the Turkish and Islamic state that ruled from 1299-1922. It is one of the most important and powerful Muslim Empires. The founder of the Ottoman Empire is Osman I. At first it was only a tribe and consisted of little followers but in a very short time it grew into being an Empire. Great architectural, military, and administrative accomplishments have taken place in the Ottoman Empire. The reason that this was such an powerful and long lasting Empire was because of the Sultan was not the only one ruling and not the only one making decisions. The Empire was not run by the personal choices and wants of the Sultan. The Ottoman Sultans were greatly affected by the institutions that surrounded them. Some of them being the wazirs, qadis, Shaykh al-Islam, janissaries and the women of the harem. The Sultan was of course at the top of the hierarchy but he made decisions n accordance with the approval of
A great example of this is in the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent. The Grand wazir of the time was Rüstem Paşa. Sultan Süleyman, during one of his walks, sees a water way left from the time of the Byzantium and directly thinking of repairing it he hires an engineer named Nicola. Rüstem Paşa gets Nicola arrested and puts him in jail. Sultan Süleyman, having heard of this, asks the Grand wazir why he has arrested the engineer. Rüstem Paşa replies, “It is not of your right to spend the money of the state on personal desires, without letting the state know. The state will search the water way and if needed it will be repaired.” The Sultan did not punish the wazir for his harsh reply nor did he send him away, instead he agreed with the wazir and that he would know what is the best. It is shocking to see such that a Grand wazir had the ability to defer or cancel a construction that a Sultan commanded of being done. This can be called the division of power between the wazir and the