Ottoman Dynasty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
State organisation of the Ottoman Empire |
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House of Osman (Ottoman Dynasty) | |
Grand Vizier (1320–1922) | |
Dīvān (1586?–1908) | |
Imperial Government (1908–1920) | |
See also |
Subdivisions – Vassal & tributary states |
The Ottoman Dynasty (or the Imperial House of Osman) (Turkish: Osmanlı Hanedanı) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I (not counting his father, Ertuğrul), though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey[1] declared himself sultan. Before that the tribe/dynasty might have been known as Söğüt but was renamed Osmanlı (Ottoman in English) in honour of Osman.
The sultan was the sole and absolute regent, head of state and head of government of the empire, at least officially, though often much power shifted de facto to other officials (in principle all his subservient creatures), especially the Grand Vizier, after whose palace the Ottoman government was known as High Porte, the Sultan's own Topkapı Palace being mainly a seraglio, 'harem'.
See the article on state organisation of the Ottoman Empire for further information on the sultan and the structure of power.
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[edit] Titles
The Ottoman dynasty is known in Turkish as Osmanlı, meaning "House of Osman". The first rulers of the dynasty never had called themselves sultans, but rather beys, or "chieftain", roughly the Turkic equivalent of Emir, which would itself become a gubernatorial title and even a common military or honorific rank. Thus they still formally acknowledged the sovereignty of the contemporary Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm and its successor, the Ilkhanate.
The first Ottoman to actually claim the title of sultân was Murad I, who ruled from 1359 to 1389. The title sultan (سلطان)—in Arabic, was in later Arabic-Islamic dynasties originally the power behind the throne of the Caliph in Bagdad and it was later used for various independent Muslim Monarchs. This title was more prestigious then Emir; it was not comparable to the title of Malik 'king' or the originally Persian title of Shah. With the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the road was open for the Ottoman state to become an empire, with Sultan Mehmed II taking the title of pâdişah (پادشاه), a Persian title meaning "lord of kings" and roughly equivalent to a Christian emperor as would ultimately be formally established.
In addition to such secular titles, the Ottoman sultan became the Caliph of Islam, starting with Selim I, who became khalif after the death of the last Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III, the last of Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo.
In Europe, Ottoman padishah was often referred to informally by such terms unrelated to the Ottoman protocol as "the Grand Turk".
The sultans further adopted in time many secondary formal titles as well, such as "Sovereign of the House of Osman", "Sultan of Sultans" (roughly King of Kings), and "Khan of Khans".
As the empire grew, sultans adopted secondary titles expressing the empire's claim to be the successor in law of the structures of the absorbed states. Furthermore they tended to enumerate even regular provinces, not unlike the long lists of -mainly inherited- feudal titles in the full style of many Christian European monarchs.
Some early Ottoman Sultans even had to accept the vassal status in the eyes of a foreign kingmaker. For example, Tamerlane appointed in 1402 the Ottoman Sultan (deposed in 1410) Sulayman Chelebi Khan, who was styled as-Sultan ul-Azam, Sayyid us-Saladin ul-Arab wal Ajam, Malik ur-Rikaab ul-Umam, Ghiyas ud-Daula wa ud-Dunya, Sultan ul-Islam was ul-Muslimin, as-Sultan ibni us-Sultan, Hasib-i-Nasib-I-Zaman, Amir of Rumelia. Again his brother, who ended the Interregnum after the defeat of Ottomans to Tamerlane, Mehmed I also held his post with a fief from Tamerlane. However the next Ottoman ruler (6th Sultan of House of Osman) was Sultan Murad Khan II (1421 - 1451) took the title 'Abu'l Hayrat, Sultan ul-Mujahidin, Khan of Khans, Grand Sultan of Anatolia and Rumelia, and of the Cities of Edirne and Filibe.
When Mehmed II conquered Constantinople on May 29, 1453, he claimed the title Emperor of the Roman Empire and protector of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, whom he protected and whose stature he elevated into leader of all the Eastern Orthodox Christians. As emperor of the Romans he laid claim to all Roman territories, which at the time before the Fall of Constantinople, however, extended to little more than the city itself, plus some areas in Morea (Peloponnese) and the Empire of Trebizond.
The conqueror of Constantinople was Sultan Mehmed II Fatih Ghazi 'Abu'l Fath (1451 - 1481, 7th Sovereign of the House of Osman), was still 'simply' styled Kaysar-i-Rum (=Emperor of [Byzantium = the second] Rome, Caesar of Rome), Khan of Khans, Grand Sultan of Anatolia and Rumelia, Emperor of the three Cities of Constantinople, Edirne and Bursa, Lord of the two lands and the two seas and the first to adopt the 'imperial' style Padishah.
Around 1500 the full style of naming of the ruling Sultan had become practically stabilised, e.g. in 1601 Sultan Mehmed III was called:
- Sultan Hân N.N.,
- Padishah,
- Hünkar,
- Hakan ül-Berreyn vel-Bahreyn;
- Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans,
- Khan of Khans,
- Commander (Caliph) of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe
- Custodian of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem
- Caesar of the Roman Empire
- Emperor of The Three Cities of Constantinople, Adrianople and Bursa, and of the Cities of Damascus and Cairo, of all Azerbaijan, of the Magris, of Barka, of Kairouan, of Aleppo, of Arabic Iraq and of Acem, of Basra, of Al-Hasa, of Dilen, of Ar Raqqah, of Mosul, of Parthia, of Diyarbakır, of Cilicia, of the Vilayets of Erzurum, of Sivas, of Adana, of Karaman, Van, of Barbary, of Abyssinia, of Tunisia, of Tripoli, of Damascus, of Cyprus, of Rhodes, of Candia, of the Vilayet of the Morea, of the Marmara Sea, the Black Sea and also its coasts, of Anatolia, of Rumelia, Baghdad, Greece, Turkistan, Tartary, Circassia, of the two regions of Kabarda, of Georgia, of the plain of Kypchak, of the whole country of the Tartars, of Kefe and of all the neighboring countries, of Bosnia and its dependencies, of the City and Fort of Belgrade, of the Vilayet of Serbia, with all the castles, forts and cities, of all Albania, of all Eflak and Bogdania, as well as all the dependencies and borders, and many others countries and cities.
[edit] Heads of the House
[edit] Pre-Imperial Heads of the House of Osman
Name | Born-Died | Reign start | Reign end | Relationship |
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Süleyman Shah (Bey) | Died 1227 | 1227 | ||
Ertugrul (Bey) | 1198 - 1281 | 1227 | 1281 | Son of Suleyman Shah |
[edit] Imperial heads of the House of Osman (1281-1922)
Name | Born-Died | Reign start | Reign end | Relationship |
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Osman I (Bey) | 1258 – 1326 | 1299 | 1326 | Son of Ertugrul |
Orhan I (Bey) | 1284 – 1359 | 1326 | 1359 | Son of Osman I |
Murad I | 1326 - 1389 | Bey from 1359, Sultan from 1383 | 28 June 1389 | Son of Orhan I |
Bayezid I (the Thunderbolt) | 1354 - 1403 | 28 June 1389 | 20 July 1402 | Son of Murat I |
Ottoman Interregnum | 1402 | 1413 | ||
Mehmed I (Celebi) | 1389 - 1421 | 1413 | 26 May 1421 | Son of Bayezid I |
Murad II (first reign) | 1404 - 1451 | 26 May 1421 | August 1444 (abdicated) | Son of Mehmed I |
Mehmed II (the Conqueror) (first reign) | 1432 - 1481 | August 1444 | 1446 | Son of Murad II |
Murad II (second reign) | 1404 - 1451 | 1446 | 3 February 1451 | Son of Mehmed I |
Mehmed II (the Conqueror) (second reign) | 1432 - 1481 | 3 February 1451 | 3 May 1481 | Son of Murad II |
Bayezid II | 1447/1448 - 1512 | 20 May 1481 | 25 April 1512 (abdicated) | Son of Mehmed II |
Selim I (the Grim) | 1465 - 1520 | 25 April 1512 (Caliph from 1517) | 22 September 1520 | Son of Bayezid II |
Suleyman I (the Magnificent) | 1494 - 1566 | 22 September 1520 | 6 September 1566 | Son of Selim I |
Selim II (the Sot) | 1524 - 1574 | 6 September 1566 | 12 December 1574 | Son of Suleyman I |
Murad III | 1546 - 1595 | 12 December 1574 | 15 January 1595 | Son of Selim II |
Mehmed III | 1566 - 1603 | 15 January 1595 | 22 December 1603 | Son of Murad III |
Ahmed I | 1590 - 1617 | 22 December 1603 | 22 November 1617 | Son of Mehmed III |
Mustafa I (first reign) | 1592 - 1639 | 22 November 1617 | 26 February 1618 (deposed) | Son of Mehmed III |
Osman II (the Young) | 1604 - 1622 | 26 February 1618 | 20 May 1622 | Son of Ahmed I |
Mustafa I (second reign) | 1592 - 1639 | 20 May 1622 | 10 September 1623 (deposed) | Son of Mehmed III |
Murad IV | 1612 - 1640 | 10 September 1623 | 9 February 1640 | Son of Ahmed I |
Ibrahim I (the Mad) | 1615 - 1648 | 9 February 1640 | 8 August 1648 (deposed) | Son of Ahmed I |
Mehmed IV (the Hunter) | 1642 - 1693 | 8 August 1648 | 8 November 1687 (deposed) | Son of Ibrahim I |
Suleyman II | 1642 - 1691 | 8 November 1687 | 23 June 1691 | Son of Ibrahim I |
Ahmed II | 1643 - 1695 | 23 June 1691 | 6 February 1695 | Son of Ibrahim I |
Mustafa II | 1664 - 1703 | 6 February 1695 | 22 August 1703 (abdicated) | Son of Mehmed IV |
Ahmed III | 1673 - 1736 | 22 August 1703 | 1 October 1730 (abdicated) | Son of Mehmed IV |
Mahmud I | 1696 - 1754 | 2 October 1730 | 13 December 1754 | Son of Mustafa II |
Osman III | 1699 - 1757 | 14 December 1754 | 30 October 1757 | Son of Mustafa II |
Mustafa III | 1717 - 1774 | 30 October 1757 | 21 January 1774 | Son of Ahmed III |
Abdul Hamid I | 1725 - 1789 | 21 January 1774 | 7 April 1789 | Son of Ahmed III |
Selim III | 1761 - 1808 | 7 April 1789 | 29 May 1807 (deposed) | Son of Mustafa III |
Mustafa IV | 1779 - 1808 | 29 May 1807 | 28 July 1808 (deposed) | Son of Abdul Hamid I |
Mahmud II | 1785 - 1839 | 28 July 1808 | 1 July 1839 | Son of Abdul Hamid I |
Abdulmecid I | 1823 - 1861 | 1 July 1839 | 25 June 1861 | Son of Mahmud II |
Abdülâziz | 1830 - 1876 | 25 June 1861 | 30 May 1876 (deposed) | Son of Mahmud II |
Murad V | 1840 - 1904 | 30 May 1876 | 31 August 1876 (deposed) | Son of Abdulmecid I |
Abdul Hamid II | 1842 - 1918 | 31 August 1876 | 27 April 1909 (deposed) | Son of Abdulmecid I |
Mehmed V (Reşad) | 1844 - 1918 | 27 April 1909 | 3 July 1918 | Son of Abdulmecid I |
Mehmed VI (Vahideddin) | 1861 - 1926 | 3 July 1918 | 1 November 1922 (deposed) | Son of Abdulmecid I |
[edit] Post-Imperial Heads of the House of Osman (1922–present)
Name | Born-Died | Reign start | Reign end |
---|---|---|---|
Abdulmecid II | 1868 - 1944 | 19 November 1922 | 23 August 1944 |
Ahmed IV Nihad | 1883 - 1954 | 23 August 1944 | 4 June 1954 |
Osman IV Fuad | 1895 - 1973 | 4 June 1954 | 19 May 1973 |
Mehmed Abdulaziz II | 1901 - 1977 | 19 May 1973 | 19 January 1977 |
Ali Vâsib | 1903 - 1983 | 19 January 1977 | 9 December 1983 |
Mehmed VII Orhan | 1909 - 1994 | 9 December 1983 | 12 March 1994 |
Ertuğrul Osman V | 1912 - | 12 March 1994 | Present |
Note: Although Abdulmecid II was chosen as caliph in 1922, he was no longer Sultan, as the National Assembly had abolished the sultanate to turn Turkey into a republic. The caliphate was abolished in turn in 1924.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- In English
- Website of the 700th Anniversary of the Ottoman Empire
- Official website of the immediate living descendants of the Ottoman Dynasty
- Turkey, includes all the full ruler styles with various biographical data in the Royal Ark
- Sultans, Contemporary Paintings by Ismail Acar
- Everything about Ottoman Empire Everything about the history, culture and civilization of Ottoman Empire
- MSN encarta - the Ottoman Empire (see Sultanate)
- WorldStatesmen- Turkey
- Ottoman Dynasty meet at Dolmabahçe Palace
- Ottoman Empire - The Family
- In Turkish
- In French
- interview with Neslişah Sultan on YouTube, granddaughter of the last emperor about her family's exile
— ROYAL HOUSE —
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New Dynasty |
Ruling house of the Ottoman Empire 1299 – 19 November 1922 |
Vacant |
Preceded by ‘Abbāsid Dynasty |
Caliphate Dynasty 1517 – 3 March 1924 |
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