The History of The Ottoman Empire

What began as a small Turkmen chieftaincy in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century grew over the next six hundred years into one of the most powerful empires the world had ever seen. Founded by Osman near Sogut as the Seljuk sultanate crumbled, the early Ottoman state expanded steadily under Orhan and then Murad, who pushed deep into the Balkans. A devastating defeat at the hands of Timur in 1402 caused a temporary collapse, but Mehmed I reunified the state and set it back on course. The defining moment came in 1453 when Mehmed II took Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire and making the Ottomans the undisputed rulers of the eastern Mediterranean. Selim I expanded south into Syria, Egypt, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, while Suleiman the Magnificent brought the empire to its greatest territorial extent, campaigning into Hungary and laying siege to Vienna while also codifying a legal system that earned him the title Lawgiver. The following centuries brought gradual territorial losses and growing pressure from European rivals.