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Why the Ottoman Empire Proved to Be the Most Successful and Enduring of the Early-Modern Islamic Empires

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Analyse why the Ottoman Empire proved to be the most successful and enduring of the early-modern Islamic empires.

From its emergence as an empire in the fourteenth century, the Ottoman Empire conquered and expanded its reign throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa until its fall in the nineteenth century. This essay will examine the driving factors of Ottoman success in its conquest, and the dynasty system and law of the Ottomans which, arguably, was a core ingredient in the enduring reign of the Ottoman Empire. While some of the ideas covered in this essay have been shared among various writers such as Imber, Murphey, and Yurdusev, their views are not universally held and are open to adversaries. Looking in detail at the diplomacy, law, …show more content…

The Ottoman Empire was the home to an army that was capable of leading both effective sieges and field battles. The Ottoman’s development in warfare, especially in sieges, was the work of Orhan and Murad I, the second and third sultans respectively. The capture of Ankara in 1354, Dimetoka in 1359, and fall of Prousas (Bursa), Nikaia (Iznick) and Nikomedia (Izmit) during the time of Orhan, suggests that by the end of fourteenth century, the troops of the Ottoman Empire had mastered the art of siege warfare. This became more evident during the reign of Murad I whom, during his last decade, conquered and controlled Serai in 1383, and Thessaloniki in 1387, after a siege of only four years. During fourteenth century, the Ottomans learned how to conduct sieges through the techniques of blockade and battery, and of scaling walls. By the time of Bayezid I (1389-1402), the Ottomans also used siege towers. This is evident in the description of Bayezid’s siege of Larende in 1398, where Schiltberger tells how platforms were constructed opposite the walls. By 1422, mining became part of the Ottoman siege strategy. In the account of Kananos, on the siege of Constantinople, he describes how the Ottomans dug mines to the walls of the city and set fire to the wooden poles which supported the tunnel. As the mine collapsed, a section of the wall collapsed with it. Ottomans experience and

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