The beginning of the state-political definition of the Turkish people fell on the X-XI centuries. In the second half of the X century. tribal associations of the Oguz Turks (Seljuks), pastoralists and farmers, were forced out of Central Asia and Iran to the Armenian Highlands to the borders of Byzantium. With the collapse of the state-tribal union of the Great Seljuks (which occupied Iran in the 11th-13th centuries), the Oghuz horde gained independence. As was typical for nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, the first proto-state organization among the Turks had military-clan features. Such an organization is historically linked to an aggressive military policy. Starting from ser. XI century., Seljuks led the conquest of Iran, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia. In 1055, the Seljuk army captured Baghdad, and their ruler received the title of Sultan from the caliph. Successfully went on the conquest of the Byzantine possessions. During these conquests were captured big cities Asia Minor, the Turks came to the coast. Only the Crusades pushed the Seljuks away from Byzantium, pushing them into Anatolia. Here the early state finally took shape.

Seljuk Sultanate (late 11th-early 14th century) was an early state formation that retained the features of a military nomadic association. The unification of the conquered peoples under the rule of the new sultans was facilitated by the fact that the first ruler Suleiman Kutulmush gave freedom to the Byzantine serfs, and the established single general tax was much less than the previous tax burden. At the same time, the Byzantine system of state feudalism (close to the military-service relations of the Arab caliphate) began to revive on the conquered lands: the land was declared state property, which was distributed by the sultan in large grants (ikta) and small, secondary (timar). From allotments, according to income, the lenniki had to carry out military service. This created the basis for a powerful, mostly cavalry army (approximately 250 thousand), which became the striking force of new conquests. At the same time, the tribal monarchy of the sultan began to acquire an organization familiar to a settled early state: meetings of the military nobility (mejlis) began to perform a general political function, including electing a ruler, and administrative offices (kapu) appeared.

After the collapse of Byzantium at the beginning of the XIII century. The Sultanate reached its highest power. External conquests resumed. However, during Mongol invasion(see § 44.2) he was defeated and preserved as a vassal sultanate in the ulus of Hulagu. The highest administrators (viziers) under the sultan received their posts from the great khan. The state was ruined by the tax burden (5-6 times greater than in the Western states of that era). Weakened, among other things, by internal unrest and tribal uprisings, the sultanate collapsed by the end of the 13th century. into 12-16 separate principalities - beyliks. In 1307 the Mongols strangled the last Seljuk sultan.

A new and more historically significant stage in the formation of the Turkish state was Ottoman Sultanate.

One of the weakest beyliks of the former Seljuk Sultanate - Ottoman (named after the ruling sultans) - by the beginning of the 14th century. became a powerful military principality. His elevation is associated with the dynasty of the ruler of one of the Turkmen tribes ousted by the Mongols - Ertogrul, and most importantly, his son - Osman(since 1281 Sultan) *. At the end of the XIII century. (1299) the principality became practically independent; it was the beginning of a new independent state.

* The dynasty of 37 sultans founded by Osman ruled in Turkey until 1922, the time of the fall of the monarchy.

The principality expanded due to the possessions of the weakened Byzantium in Asia Minor, went to the seas, subjugated the former beyliks of the former Seljuk state. All R. 14th century Turks defeated the remnants of the Mongolian state in Iran. In the second half of the XIV century. the feudal states of the Balkan Peninsula fell under the rule of the Turks, suzerainty was established even over Hungary. During the reign of Sultan Orhan (1324-1359), a new political and administrative organization, represented by the feudal bureaucracy, began to take shape in the emerging state. The country received an administrative division into 3 appanages and dozens of districts, which were headed by pashas appointed from the center. Along with the main military force- fief militia - began to form a permanent army on the salary of prisoners of war (ieni chery - "new army"), which later became the guards of the rulers. To the board Bayezid I the Lightning(1389-1402) The Ottoman state won a number of important victories over the Byzantine and European troops, became the most important subject of international affairs and politics in the Black and Mediterranean Seas. From the complete defeat of the Turks, Byzantium was saved only by the invasion of the revived Mongol state under the leadership of Timur; The Ottoman state broke up into several parts.

The sultans managed to maintain power, and at the beginning of the 15th century. a unified state was reborn. During the XV century. the remnants of the former fragmentation were liquidated, new conquests began. In 1453, the Ottomans besieged Constantinople, putting an end to Byzantium. Renamed Istanbul, the city became the capital of the empire. In the XVI century. conquests were transferred to Greece, Moldavia, Alabania, southern Italy, Iran, Egypt, Algeria, the Caucasus, the coast of North Africa were subordinated. To the board Suleiman I(1520-1566) the state received a complete internal administrative and military organization. The Ottoman Empire became the largest in terms of territory and population (25 million inhabitants) state of the then European-Middle Eastern world and one of the most influential politically. She included the land different peoples and a variety of political structures on the rights of vassalage, other political subordination.

From the end of the 17th century The Ottoman Empire, remaining the largest power, entered a long period of crisis, internal unrest and military failures. The defeat in the war with a coalition of European powers (1699) led to a partial division of the empire. Centrifugal tendencies were identified in the most remote possessions: Africa, Moldavia and Wallachia. The possessions of the empire were significantly reduced in the 18th century. after unsuccessful wars with Russia. The state-political structure of the empire was basically preserved as it had developed in the 16th century.

Power and control system

Sultan's power(officially he was called the padishah) was the political and legal axis of the state. According to the law, the padishah was "the organizer of spiritual, state and legislative affairs", he equally belonged to both spiritual and religious and secular powers ("The duties of the imam, khatib, state power - everything belongs to the padishah"). As the Ottoman state strengthened, the rulers took the titles of khan (XV century), sultan, “kaiser-i Rum” (according to the Byzantine model), khudavendilyar (emperor). Under Bayezid, imperial dignity was even recognized by the European powers. The Sultan was considered the head of all warriors ("men of the sword"). As the spiritual head of the Sunni Muslims, he had an unlimited right to punish his subjects. Tradition and ideology imposed purely moral and political restrictions on the Sultan's power: the sovereign had to be God-fearing, just and wise. However, the ruler's inconsistency with these qualities could not serve as a basis for refusing state obedience: "But if he is not like that, then the people must remember that the caliph has the right to be unjust."

The most important difference between the power of the Turkish Sultan and the Caliphate was the initial recognition of his legislative rights; this reflected the Turkic-Mongolian tradition of power. (According to the Turkic political doctrine, the state was only a political, and not a religious-political community of the people; therefore, the power of the Sultan and spiritual authorities coexist with the supremacy of the first - “kingdom and faith”.) After the capture of Constantinople, the tradition of coronation was adopted: girdling with a sword.

The Turkish monarchy adhered to the principle of the ancestral heritage of the throne. Women were certainly excluded from the number of possible applicants (“Woe to the people ruled by a woman,” the Koran said). Until the 17th century the rule was the passing of the throne from father to son. The law of 1478 not only allowed, but also ordered, in order to avoid internecine strife, that of the sons who inherited the throne should kill their brothers. Since the 17th century a new order was established: the throne was inherited by the eldest of the Ottoman dynasty.

An important part of the higher administration was sultan's court(already in the 15th century it had up to 5 thousand servants and administrators). The courtyard was divided into outer (sultan's) and inner parts (women's quarters). The outer one was headed by the steward (the head of the white eunuchs), who was practically the minister of the court and disposed of the sultan's property. Internal - the head of the black eunuchs, who was especially close to the Sultan.

Central Administration empire was formed mainly in the middle. 16th century Its main figure was the grand vizier, whose post was established from the very beginning of the dynasty (1327). The grand vizier was considered, as it were, the state deputy of the sultan (he had nothing to do with religious issues). He always had access to the Sultan, he had the state seal at his disposal. The Grand Vizier practically had independent state powers (except for legislative ones); local rulers, military commanders and judges obeyed him.

In addition to the great, the highest circle of dignitaries were simple viziers (their number did not exceed seven), whose duties and appointment were determined by the Sultan. By the 18th century viziers (considered, as it were, deputies of the grand vizier) acquired stable specialized powers: the vizier-kiyashi was the clerk of the grand vizier and authorized for internal affairs, the reis-efendi was in charge of foreign affairs, the chaush-bashi was in charge of the lower administrative and police apparatus, the kapudan was in charge of the fleet, etc. d.

The grand vizier and his assistants constituted the grand imperial council - Sofa. It was an advisory body under the Grand Vizier. WITH early XVIII V. The Divan also became a direct executive body, a kind of government. It also included two kadiaskers (chief judges of the army, who were generally in charge of justice and education, although subordinate to the spiritual authority), defterdar (ruler of the financial department; later there were also several of them), nishanji (ruler of the office of the grand vizier, at first in charge of foreign affairs ), the commander of the military guard - the corps of the Janissaries, the highest military commanders. Together with the office of the Grand Vizier, the departments of affairs of the kadiaskers, defterdars, all this constituted, as it were, a single administration - the High Gate (Bab-i Ali) *.

* According to the French equivalent (gate - la porte), the administration received the name Porta, later transferred to the whole empire (Ottoman Porte).

Under the Sultan, there was also a deliberative Supreme Council from the members of the divan, the ministers of the palace, the highest military leaders and, of course, the governors of certain regions. He gathered from case to case and did not have any specific powers, but was, as it were, the spokesman for the opinion of the government and military nobility. From the beginning of the XVIII century. it ceased to exist, but at the end of the century it was revived in the form of a majlis.

The spiritual and religious part of state affairs was headed by Sheikh-ul-Islam (the post was established in 1424). He headed the entire class of ulema (Muslim clergy, which also included judges - qadis, theologians and jurists - muftis, teachers of religious schools, etc.) sheikh ul islam he had not only administrative power, but also influence on legislation and justice, since many laws and decisions of the Sultan and the government assumed his legal approval in the form of a fatwa. However, in the Turkish state (unlike the caliphate), the Muslim clergy stood under the sovereignty Sultan, and the Sheikh-ul-Islam was appointed by the Sultan. Its greater or lesser influence on the course of state affairs depended on the general political relationship between the secular authorities and Sharia law, which changed over the centuries.

Numerous officials of various ranks (the duties and status of all were signed in special sultan's codes from the 15th century) were considered "sultan's slaves". The most important feature of the social structure of Turkey, important for the characterization of the government bureaucracy, was the absence, in the proper sense of the word, of the nobility. And titles, and income, and honor depended only on the place in the service of the Sultan. The same codes signed the prescribed salary for officials and senior dignitaries (expressed in cash income from land plots). Often the highest dignitaries, even the viziers, began their life as real slaves, sometimes even from non-Muslims. Therefore, it was believed that both the position and the life of officials were completely in the power of the Sultan. Violation of official duties was considered according to the state crime, disobedience of the padishah, and was punishable by death. The rank privileges of officials were manifested only in the fact that the laws prescribed on which tray (gold, silver, etc.) the head of the disobedient would be displayed.

military system

Despite the external rigidity of the supreme power, the central administration of the Ottoman Empire was weak. A stronger linking element of statehood was the military system, which brought the bulk of the independent free population of the country under the authority of the sultan in an organization that was both military and economic and distributive.

Agrarian and common military service relations with them were established in the empire according to the traditions of the Seljuk Sultanate. Much was taken over from Byzantium, in particular from its thematic system. Legally, they were legalized already under the first autocratic sultans. In 1368 it was decided that the land was considered the property of the state. In 1375, the first act was adopted, later enshrined in the Sultan's codes, on service allotments-fiens. Lenas were of two main types: large - zeamets and small - timars. Zeamet was usually allocated either for special service merits, or to a military commander, who later on was obliged to collect the appropriate number of soldiers. Timar was given directly to the rider (sipahi), who gave the obligation to go on a campaign and bring with him a number of peasant soldiers corresponding to the size of his timar. Both Zeamets and Timars were conditional and lifelong possessions.

Unlike Western European, from Russian feudal service fiefs, the Ottoman ones differed not in their actual size, but in their income, registered by the census, approved by the tax service and prescribed by law, according to the service rank. Timar was estimated at a maximum of 20 thousand akçe (silver coins), zeamet - 100 thousand. Large-income possessions had a special status - hass. Hass was considered the dominal possessions of the members of the Sultan's house and the ruler himself. Hasses were endowed with the highest dignitaries (viziers, governors). Losing his post, the official was also deprived of the hass (possible property on other rights was retained by him). Within the framework of such fiefs, the peasants (raya - “flock”) had fairly stable rights to the allotment, from which they carried in-kind and monetary duties in favor of the fief (which constituted his fief income), and also paid state taxes.

From the second half of the XV century. Zeamets and Timars began to be divided into two legally not equivalent parts. The first - chiftlik - was a special allotment personally for the "bravery" of a warrior, henceforth it was not necessary to perform any state duties from it. The second - hisse ("surplus") was provided to ensure military service needs, and it was necessary to strictly perform the service from it.

Turkish fiefs of all kinds differed from Western fiefs in yet another property. Giving the lenniks administrative and tax powers in relation to the peasants (or other population) of their allotments, they did not provide judicial immunity. Lenniki, thus, were financial agents of the supreme power without judicial independence, which violated centralization.

The collapse of the military fief system was already marked in the 16th century. and affected the general military and administrative state of the Ottoman state.

The non-regulation of the hereditary rights of the fiefs, together with the large families inherent in Muslim families, began to lead to excessive fragmentation of the Zeamets and Timars. Sipahis naturally increased the tax burden on the rayas, which led to the rapid impoverishment of both. The presence of a special part - chiftlik - in the fief aroused a natural interest in turning the entire fief into an allotment without service. The rulers of the provinces, in the interests of people close to them, began to allocate lands themselves.

The central government also contributed to the collapse of the military fief system. From the 16th century the sultan increasingly resorted to the practice of general confiscation of land from the sipahis. The collection of taxes was transferred to a tax-paying system (iltezim), which became a global robbery of the population. Since the 17th century tax-farmers, financial officials gradually replaced the fiefdoms in state-financial affairs. The social decline of the military service stratum led to a weakening of the military organization of the empire, which, in turn, led to a series of sensitive military defeats from the end of the 17th century. And military defeats - to the general crisis of the Ottoman state, which was created and held by conquests.

The main military force of the empire and the sultan in such conditions was janissary corps. It was a regular military formation (first recruited in 1361-1363), new in relation to the sipahi (“yeni cheri” - new army). They recruited only Christians. In the second quarter of the fifteenth century for the recruitment of the Janissaries, a special recruiting system was introduced - defshirme. Once every 3 (5, 7) years, recruiters forcibly took Christian boys (mainly from Bulgaria, Serbia, etc.) from 8 to 20 years old, gave them to Muslim families for education, and then (if physical data were available) - to the corps janissary. The Janissaries were distinguished by special fanaticism, closeness to some aggressive Muslim mendicant orders. They were located mainly in the capital (the building was divided into orta - companies of 100-700 people; in total, up to 200 such orts). They became a kind of guard of the Sultan. And as such a guard, over time, they sought to excel more in the intra-palace struggle than on the battlefield. With the corps of the Janissaries, its uprisings are also associated with many troubles that weakened the central government in the 17th-18th centuries.

The organization of local, provincial government in the empire also contributed to the growing crisis of Ottoman statehood.

local government

The provincial organization of the empire was closely connected with the military-feudal principles of Turkish statehood. Local chiefs, who were appointed by the Sultan, were both military commanders of the territorial militia, as well as financial chiefs.

After the first historical stage of the conquests (in the 14th century), the empire was divided into two conditional regions - pashalyk: Anatolian and Rumeli (European territories). At the head of each was put the governor - beylerbey. He practically owned complete supremacy in his territory, including the distribution of land service allotments and the appointment of officials. The division into two parts also found a correspondence in the existence of two posts of supreme military judges - kadiaskers: the first was established in 1363, the second - in 1480. However, kadiaskers were subordinate only to the sultan. And in general, the judicial system was outside the administrative control of local authorities. Each of the regions was subdivided, in turn, into counties - sanjaks headed by sanjak-beys. Initially, there were up to 50 of them. In the XVI century. a new administrative division of the expanded empire was introduced. The number of sanjaks was increased to 250 (some were reduced), and the provinces - eylaets (and there were 21 of them) became larger units. Beylerbey was traditionally placed at the head of the province.

The administrators of the Beylerbeys and Sanjaks were at first only appointees of the central government. They lost their land holdings, losing their post. Although the law still XV century. it was stipulated that "neither bey nor beylerbey, while he is alive, should not be removed from his post." Arbitrary change of local chiefs was considered unfair. However, it was also considered mandatory to remove the beys for the “injustice” shown in the administration (for which there were always suitable reasons or “complaints from the field”). The manifestation of "injustice" was considered as a violation of the Sultan's decrees or laws, so the removal from office, as a rule, ended in reprisals against officials.

For each sanjak, all significant issues of taxation, the amount of taxes and land allotments were established by special laws - provincial kanun-name. Taxes and taxes in each sanjak varied: throughout the empire there were only generally established types of taxes and fees (cash and in kind, from non-Muslims or from the entire population, etc.). Accounting for land and taxes was carried out regularly, on the basis of censuses conducted approximately every 30 years. One copy of the scribe book (defter) was sent to the capital to the financial department, the second remained in the provincial administration as an accounting document and a guide for current activities.

Over time, the independence of the provincial rulers increased. They turned into independent pashas, ​​and some were endowed with special powers by the Sultan (command of the infantry corps, fleet, etc.). This aggravated the administrative crisis of the imperial structure from the end of the 17th century.

The special military-feudal features of Turkish statehood, the almost absolute nature of the power of the Sultan made the Ottoman Empire in the eyes of historians and political writers of the West, starting from the 17th-18th centuries, an example of a special Eastern despotism where the life, property and personal dignity of the subjects meant nothing in the face of an arbitrarily operating military-administrative machine, in which the administrative power supposedly completely replaced the judiciary. This view did not reflect the principles state organization empire, although the regime of supreme power in Turkey was distinguished by special features. The absence of any class corporations, representatives of the ruling strata also provided scope for the autocratic regime.

Omelchenko O.A. General History of State and Law. 1999

(1656–1703)

Formation of the Ottoman Empire- the period that began with the collapse of the Sultanate of Konya around 1307 until the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453.

The rise of the Ottoman state correlates with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, which brought about a change in power from an exclusive Christian European society to an Islamic influence. The beginning of this period was characterized by Byzantine-Ottoman wars that lasted for a century and a half. At this time, the Ottoman Empire gained control over both Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula.

Immediately after the establishment of the Anatolian beyliks, some Turkic principalities allied with the Ottomans against Byzantium.

Over the next century, the Seljuks occupied the territories of their weaker neighbors, and in 1176 the Konian sultan Kılıç-Arslan II utterly defeated the army of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos at the Battle of Miriokefale, after which the Seljuks began to move towards the coasts.

In the first half of the 13th century, the Mongols attacked the Seljuks from the east. After the Battle of Köse-Dag in 1243, the Konian sultan became a vassal of the Mongol Khan, and later of the Ilkhans-Hulaguids of Iran. The sons of the last independent sultan, Kay-Khosrov II, began to contest their inheritance with the support of various Turkic and Mongol groups, as a result of which Asia Minor turned into a conglomerate of rival beyliks. One of them was the Ottoman Beylik.

Timur divided the Ottoman state between the sons of Bayezid, internecine wars began. Sultan succeeded in restoring state unity Murad II(1421-1451), and the power of the country is the Sultan Mehmed II ( 1451-1481), nicknamed "The Conqueror". His cherished dream was the capture of Constantinople. The following words are attributed to the Sultan: “There must be one world empire, with one faith and one government. There is no better center for restoring such unity than Constantinople.”

In April 1453, Mehmed II surrounded Constantinople with a huge army of several tens of thousands of soldiers. He was opposed by almost 7 thousand defenders of the city. The Byzantine capital was doomed. Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos refused to surrender the city and for 53 days the courageous defenders of the city fought off assault after assault.

At dawn on May 29, 1453, the Turks launched the last assault. Twice they retreated, leaving dead and wounded. But Mehmed threw fresh forces into battle. At the most difficult moment for the defenders of Constantinople, the Genoese mercenaries left their positions, and the Sultan threw the Janissaries into battle. Constantinople faltered and retreated, and the Turks, breaking into Constantinople, began to plunder. On the evening of May 29, everything calmed down, and only in the basements and houses in some places the Gurkas were still scouring, looking for hidden treasures. Mehmed forbade robberies and pogroms in Constantinople and on the same day proclaimed it his capital, calling it Istanbul (Istanbul). The Christian shrine is the temple of Hagia Sophia - by order of the Sultan, it was turned into a Muslim mosque. The green flag of the Prophet Muhammad flew over the Bosphorus.

16th century Ottoman historian Saad-ed-Din on the capture of Constantinople

... Before the sultan began the siege, the emperor suggested that he take all the cities and their outskirts outside Istanbul [Constantinople], but leave him, the emperor, the city, for which the emperor would pay the sultan an annual tribute. But the sultan, not listening to these proposals, replied that his saber and religion were inseparable and insisted that the emperor surrender the city to him. Having received a refusal, the emperor installed artillery on the towers and walls, soldiers armed with muskets and large reserves of resin.

At the end of the first day before nightfall, the Sultan ordered batteries to be installed in the right places, and as soon as the cannons were installed, he ordered the walls to be shelled, not to mention the continuous hail of arrows and stones that were thrown by throwing machines that, like rain, covered the city. The besieged, in turn, continuously fired from muskets and cannons loaded with stone cannonballs, with which they inflicted heavy losses on the Muslims, who irrigated the earth with their blood ...

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  The very first information about the Ottomans dates back to the beginning of the 14th century. According to Byzantine sources, in 1301 the first military clash took place between the army of Byzantium and the army led by the leader Osman I.

  After this victory, the Ottomans became impossible to ignore. The Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Paleologue, seeking to create a reliable alliance against the growing threat, offered one of the princesses of his house as a wife to Osman’s nominal overlord, the Ilkhanid Ghazan Khan, and then, after the death of Ghazan, to his brother. However, the expected help in men and weapons never came, and in 1303-1304 Andronicus hired Spanish crusader adventurers from the "Catalan" company to protect his possessions from further Turkish advances. Like most mercenary units, the Catalans acted on their own, calling on Turkic warriors (though not necessarily Ottomans) to join them on the European side of the Dardanelles. Only an alliance between Byzantium and the Serbian kingdom prevented the Turkic-Catalan offensive.

  Osman I, apparently, died in 1323-1324, leaving to his heirs a significant territory in the north-west of Asia Minor.

  The reign of Orhan I

  Reign of Bayezid I

  Bayazid brutally avenged the murder of his father by exterminating most of the Serbian nobility that was in the Kosovo field. With Stefan Vulkovic, the son and heir of the Serbian prince Lazar, who died in battle, the Sultan entered into an alliance, according to which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Stefan, in exchange for the preservation of his father's privileges, undertook to pay tribute from the silver mines and provide the Ottomans with Serbian troops at the first request of the Sultan. Stephen's sister and Lazar's daughter, Olivera, was given in marriage to Bayezid.

  While the Ottoman troops were in Europe, the small Anatolian beyliks tried to regain control over the territories taken from them by the Ottomans. But in the winter of 1389-1390, Bayezid transferred troops to Anatolia and conducted a swift campaign, conquering the western beyliks of Aydin, Sarukhan, Germiyan, Menteshe and Hamid. Thus, for the first time the Ottomans came to the shores of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, their state took the first steps towards the status of a maritime power. The nascent Ottoman navy devastated the island of Chios, raided the coast of Attica, and attempted to organize a commercial blockade of other islands in the Aegean. However, as seafarers, the Ottomans could not yet be compared with representatives of the Italian republics of Genoa and Venice.

  The uprising of the Janissaries and the appearance of George Castriot Skanderbeg in Albania forced Murad to return to the Turkish throne in 1446. Soon the Turks captured Morea and launched an offensive in Albania. In October 1448, a battle took place on the Kosovo field, in which the 50,000th Ottoman army opposed the crusaders under the command of Hunyadi. A fierce three-day battle ended with the complete victory of Murad and decided the fate of the Balkan peoples - for several centuries they were under the rule of the Turks. In 1449 and 1450, Murad made two campaigns against Albania, which did not bring significant success.

  Reign of Mehmed II: Conquest of Constantinople

  After the death of his father in 1451, Mehmed II killed his only surviving brother and set about strengthening the borders: he extended his father’s contract with the Serbian despot George Brankovich, concluded a three-year agreement with Janos Hunyadi, confirmed the agreement with Venice of 1446, campaigned against Karaman, not giving the emir the latter to support the contenders for power over the territories in Asia Minor, which not so long ago became part of the Ottoman state.

  In 1451-1452, Mehmed II built the Bogaz-kesen fortress in the narrowest place of the Bosphorus on the European coast. As soon as the construction of the fortress was completed, the Sultan returned to Edirne to oversee the final preparations for the siege, and then marched on Constantinople with 160,000 troops. On April 5, the city was besieged, and on May 29, 1453, it fell. Constantinople became new capital marking a new stage in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

  Formation and development of the Ottoman state

  After victory Seljuks over Byzantium in the battle of Manzikert in 1071, the influx of Turkic-speaking tribes into the territory of Anatolia increased. In the ten years that have passed since this battle, the Turkic nomadic tribes reached the coast of the Aegean Sea 1 . The Seljuk rulers tried to send the nomadic or semi-nomadic Turkic tribes driven out of Central Asia to the regions bordering the Byzantine Empire. There they could be useful for protecting the territory of the Seljuk state. At the same time, in this way, the likely damage that these nomadic tribes could inflict on the local settled population was prevented. Having settled in the new frontier territories, the tribes continued to lead a traditional nomadic or semi-nomadic way of life. Sometimes they made predatory raids on weaker neighbors, thus acquiring land, wealth and numerous slaves.

  This led to a gradual change in the composition of the population in Anatolia. Under the pressure of the newly arrived tribes, the local population either gradually left for the western parts of Anatolia, or was forced to obey the new rules 2 and sometimes even accept the religion of the new conquerors 3 . In turn, this led to an increase in the Turkic element among the population of Anatolia, and two hundred years after the battle of Manzikert, the Turkic population began to prevail over the local. As the borders of the Byzantine Empire were reduced, the number of the local population living in its former territories also decreased. At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. most of Anatolia and neighboring lands, with the exception of Vitania, the territory around Trebizond and the islands located in the Aegean Sea, was under the rule of the Anatolian Seljuk state and various other small Turkic principalities - beyliks.

  Battle of Manzikert. French miniature of the 15th century.

  After being defeated by the Mongols at the Battle of Kosedag in 1243, the Seljuk rulers recognized their vassalage to Mongolian khans (ilkhanov). Despite the fact that formally the Seljuks retained their power over most of Western and Central Anatolia, nevertheless, this defeat accelerated the collapse of the Seljuk state. In the border areas (uj), where the bulk of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes were concentrated, new political formations were formed 4 . Formally, they recognized the supreme power of the Mongol governors (ilkhans), as well as the rulers of the Seljuk state. However, in reality, taking advantage of the remoteness of the Ilkhans and the weakness of the Seljuk rulers, they pursued an independent policy in ujah. Soon they turned into independent state formations. In the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XIV century. on the territory of Western and Central Anatolia, about twenty such principalities (beyliks) 5 have already arisen. Some of them did not last long and, due to internal and external problems, quickly disintegrated. Beyliks were headed by the most powerful personalities - the leaders of the tribes that lived in this territory, or former Seljuk commanders. In addition, many Muslims who wanted to join the ranks of the "fighters for the faith" (ghazi) and raid (akyn) into the territory of the "infidels", rushed to the Turkic beyliks, strengthening and strengthening them. At the initial stage of the formation and development of beyliks, the opportunity to carry out predatory raids on the territory inhabited by Christians contributed to the enrichment of the participants in the raids. Therefore, the beyliks attracted more and more people who wanted to participate in these raids. After the border of the beyliks reached the coast of the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles, the possibility of successful raids on neighboring territories decreased, and this led to a decrease in the sources of wealth for the beyliks 6 .

  The political, social and economic situation on the territory of Asia Minor in the 13th - early 14th centuries, as well as a special geographical position played important role in the strengthening of one of these political formations - the Ottoman beylik. This small principality was founded in the northwestern part of Anatolia and was surrounded by stronger beyliks - Germiyanogullary, Jandarogullar, Karesiogullary. In addition, it bordered on the Byzantine Empire. From the first days of its existence, the Ottoman Beylik became an influential and continuously growing political entity.

  Having emerged as a border principality at the time of the weakening of the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Sultanate, the Ottoman beylik expanded its territory at the expense of them. This is what determined the future of this beylik, which gradually annexed the areas seized from the Byzantine Empire, the lands belonging to the Seljuk rulers, as well as the territories of other Turkmen tribal formations located in the neighborhood. Another factor that influenced the rapid rise of the Ottoman beylik was the constant influx of tribes that maintained a semi-nomadic way of life. In addition to nomads, sheikhs of dervish (Sufi) brotherhoods flocked to the beylik with their supporters. Among them, a special place is occupied by the leaders of the association ahi, who, with their purposefulness, gave strength and religious coloring to the Ottoman raids 7 , and also participated in the defense of cities 8 . Thanks to the leaders ahi, as well as sheikhs and various semi-mythical dervishes, ordinary raids made on the territory of neighboring Christian states turned into a struggle for faith (ghazawat). Over the next two centuries after its formation, the small Omani beylik turned into one of the most powerful states of that time.

  After the Mongol invasion, the dependence of the rulers of the beylik on the Seljuk government became purely nominal. It is generally accepted that around 1299 Osman freed himself from subjugation to the Seljuk sultans and began to pursue a relatively independent policy aimed at expanding his possessions. At the same time, he nevertheless recognized his nominal dependence on the Seljuk sultans, and also tried to maintain good relations with the Mongol governors, recognizing their power. Compared with neighboring principalities, the territory of the Ottoman beylik was small, but its favorable geographical position, as well as the political situation that had developed in Asia Minor by the beginning of the 14th century, favored its rapid expansion. Unlike the rulers of other beyliks, the Ottomans behaved relatively calmly in the first years, peacefully coexisting with other minor political formations in this area. Even the warlike Osman Bey pursued a rather friendly policy towards the Byzantine governors 9 who were only nominally subordinate to the Byzantine Empire. After the weakening and liquidation of the Seljuk state, due to the remoteness of the Mongol governors, whose power they recognized, the Ottomans were able to lead a completely independent internal and foreign policy. And also the Mongol governors who were in distant Tabriz, like the neighboring beyliks, did not attach much importance to the initial successes of the Ottomans. Unlike other beyliks, the Ottomans gradually increased their territory. This led to an influx of people into the Ottoman beylik from the interior of Anatolia and from other beyliks, where raids on neighboring territories either completely stopped or did not bring the expected income. These beyliks were either surrounded by the territories of other beyliks or faced the sea, which was a natural barrier to successful raids.

  Despite the fact that some of these beyliks made attempts at sea raids on the islands and the opposite seashore, however, these raids were dangerous, and their results were unpredictable; they also did not bring the expected wealth. The Ottomans, however, reached such natural barriers only by 1340, when their territory extended to the vicinity of the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

  Despite the similarity of the formation process with other Turkic principalities of Anatolia, the development of the Ottoman beylik, named after its first ruler, Osman (1288–1324), differed significantly from the rest. The Ottoman beylik was formed in the northwestern part of Asia Minor in the vicinity of the town of Sogyut, not far from the Byzantine fortress of Bilejik (Belokoma). At the end of the 13th century, Osman's father Ertogrul received from the Seljuk Sultan a small udzh in the Karajadag region and later expanded this territory to Sogut and the Bilecik fortress, which eventually became the center of the beylik 10 .

  

  Ottoman miniature.

  After the death of his father in 1281, Osman Bey was elected the leader of the tribe at the council of elders and began to lead skirmishes with neighbors. The territory of the tribal formations, headed by Osman Bey, covered a narrow strip from Sogut to Mount Domanich. In 1284, the Seljuk Sultan, by his decree, confirmed the rights of Osman Bey in the territories that belonged to his father. In 1289, he gave Osman Bey the territory with the cities of Eskisehir and Inönü, and also appointed him head of the uj, udzh-beem 11 .

  Until the end of the 13th century, several fortresses belonging to the Byzantine governors were captured ( tekfur). Among them are Karacahisar, Yarhisar, Bilecik, Inegol, Yenishehir and Kopru-hisar. In addition to these territories, the territories of smaller Turkmen tribal formations living in these territories were attached to the Ottoman beylik. The leaders of these tribal formations, and among them Samsa Chavush, Konur Alp, Aygut Alp and Gazi Abdurrahman, forcedly or voluntarily became supporters of Osman Bey. Some minor Christian governors, such as Kose Michal, also went over to the side of Osman Bey and sometimes participated in border disputes with him. After several military successes with neighboring governors, Osman Bey launched armed raids on the regions of the Byzantine Empire and expanded the boundaries of his beylik in the northwestern and southwestern directions.

  After the collapse of the Seljuk state at the beginning of the 14th century, Osman Bey began to act relatively independently. He recognized the power of the Mongol governors and, at their request, sent a well-armed detachment to help the Ilkhans in their campaign in Syria in 1302. 12 However, due to bad weather conditions, his soldiers soon returned.

  Despite the appearance of the leaders of the Turkmen tribes around Osman Bey, who assisted him in campaigns aimed at expanding the territory, the bulk of Osman's warriors were the male population of the beylik. As it gets stronger

  Ottoman beylik and the expansion of its borders, some changes began to occur in the internal structure of the beylik. Part of the population began to engage in agriculture and trade and refused to participate in armed raids. On the other hand, military raids did not bring a stable income that would make it impossible to look for other occupations.

  The dominant tribe in the Ottoman beylik was kayah, to which Osman and his ancestors belonged, and no one challenged the right of this family to lead in the beylik. However, there were no strict rules in this regard. To become the leader of the beylik, each member of the Osman family had to win the favor of all members of this community, or rather their leaders 13 .

  By tradition, all members of this family (House of Osman) participated in the management of the beylik, and one of them was recognized as the supreme ruler. The remaining members of the family relatively independently ruled various areas of the beylik, recognizing the supreme power of the ruler. In addition to the members of his family, the supreme ruler surrounded himself with people who had advanced from the community, and relied on them in management. Thus, the first Ottoman rulers were not the absolute rulers of their beylik. They were the most respected people and were leaders during military raids, as well as protection from the enemy. On the other hand, they had to ensure the safety of their community and ensure justice on its borders. Dervish sheikhs and other religious leaders helped them to ensure order and justice. At the beginning of his reign, Osman Bey relied on the leaders of the brotherhood ahi, who are involved in dispute resolution. For example, the most revered person in the Ottoman Beylik was Sheikh Edebali, who enjoyed great authority and supported Osman Bey.

  As new territories were captured, Osman Bey gave control of these territories, with the right to collect taxes, to members of his family, as well as tribal leaders and military leaders 14 .

  Capturing small towns and villages of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottomans had to maintain order among the settled population. For people from a nomadic environment, this was a rather difficult task. It was solved thanks to people who flocked to the Ottoman Beylik from other parts of Anatolia. These people brought with them those laws and orders that existed in their native towns and villages. The Ottoman beylik needed a settled population no less than it needed participants in military raids. Nomadic tribes and other groups of the population came or were forcibly resettled in the territories occupied by the Ottomans from other regions of Anatolia 15 .

  

  Orhan, son of Osman I.

  In the last years of his life, Osman Bey entrusted the management of the beylik to his son Orhan. After the death of Osman Bey, the leaders of various clans and military leaders recognized the power of Orhan, both out of respect for the choice of Osman Bey, and based on his personal qualities. Members of Osman's family also recognized Orhan as the head of the beylik. Since there was no established procedure for the transfer of power yet, all members of the Osman family had to demonstrate to the population, as well as to the military leaders, daring, intelligence, love of justice and other positive character traits that could attract them to their side in the struggle for supreme power. Subsequently, the Ottoman rulers established a certain order for the members of the dynasty to come to power.

  The organizational structure of the Ottoman state carried some specific features that were inherent in other pre-existing Turkic-Islamic states. However, the Ottomans greatly changed the structure of the court and some of the functions of the central and local administration, and also created such institutions of power and control that were absent from their predecessors. These institutions in the Ottoman application acquired their own special features that distinguished them from similar institutions of their predecessors and neighbors.

  The years of Orkhan's reign were a transitional period from a border principality to an independent state. Various institutions were formed to govern the state, and Ottoman coins began to be minted 16 . True, in parallel with this, a coin was also minted on behalf of the Ilkhans. However, after the liquidation of the Ilkhans in 1335, the Ottoman beylik became completely independent.

  After the capture of the city of Bursa in 1326, there was a need for changes in the composition of the armed forces. At the suggestion of Qadi Bursa Jandarly Kara Khalil, new armed forces were created, which consisted of infantry (ya) and cavalry ( mucellem) buildings 17 . They were recruited for the duration of a military campaign and received 1 acne(later they began to pay 2 akche) per day while they were on a campaign. After the end of the military campaign, they returned to their usual activities and were exempted from paying taxes. Initially, 1,000 people were recruited into each of these corps.

  Even during the reign of Osman Bey, there was sofa, which was located in the capital of the beylik. This divan was headed by the ruler of the beylik himself. During the reign of Orhan Bey, he was first appointed vizier, who dealt with state issues and participated in the sofa with the ruler. The first vizier was Haji Kemaletdin-oglu Alauddin Pasha, who came from the class of ulema. Dealt with military matters subashi. Thus, before the appointment of Jandarly Khalil Khayretdin Pasha to the post of vizier, military and civil affairs in the beylik were conducted separately. Since Dzhandarly Khalil Khayretdin Pasha was at the same time beylerbey, he could consider both military and civil cases 18 .

  The lands captured during a military raid were distributed to the relatives of the ruler and commanders of military formations as dirlikov 19 . In addition, smaller plots of land were distributed to distinguished soldiers. They collected taxes from these lands for their own benefit and, upon conscription, had to participate in military campaigns. During the reign of Orkhan, in the regions that became land grants, they began to send Qadi judges who were supposed to deal with judicial and administrative issues in these territories. These qadis were subordinate to the chief qadi, who was called the qadi of Bursa. (bursa kadylygy). At first, such qadis, who were educated in madrasas, came from other Anatolian beyliks, but after the capture of Iznik and Bursa, Orhan Bey established madrasahs in these cities, in which henceforth the training of qadis took place.

  During the reign of Orhan Bey, the post of beylerbey arose, who led all the armed formations of the beylik. When several beylerbeys appeared in the country, they began to be appointed governors (wali) to various provinces (eyalets) Ottoman state. During the reign of Orkhan, beylerbey was considered the commander of all armed formations 20 . At the beginning of the formation of the Ottoman beylik, its rulers were both tribal leaders and military leaders, and also dealt with civil affairs, regulating various issues. The appearance under Orkhan Bey of the positions of a vizier to consider civil cases and a beylerbey to lead all armed formations raised the status of the ruler himself. Although the ruler participated in the work of the divan and led significant military campaigns, nevertheless, in terms of his status, he was higher than the named officials.

  Orkhan Bey expanded the territory of his beylik both by capturing various cities belonging to the Byzantine governors, and by smaller tribal formations, most of which were Turkmen tribes. These conquests were important point to strengthen and strengthen the Ottoman beylik. However, the capture of the territory of a fairly strong beylik of Karasi, inhabited by Muslims, co-religionists of the Ottomans, is a more significant event in the history of the Ottoman state. Firstly, the capture of the territory of this beylik was of strategic importance for expanding the borders of the Ottoman state and gave the Ottomans the opportunity to move to the European part of the Byzantine Empire, where there were great opportunities for military raids. Secondly, along with the expansion of their borders, the Ottomans received numerous manpower, with a ready military organization to continue their military campaigns.

  In the middle of the XIV century, the Ottomans began to interfere in the internal affairs of the Byzantine Empire 21 . During the fourteen years from the death of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus III Palaiologos in 1341 and until 1355, Byzantium became the scene of a struggle for the throne, in which Orhan Bey played an active role. He provided military assistance to Kantakouzenos in the fight against John Palaiologos. As a result of this struggle, Orkhan's troops managed to fortify themselves on the European part, called by the Ottomans Rumeli (Rumelia) 22 .

  Byzantine emperor Andronicus III Palaiologos. Miniature of the 14th century.

  As a result of the strengthening of the Ottomans on the Gelibolu peninsula, the nature of the usual predatory raids that they carried out in Anatolia gradually changed. The seizure of lands with the aim of expanding borders and collecting various kinds of duties from the conquered peoples has become increasingly important. At the same time, the Ottomans used a peculiar tactic to conquer these territories. At first akynji, now turned into gaziev(fighters for the faith), made several raids on the territory where it was planned to make a military campaign. As a result of several predatory raids, the local population was already so ruined that they could not seriously resist the advancing military forces. After the capture of these territories, the former raids ceased, and the order that existed there was usually preserved, being only slightly adapted to the order that existed in Ottoman society. Thus, in a short time after the transition to European territory in the middle of the XIV century, a small border beylik turned into a vast state, the territory of which extended from the foothills of the Taurus to the coast of the Danube River. As the territory expanded, the internal structure of this political entity also changed.

  Over time, its rulers began to add various titles to their personal names, which exalted and distinguished them from other commanders. The first rulers of the Ottoman beylik had only titles bay And gasi the last title emphasized their commitment gazavatu, which was seen as conducting a "sacred campaign into non-Muslim territory" 23 . The third ruler of the beylik, Murad Bey, received the title hudaven-digar(more short version this term - hunkar), which indicated an increase and strengthening of the beylik. The next ruler, Bayazid, already called himself "Sultan of Rum" ( sultan-i rum), i.e., the ruler of the territory that belonged to the Byzantine Empire, which among the Muslims was known as the "country of Rum" ( diyar-i rum).

  Unlike other similar beyliks, the Ottomans held in their hands the border areas, which were raided by detachments akynci 24, dependent on the central government - the Ottoman ruler. In turn, the detachments of the akindzhi constantly needed an influx of fresh forces interested in military raids for the sake of booty. These forces could be provided by the central power, which was in the hands of the Ottoman family, headed by the strongest member of this family. Around them gathered all those eager for raids, whom the Ottoman rulers sent to the border areas under the command of their trusted military leaders or members of the Ottoman family. To maintain a strong state, the central government needed successful military raids led by the leaders of the akynji. In turn, to replenish their ranks, the leaders of the akindzhi gathered around a strong central government. In the Ottoman beylik, the commanders of the akynjy detachments constantly felt their dependence on the ruler and recognized his supreme power. This led to their unity around the Ottoman ruler 25 .

  Cristofano del Altissimo. Portrait of Sultan Bayezid.

  Due to the fact that the Ottomans were able to prevent the division of their state between members of the Ottoman family, and also kept under their control the leaders of the akindzhi operating in the border areas, they managed to maintain not only the unity of their state, but also its advantages relative to their neighbors. To achieve this goal, the Ottoman rulers, even at the beginning of the formation of the beylik, began to give their sons command of the military forces operating in Rumelia. The commander of the armed forces operating on the territory of Rumelia was Orhan's eldest son Suleiman Pasha, and after his death in 1359, the command of these forces passed to his other son, Murad 26 .

  An important factor that distinguished the Ottoman beylik from other Anatolian beyliks was the continued dependence of the akynjy-gazi leaders on the central government. For example, such strong clans as the Mikhalogullars and Evrenosogullars, who in their wealth and political strength did not differ in any way from other independent Anatolian beys, and even surpassed some of them, depended on the central government, which provided them with the necessary human resources, which only With the permission of the central government, they could cross into the territory of Rumelia. An important factor was also that after military raids, these commanders came back to the territory of the Ottoman state and brought the necessary information about the desired territory to the central authorities.

  Another important factor was the receipt by the central government of a share in military raids, which amounted to one-fifth of all military booty. The foundations of this order were laid during the reign of Orhan Bey. However, during the reign of Murad I, through the efforts of Qadi of Bursa Jandarly Khalil (later, having received the position of Grand Vizier, he became known as Hayreddin Pasha) and Kara Rustem, this order began to apply also to prisoners of war 27 . Thus, the ruler, even if he himself did not participate in the military campaign, nevertheless received his share of the booty. This led to the accumulation of enormous wealth in the hands of the central government, as well as to an increase in the number of personal slaves of the Sultan, capykulu, some of which participated in military campaigns.

  One of the important changes in the structure of the military forces was the creation of a second beylerbeystvo. During the reign of Orhan Bey, military operations were carried out mainly in Anatolia. With the expansion of the borders, as well as in connection with the need to conduct military operations simultaneously in Anatolia and Rumelia, the need arose for a second Beylerbey; now one beylerbey led the territorial military forces of Anatolia, the other - Rumelia.

  All the occupied territories of the Ottoman state were given to the commanders who stood out during the raid and the ordinary akindzhi, who distinguished themselves during the capture. Some areas, recognizing the supreme power of the Ottomans, retained their old structure. In return, they had to pay an annual tribute and, if necessary, participate in the military campaigns of the Ottomans. If former rulers conquered area converted to Islam, then they could maintain their power by obtaining a position sanjakbey or another high-ranking government official.

  The entire territory of the Ottoman state, with the exception of vassal territories, was divided into sanjaks, which were both military and administrative units 28 . Each Ottoman sanjak was governed by a sanjakbey who was appointed by the Ottoman authorities. However, he had to adhere to certain rules established during the formation of this sanjak and approved by the supreme authorities. When allocating a sanjak, the Ottomans first of all determined its border and created a set of laws for this particular sanjak ( kanunnamesi sanjak): these laws stipulated the size and types of various taxes, the types of punishment for the guilty and other important points for the life of this sanjak. A census of all economic units and human forces of a given sanjak was carried out, and these data were recorded in special notebooks called defter-i hakani or tahrir defterleri(“cadastral inventories”) 29 . In such notebooks, each settlement was described separately, indicating the population, all residents, their land plots, what agricultural product is produced in this area and what is the amount of tax that must be collected from the population of this settlement.

  Notebooks, which indicated the population and the size of the agricultural product produced, were called mufassal defterler(“extensive registers”) 30 . In special notebooks called ijmal defterleri(“short registers”), the names of all owners were recorded dirlik, located in this sanjak 32 . A notebook with the names of all the owners of the sanjak was kept in the capital, and a copy of it was sent to the sanjak. System dirlik contributed to facilitating the collection of taxes by the state, ensured the creation of a disciplined army, and also maintained order on the territory of the state.

  The amount of tax levied was specified in evename sanjak. The Ottomans determined who could collect taxes. Usually, instead of paying a salary to the ruler of a particular territory, the Ottomans granted him the right to collect certain taxes from this area. This kind of award is called dirlik. Term dirlik was used mainly to express the income issued to persons from the estate askeriye as timara, zeameta And hassa for their service. Sometimes this term was also used to express the award given to public officials and ulema. System dirlik(this system is also called timar or military system) 32 contributed to facilitating the collection of taxes from the state, ensured the creation of a disciplined army, and also maintained order on the territory of the state.

  Term Timar was used to denote a dirlik with an insignificant annual income. In the 16th century, a law was established providing for an annual income Timara up to 20,000 acc. Taxes collected in rural areas were distributed among ordinary warriors, who were called sipahis. For the commanders, richer dirliks ​​were allocated, the tax on which reached from 20,000 to 100,000 akche. Such dirliks ​​were called zeamat. Even richer settlements or sanjak centers had hassy, tax collections from which amounted to more than 100,000 Akçe. Such hassy were allocated to viziers or other high-ranking officials and military leaders. Sometimes hassy allocated to the sultans themselves; they were given the name hawass-i humayun. Sultans complained about such hassy to their mothers or other family members 33 .

  It should be emphasized that the dirlik was not landed property. Term dirlik meant not land, but the annual income collected from a certain territory in favor of the state 34 . Sipahi Timariot was not the owner of this land allotment: he, with the permission of the state, collected tax from this land allotment in his favor. Dirlik included not only income from a land plot, but also various fees or taxes collected from trade and production, as well as monetary fines levied in a given territory. Thus, the owner of dirlik participated in the management of this territory. Therefore, in the Ottoman state, dirlik performed a financial, military and administrative function. Many historians note that the Dirlik system is one of the foundations on which the Ottoman state was built 35 .

  The number of dirliks ​​in each sanjak was different. However, in a sanjak with an average income, there were on average 80-100 timars, 10-15 zeamats, and at least one khass, which belonged to the ruler of the sanjak, the sanjakbey. In richer sanjaks, there was also a hass allocated for the beylerbey, to whom this sanjak was subordinate. The richest sanjaks, or sanjaks with very high tax collections, housed the hass of viziers or other high-ranking officials of the Ottoman state. Usually these were important trading centers, or sanjaks, on the territory of which minerals were mined.

  One of the peculiarities of the timar system is that each dirlik owner had to participate in military campaigns. Depending on the income from the timar, they had to keep a man in arms ( jebels). When a military levy was announced, each holder of a dirlik, along with his weapon and horse, had to come to his sanjakbey. He also had to bring with him a certain number of armed and trained cavalry warriors. The number of such warriors ( jebels) depended on the income received by the Timariot and the lower limit of income established for this Timar. In the 15th century, the income from the smallest timar averaged 1,000–1,500 akçe. If the timar brought income twice as much as the established amount, then the owner had to bring one jebel with him. As the timar's income increased, so too did the number of jebels that the timariot had to bring with him during the military muster. Later, in the 16th century, when determining the lowest income of the owner of the timar in the amount of 2000 akche, each owner of the timar had to join the military collection himself and bring with him one jebel for every 2000 akche of income. For example, a timariot with an income of 20,000 akche came along with 9 jebels for military collection. Later, the order changed, and each owner of a timar was obliged to maintain one jebel for every 3,000 akche of his income, and the owner of a zeamet or hassa - for every 5,000 akche. Jebels were fully supported. The owner of the dirlik had to pay all the expenses for their maintenance, including a horse, weapons, clothing and food. After the completion of the military campaign, such a dzhebel was with the owner of the dirlik and carried out his various assignments. Jebels of the sanjakbey and beylerbey were in their retinue during the campaign and in peacetime 36 . Such jebels were selected from local young people who sought to show their prowess and strength during a military campaign.

  The owners of the Zeamets and Hasses had to maintain and bring with them a large number of armed and trained jebel warriors. To recruit such warriors, they used various sources, including prisoners of war. Those recruited from prisoners were called kapyhalki("people who have taken refuge with someone") or capykulu; it was believed that these people would be faithful servants. Number kapykhalki at rulers were much larger than other commanders, and it was they who were called capykulu("serving people of the court") 37 . kapyhalki other dignitaries were called bende.

  At the beginning of its appearance, the term capykulu belonged to various permanent military units that received a salary from the ruler. Later, with the beginning of the application of the system devshirme, to kapykul began to refer all persons called askeri. Term cool Literally means "slave". However, the kapikulu cannot be compared with ordinary slaves used in the household or in agricultural work. These were people selected after being captured or taken from their parents in childhood, and specially trained in various fields to serve the Ottoman rulers. The most capable of them could rise to the highest government positions.

  System capykulu contributed to the strengthening of the power of the ruler of the Ottoman state. During the reign of Sultan Mehmed II Fatih, the entire administrative elite, except for the posts of cadi and mewali, which were in the hands of immigrants from the class of ulema, in the capital and in the field began to form from kapikulu. In a narrow sense, kapykula can be compared with the courtyard people of the Moscow Grand Dukes. According to I.E. Zabelin, "the state was not ruled by the state, that is, by the people's zemstvo forces, but by the forces of the sovereign's court, which, secretly, always excelled in the boyar duma" 38 . In essence, they were privileged slaves of the ruler, who, at his own discretion, could execute them without trial or investigation. After the execution or death of the kapikulu, their property passed to the master. Thus, the kapikulu could not inherit their wealth received for serving the ruler.

  Gentile Bellini. Portrait of Sultan Mehmed II.

  During the reign of Murad I, the number of captive captives increased greatly. Then it was decided to create new armed forces from the capykulu, called the Janissaries - (lit. eni peri("new army")) 39 . This contributed to the strengthening of the power of the ruler, as well as the dependence of the commanders of the border armed formations, since the increase in the number of well-trained warriors in the hands of the ruler limited the actions and interests of local feudal lords 40 .

  In connection with the cessation of military campaigns on Christian territories at the beginning of the 15th century, the sources of replenishment of the Janissary corps were lost. During internecine wars between the sons of Sultan Bayezid I, it became necessary to increase the number of loyal troops that could be constantly "at hand". Because the troops sipahis were in the provinces and could go over to the side of the one who could capture this territory, to replenish the ranks of the kapikulu during the reign of Sultan Murad II, a system was created devshirme 41 .

  According to this system, as needed, in three or five years, sometimes seven or eight years 43, specially selected officials from the Janissary corps went to those areas of the state where the non-Muslim population lived, and recruited boys. Initially, such a recruitment was carried out on the territory of Rumelia. Later it began to be produced in the Anatolian territory of the state 42 . At the suggestion of the agha of the corps of the Janissaries, in which the required number of boys was indicated, a special sultan's farm was published. Until the first half of the 16th century, the set of boys was made by local rulers. Then high-ranking officials of the Janissary corps began to deal with this. When sending an official appointed by the sultan, he was given the sultan's farm about the recruitment of boys from certain territories, indicating the number of boys for each locality. In addition to the ferman, these officials had a letter from the agha Janissaries in their hands. Local authorities had to do their best to facilitate recruitment. The settlements in which the recruitment of boys was to be made were determined in advance. At the appointed time, local authorities gathered all adolescents between the ages of eight and fifteen (depending on the number of boys recruited, this age sometimes reached twenty years) in centers kaza. Young people came with their parents, accompanied by a local priest; they were charged with the obligation to bring church books with them. Usually one boy was selected from every forty households 43 , paying attention to appearance, growth and other external data. When examining the boys, in order to avoid any misunderstandings, the local qadi And sipahis or his representative. The official looked through the church books and selected the boys by age. Preference was given to boys aged 14 to 18. If there were married people among them, they were immediately sent home. If someone had two children at that age, then only one of them was taken away. They also did not take away the only son of the family and the orphan. The sons of a village headman, brawlers, sons of shepherds, and those who were circumcised from birth were considered unfit for recruitment. In addition, boys who knew Turkish language engaged in some kind of craft, who traveled to Istanbul and are undersized 44 . They tried to take boys of medium height, and tall boys were selected specifically for the service. bostanjs in a palace.

  After the capture of Bosnia, the system devshirme embraced the children of local residents who converted to Islam. They were called potur ogullary and were intended for palace service and service in bostanjy ojagy. They were not given to the corps of the Janissaries. Besides, in devshirme they did not take the children of certain peoples and from certain certain places. For example, it was forbidden to take Turkic, Russian, Iranian, Gypsy and Kurdish children, as well as boys from the area of ​​Harput, Diyarbakir and Malatya 45 .

  Selected boys were sent to the capital in groups of 100 or 200 people. The leaders of these groups were given lists of boys so that they could not replace one boy with another along the way. Therefore, after the selection of the required number of boys, special notebooks were compiled, with a list of the names of the boys, indicating their native village and sanjak, parents' names, first name sipahis, to whom this family paid taxes, dates of birth and external signs. Such notebooks were compiled in two copies, one of which was kept by the head of the group for delivering boys to the capital. The second notebook remained with the official responsible for recruitment. In the capital, these notebooks were collated and later kept by the agha Janissaries 46 .

  When sent to the capital, the boys were dressed in golden outerwear and a cone-shaped headdress. The money for these clothes was collected in the form of a tax from the population of the same areas in the amount of 90-100 Akçe for each boy. Over time, the size of this amount increased and at the beginning of the 17th century it reached 600 akche 47 .

  Two or three days after arriving in the capital, the boys converted to Islam. After that, they were examined by the aga of the Janissary corps and the surgeon ajami ojagi. Then the sultan personally examined the boys who arrived and selected those he liked for the palace 48 . Some were selected for bostanji ojagy 49 . The remaining boys were given for a small fee to Turkish peasants, so that they would learn the language for several years and be introduced to agricultural life. A few years later, these boys were recorded in the corps ajami. After serving there also for several years, they were transferred to the corps of the Janissaries.

  The boys selected for the palace were transferred to the palaces of Edirne, Galata and Ibrahim Pasha, where they began their education. After a certain time, the most prepared boys from these palaces were transferred to the Enderun school. For them, there were also certain rules for further promotion through the ranks 50 .

  Another feature of the sanjak was that in each sanjak for a period of one or two years, a qadi was appointed from the center, whose responsibility was to control the use of Sharia and Ottoman ( orfi) laws in sanjaks. But the qadis also participated in the daily administration of the sanjaks, as they constantly reminded the local population of their rights and obligations to the authorities. Despite the difference in functions, in daily affairs and administration, the qadis had to cooperate with the rulers of the sanjak and, thus, "contributed to the establishment of the autocratic principles of the Ottoman regime" 51 . Such a system of territorial administration was also used before the formation of the Ottoman state in other countries. political entities. However, the Ottomans followed a stricter application of this system, especially in the conquered territories in the European part of the state. In addition, the owners of Timars, who belonged to the military class askeri, and qadis, who belonged to the spiritual class of the ulema, were to jointly participate in the administration of the territory entrusted to them.

  For the Ottoman state, the absence of a serious struggle between the sons of the rulers for the paternal throne during the formation of the state was characteristic. The Ottomans used the struggle for power in the beylik of Karasi, as a result of which this beylik fell into their hands 52 . The internal political struggle for the throne, which took place not only in this beylik, but also in the Byzantine Empire, in Bulgaria and Serbia, contributed to the expansion of the borders of the Ottoman state due to the weakening and territorial losses of these states. After the death of Osman Bey, his son Orhan Bey took his father's place. According to chroniclers, his brother had no claims to supreme power 53 . In addition, during the life of his father, Orkhan began to perform some of his functions as the supreme ruler. By the time of Orhan's death, his son Murad was the most experienced member of the ruling family. After coming to power, he eliminated his two younger brothers, who could pose a danger to his rule. When the son of Savdzhi rebelled against his father, Murad I instructed another son - Bayazed - to oppose him. Bayazed soon caught and executed his brother. After he was elevated to the vacant paternal throne by the commanders who participated in the battle of Kosovo, Bayazed immediately killed his brother Yakub Bey, who commanded the armed forces and did not know about the death of his father. Thus, during the years of the formation of the state, the Ottomans managed to avoid the struggle between the brothers for supreme power, which confronted them in subsequent years.

  In the Ottoman beylik (later in the Ottoman state), the supreme power belonged to the ruling family, the head of which was simultaneously considered the head of the beylik (later both the state and the empire) and was called ulu bey(senior or great bey) 54 . Other family members held the title bey. The management of important key territories, with the exception of the border regions, where the commanders of the akyndzhy-gazi operated, was entrusted to members of the ruling family. At the head of the troops of this sanjak, they participated in military campaigns at the call of the supreme authority. The lack of rules for coming to power created certain difficulties after the death of the ruler. To get the throne, they had to attract experienced and strong commanders, as well as viziers, beylerbeys and leaders to their side. ahh. It was almost impossible to come to power without their support.

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  For the history of the Turkish people, as well as the countries of South-Eastern Europe, the formation of the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire had very great consequences. The Ottoman state was formed in the process of military expansion of the Turkish feudal lords in Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula. The aggressive policy pursued by the Ottoman state led to the centuries-old struggle of the population of the South Slavic countries, the peoples of Hungary, Moldavia and Wallachia against the Turkish conquerors.

  Asia Minor at the beginning of the XIV century. Ottomans

  During the invasion of the Mongol conquerors on Central Asia a nomadic association of the Oghuz Turks from the Kayi tribe of only a few thousand tents, migrated to the west along with the Khorezmshah Jalal-ad-din and then entered the service of the Seljuk Sultan of Rum, from whom the Oguz-Kayy leader Ertogrul received in the 30s of the XIII century . a small feudal estate along the river Sakarya (in Greek Sangaria), on the very border of the Byzantine possessions, with a residence in the city of Sögyud. These Oguzes became part of the Turkish people that formed in Asia Minor under the Seljukids.

  By the beginning of the XIV century. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum disintegrated into ten emirates, including the Ottoman emirate. Most of the possessions of Byzantium that remained in the northwestern part of Asia Minor were conquered by the son and successor of Ertogrul Osman I (approximately 1282-1326), who made the city of Bursa (in Greek Brusa 1326) his capital. Osman gave his name to the dynasty and to his emirate. The Turks of Asia Minor, who became part of the Ottoman state, were also called Ottomans (Osmanly).

  Formation and rise of the Ottoman Empire

  From the very beginning, the Ottoman Turks directed their conquests against the declining and extremely weakened Byzantium. Many volunteer warriors of various ethnic origins from other Muslim countries entered the service of the Ottoman state, and most of all Turkish nomads from the emirates of Asia Minor. The feudalized nomadic nobility with its militias was attracted by the possibility of easy conquest, the capture of new lands and war booty. Since all the men of the nomads were warriors, and the light cavalry of the Turks, like all nomads, had great mobility, it was always easy for the Ottoman state to concentrate large military forces for an attack at the right time. The stability of patriarchal-feudal relations among the nomadic tribes made their militias, distinguished by their high fighting qualities, more united and stronger than the militias of Byzantium and its Balkan neighbors. The Turkish nobility, receiving from the Ottoman sovereign a significant part of the newly conquered lands in fief possession, helped the Ottoman Emirate to make extensive conquests and strengthen. Under the son and successor of Osman I - Orkhan (1326-1359), who took Nicaea (1331), the conquest of the Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor was completed.

  To the possessions of Byzantium on the Balkan Peninsula (Rumelia ( Rumelia - in Turkish "Rum eli", or "Rum or", i.e. the country of the Greeks.), as the Turks said), the Turks at first only made raids for the sake of military booty, but in 1354 they occupied an important stronghold on the European coast of the Dardanelles - the city of Gallipoli and began to conquer the Balkan Peninsula. The success of the Turks was facilitated by the political fragmentation of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, feudal strife within these states and their struggle with each other, as well as with Genoa, Venice and Hungary. After the death of Orhan, his son Murad I (1359-1389), who already bore the title of sultan, conquered Adrianople (1362), and then almost all of Thrace, Philippopolis, the Maritsa river valley and began to quickly move west. Murad I moved his residence to Adrianople (Turkish Edirne). In 1371, the Turks won a battle on the banks of the Maritsa. On July 15, 1389, they won an even more important victory in the Kosovo field.

  The conquests of Murad I were facilitated by the large numerical superiority of his militias over the scattered forces of the Balkan states and the transition to his side of part of the Bulgarian and Serbian feudal lords who converted to Islam in order to preserve their possessions. The aggressive campaigns of the Ottoman state were carried out under the ideological shell of the "war for the faith" of Muslims with "infidels", in this case with Christians. The wars of conquest of the Ottoman sultans were distinguished by great cruelty, the robbery of the occupied territories, the removal of civilians into captivity, devastation, fires and massacres. The population of the conquered cities and villages was often completely driven into slavery. Greek historian of the 15th century. Duka reports that due to the mass deportation of the population into captivity by the Ottoman troops and the massacre, "the whole of Thrace, up to Dalmatia, became deserted." The Bulgarian author monk Isaiah Svyatogorets wrote: “... Some of the Christians were killed, others were taken into slavery, and those who remained there (i.e., in their homeland) were mowed down by death, for they were dying of hunger. The land was deserted, deprived of all blessings, people died, livestock and fruits disappeared. And verily then the living envied those who had died earlier.”

  Tribute was imposed on the feudal lords of the conquered countries, who remained Christians, but recognized themselves as vassals of the Sultan, but it did not always save their possessions from raids. Local feudal lords who converted to Islam, and sometimes even remained Christians, were included in the ranks of the Turkish military-feudal nobility as fiefs (sipahis). The son and successor of Murad I-Bayazid I (1389-1402), nicknamed Yildirim ("Lightning"), completed the conquest of Macedonia (by 1392), the capture of Vidin (1396) completed the conquest of Bulgaria, begun back in the 60s years of the XIV century., And imposed tribute on Northern Serbia. Bayezid also conquered all of Asia Minor, except for Cilicia and the Greek kingdom of Trebizond, having annexed the lands of the former Asia Minor emirates to the Ottoman state, although the nomadic feudal lords of Asia Minor for a long time did not want to put up with the loss of their independence, sometimes rebelled against the Ottoman sultan. Despite the fact that the Byzantine emperors John V and Manuel II had been paying tribute to the Sultan since 1370 and sent him auxiliary militias, Bayazid nevertheless took Thessalonica from Byzantium (1394) and blockaded Constantinople, seeking its surrender.

  By the time of Bayazid's reign, the Turkish military-feudal elite, having captured new lands and huge wealth, switched to a settled way of life and changed the simple and harsh life of the nomadic horde to refined luxury and brilliance. At the same time, contradictions emerged between the settled and nomadic military nobility. The latter - mainly in Asia Minor - was relegated to the background. Among the mass of the Turkish population who settled in the newly acquired lands, especially in Rumelia, there was also a process of transition to settled life. But in Asia Minor this process was much slower.

  Venice and Genoa saw the Ottoman conquests as a great threat to their possessions and their commercial predominance in the Eastern Mediterranean. Many other Western European states, in their turn, were thoroughly afraid of the invasion of the Ottoman troops into Central Europe. In 1396, a crusade was undertaken against Ottoman Turkey with the participation of Hungarian, Czech, Polish, French and other knights, from the French, the author of famous memoirs about this campaign, Marshal Busiko, the son of the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, and others, participated in it. However, the mediocre leadership of the Hungarian King Sigismund and disagreements between the "crusader" leaders were the reason that their army suffered a severe defeat at Nikopol on the Danube. Up to 10 thousand crusaders were captured, the rest fled. Bayazid killed almost all the captives, except for 300 noble knights, whom he released for a huge ransom. After that, the Ottoman troops invaded Hungary (1397), which they then began to systematically devastate, taking tens of thousands of people out of it into slavery.

  But the crusade of 1396 and the invasion of Timur's troops into Asia Minor, which soon followed, prevented Bayazid from capturing Constantinople. A decisive battle between the troops of Bayazid and Timur took place near Ankara on July 20, 1402. During the battle, the militias of the former emirates of Asia Minor, seeing their former emirs in Timur's camp, betrayed the Ottoman sultan and suddenly struck at the center of his army. The Ottoman army was defeated, Bayezid himself was captured during the flight and soon died in captivity. Timur devastated Asia Minor and left, restoring seven of the former ten emirates of Asia Minor. The Ottoman state was weakened for some time. The death of Byzantium was delayed, she regained Thessalonica.

  Feudal relations in the Ottoman state

  In Turkish society, the process of development of feudalism continued, which took place in Asia Minor already under the Seljukids. Almost the entire land fund in Asia Minor and Rumelia was seized by the conquerors. There were four types of feudal land ownership: state lands (miri); lands of the Sultan family (Khass); lands of Muslim religious institutions (waqf) and privately owned lands such as allod (mulk). But most of the state lands were distributed as a hereditary conditional award to the military ranks of the feudal cavalry militia (sipahis). Small fiefs were called timars, large fiefs were called ziamets. Lenniki-sipahs were obliged to live in their possessions and, by order of the Sultan, appear in the militia of the sanjak-bey (head of the district) with a certain number of armed horsemen from subject people, depending on the profitability of the fief. This is how the Ottoman military fief system developed, which contributed to a significant extent to Turkey's military successes.

  Part of the Sultan's domains was distributed into the possession of large military and civil dignitaries for the duration of a certain position. Such awards were called, like the sultan's domains, hass and were assigned to certain positions. Large feudal ownership of land and water in the Ottoman state was combined with small peasant holdings. Raaya peasants ( The Arabic term "raaya" (plural of rayat) in Turkey, as in other Muslim countries, denoted the taxable estate, especially peasants, regardless of religion, later (from the 19th century) only non-Muslims began to be called that.) were attached to their land plots (in Asia Minor, attachment has been noted since the 13th century) and without the permission of the feudal lord - the owner of the land did not have the right to transfer. A ten-year term was set for the investigation of fugitive peasants. Feudal rent was levied partly in favor of the state, partly in favor of landowners, in a mixed form (in products, money and in the form of forced labor). Muslim farmers paid tithe (ashar), and Christians from 20 to 50% of the harvest (haraj). Non-Muslims (Christians and Jews) paid another poll tax - jizya, which later merged with kharaj. Gradually, many other taxes appeared.

  Conquest wars created an abundant influx and cheapness of captive slaves. Some of them were used as servants, servants, eunuchs, etc., but the labor of slaves was also used in production - in nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding, in arable work, in horticulture and viticulture, in the Sultan's mines, and from the 15th century. also on military galleys - penal servitude (in Turkish kadyrga), where the rowers were slaves. Sultan power, in order to ensure the interests of the military-feudal nobility, waged constant predatory wars with non-Muslim states, going up to the 16th century. only for temporary truces.

  Government organization of the Ottoman Empire

  The Ottoman Empire was a military-feudal despotism. The hereditary sultan from the Ottoman dynasty, with unlimited secular power, combined in his hands the spiritual power (imamat) over the Muslims of Turkey. The first dignitary of the Sultan was the Grand Vizier. From the 15th century other viziers also appeared. Together with the great vizier, they made up a sofa - the highest council. The Grand Vizier during campaigns had the right to issue firmans (decrees) on behalf of the Sultan, appoint dignitaries and distribute military fiefs. Of the other important dignitaries, the defterdar was in charge of the collection of taxes and finances, and the nishanjy-bashi prepared decrees on behalf of the sultan and drew a tughra on them - a cipher with the sovereign's monogram. The great vizier applied the great state seal to the decrees. No matter how great the power of the great vizier was, at any moment the sultan could remove him and execute him, which often happened.

  The court, with the exception of litigation between the Gentiles, was in the hands of Muslim spiritual judges - qadis. Qadis were judged in accordance with Sunni Muslim law of the Hanafi persuasion, and partly also with the customary law of the Oghuz nomads, the ancestors of the Turks. Two kadi-askers (one for Rumelia, the other for Anatolia, i.e. Asia Minor), originally former military spiritual judges, in the 15th century. were in charge of all the affairs of the Muslim clergy and its waqf property. The districts were ruled by the sanjak-beys, who at the same time commanded the local feudal militias, gathering them by decree of the Sultan and being with them at the gathering place of the troops of the entire empire. The Ottoman army consisted of three main units: feudal cavalry militia, cavalry - akyndzhy and regular infantry corps - janissaries (yeni cheri - "new army").

  Akyndzhy made up an irregular cavalry vanguard of the troops; they did not receive fiefs, but only a share of the booty, which is why they gained a reputation as ferocious robbers. The corps of the Janissaries arose in the 14th century, but received a solid organization in the second quarter of the 15th century. The ranks of the Janissaries at first were recruited from captured young men, but from the 15th century. Janissary troops began to replenish by forced recruitment (devshirme), first every 5 years, and later even more often, from the Christian population of Rumelia - Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians and Greeks, sometimes from Armenians and Georgians. At the same time, the most physically fit boys and unmarried young men were selected. All Janissaries were brought up in the spirit of Muslim fanaticism and were considered dervishes of the Bektashi order; up to the 16th century. they were forbidden to marry. They were divided into companies (orta), ate from a common cauldron, and the cauldron (cauldron) was considered a symbol of their army. The Janissaries enjoyed a number of privileges and received generous handouts, and many of the Janissary commanders were promoted to the highest military and administrative positions of the empire. Legally, the Janissaries were considered slaves of the Sultan, like the Ghulam (Mamluk) guards in Egypt and other Muslim states. The capture of many people into slavery and the recruitment of boys and youths as Janissaries served as a direct means of forcible assimilation of the conquered population. The high taxation of non-Muslims - giaours, their inequality and the regime of arbitrariness served as indirect means of the same assimilation. But this policy ultimately failed.

  Popular movements at the beginning of the 15th century.

  The son and successor of Bayezid I, Mehmed I (Muhammed, 1402-1421), nicknamed Chelebi (“Noble”, “Knightly”), had to wage war with his brothers - pretenders to the throne, with the Seljuk emirs restored by Timur in their possessions, especially with the emir of Karaman, who robbed and burned Bursa, as well as with the Venetians, who defeated the Ottoman fleet at Gallipoli (1416). Mehmed I, on the contrary, concluded an alliance with Byzantium, returning some coastal cities to it.

  These wars ruined the small fiefs and caused an increase in the tax burden of the peasants. As a result, an uprising of petty lenniki broke out, which was joined by peasants and artisans, which grew into a real civil war(in 1415-1418, but according to other sources - in 1413-1418). The movement was headed by the dervish sheikh Simavia-oglu Bedr-ad-din, who launched his activities in Rumelia. The dervishes Berkludzhe Mustafa (in the region of Izmir, in Greek Smyrna) and Torlak Kemal (in the region of Manisa, in Greek Magnesia) who acted on his behalf in Asia Minor, relying on artisans and peasants, demanded the establishment of social equality of all people and the community of all property , “except for wives”, namely: “food, clothes, harnesses and arable land”, and first of all - the community of land ownership. The rebels introduced the same simple clothes and common meals for everyone and proclaimed the principle of equality of the three monotheistic religions - Muslim, Christian and Jewish.

  Through his friend, a Christian monk from the island of Chios, Berkludzhe Mustafa called on the Greek peasants to revolt together with the Turkish peasants against the common oppressors - the Ottoman feudal nobility, led by the Sultan. Indeed, the peasants of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, both Turks and Greeks, rebelled almost without exception. They defeated the feudal militia that had gathered in the western part of Asia Minor. Only two years later, having gathered the sipahis from all over the state, the sultan finally crushed the movement and carried out a massacre against the rebels. After that, by the end of 1418, the militia of Sheikh Bedr ad-Din was defeated in Rumelia.

  At the beginning of the XV century. among the urban lower classes of Turkey, which arose at the end of the 14th century, was widely spread. in Khorasan, the heretical teachings of the secret Shiite sect of the Hurufis, with anti-feudal tendencies and the preaching of social equality and community of property. There were also uprisings among the non-indigenous peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, who did not put up with Ottoman rule (the uprising in the Vidip region in Bulgaria in 1403, etc.).

  Türkiye in the first half of the 15th century Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks

  Under Murad II (1421-1451), the Ottoman state strengthened and resumed its policy of conquest. Terrible danger again hung over Constantinople. In 1422, Murad II besieged the city, but without success. In 1430 he took Thessalonica. In 1443, the participants of the new crusade (Hungarians, Poles, Serbs and Wallachians) led by the King of Poland and Hungary Vladislav and the famous Hungarian commander Janos Hunyadi defeated the army of Murad II twice and occupied Sofia. But the following year, the crusaders suffered a heavy defeat at Varna from the numerically superior forces of Murad II. After this, the attempts of the popes to organize a new crusade against Turkey no longer met with sympathy in Western Europe. However, the victories of the troops of Janos Hunyadi in 1443 nevertheless facilitated the struggle for the independence of Albania, which was almost already conquered by the Ottoman troops. The Albanian people, under the leadership of their illustrious commander and great statesman Skanderbeg successfully fought the Turkish conquerors for more than twenty years.

  Murad II's successor was his young son Mehmed II (Mohammed, 1451-1481), nicknamed Fatih ("Conqueror"). The personality of Mehmed II is vividly depicted in Greek and Italian sources. He received a good education, knew five languages, was familiar with Western culture, shunned religious fanaticism, but at the same time was a capricious and cruel despot. Turkish historiography glorified him as a talented commander. In fact, the conquests of Mehmed II were mainly victories over weak feudal states, most often already paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire. From the Hungarians, Albanians and Moldavians, Mehmed II suffered defeat more than once.

  The siege of Constantinople by the Turks took about two months (April - May 1453). After the capture and robbery of Constantinople for three days, Mehmed II entered the city and proceeded to the church of St. Sophia, got off his horse and performed the first Muslim prayer in this temple. As a result of the massacre and the withdrawal of the population into slavery, the city was almost completely depopulated. In order to repopulate it, Mehmed II transferred all the inhabitants of the Asia Minor city of Aksaray there, but since the Turkish population was still not enough, he resettled many Greeks from Morea and other places, as well as Armenians and Jews, to Constantinople. The Genoese colony of Galata, founded shortly after 1261 on the outskirts of Constantinople, was also forced to surrender. In doing so, the Genoese retained personal freedom and property, but lost their autonomy, and Galata has since been ruled by a Turkish administration. The capital of the Ottoman state was transferred from Adrianople to Constantinople (Istanbul, more precisely Istanbul) ( The name "Istanbul" comes from the modern Greek expression "is tin polin" - "to the city" and was used by both the Greeks and the Arabs, Persians and Turks already in the 12th-13th centuries.).

  Domestic policy of Mehmed II

  Mehmed II issued in 1476 a set of laws (“Kanun-name”), which determined the functions of state dignitaries and their salaries, established the organization of the Sunni Muslim clergy (more precisely, the classes of theologians), the regime of military fiefs, etc. Mehmed II also established a statute for non-Muslim religious communities, approving Orthodox (Greek) and Armenian patriarchs and a Jewish chief rabbi in Constantinople. All Orthodox peoples (Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, part of the Albanians, Georgians, Vlachs and Moldavians) were henceforth considered as one "Greek community" - rum-milleti, over which the Patriarch of Constantinople used not only church, but also judicial power. The patriarch and bishops could pronounce judicial sentences on the Orthodox up to and including exile to hard labor (galleys). But if an Orthodox sued a Muslim, then the matter was dealt with by a Muslim spiritual judge, a qadi. The patriarch and bishops had control over the schools and books of the Orthodox peoples, and they were given certain personal privileges. The Armenian Patriarch and the Jewish Chief Rabbi received the same rights over their communities.

  Giving some rights to the highest Christian and Jewish clergy, the Sultan's government sought to keep the Gentiles in obedience with the help of their own clergy. The mass of the Gentiles was completely disenfranchised. They were deprived of the right to have weapons, had to wear clothes of special colors, did not have the right to acquire land, etc. However, some restrictions for non-Christians were not always respected in practice. The practice of non-Muslim worship was subject to serious restrictions: it was forbidden, for example, to build new places of worship. Even worse was the situation of Muslim heretics - Shiites, who were very numerous in Asia Minor. They were severely persecuted and forced to hide their faith.

  Further conquests by Mehmed II

  In Asia Minor, Mehmed II conquered the weak Greek kingdom of Trebizond (1461) and all the emirates of Asia Minor. In the Crimea, his troops captured the Genoese colonies with the most important trading city of Kafa (now Feodosia) and subordinated the Crimean Khanate to Turkey (1475). This was a real disaster for Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and the Russian state, because Crimean Tatars with the support of Ottoman Turkey, almost every year they began to carry out deep horse raids into these countries in order to capture military booty, especially captives, who were then resold to Turkey. Between 1459 and 1463 Mehmed II conquered Serbia, the Greek Principalities of Morea and the Duchy of Athens ( Founded after the fourth crusade in 1204; the duchy was successively ruled first by the French, from the beginning of the 14th century. - Spanish, and from the end of the XIV century - Italian feudal lords.), as well as the Slavic kingdom of Bosnia. At the same time, Turkey began a long war with Venice, which was supported by Uzun Hasan, the sovereign of Ak Koyunlu. The troops of Uzun Hasan were defeated by the Turks in 1473, while the war with Venice was fought with varying success.

  The attempt of the Turks to take Belgrade, defended by Janos Hunyadi, ended in a heavy failure for them (1456). The Ottoman troops also suffered a complete defeat in Albania during the siege of the Krui fortress (1467), in Moldavia (1475) and in an attempt to capture the island of Rhodes, which belonged to the Knights of St. John. Wallachia submitted only after a long resistance, retaining its autonomy (1476). In 1479, after the death of Skanderbeg, the Ottoman army finally managed to occupy the territory of Albania, but the Albanians did not submit and continued for a long time guerrilla war in the mountains. According to the Treaty of Constantinople with Venice (1479), the latter ceded to Turkey its islands in the Aegean Sea and pledged to pay an annual tribute of 10 thousand ducats, but retained the islands of Crete and Corfu and received the right of extraterritoriality and duty-free trade for the Venetians in Turkey. In the summer of 1480, Mehmed II landed in southern Italy, planning to conquer it, and ravaged the city of Otranto to the ground. Shortly thereafter, he died.

  

  The son of Mehmed II, Bayezid II Dervish (1481-1512), abandoned the plan to conquer Italy, although he waged a generally unsuccessful war with Venice. Wars were also fought with Hungary, the Austrian Habsburgs and Egypt. Moldavia recognized the suzerainty of Turkey, securing autonomy through diplomatic negotiations (1501). In 1495, the first Russian embassy arrived in Constantinople. The Sultan allowed Russian merchants to trade in Turkey. In the future, formally remaining at peace with Russia, Ottoman Turkey systematically set the hordes of the Crimean Khan against her, preventing the Russian state from strengthening its military power and seeking to receive from there, as well as from Ukraine, captives for slave markets and for galleys.

  The Ottoman conquest slowed down the development of the conquered Balkan countries. At the same time, unbearable oppression provoked a struggle between the peoples of these countries against the Ottoman Empire. The growth of feudal exploitation made the Sultan's government deeply alien to the masses of the Turkish people. Anti-popular policy of the sultans of the XV century. resulted in great uprisings by Turkish peasants and the nomadic poor in Asia Minor in the next century.

  culture

  Having settled in Asia Minor in the 11th century, the ancestors of the Turks, the Seljuk Oghuz, were for a long time under the cultural influence of Iran and, to a lesser extent, Armenia and Byzantium. Many Persians settled in the cities of Asia Minor, and the New Persian language was the official language for a long time. literary language Seljuk Asia Minor.

  On the basis of the reworked traditions of the art of Iran, Armenia and partly Byzantium in Asia Minor, the “Seljuk” architectural style developed, the main features of the buildings of which were a high portal, richly ornamented with stone carvings, and a conical dome, probably borrowed from the Armenians. The best monuments of this style were the Chifte Minare Madrasah in Erzurum (XII century) and the monuments of the XIII century. in Konya - Karatai-madrasah, Syrchaly-madrasah and the Inje-minareli mosque with a wonderful carved portal and a slender minaret. This style was replaced by the so-called “Bursa style” under the Ottomans, which dominated in the 14th-15th centuries. Its monuments are the Ulu Jami mosque built in Bursa (at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries) and the Yesil Jami mosque (Green Mosque), decorated with faience tiles with turquoise and greenish glaze. The mosques of Sultan Mehmed II and Sultan Bayezid II in Istanbul mark the transition from the “Bursa style” to the “classical” Turkish style, created by assimilation of Byzantine traditions in a revised form (central-domed mosques built according to the plan of the Church of St. Sophia, with a round dome, apses, etc.).

  The representatives of the oral folk poetry of the Asia Minor Oghuz Turks, heroic and love, were wandering singers - ozans and ashyks. Literature in the Turkish language that was developing in Seljuk Asia Minor, using the Arabic alphabet, developed for a long time under strong Persian influence. The son of the famous poet of Asia Minor Jalal-ad-din Rumi, who wrote in Persian, Sultan Veled (died in 1312) began to write poetry in Turkish (“The Book of the Lute”). Major Turkish poets of the XIV century. there were Ashik Pasha, a moralist poet, Yunus Emre, a Sufi lyricist who used the motifs of Turkish folk poetry, and Burkhan-ad-din Sivassky, a warrior poet.

  In the XV century. Turkish literature flourished. Its most prominent representative was the poet Necati (1460-1509), the best Turkish lyricist. The themes of his poems were spring, love, grief, the separation of lovers, etc. Hamdi Celebi (died in 1509), the author of the poem "Layli and Majnun" and other works, was a brilliant poet. The poetess Mihri-khatun (died in 1514) and the poet Mesihi (died in 1512) were singers of earthly love and fought for the secular character of poetry, against Sufism. Until the XIV century. Historical works (though very few) were written in Persian. In the XV century. a descendant of the poet Ashyk Pasha, Ashyk Pasha Zade, and Neshri laid the foundation for historical literature in Turkish.

  The education system in the Ottoman Empire developed gradually and transformed over time, changing along with the Ottoman society. The first madrasah was built in Iznik by Orhan Gazi. The traditional education system included mektebs ( primary schools) and a madrasah (an analogue of a higher educational institution), which were located at mosques. For the development of the madrasah system, an important aspect was the creation by Sultan Mehmed Fatih of Sahn-i-Seman (eight madrasahs) in 1463-1471 and the construction of a network of Suleymaniye madrasahs by Sultan Suleiman Kanuni in 1550-1557. The main part of the future officials and administrators of the empire studied in them. Madrasahs trained not only managers, but also specialists in various fields of knowledge, for example, doctors and architects. Graduates of these madrasahs after graduation usually kept in touch with each other and helped each other.

  This system, which existed until the 19th century, was subjected to a radical reform, when, in the course of numerous transformations carried out by the sultans, they tried to remake it according to European models in order to organize the training of specialists, primarily in technical specialties. It all started with the reforms of Sultan Mahmud II, who broke up the Janissary corps and tried to create an army according to the European model, for which he needed European-educated officers. He left the system of madrasas intact, but gave the opportunity to graduates of elementary schools-mektebs to enter technical educational institutions belonging to the military department.

  Two such schools were opened at the Suleymaniye and Sultanahmet mosques. Three more schools were opened to train civilian officials who were to work for the reformed government.

  The Sultan also provided support to the previously existing technical schools - the naval and military engineering schools. In addition, he sent promising young people to study in Europe, who, upon their return, were to fill vacancies for teachers in reformed educational institutions. Moreover, the Sultan instructed them to translate European technical terms into Ottoman. A medical school was also established, teaching at French and according to European textbooks, due to the lack of teaching materials in Ottoman.

  Graduates of European - German and French educational institutions prepared the era of reforms of the Ottoman Empire - tanzimat, which was announced by the corresponding decree of the Sultan in 1839 and during which ministries were formed in the European manner, including the Ministry of Education (1847).

  However, the education reform was complicated by the fact that several education systems simultaneously existed in the country: traditional (mektebs and madrasas), educational institutions that arose during the reforms and schools maintained by religious minorities that had their own programs, mainly confessional education and in which the Ottoman state did not interfere.

  The education system in the Ottoman Empire underwent new changes under Sultan Abdulhamid II during the reform of 1879, and from 1883 a special tax was levied on the maintenance of educational institutions. Unfortunately, this was not enough to en masse ensure the receipt of higher education primary school graduates.

  The madrasah system gradually fell into decay. This began in 1826, when the ministry of imperial vaqfs, Evkaf-i-Humayun Nezereti, was created, and all waqfs were transferred to its disposal, on the income from which madrasas were mainly maintained throughout the country.

  The matter was further complicated by the fact that the majority of primary schools - 4390 - belonged to the Orthodox Greeks, who did not know the state Turkish language well enough. The situation was partly corrected by the efforts of the district educational committees, who sent Turkish language teachers to these schools, who received salaries from the Ministry of Education.

  In the 1880s, the creation of a network of lyceums in Anatolia and secondary schools throughout the empire was completed.

  In addition, there was the so-called Rum Lisesi, a private school founded in 1454 with the permission of Sultan Mehmed Fatih, which was also called the Patriarchal Academy, in which representatives of the Greek Orthodox community studied.

  For their part, the Armenians, who until the 1860s had only elementary schools, by the decision of their patriarch Nerses Varabetyan, in 1886 created Ermen Lisesi.

  At the same time, the Turkish language began to turn into a general literary language. Greek-Turkish and Armenian-Turkish dictionaries were created.

  Graduates of non-Muslim schools were given the opportunity to receive education in higher educational institutions of the Ottoman Empire.

  Non-Muslim graduates from Ottoman universities filled the ranks of the imperial bureaucracy. They occupied leading positions in the states that were formed as a result of the disintegration and further disintegration of the empire.

  The result of the development of the education system was, among other things, the emergence of a Westernized intelligentsia, which stood in opposition to state power and demanded more and more radical reforms and a change in the form of government from an absolutely monarchical to a constitutional one. It was the graduates, first of all, of military educational institutions who stood at the origins of the Young Turk revolution and the further collapse of the Ottoman state.

  Ildar Mukhamedzhanov

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