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Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire 1453–1606

Sultans and the organisation of the State: Sultans and their accessions, army

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on Sultans and their accessions, characters, reputations, absolutism, splendour and ceremony, their successes and weaknesses, administrative and military systems, personnel, Devshirme, Janissaries, the army.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Process

Why was there no settled rule of succession in the Ottoman dynasty?

Numbers

Explain the law of fratricide and the reasoning behind it.

Key term

Name, in order, the sultans who ruled between 1453 and 1606.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Name, in order, the sultans who ruled between 1453 and 1606.

    Model answer

    Mehmed II, Bayezid II, Selim I, Suleiman I, Selim II, Murad III, Mehmed III and Ahmed I.

  2. 2

    Why was there no settled rule of succession in the Ottoman dynasty?

    Model answer

    Every son of a sultan had an equal claim, since the throne was held to belong to the dynasty as a whole rather than to an eldest heir.

  3. 3

    How did a prince in practice make himself sultan?

    Model answer

    He raced from his provincial governorship to the capital, seized the treasury and won the acclamation of the Janissaries with an accession donative.

  4. 4

    Explain the law of fratricide and the reasoning behind it.

    Model answer

    Mehmed II's law code permitted a new sultan to have his brothers put to death, on the argument that the peace of the world was worth more than the lives of rival claimants; Mehmed III had nineteen brothers killed in 1595.

  5. 5

    How did court ceremonial at Topkapı reinforce the sultan's absolute standing?

    Model answer

    Deliberate remoteness did it: the sultan ate alone, appeared rarely in public, was addressed in silence, and watched his own council from behind a screened window.

  6. 6

    Define the term Devshirme.

    Model answer

    It was the periodic levy of Christian boys, mainly from the Balkans, who were converted to Islam, trained and made the personal slaves of the sultan for military or administrative service.

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AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

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