Rise and consolidation of Ottoman power under Suleiman
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Flip to reveal answersIn what year did Suleiman become Sultan, and what did he inherit?
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Question
In what year did Suleiman become Sultan, and what did he inherit?
Answer
In 1520 he inherited a strong, wealthy, centralised three-continent empire from his father Selim I.
Question
What does the Ottoman title 'Kanuni' mean?
Answer
'The Lawgiver' — the Ottoman name for Suleiman, reflecting his organising of the empire's laws and administration.
Question
What did Selim I (1512–1520) contribute before Suleiman's accession?
Answer
He roughly doubled the empire, conquering Egypt, Syria and the Arabian holy cities in 1516–1517.
Question
Describe the top of the Ottoman power structure.
Answer
The Sultan was absolute ruler, supported by the Grand Vizier (chief minister) and the imperial Divan (council of ministers).
Question
What was the Imperial Divan?
Answer
The Ottoman council of top ministers that decided law, war, taxes and justice in the Sultan's name, chaired by the Grand Vizier.
Question
Define the devshirme system.
Answer
A levy of Christian boys from the Balkans who were converted to Islam and trained to staff the bureaucracy and army, loyal to the Sultan alone.
Question
Who were the Janissaries?
Answer
The elite Ottoman infantry recruited through the devshirme — salaried, gunpowder-armed soldiers answering directly to the Sultan.
Question
Define the timar system.
Answer
A grant of land (really the right to collect its taxes) given to a cavalryman (sipahi) in return for military service.
Question
How did the timar tie provinces to the central state?
Answer
Cavalry kept their land only by serving; no service meant no land, binding provincial elites to the state.
Question
How did Suleiman gain religious legitimacy?
Answer
As protector of Sunni Islam and guardian of Mecca and Medina (after Selim's conquests), giving a claim to the caliphate.
Question
Contrast the devshirme elite with the timar-holding sipahi.
Answer
Devshirme/Janissaries were slave-soldiers paid from the treasury and loyal to the Sultan; timar sipahi were Muslim cavalry funded by provincial land in return for service.
Question
Why was the Ottoman state so centralised compared with Europe?
Answer
Top officials were the Sultan's appointees he could dismiss at will, so there were few over-mighty nobles able to challenge the throne.
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Topic 10.3 hub
Case study 2 — the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent (Middle East)
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