![OttomanEmpire1683](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/OttomanEmpire1683.png)
The
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...
s of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the
Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to
its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spanned an area from
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
in the north to rebel in the south and from
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
in the west to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
in the east. Administered at first from the city of
Söğüt since before 1280 and then from the city of
Bursa
( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...
since 1323 or 1324, the empire's capital was moved to Adrianople (now known as
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...
in English) in 1363 following
its conquest by
Murad I
Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...
and then to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
(present-day
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
) in 1453 following
its conquest by
Mehmed II
Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
.
The
Ottoman Empire's early years have been the subject of varying narratives, due to the difficulty of discerning fact from legend. The empire came into existence at the end of the 13th century, and its first ruler (and the namesake of the Empire) was
Osman I
Osman I or Osman Ghazi ( ota, عثمان غازى, translit= ʿOsmān Ġāzī; tr, I. Osman or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4), sometimes transliterated archaically as Othman, was the founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as the Ottoman Bey ...
. According to later, often unreliable Ottoman tradition, Osman was a descendant of the
Kayı tribe of the
Oghuz Turks
The Oghuz or Ghuzz Turks (Middle Turkic: ٱغُز, ''Oγuz'', ota, اوغوز, Oġuz) were a western Turkic people that spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conven ...
. The eponymous Ottoman dynasty he founded endured for six centuries through the reigns of 36 sultans. The Ottoman Empire disappeared as a result of the defeat of the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...
, with whom it had allied itself during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The
partitioning of the Empire by the victorious
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
and the ensuing
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...
led to the
abolition of the sultanate in 1922 and the birth of the modern
Republic of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
in 1922.
Names
The sultan was also referred to as the Padishah ( ota, پادشاه, pâdişâh, french: Padichah). In Ottoman usage the word "Padisha" was usually used except "sultan" was used when he was directly named.
[ Strauss 2010, pp. 21-51.] In several European languages, he was referred to as the ''Grand Turk'', as the ruler of the Turks, or simply the "Great Lord" (''il Gran Signore'', ''le grand seigneur'') especially in the 16th century.
Names of the sultan in languages used by ethnic minorities:
*
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: In some documents "Padishah" was replaced by "
malik
Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...
" ("king")
[
* Bulgarian: In earlier periods Bulgarian people called him the "]tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
". The translation of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876
The Constitution of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, قانون أساسي, Kānûn-ı Esâsî, lit= Basic law; french: Constitution ottomane), also known as the Constitution of 1876, was the first constitution of the Ottoman Empire. Written by members ...
instead used direct translations of "sultan" (Sultan) and "padishah" (Padišax)[
* ]Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: In earlier periods the Greeks used the Byzantine Empire-style name "basileus
''Basileus'' ( el, ) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. In the English-speaking world it is perhaps most widely understood to mean " monarch", referring to either a " king" or an "emperor" and ...
". The translation of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876 instead used a direct transliterations of "sultan" (Σουλτάνος ''Soultanos'') and "padishah" (ΠΑΔΙΣΑΧ ''padisach'').[
* ]Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew script: , Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance languages, Romance language derived from Old Spanish language, Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain ...
: Especially in older documents, ''El Rey'' ("the king") was used. In addition some Ladino documents used ''sultan'' (in Hebrew characters: שולטן and סולטן).[
]
State organisation of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was an absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...
during much of its existence. By the second half of the fifteenth century, the sultan sat at the apex of a hierarchical system and acted in political, military, judicial, social, and religious capacities under a variety of titles. He was theoretically responsible only to God and God's law
Divine law is any body of law that is perceived as deriving from a transcendent source, such as the will of God or godsin contrast to man-made law or to secular law. According to Angelos Chaniotis and Rudolph F. Peters, divine laws are typically ...
(the Islamic ''şeriat'', known in Arabic as ''sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
''), of which he was the chief executor. His heavenly mandate ( Kut) was reflected in Islamic titles such as "shadow of God on Earth" ( ''ẓıll Allāh fī'l-ʿalem'') and "caliph of the face of the earth" ( ''Ḫalife-i rū-yi zemīn'').[ Findley 2005, p. 115] All offices were filled by his authority, and every law was issued by him in the form of a decree called ''firman
A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman co ...
'' (). He was the supreme military commander and had the official title to all land. Osman (died 1323–4) son of Ertuğrul was the first ruler of the Ottoman state, which during his reign constituted a small principality (''beylik'') in the region of Bithynia
Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwe ...
on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II
Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
, Ottoman sultans came to regard themselves as the successors of the Roman Empire, hence their occasional use of the titles caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
( ''qayser'') of Rûm
Rūm ( ar, روم , collective; singulative: Rūmī ; plural: Arwām ; fa, روم Rum or Rumiyān, singular Rumi; tr, Rûm or , singular ), also romanized as ''Roum'', is a derivative of the Aramaic (''rhπmÈ'') and Parthian (''frwm'') ...
, and emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...
, as well as the caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
of Islam. Newly enthroned Ottoman rulers were girded with the Sword of Osman, an important ceremony that served as the equivalent of European monarchs' coronation. A non-girded sultan was not eligible to have his children included in the line of succession.
Although absolute in theory and in principle, the sultan's powers were limited in practice. Political decisions had to take into account the opinions and attitudes of important members of the dynasty, the bureaucratic and military establishments, as well as religious leaders.[ Glazer 1996, "Ottoman Institutions"] Beginning in the last decades of the sixteenth century, the role of the Ottoman sultans in the government of the empire began to decrease, in a period known as the Transformation of the Ottoman Empire
350px, The Ottoman Empire in 1590, at the peak of its territorial expansion
The Transformation of the Ottoman Empire, also known as the Era of Transformation, constitutes a period in the history of the Ottoman Empire from to , spanning roughly ...
. Despite being barred from inheriting the throne, women of the imperial harem—especially the reigning sultan's mother, known as the valide sultan #REDIRECT Valide sultan
{{redirect category shell, {{R from move{{R from miscapitalization{{R unprintworthy ...
—also played an important behind-the-scenes political role, effectively ruling the empire during the period known as the Sultanate of Women.
Constitutionalism was established during the reign Abdul Hamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
, who thus became the empire's last absolute ruler and its reluctant first constitutional monarch. Although Abdul Hamid II abolished the parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and the constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
to return to personal rule in 1878, he was again forced in 1908 to reinstall constitutionalism and was deposed. Since 2021, the head of the House of Osman has been Harun Osman, a great-grandson of Abdul Hamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
.
List of sultans
The table below lists Ottoman sultans, as well as the last Ottoman caliph, in chronological order. The tughra
A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted ...
s were the calligraphic seals or signatures used by Ottoman sultans. They were displayed on all official documents as well as on coins, and were far more important in identifying a sultan than his portrait. The "Notes" column contains information on each sultan's parentage and fate. Early Ottomans practiced what historian Quataert has described as "survival of the fittest
"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection. The biological concept of fitness is defined as reproductive success. In Darwinian terms, ...
, not eldest, son": when a sultan died, his sons had to fight each other for the throne until a victor emerged. Because of the infighting and numerous fratricide
Fratricide (, from the Latin words ' "brother" and the assimilated root of ' "to kill, to cut down") is the act of killing one's own brother.
It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (a ...
s that occurred, there was often a time gap between a sultan's death date and the accession date of his successor. In 1617, the law of succession changed from survival of the fittest to a system based on agnatic seniority
Agnatic seniority is a patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children (the next generation) succeed only after the males ...
( ''ekberiyet''), whereby the throne went to the oldest male of the family. This in turn explains why from the 17th century onwards a deceased sultan was rarely succeeded by his own son, but usually by an uncle or brother. Agnatic seniority was retained until the abolition of the sultanate, despite unsuccessful attempts in the 19th century to replace it with primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
. Note that pretenders and co-claimants during the Ottoman Interregnum
The Ottoman Interregnum, or the Ottoman Civil War ( 20 July 1402 – 5 July 1413; tr, Fetret Devri, , Interregnum Period), was a civil war in the Ottoman Empire between the sons of Sultan Bayezid I following the defeat of their father at the ...
are also listed here, but they are not included in the formal numbering of sultans.
See also
* Line of succession to the Ottoman throne
* Ottoman Sultan family tree
*Ottoman family tree
This is a male family tree for all the Ottoman Sultans and their mothers.
__TOC__
Significant periods in Ottoman history
See also
* Ottoman dynasty
* Ottoman history
* Ottoman Empire
* Line ...
(more detailed)
* List of valide sultans
* List of Ottoman Grand Viziers
* List of admirals in the Ottoman Empire
*List of Ottoman Kaptan Pashas
The Kapudan Pasha ( ota, قپودان پاشا, Modern Turkish: ''Kaptan Paşa''), also known in Turkish as Kaptan-ı Derya ("Captain of the Seas"), was the commander-in-chief of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. Around 160 captains served betwe ...
Notes
:a: The full style of the Ottoman ruler was complex, as it was composed of several titles and evolved over the centuries. The title of sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...
was used continuously by all rulers almost from the beginning. However, because it was widespread in the Muslim world, the Ottomans quickly adopted variations of it to dissociate themselves from other Muslim rulers of lesser status. Murad I
Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...
, the third Ottoman monarch, styled himself ''sultân-ı âzam'' (, the most exalted sultan) and ''hüdavendigar'' (, emperor), titles used by the Anatolian Seljuqs and the Mongol Ilkhanids respectively. His son Bayezid I
Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He adopted ...
adopted the style ''Sultan of Rûm'', Rûm
Rūm ( ar, روم , collective; singulative: Rūmī ; plural: Arwām ; fa, روم Rum or Rumiyān, singular Rumi; tr, Rûm or , singular ), also romanized as ''Roum'', is a derivative of the Aramaic (''rhπmÈ'') and Parthian (''frwm'') ...
being an old Islamic name for the Roman Empire. The combining of the Islamic and Central Asian heritages of the Ottomans led to the adoption of the title that became the standard designation of the Ottoman ruler: ''Sultan ameKhan''. Ironically, although the title of sultan is most often associated in the Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. with the Ottomans, people within Turkey generally use the title of ''padishah
Padishah ( fa, پادشاه; ; from Persian: r Old Persian: *">Old_Persian.html" ;"title="r Old Persian">r Old Persian: * 'master', and ''shāh'', 'king'), sometimes Romanization of Persian, romanised as padeshah or padshah ( fa, پادشاه ...
'' far more frequently when referring to rulers of the Ottoman Dynasty.
:b: The Ottoman Caliphate
The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. ...
symbolized their spiritual power, whereas the sultanate represented their temporal power. According to Ottoman historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...
, Murad I
Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...
adopted the title of caliph during his reign (1362 to 1389), and Selim I
Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...
later strengthened the caliphal authority during his conquest of Egypt in 1516-1517. However, the general consensus among modern scholars is that Ottoman rulers had used the title of caliph before the conquest of Egypt, as early as during the reign of Murad I
Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...
(1362–1389), who brought most of the Balkans under Ottoman rule and established the title of sultan in 1383. It is currently agreed that the caliphate "disappeared" for two-and-a-half centuries, before being revived with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, signed between the Ottoman Empire and Catherine II of Russia
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
in 1774. The treaty was highly symbolic, since it marked the first international recognition of the Ottomans' claim to the caliphate. Although the treaty made official the Ottoman Empire's loss of the Crimean Khanate
The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...
, it acknowledged the Ottoman caliph's continuing religious authority over Muslims in Russia. From the 18th century onwards, Ottoman sultans increasingly emphasized their status as caliphs in order to stir Pan-Islamist sentiments among the empire's Muslims in the face of encroaching European imperialism. When World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
broke out, the sultan/caliph issued a call for ''jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with G ...
'' in 1914 against the Ottoman Empire's Allied enemies, unsuccessfully attempting to incite the subjects of the French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, British and Russian empires to revolt. Abdul Hamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
was by far the Ottoman Sultan who made the most use of his caliphal position, and was recognized as Caliph by many Muslim heads of state, even as far away as Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. He had his claim to the title inserted into the 1876 Constitution (Article 4).[ Toprak 1981, pp. 44–45]
:c: Tughra
A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted ...
s were used by 35 out of 36 Ottoman sultans, starting with Orhan
Orhan Ghazi ( ota, اورخان غازی; tr, Orhan Gazi, also spelled Orkhan, 1281 – March 1362) was the second bey of the Ottoman Beylik from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I.
In the early stages of hi ...
in the 14th century, whose tughra has been found on two different documents. No tughra bearing the name of Osman I
Osman I or Osman Ghazi ( ota, عثمان غازى, translit= ʿOsmān Ġāzī; tr, I. Osman or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4), sometimes transliterated archaically as Othman, was the founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as the Ottoman Bey ...
, the founder of the empire, has ever been discovered, although a coin with the inscription "Osman bin Ertuğrul" has been identified.[ ]Abdulmejid II
Abdulmejid II ( ota, عبد المجید ثانی, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i sânî, tr, II. Abdülmecid, 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944) was the last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, the only Caliph of the Republic of Turkey, and nominally the 37 ...
, the last Ottoman Caliph, also lacked a tughra of his own, since he did not serve as head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
(that position being held by Mustafa Kemal, President of the newly founded Republic of Turkey) but as a religious and royal figurehead
In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...
.
:d: The Ottoman Interregnum
The Ottoman Interregnum, or the Ottoman Civil War ( 20 July 1402 – 5 July 1413; tr, Fetret Devri, , Interregnum Period), was a civil war in the Ottoman Empire between the sons of Sultan Bayezid I following the defeat of their father at the ...
, also known as the Ottoman Triumvirate (), was a period of chaos in the Ottoman Empire which lasted from 1402 to 1413. It started following the defeat and capture of Bayezid I
Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He adopted ...
by the Turco-Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
warlord Tamerlane at the Battle of Ankara, which was fought on 20 July 1402. Bayezid's sons fought each other for over a decade, until Mehmed I
Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...
emerged as the undisputed victor in 1413.
:e: The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) began with the Young Turk Revolution which restored the constitution of 1876 and brought in multi-party politics with a two-stage electoral system for the Ottoman parliament. At the same tim ...
was a gradual process which started with the abolition of the sultanate and ended with that of the caliphate 16 months later. The sultanate was formally abolished on 1 November 1922. Sultan Mehmed VI fled to Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
on 17 November aboard the British warship '' Malaya''. This event marked the end of the Ottoman ''Dynasty'', not of the Ottoman ''State'' nor of the Ottoman Caliphate
The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. ...
. On 18 November, the Grand National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Assembly may refer to:
* Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, an assembly of Romanian delegates that declared the unification of Transylvania and Romania
* Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of R ...
(TBMM) elected Mehmed VI's cousin Abdulmejid II
Abdulmejid II ( ota, عبد المجید ثانی, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i sânî, tr, II. Abdülmecid, 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944) was the last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, the only Caliph of the Republic of Turkey, and nominally the 37 ...
, the then crown prince, as caliph. The official end of the Ottoman State was declared through the Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...
(24 July 1923), which recognized the new "Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
government," and not the old Istanbul-based Ottoman government, as representing the rightful owner and successor state. The Republic of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
was proclaimed by the TBMM on 29 October 1923, with Mustafa Kemal as its first President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
. Although Abdulmejid II was a figurehead
In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...
lacking any political power, he remained in his position of Caliph until the office of the Caliphate was abolished by the TBMM on 3 March 1924. Mehmed VI later tried unsuccessfully to reinstall himself as caliph in the Hejaz
The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*}
info page on book
at Martin Luther University
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...
) // CITED: p. 43-44 (PDF p. 45-46/338).
*
*
*
*
*
{{featured list
Ottoman Sultans
The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...
Ottoman Sultans
The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...
Heads of state of Turkey
Lists of Asian rulers
Lists of European rulers