The Ottoman Empire began in northwestern Anatolia and developed into a state spanning parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Its rulers faced different problems at different points in that history. A frontier dynasty needed a durable base, an empire needed to govern distant provinces, and a nineteenth-century government had to rethink its institutions.
A frontier dynasty finds a capital
Osman’s following took shape near the Byzantine frontier around the turn of the fourteenth century. Under Orhan, the capture of Bursa gave the dynasty an urban centre with room for markets, religious foundations and government. Expansion into the Balkans widened its political horizons. The early history of the empire explains how that process unfolded.
Constantinople and the sixteenth century
Mehmed II captured Constantinople in 1453 and made it the seat of his empire. In 1517, the conquest of Mamluk Egypt brought the Nile valley into the Ottoman political system. The capital’s building programmes offer a way to see the resources the dynasty could mobilise, while the empire’s provinces retained varied local institutions and practices.
Reform and constitutional government
From the late eighteenth century, military and fiscal pressures encouraged successive reform efforts. The Tanzimat proclamation of 1839 set out changes in government and in its relationship with subjects. The constitution proclaimed in 1876 marked a distinct experiment in constitutional rule.
The dynasty loses its political role
Defeat in the First World War accelerated the breakup of the imperial order. The sultanate was abolished in 1922. The Republic of Türkiye was proclaimed in 1923. The two dates distinguish the end of dynastic government from the establishment of the new republic.