Ottoman Empire

The Siege of Candia (on Crete) was one of the longest in history. Its eventual capture under Grand Vizier Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha was the last major territorial conquest of the Ottoman Empire.

Kosem Sultan effectively ruled the empire for nearly 30 years as the mother and grandmother of Sultans. Her assassination in 1651 marked the beginning of the end of the Sultanate of Women.

The Hejaz Railway was intended to facilitate the Hajj pilgrimage and strengthen Ottoman control over the Arabian Peninsula. It was funded largely by donations from Muslims across the world.

At Nicopolis, Bayezid I defeated a coalition of French, German, and Hungarian knights. This victory consolidated Ottoman control over the Balkans and isolated the Byzantine Empire.

This royal decree promised life, honor, and property protection for all Ottoman subjects and introduced a more equitable tax system, marking the start of the modern Ottoman state.

Sedefkar Mehmed Agha, a pupil of Mimar Sinan, designed the Blue Mosque. He sought to match the grandeur of the nearby Hagia Sophia while introducing the famous blue Iznik tilework.

The Phanariotes lived in the Fener district of Istanbul and held high offices, including the governorships of Moldavia and Wallachia, due to their education and language skills.

Selim II (son of Suleiman) was the first Sultan who did not lead his armies and stayed in the palace. His reign is often seen as the beginning of the long decline in the Sultan's personal authority.

Built in just four months in 1452, Rumeli Hisari allowed Mehmed II to control traffic through the Bosphorus and cut off supplies to Constantinople from the Black Sea.

The Sultani was the standard gold coin, roughly equivalent to the Venetian ducat. The Akce was the primary silver coin used for daily transactions.

Selim III's reforms were resisted by the Janissaries and conservative clerics. He was deposed and eventually murdered, but his ideas paved the way for Mahmud II's later successes.

Immediately after entering Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II went to the Hagia Sophia and ordered it to be converted into the city's primary congregational mosque.

Pasha was an honorary title granted to governors, generals, and viziers. There were different grades (one, two, or three 'horsetails') indicating the rank of the Pasha.

Italy invaded Libya in 1911. Following the Italo-Turkish War, the Ottomans ceded their last African province to Italy in the Treaty of Ouchy.

Signed on a British warship, this armistice ended hostilities between the Ottomans and the Allies and led to the occupation of Istanbul and parts of Anatolia.

After the Sultanate was abolished, Abdulmejid II was elected Caliph by the National Assembly. He held the spiritual title until the Caliphate itself was abolished in 1924.

Mehmed II founded the core of the Grand Bazaar shortly after the conquest to stimulate trade and generate revenue for the upkeep of the Hagia Sophia.

The Hatt-i Humayun (Imperial Reform Edict) of 1856 reinforced the 1839 promises and explicitly stated that all religious subjects would have equal access to military and civil service.

Suleiman the Magnificent was a highly accomplished poet in both Turkish and Persian. His poems, often addressed to his wife Hurrem Sultan, are still studied in Turkish literature.

The Balkan League (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro) defeated the Ottomans, pushing them back to the 'Chatalja line' near Istanbul and ending five centuries of Ottoman rule in the Balkans.