Middle East - Anthony Ham [29]
* * *
The Ottoman sultan Murat (r 1421–51) was the most contemplative of the early Ottoman sultans – he abdicated twice to retire to his palace, but both times had to reclaim the throne in order to see off insurgencies in the Balkans.
* * *
To make matters worse, within a century of Süleyman’s death, the concept of enlightened Ottoman sultans had all but evaporated. Assassinations, mutinies and fratricide were increasingly the norm among Constantinople’s royals, and the opulent lifestyle was taking its toll. Süleyman was the last sultan to lead his army into the field, and those who came after him were generally coddled and sequestered in the fineries of the palace, having minimal experience of everyday life and little inclination to administer or expand the empire. The Ottomans remained moribund, inward looking and generally unaware of the advances that were happening in Europe – the Ottoman clergy did not allow the use of the printing press until the 18th century, a century and a half after it had been introduced into Europe. As in Constantinople, so too for the rest of the empire, where the Ottomans were widely viewed as decadent despots known only for their corruption and their inability to adapt to the needs of their diverse subjects.
* * *
Miguel Cervantes was wounded fighting against the Ottomans at the battle of Lepanto. It is said that his experiences served as inspiration for some scenes in Don Quixote.
* * *
Just as it had under the similarly out-of-touch Umayyads in the 8th century, the perceived impiety of the sultans and their representatives gave power to local uprisings. And just as the Byzantines failed to understand the threat posed by the tribesmen of Arabia’s Islamic heartland, thus it was that, in the 1760s, Abd al-Wahhab gained widespread support when he preached revolt against the Ottomans and a return to the core values of Islam.
The Ottoman Empire lumbered along until the 20th century, but the empire was in a sorry state and its control over its territories grew more tenuous with each passing year.
Return to beginning of chapter
EUROPE & THE OTTOMAN DECLINE
If the power of the Ottomans was weakened by fratricidal battles among the sultans and growing unrest throughout the empire, two even more powerful forces would spell the end for the empire: European expansion and the rise of nationalism.
* * *
Ottoman Centuries, by Lord Kinross, is perhaps the definitive history of the Ottoman Empire, covering everything from the key events of Ottoman rule to the extravagances of its royal court.
* * *
Europe had begun to wake from its medieval slumber and the monarchs of France and Great Britain, in particular, were eager to bolster their growing prosperity by expanding their zones of economic influence. More than that, the prestige that would accompany colonial possessions in lands that had held an important place in the European imagination was undeniable. The reflected glory of ‘owning’ the Holy Lands or becoming the rulers over what was once the cradle of civilisation was too much for these emerging world powers to resist, and fitted perfectly within their blueprint for world domination. They may have talked of a ‘civilising mission’. They may even have believed it. But it was prestige and greed that ultimately drove them as they cast their eye towards the Middle East.
In 1798, Napoleon invaded Egypt. It was not by accident that he chose the Middle East’s most populous country as his first conquest in the