What Influenced The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was one of the most powerful and influential empires in world history, spanning three continents and lasting for more than six centuries. At its height, it controlled vast territories across Europe, Asia, and Africa, and left a lasting legacy on the cultures and societies of the regions it touched. The early Ottoman Empire was shaped by a number of cultural, religious, and political influences, which would help create stability for the success of the Empire to come. In this essay, I will discuss some of the primary influences on the early Ottoman Empire that were used to create stability, and practices that would evolve into institutions that would benefit the Empire for generations. I will discuss how the nomadic Turkish

The Sultan, being the absolute ruler, head of state and head of the government, would be looked at as the leader of political, military, judicial, social, and religious matters. Osman Gazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, practiced Sunni Islam, which would lead the empire's political system to be heavily tied to Sunni Islamic principles. Islamic law, or sharia is not a code of rules like the laws we have today; rather, it is an organic system with two sections. The Quran, which is the primary scripture of Islam, which for Muslims is God’s word unmediated by human intervention. The second section of Islamic law is the sunna, which refers to the “the path” of the Prophet Muhammad that serves as a model for other Muslims to walk down. Islamic law played a major influence in the stability of the Ottoman Empire as it provided a set of moral values for the population to follow that would include compassion and empathy, justice, humility, honesty, integrity and responsibility, creating a strong set of guidelines to live a life that would be pleasing to

From the Byzantine, the Ottomans took inspiration from the use of a large bureaucracy with the practice of delegating authority to provincial governors. They would use a strong central government that would maintain control over the outlying regions in the empire. The Persian’s would inspire them to use a complex system of government officials and establish a taxation system that would support the state and would change the perspective of the ruler to a benevolent leader that would be responsible for the welfare of his subjects. The islamic would influence the political thought of the importance of establishing a just and equitable society that would bring together diverse people and cultures to create a shared identity and purpose among the population. Using a mix of these political views the Empire was able to create a political system that would have stability to last