HIST 21B University of California Irvine Chinese Civilization and Society Discussion

OTTOMAN EMPIRE WHY SHOULD YOU C ARE ABOUT THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE EARLY MODERN WORLD? • In the context of this class: • How did the Ottomans compare to other early modern empires (Spanish, Ming, Aztec, Inca)? • In the context of world history: • Ottoman empire was one of two dominant states in the Islamic world and one of the largest empires in the early modern world. It was also long-lasting: it did not break apart until after World War I. LECTURE PLAN 1. Origins 2. Expansion 3. Succession & legitimacy 4. Management of the empire 1. ORIGINS ORIGINS • Turkish-speaking migrants from central Asia who settled in Anatolia • Identify as Muslims • 14th c.: unite under Osman • “Ottoman” = “the sons of Osman” Osman I (c. 1280-c. 1299) 2. EXPANSION EXPANSION VIA CONQUEST & POLITICAL SAVVY • Conquered Constantinople (renamed Istanbul) in 1453. • Demise of the Byzantine Empire (eastern half of Roman Empire) • Control shipping routes between Mediterranean & Black Sea • Most aggressive expansion under Suleyman I, the “Magnificent” (r. 1520-1566) • Expands into north Africa, southwest Asia, Europe • Ottoman Empire bridges Europe and Arabic-speaking worlds • Deliberate appeals to skilled “middle class” (artisans, merchants, bureaucrats) & Islamic clerics 3. SUCCESSION & LEGITIMACY LEGITIMACY OF RULE • Ottoman sultans claimed to rule with divine consent, limited only by Muslim law (shari’a) SUCCESSION • Sultan allowed multiple sexual partners • Relied on enslaved concubines for reproduction • • Usually enslaved Christians who were converted to Islam Official wives facilitated political aims • Usually princesses who were neither Turkish nor Muslim • In general, did not have children • Power passed from father to son, but initially no principle of seniority (political transitions were violent) Hurrem Sultan, concubine, then wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, portrait by the Italian painter Titian 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE EMPIRE ORGANIZATION OF OTTOMAN BUREAUCRACY • • 4 departments of central government: • Judicial courts (Muslim legal scholars) • Cavalry regiments (Turkish frontier fighters or tax collectors who had horses) • Janissaries (corps of slave infantry) • Navy Villages organized into districts (timars) • Usually under the authority of a cavalry officer or tax collector • Sometimes a local leader: conquered people could keep laws and traditions (including religion) • Millet system: head of a religious community served as intermediary between central government and the people Depiction of a janissary TOPKAPI PALACE (ISTANBUL) • Housed imperial family, state officials, soldiers, concubines, servants • Sacred space (place of seclusion) • Home to the sultan’s harem: • Male: servants, pages, guards, janissaries, royal advisers (all enslaved) • Female: Sultan’s mother (head), concubines (enslaved), wives, servants (enslaved) TOPKAPI PALACE (ISTANBUL) • Housed imperial family, state officials, soldiers, concubines, servants • Sacred space (place of seclusion) • Home to the sultan’s harem: • Male: servants, pages, guards, janissaries, royal advisers (all enslaved) • Female: Sultan’s mother (head), concubines (enslaved), wives, servants (enslaved) SLAVERY & OTTOMAN GOVERNANCE • Enslaved persons central to Ottoman bureaucracy & succession • Concubines produce heirs • Chief army official & chief royal adviser were enslaved. • Janissaries serve as intermediaries between local rulers and central bureaucracy • Ottomans enslaved non-Muslims who were thought to owe allegiance directly to the sultan Ottoman officials registering Christian boys from their Balkan lands for the devshirme (“child levy”) to serve as janissaries WHY SHOULD YOU C ARE ABOUT THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE EARLY MODERN WORLD? • In the context of this class: • How did the Ottomans compare to other early modern empires (Spanish, Ming, Aztec, Inca)? • In the context of world history: • Ottoman empire was one of two dominant states in the Islamic world and one of the largest empires in the early modern world. It was also long-lasting: it did not break apart until after World War I. AMERICAN EMPIRES WHO CARES? • For world history … • Complex societies in the Americas; shaped by earlier Mesoamerican and Andean cultures; came into contact with Europeans (initially Spanish). • For our class … • How did the Aztecs and Incans compare to other early modern empires (Ottoman, Ming, Spanish)? • How do available sources shape the narratives historians are able to tell? AGENDA • Aztec Empire • Incan Empire • Historical sources 1. AZTECS ORIGINS • Mythical origin: Departed homeland of Aztlán, guided by patron deity Huitzilpochtli (sun god), to settle in what is modern central Mexico (12th c.) • Established capital Tenochtitlan (“Place of the Prickly Pear”) (modern Mexico City) Boturini Codex, lamina 1: Depicting the Aztecs leaving their homeland. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION • Basic political unit was a “city-state” (altepetl) • Made up of noble households that owned land • Commoners worked this land & supplied lord with food, goods, and labor (“tribute”) • Aztec Empire the alliance of three city-states with Tenochtitlan dominant • Defeated kings left in power but lands assigned to the highest dignitaries in the alliance • Eventually tribute payments from conquered territories solely in terms of goods, not labor. AZTEC RELIGION • Human sacrifice in the context of Aztec creation myths: • Gods sacrificed themselves on a bonfire to create worldly beings and return to their heavenly homeland. • Sacrifices as “images of the gods” • Gods created humans to give them needed nourishment (offerings and sacrifices) • Sacrifices as “restitutions” Codex Tudela (16th c) 2. INCAS ORIGINS • Incans one of many small ethnic groups in the Cuzco valley of the Peruvian Andes mountains. • Rapid military and political expansion (post 1400 CE) under nobleman Yupanqui, later known as “Sapa Inca” (“Sole Inca”) and “Pachacutec” (“remaker of the world”) • Empire Stretches from northern Ecuador to central Chile (largest American empire) Image of Pachacutec from a 17th c. chronicle written by an indigenous nobleman Guamán Poma POLITICAL ORGANIZATION • Basic political unit was a “clan” (ayllu) led by a kuraka (leader) • Incan Empire a centralized, bureaucratic government led by the “Sapa Inca” and his wife (also his sister) • Empire organized into 4 administrative sectors (subdivided into provinces and districts) centered on the city of Cuzco • Districts supervised by members of the Cuzco elite • Traditional rulers of conquered communities kept titles and local authority • Conquered communities owed labor to the empire (mit’a = labor draft) • All nobles required to speak imperial language (Quechua) INCAN RELIGION • Clans (ayllus) traced descent from a common ancestor linked to a specific natural object venerated at a sacred space (wak’a) • Imperial religion: • Incan king understood as a descendent of the sun god and revered as a living god. • Place in Cuzco where 4 imperial highways intersected understood as center of the universe; housed temple of the sun & wak’a shrines • Incan king chief intermediary between gods and humans. Wak’a (“mesa redonda”) outside Cuzco 3. HISTORICAL SOURCES SOURCES USED BY HISTORIANS TO STUDY AMERICAN PEOPLES • Archaeological evidence Ruins of Tenochtitlan’s Templo Mayor SOURCES USED BY HISTORIANS TO STUDY AMERICAN PEOPLES • Archaeological evidence • Ethnographic studies Chinampas and canals (1912) SOURCES USED BY HISTORIANS TO STUDY AMERICAN PEOPLES • Archaeological evidence • Ethnographic studies • Written sources … • Aztec writing system: mnemonic and pictographic (to prompt oral story-telling) SOURCES USED BY HISTORIANS TO STUDY AMERICAN PEOPLES • Archaeological evidence • Ethnographic studies • Written sources … • Aztec writing system: mnemonic and pictographic (to prompt oral story-telling) • Incan quipus: knotted cords used for record-keeping SOURCES USED BY HISTORIANS TO STUDY AMERICAN PEOPLES • Archaeological evidence • Ethnographic studies Precontact writing, produced by American peoples • Written sources … • Aztec writing system: mnemonic and pictographic (to prompt oral story-telling) • Incan quipus: knotted cords used for record-keeping Boturini codex SOURCES USED BY HISTORIANS TO STUDY AMERICAN PEOPLES • Archaeological evidence • Ethnographic studies Precontact writing, produced by American peoples • Written sources … • Aztec writing system: mnemonic and pictographic (to prompt oral story-telling) • Incan quipus: knotted cords used for record-keeping • European writings Bernal Diaz’s True History of the Conquest of New Spain Can you recognize anything on this document? (Any letters? Words? Images?) Who do you think made it? How would you classify it? Codex Mendoza: composed on order of the first Viceroy of Mexico (20 years after Spanish conquest); both indigenous and Spanish writers produced the codex. Translations of the story accompanying the images and descriptions of the images themselves were written in Spanish. “estas cabeças significan como los personas mexicanos fueron muertos por los de chalco” (“these heads represent how the Mexican people were killed by those from Chalco”) “canoa” = “canoe” SOURCES USED BY HISTORIANS TO STUDY AMERICAN PEOPLES • Archaeological evidence • Ethnographic studies Precontact writing, produced by American peoples • Written sources … • Aztec writing system: mnemonic and pictographic (to prompt oral story-telling) • Incan quipus: knotted cords used for record-keeping • European writings • Hybrid documents Codex Mendoza: WHO CARES? • For world history … • Complex societies in the Americas; shaped by earlier Mesoamerican and Andean cultures; came into contact with Europeans (initially Spanish). • For our class … • How did the Aztecs and Incans compare to other early modern empires (Ottoman, Ming, Spanish)? • How do available sources shape the narratives historians are able to tell?
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