Colleges

Course Description: This course deals with the history of the longest-lived Islamic state, the Ottoman Empire, which was born in the northwestern corner of Asia Minor (Anatolia). It covers how it began to expand at the expense of its neighbor, the Byzantine Empire, and then at the expense of the Bulgarians, Serbs, Hungarians, Albanians, Vlachs, and Austrians. It also discusses its expansion in the East until it became the largest country in the world in terms of area during the reign of its tenth ruler, Suleiman the Magnificent. It then examines the period of stagnation in its expansion after this ruler, the accompanying factors of weakness that sultans found difficult to remedy later, and an introduction to the systems of governance and administration in this state. It also covers the stagnation that occurred in various aspects of the state, the reform attempts made to address the state's deficiencies starting from the reign of Sultan Selim III and subsequent rulers, until the fall of the state and the establishment of the Turkish Republic led by Mustafa Atatürk. The reasons for the fall of this state are also mentioned.