Osman I
Gave the dynasty its name from a small base in north-west Anatolia.
Era 8 of 12 · Station eight
The Ottomans
On 29 May 1453, after a siege of about seven weeks, the twenty-one-year-old Sultan Mehmed II entered Constantinople. It was the great moment of a state that had begun in about 1299 as a small frontier principality in north-west Anatolia. Over the next four centuries the Ottomans ruled from the Balkans to Arabia and North Africa, and cared for the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
Who led, and when
Six who shaped the era
The rulers who shaped the era, in order.
Mehmed II
Conquered Constantinople at twenty-one and made it his capital.
Selim I
Won Syria and Egypt in 1516–17 and took on the care of the holy cities.
Suleiman I
Led the empire at its height, and is known in Turkish as Kanuni, the Lawgiver.
Mahmud II
Began deep reforms of the army and the administration.
Abdulhamid II
Ruled through the empire's last long reign, building schools, telegraph lines and the Hejaz Railway.
The lands of the era
From Anatolia to Makkah and Madinah
At its widest the empire stretched across three continents, from the Balkans and Hungary to Yemen and North Africa. Istanbul, once Constantinople, sat where Europe and Asia meet.
- Anatoliathe heartland and early base
- The BalkansOttoman lands in Europe
- Istanbulthe capital from 1453
- Egypt and Syriawon in 1516 and 1517
- Makkah and Madinahthe Hijaz, under Ottoman care
This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.
At a glance
The era in six facts
The years, the people, the places, and what the era left behind.
- Years
- 1299–19221299 to 1922, from Osman's principality to the abolition of the sultanate. The caliphate lasted until 1924.
- Rulers
- Osman I, Mehmed II, Selim I and Suleiman I, followed by reforming sultans such as Mahmud II and Abdulhamid II.
- Capital
- Bursa first, then Edirne, and from 1453 Constantinople, known today as Istanbul, which stayed the capital to the end.
- Lands
- Anatolia, the Balkans, the Arab lands of Syria, Egypt and Iraq, the Hijaz, and parts of North Africa.
- Turning points
- The conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Egypt and Syria in 1516–17, the failed siege of Vienna in 1683, and the reforms from 1839.
- Legacy
- Sinan's mosques, centuries of governing many peoples and faiths, and modern states from Bosnia to Iraq that were once Ottoman provinces.
Key moments
Six stops on the road
- 1Osman founds a small principality in north-west Anatolia.
- 2Mehmed II conquers Constantinople on 29 May.
- 3Selim I enters Cairo, and Egypt and the Hijaz pass to the Ottomans.
- 4The Ottoman army besieges Vienna a second time and is turned back.
- 5The Edict of Gülhane opens the Tanzimat, an age of reform.
- 6The Ottoman sultanate is abolished.
The chapters
Read the era, in six parts
Six short chapters take you through the era in order.
- 01Osman and a frontier principalityc. 1299–1362A small frontier state grows quickly, then crosses into Europe.Read
- 02Mehmed II and the conquest of Constantinople1453After a siege of fifty-three days, Constantinople becomes the Ottoman capital.Read
- 03Selim and Suleiman: the empire at its height1512–1566Egypt, Syria and the holy cities are won, and the empire reaches its peak.Read
- 04Sinan and the golden age of building16th centuryA master architect shapes Istanbul's skyline and mosques across the empire.Read
- 05Pressure and slow decline1683–1800sAfter Vienna, wars and rival powers test the empire's armies, money and borders.Read
- 06Reform and the end of the sultanate1839–1922Reformers modernise the army, law and schools until the sultanate ends in 1922.Read
Rihla · a journey to play
Take the Rihla through this era
There is no Ottoman journey yet. Ibn Battuta's travels (Journey 6) cross Anatolia in the early 1330s, when the Ottoman state was still young.
Sources
Sources for this era
The books, lectures and maps behind this page are listed on our Sources page.
- Classical history
- Modern study
- Lecture series
- Map & atlas
How we choose sources
Classical histories first, checked against trusted modern scholarship. Approximate dates carry a “c.”
Athar’s sources