The Ottoman Empire

Between the fourteenth and twentieth centuries it arose a political social territorial
organization, known in history as the Ottoman Empire. Starting from the Anatolian
peninsula, where Turkey currently stands, he managed to extend his domination and
infuence over a wide territory stretching from present-day Hungary
in the north to the Arabian Peninsula in the south; and from Algeria in the west to the
borders of modern Iran in the east, thereby linking various parts of Asia, Europe and
Africa.

The origins of the Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples, originating in the regions of Central Asia, were originally seminomadic pastoralist communities, but with a marked tendency by war and the conquest
of territories. These people left their regions of origin in the twelfth century, due to
pressure from the Mongol invasions and settled in the Anatolian peninsula, dominated by
Muslims, with the territories of the Byzantine Empire.
The Turks were integrated into the Muslim armies, and gradually were converting to
Islam. Their tribes were gaining power and came to constitute, in some areas, as
independent emirates.

Abbasid Caliphate: The rise of the Turkish tribes

Muslim Abbasid dynasty dominated much of the Islamic world between the eighth to
thirteenth centuries. Abbasid caliphate of had among its main features: a strong influence
of religious doctrine in the exercise of power, the formation of a powerful army and the
participation of non-Muslim individuals within the circles of power and society. By the
eleventh century, the territory of the caliphate was invaded by the Turks and the Mongols,
who gradually adapted to the political structure of the caliphate. All this allowed the
progressive income of Turkish tribes in the upper echelons of power and contributed to
the flourishing of a deeply religious Islamic culture.

Seljuk dynasty
The independence of local officials, by the admission of Turks in the administration of
government and in the army, lead to the power and authority of the caliphs diminished. In
1055, Tughril a Turkish military chief was named Sultan, the second most important after
the caliph charge. The new sultan founded the Seljuk dynasty, which would be the first
Turkish dynasty in politically dominate the Islamic world. The Seljuk dynasty founded the

sultanate of Rum in Anatolia, and from there consolidated the Turkish dominion over this
whole area of Asia, and surrounding regions of Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean
Sea.

The capture of Constantinople

With the end of the caliphate, the Islamic world fragmented into various manors and
sultanates, united only by a deep-rooted Islamic culture. In 1290, Osman I or Uthman,
unified the independent kingdoms and founded the Ottoman dynasty, a powerful
sultanate will soon expand from the Anatolian peninsula. Upon completion of its
expansion in the peninsula of Anatolia, the Ottomans came to the Balkan Peninsula,
which dominated before the end of the fourteenth century. There they set up their new
capital in Adrianople, Thrace, and turned the Balkans into the center of the Empire. To
strengthen its control over this area, the Turkish Ottomans had to dominate the peoples
of the region, which was inhabited by Serbs, Bulgarians, Hungarians and Romanians.
When they were about to seize Byzantium, they had to face the Mongol emir Timur, also
known as Tamerlane, who defeated them in Ankara in 1402.
This character created a vast empire with its capital in Samarkand, which also constituted
an important cultural center. Tamerlane's empire expanded throughout Asia Minor, Iran
and parts of India, Syria and Central Asia. His death in 1405, halted the growth of this
empire. What sturco-Ottomans were then tested between 1402 and 1405, temporarily he
halted their aspirations to seize Byzantium. But after the death of Tamerlane, they
resumed their war activities. The growth of the Ottoman Empire was achieved at the
expense of the Byzantine Empire in continuous wars over territory, control of sea routes
and caravans, as well as religious differences between Muslims and Christians. In the
middle of the fifteenth century, the Ottoman Empire controlled large areas surrounding
the Black Sea and the Balkans. The next step was to seize the capital of the Eastern
Roman Empire, the city of Constantinople in 1453. The city was taken and its name
changed to Istanbul. Ottoman expansion, culminating in the capture of Constantinople,
had the following times:

1325 - Taking Bursa, his new capital

1338 - Expelled Byzantine Anatolia Peninsula
1354 - Taking Ankara
1354 - Taking Gallipoli basis of progress towards Europe
1361 - Taking Adrianople, new capital
1389 - Battles of Kosovo, taking Thrace, Macedonia and much of Bulgaria and Serbia

1397 - First siege to Constantinople. Withdrawal of the army under pressure from the
Mongol armies in Anatolia
1400 - The Ottoman expansion reaches the banks of the Euphrates River
1422 - New attempt to take Constantinople
1430 - Taking Thessaloniki
1452 - Mehmet II, built the Rumeli Hisar fortress, on the European shore of the Bosphorus
1453 - On May 29 falls Constantinople. After a siege of 53 days, Byzantines and Turks
capitulate take the city, making it the capital of his empire, under the name of Istanbul.
The win consolidates the Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman society
Society in the Ottoman Empire can basically be divided into two groups:
A ruling elite ruling classes, called Asker.
A majority of subjects, called stripes. This society was characterized by fexibility,
because in theory any individual could go up or down from its position: a ruler could
descend, if he disobeyed any of the rules of the empire; while any subject could rise if it
met a series of established rules: absolute loyalty to the Sultan, accept and practice the
Muslim religion, and learn and practice the language, customs and Ottoman culture. And
it stated that anyone could have access to the structure of government.

Government system
The government in the Ottoman Empire, consisted basically of four orders:
The imperial order: in charge of the entire system of government. He was represented
by the Sultan, the head of the whole empire and other orders, the Vizier, the highest
political and administrative authority and the second after the Sultan.
The military order: responsible for the defense and expansion of the empire. Officers
(sipahies) and the powerful infantry (janissaries) were the most representative soldiers.
The administrative order: it was made up of the secretaries, archivists and all
documents related to management of the empire, and treasurers, managers of
accounting efforts and revenue collection of the empire.
The cultural order: in charge of teaching, implementation and maintenance of the law.
It was made by scholars of the Koran and religious sciences.

Rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire

After his victory in Constantinople under the leadership of Sultan Mehmed II "the
Conqueror" (1451-1481), the Turks extended their influence to the Balkan Peninsula,
ensuring control of the regions of Serbia, Bosnia and Albania, and imposing heavy taxes
the Italian city-state of Venice. During the next sultanate, the Bayezid II (1481-1512), the
Ottomans raided in Egypt and in Central Europe, with looting and sporadic attacks.
Bayezid II's successor, his son Selim I (1512-1520), expanded eastward and conquered
Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt and part of the Arabian Peninsula, establishing
control over Mecca and Medina. The consolidation of the Ottoman Empire was in the
Sultanate Suleyman II, the Magnificent (1520-1566). During his tenure, the Turkish army
conquered the city of Belgrade in 1521 and the island of Rhodes in 1522, bringing the
commercial control that had Venetians and Genoese, and then subjected to Hungary in
1526. With these conquests said Suleiman was at the gates of the Holy Roman Empire,
ruled by Emperor Charles V, also king of Spain. In its dispute with Carlos V, Sultan
established alliances with King Francis I of France, and supported the German Protestant
princes. To complete its siege, Suleiman decided to attack Vienna in 1529, but the city
withstood the siege for two months and managed to repel the Turks. Although he could
not win in Austria, Suleyman control of the Mediterranean thanks to a powerful naval fleet
and to attack by privateers on the Spanish and Italian coasts secured, blocking the fleet
of Carlos V. In addition, conquered and controlled North Africa. After his victories, Soliman
died in the assault to the Hungarian city of Sigetz in 1566, which the Christian resistance
to the Turkish attack was reaffirmed. However, defeat would start the long Ottoman
decline, would be the naval battle of Lepanto in 1571, when the Spanish fleet of Felipe II,
supported by Venetians, Genoese and the Pope, defeated the Turkish fleet and took its
dominance in the Mediterranean.

China: The Qing Dynasty

In 1368 the Ming Dynasty, who rebuilt the agricultural economy after the Mongol
invasions, repairing canals, dikes and irrigation facilities was established. He assigned
land to farmers to repopulate some areas and encouraged the cultivation of cereals such
as rice, sorghum, cotton, indigo, sugar, tea and snuff, while the country was reforested,
aiming to rebuild a national fleet. Emperor Hung-wu (1368-1398) established a highly
centralized political system of government, and supervising ministries of finance, rite,
army, justice, and public works functions. Emperor Yung-lo (1402-1424) moved the seat
of government of Nanking to Beijing in the north, and regained the "Grand Canal" to
facilitate communications with the new capital of the most populous area south of the
empire. This emperor finished expelling the Mongols in the north, occupied Manchuria,
and undertook maritime expeditions between 1405 and 1433 to India, Java, Sumatra,
Ceylon, East Africa and the Persian Gulf.

The Ming dynasty began to decline because of several popular insurrections and the
growing dominance of the eunuchs of the imperial officials, through a Privy Council, which
administered the tax, the workshops of the Court, embassies and secret police. Another
factor that helped the fall of the Ming was the Manchu invasion of 1639. These tribes of
northeastern empire were unified, and took a rebellion in 1644 to come to the aid of the
late Ming Dynasty set up a new head of Shunzhi (1644-1661), the Qing dynasty. The
Qing conquered Taiwan, Mongolia, Turkestan and Tibet, developed agriculture with new
dams and canals, boosted textile, paper, ceramics and mining, and expanded trade,
breaking the outer insulation of the late Ming. Although the relationship between Chinese
and Manchu was tense, they managed to maintain peace and sympathy of the peasants
earned by improving their living conditions. The Chinese population grew in the
eighteenth century, from 150 million to nearly 300 million by 1800. This dynasty endured
strong uprisings and wars, until its end in 1911.

India: Hindu and Islamic resistance Intolerance

In the early sixteenth century, India was a set of Hindu and Muslim states, which had
been attacked and infuenciados by the Mongols and Islam since the eleventh century. In
the midst of this fragmentation, north highlighted the Sultanate of Delhi, conquered in
1526 by the Mughals, who would found an empire with Babur (1483-1530). TurkishMuslim origin, the Mughal empire extended his conquests across northwestern India, and
Akbar (1556-1605) at the helm, consolidated its position in Delhi, Agra and the valley of
the Ganges, and incorporated Bengal, Rajputana, Kashmir, Malwa, Sind, Punjab, Kabul
and Qandahar in Afghanistan, as well as the Deccan sultanates, Berar and Vijanagar.
Akbar established a central government, a tax on the third partedel agricultural product
tax on forests, fisheries, salt, customs and tolls for trade, as well as a provin-cial
administration. In agriculture, boosted cereals such as rice and wheat, industrial crops
with textile fibers such as cotton, indigo dyes like, and spices like pepper and ginger. It
also consolidated a textile industry in the northwest, Kashmir and Bengal. In addition,
Akbar prompted a national project that allowed religious freedom and equality, giving the
same treatment to Hindus and Muslims, and even established a syncretic doctrine as the
official religion, guaranteed religious tolerance in a 1593 decree.

Akbar's successors broke with their national project. His grandson Shah Jahan (16281658), revived Islam as the official religion and gave privileges to the Muslims, but without
attacking Hindus. Then Aurangzeb (1658-1707) violently repressed and discriminated
against Hindus, smothering any rebellion or resistance, and although he managed to
extend the empire, caused deep divisions, ultimately, weaken the Mughals. After the
destruction of Hindu temples, the persecution of their teaching and religious practice, first
raised the Rajputs, the main Hindu allies Akbar, and then the Sikhs, who formed a
kingdom in the upper reaches of the Indus, and Marathi, Hindu people who formed a

strong state on the peninsula Deccan. The constant insurrections and clashes weakened
the Mughal Empire until its later conquest by the English.

Japan: Tokugawa Shogunate

Japan experienced a similar feudal system, in which the emperor or mikado wielded
symbolic power and was in charge of some religious practices. It was the shogun, a
military class, who had the real power. Shogun Ashikaga dynasty (1396-1573) was
centered in Kyoto, and ruled with a booming economy based on rice cultivation, but with
major urban centers and a sector of traders and other craft guilds dominated. However,
with the decline of the Ashikaga government, they were emerging powerful local lords or
daimyo, who imposed his authority on islands and entire regions, thanks to professional
warriors or samurai and the protection afforded them by their castles that. Under the
power of the daimyo they grew some cities, which eventually ended up facing in different
wars during the Sengoku period (1467-1573). Reacting to this period, an authoritarian
and nationalist change occurred, first by Oda Nobunaga, who defeated the neighboring
daimyo and went to Kyoto; then he declared imperial counselor in 1573 and ended the
Ashikaga government. Then, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, another great military, eliminated his
rivals, expanded its military power, building a castle in Osaka, and controlled the economy
through land taxes.

After the death of Hideyoshi, the figure of Ieyasu Toku-gawa, who managed to defeat the
remaining daimyo at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) emerged, assumed the title of
shogun, seized the castle of Osaka, and incorporated under control the Tokugawa
dynasty (1603-1867), a government in Edo, now Tokyo. At this time a new system of land
use arose, which was owned by the shogun. This distributed among the local lords, and
these in turn yielded some farmers, who paid a single tax year, measured in loads of rice.
Agriculture also increased thanks to improvements in the dikes and irrigation canals.
Mercantile cities like Osaka, trading rice, along with cotton, silk, liquor sake and soy
sauce, and other local manufacturing of cotton and silk, as well as pottery and porcelain
were highlighted. The Catholic religion had begun successfully introduced in Japan in the
mid-sixteenth century. Many Japanese were converted to Catholicism and shoguns saw
the missionaries with great sympathy. However, this situation changed because the rulers
began to suspect an alliance between Europeans and Catholics Japanese alliance that
led to a rebellion in 1638, which was brutally suppressed by the government. The result
was a policy of total isolation and xenophobia during the Edo domain: overseas travel
(1635) were deleted, Christianity (1637) and trade with the Portuguese (1639) was
banned.

Asian art: China, India and Japan

In different historical periods of China, India and Japan, various art forms presented in
literature, painting, theater and architecture.

China
During the Ming Dynasty, it had an important literary creation as the Romance of the
Three Kingdoms historical, the novel water's edge a mixture of historical and picaresque
novel, and The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, an account of the adventures of a
monk and a monkey on his journey to India. the plays of Tang Xianzu, especially The
Peony Pavilion highlighted. In the Jingdezhen imperial factory, they occurred the famous
blue and white porcelains, and other pieces of three five colors, pretty you prized in
Europe. In the Qing dynasty, the Manchu pursued political and intellectual opposition,
destroyed literary works and established an index of banned books since 1687. However,
the government sponsored the publication of the "Complete collection of written works
spread over four warehouses" a set of almost 80,000 volumes copied by hand, canonical,
historical, philosophical and literary works.

India
Indian architecture is a beautiful synthesis of Persian, Muslim and Hindu elements. The
largest Islamic contribution was in the seventeenth century, with the mausoleum of Akbar
at Sikandra, the Red Fort in Delhi, the Jami Mosque Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra.
highlights the albums sheets, the new genre of portraiture and studies of birds and other
animals Ustad Mansur in the paint. It also highlights the thumbnails are books and
paintings illustrating both the imperial court from Akbar, and provincial workshops.

Japan
the art of gardens was highlighted, with the arrangement of flowers, also the theater in
which no song and dance, poetry renga, and all ceremonial and containers around the
art of tea mix. In the Tokugawa era, architecture flourished with palaces, such as Nikko
Toshogu official residence, adorned with beautiful murals. puppet theater or joruri, who
mixed narrative, drama and musical drama and kabuki, a theatrical genre that dialogues
alternated with sung parts and intermediate dance was also highlighted. a boom occurred
in the woodcuts or printing techniques with wooden planks, representing everyday scenes
in cities, theaters and houses of entertainment.