Term
|
Definition
| Islamic state founded by Osman in northwestern Anatolia ca. 1300. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire was based at Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) from 1453 to 1922. It encompassed lands in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, and eastern Europe. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
1494-1566.
The most illustrious sultan of the Ottoman Empire (r. 1520-1566); also known as Suleiman Kanuni, "The Lawgiver." He significantly expanded the empire in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Infantry, originally of slave origin, armed with firearms and constituting the elite of the Ottoman army from the fifteenth century until the corps was abolished in 1826. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| "Selection" in Turkish. The system by which boys from Christian communities were taken by the Ottoman state to serve as Janissaries. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
1718-1730.
Last years of the reign of Ottoman sultan Ahmed III, during which European styles and attitudes became briefly popular in Istanbul. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Iranian kingdom (1502-1722) established by Ismail Safavi, who declared Iran a Shi'ite state. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that God vests leadership of the community in a descendant of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali. Shi'ism is the state religion of Iran. |
|
|
