POLS 3060 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ottoman Empire, Timariot, Sipahi
23 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Emerges out of series of conquests beginning in 1300s; at its largest in 1683: military-patronage empire with laws based on a combination of dynastic law, local custom and. Society is largely divided into military and the rest of the population: absolute monarch (sultan) at the head of a central administration, assisted by a consultative council (diwan) headed by a grand vizier. The main role of the central administration was the collection of taxes and maintenance of resources. All land owned by sultan; land bestowed to elites for services. In many places, taxes collected by tax farmers elites who bid on the right to collect and withhold taxes; in exchange, commonly provided military services. Non-muslim slave" army, no marriage, no land, no businesses. Major factors leading to the decline of the ottoman empire: Inflation due to a shortage of resources: building of central administration, ceremonial opulence, currency devaluation. Creation of the world economy and european economic penetration beginning in 1500:
