The Ottoman Empire: An introduction to its history and heritage

Spanning more than six centuries and stretching across three continents, the Ottoman Empire changed the political, economic, religious, architectural, and cultural landscape of many of the modern countries of the Middle East and south-eastern Europe. Yet the Ottoman Empire is most readily associated with its imperial capital Istanbul and the grandeur of its royal palace, the Topkapı Sarayı, or its majestic mosques such as Aya Sofya and the Süleymaniye, while the rest of the Empire’s vast territory and heritage is easily overlooked or forgotten. This chapter attempts to give a short overview of the history of the Ottoman Empire, from its foundations in the early fourteenth century, through its territorial expansion and ever-fluctuating borders, to its fall at the start of the twentieth century, and to provide a brief introduction to its legacy, highlighting some of the less well-known or overlooked aspects of it, be they political, religious, or cultural in nature.