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Istanbul: The Ottoman Empire


The Ottoman Empire, at its zenith spanned across three continents namely Asia, Africa and Europe. The Ottomans controlled the Mediterranean waters and the lands on its periphery including Spain on the west and modern day Turkey on the East. The name ‘Ottoman’ has its history in the founder of the dynasty, Osman 1, ‘Ottoman’ being the anglicized version of Osman.

The Ottomans established themselves formally as an empire with the fall of the Byzantine capital Constantinople, modern day Istanbul, in 1453. Now, to me, The City of Istanbul attracts. I am not sure about the source of that attraction but I believe the history and the culture of the city play a significant part substantiating that attraction apart from Bollywood’s portrayal of the city.

Istanbul has a very special geographical status in terms of the modern day nation-state arrangement of territories across continents. The city cannot be discussed in isolation with the Ottoman Empire and its history. The story of the rise of the Ottoman Empire is as interesting as it gets. It has lessons concerning how religion can be made a weapon to wage wars and expand territories. The history of the Ottoman Empire teaches us the art of sustaining an overarching government with immense diversity within its subjects; a lesson modern day nation states continue struggling with.

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