Ottoman Turks - Brief History

Brief History

The "Ottomans" became first known to the West in 1227 when they migrated westward into the Seljuk Empire, in Anatolia. The Ottoman Turks created a state in Western Anatolia under Ertugrul, the capital of which was Sögüt, near Bursa to the south of the Marmara. Ertugrul established a principality as part of the decaying Seljuk empire. His son Osman expanded the principality; the empire and the people were named "Ottomans" by Europeans after him. Osman's son Orhan expanded the growing empire, taking Nicaea (present-day Iznik) and crossed the Dardanelles in 1362. The Ottoman Empire came into its own when Mehmed II captured the Byzantine Empire's capital, Constantinople (Istanbul), in 1453.

The Ottoman Empire came to rule much of the Balkans, the Fertile Crescent and Egypt over the course of several centuries, with an advanced army and navy. The Empire lasted until the end of the First World War, when it was defeated by the Allies and was succeeded by the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923. Not all Ottomans were Muslims and not all Ottoman Muslims were Turks, but by 1923 the majority of people living within the borders of the new Turkish republic identified as Turks. (Notable exceptions were the Kurds and the few remaining Armenians and Greeks).