Ottoman Dynasty

State organisationof
the Ottoman Empire House of Osman(Ottoman Dynasty) Grand Vizier(1320–1922) Dīvān(1586?–1908) Imperial Government(1908–1920) See
also Subdivisions–
Vassal & tributary states

The Ottoman Dynasty (or the Imperial House of Osman) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I (not counting his father, Ertuğrul), though the dynasty was not proclaimed until 1383 when Murad I declared himself sultan. Before that the tribe/dynasty might have been known as Söğüt but was renamed Osmanlı (Ottoman in English) in honour of Osman.

The sultan was the sole and absolute regent, head of state and head of government of the empire, at least officially, though often much power shifted de facto to other officials (in principle all his subservient creatures), especially the Grand Vizier, after whose palace the Ottoman government was known as High Porte, the Sultan's own Topkapı Palace being mainly a seraglio, 'harem'.

See the article on state organisation of the Ottoman Empire for further information on the sultan and the structure of power.

1 Titles
2 Heads of the House of Osman
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Titles

The Ottoman dynasty is known in Turkish as Osmanlı, meaning "House of Osman". The first rulers of the dynasty never had called themselves sultans, but rather beys, or "chieftain", roughly the Turkic equivalent of Emir, which would itself become a gubernatorial title and even a common military or honorific rank. Thus they still formally acknowledged the sovereignty of the contemporary Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm and its successor, the Ilkhanate.

The first Ottoman to actually claim the title of sultân was Murad I, who ruled from 1359 to 1389. The title sultan (سلطان)—in Arabic, was in later Arabic-Islamic dynasties originally the power behind the throne of the Caliph in Bagdad and it was later used for various independent Muslim Monarchs. This title was more prestigious then Emir; it was not comparable to the title of Malik 'king' or the originally Persian title of Shah. With the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the road was open for the Ottoman state to become an empire, with Sultan Mehmed II taking the title of pâdişah (پادشاه), a Persian title meaning "lord of kings" and roughly equivalent to a Christian emperor as would ultimately be formally established.

In addition to such secular titles, the Ottoman sultan became the Caliph of Islam, starting with Selim I, who became khalif after the death of the last Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III, the last of Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo.

In Europe, Ottoman padishah was often referred to informally by such terms unrelated to the Ottoman protocol as "the Grand Turk".

The sultans further adopted in time many secondary formal titles as well, such as "Sovereign of the House of Osman", "Sultan of Sultans" (roughly King of Kings), and "Khan of Khans".

As the empire grew, sultans adopted secondary titles expressing the empire's claim to be the successor in law of the structures of the absorbed states. Furthermore they tended to enumerate even regular provinces, not unlike the long lists of -mainly inherited- feudal titles in the full style of many Christian European monarchs.

Some early Ottoman Sultans even had to accept the vassal status in the eyes of a foreign kingmaker. For example, Tamerlane appointed in 1402 the Ottoman Sultan (deposed in 1410) Sulayman Chelebi Khan, who was styled as-Sultan ul-Azam, Sayyid us-Saladin ul-Arab wal Ajam, Malik ur-Rikaab ul-Umam, Ghiyas ud-Daula wa ud-Dunya, Sultan ul-Islam was ul-Muslimin, as-Sultan ibni us-Sultan, Hasib-i-Nasib-I-Zaman, Amir of Rumelia. Again his brother, who ended the Interregnum after the defeat of Ottomans to Tamerlane, Mehmed I also held his post with a fief from Tamerlane. However the next Ottoman ruler (6th Sultan of House of Osman) was Sultan Murad Khan II (1421 - 1451) took the title 'Abu'l Hayrat, Sultan ul-Mujahidin, Khan of Khans, Grand Sultan of Anatolia and Rumelia, and of the Cities of Edirne and Filibe.

When Mehmed II conquered Constantinople on May 29, 1453, he claimed the title Emperor of the Roman Empire and protector of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, whom he protected and whose stature he elevated into leader of all the Eastern Orthodox Christians. As emperor of the Romans he laid claim to all Roman territories, which at the time before the Fall of Constantinople, however, extended to little more than the city itself, plus some areas in Morea (Peloponnese) and the Empire of Trebizond.

The conqueror of Constantinople was Sultan Mehmed II Fatih Ghazi 'Abu'l Fath (1451 - 1481, 7th Sovereign of the House of Osman), was still 'simply' styled Kaysar-i-Rum (=Emperor of [Byzantium = the second] Rome, Caesar of Rome), Khan of Khans, Grand Sultan of Anatolia and Rumelia, Emperor of the three Cities of Constantinople, Edirne and Bursa, Lord of the two lands and the two seas and the first to adopt the 'imperial' style Padishah.

Around 1500 the full style of naming of the ruling Sultan had become practically stabilised, e.g. in 1601 Sultan Mehmed III was called:

Sultan Hân N.N.,

Padishah,

Hünkar,

Hakan ül-Berreyn vel-Bahreyn;

Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans,

Khan of Khans,

Commander (Caliph) of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe

Custodian of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem

Caesar of the Roman Empire

Emperor of The Three Cities of Constantinople, Adrianople and Bursa, and of the Cities of Damascus and Cairo, of all Azerbaijan, of the Magris, of Barka, of Kairouan, of Aleppo, of Arabic Iraq and of Acem, of Basra, of Al-Hasa, of Dilen, of Ar Raqqah, of Mosul, of Parthia, of Diyarbakır, of Cilicia, of the Vilayets of Erzurum, of Sivas, of Adana, of Karaman, Van, of Barbary, of Abyssinia, of Tunisia, of Tripoli, of Damascus, of Cyprus, of Rhodes, of Candia, of the Vilayet of the Morea, of the Marmara Sea, the Black Sea and also its coasts, of Anatolia, of Rumelia, Baghdad, Greece, Turkistan, Tartary, Circassia, of the two regions of Kabarda, of Georgia, of the plain of Kypchak, of the whole country of the Tartars, of Kefe and of all the neighboring countries, of Bosnia and its dependencies, of the City and Fort of Belgrade, of the Vilayet of Serbia, with all the castles, forts and cities, of all Albania, of all Eflak and Bogdania, as well as all the dependencies and borders, and many others countries and cities.

Heads of the House of Osman

Pre-Imperial Heads of the House of Osman

Name Born-Died Reign start Reign end Relationship Süleyman Shah(Bey) Died 1227 1227 Ertugrul(Bey) 1198 - 1281 1227 1281 Son of Suleyman Shah

Imperial heads of the House of Osman (1281-1922)

Name Born-Died Reign start Reign end Relationship Osman I(Bey) 1258 – 1326 1299 1326 Son of Ertugrul Orhan I(Bey) 1284 – 1359 1326 1359 Son of Osman I Murad I1326 - 1389 Bey from 1359, Sultan from 1383 28 June 1389Son of Orhan I Bayezid I(the Thunderbolt) 1354 - 1403 28 June 1389 20 July 1402Son of Murat I Ottoman Interregnum1402 1413 Mehmed I(Celebi) 1389 - 1421 1413 26 May 1421Son of Bayezid I Murad II(first reign) 1404 - 1451 26 May 1421August 1444 (abdicated) Son of Mehmed I Mehmed II(the Conqueror) (first reign) 1432 - 1481 August 1444 1446 Son of Murad II Murad II(second reign) 1404 - 1451 1446 3 February 1451Son of Mehmed I Mehmed II(the Conqueror) (second reign) 1432 - 1481 3 February 1451 3 May 1481Son of Murad II Bayezid II1447/1448 - 1512 20 May 1481 25 April 1512(abdicated) Son of Mehmed II Selim I(the Grim) 1465 - 1520 25 April 1512(Caliph from 1517) 22 September 1520Son of Bayezid II Suleyman I(the Magnificent) 1494 - 1566 22 September 1520 6 September 1566Son of Selim I Selim II(the yellow) 1524 - 1574 6 September 1566 12 December 1574Son of Suleyman I Murad III1546 - 1595 12 December 1574 15 January 1595Son of Selim II Mehmed III1566 - 1603 15 January 1595 22 December 1603Son of Murad III Ahmed I1590 - 1617 22 December 1603 22 November 1617Son of Mehmed III Mustafa I(first reign) 1592 - 1639 22 November 1617 26 February 1618(deposed) Son of Mehmed III Osman II(the young) 1604 - 1622 26 February 1618 20 May 1622Son of Ahmed I Mustafa I(second reign) 1592 - 1639 20 May 1622 10 September 1623(deposed) Son of Mehmed III Murad IV1612 - 1640 10 September 1623 9 February 1640Son of Ahmed I Ibrahim I(the Mad) 1615 - 1648 9 February 1640 8 August 1648(deposed) Son of Ahmed I Mehmed IV(the hunter) 1642 - 1693 8 August 1648 8 November 1687(deposed) Son of Ibrahim I Suleyman II1642 - 1691 8 November 1687 23 June 1691Son of Ibrahim I Ahmed II1643 - 1695 23 June 1691 6 February 1695Son of Ibrahim I Mustafa II1664 - 1703 6 February 1695 22 August 1703(abdicated) Son of Mehmed IV Ahmed III1673 - 1736 22 August 1703 1 October 1730(abdicated) Son of Mehmed IV Mahmud I1696 - 1754 2 October 1730 13 December 1754Son of Mustafa II Osman III1699 - 1757 14 December 1754 30 October 1757Son of Mustafa II Mustafa III1717 - 1774 30 October 1757 21 January 1774Son of Ahmed III Abdul Hamid I1725 - 1789 21 January 1774 7 April 1789Son of Ahmed III Selim III1761 - 1808 7 April 1789 29 May 1807(deposed) Son of Mustafa III Mustafa IV1779 - 1808 29 May 1807 28 July 1808(deposed) Son of Abdul Hamid I Mahmud II1785 - 1839 28 July 1808 1 July 1839Son of Abdul Hamid I Abdulmecid I1823 - 1861 1 July 1839 25 June 1861Son of Mahmud II Abdülâziz1830 - 1876 25 June 1861 30 May 1876(deposed) Son of Mahmud II Murad V1840 - 1904 30 May 1876 31 August 1876(deposed) Son of Abdulmecid I Abdul Hamid II1842 - 1918 31 August 1876 27 April 1909(deposed) Son of Abdulmecid I Mehmed V(Reşad) 1844 - 1918 27 April 1909 3 July 1918Son of Abdulmecid I Mehmed VI(Vahideddin) 1861 - 1926 3 July 1918 1 November 1922(deposed) Son of Abdulmecid I

Post-Imperial Heads of the House of Osman (1922–present)

Name Born-Died Reign start Reign end Abdulmecid II1868 - 1944 19 November 1922 23 August 1944 Ahmed IV Nihad1883 - 1954 23 August 1944 4 June 1954 Osman IV Fuad1895 - 1973 4 June 1954 19 May 1973 Mehmed Abdulaziz II1901 - 1977 19 May 1973 19 January 1977 Ali Vâsib1903 - 1983 19 January 1977 9 December 1983 Mehmed VII Orhan1909 - 1994 9 December 1983 12 March 1994 Ertuğrul Osman V1994 - 12 March 1994Present

Note: Although Abdul Mejid II was chosen as caliph in 1922, he was no longer Sultan, as the National Assembly had abolished the sultanate to turn Turkey into a republic. The caliphate was abolished in turn in 1924.