Week 3

During the third week of class a main topic was the Ottoman Empires political administration consisting of Sultans, Grand Vizier and other ministers, slaves, the bureaucracy, the Army, Ulema, and appointed Governors.  Another interesting thing we discussed was how the heirs of Sultans were trained and raised.  The Sultan usually had many wives had had many sons to potentially carry on the Sultans throne.  The boys eventually grow up and fight to the death to control their fathers position.  This may sound very gruesome but when you learn how the children were raised, this act of slaying seems less tragic.  The individual sons of the Sultan lived with their mother away from their other brothers.  They do not interact of live closely with their other brothers who eventually they must kill if they want to assume their fathers role as Sultan.  This is an excellent way to deal with the heirs of the Sultans throne.  By having no competition once a Sultan is choses the other heirs are all dead so their is no internal struggle for power and the Sultan can focus on the tasks at hand such as an enormous campaign to expand and strengthen the Ottoman Empire.