Rise and Fall of Turks Ottoman Empire

 

The origin of the Ottoman Turks, if viewed from a geographical point of view it is situated on the upper side of Syria. It can be said that the origins of these Turks began with them being known as nomadic travellers. They live a nomadic life like gipsies. They were majority lived in Central Asia where history concludes they came from the Moguls and Tartars. As for the name of the Ottoman Turks, where the Ottomans are referring to the first sultan or king of this empire, namely Sultan Uthman I. In the name of the first king, this kingdom was called Ottoman Turkey. During the reign of his grandfather, the empire was under constant attack by the Mogul and Tartar army. During the reign under king Sulaiman Shah with an army of 1000 people had tried to escape and seek refuge in the area ruled by the Seljuk province of Asia Minor called Anatolia. After the threat from Tatars and Mogul abated, the Sultan Sulaiman Shah decided to return to his former ruling territory and they were also forced to cross the Euphrates river. However, they were unlucky when the ship sank on a voyage to the original region and Sultan Sulaiman Shah was believed to have died during the drowning storm. As a result of the incident, the father of Uthman I, Ertugrul, was unhappy to return to his original territory and decided to turn back and return to the former area in Anatolia. Ertugrul begged for mercy and talked to the Seljuk rule of Rome under Sultan Alaudin Qauqubas at the time. Sultan Alauddin Qauqubas had given part of a small area to shelter under the large Seljuk government. With this the seal of a treaty of allegiance or allegiance of the Ottoman Turks with the government of King Alauddin Qauqubas. Thus, if there is a war and rebellion, Ertugrul will be involved in helping and defending the Seljuk Empire. Counted on the numerous  successes and in remembrance of the services of Ertugrul's army in  winning a series of wars, King Alauddin has appointed these armies as the sultan's pioneer army or the royal elite army. On top of that, due to many winning wars helping the Seljuks, the Ottoman Turks were given the gift of colonies and became large territories. So much so that they exist and live as a powerful state in Asia Minor Anatolia. However, in 1281 Ertugrul breathed his last breath and  the kingdom was inherited by Sultan Uthman who became a famous kingdom, the Ottoman Turkey. Uthman continued his father's rule with a large and powerful territory by being given the authority to rule but it was still under the auspices and rule of the Seljuk Rome.

In the year 1300 there were still attacks and attempts of conquest by the Tartars and Mongols but were successfully defeated by the army of Uthman I. It was soon reported about the death of Sultan Alauddin Qauqubas and the situation made it a little tricky as he did not have an heir to inherit the ruling throne. Therefore this opportunity was used by Uthman I to raise his name as the successor to the government of Sultan Alauddin Seljuk. He managed to garner votes from the remnants of the Tartars and Mongols who had been defeated at his hands who were also now under his rule. With this he officially succeeded in becoming the larger and first Ottoman Turkish ruler including the Seljuk  which was once under Sultan Alaudin Qauqubas.

This began the reign of the Ottoman Turkish caliphate. Chronologically this reign began with Uthman I which ended in 1326. This was followed by the 2nd caliph namely Orhan I (1326-1359), Murad I (1359-1389), Sultan Bayazid I (1389-1402). An important event occured during Sultan Bayazid I was war with the King of Hungary, namely King Sigmund to seize the Balkans. The victory of the war against King Sigmund during the reign of Bayazid had elevated the authority and power of the Ottoman Turks because the adversaries were influential Christian tribes. But the Tartars and Mongols still did not remain silent, continuing to try to defeat the Ottoman Turks. Under the Commander of Timurlenk, Mongols managed to subdue Bayazid I in a fierce battle with an Ottoman army strength of 120 000 against a much larger Timurlenk army of 800 000. Bayazid was captured and detained and died  as a prisoner. The next heir was Muhammad I but there was a fight for the throne with his siblings, namely Mustafa, Sulaiman and Ahmad. Due to his cunning and success in gaining popularity and influence, Muhammad managed to present himself as the 5th caliph of the Ottoman Turks (1413-1421). The next 6th Sultan was Sultan Murad II (1421-1451) and followed by Sultan Muhammad II (1451-1481) who was more popularly named Sultan Muhammad Al- Fateh the conqueror of Constantinople.

 The history of the Ottoman Turkish rulling  experienced a collapse during the reign of Sultan Muhammad the 6th who had ruled from 1918 to 1922 who was also the 30th caliph. The post -World War I had urged Ottoman Turkey to make an agreement with the Allied Forces which consisted mostly of European bloc countries. This agreement is known as the Treaty of Sevres signed on January 20, 1920 where the Turkish government had to give up most of their territories especially the Hijjaz, Armenia and Izmir due to excessive debt burden. Sharif Hussain's collusion with the British government predicted the Hijaz would be given to him but that did not happen due to British cunning by breaking promises, this made him only get a smaller colony of Jordan while the Hijjaz had fallen into the hands of the Saudi family, Saudi Arabia.

The Sevres Agreement on the other hand met with opposition from the Turkish leftists and radicals especially the Turkish National Party under the leadership of Mustafa Kamal Attaturk. The party insisted that the caliphate not sign this agreement which could lead to the loss of large parts of Turkish territory. The British at the time had asked for the help of the Greek military (Greece) to subdue the Nationalist party under Kamal Attaturk. This war is the concern of the whole world especially Muslims because losing or winning this war will determine whether the name of Turkey will continue to exist on the world map and will end the Islamic caliphate  that has ruled over 500 years. This critical and important war that took place in Izmir eventually sided with Kamal Attaturk and immediately the Sevres agreement was annulled and the Turkish Nationalist party reclaimed the colony that had been liberated. This has resumed the continuity of Turkish power however it is no longer a caliphate ruling  system but Kamal Attaturk emerged as the first new Turkish president with a more secular pattern of government.