Selim “the Grim” is not the most recognized Sultan in Ottoman history. Those who know him simply know him as Suleyman’s dad. Grandson of Mehmed the Conqueror. Son of Bayezid II, whom he overthrew for the throne. He only ruled for eight years. Sandwiched between three better-known Sultans and having ruled for a relatively small amount of time in an era of highly reputable leaders in Ottoman history, it’s no surprise that Selim does not get a lot of recognition. Yet his legacy in Ottoman history should not so easily be brushed over. For one thing, he more than doubled the size of the empire.
For another, his conquest of Egypt enabled the empire to seize the Caliphate for itself. Conquering Egypt allowed the empire to dip into the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and all the way to the Pacific Ocean, where they would eventually antagonize the growing Portuguese Empire and engage in trade with Asiatic Islamic states. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
As hinted at above, Selim did not inherit the empire peacefully. The Ottoman throne was akin to a tadpole’s pond. One could only become king of the pond by eating the other tadpoles in time to grow. For centuries, Ottoman leaders had succeeded their fathers to the throne by killing their brothers. This sounds draconian, and it was, but there was precedent for such a dark practice. For one thing, killing one’s brothers ensured that there were no competitors for the throne. Removing competitors removed the chance of a civil war. In the empire’s defense, civil war had nearly destroyed the kingdom in its infancy.
The Interregnum Period in Ottoman history, the years 1402 to 1413, was a long civil war fought between many brothers who all vied for the throne. The Ottomans never had the Western equivalent of a succession law. For them, it was “winner take all”, and so in 1402, when Bayezid I died without naming an heir, it was inevitable that a civil war would take place. Such disruptive warfare fostered a phobia among Ottoman nobles of succession disputes. This, in turn, caused a culture of people turning a blind eye to princes killing princes in the empire.
Which is why in 1512 it wasn’t such a big deal that Selim overthrew his father and brother and took the throne. Selim did not have an easy reign, however. Rebellion in the east among the Turkoman tribes, as well as religious instability brought on by their Iranian neighbors, brought on war. Selim had to put down the Shia rebellions among the Turkoman tribes on the eastern frontiers and invade Iran to cease their instigations. So it was quite a while before Selim could add sexy territory to his empire the way his forefathers had done.
With the Iranian and Turkoman tribes finally out of the way, he began to plan for a future conquest of Egypt. Mamluk Egypt was Sunni, just like the Ottomans. This made war with them difficult to rationalize. War with Christians was easy. A war with Christians could be excused as a jihad, even if it was really land that they were after. War with fellow Sunnis needed a different excuse.
Selim rationalized the war as being religious in nature by accusing the Mamluks of aiding the Shia rebels in the east. Whether or not this was true of them was irrelevant. In truth, Selim just wanted their lands. And he and his ancestors had grown tired of Mamluk supremacy in the east. Mamluk Egypt controlled Syria and much of the Holy Land. Mamluks had control over the Caliphate. They were whom most of the world’s Sunnis looked up to. The Ottomans wanted that for themselves.
Ironically, the Mamluks had originally been founded by Turkic peoples themselves. The Mamluks had descended from a slave-caste of migrants from Asia, mainly Kipchak Turks. These slaves had served the Caliphate in Egypt for a long time before overthrowing the nation in the 1240s-1250s and setting up their own kingdom that ruled all the way up to the 1500s. In their prime, they were a force to be reckoned with. It had taken the likes of the Mongols and the Timurids to humble them. In Selim’s time, though, they had become a shadow of their former selves.
By now, gunpowder had become the norm on the battlefield. While the Mamluks had guns, they were not very adept at using them. They outnumbered the Ottomans on the field, but many of their soldiers had become undisciplined. So too were they inferior in tech. Essentially, they were a medieval army. The Ottomans, however, had become “modern” by the standards of the 1500s. The Ottomans were comparatively disciplined on the field, had a reputation for winning battles, and had the Janissary, who were a force in their own right. The Janissary had a similar history to the Mamluks in that they were slave-soldiers who served the Sultan.
The war itself was highly one-sided and short. Lasting only from 1516 to 1517. What’s interesting about the war isn’t the war itself but the consequences. In one fell swoop, Selim had doubled the size of the empire that he inherited. Conquering Egypt gave the empire a lot of prestige. The Ottomans now had territory in Persia, had conquered Greece, and now had Egypt. They were almost Romans now. Not only that, but with Mamluk Egypt out of the way, Ottoman Turkey was the major influence in Sunni Islam. He paved he way for his son Suleyman to become Caliph, a title that the Arab speaking world never fully recognized him to have, but forgave so long as he continued to “protect Islam”. By combining the Ottoman Sultanate with the Caliphate, the Ottoman Empire had become the most powerful force in Islam at the time. From that point onward, whenever Europeans called for a “Crusade,” they were really meaning war with the Ottomans.
On a practical level, this also did wonders for the Ottoman economy. Egypt was a literal breadbasket. Egyptian farms created a surplus of food for the empire. It also enabled them to dominate the world trade network. Trade between the East and the West was controlled by them in total. A lot of East Africa fell under their influence. They had access to the Red Sea and the Ocean, which enabled further contact with Muslims in India and Indonesia. Ottoman supremacy at sea stretched so far eastward that they fell into combat with the rising Portuguese in Asia and Africa. The Ottomans had territory now in Europe, Asia, and Africa. All because of one conquest. While Selim’s conquest of Egypt was not as sexy as Mehmed’s having conquered Constantinople, it was arguably more beneficial for the empire. For that, he deserves to be recognized as a conqueror along with his ancestors.
Questions:
- The war was excused along religious means, but it largely had economic benefits. Where is the separation between religious war and “regular war”?
- Sunni fighting Sunni is a strange phenomenon. Can a war be called a religious war if it’s fought between people of the same faith?
- What effect do you think this had on world religion at the time?
Dollarmenu Jesus
Article URL : https://breakingnewsandreligion.online/discuss/