When recorded chronicle first met the Turks — sometime around 1300 B.C. — they were simple nomadic tribes wandering about what is now Russian Siberia. There was little to suggest that they would, in time, become one of the dominant forces in the world.
So it is with history.
The nomads drifted west and west again. And then they found religion — the religion of Islam, to be specific.
By the 10th century A.D., the Turks, who had been a rather lose amalgamation of ethnic groups that spoke the Turkish language but followed varying philosophies of paganism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity, had coalesced into a more decisive group. They had encountered Muslim beliefs through contact with Arabs in Central Asia and found them a good fit with their own overriding beliefs of loyalty, heroism — and horsemanship.
These Islamic Turks began making incursions into the slowly declining Byzantine Empire. It would take a few more centuries before they would dominate — the Mongol hordes still had to have their time on the world stage.
But in 1281, several of the Turkish tribes united under Osman, and the Ottoman Empire, which took its name from that leader, was born. In 1453, they conquered the Byzantine capital, Constantinople — which was thereafter known as Istanbul — and never looked back.
At its height, during the 16th century under Suleyman — called "The Lawmaker" by the Ottomans and "The Magnificent" by the rest of Europe — the Ottoman Empire stretched from the borders of Morocco to the borders of Iran and from southern Poland to southern Yemen. With the exception of parts of northwest Europe, the Ottomans occupied most of the territory that had been part of the old Roman empire.
Because of its size, and because of the length of its domination, the Ottoman Empire has "tremendous historical importance," says Glen M. Cooper, assistant research professor of Graeco-Arabic Studies and History of Science at Brigham Young University.
Our appreciation of it, Cooper said, is "proportional to the knowledge we have of the Ottomans, and sadly, most Westerners are largely ignorant about them. Not much time is given to the Ottomans in the average high school history class."
That's one reason he is excited about the "Empire of the Sultans" exhibit at BYU's Museum of Art; it will provide more insight and information about this very significant time. "The Ottoman Empire had tremendous impact on the West, not only through the transmission of goods and ideas but also as an ideological — and actual warfare — opponent," he said.
The West perceived the Ottomans as a real threat. "Europe was afraid the Ottomans would conquer them — they laid siege to Vienna twice. So much of what happened in Europe was a direct response to the presence of the Ottoman Empire on its borders."
Of all the Islamic states, the Ottomans were the most successful, said Cooper. "They had a genius for empire that others didn't have."
Not only were they effective warriors, but they also developed a successful bureaucracy. They were adept at gathering intelligence. They developed the first "opinion polls," which allowed them to keep in touch with the pulse of their empire. (In Friday morning prayers, praying for the well-being of the sultan was considered optional. By paying meticulous attention to how often he was mentioned, the court got a good idea of the mind-set of the subjects.)
"They incorporated much tradition and ceremony into their ideology," said Cooper. "They were aware of Roman and classical tradition, and their notion of ruler was kind of like Caesar, Mohammed and Genghis Khan, all rolled into one."
A lot of European rulers, in fact, were secretly jealous of the power the sultan could command, and of his relationship to his subjects.
The empire remained a diverse collection of multiple races and ethnicities assimilated into one body, for the most part; they all were given equal privileges. "In that way, it is a prototype of the U.S. and our melting pot," said Cooper. "And if you go to Turkey today, you will find there is no dominant racial profile. You will see blonds and redheads, people with curly hair and straight hair. You will see all kinds of genetic makeup."
As the Ottoman power declined, that ethnic tolerance declined with it. "Some of the problems you read about in the Balkans — the division between the Jews and Arabs — much of that can be directly traced to the fact that the Ottoman power that held them all together and kept intolerance at bay, is no longer there."
The fact that Jews were protected by the Ottomans had far-reaching impact, said Cooper. "In 1492, most Americans think the most important thing that happened was the voyage of Christopher Columbus. But in Europe in 1492, the most significant event was that Spain, after centuries of warfare, drove out the Moors and expelled the Jews from their country.
"The Jews had enjoyed a great culture in Spain, but now the only place open to them was the Ottoman Empire, which welcomed their talents and accepted what they could offer. The end of the Ottoman Empire was the end of a golden age of Jewish and Arab cooperation."
But politics is not the only contribution of the Ottoman Empire. The West was always fascinated by the exotic elements of the Turks. "They were both fascinated and repelled by the sexual mores, by the notion of harems.
"We don't think of them as great inventors, but they did foster arts and crafts. We remember them for their rugs, carpets, pottery, silk and other textiles."
The Ottomans were leaders in cartography. Their maps of the Mediterranean were unparalleled for the time. The Piri Reis map of the 16th century shows the entire eastern coast of North and South America in relation to Africa, said Cooper.
Ottoman music influenced Western musicians, such as Mozart and Beethoven, adding an exotic color to some of their compositions.
Because of the diversity of language, culture and religion, art became a unifying element, and sultans expressly created symbols to unite their lands and demonstrate their power. Suleyman, especially, was known as a patron of the arts.
And, said Cooper, we can thank the Ottomans for tulips. "The name comes from a Turkish word meaning turban. The tulips that are still all the rage in the Netherlands and elsewhere originally came from Turkey."
That alone, he says, should earn the Ottomans a place in history — and our hearts.
E-mail: carma@desnews.com