Misplaced Pages

#444555

99-560: From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government was loosely structured. The empire was at first divided into states called eyalets, presided over by a beylerbey ( title equivalent to duke in Turkish and Amir al Umara in Arabic ) of three tails (feathers borne on a state officer's ceremonial staff). The grand vizier was responsible for nominating all

198-624: A few small-calibre artillery pieces, which in the end proved ineffective. The rest of the citizens repaired walls, stood guard on observation posts, collected and distributed food provisions, and collected gold and silver objects from churches to melt down into coins to pay the foreign soldiers. The Ottomans had a much larger force. Recent studies and Ottoman archival data state that there were some 50,000–80,000 Ottoman soldiers, including between 5,000 and 10,000 Janissaries , 70 cannons , and an elite infantry corps, and thousands of Christian troops, notably 1,500 Serbian cavalry that Đurađ Branković

297-518: A fleet in February 1453, but the fleet's departure was delayed until April, when it was already too late for ships to assist in battle. Further undermining Byzantine morale, seven Italian ships with around 700 men, despite having sworn to defend Constantinople, slipped out of the capital the moment Giustiniani arrived. At the same time, Constantine's attempts to appease the Sultan with gifts ended with

396-692: A fleet strength of 110 ships comprising 70 large galleys , 5 ordinary galleys, 10 smaller galleys, 25 large rowing boats, and 75 horse-transports. Before the siege of Constantinople, it was known that the Ottomans had the ability to cast medium-sized cannons , but the range of some pieces they were able to field far surpassed the defenders' expectations. The Ottomans deployed a number of cannons, anywhere from 12 to 62 cannons. They were built at foundries that employed Turkish cannon founders and technicians, most notably Saruca, in addition to at least one foreign cannon founder, Orban (also called Urban). Most of

495-545: A huge impact upon the Constantinople's defense capabilities. At the end of March 1453, emperor Constantine XI ordered a census of districts to record how many able-bodied men were in the city and whatever weapons each possessed for defense. George Sphrantzes, the faithful chancellor of the last emperor, recorded that "in spite of the great size of our city, our defenders amounted to 4,773 Greeks, as well as just 200 foreigners". In addition there were volunteers from outside,

594-615: A law decreeing that there would be 28 provinces, each to be governed by a vizer. These were Adana , Aleppo , Anatolia , Baghdad , Basra , Bosnia , Childir , Crete , Constantinople , Damascus , Diyarbekir , Egypt , Erzurum , Habesh , Karaman , Kars , Dulkadir , the Archipelago , Morea , Mosul , Rakka , Rumelia , Sayda , Sharazor , Silistra , Sivas , Trebizond , Tripoli , Van . In practice, however, central control remained weak, and beylerbeyis continued to rule some provinces, instead of vizers. The beylerbeyliks where

693-436: A section of the damaged Blachernae walls in the north-west part of the city. This section of the walls had been built earlier, in the 11th century, and was much weaker. The Turkmen mercenaries managed to breach this section of walls and entered the city but they were just as quickly pushed back by the defenders. Finally, the last wave consisting of elite Janissaries , attacked the city walls. The Genoese general in charge of

792-432: A sort as to be forgotten through the lapse of time. Still, the eyewitness of those who have seen testifies better than does the hearing of deeds that happened but yesterday or the day before. Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI swiftly understood Mehmed's true intentions and turned to Western Europe for help; but now the price of centuries of war and enmity between the eastern and western churches had to be paid. Since

891-514: Is famously reported to have been moved to tears by this, saying, "What a city we have given over to plunder and destruction." Looting was carried out on a massive scale by sailors and marines who entered the city via other walls before they had been suppressed by regular troops, who were beyond the main gate. According to David Nicolle , the ordinary people were treated better by their Ottoman conquerors than their ancestors had been by Crusaders back in 1204, stating that only about 4,000 Greeks died in

990-514: The Encyclopædia Britannica , Mehmed II "permitted an initial period of looting that saw the destruction of many Orthodox churches", but tried to prevent a complete sack of the city. The looting was extremely thorough in certain parts of the city. On 2 June, the Sultan found the city largely deserted and half in ruins; churches had been desecrated and stripped, houses were no longer habitable, and stores and shops were emptied. He

1089-716: The Aegean , reached the Capital on 27 May and reported to the Emperor that no large Venetian relief fleet was on its way. On 28 May, as the Ottoman army prepared for the final assault, mass religious processions were held in the city. In the evening, a solemn last ceremony of Vespers was held in the Hagia Sophia , in which the Emperor with representatives and nobility of both the Latin and Greek churches partook. Up until this point,

SECTION 10

#1732766177445

1188-475: The Blachernae district's wall was the most fortified because that section of the wall protruded northwards. The land fortifications consisted of a 60 ft (18 m) wide moat fronting inner and outer crenellated walls studded with towers every 45–55 metres. The army defending Constantinople was relatively small, totalling about 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreigners. The population decline also had

1287-896: The Bosphorus and defended against attack by the Genoese colonies on the Black Sea coast to the north. In fact, the new fortress was called Boğazkesen , which means "strait-blocker" or "throat-cutter". The wordplay emphasizes its strategic position: in Turkish boğaz means both "strait" and "throat". In October 1452, Mehmed ordered Turakhan Beg to station a large garrison force in the Peloponnese to block Thomas and Demetrios ( despotes in Southern Greece ) from providing aid to their brother Constantine XI Palaiologos during

1386-674: The Byzantine army was led by Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos . After conquering the city, Mehmed II made Constantinople the new Ottoman capital, replacing Adrianople . The fall of Constantinople and of the Byzantine Empire was a watershed of the Late Middle Ages , marking the effective end of the Roman Empire , a state which began in roughly 27 BC and had lasted nearly 1500 years. For many modern historians,

1485-539: The Council of Florence of 1439 proclaiming a Bull of Union . The imperial efforts to impose union were met with strong resistance in Constantinople. A propaganda initiative was stimulated by anti-unionist Orthodox partisans in Constantinople; the population, as well as the laity and leadership of the Byzantine Church, became bitterly divided. Latent ethnic hatred between Greeks and Italians, stemming from

1584-625: The Harbour of Eleutherios . Genoese and Catalan troops were stationed at the Great Palace ; Cardinal Isidore of Kiev guarded the tip of the peninsula near the boom. Finally, the sea walls at the southern shore of the Golden Horn were defended by Venetian and Genoese sailors under Gabriele Trevisano . Two tactical reserves were kept behind in the city: one in the Petra district just behind

1683-570: The Khanate of the Crimea , territories which Mehmed II had brought under his suzerainty, remained in the control of native dynasties tributary to the Sultan. So, too, did the Kingdom of Hungary after the battle of Mohács in 1526. From the mid-14th century until the late 16th century, only one new beylerbeylik ( Karaman ) was established. The eyalets that existed before 1609 but disappeared include

1782-618: The Lycus down to the Sea of Marmara . Mehmed himself erected his red-and-gold tent near the Mesoteichion , where the guns and the elite Janissary regiments were positioned. The Bashi-bazouks were spread out behind the front lines. Other troops under Zagan Pasha were employed north of the Golden Horn. Communication was maintained by a road that had been destroyed over the marshy head of

1881-623: The Mosul Eyalet . In 1853 the eyalet counted with four sancaks, namely the ones of Diyarbakir, Muş, Siirt and Dersim. The tax register of 1852 also named the cities Cizre, Muş and Hakkari among others. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed a revival of the Kurdistan Eyalet in 2013, claiming that Southeastern Anatolia was always referred to as Kurdistan before the 1923 establishment of the Republic of Turkey. His remarks referring to

1980-772: The Pegae Gate with Greek soldiers. The section of the land walls from the Pegae Gate to the Golden Gate (itself guarded by a Genoese called Manuel) was defended by the Venetian Filippo Contarini, while Demetrius Cantacuzenus had taken position on the southernmost part of the Theodosian wall. The sea walls were guarded more sparsely, with Jacobo Contarini at Stoudion , a makeshift defence force of Greek monks to his left hand, and Prince Orhan at

2079-602: The conquest of Constantinople , was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire . The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-day siege which had begun on 6 April. The attacking Ottoman Army , which significantly outnumbered Constantinople's defenders, was commanded by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II (later nicknamed "the Conqueror"), while

SECTION 20

#1732766177445

2178-742: The mutual excommunications of 1054, the Pope in Rome was committed to establishing unity with the eastern church . The union was agreed by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1274, at the Second Council of Lyon , and indeed, some Palaiologoi emperors had since been received into the Latin Church . Emperor John VIII Palaiologos had also recently negotiated union with Pope Eugene IV , with

2277-478: The timar system was not applied, such as Abyssinia , Algiers, Egypt, Baghdad, Basra and Lahsa , were more autonomous than the others. Instead of collecting provincial revenues through sipahis , the beylerbey transferred fixed annual sums to Constantinople, known as the salyane . By 1500, the four central eyalets of the Empire, Rumelia, Anatolia, Rum and Karaman, were under direct rule. Wallachia , Moldavia and

2376-402: The "Genoese, Venetians and those who came secretly from Galata to help the defense", who numbered "hardly as many as three thousand", amounting to something under 8,000 men in total to defend a perimeter wall of twelve miles. At the onset of the siege, probably fewer than 50,000 people were living within the walls, including the refugees from the surrounding area. Turkish commander Dorgano, who

2475-565: The Bosphorus and a smaller castle at the village of Studius near the Sea of Marmara were taken within a few days. The Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara were likely taken by Admiral Baltoghlu 's fleet during this phase of the siege. Mehmed's massive cannons fired on the walls for weeks but due to their imprecision and extremely slow rate of fire, the Byzantines were able to repair most of

2574-566: The Byzantines, but they were unable to secure the funds needed to hire him. Orban then left Constantinople and approached Mehmed II, claiming that his weapon could blast "the walls of Babylon itself". Given abundant funds and materials, the Hungarian engineer built the gun within three months at Edirne . However, this was the only cannon that Orban built for the Ottoman forces at Constantinople, and it had several drawbacks: it took three hours to reload; cannonballs were in very short supply; and

2673-584: The European envoys at his new court. But Mehmed's mild words were not matched by his actions. By early 1452, work began on the construction of a second fortress ( Rumeli hisarı ) on the European side of the Bosphorus , several miles north of Constantinople. The new fortress sat directly across the strait from the Anadolu Hisarı fortress, built by Mehmed's great-grandfather Bayezid I . This pair of fortresses ensured complete control of sea traffic on

2772-733: The Great Logothete George Sphrantzes : 200,000; the Cardinal Isidore of Kiev and the Archbishop of Mytilene Leonardo di Chio: 300,000). Mehmed built a fleet (crewed partially by Spanish sailors from Gallipoli ) to besiege the city from the sea. Contemporary estimates of the strength of the Ottoman fleet span from 110 ships to 430 (Tedaldi: 110; Barbaro: 145; Ubertino Pusculo: 160, Isidore of Kiev and Leonardo di Chio: 200–250; (Sphrantzes): 430). A more realistic modern estimate predicts

2871-646: The Horn. The Ottomans were experts in laying siege to cities. They knew that in order to prevent diseases they had to burn corpses, sanitarily dispose of excrement, and carefully scrutinize their sources of water. The city had about 20 km of walls ( land walls : 5.5 km; sea walls along the Golden Horn: 7 km; sea walls along the Sea of Marmara: 7.5 km), one of the strongest sets of fortified walls in existence. The walls had recently been repaired (under John VIII ) and were in fairly good shape, giving

2970-603: The Kurdistan Eyalet, was defeated in his castle in Eruh. Following the region lacked of a powerful Kurdish ruler which led to the rise of the religious sheikhs belonging to the Naqshbandi and Qadiriyya dervish orders, or tariqas . In 1867 it was abolished and succeeded by the Diyarbekir Vilayet . During its existence, it saw twelve different governors who had either the title of müsir or vizier . Initially

3069-509: The Latin spelling of his name, "John Justinian", named after the famous 6th century Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great . Around the same time, the captains of the Venetian ships that happened to be present in the Golden Horn offered their services to the Emperor, barring contrary orders from Venice , and Pope Nicholas undertook to send three ships laden with provisions, which set sail near

Eyalet - Misplaced Pages Continue

3168-486: The Ottoman invaders captured children and took them away to their tents, and became rich by plundering the imperial palace and the houses of Constantinople. The Ottoman official Tursun Beg wrote: Eyalet of Kurdistan Kurdistan Eyalet ( Ottoman Turkish : ایالت کردستان , romanized :  Eyâlet-ı Kurdistan ) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire . It was the first time that the Ottoman Empire used

3267-476: The Ottoman navy assuming control over the Golden Horn, which was accomplished by midday. The army converged upon the Augusteum , the vast square that fronted the great church of Hagia Sophia whose bronze gates were barred by a huge throng of civilians inside the building, hoping for divine protection. After the doors were breached, the troops separated the congregation according to what price they might bring in

3366-520: The Ottoman siege. Constantinople had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman emperor Constantine the Great . In the following eleven centuries, the city had been besieged many times but was captured only once before: the Sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while

3465-517: The Ottomans from entering the city and the defenders were overwhelmed at several points along the wall. Janissaries, led by Ulubatlı Hasan , pressed forward. Many Greek soldiers ran back home to protect their families, the Venetians retreated to their ships and a few of the Genoese escaped to Galata. The rest surrendered or committed suicide by jumping off the city walls. The Greek houses nearest to

3564-492: The Ottomans had fired 5,000 shots from their cannons using 55,000 pounds of gunpowder. Criers roamed the camp to the sound of the blasting horns, rousing the Ghazis. Shortly after midnight on Tuesday 29 May, the offensive began. The Christian troops of the Ottoman Empire attacked first, followed by successive waves of the irregular azaps , who were poorly trained and equipped and Anatolian Turkmen beylik forces who focused on

3663-512: The Pope, promising to implement the union, which was declared valid by a half-hearted imperial court on 12 December 1452. Although he was eager for an advantage, Pope Nicholas V did not have the influence the Byzantines thought he had over the Western kings and princes, some of whom were wary of increasing papal control. Furthermore, these Western rulers did not have the wherewithal to contribute to

3762-686: The Theodosian Walls, the intricate series of walls and ditches protecting Constantinople from an attack from the West and the only part of the city not surrounded by water. His army encamped outside the city on 2 April 1453, the Monday after Easter . The bulk of the Ottoman army was encamped south of the Golden Horn. The regular European troops, stretched out along the entire length of the walls, were commanded by Karadja Pasha. The regular troops from Anatolia under Ishak Pasha were stationed south of

3861-563: The United States , sometimes along with the provinces of Argentina , Canada and Pakistan , deferent to the modern definition of the word. Albeit China and Iran are legally unitary states, these countries' provinces may also occasionally be referred to as eyalet in Turkish. Fall of Constantinople 40,000–50,000 in total (Turkish sources) 60,000–80,000 in total (Modern sources) Naval forces: Naval forces: 26 ships The fall of Constantinople , also known as

3960-487: The cannon is said to have collapsed under its own recoil after six weeks. The account of the cannon's collapse is disputed, given that it was only reported in the letter of Archbishop Leonardo di Chio and in the later, and often unreliable, Russian chronicle of Nestor Iskander . Having previously established a large foundry about 150 miles (240 km) away, Mehmed now had to undertake the painstaking process of transporting his massive artillery pieces. In preparation for

4059-462: The cannons at the siege were built by Turkish engineers, including a large bombard by Saruca, while one cannon was built by Orban, who also contributed a large bombard. Orban, a Hungarian (though some suggest he was German ), was a somewhat mysterious figure. His 27-foot-long (8.2 m) cannon was named " Basilica " and was able to hurl a 600-pound (270 kg) stone ball over a mile (1.6 km). Orban initially tried to sell his services to

Eyalet - Misplaced Pages Continue

4158-432: The chronological order of their conquest. The term eyalet is sometimes translated province or governorate . Depending on the rank of the governor, they were also sometimes known as pashaliks (governed by a pasha ), beylerbeyliks (governed by a bey or beylerbey ), and kapudanliks (governed by a kapudan ). Pashaluk or Pashalik ( Turkish : paşalık ) is the abstract word derived from pasha , denoting

4257-479: The city on their own account. Cardinal Isidore , funded by the Pope, arrived in 1452 with 200 archers. An accomplished soldier from Genoa , Giovanni Giustiniani , arrived in January 1453 with 400 men from Genoa and 300 men from Genoese Chios . As a specialist in defending walled cities, Giustiniani was immediately given the overall command of the defence of the land walls by the Emperor. The Byzantines knew him by

4356-419: The cost of many struggles and very great dangers and that, having passed it along in succession from their fathers, from father to son, they handed it down to me. For some of the oldest of you were sharers in many of the exploits carried through by them—those at least of you who are of maturer years—and the younger of you have heard of these deeds from your fathers. They are not such very ancient events nor of such

4455-783: The creation of new eyalets. The former principality of Dulkadir became the Dulkadir Eyalet at some time after its annexation in 1522. After the Iranian campaign of 1533–6, the new eyalets of Erzurum , Van , Sharazor and Baghdad guarded the frontier with Iran. In 1541 came the creation of Budin Eyalet from part of the old Kingdom of Hungary . The Eyalet of the Archipelago was created by Süleyman I especially for Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1533, by detaching districts from

4554-480: The creation of the eyalet of Özi was presumably to improve the defences of the Black Sea ports against the Cossacks. By 1609, according to the list of Ayn Ali , there were 32 eyalets. Some of these, such as Tripoli, Cyprus or Tunis, were the spoils of conquest. Others, however, were the products of administrative division. In 1795, the government launched a major reorganization of the provincial administration, with

4653-442: The damage after each shot, mitigating the effect of the Ottoman artillery. Despite some probing attacks, the Ottoman fleet under Baltoghlu could not enter the Golden Horn due to the chain across the entrance. Although one of the fleet's main tasks was to prevent any foreign ships from entering the Golden Horn, on 20 April, a small flotilla of four Christian ships managed to get in after some heavy fighting, an event which strengthened

4752-474: The dead ones ... without caring how near they came to the city walls. Our men shot at them with guns and crossbows, aiming at the Turk who was carrying away his dead countryman, and both of them would fall to the ground dead, and then there came other Turks and took them away, none fearing death, but being willing to let ten of themselves be killed rather than suffer the shame of leaving a single Turkish corpse by

4851-481: The defenders on land, Giovanni Giustiniani , was grievously wounded during the attack, and his evacuation from the ramparts caused a panic in the ranks of the defenders. With Giustiniani's Genoese troops retreating into the city and towards the harbour, Constantine and his men, now left to their own devices, continued to hold their ground against the Janissaries. Constantine's men eventually could not prevent

4950-485: The defenders sufficient reason to believe that they could hold out until help from the West arrived. In addition, the defenders were relatively well-equipped with a fleet of 26 ships: 5 from Genoa , 5 from Venice , 3 from Venetian Crete , 1 from Ancona , 1 from Aragon , 1 from France, and about 10 from the empire itself. On 5 April, the Sultan himself arrived with his last troops, and the defenders took up their positions. As Byzantine numbers were insufficient to occupy

5049-690: The districts adjoining this border fortress, which had fallen to the Ottomans in 1600. In the same period, the annexation of the Rumelian districts on the lower Danube and the Black Sea coast, and their addition to territories between the Danube and the Dniepr along the Black Sea, created the Silistra Eyalet . At the same time, on the south-eastern shore of the Black Sea, Trebizond Eyalet came into being. The purpose of this reorganisation, and especially

SECTION 50

#1732766177445

5148-430: The eastward expansion of Bayezid's realms in the 1390s, a third eyalet, Rûm Eyalet , came into existence, with Amasya its chief town. This became the seat of government of Bayezid's youngest son, Mehmed I , and was to remain a residence of princely governors until the 16th century. In 1395, Bayezid I executed the last Shishmanid Tsar of Bulgaria , and annexed his realm to Rumelia Eyalet . In 1461, Mehmed II expelled

5247-723: The effort, especially in light of the weakened state of France and England from the Hundred Years' War , Spain's involvement in the Reconquista , the internecine fighting in the Holy Roman Empire , and Hungary and Poland's defeat at the Battle of Varna of 1444. Although some troops did arrive from the mercantile city-states in northern Italy, the Western contribution was not adequate to counterbalance Ottoman strength. Some Western individuals, however, came to help defend

5346-454: The end of March. From the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily arrived in Constantinople the condottiero Gabriele Orsini del Balzo , duke of Venosa and count of Ugento , together with 200 Neapolitan archers, who died fighting for the defense of the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Meanwhile, in Venice, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople. The Senate decided upon sending

5445-417: The events of the Massacre of the Latins in 1182 by the Greeks and the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the Latins, played a significant role. Ultimately, the attempted union between east and west failed, greatly annoying Pope Nicholas V and the hierarchy of the Roman church. In the summer of 1452, when Rumeli Hisarı was completed and the threat of the Ottomans had become imminent, Constantine wrote to

5544-403: The execution of the Emperor's ambassadors. Fearing a possible naval attack along the shores of the Golden Horn , Emperor Constantine XI ordered that a defensive chain be placed at the mouth of the harbour. This chain, which floated on logs, was strong enough to prevent any Turkish ship from entering the harbour. This device was one of two that gave the Byzantines some hope of extending

5643-450: The eyalet covered the region of the former Kurdish Emirate of Bohtan , but it was expanded gradually and at its widest extension included the former Diyarbekir Eyalet and the areas around Van , Hakkari and Muş , as well as the districts of Botan, Mardin , and Cizre . According to the salnames between 1847 and 1867, it was ruled by the central Ottoman government and received annual funding of 80,000 piastres , considerably more than

5742-423: The fall of Constantinople marks the end of the medieval period and the beginning of the early modern period . The city's fall also stood as a turning point in military history . Since ancient times, cities and castles had depended upon ramparts and walls to repel invaders. The Walls of Constantinople , especially the Theodosian Walls, protected Constantinople from attack for 800 years and were noted as some of

5841-610: The fall of Constantinople stated the Ottoman invaders pillaged the city, murdered or enslaved tens of thousands of people, and raped nuns, women and children: All the valuables and other booty were taken to their camp, and as many as sixty thousand Christians who had been captured. The crosses which had been placed on the roofs or the walls of churches were torn down and trampled. Women were raped, virgins deflowered and youths forced to take part in shameful obscenities. The nuns left behind, even those who were obviously such, were disgraced with foul debaucheries. During three days of pillaging,

5940-400: The fifth-century Theodosian Walls . By 1450, the empire was exhausted and had shrunk to a few square kilometers outside the city of Constantinople itself, the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara and the Peloponnese with its cultural center at Mystras . The Empire of Trebizond , an independent successor state that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade , was also present at

6039-399: The final assault began in the evening of 26 May and continued to the next day. For 36 hours after the war council decided to attack, the Ottomans extensively mobilized their manpower for the general offensive. Prayer and resting was then granted to the soldiers on 28 May before the final assault would be launched. On the Byzantine side, a small Venetian fleet of 12 ships, after having searched

SECTION 60

#1732766177445

6138-433: The final assault, Mehmed had an artillery train of 70 large pieces dragged from his headquarters at Edirne, in addition to the bombards cast on the spot. This train included Orban's enormous cannon, which was said to have been dragged from Edirne by a crew of 60 oxen and over 400 men. There was another large bombard, independently built by Turkish engineer Saruca, that was also used in the battle. Mehmed planned to attack

6237-480: The following: Conquests of Selim I and Suleyman I in the 16th century required an increase in administrative units. By the end of the latter half of the century there were as many as 42 eyalets , as the beylerbeyliks came to be known. The chart below shows the administrative situation as of 1609. Sources: Turkish Language Association defines the word eyalet as "an administrative division having some kind of administrative independence" and in modern Turkish,

6336-526: The greatest increase in the number of eyalets, largely through the conquests of Selim I and Süleyman I , which created the need to incorporate the new territory into the structure of the Empire, and partly through the reorganisation of existing territory. A list dated 1527 shows eight eyalets, with Egypt , Damascus , Diyarbekir and Kurdistan added to the original four. The last eyalet, however, did not survive as an administrative entity. Süleyman's conquests in eastern Turkey, Iraq and Hungary also resulted in

6435-450: The hands of the Turks as Ottoman possessions. The Emperor was not willing to leave the city without a fight: As to surrendering the city to you, it is not for me to decide or for anyone else of its citizens; for all of us have reached the mutual decision to die of our own free will, without any regard for our lives. Around this time, Mehmed had a final council with his senior officers. Here he encountered some resistance; one of his Viziers,

6534-451: The high officers of state, both in the capital and the states. Between 1861 and 1866, these eyalets were abolished, and the territory was divided for administrative purposes into vilayets (provinces). The eyalets were subdivided into districts called livas or sanjaks , each of which was under the charge of a pasha of one tail, with the title of mira-lira, or sanjak-bey . These provinces were usually called pashaliks by Europeans. The pasha

6633-491: The hill, directly into the Golden Horn on 22 April, bypassing the chain barrier. This action seriously threatened the flow of supplies from Genoese ships from the nominally neutral colony of Pera and it demoralized the Byzantine defenders. On the night of 28 April, an attempt was made to destroy the Ottoman ships already in the Golden Horn using fire ships but the Ottomans forced the Christians to retreat with many casualties. Forty Italians escaped their sinking ships and swam to

6732-428: The idea that Constantinople was inevitably doomed is incorrect and the situation was not as one-sided as a simple glance at a map might suggest. It has also been claimed that Constantinople was "the best-defended city in Europe" at that time. At the beginning of the siege, Mehmed sent out some of his best troops to reduce the remaining Byzantine strongholds outside the city of Constantinople. The fortress of Therapia on

6831-510: The impending siege of Constantinople. Karaca Pasha , the beylerbeyi of Rumelia , sent men to prepare the roads from Adrianople to Constantinople so that bridges could cope with the massive cannons. Fifty carpenters and 200 artisans also strengthened the roads where necessary. The Greek historian Michael Critobulus quotes Mehmed II 's speech to his soldiers before the siege: My friends and men of my empire! You all know very well that our forefathers secured this kingdom that we now hold at

6930-410: The initial assault, the Ottoman army fanned out along the main thoroughfare of the city, the Mese, past the great forums and the Church of the Holy Apostles , which Mehmed II wanted to provide as a seat for his newly appointed patriarch to better control his Christian subjects. Mehmed II had sent an advance guard to protect these key buildings. The Catalans that maintained their position on the section of

7029-408: The land walls and one near the Church of the Holy Apostles , under the command of Loukas Notaras and Nicephorus Palaeologus, respectively. The Venetian Alviso Diedo commanded the ships in the harbour. Although the Byzantines also had cannons, the weapons were much smaller than those of the Ottomans, and the recoil tended to damage their own walls. According to David Nicolle , despite many odds,

7128-520: The last of the Isfendyarid dynasty from Sinop , awarding him lands thus taxation authority near Bursa in exchange for his hereditary territory. The Isfendyarid principality became a district of Anatolia Eyalet . In 1468, Karaman Eyalet was established, following the annexation of the formerly independent principality of Karaman ; Mehmed II appointed his son Mustafa as governor of the new eyalet, with his seat at Konya . The 16th century saw

7227-416: The loot they could get from raiding the city's houses, so they decided to attack the city instead. The Venetian captain ordered his men to break open the gate of the Golden Horn. Having done so, the Venetians left in ships filled with soldiers and refugees. Shortly after the Venetians left, a few Genoese ships and even the Emperor's ships followed them out of the Golden Horn. This fleet narrowly escaped prior to

7326-436: The mines and kill the miners. The Byzantines intercepted the first tunnel on the night of 16 May. Subsequent tunnels were interrupted on 21, 23 and 25 May, and destroyed with Greek fire and vigorous combat. On 23 May, the Byzantines captured and tortured two Turkish officers, who revealed the location of all the Turkish tunnels, which were destroyed. On 21 May, Mehmed sent an ambassador to Constantinople and offered to lift

7425-401: The morale of the defenders and caused embarrassment to the Sultan. Baltoghlu was most likely injured in the eye during the skirmish. Mehmed stripped Baltoghlu of his wealth and property and gave it to the janissaries and ordered him to be whipped 100 times. Mehmed ordered the construction of a road of greased logs across Galata on the north side of the Golden Horn and dragged his ships over

7524-401: The most advanced defensive systems in the world at the time. However, these fortifications were overcome with the use of gunpowder , specifically from Ottoman cannons and bombards , heralding a change in siege warfare. The Ottoman cannons repeatedly fired massive cannonballs weighing 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) over 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) which created gaps in the Theodosian Walls for

7623-433: The northern shore. On orders of Mehmed, they were impaled on stakes, in sight of the city's defenders on the sea walls across the Golden Horn. In retaliation, the defenders brought their Ottoman prisoners, 260 in all, to the walls, where they were executed, one by one, before the eyes of the Ottomans. With the failure of their attack on the Ottoman vessels, the defenders were forced to disperse part of their forces to defend

7722-404: The provincial administration of the Ottoman Empire was criticised by many who interpreted them as signs of Erdoğan’s desire to implement a federal system . To challenge the Turkish nationalists , Erdogan recalled that during the Ottoman era there were eyalets called Kurdistan and Lazistan . He stated that autonomous self-governance within the state of Turkey should be possible and would even be

7821-479: The quality, office or jurisdiction of a pasha or the territory administered by him. In European sources, the word "pashalic" generally referred to the eyalets. The term 'eyalet' began to be applied to the largest administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire instead of beglerbegilik from the 1590s onward, and it continued to be used until 1867. Murad I instituted the great division of the sultanate into two beylerbeyiliks of Rumelia and Anatolia , in circa 1365. With

7920-578: The remainder of the Byzantine Empire splintered into a number of successor states, notably Nicaea , Epirus and Trebizond . They fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne. The Nicaeans eventually reconquered Constantinople from the Latins in 1261, reestablishing the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty . Thereafter, there

8019-575: The sea walls along the Golden Horn. The Ottoman army had made several frontal assaults on the land wall of Constantinople, but they were costly failures. Venetian surgeon Niccolò Barbaro , describing in his diary one such land attack by the Janissaries, wrote They found the Turks coming right up under the walls and seeking battle, particularly the Janissaries ;... and when one or two of them were killed, at once more Turks came and took away

8118-579: The shores and islands of the Aegean which had previously been part of the eyalets of Rumelia and Anatolia , and uniting them as an independent eyalet. In 1580, Bosnia, previously a district of Rumelia, became an eyalet in its own right, presumably in view of its strategically important position on the border with the Habsburgs. Similar considerations led to the creation of the Kanije Eyalet from

8217-481: The siege if they gave him the city. He promised he would allow the Emperor and any other inhabitants to leave with their possessions. He would recognize the Emperor as governor of the Peloponnese. Lastly, he guaranteed the safety of the population that might choose to remain in the city. Constantine XI only agreed to pay higher tributes to the sultan and recognized the status of all the conquered castles and lands in

8316-601: The siege until the possible arrival of foreign help. This strategy was used because in 1204, the armies of the Fourth Crusade successfully circumvented Constantinople's land defences by breaching the Golden Horn Wall , which faces the Horn. Another strategy employed by the Byzantines was the repair and fortification of the Land Wall ( Theodosian Walls ). Emperor Constantine deemed it necessary to ensure that

8415-786: The siege, he was shifted to the Mesoteichion to join Constantine, leaving the Myriandrion to the charge of the Bocchiardi brothers. Girolamo Minotto  [ el ; es ; fr ; it ] and his Venetians were stationed in the Blachernae Palace , together with Teodoro Caristo, the Langasco brothers, and Archbishop Leonardo of Chios . To the left of the emperor, further south, were the commanders Cataneo, who led Genoese troops, and Theophilus Palaeologus, who guarded

8514-399: The siege, while according to a Venetian Senate report, 50 Venetian noblemen and over 500 other Venetian civilians died during the siege. Many of the riches of the city were already looted in 1204 , leaving only limited loot to the Ottomans. Other sources claim far more brutal and successful pillaging by the Ottoman invaders. Leonard of Chios made accounts of the atrocities that followed

8613-407: The slave markets. Ottoman casualties are unknown but they are believed by most historians to be severe due to several unsuccessful Ottoman attacks made during the siege and final assault. The Venetian Barbaro observed that blood flowed in the city "like rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm" and that bodies of Turks and Christians floated in the sea "like melons along a canal". According to

8712-472: The term " Kurdistan " to refer to an administrative unit rather than a geographical region. It was formed with the aim of establishing direct control over Kurdistan, rather than recognizing it as a political entity. It was a short-lived province as it only lasted about 21 years, between 1846 and 1867. One year after its establishment the Kurdish strongman Bedir Khan Beg and former ruler of large parts of

8811-542: The time on the coast of the Black Sea . When Mehmed II succeeded his father in 1451, he was 19 years old. Many European courts assumed that the young Ottoman ruler would not seriously challenge Christian hegemony in the Balkans and the Aegean . In fact, Europe celebrated Mehmed coming to the throne and hoped his inexperience would lead the Ottomans astray. This calculation was boosted by Mehmed's friendly overtures to

8910-443: The veteran Halil Pasha , who had always disapproved of Mehmed's plans to conquer the city, now admonished him to abandon the siege in the face of recent adversity. Zagan Pasha argued against Halil Pasha and insisted on an immediate attack. Believing that the Byzantine defence was already weakened sufficiently, Mehmed planned to overpower the walls by sheer force and started preparations for a final all-out offensive. Preparations for

9009-458: The wall that the emperor had assigned them, had the honor of being the last troops to fall. The sultan had Pere Julià, his sons and the consul Joan de la Via, amongst others, beheaded. A few civilians managed to escape. When the Venetians retreated over to their ships, the Ottomans had already taken the walls of the Golden Horn. Luckily for the occupants of the city, the Ottomans were not interested in killing potentially valuable slaves but rather in

9108-501: The walls in their entirety, it had been decided that only the outer walls would be guarded. Constantine and his Greek troops guarded the Mesoteichion , the middle section of the land walls, where they were crossed by the river Lycus. This section was considered the weakest spot in the walls and an attack was feared here most. Giustiniani was stationed to the north of the emperor, at the Charisian Gate ( Myriandrion ); later during

9207-498: The walls were the first to suffer from the Ottomans. It is said that Constantine, throwing aside his purple imperial regalia, led the final charge against the incoming Ottomans, perishing in the ensuing battle in the streets alongside his soldiers. The Venetian Nicolò Barbaro claimed in his diary that Constantine hanged himself at the moment when the Turks broke in at the San Romano gate. Ultimately, his fate remains unknown. After

9306-408: The walls. After these inconclusive attacks, the Ottomans sought to break through the walls by constructing tunnels to mine them from mid-May to 25 May. Many of the sappers were miners of Serbian origin sent from Novo Brdo under the command of Zagan Pasha . An engineer named Johannes Grant , a German who came with the Genoese contingent, had counter-mines dug, allowing Byzantine troops to enter

9405-496: The word eyalet is used widely in the context of federalism , corresponding to the English word state . While the word eyalet is out of use in Turkish public administration , replaced long ago by ils under a unitary structure, top-level administrative subdivisions of numerous federal states are called "eyalet" in Turkish, such as the states of Australia , Austria , Brazil , Germany , India , Malaysia , Mexico and

9504-498: Was forced to supply as part of his obligation to the Ottoman sultan — just a few months before, Branković had supplied the money for the reconstruction of the walls of Constantinople. Contemporaneous Western witnesses of the siege, who tend to exaggerate the military power of the Sultan, provide disparate and higher numbers ranging from 160,000 to 300,000 ( Niccolò Barbaro : 160,000; the Florentine merchant Jacopo Tedaldi and

9603-475: Was in Constantinople working for the Emperor, was also guarding one of the quarters of the city on the seaward side with the Turks in his pay. These Turks kept loyal to the Emperor and perished in the ensuing battle. The defending army's Genoese corps were well trained and equipped, while the rest of the army consisted of small numbers of well-trained soldiers, armed civilians, sailors and volunteer forces from foreign communities, and finally monks . The garrison used

9702-590: Was invested with powers of absolute government within his province, being the chief of both the military and financial departments, as well as police and criminal justice. At official functions, the order of precedence was Egypt , Baghdad , Abyssinia , Buda , Anatolia , "Mera'ish", and the Kapudan Pasha in Asia and Buda, Egypt, Abyssinia, Baghdad, and Rumelia in Europe, with the remainder arranged according to

9801-552: Was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins , Serbs , Bulgarians and Ottoman Turks . Between 1346 and 1349, the Black Death killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople. The city was further depopulated by the general economic and territorial decline of the empire, and by 1453 , it consisted of a series of walled villages separated by vast fields encircled by

#444555