Tag: ottoman empire

Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Otlukbeli (1473)

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I assume most or even all of you have heard of the Ottomans, but I’m not sure how many have heard of the Aqquyunlu (“white sheep” in Turkish) tribal confederation, as it is considerably more obscure. The Aqquyunlu didn’t have a very long run as a major world power, hence the obscurity. But for a … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Otlukbeli (1473)

The Joys of Empire

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I suppose it's time to write something about Robert Kaplan's awful "Imperialism is Actually Good" hot take from Foreign Policy a couple of weeks ago. First I need to confess something. Every time I read a piece like Kaplan's (or like Graeme Wood's "ISIS is really very Islamic" piece from March, though in that case … Continue reading The Joys of Empire

Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Chaldiran (1514)

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Today is the anniversary of a battle that had far-reaching implications for the Middle East, but that gets relatively little recognition if you’re not a specialist in either Ottoman or Safavid history. The 1514 Battle of Chaldiran determined, among other things, that the Safavids would not be invading Anatolia, and it established the basic template … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Chaldiran (1514)

Today in European history: the Fall of Constantinople (1453)

~ DWD ~ 1 Comment

The Ottomans were not the first Islamic power to threaten the Byzantine Empire, and in fact the empire was by 1453 a hollowed out husk of its former glory. Successive waves of Turkish and Mongolian invasions had taken almost all of Anatolia out of Byzantine control, and the Ottomans had by this point conquered much … Continue reading Today in European history: the Fall of Constantinople (1453)