Md. Azimul Islam / The Osmania Sultanate

The Osmania Sultanate

Kaftan or caftan:

(Persian: خفتان‎ khaftān) is a variant of the robe or tunic, and has been worn in a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years and is of Asiatic origin. Popular during the time of the Ottoman Empire, detailed and elaborately designed garments were given to ambassadors and other important guests at the Topkapi Palace.

Dervish or Darvesh or Darwīsh:

(from Persian: درویش‎, Darvīsh[1]) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (tariqah), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persian and Turkish (Derviş), corresponding to the Arabic term faqir. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego to reach God. Their most common practice is Sama, which is associated with the 13th-century mystic Rumi.

Mehmed IV:

(Ottoman Turkish: محمد رابع‎, Turkish: IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693) also known as Mehmed the Hunter (Turkish: Avcı Mehmed) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to become the second longest reigning sultan in Ottoman history after Suleiman the Magnificent. Mehmed IV was known by contemporaries as a particularly pious ruler, and was referred to as gazi, or "holy warrior" for his role in the many conquests carried out during his long reign.

Humbaracı:

Humbaraci corps were bombardier and mortar troops of the Ottoman army. It is considered as the first organized and specialized troops in the corps level for this class in the military history of the world.

Hüma Hatun:

(Ottoman Turkish: هما خاتون‎, c. 1410 ‒ September 1449) was the fourth wife of Ottoman Sultan Murad II and mother of Mehmed II, The Fetih Sultan.

Suleiman I:

(Ottoman Turkish: سليمان اول‎, Turkish: I. Süleyman; 6 November 1494 – 6 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver (Ottoman Turkish: قانونى سلطان سليمان‎, romanized: Ḳānūnī Sulṭān Süleymān) in his realm, was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 until his death in 1566.  Under his administration, the Ottoman caliphate ruled over at least 25 million people.

Abdul Hamid II or Abdülhamid II:

(Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی‎, Turkish: II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 – 10 February 1918) reigned as the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire - the last Sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. The time period which he reigned in the Ottoman Empire is known as the Hamidian Era. He oversaw a period of decline, with rebellions (particularly in the Balkans), and he presided over an unsuccessful war with the Russian Empire (1877–1878) followed by a successful war against the Kingdom of Greece in 1897.

Serdengecti:

(Loosely translated as "the ones who gave their heads") is a military term used in ottoman army. It is not a military class but a title which is given to the soldiers who do suicidal heroic acts in the battlefield like assaulting heavily fortified positions, which are ending generally with death of assaulters.

Janissary:

(Ottoman Turkish: يڭيچرى‎, lit. 'new soldier') was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established during the Viziership of Alaeddin under Sultan Orhan (1324–1362).

Mehmed II:

(Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثانى‎, Turkish: II. Mehmed, 30 March 1432 – 3 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (Ottoman Turkish: ابو الفتح‎, lit. 'the Father of Conquest'; Turkish: Fatih Sultan Mehmed), was an Ottoman sultan who ruled from August 1444 to September 1446, and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, he defeated the crusade led by John Hunyadi after the Hungarian incursions into his country broke the conditions of the truce Peace of Szeged. When Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451 he strengthened the Ottoman navy and made preparations to attack Constantinople. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire.

Akinji or akindji:

(Ottoman Turkish: آقنجى‎, lit. 'raider') were irregular light cavalry, scout divisions (deli) and advance troops of the Ottoman Empire's military. When the pre-existing Turkish ghazis were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire's military they became known as "akıncı." Unpaid they lived and operated as raiders on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, subsisting on plunder. There is a distinction made between "akıncı" and "deli" cavalry.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque:

(Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii), also known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A functioning mosque, it also attracts large numbers of tourist visitors. It was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. The Blue Mosque was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985 under the name of "Historic Areas of Istanbul".

The Topkapı Palace:

(Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı; Ottoman Turkish: طوپقپو سرايى‎, lit. 'Cannon Gate Palace'), or the Seraglio, is a large museum in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. In the 15th and 16th centuries it served as the main residence and administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans.

Coat of Arms:

Every sultan of the Ottoman Empire had his own monogram, called the tughra, which served as a royal symbol. A coat of arms in the European heraldic sense was created in the late 19th century. Hampton Court requested from the Ottoman Empire a coat of arms to be included in their collection. As the coat of arms had not been previously used in the Ottoman Empire, it was designed after this request, and the final design was adopted by Sultan Abdul Hamid II on 17 April 1882.

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