THE OTTOMAN TURKS AND THEIR CONQUESTS, 1227-1453 A.D.
RISE OF THE OTTOMANS
The first appearance of the Ottoman Turks in history dates
from 1227 A.D., the year of Jenghiz Khan's death. In that year a small Turkish
horde, driven westward from their central Asian homes by the Mongol advance,
settled in Asia Minor. There they enjoyed the protection of their kinsmen, the
Seljuk Turks, and from them accepted Islam. As the Seljuk power declined, that
of the Ottomans rose in its stead. About 1300 A.D. their chieftain, Othman,
[14] declared his independence and became the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
[14] Whence the name Ottoman applied to this branch of the
Turks.
OTTOMAN EXPANSION
The growth of the Ottoman power was almost as rapid as
that of the Arabs or of the Mongols. During the first half of the fourteenth
century they firmly established themselves in northwestern Asia Minor, along
the beautiful shores washed by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmora, and the
Dardanelles. The second half of the same century found them in Europe, wresting
province after province from the feeble hands of the eastern emperors. First
came the seizure of Gallipoli on the Dardanelles, which long remained the
principal Turkish naval station. Then followed the capture of Adrianople, where
in earlier centuries the Visigoths had destroyed a Roman army. By 1400
A.D. all that remained of the Roman Empire in the East was Constantinople and a
small district in the vicinity of that city.
