As all of us know, Ottomans had various traditions and ways to rule their state .One of the most tragic is sultans killing their brothers after gaining power. Most would probably say that this was a violent way leading to conflicts and the nation spliting into several pieces, but, history proved they are wrong.
Ottomans had very few civil wars, which fortunately didn't cause serious damage, which was obviously caused by sultans killing their brotheirs. After sultan's death his children didn't always let their oldest brother rule. They often wanted the power for themselves and that's why Ottoman sultans killed their brothers after gaining power. What may frighten some people is that fracticiding sultans younger brothers was legalized by Mehmed II. In my opinion this was necessary for the nation to be a dominant force in the Medditerranean sea for couple centuries and not to get divided into small provinces ruled by some ruler scions like it happened for example in Poland. Fortunately in the end of 16th century killing sultans brothers was abolished from the law after a sultan Mehmed III had his 20 baby brothers killed. That tipped the scales and people didn't agree with sultan brothers being killed anymore. This was one of the causes which let nobles had influence on the sultans: each living member of the dynasty was just one rebellion away to gain power. Ottomans had various ways to rule their nation, but no one can argue about that they weren't effective, as the Ottoman had influence on hole Medditerranean for a very long time.
That's a cruel rule indeed! I wonder if they couldn't invent a less bloody system to keep the country united.
OdpowiedzUsuńBy the way, the same happened in Europe but was never sanctioned by the law. So the kings who killed their siblings remained murderers.
It is a pity that people do not want or are unable to draw conclusions from the past. Personally, I do not like history, but I might find it helpful as I just started playing a game which plot is set in ancient times.
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