5 Ways Life In The Ottoman Empire Was Brutal

Explore the brutal realities of life in the Ottoman Empire, from royal fratricide to the feared janissaries. Discover the chilling history behind one of history's most powerful empires.

[TylerTheObserver]

Fun fact:
1. With Selim The Grim
He killed so many of his viziers (advisors). A popular curse at the time was, "may you be a vizier of Selim."

[ignitionfrn]

0:55 - Chapter 1 - Royally decreed fatricide
3:45 - Chapter 2 - From fratricide to life imprisonment
6:45 - Chapter 3 - The alleged gardener race of death
9:45 - Chapter 4 - The child abduction tradition of devshirme
13:15 - Chapter 5 - The african harem eunuchs

[codymr]

"Existing between 1481 and 1914..."
I had thought the Ottoman Empire emerged in 1299 and ended in 1922-23 with the abolition of the Ottoman sultanate and the establishment of the Republic of Turkey? Some historians use 1453 as a founding date when the Ottoman State evolved into the Ottoman Empire with the fall of Constantinople. Has historical consensus shifted on this to 1481-1914?

[DavidStruveDesigns]

Kinda nuts to realise the Ottoman Empire didn't come to an end until right around the First World War. It's the kind of Empire one thinks happened MUCH further back in history - which, to be fair, it's start WAS pretty far back. But it lasted way longer than you'd initially think.

[lostbutfreesoul]

Side Note:
While not the First, one of the oldest treaties the United States signed centered around Barbary Pirates and their habit of taking Slaves. The practice was that wide spread, and that influential, that a young United States had to deal with it. I would recommend reading such a treaty if you get a chance, to understand better just how powerful this part of the Slave Trade was.

PS:
That treaty is also misquoted by Moorish Sovereign Citizens all the time....
Doubt any have read it, but they have been told all sorts of crazy stuff about it.

[P.Hermano]

The silk bow strangulation was a tradition of the Steppes people, especially the Turkmen and Mongols.

[daxconnell]

for coffee lovers it would have been brutal since at least for one ruler, anyone drinking coffee was put to death since he was the only one that could drink it

[alexswanson]

One difference between Roman and Ottoman slavery: the Romans didn't recruit slaves as soldiers unless the situation was really, really desperate

[Jayjay-qeum]

The Janissaries were no exception to the weakening of central imperial authority in the 18th century. Trade and commercial activity replaced the disciplined military service of earlier centuries, and the Janissaries were willing to engage in violent acts of rebellion to protect their private interests in an increasingly decentralized and chaotic Ottoman Empire.

[lonelywolf]

Two corrections.
- Ottoman Empire did not start to exist from 1481. It was established in the year 1299.
- Slave soldiers were NOT the bulk of the Ottoman army. Slave soldiers were only used in Janissary Corps.
But Janissaries was only making up a small part of the Ottoman army. Initially their number was around 1, 000 soldiers; they reached
their peak numbers during Suleiman the Magnificient, reaching to around 10, 000.

The bulk of the Ottoman army was 'Sipahis' who were heavily armed horse mounted soldiers and akin to mechanised units of modern
armies. They were wearing armours both by themselves and by their horses.

There were also 'Akinjis' who are lightly armed and highly mobile cavalry units which are akin to special forces of modern
time armies.
Both Sipahis and Akinjis were comprised of Turkish soldiers only, no Devshirmes.

[WisdomLearner]

Simon: Ottomans put and end to the Roman Empire

Mehmed: But I'm a Roman Emperor

[ghaznavid]

I'd love to see a video about the Janissaries specifically. One of the most interesting military corps of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.

[quantumcomata]

Ottomans are good if you have a broken foot 🦶

[albertchurchill]

Some of those villages remained abandoned until the Nineteenth Century. Roughly coinciding with the creation of the United States Marine Corps. Who ended the activities of the Barbary Pirates.

[brianklosterman]

The editor deserves a hefty raise just for the impeccably timed Don Cheadle End Game gif 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[mehmetersoy]

Mehmed 2 was born in 1432 and Mehmed 1 (his grandad) died in 1422. Mehmed 1 fought an intteregnum war against his brothers after their father Bayezid 1 died.

[barbaramongoose]

Hungary was under Ottman occupation during the 15th and 16th century, and even today the story of the Jannissaries (Janicsár) is one being told. Countless children were taken to become Janicsár, and they were feared fighters at the time.

[abnurtharn]

Side Note:
The king of Denmark even created a fund for bying free Danish sailors taken slaves by the Barbary pirates. In the summer of 1627, Barbary corsairs descended upon Iceland, killing dozens of people and abducting more than 400 to sell as slaves in Salé . It is estimated that between 1530 and 1780 there were almost certainly 1 million and quite possibly as many as 1.25 million white, European Christians enslaved by the Muslims of the Barbary Coast.

[WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

"Islam does not allow murder" "Muslim scholars agree on fratricide law."

[michigansteve]

I actually just finished reading '1453' by Roger Crowley. Excellent book on the fall of Constantinople. Good timing on this video!