as Nusayris) and Twelve-Imam Shii religious
authorities in southern iraq, particularly in the
19th and early 20th centuries. Another form of
Islam that flourished in Ottoman lands was that
of the Sufi brotherhoods (sing. tariqa), especially
those of the naqshbandis, bektashis, mevlevis,
and Khalwatis.
The empire, above all the capital Istanbul,
also featured a multiethnic mix of peoples and
religions. The Ottomans incorporated the mil-
let system under their system of government,
allowing different groups of Orthodox Christians,
armenians, and Jews to practice their religions
under their own leadership in different localities
throughout the empire. Each community also
maintained its own schools. When sephardic
JeWs were expelled by the Christian rulers of
Spain in 1492 the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II (r.
1481–1512) issued a decree inviting them to
immigrate to the Ottoman realm, and large num-
bers took advantage of the opportunity. However,
whatever harmony had existed between religious
communities and ethnic groups deteriorated with
the rise of nationalisms and Ottoman repressions
against rebelling minorities in the 19th and 20th
centuries. The most violent of these was directed
against the Armenians in the closing years of the
empire during World War I (1915–17).
During the six centuries of its existence, the
Ottoman Empire developed a unique culture
shared by the variety of peoples under its sway,
and arts such as literature, music, and architecture
flourished. Since the demise of the empire this
culture has been replaced by a series of ethnic and
linguistic national cultures. Nevertheless, traces
of the Ottoman synthesis can still be found in
the culinary traditions shared by peoples living in
the Balkans, Turkey, and the lands bordering the
eastern Mediterranean, where stuffed vegetables
(dolmas), skewered kabobs, yoghurt dishes, bak-
lava, and “Turkish” coffee are favorite items on
the menu.
See also alaWi; bosnia and herzegovina;
caliphate; christianity and islam; constitUtion-
alism; Food and drink; Janissary; JUdaism and
islam; mUhammad ali dynasty; selJUk dynasty;
saFavid dynasty; tanzimat; tekke; tUrkish lan-
gUage and literatUre.
Mark SoileauFurther reading: Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire:
The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman
Itzkowitz and Colin Imber (New York: Praeger Publish-
ers, 1973); Norman Itzkowitz, “The Ottoman Empire:
The Rise and Fall of Turkish Domination.” In The World
of Islam: Faith, People, Culture, edited by Bernard Lewis,
273–300 (London: Thames and Hudson, 1976); Cemal
Kafadar, Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the
Ottoman State (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 1995); Stanford Shaw and Ezel Kural
Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2
vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976).K 540 Ottoman dynasty