THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
For more than 600 years, Muslims Ottoman Turks ruled one of the largest empires ever seen. It stretched across the Middle East, central and southern Europe, and Africa. Powerful emperors called sultans rued this huge territory with the help of the janissaries, a personal army of Slave-soldiers. The ottoman empire began as tiny state in the northwest of present-day Turkey. The Ottoman were skilful warriors and they quickly increased their territory. In 1453, they captured Constantinopole, which had been the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire for 1,100 years.Renamed Istanbul,It became the centre of their islamic empire , and its rulers, the sultans, were leaders of the Muslim world. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the empire became very powerful and wealthy. The sultans built grand mosques and palaces, many of which can still be seen today. The different cities became famous for the beautiful decorative arts practised by their craftsmen: Iznik for ceramics, Bursa for si...