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A Street in Constantinople is a picture which one ought to see once not oftener.
~Mark Twain
History as we know it is the study of causality and constructive history is one that is
based on reason and is not normative. Certainly, what happens in past is useful to
understand present and anticipate future. The year, 1453 AD, marks one such
landmark in history of mankind, the fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Turks. An
event that changed the socio-political scenario across Europe. The fall of
Constantinople to the ottoman Turks marked the end of 1100 year old Byzantine
civilization and dawn of a Muslim Empire that would turn out to be one of the
greatest Empires in world history.

The Ottomans
The Ottomans descended from the mass of nomads who rambled in the areas of Altai
Mountains east of Eurasian steppes and south of Yenisei River and Lake Baikal in the
lands that are today part of outer Magnolia.

They lived without a formal government and temporary leadership was entrusted to
the Hans (imperial dynasty of china). Beginning of second century, with changing
political and climatic conditions they moved to Eastern Europe and central Asia. They
were now called the Oghuz. In about 13
th
century the Mongol invasion of west
started. Out of the several horde of Mongols, one led by Halagu Khan (Son of
Genghis Khan) came down through Persia in 1275 AD and destroyed Baghdad and
the feeble Abbasid Caliphate
1
. Later they moved to Asia Minor, subjecting the Seljuk
2


1
the Abbasid Caliphate, was the third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh)
2
the Seljuk originated on the steppes of what is now Kazakhstan where they branch out of
Oghuz Turks called Qinik
2

sultan to their authority. A small Turkish tribe from Oxus in central Asia, during this
period of chaos moved to plateau of Anatolia. According to 15
th
-16
th
century
Ottoman chronicles they belonged to the Qayi tribe of Oghuz Turks
3
. These were the
forefathers of Ottoman Turks.
Anatolia (known as Asia Minor, is a western protrusion of Asia which makes up
majority of modern day Turkey), during 1300 AD was divided into the so, called
Ghazi emirates. One of them was Osman Ghazi Khan, the founder of what was to
become a 600-year old dynasty, Osman (The name ottoman is the historical
anglicization of the word Osman. In Turkish it, was referred to as Devlet-i Aliyye-yi
Osmniyye). Osman remains a mysterious figure in history but it is said he was a
shepherd and a successful military leader. Between years of 1302 AD and his death in
1324 AD, he laid the foundation of the ottoman state. There is not much known
about him but he reputedly had a famous dream that became the foundation myth of
the Ottoman Empire. One night in the home of sheik Edebali (a holy man) he had
this dream about a giant tree growing out of his navel. Edebali who is a holy man
explains to him that that tree is his lineage and advised him to marry his daughter.
Osman married her and laid the foundation of the ottoman dynasty. The tree roots
symbolizes being still and the branches would possibly refer to imperialistic ideology.
So, Osmans dream had two parts settlement and world domination.
4

The ottomans did not come out to be the one of the greatest empires in the world all
by itself. There were many reasons for their success. The empire was highly
centralized (Empire was run successfully by a single family for six centuries). Power
was not split among rival princes and promotion to power was highly based on merit.
They had a state run educational and judicial system. Religion was the state structure.
They were united by Islamic ideology of Jihad (meaning struggling or striving) and
had a very strong army, an elite group of Janissaries who were the vanguards of the
largest army in Europe. When the Ottomans decided to move against a territory they
would proffer an offer that surrender and everything will remain the same. One of the
things they carefully followed was Istimalet (Good will). When the Ottomans came to a
territory they brought along something called Pax Ottomanica (Ottoman peace), this
would have been a very important factor in their success. The non-Muslims
communities under their rule were organized according to the millet system, which

3
however there are no contemporary records to verify this, the latest data relating Ottomans
to Qayi is of late 5th century
4
Excerpt from East to west-the rise of Ottoman Empire. Dir. Melisa Akdogan, DVD documentary
BBC.
3

gave religious, ethnic, geographical minority communities a limited amount of power
to regulate their own affairs- under the overall supremacy of the Ottoman
administration. The first Orthodox Christian millet was established in 1454 AD. This
brought Orthodox Christians into a single community under the leadership of the
Patriarch who had considerable authority given to him by the Sultan. Armenian
Christian, Jewish and other millets followed in due course.
The Ottoman Empire reached its height under Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned
1520-66 AD), when it expanded to cover the Balkans and Hungary, and reached the
gates of Vienna. At its peak the empire included Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Bulgaria,
Romania, Macedonia, Hungary, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Parts of Arabia and
much of the coastal strip of North Africa. The Empire began to decline after being
defeated at the Battle of Lepanto
5
and losing almost its entire navy. It declined
further during the later centuries, and was effectively finished off by the First World
War and the Balkan Wars. The legacy of the Islamic Ottoman Empire is in the robust
secularism of modern Turkey.

Byzantine Empire
The Roman Empire grew too big for one person to control it. It was decide to control
western Empire in Rome and the eastern in Byzantine. This split in the empires is
important to understand the fall of Constantinople. The Byzantine (who called
themselves Roman, although they spoke Greek) were culturally at loggerheads with
the western Roman churches (barbarian west as they called them). The main
difference was religion, the west was catholic and claimed Byzantines were heathens
(infidel) because they would not bow to the pope. Besides, the Byzantine saw their
orthodox version as superior religion to the Catholics.
After 1400 AD Constantinople also called the city was moribund. Adam of Usk, who
was working in king Henry IVs court wrote about Manuel II Palaeologus (the then
byzantine Emperor who visited Henry IV for help against the growing Saracens
(Muslim power), I reflected how grievous it was that this great Christian prince
should be driven by Saracens (Saracen was a term for Muslims widely used in Europe

5
The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a
coalition of southern European Catholic maritime states, decisively defeated the main fleet of
the Ottoman Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off
western Greece. The victory of the Holy League prevented the Ottoman Empire expanding
further along the European side of the Mediterranean.
4

during the later medieval era) from furthest east to furthest western Islands to seek to
seek aid against them. O God, he added what dost thou now, ancient glory of
Rome?
6

Historically, Byzantines supported the crusaders, but their long political power had
taught them tolerance towards the infidel. Holy wars practiced by westerners seemed
dangerous and unrealistic to them. The crusaders were offended by their lukewarm
attitude towards holy wars. These differences deep seated among the two empires and
by the end of twelfth century the Church of Rome and Constantinople were in
schism. This became a primary reason that during the capture of Constantinople in
1453 AD, no help came from the Western Europe while the city fell to the Ottomans.
The conquest of Constantinople had been envisioned, planned and prophesized for
centuries beforehand in the Muslim texts. The Muslim chronicle based on sayings of
the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) relate the conquest of Constantinople to this hadith:
"Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be,
and what a wonderful army will that army be!"
7

The first attempt by Arabs to conquer Constantinople was made in 653 AD, in the
days of caliph Othman (r.a). An army led by Mua wiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, the then
governor of Syria, marched through Asia Minor to Bosporus (also called the Istanbul
Strait). According to Theophanes (historian of the Byzantine), an Arab fleet, led by
Busr ibn Artah, sailed at the same time from Tripoli to Constantinople and defeated
the Roman fleet, led by Emperor Constans II, opposite to mount Phoenix. Twenty
thousand Romans perished but the Muslim fleet, owing to its losses could not
proceed. The second attempt was made in 664 AD. In several later attempts, Muslims
were appalled by the strength and defense of their enemy. They were astounded by
the Greek fire
8
on their ships, ranks and equipment. They finally decide to retire in
658 AD. This Muslim dream was drawing to its climax with the growth of the
Ottoman Turks that would be realized by one extra ordinary man, the direct
descendent of Osman, Sultan Mehmet II.
Mehmet II was the son of Sultan Murad II who led the Ottomans on a 20 years
military success. In 1444, after 23 years in power, he was exhausted of ruling, fighting
and wanted to become a solitary scholar. At this moment he abdicated and handed
over the monarchy to his 11 year old son Mehmed II. This transition of power lasted

6
Runciman, Steven. The fall of Constantinople 1453. United Kingdom: 1-2. University of
Cambridge press, 1965.ch. 1
7
Narrated from Bishr al-Khath`ami or al-Ghanawi by: Ahmad, al-Musnad 14:331 #18859.
8
an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire
5

only for two years after which his enemies in the west, Venice and Hungary were
united and he returned to throne to defend the empire and remained sultan till his
death in 1451 AD. In 1453 AD Mehmet was just 21 years old. His entire life was a
preparation for this moment. Mehmet II rose to power in when he was 19. He did not
enjoy a vote of confidence among the janissaries
9
who were loyal to his father and
were still skeptical and rebellious. As, the enemies outside the empire were regrouping
he needed a bold stroke to mark his presence. He turned his eye to Constantinople. It
was the seat of imperial power and global success. Mehmed II was deeply religious
and studied Sharia (Islamic Law), Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) and was highly
motivated by the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that it would take a great
army and a great leader to conquer Constantinople. With this goal in mind, he
banished the Janissaries who revolted and asked for the allegiance of those who
remained.







9
a member of the Turkish infantry forming the Sultan's guard between the 14th and 19th
centuries
6







Fall of Constantinople
The walls of Constantinople were simply impregnable. It had 40 miles of reinforced
stone walls, in someplace twice as thick and 40 feet high. It was the strongest
fortification of its time. In the spring of 1452 AD, Mehmed ordered to build an
enormous castle on the European side of Bosporus. He was so driven with his desire
that with all his energy and impatience of youth he worked with the stone masons.
This structure (Rumeli fortress) was built in 4.5 months. The Ottomans had already
built another castle on the Asian side of Bosporus, and with strategic advantage they
planned to choke supplies to Constantinople and starve them to submission.
Meanwhile, a Hungarian cannon maker, Urbaan built him a mammoth canon, a beast
with a muzzle length of 26 meters that could fire a thousand pound cannon ball over
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a mile. They positioned the tank against the walls and started firing in triangular or
rectangular patter to weaken the wall strength and then finally shove a massive
cannon ball to the middle, expecting the wall to collapse under its own weight.

Mehmed II had learned that the seaward walls facing the Golden Horn were not as
thick as the land walls. An elite squad of 150 ships were coming down the sea link to
take down the city walls. However, the Byzantines stretched a chain across the golden
horn and denied access to Ottomans. Mehmed decided to take an alternative route.
He commanded 80 ships over a ridge 80 feet high and down again to water on the
other side. This terrified the wits out of the Byzantines.
Meanwhile, the city inside the walls was realizing the inevitable. Constantine prayed in
Hagia Sofia, and asked for help. He did try to persuade the Ottoman ruler to sign a
peace accord but it was already too late.
On the eve of the battle Constantine XI sent a message to Mehmed II:
As it is clear you desire war more than peace, so let it be according to your desire. I
will defend my people to the last drop of my blood. The supreme God calls us both
before his judgment seat.
Mehmed II responded:
The holy war is our basic duty as it was in case of our fathers. Constantinople
situated in the middle of our domain, protects our enemies and insights them against
us. Conquest of this city is therefore essential for the future and safety of the
Ottoman state.
10


On May 29
th
1453 AD, after 7 weeks of intense siege Mehmed ordered a final
onslaught. In his final strategy, a horde of irregulars weakened the Christian frontline,
next regimental troops intensified the battery and finally 5000 janissaries were thrown
into battle to rip the glory. The walls were breached, the city fell. Triumphant,
Mehmed the conqueror called it Istanbul (from the Greek eis tin polin, meaning to the
city). The following days were marked with ceremonies of moaning in St. Peters in
Rome.
To cement his victory, Mehmed headed straight to the epicenter of knowledge and
power of the Byzantium, the Hagia Sofia (church of Holy wisdom), and the largest
cathedral in the then world. Mehmed II though young and hot blood thwarting
through his veins, decide not to destroy but to adapt Hagia Sofia, another symbol of
his maturity and intellect. He turned it into a mosque, which later was turned into a



8

museum by Kemal Ataturk
11
in 1935. The four minarets over Hagia Sofia were not
there in the original Christian structure but were added to it over time in Ottoman
rule. Apart from that a lot of imagery on the inside walls of Hagia Sofia was
whitewashed because imagery is forbidden in Islam.
Buondelmontis map is the only surviving map that shows Constantinople of 1422
AD, before the fall of the city.
Buondelmontis map

A typical contrast to this map is the Piri reis map 70 years after the conquest. It shows
the radical change Mehmed brought to city making it a center of Islamic art and
ideology with mosques, madrassas and baths build all over the city.

11
Mustafa Kemal Atatrk was a Turkish army officer in the Ottoman military, revolutionary
statesman, and the first President of Turkey.
9


Piri reis map


Consequences
It would not be an overstatement to say fall of the city was a precursor to the
Renaissance movement in rest of Europe. The siege was followed by mass exodus of
orthodox Greek scholars to Italy where they fueled the renaissance movement. This
can be traced in part to an enthusiastic outburst by the contemporary writer Leonardo
Bruni
12
, who claimed that one of them, Manuel Chrysoloras (d.1415), had restored to
the Italians a knowledge of classical Greek, which had been lost for seven hundred
years (Bruni, 431).
13

Byzantines were looking towards west as an escape route. They found safe havens in
Italy (especially Florence and Venice). Italy was not only the closest, but it also offered
a vibrant and progressive atmosphere which many Byzantine intellectuals contrasted
favorably with their own ancient traditions and civilization. By about 1478, Greek
population of Venice reached four thousand mainly in Castello areas of the city.

12
an Italian humanist, historian and statesman
13
Introduction accessed April 10, 2014, http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-ren.html
10

The intellectual level of the people who fled from Byzantium to Italy were not all
scholars however, some of them certainly played a part in spreading knowledge of
ancient Greek in these western European cities. There was possible because reading
classical Greek and even composing in the same style were an integral part of
Byzantine higher education.
The fall of Constantinople was one of the precursor to the Spanish exploration of the
new world. With this strategic port in the Muslim empire trade route and links were
compromised and Europe had to start looking for alternative trade routes. The fall
was also a precursor to the reformation movement in Europe. Eastern Christians
expressed a belief that the fall of Constantinople was God's punishment for the
emperor and clergy accepting the West's doctrines of Filioque, purgatory and the
supremacy of the papacy. These ideas led to a movement against the established
church that later culminated into the reformation movement. The fall of the empire
also led to the rise of orthodox Christian Russia which became autocephalous and
thus Moscow called itself the Third Rome, as the cultural heir of Constantinople.

The Khilafat movement
To extend the impact of Ottoman Empire on the rest of the world, a significant
landmark would be the Khilafat movement in twentieth century. The khilafat
(caliphate) movement 1919-1924 was a pan-Islamic political movement launched by
Muslim in British India to protect the caliphate after the World War 1. It gained the
support of Mahatma Gandhi, primarily because of its anti-British drone. However, the
Arabs saw it as a threat of Turkish dominance of Arab Lands. The movement gained
momentum after the treaty of severs
14
. The treaty called for division of Ottoman
Empire and gave Greek a strong position in Anatolia. The Turks called for help and
hence the movement started. The ottoman sultan, Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909)
shrewdly encouraged pan-Islamic sentiments of Muslims everywhere in order to
bolster his own position against the aggressive European powers and political
opposition in Turkey. He sent an emissary Jamal-u-din Afghani to India. In the Indian
context, there was a widespread support for the Ottomans especially brought about
by a prominent Oxford educated Muslim journalist Maulana Mohammad Ali and
showkat Ali, who had spent time in jail for support of Caliphate and denouncing
British rule. The khilafat was not essentially a religious movement but a show of
solidarity for Muslims in Turkey. The khilafat movement was pivotal for the
independence leaders in India to show Hindu-Muslim solidarity in India.



14
a treaty between Ottoman Empire and allies at end of World War I
11



Conclusion
Even though the city of Constantinople collapsed, its culture did not. Years after fall
the culture, literature and theology flourished. The Byzantine culture influenced on
the Western intellectual tradition by bringing them invaluable knowledge and rare
manuscripts and also impact on countries that practiced its Orthodox religion like
Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and many others. As for the Ottomans they started
to spread Islam into Europe which provoked Pope Nicholas V to call for an
immediate crusade to recover holy land from Muslims. Mehmed radically altered the
city with the symbols of Islam. To promote growth, Mehmed maintained Byzantine
trading links and encouraged international traders of renaissance Europe. The
conquest of Constantinople engendered Mehmed IIs lifelong dream to revive the
ruinous citys ancient status as prosperous capital of the world. The Topkapi
complex
15
became the by word of opulence. It was the expression of Mehmeds desire
to build an empire which would rival the legacy of Roman Empire.














15
The Topkap Palace (adjacent to Hagia Sofia) is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the
primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their
624-year reign.
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Citations
1. Gibbon, Edward, William Smith. The history of decline and fall of Roman Empire:
New York, Harper and brothers, 1857.Ch.1.
2. Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey: Empire of
Ghazis. New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1976.Ch.1.
3. Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey: Empire of
Ghazis. New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1976.Ch. 3, 4.
4. Runciman, Steven. The fall of Constantinople 1453. United Kingdom: University of
Cambridge press, 1965. Ch.3.
5. Runciman, Steven. The fall of Constantinople 1453. United Kingdom: University of
Cambridge press, 1965. Ch.1 pg. 1-3
6. Minault, Gail. The khilafat movement: Religious symbolism and political mobilization in
India. New York: Columbia University press, 1982.Ch.2.
7. D Nicole, J Haldon, S. Turnbull. The fall of Constantinople: The Ottoman conquest of
Byzantium. Great Britain: Osprey, 2007.
8. Hutton, William Holden. Constantinople: the story of the old capital of the empire.
Egypt: Library of Alexandria.
9. As it is clear that you desire war accessed April 10,2014, Introduction accessed
April 10, 2014, http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-
ren.html
10. Introduction accessed April 10, 2014, http://www.the-
orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-ren.html












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