Ottoman Empire

The ottoman empire rose and became the strongest empire during this time. They conquered many different civilizations and countries. they were a very successful civilization during this time. I find their economic view to be very interesting. the state functioned as an extension of the sultan household. their economic system aimed to maximize prosperity and wealth by military conquest. I think this is very interesting because it seems that these military conquest made this civilization financially prosperous as well and military sufficient too. I think it is also interesting that the states servants were exempt from taxation. seems like this tough civilization had some sympathy for its servants. small scale urban industry and trade was a major way to acquire wealth during this time. this is a theme that has come up in topics before. such as last week when the guest speaker came and spoke about italy and trade. seems to be a reoccurring theme throughout this class. This system was ruled by one sultan. sultan Suleyman was the main reason of his prosperous civilization. he lead his empire to success and domination. the highest governing body during this time was the imperial council. the state handled petitions and complaints from peasants. this was very unusual during this time. this text also says that the Ottoman central government displayed an attitude of flexibility and willingness to negotiate. I found this very interesting because I saw this empire as a very tough and ruthless society. I never knew that they had this organized of a court system and were actually an understand civilization.