The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors

On the edge of Europe

is the city that was once the heart of a mighty empire.

From here in Istanbul,

the glories of the Ottoman Empire came to match those of Ancient Rome.

Ottoman rulers were of course known for their lavish lifestyles

and their sumptuous buildings.

For 600 years, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century,

one dynasty of Ottoman sultans from a single family

ruled across huge swathes of the world.

This is an empire of a million square miles,

staggeringly wealthy because it's staggeringly well organized.

The empire stretched south to Baghdad and Cairo,

controlling the holiest sites of Islam.

But it also reached deep into Europe

taking in Sarajevo and threatening the gates of Vienna.

It was the cradle of a civilisation and a culture

which has infused Europe

to Europe's benefit. Europe is the richer for it.

In this series, I'm discovering why the Ottoman Empire seems to have

vanished from our understanding of the history of Europe,

why its story is exciting global interest once more

and how this year, struggles at the heart of the Ottoman story

have reignited on the streets they once ruled,

from Syria to Turkey and Egypt.

It's remarkable how some of the most important, yet unresolved, issues

confronting us today, were also faced by the Ottomans -

the conflicts between the Christian West and the Muslim East,

the need to reconcile secular politics with religious ideology

and balancing the demands of the clergy

with the ambitions of the generals. All this was faced by one dynasty

that ruled for 600 years, across three continents.

In this episode, I'm going to explore the huge contrasts

in the times of two very different Ottoman sultans...

..the most famous - Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century...

..and the troubled reign of Abdul Hamid II

in the 19th century.

I want to know what a Muslim world, run from Europe was really like

and how it has shaped the relationship

between Islam and Europe today.

Across the continents,

down the centuries,

I'll be trying to get to grips with what we all need to know today

about Europe's Muslim Emperors.

This is the magnificent Topkapi Palace,

the nerve centre of the most powerful Muslim empire

the world has ever seen.

It was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II

in the middle of the 15th century.

Its commanding position overlooks Istanbul,

the imperial capital he conquered from the Byzantines in 1453,

declaring the Ottomans successors of the Roman Empire.

And this is what the Ottoman sultans would have seen when they walk out

onto this incredible balcony next to the Treasury Room

in the Topkapi Palace. They would have been able to see in one view

two of the three continents upon which their empire was built -

Europe on that side and Asia on that side -

separated only by the narrow waters of the Bosphorus

and it just simply takes your breath away.

Inside are a set of rooms which tell the story

of the rise of the Ottoman Empire.

The home of the hareem,

where Christian slave girls captured in Europe

provided heirs for the dynasty.

The home of the Treasury where the empire's vast wealth was secured.

The home of the sacred treasures of Islam,

symbols of the Ottoman leadership of the Muslim world.

This was the epicentre, the heart and soul of Ottoman imperial power.

In 1520, 70 years after it was built,

all this was inherited by the most famous of all the Ottoman sultans

who led the Ottomans into their golden age -

Suleiman the Magnificent.

Suleiman was a figure and a name to be conjured with

in London as in every other capital city of Europe.

Suleiman's name came up in Shakespeare,

Suleiman's name was probably on the lips of everybody in the pub.

A war leader and a great administrator,

a man of considerable cultural achievement,

a man who was interested in learning,

Suleiman is one of the most impressive figures of the age.

The empire Suleiman inherited had just expanded dramatically.

After two centuries of Ottoman conquests in Christian Europe

his father had taken control of new lands

across Africa and the Arab Muslim world.

The capture of two cities unlocked vast lands.

Defeating the Mamluk Empire in modern day Syria

gave the Ottomans lands extending to the sacred city of Jerusalem.

Taking Cairo gave them territory as far as the holiest sites of Islam -

Mecca and Medina.

The Ottoman sultans now ruled over a vast Muslim population.

And it altered the equilibrium of the state

which had up until that point been predominantly Christian.

It was a change that sealed the future direction of the empire.

For the Ottomans to take charge of the Arab Muslim world

was a seismic shift.

They'd emerged in the late 13th century in what's now Turkey

as mercenary horsemen whose ancestors had converted to Islam

centuries after most Arabs

and who had traditionally worn their religion lightly.

For the Arab world,

the Ottoman conquest opened a whole new page in their history.

Now, for the first time, they found themselves ruled

not from one of their own cities, but from distant Istanbul.

The Ottoman conquest led to a shift of the centre of gravity

away from the Arab world.

Suleiman had to assert the Ottoman's right to rule Arab Muslims

from a European capital, which 70 years before his accession,

was still a Christian city.

Istanbul's culture, its language and its history

were all quite different from those of Arab Muslims.

The first mosque ever built by the Ottomans here shows how soon after

they conquered the city, they tried to give their imperial capital

a direct connection to the founder of the faith.

Just as the tradition of St Peter coming to Rome

and being buried there gave the Pope his legitimacy in that city,

the Ottomans discovered their own equivalent on this site.

Except the remains found here

were said to be those of a famous close companion

of the Prophet Muhammad - the Sahaba or disciple-like figure -

Ayyub Ansari.

The site of Ayyub Ansari's supposed grave

became very important for the Ottomans all through their history.

It still has a great magic about it.

Ayyub Ansari died, according to tradition,

during a 7th century attempt on Istanbul

proposed by the Prophet himself.

Then, 800 years later,

Sultan Mehmet II's conquering regime

miraculously found his remains.

It's just a legend.

Probably they did not find anything

related to Ayyub Ansari,

but to make this newly taken Christian city

the Islamic centre of the world,

they "found",

"discovered" the tomb of Ayyub al-Ansari

and it worked.

In time it became customary for new sultans to walk along this path

to the shrine as part of their accession ceremony.

Hence its name - Accession Road.

If Rome, a city 1,400 miles from Jerusalem,

could become the centre of Christian authority,

then for the Ottomans, Istanbul, 2,000 miles from Mecca,

could become the new centre of Muslim authority.

And as the Christian world had its Pope,

the Muslim world had from the time of the Prophet a similar position -

the Caliph,

a title that thanks to his father's conquests,

Suleiman now inherited.

They were sultans but they also gave themselves the title of Caliph.

In doing, so they made themselves

not just the political leaders of the Muslim world,

but the spiritual leaders, too.

The word Caliph means "successor" in Arabic.

Basically, when Prophet Muhammad died, Muslims sat down and said,

"What are we going to do now?" I mean, they had a political community.

"Who will be the leader, who will lead us?"

The Ottomans, Ottoman sultans, defined themselves as Caliphs

as successors to Prophet Muhammad.

The title still resonated across the Muslim world.

To support their claim to the title of Caliph

the Ottomans seized from their conquered Arab lands

sacred treasures of unimaginable importance to Muslims.

They took all the relics associated with the Prophet Muhammad

from Mecca as well as from Cairo to bring back as a very sacred booty,

that would give the high seat of religiosity

that the Ottomans required.

Tradition has it that this ornate trunk,

kept here in the Palace of the Sultans,

contains the mantel of the Prophet.

A cloak that had belonged to the founder of the faith.

After the Prophet's death,

Muslim leaders had used the cloak to legitimize their power.

Now the Ottomans did the same.

Even in the modern age, the symbolism of the cloak,

and its connection to the Prophet, has a powerful appeal.

Here in Kandahar, in 1996, as the Taliban overran Afghanistan,

the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, brandished another cloak,

claiming it had once belonged to the Prophet Muhammad.

Sacred artefacts and the title Caliph

strengthened the Ottoman's legitimacy

within the Muslim world and beyond.

As a universal title, the Caliph was historically considered

as a patron, if not a ruler,

of all Muslims and the Ottomans very much play

on this notion of patronage,

that they become the patrons and protectors of Muslims everywhere.

The Ottomans called themselves the guardians of the holy places.

Now, that's just words,

but they followed up on their words,

by putting a distinctive architectural stamp

on Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.

Suleiman the Magnificent spent millions

putting a new coat of decoration on the Dome of the Rock.

It glistened and shone in the sun, it was brand new, it was sparkling

and it was very warmly received.

And above all, it's an act of possession,

it's an act of appropriation, it says

there's a new boss and this is his mark.

And that was a message to the rest of the Islamic world.

Suleiman was Caliph but he wasn't only interested in defining