A Review of The “Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition” by Norman Itzkowitz

Norman Itzkowitz ’s analysis of the origins and the rise of the Ottoman Empire is as well written, as it is succinct. Like other authors and historians he starts from the perspective that the Ottoman Empire began to emerge in the fourteenth century because the Ottoman Turks had a series of highly capable Sultans. Rulers that made the most of Ottoman Turk strengths as well as taking advantages of the weaknesses of the states and empires that surrounded them. Sometimes the enemies of the Ottoman Turks were only weakened for a short time yet still became part of the Ottoman Empire. In many respects the policies of the Ottoman Sultans were generally astute, which is more than can be said for the majority of the states and empires that they conquered during this period.

Norman Itzkowitz points out that the rise of the Ottoman Empire was accelerated by the inability of their enemies and adversaries to unite against them upon a frequent enough basis, or indeed take the Ottoman Turk threat seriously.

During the rise of the Ottoman Empire its Sultans fought wars against Muslim and Non-Muslim enemies, usually with a great deal of success. Norman Itzkowitz partly attributes the successful expansion down to the quality, as well as the power of the Ottoman army and later the Ottoman navy. Without highly effective armies and navies then the Ottoman Empire would probably never have been as large as it eventually became at its zenith. The Sultans of the Ottoman Empire at least during the expansion of the empire had the knack of attacking enemies when they were at their weakest and therefore their most vulnerable, for example the Byzantine Empire and the Mamluks in Egypt, Iraq, and Syria.

The early chapters of the Norman Itzkowitz book analyse the rapid expansion and rise of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, Asia Minor, as well as in Central and Southern Europe. Itzkowitz contends like other authors and historians that the rapid expansion of the Janissary system was fundamental for the military successes of the Ottoman Turks in making such extensive territorial gains. The expanding Ottoman Empire certainly took consistent advantage of the divisions of its adversaries and enemies.

For example the Byzantine Empire had been severely weakened by Christian rivals as well as Islamic attacks against it from the seventh century onwards. Just like the Ottoman Empire the Byzantine Empire declined over centuries rather than decades. In any event the Byzantine Empire might have offered greater resistance to the remorseless expansion of the Ottoman Empire had it been helped rather than severely hindered by the Christian powers of Western Europe, particularly the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The Fourth Crusade did a great deal to drastically weaken the Byzantine Empire, to the ultimate advantage of the Ottoman Turks.