Universal Imperium Ottomanicum – An Alternate Timeline

Universal Imperium Ottomanicum – An Alternate Timeline​

December 1699
Sultan Mustafa Khan II recognized supremacy of Western Civilization after the Treaty of Karlowitz.

July 1700
Ottoman-Russian peace treaty signed (Treaty of Istanbul).

September 1700
All war taxes abolished.

January 1701
Sultan Mustafa Khan II established a secret council for create a Reformation Plan.This counsil was highly secret because of fear of reactionary Janissary Corps.

May 1701
First Reformation Plan completed and presented to Sultan Mustafa Khan II by secret council.
September 1701
Dawn of The Daggers
After the secret preparations,Sultan Mustafa Khan II invited to Imperial Palace ring-leaders of Janissary Corps for rank promotions.Five hundred jannisary officer promoted and Sultan Mustafa Khan II held a entertainment for rank promotions.
Ring-leaders of Janissary Corps invited to Imperial Palace by Sultan Mustafa Khan II for
rank promotions.Sultan Mustafa Khan II helded a night of entertainment after the rank promotions ceremony.During the dawn of this night all ring-leaders of Janissary Corps killed by most loyal bostanci and levent troops.Reactionary Movement destoreyed in Janissary Corps.
After the one week of Dawn of The Daggers,Sultan Mustafa Khan II introduced reform on Janissarry Corps.French style regimantal system and new ranks and uniforms.

January 1702
Night of Grief
Sultan Mustafa Khan II ordered the kill all Shahzades without own sons.
First phase of First Reformation Plan completed after the Night of Grief.

February 1702
First reformed Janisarry battalion formed.Standard weapon of reformed Janisarry was flintlock rifle.

April 1702
Battle of Atmeydani
Reactionary madrasah students,Kapikulu Sipahis,Cebecis revolted with support of reactionary Viziers against Sultan Mustafa Khan II.
Reactionary forces destoreyed by Most loyal troops of Sultan Mustafa Khan II (Bostancis,Levents,Bashibozuks and three reformed Janissarry Battalion) at Atmeydani.
All reactionary Viziers murdered.Their assets seized to Imperial Treasury.
Kapikulu Sipahis and Cebeci Corps abolished.

May 1702
Ottoman Embassy was opened in Paris.

September 1702
Ottoman-French Friendship Treaty signed.

December 1702
Imperial Legion formed (one french mercenary battalion for example for reformed Janissary Corps).

French army officers hired for Reformation Counsil with confirmation of King Louis XIV of France.

January 1703
French Embassy was opened in Istanbul.

March 1703
Sultan Mustafa Khan II did not appoint new Grand Vizier after the death of old Grand Vizier.Ottoman Imperial Administration at one hand.

April – September 1703
Conquest of Imereti
Kingdom of Imereti (Ottoman vassal in Georgia) did not send annual payment to Sublime Porte several years.Sultan Mustafa Khan II decided to annex Kingdom of Imereti.Ottoman Army (Imperial Legion,five reformed Janissarry Battalion,10.000 azab infantry,40.000 Timarlı Sipahi,300 mixed canons) conquered Kingdom of Imereti under command of Kopruluzade Abdullah Pasha.Kingdom of Imereti becomes Ottoman province.This is first military success of reforms.
 
Last edited:
Attention Please ! Help is Needed
About the Ottoman-French Relations.
About the Reformation Ideas.
About the Centralization of Ottoman Empire.
 
Attention Please ! Help is Needed
About the Ottoman-French Relations.
About the Reformation Ideas.
About the Centralization of Ottoman Empire.

I’ll take a stab at this.
1.
The relationship between the Court of France and the Sublime Porte dated back to at least Francis I, when Suliman the Magnificant attempted to coordinate their actions against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Relatively little benefit came to the Sublime Porte from the alliance, the French benefitted greatly from trade in the East, while the Ottomans navy received some support by the French.

Fast forward 160 years. Louis XIV, like his Valois predecessors sought to weaken the Austrian Habsburgs. The most direct way to do so was to weaken their base of power, which was outside the Holy Roman Empire by this point. Louis XIV subsidized Imre Thokoly, a Protestant Hungarian Patriot, and encouraged his revolt against the Emperor Leopold. Thokoly was also a de facto client of the Ottoman Empire at the time (1678) and became one explicitly when he became Prince of Transylvania, and became the Sultan’s vassal.

Imre’s successor, Francis II Rákóczi, was still very much active in the early 18th century, seeking to overthrow the oppressive rule of the Habsburgs. He was supported by Louis XIV’s arms and gold. The Ottomans would have done well to support him as well, I don’t know a great deal about Rákóczi’s politics, but he would probably be very open to having the Sultan as his overlord in Hungary and Translyvania. The Ottoman Empire is still very much in striking distance of the Austrian Empire, even after the Treaty of Karlowitz, with some effort they could probably project power into Hungary.

The French were much more interested in exploiting their relationship with the Ottomans for the benefit of trading in the East. I believe for some time the French were the only European power that was allowed to trade in Egypt without paying imposts. Like in the 16th century, the French aid to the Sublime Porte was limited, but this was in large part due to an aversion to seeking the aid of the West in Constantinople. The Sultans and most of their advisors saw the world through an Islamic world view, in which the surest way to strengthen the Empire was to “restore balance” and rule in accordance with Islamic law. This would not have hurt, but it was this attitude that made their Empire so resistant to change until the end of the 18th century, when the French invasion of Egypt shocked the Ottoman Elite out of their backward looking ways, and forced them to look to the West, not the East for inspiration to reform.

2.
To act against the Janissaries, the Sultan would do well to rely upon the Sipahis, their traditional rivals. They never ceased to look down at the Janissaries, who were not after all Turks. The Sipahis, however were little more than feudal knights, who owed military service to the Sultan as their liege lord. The sultan would have to continue to rely upon them to manage his vast empire, but their military value would continue to decline at the 18th century continued to advance.

A more organized system of succession would do wonders for stability at the top. Sultans lived in constant fear of their sons or brothers conspiring against them, as a result often had their brothers killed, and imprisoned their sons in their harems. This made their overthrow less likely, but it meant that their successors had no experience in government, and often had serious mental deficiencies.

A wise Sultan could seek to bring back the traditional way that their sons gained experience: send them to govern provinces in their youth, and select the most able as their successor. Of course any Sultan willing to try that would have to have his own court under control and his own house in order, something that was rarely achieved in the House of Osman in the 18th century.

3
The Ottoman Sultan was already the absolute ruler of his domains, as well as the leader of his faith. Formally, there really are not too many ways to increase centralization of the Ottoman state.

In practice the degree of control that the Sultan exercised over his domains varied dramatically by region. The Barbary States, Egypt, Mesopotamia and the area of present-day Romania had a very great deal of independence, if not autonomy. I am not sure if there are any obvious ways to increase the Sultan’s control over his vast domains in the 18th century. Certainly anything that made the local governors (Walis) more accountable to the Sultan would help, but there are only limited means of doing so in the 18th century.

The Sultan’s best bet would probably be to appoint his own family members as his personal viceroy in far off regions, with full authority to deal with local matters, while being obliged to do no more than obey the Sultan’s directives and send him tribute.

The system of tax collection and assessment were also hopelessly outdated, but again, technology and political culture would make that very hard to change in the 18th century. The only type of taxes that could be efficiently collected in this time period (in addition to head taxes) were imposts and excise taxes, due to the simple fact that the majority of trade passes through a limited number of large ports that can be easily monitored by local tax collectors. Therefore, anything that increased foreign trade would increase the revenues collected by the Ottomans.

Developing a system of public finance would also aid in the centralization of the state. This was not achieved during this era because mainstream Islamic law is opposed to usury. Public financing would have allowed the Ottoman state to finance wars more rationally, and undertake state commercial enterprises. Maybe have the Sultan rely upon his Jewish subjects to handle the dirty business of floating loans?
 
“Reformed” Janissary Corps
First "Reformed" Janissary battalion founded on February 1702.
First "Reformed" Janissary regiment founded on February 1703.
First "Reformed" Janissary division founded on February 1704.
Second "Reformed" Janissary division founded on February 1705.
Third "Reformed" Janissary division founded on February 1706.

Note:
New janissaries were recruit from Rumelia and Anatolia and all of them Turkish origin and aged 18 or 21.
The regiment was formed as a line infantry regiment along French regulations and organization . The regiment consisted of four combat battalions and one depot battalion; each battalion had four regular infantry companies, one heavy infantry company, and one skirmisher company.
 
Last edited:

January 1704
The second phase of the First Reformation Plan launched.
Imperial Ministry of War established.
All old Kapıkulu Corps abolished.

February 1704
Imperial War Academy established.

May 1704
Timarli Sipahi Corps abolished.
Imperial Guardians Corps established.
Nizamiyye Corps established.

June 1704
The new Walls of Costantinople construction was started by French military engineers.

July 1704
Ottoman Empire and Kingdom of France signed Military and Economic Alliance Treaty.

September 1704
Flintlock Rifle Factory and Artillery Factory construction was started by French military engineers.

December 1704
Imperial Decree for Taxes of Reformation introduced to all male subjects of Ottoman Empire.
 
Centralization of Egypt

Sultan Mustafa Khan introduced Imperial Decree for Centralizition Egypt Province because of increasing costs of Reformation.

Most loyal Vizier Kopruluzade Abdullah Pasha appoint as General Governor of Egypt for the implementation of Imperial Decree for Centralizition Egypt Province.

Vizier Kopruluzade Abdullah Pasha and his Army arrived Cairo on June 1705.
Ottoman Egypt ruled by Mamluks with great autonomy.Mamluks revolted Vizier Kopruluzade Abdullah Pasha on September 1705.

Mamluk forces sieged Cairo on November 1705.

Mamluk forces entered Cairo on January 1706 after tactical retreat of Ottoman forces.Ottoman forces re-located at Citadel of Cairo and continued resistance.

Imperial Navy and Kopruluzade Numan Pasha's forces landed Alexanderia crushed Mamluks of Alexanderia and began move to Cairo February 1706.

Kopruluzade Abdullah Pasha's Army assaulted Mamluks and with support of People of Cairo.

Mamluks retreated to outside of Cairo on March 1706.

Kopruluzade Abdullah Pasha's Army and Kopruluzade Numan Pasha's Army co-operative assault against Mamluks at outside of Cairo.

All Mamluks forces destroyed by uinted Ottoman forces at Battle of Cairo.

Mamluk Hunt started after Battle of Cairo.

All Mamluks of Cairo eliminated in 1707.

Egypt directly ruled by Sultan Mustafa Khan II.

Mamluk Beys treasures arrived Istanbul June 1707.
 
Well, the most knowledgeable person about the Ottomans (Abdul) has been banned. He'd be best suited for commenting on the plausibility of the whole scenario.

We do have some other Arab and/or Muslim members though. Said Mohmamed is one, I think.

Would the reformed Ottoman infantry be called Janissaries though? They'd be "new troops" technically, but I think that name might be a bit tainted right now.
 
Would the reformed Ottoman infantry be called Janissaries though? They'd be "new troops" technically, but I think that name might be a bit tainted right now.

Sultan Mustafa Khan II did not abolished Janissaries but abolished other Kapikulu Corps and eliminated disloyal and reactionary factions at Janissary Corps in this ATL.Janissaries's legacy not too bad in this times about early 1700's.Ottoman Empire only losses Hungary and Morea after the Treaty of Karlowitz in OTL.For example Pruth River Campaign agianst Russia.
 

Free Lancer

Banned
Very interesting but I don’t know much about the Ottoman Empire to ask anything though
 
Last edited:
1710

Grand Army of Ottoman Empire

Janissary Corps
Three Division(located at Istanbul,Ankara,Belgrade)
43200 highly disiplined infantry
4320 highly disiplined cavalry
360 artillery

Nizamiyye Army
Nine Division (located at Rumelia,Anatolia,European Borders,Syria,Iraq,Egypt,Tripolitania,Tunis,Algiers)
126000 disiplined infantry

Army of Crimean Khanate
96000 Cavalry (12000 Dragoons,84000 Hussars)
 
Pruth River Campaign

King Charles XII of Sweden asylum to Ottoman Empire after Battle of Poltava against the Russia.
Russia demanded King Charles XII of Sweden must be submission to them.Sultan Mustafa Khan II Khan did not accepted this demand and declared war Russia.
Peter I of Russia did not give importance to the declaration of war.
Ottoman Army and Russian Army encountered near of the Pruth River.
About this time, joining the army of the Crimea to the Ottoman Army was contrary directions.
Accordingly, the Russian forces there, caught between two forces.
Russian Army was besieged by Ottoman Army and Army of the Crimea.
Peter I has fallen into hard to not accept the situation and he panicked.
Russian Army destroyed in seven hours at near of the Pruth River on June 1711.
Peter I killed by one Janissarry and his wife Catherine captured.

(Ottoman Army commanded by Sultan Mustafa Khan II,Russian commanded by Peter I of Russia.)
(Ottoman Army:Nearly 200000 troops,Russian Army:Nearly 100000 troops.)


Conquests in Russia

Russia fall into chaos after death of Peter I.
Ottoman forces re-captured Azak Fort September 1711.
Crimean Tatar forces conquered Don Cossacks's lands and south part Ukrrainian Cossacks's lands with support of Ottoman forces on 1712.
Ottoman Army and Crimean forces conquered Astrakhan on 1713 under command of Second Vizier Kopruluzade Abdullah Pasha on 1713.
Ukrainian Cossacks declared independence from Russia on 1713.
South part of Russia plundered by Crimean forces on 1714.
 
Last edited:
Question, why would France and the Ottoman Empire sign a military pact? I could see an economic one, but I don't see the reasoning behind a military one.
 
Question, why would France and the Ottoman Empire sign a military pact? I could see an economic one, but I don't see the reasoning behind a military one.

Reasons of Ottoman-French Alliance
-Ottomans do not forget Great Turkish War era.Habsburgs still mayor threat at west.Also Frenchs still fighting agianst Habsburgs (War of the Spanish Succession).
-Ottoman accepted Western Supremacy (as a technical).Because of this Frenchs good example for Ottomans.
-At the French side,Ottoman Empire a good economic market.
 
Reasons of Ottoman-French Alliance
-Ottomans do not forget Great Turkish War era.Habsburgs still mayor threat at west.Also Frenchs still fighting agianst Habsburgs (War of the Spanish Succession).
-Ottoman accepted Western Supremacy (as a technical).Because of this Frenchs good example for Ottomans.
-At the French side,Ottoman Empire a good economic market.

Oooh, okay. Is there any European reaction to the treaty?

And, not to sound whiny, but could you make your font size a bit bigger? :eek:

Very interesting timeline so far.
 
Top