List of Sultans of The Ottoman Empire - Ottoman State Orgaization

Ottoman State Orgaization

The Ottoman State was an absolute monarchy during much of its existence. The sultan was at the apex of the hierarchical Ottoman system and acted in political, military, judicial, social, and religious capacities under a variety of titles. He was theoretically responsible only to God and God's law (the Islamic şeriat, known in Arabic as sharia), of which he was the chief executor. His heavenly mandate was reflected in Irano-Islamic titles such as "shadow of God on Earth" (zill Allah fi'l-alem) and "caliph of the face of the earth" (halife-i ru-yi zemin). All offices were filled by his authority, and every law was issued by him in the form of a decree called firman. He was the supreme military commander and had the official title to all land. Ertoghrul served as the elected leader of the Ottomans from 1230 until his death in 1281. In 1281, Ertoghrul's son, Osman, became elected leader of the Ottomans. From 1299 until his death in 1324, Osman served as Osman I "Sultan of the Ottoman Empire."

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman sultans came to regard themselves as the successors of the Roman Empire, hence their occasional use of the titles Caesar (kaysar) and Emperor. Following the conquest of Egypt in 1517, Selim I also adopted the title of caliph, thus claiming to be the universal Muslim ruler. Newly enthroned Ottoman rulers were girded with the Sword of Osman, an important ceremony that served as the equivalent of European monarchs' coronation. A non-girded sultan was not eligible to have his children included in the line of succession.

Although theocratic and absolute in theory and in principle, the sultan's powers were limited in practice. Political decisions had to take into account the opinions and attitudes of important members of the dynasty, the bureaucratic and military establishments, as well as religious leaders. From the 17th century onwards, the empire entered into a long-term period of stagnation, during which the sultans were much enfeebled. Many of them ended up being deposed by the powerful Janissary corps. Despite being barred from inheriting the throne, women of the Imperial Harem—especially the reigning sultan's mother, known as the Valide Sultan—also played an important behind-the-scenes political role, effectively ruling the empire during the period known as the sultanate of women.

The declining powers of the sultans are evidenced by the difference in reign lengths between early sultans and later ones. Suleiman I, who ruled the empire when it was at its zenith in the 16th century, had a reign of 46 years, the longest in Ottoman history. Murad V, who ruled in the late 19th-century period of decline, had the shortest reign on record: he was in power for just 93 days before being deposed. Constitutionalism was only established during the reign of Murad V's successor, Abdülhamid II, who thus became the empire's last absolute ruler and its first constitutional monarch. Since 2009, the head of the Ottoman Dynasty and pretender to the defunct Ottoman throne has been Bayezid Osman, a great-grandson of Abdülmecid I.