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The rise of the Ottoman Empire originated in a small part of country facing the Byzantine Empire. The leaders of this empire, where a group of Turks, that fled from Persia. The leaders name was Estugrul. Leadership of the Ottomans passed to his son Osman I, and was to endure for 600 years. The Ottomans conquered all the lands around the city of Constantinople, but did not conquer the city itself until 1453. In this year the Ottomans commenced with a 50 day siege of the city and on May 29th the Ottomans fought through the city gates. Mehmed II immediately went to the Hagia Sophia and made it his base of operations. One key ingredient in the fall of Constantinople was the use of cannon by the Muslims. The Muslim cannon bombarded the walls of Constantinople and finally reduced them to rubble. The rise of the Ottomans was a direct result of the 4th crusade and the chaotic conditions that took place in the Middle East. Through this chaos emerged a new power in Anatolia, the Ottoman Turks. One effect and probably the largest, was the fact that the Ottomans made Constantinople an Islamic city when for years it had been a Christian city. Another effect that took place was, by conquering Constantinople the Ottoman Empire sealed the empire and made it whole, by connecting Asia and Africa.Suleiman had many important military events during his reign. He had victory after victory against the Christians. He captured Belgrade, the Greek island of Rhodes and Bude which is on the Danube River. His forces also killed the King of Hungary and unsuccessfully laid siege to the city of Vienna. In the years 1520-1530 he brought North Africa all the way to the Moroccan frontier under his rule. Each country he conquered, Suleiman installed a governor to rule in his stead. But he remained the supreme ruler of all countries he conquered and controlled.

Suleiman contributed many things culturally while in charge. He made Istanbul the center of the Islamic world. He rebuilt the city, and turned the Hagia Sophia into a mosque instead of destroying it. Suleiman made Istanbul Islam's center for visual art, music, architecture, writing and philosophy. He also had many architectural projects built that rivaled anything the western world did, including temples, bridges and mosques. Suleiman was also one of Islam's greatest poets and wrote many works.
Suleimans Empire was vast and is summed up in a short paragraph written by Paul Pittman. "The long reign of Suleiman I was the Ottoman golden age. When he died in 1566, the Ottoman Empire was a major world power. Most of the great cities of IslamMecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, Tunis, and Baghdadwere under the Sultan's crescent flag. The Porte exercised direct control over Anatolia, the Balkan provinces south of the Danube River, Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. Egypt, Mecca, and the North African provinces were governed under special regulations, as were satellite domains in Arabia, in the Caucasus, and among the Crimean Tartars. In addition, the native rulers of Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, and Ragusa were vassals of the Sultan". So you can see that at the height of the empires prowess it was a vast empire.

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