Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire (2nd ed.)

The Ottoman Empire, like its eventual rival the Habsburg Empire, was a dynastic kingdom whose rule encompassed most of the Middle East, most of North Africa, and parts of Europe at its peak in the mid-17th century. Osman I founded the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century, and subsequent rulers, or Sultans, rapidly expanded the boundaries of the territory. In the 15th and 16th centuries the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, putting an end to the powerful Byzantine Empire and expanded north i