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Rise and fall of Ottoman Empire-Seljuk Turks of central Asia

Bipin Shah November 2015

Abstract:

Martin Luther King once said, “We are not maker of the history, but we are made by the

history.” Our previous paper on Turkish and other nomads discussed, how northern steppe

nomads of medieval age attacked civilized and sedentary society of the south. The civilized

societies of South were ancient civilization with established trade, international commerce,

agricultures, and urbanized well planned cities with material culture. The steppe nomads did

not possess similar culture and certainly felt deprivation of material culture. Initially, they

fought for grazing lands and moved from place to place enduring harsh conditions of the

steppe. The most notable advantage they possessed was easy access of speedy war horses.

They learned cannon and gunpowder technology by the association with other nomads from

their invasion to Chinese heartland and Chinese themselves.

The Grand historians of Hans Emperor of China (Sima Quin) identifies some of these early

nomadic tribes and named them. There was some relationship among those nomads but

lacks enough details as how closely they were linked to ancient Mongol-Hunnic-Turkic people

and their languages. Earlier suspects were “Dinghu”, “Teng-hu”, “Xienbie along with

Xiongnu”. However, there is no certainty as to if they were mongoloid or part mongoloid. It is

suggested that the intermixing of all these ancient people produced the mixed ethnic group

who may be the ancestors of Oghur/Oghuz Turks. Oghuz Turkish people appeared with this

name in a region extending from the east of Caspian Sea to the east of Lake Aral, neighboring

to Karakum Desert based on Chinese annals and the eyewitness reports by the Chinese

observers. They mixed with Mongols and Huns and served in Genghis Khan’s army. They

moved west under pressure from Mongols, but they also experienced the pressure from the

Christian crusaders and Islamist Arabs. They believed in a kind of monotheism that involved

the worship of unitary “sky God”. Islam offered the them same concept with the inducement

that made them embrace Islam. Mongols and Huns did not adopt Islam. Oghuz name is

derived from Oghuz Khan, that was the title confirmed upon a legendary warrior by the

Xiongnu Emperor who controlled Mongolia and Transoxiana at one point in the history.

Therefore, Oghuz Khagan or Oghuz Khan is a legendary name of a warrior, who is supposed to

be the ancestor of all modern Turkic tribes. All Turkic cultures use this legend to describe

their ethnic origins and the origin of the system of political clans established by Turkmen of

all kinds including, Ottoman, Seljuk and Oghuz Turks. Their legendary narrative exists in

various languages.

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Depiction of Oghuz Kaan (Khan) who was the noble warrior of Xiongnu confederacy.

Turkish Petro glyphs from Zavkhan Province, Siberia and Sons of ancient Huns (Eurasian) as per Petro glyph

Turkish Language

The Orkhon inscription that was discovered in Azerbaijan and later duplicated in Turkey

describes (written both in old Chinese and Turkic) the legendary origin of the Turks and their

subjugation by Mongols, Huns and Chinese. The inscription mentions the tribal union of "Six

Oghuz tribes “and they were called Oghuz group. Up on migration from Mongolia, they

moved to the area of Transoxiana since 7th century AD. This area was called Oghuz steppe of

central Asia. The militarism was deeply rooted with all Central Asian nomads due to their

centuries-long nomadic lifestyle and hunt for posture and food to survive. The steppe offered

them few luxuries and little material culture. This was the case with Huns, Mongols, Turks,

Moghuls and their predecessor tribes of the history. Ample supply of war horses from steppe

gave this steppe nomads great speed of movement and other skills of warfare. This translated

into certain military advantages like speed, surprise attack and “hit and run” tactics on

sedentary societies who could not match their mobility. The nomads-built alliances through

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marriage and kinships that became the binding glue to form a larger invading force (See

below).

Xiongnu bust in Chinese museum show mild Mogoloid features. The author also suspects that

Turkish language is more related to Altaic language group. Although it is a hypothetical

construct like Proto IE group and probably evolved from ancestor languages of Xiongnu Huns

and Mongols including Tungstic speakers. This include Koreans and Japanese. This also

confirms their westward migrations due to pressure from other nomadic tribes.

Movement of Turkish people from eastern china to Transoxiana(that was once Xiongnu empire)

Orkhon inscriptions was found in modern Mongolia, confirming china’s grand historian’s accounts. Orkhon was

in Proto-Turkic language and erected in the honor of the prince Kul Tigin and brother Emperor Bilge Khagan

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Tigin and his brother Emperor Bilge Khagan, both dated back to the second Turkic Khaganate

around early 7th century AD. The inscription was installed by Göktürks, sky worshipper.

Oghuz Inscription and approximate migration route over centuries, occupation and movement in stages

Baskakov's historical classification and the glottochronological affinity represent two

correlated and independent classifications. The contradictions between them are the result

of admixtures not represented and not accounted for in the glottochronological scheme.

Huns – Uyghur- Karluk- Chagatai-Moguls, Uzbeks , where each descendent of a branch of the

parental group, originated as an Oghuz linguistic branch, but apparently so much influenced

by admixtures with other steppe nomads like Mongols and other ancestral admixture of

Prehistoric people as mentioned in my earlier paper that it becomes an “Oghuz linguistic”

branch. In such situation, this is typical for the all Turkic nomadic societies.

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Baskakov’s construction of Turkic Language Tree

The earliest known Turkish alphabets are in the Orkhon script. Due to its contacts with

various groups of people and their nomadic migration, the Turkic languages were written in

several different alphabets including Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek, Latin, and other extinct Asiatic

writing systems.

The current 29-letter Turkish alphabet was established by the strong man Mustafa Kamal

Ataturk, the founder of Republic of Turkey, who made modern Turkey a secular state, albeit

after purging Armenian and Greek minorities, who lived there for centuries prior to Turkish

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arrival in Anatolia. We know Moguls of India descended from Chagatai Khan and their

language descended from Proto Turkic language that originated from Altaic group of

languages. They often employed Persian translators because the can speak Persian but not

old Hindustani.

The present President of Modern Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is rumored to be a person of

“Islamists orientation” in contrast to his predecessors. He is accused of trying to temper the

secular constitution. He certainly entertains the dreams of past glory of Ottoman Empire. His

activities related to Syria suggests his ambitions.

Turkish tribes, dispersion and migration

The company of Mongols, Huns and Islam induced the passive Turkish tribes of the history to

adopt to the violent culture of Central Asian steppe nomads. This culture was intensified after

the squeeze applied by Sassanians and Byzantine empires. They initially resisted the embrace

of Islam, but then accepted under the squeeze of two mighty empires. The Turkish alliance

with Arabs exceeded the expectation of early caliphate’s desire to impose sharia laws and

their ambition of conquest and conversion of non-believers. The most affected groups were

Christians, Hindus and Buddhists and other pagan worshippers, who took the brunt of the

advancing radicalized Turkish Ghazis, hired as mercenaries. The practice of religious freedom

enshrined with the concept of human liberty and freedom was set aside in the preference of

religious dictates imposed by the Islam. On one hand, Turkish tribes felt very oppressed by

Mongols and Huns for centuries but Islam’s practice of equality among all Islamic followers

remained a major attraction for these new converts, who had seen their families were torn

apart and women kidnapped by Mongols and Huns.

Turkish tribes due to unknown climatic changes were pushed to seek pastures for their

domesticated animals and horses and were on constant moves against the advancing

Mongols hordes. They have no place to go but to go either in south or further to the west.

The different tribes split up from Transoxiana as shown in the migration maps.

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The previous papers give narratives of all eastern branches of the Turkish nomads, who

launched conquest against Afghanistan and subcontinent, and this is a follow-up on western

branch. One of many links for one of the article is given below:

https://www.academia.edu/19306506/Babur_of_Fergana_against_Rana_Sanga_of_Mewar-

_Age_of_tolerance_

Oghuz Confederation

Oghuz happens to be a Common Turkic word for "tribe". As they embraced Islam, the Islamic

sources were calling them Muslim Turkmens, as opposed to shamanist or Buddhist Turkmen.

By the 12th century this term had passed into Byzantine usage and the Oghuzes were

overwhelmingly Muslim. The Oghuz confederation migrated westward from the Central Asian

region due to the conflict with the Karluk branch of Uighur mongoloid Turks. The founders of

the Ottoman Empire in Constinopole (now Istanbul) were offspring of the “Kayi” or “Kai”

tribe of Oghuz Turks. The Turkish residents of Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Northern

Iran are the offspring of Oghuz Turks. Their language came from same Turkic Language

branch. Over the centuries, they acquired considerable influence from Persian culture, as

they had very few of their own.

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Settlements of various Turkish tribes in central Asia (Transoxiana)

It is inferred that Bapa Rawal of India had married Turkish Princess and she hailed from the

region of “Kumanlar” and bore him a son, who he was named Khuman. “Kumanlar” is a

Turkish group who lived in central Asia. They have been in unity with Kipchaks Turks, so they

have been lumped together with Kipchaks over time. At that time, Turkish tribes in

Afghanistan followed either Hinduism or Buddhism and their kingdom was called “Kabul

Shahi” kingdom. They were more Persian than Turkish. Bappa Rawal himself was a suspected

origin of half Persian descent and half Hindu through Guha Singh of Vallabhi Empire. The

details of his wives and their origin are very sketchy, he was rumored to have migrated to

Central Asia up on his retirement. The chief of the Turkish clan was called Khan (Kaan). Bappa

Rawal dynasty was named Guillot dynasty and later merged with Sisodia dynasty of Jaipur.

Struggle for supremacy of Mesopotamia, Arabia, Egypt and Anatolia

Achaemenians (Persians) controlled vast swath of territory that included Anatolia, Syria,

Egypt including Arabia and Mesopotamia. Darius’s statement from Bisotun inscription, where

he calls himself “Aryans of Kuru descent” places him as a relative of kuru-Pancala dynasty of

Mahabharata.” We cannot be certain, but it may imply the close affinity or distant relation.

He certainly called himself “Aryan”. The common worship of Gods between Vedic Aryans and

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Mitanni (Median) Aryans suggested close affinity, until religious schism developed with the

rise of Zoroaster.

Larger map of 12 the century AD, the Map had changed with advance of western Turkic Tribes

Achemenians Persian Empire at its height Greek Satrapies after death of Alexander

After the defeat of Achemenians by Macedonians, the entire Persian Empire was divided

among Greek satrapies. Romans inherited western Part after disintegration of western Greek

satrapies that controlled Anatolia, Judea, Egypt and Syria. The Parthians of Persia freed Persia

and took over eastern part except Sindh-India. The Parthians continued their fight with

Romans for control of western Asia that was previously under the control of Achemenians.

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Centuries later, when Roman Empire broke up between east and west, the eastern empire

was ruled by Christian Emperor Constantine, Justinian and his successors. The Sassanians who

followed Parthian’s continued their struggle for the control of the Anatolia that led to the

mutual attrition of Persian and Roman-Byzantine military powers. Their weakness gave Islam

the necessary lift and opportunity to rise in the Middle East.

Division of Roman Empire west and east Parthian Empire of beginning of Common Era

Seljuk Turks

The Seljuk Turks (Seljuk, Seldjuq or Seljuq) is a major branch of the Oghuz Turks and a dynasty

that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th through 14th centuries AD.

The Seljuk migrated from the north of Iran to the border of Anatolia (Turkey). Upon

conversion and embrace of Islam, they have become the self-appointed missionaries of Islam

and did not hesitate to use their steppe warfare techniques and weapon knowledge they

have gained from other nomads. They were fierce and deadly warriors. This coincided with

declining power of Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphate, who had exercised some degree of

influence and control. If Turks would have taken a different path, the Islam as a religion

would not have spread as it did now. One of the main attractions of Islam is the rights

bestowed upon men to plunder, loot, kill at will and capture slaves. The women are relegated

as sex slaves. These rights bestowed upon by the religious ideologies. Other inducement is a

fanciful notion of martyrdom and afterlife pleasure and indulgence of all kinds. These are

political ideologies and not religious theologies.

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Turks adopted Islam during 9th through 10th century AD. Karakhanids and Seljuk Turks both

are regarded as the ancestors of Ottoman. The Seljuk founded the great Seljuk Sultanate; an

empire centered in Baghdad after 1055 AD and controlled Iran, Iraq, and Syria. They

conveniently adopted Sunni orthodoxy, that fetch them rights of passing judgements on what

is pious and what is not. This adoption prevented the Fatimid caliphate of Egypt from making

Shiite Islam dominant religion throughout the Middle East. Shiite Islam was moderate version

and most likely the original faith of Islam, promulgated by their Prophet and his grandson Ali.

In the 11th century AD, Fatimid rulers of Egypt ordered Kurdish born Sunni Muslim Vizier

Saladin to lead a fight against the crusaders who were trying to reconquer Christendom’s holy

city of Jerusalem. The first encounter was a military draw as uneasy peace prevailed between

Christians and Muslims. The struggle lasted for a long period of time leading to withdrawal of

crusaders.

Seljuk Warriors

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Seljuk Empire -Source WIKI

Seljuk Turks resided in the former Persian lands and Persian Culture played a dominant role

over their original nomadic Culture. Seljuk Sultans gathered steam during the reign of sultan

Alp Arslan (1063-72 AD) and Maliki Shah (1072-92 AD) after fall of Sassanian Empire at the

hands of Muslim armies. They revived orthodox Sunni religion and adopted Persian

administrative practices. They developed the armies of slaves (Africans, Asians, and North

Europeans from Baltic states). The children were captured with their mothers. Men will be

slaughtered thereby wiping out all family ties. The women will be inducted in harem as sex

slaves and children will be given the military training and religious teaching of martyrdom

with promise of various fringe benefits in afterlife. The slave’s armies thus created were often

referred to as “Mamluk Gazi” by the historians. They always formed the front line of battles

to take the first blow while brave (?) Turkish nobles led from behind. These armies swept

from Spain to the Central Asia. The slaves learned nomadic training of slaughter and military

tactics. After Malik Shah's death, a decline in the quality of the leadership and division among

military nobles weakened the power of the Seljuk Turks. The last of their line died in battle

against the Khwarizmi-Shah in 1194 AD. A branch of the Seljuk managed to establish its own

state in central Asia, until it was overrun by the Mongols in 1243 AD. Despite several

attempts to reunite the Seljuks in the centuries following Malik Shah's death, the Mongols

prevented them from regaining their former empire. Then Seljuk tribes migrated west to

Anatolia. From previous Seljuk confederacy, only the Sultanate of RUM of Anatolia survived

the Mongol onslaught. The sultanate of RUM was far away for Mongol hordes. The Mongols

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Turkish tribe’s nomadic association with Huns and Mongols gave them extensive horse riding

and combat skills. The word “Rum” stands for “Rome”.

One of the tribe was called Beylik-Kayi tribe, where Osman was born to a Gazi warrior named

Ertuğrul. Ertağrlu’s younger son was Osman. Ertugrul father’s name was Sullivan Shah. Osman

was also called “Autman” or “Uthman” and similar pronunciations and derivatives. Later his

successor named his kingdom as “Ottomans” of the history. They came from Turkish Seljuk

branch. This branch of Turks, who spread as far as the Aegean sea formed the cluster (Beylik)

or Principalities. Ertuğrul and his followers joined the army of the Seljuks of Rum, for which

he was rewarded with dominion over the town of Söğüt on the frontier with the Byzantine

Empire. The Byzantine border have shrunk over the time since the rise of Islam and crusader’s

defeat at Jerusalem and withdrawal.

Ertuğrul is recognized as an important historical figure in Ottoman’s history. The Ottoman

Empire named its navy frigate named after Ertuğrul in 1863. The Ertuğrul Gazi Mosque stands

tall in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan was named in his honor. A Turkish TV serial depicts his

legendry deeds for his tribe.

In the mid 1300 AD, Osman, leader of the “Ertağlu(Osman) Beylik” that controlled east of the

Bosporus straight to the central region of the Black Sea, united with the neighboring “Karesi

Beylik” which covered the southern Marmara Sea to the Aegean, and formed Ottoman

confederacy.

Osman Gazi "father of kings" artist version 18th Century Bust of Othman Ertağrlu’s portrait(artist sketches)

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Baylik or Principalities of Turks in Anatolia Ottoman’s Beylik is shown

Rise of Ottoman Turks

The Ottoman principality (beylik) was just one of many Anatolian beylics that emerged in the

second half of the thirteenth century in the region of Bithynia in the north of Asia Minor, that

was once occupied by Ionian Greeks and other ethnicities. Osman's principality found itself

particularly well-placed to launch attacks on the vulnerable Byzantine Empire and he was

well placed to unify all beyliks under one flag and eventually conquer the Byzantine empire.

His father, Ertugrul, withstood many intrigues and conspiracies against his tribes but his son

Osman defeated the conspiring forces led by his Gazi soldiers from his own clans and took

over the reign of sultanate of Rum.

Christian Empire of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) and their centuries of

struggle against caliphates

Fearing the rise of the Islam and Fatimid caliphate, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I of

Constantinople sent an ambassador to Vatican to plead with Pope Urban II for military help

against the growing threat from caliphate’s Mamluk armies. The Pope Urban II responded

quickly by summoning holy catholic warriors and knights to join the first Crusade to eliminate

the threat with two objectives: 1. Secure guaranteed access to Christian holy sites of holy sepulture and Bethlehem (birthplace of Jesus).

2. To reunite the Eastern and Western branches of Christendom after their split in 1054

AD and bring under Vatican’s control.

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Mehmed II “Fatih”(victorious) sultan of rums attacked and sacked Constantinople with heavy cannons that

breached walls in above genealogy chart marked with arrow.

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The Series of crusades lasted for over 200 years. Unfortunately, Pope’s second objective of

reunification was dealt a severe blow by fourth crusade, when crusaders sacked

Constantinople. The Fourth Crusade began around 1202-1204 AD, consisting of armed

soldiers from western Europe to conquer Muslim held city of Jerusalem through an invasion

route via Egypt. The crusader army was a ragtag European army with several leaders who

often disagreed among themselves. However, they stuck an agreement with the Byzantine

prince Alexios Angelos to divert to Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire and

restore his deposed father as an emperor. In return, newly crowned Byzantine emperor will

give the crusaders financial and military assistance on their enterprise of capturing holy city

of Jerusalem. The main crusader fleet reached Constantinople in June 1203 AD. Some smaller

contingents that followed landed at Acre.

With crusader’s support, Alexios Angelos was crowned as co-Emperor (Alexios IV Angelos)

after some skirmishes outside the city. However, he was deposed by a popular uprising in

Constantinople in 1204 AD. The Western crusaders were no longer able to receive their

promised payments, and when Alexios IV was murdered, some crusaders and Venetians

among them decided to intervene in Byzantines affairs and conquer Constantinople. This was

an unmitigated disaster to the main cause and intervene in the succession struggle. However,

the crusaders who were supposed to help the Christian kingdom brutally sacked the city in

1204 AD, looted and killed fellow Christian defenders and proclaimed it as a new Latin

Empire. This conquest did not last too long and was vacated by Byzantine resistance. Pope’s

first mission was destroyed by these undisciplined crusaders and Pope’s second objective of

reunification was squashed with this bizarre behaviors. The results were exactly the opposite

and the schism that developed between eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholic

Church continues. Christians ended up fighting Christians.

A similar parallel was played out in subcontinent among Hindu kingdoms against Muslim

invaders. The lack of unity and loss of purpose eroded the combined military strength of

Hindu armies. Byzantine control of large territories stretching to Baltic areas from Turkey had

disappeared in the same way Hindu control and influence in Afghanistan dissipated.

Fourth crusade did more damage to Christina Empire of east and allowed the Turks to

infiltrate into Byzantine territories. The archeology testimonials of presence of Greeks and

Armenian Christian in Turkey are still great tourist attractions and reminder that who lived

there for centuries. Similarly, the presence of Bamiyan Buddha serves as a proof of India’s

past reach in Afghanistan.

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Up on founding of Constantinople by First Christian Emperor Constantine , the population of

the city and the empire consisted of Romans, Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, native Anatolians,

Jews, Persian, Gaul and other ethnicities that resided there for centuries. After death of

Great Constantine, a one century later Visigoths sacked Rome. Many other Germanic groups

followed Visigoths by raiding Rome, and the Western Roman Empire disintegrated. We will

skip the details here but as a result, the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople

became Byzantine Empire.

Ottoman Turk’s conquest of Constantinople

The word "Ottoman" is derived from the name Osman who was the founder of the Early

Ottoman Province (Beylik). Long before the siege of Constantinople, Ottoman had established

a stronghold in Turkey and consolidated various tribes into a new sultanate replacing the old

Seljuk sultan of Rum. The downsized Byzantine Empire Reduced to the area around the city as

well as a large part of the Peloponnese in Greece was then led by Constantine XI.

Mehmed II ascended to the throne of Ottoman sultanate in 1451 AD and his ambition was to

conquer Constantinople. He already had a fortress on the Asian side of the Bosporus called

“Anadolu Hisari”. He crossed Bosporus strait and began construction of another one on

European side called “Rumeli Hisari”. His strategy of taking control of strait was to cut off

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Constantinople from receiving any aid from Genoese navy from Mediterranean colonies of

Cyprus. Genoese had replaced the power of old Roman Empire and Vatican. Obviously,

Alexios IV Angelos Pope Urban II Crusader’s gathering at Rome

Fourth crusade and sack of Constantinople (Istanbul)

Constantine XI viewed the developments of Turks moving into European side with great

alarms and sent an envoy to Pope Nicholas V for aid, despite century’s old animosity between

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the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches (exacerbated by ill-fated fourth crusade). Pope

Nicholas agreed to seek help from the western kingdoms. However, this was largely

unproductive exercise as many of the Western nations were engaged in their own quarrels

and conflicts and coalition of soldiers cannot be put together or money can be spared to aid

Constantinople. Same situation prevailed in India when Ghori attacked India.

Bosporus strait separating Asian mainland with European land mass (author’s trip)

Under this confusing discords and disunity among Europeans, no large-scale help came to

rescue Constantinople, but token group of independent soldiers came to the city's aid, among

these were 700 professional soldiers under the command of Giovanni Giustiniani. To guard

against a naval attack that can breach the Golden Horn walls, Giustiniani directed that a large

chain be stretched across the mouth of the harbor to block Ottoman ships from entering the

harbor. Constantine XI directed that the bulk of his forces defend the Theodosia Walls as he

lacked the troops to man the entire city's defenses-walls and gates. Mehmed-II was

supported by a large fleet in the Sea of Marmara. In addition, he had a large army of 120,000

fighters that outnumbered and outgunned the defenders. He also brought large number of

cannons both large and small. Militarily, the fates of the defenders were doomed. The

combined Hindu army did have numerical strength against invading Turks. However, the

obsolete magnanimous Hindu war ethics precluded them to exploit battle advantages, when

opportunities presented. Hindu army also lacked the gun technology that Turks possessed.

The result was unmitigated disaster for Christians in Constantinople for centuries.

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Fall of Constantinople by Turks

The battle for Constantinople (Present Istanbul) began in May 1453 AD. This time no help or

rescue was contemplated from western Christian European powers and Vatican lacked the

moral or religious authorities that once Pope Urban was able to command and exercise to

rally the Christian monarchs and armies. We remain uncertain if Pope Nickolas had any desire

to repeat debacle of fourth crusade and exaggerating schism between eastern and western

Christianity either. The Constantinople regime on their side had learned the lesson from their

sack by the crusaders from the fourth crusade. This is a classic case of medieval history, when

a well settled, cultured and urbanized society becomes victims against violent nomadic

marauders. Byzantines found them locked up in their own castle with their supply line cutoff.

The siege lasted for weeks. The Ottoman Turk penetrated double walls of the fort and

wholesome massacre of defenders ensued. The Ottomans were commanded by 21-year-old

Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, who defeated an army commanded by Byzantine Emperor

Constantine XI Palaiologos. The defeat and capture of Constantinople and other surrounding

territories marked the end of 1500 years of rule by Romans, since Constantine-the Great, who

founded the city.

After collapse of this great Christian empire of the history, Turkey was wrapped around in

orthodox Islamic ideology; Ottoman armies faced no opposition and were left unchecked to

advance into Eastern Europe, Arabia, Asia Minor and Egypt. The wholesome conversion

occurred. The great holy site of eastern Christendom Hagias Sophia was converted into

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mosque. The Christians were converted to Islam against their will. The women were taken to

the harem of nobles and sultans and children were isolated and trained as janissaries.

Fall of the walls and Mehmed- II marching his army towards the battle

War on land and sea

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Hagias Sophia, a christen shrine converted to Mosque

Inside of Hagias Sophia and sign outside (Author’s travel picture)

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The practices of Ottoman were like extreme Orthodox version of Sunni Islam. The adoption of

harsh practice against non-Islamic people again caused dissention. Those who did not convert

to Islam were slapped with “Dhimmi” or “Zejiya”, a religious tax. What it meant that a non-

Muslim subject of a state governed according to the sharia law was granted the freedom to

worship non Islamic religion and was entitled to the protection of life and property by the

state, although the person was required to pay a special tax and not granted the full legal

status accorded to Muslim subjects. This was applied to Christians, Jews, Hindus,

Zoroastrians, and others. This relegated all non-Muslims to second class citizens in their own

country with constant intimidation, threat and insults.

Ottoman Empire:

Ottoman Empire reached its height of power during 16th and 17th centuries AD under the

reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. It controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, the

Caucasus, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. At the height of the power it had 32 provinces

and numerous vassal states.

The strategic Importance of Constantinople (Istanbul) and Bosporus straight is still very

significant. Ottoman kept his capital at Constantinople but renamed it as Istanbul. It erased

all signs of Christianity and imposed the religion of Islam at the point of sword. As indicated

in the above map, many east Europeans were captured as slaves and women were inducted

into sultan’s harem. These historic wounds were reopened when Yugoslavia was divided into

various region and atrocities against Bosnian Muslims were committed. In the past, due to its

location, the Ottoman Empire became the center of interactions between the Eastern and

Western worlds for six centuries. This also brought them into conflict with colonial powers of

Europe that gave them long period of military setbacks and the Ottoman Empire gradually

declined into the late nineteenth century.

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List of successive sultans and removed successors

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Non-Payment of religious Tax Women inducted to Harem Sikh Guru burned in burning oil

Growth of Ottoman Empire

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Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the magnificent with orthodox Islam as religious orientation

Battle of Gallipoli:

The Gallipoli Battle of 1915-16 AD during World War I also called Dardanelles Campaign was a

failed attempt by the Allied colonial Powers to control the sea route (Bosporus strait-Black

sea) from Europe to Russia during World War I. The British and French ships-initiated attacks

on ottoman navy at the Dardanelles Straits near Istanbul in winter of 1915 AD and continued

with a major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on early spring involving British, French

Australian and New Zealand Army troops. Insufficient knowledge of terrain and lack of

intelligence on ottoman’s military created a major setback and defeats for European armies.

Ottoman Turkish army and navy mounted a fierce resistance that stalled the invasion and

forced them to withdraw with heavy causalities.

Decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire

The period of defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire occurred during 1908–1922 AD

and coincided with the peak strength of the Colonial powers. However, colonial Powers were

not the chief reason for its dissolution, but they exploited the opportunities presented to

them by policies of Ottoman Turks. Some historians blame the decline and fall of Ottoman

Empire on incompetent sultans and viziers.

The Opium addiction was common among the Turks. They developed their habit in central

Asia, where it is in abundance. The polygamy, Harem and women often resulted into

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succession struggles and internal challenges were compounded by the court intrigues by

nobles. The nobles were involved in the succession conspiracy, corruption and misrule in the

same manners the Moghuls of India were involved. In addition to bad decision contributed by

demented mind of sultans and nobles, the real reason was the practice and imposition of

Sunni Orthodox Islam on multi-ethnic and multi-language provinces, that were forced to

embrace Islam at the point of sword. Some accepted the tyranny but majority of them

rejected. That brought insurrection and rebellions in the territories and provinces. Ottoman’s

response was harsh to suppress the dissident and rebellious colonies. Ottoman used their

nomadic and instinctive impulses of resorting to violence to solve the problems. The

atrocities continued to the level of genocide. Seljuk had committed atrocities against the

Jews and Balkans in the earlier centuries. The Ottoman Turks committed genocide against

Armenians, Assyrians, Pontiac Greeks and Kurds. Instead of accepting their culpability,

Turkish Nation is still in the state of denial and makes excuses. Western powers, who often

champion the human rights, ignore the fact due to their own self-interest they give Turks safe

passage. The dislike of Turks among many nationalities continues.

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During second constitutional era, the military reforms and policies adopted by Ottoman Army

resulted into various military engagements. The Italy-Turkish War of 1911 AD, the Balkan

Wars of 1912-1913 AD, Saudi revolt with British help (Lawrence of Arabia) and the continuous

unrest caused by the internal Coups and Counter coups in Istanbul sapped the military

strength. When the Ottoman entered World War I, on the side of Germany, their military

technologies were no match to colonial allied powers. World war 1st ended with the defeat of

Germany and its allies Ottoman. The victors were colonial powers who imposed the “Treaty

of Sevres” on Ottomans in August of 1920 AD. This was one of the series of treaties that

Ottomans were compelled to sign, subsequent to their defeat at the end of World War I. This

resulted into partitioning Ottoman Middle East and began the ultimate annihilation of the

Grand Ottoman Empire. The harsh terms that was imposed on Turks was motivated by their

Gallipoli Campaign and defeat of the Allied powers. The treaty required the renunciation of

all non-Turkish land that was part of the Ottoman Empire, as well as parts of Turkish land, to

the Allied powers. This resulted into the loss of eastern Mediterranean land. The beneficiaries

were British and French. British obtained Palestine and the French obtained Syria. Russia took

Armenia and Greek took Thrace and Romania.

The Ottoman Empire's defeat and the occupation of part of its territory by the allied Powers

in the aftermath of the war resulted in the emergence of a new political entities, Modern

Turkey under Ottoman and modern Balkan and Middle Eastern states as we know today.

Ceasefire, Armistice and Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 AD

As early as the first week of October 1918, both the Ottoman government and several

individual Turkish leaders contacted the Allies to feel out peace possibilities. Britain, whose

forces then occupied much of the Ottoman territories, was loath to step aside for its allies,

particularly France, which according to an agreement concluded in 1916 AD, would take

control of the Syrian coast and much of modern-day Lebanon. In a move that will upset

French, British Prime minister authorized Naval Admiral Arthur Calthorpe, in the Aegean Sea,

to negotiate an immediate armistice with Turkey without informing France. Though Britain

alone would engineer the Ottoman exit from the war, the two powerful Allies would continue

to fret over the control of the region at the Paris Peace Conference, and for years beyond. At

the end of WW-1, Allied powers further scored a decisive victory against central powers of

Austro-Hungarian, Germany and Ottoman Empires. The main allied powers were French,

British and Russians. The armistice agreements at Mudro reached between Ottomans and

Allied powers on 31 October 1918 ended the fighting between the Ottoman Empire and the

Allies but did not nothing to bring stability or peace in the Middle East. The British were in

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control of Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia (Iraq), and British, French and Greek forces

stood ready to march across the Bulgarian (Thrace) border and occupy Ottoman Thrace and

Constantinople. (Istanbul, Turkey). The Sultan, Mehmed VI, feared he would be overthrown.

The Sultans became the figure head and viziers started running the empire. It seems it came

from the pages of the chapters from last Moguls of India. Allies calculated to their benefit to

keep sultans around as a figure head in a sharia abiding country, where people revered them

as a king and his retention would help ensure post-war stability. The initial post war

government led by Enver, Cemel and Talat Pasha had collapsed and they fled to Germany.

The resulting chaos, breakdown of law and order, sectarian violence forced Allied armies to

March into Istanbul. This prospect horrified Ottomans. The interim government can do little

to stop the allies from entering Istanbul. The remnants of the two Ottoman armies destroyed

by the British offensive in Palestine and Syria were slowly regrouping under Mustafa Kamal

Ataturk, north of Aleppo in Syria. Ottoman’s sixth army also regroups at Mosul in Iraq. In

Saudi Arabia, the battered army under General Fakhri Pasha held out against guerilla warfare

waged by Arabs. The only Ottoman armies worthy of the any reputation was led by Enver

who oversaw the control of the Caucasus and northern Persia. The disagreements among

allies delayed the signing of peace treaty that was negotiated at Sèvres in France. At the end

Ottoman Empire was divided as follows:

1. British took control of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordon and Iraq under subterfuge of

newly created league of Nation (forerunner of UN). Arabia became an independent

kingdom that now houses Saudi family as sovereign king as promised by Sir Lawrence

of Arabia.

2. Greek received eastern Thrace and ‘Ionia’ (western Anatolia) which was under their

control since pre-history. However, they were deported in later period with

population exchanges between (Turks and Greeks).

3. Armenians were given an independent state in eastern Turkey aligned with Russia.

4. Kurds were granted an ambiguous but undefined autonomous region and were they

are now but under Turk’s control. That was raw deal for Kurds. The Kurds were

promised a referendum on independence that they never received yet.

5. Finally, Italians got the Dodecanese Islands and a ‘zone of influence’ in south-western

Anatolia. The Ottoman’s army was limited to 50,000 men and its navy to a dozen

coastal patrol boats with no air force.

These humiliating terms resembles What Moghuls went through in India. Mustafa Kamal,

better known as “Ataturk”, and a military commander, emerged as a leading figure. His brand

of Turkish nationalism was very different from the Ottoman’s ideals of Enver Pasha. Ataturk

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believed that Ottoman Empire had become an albatross on the neck of the Turkish people,

who lost a homeland and glory of their empire. The sultanate must go.

Emergence of Modern Turkey

Ataturk and his supporters sought to establish a new Turkish state, where most of the

empire’s Turkish population had traditionally lived in while shedding their colonies and

possession. To fight for the Turkish state, Ataturk started gathering and hiding weapons with

other Turkish nationalists’ group and helped the formation of local chapters of Turkish civilian

militias, while developing the political base among Turkish militant groups. They were clever

enough to divide allies with the intrigues.

Mustafa Kamal Ataturk Modern Turkey (Downsized Ottoman)

The Greek-Turkish divide and historic animosities helped the revival of Turkish nationalism.

As militancy and nationalist movement gathered steam, the interim ottoman government

came under immense pressure from allies to put down the nationalist. However, reluctant to

act but forced to crack, it downplayed in the hands of Ataturk.

The nationalists convened a Grand National Assembly in Ankara in 1920 AD and elected

Mustafa Kamal as its first president, effectively establishing an alternative government. This

triggered a short and a brutal civil war, which ended only when the details of the Treaty of

Sèvres were publicized. The harshness of its terms destroyed what little credibility the

interim Ottoman government had with people. Turks of all political persuasions began to

unite behind the Grand National Assembly, which completely rejected the treaty. Kamal

Ataturk persuaded the Grand National Assembly to gather a National Army. The executive

power was delegated to the cabinet and its speaker and President Mustafa Kamal.

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Confrontation with Allies and the War of Independence for homeland for

Turkish people

The National Army faced the Allied occupation forces and fought on three fronts:

1. Franco-Turkish 2.Greco-Turkish and 3. Turkish-Armenian wars.

In the early autumn of 1920 AD, the Turkish-Armenian War was waged between the Turkish

revolutionaries and the Armenian military. In December 1920 AD, Armenia appealed for

peace and signed the Treaty of Alexandropol. After that Armenia was incorporated into the

Transcaucasia SFSR (as a Soviet Socialist Republic), the Treaty of Kars gave the Turks control

over most of the territories in northeastern Anatolia, where they now constituted the ethnic

majority.

In Mustafa Kamal’s own words, he describes the importance of Turkish identity and the

insignificance of Islam as he saw it:

“Even before accepting the religion of the Arabs [Islam], the Turks were a great nation. After

accepting the religion of the Arabs, this religion, didn’t affect to combine the Arabs, the

Persians and Egyptians with the Turks to constitute a nation. (This religion) rather, loosened

the national nexus of Turkish nation, got national excitement numb. This was very natural,

because the purpose of the religion founded by Muhammad, over all nations, was to drag

along with Arab national politics.” – Mustafa Kamal, Medenî Bilgiler.

Not while ago, King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has requested

“Muslims from subcontinent to stop pretending to be Arabs because the mother tongues of

Arabs are Arabic; and not Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Bihari,

Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, or other languages from Indian subcontinent”. He

further added: “ I am happy that our Arabian religion is being followed by the people of

Pakistan and Indian Muslim from the sub-continent,” King Abdullah said “ but it is funny to

see them pretending to be Arabs considering the fact that they are not really Arabs.”

You must admit that they do have words of wisdom and they are telling the truth to those

who are listening, to go back to your own roots. Ataturk of Turkey wanted to clean up Turkey

with its minorities and established a homeland for Turkish people that alluded them since

they were hounded out of Mongolia. They managed to remove Armenians and Greeks

Christians that amounted to somewhere between 4 to 5 million people at that time. There

was disagreement among allies as to how Ottoman Empire was to be divided. Russia was not

happy that Greece got the Balkans, where Czar once prevailed. It was a mistake by British to

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promise Greeks, the territory of Balkans to induce them to get on board to join them during

World War 1. The nationalist Turks arrived at a separate agreement regarding Armenia with

the Soviet Russia and the treaty was signed with new understanding with newly formed

Soviet socialist Republic. In return, the nationalist got the military arms from Russia to

continue the war of Independence against British and its allies.

The British still expected Turkish Grand National Assembly led by Ataturk to make

compromise. While conference for peace was in progress, the British were surprised when

Ankara demanded fulfillment of the National Pact. During the conference, the British troops

in Constantinople were preparing for an attack against nationalists. There was never any

fighting in Bulgaria (Thrace), as Greek units withdrew before the Turks crossed the Bosporus

straits from Asia Minor. The only concession Nationalist made that Turkish national Army

would not advance any farther toward the Dardanelles, which gave a haven for the British

troops, if the conference continued. The conference dragged on far beyond the original

expectations. In the end, it was the British who yielded to Ankara's demand; all other allies

had left the table. There was still bargaining and jostling for power between allies and Turks.

There were many truce and armistice in between. At the end, Sultanate was abolished. A

republic was proclaimed on October 29, 1923, with a new capital at Ankara in the middle of

Turkish heartland. Mustafa Kamal was elected as the first President. The Treaty of Lausanne

that was signed earlier in July 1923, led to international recognition of the sovereignty of the

Republic of Turkey. Old Ottoman Empire was dissolved. Ataturk established a new secular

state and brought westernization and ruled with iron hand and instituted social and political

reform to badly fractured left-over empire.

Treaty of Luanne signed that formally recognized the modern state of Turkey

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Current Map of Nations of Middle East

Issues of contentions that persist

Armenian Genocide

Earlier in 1915 AD, the leaders of the young Turks and Ataturk adopted a secret plan to expel

Armenians residing in the Ottoman Empire. The history records that “Armanoid” (Proto-

Armenians) lived in eastern part of the Turkey, since the dawn of the Mesopotamian

civilization. The Armenian people have lived there in the Caucasus region of Anatolia for over

3,000 years. Turks were the intruders from eastern steppe of central Asia. The kingdom of

Armenia at times was an independent political entity, while some time it was a vassal to

larger empire. Armenia embraced the Christianity during 4th century AD and was part of

Byzantine empire. During early days of Turkish settlement 13th century AD, Armenians and

Greeks Christians viewed them as intruders and treated them as such. The struggle for

dominance and lands continued with significant hardship for nomadic people of Turkish

origin. This planted the seeds of animosity and among various ethnicities. The embrace of

Islam by Turks made it worst. With the fall of Constantinople, the fortunes for Christians

changed and the province of Armenia was absorbed by Ottoman Empire during 15th century

AD.

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Despite the differences between various reports, millions of Armenians were either exiled or

massacred. There were about 2 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire prior to

Genocide. By the early 1920 AD, when the massacres and deportations ended, some 1.5

million of Turkey’s Armenians vanished or dead, with many more forcibly removed from the

country. Today, most historians call this event genocide, a premeditated and systematic

campaign to exterminate an entire ethnic group of people. However, the Turkish government

refuses to accept and pay reparation damage like Germany did for the Jews. Despite pressure

from Armenians and human rights advocates throughout the world, it is still illegal in Turkey

to talk about what happened to Armenians. United States congress took up the resolution

two years ago with intense lobbying by American Armenians and others, but under the threat

from Turkey to revoke the rights of American military base, the congress had not passed a

nonbinding resolution just as mere an acknowledgement. The geopolitical interest overrides

the humanitarian historical facts of the past. This remains a blot on Ataturk’s legacy.

Glimpse of Armenian genocide

Greek Genocide:

Like Armenians, Greeks were settled in Turkey in pre-historic times, when Helen of Troy’s

epic was written. These Greeks were known as Asian Greeks or Ionian Greeks. Greek

communities began settling in Anatolia (means “east” in Greek) in prehistory, while some

Greeks went further to the southern shores of black Sea and they were called Pontian Greeks.

They went further towards Bactria(Balkh) in Northern Afghanistan.

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Ottoman Empire as organized was ethnically diverse empire into the “millet” system, thereby

ensuring cultural and religious pluralism, however with religious tax on non-Muslims, it lost

the goodwill of the others. Under this system, the Ottoman Greeks, Armenians and Jews felt

that they were second class citizen but some degree of political and religious autonomy. It

was not enough to win the hearts and minds of the people.

Greeks, Armenians, Kurds and Jews thrived under Byzantine and Sassanian rules, but it was

not so under Ottoman. Armenians and Greeks also formed the core of Christine Byzantine

Empire by providing soldiers and governors. Some of the great Greek historians and

philosophers were born in Anatolia and Pontiac region of Asia.

Anatolian Greeks were victims of a broader Turkish genocidal project under young Turks and

Ataturk reign. Turkish forces under Ataturk retook Smyrna from Greeks in September 1922

AD, instigating a massive anti-Greek pogrom. On September 13, a fire broke out amidst the

chaos that lasted over two weeks. The Smyrna tragedy took the lives of somewhere between

10,000 to 15,000 Greeks. The demographic consequences of the Greek genocide cannot be

accurately pinned down. The prewar population of Greeks in Ottoman Empire was at least

2.5 million. Over the course of 1914 to 1923 AD during Ataturk’s ethnic cleansing campaign,

about one million had migrated to Greece under threat. As many as 1.5 million Greeks died,

either from massacre or fire exposure.

Ataturk although revered as father figure in Turkey but he was religious bigots like another

Turk, Aurangzeb of India. Aurangzeb and Ataturk both very clever and intelligent and

managed to wipe out any evidence of massacre, except tales passed down through

generation and so arguments continue. Presently, a miniscule Greek population remains in

Turkey. Greek communities annually mark September 14 as the day of genocide.

The island of Cypress once ruled by Ottoman and now equal shared by Geeks and Turks is a

divided nation, but uneasy calm prevails, because both countries are members of NATO. For

millennia, Cyprus was a Greek Island.

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Greek Execution finally population exchange

Modern Turkey and Minority Kurds:

Modern Turkey still has small minorities of Christians Armenians and Greeks with few Jewish

family with no impact on overwhelming Turkish majority. The Kurds are the larger minority

group and are at Odds with Turks over autonomy and self- rule promised under the treaty

with the British. Turkey refuses to fulfil its treaty obligation.

This is again a messed up artificial political map-making by British, who were in hurry of

departing her colonies after bloody and bankrupt struggle with Germany during world wars.

The thoughtless map creation exercise by colonial powers have made modern nations fight

for the borders and contested parts of the world and some of them have become the hot

conflict areas. The Kurds who are split between three countries Iran, Iraq and Turkey and are

demanding their own homeland and are waging the struggles against newly formed

countries. They called their homeland Kurdistan that is now geographically scattered. Kurds

have been brave fighters against ISIS and seeking their independence. The Kurds are an

ethno-linguistically Indo-Iranian Aryan group, who have historically inhabited the

mountainous areas to the south of Caucasus (Northern Zagros and Eastern Taurus mountain

ranges), a geographical area collectively also named Kurdistan. Most Kurds speak Kurmanji or

Sorani, which belong to the Kurdish language group, part of IE language group. They were sun

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worshippers like other Aryan tribes prior to their forced embrace of Islam. Kurds are thought

to have descended from either Mittani or Medes who were Indo-Iranian Aryan group going

back to 2000 BC. They deserve their homeland.

Kurdistan covering three countries and Flag showing sun the middle

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3. The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe (2002), Goffman, Daniel.

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Edward.

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World International-1992

38

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978-0-19-822101-2.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Later_Han

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_peoples

https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199402/the.cradle.of.the.turks.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Turkey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk_Empire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Crusade

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_S%C3%A8vres

39

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_of_Mudanya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_World_War_I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

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of_Indian_History

There are numerous references that are not listed above.