Rebellions in the Ottoman Empire broke out for different reasons: succession struggles, heavy taxation, economic crisis, religious propaganda and military breakdown. The first known major rebellion was the uprising launched in 1373 by Prince Savcı Bey together with the Byzantine prince Andronikos. The longest and most destructive were the Celali revolts, which intensified at the end of the sixteenth century.
Quick Summary
- The main causes were succession struggles, pressure from taxes and officials, economic crisis, religious-political propaganda and military breakdown.
- The first major rebellion was Savcı Bey’s uprising of 1373; the date 1385 given in the chronicles is wrong.
- The revolt of Sheikh Bedreddin was suppressed under Mehmed I; Bedreddin was executed in Serres in 1420.
- The name “Celali” comes from Şeyh Celal of Bozok, who rebelled in the Tokat region in 1519.
- The uprisings of 1703, 1730 and 1807 ended with a change of sultan.
- The Janissary corps was abolished in 1826; the event is known as the Auspicious Incident (Vak‘a-i Hayriyye).
Contents
- The main causes of the rebellions
- Princes’ revolts and succession struggles
- Religious and social revolts
- The Celali revolts
- Soldiers’ uprisings in Istanbul
- Frequently asked questions
The Main Causes of Rebellions in the Ottoman Empire
Behind rebellions in the Ottoman Empire there was usually more than one cause at once. The main factors highlighted by the sources are the following:
- Succession struggles: Because there was no fixed rule of succession, princes gathered their own forces in the provinces.
- Pressure from taxes and officials: Some provincial administrators bought their posts and tried to collect excessive taxes in a short time.
- Economic crisis: Population growth, a shortage of land and the debased akçe impoverished the peasants.
- Religious-political propaganda: Safavid influence in particular stirred some Turkmen groups against the state.
- Military breakdown: Kapıkulu soldiers whose discipline had decayed frequently rose up in the capital.
According to the entry “Celâlî İsyanları” in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Anatolia saw significant population growth in the sixteenth century, but farmland did not keep pace. Crowds left without land formed roaming bands called “garip-yiğit” when they could find no work. At the end of the century inflation rose and the markets filled with debased akçe. A poet of the time criticized this situation, saying that in an order where offices were openly sold, the rise of Celalis was inevitable.
The Ottoman government tried to answer these complaints with justice edicts (adaletname). According to the encyclopedia, in 1565 a justice edict was sent to every corner of the country. Ahmed I’s justice edict of 1609 likewise aimed to protect the people from usurers and from unjust taxes imposed by administrators. These measures, however, were not enough to dry up the sources of the problems.
In the nineteenth century the character of rebellions in the Ottoman Empire changed. The idea of nationalism spread by the French Revolution strengthened independence movements in the Balkans. We discussed the effects of this transformation in our article on the effects of the French Revolution.
Princes’ Revolts and Succession Struggles
The first of the major rebellions in the Ottoman Empire broke out under Murad I. According to the entry Murad I in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Prince Savcı Bey and Andronikos, son of the Byzantine Emperor John V, acted together in May 1373. Savcı Bey proclaimed himself sultan in Bursa, and Andronikos proclaimed himself emperor in Constantinople. Both were defeated on 25 May 1373. The encyclopedia notes that the date 1385 given by the chronicles for this rebellion is wrong.
Succession struggles also took place in the confused period after the Battle of Ankara (1402). Mustafa, the son of Bayezid I who had disappeared in the battle, reappeared years later and claimed the throne. Although some chronicles call him “Düzme” (the Impostor), some Byzantine and Ottoman sources write that he was the real prince. Backed by Byzantium, Mustafa was defeated by Mehmed I in 1419 and took refuge in Thessaloniki.
Under Suleiman the Magnificent, rivalry between brothers turned into open war. After Prince Mustafa was killed in 1553, a struggle for the throne began between Selim and Bayezid. Bayezid was defeated before Konya on 30 May 1559 and fled to Iran. Handed over to Ottoman envoys by Shah Tahmasp, Bayezid was killed in Qazvin on 23 July 1562 together with his four sons. You can read Prince Mustafa’s story in our article who was Prince Mustafa?
Religious and Social Revolts
The revolt of Sheikh Bedreddin, which broke out toward the end of the Interregnum, was one of the rebellions in the Ottoman Empire with the strongest religious and social dimension. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Bedreddin, kept under surveillance in İznik, probably escaped in 1416 and settled in Deliorman in Rumelia. Among his disciples, Börklüce Mustafa gathered thousands of followers in Aydın and Karaburun, and Torlak Kemal in the Manisa region.
The forces sent by Mehmed I first defeated Börklüce and Torlak and then captured the sheikh. Because Bedreddin was a religious scholar, the sultan set up a council of scholars to decide his case. On the council’s fatwa, Bedreddin was executed in Serres in 1420. You can find the general framework of the period in our article on the Ottoman Interregnum.
About a century later, Şahkulu Baba Tekeli rose up in the Teke region. According to the encyclopedia, Şahkulu, who spread pro-Safavid views, took advantage of the uncertainty created by the struggle for the throne among the sons of Bayezid II. In 1511 he routed the beylerbeyi of Anatolia, Karagöz Ahmed Pasha, before Kütahya. Grand Vizier Hadım Ali Pasha, who pursued him, lost his life in the clash near Sivas.
The Celali Revolts
The word “Celali” means “belonging to Celal”. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, in 1519 Şeyh Celal of Bozok rebelled in the Tokat region, claiming to be the Mahdi. From then on the people began to call every rebel who harmed them a Celali, whatever his aim. The state regarded these revolts as “hurûc ale’s-sultân”, that is, rising against the sultan.
At the end of the sixteenth century these revolts became the most serious of the rebellions in the Ottoman Empire. First, uprisings by suhtes, the madrasa students, spread. Then the burden of the Iranian and Austrian wars left Anatolia defenseless. The first great Celali leader, Karayazıcı Abdülhalim, grew strong enough to take Urfa and send out edicts under the name “Halim Shah”. We discussed the background of the long wars in our article on the Ottoman-Iranian wars.
The peasants, too, looked for ways to protect themselves. From the reign of Selim II, the Ottoman government encouraged the formation of village units of thirty to forty men, called “il erleri”, under a yiğitbaşı. According to the encyclopedia, these units became important in the fight against the Celalis, but over time they also fed the other side. Indeed, the Celali chief Neslioğlu was himself a yiğitbaşı.
According to the encyclopedia, Anatolia went through the period of the “great flight” (büyük kaçgunluk) from 1603 to 1608. People abandoned their villages and fled to walled towns, and Anatolia was virtually turned into a ruin. Canbolatoğlu Ali, master of Aleppo and Damascus, went so far as to have the Friday sermon read and coins struck in his own name. This revolt could only be suppressed in 1607 by Grand Vizier Kuyucu Murad Pasha.
In 1608 Kuyucu Murad Pasha also defeated Kalenderoğlu, and by 1609 he had eliminated the remaining rebels with harsh methods. This bloody purge brought calm for a time. But after the killing of Osman II, remnants of the Celalis again joined Abaza Mehmed Pasha, who rebelled in Erzurum. The video below on the Celali revolts approaches the subject from a different angle.
Soldiers’ Uprisings in Istanbul
The most shocking of the rebellions in the capital took place in 1622. According to the entry Osman II in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the news that the young sultan would cross to Anatolia on the pretext of a campaign united the ulema and the Janissaries. At the end of the uprising Osman II was killed in Yedikule. The encyclopedia describes this as an event unprecedented until then.
The apparent cause of the Edirne Incident of 1703 was the interference of Sheikh al-Islam Feyzullah Efendi in affairs of state. Statesmen awaiting promotion, the ulema and the guildsmen joined in this reaction. In the end Mustafa II was forced to leave the throne to his brother Ahmed III. This time, in 1730, Ahmed III was in turn deposed by the Patrona Halil revolt.
The Patrona Halil revolt closed the period later called the Tulip Era. According to the encyclopedia, Ahmed III sacrificed his son-in-law Nevşehirli İbrahim Pasha, but he still had to leave the throne to his nephew Mahmud I. The rebels also destroyed the tulip gardens and pavilions. You can read about the features of the period in our article what does the Tulip Era mean?
The Kabakçı Mustafa revolt of 1807, by contrast, was a reaction to Selim III’s Nizam-ı Cedid reforms. According to the encyclopedia, the real architects behind the revolt were Köse Musa Pasha and Sheikh al-Islam Ataullah Efendi. The revolt ended with the deposition of Selim III. The following year Mahmud II came to the throne through the intervention of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, and the Ottoman throne changed hands twice within two years.
Mahmud II prepared to renew the army without giving any opening for a new uprising. This turbulent period of rebellions in the Ottoman Empire closed with the abolition of the Janissary corps on 17 June 1826. You can find the details of the event in our article on the Auspicious Incident.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which of the rebellions in the Ottoman Empire came first?
The first known major rebellion was the uprising launched in 1373 by Savcı Bey, son of Murad I, together with the Byzantine prince Andronikos. The rebellion was suppressed the same year.
Which were the longest-lasting rebellions in the Ottoman Empire?
The Celali revolts. Named after the 1519 uprising of Şeyh Celal of Bozok, these movements shook Anatolia especially at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Who suppressed the Celali revolts?
Grand Vizier Kuyucu Murad Pasha suppressed the largest Celali groups between 1607 and 1609. The pasha ended the revolts of Canbolatoğlu and Kalenderoğlu with harsh methods.
Why was Sheikh Bedreddin executed?
The council of scholars set up by Mehmed I decided that Bedreddin’s activities amounted to rebellion. On the basis of this fatwa, Bedreddin was executed in Serres in 1420.
Conclusion
Rebellions in the Ottoman Empire cannot be reduced to a single cause. In the early period succession struggles came to the fore, in the sixteenth century economic crisis and pressure from officials, and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries soldiers’ uprisings in the capital. While the Celali revolts turned Anatolia into a ruin, the uprisings in Istanbul deposed sultans. This process closed only with the abolition of the Janissary corps in 1826.
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