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Mustafa II

(Encyclopedia)Mustafa II, 1664–1703, Ottoman sultan (1695–1703), nephew and successor of Ahmed II. The grand vizier (chief executive officer) of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Husayn Köprülü, exercised the act...

Ahmed III

(Encyclopedia)Ahmed III, 1673–1736, Ottoman sultan (1703–30), brother and successor of Mustafa II to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He gave asylum to Charles XII of Sweden and to Mazepa after Peter ...

Mamluk

(Encyclopedia)Mamluk or Mameluke mămˈəlo͞ok [key] [Arab.,=slaves], a warrior caste dominant in Egypt and influential in the Middle East for over 700 years. Islamic rulers created this warrior caste by collectin...

Tanzimat

(Encyclopedia)Tanzimat tänˈzēmät [key], [Turk.,=reorganization], the name referring to a period of modernizing reforms instituted under the Ottoman Empire from 1839 to 1876. In 1839, under the rule of Sultan Ab...

Spahis

(Encyclopedia)Spahis or Sipahis späˈhē [key], Ottoman cavalry. The Spahis were organized in the 14th cent. on a feudal basis. The officers held fiefs (timars) granted to them by the sultan and commanded the pers...

Stephen the Great

(Encyclopedia)Stephen the Great, d.1504, prince of Moldavia (1457–1504). A great military and political leader, Stephen consolidated princely authority, furthered economic prosperity, and reorganized the army, th...

Rumelia

(Encyclopedia)Rumelia or Roumelia both: ro͞omēˈlēə [key], region of S Bulgaria, between the Balkan and Rhodope mts. Historically, Rumelia denoted the Balkan possessions (particularly Thrace and Macedonia, and ...

Boucicaut

(Encyclopedia)Boucicaut bo͞osēkōˈ [key], c.1366–1421, marshal of France and crusader against the Ottoman Turks, whose real name was Jean III le Meingre. Captured by Ottoman Sultan Beyazid I at Nikopol (1396),...

Russo-Turkish Wars

(Encyclopedia)Russo-Turkish Wars. The great eastward expansion of Russia in the 16th and 17th cent., during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, nevertheless left the shores of the Black Sea in the hands of the Ottom...

Scanderbeg

(Encyclopedia)Scanderbeg or Skanderbeg both: skănˈdərbĕg [key], c.1404–1468, Albanian national hero. His original name was George Castriota or Kastriotes, but the Ottomans called him Iskender Bey, and this wa...