The Concept of State in the Foundation Period of the Ottoman Empire
Nurdan Şafak
Keywords: Ottoman Chieftom, Construction of the Ottoman State, relations between sultan and reaya, fetih and gaza
Abstract
Ottoman historiography has not yet provided a precise answer to how the tiny Ottoman chieftom emerging in the Asia Minor became a world-wide empire. In this article, I will try to find answers to the following questions by taking as a basis those resources such as Aşık Paşazade History, Ahmedi's History and İskendername, Kenzü'l-Kübera and Mehekkü'l-Ulema, Murad-Nâme, Kabus-Name, Garib-Name: What was understood from a state at the formation phase; how has the process of transit from chieftom to the state; and most importantly, how were the relationships between the sultan representing the state and his subject?