Ottoman Turks

The Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. Reliable information about the early history of the Ottomans is scarce.

Ertugrul established a principality, as part of the decaying Seljuk empire. His son, Osman, expanded the principality; and for him, both the empire and the people were named by Europeans as "Ottomans". Osman's son, Orhan, expanded the growing empire, taking Nicaea, present-day Iznik, and crossed the Dardanelles strait, in 1362. But the Ottoman Empire came into its own when Mehmed II captured the Byzantine Empire's capital, Constantinople, in 1453.

The early Yâkût period was supplanted in the late 15th century by a new style pioneered by Seyh Hamdullah (1429–1520) which became the basis for Ottoman Calligraphy. The next great change in Ottoman calligraphy comes from the style of Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698), whose rigorous and simplified style found favor with an empire at its peak of both territorial extent, and governmental burdens.

Ottoman poetry produced epic length verse, but is better remembered for shorter forms, such as the gazel. By the 14th century the Ottoman Empire's prosperity made manuscript works available to merchants and craftsman, and produced a flowering of miniatures which depicted pagentry, daily life, commerce, cities and stories, as well as chronicling events.