The Sultans of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish: Osmanlı padişahları), sometimes referred to by outsiders as the "Grand Turk,", were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), which ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spanned an area from Hungary in the north to Yemen in the south, and from Algeria in the west to Iraq in the east. Administered at first from the city of Bursa, the empire's capital was moved to Edirne in 1363 following its conquest by Murad I, and then to Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453 following its conquest by Mehmed II. The capture of Istanbul was the end of the Byzantine Empire, and henceforth the Sultans added "Emperor of the Romans" to their titles. From 1517, the Sultan also held the title of Caliph of the Islamic world.
The Ottoman Empire's early years have been the subject of varying narratives due to the difficulty of discerning fact from legend. The empire came into existence at the end of the 13th century, and its first ruler (and the namesake of the Empire) was Osman I. The eponymous Ottoman dynasty he founded endured for six centuries through the reigns of 36 sultans. The Ottoman Empire disappeared as a result of the defeat of the Central Powers, with whom it had allied itself during World War I. The partitioning of the Empire by the victorious Entente and the ensuing Turkish War of Independence led to the abolition of the sultanate in 1922 and the birth of the modern Republic of Turkey in the same year.
Harry Turtledove has fictionalized the Ottoman Sultanate in the following ways.
Southern Victory
During the 20th century, the Sultanate led the Ottoman Empire to victory among the Central Powers in the Great War and the Second Great War. This glory was tarnished by the brutal persecution of Armenians, which the Sultans continued to enable for much of the 1920s despite protests from the Empire's American and German allies.
| Number | Sultan | Reign | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | Abdul Aziz | 
|
1861-1876 |
| 33 | Murad V | 
|
May-August, 1876 |
| 34 | Abdul Hamid II | 
|
1876-1909 |
| 35 | Mehmed V | 
|
1909-1918 |
| 36 | Mehmed VI | 
|
1918-1926 |
| 37 | Abdul Majid II | 
|
1926-1944 |
| 38 | Ahmed IV | 
|
1944- Incumbent at series' end, 1945 |
Literary comment
Abdul Majid II is the only Sultan named in the series. The fact that he is Sultan suggests that the Osman dynasty followed its OTL structure.
Other Sultans
Mehmed IV plays an important posthumous role in "The More it Changes".
An unnamed Sultan reigns in 1852 in Liberating Atlantis. There is reason to believe that this Sultan is not the historical Abdul Majid I.
In The Two Georges, set in 1995, the Ottoman Empire is a protectorate of the British Empire. King Charles III of Great Britain holds the tile of Protector of the Ottomans, but presumably there is an actual Sultan who is not referenced.
An unnamed Sultan reigns in 2095 in Curious Notions.
See also
- Caliph, the spiritual leader of the Islamic world. From 1517 until 1922, the Caliph and the Ottoman Sultan were always the same man.
- Byzantine Emperor, an office absorbed by the Ottoman Sultan in 1453.
- Unnamed Sultan of the Seljuk Empire, a minor character in Through Darkest Europe. The Seljuk Empire serves as that timeline's analog of the Ottoman Empire.
