RIP Pronounciation of Turkish names. Sorry if the audio seems a bit off for this video, the original recording had constant peaking, which led to me re-recording the whole thing again, and in the end I ended up combining both audio files. Also, I did consider saying the time periods of each reign, but chose not to, as I felt it would break the "pace" of the video. Hope you enjoy it!
What if Suleiman the Magnificient had the technology from Mustafa IV's reign when he was a child? 1500s Ottomans with early-1800s tech would be incredible!
The ottoman and Roman empires are very similar. in one point you got the first 10 rulers being absolute chads while the rest caused the collapse of the empire, both empires fought the persians 24/7 in the east and Germans in the north, and you have the personal guards being the catalyst for most rulers being ki11ed/disposed
Whether you think the Ottoman Empire should or shouldn't be compared to Rome we can all agree creating a private military force meant to protect the absolute ruler of the state has never worked even once in history.
@@braziliankaiser8304 They worked until the Crusaders killed them all. Plus they had no motivation to shadow rule as they were recruited solely from abroad.
@@braziliankaiser8304 they worked as long as you paid them, much like the Praetorians. Definitely a lot more loyal and easy to control though, so they've got that going for them. The fact that they were essentially mercenaries helped, as they could just leave if they weren't paid enough, unlike the Praetorians
@@braziliankaiser8304 The problem with the Varangians, is that they were super expensive, so they really only worked when the Byzantine Empire was rich, and they came from very specific warrior cultures so when they were gone they were gone. Also they aren't a great example as they really only existed as we would think of them for about 100 to 200 years. Which is very short compared to the Praetorian Guard or the Janissaries.
Nice video but as a Turkish person I'd rank Mehmed II the best Ottoman sultan of all. Suleyman's reign was the height of Ottoman power that's true but, he only reaped the fruits of his father Selim I's and his great-grandfather Mehmet II's reigns, imo. Mehmet was the best of the trio because of his vision, his intellectual nature and his statesmanship. Suleyman's 46 six year reign also marks the beginning of corruption in Ottoman State. His execution of his closest companion, grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha and his son Sehzade Mustafa is pivotal, those two were incredibly talented individuals. Especially Mustafa had a deeper understanding of geo-politics than his father and his brothers as he wanted wanted to expand the navy, colonize Americas and beyond, dominate the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean and adapt to the changing of the global trade routes. Suleyman's successor instead of Mustafa, Selim II the Drunk was the one lost at Lepanto and that made Ottomans an increasingly land force over the centuries. They rebuilt their navy that they lost in Lepanto but the experienced marines and seaman and their tradition to some extent that were lost did not come back. Suleyman does seem nice from afar but he is not that good in my honest opinion. His clinging to power and breaking Ottoman tradition of not having multiple sons from a single mother as to not produce political instability, may have cost the Ottomans their future. I'm not saying he was disastrous or not good but I would never put him #1.
I'd definetely put Mehmet II over Suleiman I. Mehmet II wasn't just an emperor, but also a BIG part of the actual Renaissance happening at that time. The languages he could speak, his literature and poetic skills, his obsession with science, literal genius in battle tactics, maybe the first Muslim emperor to encourage scupltures and paintings and many more traits...
@@nomoslom Filmlerden ne öğrendin bilmiyorum ama adamın yazdığı her şey kelimesi kelimesine doğru 7 yabancı dil bilip akıcı bir şekilde konuşmayı bırak bu dillerde şiirler yazan bir padişah daha gelmedi üstelik Avrupa kültürüne ilgi duyup onların kültürlerini değerlendirmek isteyen tek padişah Her şey savaşıp toprak almakla olmuyor bilim olmadığı için osmanlı yıkıldı karşında silahlı asker varken kılıç iş görmüyordu maalesef
Osman the Second could have been a great leader though, he had big ambitions, most of them actually useful, but his plan on getting rid of the Janissaries was discovered and he was brutally tortured and killed by the Janissaries because of that.
@@KayserathePoetKiller o Osman farklı Osman, Genç Osman Türküsü, genç yaşlarında Osmanlı padişahı IV. Murad'ın Bağdat Seferi'ne katılan ve hayatını kaybeden Osman ismindeki bir yeniçeri için yazılmış bir türkü (wikiden aldım sen de bakabilirsin istersen).
I would list Selim I. as the best. He weakened the Safevids, crushed the Mamlukes, and left a sustainable system and a huge treasury to Suleiman the Magnificient, within 8 years. Without his achievement Sultan Suleiman could never expand like that.
exatcly,people will say about the big ideas of Fatih Sultan Mehmet,and yes they are mostly correct but man.. 8 years Selim didn't have a chance to show any of these.He was an absolute Chad that destroys the Enemies.I bet if he has long reign like Fatih or Kanuni,there will be no Persia or Europe,he will definetly take one of those
About Beyazıd the Thunderbolt I will say that his failure at conquering Constantinople and his defeat against Timur rather than being two seperate events were really just a singular event, as the siege of Constantinople was lifted specifically because of Timur's invasion. Thus I feel like they shouldnt be counted as two points against the quality of his reign rather just one
bayazid the thunderbold is a great sultan and and military commander actually. placing him so low would make no sense. it's like saying napaleon was not that good because he lost waterloo in the end.
@@stsk1061 How about he lost the support of Anatolians and Tartar mercenaries? Even worse, during the battle of Ankara. I would say it was a very poor judgement, although part of the blame goes to the traitors...
About Lepanto though: I’m not well read on the battle, but it’s important to remember that naval losses aren’t recouped by just building new ships. The loss of experienced men and captains can often hurt worse, and I think does play a factor into the importance of the battle
Yup, remembered hearing that as well a while back. It wasn't about the amount of ships lost(kinda) but mostly it was about the number of experienced men they lost in that battle.
@@cantthinkofacreativename1769 I see your point but to be honest, to lose to Tamerlane when invasion wasn't caused by your undoings isn't that much of a failure. Guy was like the force of nature. And Nikopolis was a brilliant and odd victory.
About Bayezid the Thunderbolt, his cool nickname actually foreshadowed his downfall. He got it on account of how quickly he went from one front to the other, which, while cool, wasn't a sustainable state of affairs as most of his reign was spent fighting a war on multiple fronts, much of it being against the other Anatolian beyliks, whom he continually failed to make lasting peace with and who eventually sided with Timur over him.
He also insulted Timur which led to Timur invasion which destroyed him. An Ottoman writer from that era wrote that the ego of Beyazid is what killed him.
@@tanura5830 Yeah, his prior military successes and belligerent attitude probably had something to do with how he couldn't make peace with the rest of Anatolia as well.
@@kenanmemedov5002 No, I don't really use discord for anything besides gaming. But it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy with this kind of thought process.
Pretty good list but Mehmet the Conqueror should be first. Other than conquering a lot of territory, he set the standard for other Sultans which made the Ottomans a true Empire. Süleyman is a great ruler, but he had greatly benefitted from what his predeccessors left him with. While Mehmed transformed the Ottoman State into a true empire. Also, you know he conquered some city called Constantinople. Your pronounciations were also pretty good.
I agree, Islamic caliphates were never as well governed or as open minded as they were under Ottomans, they mixed Middle Eastern traditions like eunuch officals but with western ideology and bureaucracy (Promoting anyone based on merit over class, western trade, art, even capturing westerners and making them vassals - Barabarossa etc). Basically it was a good era and at least near the end, a useless sultan was propped by good viziers, generals and later diplomats.
To be honest some families actually bribed officials to make sure their son becomes a janissary as it was seen as a position with great potential for upward mobility. But yeah many others were probably just sad that one of their sons was taken.
The Janissaries started of as kidnapped slaves and became something more comparable with European noblemen. The smart ones never had to fight and just got educated as bureaucrats. A lot of Grand Viziers were born as Balkan Christians
*drafted boys (since they gave someone from their family to army they did not pay jizya tax which is given in stead of military service.) Noone asks your opinion if you wanted to be drafted or not nowhere in the world during that time period. Still they also did not take a familys only boy and when they had the chance they chose the willing ones.
The fact that Ibraham, who was literally not mentally capable of ruling, did a better job than some of these people is... impressive. I also can't believe you didn't mention that Ibraham was assassinated on the orders _of his mother, Kosem Sultan_ . She did, however, kill at least two Sultans and depose a third (twice), so she was basically the Sultan in her own right for 5 different reigns.
Man as a turk myself i am always confused and overwhelmed about how complicated and full of intrigues the lives of ottoman sultans were. I think Netflix should cover some storys as series - that would let Game of Thrones look like a muppet show 😄
Nah, I like dragons and white haired girls. So unless you add some of them into that show it would at most be whatever lackluster documentary on Fatih Sultan Mehmet they had put out there with Celal Şengör and stuff. Pretty boring.
You guys could have made the muhtesem yuzyil series less romantic and more realistic. but netflix giving us somehistory series instead of softcore p*** is a great idea. x)
Suleiman had his problems, like killing his most promising son Mustapha because he was jealous of him, ordering the murder of his own grandson and leaving the empire in the hands of Selim the Sot. If Mustapha had lived to succeed him the empire could have risen even higher
@@tanura5830 Yes, he was paranoid because his father, Selim the Grim, had killed his own father after taking the throne. He feared that Mustafa might attempt the same action against him.
From what I read about dynastic disputes inside Osman family, they had intrigues and conflicts to easily rival Byzantines (which they claimed to be successor state, as Sultanate of Rum/Rome). Sultan had plenty of kids from his harem women, and each of them obviously wanted their son to be the favourite, to become a mother of the sultan and also secure his safety from sibilings. As a result sultan didn't have to worry about running out of heirs. Also patricide did happen, that's how Suleiman's father came to power. Overall, not fun times.
As a Turk all i can say is putting Suleiman in front of Mehmed II the Conqueror or Selim I or maybe even Murad II (my personal favorite thx to Battle of Varna) is insane to me.
Because I uploaded and unlisted it all the while putting it on the Historical Monarchs playlist, which enabled people to find it. Also, it was available on Patreon before being public on RUclips.
I thin Selim the Drunk is m favorite Sultan, if only because we get the hilarious transition of nicknames from Suleiman The Magnificent to Selim The Drunk.
This is actually a really good list. I thought for sure you were gonna miss a lot of things because generally westerns don't care that much about Ottomans but that was quite surprising. Your list was pretty objective and informative.
Murad I and Bayezid are on top of my list after selim. Fatih did not succeed as well as them I think. But one of the best. Suleiman to me comes 5th place
Yeah man, we have had some very interesting rulers😅 (Especially this one French dude Henry who fled about a month after being elected to the throne or so😂😂)
I disagree with your assessment regarding the decline of the Ottoman Empire. There was clearly a trend of poor policy, lack of interest and implementation of policies that would aid in industrialization, and otherwise other internal stability factors. Sure, outside powers adapting over time did make for a huge contributing factor, but other than a limited success in Egypt, the Ottomans utterly failed to industrialize and their internal policies laid the seeds of revolt and tension on religious, ethnic, and cultural grounds.
Yeah the ottoman decline comes from a mix of unlucky geographical stuff and the government not industrialize despite them up front with the Europeans industrializing
I really enjoyed your video, but within the field of Ottoman studies some of the terms you used (primarily “decline” and “modernization”) have some nasty repercussions that have caused them to be phased out. For instance, saying the Ottoman entered a period of “decline” discounts the innumerable self-strengthening reforms of the 19th and 20th centuries, which revitalized the state’s institutions. Furthermore, Ottoman “decline” is often used in relation to European powers’ military successes, but it fails to account for many of the Ottomans’ military successes up-to the conclusion of WWI. Likewise, “modernization” is a tricky term that equates certain technological, governmental, and societal standards (emblematic of Euro-American society) with modernity, largely depriving the Ottomans of their historical agency in drawing from numerous socio-cultural models of reform. I hope this proves informative!
Nice video and a good ranking but I'd replace Mehmed II and Suleiman I. Turks usually consider them and Selim I as the three prominent sultans but the difference between Suleiman and Mehmed&Selim is that Mehmed and Selim made many conquests so they could add riches to their country, Selim I even built a treasury room in Topkapı Palace and filled half of his gains(VOC levels of gold) and said: "Everyone else after me shall fill the other half". What Suleiman did wasn't fill the other half but spend recklessly for conquests, turning Selim's half into a quarter. He also got his super-competent and genius son Mustafa murdered only so the next sultan is from his favourite wife, Hürrem. That sultan in line was Selim II the Drunkard. Just like you said, these didn't turn the country around but two strikes are worse than Mehmet II's none, Mehmed actually ran a perfect reign on almost every aspect of the country and raised a good son(Bayezid II) to be the next sultan.
@@grealishscalves their capability to turn a local semi settled horde into a prominent state then into a formidable force that will stick around for centuries is often overlooked. Many people praise Mehmed II, Selim I and Suleiman I but I think the fate of the upcoming period of Ottoman history was already sealed by their forefather Murad II on the Fields of Varna, with the blood of crusaders.
There are few placements I disagree with, but one thing in particular bothers me because of the frequency - what is it with people constantly placing Bayezid II so low ?? Having studied him and his reign, he strikes me as someone who was even more pivotal for the Ottoman golden age during Selim and Suleiman than his father who, while grandiose, capable and ambitious, left the state nearly broke and by the end of his reign was trying to conquer Italy - a venture that was almost certain to end in defeat, no matter how much soldiers he brought. And even if successful, in the long run it would've been the equivalent of Rome conquering Germania, Caledonia and Mesopotamia at the same time - great on the map, but incredibly wasteful. Bayezid was bookish, peaceful and for consolidation, even if it was somewhat by happen-stance (read: Cem Sultan). His 31-year reign brought much needed stability and economic growth. Also, his help for the Jews in Spain and their re-population in the empire was one of the best moves ever made by a head of state, in any period. Yeah, I agree that his lack of authority over his sons in the last years of his reign brings him down a bit, but seriously, the view that he was bad compared to the other pre-Suleiman sultans just because he didn't care for the jihad-style conquests that many people have is really braindead to me.
@@driffbro3380 not really. Jihad-style conquests for all intents and purposes ended with Suleiman I, and the empire endured just fine for the next 250 years, more-or-less.
Respect for ranking the Sultans of the Tanzimat period so high, like you said in the later stages of the empire, the sultans didnt really have much controll anymore and are not fully to blame. The sultans of that period at least tried to do the right things, even if they succeeded too late
As a Turkish person who is deeply interested in Ottoman history, I would say that no other Ottoman ruler can even come close to Mehmed the Conqueror. His accomplishments were beyond any other Sultan's dreams and his intellectual personality is what differs from his ancestors and grandsons. Do not get me wrong, all Ottoman princes are raised to be a intellectual person and they were. However Mehmet was something else. Even majority of the Turkish historians will point to Mehmet if you ask them who was the greatest Ottoman ruler. As for the Suleyman the Magnificent, he was a GREAT ruler too. But not as much as Mehmet.
It’s too weird to see Mehmed IV that high and Bayezid I that low on the tier list Also Abdulaziz and Abdulhamid II were compenent leaders but at the worst time of the empire I’d just change places of Mehmed II and Suleiman I and besides these the tier list is correct
@Emil Fontanot he was a good ruler and a good general but had to face a good ruler like himself but one of the greatest generals of all time, same situation kind of happened in the reign of selim the grim facing safavid ismail shah but reverse this time
Abdulaziz was basically a puppet meanwhile Abdulhamit did everything he can do keep his absolute tyrannical power even if it meant sabotaging the empire in the process. Neither are good rulers.
Abdulhamid II is somewhat underrated, the fact he ranked lower than his mentally ill half-brother is a little weird, in my opinion he would be a bit higher.
@@gathrawn6822 mishandled european relations and caused loss of cyprus, total loss and alienation of egypt lost the balkan wars, destroyed reformist movements and ruled with tyranny and secret police, demolished free press and movement of knowledge. He is the reason in the modern Turkey why Ottoman state is mostly remembered as something that had to go. Oh also for Islamists that love him and he bent the knee to americans and told Sulu Sultanate and Moro people as Caliph to not protest american occupation and americans broke their promises of freedom to practice islam and proceeded to kill them here goes your Caliph bro. Mad Ibrahim was a puppet that ruler for a short amount of time Abdulhamid ruled for long, long enough that the ships Abdulaziz bought (Ottomans reformed the navy together with the Army and had a modern navy that was the third biggest in the world) rotted away in Haliç because he bent the knee against British fear of Ottomans establishing as a naval power in the mediterrenean again... He has some redeeming facts such as paying a substantial amount of debt and not letting zionists in Palestine but thats pretty much it. He destroyed Ottomanist ideology, Parlamentiarism and got rightfully deposed.
These videos put me to sleep instantly without fail. They’re not boring or anything I love watching them. I just always fall asleep in seconds if I put these videos on as background noise, especially the English kings one.
Speaking of monarchs with the epithet “thunderbolt”, the current King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), his name actually means “adorned with jewels or thunderbolt”, anyhow
As a Turk we ranked mostly Mehmed II best sultan in Ottoman. Because he Conqueror Constantinopole, Strengthened the military, improved technology, improved science and most importantly carried Ottoman it far beyond the era. So Suleiman He was able to do this thanks to his grandfather.
Turks indeed had a decisive role in triggering historical major events like the Migration Period, Crusades, Age of Discovery as well as ending the Middle Ages with the conquest of Constantinople, fall of the Roman Empire.
Very good list Spectrum, discovered your channel only a few months ago. Do you plan to get back to Greco-Roman history or continuously branching out into many other historical topics?
Amazing video, would have liked to see a mention of some of the great female consorts as well. Like Hurrem and the period during the Sultanate of women.
As a turk I Thınk Fatih Sultan Mehmet (conqueror) Is the greatest Sultan ın ottoman history. He is a military genious but also he is genious about other things. He knows multiple languages. He knows math he knows history geography etc. And he is founder of many Important education centers.(Sahn-ı seman medresesi) . Ali Kuşçu is the one of the best scientist of his era and he talked with him personally and Gave him a most important job in Sahn ı saman. Add all of this things his conquests and Istanbul. Suleyman was the ruler of best era in the ottomans but this is because Selim Firsts and Mehmet seconds eras victories. Mehmet the conqueror is a absolute genious.
I love these, I listen/put them in the background while playing, keep them coming and I'll keep watching PS don't worry about running out of ideas, I'll still watch and love you, no homo
I agree with you for the most part. But Vahidettin Mehmed VI should be WAAY lower. Osman II had his reforms etc. Selim II at least kept the most skilled grand vizier the Ottomans ever saw. But Mehmed VI, he was so easy to manipulate. During his trip with Mustafa Kemal Pasha to Germany, Kemal Pasha almost managed to get him to his side, then somehow despite hating him Mehmed VI done what Enver Pasha told him to do once he got the throne. And then his groom and the British. He was a pushover. Also according to many Murad I was the one who formed the Jannisaries
This video and this comment section was my entire evening thank you! İ loved hearing your opinions and İ hope you will make more videos like this about my people:
An amazing video, the only one I didn't agree with was Ahmed I, I really think he could have been a great sultan if he had lived longer... ( given that he died before the age of 30 ) not to mention he was the first Ottoman sultan to break the tradition of Fratricide and refused to kill his brothers, something his sons would end up continuing... I think the next ranking video should be one of the three... 1 - Poland 2 - Hungary 3 - Holy Roman Empire
Selim the Resolute better known by others as Selim the Grim XD Also yea dont feel sorry about the names haha, you pronounced them beautifully, no "k" at c or "j" at "ch" clearly you did research how to pronounce these names. And nice tier list. Although I would perhaps put Mehmed II ahead of Suleiman; purely because while the west knows Mehmed through his conquest, he was what you could call a Renaissance ruler through and through, knew over 6 languages, read Persian, Greek, Roman, Arabic and Indian Classics, held court with Byzantine philosophers and had them on Imperial pay, something later Emperors did not do, as well as many other aspects. I would say it was during Mehmed II's time that Ottomans went from being a beylik to being an Empire.
13:39 he didnt did in the war he died while inspecting the battle area to help ones in the field(including enemies) when he wanted to help a Serbian soldier the soldier swiftly killed the Sultan with a knife so basically he didnt die in the war but more so afterwards
That is not historical fact. From the letter that Tvrtko I Kotromanic, king of Bosnia and Serbia at the time, sent to Florentines after the Kosovo battle, Murad was killed during the battle. He was killed by 12 Serbian covenant knights. And if we take as a fact that report from Kosovo battle he had from "first" hand, as he sent Duke Vlatko Vukovic to join Serbian forces, an he led left wing of Serbian army, and returned to Bosnia after the battle. Those writings about Murad was killed by fraud you can find in some sorces almost 100 years after the battle took place.
All Ottoman Sultans, besides being multicultural, they were devoted to their religious beliefs and were compassionate. Second Mehmed the conqueror, who gave everyone the freedom to live their own faith after he conquered Constantinople with the cannons he built with his superior engineering intelligence. 15th centurys the most intellectual person, knowledgeable in fields such as mathematics, geography, astronomy, physics and he speaks at least 6 languages at the age of 21. Even their dreams cannot reach where my power reaches! ~ 2th Sultan Mehmed
I mean he tried but Skanderbeg managed to defeat his armies several times.And this earned skanderbeg the respect of Mehmed II.When skanderbeg died Mehmed said:Europe has lost its shield.
@@Rreqebulli yep, Skanderbeg is one of those genius commanders that countries get only once in their history. Man was unmatched for his time and in the Balkans only few historically have had the same kind of record. Man's a legend through and through.
I am a turkish people . Thnx for this video . I think europe was hate or not like us . When i saw like this videos , i transform a happy person . I repeat thanks a lot .
Putting Thunderbolt at 18 because he lost to Timur is crazy. Not only Tatars betrated him in the middle of the battle Timur already had 1.5x bigger army and elephants in the front line. Still tho if the tatars didn't betray him he had a great chance of winning that battle with the power of serbian knights which were heavily armored and powerful and you can't just say he lost to conquer constantinople because the reason that failed was timur's and crusade's attacks on the empire.
When Selim the resolute return from egypt conquest, he and his army waited in the borders of Istanbul for the day to turn night, so that the people would not have the chance to put a festival for the Egypt conquest. He was that humble...
Ottomans The Third Rome. Mehmed II is never destroyed Rome. "Mehmed of Magni Grecia - Trebizond - Asia Minor" "Qayser-i Rum" (Caesar of Romans) "Basileon Basileus" u can see in him coins :D also , "After the conquest of Istanbul, Mehmed saw himself as the legitimate heir of the Eastern Roman Empire, adopted the title of Roman Emperor, and adjusted his campaigns and behavior accordingly in order to establish the empire (Byzantium) on its former borders.' (Halil Inalcık, Some questions of public interest on Ottoman history, east-west articles, page 182.)" - "According to Theodoros Spandounes, the historian of the Conqueror, who came from the Byzantine Imperial family and served the Ottoman Empire after the conquest, the Conqueror is not a Turk. He wrote in his book: “Fatih did not believe that his ancestors came from the region [Central Asia], where the Tatars-Mongols-Oghuz were located, as nomadic shepherd tribes, as Turkic historians claim. Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror believed that his family was descended from the Byzantine Imperial family Komnenos." (Theodor Spandounes, On The Origin of The Ottoman Emperors - Lena Umay)" - "The Byzantine intellectual “Gregorios Phrantezes explained: Alexander the Great, the Roman Emperor Augustus, the Byzantine Emperor I. Konstantinos and Theodosios are the favorite heroes of the Mehmed II. (F. Babinger, ”Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Italy," p. 138)"
It is well established how much he admired the Romans and how it helped him win, but obviously everyone including himself knows that the origin of the ottomans is of oğuz turks. He most likely used the byzantine narrative and earlier marrigese between the dynasties to make his claim to roman ceaser more legit
as a Turk i must say that you should reconsider Osman II and Abdülhamid II because they were both good mans tring to make their best for the state. I know Abdülhamid is arguable but Osman the younger was a determined and beloved young man tring to make reforms but he murdered undignifly by janissaries because of struggles for crown. He didnt manage what he wanted but this doesnt make him a bad ruler. He was an unlucky man
These something important to remember though. Different Sultan's ruled at different times with different threats to the empire. Someone who didn't do too well in the modern era against powerful modern countries with all the modern mindsets might've done allot better in the distant barbaric past where they could attack weaker nations, commit genocides and warcrimes without any worry because the world back then was used to it.
I'd love to see a sort of filler episode where you discuss the placement of people who couldn't make it in just because they never officially held the title that you're ranking, like Casear, Charles Martel, Ivan III.....
So, the British-French operations are well known especially those in Crimea, and here is the less known part in which Turks were all by themselves against Russians: The war started on 5th October 1853, and on 30th November, the Russian fleet managed to destroy an Ottoman naval squad in the port of Sinop, which prevented Turks from efficiently supplying their forces in Eastern Anatolia. In this region, Russians managed to defeat numerically superior Turkish army in several battles, and invaded Kars, Ardahan and Artvin provinces. As war slowly turned to allied tide, Russians were repelled by experienced Ottoman commander Omar Pasha in early 1855 and there was a status quo in east for the rest of the war. Meanwhile in Balkans, there were no allied forces present than those of the Ottoman Empire until mid 1854, and from the time of wars beginning to this date, Turks fought Russians in a 1v1 as well. First notable actions were battles of Dobrich and Silistra, which held for a long time and dealt high casualties on the Russian army, which suffered disorganization from the break out attempts by the Turks, commanders often had to regroup kilometers behind the front-line. By the end of the Siege of Silistra, Allied forces had begun transferring to Varna, and Omar Pasha was advancing into Russian-occupied Wallachia. The two armies made several contacts with each other - notable battles being Calafat and Oltenitsa, and the modernized Ottoman army managed to repel and counterattack the Russian armies to Targoviste, reconquering Bucharest, (some references even claimed that they were welcomed by the cheering of the locals) which led to an Austrian intervention to control both Romanian principalities until the end of the war. The reason I wrote this, is the popular belief that Turks could only manage to defeat Russians with help from Europe. The army officers were considerably skilled after gratuading from the schools Mahmud II had established, and reorganization of the said army and officer corps gave Turks some flexibility advantages, which helped them together with their discipline. Turkish successes are shadowed by those of allies' in Crimea, and smaller sized defeats in East Anatolia. The empire did well on its own part during the war and definitely was an active participant of the war, rather than just a deadweight. Abdulhamid II should also be rated higher (like WAY higher), not least because most of the territorial losses he suffered were directly caused of the almost complete state of bankruptcy left for him by his predecessors. Another important detail you might have missed about Abdulhamid II is that he reduced Ottoman debt by 96% from 2.5 billion Ottoman Lira to 100 million Ottoman Lira. That's very impressive. He also won the 1897 war with Greece which was the empire's first victory in half a century. And in regards to him abolishing the parliament and constitution, the biggest territorial losses that occurred during Abdulhamid II's rule were either a result, or an indirect consequence of, the Russo-Turkish war of 1878 and the Treaty of Berlin, during which Abdulhamid II wasn't even a ruler of an Absolute Monarchy, as the empire became a constitutional monarchy, so he didn't have much power over that war. The territorial losses that resulted from that war were all his Balkan losses, territories in northeastern Anatolia, Cyprus, Egypt and Tunisia. All of these were a direct consequence of the treaty of Berlin and the allies taking advantage of the Ottoman Empire's sick man of Europe state. It makes sense after this that Abdulhamid II would disregard parliament and the constitution, for they were corrupt and responsible for the disaster that was the 1878 Great Eastern Crisis.
I personally put ıı.mehmed at the first of the list. Because he is beyond his age. He has more interest in education, culture, books and knowledge than the others.
*Read all carefully, I'm not romanticising him he was indeed the best of all* Mehmed II was the best; He was the most intellectual, he has a drawing book when he was a kid and there's Latin, Greek, Persian and Arabic writings which himself wrote as a kid and beautiful portraits including his teacher Akşemseddin and it is way detailed for a kid. He gave immense importance to science he brought scientist from Italy and Timurid Empire and he wouldn't believe in something that he didn't search about for example one time he brought Christian and Muslim scholars to a man's grave who was excommunicated from Christianity and people said that the ones that were excommunicated wouldn't decay and mix with the soil as he wasn't in the religion and whatnot so Mehmed wanted it to be opened and when they opened it, it was decayed as it should be. The places he conquered were strategically chosen; Crimea and Trabzon to control Black Sea, Morea and Aegean islands to control Aegean Sea, West Balkans to gain control in Europe (it helped as we signed commercial agreement with Venetians) and the most important Constantinople and lastly Otranto in Italy to gain full control over Adriatic. *But what is important is not conquering but creating a civilization and maintaining it which he did, go to West Balkans and look at the Ottoman influence in the culture and structure there's no influence like this in the Balkans where Suleiman conquered*
One thing about janissary recruiting is that the families of those 'taken' kids were actually happy about it as their kids were going to be an officer of importance or a highranked soldier in a powerful empire. Securing the whole family financially.
Fist of God damnit bro were the hell have you been like I've been!?? dying for a new video from you like I got stranded in the bloody Sahara desert *No Homo!!! Second thank you so much for doing this request because I love the sultuanet of the ottomans especially since I'm related to them buy Selim III younger brother and Third great video and fourth and final could you do one on the Chinese empire followed by Japanese the Korean and the Switzerland...for now!!😄 #SpetrumTheGreat
3:44 Sultan Abdul Hamid was a very good sultan he should’ve been in the top 10 because he was the last good sultan of the ottomans and he loved his people and still loved them after they started to insult him after he was dethroned and he also stopped isralis to get jerusalam if he wasn’t dethroned and his reign was longer he would have saved the ottoman empire
I Won't say top ten but not so low as he fucking rejected a offer from the british which was like You get:Freedom from all european debt I get:Palestine
@@MahmudHasan-mebro what the hell we all know that palestine is a holy place for 3 main religions ✝️☪️🔯 if he had accepted that offer yes he would have gotten free debt but they would have gotten palestine and the blood shed like now would have never stopped like it is now
RIP Pronounciation of Turkish names. Sorry if the audio seems a bit off for this video, the original recording had constant peaking, which led to me re-recording the whole thing again, and in the end I ended up combining both audio files. Also, I did consider saying the time periods of each reign, but chose not to, as I felt it would break the "pace" of the video.
Hope you enjoy it!
turkish names more like bore ragornok
What if Suleiman the Magnificient had the technology from Mustafa IV's reign when he was a child?
1500s Ottomans with early-1800s tech would be incredible!
Your pronounciations were fine actually
Do byzantine emperors next
Sure did. Well-made video.
The ottoman and Roman empires are very similar.
in one point you got the first 10 rulers being absolute chads while the rest caused the collapse of the empire, both empires fought the persians 24/7 in the east and Germans in the north, and you have the personal guards being the catalyst for most rulers being ki11ed/disposed
Why don't you make a Turkish historical figure video?🙁
@@baran1916 like Atatürk
@@solveiii yep
oo the chad Scorpo. looking forward to your uploads on the balkans
Bruh Safavids arent persian. Safavids are also Turkish too. So Ottoman didnt foght with persians.
Whether you think the Ottoman Empire should or shouldn't be compared to Rome we can all agree creating a private military force meant to protect the absolute ruler of the state has never worked even once in history.
What about the Varagians?
@@braziliankaiser8304 They worked until the Crusaders killed them all. Plus they had no motivation to shadow rule as they were recruited solely from abroad.
@@braziliankaiser8304 they worked as long as you paid them, much like the Praetorians. Definitely a lot more loyal and easy to control though, so they've got that going for them.
The fact that they were essentially mercenaries helped, as they could just leave if they weren't paid enough, unlike the Praetorians
@@braziliankaiser8304 The problem with the Varangians, is that they were super expensive, so they really only worked when the Byzantine Empire was rich, and they came from very specific warrior cultures so when they were gone they were gone. Also they aren't a great example as they really only existed as we would think of them for about 100 to 200 years. Which is very short compared to the Praetorian Guard or the Janissaries.
Ottomans: these private guards and elite solider that the Rome have, We should have something like that.
Nice video but as a Turkish person I'd rank Mehmed II the best Ottoman sultan of all. Suleyman's reign was the height of Ottoman power that's true but, he only reaped the fruits of his father Selim I's and his great-grandfather Mehmet II's reigns, imo. Mehmet was the best of the trio because of his vision, his intellectual nature and his statesmanship. Suleyman's 46 six year reign also marks the beginning of corruption in Ottoman State. His execution of his closest companion, grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha and his son Sehzade Mustafa is pivotal, those two were incredibly talented individuals. Especially Mustafa had a deeper understanding of geo-politics than his father and his brothers as he wanted wanted to expand the navy, colonize Americas and beyond, dominate the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean and adapt to the changing of the global trade routes. Suleyman's successor instead of Mustafa, Selim II the Drunk was the one lost at Lepanto and that made Ottomans an increasingly land force over the centuries. They rebuilt their navy that they lost in Lepanto but the experienced marines and seaman and their tradition to some extent that were lost did not come back.
Suleyman does seem nice from afar but he is not that good in my honest opinion. His clinging to power and breaking Ottoman tradition of not having multiple sons from a single mother as to not produce political instability, may have cost the Ottomans their future. I'm not saying he was disastrous or not good but I would never put him #1.
but he had the best turban :c
Yes
I was gonna say it, thanks.
@@osman_gultekin Had to be said
@@carlosdumbratzen6332 can't argue with that
I'd definetely put Mehmet II over Suleiman I. Mehmet II wasn't just an emperor, but also a BIG part of the actual Renaissance happening at that time. The languages he could speak, his literature and poetic skills, his obsession with science, literal genius in battle tactics, maybe the first Muslim emperor to encourage scupltures and paintings and many more traits...
2 film izleyip yorum atanlarda bugün
@@nomoslom ne filmi
2. Murat hocam 2. Murat
@@nomoslom Filmlerden ne öğrendin bilmiyorum ama adamın yazdığı her şey kelimesi kelimesine doğru 7 yabancı dil bilip akıcı bir şekilde konuşmayı bırak bu dillerde şiirler yazan bir padişah daha gelmedi üstelik Avrupa kültürüne ilgi duyup onların kültürlerini değerlendirmek isteyen tek padişah
Her şey savaşıp toprak almakla olmuyor bilim olmadığı için osmanlı yıkıldı karşında silahlı asker varken kılıç iş görmüyordu maalesef
@@unlucky-777 Asıl bilmeyen sensin. Osmanlı ilk ateşli silahlara geçiş yapan devletlerden biri. Oradan buradan duyduklarınızla yorum yapıyorsunuz.
Oh! Finally! I've been waiting for this ranking!
Despite being Portuguese the Ottoman Empire is my favorite Empire.
Great one!
@@Deepak_Dhakad yeah Mughal empire is a good one as well. As it is expected from a Turkish empire.
@@Deepak_Dhakad mughal always türkic there is no such thing indo-europen
@@Deepak_Dhakad mughal was founded by the turks brainless every empire have situations like that🤣🤣🤣 kid
@@Deepak_Dhakad mughal rulers were turkic
Christiano Ronaldo
Osman the Second could have been a great leader though, he had big ambitions, most of them actually useful, but his plan on getting rid of the Janissaries was discovered and he was brutally tortured and killed by the Janissaries because of that.
Genç Osman dediğin bir küçük aslan, Bağdat'ın içine girilmez yastan, oy oy.
@@KayserathePoetKiller o Osman farklı Osman, Genç Osman Türküsü, genç yaşlarında Osmanlı padişahı IV. Murad'ın Bağdat Seferi'ne katılan ve hayatını kaybeden Osman ismindeki bir yeniçeri için yazılmış bir türkü (wikiden aldım sen de bakabilirsin istersen).
Kesinlikle
The Janissaries only obeyed the words of the Traitor Davut Pasha. At that time, they were not strong enough to oppose the sultan and other statesmen.
Who was Osman II?
I would list Selim I. as the best. He weakened the Safevids, crushed the Mamlukes, and left a sustainable system and a huge treasury to Suleiman the Magnificient, within 8 years. Without his achievement Sultan Suleiman could never expand like that.
exatcly,people will say about the big ideas of Fatih Sultan Mehmet,and yes they are mostly correct but man.. 8 years Selim didn't have a chance to show any of these.He was an absolute Chad that destroys the Enemies.I bet if he has long reign like Fatih or Kanuni,there will be no Persia or Europe,he will definetly take one of those
Abdulhamid II is the GOAT!!!! He soloed the accursed Zionis by himself
Based + Spectrum + Portuguese + Great effort + History enthusiast
Great common
A portugese person speaking english living in portugal talking about turkic muslim leaders ruling over the middle east, balkans, and black seas
@@justinian536 We live in the best timeline
+Loyal Janissaries
About Beyazıd the Thunderbolt I will say that his failure at conquering Constantinople and his defeat against Timur rather than being two seperate events were really just a singular event, as the siege of Constantinople was lifted specifically because of Timur's invasion. Thus I feel like they shouldnt be counted as two points against the quality of his reign rather just one
bayazid the thunderbold is a great sultan and and military commander actually. placing him so low would make no sense. it's like saying napaleon was not that good because he lost waterloo in the end.
@@darklord1901
I agree Bayezid was just unlucky but he was skilled .
@@darklord1901 that can be applied to most rulers of history. Where their own lacking skill did not kill them, circumstance xe would surely.
Agreed. He lost to Timur, but everyone lost to him. None of the other Sultans faced such a strong adversary.
@@stsk1061 How about he lost the support of Anatolians and Tartar mercenaries? Even worse, during the battle of Ankara. I would say it was a very poor judgement, although part of the blame goes to the traitors...
About Lepanto though: I’m not well read on the battle, but it’s important to remember that naval losses aren’t recouped by just building new ships. The loss of experienced men and captains can often hurt worse, and I think does play a factor into the importance of the battle
Yup, remembered hearing that as well a while back. It wasn't about the amount of ships lost(kinda) but mostly it was about the number of experienced men they lost in that battle.
Loss of experience? A few years later, the Ottomans handily expelled the Spanish from Tunisia
@@mint8648 exactly, it took months to build a decent sized fleet but years to be experienced at sailing
@@convictgames3895 the point is, the battle of lepanto wasn’t disastrous enough in any way to permanently stop ottoman expansion in the mediterranean
@@mint8648 nothing is too disastrous when u can throw body's at the problem
Bayezid I the Thunderbolt should be way higher. The way he conquered and defeated the crusader armies is incredible. The nickname alone is fantastic.
But to be fair, ankara almost collapsed the empire
@@cantthinkofacreativename1769 I see your point but to be honest, to lose to Tamerlane when invasion wasn't caused by your undoings isn't that much of a failure. Guy was like the force of nature. And Nikopolis was a brilliant and odd victory.
About Bayezid the Thunderbolt, his cool nickname actually foreshadowed his downfall. He got it on account of how quickly he went from one front to the other, which, while cool, wasn't a sustainable state of affairs as most of his reign was spent fighting a war on multiple fronts, much of it being against the other Anatolian beyliks, whom he continually failed to make lasting peace with and who eventually sided with Timur over him.
He also insulted Timur which led to Timur invasion which destroyed him. An Ottoman writer from that era wrote that the ego of Beyazid is what killed him.
@@tanura5830 Yeah, his prior military successes and belligerent attitude probably had something to do with how he couldn't make peace with the rest of Anatolia as well.
Dude ı was looking at comments and you made a comment very similar to someone I met on discord and it made me very curious Kağan?
@@kenanmemedov5002 No, I don't really use discord for anything besides gaming. But it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy with this kind of thought process.
Amazing that the worst Sultan (Mustafa IV) was succeed by his brother who is the 4th best (Mahmud II).
Long live mahmud it's legacy!
Pretty good list but Mehmet the Conqueror should be first. Other than conquering a lot of territory, he set the standard for other Sultans which made the Ottomans a true Empire. Süleyman is a great ruler, but he had greatly benefitted from what his predeccessors left him with. While Mehmed transformed the Ottoman State into a true empire. Also, you know he conquered some city called Constantinople. Your pronounciations were also pretty good.
Yavuz 8 yıl daha tahtta kalsaydı. Muhtemelen Viyana'yı almış olurduk çoktan...
@@tugrulunal3391 osurarak mı alacak viyanayı?
I agree, Islamic caliphates were never as well governed or as open minded as they were under Ottomans, they mixed Middle Eastern traditions like eunuch officals but with western ideology and bureaucracy (Promoting anyone based on merit over class, western trade, art, even capturing westerners and making them vassals - Barabarossa etc). Basically it was a good era and at least near the end, a useless sultan was propped by good viziers, generals and later diplomats.
The worse list I ever seen. Mehmed 4 ranking better than Murat 4 in the list. İf you know Ottoman history then you should know its a nosense
@@Prtsporbro do you even know ottoman history 😂 ITS NOT NONSENSE sultan mehmed 2 is the fatih
To be honest some families actually bribed officials to make sure their son becomes a janissary as it was seen as a position with great potential for upward mobility. But yeah many others were probably just sad that one of their sons was taken.
The Janissaries started of as kidnapped slaves and became something more comparable with European noblemen.
The smart ones never had to fight and just got educated as bureaucrats.
A lot of Grand Viziers were born as Balkan Christians
@@dankeykang868 devshirmes*
*drafted boys (since they gave someone from their family to army they did not pay jizya tax which is given in stead of military service.)
Noone asks your opinion if you wanted to be drafted or not nowhere in the world during that time period. Still they also did not take a familys only boy and when they had the chance they chose the willing ones.
@@dankeykang868 eventually balkan people had the best occasions than other ethnics in ottoman
The easiest way to morally evaluate the system is to imagine in modern world if your children were kidnapped by Harvard University.
You have no idea how long I was hoping for you to make this video. You made my day much better than it already was. Keep up the great work!
mehmed II did try to deal with Skanderbeg, but failed each time.Only after Skandebeg died, was mehmed able to conquer Albania.
God dealt with him for Mohammed II, one could say 😂
The fact that Ibraham, who was literally not mentally capable of ruling, did a better job than some of these people is... impressive.
I also can't believe you didn't mention that Ibraham was assassinated on the orders _of his mother, Kosem Sultan_ . She did, however, kill at least two Sultans and depose a third (twice), so she was basically the Sultan in her own right for 5 different reigns.
*ibrahim
Sultan Kosem gets a nod from Catherine de Medici.
One absolutely powerful mama to another.
@@sars910 And from Maria Theresa
dude just wanted the thiccest of women it is a simple goal which can be respected
@@sars910 Kosem Sultan creeps me out.
Man as a turk myself i am always confused and overwhelmed about how complicated and full of intrigues the lives of ottoman sultans were. I think Netflix should cover some storys as series - that would let Game of Thrones look like a muppet show 😄
Nah, I like dragons and white haired girls. So unless you add some of them into that show it would at most be whatever lackluster documentary on Fatih Sultan Mehmet they had put out there with Celal Şengör and stuff. Pretty boring.
As a Turk yazmadan yorum yazamıyonuz mu la siz
@@iskenderboyga4879 Türk olduğunu dillendirmeyi seviyor ki yoruma da o yüzden öyle başlıyor. Sana ne kimin yoruma nasıl başladığından, işine bak.
@@roenin we can add all kinds of girls from the harems red, white, brunette, black you name it ottoman empire probably had it ;)
You guys could have made the muhtesem yuzyil series less romantic and more realistic. but netflix giving us somehistory series instead of softcore p*** is a great idea. x)
Suleiman had his problems, like killing his most promising son Mustapha because he was jealous of him, ordering the murder of his own grandson and leaving the empire in the hands of Selim the Sot. If Mustapha had lived to succeed him the empire could have risen even higher
Not jealousy he was paranoid from what i know
@@tanura5830he was legitimately in danger,the janissaries wanted Mustafa on the throne and thought Suleiman was too old.
@@tanura5830 Yes, he was paranoid because his father, Selim the Grim, had killed his own father after taking the throne. He feared that Mustafa might attempt the same action against him.
From what I read about dynastic disputes inside Osman family, they had intrigues and conflicts to easily rival Byzantines (which they claimed to be successor state, as Sultanate of Rum/Rome). Sultan had plenty of kids from his harem women, and each of them obviously wanted their son to be the favourite, to become a mother of the sultan and also secure his safety from sibilings. As a result sultan didn't have to worry about running out of heirs. Also patricide did happen, that's how Suleiman's father came to power. Overall, not fun times.
@@newhybrid101 because suleiman was too old, he started making many mistakes.
As a Turk all i can say is putting Suleiman in front of Mehmed II the Conqueror or Selim I or maybe even Murad II (my personal favorite thx to Battle of Varna) is insane to me.
This is always a strange thing but I've always had a lot of respect for rules who abdicated willingly when failing health and mental issues begin.
-If only the current turkish ruler did so-
Wow, this was a great video! Thank you!
This video was uploaded 11 minutes ago, How did you comment a day ago??
Because I uploaded and unlisted it all the while putting it on the Historical Monarchs playlist, which enabled people to find it. Also, it was available on Patreon before being public on RUclips.
@@soypocalypse He first uploaded it privately through a playlist
@@spectrum1140 Ah alright
I thin Selim the Drunk is m favorite Sultan, if only because we get the hilarious transition of nicknames from Suleiman The Magnificent to Selim The Drunk.
We call him Tuborg Selim
@@37boy60no we dont
@@AliEgemenB hiç duymadın mı
Lol
You came here after watching magnificent century
I like how the founder of the Jannisaries and the one who ended them are beside each other
This is actually a really good list. I thought for sure you were gonna miss a lot of things because generally westerns don't care that much about Ottomans but that was quite surprising. Your list was pretty objective and informative.
LOVE THE VIDEOS NEED MORE OF THE LONGER DOCUMENTARY VERSIONS !!!
Man I have to give it to you. This ranking must have at least took you a month of pure research
Mehmed The Conqueror > Selim The Grim > Suleiman The Magnificient
selim the grim is the best
Murad I and Bayezid are on top of my list after selim. Fatih did not succeed as well as them I think. But one of the best. Suleiman to me comes 5th place
Selim I is seriously underrated.
Great vid as always. Can't wait for the Polish Monarch Ranking!
Yes. Still waiting.
Yeah man, we have had some very interesting rulers😅 (Especially this one French dude Henry who fled about a month after being elected to the throne or so😂😂)
I disagree with your assessment regarding the decline of the Ottoman Empire. There was clearly a trend of poor policy, lack of interest and implementation of policies that would aid in industrialization, and otherwise other internal stability factors. Sure, outside powers adapting over time did make for a huge contributing factor, but other than a limited success in Egypt, the Ottomans utterly failed to industrialize and their internal policies laid the seeds of revolt and tension on religious, ethnic, and cultural grounds.
Yeah the ottoman decline comes from a mix of unlucky geographical stuff and the government not industrialize despite them up front with the Europeans industrializing
The Ottomans were as industrialized as Russia
@@mint8648 And look at how that turned out for Russia until they did industrialize.
@@mint8648 Not true. Even Russia was a lot more modernised than the Ottoman Empire.
@@BountyFlamor source? Ottoman gdp per capita in 1914 was higher than Russia’s
Alright, next do a tierlist on the 170 pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
I bet you get these comments all the time, but I really enjoy your videos because you made learning history not boring
I really enjoyed your video, but within the field of Ottoman studies some of the terms you used (primarily “decline” and “modernization”) have some nasty repercussions that have caused them to be phased out. For instance, saying the Ottoman entered a period of “decline” discounts the innumerable self-strengthening reforms of the 19th and 20th centuries, which revitalized the state’s institutions. Furthermore, Ottoman “decline” is often used in relation to European powers’ military successes, but it fails to account for many of the Ottomans’ military successes up-to the conclusion of WWI.
Likewise, “modernization” is a tricky term that equates certain technological, governmental, and societal standards (emblematic of Euro-American society) with modernity, largely depriving the Ottomans of their historical agency in drawing from numerous socio-cultural models of reform. I hope this proves informative!
Very nice Kyle!
awesome
Nice video and a good ranking but I'd replace Mehmed II and Suleiman I.
Turks usually consider them and Selim I as the three prominent sultans but the difference between Suleiman and Mehmed&Selim is that Mehmed and Selim made many conquests so they could add riches to their country, Selim I even built a treasury room in Topkapı Palace and filled half of his gains(VOC levels of gold) and said: "Everyone else after me shall fill the other half".
What Suleiman did wasn't fill the other half but spend recklessly for conquests, turning Selim's half into a quarter. He also got his super-competent and genius son Mustafa murdered only so the next sultan is from his favourite wife, Hürrem. That sultan in line was Selim II the Drunkard. Just like you said, these didn't turn the country around but two strikes are worse than Mehmet II's none, Mehmed actually ran a perfect reign on almost every aspect of the country and raised a good son(Bayezid II) to be the next sultan.
Have you ever considered ranking every Brazilian Emperor?
Obvious.
1. Peter II
2. Peter I
There's only two
@@royal3380 isn't it pedro not peter?
@@No-mn9do Peter is the english version of Pedro
@@mrtrollnator123 oh my bad
Well-made and mostly accurate video!
Though i think Murad I and Murad II deserves some attention
Same, I searched for them here...
@@grealishscalves their capability to turn a local semi settled horde into a prominent state then into a formidable force that will stick around for centuries is often overlooked.
Many people praise Mehmed II, Selim I and Suleiman I but I think the fate of the upcoming period of Ottoman history was already sealed by their forefather Murad II on the Fields of Varna, with the blood of crusaders.
There are few placements I disagree with, but one thing in particular bothers me because of the frequency - what is it with people constantly placing Bayezid II so low ??
Having studied him and his reign, he strikes me as someone who was even more pivotal for the Ottoman golden age during Selim and Suleiman than his father who, while grandiose, capable and ambitious, left the state nearly broke and by the end of his reign was trying to conquer Italy - a venture that was almost certain to end in defeat, no matter how much soldiers he brought. And even if successful, in the long run it would've been the equivalent of Rome conquering Germania, Caledonia and Mesopotamia at the same time - great on the map, but incredibly wasteful.
Bayezid was bookish, peaceful and for consolidation, even if it was somewhat by happen-stance (read: Cem Sultan). His 31-year reign brought much needed stability and economic growth. Also, his help for the Jews in Spain and their re-population in the empire was one of the best moves ever made by a head of state, in any period. Yeah, I agree that his lack of authority over his sons in the last years of his reign brings him down a bit, but seriously, the view that he was bad compared to the other pre-Suleiman sultans just because he didn't care for the jihad-style conquests that many people have is really braindead to me.
The "jihad-style conquest" is the reason why an entity known as the Ottoman empire exists in history books..
@@driffbro3380 not really. Jihad-style conquests for all intents and purposes ended with Suleiman I, and the empire endured just fine for the next 250 years, more-or-less.
Respect for ranking the Sultans of the Tanzimat period so high, like you said in the later stages of the empire, the sultans didnt really have much controll anymore and are not fully to blame. The sultans of that period at least tried to do the right things, even if they succeeded too late
As a Turk, I was waiting for this after seeing your other rank videos
As a Turkish person who is deeply interested in Ottoman history, I would say that no other Ottoman ruler can even come close to Mehmed the Conqueror. His accomplishments were beyond any other Sultan's dreams and his intellectual personality is what differs from his ancestors and grandsons. Do not get me wrong, all Ottoman princes are raised to be a intellectual person and they were. However Mehmet was something else. Even majority of the Turkish historians will point to Mehmet if you ask them who was the greatest Ottoman ruler. As for the Suleyman the Magnificent, he was a GREAT ruler too. But not as much as Mehmet.
True, if Mehmet had resources of Süleyman, Fatih would take Vienna.
New spectrum drop hell ya 🔥🔥
I've been waiting for this.
It’s too weird to see Mehmed IV that high and Bayezid I that low on the tier list
Also Abdulaziz and Abdulhamid II were compenent leaders but at the worst time of the empire
I’d just change places of Mehmed II and Suleiman I and besides these the tier list is correct
@Emil Fontanot he was a good ruler and a good general but had to face a good ruler like himself but one of the greatest generals of all time, same situation kind of happened in the reign of selim the grim facing safavid ismail shah but reverse this time
Abdulaziz was basically a puppet meanwhile Abdulhamit did everything he can do keep his absolute tyrannical power even if it meant sabotaging the empire in the process. Neither are good rulers.
Abdulhamid II is somewhat underrated, the fact he ranked lower than his mentally ill half-brother is a little weird, in my opinion he would be a bit higher.
@@gathrawn6822 mishandled european relations and caused loss of cyprus, total loss and alienation of egypt lost the balkan wars, destroyed reformist movements and ruled with tyranny and secret police, demolished free press and movement of knowledge. He is the reason in the modern Turkey why Ottoman state is mostly remembered as something that had to go. Oh also for Islamists that love him and he bent the knee to americans and told Sulu Sultanate and Moro people as Caliph to not protest american occupation and americans broke their promises of freedom to practice islam and proceeded to kill them here goes your Caliph bro. Mad Ibrahim was a puppet that ruler for a short amount of time Abdulhamid ruled for long, long enough that the ships Abdulaziz bought (Ottomans reformed the navy together with the Army and had a modern navy that was the third biggest in the world) rotted away in Haliç because he bent the knee against British fear of Ottomans establishing as a naval power in the mediterrenean again... He has some redeeming facts such as paying a substantial amount of debt and not letting zionists in Palestine but thats pretty much it. He destroyed Ottomanist ideology, Parlamentiarism and got rightfully deposed.
nope man Abdulhamid II wasn't that good at all
These videos put me to sleep instantly without fail. They’re not boring or anything I love watching them. I just always fall asleep in seconds if I put these videos on as background noise, especially the English kings one.
Same. I have to watch them several times to really watch them as a whole bc I always fall asleep but I love it :D
Ranking every Swedish rulers next for hardest of challenges
because nobody gives af about sweden lol
1. Gustavus Adolphus
2. Charles xi??
3....
Karl XII
Speaking of monarchs with the epithet “thunderbolt”, the current King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), his name actually means “adorned with jewels or thunderbolt”, anyhow
Beyazıt was given the name thunderbolt because it is said that he was fast af on a horse and nobody could even sight him in battlefield
@@Sulfat_lol Not fast enough to escape the Timurids though.
@@pyramidhead2874 Lol
@@pyramidhead2874who is tho?😂
It makes my day when I see a spectrum post
As a Turk we ranked mostly Mehmed II best sultan in Ottoman. Because he Conqueror Constantinopole, Strengthened the military, improved technology, improved science and most importantly carried Ottoman it far beyond the era. So Suleiman He was able to do this thanks to his grandfather.
Turks indeed had a decisive role in triggering historical major events like the Migration Period, Crusades, Age of Discovery as well as ending the Middle Ages with the conquest of Constantinople, fall of the Roman Empire.
who are you and why are you under every video
Very good list Spectrum, discovered your channel only a few months ago. Do you plan to get back to Greco-Roman history or continuously branching out into many other historical topics?
I definitely plan to get back to Greco-Roman history. I'm not done with Rome especially anytime soon.
@@spectrum1140 gooooooood
Great video! You should rank the Mongol Khans, they’re generally very underrated after Genghis.
Amazing video, would have liked to see a mention of some of the great female consorts as well. Like Hurrem and the period during the Sultanate of women.
They weren’t sultans tho
As a turk I Thınk Fatih Sultan Mehmet (conqueror) Is the greatest Sultan ın ottoman history. He is a military genious but also he is genious about other things. He knows multiple languages. He knows math he knows history geography etc. And he is founder of many Important education centers.(Sahn-ı seman medresesi) . Ali Kuşçu is the one of the best scientist of his era and he talked with him personally and Gave him a most important job in Sahn ı saman. Add all of this things his conquests and Istanbul. Suleyman was the ruler of best era in the ottomans but this is because Selim Firsts and Mehmet seconds eras victories. Mehmet the conqueror is a absolute genious.
Mehmed didn't "deal"with Skanderbeg. Only after 20 years after Skanderbeg's death did the ottomans re-took Albania.
Much love from Turkey. Thanks for this video!!
I love these, I listen/put them in the background while playing, keep them coming and I'll keep watching
PS don't worry about running out of ideas, I'll still watch and love you, no homo
Babe wake up spectrum dropped another ranking video
I agree with you for the most part. But Vahidettin Mehmed VI should be WAAY lower. Osman II had his reforms etc. Selim II at least kept the most skilled grand vizier the Ottomans ever saw. But Mehmed VI, he was so easy to manipulate. During his trip with Mustafa Kemal Pasha to Germany, Kemal Pasha almost managed to get him to his side, then somehow despite hating him Mehmed VI done what Enver Pasha told him to do once he got the throne. And then his groom and the British. He was a pushover.
Also according to many Murad I was the one who formed the Jannisaries
I've been looking forward to this.
This video and this comment section was my entire evening thank you! İ loved hearing your opinions and İ hope you will make more videos like this about my people:
Give Constantinople back to the Greeks.
@@rfkwouldvebeenaok1008 what are you talking about 😂 crazy people everywhere.
@@schoolofhot you are Turkish right? You said your people.
@@rfkwouldvebeenaok1008 yes… I’m Turkish… but you’re making crazy statements. Where are you from?
@@rfkwouldvebeenaok1008 Istanbul is Turkish, and Hagia Sophia is a mosque. Keep seething.
An amazing video, the only one I didn't agree with was Ahmed I, I really think he could have been a great sultan if he had lived longer... ( given that he died before the age of 30 ) not to mention he was the first Ottoman sultan to break the tradition of Fratricide and refused to kill his brothers, something his sons would end up continuing...
I think the next ranking video should be one of the three...
1 - Poland
2 - Hungary
3 - Holy Roman Empire
The first 10 Ottoman sultans were great rulers, but after that it goes downhill.
spectrum idk if u can see this but ur videos actually helped me get mad game....thanks 4 this king
That’s amazing! I love your videos! Always fun to watch ❤❤
You should insert tier list chart f-s trust me people love to see that. I needed too see it too.
Selim the Resolute better known by others as Selim the Grim XD
Also yea dont feel sorry about the names haha, you pronounced them beautifully, no "k" at c or "j" at "ch" clearly you did research how to pronounce these names. And nice tier list. Although I would perhaps put Mehmed II ahead of Suleiman; purely because while the west knows Mehmed through his conquest, he was what you could call a Renaissance ruler through and through, knew over 6 languages, read Persian, Greek, Roman, Arabic and Indian Classics, held court with Byzantine philosophers and had them on Imperial pay, something later Emperors did not do, as well as many other aspects. I would say it was during Mehmed II's time that Ottomans went from being a beylik to being an Empire.
16 dil biliyomuş ufak at da civcivler yesin
@@mda990 6dir 16 diye yazmisim duzelttim
Fantastic video, as always.
Again, maybe something short like Belgian kings or Prussian kings/German emperors next? Also, how about top 20 (or so) rulers with coolest nicknames?
Great video! Could you rank the Kings of Hungary next?
Yavuz Selim(Nr.3) father of Suleiman(Nr.1) the best, most powerful and rich era of the ottomans.
13:39 he didnt did in the war he died while inspecting the battle area to help ones in the field(including enemies) when he wanted to help a Serbian soldier the soldier swiftly killed the Sultan with a knife
so basically he didnt die in the war but more so afterwards
That is not historical fact.
From the letter that Tvrtko I Kotromanic, king of Bosnia and Serbia at the time, sent to Florentines after the Kosovo battle, Murad was killed during the battle. He was killed by 12 Serbian covenant knights. And if we take as a fact that report from Kosovo battle he had from "first" hand, as he sent Duke Vlatko Vukovic to join Serbian forces, an he led left wing of Serbian army, and returned to Bosnia after the battle.
Those writings about Murad was killed by fraud you can find in some sorces almost 100 years after the battle took place.
Do Chinese emperors list from the first emperor to the last Qing emperor
he would die
That going to be a long one.
You mean the last Qing emperor right, because the last Qin Emperor was the first emperor’s son
Hongwu is the best
My boi Wanli about to hit the lowest rank
All Ottoman Sultans, besides being multicultural, they were devoted to their religious beliefs and were compassionate.
Second Mehmed the conqueror, who gave everyone the freedom to live their own faith after he conquered Constantinople with the cannons he built with his superior engineering intelligence.
15th centurys the most intellectual person, knowledgeable in fields such as mathematics, geography, astronomy, physics and he speaks at least 6 languages at the age of 21.
Even their dreams cannot reach where my power reaches! ~ 2th Sultan Mehmed
Swedish king next please. Keep up the great work!💪
As taught in our history books. Good video.
To be fair, Mehmed II didn't so much deal with Skanderbeg as much as he just, waited for him to die.
I mean he tried but Skanderbeg managed to defeat his armies several times.And this earned skanderbeg the respect of Mehmed II.When skanderbeg died Mehmed said:Europe has lost its shield.
@@Rreqebulli yep, Skanderbeg is one of those genius commanders that countries get only once in their history.
Man was unmatched for his time and in the Balkans only few historically have had the same kind of record.
Man's a legend through and through.
@@rawka_7929 He makes me proud,that I am an Albanian
@@Rreqebulli nice to hear atleast, cheers from Bulgaria.
@@rawka_7929 Cheers
I am a turkish people . Thnx for this video . I think europe was hate or not like us . When i saw like this videos , i transform a happy person . I repeat thanks a lot .
Honestly, better than I could expect for an empire of stuffed footstools.
It took me a bit to get it 💀
From an Empire to furniture.. What a carieer
Putting Thunderbolt at 18 because he lost to Timur is crazy. Not only Tatars betrated him in the middle of the battle Timur already had 1.5x bigger army and elephants in the front line. Still tho if the tatars didn't betray him he had a great chance of winning that battle with the power of serbian knights which were heavily armored and powerful and you can't just say he lost to conquer constantinople because the reason that failed was timur's and crusade's attacks on the empire.
Murad IV would have changed circumstances after Sulieman the magnificent
When Selim the resolute return from egypt conquest, he and his army waited in the borders of Istanbul for the day to turn night, so that the people would not have the chance to put a festival for the Egypt conquest. He was that humble...
Ottomans The Third Rome.
Mehmed II is never destroyed Rome.
"Mehmed of Magni Grecia - Trebizond - Asia Minor"
"Qayser-i Rum" (Caesar of Romans)
"Basileon Basileus"
u can see in him coins :D also ,
"After the conquest of Istanbul, Mehmed saw himself as the legitimate heir of the Eastern Roman Empire, adopted the title of Roman Emperor, and adjusted his campaigns and behavior accordingly in order to establish the empire (Byzantium) on its former borders.' (Halil Inalcık, Some questions of public interest on Ottoman history, east-west articles, page 182.)"
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"According to Theodoros Spandounes, the historian of the Conqueror, who came from the Byzantine Imperial family and served the Ottoman Empire after the conquest, the Conqueror is not a Turk. He wrote in his book: “Fatih did not believe that his ancestors came from the region [Central Asia], where the Tatars-Mongols-Oghuz were located, as nomadic shepherd tribes, as Turkic historians claim. Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror believed that his family was descended from the Byzantine Imperial family Komnenos." (Theodor Spandounes, On The Origin of The Ottoman Emperors - Lena Umay)"
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"The Byzantine intellectual “Gregorios Phrantezes explained: Alexander the Great, the Roman Emperor Augustus, the Byzantine Emperor I. Konstantinos and Theodosios are the favorite heroes of the Mehmed II. (F. Babinger, ”Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Italy," p. 138)"
It is well established how much he admired the Romans and how it helped him win, but obviously everyone including himself knows that the origin of the ottomans is of oğuz turks. He most likely used the byzantine narrative and earlier marrigese between the dynasties to make his claim to roman ceaser more legit
as a Turk i must say that you should reconsider Osman II and Abdülhamid II because they were both good mans tring to make their best for the state. I know Abdülhamid is arguable but Osman the younger was a determined and beloved young man tring to make reforms but he murdered undignifly by janissaries because of struggles for crown. He didnt manage what he wanted but this doesnt make him a bad ruler. He was an unlucky man
Bro this is amerikan version of history 😂
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
These something important to remember though.
Different Sultan's ruled at different times with different threats to the empire.
Someone who didn't do too well in the modern era against powerful modern countries with all the modern mindsets might've done allot better in the distant barbaric past where they could attack weaker nations, commit genocides and warcrimes without any worry because the world back then was used to it.
I'd love to see a sort of filler episode where you discuss the placement of people who couldn't make it in just because they never officially held the title that you're ranking, like Casear, Charles Martel, Ivan III.....
You can also group Brazilian and Mexican monarchs into American monarchs list.
So, the British-French operations are well known especially those in Crimea, and here is the less known part in which Turks were all by themselves against Russians:
The war started on 5th October 1853, and on 30th November, the Russian fleet managed to destroy an Ottoman naval squad in the port of Sinop, which prevented Turks from efficiently supplying their forces in Eastern Anatolia. In this region, Russians managed to defeat numerically superior Turkish army in several battles, and invaded Kars, Ardahan and Artvin provinces. As war slowly turned to allied tide, Russians were repelled by experienced Ottoman commander Omar Pasha in early 1855 and there was a status quo in east for the rest of the war.
Meanwhile in Balkans, there were no allied forces present than those of the Ottoman Empire until mid 1854, and from the time of wars beginning to this date, Turks fought Russians in a 1v1 as well. First notable actions were battles of Dobrich and Silistra, which held for a long time and dealt high casualties on the Russian army, which suffered disorganization from the break out attempts by the Turks, commanders often had to regroup kilometers behind the front-line. By the end of the Siege of Silistra, Allied forces had begun transferring to Varna, and Omar Pasha was advancing into Russian-occupied Wallachia. The two armies made several contacts with each other - notable battles being Calafat and Oltenitsa, and the modernized Ottoman army managed to repel and counterattack the Russian armies to Targoviste, reconquering Bucharest, (some references even claimed that they were welcomed by the cheering of the locals) which led to an Austrian intervention to control both Romanian principalities until the end of the war.
The reason I wrote this, is the popular belief that Turks could only manage to defeat Russians with help from Europe. The army officers were considerably skilled after gratuading from the schools Mahmud II had established, and reorganization of the said army and officer corps gave Turks some flexibility advantages, which helped them together with their discipline. Turkish successes are shadowed by those of allies' in Crimea, and smaller sized defeats in East Anatolia. The empire did well on its own part during the war and definitely was an active participant of the war, rather than just a deadweight.
Abdulhamid II should also be rated higher (like WAY higher), not least because most of the territorial losses he suffered were directly caused of the almost complete state of bankruptcy left for him by his predecessors. Another important detail you might have missed about Abdulhamid II is that he reduced Ottoman debt by 96% from 2.5 billion Ottoman Lira to 100 million Ottoman Lira. That's very impressive. He also won the 1897 war with Greece which was the empire's first victory in half a century. And in regards to him abolishing the parliament and constitution, the biggest territorial losses that occurred during Abdulhamid II's rule were either a result, or an indirect consequence of, the Russo-Turkish war of 1878 and the Treaty of Berlin, during which Abdulhamid II wasn't even a ruler of an Absolute Monarchy, as the empire became a constitutional monarchy, so he didn't have much power over that war. The territorial losses that resulted from that war were all his Balkan losses, territories in northeastern Anatolia, Cyprus, Egypt and Tunisia. All of these were a direct consequence of the treaty of Berlin and the allies taking advantage of the Ottoman Empire's sick man of Europe state. It makes sense after this that Abdulhamid II would disregard parliament and the constitution, for they were corrupt and responsible for the disaster that was the 1878 Great Eastern Crisis.
Putting Suleiman to firstplace is a normie mistake.Yeah he was a good Sultan but the best? I dont think so. But besides that the list is good.
I personally put ıı.mehmed at the first of the list. Because he is beyond his age. He has more interest in education, culture, books and knowledge than the others.
Skanderbeg didnt get defeated by mehmet the conquerer, he died at an old age at his home. Albania only fell after 10 years.
no.
@@Yasin52. yes even torques know that lol
*Read all carefully, I'm not romanticising him he was indeed the best of all*
Mehmed II was the best; He was the most intellectual, he has a drawing book when he was a kid and there's Latin, Greek, Persian and Arabic writings which himself wrote as a kid and beautiful portraits including his teacher Akşemseddin and it is way detailed for a kid.
He gave immense importance to science he brought scientist from Italy and Timurid Empire and he wouldn't believe in something that he didn't search about for example one time he brought Christian and Muslim scholars to a man's grave who was excommunicated from Christianity and people said that the ones that were excommunicated wouldn't decay and mix with the soil as he wasn't in the religion and whatnot so Mehmed wanted it to be opened and when they opened it, it was decayed as it should be.
The places he conquered were strategically chosen; Crimea and Trabzon to control Black Sea, Morea and Aegean islands to control Aegean Sea, West Balkans to gain control in Europe (it helped as we signed commercial agreement with Venetians) and the most important Constantinople and lastly Otranto in Italy to gain full control over Adriatic. *But what is important is not conquering but creating a civilization and maintaining it which he did, go to West Balkans and look at the Ottoman influence in the culture and structure there's no influence like this in the Balkans where Suleiman conquered*
Great informative video! Well done Spectrum!
Janissaries vs Praetorian Guard: who had the biggest fall from 'vital to the empire', to 'just fucking everything up'?
Probably the Praetorians?
One thing about janissary recruiting is that the families of those 'taken' kids were actually happy about it as their kids were going to be an officer of importance or a highranked soldier in a powerful empire. Securing the whole family financially.
Uh no they were never happy as their children were forcibly converted
Fist of God damnit bro were the hell have you been like I've been!?? dying for a new video from you like I got stranded in the bloody Sahara desert *No Homo!!! Second thank you so much for doing this request because I love the sultuanet of the ottomans especially since I'm related to them buy Selim III younger brother and Third great video and fourth and final could you do one on the Chinese empire followed by Japanese the Korean and the Switzerland...for now!!😄
#SpetrumTheGreat
The quote to remember The Ottoman Empire by should be “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”
3:44 Sultan Abdul Hamid was a very good sultan he should’ve been in the top 10 because he was the last good sultan of the ottomans and he loved his people and still loved them after they started to insult him after he was dethroned and he also stopped isralis to get jerusalam if he wasn’t dethroned and his reign was longer he would have saved the ottoman empire
I Won't say top ten but not so low as he fucking rejected a offer from the british which was like
You get:Freedom from all european debt
I get:Palestine
@@MahmudHasan-mebro what the hell we all know that palestine is a holy place for 3 main religions ✝️☪️🔯 if he had accepted that offer yes he would have gotten free debt but they would have gotten palestine and the blood shed like now would have never stopped like it is now