The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors
October. 06,2013
It was the world's last Islamic empire - a super-power of a million square miles. From its capital in Istanbul it matched the glories of Ancient Rome. And after six centuries in power it collapsed less than a hundred years ago. Rageh Omaar, who has reported from across this former empire, sets out to discover why the Ottomans have vanished from our understanding of the history of Europe. Why so few realise the importance of Ottoman history in today's Middle East. And why you have to know the Ottoman story to understand the roots of many of today's trouble spots from Palestine, Iraq and Israel to Libya, Syria, Egypt, Bosnia and Kosovo.
Seasons & Episode
Rageh Omaar attempts to establish how two parallel narratives have emerged from history, one that is commonly seized on to portray the Ottomans as religious zealots or bent on holy war, another that reveals an empire more ready than others to tolerate differences and driven by much more secular motives.
Rageh finds out more about the massive contrasts in the times of two very different Ottoman sultans. They are Suleiman the Magnificent in the Golden Age of the 16th century and the troubled reign of Abdul Hamid II during the 19th century'.
Rageh finds out how this great empire was finally destroyed, and its achievements were mainly lost in the trauma of its final years.
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