Ottoman Empire

The sultans of the Ottoman Dynasty ruled over a vast transcontinental empire from 1299 to 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spanned from Hungary in the north to Somalia in the south, and from Algeria in the west to Iraq in the east. Administered at first from the city of Bursa in Anatolia, the empire's capital was moved to Edirne in 1366 and then to Constantinople (currently known as Istanbul) in 1453 following its capture from the Byzantine Empire. The Ottoman Empire's early years have been the subject of varying narratives due to the difficulty of discerning fact from legend; nevertheless, most modern scholars agree that the empire came into existence around 1299 and that its first ruler was Osman I, khan (leader) of the Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks. The Ottoman Dynasty he founded was to endure 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 Allies and the ensuing Turkish War of Independence led to the birth of the modern Republic of Turkey.