Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/1431

 CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 1075

eldest son, but only in case there are no uncles or cousins of greater ag^.

It has not been the custom of the Sultans of Turkey for some centuries to contract regular marriages. The inmates of the Harem come, by pur^ chase or free will, mostly from districts beyond the limits of the empire, the majority from Circassia. From among these inmates the Sultan designates a certain numberj generally seven, to be ' Kadyn,' or Ladies of the Palace, the rest, called ' Odalik, ' remaining under them as servants. The superintendent of the Harem, always an aged Lady of the Palace, and bearing the title of ' Haznadar-Kadyn,' has to keep up intercourse with the outer world through the Guard of Eunuchs, whose chief, called ' Kyzlar- Agassi,' has the same rank as the Grand Vizier, but has the precedence if present on state occasions.

We first hear of the Turks in the year 844 a.d., when they migrated from Tartaiy into Armenia, but they only came into prominence about 1030 A.D» Under Othman, the founder of the present dynasty, they, under the name of Othman, or Ottoman Turks, made themselves masters of several places in Asia, captured Nicea, and made Broussa their capital (1326). Their first appearance in Europe was in 1080, when a body of 2,000 crossed the Bosphorus to assist the Emperor Botoniates against his rival. By the end of the fourteenth century they had reduced Thessaly, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, and were the acknowledged rulers of nearly all Western Asia. Constantinople was first besieged by the Turks in 1392, but was not taken till 1453. It has since been the capital of the Turkish Empire. Mohammed XL, its conqueror, subdued Trebizond, Wallachia, Bosnia, lllyria, and the Morea. Under Bajazet II. and Selim I. Egypt was totally subdued, and Syria, Circassia, and ]Moldavia passed under Turkish rule. In 1522 Solyman L subdued Rhodes, and in 1525 invaded Hungary and invested Vienna. This siege had to be raised, and was followed by a series of reverses. The territory under Turkish rule in Europe alone then extended over 230,000 square miles. Ever since, the glory of the empire has waned. In 1595 the Turks were driven out of Upper Hungary and Transylvania, and for a time out of Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1769 war broke out against Russia, ending in the expulsion of the Turks from the Crimea, the extension of the Russian frontier to the Bug and Dnieper, the partial independence of the Danubian principalities, and the acquisition by Russia of the right of a free passage for their fleet through the Dardanelles. In 1806 war with Russia was again re- sumed, and resulted in the extension of the Russian frontier to the Pruth (1812). The Greek war for independence (1822-28) ended, owing to the inter* ference of the foreign Powers, in the loss of that kingdom. In 1833 Russia was successful in arresting the progress of Mehemet Ali Pasha of Egypt, but the hold of Turkey over Egypt was from that time nominal. By the Treaty of 1841, Turkey was virtually placed under the protection of the Great Powers, who guaranteed its integrity and independence. The Russo- Turkish war of 1854-56, in which Turkey was assisted by Great Britain and _ France, resulted in the abolition of the Russian protectorate over the Danu- bian principalities and the exclusion (up to 1870) of Russian vessels of war from the Black Sea. In 1858 Aloldavia and Wallachia united to declare what was practically their independence. The war against Russia in 1876 resulted in the loss of Bulgaria, Eastern Roumelia, Thessaly, and a strip of Eastern Armenia, also in the entire independence of Roumania, Servia, and Monte- negro, and in the administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria and of Cypiiis by England.

The following is a list of the names, with date of accession, of the thirty •< four sovereigns who ruled Turkey since the foundation of the empire and of the reigning house : —

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