Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire controlled much of the Middle East from the 15th century to 1923.
The first Ottoman Sultan, Osman I, after whom the dynasty and empire are named, declared himself independent of the Seljuq Sultanate in 1299. At what point in its expansion the sultanate starts to count as an empire is ultimately a matter of arbitrary convention. Sultan Mehmet (Muhammad) II is known as Mehmet the conqueror because in his brief reign he captured Constantinople (29 May 1453), the capital of the Byzantine or East Roman Empire. He adopted the title Qeyser-i-Rum, Roman Emperor.
In 1517 the Empire conquered the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and also Cairo, the seat of the widely recognized Abbasid Caliphs after Baghdad fell to the Mongols in 1258. The Sultans' claim to the title of Caliph came to be generally recognized. It was in this capacity that the Sultan declared a jihad against the Allies in 1914.
Education
see Higher education in the Ottoman Empire
20th century
see Turkey