Ottomans

Ottomans

---

Primary culture

Turkish (Levantine)

---

Capital province

Edirne (149)

---

Government

Ottoman Government

---

State religion

Sunni

---

Technology group

Anatolian

Ottoman ideas

Traditions:

+5% Discipline

+3 Tolerance of heathens

---

Kanunnames

−20% Core-creation cost

+1 Max promoted culture

---

Ghazi

+20% Manpower recovery speed

---

Timar System

+15% Cavalry combat ability

---

Autonomous Pashas

−10% Cost of reducing war exhaustion

---

The Law code of Suleiman

+10% National tax modifier

---

Tulip Period

+10% Trade efficiency

---

Found the Imperial School of Naval Engineering

−10% Ship cost

---

Ambition:

+33% Land force limit modifier

The Ottomans in 1444 are a regional power, in the process of securing control over Anatolia and the Balkans. In the east, Ottoman control has been reimposed in the aftermath of the Timurid invasion, but several beyliks remain independent. These Beys jockey for a position between the expanding power of the Ottomans on one side, and the Mamluk Empire of Egypt and Syria, still the strongest state in the Middle East, on the other.

In Europe, the Ottomans have defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Varna, killing Wladyslaw, the Polish and Hungarian king. Byzantium now lies exposed and Hungary has been forced on the defensive, but with the fortress of Belgrade, still serves as a strong bulwark against further Ottoman expansion. The lesser princes in between can survive only by playing the great powers off one another. Further south, Skanderbeg leads Albania in revolt against the Ottomans, supported by Venice, which still dominates the seas.

The realm ruled by the Ottoman dynasty is not yet a centralized state in 1444. The sultan's authority is enforced only by his small household of servants, recruited from slaves captured in war and from the 'devshirme', the periodic conscription of Christian youths from the Balkan countryside. These are the famous Janissaries, who will in time grow into a powerful standing army. The Ottomans have come to power with the military backing of numerous marcher-lords, still highly autonomous on the Balkan frontier, while the administration lies in the hands of the Turkish aristocracy, literate in the ways of statecraft, but largely independent of the sultan's authority.

All this is about to change. Having defeated the Crusader armies, the old sultan Murad II is now on his way back to his estates in Manisa, leaving the government in the hands of the young Mehmed II. It is he who will go on to transform the Ottoman state into an empire, acquiring Constantinople as an imperial capital and establishing a centralized administration to rein in the marcher-lords and old Turkish families. For 'The Grand Turk', there can be no compromise – the House of Osman is to be the supreme authority in the land. The only question is this: where will his armies turn to first??

Europa Universalis IV starts on November 11th 1444, the day after the Ottomans' victory over the Christian alliance at Varna. They begin owning most of Anatolia and the southern Balkans. For new players, the early game will likely be focused on consolidating the country's position in those regions. Internally, the country is divided between the Orthodox and Sunni faiths. Economically, they hold the majority of the Constantinople node trade power with very easy access to the rest.

In the Balkans, the important trade center of Constantinople and the region of Morea are held by the declining nation of Byzantium and its vassal, Athens. The Aegean Sea is controlled mainly by Venice and Genoa hindering control of the Constantinople trade node. The Anatolian region is a home to several Turkish Beyliks. Further east, in the Taurus and Caucasus mountains, the hordes of Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu control some outlying Ottoman territory, and shield the Ottomans from their historical rival, the Timurids. To the south, historical and trade rival the Mamluks control a sprawling trade empire that extends into Africa, while their vassal Hejaz controls the holy cities of Medina and Mecca. To the west, the Balkan nations are ripe for the taking - Moldavia is the only safe nation due to it being a march of Poland which blocks expansion. Further expansion into the west is halted by Austria and Hungary, while across the Adriatic, Italy is mostly protected by the Holy Roman Emperor and Aragon.

The Ottomans have a unique government type named the Ottoman Government. This government is in many ways synonymous with the royal household, but with a harem feature that ensures that there will never be a lack of heirs for the Ottoman ruler. The Ottomans follow the Sunni school of Islam.

Contents

Ottoman Government

The Ottoman Government is a unique government type with fixed dynasty and the following benefits:

• +0.5 Yearly legitimacy
• −10% Unjustified demands
• +3 Number of states
• +5 Maximum absolutism

This government is permanently lost if the country is no longer muslim or if the government type is changed during the Revolution disaster or by revolutionary rebels enforcing their demands.

Harem

The harem helps ensure that there will never be a lack of heirs for the empire. An event triggers if the current ruler has reached 30 years of age and has no heir which allows the player choose an heir for the throne from a random list of three choices, being able to view their monarch stats prior to the choice.

See also: Ottoman events#Harem

id

The Sons of [Root.Monarch.GetName]

---

"His Imperial Majesty [Root.Monarch.GetName] [Root.Monarch.GetTitle], sovereign of the house of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the lord of the Universe, Custodian of the Two Noble Sanctuaries, Qayser-i Rum, Emperor of the Three Cities of Constantinople, Adrianople and Bursa has a reputation as a great man and is unchallenged as a ruler.

As befits a man of his caliber and stature the Sultan has fathered several capable children and many who show great promise as future rulers. Both the sons themselves and our government officials are acutely aware that only one can inherit and what awaits the others. Our Viziers are adamant that it is now high time for [Root.Monarch.GetName] to name a favorite among the possible successors. This is unlikely to end the competition for [Root.Monarch.GetHerHis] favor but it will hopefully stop the worst succession struggles that might follow if our [Root.Monarch.GetTitle] should meet his maker without having picked a clear successor."

---

 

Trigger conditions Rights of Man DLC is enabled. Government is Ottoman Government. Ruler age is at least 30. There is no available heir.	Mean time to happen 6 months
Immediate effects One of the following will happen: 33% chance of the country flag harem_fairest_heir being set. 33% chance of the country flag harem_strong_heir being set. 33% chance of the country flag harem_leadership_heir being set. 1% chance of the country flag harem_genious_heir being set. One of the following will happen: 33% chance of the country flag harem_studious_heir being set. 33% chance of the country flag harem_pious_heir being set. 33% chance of the country flag harem_inquisitive_heir being set. One of the following will happen: 33% chance of the country flag harem_gregarious_heir being set. 33% chance of the country flag harem_entrepreneurial_heir being set. 33% chance of the country flag harem_generous_heir being set.
Option conditions  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_pious_heir The Pious son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: an administrative skill of at least 1. a diplomatic skill of at most 5. an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_strong_heir The Strongest son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: a military skill of at least 1. a diplomatic skill of at most 5. an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_studious_heir The Studious son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: an administrative skill of at least 1. a military skill of at most 5. an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_leadership_heir The Natural Leader is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: a military skill of at least 1. an administrative skill of at most 5. an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_gregarious_heir The Gregarious son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: a diplomatic skill of at least 1. a military skill of at most 5. an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_fairest_heir The Fairest son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_entrepreneurial_heir The Entrepreneurial son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: a diplomatic skill of at least 1. an administrative skill of at most 5. an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_inquisitive_heir The Inquisitive son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_genious_heir The Most Gifted son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: an administrative skill of at least 1. a diplomatic skill of at least 1. a military skill of at least 1. an age of 10.  Enabled if: Has the country flag harem_generous_heir The Generous son is our favorite. A male heir of this dynasty is born with: an age of 10.

Pashas

This government may assign a pasha to one of its states from the state interface, and the following modifiers will be applied to each province in this state:

	−50%	State maintenance
	−2	Local unrest
	+20%	Local construction cost
	+20%	Local regiment cost

Removing the Pasha causes all the provinces in the state to suffer a +5 local unrest penalty for 10 years.

Janissaries

Janissaries are a special unit category available only to countries with the Ottoman government, and are displayed with a red background in the army view. They are elite infantry troops with −10% fire damage received, −10% shock damage received, and +100% army drill gain modifier. However, unlike other special units, janissaries are +100% costlier to reinforce.

Janissaries can be recruited from the state interface of states comprising heathen provinces: each 10 heathen development in the state gives 1 janissary regiment. This costs 10 military power per regiment raised. Over-reliance on janissaries may trigger the Janissary Coup disaster after the end of the 'Age of Discovery'.

Missions

Main article: Ottoman missions

Practically all of the Ottomans missions revolve around expanding their borders. In the early stages of the game, many of the missions revolve around reclaiming the lands of Anatolia, as well as the iconic mission to conquer the City of the World's Desire: Constantinople or Conquer the Crusader's Last Bastion (Rhodes). Further missions will request the Ottoman Empire to expand and conquer the regions of Balkans, North Africa, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, as well as individual provinces - all to increase trading power in the spice trade and to unite lands against Christendom.

Events

Main article: Ottoman events

Many historical events are the aftermath from the expansion and government reforms of the Ottoman Empire - such events can revolve around the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the trade states of Venice and Genoa, the left-over Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, enacting reforms that might not be popular with everyone, or suppressing nationalistic rebels.

Decisions

Adopt the Provincial Government System

---

Appointing provincial governors, or 'Beys' can certainly improve administration of taxes and such but with less direct control over our provinces there is also the possibility of ambitious governors spending most of their time caught up in intrigues and internal feuds.

---

 

Potential requirements Ottomans have not enacted this decision before	Allow Administrative technology is at least 5 Ruler's administrative skill is at least 4 Has at least 50 administrative power
Effects Lose−50 administrative power Ottomans gain the modifier Provincial Government System for the rest of the campaign: +1 National unrest +10% National tax modifier

Expand the Devshirme System

---

By enrolling young men from newly conquered lands into service we have increased the efficiency of our recruitment process considerably. Let us further expand and refine this system as our state grows.

---

 

Potential requirements Has the Ottoman government Has not enacted this decision before Is not in the Janissary Coup disaster	Allow Has at least 100 military power
Effects Lose −100 military power Gain the modifier Devshirme System until the event ‘The Lapse of the Devshirme’: +10% National manpower modifier If Cradle of Civilization is not enabled: fires the event ‘The Janissaries’ in 12 years

Disband the Janissaries

---

In 1622, the 17-year-old Sultan Osman II, decided to curb the Janissary excesses. The year before he had been defeated by the Poles during the 'Moldavian Magnate Wars', which he mainly blamed the cowardice of the Janissaries for. He was also outraged over being 'subject to his own slaves.' Rumors about the Sultan preparing to disband them soon reached the Janissaries who revolted and imprisoned Osman. Shortly after he was strangled to death.

---

 

Potential requirements Is in the Janissary Coup disaster	Allow Is in the Janissary Coup disaster If Cradle of Civilization is enabled, one of the following is true: Has fewer than 3 janissary regiments Has janissary units comprising less than 5% of force limit
Effects If the country has the modifier The Janissaries: Removes the country modifier The Janissaries Else: The Janissaries will not appreciate this decision, and some will revolt because of it. Ends the Janissary Coup disaster

Make Constantinople Capital

---

The glorious city we have recently conquered will make a splendid capital for our nation. Constantinople is the greatest city on earth, and our government would make it so much stronger.

---

 

Potential requirements Is the Ottomans or Rûm Own Constantinople (151) Capital is not Constantinople Have not enacted this decision before	Allow Is not at war Primary culture is Turkish Is Muslim Controls the province Constantinople Owns Edirne (149), Kocaeli (316), Hüdavendigar (317) and Burgas / Kirkkilise (1764)
Effects Gain +1 stability Constantinople: Becomes core Becomes capital Changes culture to Turkish Changes religion to Sunni Changes province capital name to Kostantiniyye If the global flag constantinople_restored is not set: Constantinople: Gains +4 base tax Gains +4 base production Gains +3 base manpower Sets the global flag constantinople_restored Government rank becomes Empire

Strategy

The early targets should be Albania (before Venice takes its core here), Byzantium (taking Constantinople) and small Turkish beyliks in Anatolia (before Mamluks or Qara Qoyunlu conquer them). The Ottomans are strong so it's possible to do several wars at the same time.

Aq Qoyunlu owns one Syria province which can be released (Rakka: 1.28) easily diplomatically vassalized and later fed Syrian cores from Mamluks (with significantly reduced aggressive expansion). Qara Qoyunlu owns one Ottoman and one Syrian core and should be taken as soon as possible (best if QQ is in some exhaustive war e.g. with Timurids or Mamluks).

Other early war targets are Trebizond, or Georgia before Qara Qoyunlu will vassalize it (Ottomans has mission for it) and Theodoro before Crimea or Genoa takes it.

After getting these possessions, the major Asian neighboring powers should be already crippled and do not represent a threat. Ottomans can then conquer Serbia, Bosnia, The Knights, finish Southern Greece and vassalize Wallachia (missions for all of them). There is a seductive mission for conquering Caffa but it is advised to pick it only after the Shadow kingdom event happens, otherwise the Emperor will protect Genoa.

A single successful war with Hungary ending by releasing Croatia, Transylvania or Nitra may cripple this neighboring power and be a stepping stone to conquer HRE lands. However a strong European ally would be probably required for this war. France or Bohemia can often decide to ally Ottoman and help in the wars against the common enemy Austria.

Another exhaustive war would be with Venice to take it and its vassals' Balkan possessions - these are essential otherwise Venice will steal the trade income from Constantinople and Alexandria. The player should be careful and have a bigger navy than Venice and its allies together.

Convert to Orthodox

Ottomans can convert to Orthodox in several ways:

• The quickest way occurs prior to annexing any territory by sending a missionary to an Orthodox province triggers enough unrest to create a possible rebellion. Ottomans are sufficiently Orthodox to be able to convert by accepting the rebels demands. However, if this is done the Ottomans lose out on the decision to make Constantinople the capital missing 11 development points. The upside is that Constantinople will not need to be converted.
• A second way to convert and securing the extra 11 development from the make Constantinople the capital decision is by conquering Byzantium and at least two of the four nations of Athens and Albania, Theodoro, or Trebizond. After Constantinople is secured and the decision clicked sending a missionary to any Orthodox province with unrest below 0 will create a rebellion that will allow accepting demands to convert to Orthodox. Religious rebels generated in the province of Trebizond have the advantage of being able to force convert Anatolia while completing sieges on provinces. A rebel generated in Edirne or Kirkkilise are the closest to Constantinople and can force convert that province - which otherwise can not be converted until a combination of patriarch authority, an inquisitor and Religious ideas are taken.
• Both methods should be done prior to the annexation of the Anatolian Beyliks as the extra provinces will reduce the percentage of Orthodox.

Note, there are two handicaps to this as reduced religious unity incurs a corruption penalty and initially Orthodox are unable to convert Sunni provinces.

If the Dhimmi estate has low loyalty, revoking the heathen provinces granted to them will spawn zealots of the province's religion. As soon as the game starts,the Impose New Religious Tax interaction from the Estate tab can be taken, reducing Dhimmi loyalty to 35. Many Orthodox provinces start out as belonging to the Dhimmi estate, and can be revoked after a year has passed. The Zealots spawned will convert every non-Orthodox province they occupy to Orthodox if the occupied province is not within a fort's Zone of Control, including Konstantiniyye after Make Constantinople the Capital decision has been taken, if the fort in Edirne is destroyed.. Zealots will not be able to cross the strait to Anatolia as there are almost always AI ships in the Sea of Marmara. They instead will march all the way around the Black Sea until they are defeated in battle by a nation along the way, or arrive back into Ottoman lands. The player can annex Trebizond and send a missionary to the province (as outlined above) after granting it to the Dhimmi Estate, then revoke the estate ownership after a year if they wish to force convert Sunni Anatolia prior to switching to Orthodox.

Convert to Coptic

Conversion to Coptic is done fastest by taking the 3 Coptic provinces Van, Yerevan and Nakhchivan from Qara Qoyunlu. Converting to Coptic removes the unique government type from Ottomans.

Give those provinces to the Dhimmi estate, and spawn 3 Coptic rebel stacks by revoking those provices a year later, after making the Dhimmi disloyal by asking for gold.

However, all Coptic holy sites are easily conquered, so the Ottomans will get the benefit of the five Coptic blessings very early on.

Convert to Catholic

Conversion to Catholic is also possible as the Ottomans. This can be done in an many ways however, the easier ways include securing either a Catholic province from Bosnia, Ragusa, Sayuda from the Mamluks or waiting for Athens to convert its province and then securing it. However, as the amount of Catholic is small relative to the empire it will take a several years of waiting as a rebel stack forcibly converts provinces. However, this can be shortened by utilizing Dhimmi revolts. Note, there are two handicaps to this as reduced religious unity incurs a corruption penalty and initially Catholics are unable to efficiently convert Sunni provinces.

Form Holy Roman Empire

After becoming Catholic the Ottomans can be elected and can gain a lot of Imperial authority by adding all of their European provinces to the HRE, and passing several reforms. Call for Reichsreform may already have been passed before the Ottomans become emperor, so Institute Reichsregiment and Reform the Hofgericht may be passable. The Imperial authority tick from all of the new provinces in the empire will also allow you to pass the following reforms quickly.

Technology

The Ottomans begin the game in 1444 in the Anatolian military technology group at level 3 for Administration, Diplomacy and Military with Feudalism embraced.

Overview:

• 60% Ratio. As a Sunni nation, Cavalry numbers may be up to 60% of a total army size, excluding artillery, before the Insufficient Support penalty is incurred. Note that this will be reduced to the standard 50% Cavalry ratio upon conversion to another religion.
• Anatolian units: see Anatolian land units. Early game Anatolian units (up to military tech 15) are superior to Western by 1 pip. Notably, Janissaries (infantry at military tech 9) have 1 offensive fire pip; the only other tech groups to get fire pips this early are Indian and Chinese (who have a much harder time embracing institutions). Conversely, Anatolian cavalry has no fire pips until tech 18, compared to 10 for Western.

The Janissaries

The Ottomans may have the event “The Janissaries” fire if their ruler is above 5 monarch power in any category and they have 50 army tradition. If accepted, the Janissaries give considerable military bonuses to the Ottomans for the remainder of the game. In addition to the extra power their Anatolian units have, the bonuses from the Janissaries catapult the military strength of the Ottomans far above that of their neighbors. However, accepting this event will additionally unlock the unique “Janissary Decadence” disaster for the Ottomans in 100 years. While the disaster can take an enormous toll on the Ottomans if left unattended, it is easily ended by taking the decision “Disband the Janissaries”, which removes the military bonuses. In addition, the disaster can be avoided entirely if the Ottomans ruler has above 5 skill in any category; a condition made much easier by having the Ottoman Government. As a player, building up the Janissaries as soon as possible is advised due to the considerable power it gives early in the game, and because the disaster is easily avoided by choosing an heir that disables the disaster. As a player playing against an AI Ottomans, it is often advised to wait to fight them until they disband the Janissaries and lose the military bonuses.

Avoiding the Janissary Decadance disaster is made even easier with the ability to disinherit heirs without a skill above 5.

Goals After Early Moves

The Muslim Ottomans future goals revolve around the ability to Unify Islam which involves conquering holy sites (provinces) and being 100% Muslim.

Post Decision Goals

If the Ottomans have completed the 3 listed decisions they are likely the physically largest and most developed nation on 3 continents. At this stage the question becomes how big can the Ottomans grow. Rivals may include Commonwealth, Russia, Great Britain, France, Ming and Spain.

Suggested Early Ideas

The needs of the Ottomans are fairly diverse and can be approached in a number of ways. Given that the Ottomans can release and do re-conquest for Syria/Persia/Iraq and also can diplo-vassalize Fezzan and feed it high coring cost north African land, taking Influence ideas that has reduced diplomatic annexation cost. Later Diplomatic ideas can be taken to more effectively reduce aggressive expansion by giving −20% province warscore cost and Improve Relations so any AE quickly cools down.

Administrative ideas are recommended as the −25% core reduction cost can stack with the −20% from Kanunnames. The lowered cost and maintenance of mercenaries will help the Ottomans to field a large force of mercenaries.

If the Ottomans choose to go Orthodox, Coptic, or Catholic, Religious ideas may be a good choice as Deus Vult yields the Holy War casus belli making the acquisition of territories east or south of the Ottomans free from the use of diplomatic power. This is especially strong with the Coptic faith as it will yield even more coring cost reduction, and a casus belli with nearly all neighbors (among other bonuses). Administrative ideas may be required to manage the administrative power cost of coring all that land. The bonus +1 missionary, +3% missionary strength and +2% missionary strength vs heretics will be of great help in maintaining Ottomans' religious unity.

If Ottomans stay Sunni, Humanist idea group is usually the best option for handling rebels and fits well with an aggressive conquest style where Ottoman don't have time to convert all heathen provinces. The Ottoman traditions gives a +3 tolerance of heathens you can stack this with the +2 tolerance of heathens in this idea group. With that, you don't have any penalty to religious unity in heathen provinces. It also gives provinces for the Dhimmi estate, which can be quite lucrative.

As for military ideas, with Ottomans' tendency to often be at war and having high military tradition, military ideas like Offensive shine with good generals and siege ability. However with Anatolian troops being so strong early game even a idea group like Aristocratic can be helpful to put military points into other areas. Extra manpower, extra diplomat to annex vassals, Monthly autonomy change to counterbalance Lighten Dhimmi Tax Burden, keeping military traditions high and getting an extra siege pip are very good to keep the Ottomans as an unbeatable military force. If low manpower is a problem, mercenaries and Quantity ideas can go a long way. It has the be noted however that a military idea group isn't important in the early game because of the Anatolian tech group, which gives The Ottomans extra unit pips compared to the Western nations. This changes in the late game, at military tech 19 (for infantry) and tech 18 (for calvary) The Ottoman units will have less unit pips compared to the western tech group.

Achievements

Definitely the Sultan of Rum

Own and have cores on Rome, Moscow and Constantinople as Ottomans.

Parisian Pasha

Assign Pasha to Paris.

Country guides

Western technology group

Aragon Austria Bavaria Bohemia Brittany Brunswick Burgundy Castile Danzig Denmark Dithmarschen‎‎ England France Genoa Germany Gotland Hesse Holland Ireland Italy Kurland Mainz Milan Naples Navarra Pomerania Provence Prussia Savoy Scandinavia Silesia Spain Sweden Switzerland The Papal State Venice Wales

Eastern technology group

Bosnia Byzantium Circassia Croatia Cyprus Georgia Greece Lithuania Montenegro Muscovy Novgorod Poland Ragusa Romania Russia Serbia Theodoro Trebizond Tver Wallachia

Anatolian technology group

Ottomans

Muslim technology group

Granada

Nomadic technology group

Central African technology group

Mutapa

East African technology group

Kilwa

Muslim technology group

Mamluks Tunis

West African technology group

Mali

Eastern technology group

Jerusalem

Muslim technology group

Arabia Ardabil Hisn Kayfa Oman

Indian technology group

Assam Bahmanis Bengal Orissa

Chinese technology group

Bali Brunei Dai Viet Japan Khmer Korea Majapahit Malaya Pagarruyung Pasai Sunda

Nomadic technology group

Jianzhou Timurids Uzbek

Western technology group

United States

Mesoamerican technology group

Maya

North American technology group

Caddo Cherokee Iroquois

Andean technology group

Chachapoya Cusco Muisca

South American technology group

Mapuche