Started strong on day one
Mehmet II, Ottoman state after 1453
After taking Constantinople in 1453, Mehmet II rebuilt it as Istanbul and turned a frontier state into a central government run by salaried officials loyal to the state, not to families. He wrote the rules down in a law code and let religious communities run their own affairs.
The starting point
The Ottoman state was already old, but power was shared with great families whose loyalty was split. The city he took had lost much of its population (Mehmed II).
What he built
- Central government: an imperial council (divan) of loyal officials. His first two grand viziers came from palace-trained recruits, not noble families.
- Written rules: a law code (kanunname) of 1477 to 1481 listed the chief officials, their roles, salaries, ranks and penalties.
- Scholars on salary: madrasa scholars became paid state employees.
- Justice: Islamic law (sharia) covered family matters and much public law. The sultan could add secular law (kanun) if it did not conflict with sharia (Britannica).
- Local government: the local judge (kadi) also ran local administration and taxes in his district (Kadi).
- Revenue, three ways: timar (revenue granted in place of salary), emanet (a salaried trustee sends in all proceeds, used for customs and markets) and iltizam (tax farming) (Britannica).
How it held people together
In January 1454 he restored the Orthodox Patriarchate under Gennadios and named a grand rabbi. Religious communities ran their own marriage, education and justice and answered to the sultan for taxes and security. People who had fled Galata could return to their houses.
The result
Orders moved 5,000 households to Istanbul. By 1478 the city had about 80,000 people and 3,927 shops. The Fatih complex had eight madrasas that were the top schools for nearly a century, and a hospital. He asked his viziers to fund public trusts (waqf) too (Mehmed II).
What critics record
The palace recruits came through the devshirme, which took Christian boys from their families by force (Devshirme). Mehmet also made royal fratricide a written rule of succession.
What it shows for Somalia
Clear written rules for each office, salaries paid by the state and public services funded through trusts (waqf) are tools Somali communities already know. Waqf, in particular, is still alive in Somali mosques and schools.
Sources
- Mehmed II · en.wikipedia.org
- Britannica · britannica.com
- Kadi · en.wikipedia.org
- Devshirme · en.wikipedia.org
Gathered in our research record “How successful countries stood up government on day one”. Wikipedia is used only as a backup.
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