Page "Battle of Navarino" Paragraph 15

Although it is often referred to as the Turkish empire, the name Ottoman, derived from the name of the ruling dynasty, is more appropriate.

The Ottomans conquered the old Greek-controlled Byzantine empire during the Middle Ages, taking over its territory and its capital, Constantinople, and becoming its effective successor-state.

Ethnic Turks were the " master-nation " of the empire, holding political and military power, but were a minority of the empire's population even of its Muslim inhabitants, as they were outnumbered by their Arab subjects.

Furthermore, although officially Islamic, its Christian inhabitants ( Greek, Balkan, Armenian and Christian Arab ) represented roughly half the total population.

Although granted freedom of worship and generally better treated than non-Christians in most European countries, non-Muslims in the Ottoman empire were required, in accordance with Islamic law, to pay a special poll tax, the jizya, which in times of poor harvests was a crippling burden on mainly subsistence-level peasants.

Under the hated devşirme ( military levy ), Christian communities were also forced to surrender 1 in 5 pre-adolescent boys to the Ottoman military ( the finest physical specimens being selected by the recruiting-sergeants ).

These would be permanently separated from their families, raised as Muslims and trained to a high standard to staff the best regiments of the Ottoman army, including the elite Janissary corps.