Names of the Ottoman Empire

The state of the Ottomans which began as part of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and became an independent Empire, has been known historically by different names at different periods and in various languages. This page surveys the history of these names and their usage.

Beylik phase

• Modern Turkish: Osmanlı Beyliği;

State phase, 1299

The first declaration of statehood happened under Osman I.

• Āl-e Uṯmān (Arabic: آل عثمان‎; also transliterated as Âl-i Osman)

Empire phase, 1453

• Medieval Latin: Turchia or Imperium Turcicum
• English: Turkey (derived from Medieval Latin) or Turkish Empire. By far the most common name during the period, "Turkey" today typically distinguishes the Republic of Turkey as opposed to the Ottoman Empire which preceded it.
• English: Ottoman Empire, Osmanic Empire, Osmanian Empire
• Ottoman Turkish: دولت عليه عثمانيه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye (The Sublime Ottoman State)
• Ottoman Turkish: Devlet-i Âliye (The Sublime State)
• Ottoman Turkish: Devlet-i Ebed-Müddet (The Eternal State)
• Ottoman Turkish: Memâlik-i Mahrûse (The Well-Protected Domains)
• Ottoman Turkish: Memâlik-i Mahrûse-i Osmanî (The Well-Protected Domains of the Ottomans)
• Modern Turkish: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu (Ottoman Empire), Osmanlı Devleti (Ottoman State)
• Arabic: الدولةُ العليةُ العثمانيةُ Ad-Dawlat al-ʻĀlī al-ʻUthmānī (The Sublime Ottoman State)
• Serbian: Османско царство (Osmansko Carstvo) / Отоманско царство (Otomansko Carstvo)
• Bulgarian: Османска империя (Osmanska Imperia)
• Greek: Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία (Othomanikí Aftokratoría), Τουρκιά (Tourkiâ)
• Georgian: ოსმალეთის იმპერია (Osmaletis Imperia)
• Armenian: Օսմանյան Կայսրություն (Osmanyan Kaysroutyoun)
• Albanian: Perandoria Otomane
• Hungarian: Oszmán Birodalom (Osman Empire)
• Macedonian: Отоманска Империја (Otomanska Imperija) or Османлиска Империја (Osmanliska Imperija)

In diplomatic circles, the Ottoman government was often referred to as the "Porte" or the "Sublime Porte," a literal translation of the Ottoman Turkish Bâb-ı Âlî, which was the only gate of Topkapı Palace open to foreigners and the location where the Sultan and his viziers greeted ambassadors.

External links

Historic maps using the alternative names of the Ottoman Empire

• Historic map by John Bartholomew & Co.: Changes in Turkey in Europe, 1856 to 1878
• Map of Turkey in Europe and Hungary in the 17th century, engraved by J. Russell, published in Barclay's Universal Dictionary, 1823
• Map of Turkey in Europe and Hungary in the 17th century, engraved by J. Barlow, published by Brightly & Kinnersley in the Rev. E. Blomfield's A Complete and Universal Dictionary, 1812
• Map of Turkey in Europe and Hungary, drawn and engraved by Sidney Hall, published in the General Atlas of Ancient and Modern Geography, 1827
• Map of Turkey in Europe by J. Rapkin, published by J & F Tallis, London, Edinburgh & Dublin, c.1850
• Map of Turkey in Europe by Sidney Hall, printed in colours by Fr. Schenck, Edinburgh and published by A & C Black, c.1856
• Map of Turkey in Europe by J. Wyld, engraved by N.R. Hewitt and published in Edinburgh by John Thompson & Co., c.1823
• Map of Turkey in Europe engraved by A. Findlay and published by Thomas Kelly in A New and Complete System of Universal Geography, 1818
• Map of Turkey in Europe by John Archer, published in The National Encyclopedia Atlas, 1868
• Map of Turkey in Europe by Keith Johnston. Published in Keith Johnston's The Royal Atlas of Modern Geography, 1861
• Map of Turkey in Asia engraved by John Archer, published in The College Atlas, c.1850
• Map of Turkey in Asia by J. Bartholomew, published in Philips' Imperial Library Atlas (edited by William Hughes), London, 1864
• Map of Turkey in Asia (Asia Minor) and Transcaucasia" by Keith Johnston, published in Keith Johnston's The Royal Atlas of Modern Geography, 1861
• Map of Turkey in Asia engraved by J. Russell, published in Barclay's Universal Dictionary, 1823
• Map of Turkey in Asia engraved by Sidney Hall and published in Black's General Atlas, Edinburgh, 1846
• Map of Turkey in Asia in Kelly's New System of Universal Geography, 1828
• Map of Turkey in Asia published in Cooke's Geography, 1817
• Map of the Turkish Empire in Europe and Asia, by George Cram, c.1890
• Map of the Turkish Empire (Natoliam, Turcia Turcicive Imperii) published by De Jode, c.1590
• Map of the Turkish Empire (Imperium Turcicum in Europa, Asia et Africa; regiones proprias, tributarias, clientelares) by Johann Baptist Homann, c.1720
• Map of the Turkish Empire (Imperium Turcicum complectens Europae, Asiae et Africae) by P. Schenk, Amsterdam, c. 1720
• Map of the Turkish Empire (Turcicum Imperium) by Jodocus Hondius, 1607. Published in English by Michael Sparke, London, 1635
• Map of the Turkish Empire (1844)
• Map of the Turkish Empire in Europe and Asia, published by Letts, London, 1883
• Turcicum Imperium
• Turcicum Imperium