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====Tactics and Ideas that Made the Ottoman Empire the Third Caliphate====
[[File: OttomanEmpire1590.png|300px|thumbnail|left|Map of the Ottoman Empire in 1590]]
Probably the most important factor that led to Ottomans’ dominance in the Islamic world was their martial background and ideology. Before they ruled a vast empire, the Ottomans were nomadic warriors who were more at home on the steppes than they were in cities and leading the charges in their battles were fighters known as <i>ghazis</i>. Essentially, ghazis were Turkish warriors who fought on the fringes of the Islamic world against all outsiders, both non-Muslim and Muslim. The wars that the ghazis waged on the outsiders were known as <i>ghaza</i>, which was similar to the Islamic holy war known as <i>jihad</i>. For the Ottoman Turks, though, ghaza proved to be a much more flexible form of holy war that allowed them to expand their realm at the expense of non-Muslim and Muslim neighbors alike. Ghaza was not confined by the narrow legalism of jihad, which prohibited Muslims from waging holy war against other Muslims and also proscribed Muslims from aligning with non-Muslims against Muslims. Ottoman ghazis were free to attack anyone and align with anyone as long as it benefitted the Ottoman state, which ultimately allowed the Ottomans to expand their realm and create the caliphate in a way that would have been impossible at the time under the rules of jihad. <ref> Darling, Linda T. “Contested Territory: Ottoman Holy War in Comparative Context.” <i>Studia Islamica.</i> 91 (2000) p. 137</ref>
As the Ottomans waged war on Muslims and non-Muslims alike, they made sure that holy men were part of the vanguard along with the ghazis. Islamic holy men, known as Sufis, brought infrastructure to the territories that the ghazis conquered and converted non-Muslims to Islam in the process. Although the Sufis were primarily men of learning, they were often also trained to fight alongside the ghazis if needed. <ref> Lapidus, pgs. 372-3</ref>
Another major factor that contributed to the Ottoman Empire becoming the caliphate was its openness to the West. Although the Ottomans conquered many kingdoms in Europe, they were not dedicated to constant jihad against the Christian world the way the Umayyad caliphate was. The Ottomans invited European scholars to their court and non-Turks eventually came to comprise a majority of their bureaucrats. The Ottoman Empire’s geographic location as a halfway point between the Western and Eastern worlds also proved to be quite economically beneficial to the Ottoman rulers who constantly needed funds to keep their ever growing bureaucracy running. Similar to their other policies, the Ottomans were willing to trade with any people, Muslim or non-Muslim. <ref> Lapidus, pgs. 388-40</ref>
Finally, the Ottomans were also the recipients of a fair amount of historical luck that enabled them to rule the Islamic world. When the Ottomans came to power, the Islamic world was in shambles and although the Persian Safavid Dynasty was strong, it was not powerful enough to unite the majority of the Islamic world. The Ottomans were able to take advantage of the political situation by using their strong armies to quickly dispatch any resistance that the other Muslim kingdoms offered.
====Conclusion====
