The Miseducation of Jubril Aminu

(This article was first published on Nigeriaworld.com on May 5, 2001. It is republished here unedited)

In 1300, as the Byzantine Empire was declining, the Turks in Anatolia began to conquer neighboring regions and by doing so, founded what was later known as the Ottoman Empire. Through war, alliances, and outright purchase, the Ottomans in 1481 had expanded into much of Europe’s south. The Ottomans evolved a unique military and administrative system called the devsirme. Under the system, Christian youths from the Balkans were drafted and converted into Islam and subjected to a lifetime service of the Sultan. In the reign of Mehmed II, all members of the government and the army, both Muslim and non-Muslims, were required to accept the status of personal slave of the Sultan. The ruling class was sworn to absolute obedience and power was perceived to be indivisible.

The reign of Suleyman I, the man the Europeans called “The Magnificent” brought about the golden age of Ottoman Empire. He conquered Hungary, annexed Tripoli and extended the empire to the Persian Gulf. Added to Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Algeria that his father, Selim I, conquered when he defeated the Mamluks in 1516–17, the Ottoman Empire became one of the most dominant powers on earth. After Suleyman’s rule, the Ottoman Empire began to decline. The reason for the decline was attributed to the lack…