Islam in the Ottoman Empire
Islam was the official religion of the Ottoman Empire. The highest position in Islam, "caliphate", was claimed by the sultan, after the defeat of the Mamluks which was established as Ottoman Caliphate. The Sultan was to be a devout Muslim and was given the literal authority of the Caliph. Additionally, Sunni clerics had tremendous influence over government and their authority was central to the regulation of the economy. Despite all this, the Sultan also had a right to decree, enforcing a code called Kanun (law) in Turkish. Additionally, there was a supreme clerical position called the Sheykhulislam ("Sheykh of Islam" in Arabic). Minorities, particularly Christians and Jews but also some others, were mandated to pay the jizya, the poll tax as mandated by traditional Islam.
List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was an absolute monarchy during much of its existence. By the second half of the fifteenth century, the sultan sat at the apex of a hierarchical system and acted in political, military, judicial, social, and religious capacities under a variety of titles. He was theoretically responsible only to God and God's law (the Islamic "şeriat", known in Arabic as "sharia"), of which he was the chief executor. His heavenly mandate was reflected in Islamic titles such as "shadow of God on Earth" ( "ẓıll Allāh fī'l-ʿalem") and "caliph of the face of the earth" ( "Ḫalife-i rū-yi zemīn"). All offices were filled by his authority, and every law was issued by him in the form of a decree called "firman" (). He was the supreme military commander and had the official title to all land. Osman (died 1323/4) son of Ertuğrul was the first ruler of the Ottoman state, which during his reign constituted a small principality ("beylik") in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire.