Struggle for the throne in the Ottoman State started since it was created. Ottoman
sultans tried by all available ways to protect their positions. This explains the various
preventive measures, they adopted, to protect their thrones. Relying on 're
ligious fatwa'
Mohammad the Conqueror issued his law which allowed him to kill his brothers in order to
prevent disfigurement of the national unity. This law stayed in use for a century, till it was
replaced by a new law: keeping all princes under repressive home arrest in the suites In
the palace, called cages. The children of the present sultan were exempted from this
treatment.
This struggle led to many civil wars which contributed to the decline of the
Ottoman State, like the ferocious conflict between the two sons of Sultan Mohammad the
Conqueror.
Compared with his father, Sultan Mohammad the Conqueror , Sultan Bayezid II
achieved little – in the military field- on the European front. However, strategically looked
at, they were of great importance. He managed to annex both cities Kilia and C
rimean.
Doing this the black sea became an Ottoman lake. He got involved in a war against
Venice, and captured some positions; that helped to advance in the eastern basin of the
Mediterranean Sea, and in its western basin as well. on the eastern front failure was
dominant. Mamluks' forces managed in defeating several Ottoman armies. His peaceful
policies and his slackness in front of the Safavids led to the eruption of several hostile anti-
Ottoman movements, and allowed more Safavids influence in Anatolia.
Finally to Sultan Bayzid II virtue is attributed for modernizing sea and land forces.
Relying on fire arms his son, sultan Selim I succeeded in scoring decisive victories against
the Safavids and Mamluks.
Prince Fakhruddin is the second of the princes who ruled
Lebanon and established the foundations of the modern
Lebanese state. Mount Lebanon enjoyed a degree of autonomy
within the Ottoman Empire. The history of the Principality is
primarily the history of the integration of Mount Lebanon, all
under the banner of the Ottoman authority, despite its
autonomy.
This research was based on the study of two records of the Sharia Court in Damascus, and they are kept in the Directorate of Historical Documents in Damascus under (4/3/2) and / 268 /. The first record includes the cases recorded in this court in the
year 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1795, and contains (130) documents distributed on (72) pages of the average measurement, and begins with document number (1) In the middle of Jumada II 1210 AH, and ends with document No. (0 3 1) on page (72), which was partially damaged but the document was not completed with the end of the page, so its history is not known. The penultimate document and its number (129) are found on page 71.
The second record (37 1) contains a document, and begins with document No. (1) dated Jumada II (224 AH), and ends with the penultimate document - the last document is incomplete and undated - dated Ramadan 1224 AH. However, the documents are not limited to the months mentioned But rather beyond the other months of the year. The documents studied differ in terms of the line and the safety of the papers on which they were written. We have been intercepted by many documents written in a rather illegible handwriting. Some of the records have been eroded, but it is noted that all the documents are not keen on the grammar of the language, and include general words, and similar to the method of construction in general literature era of decay.
The study showed clearly the historical roots of the Armenian migrations to Syria, and put the first building blocks of the beginnings of these migrations, which was built on the basis of which after a while commercial and social relations between the Arabs and Armenians.
