Slaves and survants, Peasants and civilians,

officers and warriors! People of

Hobgoblivana! We are the Ottomans. We are
here to explain what it will be like when we
take over this city and make it art of the
ottoman empire! (Someone shouts out: who
are the ottomans?) Im glad you asked.
Ottomans are Seljuk Turks that are made up
of Ghazis (warriors of Islamic faith). The
Ottoman civilization began in 1300 in
Anatolia and by 1540 we had taking over
most of Asia Minor. The Ottoman Empire was
founded by Osman I. He was responsible for
giving us our name, hence the Ottomans.
Another sultan was Mehmed II who
conquered Constantinople in 1453, the city
with the strongest defense system at the
time. Now our small state of Anatolia has
grown into a mighty empire. We are proud to
announce that the empire has reached its
height under the reign of our sultan,
Suleyman the Magnificent! (Listen up, this is
amazing!) Our empire has stretched from the
Persian Gulf in to the east to Hungary in the
northwest; and from Egypt in the south to the
Caucasus in the north. We are at the height
of our empire and have taken over a lot of
land including most of southeastern Europe
to the gates of Vienna, including modern
Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Greece,
and Ukraine; Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Egypt;
North Africa as far west as Algeria; and most
of the Arabian Peninsula. (in fact Suleyman

has predicted that if all continues to go well

for another 2 years, the ottomans will have
concurred all of Asia and Europe!) (umm,
well, not really.) We are made up Janissaries
who are extremely loyal to our Sultan and
who have been trained as warriors at very
young ages. We have strong ammunition and
soldiers. We even have a secret weapon!
We have Chinese gunpowder and canons. So
when Suleyman the great rules over your
kingdom you need not worry about attacks;
we know how to defend and protect this
amazing city. Also we will make your city into
a work of art. Suleyman has created beautiful
architecture in the past, such as the
Sleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul and the
Selimiye in Edirne, and he would love to build
many more mosques, churches, homes, and
stronger walls to defend our new city.
Mothers and Fathers! We can also change
your lives! If you are poor and you have a
strong, willing son, then we can make him a
Janissary! Your family will be paid well and
your son will be respected highly. Officers!
You will also be paid highly for your loyalty.
Civilians! You will be paid higher wages as
well for your work if the jobs you do are
helpful to the Sultan. You are lucky; Suleyman
is a respectful ruler and understands how you
feel so he will not force conversions. All you
have to do is pay a small tax and you will be
free to pray, worship and keep the religion of
you choice. The officer in charge of your

community will be responsible for the

allocation and collection of your taxes, your
educational arrangements and internal legal
matters. All will be organized and ready for
you so that your lives will be happy and safe.
Unlike many of his predecessors, Suleyman
will not rape, murder, beat, enslave or steal
from anyone. He will not take your land,
restrict your rights and religion or ask for
possessions and property. In fact, the
magnificent sultan wants to make your lives
better! War is not the only interest of
Suleyman. He loves art, music and culture.
Suleymans goal is to have a happy, loyal,
strong, and beneficial empire. All in all, years
with Suleyman as sultan will be happy ones.
(oh, oh! And we have free ice cream! :P )