Bayezid II was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1491 to 1512. He labored laborious to manipulate pretty and gained the epithet of “Bayezid the Simply”. When in 1492, Spain expelled its Jewish and Muslim populations, Bayezid despatched his navy to evacuate them safely to Ottoman lands. He proclaimed that the refugees had been to be welcomed.
However he did make one far reaching and finally catastrophic choice.
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press round 1440 in Mainz, Germany. His invention revolutionized the manufacturing of books and different printed supplies, taking part in an important function within the unfold of information and data through the Renaissance and past.
Sultan Bayezid II, underneath strain from non secular leaders, issued an edict prohibiting the usage of the printing press within the Ottoman Empire. He bannd the printing of books in Arabic or Turkish scripts. In 1508 the Shaykh al-Islam, the highest-ranking Islamic scholar of the Ottoman Empire, issued a fatwa stating that printing utilizing movable kind was permitted for non-Muslim communities however not for Muslims.
The Sultan’s ban on the printing press was a response to political, non secular, and financial pressures. The introduction of the printing press posed a possible risk to the Sultan’s centralized authority. The expertise enabled the mass manufacturing of books and pamphlets, providing a way for concepts to unfold quickly and problem conventional energy buildings. Fearing the dissemination of dissenting or heretical materials, Sultan Beyazid II sought to manage the movement of knowledge inside his huge and numerous empire. By limiting the printing press, he might preserve a tighter grip on non secular narratives and stop potential non secular unrest.
As well as the Ottoman Empire had a thriving business of expert calligraphers who meticulously hand-copied manuscripts. The introduction of the printing press threatened their livelihoods, resulting in opposition from this influential group.
The impression of Beyazid’s ban on the printing press was large. Within the quick time period, it restricted the unfold of recent concepts and dissent inside the Ottoman Empire. In the long term, it severely broken the empire’s mental and technological progress. Whereas Europe skilled the Renaissance and scientific revolution, the Ottoman Empire and the Muslim world lagged behind, lacking out on the transformative energy of the printing press to disseminate information and foster innovation.
Finally, the ban on printing books contributed to the Ottoman Empire’s decline relative to its European counterparts. The ban was in impact till the 18th century. Because the Western world embraced new concepts and developments, the Ottomans discovered themselves falling behind in numerous domains, finally impacting their means to compete on the worldwide stage.
As a direct results of what is perhaps the one worst coverage choice in historical past, the wave of scientific and cultural development in Europe often called the “Enlightenment” completely missed the Center East and set again the Muslim world by 200 years. The results of this choice in 1485 are nonetheless felt immediately.
