When discussing the Age of Discovery, images of Spanish galleons, Portuguese caravels, and maps littered with compass roses often come to mind. Names like Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan dominate this Eurocentric narrative of seafaring expansion, empire-building, and global trade. However, while Western European powers were circumnavigating oceans and establishing colonies, another great power was charting its own vision of discovery, exploration, and influence: the Ottoman Empire.

Often overshadowed by European exploits, the Ottoman Empire’s own version of the Age of Discovery took a distinct form. It was less about uncharted oceans and more about controlling the hubs of the known world, discovering political and commercial opportunities, and extending influence through maritime dominance, cartographic innovation, and cultural assimilation. This article explores how the Ottomans experienced and contributed to a global age of exploration, the unique ways they interpreted “discovery,” and the lasting impact of their ventures on the Islamic and Mediterranean worlds.

 Reframing "Discovery": A Different Worldview

The very concept of "discovery" held different meanings for the Ottomans. Unlike European powers, who sought to uncover and exploit terra incognita, the Ottomans saw themselves as inheritors and unifiers of a world that was already known, mapped, and ordered by Islam and ancient civilizations.

Rather than venturing into the Atlantic to reach the East, the Ottomans focused on controlling the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa — from the Balkans to Arabia, from Egypt to Mesopotamia. Their strategic acquisitions of Constantinople (1453), Cairo (1517), and Baghdad (1534) were not framed as discoveries but rather as restorations of rightful rule and gateways to further expansion. While European empires pushed outward, the Ottomans drew the world inward, toward the imperial center in Istanbul. shutdown123