full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Mostafa Minawi: The rise of the Ottoman Empire

Unscramble the Blue Letters


By the end of the 14th century, the Ottomans had cneuoerqd or sentoadburid most of the Anatolian beyliks as well as the blaanks. But in the first half of the 15th century, as Sultan Beyazit I focused on wreetsn expansion, the ctaenrl aiasn ruler Timur attacked from the east. He captured Beyazit and carted him off in an iron cage, sparking a ten year struggle for succession that almost destroyed the oaotmtn erpime.

Sultan Murad II turned this trend around, but fell short of one of his loftiest goals: capturing the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. His son, Sultan Mehmed II, or Mehmed the Conqueror, voewd to succeed where his father had failed. In preparation for the attack on Constantinople, he hired a Hungarian engineer to forge the largest cannon in the wlord, used Serbian miners to dig tunnels under the walls of the city, and ordered his fleet of ships to be carried overland, attacking the city from an ueecextnpd dtriieocn. He laid siege to the city and in the spring of 1453, Constantinople fell to the onoatmts. It would become the Ottoman capital, known by its cmmoon Greek name, Istanbul, meaning “to the city.”

Open Cloze


By the end of the 14th century, the Ottomans had _________ or ____________ most of the Anatolian beyliks as well as the _______. But in the first half of the 15th century, as Sultan Beyazit I focused on _______ expansion, the _______ _____ ruler Timur attacked from the east. He captured Beyazit and carted him off in an iron cage, sparking a ten year struggle for succession that almost destroyed the _______ ______.

Sultan Murad II turned this trend around, but fell short of one of his loftiest goals: capturing the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. His son, Sultan Mehmed II, or Mehmed the Conqueror, _____ to succeed where his father had failed. In preparation for the attack on Constantinople, he hired a Hungarian engineer to forge the largest cannon in the _____, used Serbian miners to dig tunnels under the walls of the city, and ordered his fleet of ships to be carried overland, attacking the city from an __________ _________. He laid siege to the city and in the spring of 1453, Constantinople fell to the ________. It would become the Ottoman capital, known by its ______ Greek name, Istanbul, meaning “to the city.”

Solution


  1. central
  2. common
  3. empire
  4. ottomans
  5. ottoman
  6. asian
  7. balkans
  8. direction
  9. subordinated
  10. world
  11. unexpected
  12. conquered
  13. western
  14. vowed

Original Text


By the end of the 14th century, the Ottomans had conquered or subordinated most of the Anatolian beyliks as well as the Balkans. But in the first half of the 15th century, as Sultan Beyazit I focused on Western expansion, the Central Asian ruler Timur attacked from the east. He captured Beyazit and carted him off in an iron cage, sparking a ten year struggle for succession that almost destroyed the Ottoman empire.

Sultan Murad II turned this trend around, but fell short of one of his loftiest goals: capturing the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. His son, Sultan Mehmed II, or Mehmed the Conqueror, vowed to succeed where his father had failed. In preparation for the attack on Constantinople, he hired a Hungarian engineer to forge the largest cannon in the world, used Serbian miners to dig tunnels under the walls of the city, and ordered his fleet of ships to be carried overland, attacking the city from an unexpected direction. He laid siege to the city and in the spring of 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottomans. It would become the Ottoman capital, known by its common Greek name, Istanbul, meaning “to the city.”

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
ottoman empire 2
ottoman government 2


Important Words


  1. anatolian
  2. asian
  3. attack
  4. attacked
  5. attacking
  6. balkans
  7. beyazit
  8. beyliks
  9. byzantine
  10. cage
  11. cannon
  12. capital
  13. captured
  14. capturing
  15. carried
  16. carted
  17. central
  18. century
  19. city
  20. common
  21. conquered
  22. conqueror
  23. constantinople
  24. destroyed
  25. dig
  26. direction
  27. east
  28. empire
  29. engineer
  30. expansion
  31. failed
  32. father
  33. fell
  34. fleet
  35. focused
  36. forge
  37. greek
  38. hired
  39. hungarian
  40. ii
  41. iron
  42. istanbul
  43. laid
  44. largest
  45. loftiest
  46. meaning
  47. mehmed
  48. miners
  49. murad
  50. ordered
  51. ottoman
  52. ottomans
  53. overland
  54. preparation
  55. ruler
  56. serbian
  57. ships
  58. short
  59. siege
  60. son
  61. sparking
  62. spring
  63. struggle
  64. subordinated
  65. succeed
  66. succession
  67. sultan
  68. ten
  69. timur
  70. trend
  71. tunnels
  72. turned
  73. unexpected
  74. vowed
  75. walls
  76. western
  77. world
  78. year