Requesting historical references

[oo7]

Those are nice, but I fear they may be too "northern" for what I need. The story my girlfriend and I are writing involves a fictional Arabic-Ottoman cross kingdom, and while the Ottoman designs work well for ships and costume, I was hoping for a more Arabian appearence in architecture and whatnot. Also, there is the ordeal of anachronisms, I'm not sure which buildings would have looked like what during the 1600-1700s. I hope you understand, because you've been a BIG help with all this.

Ahh, I see. I had assumed you were further pursuing Turkish reference material asked for previously. That certainly makes a good deal of sense, desiring a more traditionally Islamic style architecture for your fictional setting. Anyway, perhaps another Wikipedia page could prove more useful, one such as the mosques by country catagory. Mosques are probably the clearest and most refined example of the Arab architectural design so just choose whichever Middle Eastern country you feel suitable. :-)

Either that, or just search for photographs of Arab mosques using an image search engine....

Edited March 8, 2008 by oo7

[QuartermasterRobert]

Ahh, I see. I had assumed you were further pursuing Turkish reference material asked for previously. That certainly makes a good deal of sense, desiring a more traditionally Islamic style architecture for your fictional setting. Anyway, perhaps another Wikipedia page could prove more useful, one such as the mosques by country catagory. Mosques are probably the clearest and most refined example of the Arab architectural design so just choose whichever Middle Eastern country you feel suitable. :-)

Either that, or just search for photographs of Arab mosques using an image search engine....

Thanks muchly, I'll look into that :-)

[SkaForHire]

1) The ottomans copied western designs, they were just about 20 years behind and never grasped modern cannons. IE: as the west progressed armament became more reliable and readily available as the east recieved neither of these benefits.

2) Arab traders did use xebec like ships, the corsairs in Northern Africa rarely used fully sail ships in piracy, like most Arabian pirates they preferred the galley to anything else.

3) Almost all sailing warships had sweeps, (those oars pictured on the models linked to) Galleons (even the Spanish variety) had such oars also. towards the end of the eighteenth century these oars in large scales start to fade away. But most vessels included them all the way up until the steam age. Rowing is always a valuable tactic in naval combat.

[Tanotrooper]

I'll take some snapshots of the different units used by the Ottoman Empire in Cossacks II for you. (around Napoleonic Wars)

I'll post them asap.

EDIT: here we go:

the first 2 units are camel/horse cavalry units, the others infantry. Officer and drummer on camel included. No flag bearers at all it seems...

edit 2: I found these two, some sort of Chasseur unit and a priest:

TT

Edited March 8, 2008 by Tanotrooper

[QuartermasterRobert]

I'll take some snapshots of the different units used by the Ottoman Empire in Cossacks II for you. (around Napoleonic Wars)

I'll post them asap.

EDIT: here we go:

the first 2 units are camel/horse cavalry units, the others infantry. Officer and drummer on camel included. No flag bearers at all it seems...

edit 2: I found these two, some sort of Chasseur unit and a priest:

TT

Those images aren't showing up for me.

[Tanotrooper]

sigh, it's brickshelf again... They let all kind of useless stuff on there, but when it's useful

I'll edit the previous post

TT

[Captain Zuloo]

If you know what a Xebeck is then that might be a good type of ship to use....

[QuartermasterRobert]

Alright guys, I think I got all the Middle Eastern information I need. Thanks! Be alert for any other historical topics I might bring up though X-D

[Capn Frank]

I just read a little info in a history book about the red sea and indian ocean.

It was the Ottoman Empire that had control of coast along all of the red sea and much of the persian gulf in 1566.

Suleiman was the ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566.

A history book that i just bought states that his conquests provoked conflicts with the Portuguese in the Red Sea and Indian ocean during his.

Also, during Suleiman's rule he took the Island Of Rhodes from the Knights of St. John around 1526.

The ottoman navy in the Mediterranean was about the same size as Italy's, France's and Spain's navies combined.

So looking for info about the Ottoman Empire would be the way to go.

I haven't looked up any thing about the Portuguese territories in the Indian Ocean though.

P