288 Ottoman Empire (1450–1750) A Japanese print titled Steel Bridge at Higashibori, Osaka shows the city that developed along both banks of the Yodo River The city of Osaka gained prominence in the 16th century when it became a popular Buddhist religious center name was Naniwa According to legend it was founded by Jimu, the first legendary emperor of Japan, who landed in Osaka bay in 660 b.c.e In 313 c.e., Emperor Nintoku made Osaka his capital Various other emperors in subsequent times, such as Kotoku in 645 and Shomu in 724, also resided in Osaka However, the city of Osaka gained prominence in the 16th century when it became a popular Buddhist religious center Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the castle of Osaka on the site of the great Buddhist monastery and made it his headquarters as he dominated Japan in the late 16th century Osaka also rose to economic prominence as the city, along with Kobe and Yokohama, became the main trading links with Korea and China Osaka became even more important under the Tokugawa Shogunate and was established as the commercial capital of Japan Christianity was first preached in Osaka by Father Gaspar Vilela in 1559 By 1564, five churches were erected in Osaka City and its periphery Between 1577 and 1579, the number of Christians in Osaka were estimated at between 9,000 and 10,000, which grew to an estimated 25,000 by 1582 See also Nagasaki Further reading: Hanes, Jeffrey E., and Hajime Seki City as Subject: Seki Hajime and the Reinvention of Modern Osaka Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002; McClain, James L., and Osamu Wakita Osaka: The Merchants’ Capital of Early Modern Japan Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999; Ropke, Ian Martin, and Woronoff, Jon Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1999 Mohammed Badrul Alam Ottoman Empire (1450–1750) The Ottoman Empire was a centralized absolute regime ruled from the top by the sultan As in other nomadic and Islamic empires, the Ottomans never developed a legal procedure for accession and this was to be a source of instability and weakness The first sultans were among the most able sons of the sultans, and rival brothers were sometimes executed By the 1600s, the oldest male members of the family were selected as sultans Thus the sultanate passed among brothers or nephews and other possible heirs were kept under “house arrest” in various palaces The Ottoman Empire was a Sunni Islamic state, and although the sultans ultimately took the title of caliph, the Sheikh al Islam was the major religious authority of the state In keeping with Islamic practice,