Hile ü hud'a: Deception, dissimulation and manipulation of information in 16th-century ottoman empire

Abstract

This paper engages in methods of deception, dissimulation and manipulation that the Ottoman Empire employed in the 16th century. It demonstrates how the Ottomans misled their enemies in realms of diplomacy and warfare by feeding them with tailored information. They did not only successfully hide the target of their military preparations from enemy spies and foreign ambassadors, but also resorted to disinformation in order to manipulate diplomatic negotiations. Moreover, Ottoman commanders employed a number of tricks and ruses in order to gain the upper hand on the battlefield.