The Ottoman sultan considers himself God's agent…

The Ottoman sultan considers himself God's agent on earth, the leader of a religious—not a national—state whose purpose is to defend and propagate Islam.

Non-Muslims pay extra taxes and hold an inferior status, but they can retain their old religion and a large measure of local autonomy.

By converting to Islam, individuals among the conquered can elevate themselves to the privileged stratum of society.

In the early years of the empire, all Ottoman high officials are the sultan's bondsmen, the children of Christian subjects chosen in childhood for their promise, converted to Islam, and educated to serve.

Some are selected from prisoners of war, others sent as gifts, and still others obtained through devshirme, the tribute of children levied in the Ottoman Empire's Balkan lands.

Many of the best fighters in the sultan's elite guard, the janissaries, are conscripted as young boys from Christian Albanian families, and high-ranking Ottoman officials often have Albanian bodyguards.