The Ottoman Empire is a state that has grown, like a huge tree, from a tiny grain sown by its founder, Osman the Holy, between two giants - Byzantium and the Seljuks. Having established its roots in the ancient land of Asia Minor, the Ottoman state after several centuries covered all three continents of the Old World. The possessions of the Ottomans stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Atlantic. How did this become possible? The sultans from the Osman clan ruled the giant state with an iron hand. Cruel conquerors and subtle connoisseurs of poetry, fratricides and just rulers, they created the world's best army armed with firearms and loyalty to Islam. They passed Europe and Asia with fire and scimitar. The world prostrated before them as long as they were faithful to the Prophet's precepts. But when Selim Drunkard girded Osman's sword, something went wrong... And the first shaken state of the Ottomans was struck by the Russian troops of Ivan the Terrible in a three-day battle near Moscow.