The ruler was the doge, and he got to live in a very nice house and wear a funny hat. The sultan of the Ottoman Empire also got to live in a nice house and wear a funny hat, but there the similarities end. To begin, the Ottomans were an empire that lasted from around 1300 CE until 1919, making it one of the longest-lasting and richest empires in world history. The Ottomans managed to blend their pastoral nomadic roots with some very un-nomadic empire building some really impressive architecture like this and this and this, making them very different from, wait for it, the Mongols. The Empire, or at least the dynasty, was founded by Osman Bey, and Ottoman is a Latinization of Osmanli, which basically means, like, the House of Osmond. No, Stan, the house, yes, oh my gosh. The Ottomans were greatest in the 15th and 16th centuries under two famous sultans.