What did the Ottomans know about Islamic History? What did they read and write? The Ottoman historians did not compose separate Islamic histories, works that are comparable to the medieval Islamic histories such as the ones by Ibn Kathir or Ibn Athir. Instead, they situated the Ottoman history within universal histories. These histories begin with the creation of the world and give a comprehensive picture of the peoples of the world. A history of Islamic dynasties culminates in the history of the House of Osman. Pre-Ottoman sections of these histories are often deemed unimportant and redundant. However, a close reading of these histories proves that the Ottoman intellectuals did not only read and write about Islamic history extensively but also utilized these histories for a variety of purposes sometimes to legitimize certain aspects of Ottoman history and sometimes to make statements and arguments about the contemporary events. In this paper, I will look closely at select Ottoman universal histories from the period before 1700 such as the ones written by Sukrullah, Cenabi, Diyarbekri, Mustafa Ali, and Katip Celebi among others, as a way to decipher the ways that the Ottoman historians dealt with Islamic history. I will pay particular attention to the early Islamic history as a way to understand how the Ottoman historians thought about the succession struggle in early Islam and Abbasid Revolution and what one can learn from these histories about Ottoman religiosity. I will also provide a comprehensive look at the various sources used by the Ottoman historians and what one can learn about reading and writing Islamic history in the Ottoman Empire before 1700.