Situation administrative et économique dans les zones frontalières de l’Empire Ottoman

Abstract

The article deals with the administrative and economic situation on the periphery of the Ottoman Empire, with a central focus on the functioning of state institutions, the impact of central power on the provinces, and the local conditions. The study is focused on historical text analysis and the reconstruction of the past. The analysis is based on primary sources from the 16th and 17th centuries, originating from the region of Eastern Anatolia, near Lake Van,) and written by Armenian chroniclers from the School of Bitlis, as well as others. Texts of chroniclers are invariably embedded in the social and historical context of that period and they provide a specific point of view of the Armenian religious minority living in the Ottoman Empire and Persia (millet-i Ermeni), characterized by dhimmi status, dhimmi mentality and its confessional identity (the Armenian Apostolic Church). Chronicle texts focus especially on the population of the Christian reaya (a subjected population) and their everyday lives. The socio-economic structures, which determine the everyday reality and, metaphorically, the way of thinking of the community, are studied as well as the importance of the Armenian Church (Hayastaneayts Arakhelakan Yekeghetsi), whose autonomy played a significant role in the construction of the Armenian nation and in the transmission of collective memory and traditions.