Ottoman Empire Research Articles

Unveiling ‘Eyi Çocukluk’ (Ideal Childhood) in Late Ottoman Turkish Children’s Literature: A Discourse Analysis of Angeliaforos Çocuklar İçün (The Messenger for Children)

Numerous studies have been conducted on Turkish children’s magazines during the late Ottoman period, covering a wide range of disciplines such as history, language, literature, sociology, and education. However, a majority of these studies have focused on magazines written in Arabic script, with limited attention paid to those written in other scripts. Despite their significance in Turkish children’s literature and culture, periodicals written in non-Arabic scripts have received relatively little scholarly attention to date. This study aims to address this gap by focusing on Angeliaforos Çocuklar İçün (AÇİ), a children’s magazine published in Istanbul in 1872 in Turkish using the Greek alphabet by the American Board Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Using a discourse-historical approach, the study employs critical discourse analysis to reveal the qualities of the idealized child presented in AÇİ. The results indicate that AÇİ, which was published as a part of the missionaries’ inculturation efforts, portrays an ideal child as virtuous, well-educated, white, European, and devoutly Christian to its readers. The article contends that AÇİ can be regarded as a unique and historical instance of “inculturation” that instructs the Karamanli children, who are Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christians, on what constitutes an ideal child.

British Government Officials in the Ottoman Empire and Evolving Humanitarianism after the Balkan Wars and the First World War

Abstract This article assesses the changes in humanitarianism by locally stationed British government officials after the Balkan Wars and after the First World War. Studies have examined British humanitarian goals in the Ottoman Empire in relation to the First World War, but lacking is an assessment of efforts from locally stationed British officials, with a particular absence of research regarding the Balkan Wars. We find that while British humanitarianism was expanded after the First World War, the framework for those changes was established during the Balkan Wars. Comparing evolving humanitarianism during these time periods is best seen via changes in the range of intervention strategies to create ‘good government’, to prevent and stop atrocities, and to care for refugees. Unlike the British relationship with the Ottoman government during the Balkan Wars, Britain’s humanitarian stance in 1918 and 1919 was matched by a stronger grasp on power in Constantinople and over the Ottoman Porte. However, as the political, social, financial, and military demands of the post-war landscape undermined Constantinople’s power, so too was British humanitarianism undermined.

Feminist Movement in Turkey in the 1990s

According to a feminism worldview, women should have economic, social, civil, political, and cultural rights. For this, women need to go a long, controversial and interesting path. On the one hand, they are aware of their place in society, in the state, and on the other hand, they are trying to change the cultural norms that cause oppression. Turkey is the only country in which the majority of the population is Muslim, and at the same time, it is a candidate for EU membership. Turkey has managed to create a progress-oriented state. This is a well-planned and calculated path with predetermined steps, paved with the reforms of the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938). The problem of feminism is one of the most lively topics in republican Turkey. The processes taking place in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century prepared a solid ground for further development of the feminist movement. On October 29, 1923, after Turkey was declared a republic, the feminist movement took a new direction. The feminist movement in Turkey went through three periods. The first period includes the processes of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and “Europeanization”, which led to the advancement of the women’s problems to the fore and the active struggle for the rights and place of educated Ottoman women in society. The second period was determined by the civil law on the participation of women in elections, adopted in republican Turkey in 1926. And the third one was the period of the 1990s, when the feminist movement became more widespread and active. Feminist policies have been founded and carried out, the role of women in government structures has increased; feminist organizations were created in Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, etc. In the 1990s, the movement of Muslim feminists, Islamist women, known as “Islamic feminism”, became active in Turkey. After the creation of the republic in Turkey, religious associations came under the direct subordination and control of the state. There have been prepared various projects to solve women’s problems. Centers for the study of women’s issues have been opened at universities. For the first time, women spoke openly about sexual freedom, etc.

Affirmative Orientalism: August Bebel, Islam, and World History

In 1884, during the period of the Socialist Laws, August Bebel took the time to publish a historical work entitled Die mohamedanisch- arabische Kulturperiode. In it Bebel positioned Islam and the early caliphates as the unacknowledged link between Greco-Roman traditions of knowledge and the blossoming of European culture that, he argued, had occurred since the Renaissance. He also used the book as an opportunity to reject claims that Christianity had played this key role in world historical progress. Through an examination and contextualization of Bebel's writings on Islam, this article shows how he viewed the role of different religious traditions within world history and how his views intersected with contemporary questions regarding the relationship between religion and socialism. The article also examines how Bebel's work fits within a longer tradition of socialist solidarity with the Ottoman Empire.

Climate-driven versus anthropogenic induced erosion of the last 3000 years from an ancient lake in the Southern Phokis Plain (Desfina), Greece

The timing and causes for erosional events at the Kastrouli (Greece) archeological site – a Late Myceneaen with reuse in later periods – are presented. Two borehole sediment cores (max 6 m depth), collected from the footsteps of the settlement hill plain, were studied. Sedimentary analysis and luminescence dating techniques investigate and identify periods of soil aggradation in this record. Moreover, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating confirmed the concept of an ancient lake during Kastrouli settlement times. Macroscopic overview of the stratigraphic structure for each core, included lithological and textural evaluation of the core sediments, assessments of grain size, and determination of the geochemical and mineralogical composition of the sediments. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) techniques were applied for the mineralogical and geochemical analysis. OSL ages from seven sediment horizons spanned from the Ottoman period to archaic times. All lithological findings correlate with the results of the electrical tomography survey conducted in same area. Extrapolation of the Logarithmic fitting of the data back in time of prehistoric Late Mycenaean era of Kastrouli verifies a lake deeper than 10 m, with a considerable enhancement in soil aggradation of 1.2 cm/year. Attempts to dry out the area are evidenced by the hydraulic works found in two engineering sinkholes. Sedimentation changes had occurred in the local environment over the last 2500 years, and soil aggradation underwent significant fluctuations in the two studied cores. The Roman period (a wet period) and the Byzantine period experienced high aggradation rates. By contrast, soil aggradation rates in southern Phokis (Kastrouli region) have remained exceedingly low from the Ottoman era (circa 13th century) to the present. In the context of the Phokis case study, it appears that the sedimentation rates, driven by climate, have strengthened anthropogenic activities.

Миграции северокавказцев в Османскую империю: начальный этап (1858-1862 гг.)

The article traces the process of formation of a stable and massive migration flow of representa-tives of the peoples of the North Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire in the period from the end of 1858 to the middle of 1862, conditionally identified as the initial stage of the Caucasian muhaji-rism. Involvement of a significant range of published Russian and predominantly unpublished Turkish and British archival documents along with modern domestic and foreign historiography allows us to expand and clarify our knowledge on the socio-economic, internal and external rea-sons and accompanying circumstances of the said resettlement, its dynamics and evolution, quan-titative and ethnic parameters, as well as the approaches and steps in this sphere of official St. Pe-tersburg and Istanbul. While recognizing the unified, pan-Caucasian nature of this socio-migrational phenomenon, attention is drawn to certain specificities in its nature, intensity and scale in different parts of the region.

Проблемы политико-правовой интеграции Северного Кавказа в состав России в отражении делопроизводственной документации (по материалам опубликованных источников)

The article is devoted to the study of the main problems of the political and legal integration of the peoples of the North Caucasus into Russia, materials from public sources of office documentation. In particular, the authors studied the problems of establishing the Russian administrative and judicial-legal system in the region, the normative and organizational foundations of the imperial policy in the North Caucasus, the emigration of local peoples to the Ottoman Empire as reflected in published sources. The authors also studied the process of understanding office documents on the problem of the political and legal integration of the North Caucasus into Russia in modern historiography. The authors conclude that the materials of published office documents play a major role in modern scientific research on the problem of the administrative, political and legal integration of the North Caucasian peoples into Russia. They form the basis of the source base for research on this problem. In the context of source studies, the authors consider office documents on the history of the establishment of the military-administrative and political-legal system of Russia in the North Caucasus, as well as the processes of emigration of local peoples to the Ottoman Empire.

The United States Role of the Occurrence of Violence in Cyprus

Cyprus used to be under occupation of the foreign states for many centuries and sovereignty usually with few exceptions was not transferred peacefully. As it is well known, in the 19th century, use of force in international relations was seen as normal. In the 1878 however, transformation of sovereignty in Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire to the United Kingdom (UK) was by peaceful means. The UK ruled Cyprus mostly in peace until the uprising in 1931. The upheaval of the Greek Cypriots against the UK was to unite Cyprus with Greece (Enosis). The uprising was settled by violence and the constitutional rights suspended immediately. In 1955 when the riot of the Greek Cypriots occurred again this time the UK was successful to get support of Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots and converted the anti-colonial struggle to the ethnic strife. Clearly, the occurrence of violence in Cyprus in 20th Century begun during the British period but it continued after the colonial period. Although the United States (US) refrained direct involvement to Cyprus problem it assisted to the formation of the Republic of Cyprus by 1960s. During the Cold War conditions, the US had to involve to the Cyprus problem because of two reasons: Firstly, in order to prevent a war between Türkiye and Greece, the two “motherlands” of the Turkish and Greek Cypriots; secondly to stop the violence between two local communities. In Washington DC the US leadership met with Greek and Turkish prime ministers in 1964 and they decided to solve the Cyprus problem forever. In Geneva the US representative had several meetings with the officials of Greece and Türkiye. There, the US former secretary of state offered his plan that included the use of violence for the dissolution of the Republic of Cyprus. The US plan could not be implemented at the time but after 10 years, its spirit became the source of the violence in Cyprus. In this study mainly the role of the US in occurrence of violence in the island will be studied.

Building Design in Historical Environment-Periodical Study-Haydarpaşa / Seli̇mi̇ye

Turkey's geography is rich in cultural diversity. The existing diversity is reflected in all areas of life. Among these areas, architecture cannot be ignored both in terms of scale and building stock. In this context, architecture is in constant relationship with cultural heritage. In a professional sense, it is inevitable to produce new buildings in the historical environment and to know how the cultural heritage will form an input to the design. For this reason, studio studies, which are the basis of architectural education, constitute the most important process. In this context, within the scope of the studio 5 course of the 2023-24 fall semester of the Department of Architecture of Yeni Yüzyıl University, “experimental design of a faculty of architecture between 8000-10000m2” was carried out in Haydarpaşa-Selimiye with the participation of 10 students. Haydarpaşa-Selimiye neighborhood is very rich in terms of many types of buildings built in the 19th and 20th centuries of the Ottoman Empire. The aim of this study was to enable the participating students to develop design approaches sensitive to the historical environment. In the first stage; the area determined as the study area was examined and design problems were aimed to be revealed, and the projects created in this direction were questioned by supporting the determined design criteria and environmental analyzes. In the second stage, design approaches were shaped in line with the environmental analysis and the concept, and periodicalstudy examples emerged. Existing texture-historic environment unity, historical environment-new building design approaches were the achievements obtained at the end of the semester. In the conclusion section; in line with the approaches developed by the students, the evaluation of historical environment data and new building design approaches were evaluated, and the importance of new building designs in the historical environment in architectural education was emphasized.

Reading for the future: İstanbul Ansiklopedisi, a collection without origin

ABSTRACT Reşad Ekrem Koçu’s İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (the Encyclopaedia of Istanbul) is a remarkable undertaking covering various periods in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire and in recent Turkish history. The colourful and compelling picture of Istanbul that Koçu presented in the encyclopaedia was imbued with his nostalgia. In this article, which takes its cue from the archival turn in the twentieth century, I provide a rereading of İstanbul Ansiklopedisi by scrutinising the ways in which Koçu’s nostalgia functioned as a generative desire in the compilation of the encyclopaedia. I argue that the encyclopaedia entries link various temporalities and spatialities to create a unique, idiosyncratic Istanbul. Due to the organisation of the encyclopaedia, which entails the overlapping of different times and spaces, the encyclopaedia disrupts the linearity of history, opens up possibilities for new contexts for its readers, and generates hope for the future.

Reconstructing palaeogeography and landscapes around the ancient Greek colony of Abdera (Thrace, NE gr.): an integrated remote sensing approach

ABSTRACT We developed a multi-source, integrated remote sensing approach to characterize the geomorphological features of the alluvial and coastal lowlands around the ancient Abdera (coastal Thrace, Gr.). By combining multi-temporal composites of satellite imagery, DEM-derived products, orthophotography, and different cartographic resources, more than 1000 linear km of ancient landforms have been identified and mapped. When crossed with archaeological and historical data, our results allowed to propose a reconstruction of the palaeogeographic evolution and geomorphological dynamics in the eastern lobe of the Nestos Delta, the Kosynthos plain, Lake Vistonida and the Porto Lagos coast since the Antiquity. Our results suggest that the delta developed mainly between Hellenistic times and the Late Antiquity, when it had reached a shape similar to the current. Most of the large palaeochannels visible in the delta seem to be Nestos’ short-lived avulsions occurring in late Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Eastwards progradation of the Kosynthos plain, especially during Byzantine and Ottoman periods and accelerating in the 20th c. due to river channelization, was the main cause of the silting and a significant size reduction of Lake Vistonida since the Antiquity. Lake Lafra was also partially silted in late Byzantine and Ottoman times, likely due to the sedimentary discharge of the Kosynthos after a change in its course. By contrast, other lagoons and wetlands in the coast of Porto Lagos seem relatively stable in the last millennia with only minor silting and coastline progradation. Further geomorphological and geoarchaeological research in the area will allow to draw more precisely long-term interaction of past societies with environmental dynamics and resulting landscape change.

The End of the Ottoman Empire: A Century after the Fall

A century ago, the Ottoman Empire finally ceased to be after a long reign that stretched back to the late medieval period, and, ostensibly, nobody really missed it. It was once possible to write about the fall of the Ottoman Empire as the overdue culmination of a process that gave rise to independent nation–states. But, increasingly, the empire casts a long shadow on the historiography of the Middle East, and its last days emerge among its most consequential for the future of the region. The same political actors who reshaped late Ottoman politics were integral to the struggle for the post-Ottoman landscape. These individuals included provincial elites from nondominant ethnic groups who, rather than embracing ethnic nationalism, remained Ottomanist in their vision of the region's future until the final moment. Newer scholarship rejects the teleology of the nations that emerged from postwar fracturing, demonstrating that the map was not redrawn by the victors in an instant. It was forged, instead, through armed struggles against European imperial powers and among rival movements that lasted for years. One hundred years after the Ottoman Empire's collapse, historians are still excavating its long-ignored relevance for understanding the modern Middle East, which was buried under the weight of nationalist and Orientalist metanarratives that never questioned the inevitability of its demise.

SECRET COMMITTEE "DEATH OR LIBERTY" THE MAIN PROPONENTS OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF ALBANIA

The injustices towards the Albanian people began from the decisions of the Congress of Berlin in 1878 and the bloody suppression of the uprising of the Albanian League of Prizren in 1881, where many Balkan states gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, while Albanians remained an integral part of it. At the beginning of the 20th century, Albanians were very unprepared both politically and organizationally. Thanks to some Albanian activists and patriots, in November 1905 the Secret Committee for the Freedom of Albania "Death or Freedom" was formed, which will organize the armed struggle against the Ottoman rule and the neighboring chauvinist circles that attempted to dismember the Albanian lands. This organization was formed in the city of Bitola under the leadership of Bajo Topulli, Fehmi Zavalani, Halit Bërzeshtës, Gjergj Qeriazit, Çerçiz Topullit, Mikhail Gramenos, Nuçi Naçit and many other patriots. The purpose of this organization was to raise awareness, brotherhood, love and unity in a joint fight against every ruler for the Freedom of Albania. This organization played the role of the central committee by sending patriots and activists to every province of the country where it formed its branches in the most important centers of the Albanian vilayets. It has also expanded its activity with patriotic societies abroad. In 1906 the Secret Committee for "Freedom of Albania" in the area of Korça formed the first armed units that operated until 1908 when the Congress of Bitola will be held. The bravery and courage of the armed groups together with the Congress of Bitola contributed so that the act of Albania's independence was to be written with these letters. 1912.

Diplomacy of architecture and the Ghana National Mosque complex: concrete sign of a soft Turkish Imperium?

In a manner almost reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire’s frantic search (late nineteenth to early twentieth century) for müstemlekat (colonies) in Africa, modern Turkey seems to have revived its imperialist dreams in contemporary Africa. Following the elaboration of a proactive African foreign policy strategy, Turkey declared 2005 the Year of Africa, and established diplomatic relations with a raft of Muslim-majority African countries (MMACs). While Ghana is not an MMAC, Turkey re-established diplomatic ties with Accra in 2010, heralding a burgeoning relationship. Drawing on the theory of sub-­imperialism in tandem with the diplomacy of architecture (DoA) framework, this work will argue that Turkey has cleverly utilised the symbolism and siting of the Ghana National Mosque Complex (GNMC) to make the most visible and audacious broadcast yet of its imperial intentions in Africa, and in record time. In unpacking the argument my primary interest will be to canvass the view that architectural imprints have become a powerful cultural weapon in the geostrategic soft-power arsenal of recent rising powers.

Forging a Lineage: Kinship, Mobility, and the Zildjian Cymbal

Abstract Renowned for its 400-year-old Ottoman/Turkish/Armenian past and produced by “America's oldest family-run business,” the Zildjian cymbal is paradoxically rendered an unremarkable “humble object” in its assumed inclusion in orchestras and bands around the world. Tracing the lineages of the Zildjians and their cymbals through historical documentation, ethnography, and the materiality of the instruments themselves, I first discuss the cymbal's shifting musical contexts and functions in Ottoman Janissary mehter bands, European orchestras, American jazz bands, and many other ensembles over the past four centuries, as well as the role of the Zildjians in this musical expansion. Then, I examine how twentieth-century negotiations of Zildjian kinship emerged in contentions over the authenticity and ownership of cymbal production. Finally, I consider how the assimilatory pressures of nation-states shaped narratives of cymbal production as well as the Zildjians’ mobilities, particularly in the context of the ethnoracialization of minority populations in the late Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic as well as the struggle of Armenian migrants to the United States to be recognized as valid U.S. American citizens at the turn of the twentieth century. By approaching the cymbal itself as the main interlocutor of this exploration, I aim to foreground the ways in which cymbals have sounded and resounded the mobility and kinships of its human creators. In doing so, I regard musical instruments as essential mediators of histories of cultural and musicological development as well as constructions of human identity and relationship, glimpsing how such objects may both reify and unsettle our epistemologies and the institutions of modern life.

The Embodiment of National Image in Ceramic Products with China and European Countries Exchange and Dissemination Case Study: Turkish Coffee Cups

Culture is a broad concept encompassing material and spiritual aspects acquired through socialization and experience. It includes language, beliefs, ethical standards, and consumption patterns, uniting people within a community and significantly influencing their behavior. Culture plays an important role in design and influences the design process according to ever-changing behavior patterns. Product design, a subset of the design field, provides a tangible platform for expressing cultural knowledge. Consequently, product design is a significant medium for illustrating the impact of cultural influences. The interaction between different cultures further shapes design fields, leading to the development of products that may acquire new characteristics or undergo adaptations based on the specific geographical context in which they are situated. Especially when the field of gastronomy, and food and beverage utensils is examined, it is known that the ceramic tools used are in new design relationships in this context. Traditional Turkish coffee culture encompasses the convergence of Chinese, Turkish, and European influences in product design today, exemplified by the use of Turkish ceramic coffee cups. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how national images and a country’s national identity are constructed and expressed in the designs of its ceramic products from the perspective of material culture studies, from past to present, starting from the Chinese, Ottoman Empire and Europe interaction, how shaped today’s ceramic Turkish coffee cups of today and also new possibilities that can process around this area.

Turcophile, Religious Zealot, and Rebel: The Hungarian Noble Pál Szepessy's Encounters with Grand Vizier Ahmed Köprülü (1661–76)

Abstract Pál Szepessy (1636–1685), a Calvinist noble, dedicated his life to the goal of turning Habsburg Hungary into an Ottoman vassal state. He spent much time in the Ottoman world, met with Grand Vizier Ahmed Köprülü (r. 1661–76) on at least four occasions, and regularly visited other Ottoman dignitaries. Szepessy outlined the traumatic effects of Habsburg military occupation and Counter-Reformation on Hungarian society. He was driven by the conviction that God had chosen the Ottomans as his avengers to liberate Hungary from the yoke of the Austrian Antichrist. Szepessy won Köprülü's support for armed uprisings and a guerilla war against the Habsburgs. He also influenced the grand vizier's decision to end the Polish-Ottoman war (1672–76) and turn the Ottoman army against the Habsburg Empire. When Köprülü died in November 1676, the blueprints for Habsburg Hungary's defection to the Ottoman Empire were already in place. They were reactivated by Kara Mustafa in 1682–83. Szepessy's initiatives (and similar efforts by other Hungarians) have been ignored by scholarship; their traces remain dispersed in the Austrian and Hungarian archives. My research draws on Szepessy's appeals to Köprülü; his correspondence with fellow Protestant nobles, family, and Transylvanian supporters; reports of Habsburg spies; dispatches of Habsburg residents at the Porte; and deliberations of the Habsburg War Council. Taken together these sources open a window on the life of an important trans-imperial subject whose life throws into question the clash of civilizations narrative that still dominates much of Habsburg and Central European historical studies.

Evolution of Women Entrepreneurship in Turkey: Challenges, Opportunities, and Future Perspectives

This paper explores the dynamic landscape of women entrepreneurship in Turkey, highlighting its historical roots and the progress made over the decades, while also identifying persisting challenges and emerging opportunities. Women's entrepreneurship in Turkey, historically constrained by social and cultural barriers, has evolved significantly from the Ottoman era to the present day. This evolution has been influenced by major political and economic shifts, including the liberalization policies of the 1980s and recent digital transformations, which have expanded the scope for women's entrepreneurial ventures. Despite these advances, women entrepreneurs continue to face significant hurdles such as access to finance, societal gender roles, and limited networking opportunities. However, evolving government policies, international collaborations, and the increasing digitization of the economy present new opportunities for growth and integration into global markets. The study employs a comprehensive analysis of historical data, current statistics from the Turkish Statistical Institute, and literature reviews to offer a nuanced understanding of the trajectory of women's entrepreneurship. This paper aims to contribute to the discourse on gender equality and economic empowerment in Turkey, providing insights that could inform policy and entrepreneurial practice in the region.

Ágoston, Gábor. The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021, XV+664 Sayfa

Bu yazı Gábor Ágoston’un Osmanlı’nın savaş stratejisi, askerî teknolojisi, sefer lojistiği ve diplomasisi ile istihbarat edinme tekniklerini, Osmanlı ve Habsburg imparatorlukları özelinde ve daha geniş bir bağlamda incelediği The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe (Son Müslüman Fethi: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ve Avrupa’daki Savaşları) adlı kitabının incelemesidir. Eserin önemli hedeflerinden biri, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun bilhassa Balkanlar özelinde Avrupa’yı nasıl şekillendirdiğini ortaya koymaktır. Kitap, Osmanlı tarihçilerinin, tarih öğrencilerinin ve ilgililerinin baş ucu kaynağı olacaktır.

Outliving an Empire: Mehmed Ziya, the Former Ottoman Bureaucrat, and His Pension Claim across Post-Ottoman Lebanon and Cyprus in the 1920s

This article examines how a former Ottoman bureaucrat claimed his retirement pension in interactions with state officials in post-Ottoman Turkey, Syria–Lebanon and Cyprus in the 1920s. Born in Cyprus in 1856 and in Ottoman state service for more than three decades until 1916, Mehmed Ziya had to make renewed efforts to continue receiving his pension until he died in 1936. His troubles were largely due to the need to reconfigure enduring links to the Ottoman state amidst state succession after the First World War. I focus mainly on the diplomatic and administrative correspondence generated by Ziya's initiatives to examine how he sought to address a pressing, quotidian problem. I stress that nationality, as a pivotal category in the reconfiguration of state–subject relations in former imperial domains, played a key role in shaping how Ziya outlived his empire.