Late Ottoman Research Articles

An Ambivalent Coexistence: Jews and Christians in Late Ottoman Edirne

AbstractThis article discusses the relations between Jews and Christians in Edirne during the late Ottoman period. At the time, approximately half the city’s inhabitants were Greeks, and at least ten percent were Jews. The Jewish quarter of the city was surrounded by areas with a Greek majority, while a few Armenians also lived alongside the Greeks and Jews. Drawing on diverse sources from the Ladino, Hebrew, French, English, and Greek press, I argue that an ambivalent coexistence prevailed between Jews and Christians in Edirne, where hostility and enmity acted as catalysts for, rather than obstacles to, transculturation. Analysis of two case studies illustrate this ambivalent coexistence. The first concerns the reflection of the blood libel waged by Greeks in Istanbul in 1874 in Jewish and Armenian discourse in Edirne. The second is the discourse on the historical symbiosis between Jews and Greeks embodied in lectures by the maskil Abraham Danon in 1892 to a Greek audience in the city. Both issues sparked considerable interest among Jews and Christians, not only within the Ottoman Empire but also throughout the global Jewish and Greek diasporas.

The Ālūsī Family between Baghdad and Istanbul: Imperial Connections and the Development of Salafi Commitments

Abstract The Ālūsīs of Baghdad were one of the most influential families in the late Ottoman Empire, producing various prolific scholars. They were inspired by Ibn Taymiyya, supported the permissibility of ijtihād, and criticized excessive Sufi practices. Although accused of being Wahhabi owing to their Salafi ideas, they maintained strong ties with the Ottoman state, holding judicial and bureaucratic positions. This article situates the family within the Ottoman imperial framework and explains how they navigated as Salafi scholars in the predominantly Ḥanafī-Māturīdī structure of the Ottoman Empire.

Contesting ‘Truth’: A Late Ottoman Response to Protestant Missionary Writings

This study delves into the polemical exchange between the 19th-century Ottoman scholar Harputlu İshak Hoca (d. 1892) and the protestant missionary Karl Gottlieb Pfander (d. 1865). By examining the historical context surrounding their controversy, this research sheds light on the interaction between the Ottoman state and British and American missionaries, particularly during the expansion of missionary activities in Anatolia. This paper also explores the responses of the Ottoman authorities to the missionary printing activities and the impact of the Church Missionary Society’s work on societal and governmental levels. Furthermore, it provides an analysis of Pfander’s Mizan ul-haqq (The Balance of Truth) and Harputlu’s Şemsü’l-hakîkat (The Sun of Truth) and Ziyâü’l-kulûb (The Light of Hearts), portraying them as not only engaging in interreligious polemics but also as creators of textual products that reflect the complex historical realities of their time. This research underscores the Ottoman scholars’ close attention and prompt responses to missionary literature.

From Concept to Novel: Tâhirülmevlevî’s (1877-1951) Sufi Engagement and Critique of Teşebbüs-i Şahsî (Individual Initiative) in the Late Ottoman Era

During the late Ottoman era, particularly the Hamidian period (1876-1909), a culture of diligent labor and industriousness emerged, emphasizing economic progress. State-led initiatives triggered substantial socio-economic shifts, alongside increased regulations to integrate Sufi networks into state apparatus to reduce their economic burden due to constant benefit from the endowment funds. At this juncture, Tâhirülmevlevî (Mehmet Tâhir Olgun) (d. 1951) departed from the Yenikapı Mevlevîhâne and firmly rejected benefiting from endowment funds. Instead, he turned to press and publishing activities that he believed would sustain both his livelihood and spiritual service. His narrative, especially encapsulated in his autobiographical novel Teşebbüs-i Şahsî (1912), offers a critique of the administrative reforms of the era, articulating a perspective that the lack of ethical integrity and judicial fairness severely impeded the successful adoption of teşebbüs-i şahsî (individual initiative) frameworks. His reflections extend to critique societal perceptions of Sufis as economic dependents, delving into why substantial reforms failed to gain traction within the Turkish-Muslim community. Through his literary and journalistic endeavors, Olgun not only personifies the concept of individual initiative but also critically examines its execution and impact within the complex socio-political landscape of late Ottoman society, underscoring the complex interplay between individual aspirations and collective societal transformations.

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.

The Compatibility of the Late Ottoman Economy Politics with the Real Economy

Two dynamics have been influential on the basic thought that refers to the political economy of the Ottoman State in the recent period. These are the modern economic thought of Western origin, which emerged in parallel with traditional thought, and the national economic thought that emerged and developed as a reaction to this. The first trend, liberalization, was driven by the idea of free trade or commercial capitalism. The aim of this study is to reveal to what extent the political economy, which has developed depending on economic thought, has been assimilated in the commercial field within the framework of the real economy. According to the findings obtained from current research, the ideological thought that forms the framework of Ottoman economic thought has recently been shaped in line with Ottomanism, Islamism and Turkism movements. It can be argued that the recent political economy and subsequent activities aimed to keep the state afloat according to the conditions of the period. It can be said that these commercial activities are in the style of periodic practices and discourses that are produced quickly, do not have much philosophical depth, and have political and ideological aspects. Key Words: Ottoman, Ottoman Economic Thought, Ottoman Economy Politics, JEL Sınıflandırması: A14, B00, E60

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.

A Prosopographic Analysis of the Social Profiles of Late Ottoman Ambassadors and Consuls

In response to the growing demands of diplomacy within the increasingly institutionalized Ottoman diplomatic framework, a significant expansion in the number of diplomats employed by the state was observed during the final quarter of the nineteenth century. Concurrent with the rapid increase in diplomatic personnel, a systematic appointment process was implemented to enhance the recruitment of qualified and knowledgeable individuals. This study aims to examine the impact of the institutionalization of the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its ambassadors and consuls, who were the principal executive officers of the institution. Additionally, the article explores the social histories of Ottoman ambassadors and consuls by analyzing the evolution of their professional responsibilities and educational backgrounds. This study employs a prosopographic methodology to investigate the social and educational backgrounds and professional careers of Ottoman ambassadors and consuls, focusing on their personnel records archived in the Ottoman Archives. Through this analysis, the study aims to elucidate how the state's efforts to establish a centralized and institutionalized bureaucratic system, and to emphasize merit-based appointments, contributed to the formation of a distinct professional identity among Ottoman diplomats by the end of the nineteenth century.

CAN NACAR. Labor and Power in the Late Ottoman Empire: Tobacco Workers, Managers, and the State, 1872-1912 (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan, 2019). 202pp. $99.00 cloth. ISBN 9783030315580; also in paper ($16.99) and as an e-book ($16.99).

CAN NACAR. Labor and Power in the Late Ottoman Empire: Tobacco Workers, Managers, and the State, 1872-1912 (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan, 2019). 202pp. $99.00 cloth. ISBN 9783030315580; also in paper ($16.99) and as an e-book ($16.99).

Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State, written by Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky

Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State, written by Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky

A Spatial Perspective on Modernization Venture in Turkish Novel: Changing Uses of Public and Private Spheres

The novel genre first appeared in Turkish literature in the nineteenth century, following the Westernization movements. Beginning with the “Tanzimat period (1860-1895)” and the subsequent periods of “National Literature (1911-1923)” and “Republican Literature (1923-1940)”, as identified by literary critics, novel became a medium where social and spatial issues and changes in everyday life were revealed. This study examines briefly the spatial changes that occurred in public and private spheres as a result of modernization endeavors during the late Ottoman and early Republican periods by looking at the literature and architecture of the period, and in reference to the three periods mentioned above. The periods of literary historiography mentioned above, correspond to the period under discussion and draw its chronological framework. It is argued in this context that, the interdisciplinary approach makes it possible to see overlapping and differentiating aspects in narratives and architectural practices regarding the perception and use of public and private spaces and corresponding daily life practices. The themes determined by the examination of novels representing the three periods of Turkish literature history are presented together with quotations from the sampled novels and brief architectural discussions, and the prominent aspects are discussed in both contexts.

Exploring the Traditional Turkish Ucetek Entari of the Late Ottoman Era from the Izmir Ethnography Museum Collection

The ucetek entari, üç etek or three-skirt robe, was the main element of traditional Turkish women’s clothing, worn with a chemise and shalwar. The features of this special garment extend to the clothing culture of the ancestors of the Turks who lived in Eurasia. The structure of the ucetek entari is typical Ottoman attire, with a small standup collar, long sleeves open up to the elbows, high slits on each side of the skirt, and triangular pieces added for fullness. This research was conducted in the Izmir Ethnography Museum to analyze the fabrics, embroidery, and pattern-making techniques of the ucetek entari, along with their zero waste and multifunctional design approach. The main fabrics, linings, facings, their yarn count in the warp and weft directions, pattern dimensions, embroidery properties, other surface decorations, and technical drawings of the robes were photographed and examined in detail. The results revealed that ucetek entaris were daily or special occasion wear which were designed using mostly silk and cotton fabrics. The focus of this research is to analyze in depth the ucetek entaris in the Izmir Ethnography Museum.

The International Moral Economy of Saving Lives at Sea in the Late Ottoman Empire

This article discusses the international conditions and actions that in the mid-nineteenth century have led to the creation of a service to prevent shipwreck and save lives at the entrance to the Bosporus, at the time an increasingly important strategic and commercial global passage. The initiative for its creation originated in lobbying by the western shipping and insurance industry in Constantinople, the provision of expertise from the British Board of Trade, and the diplomacy of several foreign missions to the Ottoman government. Why did these actors go to such lengths to create a lifesaving service that could not be found at any other transit point of global trade in the nineteenth century? How to make sense of the framing of this initiative as ‘humanitarian’? The article uses the example of this Black Sea Lifesaving Service to address larger questions of the mixing of moral and material values in humanitarian projects.

Changing patterns of inclusion into old age protection in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey (1865–2020)

Who is protected by social security? This article explores this question by tracing the chronological sequence of inclusion into old age protection in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. The focus lies on how legislation defines the groups that are covered by old age pensions. We argue that the old age protection system transformed from being aimed at protecting people working for the state, towards covering diverse societal groups and aspiring to universal social protection. The Ottoman Empire institutionalised its centuries-old system of protection of elderly state employees surprisingly early, through pension funds in the late nineteenth century. The Republic of Turkey maintained this approach for several decades, pointing to continuities between the late Ottoman Empire and the early Republic. From the mid-twentieth century onwards, the state transformed old age protection with new schemes for mostly employment-based groups. The analysis reveals intriguing parallels between political inclusion and inclusion in old age protection, with key expansions in the scope of old age protection mirroring shifts in the political regime.

Women’s gifting of their inheritance share to male kin is void: a study of late Ottoman fatwas on social coercion

ABSTRACT This paper explores the juristic discussions about women’s access to their financial rights during late Ottoman Egypt. Taking fatwa collections as a source of social history, one can recognize that women sometimes gave up their financial entitlements to their male relatives voluntarily. This concession is thought to have occurred due to the influence of deeply ingrained social customs in some tribes. While various historical and anthropological studies have explored this social practice, this paper focuses instead on the Islamic law ruling concerning this phenomenon. I discuss in this paper how some ostensibly conservative ulama in nineteenth-century Egypt, in pursuit of upholding women’s financial rights against patriarchal oppression, recognized an important principle of social coercion. By considering fear of social stigma as a constraint on women’s free will and thus as a form of legal duress, those ulama enabled women to reclaim their rights when possible— likely following the death of their male relatives. This paper urges us to rethink the position of the ulama in nineteenth-century Egypt regarding women’s rights. Furthermore, it illuminates an overarching concept of coercion in Islamic law, which holds relevance to various modern debates.

Late Ottoman Empire reforms: the musical policies of Sultan Mahmud II

ABSTRACT With the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, European nations made rapid progress in the fields of law, education, culture, army and economics, the fields that constitute the building blocks of states. The Ottoman Empire also embarked on reforms in order to catch up with Europe’s progress. The reforms introduced by Sultan Selim III in a variety of fields were made more comprehensive by Sultan Mahmud II. This study describes Sultan Mahmud II’s policies in the field of music. It reviews the relevant literature and historical documents from the Pera Museum, the Topkapı Palace Museum Archive and the Istanbul Rare Works Library Archive. This study found that Sultan Mahmud II implemented reform policies for music such as abolishing the Mehterhane, establishing the Muzika-i Humayun, using official anthems, hosting foreign musicians, providing members of the palace with education in Western music, having the bands participate in official ceremonies, and encouraging opera and theater.

Crimean War to Empire’s Fall: The English Periodicals of Late Ottoman Capital

This study investigates the impact of English-language periodicals in the Ottoman Empire from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries, offering an overview of their inception, development, varied content, and strategies for engaging readers amidst commercial considerations. Focusing on periodicals from Constantinople, this study underscores their distinct contributions to the media landscape, illuminating the period’s sociocultural, political, and linguistic changes. The research draws upon primary sources, including periodicals, memoirs, and archival documents, to enhance understanding of the role played by these periodicals in shaping the region’s media outlet, public opinion, and cultural and linguistic identity. Overall, the study uncovers a new overview of a transformative period in Ottoman history, emphasizing the enduring influence of English-language periodicals on the region’s press industry and highlighting the Anglophone presence in Asia Minor.

Late Ottoman Origins of Modern Islamic Thought: Turkish and Egyptian Thinkers on the Disruption of Islamic Knowledge By Andrew Hammond

<i>Late Ottoman Origins of Modern Islamic Thought: Turkish and Egyptian Thinkers on the Disruption of Islamic Knowledge</i> By <scp>Andrew Hammond</scp>

Greek Orthodox Communities, Religious Festivals, and National Identity in the Late Ottoman Empire

Abstract This article investigates the extent to which religious festivals played a formative role in shaping dynamic relations between Greek Orthodox Ottomans and the Ottoman and Greek states in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A considerable number of festivals held on recurring cycles in the Ottoman Empire served as a unifying force by bringing together Greek Orthodox groups hailing from disparate geographical locations in the Ottoman Empire, Greece, and elsewhere. Although they were primarily religious occasions, these festivals, especially Easter, carried substantial cultural and social importance since they served as a crucial catalyst in the emergence and articulation of nationalist ideals among Ottoman Greeks.

Development of an Interdisciplinary Approach to the Radiocarbon Dating of Earth Mortars from Alula Old Town (Saudi Arabia). Integration of Building Archaeology, Mortar Analysis and Radiocarbon Dating

AbstractThis paper discusses the approach used to identify the most relevant chronological information on the historic development of the abandoned site of AlUla Old Town, in the northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Western Asia). The approach is based on the use of the radiocarbon method to date earth mortars samples and soil layers used to create the constructive sequence of some buildings and, in turn, the chronological evolution of the site. Eleven samples of organic material (i.e., charcoal and vegetable fibers) were carefully removed from mortar samples and soil levels from six buildings and structures in the northern and southern areas of the town. Buildings and soil layers were chosen for their stratigraphic relevance and conservation conditions, based on an initial archaeological analysis of both, buildings and underground structures. Laboratory-based mortar analysis led to the characterization of the mortar’s inorganic fraction, and to the isolation of the organic material for the radiocarbon dating. Results from the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratory provides evidence of a Late Mamluk/Early Ottoman constructive phase (i.e., 15th–17th c. AD) of the Old Town that was only partially known until very recently. Furthermore, the results allowed the identification of an Ottoman phase (i.e., 17th–19th c. AD) during which most of the buildings and structures were rebuilt, and of a Late Ottoman phase (i.e., 19th–20th c. AD) representing the most recent interventions before the end of the Ottoman occupation of the area.