Ottoman Government Research Articles

Karlovo Municipality of the National Revival Period and Its Participation in the Struggle for Church Independence

The Karlovo municipality of the National revival period was founded and functioned in a town, which was a centre of crafts and trade. A form of church-religious self-government existed even before this period, but with limited powers. It was rather a supplement to the Ottoman system of government and its field of activity mainly concerned the settlement of controversies, conflicts, and problems of religious, economic, and moral character. In the second half of the 19th century, the Bulgarian municipality of Karlovo took over the management of “all public affairs“ in the town. The municipal government was headed by craftsmen and merchants who took care of education, construction of churches and schools and acted as moderators between the Bulgarian population and the Ottoman government. Since the 1840s, the Bulgarian municipality of Karlovo and prominent Karlovo educators and public figures took an active part in the church-national movement for an independent Bulgarian church.

Haidouks and Brigands in the Bulgarian Lands (the 15th – the 17th century) through the Eyes of European Travellers

The article examines the topic of robbery and haiduty in the Bulgarian lands under Ottoman rule in the XV–XVII centuries. Based on the travel notes and diaries of European diplomats, merchants and travelers who passed through the Bulgarian lands, the answer to the questions is sought: Are robbers and hajduts the same category of persons? What is their social and national affiliation? What is their activity and against whom is it directed? What is the attitude of the official Ottoman government and the Bulgarian people towards the robbers and haiduts?

Sandžak-beg Valone Mustafa-beg Milivojević / Mustafa-bey Milivojevic, the Sandjak-bey of Valona

The aim of the paper is to present Mustafa-bey Milivojevic, a nobleman of Bosnian origin, as the Ottoman governor of the sanjak of Valona in Albania. The people of Dubrovnik maintained contact with him even in distant Valona, and sent him selectedintelligence informations due to his previous merits while he was the sandjak bey of Herzegovina, as well as the importance of his new position, and the fact that his recognizible political career was on the upward trajectory. Due to the timely arrival of informations, which was partly a result of their mediation, he was up to date with current political events. The paper explores the connections and correspondence of the people of Dubrovnik with Mustafa-bey in the political context of preparation and unfolding of the Ottoman-Venetian military conflict for supremacy on the Adriatic-Ionian coast. The Sandjak-bey of Valona retained a significant role in the naval war, in which he showed himself as a capable statesman. Attention is also drawn to the direction of Mustafa-bey’s possible later career ascent, since he subsequently acquired the title of pasha. The view of Mustafa Bey’s governorship is from a medieval perspective, based on archival materials in Latin and Old Italian. Extensive holdings of this type of material, especially the State Archives in Dubrovnik, although they contain a lot of information of a regional character, have been neglected and generally unused in Ottoman studies.

On the Armenian Death Toll and Demographic Impact of the 1909 Adana Massacres

This article examines the Armenian death toll and the demographic impact of the 1909 Adana massacres. It analyzes statistics on the number of Armenians who perished in these massacres and the distribution of casualties across various regions of Cilicia, using primary source evidence. Additionally, the article explores discrepancies between Ottoman and Armenian statistical data on the number of victims, noting that the figures reported by the Ottoman government are approximately 4 to 5 times lower than those reported by Armenian ecclesiastical authorities. The comparison of Ottoman and Armenian statistics before and after the massacres reveals that these killings did not result in a relative decrease in the permanent Armenian population within the Adana Vilayet—the region most severely affected by the massacres. This outcome can be attributed to the following factors: 1. Based on the most reliable data, it is estimated that approximately 15,000 to 18,000 Armenians were killed during the 1909 Adana massacres. Of these, at least one-third—between 5,000 and 7,000, though estimates may range from 8,000 to 10,000, constituting up to half of the total death toll—were labor migrants. Consequently, the demographic impact of the massacres affected both the Armenians of Cilicia and those who had migrated to Cilicia from Western Armenia and other regions of the Ottoman Empire. 2. Following the massacres, Adana and other regions of Cilicia quickly returned to a relatively normal economic activity, thanks to substantial foreign investments in infrastructure (notably the Berlin-Baghdad railway), industry, trade, and agriculture. The population loss in the city and Sanjak of Adana—the areas most affected by the massacres—was rapidly offset by a new influx of Armenian labor migrants.

The сonquest of Syria by Muhammad Ali pasha in 1831–1832 and its influence on Russian-Ottoman relations

In the article, the author focuses on one of the most pivotal events of the First Egyptian Crisis (1831–1833), namely the conquest of the Syrian provinces of the Ottoman Empire by the troops of the rebel governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Additionally, he elucidates the rationale behind the Russian Emperor Nicholas I’s decision to dispatch a contingent of Russian troops in 1833 to assist the Ottoman government in its efforts to safeguard its capital. The aim of this article is to analyse the strategies employed by Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Sublime Porte, and the Russian Empire with regard to Ottoman Syria, a region of key strategic importance during the development of the crisis. The present study demonstrates that the deployment of Egyptian troops to Syria in the spring and summer of 1832 was the pivotal factor in the subsequent course of events. This challenges the dominant view in historiography, which posits that the Russian intervention in the conflict was precipitated by a direct threat of capture of the Ottoman capital by Muhammad Ali Pasha’s troops in December 1832, and that St Petersburg’s plans were limited to the defence of the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. This article, which draws on archival documents and recollections of participants in the events, demonstrates the pivotal role played by Syria in the realisation of Muhammad Ali Pasha’s objective to establish a virtually independent power base. It also elucidates the strategic countermeasures devised by the Russian command with the intention of conducting military operations against the troops of Muhammad Ali in Asia Minor and Syria. Russia’s direct military and diplomatic intervention in the conflict between the Sublime Porte and Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1833 had a significant impact, effectively thwarting the Egyptian governor’s plans and providing the Ottoman government with the necessary time to restore the combat potential of its army. However, the alliance established between Russia and the Ottoman Empire at that time did not progress further due to opposition from Great Britain, France, and Austria.

Ottoman Approach to Shia and Sunni State Officers of Syria in the Examples of Fakhreddin Maanoğlu and Ali Canpolad between 1570s and 1630s

Some scholars like to believe that Ottoman Sunni orthodoxy drew its form by virtue of the Ottoman conquest of Syria and Egypt in 1516-1517. Accordingly, early Ottoman understanding of heterodox Islam was replaced with a more orthodox one as core Islamic lands started to exert their influence on the Ottoman peripheries. Many recent academicians counter this traditional argument by suggesting that the role of Arab ulema in the formation of Ottoman Sunnism is quite negligible or highly limited at best. Others interpret establishment of the Safavid Empire in the sixteenth century as main motivation for Ottoman concentration of Sunni Islam in opposition to Shi’i Iran. Despite such disputes on the origin of this “confessionalization”, they are mainly in agreement that the Ottomans more and more enforced the boundaries of Sunni faith and practice within the empire especially beginning sometime in the second half of the sixteenth century. Political administrative and local studies shall confidently shed new lights on Ottoman experiences of Sunni orthodoxy. In this view, Ottoman Syria, which is situated in the middle of all these discussions, allows us to conduct a field study in the context of Sunni-Shi’i polarization during the time under scrutiny. This paper is going to be one of the first empirical articles, which exclusively focuses on Fakhreddin Maanoğlu and Ali Canpolad i.e., one Shi’i and one Sunni officer of the Ottoman Empire. Our departure point in this paper is to reveal to what extent “sunnitization” of Ottoman Empire played an important role in decision-making of the Ottoman administration between 1570s and 1630s. In a sense, this study aimed to test the real impact of sectarian polarization in the empire by comparing two contemporary Ottoman statesmen who belonged to Shia and Sunni sects of Islam as they governed their provinces in Syria. This kind of comparative studies of the Ottoman governors in terms of their distinct sect has been either not fully taken into consideration or totally ignored before. In the meantime, we shall also shortly explore how the Ottoman formidable enemies of the time interpreted the religious sectarianism and identity politics for the sake of their own security and interests.

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.

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.

THE TRUE NATURE OF ARMENIAN MIGRATION ON THE EASTERN FRONT: THE CASE OF BİTLİS PROVINCE (1914-1922)

On 28 July 1914, when the First World War started, the Russian Caucasian army attacked the Ottoman lands in November 1914 and many Armenians adhere the Russian army. Taking advantage of this rebellion, Russian troops occupied Van on 20 May 1915 and dominated the region. With the occupation of Van, the Ottoman Government enacted the Law on Relocation and Resettlement on 27 May 1915 and relocated some Armenians in the war zones to the southern provinces of the Ottoman Empire for military reasons. In July 1915, the Russians, were forced to migrate the Armenians in the zone of occupation to the Caucasus. With the Russian occupation of Eastern Anatolia in 1916, the Armenians who had migrated returned. In 1917, with the withdrawal of the Russian Caucasian army, these Armenians had fled with the Russians. With the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, some Armenians came to Bitlis. In 1922, with the success of the Turkish War of Independence, Armenians who did not want to stay in Anatolia migrated to Istanbul and various Western countries. With the outbreak of the First World War, Armenians experienced a continuous migration movement due to the war conditions. Bitlis was one of the provinces where this migration movement took place. One of the main reasons for choosing Bitlis as a sample is that it is a province with a high Armenian population density. Secondly, the occupation of Bitlis by the Russians. It is assumed that the Armenian migrations in Bitlis were political in nature rather than war related. In this respect, it was determined that the Armenian population mobility in Bitlis took place eight times. As a result, it is possible to say that the main reason for such frequent mobility was that the Armenians acted with the Allies.

Pertempuran Rusia-Uthmaniyah 1877-1878 dan Impaknya terhadap Muslim Bulgaria The Battle of Russo-Ottoman 1877-1878 and Its Impact on Muslims in Bulgaria

The fierce battle that broke out in history between Russia and Ottoman in 1877–1878 was an attempt to solve the problems faced by the Ottoman administration in the Balkans. This is mainly related to accusations that the Ottoman government cannot protect Christians in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ironically, Russia's victory did not lead to the resolution of the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Instead, it negatively impacted Muslims in the Balkans, especially in Bulgaria. This article will analyse the social effects of the war on Bulgaria's Muslim minority. This article uses a qualitative method called content analysis to evaluate British official documents and records collected from the British National Archives and the University of London, specifically from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. The result shows that the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877 was not intended to give justice to the Christian community under the Ottoman empire; on the contrary, it was a strategy used by Russia and the Bulgarian government to eliminate the Muslim minority in Bulgaria.

Famine and Childhood: Ottoman Children’s Experiences during the Famine of 1873-1875

This article explores the unique experiences of children who lived in a famine-affected region of Central Anatolia between 1873 and 1875. The deplorable conditions forced some children to consume inappropriate foods, be traded for bread, be abandoned during migration, or be subjected to exploitation and domestic servitude. The article emphasizes the contrast between child-rearing practices and the concept of childhood in the Central Anatolian region and urban areas of the period. This challenges the prevailing emphasis in previous studies that have primarily examined urban children during the period of peace. Emphasizing the famine of 1873–1875, the research underscores that the concept of childhood and the material culture developed and adopted by urban families of the period under the effect of modernization were not observed in Central Anatolia. Thus, it is suggested that examining childhood in the Ottoman Empire necessitates a periodical and regional methodology that considers the socioeconomic and cultural variations that influenced the experiences of children in various regions and eras. In addition, the article delves into the Ottoman government’s response to the famine. The article addresses these issues by comprehensively examining Ottoman archival sources, periodicals and gazettes, together with contemporary accounts and reports from the famine period.

The Ottomans and International Law: The Russian Annexation of the Crimean Khanate in 1783 in the Light of the Documents from the Ottoman Archives

The Russian annexation of the Crimean Khanate was a severe blow to the Ottomans, since the empire was forced to accept the annexation of an independent polity populated by Muslims without a shot being fired, and against the stipulations of past treaties. While the Crimean population sent delegations to the imperial capital and asked for help, the Ottomans also feared the harm the annexation would inflict on their legitimacy; however, they were aware of their military and financial weakness in the face of the Austro-Russian alliance and could not risk a multi-front war. To handle this difficult situation, the Ottoman government resorted to two strategies: first, it sought an intra-bureaucratic consensus by employing the consultation principle of Islamic governance to allow bureaucratic participation in the decision-making process with unanimous decisions to avoid any criticisms that would trigger a popular backlash and, secondly, legitimizing the government policy by benefiting from the principles of Islamic law and portraying the current situation as a temporary one which would be corrected once the empire gained enough military strength. This article will use primary and secondary sources to show how the Ottoman government navigated this diplomatic crisis while aiming to legitimize its decisions by creatively adapting the principles of Islamic international law (siyar). It will emphasize the interaction between political authority, legitimacy, and Islamic law by discussing how the Ottomans interpreted Islamic law with respect to the termination of treaties and to power asymmetry in war decisions when the empire faced a multi-front war with Russia and Austria.

Bulgarian Political Elite in XIX Century – Evolution in the Ottoman Context: Dimitraki Bey Teodorov’s Case

As a result of the reforms undertaken by Sultan Mahmud II continued by his son Sultan Abdulmejid I, the social structure of the Ottoman Empire was significantly changed. Especially after the proclamation of the Hatt-ı Hümayun in 1856, the question of integration of the non-Muslim subjects of the Empire took a leading position in its administration, on a central level. The present article aims at presenting a rather different point-of-view on the inclusion of individual representatives of the Bulgarian revival elite in the central governance of the Ottoman Empire. This study was based on some new and unpublished documents, stored in the Ottoman archive in Istanbul. Furthermore, the legitimacy of the representation of the Bulgarians before the official Ottoman government was also addressed.

Tadābīr al-dawlah al-‘Uthmānīyah li ḥalli al-qaḍāyā al-mu’aqqadah li ḥujjāj al-Jāwī 1849–1916: Dirāsat fī ḍaw’i wathā’iq al-Arshīf al-Uthmānī

This article examines the challenges faced by hajj pilgrims from the Malay world and the efforts of the Ottoman Empire to accommodate them amidst the intervention of Dutch and British colonial powers in the 19th century. Utilizing documents sourced from the Ottoman Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey in Istanbul from 1849 to 1916 CE and employing historical research methods, this study delves into the economic dimensions of the Hajj during the late colonial period in Indonesia and the declining years of the Ottoman Empire. The article reveals the socio-economic difficulties experienced by Muslims from the Malay world in performing the Hajj due to exploitation by colonial powers and local government elites in the Hijaz region at that time. Although the documents indicate efforts by the Ottoman government to ensure the comfort of the pilgrims and prevent abuse of authority by local and colonial governments, it did not fully resolve the chaos in the Hajj implementation system at that time. These situations caused by Ottoman limitations in the global political arena and inflamed by their involvement in World War I.

THE POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF NAJAF AL-ASHRAF (1909-1925 AD(

The first section dealt with: Najaf Al-Ashraf’s position on the British invasion The city of Najaf was known for its many national stances rejecting the occupation, whether it was Ottoman or British. These positions began to appear directly at the beginning of the twentieth century after British forces began to occupy Iraq, following the outbreak of World War I (1914 AD), which coincided with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire militarily and administratively. The Ottomans’ interest was also primarily focused on convincing the Shiites to declare a fatwa for jihad. Their first step was to send a high-level delegation to the city of Najaf commensurate with the size of the mission entrusted to them. It included a number of Baghdadi and government figures and clerics, including Muhammad Fadil al-Daghistani, Shawkat Pasha, and Sheikh Hamid al-Kulaidar (custodian of the sanctuary of the two Imams al-Kazimin). An extensive meeting was held in one of the mosques, attended by scholars, leaders, sheikhs of the Middle Euphrates tribes, and clerics, including Sayyed Muhammad Saeed Al-Haboubi, Sheikh Abdul Karim Al-Jazairi, and Sheikh Jawad - the owner of Al-Jawahir - who stressed the necessity of standing with the Muslim government (meaning the Ottoman government) to push the infidels from their lands. Muslims, as some tribal sheikhs spoke, including Mubarak Al Pharaoh (Sheikh of Al Fatla), who said: (The Turks are our brothers in religion, and it is our duty to help them expel the enemies from our country). Accordingly, the religious scholars in Najaf issued a fatwa stating the necessity of defending Islam and its homeland. The religious scholars in Najaf declared jihad, and the duty to defend Islamic countries. The jihadist calls against the British continued, and the most famous of these calls was the one that carried the slogan “The Noble Haidari Flag,” which began in November 1915. The most

Building a Protestant Church on Ottoman Armenian Soil

The presence of American missionaries in late Ottoman territory, exemplified by figures like Smith and Dwight, marked a significant chapter in the region's history. Their legacy, spanning a century, left indelible marks on Turkey's cultural and educational landscape, including the establishment of institutions like Robert College and the Redhouse press. However, their engagement was not without complexities, as they found themselves embroiled in the intricate interplay between the Ottoman government and the burgeoning nationalist movements among its Christian populace. This paper examines the missionaries' dual roles as contributors to Turkey's development and intermediaries in the dialogue between nationalist aspirations and Western sympathizers, such as James Bryce. Delving into their initial harmonious coexistence with Ottoman authorities and subsequent entanglements, it sheds light on the missionaries' confrontations not with the government but with the Armenian Gregorian patriarchate, as they navigated the delicate terrain of religion and politics in Ottoman Armenian soil.

‘The fumes of treason darkened the skies of our homeland’: rebellion and suppression in the Turkish War of Independence

This article examines various rebellions against the nationalist government in Anatolia during the Turkish War of Independence (TWI) (1919–1922), which began as an insurrection against the Ottoman government and the occupation forces of the Entente. As the nationalists began to extend their authority, they met with resistance from different groups in different parts of the country. While some groups sought independent ethno-states, some consisted of war-weary Turks who simply refused to share the burden of a new conflict; others were supported by the Ottoman government in Istanbul and sought to restore the authority of the Sultan and weaken the nationalists. Most rebellions, especially those supported by the Ottoman government, involved former or current soldiers and government officials. Both sides fought in the name of what they considered to be legitimate governments and had access to heavy weapons. The rebellions often met with violent repression and the use of irregular forces, resulting in significant loss of life and damage to property and leaving a lasting impact on the collective memory of Turkish society.

Ahmed Cevdet Pasha’s Printed Quranic Manuscript in the Ottoman Empire: a Critical Study

Abstract This article discusses a discovery made by the author involving the wrong manuscript of calligrapher Şekerzâde being printed by the Ottoman Empire. It was initially illegal to sell printed copies of the Qurʾan in Ottoman lands, as cutting letters of the verses was deemed disrespectful. After foreign-printed copies began circulating, the position of the Ottoman government was forced to change. Thereby, the Ministry of Education, led by Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, was commissioned to produce a printed Qurʾan. However, the governmental body accidentally printed a manuscript that Şekerzâde wrote in Istanbul, while indicating it was the Qurʾan he wrote in Medina. Through careful examination, including translations of the inscriptions, this error was noticed for the first time. This paper presents an introduction to Ottoman reverence for the Qurʾan, a history of the printing process, background information of Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, and evidence regarding the mistake made when printing the manuscript.

Ottoman Policies Regarding Shah Ismāʿīl II as Seen through Ottoman Documents

AbstractRelations between Iran and the Ottoman Empire during the Safavid era were never free of tension, even when there was peace between the two states. In peacetime, both powers secretly and closely monitored the other's movements, either in anticipation of or in preparation for attacks. Due to the destruction of Safavid archives, there is little documentary information in Iranian archives about Iranian-Ottoman relations in the period, forcing us to rely mainly on chronicles and travelogues. However, the Ottoman Mühimme Defterleri (Registers of Important Affairs), which contain a copy of all royal decrees and orders, are a very valuable source for the study of these tense and unstable relations from the Ottoman perspective. According to these registers, upon the coming to power of Shah Ismāʿīl II, the Ottoman government publicly upheld and respected the terms of the Amasya Peace Treaty, while secretly looking for a pretext to resume war against Iran. The question is, however, why the Ottomans did not attack Iran immediately after Ismāʿīl II's accession to the throne. Was it due, as some sources claim, to the bravery Shah Ismāʿīl had previously shown in action against the Ottomans? By examining and analyzing the Mühimme Registers of this period, the authors of the present paper demonstrate that the Ottomans had plans to invade Iran and occupy parts of its territory at the beginning of Ismāʿīl II's accession, but their military campaign was thwarted by the lack of opportunities during the short period of the Safavid king's rule.

Centre-periphery relations in the Ottoman Galilee: the case of Akil Agha al-Hasi, 1840-70

ABSTRACT Akil Agha al-Hasi, a son of a Bedouin family, immigrated into Palestine from Egypt at the start of the 19th century. He was a dominant factor in the history of Galilee from the 1830s to the end of 1860s. His official job was commander of irregular soldiers in the service of the Ottoman governor, although in fact, his job and his status exceeded much, a job in the service of the authorities. Akil Agha knew how to take advantage of the power bases which stood at his disposal: units of irregular soldiers, alliances with Bedouin tribes, villages and townsmen, and the weakness of the Ottoman government in general, and in the region, in particular, in order to become a center of power, indeed a local one, but also worrying at a national level. Sometimes he would overcome this attempt and sometimes he failed, and then he would run rampage against order and security in order to force the authorities to understand that only he was the key to order and security in the region. For the lack of an alternative, they were forced to return him to his job, but not for a long time, and he was again dismissed.