Ottoman Lands Research Articles

EVENTS IN THE SECOND BATTLE OF GEOK TEPE AND RUSSIAN GENERAL MIKHAIL DMITRIEVICH SKOBELEV

Mihail Dmitrieviç Skobelev 1843-1882 arasında yaşamış Rusya ve Orta Asya tarihinde iz bırakan bir Rus Generalidir. Rusların Orta Asya ve Teke Türkmenlerine karşı savaşlarında büyük başarı elde eden ve Türkmen tarihine iz bırakan önemli komutandır. 19. yüzyıl Çarlık Rusya’sı için büyük savaşların yüzyılı olmuştur. Bu yüzyılda Ruslar kendi sınırlarını genişletmek ve yeni toprakları ele geçirmek arayışına giriştiği dönem olmuştur. Rusların ilk hedefi Osmanlı topraklarına giriş yapıp Akdeniz’de söz sahibi olmaktı. Fakat Ruslar 1856’da Osmanlı ile giriştiği Kırım savaşını Avrupa devletlerinin de dahil olduğu bu mücadeleyi kaybetmişlerdi. Bu kayıp Rusların siyasi politikasına büyük darbe vurmuştur. Fakat Ruslar pes etmeyerek yönlerini Orta Asya’ya çevirmişlerdir. Rusların Orta Asya topraklarında en çok sahip olmak istedikleri bölge Hazar ötesinde yer alan Türkmen topraklarıydı. Kafkaslar ve Orta Asya ticaretini stratejik yolla bağlayan topraklara sahip olan Türkmenlerin işgali zaruriydi. Türkmenlere karşı yapılacak işgal için Petersburg’da Türkmenlere karşı uzun stratejik hazırlık sonrası Rus ordusu bu seferin başına geçecek olan komutanın kimin olacağına dair görüşmeler uzmanlar tarafından tartışılmıştır. Komutanlar tarafından alınan kararda bu seferin komutanı olarak daha önce Türkistan seferlerinde büyük başarılar elde eden D. M. Skobelev’i uygun görülmüştür. Türkmenlerin işgali için sefer öncesi 10 Ocak 1879 tarihinde Çar II. Aleksandır, Skobelev’i ile görüşmek için Petersbug’a çağırır. Çar II. Aleksandır, Ahal-Teke seferine Skobelev’in başa gelmesi ile onun yetkilerini de genişletmiştir. Skobelev, sefer için gerekli olan yardım ve desteği Türkistan ve Orenburg’dan istediği kadar elde edebilecekti. Rusların Türkmenlere karşı daha önce verdikleri kayıp nedeniyle Skobelev daha dikkatli ve temkinli davranmayı tercih etmiştir. Çünkü Orta Asya coğrafyası Rusların yaşadıkları topraklara göre çok daha farklıydı. Ayrıca Türkmenleri işgal etmek diğer Orta Asya hanlıklarına nazaran kolay olmamıştır. Bu çalışmada Çarlık Rusya’sının Türkmen karşı ilk savaşta başarısız olmaları ardından ikinci defa savaş açmaları ve 12 Ocak 1881 tarihinde Göktepe savaşında Ruslar ve Teke Türkmenleri arasında yaşananlar ve Türkmenlerin yenilgisi gibi bilgilere yer verilmişti.

The Transformation of Tobacco Factories and Depots in İstanbul Waterfront

Since the 17th century, tobacco has been an important economic resource and a source of employment for hundreds of thousands of people both in the Ottoman Empire and throughout the Republic period. It has been an important source of employment, especially for the low-income female population. Tobacco control and management were given to the French Régie Company within the framework of the capitulations given to the French in the Ottoman Period, and subsequently the Tekel (İnhisarlar) administration in the Republic Period, also caused many social events. Tobacco, which entered the Ottoman lands in the 17th century, was banned several times over time for various reasons, as in many societies, and many people were punished. Monopoly management of tobacco as Tekel (İnhisar) was accepted for the first time in 1862, to centralize its production in 1861 and control tobacco smuggling and production. Since the 19th century, tobacco factories and warehouses have been built in districts of İstanbul such as Cibali, Üsküdar, and Kabataş, and sometimes they have been temporarily in existing historical buildings. With the development of tobacco production and factories, these buildings, which served different purposes until the 1980s, were later abandoned, some of them were demolished due to urban growth and development, and some of them have survived to the present day by transformation through restoration and renovation. Therefore, this article focuses on the transformation of tobacco factories and warehouses in the coastal areas of İstanbul as an industrial heritage.

XV THROUGH THE EYES OF EUROPEAN TRAVELERS AND XIX IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE BETWEEN REFLECTION OF RELIGIOUS LIFE KELENDERI AND MEVLEVI DERVISHES ON ENGRAVINGS

Mektup, günlük, vb. olarak kaleme alınan seyahatnameler yazılış amacına göre değişmektedir. Seyahatnamelerde kaleme alınan ülke, şehir ve kentlerin askeri donanımı, yolları, sosyal yaşantılarının yanı sıra dini hayatına da değinilmiştir. Avrupalı gezginlerin XV. ve XIX. yüzyıllar arasında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’na yapmış oldukları geziler sırasında gördüklerini aktarma ve tanıtma amaçlı hem görsel hem metinsel yansımalarının aktarıldığı gezi notlarında birbirinden faklı bilgilerin yanı sıra İslam dini ve dervişler hakkında bilgiler yer almaktadır. Objektif olarak bakmaya çalışsalar da kendi dinlerinden farklı olan İslam dini ve bunu farklı ritüellerle ele alan dervişleri gerek metinsel aktarım gerekse gravürlerle ön yargılarını kırmadan baktıkları görülmektedir. Seyahatnamelerde ele alınan Kalenderi ve Mevlevî dervişlerinin gezginler tarafından oldukça farklı özellikte ele alındığı seyahatnamelerde, sanatın bir propaganda aracı olarak kullandığı net bir biçimde görülmektedir. Gezginlerin ziyaret ettikleri dönemlerde hem İslam dinine hem de dervişlere karşı oluşan önyargılarını kaleme alarak gezi notlarıyla destekleyip önyargıların artmasını sağlamışlardır. Birbirlerine yakın metinsel aktarımda bulunan gezginler yanlarında getirdikleri sanatçılara çizdirdikleri ya da metne bağlı kalarak sanatçının imgesine bıraktığı derviş gravürlerinde aktarılan farklılıkları net bir şekilde görmekteyiz.

AN OVERVIEW OF OTTOMAN-TURKISH CONTACTS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ile İsveç Krallığı arasındaki ilişkiler yeniçağ boyunca sınırlı kalmıştır. Her ne kadar ilk temaslar on altınca yüzyılda kurulmuş olsa da, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’na gelen İsveçli ziyaretçilerin sayısı sonraki asırda dikkate şayan seviyede artmıştır. Mevcut çalışma 1620’ler ile 1670’ler arasında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nu ziyaret eden İsveçli seyyah ve diplomatların bir dökümünü yaparak, meşhur İsveç Kralı XII. Karl’ın (Demirbaş Şarl) 1709 yılında Osmanlılara iltica etmesinden önce iki devlet arasındaki münasebatı aydınlatmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu açıdan, Pual Strasburg (1632/3), Bengt Skytte (1651/2), Claes Rålamb ve Gotthard Welling (1657/8) ile Aslan Aga (1670/1) gibi belirtilen dönemde Osmanlı başkentine gelen İsveç diplomatik heyetleri hususi olarak irdelenmiştir. Bu doğrultuda İsveç’in periyodik sayılabilecek temas çabalarının Osmanlılar tarafından ciddiye alınmadığı iddia edilmektedir.

H. 1132-1149/1720-1737 Yılları Arasında Sakız Muhassıllığına Bağlı Bazı Mukataalardan Yapılan Havaleler

The conquest of Chios by the Ottoman navy, which took place on 1566, was actually a belated conquest, considering the intensity of the activities of the Ottoman Sea power in the Aegean and Mediterranean and its becoming a power. The island was under Genoese control for many years and was a buffer zone between Ottoman lands and the Western world, especially when it comes to trade. This status quo, which benefited both sides, ended with the conquest of the island by the Ottomans. Although the Ottoman administration tried to establish a sanjak affiliated to the captain pasha province at first, they gave up on this in a short time. In the past, the island has created its own economic structure thanks to the agricultural products it grows and the weaving industry it created during the Genoese administration and the trade of this industry. The Ottoman administration preferred to operate the incomes obtained from the Chios mastaki grown on the island and the weaving industry, as mukataa, put into practice the muhassıllık administration, which is an administrative-financial unit. Although the struggles with the old enemy Venice in the Aegean from time to time made this production and trade difficult, under the Ottoman rule, peace continued on the island. In this study, we will try to examine the various expenditure items made from some muqataa the income taxed by the Ottoman center of Chios in the XVIIIᵗͪ century and the contributions it made to the Ottoman Empire in this way.

XVII. Yüzyıl Batılı Seyyahların Eserlerinde ve Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesinde Etnik Klişeleştirme

In the seventeenth century, compared to other times, a large number of European travelers visited the Ottoman Empire and published these visits in the form of travelogues, a genre that was widely read in Europe at that time. While this is the situation in Europe, there was no printing press in the Ottoman Empire yet; it was not common to travel without a compelling reason such as public work or business. The visits of European travelers to the Ottoman Empire lead them to observe the Ottoman society and the members of the Ottoman society to observe them.. While reading the European side of these observations from travel books, it is possible to read the Ottoman side from the travel book of Evliya Çelebi, which is the only work of this scale currently known. Looking at these observations, it is seen that each side defines the other with a set of stereotypes that are mostly ungrounded . The use of the term "ethnic stereotyping" in studies in the field belongs to Robert Dankoff. Some of these clichés have lost in time, and some have paved the way for ethnic and religious stereotypes that exist today. Our aim in this study is to identify these ethnic-based stereotypes used by some Western travelers who visited the Ottoman lands in the seventeenth century, and Evliya Çelebi and to compare the ways in which the parties perceive each other.
 As a result of the research, it was seen that; Western travelers in the seventeenth century had various prejudices about not only Turks living here but also other Christian groups, and these prejudices led to some stereotypes. However, a similar attitude is also valid for Evliya Çelebi for the same period. Evliya Çelebi also used various stereotypes related to many ethnic groups, including Turks.

Helen Pfeifer, Empire of Salons: Conquest and Community in Early Modern Ottoman Lands

Helen Pfeifer, Empire of Salons: Conquest and Community in Early Modern Ottoman Lands

Fatih Kerimi’s Impressions of the Turkey

Ulus millet bilincinin ortaya çıkmasına zemin hazırlayan Fransız İhtilali toplumların demokratik olarak kendi kendilerini idare edebilmelerine ve kendilerini yönetecek kadroların seçimle iş başına gelmesine imkân sağlayan radikal değişimlere zemin hazırlayarak otokratik yönetimlerin sonunu getirmiştir. 18. yüzyılda ortaya çıkan siyasi alandaki gelişmeler başta eğitim olmak üzere tarih, dil ve din gibi alanlarda güçlü bir şekilde etkisini göstermiştir. 
 18. yüzyıl Osmanlı muhiti de bu gelişmelerden nasibini almış, Fransız İhtilalinin getirdiği güçlü milliyetçilik fikri toplumların bağımsızlık hareketlerini güçlendirmiştir. Aynı imparatorluk çatısı altında çok dilli, çok dinli ve çok kültürlü bir yapıya sahip Osmanlı İmparatorluğunun çöküşünü hazırlayan bu gelişmeler 1900 yılının başında Balkan topraklarındaki hareketlerle birlikte hız kazanmış, bu durum yüzlerce yıl Müslüman Türk ahaliyle içi içe yaşayan Bulgar, Yunan ve Sırp kavimlerinin İmparatorluktan ayrılma taleplerini yüksek sesle dile getirmelerine zemin hazırlamıştır.
 19. ve 20. yüzyılda özellikle halifelik makamımın İstanbul’da olması münasebetiyle büyük önem taşıyan Osmanlı topraklarındaki söz konusu siyasi gelişmeler sadece Anadolu coğrafyası için değil, Asya ve Karadeniz’in kuzeyindeki diğer Türk toplumları tarafından da dikkatle takip ediliyordu. Bu çalışmada İstanbul’da eğitim aldıktan sonra ülkesine dönerek öğretmenlik ve gazetecilik faaliyetlerinde bulunan Tatar Türklerinden Fatih Kerimî’nin Osmanlı Devleti’nin içinde bulunduğu Balkan Harbine dair izlenimlerini yazdığı “İstanbul Mektupları” adlı eserden hareketle dönemin İstanbul’unun farklı kesimlerine dair izlenimler belli temalar altında ele alınacaktır.

SON DÖNEM OSMANLI DEVLETİ’NDE FUHUŞ VE YEREL AKTÖRLER (1876-1909)

XIX. yüzyıl Osmanlı Devleti için yeni bir dünyanın kapılarının açıldığı yüzyıldır. Bu yüzyıla damgasını vuran çokça gelişme yaşandı, bunlardan birisi de yüzyılın son çeyreğinde meydana gelen kadın fuhşunun meşrulaşmasıdır. 1879 ve 1884’te yayınlanan iki nizamname ile birlikte Osmanlı Devleti ilk defa meşru fuhşu tartışmaya başladı. Böylece, Osmanlı Devleti’nin ajandasına ansızın yeni konular ve özneler dahil oldu. Devletin meşru olarak tanışmak zorunda olduğu ilk özneler elbette fahişeler ve yerel liderlerdi. XVI. yüzyılda kendi eli ile verdiği iktidar gücünü, XIX. yüzyılda geri almak isteyen Osmanlı iktidarı, 1884 ile 1909 arasında, çok sıkıntı çekmiştir. Bu çalışma, XIX. yüzyılın sonunda Osmanlı Devleti’nin yerel liderlerle girdiği görünmez ve sessiz iktidar çatışmasını fuhuş üzerinden değerlendirmektedir. Bu çalışma, çeşitli disiplinlerde üretilmiş farklı odak noktalarına ve temaya sahip çok sayıda ikinci el kaynaktan ve Osmanlı Devlet Arşivi’nde yer alan belgelerden faydalanmıştır.

Osmanlı'nın İlmî Mirası Çerçevesinde Mudurnulu Arap Dilcileri ve Edebiyatçıları

This article is about the Arabic linguists of Mudurnu and their works. The reason for this is that there is no academic study about the works of these scholars yet. The information given in the sources about these scholars is extremely limited and their works have not been published -except for Sükûnî-. It is also remarkable that they were brought up in Mudurnu, not from the other districts of Bolu. For this reason, the first part of the study is devoted to the brief history of Mudurnu and its position in the Ottoman period. In addition, by examining the archive documents, information about the Ottoman madrasahs in Mudurnu was conveyed, so that it was tried to contribute to the researches about the district. In the second part of the study, the works of these Mudurnu scholars were examined in terms of the Arabic language, in addition their sources were determined and their contributions to the field were emphasized. Based on these features, it is possible to say that the study has the identity of a qualitative analysis and a bibliography devoted to a limited geography. As a result of this study, it was determined that linguists such as Ramazan Mehmet, Shaykh Muhammed b. Mustafa and Ismail an-Nāsih were from Mudurnu and they produced valuable works on the science of Naḥw, Literature and Furūq. On the other hand, it was concluded that this situation may be related to the early accession of Mudurnu to the Ottoman lands and its geographical location.

‘Ayn Al-A‘yān

Muḥammad ibn Ḥamza Shams al-Dīn al-Fanārī (1350-1431) was one of the prominent early Ottoman scholars. After years of education in Anatolia and Egypt, he served as a mudarris and a judge in the Ottoman lands and was consequently promoted to the post of Shaykh al-Islām, the highest office in the Ottoman religious bureaucracy. ‘Ayn al-a‘yān, Fanārī's partial commentary on the opening chapter of the Qur’an, is an outstanding Tafsīr work, in which Fanārī presents his exegetical theory. In his theory, the Qur’anic text is assessed as having multi-layered meanings, including an esoteric sense, and as being open to endless attempts at interpretation. Fanārī connects the multiple layers of Qur’anic meaning with the hierarchical structure of existence theorised in Akbarī metaphysics. Since the text encodes the secrets of existence at the level of esoteric sense, the task of the commentator involves spiritual experience beyond intellectual inquiry. Therefore, in Fanārī’s commentary, the Qur’anic text functions as an epistemological medium that connects Akbarī ontology to spirituality. The appropriation of Akbarī hermeneutics led Fanārī to question the nature and the authority of Tafsīr and to re-define the Qur’an and exegesis of the Qur’an.

Lâle Can, Spiritual Subjects: Central Asian Pilgrims and the Ottoman Hajj at the End of Empire

Reviewed by: Spiritual Subjects: Central Asian Pilgrims and the Ottoman Hajj at the End of Empire by Lâle Can Eren Tasar Lâle Can. Spiritual Subjects: Central Asian Pilgrims and the Ottoman Hajj at the End of Empire. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2020. Xiv + 257 pp. Paper, $25.00. ISBN: 978-1503611160 This elegant monograph marks a welcome addition to an increasingly sophisticated literature on the hajj during the era of high imperialism, that includes recent contributions by Eileen Kane, Christopher Low, John Slight, and Umar Ryad. Spiritual Subjects shares with these important works a focus on the hajj’s [End Page 358] instrumentalization by empires: Can highlights Ottoman participation in this expanding sphere of geopolitics, with a focus on the Porte’s encounter with the British and the Russians. She opens entirely new avenues of inquiry, however, by shifting our gaze toward everyday life and religion. The author fulfills her stated objective of writing a book about “ordinary people” (p. 31) that brings religion “back into analysis of hajj,” (p. 33) in large part by devoting substantial attention to reconstructing the lived reality of pilgrimage for Bukharans, Kashgaris, and other Central Asian Muslims: “Although networks are often invoked in studies of transimperial mobility and pilgrimage, historians seldom elaborate on just how they work.” One of the book’s achievements is that it offers a window into “the nature of the webs of connection and circulation, the people who animated them, [and] how they operated on a day-to-day level.” (p. 77) At the outset, the author presents hajjis as living, breathing people, by qualifying the imagery of a “decadent” fin-de-siècle Constantinople that served as a kind of Islamic analogue to Silver Age Petersburg, later popularized in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express and Kurt Seyt & Murka: a European metropolis of high-end boutiques and chamber music recitals. The author introduces the reader to a Turkestani hajji named Mirim Khan stating, “The Istanbul that Mirim Khan describes was one that many contemporary travelers and flaneurs of the upper classes would not recognize.” Instead, “in his telling it was a fundamentally Sunni Muslim space” (p. 37). Taking a cue from Mozart, Can dissects Mirim’s memoir with a view to what is being left out: “Some of the work Mirim Khan did to Islamicize Istanbul was achieved via silences” (p. 51). While happy to provide detail on the boorishness of other Central Asian pilgrims, he had little or nothing to say about the city’s large foreign and Christian populations, let alone its over-the-top cosmopolitanism. Instead, Mirim’s Istanbul presents “a point of reentry into a shared world of mosques, pan-Islamic power, shrine visitation, and relics from the Prophet” (p. 51). The upshot is that “despite being a Russian national and legal subject, he felt that he was a foreigner in most of Russia but described feeling at home and among equals in Ottoman Mecca” (p. 63). In the figure of Mirim Khan, Can illustrates the agency pilgrims enjoyed in seeing the world of the hajj on their own terms. Pilgrims such as Mirim had axes to grind, yet the results rarely inspire. Like the era’s empires, many found in the hajj more worldly opportunities. In Chapter 3, we meet a crafty Bukharan named Celal bin Hekim. After leaving his homeland in the 1860s, he settled in Jeddah and made a living helping clients avoid conscription. Perhaps sensing trouble on the horizon, Can suggests, he traveled to Istanbul in 1890 to register at the Russian Consulate. When he was arrested “for a matter involving a slave” the following year, [End Page 359] Celal claimed exemption from Ottoman law as a Russian subject. This was patent nonsense, since the Bukharan Emirate was at the time a protectorate of the Russian Empire, and its inhabitants were not Russian citizens—that Tsarist officials were “loath to recognize Bukharans as Russian nationals in the metropole-did not deter them from ignoring these differences when the subjects in question were in Ottoman lands” (p. 101). Thus, the British and Russian Empires increasingly viewed non-Ottoman hajjis as “unlikely agents of expanding European jurisdiction” (p...

Religious Practice and Social Services in an Ottoman Sufi waqf Foundation

Abstract This article investigates the endowment (waqf) foundation established by an Ottoman Sufi master of the Jilwatiyya order, ʿAzīz Maḥmūd Hudāʾī (1541–1628), and the impact of his philanthropic works on religious, social, and cultural life in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Istanbul. While providing his disciples with space for spiritual training in his Sufi lodge, Hudāʾī’s waqf also funded public services at his mosque. In contrast to the perception of the Ottoman Empire as an “Oriental despotism,” this article sheds light on the development of Hudāʾī’s waqf foundation as part of a public sphere and foci of the vibrant civil society that emerged in Ottoman lands. Such investigation also aims to demonstrate how the philanthropic work of a single individual living in Ottoman Istanbul could provide a space for solidarity building and collective activities among local communities and spur their engagement in civic services and additional charitable donations.

Language and the Grand Tour: Linguistic Experiences of Travelling in Early Modern Europe by Arturo Tosi

Reviewed by: Language and the Grand Tour: Linguistic Experiences of Travelling in Early Modern Europe by Arturo Tosi Weiao Xing Language and the Grand Tour: Linguistic Experiences of Travelling in Early Modern Europe. By Arturo Tosi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2020. xiv+306 pp. £85. ISBN 978–1–108–48727–6. In 1764, the young Scot James Boswell took the opportunity to converse with Voltaire during his visit to France. He asked the Enlightenment giant if he still spoke English. 'No', Voltaire joked, 'to speak English one must place the tongue between the teeth[,] and I have lost my teeth' (p. vi). Starting from this anecdote, Arturo Tosiʼs book depicts the linguistic experiences of Grand Tour travellers. The author adopts the broad definition of 'Grand Tour' that spans from the sixteenth century to the dawn of the nineteenth. Over three hundred years, Anglophones crossing the Channel for educational sojourns in France and Italy were the protagonists of mobility. Scrutinizing their letters, memoirs, and travel accounts, Tosi elucidates how these travellers acquired foreign tongues and responded to the immersion environment. At the frontier of contact, many travellers tasted exotic cultures and recorded their translingual experiences. Their varied language proficiency and cultural attitudes further mirrored the linguistic panorama of early modern Europe. [End Page 284] In the vibrant scholarship of the Grand Tour, social and cultural historians rarely give centre stage to the linguistic experiences of travellers who visited different European speech communities. Tosi, as a sociolinguist, takes language learning, contact, and diversity as his key themes (p. 21) and casts new light on linguistic pedagogies, including literary and non-literary approaches (pp. 84–88). In the early phase of the Grand Tour, various educational sources covering conversation manuals underpinned multilingual experiences in the heyday of the eighteenth century (John Gallagher, Learning Languages in Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), p. 158). Through borrowings, loanwords, and code-switching, Tosi exemplifies the dynamic nature of language contact during the Grand Tour. In this process, travellers not only acquired and used foreign languages but also witnessed the rich linguistic diversity, from vernaculars to variations of spoken Latin. Another highlight of this work lies in its attempt to connect translingual practice with intercultural communication in the Grand Tour. Before approaching his linguistic investigation, Tosi addresses the core question of 'the relationship between motivation for language acquisition and attitudes to foreigners' (p. 25). During their tours, a few Anglophone travellers faked their identities by passing themselves off as native speakers (p. 59). More travellers, whether proficient in foreign tongues or not, encountered cultural shocks from 'eccentric' customs such as cicisbeo (p. 75), and were apt to stereotype national characters (p. 25). These observations also foreground the issue of gender, as female travellers were no longer rare during the late eighteenth century. Compared with their male counterparts, they usually attached more attention to cultural diversity and otherness (p. 248). Noticeably, boundaries between these linguistic and cultural issues are confluent but not non-existent. Some discussions, such as the figure of the castrato (pp. 77–79), seemingly relate more to cultural awareness than languages per se, and their relations with linguistic experiences invite a closer examination. In general, this inspiring monograph illuminates sociolinguistic aspects of travel experiences, substantially contributing to social and cultural debates about the Grand Tour. It contains rich evidence that showcases intriguing stories of travellers, such as the young Robert Boyle and Edward Gibbon, who lodged in continental Europe for their intellectual cultivation. The author casts these personal encounters within the frame of major linguistic issues in early modern Europe. For instance, travel records detailed the decline of Latin as a lingua franca and the rise of vernaculars in competition (p. 168). In the late eighteenth century, the monolingual complacency that hindered travellers' second-language proficiency took root in the prevailing national superiority (p. 166). Some references, such as Lady Montaguʼs visit to the Ottoman lands (p. 245), provoke readers to ponder non-European contexts, and the transition into the modern age (p. 257) raises concerns about the continuity and mutation of these early modern linguistic experiences. In this [End Page 285] sense, thanks to its inclusive horizons, this...

The Assumptionists' Quest For a Religious Leader in The Ottoman Lands: The Bulgarian Uniate Church Movement in Victorin Galabert's Diary (1862-1867)

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Bulgarians sought to establish a national church independent from the Greek Patriarchate. This coincided with the expansion of the missionary activities of the Roman Catholic Church in the Ottoman lands through the Assumptionist sect. A member of this sect, the French bishop Victorin Galabert, was sent to Constantinople in 1862 to conduct Catholic missionary work. He was specifically assigned to establish the Bulgarian Catholic-Uniate Church. During his assignment, Galabert kept a diary of his personal experiences and impressions of the places he went and the events he witnessed. His diary, which apparently has never been studied by scholars, offers a close-up view of the Catholic orthodox conflict in Ottoman geography, as well as unique clues as to why efforts to establish a Bulgarian national church failed. The purpose of this study is to reconsider why the attempts to establish an independent Bulgarian national church failed in the 1860s, in the light of the information revealed by Galabert's diary. This study argues that the main reasons for the failure of efforts to establish a Bulgarian national church are the Catholic Church's underestimation of Russian influence in the region, and the problem of trust between the Bulgarians and the Catholic Church.

ÇUKUROVA STRATEGY OF FRANCE IN THE NATIONAL STRUGGLE PERİOD

After the second half of the 18th century; the imperialist policies of the states such as England, Russia and Austria on the Ottoman Empire, caused significant changes in France's strategy in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Although the Ottoman Empire tried to carry out its foreign policy with its balance policies until the end of the century, it couldn’t prevent the transfer of population to the western states in order to establish colonies under the name of commercial activities in its territory. The privileges granted by the capitulations with the 1839 Tanzimat and 1856 Islahat edicts, known as the enactment movements in the Ottoman Empire, increased the population of a new western settler dealing with trade under the name of "Levantine (eastern)" in the Ottoman lands. As well as the missionary schools opened in the region with this population, organized and supported by the separatist Arab population in Lebanon and Jordan. Despite the great defeat of the Ottoman Emperor against Russia in 1878 and the subsequent Berlin Congress, France set its sights on the North African lands (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt) and occupied them one by one. Although this occupation, France had to withdraw from Egypt, three years later, which was on the eastern trade route of England. By the First World War, France's eastern strategy became clear with the Sykes-Picot Agreement signed between two other allies, England and Russia. Along with Syria and Lebanon, France seized the opportunity to gain control over Çukurova, which has become a center of attraction for the French Levantines since 1860 and also the raw material warehouse of many industrial products. The occupation of this region, which was of vital importance for the French industry, which lost most of its Western and African colonies to England, would be a very valuable gain. The aim of this study is to analyze the strategy of the Çukurova Region, which was the basis of France's eastern strategy and also was occupied by the Syria Alliance with Britain after the First World War.

Soldiers, Scholars, and the Public: Archaeology During the First World War in the Ottoman Empire / Askerler, Bilim İnsanları ve Halk: Birinci Dünya Savaşı Sırasında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu nda Arkeoloji Faaliyetleri

This article will discuss the opportunities that the First World War created for scholars and soldiers to conduct archaeological excavations and protect cultural artifacts in Ottoman lands, their motivations for doing so, and the reception of these actions by the public. When the war broke out, excavation sites were initially abandoned, scholars on all sides joined the war efforts, and public interest in antiquities waned as the brutality of the conflict grew. However, the war created many new opportunities for all the belligerents to engage in archaeology. At the same time, the aspects of the protection and appreciation of cultural heritage, including archaeology, became tools of war, wielded on the battleground of public opinion.

LIMITS OF TOLERANCE: LEGAL RELATIONS BETWEEN EARLY OTTOMAN JEWS AND CENTRAL AUTHORITIES (15th -18th Centuries)

Many years ago, before they were expelled from Europe, thousands of Jews being exposed to oppression and persecution in many parts of the world in the 15th century migrated to Turkish lands where they could live more forgivingly and at a higher welfare level as well as the Jews who were living in the Ottoman lands freely, and thereby, they attained a significant place within the non-Muslim population. The emperorship consisting of several communities tried to achieve its sovereignty with the millet system. In other words, keeping the Muslims separate from non-Muslims as they were millet-i hakime (dominating nation) had been adopted as the fundamental mission. Therefore, there were some regulations and rules that would differentiate them from each other in the social sphere and daily life. The Jews were also included in these restrictions. It is quite difficult to clearly mark off legal rights granted, and tolerances shown to the Jews, but this study based upon imperial council books (muhimme books) provided an opportunity to make a general evaluation on legal rights and powers of Jewish national subject. The most important regulation that draws attention in the books has been concerning the clothing. Besides, the imperial orders on residential-religious settlements and cemeteries were also given by the central administration. It was reflected in the books that the Jews were detracted from certain administrative ranks as well as that the Jews were restrained from keeping slaves. However, these regulations contained neither a derogatory badge and an oppressive and persecutory settlement policy nor any trade restrictions as they were subjected in Europe. They were not factionalized by society and even, they played an active role in some economic activities. Based on the clauses (in Turkish hüküm) reflected in the books, it can be said that the main goal of the central administration was to prevent the Jews from resembling Muslims, and this was not a situation only specific to Jews. In this study where the main goals of the state for imposing the restrictions and the underlying reasons for not making severe regulations were discussed, it was tried to address the legal relations between the Jews and the central government.

From ‘brothers in religion’ to ‘bandits’: Chechens in Mardin in the late Ottoman period

This article analyses the mass migration of Chechens to the Ottoman Empire between the mid-1860s and the 1900s. The Russian expansion to the North Caucasus transformed the entire region surrounding the Black Sea, including its demography, governance and politics. This expansion took place in several phases. The first resulted in a major mass migration by several North Caucasian groups, who abandoned the region in response to the increasing presence of Russian military personnel. During the second stage, the exodus of these groups accelerated because of massacres committed by the Russian military in an attempt to take complete control. Many North Caucasians were exiled to Ottoman lands, arriving en masse, either on foot, or by sailing across the Black Sea. This article argues that the Ottoman state lacked a well-functioning settlement policy regarding the incoming North Caucasians. The Ottomans aimed to accommodate the refugees by deploying the frame of viewing them as ‘brothers in religion‘, but this resulted in a number of issues, in particular due to existing problems concerning the ‘state's Tanzimat‘ order, along with the collection of taxes and conflict with Bedouin tribes in the Mardin region. This article examines this phenomenon by means of a study of the ‘Chechens' journey‘ to the Ottoman Empire, focusing specifically on a subgroup of Chechens, who were settled in the Mardin region. Through the use of a considerable array of archival resources, the article seeks to firstly, trace the route taken by the Chechen group to Mardin and secondly, to clarify their transformation from being considered ‘brothers in religion’ by the Ottomans to regional bandits.

An Evaluation of Nişantaşı English Boys School, Founded on Ottoman Lands in the 20th Century

Yabancı okullar, Osmanlı devletinde Avrupalılara ticari alanda ayrıcalıklar verilmesi ve zamanla bu ayrıcalıkların kalıcı olması neticesinde açılma imkânı bulmuşlardır. Osmanlı topraklarında faaliyet gösteren yabancı okullar ilk olarak Fransızlar daha sonra ise İngilizler tarafından açılmışlardır. Daha önce İstanbul İngiliz Erkek Lisesi ile ilgili, Metin Ünver “Osmanlı Devletinde ’ki İngiliz Ticaretinin Almanya karşısında gerilemesi tartışmaları bağlamında İstanbul’da İngiliz Erkek Lisesinin kuruluşu” adlı çalışma ile Osmanlı toprakları üzerinde yabancı devletlerin ekonomik anlamda nüfuz sahibi olabilmek için rekabet aracı olarak açılan okullar bağlamında değerlendirmiştir. Bu çalışmada ise konumuzun temelini teşkil eden Nişantaşı İngiliz Erkek Mektebi adlı çalışmanın orijinali olan “Zükura Mahsus İngiliz Mektebi” başlıklı Osmanlıca belge bağlamında okulun açılışı, öğrenci kabul şartları, yapısı, okul teşkilatı ve öğretilen dersler, ders içerikleri gibi bilgileri verip bu bilgiler değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu bilgiler Başbakanlık Osmanlı arşivinde konu ile ilgili arşiv belgeleri ile desteklenmiştir. Bu çalışma ile eğitim tarihi alanında yapılan çalışmalara katkıda bulunmak amaçlanmıştır.