Ottoman Muslims Research Articles

The Ottoman Empire and its Aftermath

ly all other states in the classical Islamic world. It provided the principle of authority, of identity, and of political and social cohesion and loyalty. The polity was conceived as the Community of Muslims, its head as the successor of the Sultans and Caliphs of the glorious past and as the holder of an Islamic sovereignty dedicated to the maintenance of Islam and the extension of its domain. Characteristically, when Ottoman Muslims observed the role of Prussia and Savoy in the unification of the German and Italian peoples in the nineteenth century and considered a possible parallel role for themselves, they saw it in terms not of Turks but of Islam of a greater Islamic unity, embracing all Muslims, with Ottoman Turkey as its leader. In this sense the Empire was conceived not as a domination of Turks over non-Turks, since all Muslims were theoretically equal irrespective of language or origin, but as a domination of Muslims over non-Muslims. The task of the Muslim

The Formal Closure of the Ottoman Frontier in Europe: 1699-1703

In 1699 at Karlowitz and in 1700 at Istanbul, the Ottoman State acceded by treaty to the creation of joint border commissions for the demarcation of boundaries and differentiation of territory between the domains of the Sultan and those of the Holy League powers. The creation of these commissions and the consequent closure of the Ottoman frontier in Europe signalled the end of an era in Ottoman-European relations. Ottoman Muslims, however, were unprepared for this sudden shift in policy. Hence the initial consequence of the closure of the frontier was internal strife in the form of open rebellion among the frontier elements whose livelihood had depended upon the open frontier.