Ottoman Statesman Research Articles

Portrait of Ottoman Statesman Hekimoglu Ali Pasha (1689-1758): Life, Career and Personality

The article reconstructs unknown facts about life and administrative achieve- ments of Ottoman statesman Hekimoglu Ali Pasha who held the office of Grand Vizier three times and was famous for the victory at the battle of Banja Luka in 1737. Ali Pasha’s life also provides an insight into the trends of Ottoman administrative politics, which in his case deviated from the trends of the postclassical era of the Ottoman Empire. Also, Pasha’s merits in the cultural, architectural, intellectual and technological transformation of the Empire indicated a change that would be fully realized only a century later. Parallel to the downward trajectory of his career, one can observe the gradual change in his character which can be reconstructed through the archival correspondence with the Republic of Dubrovnik. The transformation of his character can be also seen through the prism of his political maturation in the period from the first to the last appointment in Bosnian eyalet (1736-1748).

Manuscripts with the Seal of the Safavid Shrine in Ardabil at the Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa Library in Istanbul

Abstract Shaykh Safi al-Din Ishaq (d. 1334), who founded the Safavid (Safaviyya) Sufi order and gave his name to the Safavid dynasty, lived in Ardabil in northwestern Iran. Shah Ismaʿil (d. 1524), founder of the Safavid state, was buried in a tomb adjoining that of Shaykh Safi. Over time, a complex of buildings grew up around these two tombs and diverse objects were endowed to what became the Shakh Safi al-Din Shrine. Today, the holdings of some libraries and museums in Istanbul include manuscripts containing endowment annotations and the endowment seal of the shrine, most of which also contain the endowment seal of Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa (d. 1758), an Ottoman statesman, as well as a calligrapher, man of letters, and patron of poets. Ali Paşa served for five years in Tabriz, where he established a waqf, as well as in Ardabil and the surrounding region, before being appointed grand vizier (g.v. 1732–35, 1742–43). Shortly after he returned to the capital, he founded a complex there with a library on the grounds, to which he endowed his books, including a large number of works by poets who wrote in Persian. I argue that it must have been Ali Paşa who brought to Istanbul the manuscripts containing the endowment seal and endowment annotations of the Shaykh Safi al-Din Shrine in Ardabil.

Positioning in Turbulent Times: Ottoman Intellectuals and the South African War (1899–1902)

ABSTRACT The South African War of 1899−1902, between Great Britain and the Boer states, marked by British victory, garnered extensive international attention, thus offering a compelling case study on the influence of modern propaganda globally. European and American audiences closely monitored the conflict between the ‘mighty’ British Empire and the ‘little white Christians’. Employing critical analysis, this article scrutinises Ottoman intellectuals’ pro-British propaganda and their stance on the war. Utilising sources like Young Turk publications and memoirs, particularly focusing on Ismail Kemal Vlora’s work ‘The Question of Transvaal’ (1900), it sheds light on their efforts to legitimise British imperialism in South Africa and beyond. Vlora played a pivotal role in leading the Anglophile faction amongst Ottoman statesmen and intelligentsia and his writings offer crucial insights into their perspectives. This study aims to comprehend the views of Anglophile Ottoman intellectuals on colonialism, imperialism, and civilisation, alongside their advocacy for Britain. Centred on Ottoman perspectives of the war, with supplementary attention to colonial South African history, this research unveils how and why the Southern African conflict impacted Ottoman intelligentsia. This study is embedded within the broader context of the South African War’s substantial international ramifications, emphasising its relevance to global historical discourse.

Siyaset or Politika?

Abstract In this article, we trace the diversification of Ottoman political vocabulary from the eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth in a time of dynastic restoration and administrative modernization. We focus particularly on the transformation of the concept siyâset (rule, politics) which had been in use in Muslim polities for centuries, and the emergence, in the late eighteenth century, of the word politika which has come to be used alongside siyâset since then. In making sense of this bifurcation, we demonstrate that the Ottoman elite conceptions of politics were not simply replaced by the European conceptions. Rather, the equivalence of siyâset and politika was clearly contested by Ottoman statesmen, and the political terminology of rule and administration evolved in tandem with the material transformation of the Ottoman dynasty and state.

Yakın Dönem Osmanlı Diplomasisinde Kuliner Diplomasi Örnekleri

Throughout history, not only have meals served people as a source of nutrition, but they also have served as both an individual and official tool of diplomatic agreement between people. In being representative of the culture and traditions of the host country, they serve to establish effective communication with the counter party, create a positive atmosphere, and strengthen relationships. Today, politicians still employ the unifying effect of meals as one of many tools of diplomacy. Since the dawn of man, many a statesman had employed this method with the intent of giving a positive impression both on friend and foe alike; Ottoman statesmen were no exception to this rule. One can observe many examples of culinary culture having been employed in diplomatic affairs towards the final years of the Ottoman Empire. When we look at banquets that Ottoman Sultans had prepared for their foreign guests, not only do we see that they had offered them the crème de la crème of delicacies highlighting Turkish culinary culture offered, we also see that had been treated to dishes from their own gastronomies as well. Ottoman Sultans had hosted many banquets because of their power to unify, both in terms of foreign and domestic politics. This study has reviewed and exemplified how culinary diplomacy had been used during the late era of Ottoman diplomacy.

Assessment of the Russıan-Japanese war of 1904–1905 from the poınt of vıew of the Ottoman empıre

The article reveals the origin of the Turkish-Japanese relations, and analyzes conditions, under which they were developed. Influence of the Russian-Japanese war (1904–1905) on the Ottoman Empire is considered. First diplomatic contacts between the Ottoman Empire and Japan started with visits of representatives of the Japanese authorities to Istanbul for the purpose of acquaintance to Ottomans. As a result of mutual visits between two states their friendly relations began to develop. Despite the fact, that before the Russian-Japanese war (1904–1905) many top-level diplomatic visits between Ottomans and Japanese were made, no political and military agreement between two countries was signed. The Russian-Japanese war had a huge impact on the Ottoman Empire, and for the whole world. Though this war didn't influence domestic policy of the Ottoman Empire, its course was watched closely by both Ottoman statesmen, and the public. On the one hand, successive defeats in the wars with the Russian Empire in the 19th century caused psychological decline of the Ottoman Empire, but on the other hand, the results of the Russian-Japanese War showed the Turks, that it was also possible to win the Russian Empire, which was considered invincible. The Turkish people were encouraged by the defeat of the Russian Empire in the war, and the Turkish government even thought about creating an alliance with Japan. Before and after the Russian-Japanese War (1904–1905), Sultan Abdul-Hamid II always made decisions, considering the subsequent positive and negative consequences of a possible Turkish-Japanese alliance, as a result of which Russia would be surrounded from the east, and that this alliance could aggravate relations with Russia.

Mülkiye ile Hariciye Arasında Bir Ömür: Hariciye Nazırı Kürt Said Paşa [1834-1907

Bu çalışmada Sultan II. Abdülhamid dönemi Hariciye Nazırlarından Mehmed Said Paşa’nın biyografisi ortaya konmuştur. Memuriyet hayatı Tanzimat devrinde başlayan Said Paşa’nın Mülkiye ve Hariciye arasında salınan kariyeri süresince müdahil olduğu olaylar incelenmiştir. Paşanın Mülkiye görevleri ve Hariciye nazırlıkları döneminde imparatorluğu ilgilendiren temel sorunlar ele alınmış, bu sorunların Said Paşa’nın kariyerine yaptığı etkiler tespit edilmiştir. Paşanın Mülkiye mesleği içindeki görev alanları imparatorluğun sınır bölgelerindeki mutasarrıflık ve vilayetlerden oluşmaktadır. Suriye Vilayeti Umur-ı Ecnebiye Müdürlüğü (politika memurluğu) görevinden itibaren stratejik önemdeki idari birimlerde ve teftiş komisyonlarında görev almıştır. Bu görevlerde edindiği birikim, paşayı Hariciye Nazırlığına taşımıştır. Said Paşa’nın Hariciye Nazırlığı dönemine ait temel meseleler Doğu Rumeli, Berlin Kongresi, Ermeni Meselesi ve zenci esir ticareti konularıdır. Yönetim gücünün Babıali’den Yıldız Sarayı’na geçtiği bir dönemde görev yapan Said Paşa’nın II. Abdülhamid idaresi içindeki konumu belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu çalışmayla Hariciye Nazırlığı gibi önemli bir makamda kesintisiz en uzun süre görev yapan devlet adamlarından biri olan Said Paşa’nın Tanzimat’tan II. Abdülhamid dönemine uzanan hayatı ve politik faaliyetlerine ışık tutulmuştur.

‘The ‘Ulema’s perception of Ottoman Grand Viziers of Bosnian origin - the example of The Garden of Viziers, the first Ottoman biographical work on Ottoman Grand Viziers

The Ottoman state was a society in which different religions, languages and ethnicities coexisted throughout its whole history. With this regard, cosmopolitism and tolerance in the Ottoman Empire are a topic often spoken of in the literature related to it. In this work, some ethnic-based dissonant tones present within the Ottoman ruling military-administrative class are brought up. The article suggests that there existed ethnic intolerance which members of ?ulem?, the Ottoman learned class, as ?old Muslims? of Turkish origin, expressed toward grand viziers ?new Muslims? and ?new Ottomans? because of their Bosnian origin. The pivot of this suggestion is a sentence from The Garden of Viziers written in 1718 in which the author, the Ottoman intellectual and member of ?ulem? Osm?nz?de Ahmed T??ib, in a disapproving tone emphasises Bosnian origin of the Grand Vizier Salih Pasha, brought to Istanbul through devshirme (child levy) at the beginning of the seventeenth century. This was not a solitary example of ?ulem??s intolerance toward Ottoman statesmen who were converts and of devshirme origin. The work does not, however, absolutely reject cosmopolitism and tolerance in the Ottoman society, but only relativises them and suggests the utmost reserve when it comes to underlining them as common features of the Ottoman society.

Dangerous Gifts: Imperialism, Security, and Civil Wars in the Levant, 1798–1864

Dangerous Gifts: Imperialism, Security, and Civil Wars in the Levant, 1798–1864

“Angels of the Angels”: Abdüllatif Subhi Paşa’s Coins, Egypt, and History

Abstract This article revisits the bureaucratic career of Abdüllatif Subhi Paşa (d. 1886), the prominent Ottoman statesman and pioneering numismatist of the nineteenth century, whose much-overlooked early migratory life between Morea and Egypt shaped his contributions to the principal Tanzimat institutions. By weaving together fragmentary biographical accounts, institutional histories, and Subhi’s understudied academic work, the article also offers new historiographical approaches to nineteenth-century Ottoman antiquarianism, archaeology, and museology. The varied trajectories of Subhi’s itinerant professional life allow us to trace intellectual networks between Istanbul and Cairo, academic initiatives of a diverse cast of Ottoman high officials, changes in the scope of the translation movement, and the growing centrality of history and its writing in cultural undertakings.

Kyuchuk-Kajnardzhijskij dogovor osmanskogo diplomata Ahmeda Resmi Efendi i ego trudy

The 18th century, which is considered as a period when the modernization started in the history of the Ottoman Empire, also contains the reasons that led to the collapse of this great empire. This period is also important for Russian history because in this century Russia came to the historical stage as a strong state after the Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca (1774) signed with the Ottoman Empire. This treaty, which ended the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774), was signed by Ahmed Resmi Efendi who was Ottoman Empire's court officer and delegate. In this study Ottoman statesman Ahmed Resmi Efendi and his works were also examined.

ANKARA PRISON: ANKARA PRISON PROJECTS IN THE OTTOMAN ARCHIVE

The transformation process seen in the Ottoman bureaucracy after the proclamation of the Tanzimat was also experienced in the criminal law system. The new penal codes, shaped by the initiatives and recommendations of foreign diplomats and ambassadors, are developing in parallel with the penal systems that are undergoing transformation in Europe. With the 1851 Kanun-i Cedid (New Law) and the 1858 Penal Code, the Ottoman bureaucracy desires a radical break from the medieval penal system and a transition from the bodybased punishment system based on retaliation-diet to time-space imprisonment. In this case, Ottoman statesmen did not hesitate to get support from British statesmen, and names such as Statford Canning, Gordon and Henry Bulver submitted their reports on prison reforms. Naturally, the status of existing prisons was widely covered in the reports, and recommendations were given on issues such as lack of hygiene, capacity and security gaps. In this context, it can be said that the developing prison architecture is widely reflected in archive documents. Over a hundred prison sketches and drawings that have survived to date shed light on the architecture and architects of the prison, especially in the period of Abdulhamid II and after. Three original projects prepared in three different time periods for the prison building, which is planned to be built in Ankara, and which do not have any connection with each other in terms of architectural features, are discussed within the scope of this study, the construction processes and architectural character are examined.

Candaroğlu İsfendiyâr Bey’in Timurlu Hükümdarı Mîrzâ Şâhruh’a Gönderdiği Farsça Mektup (1430)

Münşeât mecmuaları Ortaçağ Türk-İslâm tarihinin araştırılması açısından büyük önem taşırlar. Söz konusu mecmualardan birisi Osmanlı devlet adamı Feridun Ahmed Bey tarafından 1574 yılında tamamlanmış olan Münşeâtü’s-Selâtin’dir. Makalemiz çerçevesinde bu mecmuadaki belgelerden birini, Candaroğlu hükümdarı İsfendiyâr Bey tarafından Timurlu hükümdarı Mîrzâ Şâhruh’a yazılmış olan 1430 (h.833) tarihli mektubu değerlendirmeye aldık. Öncelikle İsfendiyâr Bey’in politikalarını ve özellikle de onun Timurlularla ilişkilerini inceledik. Ardından Feridun Ahmed Bey’in Münşeâtü’s-Selâtin isimli eserinin tarihî kaynak olarak önemine değindik ve bu esere karşı eleştirilere yönelik düşüncelerimizi serdettik. Aynı zamanda makalemiz kapsamında bahse konu mektubu Farsçadan Türkçeye çevirerek diplomatik bilimi ve tarihsel süreç bakımından araştırmaya tabi tuttuk. Ele almış olduğumuz bu vesikanın, XV. yüzyılın ilk yarısında Türk-İslâm dünyasında Osmanlılar, Timurlular, Karakoyunlular ve Candaroğulları ekseninde gelişen siyasî münasebetlerin ve rekabetin anlaşılması bağlamında mühim bir belge olduğu kanaatindeyiz.

Ottoman Diplomacy and Hegemonic Masculinity during the Great Eastern Crisis of 1875-78

This article will examine Ottoman and British diplomatic correspondence and the satirical press and argue that during the Eastern Crisis of 1875-78, representatives of the Great Powers conceived of a hierarchy of masculinities that became a major part of their diplomatic rhetoric. At the top of this order was the masculinity that European statesmen saw in themselves and legitimized their imperialist projects; they particularly emphasized honor, and a logic-based intelligence which enabled them to order their governments, economies, and households so that noble, white, Christian men controlled the people of presumed lesser classes, races, religions, and genders. Until the end of this crisis, Ottoman officials sought to convince their European counterparts that they should accept them as, if not equals, at least junior partners. Therefore, Ottomans did not challenge the European belief in a hierarchy of masculinities but sought instead to prove that the new Ottoman statesman was a modern and rational man both capable and in possession of the moral imperative to rule over the lesser peoples of the Ottoman Empire. In particular, Ottoman officials depicted Christian separatists as cruel, savage, and too ignorant for independence, mirroring the arguments that anti-Ottoman Europeans made about the Ottomans.

An Old Ally Revisited: Diplomatic Interactions Between the Ottoman Empire and the Sultanate of Aceh in the Face of Dutch Colonial Expansion

Diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Sultanate of Aceh (today a province in north-west Indonesia), which had begun in the sixteenth century but then subsequently neglected over the next two centuries, were reinvigorated in the 1840 s when the expanding Dutch colonial empire arrived on the borders of Aceh. When the Acehnese sought to revive the defunct relations with Istanbul, they were met with an ambivalent Ottoman response. Ottoman statesmen seemed torn between the potential benefits of the suggested cooperation and the perils of antagonizing Western colonial powers in the region. Ambivalence also characterized the Ottomans’ response to the Acehnese request for Ottoman suzerainty over their territories in 1868-9, in 1872-3 on the eve of the Dutch invasion of their country, and in the aftermath, for fear of consequent conflict with the Great Powers. By reconstructing the history of Aceh-Ottoman diplomatic interactions on the basis of hereto unexplored Ottoman records, this article aims to reinstate not only the Acehnese, but also the Ottomans as agents in their own right, during a period of Western colonialist expansion. As such, it seeks to decenter historical narratives of nineteenth-century interstate relations, traditionally based on European sources and perceptions, which mostly ignore the agency and diplomatic interactions of non-Western powers.

Endeavoring to establish an imperial news agency: the Ottoman Telegraph Agency

ABSTRACT Contemporary challenges in world politics, technology, economics, and social structures made suppliers of news significant for the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century. To preserve the Empire, policies that promoted centralization were pursued for decades. Improving transportation and communication systems was part of this centralization policy. However, because these technologies arrived in the Empire several years after its European counterparts founded, established, and extended these systems, it became dependent on foreign news agencies for supplying news. Finding their news biased and in favor of their home governments, Ottoman statesmen first tried to win them over by means of allowances and privileges, but enjoyed little success. As a result, the Empire founded the Ottoman Telegraph Agency. This article attempts to contribute to Ottoman press history by examining the creation of that agency.

Osmanlı İnhitat Söylemine Girizgâh: 16. Yüzyıl Sonu Para Çalkantıları ve Düşünce Dünyasındaki Yansımaları

The first section of this bipartite essay deals with different approaches to the monetary turbulence experienced in the Ottoman world in the late-16th century. Combining “real” economic factors with the “quantity theory of money,” it underlines population growth and the velocity of circulation as well as structural aspects of Ottoman trade balances vis-a-vis the west and the east. The focus of the second section is on the observations and analyses of authors from the Ottoman ruling elite with respect to monetary and price movements. Ottoman statesmen and intellectuals were sharply concerned with these developments, discussed and analyzed them, and proposed measures. With monetary stability as its core concern, their perspective emphasized the role of political authority and evaluated the problem in terms of its consequences in the realm of social balances. It was accompanied by an anxiety about “deterioration” replacing “order,” and about established hierarchies being toppled, in the face of the autonomy gained by certain dynamics, which we now consider to be in the sphere of “the economy.” The threat to order posed by price hikes and the erosion of the system of price controls cannot be met but by bringing stability to the currency. In that context, and in order to support Cigalazade Sinan Pasha’s currency reform, Taşköprülüzâde Kemâlüddîn Mehmed Efendi translated Makrîzî’s 15th-century text on monetary crises in Egyptian history and added an appendix with his original analysis of Ottoman circumstances

Pınar Emiralioğlu. Geographical Knowledge and Imperial Culture in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire

Were the Ottomans interested in geographical and cartographic developments while the Europeans were engaged in explorations and initiated discoveries? Or to what extent did geography and cartography became major fields of study among Ottoman scholars, intellectuals or learned people? Against the predominant assumption that the Ottomans were oblivious to these fields, Pınar Emiralioğlu both tries to demonstrate Ottoman interest and clear biased negative image attributed to the Ottoman statesman and scientists. Looking at the available geographical accounts that circulated in Constantinople/Istanbul (as she states that she uses both names interchangeably) in the sixteenth century, Emiralioğlu offers a historical analysis of these works as well as treats them in the context of early modern state formations. In addition to books/pamphlets on geography, her sources include portolan charts and atlases, world maps, travel accounts and coordinate tables etc.

Rafet Bey: The Last Ottoman Consul in Batavia during the First World War 1911-1924

This paper will investigate a brief intellectual history of Rafet Bey, an Ottoman statesman who was appointed as consul-general in Batavia in the early twentieth century. In this paper, intellectual and global history will be the main approach to analyze relations between the Ottomans and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in the early twentieth century, especially during the First World War. The appointment of Rafet Bey as Ottoman consul in Batavia coincided with a moment of strength for the Dutch East Indies, after conquering Aceh and other Indonesian regions. On the other hand, the emergence of the Armenian question also caused some difficulties in Ottoman foreign policy at the time. In short, a brief intellectual biography of Rafet Bey is important because it allows deeper analysis on Ottoman- Indonesia relations in the early twentieth century.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v24i1.3684

From Serbestiyet to Hürriyet: Ottoman Statesmen and the Question of Freedom during the Late Enlightenment

From Serbestiyet to Hürriyet: Ottoman Statesmen and the Question of Freedom during the Late Enlightenment