Turkish Attitudes Concerning Christian-Muslim Equality in the Nineteenth Century*Author(s): Roderic H. DavisonSource:
The American Historical Review,
Vol. 59, No. 4 (Jul., 1954), pp. 844-864Published by: American Historical AssociationStable URL:
Accessed: 23/10/2009 10:17
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TurkishAttitudesConcerningChristian-MuslimEqualityintheNineteenthCentury*
RODERIC
H.
DAVISON
EVERY modernsocietyhas beenfacedwith problemsarisingfrom inequali-tiesamongthe variousgroupsofwhichit is composed,particularlysincetheeighteenth-centuryproclamationin Americathat"all men arecreatedequal,"and the elaborationin Franceof the Declarationof the Rightsof Manandthe Citizen. Thedifferenceswhich producedinequalityhavebeen various-economic,social,racial,linguistic,religious,political-andvariouslyinter-twined. Inthe NearEast untilvery recenttimes themajorboundary linesbetweengroups,and thereforetheprincipal barrierstoa homogeneousso-ciety of equals,have beenreligious.Although todaysocialand economicdis-paritiesinNear Easternsocietyhave vastlyincreasedas moderntechnologyandfinance haveprovidedgreater opportunitiesfor gettingand spending,andalthough nationalistrivalries nowchallengethe primacyofreligiousrivalries, itis still oftentrue thatreligion isthe dividingline, andthat aman'screed is hisdistinguishingmark.In the OttomanEmpireof the earlynineteenthcenturyhis religionpro-vided a man'slabel, bothin hisown conceptualschemeandintheeyesofhis neighborsandhis governors.Hewas a Muslim,Greek Orthodox,GregorianArmenian,Jew,Catholic,orProtestantbefore hewasaTurkorArab,a Greek or Bulgar,in thenational sense,and also before he felt him-self anOttoman citizen.TheOttoman government,by grantingofficialrecognitiontothesemillet's,as the religiouscommunities were called, hadpreservedand evenemphasizedthereligiousdistinctions.Theempireitselfwas governedbyMuslims;itslaw wasbased onthereligiouslawofIslam.Butwithin thisempiretheseveral Christiancommunitiesand theJewishcommunity enjoyedapartialautonomy,wherebythe ecclesiasticalhierarchywhichadministered themilletsupervisednotonlythereligious,educational,
*
Thispaperwaspresentedin abbreviatedform at themeetingofthe AmericanHistoricalAssociationinChicagoinDecember,
1953.
Itssubject representsoneaspectonlyof alargerstudybytheauthor ofthe reformandwesternization of the OttomanEmpirein the later Tanzimatperiod,
I856-I876.
Someof the materialbothfor thispaperand for thelargerwork wasgatheredduringtenure of afieldfellowshipfrom the Social Science ResearchCouncil,for whichtheauthor expressesdeep appreciation.
844
TurkishAttitudes andChristian-MuslimEquality845and charitableffairsof itsflock;itcontrolledalsosuchmattersof personalstatusas marriage,ivorce,and inheritance,ndit collectedometaxes.T'hismosaicpattern, nwhich aChristiannd a Muslimivingside byside in thesame state underthe samesovereignwere subjecto differentaw and dif-ferentofficials,had served the OttomanEmpirewell for four centuries.nthe NearEast lawwas still,as it hadformerlybeen inthe Westalso, per-sonalratherhanterritorial.The semiautonomy fthe Christianmillet'sdid not,however,meancom-pleteequality amongthesubjectsof the empire.TheMuslim milletwasdominant.T'hisdid not leadto anysystematicpersecutionf ChristiansbyMuslims, nor toany systematicoppressionof Christiansby theOttomangovernment.ndeed, inefficientorcorruptandextortionateovernmentnthe empire
often
bore more heavilyon MuslimTurksand Arabs han it didon Christians.Pasha andtax-farmeralikefound thepiastresthey couldsqueezefromMuslimsjustas soundas Christianmoneyand didnot varytheir-harshness r theirmethodswith the religionof the victim.Despite allthis,it was stillincontestable hatChristianswere looked downuponassecond-classitizensbothbythe Muslimpublicand by thegovernment.Theysufferedunequalreatmentnvariousways.Their dresswas distinctive,ndifChristian r Jewwore thefez he was requiredo sewon it a stripof blackribbonor cloth,not to beconcealedby thetassel.Sometimes he unequaltreatmentwas inpurelyecclesiasticalmatters,asforexampleonthose occa-sions whentheSublimePorte deniedpermitstoone oftheChristianectsforthe repairof churches.One aspectofreligiousnequalitywas particularlygalling,thoughtarose nfrequentlysaconcretessue-Christianscouldnotsoeasilymakeconvertsrom amongtheMuslimsas could Muslimsfromamong the Christians,ince Islamic awdemanded hat apostasye punishedbydeath.Inaddition,he Christiansufferedcertainspecificdisabilitiesnpublicife. They were,forexample,deniedopportunityorappointmentothe highestadministrativeosts;theycouldnotserventhearmed orcesbuthadtopay anexemptionax;Christianevidencewas discountedn aMus-limcourtoflaw.Neithertheconceptnorthepracticeof citizenship,n-volving equalrightsandduties,existed in theOttomanEmpirebefore thenineteenthentury.1Afteri8oo,the attentionfthe Ottomangovernmentwasforciblydirected
1
Thereis noadequatestudy on thestatus of Christiansnthe Ottoman Empire.Voluminoussourcesexist, manyof themdealing onlywith aparticulardistrict orperiod, andmanyhave adistinctivebias.Amongthe best accountsfor themid-nineteenth centuryareAbdolonymeUbicini,Letterson Turkey,tr. byLady Easthope(London,
I856),
II;and AccountsandPapers,
i86I,
LXVII,"Reports. . . relatingtothe Conditionof Christians," acollectionofstatementsbyBritishconsuls indifferent partsof the empire.
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Turkish Attitudes Concerning Christian-Muslim Equality in the Nineteenth Century
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