Professional Documents
Culture Documents
)
This volume includes 83 essays which were originally delivered as
papers at the 20th CIÉPO Symposium. The Symposium was held
in Rethymno, Crete, Greece, between 27 June and 1 July 2012,
New Trends
and was organised by the Department of History and Archaeology
of the University of Crete and the Institute for Mediterranean in Ottoman Studies
Studies of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas
(IMS/FORTH), in collaboration with the Region of Crete, Regional
Unit of Rethymno, and the Municipality of Rethymno.
New Trends
in Ottoman Studies
at the 20th CIÉPO Symposium
Rethymno, 27 June – 1 July 2012
Editor-in-chief:
Marinos Sariyannis
Editors:
Gülsün Aksoy-Aivali, Marina Demetriadou,
Yannis Spyropoulos, Katerina Stathi, Yorgos Vidras
Consulting editors:
Antonis Anastasopoulos, Elias Kolovos Cover photo:
Giorgos Benakis
(knocker, 10, P. Koronaiou Str.,
Back cover photo: Rethymno)
Joshua M. White
University of Crete – Department of History and Archaeology Back cover photo:
Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas – Institute for Mediterranean Studies Joshua M. White
ISBN 978-960-93-6188-0
New Trends
in Ottoman Studies
Papers presented at the 20th CIÉPO Symposium
Rethymno, 27 June – 1 July 2012
Editor-in-chief:
Marinos Sariyannis
Editors:
Gülsün Aksoy-Aivali, Marina Demetriadou,
Yannis Spyropoulos, Katerina Stathi, Yorgos Vidras
Consulting editors:
Antonis Anastasopoulos, Elias Kolovos
New Trends in Ottoman Studies: Papers presented at the 20th CIÉPO Symposium,
Rethymno, 27 June – 1 July 2012 is a joint e-publication of the Department
of History and Archaeology of the University of Crete and the Institute for
Mediterranean Studies of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas.
ISBN 978-960-93-6188-0
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Panels and papers of the 20th CIÉPO Symposium xiv
Part I
Economy and Finances
Panel: 1837-1923 sürecinde Bursa’da koza üreticiliği ve ipekli dokumacılık
sektörünün sosyo-ekonomik durumu
Nuran BAYRAM, ‘1837-1923 sürecinde Bursa’da ipekçilik sektörünün sosyo- 2
ekonomik analizi’
Seher BOYKOY, ‘1908-1923 sürecinde Bursa’da koza üreticiliği ve ipekli 15
dokumacılık sektörü’
Cafer ÇİFTÇİ, ‘1837-1908 sürecinde Bursa’da koza üretiçiliği ve ipekli 35
dokumacılık sektörü’
Yusuf OĞUZOĞLU, ‘Giritli mübadillerin ipekçilik deneyimleri ve bunun 49
Bursa yöresine aktarılması’
Part II
Institutions and Elites
Panel: Osmanlı’da eğitim modernleşmesi
Fatih DEMİREL, ‘Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar’ 118
Muammer DEMİREL, ‘Osmanlı modern mekteplerinde mükâfat’ 133
iv
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Roger A. DEAL, ‘Celestin Bonnin and the creation of a modern Ottoman 166
police force’
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ, ‘Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması, karşılaşı- 176
lan istismarlar ve uygulanan yaptırımlar’
Svetla IANEVA, ‘The Rumelian provincial elites in the Ottoman tax-farming 196
system of the nineteenth century’
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS, ‘Socio-economic aspects of a tax: the metro- 207
politans’ and bishops’ pişkeş (second half of the seventeenth century)’
Erdem SÖNMEZ, ‘Kuramsal kaynaklar üzerine yeniden düşünmek: Max 223
Weber ve Osmanlı tarihyazımı’
Michał WASIUCIONEK, ‘Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman Empire 232
revisited: cins and local political elites in 17th-century Moldavia and
Wallachia’
Part III
The Ottoman Provinces
Panel: Osmanlı idaresinde bir Balkan şehri: Rusçuk
Meral BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ), ‘Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları: Dini ve 247
hayri kurumlardan bazıları’
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN, ‘XVI. yüzyılda Rusçuk’ta demografik ve 271
sosyo-ekonomik yapı’
Panel: The Sudiremi subdistrict of Konya
Alaattin AKÖZ, ‘XVI. yüzyılda Sudiremi nahiyesi’nde yerleşim ve demografi’ 297
Doğan YÖRÜK, ‘The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiye in the 16 th
309
century’
Panel: Eastern Mediterranean islands under Ottoman rule
M. Akif ERDOĞRU, ‘Ottoman houses in the old town of Nicosia of Cyprus 328
at the beginning of the 18th century (1698-1710)’
v
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Part IV
Inside a Wider World
Panel: The appeal of signs: symbolic practices of Western diplomats at the
Sublime Porte (16th-18th centuries)
Peter BURSCHEL, ‘Space, time and the confession of ritual: a Lutheran pas- 455
tor in the Ottoman Empire’
Harriet RUDOLPH, ‘The material culture of diplomacy: some remarks on 469
tangible dimensions of early modern Habsburg-Ottoman relations’
Arno STROHMEYER, ‘The theatrical performance of peace: entries of 486
Habsburg grand embassies in Constantinople (17th-19th centuries)’
Christine VOGEL, ‘The art of misunderstanding: French ambassadors trans- 495
lating Ottoman court ceremonial’
Panel: The Great War and the end of the Ottoman Empire: aspects of World
War I
Deniz GÜNER, ‘Birinci Dünya Savaşı sırasında Osmanlı devletinde sansür 505
uygulamaları’
Eftal IRKIÇATAL, ‘Bir isyanın kodları: I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap ayaklanması’ 512
vi
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Yüksel NİZAMOĞLU, ‘III. Ordunun ileri harekâta başlama sürecinde istih- 522
barat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetlerinin rolü’
Part V
Culture and Ideology
Panel: Osmanlı yenileşme döneminde yapılan kılık kıyafete ilişkin reformlar
ve kılık kıyafet değişimleri
Emine KOCA, ‘Osmanlı’da yapılan kılık kıyafete ilişkin reformların erkek gi- 664
ysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri’
Fatma KOÇ, ‘Osmanlıda yapılan kılık kıyafete ilişkin reformların kadın gi- 682
ysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri’
Beyhan PAMUK, ‘Osmanlı yenileşme döneminde kılık kıyafete ilişkin 700
reformların malzeme, aksesuar ve süslenme özelliklerine etkileri’
Tuba VURAL, ‘Osmanlı yenileşme döneminde kılık kıyafete ilişkin reformlar 713
şekilde mi yoksa özde mi değişim getirmiştir’
R. Aslıhan AKSOY-SHERIDAN, ‘Forms of literacy: notes on the life and cul- 728
tural background of a 16th-century Ottoman sanjak governor’
vii
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Nabil AL-TIKRITI, ‘Idris-i Bidlisi’s 1513 treatise on caliphal and sultanic 741
protocols’
Stavros Th. ANESTIDIS, « Ioannis Kalfoglou (1871-1931). Un patriote otto- 757
man controversé »
Özer ERGENÇ – Nil TEKGÜL, ‘“Role model” defined for the Ottoman indi- 768
viduals and its change throughout time’
Murat ISSI, ‘Kurdistan gazetesi (1898-1902)’ 780
Georgia KONDYLI, « Le théâtre musical européen à Smyrne » 788
Marinos SARIYANNIS, ‘Time, work and pleasure: a preliminary approach to 797
leisure in Ottoman mentality’
Emmanouil SEIRAGAKIS, ‘Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha, a glorious Ottoman 812
peddler’
Borislava ZHIVKOVA, ‘Lügat: a content-analysis approach of a 15th-century 826
four-language dictionary’
Part VII
Fine Arts, Architecture, and Archaeology
Panel: Artistic encounters in Ottoman art and architecture: zones of accul- 842
turation
Selda ALP, ‘Common living spaces, different worlds: non-Muslim grave 845
monuments in 19th-century Istanbul’
Suat ALP, ‘Form and image: hybrid receptions of Ottoman culture on the 870
metalwork produced in the Balkans (14th-18th c.)’
Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ, ‘Circulating images: Ottoman 876
painters, travel books, overtones’
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU, ‘Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art’ 892
Panel: The importance of interdisciplinary research connecting historical,
anthropological, information and engineering sciences based on the case
study of spatial-temporal GIS (DiMSIS-EX) application
Shigeru KAKUMOTO, Koji YOSHIKAWA, Yoshio KAJITANI, Hikari 912
EGAWA, ‘The importance of interdisciplinary research connecting his-
torical, anthropological, information and engineering science on the case
study of ST-GIS application: experience from the East-Japan earthquake
and Düzce earthquake’
Maria KOSUGI, ‘Qur’anic manuscript data on computer: a case of applying 921
DiMSIS-EX to historical studies’
viii
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
ix
PREFACE
It is with particular joy that we present this collection of papers, resulting from
the 20th Symposium of the Comité International des Études Pré-Ottomanes et
Ottomanes (CIÉPO), which was organised in Rethymno between 27 June and
1 July 2012 by the Department of History and Archaeology of the University
of Crete and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies of the Foundation for
Research and Technology – Hellas (IMS/FORTH), in collaboration with the
Region of Crete, Regional Unit of Rethymno, and the Municipality of Rethymno.
Out of the 224 papers delivered at the Symposium, 83 were submitted for
publication and are, therefore, included in this volume. Even though they can-
not reflect the full array of topics covered during the Symposium, we hope that
they do justice to the high quality and level of scholarship that characterised
it, and that this e-book meets the standards of both the authors and the wider
community of Ottomanist scholars.
In order to help the reader to navigate through the diversity of the subjects
dealt with in this volume, the papers are organised in six broad thematic sec-
tions as follows: Economy and Finances; Institutions and Elites; The Ottoman
Provinces; Inside a Wider World; Culture and Ideology; Fine Arts, Architecture,
and Archaeology. Whenever papers belonged to a pre-arranged symposium
panel, they are placed first in each section, followed by independent papers in
alphabetical order.
As Editor-in-Chief of this collection, I would like to thank the other members
of the organising committee of the Symposium, namely my colleagues Gülsün
Aksoy-Aivali, Antonis Anastasopoulos, and Elias Kolovos, of the University of
Crete, who have always been helpful and willing to answer all my requests re-
garding the preparation and publication of this volume. Gülsün Aksoy-Aivali,
moreover, was a member of the outstanding team of my fellow editors, together
with Marina Demetriadou, Yannis Spyropoulos, Yorgos Vidras (all graduates
x
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Marinos Sariyannis
Editor-in-Chief
Programme of Ottoman Studies
Institute for Mediterranean Studies / Foundation for Research and
Technology – Hellas
xi
PANELS AND PAPERS
OF THE 20 th CIÉPO SYMPOSIUM
xii
20th CIÉPO Symposium
N ew T rends I n O ttoman S tud I es
Rethymno, Crete, Greece (27 June – 1 July 2012)
Organising Committee
Gülsün Aksoy-Aivali
Antonis Anastasopoulos
Elias Kolovos
Marinos Sariyannis
Honorary Committee
Prof. Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont (Honorary President, CIÉPO)
Prof. Vassilis Demetriades (Honorary Researcher, IMS/FORTH)
Prof. Costas Fotakis (President, FORTH)
Prof. Christos Hadziiossif (Director, IMS/FORTH)
Prof. Katerina Kopaka (Dean, School of Letters, University of Crete)
Ms Maria Lioni (Regional Vice Governor of Crete, Rethymno)
Mr Giorgis Marinakis (Mayor of Rethymno)
Ass. Prof. Socrates Petmezas (Chair, Department of History and
Archaeology, University of Crete)
Prof. Euripides G. Stephanou (Rector, University of Crete)
Prof. Michael Ursinus (President, CIÉPO)
Prof. Elizabeth A. Zachariadou (Honorary Researcher, IMS/FORTH)
xiii
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Pane ls
A. Nükhet Adıyeke (chair), Nuri Adıyeke, Mehmet Ali Demirbaş, Melike Kara: Yeni
Kaynaklar ve Yeni Yaklaşımlarla Osmanlı Egemenliği’nde Girit ve Sonrası
Antonis Anastasopoulos & Shirine Hamadeh (co-chairs), Marie-Carmen Smyrnelis,
Işık Tamdoğan: Flesh and Mud: Innovative Approaches to the Study of Early
Modern Ottoman Cities
Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont (chair), Faruk Bilici, Jean-Charles Ducene: Regards de la
cartographie ottomane
John J. Curry (chair), Nabil al-Tikriti, Günhan Börekçi, Kahraman Şakul: Shifts in Ottoman
Political and Intellectual Mentalities over the Course of the Early Modern
Period
Cafer Çiftçi (chair), Seher Boykoy, Nuran Bayram, Yusuf Oğuzoğlu: 1837-1923 Sürecinde
Bursa’da Koza Üreticiliği ve İpekli Dokumacılık Sektörünün Sosyo-Ekonomik
Durumu
Gökhan Yavuz Demir (chair), Nurcan Abacı, Zeynep Dörtok Abacı, Ertuğrul Uzun:
Hikayelerimiz ve Adaletin Mümkünlüğü: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’ndan
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ne Adalet Hikayeleri
Muammer Demirel (chair), Fatih Demirel, Hatip Yıldız, Mehmet Salih Erkek: Osmanlı’da
Eğitim Modernleşmesi
Hikari Egawa (chair), Michinori Hatayama, Yoshio Kajitani, Shigeru Kakumoto, Maria
Kosugi, Halit Ramazan Kubilay, İlhan Şahin, Takahiro Tomita, Mahito Usui,
Koji Yoshikawa: The Importance of Interdisciplinary Research Connecting
Historical, Anthropological, Information, and Engineering Sciences Based on
the Case Study of Spatial-Temporal GIS (DiMSIS-EX) Application
M. Akif Erdoğru (chair), Ali Efdal Özkul, Ersin Gülsoy: Eastern Mediterranean Islands
under Ottoman Rule
M. Metin Hülagü (chair), Gülbadi Alan, Ömer Kılıç, Gökhan Bolat: Osmanlı Devleti’nin
Sürgün Politikası ve Akdeniz Adaları
Gábor Kármán (chair), Robert Born, Ovidiu Cristea, Radu G. Păun: The Tributary States of
the Ottoman Empire between Loyalty and the Crusading Ideal
Eugenia Kermeli (chair), Elif Bayraktar Tellan, Hasan Çolak, Phokion Kotzageorgis: The
Orthodox Patriarchates as Ottoman Institutions: 15th to 18th Centuries
xiv
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Elektra Kostopoulou (chair), Aimee Genell, Andrew Arsan, E. Attila Aytekin: The Ottoman
Empire in the Age of Colonialism: Fragmented Sovereignty and Provincial
Lives
Tijana Krstić (chair), Derin Terzioğlu, Nir Shafir: Contextualizing the Kadızadelis: Politics
of Religion and Networks of Piety in the 17th-Century Ottoman Empire
Paolo Maggiolini (chair), Francesco Mazzucotelli: Re-Thinking Center and Periphery in the
Ottoman Polity: Catholic Dignitaries and the Ottoman Public Administration
in the 2nd Half of the 19th Century
Hüseyin Muşmal (chair), Salih Kış, Yunus İnce, Ahmet Dönmez: Statesmen and the Public
in the Ottoman Empire during the Modernization Process: Four Portraits
Zeynep Oğuz (chair), Dimitris Loupis, Satoshi Kawamoto, Ünver Rüştem: Transcending
Typologies: The Orchestration of Public and Private Spaces in Multifunctional
Ottoman Buildings
Bülent Özdemir (chair), Yüksel Nizamoğlu, Deniz Güner, Eftal Irkıçatal: The Great War and
the End of the Ottoman Empire: Aspects of World War I
Nilay Özok-Gündoğan (chair), David Gutman, Seda Altuğ: On the Frontiers of Ottoman
Studies: Exploring the Limits of the State in the Post-Tanzimat Ottoman
Empire
Minna Rozen (chair), Eyal Ginio, Evanghelos Hekimoglou, Shai Srougo: The Lower Classes
of Ottoman Salonika (Thessaloniki) during the 18th-19th Centuries
Henning Sievert (chair), Johann Büssow, Astrid Meier: Peripheries Utilising the Centre:
Imperial and Local Politics in Arab Provinces of the Ottoman Empire
Amy Singer (chair), Suna Çağaptay, Heath Lowry: From Byzantine Adrianople to Ottoman
Edirne
Arno Strohmeyer & Christine Vogel (co-chairs), Peter Burschel, Harriet Rudolph: The
Appeal of Signs: Symbolic Practices of Western Diplomats at the Sublime Porte
(16th-18th Centuries)
Mehmet Topal (chair), Meral Bayrak (Ferlibaş), Meryem Kaçan Erdoğan: Osmanlı
İdaresinde Bir Balkan Şehri: Rusçuk
Muhittin Tuş (chair), Alaattin Aköz, Doğan Yörük, Mehmet Yılmaz: Ottoman Rural Life:
The Sudiremi Subdistrict of Konya
Nicolas Vatin (chair), Claudia Römer, Michael Ursinus : Les hüccet volantes: diplomatique
et valeur comme source
Tuba Vural (chair), Emine Koca, Fatma Koç, Beyhan Pamuk: Osmanlı Yenileşme Döneminde
Yapılan Kılık Kıyafete İlişkin Reformlar ve Kılık Kıyafet Değişimleri
Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu (chair), Suat Alp, Nurdan Sürbahan Küçükhasköylü, Selda Alp: Artistic
Encounters in Ottoman Art and Architecture: Zones of Acculturation
xv
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Pape r s
Nurcan Abacı, Hz. İsa Kadı Mahkemesinde: Bir Kanıt Olarak Müslüman ve Hristiyanların
Yemin Etme Süreçleri
Butrus Abu-Manneh, Mehmed Rashid’s Tenure in Syria (1866-1871)
Birgül Açıkyıldız-Şengül, Architecture of Mardin in the 19th Century: A Story of
Modernisation
A. Nükhet Adıyeke, 18. Yüzyılda Girit’te Cizye Uygulaması ve Toplumsal Etkileri
Nuri Adıyeke, 17. ve 18. Yüzyıllarda Kadı Sicillerine Göre Resmo Manastır Vakıfları
Alaattin Aköz, The Settlement and Demography in Sudiremi Subdistrict in the 16th
Century
Aslıhan Aksoy-Sheridan, “I Now See that There Is No Constancy in this World”: Notes on
the Life and Cultural Background of a 16th-Century Ottoman Sanjak Governor
Dilek Akyalçın-Kaya, Entrepreneurs and Economic Relations in Late 19th-Century
Salonica
Gülbadi Alan, Osmanlı Devlet Memurları ve Aydınlarının Sürgünlerinde Akdeniz
Adalarının Yeri ve Önemi
Selda Alp, Public Spaces, Different Worlds: Non-Muslim Grave Monuments in 19th-
Century Istanbul
Suat Alp, Form and Image: Hybrid Receptions of Ottoman Culture on the Metalwork
Produced in the Balkans (14th-18th Centuries)
Nabil al-Tikriti, Grim Advice, Bold Solutions: Idris-i Bitlisi’s 1513 Treatise on the
Caliphate and Sultanic Protocols
Zeynep Altok, Anecdotes about Poets and 16th-Century Ottoman Elite Identity
Seda Altuğ, Land, Community, and Conflict in the Ottoman Province of Diyarbekir: The
Case of Beshiri, 1839-1878
Edith Ambros, How Secluded was the Ottoman Woman in Public?
Antonis Anastasopoulos, A Mosque and Its Town Quarter or a Town Quarter and Its
Mosque? The Elhac Ali Paşa Mosque and Quarter in Ottoman Kandiye
Stavros Th. Anestidis, Ioannis Kalfoglou (1871-1931), un patriote ottoman controversé
xvi
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
xvii
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Robert Born, From Vassal to Miles Christianus: Sigismund Báthory’s Battles with the
Ottomans as a European Media Event
Seher Boykoy, 1908-1923 Sürecinde Bursa’da Koza Üreticiliği ve İpekli Dokumacılık
Sektörü
Michel Bozdémir, Le réinvestissement du passé par le présent : des usages multiples de
l’histoire ottomane
Günhan Börekçi, Seeking Power at an Imperial Court Divided by Factions: The New
Ruling Strategies of the Ottoman Sultans in the Late 16th and Early 17th
Centuries
Peter Burschel, Topkapı Sarayı or a Journey to the End of Time
Johann Büssow, The Anaza Bedouins and the Ottoman State during the Nineteenth
Century
Maria-Christina Chatziioannou, Wearing and Trading the Fez in an Ottoman-
Mediterranean Context (18th-19th C.)
Rafael-Dorian Chelaru, Catholic Elites and Ottomans in the Western Balkans (17th-18th
Centuries)
Agata Anna Chmiel, Self-Conversion in the Balkans: A Micro-History of 15th-Century
Çeç and Divoçane in the Rhodope Mountains
Danuta Chmielowska, Giritli Osmanlı Ressamlarından Kazım Kavur Şahsiyeti ve Eserleri
Ovidiu Cristea, Ottoman Military Support for Tributary States: The Case of Wallachia
and Moldavia (15th-16th C.)
John J. Curry, Ottoman Perceptions of the Indian Subcontinent as Reflected in the
Cihânnümâ of Katip Çelebi
Suna Çağaptay, A City Caught In Between: Viewing Byzantine Adrianople against
Historical and Scholarly Disjunctions
Birten Çelik, The Women Guards at the Service of the Ottoman Customs
Gözde Çelik, 19. Yüzyılda İdari Değişimin Odak Noktası Olarak Bâbıâli Binası
Halil Çetin, About the Political Identity of Osman Bey: Was He A Khan?
Cafer Çiftçi, 1837-1908 Sürecinde Bursa’da Koza Üreticiliği ve İpekli Dokumacılık
Sektörü
Hasan Çolak, Centralisation of the Patriarchates of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria
in Istanbul: Testimony of the Patriarchal Berats of the 18th Century
Roger Deal, Celestin Bonnin and the Creation of a Modern Ottoman Police Force
Gökhan Yavuz Demir, Adaletin Hikayeler Üzerinden Tesisi
xviii
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Mehmet Ali Demirbaş, Gayr-ı Menkul Satışında Şuf ’a (Önalım) Hakkının Kullanımı:
Kandiye Örneği
Fatih Demirel, Osmanlı Modern Eğitim Kurumlarında İşlenen Suçlar
Muammer Demirel, Osmanlı Modern Mekteplerinde Ödüllendirme
Belgin Demirsar Arlı, Osmanlı Seramik Sanatında Yeni Bir Keşif
Mehmet Demirtaş, Osmanlı Esnafında İşyeri Açma Uygulaması, Karşılaşılan İstismarlar
ve Uygulanan Yaptırımlar
Sotirios Dimitriadis, Transforming Urban Space in a Late Ottoman Port-City: The
Ayasofya Mosque in Salonica
Ahmet Dönmez, Differentiation in Governance and Reform Understanding between
Mahmud II and Reshid Pasha during the Modernization Process
Zeynep Dörtok Abacı, Osmanlı Mahkemesinde Taraflar Şahitler ve Dava Hikayeleri:
Tahkiyelerin Sosyal Ağlar Üzerinden Okunması
Jean-Charles Ducene, Notes sur les côtes du Maghreb dans le Kitâb-i Bahriyye de Piri
Re’îs
Selçuk Dursun, Çevre (Ekoloji) Tarihi Merceğinden Osmanlı Tarihini Yeniden Yazmak
Fülya Düvenci Karakoç, 1900 Yılı Başlarında Osmanlı Beyrut’unda Kültürel Yaşam
M. Akif Erdoğru, The Ottoman Houses in the Old Town of the City of Nicosia of Cyprus
in the 17th Century
Özer Ergenç – Nil Tekgül, ‘Ideal/Role Model’ Defined for the Ottoman Individuals and
its Change throughout Time
Mehmet Salih Erkek, Bir Dönem On Bir Nazır: II. Meşrutiyet Döneminin Maarif
Nazırları
Aleksandar Fotić, The Serbian Orthodox Community in Ottoman Jerusalem (16th-17th
C.): Sources, Interpretations and Historiographical Problems
Eleni Gara, Violence in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire and its Social Meanings
Aimee Genell, Boundaries, Passports and Treaties: Ottoman Legal Challenges to the
British Occupation of Egypt
Eyal Ginio, Networks of Immigration to Ottoman Salonica
David Gutman, Trans-Hemispheric Migration, Domestic Mobility and the Limits to
Ottoman State Control of Armenian Migration from Eastern Anatolia to North
America, 1888-1908
Ersin Gülsoy, Governor Generals of the Island of Crete under the Ottoman Rule
İsmail Gündoğdu, Osmanlı Devletinde Timar Erbabına Hazineden Verilen Borçlar ve
Geri Alınması: Sultan IV. Murat’ın Bağdat Seferi Örneği
xix
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Deniz Güner, Birinci Dünya Savaşı Sırasında Osmanlı Devleti’nde Sansür Uygulamaları
Zübeyde Güneş Yağcı, Ege Kıyısında Bir Osmanlı Kasabasında Yaşam Standardı: Edremit
Antonis Hadjikyriacou, Urban-Rural Relations in an Ottoman ‘Miniature Continent’:
Advance Purchase and Forward Contracts in Eighteenth-Century Cyprus
Shirine Hamadeh, Young and Single in Istanbul: The Social Space of the Bekâr Community
Hülya Hancı, How Does a Poet Become a ‘Bad Poet’? The Case of the 16th-Century
Ottoman Poet Keşfî
Nilüfer Hatemi, The Assassination of the Russian Consul at Mitrovica, 1903
Evanghelos Hekimoglou, The Orthodox Christian Poor and Pauper Families in
Thessaloniki (18th-19th C.): How Many and How Strong They Were?
M. Metin Hülagü, Osmanlı Devleti’nde Sürgün Cezasının Hukuki Boyutu ve Akdeniz
Adalarının Sürgünler Açısından Önemi
Eftal Irkıçatal, Bir İsyanın Kodları: I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap Ayaklanması
Güneş Işıksel, Mulay Abd al-Malik’s Enthronement in Morocco (June 1576) in the
Context of the Ottomano-Habsburg Rivalry
Svetla Ianeva, The Rumelian Provincial Elites in the Ottoman Tax-Farming System of the
19th Century
Mehmet Zeki İbrahimgil, Assessment of the Architecture of the Ottoman Empire: The
Island of Crete
Nurcin İleri, A Murder in Pangaltı, 1895: Tell Me Your Sources, I Tell Your Story
Slobodan Ilić, Man as Microcosm: The Concept of ‘Al-İnsan Al-Kamil’ in the Light of the
Mystical Treatises of Husayn Lamakani (d. 1625)
Yunus İnce, An Ottoman Padishah from the Point of View of his Subjects: Mahmud II
Murat Issı, Osmanlının Son Döneminde Kürt Basını: İlk Kürt Gazetesi ‘Kürdistan’ (1898-
1902)
Katharina Ivanyi, “And the Question of Lands is Very Confusing”: Birgivi on Land Tenure
and Taxation
Mathieu Jestin, Le consul Charles Guys et la question de la protection française dans la
Salonique ottomane dans les années 1830
Meryem Kaçan Erdoğan, 16. Yüzyılda Rusçuk’ta Demografik ve Sosyo-Ekonomik Yapı
Shigeru Kakumoto – İlhan Şahin – Hikari Egawa – Yoshio Kajitani – Halit Ramazan Kubilay,
Collaborative Research of History and Information Science: Difference of
Recovery Procedure after the Earthquake Disaster Based on Each Culture
Eirini Kalogeropoulou, A Village Micro-Economy in the Hinterland of Selanik between
1770 and 1845
xx
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
xxi
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Dariusz Kołodziejczyk, Ottoman vs. Crimean Tatar Elites in the 17th Century: A
Comparative Approach
Elias Kolovos, Early Ottoman Diplomatics Revisited: An Order of the Beylerbey of
Rumeli in 1401 in Favor of the Athonite Monastery of Vatopedi
Georgia Kondyli, Le théâtre musical européen à Smyrne
Elektra Kostopoulou, Sovereignty Laws: The Secular Conception of the Religious in the
Fin-de-Siècle Ottoman Mediterranean
Maria Kosugi – Shigeru Kakumoto, Qur’anic Manuscript Data on Computer: A Case of
Applying DiMSIS-EX to Historical Studies
Phokion Kotzageorgis, Socio-Economic Aspects of a Tax: The Metropolitans’ and Bishops’
Pişkeş (2nd Half of the 17th Century)
Phokion Kotzageorgis and Demetris Papastamatiou, Economic and Social Hierarchies
within an Urban Context: The Case of Thessaloniki in the 18th Century
Daria Kovaleva, Experienced Diplomat, Skilled Bohçacı, or Professional Witch? On the
Nature of Jewish Women’s Presence in the Ottoman Royal Palace
Tijana Krstić, Defining a Subject of the Sultan’s ‘Nation’: Law, Religion and Orthodoxy in
Ahmed I’s Istanbul
Sadi S. Kucur, 13-14. Yüzyıl Türkiye’sine Ait Temlikname ve Arazi Satış Hüccetleri
Özlem Kumrular, Disguise as a Means of Safe Travel and Survival in the Ottoman Empire
in the Modern Age
Vjeran Kursar, The Zellich Print House: European Immigrants and Technology Transfer
in the 19th-Century Ottoman Empire
Sophia Laiou, Patronage Networks in the Aegean Sea, End of the 18th – Beginning of the
19th Century
Dimitris Loupis, A Building for All Purposes: Functions of the T-Shaped Edifices under
Evrenos in the Early Ottoman Balkans
Heath Lowry, 14th-Century Zaviye-Imarets in Edirne and Eastern Rumeli: An Overlooked
Facet of the ‘Ottoman Method of Conquest’
Andreas Lyberatos, Proto-Globalization and National Politicization in Late Ottoman
Thrace: The Case of Stenimahos (İstanimaka)
Paolo Maggiolini, Understanding Life in the Ottoman-Montenegrin Borderlands
of Northern Albania during the Tanzimat Era: Catholic Mirdite Tribes,
Missionaries and Ottoman Officials
Francesco Malfatti, The Medici and the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars: The Szigetvár
Campaign (1566)
Sinan Marufoğlu, 19. Yüzyılda Dicle ve Fırat’ta Osmanlı Nehir Taşımacılığı
xxii
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Francesco Mazzucotelli, The Amazing Stories of Rüstem Mariani Paşa, Vasa Paşa, and
Muzaffer Czaikowski Paşa: Catholic Mutasarrıfs in Ottoman Mount Lebanon,
1861-1914
Astrid Meier, Villagers, Kadıaskers, Şeyhülislams and the Sultan: Resolving a Water
Conflict in the Environment of Ottoman Damascus, 1670-1720
Milena B. Methodieva, The Young Turks and the Muslim Reform Movement in Bulgaria,
1895-1908
Erica Mezzoli, Corruption, Economy and Bureaucracy in 17th-Century Ottoman Bosnia:
The View of the Ragusean Diplomacy
Michalis N. Michael, Revolts, Demands and Reaction in an Era of Uncertainty in the
Ottoman Periphery: The Three Revolts of 1833 in Cyprus
Konstantinos Moustakas, The Myth of the Byzantine Origins of the Osmanlis: An Essay
to Interpretation
Hüseyin Muşmal, An Ayan in Anatolia during the Reform Process: Süleyman Bey and
his Trial
Yüksel Nizamoğlu, Büyük Savaş’ta III. Ordu’nun İleri Harekatı ve İstihbarat
Faaliyetlerinin Rolü
Michael Nizri, The Ongoing Dialogue between the Letter of the Waqf Law and Socio-
Economic Requirements as Indicated by Waqf Account Books
Zeynep Oğuz, Pleasure and Piety: The Palatial Elements in the Zaviyes of Early Ottoman
Rulers
Yusuf Oğuzoğlu, Giritli Mübadillerin İpekçilik Deneyimleri ve Bunun Bursa Yöresine
Aktarılması
Tomoki Okawara, Migration Movements and British-Ottoman Diplomatic Relations
Fatma Öncel, Proto-Industrialization in Mid 19th-Century Ottoman Rural Area: Textile
Manufacturing in Villages of Plovdiv
Bülent Özdemir, The Heart of the War: The Strategic Importance of the Mediterranean
Basin for the Powers during WW I and the Dardanelles Campaign
Ali Efdal Özkul, Commercial Activities of Italian City-States (Sicily-Naples, Venice,
Genoa and Sardinia) on the Island of Cyprus under the Ottoman Rule
Nilay Özok-Gündoğan, Land Disputes in the Frontiers of the State: The Making of the
Modern Ottoman State in the Kurdish Periphery, 1840-1870
Georgios Pallis, The Settlement of Mendenitsa (Modoniç), Central Greece: Archaeological
Evidence for a Local Ottoman Pilgrimage Center
Beyhan Pamuk, Osmanlı Yenileşme Döneminde Kılık Kıyafete İlişkin Reformların
Malzeme Aksesuar ve Süslenme Özelliklerine Etkileri
xxiii
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Konstantinos Papastathis – Ruth Kark, The Effect of the Young Turks Revolution on
Religious Power Politics: The Case of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
(1908-1910)
Radu G. Păun, Rhetorics of Hope and Fear, the Prophecies about the Ruin of the Ottoman
Power and the Military Revolts against the Porte (Wallachia and Moldavia,
16th-17th Centuries)
Katerina Pavlopoulou, Identity and Modernization Issues through the Eyes of an
Employee
Zozan Pehlivan, Circulation of Commodities and Commercial Networks of Diyarbekir
in the Early Nineteenth Century
Emrah Pelvanoğlu, Metafordan İroniye: Osmanlı Modernleşmesine Metatarihsel Bir
Yaklaşım
Şule Pfeiffer-Taş, Suggestions as to the Localization of the Harbour of Ayasuluk and the
Italian Settlement during the Aydınoğulları Dynasty under New Observations
Anna Pouradier Duteil-Loizidou, Le gouvernement de Chypre de la fin du 17e au début du
18e siècle, d’après le témoignage des consuls de France à Larnaca
Gisela Procházka-Eisl, ‘Avret Gibi Qilduq Firār: Poetical Reflections of a 16th-Century
Campaign to Hungary in a Mecmū‘a
Xeyirbey Qasimov, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesindeki At ve Koç Heykelli Mezar Taşları
Abdul-Karim Rafeq, The Arabs and the Ottomans: Confrontation and Accommodation
in Ottoman Syria
Claudia Römer, Le cadi en tant que müfettiş de muḳâṭa‘a
Minna Rozen, The Jewish Proletariat of Salonica during the Last Ottoman Century:
History and Nostalgia
Harriet Rudolph, The Material Culture of Habsburg-Ottoman Diplomacy
Ünver Rüştem, Between Palace and Mosque: The Role of the Sultan’s Pavilion in Late
Ottoman Architecture
Tetsuya Sahara, The Adana Incident of 1909 and the Muslim Refugee Question
Yuko Saito, Rumeli Demiryolları İşletmesi Kayıtlarına Göre 19. Yüzyıldaki Osmanlı
Modernleşmesine Bir Bakış
Maria Sardi, The Role of Textiles in Ottoman-Mamluk Relations, Politics and Religion
Marinos Sariyannis, “Pleasure is a Private Business”: A Preliminary Approach to Leisure
in Ottoman Mentality
Samir Seikaly, Looking for the Fallahin
Emmanouil Seiragakis, Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha, a Glorious Ottoman Peddler
xxiv
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
xxv
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Gülçin Tunalı Koç, “Seseya”: The Representation of Theseus by the Ottoman Mufti of
Athens in the Beginning of the 18th Century
Muhittin Tuş, The Economic and Social Structure of the Sudiremi Subdistrict in the 19th
Century
Güçlü Tülüveli, 17. Yüzyıl Trabzon’unda Ekonomik İlişkiler Bağlamında Müslüman-
Gayrimüslim İlişkileri
Zeynep Türkyılmaz, Neither Muslim Nor Christian: Crypto-Christians of Trabzon
(1856-1924)
Mehmet Tütüncü, Corsair Diplomacy between Netherlands and Ottoman Algeria:
Treaties and Documents from the Netherlands Archives
Michael Ursinus, Some Hüccets from the Patmos Archives Issued by the Cadi of the
Imperial Fleet
Mehmet Fatih Uslu, The Making of a Provincial Writer
Ertuğrul Uzun, 20. Yüzyıl Türkiyesinde Mahkeme Kararlarında Ahlaki Gerekçeler
Ceren Ünal, Kuva-yi Milliye Müzesi’nde Yer Alan Artuklu Beyliğine Ait Figür Tasvirli
Sikkeler
Nicolas Vatin, Ḥüccet à signatures multiples dans le fonds ottoman des a rchives du
monastère de Saint-Jean à Patmos
Margaret L. Venzke, The Question of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha’s Vaqf in Aleppo and
Antioch: The Importance of Vaqf in the Northern Syrian Lands, the 16th Century
Christine Vogel, The Art of Misunderstanding: French Ambassadors Translating
Ottoman Court Ceremonial
Tuba Vural, Osmanlı Yenileşme Döneminde Kılık Kıyafete İlişkin Reformlar Şekilde Mi
Yoksa Özde Mi Değişim Getirmiştir
Michał Wasiucionek, Ethnic Solidarity in the Wider Ottoman Empire Revisited: Cins and
Local Political Elites in 17th-Century Moldavia and Wallachia
Joshua Michael White, Amr’s Odyssey: Pirates, Slaves, and Islamic Law in the Early
Modern Mediterranean
Michael Winter, Ottoman Mentalities and Attitudes: Loyalty, Religion, Ethnicity
Avner Wishnitzer, Lifting the Veil of Darkness: Nightlife and Nocturnal Order in the
Late Ottoman Empire
Larry Wolff, Ottoman Subjects on the European Operatic Stage during the Long 18th
Century
Filiz Yaşar, Osmanlı Kırsalında İki Kaynak İncelemesi: Notariaka ve İlam (Sakız Adası
Örneği)
xxvi
NEW TRENDS IN OTTOMAN STUDIES
Mahmoud Yazbak, Palestine in the 18th Century: The Politics of Trade and Power
Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu, Other Histories, Other Stories and Ottoman Art
Onur Yıldırım – Seven Agir, Gedik: Asset Ownership and Labor Relations in Early 19th-
Century Istanbul
Hatip Yıldız, Osmanlı Modernleşme Döneminde Taşrada Öğretmen Eğitimi: Diyarbakır
Örneği
Mehmet Yılmaz, Population and Settlement in the Sudiremi Subdistrict according to the
1844 Census
Yasir Yılmaz, “Let’s Go Get Our Uniforms at St. Gotthard!”: Decision-Making, Intentio
nality, and ‘Grand Strategy’ in Early Modern Europe Revisited
Eunjeong Yi, Atpazari Seyyid Osman in the Political Turmoil of the Late 17th Century:
An Arabic Sufi Text’s Potential as a Historical Source
Koji Yoshikawa – Yoshio Kajitani – Shigeru Kakumoto – Michinori Hatayama – Mahito Usui,
An Introduction of the Spatial-Temporal GIS ‘DiMSIS-EX’ and Its Application
for the Recovery and Restoration Process after Large Disasters in Düzce City:
The Construction of the New Residential Area and Traffic Network
Doğan Yörük, The Economic Structure of the Sudiremi Subdistrict in the 16th Century
Elizabeth A. Zachariadou, Revisiting Early Ottoman History
Nedim Zahirović, Habsburg Merchants as Suppliers of Ottoman Troops at the End of the
18th and the Beginning of the 19th Century
Borislava Zhivkova, Lügat: A 15th-Century Four-Language Dictionary. A Content
Analysis
xxvii
PART I
ECONOMY
AND FINANCES
Pane l
Nuran Bayram*
1. Giriş
Osmanlı döneminde Bursa, ipekçilik sektörünün en önemli şehirlerindendir.
19. yüzyılın ortalarına kadar ham ipeğin üretimi evlerde ve mahallelerde gele-
neksel yöntemlerle ve tepme mancınıklar vasıtasıyla yapılırken, 19. yüzyılın or-
talarından itibaren sektörde fabrikalaşma süreci başlamıştır. Bursa’da ham ipek
üreten ilk fabrika 1837 yılında, ipekli dokumacılık yapan ilk fabrika ise 1908
yılında kurulmuştur. Kozadan ipek teli çekme ve ipek ipliğinden dokumacı-
lık yapma açısından yenileşme sürecini ifade eden bu yıllar, sektörde önemli
gelişmeleri ve değişimleri ortaya çıkarmıştır. Hazırlanan bu çalışma, belirtilen
süreçte ipekçilik sektörünün ekonomik analizini tarihsel kaynaklardan elde
edilen sayısal veriler çerçevesinde değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır.
2
1837-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da İpekçİlİk
Tablo 1. Osmanlı Devleti ve Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’nın yaş koza üretimi
ve öşür gelirleri (1888-1908)1
3
Nuran Bayram
55,00
56,00
50,00
54,00
45,00
52,00
40,00
50,00
K IL O (% )
L IR A (% )
35,00
48,00
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1908
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
YIL YIL
Grafik 1. Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Grafik 2. Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit
Sancağı’nın yaş koza üretimindeki % payı Sancağı’nın öşür gelirindeki % payı
Vilayetler
Kilo
Hudâvendigâr Vilâyetiyle İzmit Sancağında 7.527.000
Beyrut ve Suriye Vilâyetleriyle Cebel-i Lübnan’da 5.641.000
Selânik-Manastır-Kosova ve Yanya Vilâyetlerinde 1.793.000
Edirne Vilâyetinde 1.639.000
Adana ve Haleb Vilâyetlerinde 755.000
Trabzon ve Sivas-Mamuretül aziz ve Erzurum Vilâyetlerinde 126.000
Aydın ve Cezâyir-i Bahr-ı Sefid Vilâyetleriyle Biga Sancağında 285.000
Diyarbekir-Musul-Bağdad Vilâyetlerinde 170.000
Ankara ve Konya Vilâyetlerinde 102.000
Toplam 18.338.000
Tablo 2’den de görüldüğü gibi 1908 yılında yaş koza üretim değeri en fazla
olan vilayet Hudâvendigâr Vilâyetiyle İzmit Sancağıdır.
Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’nda 1888-1908 yılları arasında bes-
lenilmiş olan yerli ve yabancı ipek tohumu ve yabancı ülkelere yapılan yerli
ipek tohumu ihrâcâtı miktarları aşağıdaki tabloda sunulmuştur.
Tablo 3. Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’na ait beslenilmiş yerli ve yabancı ipek
tohumu ile yabancı ülkelere yapılan yerli ipek tohumu ihrâcâtı miktarları3
Beslenmiş yerli Beslenmiş yabancı Yabancı Ülkelere
Toplam
Yıllar tohumu tohumu ihrâç olunan
Kilo Gram Kilo Gram Kilo Gram Kilo Gram
1888 475 - 1900 - 2375 - - -
1889 947 425 1613 225 2560 650 - -
1890 912 575 1694 800 2877 375 - -
1891 2364 950 639 650 3004 600 24 950
1892 2909 400 302 700 3212 100 507 925
1893 2635 325 73 375 2710 700 1048 675
1894 2903 425 34 450 2937 875 1104 475
1895 2458 750 13 525 2472 275 4730 975
1896 2890 475 78 350 2968 825 5452 650
1897 3298 15 42 475 3340 490 5546 975
1898 3082 525 222 450 3304 975 4595 525
1899 3851 800 49 275 3901 75 10060 300
1900 4884 525 2 675 4887 200 10480 650
1901 5066 350 25 75 5091 425 11438 -
1902 4196 700 45 700 4242 400 8996 550
1903 4043 625 20 650 4064 270 7624 725
1904 5324 875 16 875 5341 750 14238 25
1905 5361 500 13 150 5374 650 9557 500
1906 3843 825 1 - 3844 825 7695 900
1907 4018 600 1 200 4019 800 5573 850
1908 4201 900 9 325 4211 225 11397 725
1888-1908 yılları arasında Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’na ait besle-
nilmiş yerli ipek tohumunda yıllar itibariyle artış olduğu ve beslenilmiş yabancı
ipek tohumunda da bir azalış olduğu Tablo 3’den görülmektedir. 1888-1908 yıl-
ları arasında Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’na ait beslenilmiş yerli ve
3 a.g.e., s. 35.
5
Nuran Bayram
yabancı ipek tohumunun toplam değeri ve ihraç edilen yerli ipek tohumunun
değerleri aşağıdaki grafiklerde sunulmuştur.
6000 16000
14000
5000 12000
10000
4000 8000
6000
IHRACAT (kg)
TOPLAM (kg)
3000 4000
2000
2000 0
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
YIL YIL
Grafik 3. Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’nın Grafik 4. Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile
beslenmiş toplam ipek tohumu (kg) İzmit Sancağı’ndan ihraç edilen yerli
ipek tohumu (kg)
6
1837-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da İpekçİlİk
Tablo 4. İpek Koza ve Ham İpek ihracatının toplam ihracat içindeki payı (%),
(1878–1913)4
İpek Koza Ham İpek Buğday Üzüm Tiftik Afyon
Yıllar % % % % % %
1878 1.1 5.3 9.7 12.6 1.7 7.1
1879 3.7 3.9 3.8 16.1 5.0 8.0
1880 - 9.8 2.6 11.8 10.2 5.3
1881 - 7.9 7.9 6.9 7.1 8.5
1882 - 6.5 9.9 9.5 9.7 4.7
1883 2.4 5.2 10.7 9.2 - 6.3
1884 2.6 6.3 8.4 12.8 6.0 4.6
1885 2.3 6.4 7.6 12.1 4.9 7.5
1886 2.7 6.2 6.3 14.4 6.8 6.3
1887 3.5 7.4 3.9 15.3 4.4 3.7
1888 2.5 5.9 5.9 14.9 4.5 5.9
1889 3.7 6.4 9.0 9.7 4.4 4.1
1890 3.1 7.9 10.0 7.7 2.8 5.5
1891 2.9 7.1 11.5 10.8 3.6 5.5
1892 5.4 7.6 5.0 13.1 4.7 4.5
1893 4.3 8.2 1.2 13.4 4.6 4.1
1894 3.4 9.9 1.1 12.9 4.7 4.5
1895 4.3 8.5 2.4 14.1 4.9 4.8
1896 4.5 9.4 5.6 12.5 3.3 5.1
1897 4.4 8.9 4.2 12.3 6.3 3.7
1898 5.6 11.3 2.3 10.2 6.9 4.7
1899 5.8 10.5 0.9 12.5 6.7 4.9
1900 3.8 9.2 1.2 8.9 4.8 5.8
1905 5.6 9.2 1.9 12.0 4.7 3.7
1907 3.4 8.4 1.2 8.3 1.7 0.9
1908 3.4 9.4 1.3 9.5 3.3 2.0
1909 3.3 10.0 0.2 8.9 5.1 2.6
1910 3.7 7.2 0.4 6.3 3.9 5.0
1911 4.6 6.7 1.6 7.7 2.6 3.1
1913 2.4 6.8 0.5 10.4 3.4 3.7
4 Şevket Pamuk, 19. Yüzyılda Osmanlı Dış Ticareti, Cilt 1, Ankara 1995, s. 37.
7
Nuran Bayram
20 12
10
Ipek Koza
10 6
Ham Ipek
Bugday
4
Uzum
2
Tiftik Ham Ipek
%
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1907
1909
1911
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1907
1909
1911
YIL YIL
Grafik 5. Çeşitli ürün ihracatının toplam Grafik 6. İpek Koza ve Ham İpek ihracatının to-
ihracat içindeki payı, (1878–1913) plam ihracat içindeki payı, (1878–1913)
5 a.g.e., s.63.
8
1837-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da İpekçİlİk
Osmanlı devletinin ham ipeği ihraç ettiği ülkelere ve ham ipeğin toplam
ihracat içindeki payına bakıldığında 1840 yıllardan 1900’lü yıllara kadar arada
kesinti olsa da en fazla Fransa’ya ihraç ettiği elde edilmiştir. Fransa’ya olan ihra-
catta 1880-1882 yılındaki azalış kozacılık faaliyetini derinden etkileyen Peb-
rine (Karataban) adlı ipekböceği hastalığından kaynaklanmış olsa gerektir.
Bilindiği gibi bu hastalık 1860’larda Osmanlı sahasına girmiş ve 20 yıla yakın
bir zaman için Bursa’da koza üreticilerine ve onlara bağlı üretim yapan fabrika
sahiplerine ciddi sıkıntılar yaşatmıştır. Ham ipek ihracatında Avusturya’ya olan
ihracatın yıllar itibariyle azaldığı Tablo 5’den görülmektedir. 1900’lü yıllarda
Fransa’ya nazaran İtalya’ya daha fazla ham ipek ihraç edildiği tablodan görül-
mektedir. Ayrıca, 19. yüzyıl boyunca Bursa’daki ipek üretiminin %90’dan fazla-
sının Fransa’ya ihraç edildiği bilinmektedir.6
1835-1875 yılları arasında teknoloji sayesinde üretim artmış ancak 1875
yılından sonra teknolojik bir gelişme yapılmamıştır.7 1859 yılında Bursa’dan
yapılan ihracat değerinin o yıla ait ithalat değerinden 2.6 kat daha fazla olduğu
bilinmektedir.8
6 Leila Thayer Erder, “The Making of Industrial Bursa: Economic Activity and Population
in a Turkish City 1835-1975”, yayınlanmamış Doktora tezi, Princeton Üniversitesi 1976,
s. 127.
7 a.g.e., s. 97.
8 a.g.e., s.129.
9 A. Gündüz Ökçün, Osmanlı Sanayii, 1913,1915 Yılları Sanayi İstatistiki, Ankara 1997, s.
134.
10 Thayer Erder, The Making of Industrial Bursa, s. 113.
11 a.g.e., s. 138-139.
9
Nuran Bayram
1915 yılı itibariyle Bursa’da 41 ham ipek imalatı yapan ve 6 ipek imalatı
yapan fabrika bulunmaktadır. Bu fabrikaların hepsi muharrik güç ile çalıştık-
ları için fabrika olarak nitelendirilmiştir.
1913'de 32 fabrika (%78'i), 1915'te 20 fabrika (%48,8’i) kayıtlar arasında
bulunmuştur. Böylece, 1913’den 1915’e çalışan fabrika sayısında %37,5 azalma
olmuştur. Bu durumun, savaş nedeniyle koza üretiminde meydana gelen geri-
lemeden kaynaklandığı söylenebilir.12
Buna göre, ham ipek imalatı yapan fabrikaların 27’si, ipek dokuma yapan fab-
rikaların da 4’ü özeldir. Bursa ipek fabrikalarından hiç biri Teşvik-i Sanayi
Kanunu'ndan yararlanamamıştır. Bunun nedeni, fabrika sahiplerinin bu
konuda müracaat etmemelerinden kaynaklanmıştır.14
Bursa'da ipek fabrikalarında genellikle krep döşen, krapon, ponje yapılmış-
tır. Krep, bürümcek, süre gibi iplikli kumaşlar ev tezgâhlarında dokunmaktadır.
Dış Ticaret İstatistiklerine gelince, 355 (seyrek ipek dokuma), 357 (safî ipek
dokuma), 358 (karışık ipek dokuma) numaralarda üç liman ithalâtı 23.318.239
kuruş (eğer 1913 yılı ise; 2012 yılı değeri: 50.525.253,57 TL; eğer 1915 yılı ise;
2012 yılı değeri: 50.457.477,75 TL), ihracatı da 231.863 kuruştur (eğer 1913 yılı
10
1837-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da İpekçİlİk
ise; 2012 yılı değeri: 502.393,72 TL; eğer 1915 yılı ise; 2012 yılı değeri: 501.719,80
TL). Bu durumda imalâtın, tüketimin ancak %4,5’ini karşıladığı söylenebilir.15 16
Daha öncede belirtildiği gibi, Bursa’da da ipek dokuma imalâtı, evlerde,
tezgâhlarda dokunmak suretiyle, çok eskidir. 1917 yılında bu şekilde çalı-
şan 1.400 kadar tezgâh vardır. Bu sanayide muharrik güç kullanan fabrikala-
rın kuruluşu ise çok yenidir. Fabrikaların hemen hepsi Meşrutiyet İdaresinden
sonra kurulmuştur. 1915'te Savaş nedeniyle ipek (sanayii) büyük bir buhrana
uğradığı için, fabrikaların işleyişi de durma noktasına gelmiştir.17
1916 yılında sözü edilen buhran ortadan kalkmıştır. İthalât da kesik olduğu
için söz konusu fabrikaların tümü de büyük bir faaliyetle işlemişlerse de, 1917'de
ipek değerinin çok yükselmesi nedeni ile faaliyetlerini sınırlamak zorunda kal-
mışlardır.18
1913-1915 yılları arasında ham ipek imalatı ve ipek dokuma fabrikalarında
çalışanların sayısı aşağıdaki tabloda sunulmuştur.
15 a.g.e., s. 138.
16 Bugünkü değer hesabı:
X = Verilen değer
Y = X . (Geçmiş yıllara ait bir liranın 1998 yılı sonunda TL olarak değer) / 1.000.000*
– Kaynak: Şevket Pamuk, İstanbul ve Diğer Kentlerde 500 Yıllık Fiyatlar ve Ücretler 1469-
1998, Ankara 2000.
Bugünkü değer = [Y . (2012 endeks değeri-2003 yılı 100 bazlı)] / (1998 endeks değeri -
2003 yılı 100 bazlı) – Kaynak: TCMB
*
2005 yılında TL’den altı sıfır atıldığı için 1.000.000 değerine bölünmektedir.
17 Ökçün, Osmanlı Sanayii, s. 137.
18 a.g.e., s. 137.
19 a.g.e., s. 119.
11
Nuran Bayram
Daha önce de belirtildiği gibi, 1913 yılında ham ipek imalatında toplam ola-
rak 1.824 mancınıklı 32 ve 1915 yılında 1.158 mancınıklı 20 fabrika çalışmıştır.
Alınan bilgilere dayanılarak her mancınık başına 2 kişinin çalıştığı hesap edil-
diği için 1913 yılında, toplam olarak, 3.648 ve 1915 yılında 2.316 memur, usta
ve işçi çalıştırılmıştır. Bunların ancak %5'i erkektir. Geri kalanı küçük kız ve
kadındır. Görülüyor ki, 1915'te çalışanların sayısında %36.52 bir azalma var-
dır.20
1913'de ipekli dokumada 4 fabrikada (6 fabrikanın 4’ünden bilgi alındığı
için) 25'i memur, 16'sı ustabaşı, 765'i işçi (%63’ü kadın) olmak üzere toplam
olarak 806 ve 1915 yılında işlemiş olan (3 ve 6 no.lu) fabrikalarda 20'si memur,
94'ü ustabaşı, 333'ü işçi (43'ü kadın) olmak üzere toplam olarak 367 kişi çalış-
mıştır.
1913 yılında 2 fabrikada 705 işçiye 1.449.730 kuruş (2012 yılı değeri:
3.141.231,03 TL) ve 1915'te 33 işçiye 671.566 kuruş (2012 yılı değeri:
1.453.176,91 TL) ödenmiş olduğuna göre, bir işçi yılda 2.056 kuruş (2012 yılı
değeri: 4.454,88 TL), günde 6,85 kuruş (2012 yılı değeri: 14,84 TL) ve 1915'de
ise yılda 2.287 kuruş (2012 yılı değeri: 4.948,75 TL), günde 7,6 kuruş (2012 yılı
değeri: 16,44 TL) kazanmış oluyor.21 22
1469 yılı için tüketici fiyatları endeksi 1.0 olarak alındığında 1913 yılı
endeks değeri 307,6 ve 1915 yılı endeks değeri 370,0 olduğu için 1913-1915 yıl-
ları arasında tüketici fiyatları endeksi üzerinden yıllık enflasyon oranı yaklaşık
olarak %9.723 olarak gerçekleşmiştir.24 Bu durumda, yukarıda verilen verilere
göre ipekçilik sektöründe çalışan işçilerin günlük ücretlerindeki artış oranı yıl-
lık olarak %5.225 şeklinde gerçekleşmiştir.
20 a.g.e., s. 134.
21 a.g.e., s. 138.
22 Bugünkü değer hesabı:
X = Verilen değer
Y = X . (Geçmiş yıllara ait bir liranın 1998 yılı sonunda TL olarak değer) / 1.000.000* –
Kaynak: Pamuk, İstanbul ve Diğer.
Bugünkü değer = [Y . (2012 endeks değeri-2003 yılı 100 bazlı)] / (1998 endeks değeri -
2003 yılı 100 bazlı) – Kaynak: TCMB
*
2005 yılında TL’den altı sıfır atıldığı için 1.000.000 değerine bölünmektedir.
23 Bileşik faiz formülü kullanılarak hesaplanmıştır (1 + r) n = 1+ i
24 Pamuk, İstanbul ve Diğer Kentlerde.
25 Bileşik faiz formülü kullanılarak hesaplanmıştır (1 + r) n = 1+ i
12
1837-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da İpekçİlİk
1915 yılında ham ipek imalatı ve ipek dokuma sanayinde işler durumda
olan işletme sayısı 1913 yılına göre azalmıştır. Sözkonusu işletmelere çalışanlar
açısından bakıldığında yine 1915 yılında 1913 yılına nazaran bir azalma olduğu
elde edilmiştir. 1913'de 32 fabrika (%78'i) ve 1915'te 20 fabrika (%48.8'i) işler
durumda faaliyet göstermiştir. Böylece, çalışan fabrika sayısında %37.5 azalma
olmuştur. Bu durum, savaş dolayısıyla koza üretiminde hasıl olan gerilemeden
ileri gelmiştir.26 Diğer bir ifade ile, ham ipek imalâtı kozanın azalması karşı-
sında savaştan etkilenmiş, dolayısıyla ipek dokuma imalâtı da azalmıştır.27
Tablo 8. Bursa İli için Açılan ipek tohumu kutusu ve Koza Üretimi28
Ülke genelinde olduğu gibi Bursa ilinde de koza üretiminde yıllar itibariye
giderek azalma gösterdiği elde edilmiştir. 1914 yılında koza üretiminin 1909
yılına nazaran yaklaşık 2.9 kat azaldığı görülmektedir. Bunun nedeni, 1912-
1913 Balkan Savaşları olsa gerektir.
Sonuç
Bu çalışmada, 1837-1923 yılları arasında Bursa’da ipekçilik sektörünün ekono-
mik analizi tarihsel kaynaklardan elde edilen sayısal veriler çerçevesinde değer-
lendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Osmanlı Devletinin 1888-1908 yılları arasında yaş
koza üretiminin yaklaşık %447 oranında artış gösterdiği, 1888-1905 yılları ara-
sında ise Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’nın yaş koza üretimindeki
hâsıl olan gelişme payının %361’e, öşür gelirlerindeki hâsıl olan gelişme payı-
nın ise %402 oranında artış gösterdiği tespit edilmiştir.
Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti ile İzmit Sancağı’nın yaş koza üretimindeki % payı
1903 yılında %34 ile en düşük değerde iken, öşür gelirindeki % payı 1904 yılında
%48 ile en düşük değere sahip olmuştur. Bunun yanı sıra, 1908 yılında yaş koza
13
Nuran Bayram
14
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza
üretİcİlİğİ ve İpeklİ dokumacIlIk
sektörü
Seher Boykoy*
Bursa kenti, tarih boyunca, tekstil ürünleri ve tekstilin hammaddesi olan iplik
üretim ve ticareti açısından, Anadolu’da önemli merkezlerden biri olmuştur.
Kentin özellikle 19. yy’ın. ilk yarısından itibaren endüstriyel ve teknolojik geli-
şiminin temel dinamiğini, ipek teşkil etmiş; buna bağlı olarak da, koza üretici-
liği ve ipekli dokumacılık sektörü önem kazanmıştır.
15
Seher Boykoy
16
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
1913-1915 Tarihli Osmanlı Sanayi Sayımına göre Bursa’da Ham İpek Üreten Fabrikaların
adı ve tarihi aşağıdaki tabloda verilmiştir.9
Fabrikanın Adı Yapılış Tarihi
Emirza Artin 1853
Emirza Artin 1853
Emirza Rafik 1873
Instasyadis Odesif 1909
Ayineli Yorgaki 1884
Balaban Agop veresesi 1892
Balabanyan Manuk 1877
Balaban !stefan veresesi 1852
Bay Onnik 1860
Bay Biraderler 1853
Bay Greguvar Zevcesi 1898
Bıdıkyan Osib 1877
Birut Mari Luiz (Mari Louise Brotte) 1863
Boduryan Akpos ve Karnik 1848
Boduryan Akpos ve Karnik 1848
Boduryan Karnik ve Madam Guma 1843
Bahari 1858
17
Seher Boykoy
Belar-Lans 1873
Tevfik 1911
Dervişyan Karabet Zevcesi 1873
Silukîzade Hakkı 1868
Simkeşyan Eznif 1907
Simkeşyan Eznif 1911
Şeftiyan İstefan ve Zevcesi 1878
Sandık Emini Ahmed Efendi veresesi 1863
Dağıstanlı Hacı Abdullah 1896
Osman Fevzi 1877
Osman Fevzi 1865
Gama Poul veresesi 1863
Gama Lui veresesi 1853
Fabrika-i Hümayun 1911
Fabrika-i Hümayun 1847
Konstan Bay 1833
Konstan Bay 1847
Kurdikyan Hacı Onnik 1863
Gülmezyan Serviçin ve Nişan 1896
Köleyan Diran 1860
Köleyan Mihran -------
Köleyan Mihran 1848
Varsamidi Zevcesi 1868
Vasilyadi Zevcesi 1911
18
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
11 Donald Quataert, ”The Silk Industry of Bursa 1880-1914”, Huri İslamoğlu-İnan (ed), The
Ottoman Empire and the World Economy, Cambridge 2004, s. 295, Leila T. Erder, “The
Making of Industrial Bursa: Economic Activity and Population in a Turkish City 1835–
1975”, yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Princeton Üniversitesi 1976, s. 105.
12 Ayhan Aktar, “Bursa’da Devlet ve Ekonomi”, Engin Yenal (ed), Bir Masaldı Bursa, İstan-
bul 1996, s. 123.
13 Neslihan Türkün Dostoğlu, Osmanlı Döneminde Bursa, C. I-II, Antalya 2002.
14 Şerafeddin Mamumi, Bir Osmanlı Doktorunun Anıları, Yüzyıl Önce Anadolu ve Suriye,
İstanbul 2001, s. 46.
19
Seher Boykoy
20
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
Serginin önemli bölümlerinden biri olan yün, ipek, pamuk, keten, kenevir
kumaşlar, sergide iyi bir şekilde temsil edilmiştir.19
Raporda Bursa’da ticaret hakkında da bilgi verilmektedir. Buna göre Bursa,
ipekçilik merkezi olması itibariyle, ihraç ürünlerinin başında ipek gelmekte; en
büyük pazarı ise, Lyon, Saint Etienne ve Paris’teki Fransız ipek pazarları teşkil
etmektedir. Bursa’da üretilen ham ipeğin yaklaşık % 90’ı bu pazarlarda değer-
lendirilmektedir. 20
Bursa’da diğer bir sergi, Milli Mücadele sonrasında Bursa’nın işgalden kur-
tuluşunun ilk yıldönümü olan 11 Eylül 1923’te açılmıştır. Cumhuriyetin ilanın-
dan kısa bir süre önce açılan bu sergi ile, Bursa’nın üretim açısından ulaştığı
gelişme düzeyini dışarıya göstermek, Bursa vilayetinde gelişmiş olan halı, ipekli
kumaş ve havlu dokumacılığı sanatlarındaki incelikleri, bunlarla meşgul olan
öteki yerlere de genelleştirmek hedeflenmiştir.
Mustafa Kemal Paşanın onursal başkan seçildiği, hükümet temsilcileri,
askeri makamlar, yerel yöneticilerin de onursal üyeler arasında yer aldığı bu
sergide, Bursa’nın “mamulât-ı sanayisi” arasında ipekli, pamuklu, iplik, yün, kıl
kısımlarına yer verilmiş; ipek sanayinde başlıca dokumacılık dalları arasında,
ipekli kumaşlar, çarşaflar, krep döşin, krep, başörtüsü, hamam takımları, men-
dil, kasnak, abani, hilali bez sıralanmıştır.21
19 Hüseyin Mevsim, “Sofya Ticaret ve Sanayi Odasının 1909 İstanbul ve Bursa Gezisi Rapo-
ru”, Bursa’da Yaşam, (Ocak 2012), s. 341-342.
20 a.g.e., s. 344-345.
21 Yılmaz Akkılıç, “Osmanlıdan Cumhuriyete Dönüşüm Sürecinde Üç Bursa Sergisi”, Bursa
Defteri, 3 (1999), s. 180-181.
21
Seher Boykoy
22 Vedat Eldem, Osmanlı İmparatorluğunun İktisadi Şartları Hakkında Bir Tetkik, Ankara
1994, s. 74-88. 1913 yılında Hüdavendigar vilayetinde, 2.100 tezgâhta, 750 ton iplikle 4-5
milyon metrelik kumaş dokunmuştur.
23 Ergun Türkcan, “İngiliz Konsolosluk Raporlarına Göre 19. yy. İkinci Yarısında Bursa”, Ta-
rih ve Toplum 24 (Aralık 1985), s. 386.
22
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
tir. Maksud’un 9 tezgâhlık atölyesi, Cumhuriyetten sonra Hacı Sabri ve Sait Ete
adlarındaki dokumacılar tarafından işletilmiştir.24
Bu dönemde Bursa’da muharrik güç kullanan dokuma fabrikaları arasında,
Ermeni dokumacıların ithal ettiği bu tezgâhlar yanında; önemli bir işletmenin
de yer aldığı görülmektedir ki bu da, Bursa’da ilk dokumacılık şirketi olarak
1910 yılında kurulan Mensucat-ı Osmaniye Anonim Şirketidir.
1908 sonrasındaki dönemde, İttihat Terakkinin “milli iktisat” politikasının
ekonomik alanda en önemli yansıması, milli şirketlerin kurulması olmuştur.25
Bu süreçte, Bursa’da da milli şirketlerin kurulduğu görülmektedir.
Merkezi otorite, bu dönemde şirketleşme ve sanayileşme bağlamında teşvik
politikası izlemiştir. 1909 yılında İçişleri Bakanlığı’ndan Hüdavendigar Vilaye-
tine gönderilen talimata uygun olarak, 15 Ağustos 1909 tarih ve 171 sayılı yasa
gereğince, halkın refahını sağlamak için ticari ve ekonomik şirketler, sandıklar
kurulmasının teşviki ve bu konuda gerekli önlemlerin alınması Bursa Ticaret
Odasından istenmektedir.26
Bursa’da ilk anonim şirketin kurulması da, bu süreçte gerçekleşmiştir.
1908’den 1920’ye kadar Osmanlıda kurulan anonim şirketlerden üçü Bursa’da
kurulmuştur. Bu şirketlerin ilki, Bursa Mensucat-ı Osmaniye A.Ş.’dir. 1910
yılında, 10 bin Osmanlı Lirası sermaye ile kurulan bu şirketi, 1911’de, 20 bin
lira sermaye ile kurulan Hüdavendigar Seyri Sefain Anonim Şirketi ile 1915’te
50 bin lira sermaye ile kurulan Bursa Şehri Tramvay ve Tenvir-i Elektrik ve
Kuvve-i Elektirikiye Osmanlı A.Ş. izlemiştir.27 Bu şirketlerden ilkinin, dokuma-
cılık şirketi olması, konumuz açısından ayrı bir önem taşımaktadır.
Bursa Mensucat-ı Osmaniye A.Ş, 1910 yılında, çoğunluğu Türk olmak üzere,
12 dokumacının birleşmesiyle kurulmuştur.28 Şirket, 18 el tezgâhından oluşan
aletleri ve İsviçre malı Beninger markalı 6 makine tezgâhıyla, önce Zafer Mey-
danında kiraladıkları bir binada; daha sonra, Pirinç Hanının Ulucami tarafına
bakan kısmında faaliyet göstermiştir. Ermeni ortaklarla ihtilaflar, savaş yılla-
24 Fahri Dalsar, Türk Sanayi ve Ticaret Tarihinde Bursa’da İpekçilik, İstanbul 1960, s. 432.
25 Korkut Boratav, Türkiye İktisat Tarihi, İstanbul, s. 17-18.
26 Üsküdari, Eski Bursa’dan Notlar, s. 23.
27 1908’den 1920 ye kadar Anadolu’da kurulan anonim şirketlerin vilayetlere dağılımı için
bkz. Zafer Toprak, Türkiye’de Milli İktisat 1908-1918, Ankara 1982, s. 62.
28 Hacı Sabri, Hacı Şükrü, Hacı Paşa Rıza Bey, Hacı Abdullah, Feyzullah (Hacı Abdullah’ın
kardeşi), Boyacı Emin, Dava Vekili Osman Nuri, Muhallebicizade Sabri Bey, Ermeniler-
den Haçikyan ve Kapril, bu şirketi kuranlar arasında yer almıştır.
23
Seher Boykoy
24
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
33 Nicola A.N.M. Van Os, “Bursa’da Kadın İşçilerin 1910 Grevi”, Toplumsal Tarih, 39 (Mart
1997), s. 7. Benzer tepkilerin daha erken tarihlere uzandığını ise başka bir belgeden anlı-
yoruz. 13 Nisan 1859 (10 N. 1275) tarihli bu belgede, devletin ipek fabrikası (Hümayûn
İpek Fabrikası) civarındaki özel girişimcilere ait fabrikalarda isçilere daha yüksek gün-
lük verilmesi üzerine, devlet fabrikasındaki isçilerin de ücretlerinin artırılması talebi,
fabrika müdürü tarafından dile getirilmiş ve işçilere zam yapılması önerilmiştir. BOA,
HH. THR. 1275 N. 10, 1229/22.
34 Nesim Şeker, “Türk Yunan Nüfus Mübadelesi ve Bir Kent: Bursa”, Bursa Defteri 1 (1999),
s. 118.
35 Quataert, The Silk Industry, s. 296; Aktar, Bursa’da Devlet ve Ekonomi, s. 125.
25
Seher Boykoy
36 İngiliz Viskonsülü Malingin Bursa’daki “Tekstil Fabrikalarında İpek İpliği Üretimine İliş-
kin Raporu”, 5 Ekim 1872’ den aktaran Günaydın Nurşen - Raif Kaplanoğlu, Seyahatna-
melerde Bursa, Bursa 2000, s. 150-151.
Bu rapora göre, her 100 fabrikada çalışan kadın/erkek, yetişkin/çocuk oranları şu şekilde
tespit edilmiştir:
Yetişkin Kadınlar
Makaracılar ve iplik sarıcılar 65
Ayıklayıcılar 10
Tarakçılar 4
Bükücüler 2
Ustabaşı, kalfa 3
Yetişkin olmayan kadınlar
Çırpıcı 10
Çırak 2
Yetişkin erkekler
Ustabaşı, makinist, ambalaj/paketçi 4
Toplam 100
37 Tekeli, Bursa’nın Tarihinde, s. 17, Erder, The Making of Industrial Bursa, s. 100-101.
38 Hasan Tâib Efendi, Hatıra ya da Bursa'nın Aynası: Hatıra yâhud-Mir'at-ı Burusa, Meh-
met Fatih Birgül (haz.), Bursa 2007, s. 42.
26
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
zın geçmesini önlemek için uygulamaya konulmuştur. Buna göre işçilerin, bir
işe tezkere veya çalışma kartı ile başvurması zorunludur.39
Fabrika emeği üzerinde ortaya çıkan bütün bu baskıların, işçilerin sağ-
lıklı çalışma koşullarını olumsuz etkilediği hususu, yerel yönetimin üzerinde
önemle durduğu bir konu olmuştur. Hüdavendigar Vilayetinden Nafıa Nezare-
tine gönderilen 17 Ş. 1327 (3 Eylül 1909) tarihli telgrafta, Bursa'daki ipek fab-
rikalarında çalışan kadın işçilerin üçer kuruş ücretle günde 14 saatten fazla
çalışmaya zorlanmalarının, sağlıklarını tehdit ettiği ve ipek fabrikalarındaki
işçiler hakkında incelemelerde bulunmak üzere nezaretten bir memurun gön-
derilerek mesai saatlerinin değiştirilmesi talep edilmektedir.40
Nafıa Nezaretine gönderilen 20 Safer 1329 (20 Şubat 1911) tarihli bir telg-
raf da, güç çalışma koşullarına karsı isçilerin tepkisiz kalmadığını, tepkilerini
eylemsel olarak ortaya koyduklarını göstermektedir. Bu telgrafta, Bursa’daki
ipek fabrikası isçilerinin uzun çalışma saatleri ve düşük ücretler nedeniyle baş-
lattıkları bir iş durdurma eyleminden söz edilmektedir.41
Buna göre iş bırakma eylemi, Ağustos ayı ortalarında ve Bursa’dan önce Bile-
cik, Küplü, Adapazarı gibi yerlerde başlamış ve oradan Bursa’daki iplik fabrika-
larına yayılmıştır. Sazak (?) adında bir kişi, eylemi kışkırtmakla suçlanmış ve
adliyeye gönderilmiştir.
Belgeye göre, Bursa’daki işçilerin istekleri arasında, çalışma saatlerinin azal-
tılması, ücretlerinin yükseltilmesi, ücretlerine % 20-25 oranında zam yapılması,
ücretlerin 8-10 kuruşa çıkarılması, en az bir saatlik öğle yemeği molası, iş düze-
ninde değişiklik yapılması, işe alınmalarda kolaylık gösterilmesi, sertifika gös-
termeden çalışabilmeleri gibi hususlar yer almıştır.
Bu tepki karşısında fabrika sahipleri, hasadın kötü olmasını, hammadde
yetersizliğini ve başka fabrikalarla rekabet gücünün ortadan kalkacak olmasını
gerekçe göstererek bu istekleri ret etmişler; ancak bu isteklerin, devlet tarafın-
dan bütün Hüdavendigar vilayeti dâhilinde kabulü halinde, kendileri tarafın-
dan kabul edileceğini bildirmişlerdir.
1910 yılında gerçekleşen bu eyleme, cemiyetin yerel örgütlenmesi olan İtti-
hat ve Terakki Kulübünün arabuluculuğu ile 27 Ağustos’ta son verilmiş; üre-
tim sezonunun sona ermesi nedeniyle de, atölyeler 28 Ağustos’ta kapatılmıştır.42
27
Seher Boykoy
28
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
milyon kuruş iken; 1920 yılında 5 milyonun altına gerilemiştir. Bu da, sektör-
deki gerilemenin diğer bir boyutunu teşkil etmektedir.
Bu dönemde sektör açısından olumsuz bir başka gelişme, çalışan fabrika
sayısındaki azalma olmuştur. 1913-1915 sayımında Bursa’da 41 ham ipek işle-
yen fabrika varken; 1915 yılına gelindiğinde, ipek fiyatlarının düşmesi, ihra-
catın durması, kozanın azalması gibi nedenlere bağlı olarak çalışan fabrika
sayısında % 37,5, sektördeki imalat değerinde %62,4, bu alandaki işçilerin sayı-
sında % 36.52 oranında azalma meydana gelmiştir.49
Savaşın olumsuz etkileri, azınlık nüfusunun şehri terk etmesi dolayısıyla
ortaya çıkan işgücü kaybı, şirket sayısında azalma gibi alanlarda da hissedilmiş;
Meşrutiyet devrinde kurulan şirketlerden yalnızca ikisi, Seyri Sefain Vapur Şir-
keti ile Mensucat Şirketi ayakta kalabilmiştir.50
I. Dünya Savaşı yıllarında yaşanan sevk ve iskân uygulamaları da, nüfus
komposizyonunda meydana getirdiği değişimle, Bursa ipekçilik sektörünü
etkileyen diğer bir gelişme olmuştur. Nüfus yapısındaki en önemli değişim ise,
Türkiye ile Yunanistan arasında gerçekleştirilen Nüfus Mübadelesi sonucunda
yaşanacaktır.
29
Seher Boykoy
52 a.g.e., s. 124.
53 Bursa’da üretimi artan tütünü işlemek amacıyla da, Fabrika-i Hümayun, tekel genel
müdürlüğü mülkiyetine geçmiş; Tekel Yaprak Tütün İşletmeleri Bakım Atölyesi olarak
kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Yaprak ve tütün depolamak amacıyla yeni düzenlemeler ya-
pılmış; fabrikadaki ünitelerin büyük kısmı, ipek üretiminin teknolojik ve mekânsal özel-
liklerini büyük ölçüde yitirmiş; yaprak ve tütün depolarına dönüştürülmüşlerdir. Elif
Özlem Aydın, Bursa’daki İpek Fabrikaları ve İpekçilikle İlgili Endüstri Mirasının Korun-
ması, Bursa 2007, s. 30.
54 Erder, The Making of Industrial Bursa, s. 138-139.
30
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
31
Seher Boykoy
Hafız Rıza Efendi, Fazlı ve şürekası, İsmail Hakkı Bey, Se’yid Bey, Hacı Raşid
Bey, Resulzade Mehmet Efendi, İbrahim Hakkı efendi, Kütahyalızade İsmail
Efendi, Sabri Efendi, Süleyman Razi Efendi Firmaları sıralanmıştır.58
1924 yılında kurulan Bursa Ticaret ve Zahire Borsası da59, Düyun-u Umu-
miye yönetiminin sona ermesi dolayısıyla, 1926 yılında ipek ve ipek ürünle-
rinin alım satımını izlemekle görevlendirilmiş ve konu ile ilgili Koza Handa
bir alt örgütlenmeye gitmiştir.60 Hububat, baklagiller, un, zeytinyağı, sadeyağı,
nebati yağ, yağlı tohumlar, peynir, ipek, yün yapağı, borsada işlem gören ürün-
ler olmakla birlikte; borsanın en büyük gelirini, ipek ve koza teşkil etmiştir.
Borsa, koza üreticilerini özendirme ve teşvik amacıyla önlemler de almış ve
bu önlemler kapsamında, koza üreticilerine, ücretsiz olarak yılda beş milyon
dut fidanı dağıtılmıştır. 1927’den 1938’e kadar parasız olarak 3.700.662 fidan
dağıtılmış, kozacılara ikramiye ve böcekçilere parasız termometre vermek için
25.456 liralık harcama yapmıştır.61
Bundan başka, Ticaret ve Zahire Borsası tarafından çeşitli üretim bölgele-
rinde koza fırınları kurulmasına karar verilmiş ve Apolyont köyünde bir fırın
yapılarak üreticinin kullanımına açılmıştır.62
Alınan bütün bu önlemler sonucunda, 1927 yılında Bursa’da toplam 79.920
kutu (1.998 kilogram) böcek tohumu üretilmiş olup, bu üretimin 64.028
adedi (1.600 kilo 700 gram) il merkezinde, 10.327 adedi (258 kilo 175 gram)
Gemlik’te, 5.501 adedi (137 kilo 525 gram) Orhangazi’de ve 64 adedi (1 kilo 600
gram) de Yenişehir’de gerçekleşmiştir.63 . Böcek tohumu üretimine bağlı olarak,
ipek üretimi de artış göstermekle birlikte; bu alandaki üretim uzun yıllar eski
miktarını yakalayamamıştır.
58 1927 Bursa Vilayet Salnamesi, s. 297. Tohumun kutusu, 25 gram; fiyatı da 120 kuruş ile
200 kuruş arasındadır.
59 Bu borsanın zahire kısmı, Bursa’nın kurtuluş günü olan 11 Eylül 1924’te Bursa Zahi-
re Borsası -günümüzde Bursa Ticaret Borsası- adıyla; koza kısmı da, 1 Haziran 1926’da
Duyun-u Umumiyenin kaldırılması üzerine tesis edilmiştir. Bu iki kısım, 1928 yılında
Ticaret Bakanlığı emriyle Bursa Ticaret ve Zahire Borsası adı altında birleştirilmiştir.
Bursa 1934 Yıllığı, s. 3.
60 “Bursa Ticaret Borsası ve Ticaret Vekaletince Lüzum Görülecek Mahallerde Koza, İpek
ve Teferruatı Alımına Mahsus Dahili Talimatnamedir”, Bursa Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası
Mecmuası, 9 (Mayıs 1927), s. 265-266; 1927 Bursa Vilayet Salnamesi, s. 264.
61 Yetmen, “İpekböcekçiliği”, s. 55.
62 “Koza İstim Fırınları”, Bursa Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası Mecmuası, C. II, 1 (Eylül 1927), s. 391.
63 “Bursa Vilâyeti Dahilinde İstihsal Olunan İpekböceği Tohumu Miktarı”, Bursa Ticaret ve
Sanayi Odası Mecmuası, C. II, 6-7-8 (Şubat-Mart-Nisan 1928), s. 531.
32
1908-1923 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİcİlİğİ
1927 Bursa Vilayet Salnamesinde yer alan bir raporda, 1913-1915 sanayi
sayımında Bursa’da yer alan 5 dokuma fabrikasından 3 ünün, 41 ipek filatür
fabrikasından da 13 ünün Cumhuriyet Dönemine ulaşabildiği görülmektedir.64
Cumhuriyet Döneminde, savaş yılları ve sonrasında azınlık ve yabancı ser-
maye temsilcilerinin Bursa’dan ayrılması ve ulusal devlet kuruluş sürecinde
“milli iktisat” siyasetinin etkisiyle, Bursa’da filatür fabrika sahiplerinin milli-
leşme süreci hız kazanmış; Türk işveren girişimleriyle filatür ve dokuma fabri-
kaları sayısında artış meydana gelmiştir.65 Bu dönemde sektörde ortaya çıkan
boşluğun doldurulmasında, Milli Mücadelede yararlık gösteren emekli subay-
lar ve yeni rejimin yönetici kadrosuna yakın kimselerin önemli rol oynadığı
görülmektedir. Atatürk’ün yakın arkadaşlarından Kolsuz Faik66 bu dönemde
ipek tekstil sanayine atılmış; Bursa ipekçilik sektörüne damgasını vurmuştur.
64 1927 Bursa Vilayet Salnamesi,s.286-290.1927 tarihli Bursa Vilayeti Salnamesine göre Cum-
huriyet Dönemine kalan sanayi kuruluşu sayılabilecek işletmeler aşağıda gösterilmiştir
Firma sahibi Türü Yeri Yıllık üretimi Kuruluş tarihi
Kumaşçı Hacı Sabri Bey Mensucat Bursa 25.000 metre 1894
Bekir Sıtkı Bey Mensucat Bursa 18.000 metre 1910
Ahmet Zekai Bey Mensucat Bursa 8.000 metre 1910
Hacı Sabri Bey İplikhane Bursa 4.000 kilo Cum. Önce
Yusuf Ziya Bey İplikhane Bursa 6.200 kilo Cum. Önce
Mehmet Fazlı ve şürekası İplikhane Bursa 4.500 kilo Cum. Önce
Yusuf Ziya Bey İplikhane Bursa 5.200 kilo Cum. Önce
Bilecikli Ali Vehbi Bey İplikhane Bursa 5.200 kilo Cum. Önce
Yako Venhas Biraderler İplikhane Bursa 7.000 kilo Cum. Önce
David Saban Biraderler İplikhane Bursa 6.000 kilo Cum. Önce
Babu Efendi İplikhane Bursa 6.000 kilo Cum. Önce
Mösyö Romangal İplikhane Bursa 8.000 kilo Cum. Önce
Mösyö Romangal İplikhane Bursa 6.000 kilo Cum. Önce
Lui Bavariye İplikhane Bursa 7,500 kilo Cum. Önce
Moiz ve Şavul Biraderler İplikhane Bursa 6.000 kilo Cum. Önce
Isak Eskinazi İplikhane Bursa 3.000 kilo Cum. Önce
Muhiddin Paşa Verasesi İplikhane Karacabey ? 1899
Yakup Cemil Efendi Makarna Bursa 70.000 kilo 1909
şehriye
Hüseyin Hüsnü Biraderler Gazoz Bursa 200.000 şişe Cum. Önce
Avram oğlu David Gazoz Bursa 80.000 şişe Cum. Önce
33
Seher Boykoy
20. yy başlarına damgasını vuran uzun savaş yıllarının, Bursa ipekçilik sek-
töründe yol açtığı durgunluk dönemi, Cumhuriyetin ilk yıllarından itibaren
alınan ekonomik tedbirlerle ve yasal-kurumsal düzenlemelerle aşılmaya çalı-
şılmış ve bu sektör yeniden canlılık kazanmaya başlamıştır. Ancak, özellikle
1930’lu yılların sonlarına doğru “suni ipek” adı altında üretilen floş ve II. Dünya
Savaşı yıllarında sentetik elyafın geniş halk kitlelerine sunulması, doğal ipek
talebini ve üretimini olumsuz yönde etkilemiştir.
34
1837-1908 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza
üretİcİlİğİ ve İpeklİ dokumacIlIk
sektörü *
Cafer Çiftçi**
Giriş
19. yüzyılın başlarına kadar Bursa’da ham ipeğin üretimi evlerde ve mahalle-
lerde geleneksel yöntemlerle ve tepme mancınıklar vasıtasıyla yapılmış, üre-
tilen kumaşlar ise iyi örgütlenmiş esnaf teşkilatları aracılığıyla imal edilmiştir.
Ancak 19. yüzyıla gelindiğinde birçok alanda görüldüğü gibi, sektörde de deği-
şimi başlatacak yenileşme sürecine girilmiştir. 1824 senesinde Fransa’nın Lyon
şehrinde buhar gücü ile çalışan ve kozadan ipek tellerini çeken makineler
kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Bu sayede kozaların sıcak suda tutularak içindeki
böceklerin öldürülmesi ve buhar sayesinde koza tellerinin yumuşatılması ile
ipek tellerinin çekimi işi hızlandırılmış oldu. Buhar gücü ile çalışan ipek teli
çeken ve ipek ipliği üreten flatür fabrikaları Avrupa’dan kısa sürede Bursa’da da
oluşturulmaya başlanmıştır.1 19. yüzyılın ortalarında bu fabrikalar, başta Lyon
kenti olmak üzere Avrupa’nın çeşitli şehirlerindeki dokuma tezgâhlarında kul-
lanılmak üzere ipek ipliği üretmektedirler. Şüphesiz en başta bu rol Bursa şeh-
rinin ipek kozası üretimi için gerekli şartlara haiz olması ile ilgilidir.
35
Cafer Çİftçİ
36
1837-1908 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİCİlİği
37
Cafer Çİftçİ
8 Régis Delbeuf, Une excursion à Brousse et à Nicée, Istanbul 1906, s. 166-169; Donald Qu-
ataert, “Ottoman Women, Households, and Textile Manufacturing, 1800-1914”, Albert
Hourani - Philip S. Khoury - Mary C. Wilson (eds), The Modern Middle East, Berkeley –
Los Angeles 1993, s. 257.
9 Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti Sâlnâmesi, 1324, s.278.
38
1837-1908 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİCİlİği
Fransa’da üreticilere ve ipek fabrikatörlerine 1892 yılından itibaren altı yıl süre
ile vaat edilen belirli miktardaki ödülden10 dolayı, bu ülkenin Osmanlı top-
raklarından talep ettiği koza miktarı büyük ölçüde artmıştır. Fransa’nın bu
talebi, Osmanlı Devleti’nden yapılan koza ihracatının artması, ipek ihracatı-
nın ise azalması ile sonuçlanmıştır. Bu durumun Osmanlı sahasındaki fabri-
kaların atıl kalmasına, fabrikalarda çalışan birçok işçi ve üreticinin işinin sona
ermesine sebep olacağı gerekçesiyle Bursalı ipek fabrikatörleri, Hudâvendigâr
Vilâyetinden koza ihracatının yasaklanması için Bursa Ticaret ve Sanayi Oda-
sına dilekçe ile müracaatta bulunmuşlardır. Bursa Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası 12
Mart 1892 tarihli toplantısında bu konuyu tartışmış ve duruma engel olabilmek
amacıyla gerekli kararı hükümete sunmuştur. Bu bilginin yer aldığı kayıtta bu
tarihlerde Hudâvendigâr Vilâyetinin yaş ve kuru koza mahsulünün yıllık 2 mil-
yon 200 bin kıyye olduğu, bundan 200 bin kıyye ipek üretildiği ve 80-90 bin işçi
parası verildiği belirtilmektedir.11
Bursa Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası’nın 28 Ocak 1902 tarihli toplantısında görü-
şülen bir konu, bu tarihlerde Bursa ipek tüccarı ve fabrikatörlerinin sıkıntılı bir
durumunu göstermesi açısından oldukça önemlidir:
Koza mahsulü fazla olmasına rağmen Bursa’da ipek fabrikaları kozanın bitmesi
sebebiyle ancak altı ay çalışabiliyorlar, kışın altı ay kapalı olduklarından işçiler ve
üreticiler zarar görüyorlardır. Pasteur usulü tohum yetiştirilerek yabancı ülkelere
senelik 800.000 kutu civarında tohum ihraç edilmektedir. Bu tohumların gönde-
rildiği Türkistan, İran ve Rusya havalisinde senelik yaklaşık 30 milyon kilo koza
üretilmekte olup, bu miktarın yarısı kadarı Osmanlı Devletine getirilebilirse, Bur-
sa’daki fabrikalar yılın başına devamlı işleyebilecek ve binlerce işçi çalışabilecektir.
Ayrıca 15 milyon kilo kozanın üreteceği 10 bin balya ipeğin de 15 bin lira civarında
gümrük vergisi olacağından hazineye önemli gelir sağlanacaktır. Ancak en büyük
sıkıntı yabancı ülkeden getirilmek istenen koza için Osmanlı Devleti’nin %8 güm-
rük vergisi talebidir ve bu yüzden tüccar bu işe cesaret edememektedir.
39
Cafer Çİftçİ
13 Thomas H. Huxley, Discourses Biological and Geological Essays, New York, 1897, s. 265.
14 Tahir Ertuğrul Yetmen, “Bursa’da İpekçilik”, Vedat Nedim Tör - Şevket Rado (haz), Bursa,
İstanbul 1948, s. 64.
40
1837-1908 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİCİlİği
41
Cafer Çİftçİ
Yayın Faaliyetleri
Öncelikle Kevork Torkomyan Efendi, fenni usuller ile ipekböceği yetiştirmek
ve ipekböceği tohumu üretmek hususunda Harîr Dârüttâlimi’ndeki derslerde
okutulmak üzere İpekböceği Beslemek ve İpekböceği Tohumu İstihsâl Etmek Usûl
ve Kavâidi adlı bir kitap hazırlamış ve bu kitap 1898 tarihinde ilk baskısını yap-
mıştır. Ancak bir süre sonra kitabın baskısı kalmayıp aranan bir eser haline
gelmesi üzerine, 1910 yılında bilimsel gelişmelere bağlı olarak kitapta bazı deği-
şiklikler yapılarak ve yeni kısımlar oluşturularak ikinci baskısı yapılmıştır.24
1890 yılında Bursa’da ticarete müteallik defterler ve sair evrak tabetmek
üzere bir Litografya matbaası açmak isteyen kitapçı Murad Emrî, polis idare-
since icra ettirilen tahkikat sonrasında istediği izni alabilmiştir.25 Kitapçılık ve
matbaacılıkla uğraşan Emrî Efendi, aynı yılın Eylül ayı içerisinde, on beş günde
bir defa tab ve neşrolmak üzere fenni bir gazete ile haftada üç defa neşr olun-
mak üzere “Bursa” namıyla bir de gayri resmî gazete basılması iznini istemiş-
tir. Çıkarılmak istenen fenni gazete, Bursa’da sanayi ve ipek dokumacılığının
ihya ve terakkisi için fenni makaleler neşretmek maksadıyladır. Bursa adlı diğer
gazete ise vilâyetteki olaylardan bahsetmek gayesiyle neşredilmek istenmekte-
dir. Emrî Efendi’nin resmî başvuruları Ekim 1890’da iki gazetenin de resmî
kurallar dahilinde hareket etmek şartıyla basılması izninin alınmasıyla sonuç-
lanmıştır.26 Sanayi gazetesi 27 Kasım 1890 tarihinden itibaren yayın hayatına
başlamıştır. Ancak gazetenin ilk sayısındaki bir makalede sanayinin gelişme-
22 Donald Quataert, Anadolu’da Osmanlı Reformu ve Tarım, 1876-1908, Çev: Nilay Özok
Gündoğan – Azat Zana Gündoğan, İstanbul 2008, s. 213.
23 Fahri Dalsar, Türk Sanayi ve Ticaret Tarihinde Bursa’da İpekçilik, İstanbul 1960, s. 429-
430.
24 Torkomyan, İpekböceği Beslemek, s. 1.
25 BOA., DH.MKT., 25/1699, 24.C.1307.
26 BOA., DH.MKT., 12/1757, 17.M.1308; DH.MKT., 29/1769, 25.S.1308.
42
1837-1908 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİCİlİği
43
Cafer Çİftçİ
Verilen Ödüller
Osmanlı Devleti sanayinin ve ticaretin geliştirilmesi amacıyla, bu yönde çalış-
malarda bulunan birçok şahsa 19. yüzyılından itibaren çeşitli nişanlar vermiş-
tir. Bursa’da bu tarz şahısların taltif edilmesi talebi, hükümete valilik vasıtasıyla
yapılmıştır. Örneğin iyi kalitede koza ve tohum yetiştirmekle memleket serve-
tine hizmet eden Bursalı koza tüccarı Karakin Sürenyan Efendi’nin beşinci rüt-
beden Mecîdî nişanıyla taltifi, Hudâvendigâr Vilâyetinden gönderilen 15 Eylül
1907 tarihli 327 numaralı tahriratla talep edilmiştir.31 Bursa dışındaki şehir-
lerde de benzer durum söz konusudur: Dutluklar yetiştirilmesi ve yerli ipek
tohumları husulüyle muhtaçlara para ikrazı ve kozacılık sanatının terakki-
sinde mesai ve gayretleri görülen Malkaralı Teologos Efendi ile Bursa Harîr
Dârüttâlimi’nden şehâdetnâme ile mezun olan Süryek Hanım’ın sanayi madal-
yasıyla taltifi talebi Edirne Vilâyetinin 25 Ekim 1907 tarihli tahriratı ile yapıl-
mıştır.32
Hastalıksız tohum ihraç eden ve Born şehrindeki sergiye gönderdiği eşya-
dan dolayı Ticaret Nezâreti vasıtasıyla Fransa Cumhuriyeti’nde dahi diplomaya
nail olan tüccar-ı muteberandan Avnik Efendi, Avrupa mamulâtına rekabetle
elbiselik kumaşlar üretip ihraç eden ve öteden beri mensûcâtın terakkisine gay-
ret eden tacir Halilîzâde Mehmet Şefik Efendi’nin Ekim 1886 tarihli evrakla tal-
tifleri istenmiştir.33
Yukarıda belirtilen taltif isteklerinden başka en ilginç olanı; Bursa’da Nal-
bandoğlu mahallesinde oturan Mehmed Tevfik Efendi adlı bir şahsın ipek sarıp
bükmek ve katlamak için kendi icadı olan bir çeşit makine hususundadır. Meh-
med Tevfik Efendi, bu makineyi icadı sebebiyle ödüllendirilmesi hususunda
Bursa valiliğine bir arzuhal yazmıştır. Arzuhalde kendisinin hiçbir mektep
görmediği halde, birçok zaman ve zihin sarf ederek bu makineyi iki-üç sene
çalışarak vücuda getirdiğini belirtmiştir. Ayrıca ipek sarmak, bükmek ve katla-
mak için icat ettiği makinesinin fotoğrafla resmini aldırarak gerekli tespitlerin
yapılması konusunda başvuruda bulunmuştur. Ardından bu konu 1893 yılında
Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti Mektubî Kaleminden çıkan tahrirat ile Ticaret ve Nâfıa
Nezâretine gönderilmiş ve Mehmed Tevfik Efendi’nin sanayi madalyası ile tal-
tifi istenmiştir. Bu konuda şahsın madalyaya layık olup olmadığı hususu İstan-
44
1837-1908 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİCİlİği
Sergi Faaliyetleri
19 Ağustos 1322 (31 Ağustos 1906) tarihinde II. Abdülhamid’in tahta çıkışı-
nın 30. yıldönümünü anmak amacıyla, Bursa’da mamulât ve mahsûlât sergisi
düzenlenmiştir. Bu sergi için Mart ayı başlarından itibaren tertibata başlanmış-
tır. Serginin tertip ve idare edilmesi için bir komisyon oluşturulmuş ve komis-
yona Vali Tevfik Bey başkanlık etmiştir. İktisadi ilimlere ve toplumsal meselelere
haiz olan Vali Tevfik Bey, aldığı tedbirlerle dört beş ay içerisinde sergiyi vücuda
getirmiş ve bu konu havadis evraklarının sütunlarını tezyin eden makalelerle
okuyanlara aktarılmıştır.
Serginin açılışı sırasında da belirtildiği üzere Bursa sergisinin oluşturulma
hedefi, mamûlat ve mahsûlâtça vilâyetin gelişmekte olan derecesini göz önüne
çıkarmakla beraber, çiftçilere iyi cins tohumları göstermek ve yeni zirai aletleri
kullanmaya teşvik etmektir. Ayrıca Hudâvendigâr Vilâyetinin bazı beldelerinde
terakki etmiş olan halıcılık, ipekli kumaşçılık ve havluculuk türü sanatlar-
45
Cafer Çİftçİ
46
1837-1908 sürecİnde Bursa’da koza üretİCİlİği
41 Osman Şevki Uludağ, Bursa ve Uludağ, M. F. Birgül - L. A. Çanaklı - C. Ağra (haz.), İstan-
bul 2007, s. 105.
42 Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti Sâlnâmesi, 1324, s. 279.
43 Hudâvendigâr Vilâyeti Sâlnâmesi, 1288, s. 121-122.
47
Cafer Çİftçİ
48
Gİrİtlİ mübadİllerİn İpekçİLİK
deneyİmlerİ ve bunun Bursa yöresİne
aktarılması*
Yusuf Oğuzoğlu**
Bu çalışmadaki amacımız birbirinden çok uzak iki bölgede yaşayan iki top-
lumun ipekçilik deneyimlerinin benzer ortamlarda yerinden sürdürüldüğünü
ortaya koymaktadır. Bu bağlamda, önce 1923 yılında imzalanan Türk-Yunan
nüfus mübadelesi kapsamına giren Giritli Türklerin adada ipekçilik yaptıkla-
rına ilişkin bilgiler verilmiştir.
Adada böcekçilik-kozacılık yapıldığını arşiv kayıtları gösteriyor. Mübadele
göçmenlerinin Tirilye’ye (Bursa) yanlarında getirdikleri ve ailelerin bugün
kendi dokumaları olduğunu belirttikleri ipekliler bu saptamamızı doğrulamak-
tadır. Bu araştırmada dikkate aldığımız ikinci husus mübadele öncesi Tirilye’de
yaşayan yerli Rumların da burada kozacılık yaptığının belirlenmesi olmuştur.
Giritliler onların mekânlarına yerleşerek adadaki deneyimlerini yaşatmışlardır.
1650’lere ait kayıtları içeren Girit Şer’iye Sicili Defterinde bu dönemde
Rethymno (Resmo)’nun Piği, Kasteloz, İstanbul, Marula, Kiryana, Matyo ve
Adele adlı köyleri ile Resmo bostanlığı denilen arazide dutçuluk yapıldığı anla-
şılmaktadır.
İpek üretiminin bölgede yaygın olduğu, yerel halkın birbirleri arasında ipek
alıp satmasından da anlaşılmaktadır3.
49
Yusuf OĞUZOĞLU
Girit (Candia)
4 İstanbul Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi(Bundan sonra BOA), Fon Kodu: A.MKT.UM Dos-
ya No: 547 Gömlek No: 58.
5 1894 Tarihli Girit Salnamesi, Millet Kütüphanesi, Eski Kayıt 503.
50
Gİrİtlİ mübadİllerİn İpekçİLİK deneyİmlerİ
51
Yusuf OĞUZOĞLU
11 Girit’den mübadele sonucu gelerek Rumlar’dan boşalan evlere yerleşen, kendilerine zey-
tinlik ve dutluk tahsis edilen göçmenlerin torunları, sözlü tarih görüşmelerinde ipekçilik
deneyimlerini anlatıyorlar. Bkz. Fulya Düvenci Karakoç, Mudanya’nın Akdenizli Konuk-
ları: Giritliler, Mudanya 2009.
52
Gİrİtlİ mübadİllerİn İpekçİLİK deneyİmlerİ
53
Yusuf OĞUZOĞLU
Belgeler:
Girit Ceziresinde (Adasında) tarımı yapılmak üzere Bursa’dan gönderilen dut
tohumlarının bedelinin ödenmesi hakkında belge (17 Nisan 1865)12:
İstanbul Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, A.MKT.UM Dosya No: 547 Gömlek No: 58
Bursa Mutasarrıfına Girit Ceziresi için 20 kıyye dut tohumunun nasıl gönde-
rileceği hakkında belge (6 Mayıs 1865):
Girit mahsulü olan ve başka yerlere ihraç olunan koza ve ipeklere meccânen
verilmesi kararlaştırılması hakkında belge(29 Mayıs 1893):
55
Selçuk Dursun*
* Assistant Professor, Dept. of History, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey,
dselcuk@metu.edu.tr
1 Çevresel tarihin geçmiş yorumu bir çok kaynaktan faydalanabilir: tabiat tarihinden ik-
limsel dalgalanmalar, jeolojik değişiklikler, bitki ve hayvan ekolojisi vb.; beşeri tarihten
kaynakların çıkarılmasına yarayan araçlar, tüccarların muhasebe defterleri, kaşif ve sey-
yahların günlükleri, doğum-ölüm kayıtları, kanun ve nizamnameler, çiftçi ajandaları,
mülakatlar, mitler ve efsaneler, resimler, fotoğraflar, doğaya ilişkin şiirler ve nesirler, bi-
limsel araştırmalar ve hatta felsefecilerin yazdıkları. Çevre tarihçilerinin burada bir kıs-
mını belirttiğimiz kaynaklara birtakım ayırdedici sorular sorarlar. Bunlardan bazıları
şunlardır: Belirli bir yerde belirli bir zamanda yaşayan insanlar yaşadıkları çevreyi nasıl
kullanmışlardır ve değiştirmişlerdir? Farklı kültür kökenlerinden gelen insanların çevre
algıları nasıldır, yaşadıkları çevreyi nasıl idare etmişlerdir, hangi şekillerde sömürmüş-
lerdir veya korumuşlardır? Muayyen habitatlarda hangi farklı üretim biçimleri (toplayı-
cılık, avcılık, balıkçılık, çiftçilik, madencilik ve ormancılık) gelişmiştir? Sanayileşme ve
şehirleşmeyle birlikte ne tür çevresel (ekolojik) problemler ortaya çıkmıştır? Kaynakla-
rın kullanımı ve muhafazası etrafında ne gibi siyasî ve hukukî çatışmalar, mücadeleler
veya uzlaşılar ortaya çıkmıştır? Zaman içerisinde insanların doğaya karşı olan tutumla-
rında ve yorumlarında ne gibi değişikler olmuştur?
56
Çevresel tarİh lensİnden Osmanlı tarİhİne bakmak
2 Joachim Radkau, Nature and Power: A Global History of the Environment, Cambridge ve
New York 2008.
3 Jared M. Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last
13,000 Years, London 2005.
4 Her ne kadar Osmanlı tarihine dair makalelerin sayısı bir elin parmaklarını geçmese de,
günümüzde tamamen çevre konularına adanmış birçok kaliteli derginin yanısıra belli
başlı bütün önemli ve uzun soluklu tarih dergilerinde çevrenin ve ekolojinin tarihiyle
alakalı makaleler yayınlanmaktadır. Dünyanın belli başlı tüm üniversitelerinde çevresel
tarih dersleri çoktan müfredatlardaki yerini sağlamlaştırmış olsa da, şu anda Türkiye’de
sadece birkaç üniversitede çevreyle alakalı dersler verilmektedir. Türkiye'deki üniversi-
telerde adıyla ve içeriğiyle tamamen çevresel tarihi ilgilendiren konulara adanmış bir
ders ilk olarak ODTÜ Tarih Bölümü'nde açılmıştır. 21. yüzyılda hem sosyal-siyasal ve
hem de ekonomik-ekolojik tartışmaların ana eksenini, dünyadaki bütün politik yapılar
için istisnasız sorun oluşturan ve genel bir kategori olarak “çevresel (ekolojik) sorunlar”
diyebileceğimiz nüfus artışı, sürdürülebilir kalkınma ve büyüme, sahip olunan kaynak-
ların elde edinimi ve kullanımı, toprak erozyonu, küresel ısınma, ozon tabakasının kay-
57
Selçuk DURSUN
çevesinden çıkmak istemeyenler için ise, ufuk açıcı bir davet babında çevresel
(ekolojik) tarih lensinin, geleneksel tarihin alışılagelen bakış açılarıyla göre-
mediği birtakım yapıları ve ilişkileri görmesine yardımcı olan etkili bir ens-
trüman olduğunu söyleyelim. Osmanlı tarihyazımında jeofiziksel, çevresel ve
ekolojik bağlamları geri planda bırakarak, yalnızca siyasî, kültürel, ekonomik
ve demografik gelişmelerle daha fazla alakadar olmak, doğal çevrenin de tarihte
dinamik ve belirleyici bir unsur olduğu gerçeğini şimdiye kadar görmemizi
engelledi.5 Yani, özünde Osmanlı tarihyazımı insan-merkezci bir tarihyazımı-
dır. Ancak çevrenin ya da ekolojinin, insanların yaptığı üretim ve faaliyetlerden
bağımsız olarak var olmadığını ve aksine sürekli olarak bunlardan etkilendi-
ğini ve dönüştüğünü bir olgu olarak belirtmemiz gerekir. Yani, mekansal ola-
rak çevreden bahsederken insanlığın başından itibaren insan eli değmemiş bir
doğa kavramından bahsetmeyeceğiz.6 Zamansal olarak ise, insan-doğa ilişkisi-
nin tarihsel olarak var olduğunu ve karşılıklı bir etkileşim içerisinde bulundu-
ğunu belirtmeliyiz. Bu makalede, Osmanlı çevre tarihi bağlamında yukarıda
bahsettiğim faktörler arasından önemli gördüklerimi çevresel (ekolojik) tarih
perspektifine oturtmaya çalışacağım. Ancak şimdiden belirtmem gerekir ki, ne
birazdan genel olarak anlatacağım süreçlerin ne de özel olarak Osmanlı çevre-
sel tarihi üzerine söyleyeceklerimin kapsayıcı önermeler olduğunu iddia etmi-
yorum. Bir Çin atasözü: “İşler kötüye giderse, dükkanı boya” der.7 Burada yola
çıkarak Greenberg ve Park, sosyal bilimlerin de işler ne kadar kötüye giderse
gitsin yeni moda heveslerle dükkanı sık sık boyadığını iddia ediyorlar. Tabii bu
iki türlü yapılabilir. Ya eski paradigmaları tamamen reddederek ya da selefle-
rimizin yazdıklarını yeni bir gözle yorumlayarak. Benim burada anlatacakla-
rımız daha çok ikinci türe uygun. Yani sırf yeni bir disiplinden bahsediyoruz
diye Osmanlı tarih alanında şimdiye kadar yapılmış olanları bir kalemde silip
58
Çevresel tarİh lensİnden Osmanlı tarİhİne bakmak
atmak gibi bir niyetimiz elbette yok! Şimdiye kadar üretilen bilgi ve bundan
yola çıkarak üretilmeyi bekleyen “yeni ve geliştirilmiş”8 çalışmalar gözönüne
alınırsa Osmanlı tarihyazımının çok da uzak olmayan bir zamanda kendini
çevresel (ekolojik) tarih çalışmalarına yoğun olarak açacağından eminiz.9
Osmanlı tarihi üzerine yazılmış eserlerden yola çıkarak, çevresel (ekolojik)
tarih namına daha neler yapılabilir sorusunu daha evvel başka bir yerde tar-
tıştığım için,10 burada birtakım önemli gördüğüm noktalar üzerinden Osmanlı
tarihyazımı alanında daha neler yapılabileceğini sorgulamaya çalışacağım. Bu
konuların ortak teması doğal kaynakların kullanımı etrafında şekillenmektedir.
Bu minvalde, çevresel tarihin uğraştığı meseleler arasından bir seçim yaparak,
bunlardan hangilerinin Osmanlı tarihine uygulandığında verimli sonuçlar elde
edilebileceğini göstermeye çalışacağım.
Osmanlı İmparatorluğu için, sanayi öncesi dönemde doğa ve çevre algıla-
yışı, doğanın ve çevrenin iyi ya da kötü yönde kullanılması gibi birtakım mef-
humlara bakarak, Osmanlı devletinin ve toplumunun önemli bazı yönlerini
açığa çıkarabiliriz. Buna şimdiye kadar bu dönem için yapılmış demografi,
arazi kullanımı, tarım, büyük yerleşim yerlerinin iaşesi, ticaret, savaşlar ve dev-
let aygıtının oluşumu gibi alanlardaki belli başlı çalışmalarda var olan birtakım
önyargıların yeniden bir değerlendirilmesiyle ulaşabiliriz. Ancak bunu yapar-
ken unutmamamız gereken noktalardan biri de karşımızda altı yüzyıllık uzun
bir imparatorluk tarihinin varlığıdır. Daha da açarsak, inişli-çıkışlı bir tarihin
“büyüme”, “duraklama” ve “gerileme” evrelerinin doğası ve dinamiği açığa çıka-
rılmaya çalışılırken ve bu evrelerde, Osmanlı devletinin yönetim biçimlerinin
zayıflıkları ve kuvvetli yönleri analiz edilirken hep bu sürekliliğe olumlu ya da
olumsuz referanslar verilir. Bu referanslardan ziyade, bu evreleri anlamak için
şu aşamada daha çok ihtiyacımız olan çevresel ve ekolojik tarihin bize sunduğu
imkanlardır. Çünkü Osmanlı devletinin uzun sürmesinin en önemli nedenle-
rinden biri, kanımızca imparatorluğun ekolojik çeşitliliğidir.
8 a.g.e., s.1.
9 Son yıllarda yapılmış iki adet orijinal çalışmaya dikkat çekmek isterim: Alan Mikha-
il, Nature and Empire in Ottoman Egypt: An Environmental History, Cambridge ve New
York 2011 ve Sam White, The Climate of Rebellion in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire,
Cambridge ve New York 2011.
10 Selçuk Dursun, “A Call for an Environmental History of the Ottoman Empire and Mod-
ern Turkey: Reflections on the Fourth ESEH Conference,” New Perspectives on Turkey 37
(2007), s. 211-222.
59
Selçuk DURSUN
60
Çevresel tarİh lensİnden Osmanlı tarİhİne bakmak
ları dağlık bölgelerde yeni köyler kurdular.15 Bu köylerin kurulması yeni ara-
zilerin tarıma açılması demekti aynı zamanda. Bu tür bir “kolonizasyon” veya
“sürgün” hareketi hem devlet hem de yerleşimciler için oldukça maliyetli olabi-
lirdi, ancak fethedilen bu yerlerde yeterli miktardaki doğal hammaddenin var-
lığı süreci daha da hızlandırmıştır. Ancak yüzyıllarca sergilenen bu “sürgün”
politikası Anadolu’nun ve Balkanlar’ın birçok yerinde yeni gelenler tarafından
ormandan arazi açma faaliyetlerini artırmıştır. Örneğin, Kıbrıs’ı daha müreffeh
yapmak için adaya sürülen nüfus çoğunlukla yoksul köylüler, kentli işsizler ve
göçebelerden oluşuyordu. Bu gruplar iki yıl vergiden muaf tutuluyordu. Daha
sonra, hükümet suçluları da adaya göndermeye başladı.16 Bu tarz bütün nüfus
hareketleri doğal kaynaklar üzerinde daha fazla baskı oluştururlar. Ayrıca, bu
hareketlere maruz kalanlar yaşadıkları çevrede yıllar boyunca biriktirdikleri
yerel bilgiyi de yanlarında götürüyorlardı. Bundan dolayı, göç ettikleri ya da
sürgün edildikleri coğrafi alanın fiziksel çevresine yabancı demografik unsurlar
kendilerini yeni ekolojik muhite adapte ederken çoğunlukla sıfırdan başlamak
zorunda kalıyorlardı.
Avrupa’da da olduğu gibi Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda da çevresel dönüşüm-
lerin yoğun olarak yaşanmaya başladığı dönem 16. yüzyıldan itibaren başlar.
Osmanlı için özellikle 16. yüzyıl imparatorluğun sonraki seyrini çizen gelişme-
lerin yaşandığı yüzyıldır. Bu dönemde özellikle çevre ve insan ilişkisini biçim-
lendiren kanun ve nizamların oluştuğu kritik bir dönem olarak kabul etmeliyiz.
Bu dönem ayrıca insan-çevre ilişkilerini şekillendiren ve dönüştüren etkilerin
başında gelen devlet idaresi ve kurumsal yönetim tekniklerinde köklü değişim-
lerin meydana geldiği bir dönemdir. Bu dönemden itibaren, devlet, ya da hükü-
met olarak da okuyabiliriz, genel olarak kaynakların ama özel olarak da doğal
kaynakların kullanımı, dağıtımı ve yeniden dağıtımında daha önceki dönem-
lerden farklı olarak hukuktan kaynaklanan hususî bir güce sahiptir. Ayrıca
devlet bu kaynakların kullanımı, bölüşümü ve dağıtımı süreçlerinde de sahip
olduğu bu hususî gücü diğer bütün rakiplerine rağmen sonuna kadar kullan-
maktan imtina etmez. Bu dönemden itibaren 18. yüzyıla kadar, devletin finansal
ve idarî düzenlemeleri de doğal çevreyi şekillendirmede önemli rol oynamıştır.
Osmanlı tarihyazımı sanayi öncesi dönemdeki siyasî ve iktisadî gelişme-
leri tartışırken bu gelişmelerin çevreye olan etkilerini dikkate almamıştır. Bu
15 a.g.e., s. 10–11.
16 Halil Inalcik, “Ottoman Methods of Conquest,” Studia Islamica 2 (1954), s. 122–129.
61
Selçuk DURSUN
17 Ondokuzuncu yüzyıla kadar Osmanlılar, tıpkı kendilerinden önce Bizanslılar gibi, Iz-
mit-Sakarya arasındaki bu bölgeyi “ağaç denizi” olarak adlandırmışlardır. Ayrıca Evliya
Çelebi’ye atfedilen bu benzetme, bu civardaki ormanların büyük ve sık ağaçlarla kaplı ol-
duğunu teyit eder. Asuman Baytop, Türkiye'de botanik tarihi araştırmaları, Ankara 2003.
18 Suraiya Faroqhi, Towns and Townsmen of Ottoman Anatolia: Trade, Craft, and Food Pro-
duction in an Urban Setting, 1520-1650, Cambridge ve New York 1984, s. 75.
62
Çevresel tarİh lensİnden Osmanlı tarİhİne bakmak
19 Halil Inalcik, “The Yürüks: Their Origins, Expansion and Economic Role,” in Oriental
Carpet and Textile Studies II: Carpets of the Mediterranean Countries, 1400-1600, der.
Robert Pinner ve Walter B. Denny, London 1986, s. 39-65.
20 Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162 (1968), s. 1243-1248.
21 Radkau, Nature and Power, s. 71.
22 Aktaran: a.g.e. s. 72.
63
Selçuk DURSUN
23 Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA), A. MKT. 41/8, 4 Ca 1262 (30 Nisan 1846).
24 BOA, A. MKT. UM. 51/47, 11 Ca 1265 (4 Nisan 1849).
64
Çevresel tarih lensinden Osmanlı tarihine bakmak
25 Halil İnalcık, “The Emergence of Big Farms, Çiftliks: State, Landlords and Tenants,” Tur-
cica 3 (1983), s. 108–111.
26 Radkau, Nature and Power, s. 62.
65
Selçuk DURSUN
27 a.g.e.
28 Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time,
Boston 2001, s. 74–75.
66
Çevresel tarih lensinden Osmanlı tarihine bakmak
29 Kuzey Anadolu’da bu tür örnekler için, bkz: Rıza Karagöz, “12 No.lu Sivas Ahkâm Defte-
rine Göre Samsun ve Çevresi (1767-1775),” Samsun Sempozyumu, 2011.
67
Selçuk DURSUN
68
Çevresel tarih lensinden Osmanlı tarihine bakmak
30 John R. McNeill, “Future Research Needs in Environmental History: Regions, Eras, and
Themes,” RCC Perspectives 3 (2011), s. 13–15.
69
ARŞİV BELGELERİ IŞIĞINDA İSTANBUL’DA
PORSELEN ÜRETİMİ GİRİŞİMLERİ
Şennur Kaya*
* Ok. Dr., İstanbul Üniversitesi, Güzel Sanatlar Bölümü, Vezneciler Caddesi 11, 34134 İs-
tanbul / Türkiye, kayasen@istanbul.edu.tr
1 Bu konu, iktisat tarihi alanında yapılan bir çalışmada da ele alınmıştır (Fatih Damlıbağ,
Osmanlı Devleti’nde Porselen ve Çini Fabrikaları, yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, İstanbul
Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İstanbul 2011). Sempozyum başvurusu sonrası
tamamlandığı anlaşılan bu çalışmadan araştırma sırasında haberdar olunduğundan or-
tak bazı arşiv belgeleri bu çalışma referans gösterilerek kullanılmıştır.
70
İstanbul’da porselen üretimi girişimleri
yüzyılda İstanbul’un Galata, Eyüp, Balat, Beykoz gibi semtlerinde bulunan gele-
neksel atölyelerde sınırlı sayıda porselen üretimi söz konusudur.2 Buna karşılık
Avrupa’da üretilen düşük kaliteli porselenlerin taklidi niteliğindeki yerli por-
selenlerin, nerede ve ne şekilde üretildiğine dair kesinleşmiş bilgiler bulunma-
maktadır.3
Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda porselen üretiminin, Osmanlı sanayileşmesinin
temellerini atan III. Selim (1789-1807) döneminden itibaren, cam üretimi ile eş
zamanlı gelişme kaydettiği de anlaşılmaktadır. III. Selim döneminde Eyüp ve
Beykoz’daki cam ustalarının yanında, çini ve çömlek yapan ustaların günlük
porselen ürettikleri4 ve yine aynı dönemde Mehmet Dede tarafından Beykoz/
İncirköy’de kurulan cam atölyesinde porselenin de üretildiği belirtilmektedir.5
Beykoz’da bulunan atölyelerde üretim zamanla durma noktasına gelmiş,6
buradaki cam ve porselen üretimi Abdülmecit döneminde (1839-1861) yapılan
yeni yatırımlarla tekrar canlılık kazanmıştır. 19. yüzyılın ortalarında İncirköy’de
Devlet idaresi altında cam ve porselen üretildiğinin bilinmesine rağmen, bunla-
rın üretim ilişkileri yeterince aydınlığa kavuşturulamamıştır. Çeşitli kaynaklarda,
Osmanlı’da Batı teknolojisine dayalı üretim yapılan ilk porselen fabrikası-
2 Önder Küçükerman, Dünya Saraylarının Prestij Teknolojisi: Porselen Sanatı ve Yıldız Çi-
ni Fabrikası, İstanbul 1987, s. 53. Ayrıca başka bir çalışmada 1718 yılında İstanbul’da
bir porselen atölyesinin kurulduğundan da bahsedilmektedir (Wolfgang Müller Wie-
ner, “15-19. Yüzyılları Arasında İstanbul’da İmalathane ve Fabrikalar”, Osmanlılar ve Batı
Teknolojisi, Yeni Araştırmalar ve Yeni Görüşler, İstanbul 1992, s. 66). Aynı yayında ayrıca
1719 yılında Tekfur Sarayı içerisinde bir çini atölyesinin kurulduğunun rivayet edildiği-
ne de değinilmektedir (Wiener, agm, 56:dn. 5). Bu iki imalathanenin tarihlerinin yakınlı-
ğı dikkate alındığında, porselen atölyesi olarak Tekfur Sarayı’ndaki çini imalathanesinin
kastedildiğini söylemek mümkündür.
3 Filiz Çalışlar Yenişehirlioğlu, “Osmanlı Dönemi İstanbul’unda Seramik Üretimi”, Kültür-
ler Başkenti İstanbul, İstanbul 2010, s. 403.
4 Küçükerman, age, s. 53.
5 Müller-Wiener, agm, s. 71. Ayrıca Beykoz’da bu atölye civarında ayrı bir çömlek atölye-
si de gösterilmektedir (Bknz: T. Gül Köksal, İstanbul’daki Endüstri Mirası İçin Koruma
ve Yeniden Kullanım Önerileri, Doktora Tezi, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri
Enstitüsü, Mimarlık Anabilim Dalı, İstanbul 2005).
6 Nurettin Rüştü Büngül, “Beykoz”, Eski Eserler Ansiklopedisi, C.I, İstanbul, bty, s. 60.
71
Şennur KAYA
72
İstanbul’da porselen üretimi girişimleri
73
Şennur KAYA
74
İstanbul’da porselen üretimi girişimleri
Nezâreti’ne hitaben yazılmış 1916 tarihli Almanca iki mektubun,33 daha önce
inşa ettikleri fabrika ve diğer yapılar referans gösterilerek, Devlet tarafından
inşa edilecek yeni çini fabrikasını inşa etmek için yapılan birer başvuru olduk-
ları anlaşılmaktadır. Aynı tarihte Fenerbahçe’de inşa edilecek fabrika dışında
Devlet tarafından bu alanda başka bir fabrika inşa edilmesi gündemde olma-
dığından, mektuplarda değinilen fabrikanın Fenerbahçe’de yapımı düşünülen
fabrika olduğu tahmin edilmektedir. Fenerbahçe’de inşasına başlanan fabrika-
nın müteahhidinin Haig Zipcy olduğunun kesin bilinmesi, bu taleplerin ger-
çekleşmediğini göstermektedir. Fenerbahçe’de muhtemelen Atlıhan Sokak’daki
St. Agustin Ruhban Okulu ve bunun karşısındaki Rahibeler Okulu’nun bitişi-
ğindeki arsada veya bunlardan birinin bahçesinde 1917 yılında inşasına baş-
lanan yeni fabrika binası ise I. Dünya Savaşı’nın yarattığı olumsuz ekonomik
şartlar altında ancak birinci kat seviyesine kadar inşa edilebilmiştir. Yıldız Çini
ve Porselen Fabrikası, eskiyen fırınların yenilenememesi, hammadde azlığı ve
diğer mali problemler karşısında 1918 veya 1920 yılından sonra kapanmıştır.34
33 BOA; MF. MKT. 1218 / 58, H. 1334/Ş /29 (29 Ağustos 1916).
34 Bayraktar, agm, s. 34.
35 Önsoy, age, s. 125-126.
36 Damlıbağ, agt, s. 170.
37 Damlıbağ, agt, s. 176.
75
Şennur KAYA
hakkı elde eden bu girişimler, maalesef tasarı aşamasından daha ileriye götü-
rülememiştir.
Bunlar arasında tespit edilen en erken tarihli girişim, Ticaret ve Ziraat
Nezareti’nde mektupçu olan Salih Münir Bey’e aittir. Salih Münir Bey, çalıştığı
kuruma yaptığı 3 Aralık 1885 tarihli başvurusunda kurmak istediği porselen,
çini veya fayans imal edecek fabrikaya 15 yıllık imtiyaz tanınmasını istemekte-
dir.38 Salih Münir Bey, ülkede porselen ve çini üretiminin gerilemesi nedeniyle
bu ürünlerin dışarıdan satın alınmak durumunda kalınmasından ötürü, mili
servetin dışarıya gittiğine vurgu yaptığı başvuru dilekçesinin ekinde, imtiyaz
sözleşmesinin taslağına da yer vermiştir. Bu taslağa göre Çubuklu veya civarında
kurulması planlanan fabrikada porselen ve seramik günlük kullanım eşyalarının
yanı sıra telgraf izolatörleri üretilecektir. Kuracağı fabrikanın rekabetten etki-
lenmemesi için de İstanbul ve çevresinde imtiyaz süresince aynı alanda üretim
yapacak başka bir fabrikaya izin verilmemesi ve fabrikanın her türlü vergiden
muaf tutulmasını istemektedir. Kendisi de burada çömlekçi esnafının ürettiği
eşyaları üretmeyeceğini ve mümkün olduğu kadar Osmanlı vatandaşlarını çalış-
tıracağını taahhüt etmektedir. Salih Münir Bey’in istediği imtiyaz, kurulması
düşünülen bu fabrikada üretilecek eşyaların ağırlıklı olarak yabancı fabrika-
larda üretildiği, bunların Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda üretilmesi durumunda
ithal ürünlerle rekabet edilebileceği belirtilerek uygun bulunmuştur. 1 Şubat
1886 tarihinde onaylanan imtiyaz sözleşmesinin süresi, Salih Münir Bey’in
gerekli sermayeyi bulamaması nedeniyle 8 ay uzatılmıştır. Ancak belirtilen süre
sonunda başka talepte bulunmadığından imtiyaz hukuki geçerliğini yitirmiştir.
Hayata geçmeyen bu girişim dışında, II. Abdülhamit’in saray mimarların-
dan mimar Yanko’nun da bu alanda üretim yapacak bir fabrika açılması için
ciddi çalışmalarda bulunduğu anlaşılmaktadır.39 1893 yılında mimar Yanko
kurmayı düşündüğü çini, porselen, fağfuri ve topraktan her çeşit çömlek ve
kap-kacak üretecek fabrika için 50 yıllık imtiyaz talep etmiştir. Diğer imtiyaz
taleplerinden farklı olarak burada fabrika için Devlet’ten bedelsiz arsa tah-
sis edilmesinin istendiği görülmektedir. İstenilen imtiyaza dair 22 Ocak 1894
tarihli görüşmede, mimar Yanko’nun istediği 50 yıllık imtiyaz süresi uzun bulu-
narak 40 yıla indirilmiştir. İstediği bedelsiz arsa talebi de uygun Devlet arazisi
38 İmtiyaza dair ayrıntılı bilgi için bknz: Damlıbağ, agt, s. 171-173, 184-187, 202-204, 233-
234.
39 İmtiyaza dair ayrıntılı bilgi için bknz: Damlıbağ, agt, s. 173-175, 187-192, 204-206, 218-
234.
76
İstanbul’da porselen üretimi girişimleri
77
Şennur KAYA
78
İstanbul’da porselen üretimi girişimleri
Şekil 4: Mimar Yanko’nun Kuracağı Fabrikaya Tahsis Edilen Silahtarağa'daki Arazinin Yerini
Gösteren Harita (BOA, Y.MTV, 107 / 20).
79
Şennur KAYA
Değerlendirme ve Sonuç
Her ne kadar İstanbul’da 18. yüzyıldan itibaren porselen üretimden bahsedilse
de geleneksel atölyelerde sınırlı sayıda ve tam porselen sayılamayacak kalite-
deki bu üretimin, Avrupa’da gelişen porselen üretiminin karşısında durabilecek
güçte olmadığı açıktır. Bu sonucu, Tanzimat sonrası Devlet idareli üretim de
değiştirmemiş, pek çok Devlet fabrikasında olduğu gibi mali zorluklara uzun
süre direnemeyen İncirköy’deki ilk porselen fabrikasının faaliyeti uzun soluklu
olmamıştır. 19. yüzyıl sonlarında ise II. Abdülhamit’in teşvikiyle kurulan Yıl-
dız Çini ve Porselen Fabrikası ile bir ölçüde Avrupa porselenleriyle sanatsal
rekabet ortamı yaratılmaya çalışılmıştır. Ancak fabrikanın açılmasından kısa
45 İmtiyaza dair ayrıntılı bilgi için bknz: Damlıbağ, agt, s. 175, 192-198, 206-208, 235.
80
İstanbul’da porselen üretimi girişimleri
81
Şennur KAYA
82
İstanbul’da porselen üretimi girişimleri
83
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HIERARCHIES
WITHIN AN URBAN CONTEXT:
THE CASE OF THESSALONIKI
IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
The Ottoman city has been studied so far mainly in terms of its institutional
context. On the other hand, little is known about the socio-economic conditi-
ons of the 18th-century Balkan city, leaving a lot to be desired concerning a cor-
pus of statistical information on urban economy and society. Thus, significant
aspects of the urban milieu, e.g. class stratification or the distribution of wealth
among the sundry professional, gender, geographical, religious and ethnic cate-
gories, are still unexplored. In this respect, the aim of this paper is the presen-
tation of some tentative conclusions drawn from our research into the probate
inventories (tereke) of 18th-century Thessaloniki (Selânik). The study consti-
tutes part of an ongoing project whose objective is the research into assorted
aspects of urban economic and material life in a Balkan metropolis during an
age of gradual social and political transformations in the provinces. We intend
to examine thoroughly and analyze all 60 tereke defteri of the şeriat court, which
cover almost the entire century under consideration.1 These terekes constitute a
84
The case of Thessaloniki in the eighteenth century
separate corpus of defters, alongside the court cases and the records of imperial
orders (mainly ferman), not yet studied as regards the 18th century.2
Our analysis concentrates on three interrelated aspects of urban material
life, namely a quantitative study of wealth distribution, gender participation in
the general wealth and the associated spatial wealth distribution.3 From among
the thirty-seven defters covering the above-mentioned period, twenty defters,
dated between 1696 and 1770, have been selected. From those, 2,534 terekes
have been taken into account after all ambiguous cases (in terms of their regist-
ration mode or the methodology of our research) have been left aside. From
these cases, five terekes have been included in the statistics of the persons and
the total sums but not in the calculation of the sundry values (percentages,
averages and medians) due to their location in the very extreme end of the
property spectrum. We have used primarily the median and additionally the
average, as creditable statistical values so that we can determine the level of
wealth either within gender categories or as an indicator of the spatial wealth
distribution in the urban context. Moreover, the percentage participation of
each wealth category, gender and mahalle in the general wealth and the division
of each gender and mahalle in wealth levels has been calculated.
2 Only Meropi Anastassiadou has studied tereke of 19th century Thessaloniki so far; See
Meropi Anastassiadou, “Livres et ‘bibliothèques’ dans les inventaires après décès de Sa-
lonique au XIXe siècle”, Revue du Monde Musulman Mediterranée 87-88 (1999), 111-
141; Eadem, “Des defunts hors du commun: les possesseurs de livres dans les inventaires
après décès musulmans de Salonique”, Turcica 32 (2000), 197-252; Eadem, Salonique,
1830-1912. Une ville ottomane à l’âge des Reformes, Leiden 1997, 203-283.
3 As for the wealth distribution among social groups and genders see Nikolai Todorov,
Η βαλκανική πόλη 15ος-19ος αιώνας: κοινωνικο-οικονομική και δημογραφική ανάπτυξη
[The Balkan City, 15th-19th Century], trans. E. Avdela – G. Papageorgiou, vol. 1, Athens
1986, 200-238; Rossitsa Gradeva, “Towards a Portrait of ‘the Rich’ in Ottoman Provincial
Society: Sofia in the 1670s”, in Antonis Anastasopoulos (ed), Provincial Elites in the Otto-
man Empire, Rethymnon 2005, 159, 164-167; Colette Establet – Jean-Paul Pascual – An-
dré Raymond, “La mesure de l’ inegalité dans la société ottomane: utilization de l’ indice
de Gini pour le Caire et Damas vers 1700”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of
the Orient 37.2 (1994), 171-182; Colette Establet – Jean-Paul Pascual, “Damascene Pro-
bate Inventories of the 17th and 18th Centuries: Some Preliminary Approaches and Re-
sults”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 24 (1992), 373-393. In particular, Tal
Shuval was concerned with spatial wealth distribution; see Tal Shuval “Poor Quarter/
Rich Quarter: Distribution of Wealth in the Arab Cities of the Ottoman Empire, the Case
of Eighteenth Century Algiers”, Turcica 32 (2000), 169-196.
85
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS – Demetrios PAPASTAMATIOU
4 See Jean-Paul Pascual, “Les inventaires après décès. Une source pour l’ histoire écono-
mique et sociale de Damas au XVIIe siècle”, in Daniel Panzac (ed.), Les villes dans l’
empire ottoman: activités et sociétés, v. I, Paris 1991, 46-48 and 63-65; Colette Establet –
Jean-Paul Pascual, “Les inventaires après décès, sources froides d’ un monde vivant”, Tur-
cica 32 (2000), 115; R. Gradeva, “Towards a Portrait”, 152-154.
5 See Gradeva, “Towards a Portrait”, 155-63; Establet – Pascual, “Les inventaires après dé-
cès”, 113-120.
86
The case of Thessaloniki in the eighteenth century
6 Svoronos claims that the devaluation of the Ottoman currency in Thessaloniki in rela-
tion to the Venetian one took place only in the last quarter of the 18th century; see Νikos
Svoronos, Το εμπόριο της Θεσσαλονίκης τον 18ο αιώνα [The Commerce of Thessaloniki
in the 18th Century], Athens 1996, 109 table 8. Therefore, any monetary fluctuations do
not concern our sample and hence do not affect our argumentation. For a discussion on
the exchange rates of the currencies mentioned in the probate inventories see Establet –
Pascual, “Damascene Probate Inventories”, 376-383.
7 One such case is Helvacı Hasan Beşe b. Osman b. Hasan, who died in the han Luleciler;
See HAM/HK, vol. 99, p. 53 (hereinafter: 99/53), selh Cemaziyülahır 1175/26.1.1762.
8 For example, the Debbağ Mustafa Beşe b. Abdullah b. Abdürrahman, resident of the ma-
halle Yılan Mermeri; See HAM/HK, 79/56, 7 Şevval 1164/29.8.1751.
87
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS – Demetrios PAPASTAMATIOU
we took into account only the cases of those who resided in a mahalle or had a
common job (or both).
Of course, as is the case in all tereke defteri, our sample refers mainly to Mus-
lims - only 25 Christians and one Jew appeared for property distribution in the
şeriat court for the period examined - leaving a lot to be desired as to the other
urban religious groups.9 Hence, our documents enable us to delineate largely
the portrait of the Muslim population of the city, or at least of its majority, since,
even so, it is not easy for us to estimate the number of Muslims who refrained
from taking to the şeriat court for hereditary distributions.
9 The same is true for the 18th century Bulgarian cities where Christians were also under-
represented since they opted for their own authorities (either the clergy or the commu-
nities) when they had to register properties; See Todorov, Η βαλκανική πόλη, 209.
10 In the case of Damascus and Cairo the Gini coefficient has been utilized as measure of
the statistical wealth dispersion within the urban society. The comparison between the
data from the two cities was revealing since in both cases the index amounted to 0.74, an
indicator of intense polarization with regard to the property possession. In other words,
few people possessed the greatest amount of valued fortunes; See Establet – Pascual –
Raymond, “La mesure de l’ inegalité”, 177 and 180.
88
The case of Thessaloniki in the eighteenth century
the Ottoman 18th century. Arbitrary though the classification may be, the fin-
dings of our research seem to justify it, as it will be shown.11
Low category: Almost one in five (23.32%) of the sample belongs to this cate-
gory, which is caracterized by the high level of uniform proprietal distribution,
as the median and the average are almost the same, and the concentration of
the majority of the poor in the middle of the category (around 5,500 akçe). A
smooth distribution of poverty within the population, an astounding economic
uniformity in the poor strata of all neighbourhoods, seems to be the predomi-
nant feature; on the other hand, these people must have been almost destitute,
since they possessed an average property of around 46 guruş. The comparison
with Sofia of the 1670s is interesting despite its much smaller sample; 60% of
the registered properties belonged to our lowest category,12 while 12.5% of the
total number of properties in 18th century Sofia, Vidin and Russe took part in
the same category.13
Low-to-middle category: Most residents of the city belong to this class
(57.69%), which reflects an urban environment of mediocre economic status.
This picture is substantiated by the low median (26,868 akçe or 224 guruş) and
average values, an indication that the members of this category were more indi-
gent than well-to-do. A comparison again with Sofia of the 1670s as well as the
18th-century Bulgarian cities shows that the former has 25% of its properties in
this category, while 59% of the properties of the latter belong to it. Unfortuna-
tely, there are no averages so that we can estimate whether there is a tendency
toward the lower income rates, as is the case of Thessaloniki. On the other hand,
Damascus of 1700 presents a similar picture, as 3/4 of the total of her properties
belong to the category of lower than 500 guruş (around 60,000 akçe), indicating
a low income society. However, without the averages and the medians there can
be no substantial comparison with Thessaloniki.14
11 As for other types of classification see Establet – Pascual, “Damascene Probate Inven-
tories”, 375; Gradeva, “Towards a Portrait”, 165-66; Todorov, Η βαλκανική πόλη, 201-02.
Our classification is in accordance as far as the lowest and the topmost categories are
concerned with that used by Todorov in his study on three Bulgarian cities during the
18th century. He deems all owners of fortunes valued at amounts lower than 100 guruş to
be poor and those of fortunes of more than 4,000 guruş to be rich.
12 Gradeva, “Towards a Portrait”, 165-166.
13 Todorov, Η βαλκανική πόλη, 201-202, tables 13-14.
14 Establet – Pascual, “Damascene Probate Inventories”, 375.
89
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS – Demetrios PAPASTAMATIOU
15 See Hülya Canbakal, Society and Politics in an Ottoman Town. Ayntab in the 17th century,
Leiden 2007, 90.
90
The case of Thessaloniki in the eighteenth century
16 Save the statistical values which denote an important presence of women in the rich cat-
egory it is worth mentioning that the owner of the most highly evaluated property was a
woman, namely Ayşe bt Ali Efendi with a fortune of a value of 8,075,070 akçe; see HAM/
HK 105/27, 12 Receb 1178/5.1.1765.
17 Colette Establet – Jean-Paul Pascual, “Women in Damascene Families around 1700”,
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 45.3 (2002), 303-304.
91
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS – Demetrios PAPASTAMATIOU
A geography of wealth
The discussion on the spatial dispersion of the wealth has been initiated by scho-
lars working on the Arab city. They attempted to refute the orientalistic view-
point concerning the homogeinity and the spatial egalitarianism of the Muslim
urban milieu.20 André Raymond and other scholars demonstrated that the Arab
urban landscape during the Ottoman political domination was characterized by
social and economic differentiation into rich and poor mahalle,21 with the for-
mer being located in the urban administrative and economic center.22
As regards Thessaloniki an astonishing, almost equalitarian, picture of
wealth spread arises from our statistics. That is to say, all quarters partake
almost equally in all categories of wealth distribution (table 3) with a general
tendency of concentration around the sum of 25,000 akçe. In our analysis, we
have taken into account the 24 quarters with a minimum of 30 appearances in
the defter. The quarters which take the lead are Akçe Mescid and Ahmed Subaşı
with 145 and 141 deceased members respectively, whereas the neighborhoods
with the lowest participation are Ali Paşa and Balat. Although this classifica-
tion may be random up to a point, we consider that, in combination with what
92
The case of Thessaloniki in the eighteenth century
23 In the 16th century the mahalle Akçe Mescid was the most densely populated Muslim qu-
arter, while in the beginning of 19th century, along with the mahalle Ahmed Subaşı, had
the highest fiscal units; see Vassilis Demetriades, Τοπογραφία της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά
την εποχή της Τουρκοκρατίας (1430-1912) [Topography of Thessaloniki during the pe-
riod of the Turkish Domination (1430-1912)], Thessaloniki 1983, 90 and 143. Both were
situated in the eastern edge of the city, the former in the south, surrounded by Christian
quarters, and the latter in the northeastern end of the city.
93
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS – Demetrios PAPASTAMATIOU
perties in the first half of the spectrum for all mahalle is verified by the statis-
tics of the third category.
The wealthy and the really rich are few but scattered in almost all quarters.
Almost every mahalle is the privileged dwelling of at least - though in most
mahalles only - one member of this stratum. If we insist on delineating urban
zones of relative wealth, using the same criteria as the ones for poverty stricken
areas but now reversed, Balat takes the lead - a neighborhood with a minimum
of members in the first two categories (only 10) and a decent number of rather
well-off in the next three ones as well as the highest general median in the city
(205,215 akçe) (table 5). Cezeri Kasım Paşa and Elhac İsmail are the privileged
residence of a fair number of prosperous Muslims but alongside a majority of
middle-to-poor compatriot of theirs. Apart from Balat, which was located in
the heart of the commercial buzz of the city, the two other quarters were not
situated in the administrative and economic center of the city; moreover, all
three of them did not form a residential continuum but were spread within the
urban landscape.
Even though a man with a property whose value was estimated at 1,000,000
akçe or 8.300 guruş would not be characterized as really rich in comparison
with the important ayan of the provinces,24 the small number of such per-
sons in Thessaloniki alludes to their outstanding social position. On the other
hand, the very fact that these fortunes are not really important explains their
co-existence with people of lower incomes. A more accurate explanation lies in
a detailed analysis of their property.
Conclusion
From the aforementioned analysis two conclusions can be drawn: firstly, Thes-
saloniki was a city of mediocre wealth whose average property did not exceed
26,000 akçe or 216 guruş. Secondly, the urban life is characterized by the absence
of distinct discriminative lines between the rich and the poor. It is not easy to
24 Although the properties of Thessaloniki cannot be compared with those of very signifi-
cant magnates of the 18th century, like Ali Paşa Tepedenli or the Karaosmanoğlu family,
the respective fortunes of the Bosnian notables studied and published by Nagata do not
exceed a lot from our sample. For instance, the Bosnian fortunes dated in the decade of
1770 range from 539,326 akçe to 2,296,280 akçe. See Yuzo Nagata, Materials on the Bos-
nian Notables, Tokyo 1976, 81-85 and 15-16 respectively, where the properties of one At-
tar Mustafa Beşe and one Elhac Durak-zade Elhac Ibrahim Efendi are recorded.
94
The case of Thessaloniki in the eighteenth century
interpret this intermingle of incomes, estates and assets, the co-presence in the
same quarter of the destitute and the well-off, but it seems that the Balkan city
is not spatially structured along propriety lines. All these point to a direction
different from the one suggested by Shuval and Raymond, concerning the more
layered spatial structure of an Arab city. In Thessaloniki the mahalle are mixed
and do not seem to follow the schema of the Arabic urban context. Whether
this is a general pattern of spatial and gender wealth distribution for all Balkan
urban environments asks for more research.
95
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS – Demetrios PAPASTAMATIOU
ANNEXES
MEDIAN AVERAGE
CATEGORY % OF POPULATION (AKÇE) (AKÇE)
96
The case of Thessaloniki in the eighteenth century
MEDIAN
NAME CASES (AKÇE) AVERAGE (AKÇE)
Ahmed Subaşı 141 17,602 62,395.27
Akçe Mescid 145 27,495 69,260.57
Ali Paşa 28 32,190 228,404.17
Astarcı 38 22,224.5 50,302.81
Balat 28 205,215 523,663.64
Cami-i Atık 79 26,908 113,723.26
Cezeri Kasım Paşa 107 30,611 146,224.14
Elhac İsmail 58 47,331 248,847.84
Gülmezoğlu 45 30,880 164,426.71
İki Şerifeli 97 14,950 44,325
İshak Paşa 52 58,973 200,792.82
Kara Hacıoğlu-Hacı 44 74,811 187,792
Kazzaz Elhac Musa 110 27,074 74,489
Koca Kasım Paşa 62 21,730.50 59,543
Mesud Hasan 41 12,149 18,167
Muyid Alaeddin 85 28,910 93,762
Pinti Hasan 75 33,008 154,131
Porta Kapu 36 29,275.50 51,568
Saray-ı Atık 69 33,545 221,168
Sarı Hatib 36 41,921 142,246
Suluca 68 19,058 29,599
Tarakçı 74 26,613 114,315
Yakub Paşa 74 21,266 58,297
Yılan Mermeri 38 27,674 44,154.84
97
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS – Demetrios PAPASTAMATIOU
98
EXPLAINING THE BASIS
OF PROTO-INDUSTRIALIZATION
IN MID-NINETEENTH-CENTURY
OTTOMAN BULGARIA
Fatma Öncel*
Rural studies constitute a quite essential, yet a less studied part of the Ottoman
economic history. In order to observe the consequences of the early modern
and modern fiscal and economic transformations in the countryside, ninete-
enth-century villages provide valuable cases to be studied. Hence, this paper
analyzes three villages in mid-nineteenth century Ottoman Balkans; Karlova,
Kalofer and Sopot in Plovdiv, which was an administrative part of eyalet of
Edirne in mid-nineteenth century. For that purpose, this paper combines a case
study based on detailed qualitative and quantitative information with a theore-
tical framework to understand the late Ottoman rural transformation.
The rich data required for examining the cases is overwhelmingly derived
from the Income Surveys of 1845, or “Survey registers of real estate, land, ani-
mals, and income” (Emlak, arazi, hayvanat ve temettüat tahrir defterleri).1 These
records emerged out of the new fiscal reforms of the nineteenth century, aiming
at a direct state control for an income-based tax system.2 The extensive amount
of information derived from the surveys provides a unique portrait about the
landholding, agriculture and stockbreeding practices, as well as the demograp-
hic structure of the villages. A critical approach is definitely adopted towards
this source considering its original purposes and limitations it has. The survey
was done as a preparation for an income-based taxation system. Therefore, only
revenue-gathering activities were listed. The accuracy of the information can-
not be checked in the absence of equivalent data. Since the survey was never
repeated, it is unable to create time-series data. However, as long as quantitative
data is used to compare different entities, and as long as qualitative data regards
the historical contextualization of the terms, Income Surveys can serve as valu-
able historical sources.
Karlova, Kalofer and Sopot were exceptional instances of the profound
change in social and economic, and legal institutions. They were detached from
traditional agrarian societies in the nineteenth century; nearly half of their
population was textile producers3 and income yielded in these villages was at
least two times higher than many contemporary cities.4 Furthermore, textile
was not a by-occupation of the peasants; a significant number of households,
varying between 20 to 60 per cent of textile producers in each village, subsisted
only on textile production.5 Textile manufacturers were earning more than 80
per cent of their incomes from textile manufacturing.6 Their rupture from sub-
sistence agriculture took the form of rural cottage industries, what can be called
as proto-industrialization.
Proto-industrialization is conceptualized here as the name of the analytical
tool for explaining the causal relation between the geographic, demographic and
3 Based on Income Surveys of 1845, the share of textile producers in population was 9.9
percent, 50.2 percent, 49.3 percent, 49.6 percent respectively for Karlova Muslims, Kar-
lova non-Muslims, Kalofer and Sopot.
4 Average annual income per household was 1015 guruş in mentioned villages. To com-
pare, average annual income per household was 432 guruş in Samakov,452 guruş in
Tatarpazarcığı, 553 guruş in Balıkesir, 954 guruş in Güzelhisar-ı Aydın, 271 guruş in Er-
zurum. See Kayoko Hayashi, “The Ottoman Temettuat Registers: Significant Results from
a Failed Venture”, Hayashi – Aydın (eds), The Ottoman State and Societies in Change, 214.
5 The share of textile producers subsisting on only textile is as follows: 20% of Karlova
Muslims, 59.8% of Karlova non-Muslims, 31.4% of Kalofer, 40.4% of Sopot.
6 Share of textile manufacturing within total incomes of textile producers in 1845: 82.9%
for Karlova Muslims, 87.75 for Karlova non-Muslims, 85.3% for Kalofer non-Muslims,
83.1% for Sopot non-Muslims.
100
Proto-industrialization in mid-19th-century Bulgaria
101
Fatma ÖNCEL
9 “Balkan” meant “a pass through wooded and rocky mountains”. See James W. Redhouse,
A Turkish and English Lexicon, Constantinople 1890, 335.
10 Barbara Jelavich, History of the Balkans, vol. I, Cambridge – New York 1983, 1.
11 Lefteris Stavrianos, The Balkans Since 1453, London 2000, 368.
12 For detailed information about the geographical locations of each village, see M. Türker
Acaroğlu, Bulgaristan’da Türkçe Yer Adları Kılavuzu, Ankara 1988, 59, 205, 225, 226.
13 Ibid, 226.
14 George Hoffman, “Transformation of Rural Settlement in Bulgaria”, Geographical Review
54/1 (Jan. 1964), 48.
15 Henry J. Bruman, “The Bulgarian Rose Industry”, Economic Geography 12/3 (Jul. 1936),
273.
16 Nikolai Todorov – Lubomir Dinev – Luben Melnichki, Bulgarie: Aperçu Historique et
Geographique, Sofia 1969, 176.
102
Proto-industrialization in mid-19th-century Bulgaria
103
Fatma ÖNCEL
Head-tax payers were all non-Muslim males of 15-60 years of age.22 Based on
that, nearly the same results are yielded for non-Muslim populations.23
This exceptional population density in Karlova, Kalofer and Sopot was
mostly due to the population growth in the region in the first decades of the
nineteenth century,24 and more importantly, due to the migration from low-
lands to uplands. Heavy tax burdens implemented in agrarian settlements of
the Balkans pushed people to migrate to mountains.25 Survey records show that
manufacturing was not subjected to extra fiscal burdens. Income tax (vergi-i
mahsusa) payments of textile producers in Karlova, Kalofer and Sopot were
same with the payments of general village populations.26 A cross-comparison of
these proto-industrial villages with agrarian villages in Koyuntepe shows that
the former was paying even slightly less income-tax.27 There was also a social
unrest, due to oppressions of ayan and kircalis; which resulted with flee of pea-
sants to uplands particularly in the early nineteenth century.28 One can also
count the climatic change that turned lowlands into marshy lands throughout
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a reason for migration to the hills.29
105
Fatma ÖNCEL
The amounts of land,37 landholding types,38 revenues from land, and posses-
sion status over land39 are expressed in detail with the identity of the landhol-
der in the Income Surveys of 1845. An analysis of the land amounts show that
landlessness and small landholdings constituted the most common practices
respectively for households in Karlova, Kalofer and Sopot. Out of 3,038 house-
holds in these three villages, 1,394 households were totally landless.40
Average land size per household was around 3 dönüms.41 Approximately
half of the landholders (755 of 1,644 landholder households) had less than 2
dönüms of land. To compare, lands held by households in agrarian villages of
Koyuntepe (Plovdiv) were 10 to 20 more times larger than the proto-industrial
villages of Plovdiv in 1845.42
To further the analysis of the relation between landlessness and proto-
industrialization, degree of textile producers’ access to land is also important.
As Income Surveys of 1845 reveal, textile producers, compared to the village
population in general, had a more limited access to land. Although constituting
37 The unit of measurements used were dönüm and evlek. One dönüm makes approximate-
ly 916.8 square meters, and one evlek makes a quarter of a dönüm. In this study, evlek
measures are converted into dönüms.
38 Five types of land were registered for Karlova, Kalofer and Sopot in the Income Surveys
of 1845; cultivated fields (mezru tarla), uncultivated fields (gayrı mezru tarla), meadows
(çayır), vineyards (bağ), vegetable gardens (soğan/börülce bahçesi) and rose oil producers
(gül yağcısı).
39 In the Income Surveys of 1845, the tenancy status was kept as follows: If the contrary was
not indicated, the land would belong to the respective household. When the household
had a tenancy status, this information was attached to the related land. For instance, if a
peasant household was tenant on an arable field, this field was registered upon them as
“the arable field rented”(kiracı olduğu mezru tarla).
40 With the exception of Karlova Muslims, landless households constitute the majority of
the population. 71.4 percent, 33.6 percent, 37.7 percent of Karlova non-Muslims, Kalofer
and Sopot respectively, did not have any access to land. Among Karlova Muslims, 31.5
percent of the households were landless.
41 Average size of land per household was 1.8 dönüms, 1.1 dönüms, 5.7 dönüms, 4.7 dönüms
respectively for Karlova Muslims, Karlova non-Muslims, Kalofer and Sopot.
42 Güran’s work on the Income Surveys of agrarian villages in Koyuntepe, Plovdiv reveals
that the average size of land per household varies between 21 to 40 dönüms. See Güran,
op.cit., 192.
106
Proto-industrialization in mid-19th-century Bulgaria
majority of the population in respective villages, they were holding less than
half of the total amount of land.43
Peasant families with land shortage possibly had two strategies; either secu-
ring their subsistence minimum by using their land more intensively, or trying
to supplement income from agriculture with income from non-agricultural
labor; however, the former one would be inapplicable for very small holdings
due to more rapid decrease of the marginal returns.44 Hence, peasant families
in Plovdiv, with very small landholdings, adopted the second strategy and app-
roached towards the non-agrarian activities.
An analysis of the land types show the degree of fulfilling, if any, the agra-
rian potential by the ratio of cultivated fields to the uncultivated ones. As the
survey records show, uncultivated fields usually constituted the most common
land type.45 Therefore, there was not an “advanced process of reclamation of the
land suitable for cultivation.”46
Income Surveys also give information about the land possessions of village
residents in other villages.47 Based on this information, majority of the Muslim
residents in Karlova appeared to possess lands in other villages, whereas non-
Muslims usually did not follow this practice.48 It supports the claim that non-
Muslims who were dominant in textile sector were usually deprived of land.
As they did not have important landholdings in their villages, they also did not
have such possessions in other villages. On the other hand, relatively large Mus-
43 Textile producers among Karlova Muslims held 16.5%, Karlova non-Muslims held
37.4%, Kalofer non Muslims held 44.1%, Sopot non-Muslims held 38.6% of land in re-
spective villages.
44 Kriedte,“The Origins”, 16.
45 For Karlova and Kalofer, uncultivated fields constituted the most common land type. 38.2
percent, 55.5 percent, 33.5 percent of all lands, respectively for Karlova Muslims, Karlova
non-Muslims and Kalofer, were uncultivated fields. The high share of the sum of uncul-
tivated fields and meadows, particularly in first three populations, raises the possibility
of stockbreeding there. However, it was not the case for proto-industrial Plovdiv villages;
stockbreeding remains in the subsistence level as it will be seen later in this paper.
46 Stefka Parveva, “Rural Agrarian and Social Structure in the Edirne Region during the
Second Half of the Seventeenth Century”, in Village, Town and People in the Ottoman
Balkans, 16th – mid-19th Century, Istanbul 2009, 31.
47 The Income Survey records note such possessions with the name of village they were lo-
cated and with the type of possession.
48 Households possessing land in other villages: 72.5% of Karlova Muslims, 33.8% of Kar-
lova non-Muslims, 1.2% of Kalofer non-Muslims, 4.2% of Sopot non-Muslims.
107
Fatma ÖNCEL
lim landholdings out of the village show that Muslims were dominant in the
landholding network of the region.
Related to the question of landholding, degree of agrarian production is very
significant in order to explain the development of proto-industrialization. Alt-
hough the initial definition of proto-industrialization did not elaborate much
on its agrarian basis (apart from the concept of “manufacturing as an activity for
seasons without agrarian work”49); a number of following works claimed that
peasants with a desire for additional profits started making manufacturing.50
However, later research showed that involvement into rural manufacturing was
usually not a matter of choice. According to that, the decision for making agri-
culture or manufacturing is shaped by the social and economic context, not by
rational choice of individuals as liberal accounts assume. They had to be wage
laborers to sustain their subsistence, and in some cases, they cannot accomp-
lish even their subsistence.51 Agrarian economies in Balkans were experiencing
“obligatory commercialization and monetization of [agrarian] surplus” since
the eighteenth century.52 In mid-nineteenth-century Ottoman Bulgaria, manu-
facturing in households have started heavily due to insufficient money income
from agriculture.53
In the context of the struggle for extraction of an increasingly monetized
agrarian surplus, Income Surveys of 1845 devotes great attention for recording
the agrarian production. Revenues from agrarian lands, vineyards, gardens and
amount of agrarian tax (tithe) levied for each crop were listed in the survey
records.54 Based on these records, agrarian revenues constituted only 3 to 16
108
Proto-industrialization in mid-19th-century Bulgaria
per cent of the respective villages.55 Agrarian production had even less weight
for textile producers; it constituted 2 to 12 per cent of their total incomes.56
Tithe payment amounts, as another indicator of agrarian production, shows
that a significant share of village populations (varying between 36%-78%) did
not pay any tithe, i.e. did not make any agrarian production at all.57 For those
who were producing crops, the amount and monetary value of production was
so low that, they were paying very small amounts of tithes. A further analysis of
tithe payments, regarding the types of crops,58 shows that commercial crops did
not constitute an important part of the total agrarian output of Plovdiv villages.
As a result, it is clear that agrarian incomes did not have satisfactory shares for
these proto-industrial villages.
Similar to the agriculture, animal raising was far from being an important
revenue source for all villages analyzed here.59 Number of animals possessed
was so low that it may satisfy only the needs of the households. Sheep raising
would have been common if these households had concentrated on woolen
manufacturing. However, the number of sheep raised per household hardly
exceeded two, which would meet daily needs of household in nineteenth-cen-
tury Balkans.60 Thus, it is highly probable that the textile manufacturers in Kar-
lova, Kalofer and Sopot were not able to meet the need of the raw material by
themselves.
55 Share of agrarian revenues in total annual incomes in 1845: 7.4% for Karlova Muslims,
3.5% for Karlova non-Muslims, 7.6% for Kalofer non-Muslims, 16.1% for Sopot non-
Muslims.
56 Share of agrarian revenues in total annual incomes of textile-producers in 1845: 9.2% for
Karlova Muslims, 2.5% for Karlova non-Muslims, 4.5% for Kalofer non-Muslims, 12.2%
for Sopot non-Muslims.
57 36.2% of Karlova Muslims, 78.2% of Karlova non-Muslims, 37.7% of Kalofer and 42.5%
of Sopot populations were not paying tithe.
58 I assume that subsistence crops are wheat and corn. Fodder crops are barley, rye, vetch
and grass. Commercial crops are rose, grape, onion, black eyed peas, vineyard, and bee-
hive.
59 The average annual revenue from animal raising per household was only 22.4 guruş, 4.9
guruş, 16.4 guruş and 3.2 guruş respectively for Karlova Muslims, Karlova non-Muslims,
Kalofer and Sopot in 1845.
60 Halime Kozlubel Doğru, 1844 Nüfus Sayımına Göre Deliorman ve Dobruca'nın Demog-
rafik, Sosyal ve Ekonomik Durumu, Ankara 2011, 67.
109
Fatma ÖNCEL
Conclusion
This paper proposes that rural studies are highly important in order to observe
the transformation of the Ottoman economy in the nineteenth century. The
approach of this paper is applying the research on certain localities to a larger
historical and theoretical framework. Therefore, instead of a mere description
of a socioeconomic structure, this paper analyzes Plovdiv villages in order to
answer questions concerning long-term transformations. For this purpose, this
study, for the first time, associates the data from the Income Surveys of 1845
with the emergence of rural manufacturing. This approach shows that the com-
bination of proto-industrialization theses with the information derived from
the Income Surveys hold a great capacity to explain the causes of rural putting-
out economies.
Definitely, the proto-industrial villages of the nineteenth century were not
limited to the cases selected for this study. Further research will greatly contri-
bute to this mostly unknown field of Ottoman economic history.
In the first part of this paper, Plovdiv villages are contextualized in the broa-
der economic geography they are located in. Here, it is argued that their physical
and human geography provided the ideal setting for the emergence of proto-
industrialization. On the one hand, they sustained necessary commercial links
for exports, on the other hand they had room for protection from foreign com-
petition and also from urban craft regulations. These semi-sheltered upland vil-
lages were populated densely enough to facilitate the manufacturing.
The second part explains the rupture of these villages from agrarian eco-
nomies. It is mainly argued that land shortage and lack of sufficient agrarian
income caused the emergence of manufacturing in these villages. Commodi-
fication of land and agrarian surplus were the main pillars of the institutional
context stimulating this land regime. Consequent to the landlessness, peasants
were incapable of making adequate amount of agrarian production. Agricul-
ture could not fulfill their subsistence level, let alone commercial purposes. a
high portion of Plovdiv rural inhabitants were not making agricultural pro-
duction at all. They were exchanging their manufactured goods in the market
in return for food. In the nineteenth century Balkans, land and food were trans-
formed into commodities. Thus, this study also shows that self-sufficient local
economies were disappearing by the middle of the nineteenth century.
110
ONYEDİNCİ YÜZYIL TRABZON’UNDA
EKONOMİK İLİŞKİLER BAĞLAMINDA
MÜSLÜMAN-GAYRİMÜSLİM İLİŞKİLERİ
Güçlü Tülüveli*
* Yrd. Doç. Dr., Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Tarih Bölümü, guclut@metu.edu.tr
1 Bu konuda onsekizinci yüzyıl hakkında bilgi için bkz. Melek Öksüz, Onsekizinci Yüzyılın
İkinci Yarısında Trabzon, Trabzon 2006, s. 163-167. Ayrıca detaylı bir çalışma için bkz.
Eyyub Şimşek, Şeriyye Sicillerine göre Trabzon’da Borç-Alacak İlişkileri 1701-1714, Karad-
eniz Teknik Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Basılmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Tra-
bzon 2007.
111
Güçlü TÜLÜVELİ
2 Donald Quataert, Consumption Studies and the History of the Ottoman Empire, 1550-
1922: An Introduction, New York 2000, s.2.
3 Halil İnalcık, “Capital Formation in the Ottoman Empire”, The Journal of Economic His-
tory, 29-1 (1969), s.136.
4 Özer Ergenç, Osmanlı Klasik Dönemi Kent Tarihçiliğine Katkı: XVI. Yüzyılda Ankara ve
Konya, Ankara 1995, s.111.
5 Craig Muldrew, The Economy of Obligation: The Culture of Credit and Social Relations in
Early Modern England, New York 1998, s. 3-5.
112
17. yüzyıl Trabzon’unda ekonomik ilişkiler
6 Laurence Fontaine, “Antonio and Shylock: Credit and Trust in France, c. 1680-c. 1780”,
Economic History Review 54 (2001), s.41.
7 Scott Taylor, “Credit, Debt and Honour in Castile, 1600- 1650”, Journal of Early Modern
History 7/1-2 (2003), s. 12-13.
8 Ronald C. Jennings, “Loans and Credit in Early Seventeenth Century Ottoman Judicial
Records: The Sharia Court of Anatolian Kayseri”, Journal of the Economic and Social His-
tory of the Orient, 16 (1973), s. 212.
9 Jennings, “Loans and Credit”, s. 182.
10 Haim Gerber, Economy and Society in an Ottoman City: Bursa, 1600-1700, Jerusalem
1988, s. 140-141.
113
Güçlü TÜLÜVELİ
114
17. yüzyıl Trabzon’unda ekonomik ilişkiler
14 Bu sonuç İnan’ın vardığı sonuç ile örtüşmektedir, bkz. İnan, “Borç-alacak ilişkileri,” s. 99
ve 109.
15 Sümeyye Hoşgör, “Credit and Financing in Early Modern Ottoman Empire: The Galata
Example”, Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Basılmamış Yüksek
Lisans Tezi, 2012, s. 69.
115
Güçlü TÜLÜVELİ
116
PART IΙ
INSTITUTIONS
AND ELITES
Pane l
Fatih Demirel** 1
Giriş
Osmanlı eğitim modernleşmesi sürecinde açılan yeni tarz okulların yönetim ve
idareleri için layihalar, nizâmnâmeler ve talîmâtnâmeler hazırlanmıştır. Bun-
larda okulların mevcudiyet sebepleri, yönetici ve idârî kadrosu, öğrenci profili,
öğretim kadrosu ile onların görev ve sorumlulukları gibi konular düzenlendiği
gibi okulların nasıl idare edileceği, okullarda disiplinin nasıl sağlanacağı konu-
ları da belirlenmiştir.
Okul disiplininin sağlanmasında ödül ve ceza yöntemleri beraber uygulan-
mıştır. Ödül ve cezaların genel olarak temel amacı, okul içinde ve dışında gerek
asayişi gerekse öğretim disiplinini sağlamaya yöneliktir. Elbette tarihi süreç içe-
risinde ödül ve cezalarda çeşitli değişiklikler yapılmıştır.
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarındaki disiplini yalnızca layihalar,
nizâmnâmeler ve talîmâtnâmelerle anlamaya çalışmak yetersiz olur. Zira bu
kontrol unsurları yönetimin, okullardan beklentilerini ve öngörülerini ifade
* Dr., Artvin Çoruh Üniversitesi, Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, Artvin, Türkiye.
118
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar
119
Fatih DEMİREL
120
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar
imtiyâz belgesine mukabildi. Beş imtiyâz belgesi alan öğrenciye, okuldan ayrıl-
dığında, bu belgelerin karşılığı olarak, bir kitap hediye edilirdi.7
Devamsızlık yapan, derslerinde gayretsizliği görülen, gerek okul dâhilinde
ve gerekse okul haricinde edebe aykırı hareket eden ve ahlaksızlığı tespit edilen
öğrencilere, amirleri tarafından gerçekleştirilecek tembih ve tekdirden başka altı
çeşit ceza verilirdi. Bunlar nişâne-i tevbih, tevkif, izinsizlik, tekdir-i alenî, ihrâc-ı
muvakkat (geçici ihraç) ve ihrâc-ı kati (kesin ihraç) cezalarıdır.8
Nişâne-i tevbih cezasında, sınıf defterinde öğrencinin ismi hizasına, tevbih
cezası aldığına dair bir işaret konulurdu. Tevkif cezasında, öğrenci, dinlenme
ve teneffüs saatlerinde bir saat kadar yazı ile meşgul edilirdi. İzinsizlik ceza-
sında, yatılı öğrenciler, hafta sonunda eve gönderilmez, gündüzlü öğrenci ise
cuma günü okula gelmeye mecbur tutulurdu.9 Tekdir-i alenî cezasında, ceza
alan öğrencinin hazır bulunacağı, talim heyeti huzurunda, cezanın gerekçesini
ifade eden rapor okunur, vukuat umûmî sicile kaydedilirdi. İhrâc-ı muvakkat
cezası, bir haftadan fazla olmamak şartıyla, öğrencinin ailesinin yanına gönde-
rilmesinden ibarettir.10 İhrâc-ı kati ise okuldan atılma cezasıdır.
Nişâne-i tevbih ve tevkif cezaları, devamsızlık yapan, gayretsiz olan, istenme-
yen davranışlar sergileyen, belirlenmiş olan saatlerde, özürsüz olarak, okulda
bulunmayan öğrencilere verilen cezadır. Üç defa nişâne-i tevbih cezası alan
öğrenciye tevkif cezası verilirdi. Öğrencinin nişâne-i tevbih cezasını, daha fazla
alması durumunda tevkif cezası izinsizlik cezasına da çevrilebilirdi.
İzinsizlik cezası, belirlenmiş saatlerde, özürsüz olarak, okulda bulunmama
durumunun tekrarında, verilen görevleri yerine getirmede sıkça tembellik etme
durumunda, bir haftada dört defa tevkif cezası alınması durumunda verilirdi.
Tekdir-i alenî cezası, dört defa arka arkaya izinsizlik cezası alınması, memur-
lara veya öğretmenlere itaatsizlik ve hürmetsizlik gösterilmesi, arkadaşları hak-
kında kötü düşünce ve niyette bulunulması, arkadaşlarına kötü söz söyleme,
7 Vilayât-i Şahânede Bulunan Leyli ve Nehâri Mekâtib-i İdâdiyeye Mahsus Olarak Bu Kere
Maârif Nezâretince Ta‘dilen Kaleme Alınan Ders Programları, [Ders Programları 1310],
Dersaâdet 1310, s. 120, 121.
8 a.g.e., s. 121.
9 Daha sonra yapılan değişiklikle bu uygulamadan vazgeçilmiş ve bunun yerine öğren-
cinin tüm gün boyunca, göz önünde olan bir yerde, her teneffüs ayakta durdurulması
uygulaması getirilmiştir. S.N.M.U, 1317, s. 214. 1909 yılından sonra uygulamada tekrar
eskiye dönülmüştür. Mekâtib-i İdâdiyeye Mahsus Talimâtnâme, İstanbul 1327 (M.İ.M.T,
1327), s. 24.
10 Ders Programları 1310, s. 121, 122.
121
Fatih DEMİREL
11 a.g.e., s. 122. Sonraki düzenlemede, cezayı gerektiren durumlara, yaralayıcı ve zarar ve-
rici alet taşıma ile yasaklanmış evrak ve kitaplar ile meşgul olma vakaları da eklenmiştir.
S.N.M.U, 1317, s. 215.
12 Ders Programları 1310, s. 122,123.
13 S.N.M.U, 1317, s. 216.
14 BOA, MF. MKT, 182/23.
15 Ders Programları 1310, s. 123, 124.
122
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar
mazsa, durumu yazılı olarak maârif müdürüne bildirirdi. Okul müdürleri acil
bir durumla karşılaşırsa, sorumluluğu üzerine alarak, bir memur veya mual-
limi, geçici olarak görevden alabilirdi. Ancak okul müdürü, bu işlemden sonra
durumu hemen maârif müdürüne bildirmek zorundaydı.16 Memur veya mual-
limlerin kesin olarak görevden alınması kararı taşrada maârif müdürünün,
İstanbul’da Nezâretin onayına bırakılmıştır.17 Görevlerini yerine getirmeyen
ve mesaiyi aksatan okul müdürlerinin maaşlarından kesinti yapılması maârif
müdürlerinin yetki ve sorumluluğundaydı.18
Öğretmenler hiçbir sebeple derslerini terk edemezlerdi. Dersine girmeyen
öğretmenlerin maaşlarından, o derse düşen maaş miktarı kesilirdi. Okul ve
maârif idarelerince geçerli sayılan bir mazereti olmadan, ayda üç defa derse
girmeyen öğretmen müstafi sayılırdı.19 1900–1901 (H.1318) tarihinden sonraki
uygulamaya göre, ayda üç defa maaşından kesinti yapılan öğretmene, maârif
müdüriyeti tarafından resmî olarak yazılı uyarı yapılırdı. Tekrarı halinde öğret-
men tekdir edilirdi. Bundan da bir sonuç alınamazsa durum Nezârete bildiri-
lirdi.20
1909 (H.1327) tarihinden sonra ise mazeretsiz olarak derse girmeyen öğret-
menin maaşından kesinti yapıldığı gibi, ayda üç gün derse gelmeyen öğretme-
nin ayrıca maaşının yarısı, aynı durumun tekrarı halinde maaşının tamamı
kesilirdi. Aynı keyfiyet yine devam ederse öğretmen müstafî sayılırdı. Ders yılı
başlangıcında okulda bulunmayan tüm memurlar, hizmetliler ve öğretmenler
hakkında, okulda bulunmadıkları ilk beş güne kadar maaş kesim cezası uygula-
nırdı. Beş gün ile on gün arasında bulunmayanların maaşının tamamı kesilirdi.
On günden fazla okula gelmeyen olursa müstafi sayılırdı.21
16 a.g.e., s. 109.
17 S.N.M.U, 1317, s. 195.
18 S.N.M.U, 1318, s. 488.
19 Ders Programları, 1310, s. 130.
20 S.N.M.U, 1318, s. 489.
21 M.İ.M.T, 1327, s. 14.
123
Fatih DEMİREL
124
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar
125
Fatih DEMİREL
126
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar
127
Fatih DEMİREL
Okullarda, yukarıda ifade edildiği üzere, fizîkî şiddet kesin bir şekilde yasak-
lanmışsa da öğretmenlerin öğrencileri darp ettiği vakalar olmuştur. Örneğin
Küçükpazar’daki Abdüsselâm İbtidâisinde, muallim-i sânînin bir öğrenciyi
dövdükten sonra okuldan ihraç etmesi üzerine, velisi şikâyette bulunmuş ve
öğretmeni dava etmek istemiştir. Olay mahkemeye intikal ettirilmeyerek
Maârif Meclisinin, öğretmenin, bir daha dayak atmayacağına dair, imzalaya-
cağı bir senedin veliye ulaştırılmasının yeterli olacağı yönündeki kararı esas
alınmıştır.37
1918 yılında Mekteb ve Terbiye Müzesi Müdüriyetince hazırlanmış, Tedkikat
Rehberleri’nden, Mekteblere Devam Eden Çocukların Ahval-i Maddiye ve Mane-
viyelerini Tetkike Mahsus dosyada öğrencilerin aldıkları ödül ve cezaların kay-
dedileceği bölümde, yukarıda izah edilmiş ödül ve cezalardan başka “Maddi ve
manevi başka bir mükafat ve mücazat”larla ilgili bir bölüm bulunmaktadır. Bu
bölümün nasıl doldurulması gerektiği ile ilgili açıklamalarda, “Maddi ve manevi
başka bir mükafat ve mücazat hanelerine muallim veya idare tarafından hususi
olarak tatbik edilen ceza veya mükafatlar yazılmalıdır. Yani ayakta bekletmek,
göğsüne levha asmak, sınıftan dışarı çıkarmak, dövmek, kitap, yiyecek vermek …
mücazat veya mükafat yazılmalıdır.” denilmektedir.38 Anlaşılacağı üzere her ne
kadar kanunlarla yasaklanmış olsa da fiziksel şiddet, Osmanlı modern eğitim
kurumlarında, öğrencilere karşı bir ceza yöntemi olarak kabul görmektedir.
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında karşılaşılan bir diğer problem, taşra
eğitim kurumları için öğretmen atamasıdır. Yeni tarz eğitim kurumlarında
görev yapacak yeteri sayıda öğretmen yetiştirilememesinden başka, öğretmen
olarak atanan kişiler taşraya gitmek veya yerlerinin değiştirilmesini isteme-
mektedirler. Örneğin: Sivas Dârülmuallimîni muallimi Sabri Efendi, Kengırı
Dârülmuallimînine naklen atandığı halde görevine gitmemiştir. Bunun üzerine,
Dârülmuallimîn öğrenciliği süresince Sabri Efendi için harcanmış olan 60 Lira-
nın, onun kefili Araç Kazası Tahrirat Kâtibi Salih Mehmet Tahir Efendi’den tah-
sil edilmesi için Maârif Nezâreti adına, Dersaâdet Bidayet Mahkemesi Hukuk
128
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar
Dairesinde dava açılmıştır.39 Adı geçen kefilin ilgili adreste ikamet etmediği
anlaşılınca gerekli tahkikatın Polis Müdüriyeti aracılığıyla icra edilerek sonu-
cun bildirilmesi istenmiştir.40
129
Fatih DEMİREL
130
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında işlenen suçlar
Sonuç
Osmanlı eğitim modernleşmesi sürecinde gerek dâhili ve gerekse okulla ilgili
harici disiplini sağlayabilmek için ödül ve cezaları içeren çeşitli önlemler alın-
mıştır. Alınan önlemlere rağmen, okulların idarecilerinden, öğretmenlerinden,
memurlarından, yardımcı hizmetlilerinden, öğrencilerinden ve okul işleriyle
ilgili müteahhitlerden kaynaklanan birçok problem ortaya çıkmıştır.
Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında öğrenci kaynaklı, yasaklı yayınların
basılması, dağıtılması, kavga, yaralama, hırsızlık, evrakta sahtecilik, casusluk
gibi suçların işlendiği anlaşılmaktadır. Yasaklı yayınların basılması, dağıtıl-
ması, evrakta sahtecilik, memuriyette iken özel ders verme, kavga, darp, öğrenci
dövme, mecburi hizmeti yerine getirmeme gibi suç örneklerinin ise öğretmen-
ler tarafından işlendiği anlaşılmaktadır. Okul müdürlerinin de zaman zaman
evrakta sahtecilik işlerine bulaştığı tespit edilmiştir. Okullarda idârî personel-
den kaynaklanan problemlerle de karşılaşılmıştır. Gerek okul binası inşalarında,
gerekse hizmet ve ihtiyaç alımlarında müteahhitlerin de birçok usulsüzlük yap-
tığı anlaşılmaktadır.
Karşılaşılan problemlerle ilgili, ödüllendirmeler ve okul içi disiplin cezaları
uygulandığı gibi bazı problemler Maârif Nezâreti, vilayet meclisleri ve mahke-
melere de yansıtılmış ve onlar için çözüm aranmıştır.
Bu çalışmada Osmanlı modern eğitim kurumlarında meydana gelmiş prob-
lemlerin sıklığı belirlenmemiş olsa da tespit edilen problem örneklerinden, eği-
tim kurumlarında, yönetimin beklentilerinin ve yönetim tarafından belirlenen
kalıpların dışına çıkıldığı anlaşılmaktadır.
Bu çalışma, Osmanlı’nın Batı yönlü eğitim çabası sürecinde, eski eğitim
geleneklerinden tam anlamıyla kurtulamadığını göstermektedir. Modern eği-
tim kurumlarında, kanunlarla yasaklanmış olsa da devam eden fiziki şiddet
bunun bir göstergesidir. Burada şunu da ifade etmek gerekir ki Batı yönlü eği-
tim modernleşmesi sürecide İslam kaynaklı ahlaki ve dini öğeler göz ardı edil-
memiştir. Modern eğitim kurumları için yapılan düzenlemelerle dini ve ahlaki
değerler sıkı bir şekilde takip edilmek istenmiştir.
131
Fatih DEMİREL
132
Osmanlı modern mekteplerinde
mükâfat
Muammer Demirel**
Bir organizma olarak her gün çeşitli davranışlarda bulunuruz. Hiçbir davranı-
şın gelişigüzel ve kendiliğinden olmadığı bilinen bir durumdur. Organizmayı
davranıma sevk eden bir sebep ya da sebepler vardır.1
Motivasyon, davranışa enerji ve yön veren güçtür; bu güç organizmayı etki-
leyerek bir amaç için harekete geçmeye sevk eder. Güdü, istekleri, arzuları, ihti-
yaçları, dürtüleri ve ilgileri kapsayan genel bir kavramdır.2
Güdüler genel olarak, içsel veya dışsal olmak üzere iki ana kategoriye ayrı-
lır. Dışsal güdü, bireyin dışından gelen etkileri içerir. Bir öğrencinin yüksek not
aldığı için öğretmeni tarafından övülerek pekiştirilmesi buna örnek gösteri-
lebilir. İçsel güdü ise bireyin içinde var olan ihtiyaçlarına yönelik tepkilerdir.
Merak, bilme ihtiyacı, yeterli olma isteği, gelişme arzusu içsel güdülere örnek
gösterilebilir.
Osmanlı Devleti’nde sivil kesime yönelik açılan modern eğitim kurumla-
rının tamamında tüm başarılar mükâfatlandırılma sistemi benimsenmiştir.
Maddi ve manevi ödüllendirme temel yaklaşımlardan biri olarak benimsenir-
ken başarıyı sağlama ve arttırma hedef alınmıştır. Yeni eğitim kurumlarında
ödüllendirme esasının İslâmi gelenekten esinlenerek alındığı anlaşılmaktadır.
Mükâfatlandırma İslâmi gelenekte oldukça önem arz etmektedir. Kur’an-ı
Kerim’de mükâfatla ilgili 104 ayet vardır. Yapılan faydalı işlerin Allah tarafın-
dan mükâfatlandırılacağına Nisa süresinde şöyle buyrulmaktadır: “Şüphesiz ki
133
Muammer DEMİREL
Allah, hiç kimseye zerre kadar zulüm etmez. Eğer yapılan iyilik zerre kadar da
olsa, onun sevabını kat kat artırır. Ve kendi katından büyük bir mükâfat verir.”3
Osmanlı medreselerinde bilimsel gelişmeleri teşvik etmek üzere müderris
tayinlerinde ve yükseltilmelerinde ilmi seviye ve gelişme esas alınmıştır. Med-
rese talebeleri de her düzeyde başarı esas alınmıştır. Öğrenciler sınıflarına göre
ücret aldıkları gibi derslerde başarı durumlarına göre mali mükâfat verildiği
gibi tayinlerde de başarı derecesi temel teşkil etmiştir.
Medreselerde öğrenme ve üst eğitime geçişte en üst düzey manevi ve maddi
mükâfat vasıtaları kullanılmıştır. En başarılıların müderris olmak üzere muid
seçilmesi ve müderrislerin hariç, dâhil, Sahn-ı Seman gibi medreselere yüksel-
meleri ile ücretlerinin artması hem maddi hem de manevi mükâfat vasıtası ola-
rak düzenlenmiştir. Ayrıca talebeler başarı durumlarına göre mükâfatlandırılır;
günlük ve aylık bursları arttırıldığı gibi kalabalık odalardan müstakil odalara
intikal ettirilirmişlerdir.4
Sultan II. Mahmud İmparatorlukta modern dönüşüm reformlarına sivil
kesime yönelik eğitim kurumları olan rüşdiye mekteplerini de katmıştır.
Modern Türkiye eğitim kurumlarının öncüsü olan rüşdiye mektepleri 1839’da
açıldığında gelişmeleri ve toplumda kabul görmeleri için gerekli düzenlemeler
yapılmıştır.
Bu okul üç sınıf olacak ve alınacak öğrenciler eğitim seviyelerine göre bu
sınıflara alınacaktır. Okul müdürlüğüne ikinci rütbeden tayin edilecek şahsa
dört bin kuruş maaş verilecek, Arapça ve Farsça hocalarına ve sülüs, divani,
rik’a, siyakat ve iyi yazı yazabilen bir hocaya ikişer bin kuruş maaş verilecektir.
Yatılı öğrencilerin geceleyin nöbetini tutmak ve Müdüre yardımcı olmak üzere
iki kişi ve bir kahvecinin beşer yüz kuruş maaşla istihdam edilmeleri, iki yüz
elli kuruş maaşla bir kapıcı, temizlik ve hocalar ile öğrencilerin alış verişlerini
yapmak üzere yedi kişi yüzer kuruş maaşla, yüz elli kuruş maaşla bir aşçıbaşı,
yüz kuruş maaş ile bir kalfa ve altmışar kuruş maaş ile iki çırak istihdam edile-
cektir. Ayrıca hocaların uygun görecekleri kütüphaneye yeteri kadar kitap satın
alınacaktır.
Okula, Bâb-i Âlî ve Bâb-ı Defteri kalemlerinde bulunan stajer memur-
lar (şakirdan) ve çalışan memurların çocukları öğrenci olarak alınacaktır. Bu
öğrenci alımında istekliler dilekçe ile Mekâtib-i Rüşdiye Nazırı’na müracaat
134
Osmanlı modern mekteplerinde mükâfat
5 BOA, MAD, No. 8999, s.15-17; Bu belge İhsan Sungu tarafından yayınlanmıştır: İhsan
Sungu, “Mekteb-i Maarif-i Adliyenin Tesisi”, Tarih Vesikaları Dergisi 1/3 (1941), s. 212-
225.
135
Muammer DEMİREL
136
Osmanlı modern mekteplerinde mükâfat
137
Muammer DEMİREL
Modern eğitimdeki güdüleme ile başarıyı sağlama yöntemi olan ödül verme
bu okul öğrencilerine sistemli bir şekilde uygulanmıştır. Birinci sınıfa kayıt
yaptıran öğrencilere diğer okul öğrencilerinden farklı oldukları duygusunu
vermek için nişân-i aferin olan sim nişan verilmiştir. Yılsonunda yapılan sınav-
larda başarı gösterip ikinci sınıfa geçen on dokuz öğrenciye şevklerini artırmak
için yaldızlı nişan-i aferin verilmiştir.12
1869 tarihinde Maarif-i Umumiye Nizamnamesi yayınlanarak Osmanlı
Devleti’ndeki tüm eğitim faaliyetleri kanunla yapılandırılmıştır. Nizamnameye
göre, mevcut eğitim kurumu Sultani mektebi ile açılması planlanan idadi mek-
teplerinde başarılı olacak öğrenciler için mükâfat verilmesi karara bağlanmıştır.
İdadi ve Sultani mekteplerinin tatil zamanından yirmi gün önce kabiliyetli ve
sınava giren öğrenciler sınıflarına göre birer odaya konularak kendilerine veri-
lecek birer meseleye dair risale kaleme aldırıldıktan sonra özel bir sınav komis-
yonunda değerlendirip kabul edilenlerin sahiplerine derecesine göre mükâfat
verilecektir. Kazananlara ödül verilmek üzere bir resmi merasim komitesi oluş-
turularak tören düzenlenecektir. Sınav İstanbul’da ise komita Maarif Nazırının
başkanlığında ve Meclis-i Kebir-i Maarif heyeti ile Darülfünun erkânı, mekâtib
nazırları, vükelâ-ı fihâm (itibarlı kişiler), büyükelçiler, yüksek memurlar, sınav
vilayette ise valinin başkanlığında olarak yerel hükümet memurları, Meclis-i
Maarif üyeleri, sınav olunan öğrencilerin aileleri ve halktan ileri gelen kişi-
ler hazır bulundukları hâlde özel bir yerde tören yapılacaktır. Toplanan heyet
huzurunda ödül alacak öğrencilerin isimleri sesli olarak okunacak ve her biri
ödülünü Maarif Nazırının veya valinin elinden alacaktır. Birinci olanlara Sul-
tani Mektebi’nin yüksek bölümünün üçüncü senesi dersleri sınavlarına ait olan
iki adet gümüş ve idadi mekteplerinin üçüncü senesi imtihanları için iki tunç
madalya verilecektir.13
Maarif Nizamnamesinde idadi ve sultani mektepleri öğrencilerinin
mükâfatından bahsedilmesine rağmen rüşdiye mektebleri de Nizamname’yi
esas alarak mükâfat dağıtma törenleri düzenlenmişlerdir. 1873 Temmuz’da
İstanbul rüşdiye mektepleri öğrencilerinin mükâfatlarını dağıtmak üzere tören
tertip edilmiş ve tören için Darülmaarif Mektebi bahçesi uygun olduğundan
tahsis edilmiş ve Sultani Mektebinin törenlerinde kullanılan tente ve çadırlar
138
Osmanlı modern mekteplerinde mükâfat
ile bahçeyi süslemek üzere Sultani Mektebi töreninde kullanılan bayraklar tah-
sis edilmiştir.14
İdadi mekteplerinde mükâfat ve cezalar konusunda 1892 tarihinde
çıkarılan talimatnamede ayrıntılı açıklama yapılmıştır. Talimatnamede
mükâfatlandırılmanın okuldaki davranışlar ve dersler bazında uygulanması
getirilmiştir.
Derslere devam eden, çalışkan ve okul içinde ahlaklı davranan öğrenciye
aferin, tahsin (iyi ve güzel bulma) ve imtiyaz adıyla üç ayrı mükâfat verilmesi
kararlaştırılmıştır. Bu belgeler matbu olup üzerine öğrencinin ismi ve mükâfatı
hangi dersten aldığı ile mükâfat sebebi yazıldıktan sonra müdür veya müdür
yardımcısı tarafından imzalanacaktır. Dört aferin belgesi bir tahsin, iki tah-
sin belgesi bir imtiyaz belgesine karşılıktır. Beş imtiyaz belgesi alan öğrenciye
okulu bitirdiğinde bir kitap hediye edilecektir.15
Sultan II. Abdülhamid döneminde idadi mekteplerine daha fazla önem
verildiğinden başarılı olanlarına verilecek maddi ödüller geliştirilmiştir. 1907-
1908 öğretim yılı İstanbul idadilerinden derece ile mezun olan öğrencilere saat
hediye edilmiştir. İstanbul’da bulunan altı idadi mektebinde dağıtılmak üzere
114 saat satın alınmış ve saatlerin bedeli 60 Osmanlı altını tutmaktadır. Tah-
mini hesaplama ile her bir saatin günümüzde değeri 340 TL civarındadır. Saat-
ler okulların öğrenci mevcutlarına göre dağıtılmış olup Mercan İdadisine 36,
Vefa İdadisine 38, Kabataş İdadisine 16, Üsküdar İdadisine 16, Davudpaşa İda-
disine 4 ve Makriköy İdadisine 4 saat dağıtılmıştır.16
1869 Maarif Nizamnamesi ile okullarda ve vilayetlerde dereceye giren
öğrencilere törenle ödül verilmesi kararı İstanbul ve vilayetlerde uygulanmış ve
yapılan törenler ayrıntılı olarak Maarif Nezareti’ne bildirilmiştir.
Taşrada da idadi mekteplerinde başarılı olan öğrencilere maddi mükâfat
verilmesine dikkat edilmiş ve mükâfat törenleri her yıl düzenli olarak yapıl-
mıştır. Mükâfata hak kazananlara saat hediye edilmesi uygulaması Çatalca’da
da devam ettirilmiştir. 1894 yılı Çatalca İdadisi mezunlarından mükâfata layık
bulunanlara saat ve kitap satın alınarak hediye edilmiştir.17
139
Muammer DEMİREL
140
Osmanlı modern mekteplerinde mükâfat
Nazırının katılması üzerine törene bir bölük asker ile bando takımı törende
geçit yapmaktaydı.22
Mekteb-i Mülkiye’nin 1894 mezuniyet töreninde dereceye giren öğrencilere
altın saat hediye edilmiştir.23
Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi öğrencilerinden 1884 yılı mezunlarından birinci
ve ikinci olanlara gümüş madalya ödülü verilmesi hususunda Padişah iradesi
çıkarılmıştır.24
1886 yılında Kız Sanayi Mektebi talebelerinden mezun olanlarına ve başarı
gösterenlere mükâfat verilmesi sırasında bu başarıya katkı sağlayan öğretme-
lere de ödül olarak nişan verilmesi konusunda Padişah emri çıkarılmıştır.25
Sonuç
Osmanlı döneminde modern okulların gelişmesi devlet ve ülkenin gelişmesi
için ana etkenlerden biri olarak kabul edilmiş ve bu okullara büyük önem veril-
miştir. Okulların gelişmesi ve okullarda okuyanların başarılı olması ve çağdaş
eğitim düzeyinde bilgi ve beceriye sahip olması hedeflenmiştir. Bu hedefin ger-
çekleşmesi için okulların açılması, bina teçhizat ve maddi tahsisat imkânlar
ölçüsünde sağlanmış, nitelikli öğretmenler tayin edilmiştir. Bu maddi altyapı
yanında öğrencileri mekteplere çekecek ve mekteplerde başarılı olmaları için
teşvik edecek mükâfat yöntemi ciddi bir şekilde uygulanmıştır. Mükâfat siste-
minde okullardan mezun olanların tamamına manevi ve maddi ödül verilmiş
ve dereceye girenler ise maddi olarak tatmin ve teşvik edici ölçüde ödüllendi-
rilmiştir. Eğitimci hocalar da bu motive edici mükâfat sistemi içerisinde değer-
lendirilerek manevi ve maddi olarak ödüllendirilmiştir.
141
Osmanlı Modernleşme
döneminde taşrada öğretmen eğitimi:
Diyarbakır örneği
Hatip Yıldız**
Giriş
Osmanlı Devleti’nde öğretmen yetiştirme çabalarının başlangıcı Fatih Sul-
tan Mehmed’in hükümdarlığına kadar uzanmaktadır. Fatih Sultan Mehmed,
Eyüp ve Ayasofya medreselerinde, sıbyan mektebi muallimi olacaklar için
genel medreselerden farklı bir program öngörmüştür. Fakat Fatih’in bu önemli
ve yenilikçi teşebbüsü kendisinden sonra devam ettirilmemiş ve 1848 yılında
Dârülmuallimin’in kuruluşuna kadar öğretmen yetiştirme ile ilgili önemli bir
gelişme yaşanmamıştır.1
Bilindiği gibi, ilk rüşdîye mektebi 1839 yılında İstanbul’da açılmıştır.
1846’dan sonra rüşdîyeler hızla çoğalmaya başlamış ve modern tarzda eğitim
veren bu okullara öğretmen yetiştirmek bir ihtiyaç haline gelmiştir. Bu nedenle,
Kemal Efendi’nin girişimiyle 16 Mart 1848 tarihinde İstanbul’un Fatih sem-
tinde “Dârülmuallimin” adlı bir okul açılmıştır. Mektebin ilk nizamnamesi,
buraya müdür olarak tayin edilen Ahmed Cevdet Efendi (Paşa) tarafından 1
Mayıs 1851 tarihinde hazırlanmıştır.2
Dârülmuallimin’in açılışını takip eden yıllarda sıbyan mekteplerinin öğret-
men ihtiyacının artması, bu mektepler için de öğretmen yetiştirme soru-
nunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. Sıbyan mekteplerine öğretmen yetiştirmek için okul
* Yrd. Doç. Dr., Dicle Üniversitesi, Ziya Gökalp Eğitim Fakültesi, Sosyal Bilgiler Öğret-
menliği Anabilim Dalı, Diyarbakır, Türkiye, hatipyildiz@mynet.com
1 Yücel Gelişli, Öğretmen Yetiştirmede Ankara Yüksek Öğretmen Okulu Uygulaması, İstan-
bul 2006, s. 9.
2 İbrahim Arslanoğlu, Kastamonu Öğretmen Okulları (1884-1977), İstanbul 1998, s. 19.
142
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
143
Hatip YILDIZ
144
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
Tablo 1. 1899-1900 Öğretim Yılı Taşra Darülmuallimin-i Sıbyanları Haftalık Ders Dağıtım
Çizelgesi
Yıllar ve Haftalık Ders Saatleri
Dersler
I. Yıl II. Yıl
Kur’an-ı Kerim ma’a Tecvid 3 2
Arabî 2 2
Farisi 2 1
Kavaid-i Türkiye ve İmla 2 3
Hesab 2 2
Tarih 2 2
Coğrafya 2 2
Hat 2 1
Toplam 17 15
145
Hatip YILDIZ
Dİyarbekİr Dârülmuallİmİnİ
1. Kuruluşu
H.1300 (1882/1883) yılı kayıtlarında açılmak üzere olduğu ifade edilen Diyar-
bekir Dârülmuallimini,16 Vali Samih Paşa tarafından H.1301 (1883/1884)
yılında şehir merkezinde açılmıştır.17
H.1301 (1883/1884) ve H.1302 (1884/1885) yıllarına ait vilayet kayıtlarından
bu tarihlerde aktif olduğu anlaşılan darülmuallimin, muhtemelen ekonomik
sıkıntılar nedeniyle daha sonra kapanmıştır. Çünkü 1887 yılına kadar darülmu-
alliminle ilgili herhangi bir kayda rastlanmamaktadır. Ayrıca, 1887’den itibaren
ki belgelerde, “vilayet merkezinde açılacak darülmualliminin daimi masraf-
larının karşılanması” meselesinin tartışılması, mektebin ekonomik nedenlere
kapatıldığı tezini güçlendirmektedir.
Diyarbekir Vilayeti, bir süredir kapalı olan darülmualliminin açılması için
1887 yılında yeniden harekete geçmiştir. Mektebin daimi masraflarını kar-
şılamak üzere bir arayış içerisine giren Diyarbekir Valisi Arif Bey, Maarif
14 a.g.e., s. 16.
15 BOA, DH. İD, 139/16, Dâhiliye Nezareti Umur-ı Mahalliye İdaresi’nin 28 Aralık 1913 (15
Kânunuevvel 1329) tarihli tahriratı.
16 DVS, H. 1300, s. 164.
17 DVS, H. 1302, s. 351.
146
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
Nezareti’ne gönderdiği 28 Mart 1887 (16 Mart 1303) tarihli yazıda şu önerilere
yer vermiştir:18
Vilayet merkezinde açılacak darülmuallimin ile on adet ibtidai mektebinin daimi
masraflarına karşılık tutulan evkaf-ı münderiseden (harcama yapılacak kişi veya
kurumlarından eser kalmamış vakıflar) bir şey hâsıl olmamakta ve vakıf fazlasın-
dan kifayet miktarı akçe elde etmek dahi mümkün görünmemektedir. Bu nedenle,
bunlar için yıllık gerekli olan 36.000 kuruşun mutlaka erbabiyet nevinden olan
vakıfların toplam gelirinden % 10 ve evladiyete meşrut vakıfların (kişinin evlatla-
rına vakfetmeyi şart koştuğu vakıflar) gelirinden % 5 alınması vilayetçe kararlaştı-
rılmıştır. Ancak, söz konusu kararı bazı mütevelliler uygun görmediklerinden ya
bu kararın uygulamaya konulması veyahut sözü edilen masrafın maarif gelirinin
yedide bir ve dörtte birlik kısmından karşılanmasına izin verilmesi Meclis-i İdare
kararıyla arz ve istizan olunur.
Maarif geliriyle ilgili öneriye değinmeyen Maarif Nezareti’ne göre, sözü edilen
mekteblere başka taraftan gelir tedariki mümkün olmayıp, söz konusu vakıf-
ların geliriyle ilgili kararın icrası ise mümkün ve maslahata muvafık olduğun-
dan, Evkaf Nezareti’nce de onaylanması durumunda, gereğinin yapılması için
Diyarbekir Vilayeti Evkaf Muhasebeciliği’ne emir verilmesi uygundur.19 Ancak,
Maliye Nezareti’ne göre, maarife verilmesi gereken evkaf-ı münderisenin çeşidi
ve mahiyeti ilgili yazılarda belirtilmiş olmasına nazaran bunların dışında vakıf-
ların gelirine müdahale caiz değildir.20 Bu durumda, adı geçen mekteblerin
masraflarına karşılık tutulan evkaf-ı münderiseden de bir şey hâsıl olmadığın-
dan ihtiyaçlarının mahallince karşılanması kararlaştırılmıştır.21 Böylece, mek-
tebin daimi masraflarına karşılık bulunarak açılması için yaklaşık bir yıldır
devam eden yazışmalar neticesiz kalmış ve mektebin açılışı dört buçuk yıl daha
gecikmiştir.
Bütün mali zorluklara rağmen, Diyarbekir Darülmuallimin Şubesi, Müslü-
man ibtidai ve sıbyan mekteblerine istenilen vasıflara haiz muallimler yetiş-
tirmek üzere 8 Haziran 1893 (27 Mayıs 1309) tarihinde yeniden açılmıştır.22
147
Hatip YILDIZ
148
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
zamanda varlığı lüzumlu olan böyle bir faydalı eserin devamına çare olmak üzere
başka tedbirler alınması gerekli görülmüştür.25
Diyarbekir Maarif Müdürlüğü, 1893 yılı sonları ile 1894 yılı başlarında
darülmualliminden istenilen faydanın sağlanamamasını, talebenin yoksullu-
ğunun yanı sıra, darülmuallimin mualliminin ehliyetsizliğine de bağlamış ve
yerine iktidarlı bir muallimin atanmasını Maarif Nezareti’nden talep etmiştir.26
Bu iki durumu da değerlendiren Maarif Nezareti, Diyarbekir Vilayeti’ne
gönderdiği 6 Ocak 1894 tarihli yazıda şu cevabı vermiştir:
Sair vilayetlerde bulunan darülmuallimin talebesine maaş tahsisinin emsali olma-
yıp, fakat oraca icab ettiğinde evkaf-ı münderise gelirinden münasib miktar karşılık
bulunabildiği surette kâfi miktarda maaş tahsisi uygun olabilir. Muallimin ehliyet-
sizliği maddesine gelince, sözü edilen muallim bütün mekteblerde istihdam edilen
muallimlere denktir.27
25 BOA, MF. MKT, 195/77, Diyarbekir Vilayeti Maarif Meclisi’nin 3 Ocak 1894 (23
Cemaziyülâhır 1314/22 Kânunuevvel 1309) tarih ve 26 sayılı kararı.
26 BOA, MF. MKT, 191/126.
27 BOA, MF. MKT, 191/126, Maarif Nezaretinin 6 Ocak 1894 (28 Cemaziyülâhır 1311/25
Kânunuevvel 1309) tarihli yazısı.
28 BOA, MF. MKT, 329/30, Diyarbekir Maarif Müdürünün Maarif Nezaretine hitaben yaz-
dığı 13 Haziran 1896 (2 Muharrem 1314/1 Haziran 1312) tarihli yazısı.
29 BOA, MF. MKT, 1035/64, Maarif Nezaretinin 20 Ocak 1908 (16 Zilhicce 1325) tarihli ya-
zısı.
149
Hatip YILDIZ
30 Dicle Gazetesi, No: 2, 20 Mart 1911 (19 Rebiyülevvel 1329), s. 2; Maarif-i Umumiye İhsa-
iyat Mecmuası, R. 1329-1330, s. 36.
31 Dicle Gazetesi, No: 76, 4 Ekim 1912 (22 Şevval 1330), s. 3, Diyarbekir Dârülmuallimini
eski tarih ve coğrafya muallimi Ali Efendi’nin yazısı.
32 BOA, MF. MKT, 1161/32; 1161/31; Dicle Gazetesi, No: 76, 4 Ekim 1912 (22 Şevval 1330),
s. 3, Diyarbekir Dârülmuallimini eski tarih ve coğrafya muallimi Ali Efendi’nin yazısı.
33 BOA, MF. MKT, 1159/40. Bu yazı Konya, Kosova ve Ankara vilayetlerine de aynı tarihte
gönderilmiştir.
34 BOA, DH. UMVM, 21/50, Diyarbekir Vilayeti 1918 (R. 1334) Senesi Hususi Gelir ve
Masraf Bütçesi.
35 Dicle Gazetesi, No: 76, 4 Ekim 1912 (22 Şevval 1330), s. 3, Diyarbekir Dârülmuallimini
eski tarih ve coğrafya muallimi Ali Efendi’nin yazısı.
36 BOA, DH. UMVM, 69/49, Diyarbekir Vali Vekili Faik Efendi’nin 24 Ocak 1920 (24
Kânunusani 1336) tarihli telgrafı.
37 2000’e Beş Kala Diyarbekir, Diyarbakır 1995, s. 182.
38 Öztürk, Türkiye’de Dünden Bugüne Öğretmen, s. 64.
150
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
1 1 DVS, H. 1301, s. 218. 2 DVS, H. 1302, s. 308. 3 BOA, MF. MKT, 158/20; 165/41. 4 DVS,
H. 1312, s. 117; BOA, MF. MKT, 192/125. 5 BOA, MF. MKT, 266/12. 6 BOA, MF. MKT,
329/30. 7 DVS, H. 1316, s. 223; Maarif Salnamesi, H. 1316, s. 1049. 8 DVS, H. 1317, s. 315;
Maarif Salnamesi, H. 1317, s. 1195. 9 DVS, H. 1318, s. 37; Maarif Salnamesi, H. 1318, s.
1333. 10 DVS, H. 1319, s. 129; Maarif Salnamesi, H. 1319, s. 605. 11 BOA, MF. MKT, 607/2.
12 BOA, MF. MKT, 618/86, 31 Mart 1902 (18 Mart 1318) tarihli ilan. 13 Mahmud Efendi
döneminde okula kazandırılan talebedir. Bkz. Diyarbekir Gazetesi, No: ?, Yıl: 1894-1901.
14 DVS, H. 1321, s. 242(Aynı tarihli Maarif Salnamesi’nde talebe adedi 10’dur.) 15 BOA, MF.
MKT, 267/4. 16 DVS, H. 1323, s. 349. 17 BOA, MF. MKT, 912/54; 267/4. 18 BOA, MF. MKT,
267/4. 19 BOA, MF. MKT, 267/4. 20 Maarif-i Umumiye Nezareti İstatistik Mecmuası, R. 1333-
1334, s. 5, 17. 21 Maarif-i Umumiye Nezareti İhsaiyat Mecmuası, R. 1329-1330, s. 34-35.
22 Maarif-i Umumiye Nezareti İhsaiyat Mecmuası, R. 1329-1330, s. 34-35.
151
Hatip YILDIZ
a. Muallim
Vilayet dâhilinde yeniden açılması planlanan darülmuallimin muallimliğine
ilk olarak Nablus Rüşdiyesi eski muallimi Abdullah Hilmi Efendi’nin aylık 600
kuruş maaşla tayini münasip görülmüştür.39
1893 yılı içinde göreve başlayan40 Abdullah Efendi, yeni açılan darülmualli-
minde yaklaşık 2 ile 2,5 yıl arasında görev yaptıktan sonra başka bir darülmu-
allimine tayin edilmesini istemiştir. Ancak bu isteğinin yerine getirilemeyeceği
30 Mayıs 1895 (5 Zilhicce 1312) tarihli bir yazıyla ifade edilmiştir.5 Bu nedenle,
1898 yılından önce bu görevinden ne zaman ayrıldığı bilinmemektedir.
Buradaki görevine tam olarak ne zaman başladığı bilinmeyen darülmual-
limin muallimi Yunus Efendi, ailesi Diyarbekir’in su ve havasıyla imtizaç ede-
mediğinden 1898 yılında, buradan ayrılmak için talepte bulunmuştur. Talebi
uygun görülerek, çoktan beri açık bulunan Mamuratülaziz Vilayeti dâhilindeki
Besni Rüşdiyesi Muallim-i Evvelliği’ne 600 kuruş maaşla tayin edilmiştir.41
Yunus Efendi’nin başka bir yere atanması nedeniyle boş kalan darülmualli
min-i ibtidai şubesi muallimliğine, Diyarbekir İdadi Mektebi ikinci muavini
olan Osman Efendi, idadi mektebindeki vazifesinden birisinin uhdesinde
sürekli kalması şartıyla, tayin edilmesi için dilekçe vermiştir. Bu dilekçe, Diyar-
bekir Maarif Müdürlüğü’nün 11 Temmuz 1898 (29 Haziran 1314) tarihli yazı-
sıyla Maarif Nezareti’ne gönderilmiştir. Durum Meclis-i Kebir-i Maarif ’te
görüşülerek, Osman Efendi, isteği doğrultusunda, münhal bulunan darülmu-
allimin muallimliğine 540 kuruş maaşla tayin edilmiş ve idadide açık bulunan
180 kuruşlu Türkçe dersinin ilaveten ve 250 kuruşlu tarih dersinin sürekli ola-
rak uhdesine verilmesi uygun görülmüştür.42
R. 1312 (1896/1897) senesinden beri Diyarbekir’de muallimlik yapan
Osman Efendi43, Çatalca İdadi Mektebi muavin-i salisliğine tayin edilerek, 29
39 BOA, MF. MKT, 156/69, Maarif Nezareti Mektubi Kalemi’nin 15 Aralık 1892 (25 Cema-
ziyülevvel 1310/3 Kânunuevvel 1308) tarihli yazısı.
40 BOA, MF. MKT, 192/125.
41 BOA, MF. MKT, 396/49.
42 BOA, MF. MKT, 422/43, Maarif Nezareti’nden Diyarbekir Vilayeti Maarif Muhasebe
Memurluğu’na (maarif müdür vekili) yazılan 12 Kasım 1898 (27 Cemaziyülâhır 1316/31
Teşrinievvel 1314) tarihli şukka.
43 BOA, MF. MKT, 553/7, Osman Efendi’nin 10 Şubat 1901 (20 Şevval 1318/28 Kânunusani
1316) tarihli maruzatı.
152
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
Ekim 1901(16 Receb 1319) tarihli telgrafnameyle yeni görev yerine hemen
hareket etmesi istenilmiştir.44
Osman Efendi’nin Çatalca İdadisi’ne atanmasından dolayı oluşan eğitim-
öğretim boşluğunu doldurmak için, 540 kuruş maaşla mahalli ulemadan Hüs-
reviye Müderrisi Mahmud Efendi vekâleten görevlendirilmiştir.45 4 ay süreyle
bu görevi sürdüren Mahmud Efendi, bütün gün muntazaman tedrisata devam
ve vazifesini ifaya gayret etmiştir.46
Mualliminin Çatalca İdadisi’ne naklinden dolayı münhal kalan ve vekâleten
yürütülen darülmuallimin muallimliği ile idadi mektebi hesap ve Türkçe mual-
limliğine, darülmuallimin-i rüşdiye mezunlarından olup 24 seneden beri
bulunduğu memuriyetlerde güzel hizmeti müşahade edilen Lazkiye Sancağı
İdadi Mektebi muallimlerinden Abdülvehhab Vehbi Efendi’nin47 86048 kuruş
153
Hatip YILDIZ
maaşla tayini, Meclis-i Kebir-i Maarif ’in 24 Şubat 1902 tarihli kararıyla kabul
edilmiştir.49
Abdülvehhab Vehbi Efendi, Diyarbekir’de yaklaşık 6 yıl görev yaptıktan
sonra başka bir yere tayin edilme isteğinde bulunduğundan, 1907 yılında, bu
sırada münhal olan Kudüs-i Şerif Darülmuallimin muallimliğine atanmıştır.
Onun yerine 820 kuruş maaşla Bursa Medrese-i Muallimin Müdürü Abdürrez-
zak Efendi50 tayin edilmiştir.51
Abdürrezzak Efendi, darülmuallimin-i ibtidaiye ve idadi mektebinde yak-
laşık 6 ay çalıştıktan sonra, Bilecik Sancağı İdadi Mektebi hesab, coğrafya ve
lisan-ı Osmanî muallimi Münir Nazmi Efendi’yle becayiş teşebbüsünde bulun-
muş, fakat darülmuallimin mezunu olmadığı için teklifi reddedilmiştir.52
1910 yılında darülmuallimin-i rüşdiye kısmının açılmasının kararlaştırıl-
ması üzerine tek muallim uygulamasına son verilmiş ve branşlarına göre birçok
yeni muallimin atanması için gazete ilanlarıyla yüksek okul mezunları aran-
mıştır.53
49 BOA, MF. MKT, 607/2, Meclis-i Kebir-i Maarif ’in 24 Şubat 1902 (16 Zilkade 1319/11 Şu-
bat 1317) tarihli kararı.
50 Abdürrezzak Efendi, Haleb Mekteb-i İdadisi’nden birincilikle mezun olup, 300 kuruş
maaşlı Türkçe, ilm-i eşya ve cebir dersleri muallimlikleriyle Urfa İdadisi’nde bir süre ça-
lışmış ve tahsil müddetinin bitiminde sınavla Darülmuallimin-i Aliye Edebiyat kısmına
girmiş ve ikincilikle mezun olmuştur. Daha sonra 412 kuruş maaşlı tarih ve Fransızca
muallimlikleriyle Karahisar-ı Salib İdadisi’nde iki seneye yakın güzel hizmet etmiştir. Bu
hizmetinden dolayı 500 kuruş maaşla terfian Bursa’da yeniden tesis edilmiş olan Hami-
diye Medrese-i Muallimin müdüriyetine tayin edilmiş ve bir yıldan fazla müdürlük gö-
revinde bulunmuştur (Bkz. BOA, MF. MKT, 1096/41). Ancak, gençliği ve tecrübesizliği
nedeniyle Hüdavendigar Vilayeti’nin isteği üzerine bu görevden alınmış ve Diyarbekir
Darülmuallimin muallimliğine nakledilmiştir (Bkz. BOA, MF. MKT, 1014/26, Mekatib-i
İdadiye İdaresi’nin 31 Ağustos 1907/18 Ağustos 1323 tarihli yazısı).
51 BOA, MF. MKT, 267/4, Maarif Nezareti’nin 25 Ekim 1907(19 Ramazan 1325/13 Teşrini-
evvel 1323) tarihli yazısı.
52 BOA, MF. MKT, 1061/30, Meclis-i Kebir-i Maarif ’in 22 Haziran 1908 (23 Cemaziyülev-
vel 1326/9 Haziran 1324) tarihli kararı.
53 BOA, MF. MKT, 1161/32.
154
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
Tablo 3. Diyarbekir Dârülmuallimini 1913-1914 (R. 1329-1330) Ders Yılı Memur, Muallim
ve Müstahdem Mevcudu54
İdare ve Tedris Heyetinin
Memur, Muallim ve Müstahdem Muallimlerin Yaşları
Maaşları
Müstahdemin-i saire
1000-1500
1500-2000
500-1000
Hademe
Yekûn
20-25
25-30
30-40
40-50
50-60
4 8 2 12 26 3 4 3 - - 3 8 1 -
Tablo 4. 1913-1914 (R. 1329-1330) Ders Yılında Mekteb Kadrosunda Bulunan Muallim-
lerin Menşe’leri55
1328-29 senesinde muallim
Mülahazat
Dârülfünun Ulum-ı Edebiye
Dârülmuallimin-i Âliyeden
Uhdesinde muallim-
Mekâtib-i İdadîyeden
ve müdür muavini
Dârülmuallimin-i
de bu tabloya
İbtidaiyeden
Şubesinden
dâhildir.
Yekûn
sayısı
1 1 6 1 1 10 7 3
Tablo 4’te görüldüğü gibi, 1912-1913 ders yılında mektebin muallim sayısı 7
iken, 1913-1914 ders yılında bu sayı 10’a çıkmıştır. Mekteb muallimlerinin
6’sı Dârülmuallimin-i Âliye’den; diğerleri ise her biri farklı yüksek okullardan
mezundur.
155
Hatip YILDIZ
b. Talebe
Diyarbekir Darülmuallimin-i İbtidai Şubesi, zaman zaman kesintiye uğramakla
birlikte, 1883 ile 1914 yılları arasında talebe almaya devam etmiştir. Bu mekte-
bin talebesi diğer mekteblerinkinden farklı olup, hem 20 yaş ve üstü gençleri ve
hem de vilayet dâhilinde görev yapan farklı yaşlardaki sıbyan mektebleri mual-
limlerini kapsamıştır.
Önceki yıllara ait bilgilere ulaşılamamakla birlikte, mektebin 1900-1901
(R.1316-1317) ders yılı açılışı resmi vilayet gazetesi aracılığıyla ilân edilmiş-
tir. Bu ilânda; şahadetnamesiz ve şahadetnameleri tasdiksiz olan sıbyan ve
ibtidaî mektebleri muallimleri ile yeniden girmeye talip olanların ellerindeki
“Tezkere-i Osmaniye”leriyle beraber dârülmuallimine müracaatla kayıt yaptır-
maları ifade edilmiştir.56
Mektebin 1910-1911 (R.1326-1327) öğretim yılı umumi imtihanı, 5 Tem-
muz 1911 (22 Haziran 1327) tarihinde sona ermiştir. Talebelerin bilgi düzeyi
memnuniyet verici ve takdire şayan görülerek, aldıkları notlar okunduktan
sonra mektep tatil edilmiştir.57
Dârülmuallimin’in 1912-1913 ders yılı ödül dağıtım töreni, 10 Temmuz
1913 (5 Şaban 1331) Perşembe günü mektebin büyük salonunda yapılmış ve
talebeye mükâfat verilmiştir. Talebenin bir yıllık çalışmasının bedeli olarak allı
pullu kitaplar hediye edilmiştir.58
56 Diyarbekir Gazetesi, No: 1219, 12 Şubat 1901 (22 Şevval 1318/30 Kânunusani 1316)
57 Diyarbekir Gazetesi, No: 1715, 21 Temmuz 1911 (24 Receb 1329).
58 Dicle Gazetesi, No: 96, 15 Temmuz 1913 (10 Şaban 1331), s. 3.
156
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
1328-29 senesinde
kaydedilen talebe
Müslim
Müslim
Musevi
Musevi
Ermeni
Ermeni
Rum
Rum
Yekûn
Yekûn
L N L N L N L N L N L N L N L N
50 - - - 5 - - - 55 16 39 23 - 1 - 5 - - - 29 6 23
Musevi
Ermeni
Rum
Dördüncü sınıf
Diğer sebepler
Üçüncü sınıf
Birinci sınıf
İkinci sınıf
N(Nehari)
L(Leyli)
Hastalık
Yekûn
talebe
Vefat
Nakil
İhrac
L N L N L N
65 - 1 - 4 - - - 70 68 2 7 - 3 - 19 29 20 21 -
Tablo 6’da görüldüğü gibi, 1912-1913 ders yılında mektebe kaydedilen talebe
sayısı 16, mektebi terk eden 6 iken; 1913-1914’te kayıt yaptıran 55, mektebi terk
eden 29 kişidir. Mektebi terk etme sebeplerinin başında hastalık, ihraç ve diğer
sebepler gelmektedir. İmtihan öncesinde mektebin talebe mevcudu; 1912-1913
ders yılında 68, 1913-1914’te 70’tir. Mevcut talebenin 29’u birinci sınıfta, 20’si
ikinci sınıfta ve 21’i üçüncü sınıfta olup, dördüncü sınıfta talebe bulunma-
maktadır. Çünkü şimdiye kadar üç yıl olan eğitim süresi, bu ders yılında dört
yıla çıkarılmıştır. Mektebe devam eden talebelerin büyük çoğunluğu Müslü-
man olmakla birlikte, Rum ve Ermeni cemaatlerine mensup olanlar da vardır.
Ayrıca, talebelerin tamamı yatılıdır.
157
Hatip YILDIZ
Tablo 7. Diyarbekir Dârülmuallimini 1913-1914 (R. 1329-1330) Ders Yılı Umumi İmtihan
Sonuçları60
Şahadetname alanlar Terfi-i sınıf edenler
terfi edenler
Müslim
Müslim
Musevi
Musevi
Ermeni
Ermeni
alanlar
Yekûn
Yekûn
Rum
Rum
L N L N L N L N L N L N L N L N
- - - - - - - - - 24 24 49 - 1 - 3 - - - 53 27 26
Sınıf-ı Ruhaniyeden
Fen mesleğinden
Sanatkarandan
Sınıf-ı saireden
edilenler
Me’murinden
Müslim
Musevi
Ermeni
Yekûn
Mülahazat
Ulemedan
Tüccardan
Rum
Zira’dan
Yekûn
L N L N L N L N
16 - - - 1 - - - 17 17 - 2 1 20 - 3 3 4 37 70 *
* Dördüncü sınıf teşkilinden dolayı şahadetname verilmemiştir.
Tablo 7’de görüldüğü gibi, 1912-1913 ders yılı sonunda bir üst sınıfa geçen
talebe sayısı 27 ve şahadetname alan 24 kişi olduğu halde; 1913-1914 ders yılı
sonunda bir üst sınıfa geçen talebe sayısı 53 olup, mektebin eğitim süresinin
dört yıla çıkarılması nedeniyle, şahadetname alan talebe yoktur. Her iki ders
yılında sınıfını geçemeyen talebe sayısı ise 17’dir.
Yine tablodaki istatistiklerden anlaşıldığına göre, mektebe devam eden tale-
belerin sayısı 70 olup, bunlardan 20’sinin ailesi memur; geriye kalanların aile-
leri ise genellikle ulema, ruhani sınıfı, tüccar, sanatkâr, ziraatçı ve sair meslek
gruplarındandır.
Sonuç
Osmanlı’da öğretmen yetiştirme çabalarının başlangıcı Fatih Sultan Mehmed
dönemine kadar uzanmaktadır. Bu dönemde, Eyüp ve Ayasofya medreselerinde,
sıbyan mektebi muallimi olacaklar için genel medreselerden farklı bir prog-
ram öngörüldü. Fakat Fatih’in bu yenilikçi teşebbüsü kendisinden sonra devam
60 a.g.e.
158
Taşrada öğretmen eğitimi: Diyarbakır örneği
159
Hatip YILDIZ
bin talebe sayısının arttırılması ve mektebe devamın sağlanması için daha fazla
gayret sarf edilmesi yolunda talimatlar verdi.
Genellikle medreseli olan darülmuallimin talebesi, öğlene kadar medreseye
ve öğleden sonra ise darülmuallimine devam ederdi. Bu durum, 1901-1902 yıl-
ları arasında dört aylık bir süre vekâleten muallimlik yapan Mahmud Efendi’ye
kadar devam etti. Mahmud Efendi ilk defa talebelerle bütün gün eğitim yapmak
suretiyle okulun başarısının artmasına katkıda bulundu.
Sonuç olarak; talebe sayısının az olması, maddi sıkıntılar nedeniyle talebe-
nin devamsızlığı, muallimlerinin çoğunlukla idadi mektebinde de derslere gir-
mek suretiyle daha fazla maaş alma isteği ve darülmuallimine yeterince zaman
ayıramaması ve mektebin daimi masraflarının karşılanamaması gibi sıkıntılara
rağmen, darülmuallimin, 1883 ile 1918 yılları arasında, vilayetin ve çevrenin
ihtiyaç duyduğu ibtidai muallimlerini yetiştirdi ve mevcut sıbyan mektebleri
muallimlerini de büyük ölçüde modern eğitimden geçirdi. Böylece, açılış mak-
sadı olan temel eğitimin düzeyinin yükseltilmesine önemli katkı sağladı.
160
P ANEL
161
El. Borromeo, Cl. Römer, M. Ursinus, N. Vatin
constituent de ce fait des ensembles très cohérents par les questions traitées et
permettent notamment de suivre des cas ou des transactions dans la durée.
En second lieu, elles peuvent porter, outre la signature d’un — ou plusie-
urs — cadi, des notes ajoutées au cours du temps, soit par l’administration otto-
mane, soit par les intéressés.
Enfin leur mise en page elle-même peut se révéler symptomatique.
En conséquence, les ḥüccet volantes, principalement quand elles constituent
des ensembles un peu cohérents, se révèlent à l’occasion extrêmement instruc-
tives sur le contexte des affaires traitées, au delà de ce que la seule lettre du texte
du procès verbal peut nous apprendre. Elles fournissent également des aperçus
inédits sur les tâches des cadis ottomans et la façon dont ils s’en acquittaient.
Les communications présentées dans cet atelier ne prétendaient pas faire le
tour d’une vaste question, mais en aborder chacune un élément, à travers un cas
particulier.
Claudia Römer**
162
Panel: Les Ḥüccet volantes
Michael Ursinus** 2
163
El. Borromeo, Cl. Römer, M. Ursinus, N. Vatin
Elisabetta Borromeo**
Nicolas Vatin****
164
Panel: Les Ḥüccet volantes
4 Nicolas Vatin, Gilles Veinstein et Elizabeth Zachariadou, Catalogue du fonds ottoman des
archives du Monastère de Saint-Jean à Patmos. Les vingt-deux premiers dossiers, Athènes
2011.
165
Celestin Bonnin and the Creation
of a Modern Ottoman Police Force
Roger A. Deal**
166
Celestin Bonnin and the creation of a police force
(London) Police Force led the way for the development of modern policing in
Britain, so the Istanbul police led the way for the development of a modern,
professional police force in the Ottoman Empire. However, French develop-
ments in policing were at least as important as the British, and it is no surprise
that when the government of Abdülhamid II wanted to reorganize and rest-
ructure its police force, and bring it up to modern standards, it should hire a
Frenchman to oversee those efforts.
Discussions of the development of an Ottoman police force have largely
focused on the use of the police as an instrument of domestic policy—a spy
network. While the use of the police for domestic spying and political control
should not be overlooked or downplayed, it is also the case that the police had
other duties, and the police as a tool for dealing with criminal, rather than poli-
tical, behavior has been very little touched on. The major exception to this is
Noémi Levy’s recent article, “Une institution en formation: la police ottomane
a l’epoque d’Abdulhamid II”.2
Levy accurately compares the Ottoman police force taking shape during the
last quarter of the nineteenth century with those of Western Europe, and par-
ticularly with the French model. She does, however, leave open the question of
why the Ottoman police so strongly resembled the French. It seems likely, as
she suggests, that the French and Ottoman desires for a strongly centralized
government were sufficiently alike to give rise to the desire for similar police
forces. This could have led the Ottoman government to hire a French advi-
sor to overhaul their police force. It is also possible, of course, that the search
for a European police advisor simply happened upon a Frenchman, and thus
the Ottoman police force came to resemble the French police more than, for
example, the British.
Whether or not the desire for a French-style police force preceded the arrival
of a French advisor, it is clear that Celestin Bonnin, known to the Ottomans as
Bonnin Efendi, had a powerful influence on the development of the Ottoman
167
Roger A. DEAL
police. Much of what Bonnin Efendi suggested, and tried to get implemented
(with mixed success) was perhaps less ‘modernization’ than ‘professionaliza-
tion.’ That is, although he does provide suggestions about how the police should
be organized, most of his commentary is directed toward the notion that the
police officials at all levels should do their jobs and do them properly.
Little information is available about Bonnin Efendi, but the reports he pre-
pared show how deeply he was involved in reforming the police force. These
reports, along with two contracts that have surfaced in the archives, give some
idea of when he was in Istanbul. The earliest report I have located dates from
7 March 1300 (19 March 1884), but in it Bonnin Efendi refers to two previous
reports he has submitted, suggesting he probably arrived in Istanbul sometime
in 1883.3 Further reports are dated September 1884, April 1885, March 1887,
and June 1887.4 These show that Bonnin Efendi was actively engaged in refor-
ming the Ottoman police from around 1883 until at least 1887. The two cont-
racts between Celestin Bonnin and Osman Bey, the Great Chamberlain (Ser
Kurena-yı Hazret-i Şehriyari), which I have seen, are dated 7/19 February 1885
and 16/28 February 1886.5 The fact that the contracts are with the Ser Kurena,
or başmâbeynci, suggest that Bonnin Efendi may have been recruited at the
Imperial, rather than a ministerial, level, and that Abdülhamid II took a direct
interest. This notion is supported by the fact that many of his reports are add-
ressed to His Imperial Majesty the Sultan.
Three other pieces of information show that Bonnin Efendi continued to
be involved with the Ottoman police at a high level, although how long he
continued making changes to the structure of the police is still an open ques-
tion. In June 1888, he submitted a report to the Sultan concerning a criminal
investigation he was overseeing.6 He is also mentioned as the chief investigator
in a locked-room murder case in a series of newspaper articles in 1896.7 In
this last instance, The Oriental Advertiser, an English-language Istanbul news-
168
Celestin Bonnin and the creation of a police force
169
Roger A. DEAL
170
Celestin Bonnin and the creation of a police force
This branch of the police, Bonnin Efendi argues, should be directly answe-
rable to the Minister of Police, submitting daily reports and getting new assign-
ments each morning. In addition, three or four officers should at all times be
on call to be sent out to watch for looters in case of a fire or for a preliminary
investigation in case of murder. Although the officers in this branch are to be
paid the same as those in the uniformed branch (as, he notes yet again, is done
in Paris), there should also be a special fund to provide rewards for success-
ful work. At the same time, to avoid corruption and time-wasting, each officer
should submit with his daily report a detailed report of how he had spent his
time. Furthermore, it would be the duty of the overseeing officer to make sure
that each of these men was constantly occupied. As we shall see, other reports
by Bonnin Efendi show a concern with reducing sloth and corruption in the
police force, and it is very likely that the last clause above reflects that concern.
That is, the men must be kept busy so as not to allow them any time to focus on
anything but their work.
François Georgeon argues that the Ottoman government’s spy network
actually dates back to the Janissaries, and that it was slowly reconstituted fol-
lowing the destruction of that organization in 1826. By 1880, he says, the term
hafiye (spy, the name by which Abdulhamid’s domestic spies were known) was
in use for the government’s informants. However, as we know from Bonnin
Efendi’s work, there were two distinct spy organizations: one keeping an eye
on criminal activity, and the other on political activity. Bonnin Efendi’s discus-
sion of the former suggests that it had already been in existence, and that he
wanted to expand and reorganize it, whereas it appears that he was claiming
actually to have established a political spy system. If true, this could suggest that
what Georgeon sees in place in 1880 is the criminal spy system, not the politi-
cal. Georgeon certainly does not draw a distinction between the two (and how
much distinction there was in practice, particularly in later years, is very much
an open question), nor does he even seem to be aware of a possible difference.
Of course, like most historians of the Hamidian period, Georgeon is drawing
heavily on memoirs of palace officials and wealthy elites for his information on
the spy network, so it is not surprising that his view is skewed toward the poli-
tical spies, those from whom his sources would have had the most to fear, and
thus have been the most aware of.13
171
Roger A. DEAL
172
Celestin Bonnin and the creation of a police force
has enemies in the prison, and that since, if the prison authorities conducted a
thorough search they would recover a sackful of knives and guns, he could not
rely on the prison authorities to protect him, so he should be allowed a knife
to protect himself. This argument, along with a substantial bribe, was enough
to convince one of the guards to provide him with a switchblade knife.16 While
Ulunay’s lightly fictionalized reportorial work should not necessarily be taken
as strict historical writing, he does accurately reflect many aspects of a violent
subculture in late Ottoman Istanbul, and his discussion of the widespread pre-
sence of weapons in prisons adds a measure of support to M. Bonnin’s claims.
In addition to commenting on the presence of knives and guns in the pri-
sons, Bonnin Efendi in the same report blames the problem on lack of over-
sight, and then develops that theme. According to the law, he says, prison offici-
als in Istanbul and the provinces must examine the prisons once a month, and
no one is doing so. In fact, he says that it is necessary for them to understand the
conditions of the prisoners and the prisons, and he adds emphasis by underli-
ning the phrase ‘‘and the prisons.’’ These examinations should help determine
the health conditions, the ideas of the prisoners, whether they have plans to
escape, what common complaints or requests they might have, and among all
this examination, whatever weapons the prisoners had secreted would appear.
What is necessary for stopping the weapons trade in prisons, and for punishing
those responsible, he says, is strict oversight of the prisons, with regular exami-
nations being conducted.
As mentioned above, M. Bonnin was not only an administrator, but also was
very much a policeman. The records have thus far divulged two cases which
particularly demonstrate his investigative style. Without going into detail about
the cases, both are murders. One is seen in a pair of reports M. Bonnin wrote
for the Sultan, describing the course of the investigation.17 In these reports he
detailed not only his conclusions, but also how he had arrived at those conclu-
sions. Information on the other case comes from a series of newspaper stories
which follow in detail the crime and the progress of the investigation.18
16 Refi’ Cevad Ulunay, Sayılı Fırtınalar, 1958, repr. İstanbul 1994, 329-331.
17 BOA, Y.PRK.ZB 4/16.
18 This case was reported in the newspapers İkdam (12 May and 14 May 1896), The Orien-
tal Advertiser (11 May, 12 May, and 19 May 1896), and the weekly magazine Malumat (14
May 1896).
173
Roger A. DEAL
174
Celestin Bonnin and the creation of a police force
175
OSMANLI ESNAFINDA İŞYERİ AÇMA
UYGULAMASI, KARŞILAŞILAN İSTİSMARLAR
VE UYGULANAN YAPTIRIMLAR
Mehmet Demirtaş**
* Doç. Dr. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, Bitlis-Türkiye,
demirtasm@gmail.com
1 Ahmet Kal’a, İstanbul Esnaf Birlikleri ve Nizamları-I, İstanbul 1998, s. 83.
2 Ziya Kazıcı, Osmanlı’da Yerel Yönetim İhtisab Müessesesi, İstanbul 2006, s. 142, 143.
3 Mehmet Demirtaş, Osmanlı Esnafında Suç ve Ceza İstanbul Örneği, H 1100-1200/M
1688-1786, Ankara 2010, s. 83, Ziya Kazıcı, “Ahîlik”, Türk Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklope-
disi( bundan sonra TDVİA) , s. 541.
4 İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri arasında yer alan bir defterde dülbendciler (tülbentçiler) esnafına
mensup bütün esnafın isimleri ve kendilerine kimlerin kefil olduğu ve hangi bölgede faali-
yet gösterdikleri ayrıntılı bir şekilde yer almıştır. İstanbul Müftülüğü Şeriyye Sicilleri Arşivi
(bundan sonra İMŞSA). İstanbul Kadılığı (bundan sonra İK)-24, vr. 38-a, b, 10 Z 1138/09
Ağustos 1726. Buradan hareketle bütün esnafın benzer bir şekilde kaydedildikleri ve kayıt-
176
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
Devletin tespit etmiş olduğu sayıdan fazla dükkân açmanın Osmanlı Esnaf
Nizamı’na göre suç sayılmış olduğu ve devletin izni olmaksızın dükkân açıl-
masına müsaade edilmediği bilinmektedir. Bunda, ticarî faaliyetlerin sağlıklı
bir şekilde sürdürülmesi fikrinin yanında, sosyal ve ekonomik hayatın düzenli
bir şekilde işlemesi düşüncesinin de etkili olduğu söylenebilir. Belli bir alanda
faaliyet gösteren esnafın, kendi tekelinde olan bir işi başkasının da yapma-
sına, ya da aynı sahada faaliyet göstermekle birlikte, tasarrufundaki dükkânla-
dükkânlarla yetinmeyerek yenilerini açmaya çalışan veya açan birine rıza
göstermesi zordu. Ancak esnaf arasında bu konuda çeşitli tartışmalar ve sür-
tüşmelerin meydana gelmesine yol açan bazı ihlâller yaşanmıştır. Bu sebeple
Osmanlı esnaf teşkilâtında yeni işyerlerinin açılmasına prensip olarak itidalli
yaklaşılmış, mevcut işyerlerinin ihtiyacı karşılaması durumunda bunlarla yeti-
nilmesi anlayışı benimsenmiştir. Ancak zamanla çeşitli sebeplerle yeni işyer-
lerinin açılmasına ihtiyaç duyulması kaçınılmaz olmuştur. Ruhsatsız ve kaçak
işyeri açılması konusunda yaşanan ihlâllere geçmeden önce, hangi gerekçelerle
yeni dükkân açılmasına izin verildiğine ve ihtiyaç fazlası işyeri açılmasının
sakıncalarına bakmakta fayda olduğu düşünülmektedir.
Esnaf teşkilâtında yeni işyeri açılması, temelde ihtiyaç durumu ile bağlan-
tılı idi. Bu konuda devlet doğrudan doğruya kendisi ihtiyacı tespit ederek yeni
işyeri açılmasına karar verebilirdi. Aynı şekilde halkın da talebi gözetilerek yeni
dükkânların açılmasına izin verilebilirdi. Dolayısıyla yeni dükkân açılmasına
karar verilirken yetkililerin tespitlerine ve halkın taleplerine dikkat edilmiş-
tir. Yetkililer, özellikle başkent İstanbul’da nüfusun artmasına bağlı olarak yeni
işyerlerinin açılmasının gerekli olduğu kanaatine vardıklarında bu yönde giri-
şimlerde bulunmuşlardır. Yeni dükkân açılması konusunda önemli bir gerekçe
de halkın talebi olmuştur. Haliyle ihtiyaç duyulması durumunda bazen şeh-
rin sakinlerinin doğrudan ya da aracılar vasıtasıyla hükümete müracaat ederek
yeni dükkân açılmasına öncülük ettikleri görülmüştür. Dükkân sayısı yeterli
iken belli bir süre sonra nüfusun artmasına paralel olarak yeni dükkânlara ihti-
yaç duyulması normaldi. Yeni dükkân açılmaması durumunda bazı mağduri-
yetlerin ortaya çıkması kaçınılmazdı. Özellikle uzak yerlerden alışveriş yapmak
mecburiyetinde kalan ihtiyarların ve kadınların bundan daha fazla etkilendik-
leri kesindi. Böyle zamanlarda yeni dükkân açılması konusunda halkın taleple-
rinin çok önemli ve etkili olduğu anlaşılmaktadır. Makul gerekçelerle harekete
177
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
5 Ahmet Kal’a, İstanbul Ahkâm Defterleri, İstanbul Esnaf Tarihi-I, İstanbul 1997, s. 158, hk.
640, Fî Evasıt-ı Z sene 1170/27 Ağustos-05 Eylül 1757.
6 Yücel Özkaya, XVIII. Yüzyılda Osmanlı Kurumları Osmanlı Toplum Yaşantısı, Ankara
1985, s. 80.
7 Demirtaş, Suç ve Ceza, s. 86, 87.
178
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
8 Kal’a, İstanbulEsnaf Tarihi-I, s. 35, hk. 1247, Fî Evâil-i RA sene 1158/03-12 Nisan 1745.
9 Demirtaş, Suç ve Ceza, s. 87.
10 Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (bundan sonra BOA). C. BLD-7162, 04 C 1178/29 Kasım
1764.
179
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
180
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
14 Kal’a, İstanbul
Esnaf Tarihi-I, s. 74, hk. 583, Fî Evâhir-i CA sene 1165/06-15 Nisan 1752.
15 BOA. C. BLD-732, 15 M 1145/08 Temmuz 1732.
181
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
16 BOA. C. BLD-7162.
17 BOA. C. BLD-492, 03 ZA 1179/13 Nisan 1766.
18 İMŞSA. İK-48, vr. 4-b, 01 ZA 1195/19 Ekim 1781.
182
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
leriydi. Tespit edilen sayının dışında salhane açılması ise yasaktı. Tüm Osmanlı
tarihi boyunca bu iki tür salhane var olmuştu.19 Vakıflara ait salhaneleri de mirî
salhaneler kapsamında ele almak mümkündür. Kasap esnafının bağlı bulun-
duğu salhaneler önceden tespit edilmişti. Onlar, vakıflara ödedikleri bir ücret
karşılığı bu salhanelerden istifade etmekteydiler. İstanbul, Galata, Üsküdar ve
bağlı yerlerdeki kasap esnafı, kethüdâlarıyla birlikte mahkemeye müracaat ede-
rek, Yedikule dışında bulunan ve padişahın vakfından yeniden inşa edilen, söz
konusu vakfa senelik beş bin kuruş gelir getiren mezbahanelere bağlı kasap
esnafı olarak, her sene vakfa dört bin kuruş vergi verdiklerini, hassa kassap-
başısı ağanın verdiği bin kuruşluk miktarla bu paranın senelik beş bin kuruşa
çıktığını, bu parayı verme konusunda şimdiye kadar herhangi bir itirazlarının
olmadığını, ancak iki seneden beri yeni kurulmuş bulunan çaryekçi taifesinin
daha önce kapatılmış bulunan mezbahanelerini yeniden açarak kasap esnafının
arasına karıştıklarını, bu durumun nizamı bozduğu gibi vakfın gelirlerinin top-
lanmasına da engel olduğunu, bu yüzden söz konusu gelirlerin toplanmasında
ertelemeler meydana geldiğini anlatmışlardı. Daha önce faaliyetleri yasaklanan
söz konusu kişilerin yeniden dükkân açmalarına engel olunması halinde kendi
paylarına düşen vergiyi her sene zamanında teslim etmeye hazır olduklarını
beyan etmiş ve bu konuda birbirlerine kefil olmuşlardı.20 Dikkati çeken husus-
lardan biri, kasap esnafının vergilerini düzenli bir şekilde ödeme konusunda
şartlar ileri sürmeleri idi ki, hükümden anlaşıldığına göre şartları kabul edil-
miştir.
19 Ahmet Uzun, İstanbul’un İaşesinde Devletin Rolü: Ondalık Ağnam Uygulaması 1783-
1857, Ankara 2006. Uzun, İstanbul’un İaşesinde Devletin Rolü s. 132.
20 “Yedikule hâricinde evkâf-ı hümâyûn-ı hazret-i cihândâriden müceddeden bina ve
inşâ ve evkâf-ı müşârun-ileyh hazretlerine senevî beş bin guruş hâsıl kayd olunan
selhhânelere merbût ve mütevellî-i müşârun-ileyh hazretleri temessüküylü mazbût
selhhâne-i mezkûreleremize müretteb bi'l-cümle kassâb dükkânı gediklerimizin ashâbı
zimmetlerinden sal be-sâl cibâyet ve tahsîli lâ-büdd olan mârrü'z-zikr beş bin guru-
şun hâssa kassâbbaşısı ağa tarafından senevî edâ olunan bin guruşdan mâ‘adâ dört
bin guruşu bundan böyle beynimizde cârî ve mu‘teber şürût-ı nizâmımız vechi üzere
edâda bir dürlü muhâlefet ve kusûrumuz yok iken iki seneden berü çaryekci tâ’ifesinin
muhdesâtdan iken bâ-hatt-ı hümâyûn-ı şevket-makrûn men‘ü def ‘ ve sedd ü bend olu-
nan selhhânelerini küşâd ve esnâfımız beyninden hurûc kasdıyla hareketleri ve bu vec-
hile ihtilâl-i nizâmımıza…” İMŞSA. İK-48, vr. 28-a, 27 S 1196/11 Şubat 1782.
183
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
21 Değirmenler hakkında ayrıntılı bilgiler için bkz. Salih Aynural, İstanbul Değirmenleri, s.
85-110, Demirtaş, Osmanlıda Fırıncılık, s. 109-115.
22 BOA. C. HR-420, Evâhir-i C 1178/14-24 Aralık 1764.
23 BOA. C. BLD-2914, 09 M 1189/12 Mart 1775.
184
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
185
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
a-Uyarı Cezası
Belirlenen yerler dışında faaliyet gösteren esnaf öncelikle ikaz edilmekte, suçun
tekrarında daha ağır müeyyidelere muhatap olmaktaydı. Koltukçuluk sure-
tiyle sırma işleyen Yahudi esnaf ilk anda ikaz edilerek faaliyetlerini terk etmesi
için kendilerine tembihte bulunulmuştu.27 Sadece ikaz edilmekle yetinilmesi
de yaygındı. Özellikle tekerrür olmadığında uyarıyla yetinilmekteydi. Kaşıkçı
olmadığı halde kaşık satan ve kalitesine de dikkat etmeyip sahtekârlık yapan
Hıristo’ya ceza verilmesine gerek görülmeyip uyarı ile yetinilmesinden28 de
anlaşılacağı gibi suçun tekrar etmediği durumlarda uygulanan ceza genellikle
uyarıydı. Ancak bu cezanın seyyar ticaret yapan esnafla ilgili olduğu rahatlıkla
söylenebilir. Sabit bir iş yerine sahip olan esnafa, işyeri açılması faaliyeti kapsa-
mında uyarı cezası verilmesi söz konusu değildi.
186
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
da esnafın muhatap olduğu malî cezalardan biri dükkân kapatma veya meslek-
ten çıkarma cezasıydı.
Ruhsatsız bir şekilde faaliyet gösteren veya ruhsatı olduğu halde nizama
aykırı hareket eden esnafa uygulanan cezalardan biri dükkânının kapatılma-
sıydı. Ceza verilmesi konusunda, esnafın denetiminin aslî unsurları arasında
yer alan esnaf yöneticilerinin veya esnaf örgütlerinin29 tavrı ile devletin tavrı
arasında önemli farklılıklar olduğu söylenebilir. Kurallara uymayan üyele-
rine karşı esnaf örgütlerinin, çok kere dükkân kapatma, esnaflıktan çıkarma
gibi ağır ceza talepleri ile huzuruna çıktığı kadı, genellikle yatıştırıcı, uzlaştırıcı
kararlar alır; cezalandırmaya gittiği durumlarda da hemen daima esnafın talep
ettiğinden çok daha hafif cezaları yeterli bulurdu. Esnaflıktan çıkarma cezaları
çok nadir hallerde verilirdi ve meslekî suçlardan çok, genel cezaî ve ahlakî suç-
larda uygulanırdı. Meslekî suçlardan ihraç cezası verildiği hallerde de, bu ceza
genellikle diğer cezalar gibi, geçici nitelikte olur, belli bir süre geçtikten sonra
ceza alan esnaf tekrar işine dönebilirdi.30
Dükkân kapatma cezasının en sık uygulandığı durumlar, ihtiyaç fazlası iş
yerlerinin açılması haliydi. Öncelikle fazla işyerlerinin tespiti yapılırdı. Mevcut
dükkânlarda olduğu gibi yeni açılanlarda da yapılan uygulama, bu dükkânların
defterlere kaydedilmesiydi. Böylece hangi işyerinin nizama uygun olarak açıl-
dığı, hangisinin kaçak olduğu belirlenmiş olurdu. Kayıtlı olmayan iş yerleri
kaçak sayılmaktaydı. Kaçak iş yerlerine herhangi bir müsamaha gösterildiğine
dair örneklere rastlanmamaktadır. Yine belirlenen yerler dışında esnafın mes-
leğini icra etmesi veya kapalı iken dükkânını yeniden açması da suçtu. Çevreye
rahatsızlık vermek, mesleğin prensiplerine aykırı hareketlerde bulunmak, işye-
rini maksadının dışında gayri meşru işlerde kullanmak gibi suçlarda dükkân
kapatma veya meslekten ihraç cezası uygulanmıştır. İşyerinin kapatılması ceza-
sına dair örneklerden biri sırmakeşhanelere ait uygulamalardı. Sırmakeşha-
neler sadece İstanbul, Selanik ve Bursa’da bulunmaktaydı. Bu yerler dışında
sırmakeşhane açmak suçtu. Buna rağmen koltukçuluk yolu ile dışarıda bu faa-
liyeti sürdüren ve bu konuda daha önce çeşitli kereler ikaz edildikleri halde
uslanmayıp dükkânlarında gizlice çalışmaya devam eden Eli Büyük Karındaşı
29 Halime Doğru, XVIII. Yüzyıla Kadar Osmanlı Kentlerinin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Görüntü-
sü, Eskişehir 1995, s. 173.
30 Genç, Devlet ve Ekonomi, s. 299, Demirtaş, Suç ve Ceza, s. 299, 300.
187
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
Yasef, oğlu Mosi ve Frenk oğlu Pişva isimli Yahudilerin açtıkları dükkânların
kapatılmasına karar verilmişti.31
Ruhsatsız ve gayri resmi yollarla açılan her işyeri için kapatma cezası uygu-
lanmaktaydı. Bu işyerlerinden bir bakkallardı. Yetkililerin dikkatini çekmemesi
için kaçak bakkal dükkânları genellikle çarşı merkezlerinde değil daha ücra
yerlerde açılmaktaydı. Yeterli sayıda bakkal dükkânı olduğu halde kaçak yol-
larla, ruhsatsız ve kefilsiz bir şekilde açılan bu dükkânlar bir süre sonra fark edi-
lerek kapatılmışlardı.32.
Kaçak yollarla işyeri açılması hemen her meslek örgütü içinde rastlanan
bir ihlâldi. Kaçak yollarla ve ihtiyaç fazlası işyeri açan esnaftan biri de fırıncı
esnafıydı. İstanbul ve bağlı yerler olan Galata, Eyûb ve Üsküdar’da bulunan
francalacı fırınlarının bir kısmının kayıtlı olmadığı dolayısıyla kaçak olduğu
anlaşıldığından, kayıtlı olanlar dışında kalanların kapatılmasına karar verilmiş,
açılmalarına ihtiyaç duyulduğunda yetkililerin denetim ve kontrolü altında
açılacağı vurgulanmıştı.33
Belirlenen yerler dışında açılan işyerlerinin aldıkları cezalar da kapatmaydı.
Bunda mekân ihlâli ile birlikte çevreye verilen zararlar da belirleyici olmak-
taydı. Mahalle aralarında açılan debbağhanelerin çevreye yaydıkları kötü koku-
lar ve saçtıkları pislikler bu yerlerin kapatılması için yeterli sebepler olarak
sayılmıştı. Bu durumda gereğinden fazla ve sakınca teşkil edebilecek yerlerde
açılmış bulunan dükkânlar kapatıldığı gibi yeniden açılmaları da izne bağlan-
mıştı. Yine mahalle aralarında nişasta imal ederek çevreye kötü kokular yayıl-
masına sebep olan nişastacının dükkânının kapatılmasına hükmedilmişti.34
Çevreye ve halka rahatsızlık veren işyerlerinin de kapatma cezasına tabi
tutuldukları ile ilgili yaygın örnekler arsında bozahaneler gelmekteydi. Bu kap-
samda, bazı bozahaneler, içki sattıkları için ve buralara şekâvet-pîşe makûlesinden
kişilerin girmesi dolayısıyla fitne yuvası haline geldiklerine hükmedilerek
kapatılmışlardı. Bostancıbaşı Ağa’ya yazılan hükümde, daha önce kapatılma-
ları karalaştırılan bozahanelerin hala faaliyetlerine devam ettikleri, buralara
31 Ahmed Refik, On İkinci Asr-ı Hicrî’de İstanbul Hayatı, s. 34, Demirtaş, Suç ve Ceza, s. 300,
301.
32 BOA. C. BLD-732.
33 Belgede yeniden açılmasına ihtiyaç duyulan dükkânların açılabilmesi için düzenleme-
nin ekmekçi esnafının kethüdâ, yiğitbaşı ve nizam ustaları vasıtasıyla yapılmasının fer-
man gereği olduğu belirtilmiştir. BOA. C. BLD-6816, 13 B 1197/14 Haziran 1783.
34 Tahsin Özcan, Fetvalar Işığında Osmanlı Esnafı, İstanbul 2003, s. 317, 337.
188
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
boza içmek bahanesiyle eşkıyalığa alışmış kişilerin girerek şürb-i hamr ettikleri,
dışarıya çıktıklarında halka hakaret ve zulüm ettikleri açık olduğundan, hala
görevde olan ustanın bu tür yerlere ruhsat vermemesi ve mevcut bozahanelerin
kapatılarak bir daha açılmaması konusunda gereken hassasiyetin gösterilmesi
emredilmiştir.35 Yine, cami yakınlarında faaliyet gösteren bozahanenin müda-
vimleri fazla gürültü yaparak cami cemaatini rahatsız ettiklerinden, söz konusu
bozahanenin kapatılması için fetva verilmişti.36
Yetkililerden izin alınmadan dükkân açılması, bununla yetinilmeyerek işye-
rinin faaliyet alanının değiştirilmesi ve buralarda gayri ahlakî ve mesleğin
adabına uymayan faaliyetlerin yürütülmesi hiçbir şekilde müsamaha ile kar-
şılanmamıştır. Kahvehâneye dönüştürülen ve içinde gayri ahlakî faaliyetler
yapılarak insanlara zarar verilen yerlerin kapatılması konusunda daha tavizsiz
davranılmış olması da37 bu kapsamda değerlendirilmelidir.
Olağanüstü hallerde ve zamanlarda devletin izniyle açılan, ancak durum
normale döndüğünde kapatılması kararlaştırılan dükkânların emre ve kânûna
aykırı olarak çalışmaya devam etmesi, suç kapsamında ele alınmıştı. Bu tür
durumlarda uygulanan ceza söz konusu dükkânların kapatılmasıydı. İstanbul’a
buğday ve unun getirildiği yerlerden biri olan Tekfurdağı’nda çıkan büyük yan-
gın sebebiyle değirmen horoslarına ihtiyaç duyulmuş olduğundan yeni horosla-
189
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
190
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
191
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
d-Kalebendlik Cezası
Osmanlı esnaf nizamında hangi esnafın hangi ticarî faaliyeti yapacağı tespit
edilmiş olduğundan, buna aykırı bir durum söz konusu olduğunda verilen
cezalardan biri de kalebendlikti. İstanbul’a odun getirmekle mükellef esnafın
tabi olduğu bazı kurallar mevcuttu. Bir belgede, bu kurallar hakkında çeşitli
ayrıntılar yer almaktadır. Buna göre, şehre odun getiren gemilerin sayılarının
bilinmesi için sahipleri tarafında kaydedilmeleri ve işlemler tamamlandıktan
sonra defterlerin başkente gönderilmesi mecburiydi. Ancak zaman zaman
bu kurala uymayıp gemisini kaydettirmeyen kişilere rastlanmaktaydı. Şile ve
Aşkabat’tan gönderilen cevapta, üç gemicinin gemilerini yazdırmadıkları bil-
dirilmişti. Bunun üzerine söz konusu kişilerin yakalanarak kalebend edilme-
leri ve gemi sahiplerinin kefalete rabt olunmaları için Kocaeli Mutasarrıflığı’na
emir verilmişti.46
Başka bir örnek de kumaşçı esnafının durumuna dairdir. Buna göre, kendi elin-
deki ipekli kumaş tezgâhını satarak yenilerini açmaya başlayan kişinin cezası,
başmuhasebeye kayıtlı olduğu haliyle, esnaf Müslüman ise kalebendlik, gay-
192
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
e-Kürek Cezası
Esnafın, ticareti kendi yetkisinde olmayan bir malı alıp satması, devlete ve vakıf
dükkânlarının kirası sebebiyle vakıflara olan borçlarını ödememesi kürek ceza-
sının verildiği ihlâller arasında yer almaktaydı. Bu durumda esnafın, zimmî ise
vaz‘-ı kürek te’dîbâtıyla mücâzât olunması gerekirdi49. Kürek cezasını gerektiren
suçlardan biri de, açılması devletin iznine bağlı olan dükkân veya tezgâhı izin-
siz olarak açmaktı. Dolayısıyla belirlenen sayının dışında işyeri açmak kânûnen
suç sayıldığı için buna kalkışan gayrimüslim esnafın aldığı cezalar arasında
kürek cezası da vardı.50
f-Sürgün Cezası
Devletin belirlemiş olduğu yerler dışında işyeri açmak yasak olduğundan, ria-
yet etmeyen esnafa verilen cezalardan biri sürgündü. Söz konusu yasağa uyma-
yan ve suçunda ısrar eden sırmakeş esnafından bir grup Yahudi’nin Selanik’e
193
Mehmet DEMİRTAŞ
sürgün edilmesine karar verilmişti.51 Bunun gibi izinsiz olarak dükkân açmak
ve ikazlara aldırmayıp faaliyetlere devam etmek de, dükkân kapatma cezası
yanında bazı durumlarda sürgün cezası ile de cezalandırılmıştır. Eski ekmek-
çiler kethüdâsının, meslekten biri olması hasebiyle emekli olduktan sonra da
mesleğini icra etmekten vazgeçmediği, görevi sona erdikten sonra da fırın ve
değirmen açarak esnafa haksızlık ettiği görüldüğünden, bu ihlâli cezasız kal-
mamış, esnafın şikâyetlerini yerinde bulan mahkeme, kendisini taşraya sürgün
etmişti52.
g-İdam Cezası
İdam cezasının, dükkânı açan esnafa değil, inşa eden duvarcı esnafına veril-
diği görülmektedir. Buna dair örneklerden birine, İstanbul’da yangın sebebiyle
yanıp yıkılan dükkân ve işyerlerinin yeniden inşasını bazı esaslara bağlayan
bir hükümde rastlanmaktadır. Buna göre yanan dükkânların çoğunun çeşitli
sebeplerle yeniden inşa edilmesi yasaklanmıştı. Bunlar daha çok kahvehane-
ler, üst katları bekâr odası olarak kullanılan dükkânlar ile bazı hanlardı. İnşa-
sına izin verilenlerin ise belirlenen fiziki şartları taşıması hükme bağlanmıştı.
Bunun yanında “ebniye-i memnuayı binaya cesaret iden divarcı ve neccarlar
dâhi salb olunur” denilerek53, yeniden inşası yasak olan binaları yapan duvarcı
ve neccar esnafının idam cezasına çarptırılacağı belirtilmişti. Buradan hare-
ketle söz konusu cezanın çeşitli dönemlerde ve şartlarda uygulandığını söyle-
mek mümkündür.54
Osmanlı Esnaf Teşkilatı bir bütün olarak ele alındığından, esnafın dükkân
açma uygulamalarındaki istismarlarından esnaf temsilcileri de sorumlu tutul-
maktaydılar. Bu durumun bir sonucu olarak söz konusu meselede esnaf temsil-
cilerine de çeşitli cezalar verildiği görülmektedir. İncelenen konuyla ilgili emir
ve ilamlarda usulsüz şekilde esnafa dükkân açma hakkı verilmesinde rolleri
olan kethüdâ ve nizam ustaları ile diğer ilgililerin uyarıldıkları, bundan böyle
194
Osmanlı esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması
bu tür işlemlere dikkat edilmesi istenip, böyle durumlarda çeşitli cezaların gün-
deme geleceği vurgulanmıştı.55
Sonuç
Osmanlı Esnafında işyeri açma uygulaması sıkı kayıtlara bağlanmıştır. Yeni
işyeri açılması için ihtiyaç hasıl olması mecburiyeti vardı. İhtiyaç olup olma-
dığına ise devlet yetkilileri karar verirdi. Halkın taleplerinin de gözetildiği ve
müracaat durumunda yeni işyeri açılmasına izin verildiği anlaşılmaktadır. Yeni
işyeri açılmasına karar verilirken ihtiyaç dışında sağlık ve güvenlik şartlarının
temini de dikkate alınırdı. Bu konuda görülen en önemli istismar ise kaçak yol-
larla dükkân açmaktı. Kanuni izin alındıktan sonra açılan dükkânların fiziki
standartlara uymaması da görülen bir durumdu. Devlet herhangi bir istismar
meydana geldiğinde çeşitli yaptırımlar uygulama yoluna gitmiştir. Bu çerçe-
vede esnafa çeşitli cezalar vererek nizamı devam ettirmeye çalışmıştır. İlk akla
gelen ve sıklıkla uygulanan ceza uyarı cezası idi. Suçun tekrarı halinde uyarılan
esnafa başka cezalar verilmekteydi. Kaçak olarak açılan dükkânların kapatıl-
ması, gerektiğinde yıkılması, esnafın meslekten çıkarılması da sıklıkla görülen
cezalardandı. Bununla birlikte kalebendlik ve kürek cezaları ile sürgün en yay-
gın cezalar arasında yer almaktaydı. Nihayet çok sık olmamakla birlikte esnafa
idam cezasının verildiği de olmuştur.
Esnafla birlikte sistemin temel unsurları arasında yer alan esnaf temsilci-
leri de, esnaf nizamının bozulmasından, aksamaların meydan gelmesinden
ve esnaf tarafında işlenen suçlardan sorumlu tutularak cezalandırılmışlardır.
Bütün tedbirlere ve yaptırımlara rağmen esnafın işyeri açma uygulamasında
çeşitli istismar hemen her zaman yaşanmaya devam etmiş, devlet sürekli bir
şekilde bu durumun önüne geçmeye çalışmıştır.
195
The Rumelian provincial elites
in the Ottoman tax-farming system
of the nineteenth century
Svetla Ianeva*
In tracing the changes in the Ottoman fiscal system in the nineteenth century
and the persistence and concrete manifestations of tax-farming practices in the
central Rumelian provinces of the Ottoman Empire, the article aims at exa-
mining the roles played by representatives of the local elites in the Ottoman
tax-farming system at that time. It will focus, first, on the social and economic
profile of the members of the local elites involved in tax-farming. The changes
in the composition of the tax-farmers’ group will be considered, with special
attention to the growing number of non-Muslims, representatives of the pro-
vincial elites, who acted as tax-farmers of different revenues. The changing roles
of the members of the local administrative elites in tax-farming throughout the
century will be also discussed. The article will further try to demonstrate the
notable participation of merchants in tax-farming activities, especially in the
1850s, 1860s and early 1870s. On the basis of archival material mainly from the
central Rumelian lands of the Ottoman Empire, the roles of the members of the
local elites in the tax-farming process will be then outlined – their functions as
farmers of large revenues at auctions in the ottoman capital or in the provin-
cial centres, as sub-farmers of different revenues, as guarantors and/or inter-
mediaries, as formal or “sleeping” partners in tax-farming enterprises etc. The
study will also address the question of the importance of tax-farming for inc-
reasing and strengthening the power and influence (both economic and social)
of members of the local provincial elites involved in such activity.
The Gülhane Hattişerif abolished tax farming (iltizam), qualified in the
imperial edict as a ruinous practice with disastrous consequences.1 All taxes
196
The Rumelian provincial elites of the 19 th century
were to be collected by salaried agents of the state called muhassıls.2 The imp-
lementation of the transformations in the Ottoman fiscal system in the cent-
ral Rumelian lands, however, show that the first Tanzimat innovations in this
sector, i.e. the attempt to introduce general tax collection by entrusted state
officials, were ineffective due to the poor experience of the muhassıls, to the
quite complicated new mechanisms involving many different instances, to the
inertness of the whole system as well as to the resistance of the tax-farmers.
Data from different registers from the early 1840s, preserved in the Başbakan-
lık Osmanlı Arşivi, confirm that the fiscal revenues dropped significantly.3 The-
refore the tax farming of many of the revenues came back on the scene, though
sometimes under different appellations and in different forms (the maktuan
ihale, the “communal iltizam”).
An Edirne eyaleti mübeyyin defter from 1842/43, containing information
about the collection of the üşür, the harir-i üşür, the adet-i agnam, the serçin ve
derçin, the baç-i pazar, the tahmizhane, the şem-i asel, the çark rüsümi and other
revenues in the sancaks of Vize and Geliboli as well as in the kaymakamlık of
Filibe,4 testifies that already in the financial year 1258 (1842/43) in thirty nine
kazas of the Edirne eyalet the big majority of the revenues were “delegated”, given
at fixed prices, in exchange of lump sums, “maktuan ihale” to the respective can-
didates. One of the probable reasons to apply this regulation a year earlier than
in the rest of the Empire (in the financial year 1259) was the important drop in
the revenues collected through entrusted state officials in the region, especially
in 1841/42 (1257 financial year), of which the records in the defter provide a
clear testimony. They also show the frequent participation of representatives of
the local administrative authorities (müdürs, sandık eminis), often with impor-
tant capitals. On one hand, because of their position they were better placed to
become talips (candidates), aware of the advantages of such enterprise. On the
other, as explained by Halil Inalcık, the country kaymakams or müdürs often
belonged to the old ayan class, only they were now called vücüh-i ahali; a ferman
from Receb 1258 stipulated that the collection of tithes should be given once
197
Svetla IANEVA
again to local administrators and prominent men in return for a lump sum.5 In
this defter, the participation of a few non-Muslims in the maktuan ihale system
as early as the beginning of the 1840s is also to be noted.
Later on, with the exception of the application of the so-called tahmis system
from 1861 to 1865, the tax farming of some of the most important fiscal reve-
nues such as the tithe revenues, the taxes on sheep and goats, custom and mar-
ket duties and several others, remained widespread in the Ottoman Empire
throughout the nineteenth century.
As testified by several defters and protocols from auctions of different tax
revenues, as well as fermans, zabtnames, şartnames, arzuhals, poliçes, hüccets,
private correspondence, registers, contracts and other documents from the
Tanzimat period preserved in the archives of the National library “St. St. Cyril
and Methodius” and in the Central State Archives in Sofia,6 which I was able
to study, one of the significant phenomena which can be observed in the app-
lication of the Ottoman fiscal system in the central Rumelian lands during the
nineteenth century is the notable (and gradually increasing) presence of non-
Muslims, mostly Bulgarians, in tax-farming. They undertook the iltizam of dif-
ferent tax revenues either in the provincial centers or in the Ottoman capital.
In the last case, more common in the 1840s and 1850s, they usually acted thro-
ugh intermediaries – influential co-nationals established in Istanbul, often their
trade partners, people coming from their place of origin or even members of
the family or relatives; the powerful Istanbul Jewish and Armenian sarafs were
guarantors of the deals. In the long chain of middlemen in tax-farming, parti-
cularly typical for the 1850s, in several cases the non-Muslims from the region
appear as second and third mültezims. In fact, in these cases they were the ones
who provided the main capitals needed for the tax-farming enterprise, same as
they were in charge of its organization on the ground.
5 Halil Inalcık, “Application of the Tanzimat and its social effects”, Archivum Ottomanicum
5 (1973), 114.
6 Narodna Biblioteka “Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii”, Balgarski Istoricheski Arhiv [National Library
of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, Bulgarian Historical Archives] (hereafter NBKM BIA), ar-
chival funds 70, 782, 36, 184, 183, 307, 49, 628, 129, 6, 112, 27, 169, 269, 245, 165, 149, 314,
323, IIA 705, IIA 707, IIA 708, IIA 729; Narodna Biblioteka “Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii”, Orien-
talski Otdel, [National Library of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, Oriental Department] (here-
after NBKM OO), fund 162, a. u. 119, а. u. 127; Сф 19/19; Се 1/28; Centralen Darjaven
Arhiv [Central State Archives] (hereafter CDA), archival fund 253, among others.
198
The Rumelian provincial elites of the 19 th century
199
Svetla IANEVA
the history of the Bulgarian economic and social elites in the nineteenth century], Sofia
2011, 47–75.
8 NBKM BIA, fund 70, а. u. 60, p.1; а. u. 142, p. 230.
200
The Rumelian provincial elites of the 19 th century
9 NBKM BIA, fund 307, a. u. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12; Svetla Ianeva, “Financing the State? Tax-Farm-
ing as a Source of Individual Wealth in the Nineteenth Century”, Oriens 37 (2009), 209-
212; Eadem, “The non-Muslim tax-farmers in the fiscal and economic system of the
Ottoman Empire in the 19th century”, in Jørgen Nielsen (ed.), Religion, Ethnicity and con-
tested nationhood in the former Ottoman space, Leiden-Boston 2012, 52; Eadem, Българи
– откупвачи на данъци…, 286-287.
201
Svetla IANEVA
202
The Rumelian provincial elites of the 19 th century
203
Svetla IANEVA
15 Eli Eshkenazi, “За начина на събиране на някои данъци в Западна България през
XIX век до Освобождението”[On the ways of collection of some taxes in western Bul-
garia in the nineteenth century up to the Liberation], Bulletin de l’Institut d’Histoire 16–
17 (1966), 333–44.
16 Ianeva, Българи – откупвачи на данъци…, 85–87; 116–118.
204
The Rumelian provincial elites of the 19 th century
only on investment in the most dynamic urban economic sectors such as trade
and protoindustries, but also on the old tax-farming, an unupprootable, as it
appears, part of the late Ottoman economic and fiscal system. Notwithstan-
ding its low social image and the attempts to abolish it or to limit the areas of
its implementation, it persisted and was quite vital all through the nineteenth
century. The continuing changes, throughout the second half of the 1860s and
in the 1870s, in the legal regulation of tax-farming, whose purpose was to limit
the size of the tax-farms, to regulate in details the tax-farming procedures and
to engage the local authorities in a tighter control over the implementation of
the regulations and the activities of the tax-farmers, met the tacit resistance of
many of the tax-farmers, who had no intention to abandon their usual practi-
ces. The changes in the legal framework did not prevent the accumulation of
arrears in the collection of the tax-farmed revenues in the 1870s – the difficult
situation of the state finances owed much to the practice of competitive tax-
farms in an unfavorable economic conjuncture.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the Ottoman fiscal system included
(and seems to have needed) the participation of non-Muslims – owners of capi-
tals as tax-farmers, mediators and creditors of the collection of state revenues.
Part of them were active at the central level, in the Ottoman capital, mediating
the undertaking at the auctions and the delivery of the revenues to the trea-
sury, assuming also the role of guarantors at all stages of the process. The role of
the Armenian and Jewish sarafs of Istanbul was particularly important in this
respect. In the provinces, despite the changes in the fiscal system during the
Tanzimat period, tax-farming as an important way for the collection of state
revenues remained mainly in the hands of the local economic (and administ-
rative) elites, of the local notables. Some of the ayans transformed their mainly
political and military power (in the eighteenth century) at the local level into
strong economic positions and continued to participate in tax-farming. The
rest of the tax-farmers were both Muslim and non-Muslim merchants, money-
lenders, owners of çiftliks, providers of different commodities on state com-
mand, and wealthy people with entrepreneur abilities in general, who were
usually combining different economic activities and were often forming part-
nerships in order to mobilize the capitals needed. Their weight in tax-farming
became considerable in the 1850s and 1860s. Since the beginning of the ninete-
enth century, non-Muslims reappear in the role of tax-farmers in the Ottoman
fiscal system and it seems that their share even grows over time in the Rumelian
205
Svetla IANEVA
provinces. They formed an important part of the local notables, as they repre-
sented the population in front of the authorities not only in fiscal matters but in
all formal and informal occasions. They were influential figures, benefited from
the respect of the local population from which they were constantly addressed
as mediators with the local and central authorities for all kind of public and
private matters, of which they took effectively care. The contribution of many
Rumelian tax-farmers to the promotion of modern education and health care,
as well as to the publishing of books and periodicals etc., places them among
the protagonists and often even among the leaders of the modernization pro-
cesses in the Empire during the nineteenth century, which went beyond the
economic field. Belonging to the top of the local social ladder, and being active
not only on the economic plan but also socially, the Rumelian tax-farmers com-
bined wealth with power and prestige and formed a minority group with major
influence; thus, they constituted an important component of the provincial eli-
tes of the Ottoman Empire.
206
SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF A TAX:
THE METROPOLITANS’ AND BISHOPS’ PİŞKEŞ
(SECOND HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY)
Phokion P. Kotzageorgis*
207
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
ration of this unit.2 Similarly, the patriarch paid a tax (pişkeş) in advance and
every year paid a set lump sum tax (harac).
Because of this fact, in Ottoman sources (i.e. the berats) the patriarch is
referred to as a mültezim. Recent studies argue that in the seventeenth century
this dual taxation system, which was the backbone of the institutional position
of the Orthodox Church within the Ottoman state hierarchy, had changed. The
annual tax (harac) was transformed into the tax zarar-ı kassabiye, namely a tax
for the provisioning of the army with meat; this change took place in all likeli-
hood at the turn of the sixteenth century.3 The other fiscal pillar of the Patriarc-
hate was the pişkeş, paid in cash until 1097/1686, when, as I shall show below,
it was turned into a substitute for the provisioning of the imperial gardeners’
corps (hassa-ı bostancıyan) with meat.
The patriarch’s dependants (metropolitans and bishops) similarly had to pay
pişkeş and harac for fulfilling their ecclesiastical functions (duties and rights).
Thus in three preserved original bishops’ investiture documents (berats) from
the sixteenth century it is underlined that the payment of the tax was payable
by the relevant bishop for verifying his appointment and his duties (on sikke
filori hüzzane-i amireme teslim olunmağın zikr olan piskoposluk mezkure tayin
olundı).4 If in the first one hundred and fifty years after the conquest of Cons-
tantinople the patriarch and his dependants were subject to the same tax status,
we assume that the same changes observed for the patriarch in the seventeenth
2 For the iltizam system see Linda T. Darling, Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy. Tax Collec-
tion and Finance Administration in the Ottoman Empire, 1560-1660, Leiden – New York
– Köln 1996, 119-160; Murat Çızakça, A Comparative Evolution of Business Partnerships.
The Islamic World and Europe, with Specific Reference to the Ottoman Archives, Leiden –
New York – Köln 1996, 135-159. For the relation of the Orthodox Church with the iltizam
system see especially Anastassios G. Papademetriou, Ottoman Tax Farming and the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate. An Examination of State and Church in Ottoman Society (15th-16th
Century), unpublished PhD diss., University of Princeton 2001, 125-171. That bishops like
the Patriarch were for the Ottoman state tax farmers can be discerned from the termino-
logy of the present register. In the first page, where the changes in the fiscal status of the
Patriarchate were recorded, it is mentioned that the specified Patriarch was appointed Pat-
riarch for three years (see Appendix). This is reminiscent of the three-year period that a
tax-farmer would typically undertake in the administration of a tax farming.
3 Halil İnalcık, “The Status of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch under the Ottomans”, Turcica
21-22 (1991), 424.
4 Zachariadou, Δέκα τουρκικά έγγραφα, 179-187 (nos. 8-10). The passage is from docu-
ment no. 9.
208
Socio-economic aspects of a tax
century, took place in the bishoprics as well. My paper focuses on a single and
unique, as far as I know, register of metropolitans’ and bishops’ appointments
and attempts to present new aspects of the fiscal and institutional structure of
the Church in the second half of the seventeenth century.
The register is a copy of the apparently official protocol kept by the rele-
vant service of the economic department of the state (şıkk-ı sani), regarding
the registration of the investiture diplomas of the Church officials. The reason
for the compilation of this copy is not explicitly known; however, I argue that
it might be a change in the fiscal status of the Church that caused its compila-
tion. A notice in the first page of the register mentions that from the period of
the fourth patriarchate of Dionysios the Fourth (i.e. in March 1686) the patri-
arch had to pay an equivalent for the tax of pişkeş, which amounted to a much
lower sum than what he used to pay before. While the patriarch had to pay for
this tax ten loads (yük) of aspers as a pişkeş, from this arrangement on he had
to pay the substitute of one hundred okkas of meat for the supplying of the
imperial gardeners corps; this amount was equivalent to four hundred thou-
sands aspers. Thus, instead of paying one million aspers, the patriarch had to
pay four hundred thousands aspers in three installments. The reason for this
change might be connected to the long war that the Ottoman Empire was emb-
roiled in since 1684. The sultan took this measure to meet the urgent needs for
supplying the army fighting in the northern frontier of the state. It should be
noted that a period of negotiation between the patriarch and the state preceded,
in which the former persistently asked for the alleviation of the fiscal burden on
the Church, in order that the Patriarchate cope with the enormous debts it had
accumulated at least from the period of financial crisis of the end of the sixte-
enth century onwards. Thus, it was the war which alleviated the burden and tur-
ned it from a purely monetary tax to a substitution for food supply.5 However,
the question is why the tax was imposed on a lower base. Was it the result of the
laborious negotiation of the Patriarchate? Or, might the state have counterba-
lanced the loss from the reduction of the tax with the imposition of a new tax or
the regularization of irregular taxes? The available data do not give any answer.
209
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
The time-span covered by the register might not be coincidental. The ent-
ries are not arranged chronologically, probably because this was a copy. The
oldest entry dated from the 25 Şaban 1052 (18.11.1642) and the most recent
one from the 1st of Zilhicce 1117 (16.3.1706). The first date corresponded with
a presumable change in the fiscal departments of the state, which directly inf-
luenced the fiscal organization of Church affairs. According to Prof. Paras-
kevas Konortas, in 1051/1640 the fiscal departments of the state might have
been reorganized.6 As concerns particularly the Church, a new department was
established under the name of piskopos mukataası kalemi. This department pas-
sed under the directorate of the şıkk-ı sani bureau of state finance.7 Therefore,
a scribal corps in the fiscal headquarters was exclusively engaged with Church
affairs from then on. From that date, the oldest Church register kept in the
Prime-ministry Archives (Başbakanlık Arşivi) in Istanbul has been preserved
till today.8 Thus, one can assume that the compilation of the under study copy-
register reflects the change that had taken place in the relevant fiscal depart-
ment in the middle of the seventeenth century. Namely, we can argue that the
copy is based on the first protocol registers of the piskopos mukataasi kalemi,
which have not been preserved in its original form.
6 Konortas, Οθωμανικές θεωρήσεις, 171-74. If it had ever taken place, this reorganization
would have been one of a great number of such reorganizations occurring during the
17th century (Darling, Revenue-Raising, 57-80).
7 For the different contents of that financial bureau in the 16th and 17th centuries, see Dar-
ling, Revenue-Raising, 56-7, 60-1, 65-6. It might not be a coincidence that the jurisdiction
of that bureau was over the southern Balkans regions. The relevant bureau belonged to
the jurisdiction of the 3rd defterdar. However, it is not possible to understand the changes
occurring in the Ottoman finance bureaus during the 17th century.
8 See the catalogue of the Prime-Ministry Archive (Ν. Aktaş (ed), Başbakanlık Osmanlı
Arşivi Rehberi, İstanbul 2000², 178) and the article of Halil İnalcık, “Ottoman Archival
Materials on Millets”, in B. Braude with B. Lewis (eds), Christians and Jews in the Otto-
man Empire. The Functioning of a Plural Society, N. York – London 1982, vol. I, 438-447.
However, the register published by Inalcik has a completely different form from the pres-
ent. So, this must have to do with different types of Church registers. According to the
same author (Konortas) this new arrangement could be connected to another monetary
reform, which immediately followed the sultan Ibrahim’s ascension to the throne. In fact
it concerns one of the four coinage correction operations (tashih-i sikke) which occurred
in the first half of the 17th century, in order for the state to deal with problems arising due
to the constant devaluation of the akçe (Şevket Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Otto-
man Empire, Cambridge 2000, 139-141).
210
Socio-economic aspects of a tax
The end of the entries coincides with the ascension of a new patriarch, Gab-
riel the Third (date of the appointment order: 27.2.1703), on the occasion of
which a new register was compiled, subsequent to a petition of the patriarch
in 29.8.1705. The register was compiled in the 15th of April 1706, which corres-
ponds to the first day of the Islamic lunar year of 1118. Thus, on the occasion
of the ascension of the new patriarch and due to the petition of the latter to the
Sublime Porte, this annotated copy was compiled. It is evident from the notes
on the first page that the new patriarch attempted to reaffirm the fiscal status
of the patriarchate, probably because of the application of the new fiscal prac-
tice of malikane to all the tax units of the empire, which previously was under
the iltizam system status. This assumption can be proved by the disturbances
observed in the Patriarchate and mentioned in Greek sources eight years later,
when the malikane system finally applied to it.9
The twenty-eight entries of the register have a common text format. They
include: the title of the region; the name of the new hierarch; the previous office-
holder’s name; the reason for the change in office (death, resignation, removal
etc.); and the necessary procedure, which had been followed (i.e., the petition of
the patriarch [his name was referred to] to the Porte for the promulgation of an
order for the appointment of the officer and the date this order [ferman-ı şerif]
was promulgated). Below this, the amount of the old (kadim) pişkeş of the met-
ropolitanate/bishopric was written. In the older entries, above the main entry, a
note was written for the renewal/replacement of the office holder with the pro-
mulgation of a berat, due to the ascension of a new sultan.10 This is an example:
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Maronya nam-ı diğer Gümülcine derühde-i Kalini-
kos nam rahib becayış-ı Ğavril nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı Kalinikos rahib
patrık-ı İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife elvakı‘ fi 12 Ramazan 1115. Peşkeş-i kadim
960. Tecdid-i berat kerde berayı cülus-ı hümayun fi 10 Zilhicce 1115.
[The metropolitanate of the unbelievers of the region of Maronia, other name Giou-
moultzina, under the tax-farmer of the monk named Kallinikos, in the place of the
monk named Gabriel, who was dead, through the petition of the monk Kallinikos, the
Patriarch of Istanbul and through [the promulgation] of a noble order. This happened
9 See Konortas, Οθωμανικές θεωρήσεις, 176-77 and 348-50, where the relevant Greek
sources on this incident are analyzed.
10 All the renovations have the same dates and correspond to the ascension of the relevant
sultans during this period: 26 Ramazan 1102 (23.6.1691) for Ahmed II, 22 Cemaziyüla-
hır 1106 (7.2.1695) for Mustafa II, 10 Zilhicce 1115 (15.4.1704) for Ahmed III.
211
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
on the 12th of Ramazan, 1115. The [amount] of the old pişkeş: 960. A renewal order
has been promulgated because of the Sultan’s ascension in the 10th of Zilhicce, 1115.]
The title of the hierarch registered in the source is carefully written. Until now,
scholars have pointed out that the Ottoman sources have not been so consis-
tent regarding the recording of Church titles; this phenomenon caused a host
of problems for the researcher.11 In this register the scribe describes the office
as piskoposluk or metrepolidlik, while the Patriarchate is referred to as patrıklık.
Once we compare the registered offices with those in the Greek sources of the
time, we realize that there is consistency. For example, for Serres/Siroz, Thes-
saloniki/Selanik, and Adrinople/Edirne the scribe uses the term metrepolidlik,
while for Çitroz/Kitros, Serfice/Servia, and Ahıyolı/Anghialos uses the term
piskoposluk. The last term is used for the archbishoprics as well (e.g. piskopos-
luk Kesendire for the archbishopric of Kassandra [p. 6], Lıca [p. 3], and Poğonya
[p. 8]).12 Having in mind that a bishopric could be elevated to the rank of a
metropolis and a metropolis could be degraded to the rank of a bishopric not
uncommonly during the Ottoman period, we suggest that the Ottoman scribes
updated the relevant catalogues meticulously and they were aware of the chan-
ges occurred in the Church catalogues (notitiae episcopatuum).
The name of the district used would be in keeping with those used by the
Ottoman administration: i.e. they mentioned the name of the town where the
seat of the relevant diocese was.13 In one case, in the diocese of Kampania in
Central Macedonia (p. 9), the scribe retained the original Christian name, pro-
bably because the administrative unit had a different name (Yenice Vardar)
and there was no town with the name of the Christian diocess.14 An interes-
ting detail is the term used for the geographical area of the office jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction was called vilayet, a rather vague term to describe a region.
Konortas argues that the use of this term “constitutes an initial differentiation
of the Ottoman view on the territorial jurisdiction of Church clerical officials
from the ecclesiastical view on eparchia”;15 unfortunately, he does not analyze
212
Socio-economic aspects of a tax
further his point. I do not think that there is any differentiation. Rather, one
can see an attempt of the Ottoman authorities to adapt the ecclesiastical geog-
raphy to Ottoman administrative geography. Since the jurisdiction of a bishop/
metropolitan did not correspond with the jurisdiction of the Ottoman judge–
which was the official administrative unit, the authorities used an Ottoman
term, which in their administrative practice did not have a specific meaning.
Furthermore, this term was used in the poll tax administrative terminology.16
One can suggest that it might be an influence of the latter usage (i.e. the poll
tax administration) on the former (on the piskopos mukataasi kalemi termino-
logy). Thus, the vilayet of the Christians of Dimetoka /Didymoteichon is the
Ottoman way to denote the ecclesiastical area in terms of the Ottoman admi-
nistrative geography. In one single case the office was followed by the term kaza
(p. 3: piskoposluk kaza-ı Şumni ve tevabiha), underlining the fact that it was the
only case in which the administrative unit was identical with the Church office
jurisdiction. The term kaza was used in two other cases as an explanatory note,
in order to specify the geographical position of names of bishoprics that were
either common or unknown to the Ottoman administration (p. 8: piskoposluk
kefere-i vilayet-i Tirnebolı ve tevabiha der kaza-ı Argirikasrı; p. 12: piskoposluk
kefere-i Çerven der kaza-ı Rusçuk). Finally, in another case, the scribe used the
term zemin. Judging from the fact that the term referred to the city of Edirne,
I surmise that the scribe wanted to stress that the jurisdiction of the metropo-
litan was only the city and not the villages. A last remark concerns the entry of
the diocese of Maronia (p. 2). Next to this official name is written as nam-ı diğer
the name of Gümülcine (Komotini), apparently because the diocese had offici-
ally the name of the former but its real seat was in the latter town.17
The procedure for the appointment of a new hierarch did not differ from
that of the Patriarch. According to the register, the Patriarch submitted a peti-
tion (arz) to the sultan, informing him on the change in the office and applying
for the promulgation of an order for the appointment of the new office-hol-
der. In this petition the reason for the change in office had to be written, as we
16 Machiel Kiel, “Remarks on the Administration of the Poll Tax (Cizye) in the Ottoman
Balkans and Value of Poll Tax Registers (Cizye Defterleri) for Demographic Research”,
Études Balkaniques 26.4 (1990), 72. I am not able to argue if there is a connection be-
tween the two usages.
17 In the berats the diocese was referred to as Gümülcine (Konortas, Οθωμανικές θεωρή-
σεις, 239).
213
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
can surmise from our source: in every entry, the reason for the change in office
was recorded. Lastly, as it is mentioned in the source, the sultan promulgated
an order for the appointment of the new bishop or metropolitan. However, the
whole entry–and its date–refers to the promulgation of the investiture diploma
(berat), with which the new officer could fulfill his duties and rights.
If the entries refer to the promulgation of a berat, then what is the connection
with the amount written below of each entry? Konortas distinguishes between
the promulgation of the ferman and that of the berat, arguing that the first one
was the appointment document and the second one the document that permit-
ted the office-holder to exercise his duties and rights. He furthers his argument
by suggesting that the ferman is connected with the payment of the pişkeş, and
the berat with the annual payment, which in the first two centuries was called
harac.18 Therefore, the amount written below is the money already paid to the
Ottoman fisc, or the amount that the office-holder ought to pay according to the
early procedure. Because of this, the word ‘kadim’ is attached to the word pişkeş.
As it is mentioned above, in 1686 this tax was abolished and, in fact, was repla-
ced with the equivalent of the money paid for the meat supply of the imperial
gardeners’ corps.19 We suppose that the same happened for the hierarchs’ pişkeş
as well, and thus the word ‘kadim’ was attached to that of ‘pişkeş’.
As we can surmise from the payment of the other church taxes, the met-
ropolitan/bishops’ pişkeş reflected the demographic and economic situation
of the districts.20 While pişkeş was payable by the hierarch alone and was not
applied to the Christians, the sum that was due depended on the population
dynamics of the area. Having these preconditions in mind, we may attempt to
estimate how heavy this tax was for the Christians. Some preliminary remarks
should be put forward: first, the currency paid for the tax, although it is expli-
citly not mentioned in the register, it was akçe, because in the first page, where
the notices dealing with the fiscal status of the Church was registered, all the
payments were refered to in akçes. Second, the relevance of the geographi-
18 Ibid, 168.
19 As it was recorded for the office of the Patriarch: Hin-i tevcihiye canıb-ı miriye viregeldik-
leri 10 yük akçe pişkeş hatt-ı hümmayun ile refı‘ olunub mukabilesinde bu mıkdar akçe [i.e.
399,996] hassa bostancılara lahm bahası vermek üzere ocaklık kayd olunmuş dur sene-i
1097.
20 Christos Patrinelis, “Η Εκκλησία και η Ορθοδοξία” [The Church and the Orthodoxy], in
Istoria tou Ellinikou Ethnous , vol. 10, Athens 1974, 103-05.
214
Socio-economic aspects of a tax
cal entities of the Ottoman administrative units (kazas) with that of the ecc-
lesiastical (metropolis/dioceses) did not coincide and, moreover, it is difficult
to designate their boundaries. However, we can roughly identify some regions
(e.g. vilayet-i Maronya with the kaza of Gümülcine, vilayet-i Dimetoka with the
kaza of Dimetoka etc).
The hypothesis put forward is based on two prerequisites: a) that the Otto-
man state adjusted the amount of pişkeş according to the economic and demog-
raphic situation of the region; b) that the pişkeş might have imposed on the
basis of a Christian household (hane), as was the case with the other Ottoman
taxes (cizye, avariz), as well as with the basic tax the Christians paid to the Pat-
riarch and the local metropolitan/bishop (patrıklık ve metrepolidlik rüsumu).
The last tax, as it was recorded in the patriarchal and metropolitan berats, was
standardized at the amount of one gold coin for each priest and twelve akçes for
each household. Based on these two prerequisites, we can attempt to ascertain
the tax burden of pişkeş per household. The number of Christian households of
an area could be deduced only through the poll-tax registers, although this kind
of source often did not give ‘real’ numbers.21 However, with this comparison we
can have an order of magnitude for the Christian population and therefore we
can compare them with the amount of the tax.
Only for half of the regions of our sample was it possible to find data from
the poll-tax registers in order to compare them with the amount of the pişkeş.
The ratio resulted by the division of the tax amount with the number of the
Christian households ranged between 0.4 (Ahıyolı) and 5.8 (Selanik). However,
with the exceptions of Selanik and Kesendire, all the other regions had a ratio
less than two or even 1. This means that approximately one akçe was calculated
for each household. This finding should mean that either the relevant regions
were economically poor or the tax was set at a very low level. The only other
source recording amounts of pişkeş was published by H. İnalcık and is dated
from 1640/1.22 The comparison of the eight regions of our sample with those
referred to in İnalcık’s register (i.e. Siroz, Varna, Zihne, Tirnebolı, Selanik, Kara-
ferye, Ereğli, Çatalca) shows that the pişkeş did not increase during the almost
fifty years span between the two sources. However, the tax was not set at a stan-
dard level but followed the changes occurring in the regions.
215
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
There survive some dispersed data from earlier periods regarding the
relation of the pişkeş with the Christian population of the region. In the late
sixteenth century, on the island of Kos the pişkeş amounted to 0.4 akçe per hou-
sehold.23 The tax amount per household on the island of Andros was even less
at the turn of the sixteenth century.24 Therefore, it seems that even in the sixte-
enth century the pişkeş was not set at a high level, although its payment in gold
currency (filori) was noteworthy. Since it was not an annual tax, we can assume
that the pişkeş was not so burdensome as the other Ottoman or ecclesiastical
taxes were. However, it might reflect the economic situation of a region and
could have been an indicator of the economic and demographic vitality of the
Christian population of a region. The history of this particular tax in the second
half of the seventeenth century shows that the tax lost its significance in favour
of other taxes.
In conclusion, in the second half of the seventeenth century the Ottoman
state had developed a rationalized mechanism for the administation of the
Church affairs. In the context of this institutional framework, the fiscal para-
meter functioned in pace with the general tax system of the state. The pişkeş,
the last of the old taxes of the Church, underwent a considerable change in
nature, and ultimately it most probably lost its significance and disappeared.
Having in mind the general changes in the state and Christian society occur-
ring at that time, one may suggest that from the turn of the seventeenth century
on, the Orthodox Church passed into a new phase of its history. This period,
which started with the change in fiscal status analyzed above had as main cha-
racteristics an aristocratic character in Church administration (as seen in the
Phanariots’ impact and gerontismos), an ongoing bureaucratization in terms of
the relations of the Church with the state (e.g. with the establishment of a spe-
cific finance department for Church affairs), and an expansion in the territorial
and institutional jurisdiction of the patriarchate (e.g. the multiplication of the
berats’ clauses).
23 Compare the numbers in: Nicolas Vatin – Gilles Veinstein – Elizabeth Zachariadou,
Catalogue du fonds ottoman des archives du monastère de Saint-Jean à Patmos. Les
vingt-deux premiers dossiers, Athens 2011, 88-9 (no. 1b-41b); Dimitris Dimitropoulos,
Μαρτυρίες για τον πληθυσμό των νησιών του Αιγαίου, 15ος-αρχές 19ου αιώνα [Evidences
for the population of the Aegean Islands, 15th-beginning of 19th century], Athens 2004,
309.
24 Vatin-Veinstein-Zachariadou, op.cit., 53 (no.1-21); Dimitropoulos, op.cit., 178.
216
Socio-economic aspects of a tax
APPENDIX
p. 1
İbtida-ı defter-i metrpolidan ve piskoposan ve muhasebe ve patrıklık ve
saire der vilayet-i Rumili ve Anadolu tabı‘ kalem-i ............... defter-i şıkk-ı sani
nam-ı diğer piskopos bermuceb-i defter-i atık nuvişte elvakı‘ fi ğurre-i Muhar-
rem sene-i 1118.
217
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
p. 2
Piskopos kefere-i vilayet-ı Ahıyolı ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i ........... nam rahib
becayış-ı Eftymios nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı Kalinikos nam rahib patrık-ı
İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife elvakı‘ fi 11 Zilhicce 1103. Peşkes-i kadim 8,900.
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Dimetoka ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Yovakim
nam rahib el-ma‘ruf piskopos ........... becayış-ı Eremiya nam rahib ki hüsn-i
rıza bud ferağat kerde ba arz-ı Kalinikos rahib patrık-ı İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı
şerife elvakı‘ fi 13 Rebiyülevvel 1114. Peşkeş-i kadim 9,600. Tecdid-i berat kerde
berayı cülus-ı hümayun fi 10 Zilhicce 1115.
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Maronya nam-ı diğer Gümülcine derühde-i
Kalinikos nam rahib becayış-ı Ğavril nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı Kali-
nikos rahib patrık-ı İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife elvakı‘ fi 12 Ramazan 1115.
Peşkeş-i kadim 960. Tecdid-i berat kerde berayı cülus-ı hümayun fi 10 Zilhicce
1115.
p. 3
Piskoposluk kefere-i vilayet-i Lıca ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Meletyos nam
rahib becayış-ı Tyodoş nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı Diyonisyos rahib
218
Socio-economic aspects of a tax
p. 4
vacat
p. 5
vacat
p. 6
Piskopos kefere-i vilayet-i Çitroz ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Kalinikos nam rahib
becayış-ı Yovakim nam rahib ki kasr-ı yed kerde ba arz-ı Yakovos nam patrık-ı
İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife elvakı‘ fi 22 Safer 1090. Peşkeş-i kadim 900.
Piskopos kefere-i vilayet-i Serfice ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Yanikios nam rahib
becayış-ı Simyon nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı Metodyos nam patrık-ı
İstanbul elvakı‘ fi 22 Şa‘ban 1079. Peşkeş-i kadim 1,440.
Piskopos kefere-i vilayet-i Kesendire ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Melhisedek
nam rahib an ferağat-ı Meletyos nam rahib ba arz-ı Yakovos patrık-ı İstanbul
ve ba ferman elvakı‘ fi 20 Receb 1092. Peşkeş-i kadim 3,000.
p. 7
Piskopos kefere-i vilayet-i Aydan? ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Melkisedek nam
rahib becayış-ı Tıvafanı (Theofani) nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı Partenyos
patrık-ı İstanbul elvakı‘ fi 4 Zilkade 1072. Peşkeş-i kadim 1,500.
219
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
p. 8
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Zihne ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Yermanos nam
rahib metrepolid-ı Dırama ...... şüd ki metrepolidlik der patrığa .... şüde ba arz-ı
Yanisyos (Dionysios) rahib patrık-ı İstanbul elvakı‘ fi selh-i Cemaziyülahır
1074. Peşkeş-i kadim 1,562. Zihne metrepolidliği yok dur zamandan berü halı
kalub kimesne kabul eylemedükle Dırama ve Nevrekob metrepolidliğine ilhak
olunmuş dur ba ferman-ı şerife fi 28 Ramazan 1069.
Piskoposluk kefere-i vilayet-i Poğonya ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Nekdaryos
nam rahib becayış-ı Danil nam rahib ki refi‘ şüde ba arz-ı patrık-ı İstanbul
elvakı‘ fi 27 Rebiyülahır 1067. Peşkeş-i kadim 2,000.
Piskoposluk kefere-i vilayet-i Tirnebolı ve tevabı‘ha der kaza-ı Argirikasrı
derühde-i Ğavril nam rahib berayı cülus-ı hazret-i sultan İbrahim han fi 25
Şa‘ban 1052. Peşkeş-i kadim 3,000.
p. 9
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Selanik ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i İğnadyos nam
rahib becayış-ı Metedyos nam rahib ki refi‘ şüde aran şüde ki te‘adid ve iki defa‘
cülus-ı hümayun tecdid-i berat kerde ba arz-ı Kalinikos patrık-ı İstanbul ve
ba ferman-ı şerife elvakı‘ fi 12 Ramazan 1107. Peşkeş-i kadim 13,000. Tecdid-i
berat kerde berayı cülus fi 10 Rebiyülahır 1115.
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Karaferya ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Leondyos
nam rahib becayış-ı Makaryos nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı Ğavril rahib
patrık-ı İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife elvakı‘ fi ğurre-i Şa‘ban 1116. Peşkeş-i
kadim 6,600.
Piskoposluk kefere-i Qanbana ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Tofan nam rahib
becayış-ı Kipryanos nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı patrık-ı İstanbul fi 9 Rebi-
yülahır 1070. Peşkeş-i kadim 1,600.
220
Socio-economic aspects of a tax
p. 10-11
vacat
p. 12
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Silistre ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Atanasyos
nam rahib becayış-ı Paysiyos nam rahib ki refi‘ şüde ba arz-ı patrık-ı İstanbul fi
26 Ramazan 1102. Peşkeş-i kadim 4,000. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 22 Cemaziyü-
lahır 1106. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 10 Rebiyülahır 1115.
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Mesivri ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Hırıstoforos
nam rahib becayış-ı Tyofan nam rahib ki refi‘ şüde ba arz-ı Kalinikos patrık-ı
İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife fi 1101. Peşkeş-i kadim 600. Berat-ı cedid ......
berayı cülus-ı hümayun fi 26 Ramazan 1102. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 10 Rebiyü-
lahır 1115. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 22 Cemazıyülahır 1116.
Piskoposluk kefere-i Çerven der kaza-ı Rusçuk derühde-i Diyonisyos nam
rahib becayış-ı Hırysandos nam rahib ki refi‘ şüde edane ..... ki cinayet zahır
şüde ba arz-ı Diyonisyos patrık-ı İstanbul fi 7 Safer 1097. Peşkeş-i kadim 800.
Tırnovi metrepolidliğine ifraz şüde. Berat-ı cedid ...... berayı cülus-ı hümayun
fi 26 Ramazan 1102. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 10 Rebiyülahır 1115. Tecdid-i berat
kerde fi 22 Cemazıyülahır 1116.
p. 13
vacat
p. 14
Piskoposluk kefere-i vilayet-i Çatalca derühde-i Tavofanı nam rahib fi 21
Safer 1060. Peşkeş-i kadim 800.
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Erdek ve Kapudağı ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i
Kyprianos nam rahib an refi‘-i Diyonisyos nam rahib ba arz-ı Yakovos rahib
patrık-ı İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife fi 2 Rebiyülevvel 1097. Peşkeş-i kadim
1,800. Berat-ı cedid ...... berayı cülus-ı hümayun fi 22 Cemaziyülahır 1106.
Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 10 Rebiyülahır 1115.
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Ereğli ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Nyofytos nam
rahib an refi‘-i Makaryos nam rahib ..... .... ki sahıb-ı evvel bude ba arz-ı hali ....
ve ba ferman-ı şerife fi 27 Ramazan 1102. Peşkeş-i kadim 3,200. Berat-ı cedid
...... berayı cülus-ı hümayun fi 22 Cemaziyülahır 1106. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi
10 Rebiyülahır 1115.
221
Phokion P. KOTZAGEORGIS
p. 15
Piskoposluk kefere-i vilayet-i Vize derühde-i ....rnya nam rahib becayış-ı
Yerasimyos nam rahib ki mürd şüde ba arz-ı hali Diyonisyos nam rahib patrık-ı
İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı şerife fi 19 Ramazan 1093. Peşkeş-i kadim 1,200. Berat-ı
cedid ...... berayı cülus-ı hümayun fi 26 Ramazan 1102. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi
10 Rebiyülahır 1115. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 22 Cemazıyülahır 1116.
Metrepolid der zemin-i Edirne ve tevabı‘ha derühde-i Atanasyos nam rahib
an refi‘-i Eftymyos nam rahib ba arz-ı Kalinikos patrık-ı İstanbul ve ba ferman-ı
şerife fi 7 Rebiyülevvel 1104. Peşkeş-i kadim 18,000. Berat-ı cedid ...... berayı
cülus-ı hümayun fi 22 Cemaziyülahır 1106. Tecdid-i berat kerde fi 10 Rebiyü-
lahır 1115.
Metrepolidlik kefere-i vilayet-i Sözebolı derühde-i Mitrofan nam rahib fi 13
Şa‘ban 1059. Peşkeş-i kadim 1,080.
p. 16
vacat
222
KURAMSAL KAYNAKLAR ÜZERİNE YENİDEN
DÜŞÜNMEK: MAX WEBER VE OSMANLI
TARİHYAZIMI*
Erdem Sönmez**
* Burada oldukça kısa bir halini gördüğünüz bu metin, daha önce Praksis dergisinde ya-
yımlanan “Klasik Dönem Osmanlı Tarihi Çalışmalarında Max Weber Etkisi” başlıklı
makalem esas alınarak ve özetlenerek hazırlanmıştır. Bu tebliğin daha ayrıntılı bir hali
ve dolayısıyla sözü edilen makale için bkz. Erdem Sönmez, “Klasik Dönem Osmanlı Ta-
rihi Çalışmalarında Max Weber Etkisi”, Praksis 23 (2010), s. 39-62.
** Bilkent Üniversitesi Tarih Bölümü, Doktora Öğrencisi. erdemsz@bilkent.edu.tr
1 Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, T. Parsons (der.), New York
1964, s. 341.
223
Erdem SÖNMEZ
224
Max Weber ve Osmanlı tarihyazımı
225
Erdem SÖNMEZ
14 Halil İnalcık, “Comments on ‘Sultanism’: Max Weber’s Typification of the Ottoman Po-
lity”, Princeton Papers in Near Eastern Studies 1 (1992), s. 55-56; İnalcık, Osmanlı İmpa-
ratorluğu, s. 83.
15 Halil İnalcık, “Osmanlı Padişahı”, Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi Dergisi
13/4 (1958), s. 77.
16 Bu durumun ekonomik alandaki bir örneği için bkz. Ömer Lütfi Barkan, “Osmanlı
İmparatorluğu’nda Kuruluş Devrinin Toprak Meseleleri (1)”, A. Nesimi (haz.), Türkiye’de
Toprak Meselesi, İstanbul 1980, s. 288.
17 Örnekler için bkz. Halil İnalcık, “Suleiman the Lawgiver and Ottoman Law”, Archivum
Ottomanicum 1 (1969), s. 105-138. Halil İnalcık, “Osmanlı Hukukuna Giriş: Örfi-Sultani
Hukuk ve Fatih’in Kanunları”, Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi Dergisi, 13/2
(1958), s. 102-126.
18 İnalcık, “Comments on ‘Sultanism’”, s. 50.
226
Max Weber ve Osmanlı tarihyazımı
19 Ya da bir başka yerde yazılan “Müslümanları şeriat yoluyla sevk ve idareye, Allah ta-
rafından tevkil edilen Halife-Sultana mutlak itaat gerekir… tebaa, oğlun babaya karşı
gösterdiği mutlak itaati göstermek mecburiyetindedir… Osmanlı Padişahı bütün devlet
selahiyetlerinin sahibi ve sınıflar nizamının hâkimidir… Ehemmiyetli olan nokta, her
şeyde mutlak bir şekilde hâkim olan bölünmez bir otorite fikri ve bunu tam manasıyla
gerçekleştirmek üzere teşkilatta meydana getirilen inkişaftır.”satırları örnek gösterilebi-
lir. İnalcık, “Osmanlı Padişahı”, s. 74-78.
20 Ömer Lütfi Barkan, “Türkiye’de Toprak Meselesinin Tarihi Esasları”, Türkiye’de Toprak
Meselesi, s. 132.
21 Ömer Lütfi Barkan, “Türkiye’de Sultanların Teşrii Sıfat ve Salahiyetleri ve Kanunname-
ler”, H. Özdeğer (haz.), Osmanlı Devleti’nin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Tarihi: Tetkikler-Makale-
ler, Cilt 2, İstanbul 2000, s. 1381.
22 İnalcık, a.g.m., s. 77.
227
Erdem SÖNMEZ
son derece teşkilatlı ve sonuna kadar devletçi bir nizam neticesidirler. Bu suretle
teessüs eden imaretler,… herkesin devlet için ve devletin herkes için çalıştığı bir
nizamın muazzam bir misalini teşkil etmektedirler”23 satırları sözü edilen para-
lelliğe ilk elden verilebilecek örneklerdendir. Benzer şekilde, İnalcık’ın kaleme
aldığı, “patrimonyal egemenlik, elindeki düzenleyici güç sayesinde… toplumsal
ve ekonomik ilişkilerin mutlak belirleyicisidir” veya “Osmanlı hükümdarının
ekonomiyi genellikle patrimonyal amaçlarının bir parçası olarak düzenlediği…
üretim sürecini doğrudan bürokrasinin yönettiği bilinir” satırları da esasında
sözü edilen durumun bir ifadesidir.24 Keza, Weber’in feodalizm-prebendalizm
ayrımı da Osmanlı tarihçiliğinde, “Osmanlı sistemi içinde prebendalizm de
erken dönemlerden itibaren yaygın olarak kullanılmıştır”25 veya “sipahi beyi
tam manasıyla bir derebeyi, yahut toprak beyi değildir. Onun asaleti bir memur
ve asker asalet ve şerefinden ileri gitmez”26 gibi ifadelerde kristalize olan karşı-
lığını bulmuştur.
228
Max Weber ve Osmanlı tarihyazımı
(1300-1600) kesin kurallara göre düzenlenmiş bir siyasal sisteme dayanmış gibi
görünmektedir”29 ifadesinde de somutlaştığı gibi bir soyutlama olarak değil,
tam da gerçeği doğrudan yansıtan bir tanımlama olarak okunur.
Bunun yanında, klasik dönem Osmanlı tarihine ilişkin Weberyen model,
bağlamından kopuk bir Weber okumasına dayanır. Bu okuma, zamanının ve
toplumunun insanı olan Weber’i ve Weber’in modelinin oluşturulmasına yola-
çan saikleri gözardı ederek; salt Weber’in yazdıklarına odaklanır. Dolayısıyla,
Weber’i politik ve entelektüel motivasyonlarından bağımsız ele alan bu mesai,
Weber’in modelini ve kavramsallaştırmalarını kavrayamaz.
Söz konusu durumu ayrıntılandırmak için Weber’in yaşadığı dönemde
Alman düşünsel hayatına ve Weber’in entelektüel üretimine damgasını vuran
bir eğilim olan partikülarizmden kısaca bahsedilebilir. Özellikle 19. yüzyılın
ikinci yarısında, dönemin Alman entelijansiyasının Almanya’nın tarihine ve
mevcut durumuna bakarken gösterdikleri temel eğilim Almanya’nın farklılığı,
özgün yolu (sonderweg) yani biricikliğidir. Weber de dâhil olmak üzere döne-
min Alman liberallerinin amentüsü “Almanya ile İngiltere’nin neden farklı yol-
lar izlediği” sorusudur.30 Alman liberal entelektüellerinin ve akademisinin bu
soruya ilişkin buldukları en net yanıt, Prusya ordusunun ve Alman zihniyetinin
oynadığı “habis” roldür. Almanya’nın güçlü ve arkaik devlet aygıtı, ekonomik
gelişmeye toplumsal-siyasal gelişmenin eşlik etmesini engellemiş; burjuvazi
kendi değerlerini dayatmak yerine Prusya ordusu, Junkerler ve bürokrasiyle
uzlaşmayı seçmiştir. Dolayısıyla Alman burjuvazisi taleplerini devlet aygıtı ara-
cılığıyla sağlayabilmiş ve İngiltere ve Fransa’daki gibi bir burjuva devrimine
ihtiyaç duymamıştır.31
Söz konusu partikülarist eğilimle Alman tarihinin ve siyasetinin okunması-
nın yaygın olduğu bir düşünsel ortamda yetişen Weber de çağdaşı Alman liberal
entelijansiyası gibi Almanya’nın ulus-devlet oluşumu ve endüstrileşme yolunda
izlediği hattın, diğer Batı Avrupa ülkelerinden neden “farklı bir güzergâh” izle-
diği sorusuna yanıt arar. “Neden Almanya’daki devlet aygıtı ve bürokratik yapı
İngiltere ve Fransa’dakinden farklı”dır? “Neden Almanya, Fransız ve Amerikan
Devrimlerinin ‘İnsan Hakları’ ve Aydınlanma değerlerini doğurmaktan aciz
kalmıştır?” Ve neden Alman toplumu, Weber’in 1890’larda yazdığı gibi “yeni
229
Erdem SÖNMEZ
230
Max Weber ve Osmanlı tarihyazımı
Sonuç
İşaret edilmeye çalışıldığı gibi, Osmanlı tarihçiliği üzerindeki Weber etkisi
derinlemesine bir Weber okumasının ürünü değildir. Osmanlı tarihçiliğinin
Weber’i içselleştiremediğinin en belirgin göstergelerinden biri, Weber’in kendi
analizi dahi Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun diğer patrimonyal/prebendal örnek-
lerle karşılaştırılmasını içeriyorken, Türkiye’deki akademik tarihçiliğin bu tür-
den bir mesaiye girişmemiş olmasıdır. Bu durumun en kaydadeğer işareti,
Türkiye tarihçiliğinde, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun Batıya benzemezliğine iliş-
kin üretime karşılık; Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ile diğer “patrimonyal” yapıların
karşılaştırılmasına yönelik çabanın neredeyse sıfır düzeyinde olmasıdır. Türki-
ye’deki akademik tarihçiliğinin Weber’i içselleştirememesinin bir diğer göster-
gesi, Weber okumasına içkin deformasyonlara ilişkindir. Problemli “ideal tip”
okuması ve dolayısıyla patrimonyalizm ve geleneksel otorite gibi kavramsallaş-
tırmaların, tarihsel gerçeklikte kavramsal saflığında bulunabileceği yanılsaması
söz konusu duruma ilk elden verilebilecek örneklerdendir. Ayrıca, zamanının
ve toplumunun insanı olan Weber’in akademik ve entelektüel üretiminin, siyasi
görüş ve faaliyetinden soyutlanarak incelenmesi de sözü edilen sorunla ilintili-
dir. Bunların yanında, Weber’in Türkiye’deki sosyal bilimler literatürüne girme-
sinden önceki ve akademik tarihçilik tarafından benimsenmesinden sonraki
Osmanlı tarihine ilişkin anlatının ana hatlarında herhangi bir farklılık olma-
ması da sözü edilen işaretlerden bir diğeridir.
231
EthnIc SolIdarIty In the WIder
Ottoman EmpIre RevIsIted:
Cins and Local PolItIcal ElItes
In 17 th-Century MoldavIa
and WallachIA*
Michał Wasiucionek**
The year 1974 brought in the field of Ottoman studies two short but seminal
contributions authored by İ. Metin Kunt and Rifa’at Abou-El-Haj.1 While the
latter pointed out the rising role of the grandee households as the channel of
recruitment to the imperial administration, the former introduced the term of
cins into the discussion on Ottoman officialdom. According to Kunt, among the
servants of the sultan, not only did the solidarities based on common ethnic
and regional origin exist, but they also were an important factor in the political
struggles within the Sublime Porte during the turbulent seventeenth century.
The four decades that followed have brought a plethora of studies on the
political households and patronage networks within the field of Ottoman
governance and the grandee household is now recognized as the central institu-
* A number of people had the patience to read this text in its preliminary stages and of-
fered substantial and useful feedback. I would thus like to thank the members of the
Thesis Writing seminar held by Prof. Antonella Romano at the European University In-
stitute in fall 2012, where the preliminary version of the paper has been presented. I am
also indebted to my advisor Prof. Bartolomé Yun Casalilla and Dr. Gábor Kármán, whose
critical remarks have helped me to sharpen the central arguments. Finally, I would like to
thank Suzan Meryem Rosita Kalayci for reading and proofreading the manuscript.
** PhD Candidate, European University Institute, Florence, michal.wasiucionek@eui.eu
1 İ. Metin Kunt, “Ethnic-Regional (Cins) Solidarity in the Seventeenth-Century Otto-
man Establishment”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 5, no. 3 (1974): 233-39;
Rifa’at Abou-El-Haj, “The Ottoman Vezir and Paşa Households 1683-1703: A Prelimi-
nary Report”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 94/4 (1974), 438-47.
232
Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman empire revisited
tion of the imperial political culture, both in the center as well as in provinces.2
However, a number of issues still wait to be addressed in the scholarship and
many social groups are still missing from the larger picture of the Ottoman
households and patronage networks. One of the most important lacunae – as
noted recently by Christine M. Philliou – are non-Muslim elites and their posi-
tion both within the Ottoman governance and the household-based political
culture of the empire.3
The aim of this paper is to posit the Moldavian-Wallachian elite within the
larger context of Ottoman political culture during the mid-seventeenth cen-
tury. Unlike Phanariots described by Philliou, the boyars of the Danubian Prin-
cipalities occupied a position that was doubly marginal on the imperial scale.
Similarly to the Phanariots, their religious and legal status excluded them par
excellence from the mainstream of Ottoman political arena. Still, while the main
arena of Phanariot activity remained the imperial center, the privileged posi-
tion of Moldavian and Wallachian boyars remained fixed to their principali-
ties at the fringes of the empire, making them peripheral in geographical terms
as well. This led many scholars – both Ottomanists and scholars of Romanian
history – to underestimate the interconnections between the principalities and
the empire.4 Thus, while most of Romanian historiography has perceived the
Sublime Porte as a unitary, powerful and ominous force in international relati-
ons, but one disengaged from the internal political struggles, most of the litera-
ture on Ottoman Empire sees Moldavia and Wallachia as tributary polities and
sources of provisions, without examining the internal developments in greater
detail. However, by shifting our view from the “state” to faction as the main unit
of analysis, we are able to uncover a number of interconnections and paral-
2 Carter Vaughan Findley, “Political culture and the great households,” in Suraiya Faroqhi
(ed.), The Cambridge History of Turkey, vol. 3, Cambridge 2006, 65-80; Palmira Brum-
mett, “Placing the Ottomans in the Mediterranean World: The Question of Notables and
Households,” in Donald Quataert and Baki Tezcan (eds.) Beyond dominant paradigms in
Ottoman and Middle Eastern/North African studies: a tribute to Rifa'at Abou-El-Haj, Is-
tanbul 2010, 77-96.
3 Christine M. Philliou, Biography of an empire: governing Ottomans in an age of revolu-
tion, Berkeley 2011, xxi.
4 One of relatively few works on the Ottoman Empire that dwell in detail on the internal
developments and institutions of the Danubian Principalities is Suraiya Faroqhi, The Ot-
toman Empire and the world around it, London and New York 2004.
233
Michał WASIUCIONEK
lels that transcend the neat and state-centered division between the Ottoman
“state” and its tributaries.
The focus of this paper is to show that the ethnic-regional (cins) solidarities
were not the sole preserve of the imperial administration proper, but cut across
the center/periphery, as well as religious boundaries during the seventeenth
century. While the polarization between “westerners” and “easterners” gained
momentum in the Ottoman Empire, the similar development – even if with the
boundaries drawn in a different manner – occurred in Moldavia and Wallachia,
with the opposition between “indigenous” boyars and “Greeks” or “Greco-Levan-
tines” coming from the lands under Ottoman administration.5 On the intersec-
tion of these conflicts, the ethnic-religious solidarity came to play a role not only
within the respective political arenas, but also at the interface between them.
For the purpose of this paper, I dwell on one case of the voievode Gheorghe
Ghica, a boyar of Albanian origin, who came to rule Moldavia (1658–1659) and
Wallachia (1659–1660). While his rule in itself is rather inconsequential for the
history of Danubian Principalities, the very rise of Ghica and the way it was
narrated in Moldavian chronicles show the role of ethnic-regional solidarities
in the upward mobility and the role it played in connecting Moldavian-Wallac-
hian and Ottoman political arenas. By looking closer at the narrative strategies
of two authors: Miron Costin (1633/4–1691) and Ion Neculce (1672–1745) and
putting it in the context of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha’s empire-wide appointment
strategy, I hope to show the way in which ethnic solidarity worked in connec-
ting otherwise disparate elite groupings within the wider Ottoman world.
Before moving to the discussion of the narratives themselves, it is worth
recounting shortly the career of Gheorghe Ghica himself.6 Hailing from Alba-
nia, he immigrated to Moldavia in the 1620s as part of the major inflow of
5 The most important works on this topic are undoubtedly Radu G. Păun, “Pouvoirs, offices
et patronage dans la Principauté de Moldavie au XVIIe siècle. L’aristocratie roumaine et
la pénétration gréco-levantine”, unpublished PhD dissertation, École des Hautes Études
en Sciences Sociales, 2003; Radu G. Păun, “Les grands officiers d'origine gréco-levantine
en Moldavie au XVIIe siècle. Offices, carrières et stratègies de pouvoir,” Revue des Études
Sud-est Européennes 45/1-4 (2007): 153-95. Another seminal article on the issue of iden-
tities and political use of ethnic labels in Bogdan Murgescu, “"Fanarioți" și "pământeni".
Religie și etnicitate în definirea identităților în Țările Române și în Imperiul Otoman,” in
idem, Țările Române între Imperiul Otoman și Europa creștină, Iași 2012, 53-59.
6 Nicolae Stoicescu, Dicționar al marilor dregători din Țara Românească și Moldova, sec.
XIV-XVII, Bucharest 1971, 403.
234
Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman empire revisited
7 He was appointed the position of grand șetrar (quatermaster) (1638–1641), grand me-
delnicer (cutler) (1643), grand stolnic (seneschal) (1645–1647).
8 Ioan D Condurachi, Soli și agenți ai domnilor Moldovei la Poartă în secolul al XVII-lea,
Bucharest 1920; Aurel H. Golimas, Despre capuchehăile Moldovei și poruncile Porții către
Moldova, până la 1829, Iași 1943; Ion Matei, Reprezentanții diplomatici (capuchehăi) ai
Țării Românești la Poartă Otomană, Bucharest 2008.
9 Ioan D Condurachi, Soli și agenți ai domnilor Moldovei la Poartă în secolul al XVII-lea,
Bucharest 1920; Aurel H. Golimas, Despre capuchehăile Moldovei și poruncile Porții către
Moldova, până la 1829, Iași 1943; Ion Matei, Reprezentanții diplomatici (capuchehăi) ai
Țării Românești la Poartă Otomană, Bucharest 2008.
235
Michał WASIUCIONEK
Gheorghe Ghica (in Moldavia) and Mihnea III (Wallachia, 1658–1659).10 Sub-
sequently, the new appointees were enthroned with the help of Ottoman and
Crimean forces, while the deposed rulers retreated to Transylvania and joined
the rebellion of Rákóczy against the Porte.
Ghica’s rule in Moldavia was a brief one and overshadowed by the constant
struggle with Transylvanian-supported Constantin Șerban. The new voievode
proved himself spectacularly unsuccessful in military sphere, being driven out
of the principality and returning only with the help of Crimean Tatars. He was
soon transferred to Wallachia to replace Mihnea III, who had defected to the
rebels. The rule in Wallachia was similarly brief, as upon Ghica’s failure to deli-
ver the tribute he was dismissed in favour of his son, Grigore. After his removal
from the throne, he moved to Istanbul, where he served as Wallachian capuche-
haia until his death in 1664.
While hardly an impressive and able ruler, Gheorghe Ghica’s career allows
us to uncover some interesting mechanisms of upward mobility. This becomes
visible in two divergent, but nonetheless complementary accounts of his career
circulating in Moldavian historiography of late seventeenth and early eighte-
enth century. The first one was composed by Miron Costin – a contemporary
of the events – and included in his chronicle of Moldavia that constituted the
blueprint for virtually all subsequent Moldavian historical works. It served as a
source for Ion Neculce, who used sections from Costin in his own account of
Ghica’s career. However, the latter significantly changed not only the main focus
of Costin’s account, but also inserted it into totally different narrative and poli-
tical framework.
Costin begins his account from the arrival of Gheorghe Ghica to Moldavia.
While initially being involved in commerce, Ghica is soon taken to the court
by Vasile Lupu:
Being of the same origin as him [Ghica] – that is Albanian – voievode
Vasile brought him to the court and entrusted him some minor offices, and later
[Ghica] reached the position of the Chief Judge of Lower Moldavia. And as Vasile
considered him faithful, he sent him to the Porte as a capuchehaia, as [the ruler]
236
Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman empire revisited
upon seeing him valuable and diligent at everything, as one should be as capuche-
haia.11
Ghica’s Albanian ethnicity is put explicitly by Costin as the prime motive for
employment at the court by the Albanian voievode. Only later, the competence
and loyalty seems to play an important role in his subsequent rise through
the boyar ranks to the position of vornic and capuchehaia. The trust placed in
Ghica seems – as Costin shows later – well placed, as throughout the tumultu-
ous period of 1652–1653 capuchehaia was a stalwart supporter on his patron,
changing allegiance only when Vasile Lupu’s case was clearly lost and Gheorghe
Ștefan arrested Ghica’s son in order to ensure his loyalty. However, and this is
quite telling, the new voievode seems to nurture doubts about the allegiances
of Ghica and, as Costin stresses, arranging the marriage between Grigore Ghica
and his own niece was aimed precisely at creating affinitive relation that would
impede Ghica from acting against new ruler’s interests. This measure was only
partly successful, as Ghica maintained contact with his fallen patron and upon
his own enthronement in Moldavia.
After an elaborate recounting of Ghica’s career as a boyar, Costin concludes
his description with the circumstances of Ghica’s appointment as the voievode.
However, in comparison with the rest of the section dedicated to his rise, this
part of the narrative is surprisingly laconic:
[Gheorghe Ștefan] sent old Ghica as a capuchehaia, where he took care of
[voievode’s] affairs at the Porte until the deposition of Ștefan. When the vizier Köp-
rülu summoned [Gheorghe Ștefan] to the Porte to kiss the sultan’s robes, and the
latter was unwilling to go, [Köprülu] appointed Ghica to the throne.12
A little more detail is, however, given in the earlier part of the chronicle, when
Costin recounts the audience given to the Moldavian boyars sent by Gheorghe
Ștefan:
237
Michał WASIUCIONEK
[T]he vizier responded the voievodes that even if they would fill their houses with
golden coins, they could not evade coming [to the Porte]. ‘And if they come, they
will remain voievodes. And if voievode Ștefan won’t come, I will immediately put
this one [on the throne],” said the vizier pointing at Ghica, who was capuchehaia of
Ștefan at the Porte. And they say that, just as vizier said those words, Ghica rushed
to kiss vizier’s robes.13
Putting aside the presentation of Ghica’s behavior as overtly disloyal to his ruler,
the account does not give much indication concerning why it was Ghica that
was appointed as the new voievode of Moldavia. Rather, the message seems to
be that the choice of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was made ad hoc, almost a whim
of the volatile Ottoman official disregarding any considerations of the boyars.
Gheorghe Ghica was thus – if we follow Costin’s narrative – an almost acciden-
tal and random choice: he just happened to be in the room during the audience.
What is important here in Costin’s account is his consciousness of the role
of ethnic solidarity for the upward mobility, as well as his framing of Ghica’s
career. He acknowledges the role of ethnic-based patronage explicitly by rela-
ting it to the patronage exercised by Vasile Lupu. However, he does not add-
ress the issue of the relationship between the Ottoman officials and Moldavian
boyars.
This is, however, explainable by the political and narrative framework adop-
ted by Costin. The vantage point of Miron Costin is throughout the whole acco-
unt fixed in Moldavia and Moldavian political arena. Firstly, the very beginning
of the account starts only at the moment of Ghica coming to Moldavia. This is
also stressed by the verbs denoting movement applied by the author: he consis-
tently uses “to go” (a merge) and “to send” (a trimi) to reflect movement from
13 “Atunce trimițindu Ștefan vodă pre Stamatie postelnicul cu câțva boieri de țară să-i
isprăvască stiag de domniie și aice pre fecioru său, pre Gligorașco, care apoi au fostu
domnu în Țara Muntenească, îl trimisease în Țara Unguriască, la închisoare. Deci n’au
avut ce mai face și împotriva unii țări și audzindu de fecior la închisoare, au stătut și el
cu boierii lui Ștefan vodă alăturea pre trebile lui Ștefan vodă și au venit și singur cu aga,
cările au venit cu stiagul și cu alți boeri în țară. Ștefan vodă socotindu iară aceie care so-
cotise și Vasilie vodă în Ghica vornicul, că este om de capichihăie, neavându gându să
poată iasă unul ca dânsul la domnie, l-au făcut de casa sa, cu nepoată sa, fata Sturdzii vis-
ternicului, după feciorul lui, Gligorașco postelnicul. Și după ce l-au făcut cuscru de casa
sa, pre feciorul său boerindu-l cu agiea, pre Ghica bătrânul l-au trimis iară la capichihăie,
la Poartă și au fostu pe trebule lui Ștefan vodă, până ce i-au venitn maziliia. Chemându-l
veziriul Chiupruliul la sărutarea poalei împărăteși și necutedzându a merge Ștefan vodă
la Poartă, au dat Ghicăi vornicului domniia țărâi.” Ibid., 192.
238
Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman empire revisited
the principality to the Porte, while “to come” (a veni) serves to describe motion
in the opposite direction.14 For Costin, the story of Ghica is principally within
the framework of Moldavian political arena and thus it is the ethnic solidarity
within this arena that catches his attention. What happened in the Ottoman
capital interests him only to a limited degree.
Neculce knew the account by Costin and inserted it into his account. Howe-
ver, while Moldavian political arena was the focus of attention for Costin, it has
been marginalized in Neculce’s story. Instead, the author starts the career of
Ghica from the moment he left his village for Istanbul:
Voievode Ghica – an Albanian by birth – as he was a young boy, he set out from his
home to Constantinople to find a master whom he would serve. And he took with
him a small boy, who was a poor Turk from the island of Cyprus [din ostrovul Chip-
rului]. And as they were travelling to Constantinople, they were talking many good
words: that they will share together the last slice of bread. And Ghica said: "You are
a Turk, you can become a great man, and what would you do then for me?” Abd the
Turk replied: „If I get to be a great man, I will make you the greatest man in Cyprus
[Chipru]…” And upon arriving to Istanbul, they parted and each set out to search
for a patron.15
The story first follows the Turkish boy, who is revealed as the future grand vizier
Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, his slow ascendancy through the ranks of Ottoman
officialdom and his appointment as grand vizier in the face of the rebellion in
Istanbul. At this point, the narrative shifts back to Ghica, who at the same enters
the service of the Moldavian capuchehaia in Istanbul, only to move later to the
principality as a merchant. The Moldavian period of Ghica’s career is clearly a
faithful, if abridged, retelling of Costin’s account. However, unlike in the latter
text, this section plays only secondary role, connecting the story of small boys
travelling to Istanbul with their later reunion during the audience of Moldavian
boyars at the imperial council:
14 "[D]omnilor așe au răspunsu vezirul, că ari împlea căte o casă de galbeni de aur, nu poate
acestu lucru, să nu vie aice. «Și de vor veni, iară domni vor hi! Iară de nu va veni Ștefan
vodă, într-un cias oi pune pre acesta,» arătându pre Ghica vornicul, carele era capichi-
haia lui Ștefan vodă la Poartă. Spun de Ghica vornicul, cum au dzis acestu cuvânt vezirul,
el au și alergat de au sărutat poala vizirului.” Ibid., 190.
15 In a similar vein, most of the accounts concerning 1622 Janissary rebellion against Os-
man II represent – as Gabriel Piterberg argues – the kul-centric and Istanbul-based per-
spective through the application of verbs of movement to and from Anatolia, see Gabriel
Piterberg, An Ottoman tragedy: history and historiography at play, Berkeley 2003, 167.
239
Michał WASIUCIONEK
And it happened once, during the reign of Gheorghe Ștefan, that when [Ghica] was
at the Porte with other boyars, the vizier recognized him. And Ghica did not recog-
nize the vizier. So Köprülü summoned the imperial treasurer and told him in secret:
“Do you see this old Moldavian boyar at the Council? Bring him to your chamber
until the conclusion of the Council and later bring him to me in secret.” [...] And
after the conclusion of the Council they brought [Ghica] to the vizier and the vizier
asked him who he is and where does he come from and also asked: “You recognize
me, don’t you?”, and Ghica told the vizier where does he come from, but for the
vizier himself, he could not recognize him. Then the vizier asked: “Do you remem-
ber what we promised each other, as we were travelling together?” And he also told:
“Well, you forgot, by I haven’t, and so I will make you the voievode of Moldavia,
only keep silent about it for a moment”. And Ghica rushed to kiss the hand [of the
vizier] and he begged in his ruler’s favour, so that the latter will be allowed to stay
at the throne and so that he won’t be deposed. And the vizier replied: “Then I will
leave him be for the time being, but I will not take back my word about I will make
for you.” And he summoned Gheorghe Ștefan to the Porte and - as the latter was
unwilling to come – [the vizier] appointed Ghica as the voievode in Moldavia[…].16
The story of two poor childhood friends reuniting after decades at the top of
imperial hierarchy seems to be too literary to be true.17 However, it is worth
16 „Ghica-vodă, de neamul lui fiind arbănaș, copil tânăr au purces de la casa lui la Țarigrad,
să-ș găsască un stăpân să slujască. Și cu dânsul s-au mai luat un copil turcu, iar sărac, din
ostrovul Chiprului. Și mergând amândoi dempreună la Țarigrad, multe vorbe bune au
vorbit: de vor găsi pită, să să caute unul pre altul. Și au dzis Ghica-vodă: «Tu ești turcu,
poți să agiungi să fii om mare, și mi-i face pre mine atunce?» Iar turcu au dzis atunce:
«De voi fi eu om mare, te voi face de vii fi mai mare în Chipru, giudecătoriu.» Și mergând
în Țarigrad, s-au despărțit unul de altul, să-ș caute stăpâni.” Ion Neculce, Letopisețul Țării
Moldovei și o samă de cuvinte, ed. Iorgu Iordan, Bucharest 1955, 118-19.
17 "Deci tîmplîndu-să atence, la vremea lui Gheorghii Ștefan-vodă de au fost la Poartă cu
alți boieri, viziriul vădzîndu-l l-au cunoscut cine este. Iar Ghica-vodă nu-l cunoște pre
viziriul. Deci viziriul Chiupruliolul au și chemat pre haznatariul lui și i-au dzis în taină:
«Vedzi cel boieriu bătrîn moldovan ce este la Divan? Să-l iei și să-l duci la odaia ta, pănă
s-a rădica Divanul, și apoi să-l duci la mine în taină cum trebuiește.» [...] Și după ce s-au
rădicat Divanul și l-au adus la viziriul, l-au întrebat viziriul ce om este și de unde este, și
au dzis: «Cunoști-mă pre mine, au ba?» Iar Ghica-vodă s-au spus de unde este de locul
lui, iar a cunoaște pre viziriul nu-l cunoște. Atunce viziriul Chiupruliolul s-au spus și au
dzis: «Ții minte ce am vorbit cînd viniiam amîndoi pre cale?» Și au dzis: «De ai uitat tu,
dar eu n-am uitat, și iată că te voi face domnu în Moldova; numai să tăci mîlcom». Iar
Ghica-vodă au și mărsu de i-au sărutat mînă și s-au rugat atunce pentru stăpînu-său, să-l
lasă să fie domnu, să nu-l mazilească. Iar viziriul au răspunsu: «Acmu doedată îl las să
fie, iar mai pre urmă cuvîntul mieu gios nu l-oi lasă, ce te voi face pre tine». Și pre urmă,
chemînd la Poartă pre Gheorghii Ștefan-vodă să margă, au pus pre Ghica-vodă domu în
Moldova, după cum scrie letopisățul.” Ibid., 119-20.
240
Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman empire revisited
noting that while for Costin the crux of the story was the patronage exercised
by Vasile Lupu in furthering Gheorghe Ghica’s career, for Neculce – while not
denying its importance – another instance of patronage is the main focus: the
protection exercised by Köprülü Mehmed Pasha over the future voievode. This
instance of patronage does not develop within the Moldavian political arena,
but rather at the interface between two distinct political spaces – the Molda-
vian-Wallachian and the Ottoman one.
This framing of the story is visible in the changing vantage point from which
it is narrated. In the first section (until the arrival to Istanbul) the “camera” is
following both of them through their journey. After Ghica and Köprülü part
their ways, it first follows the ascendancy of the Ottoman official through the
ranks, his connection with the sultan’s favorite and his appointment as the grand
vizier and subsequently establishment of a veritable dynasty within Ottoman
administration. Then, the story goes back to Ghica and narrates his rise to the
position of capuchehaia in parallel to that of Köprülü up until the culminating
point during the audience, when the two reunite and – in effect – Ghica is appo-
inted as voievode. While Neculce once refers to Moldavia as “here” (aici), his
“observation point” shifts constantly and adapts to the manifold political arenas
in which the story develops.
What is missing on the explicit level of the story, however, is the reference
to the ethnic solidarities, which had prominent place in Costin’s account. Some
information in the text, as mentioning that the Turkish (in Romanian reference
to religious rather than ethnic identity) boy came from the “island of Cyprus”
(ostrovul Chiprului). The editor of the chronicle, Iorgu Iordan, has provided a
plausible explanation of this detail, suggesting the confusion deriving from the
interpretation of the sobriquet Köprülü as deriving from the well-known island
of Cyprus rather than somewhat obscure Anatolian town of Köprü, both pro-
nounced and written in a similar manner in Romanian.18
However, as Metin Kunt pointed out, the most plausible place of Köprülü’s
origin was the kaza of Berat and his ethnic origin was without any doubt Alba-
nian.19 Thus, while Neculce’s account should be taken with a grain of salt, it can
be underpinned by the affinitive ties existing between Ghica and Köprülü Meh-
med Pasha on the basis of common ethnic and regional origin and that this was
the factor behind the elevation of Ghica to the throne. In order to examine this
theory, we have to look at the appointment strategy of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha
in a wider Ottoman context.
The first grand vizier of the Köprülü dynasty was without doubt a benefici-
ent of the ethnic-based patronage, being a client of Hüsrev Pasha and subsequ-
ently Tabanıyassı Mehmed Pasha.20 However, his own household and network
of clients was to much extent heterogenous and included a number of offici-
als hailing from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. For instance, one of
the main pillars of the household was Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, son of a
sipahi from the vicinity of Köprü.21 Another of Köprülü’s clients was his Cauca-
sian slave, Abaza Siyavush Pasha.22 No doubt, there was also a number of fellow
“westerners” within the household, as the case of Ahmed Bey Bushnaq in Egypt
suggests.23 In general, however, Köprülü’s faction had a multicultural and mul-
tiethnic features and reflect both the pragmatical approach to the process of
household building (as Jane Hathaway has proven) as well as the gradual accu-
mulation of clients by Köprülü throughout his career.24
However, when we turn our eyes to the appointments in Moldavia and Wal-
lachia, a different pattern emerges. Out of four voievodes elevated under the
vizirate of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, all except one went to the individuals of
Albanian origin.25 A single case of appointing non-Albanian voievode was
242
Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman empire revisited
the one of Mihnea III (1658–1659), known also in Ottoman sources as Civan
Bey.26 His case was however peculiar as he was clearly not a client of Köprülü
Mehmed Pasha, but of another powerful grandee – Sarı Kenan Pasha, a politi-
cal ally of Köprülü during the early stage of Abaza Hasan Pasha’s revolt.27 The
parallel appointment of Mihnea III and Ghica to the Danubian Principali-
ties can thus be interpreted as part of the political alliance struck between two
powerful Ottoman households that agreed to divide the spoils among them-
selves.28 Thus, it seems that the choices of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha were solely
those of Albanians.
How to interpret this discrepancy between the appointments the Danubian
Principalities and within Ottoman administration proper? I would argue that
the difference derived from the relative disjunction (but by no means isolation)
between Moldavian-Wallachian and Ottoman political arenas, the specific sta-
tus of the Danubian Principalities and the inapplicability of the established
household-building repertoire to those specific conditions.
The Ottoman grandees developed a number of means for providing cohe-
sion to their political households, which have been analysed and described in
historiography. The head of the household relied on marriage ties29, political sla-
very30, distributing tax-farms among his clients31, hierarchies within the corps,
Sufi networks32 and – last but not least – ethnic-regional solidarities. However,
the peculiar insitutional arrangement of the Danubian Principalities as Chris-
243
Michał WASIUCIONEK
33 Viorel Panaite, “The voivodes of the Danubian Principalities as Harâcgüzarlar of the Ot-
toman sultans,” in Kemal H. Karpat – Robert W. Zens (eds.), Ottoman borderlands: issues,
personalities, and political changes, Madison 2003, 64.
34 The story from Moldavian perspective is narrated by Costin, Letopisețul, 107-08.
244
Ethnic solidarity in the wider Ottoman empire revisited
245
PART III
THE OTTOMAN
PROVINCES
Pane l
“Vakıflar sayesinde bir şahıs vakıf bir evde doğar, vakıf beşikte uyur, vakıf mallar-
dan yer ve içer, vakıf kitaplardan okur, vakıf bir mektepte hocalık eder, vakıf ida-
resinden ücretini alır, öldüğü zaman vakıf bir tabuta konur ve vakıf bir mezarlığa
gömülürdü.”1
247
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
2 Bildiri olarak sunulan ve yayınlanan ilk çalışmada yer alan vakıf eserler şunlardır:
Abdülbâkî Paşa Camii (Cami-i Atik), Alanyalı Mustafa Paşa Camii, Baltacızâde Hacı
Mehmed Ağa Camii (Kadı Hacı Hüseyin Efendi Camii), Bayraklı Camii (Çarşı Camii),
Çavuşzâde Camii, Debbağhane Camii, Kapıcıbaşı İbrahim Paşa Camii, Mesih Voyvoda
Camii, Mirza Said Paşa Camii ve Taş Mescid. Söz konusu çalışmada ayrıca bazı medrese
ve mektepler, tekke ve zaviyeler ile su vakıfları, saat kulesi gibi vakıflara da yer verilmiş-
tir. Bkz. Meral Bayrak (Ferlibaş) - Meryem Kaçan Erdoğan, “Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı Vakıf-
ları”, Balkanlar’da İslâm Medeniyeti Uluslararası Üçüncü Sempozyum Tebliğleri (Bükreş,
1-5 Kasım 2006), İstanbul 2011, s. 233-268. Gözden geçirilerek yayınlanmış hali için bkz.
Meral Bayrak (Ferlibaş) – Meryem Kaçan Erdoğan, “Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı Vakıfları”, Os-
manlı İdaresinde bir Balkan Şehri Ruşçuk, Istanbul 2011, s. 169-225. Makale olarak ha-
zırlanan ikinci çalışmada 5 vakfa ait 6 cami incelenmiştir. Burada ele alınan vakıf eserler
şunlardır: Davud Ağa Camii (Burmalı Cami), Eskicizâde Hacı Ahmed Ağa Camii, Hacı
Ali Vakfı: Cami-i Cedit (Pazaryeri Camii) ve Salkımlı Cami, Hacı Süleyman Ağa Camii
(Yeni Cami veya Arasta Camii), Kara Ali Bey Camii. Bkz. Meral Bayrak (Ferlibaş), “Rus-
çuk Cami Vakıflarına Örnekler”, SDÜ Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 22
(Aralık 2010), s. 33-60. Ayrıca bkz. Meral Bayrak (Ferlibaş), “Rusçuk Cami Vakıflarına
Örnekler”, id., Osmanlı İdaresinde Bir Balkan Şehri Rusçuk, s.227-268.
248
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
3 Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA), Evkaf Defteri (EV), nr. 10039, v.71b, 84a, 88b; nr.
14198, v.5a-5b; nr. 15176, v.2b.
4 Bulgaristan Milli Kütüphanesi, Oryantal Bölümü (NBKM), Rusçuk Şer’iyye Sicili (R), nr.
11.
5 Teodora Bakardjieva - Stoyan Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo i İstoriya, Ruse 2001, s. 125-
126.
6 BOA, EV, nr. 10267, v.1a.
7 Mahir Aydın, “Ahmed Ârif Hikmet Beyefendi’nin Rumeli Tanzimat Müfettişliği ve Teftiş
Defteri”, Belleten, 215/LVI (1992), s. 140.
8 BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.71b.
249
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
Tablo I
Aldığı Yıllık Ücret
Görevliler
(Kuruş Olarak)
Mütevelli 60
İmam 240
Hatip 90
Müezzin (aynı zamanda) kayyım 180
Mihrap görevlisi 60
Birinci vaiz 144
İkinci vaiz 40
Dua okuyucu 40
Kandilci 15
...görevlisi 20
Toplam 889
Aşağıdaki tabloda ise vakfın dört yıllık muhasebe bilançolarına göre gelir-gider
durumu gösterilmiştir.
9 BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.71b, 84a, 88b; nr. 14198, v.5a-5b; nr. 15176, v.2b.
10 BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.71b.
11 BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.71b.
250
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
Tablo II
Vakfın Gelir
Gider (Kuruş Olarak)
İşletilen (Kuruş Olarak)
Muhasebe Vakıf
Parası(i) Tamir
Kaydının Vakıf Fazlası
İşletilen Zeytinyağı Masrafları
Ait Olduğu Kira Görev- (Kuruş
Paranın ve Mum ve Diğer Harçlar
Dönem (Kuruş Geliri lilerine Olarak)
Neması Giderleri Harcama-
Olarak) Ödenen
lar
6 Kasım
6 krş. 10
1850-26 Ekim 135 1.125 888 90 -
para
1851(ii) 1.125
Toplam 1.287(iii) 984 krş. 10 para 303(iv)
27 Ekim
149 krş.
1851-14 Ekim 1.152 889 132 165 5
16 para
1852(v) 1.241
100 krş. 16
Toplam 1.302 krş. 16 para(vi) 1.201(vii)
para(viii)
15 Ekim
1852-3 Ekim 161(x) 1.044(xi) 808 169,5 195,5(xii) 5
1.341 krş.
1853(ix)
16 para
Toplam 1.205 1.178 27
4 Ekim
1853-23 Eylül 1.368 krş. 155(xiv) 938(xv) 770 214,5 74,5(xvi) 10
1854(xiii) 16 para
Toplam 1.093 999(xvii) 94(xviii)
(i) Vakfın bir yıl süreyle işletmeye verilerek nema elde edilen ana parasıdır. (ii) BOA, EV,
nr. 14198, v.5a-5b. (iii) On üç dükkandan gelen kira geliri ile nemanın toplamı 1.260
kuruş olduğu halde ilgili evkaf defterinde 1.287 kuruş olarak kaydedilmiş ve yıllık he-
sap buna göre yapılmıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.5a). (iv) İlgili vakıf defterine fazla olan
meblağın 302 kuruş 30 para olarak kaydedilmesi gerekirken 10 para ihmal edilmiş ve
303 kuruş biçiminde yazılmıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.5b). (v) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.71b.
(vi) Gelirlerin toplamı aslında 1.301 kuruş 16 para iken muhtemelen yanlış hesaplandığı
için bir kuruş fazla olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.71b). (vii) Giderlerin
toplamı 1.191 kuruş olduğu halde ilgili deftere 10 kuruş fazla kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV,
nr. 10039, v.71b). (viii) Vakıf fazlası ilgili defterdeki verilere göre 101 kuruş 16 para iken bir
kuruş eksik kaydedilmiş ve bu meblağ mütevellide bulunan vakfın işletilen ana parasına
eklenmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.71b). (ix) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.84a. (x) Evkaf defterinde
istirbah ettirilen paranın murabahasının 200 kuruş olması gerektiği belirtildiği halde 39
kuruşu tahsil edilememiş, 161 kuruş gelir kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.84a). (xi)
Bir önceki yılda olduğu gibi kira gelirlerinin 1.152 kuruş olması gerekirken 108 kuruşu
tahsil edilememiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.84a). (xii) Bu miktarın 70,5 kuruşu cami ve
dükkanların tamiri için kullanılmış, 125 kuruş ile de mütevelli tarafından camiye kilim
alınmıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.84a). (xiii) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.88b; nr. 15176, v.2b.
(xiv) Vakıf defterinde işletilen paranın nemasının 204 kuruş olması gerektiği belirtildiği
251
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
halde 49 kuruşu alınamamış, 155 kuruş kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.88b; nr.
15176, v.2b). (xv) Vakfın kira gelirlerinin 1.152 kuruş olması gerekirken 214 kuruşu tahsil
edilememiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.88b; nr. 15176, v.2b). (xvi) Cami için alınan hasır be-
delidir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.88b; nr. 15176, v.2b). (xvii) Giderlerin toplamı 1.069 kuruş
olduğu halde evkaf defterine 999 kuruş olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039,
v.88b; nr. 15176, v.2b). (xviii) Gelir fazlası önceki yıllarda olduğu gibi yine vakfın işletilen
parasına eklenmiş (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.88b; nr. 15176, v.2b), ana para artmaya devam
etmiştir.
12 BOA, Sadâret Eyâlet-i Mümtâze Bulgaristan (A.MTZ.04), nr. 49/50; BOA, Yıldız
Perâkende Evrâkı Evkaf Nezâreti Maruzâtı (Y.PRK.EV), nr. 2/39, Eşref Eşrefoğlu, “Bulga-
ristan Türkleri’ne ve Rusçuk’taki Türk Eserlerine Dâir 1897 Tarihli Bir Rapor”, Güneydo-
ğu Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi I (1972), s. 32.
13 NBKM, R, nr. 11, s. 196; Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü Arşivi (VGMA), Hurufat Defteri
(HD), nr. 1207, s. 47.
252
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
rinden almak üzere günlük 10 akçe ücret ile 1172/1758-1759 yılında Abdullah
oğlu Mehmed’in zaten sürdürdüğü imam-ı sanilik görevine devam edeceğin-
den dolayısıyla yeniden atanmış olduğundan söz edilmektedir.14 Buna göre
camide iki imamın görev yaptığı, vakfa gelir sağlayan gayrimenkullerin bulun-
duğu anlaşılmaktadır.
Vakıf hakkında bilgi veren 1219/1804-1805 tarihli Rusçuk Vakıf Sicili’nde
de vakfın gayrimenkullerinin korunduğu, aylık 14 kuruş 10 para tutarındaki
10 adet dükkan kirasının ihtiyaçları karşılamaya devam ettiği görülmektedir.
Sicile dükkanların dışında arsa kirası da eklenmiş, aylık 2 kuruş olan bu geli-
rin caminin yanındaki mektep için sarf edilmesi istenmiştir.15 Bu mektebin kim
tarafından yaptırıldığı saptanamamakla birlikte sonradan vakfa dahil edildiği
tahmin edilmektedir. Yukarıda bahsedilen hurufat kaydında arsa gelirinden söz
edilmemesi ve sicilde de arsadan gelen kiranın sadece mektep için tahsis edil-
mesi başka bir hayır sahibinin mektebin kurucusu olduğunu, bunun için arsayı
bağışladığını düşündürmektedir.
Sicile göre vakfın aylık geliri 16 kuruş 10 para olup bunun 13 kuruşu imam,
hatip, müezzin, kayyım ve sıbyan mektebi mualliminden oluşan vakıf görev-
lilerine hizmetlerine karşılık ödenmektedir.16 Geriye kalan 3 kuruş 10 para
ise caminin aydınlatılmasında ve tamir giderlerinde kullanılmıştır.17 Masraf-
ları ancak karşılayabilen başka gelir kaynağı olmayan vakıf aslında XIX. yüzyıl
başlarında oldukça zor durumdadır. Önceki yüzyılda iki imam görevli olduğu
halde muhtemelen gelir yetersizliğinden bire düşürülmüştür. Sicile harap ola-
rak kaydedilen caminin18 yine gelir darlığı nedeniyle bakımının gereği gibi
yaptırılamadığı anlaşılmaktadır. Nitekim 1221-1224/1806-1810 yıllarına ait
muhasebe verilerine göre kira gelirleri ihtiyaçlar için harcanmış, tamir masrafı
ve vakıf fazlası kaydolunmamıştır.19 Kısa bir süre sonra muhtemelen Rusçuk’un
253
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
15 Eylül 1810 ile 27 Haziran 1811 tarihleri arasında Ruslar tarafından istila
edildiği dönemde20 cami tamamen yıkılmıştır.21
254
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
255
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
33 Çarşı Camii hakkında daha fazla bilgi için bkz. Bayrak (Ferlibaş) - Erdoğan, a.g.m., Os-
manlı İdaresinde Rusçuk, s. 183-186.
34 VGMA, Vakfiye Defteri, nr. 578, s. 254.
35 Tekke Camii’ne imam, hatip ve müezzin tevcihleriyle ilgili bilgiler içeren Huru-
fat Defterleri’nde de mabedin Mahmud Voyvoda Mahallesi’nde olduğu belirtilmiştir
(VGMA, HD, nr. 1177, s. 231, 236; nr. 1181, s. 329, 335, 338, 339; nr. 1207, s. 42). Yine bu
defterlerden birinde mabedin Tekke Camii ve Kara Cami isimleriyle meşhur olduğun-
dan söz edilmiştir. Bkz. VGMA, HD, nr. 1177, s. 231. 1258-1270/1842-1854 yıllarına ait
muhasebe verilerini içeren evkaf defterlerine de sadece Kara Cami adıyla kaydedilmiş-
tir. Bkz. BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.14a, 16b, 31b, 48b, 72a, 83b, 90a; nr. 12709, v.4b; nr. 12711,
v.4b; nr. 12999, v.4a-4b, nr. 13615, v.4b; nr. 13905, v.5a, nr. 14198, v.3a, nr. 15176, v.1b.
256
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
önceden camiye ait dükkanlarla birlikte 12 dükkan ile bir fırından elde edi-
len 23,5 kuruş tutarındaki aylık kira gelirine sahip olan vakıf ancak idare edi-
lir hale gelmiştir. Vakıf görevlilerinden imam, hatip, müezzin ve kayyıma aylık
12 kuruş ücret ödenirken, Çarşı Camii’nde Cuma günleri ders veren hocaya
3,36 vaiz efendiye 2,37 mütevelliye 2,38 eski mütevelliye de -muhtemelen vakıftan
alacağı olduğu için- 2,5 kuruş verilmiştir. Tüm masraflar karşılandıktan sonra
kalan 2 kuruşun kandiller için kullanılması istenmiştir.39
Medrese ve onun gibi harap olan Arık Ramazan Mahallesi’ndeki ev iki vak-
fın birleşmesinden sonra da onarılamadıklarından arsaları satışa çıkarılmış,
medrese arsasını dönemin ayanı Tirsiniklizade İsmail Ağa 100 kuruşa alır-
ken eve ait arsa 50 kuruşa Haffaf Mehmed Ağa’ya satılmıştır. Bu paranın, Hac
yolunda ölen bir hayırseverin vasiyeti üzerine terekesinden vakfa bağışlanan
200 kuruş ile birlikte işletilmesine karar verilmiş, elde edilecek nemanın müte-
velli aracılığıyla vakfın giderleri için kullanılacağı vakıf sicilinde belirtilmiştir.40
Vakfın gelir kaynakları epeyce artmasına rağmen gelirler giderleri karşıla-
mada yine de yetersiz kalmış, 1220-1222/1805-1808 yılları arasında açığı müte-
velli kapatmış yani vakıf mütevelliye borçlanmıştır. Bu borç ancak bir sonraki
yıl kapanmış, vakıf 1223-1224/1808-1810 yıllarını gelir fazlasıyla tamamlamış-
tır.41 Vakıf ne yazık ki bir kez daha zarar görmüş, cami Rusçuk’un Rus istilası
nedeniyle büyük ölçüde yıkılmıştır. Savaş sonrasında yeniden inşa ve ihya olun-
duğu belirtilen mabedin42 bundan sonraki durumunu 1256-1270/1840-1854
36 Hacı Mehmed’in vakfettiği -medresenin arkasındaki- çörekçi fırını aylık 8 kuruşa kira-
ya verilmiş, 5 kuruşu cami vakfına aktarılmış, 3 kuruşu Hacı Mehmed’in şartı olan Çarşı
Camii’nde ders verecek hoca efendiye ödenmiştir (NBKM, R, nr. 11, s. 55).
37 Vakfa ait dükkanlardan Kazancılar Çarşısı’nda Yeni Han bitişiğindeki kazancı dükkanı-
nın 2 kuruş olan aylık kirasının vaize verilmesi şart koşulmuştur (NBKM, R, nr. 11, s. 54-
55).
38 Kazancılar Çarşısı’nda bulunan bıçakçı dükkanının aylık kirası olan 50 para cami vak-
fının banisi olduğu belirtilen Kara Efendi’nin şartı gereği mütevelliye tahsis edilmiş
dolayısıyla bu görevi yerine getiren şahsa ödenen 2 kuruş ücretin 50 parası bıçakçı dük-
kanına ait kira gelirinden verilmiştir. İki vakfın birleşmesiyle yine Kara Efendi’nin şartı
doğrultusunda kendi soyundan devam eden tevliyet görevinin aynı biçimde sürmesi uy-
gun görüldüğünden o dönemde Kara Efendi’nin kızının oğlunun kızı mütevelli olduğu
için belirlenen ücretin ona ödeneceği belirtilmiştir (NBKM, R, nr. 11, s. 55, 57).
39 NBKM, R, nr. 11, s.54-55, 57, 58.
40 NBKM, R, nr. 11, s.55-57.
41 NBKM, R, nr. 11, s.56.
42 VGMA, HD, nr. 1177, s. 231.
257
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
Tablo III
Gelir Gider
Vakfın
Vakıf Vakfın
İşletilen
(Kuruş Olarak) (Kuruş Olarak) Fazlası Borcu
Muhasebe Kaydı- Parası
nın Ait Olduğu
Tamir
Dönem İşletilen Vakıf Zeytinyağı
Masrafları Harç- (Kuruş (Kuruş
(Kuruş Paranın Kira Geliri Görevlilerine ve Mum
ve Diğer lar Olarak) Olarak)
Olarak) Neması Ödenen Giderleri
Harcamalar
43 BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.31b, nr. 12709, v.4b, nr. 12711, v.4b.
44 BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.72a, nr. 14198, v.3a.
258
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
27 Kasım 1 krş.
1848-16 Kasım - 1.008 552 240 313,5(xx) 10
1849(xix) - para
1.115 krş. 8 krş. 14
Toplam 1.106 krş. 30 para -
4 para(xxi) para
17 Kasım 1849-5
- 1.040 552 240 253(xxiii) -
Kasım 1850(xxii) -
Toplam 1.048(xxiv) 1.045 3 -
6 Kasım 1850-26 634
- 1.407 600 170 71
Ekim 1851(xxv)
-
Toplam 3.657(xxvi) 1.475 2.182 -
31 krş.
27 Ekim 1851-14
249(xxviii) 1.320 640(xxix) 229 194,5(xxx) 30
Ekim 1852(xxvii) 2.189
para
krş. 42
para 474
Toplam 1.569 1.095 krş. 10 para krş. 30 -
para(xxxi)
31 krş.
15 Ekim 1852-3
399 1.207(xxxiii) 820(xxxiv) 239 163(xxxv) 30
Ekim 1853(xxxii) 2.663,5
para
krş. 12
352,5
para
Toplam 1.606 1.253 krş. 30 para krş. 30 -
para(xxxvi)
4 Ekim 1853-23 3.017 150
1.120(xxxxix) 780 32 15 31
Eylül 1854(xxxvii) krş. 2 (xxxviii)
(i)BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.14a. Vakıf defterinde 1258 yılına ait olan muhasebe verilerinin
üç yıllık olduğu belirtilmiştir ki bu durumda 1256-1258/1840-1843 döneminin hesabı
görülmüştür. (ii) Vakfın yıllık kira geliri 720 kuruştur. (iii) Vakıf görevlilerine ödenen yıllık
ücret 450 kuruştur. (iv) Vakfın zeytinyağı ve mum giderleri de üç yıllıktır (BOA, EV, nr.
10039, v.14a). (v) Kaydedilen meblağın 30 kuruşu minare tamiri için harcanmıştır. 67
kuruş 10 para ise önceki yıldan vakfın borcudur (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.14a). (vi) Üç
yıla ait giderlerin toplamı 2.154 kuruş 9 para olduğu halde 2 para fazla kaydedilmiştir
(BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.14a). (vii) Üç yıla ait vakıf fazlası 5 kuruş 31 para olmalıyken yanlış
hesaplandığı için tablodaki gibi kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.14a). (viii) BOA,
EV, nr.10039, v.16b. (ix) Kaydedilen meblağ minare tamiri için kullanılmıştır (BOA, EV,
nr.10039, v.16b). (x) Bir önceki yıldan gelir fazlası olan 6 kuruş 26 para gelire eklenmiştir
(BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.16b). (xi) Giderlerin toplamı 773,5 kuruş olduğu halde evkaf deft-
erine 2 kuruş eksik kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.16b). (xii) Vakıf fazlası 25 kuruş
6 para olmalıyken vakıf defterine giderlerin toplamı 2 kuruş eksik kaydedildiği için 2
kuruş fazla yazılmıştır (BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.16b). (xiii) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.31b, nr.
12709, v.4b, nr. 12711, v.4b. (xiv) Belirtilen meblağ caminin tamiri için harcanmıştır
(BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.31b, nr. 12709, v.4b, nr. 12711, v.4b). (xv) Gelirlerin toplamı olarak
kaydedilen bu meblağa bir önceki yılın vakıf fazlası olan 27 kuruş 30 para ile Abdullah
Ağa’nın bağışladığı 500 kuruş da dahil edilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.31b, nr. 12709,
v.4b, nr. 12711, v.4b). (xvi) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.48b; nr. 12999, v.4a-4b. (xvii) Caminin
259
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
muhafaza duvarının tamiriyle başka bazı onarım giderleridir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.48b;
nr. 12999, v.4a-4b). (xviii) Önceki yıla ait gelir fazlası dükkan kiralarına eklenmiş, ilgili
yılın gelirleri arasında değerlendirilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.48b; nr. 12999, v.4a-4b).
(xix) BOA, EV, nr. 13615, v.4b. (xx) Caminin çeşitli ihtiyaçları için harcanmıştır (BOA, EV,
nr. 13615, v.4b). (xxi) Hakkında veri olmayan 1264/9 Aralık 1847-26 Kasım 1848 yılını
vakıf 107 kuruş 4 para fazla gelir ile kapatmış, bu meblağ bir sonraki yıla devrettiğinden
ilgili yılın gelirlerine eklenmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13615, v.4b). (xxii) BOA, EV, nr.13905, v.5a.
(xxiii) Vakıf bu yıldan itibaren Cami-i Atik Vakfı’na 15 kuruş zemin bedeli ödemeye
başlamış, bu meblağ tabloda çeşitli masraflar arasında gösterilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr.13905,
v.5a). (xxiv) Bir önceki yılın 8 kuruş olan vakıf fazlası gelirlere eklenmiştir (BOA, EV,
nr.13905, v.5a). (xxv) BOA, EV, nr.14198, v.3a. (xxvi) Dükkanlardan biri harap durumda
olduğundan 2.250 kuruşa satılmış, bu meblağ vakfın diğer dükkan kiralarıyla birlikte gelir
olarak değerlendirilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr.14198, v.3a). Bir sonraki yıldan itibaren nema
elde etmek için işletilmesi yoluna gidilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.72a). (xxvii) BOA, EV,
nr. 10039, v.72a. (xxviii) İşletilen paradan alınması gereken nema 327 kuruş olduğu halde
78 kuruşu tahsil edilememiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.72a). (xxix) İlgili yılın muhasebe
kayıtlarını içeren evkaf defterinde imam, hatip ve kayyıma yıllık 480, müezzine 40, vaiz
ile mütevelliye 60’ar kuruş ödendiği belirtilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.72a). (xxx) Bu
meblağın 108 kuruşu caminin tamir giderleri olup 15 kuruş zemin kirası, 34,5 kuruş
kandil masrafları, 37 kuruş da diğer harcamalardır (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.72a). (xxxi)
Gelir fazlası olan bu meblağ 473 kuruş 30 para olduğu halde bir kuruş fazla kaydedilmiş
ve vakfın işletilen parasına eklenmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.72a). (xxxii) BOA, EV, nr.
10039, v.83b. (xxxiii) Vakfın ilgili yıla ait alması gereken kira bedeli 1.320 kuruş olduğu
halde 113 kuruşu tahsil edilememiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.83b). (xxxiv) Mütevelliye
ödenen ücret önceki yıla göre bir misli artmış ve yıllık 120 kuruş verilmiştir. Diğer görev-
lilerin ücretleri ayrı olarak kaydedilmemekle beraber genel toplama bakıldığında önemli
artış olduğu görülmektedir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.83b). Söz edilen görevlilere ertesi yıl
da aynı miktarlarda ücret ödenmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.90a, nr. 15176, v.1b). (xxxv)
Kaydedilen bu meblağın 15 kuruşu zemin kirası, 148 kuruş ise caminin tamir masrafıdır
(BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.83b). (xxxvi) Vakıf fazlası 352 kuruş 10 para olduğu halde yanlış
hesaplandığından bir kuruş fazla kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.83b). (xxxvii) BOA,
EV, nr. 10039, v.90a, nr. 15176, v.1b (xxxviii) İşletilen paradan alınması gereken meblağ 451
kuruş olduğu halde 301 kuruş muattal olarak kaydedilmiş, tahsil edilememiştir (BOA,
EV, nr. 10039, v.90a, nr. 15176, v.1b). (xxxix) Vakfa ait dükkan kiralarının da tamamı tah-
sil edilememiştir. Yıllık kira geliri toplamı 1.320 kuruş olduğu halde 200 kuruş muat-
tal olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.90a, nr. 15176, v.1b). (xxxx) Vakıf fazlası
vakfın istirbah olunan parasına eklenmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.90a, nr. 15176, v.1b).
Vakıf, dükkanın satışından elde edilen paraya sahip oluncaya kadar güç-
lükle varlığını devam ettirmiştir. Tablodan görülebileceği gibi zamanla dük-
kan kiraları artmış ancak vakıf görevlilerinin ücretleri arttığı, caminin tamiri
için yapılan harcamalar devam ettiği için giderlerden sonra kalan para büyük
meblağlara ulaşamamıştır. Yine de kendine yetebilen durumda olduğu anla-
şılan vakfın dükkanın satışıyla elde ettiği parayı işletmeye başlamasıyla daha
rahat idare edilir hale geldiği görülmektedir. 1878 Berlin Antlaşması sonra-
260
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
sında yukarıda söz edildiği gibi zarar gören vakıflardan olmuş, cami amaç dışı
kullanılmaya başlamış ve bir süre sonra da gelir kaynaklarıyla birlikte ortadan
kaldırılmıştır.45
45 BOA, A.MTZ.04, nr. 49/50, BOA, Y.PRK.EV, nr. 2/39; Eşrefoğlu, “1897 Tarihli Bir Rapor”,
s. 31.
46 Söz edilen defterde yer alan 12 Cemâzıyelâhır 1182 / 22 Ekim 1768 tarihli bilgi, vakıf ge-
lirinden günlük 6 akçe yevmiye ile mabette imam olan şahsın beratının bulunmaması ve
kendisine berat verilmesi ile ilgilidir. Bkz. VGMA, HD, nr. 1181, s. 337.
47 Bakardjieva - Yordanov, Ruse, s.153.
48 (BOA, EV, nr.10267, v.1a)’da mabedin adı da farklı kaydedilerek Kombezâde Camii biçi-
minde yazılmıştır. Ayrıca bkz. BOA, EV, nr.11969, v.5a; nr.14198, v.7a-7b.
49 BOA, EV, nr.11969, v.5a; nr.13905, v.4a; nr.14198, v.7a-7b.
50 VGMA, HD, nr.1181, s.337; NBKM, R, nr.11, s.222.
51 BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.74b, 84b.
52 BOA, EV, nr.13615, v.5a.
261
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
aylık kirası 4 kuruş olan Saat Kulesi’nin altında bulunan iki kepenk dükkandır.
Gayrimenkullerden sağlanan kira gelirinin belirtilen dönemde vakfın gider-
lerini karşıladığı anlaşılmaktadır. Vakıf görevlilerinden imama 3, mütevelliye
bir kuruş aylık ödeme yapılmış, bir kuruş kandil için kullanılmıştır. Kalan bir
kuruş ise tamir gideri olarak kaydedilmiştir. Bu hesaba göre aylık gelir ve gide-
rin denk olduğu vakıfta 1221-1224/1806-1810 yılları gelir fazlasıyla kapatılmış,
1224/1809-1810 yılı sonunda fazla meblağın 36 kuruşa ulaştığı saptanmıştır.53
Belirtilen yıllardan sonra vakfın durumu hakkında bilgi veren kayıtlara
evkaf defterlerinde rastlanmıştır. Bunlardan ilki 1259/1843-1844 yılına ait
olup vakfın kira getiren 3 dükkanı bulunduğundan bahsedilmiş, dükkanlar-
dan gelen kiranın aylık 8 kuruş olduğu bunun da caminin imam ve hatibine
verildiği ifade edilmiştir. Bu nedenle gelirleri giderlerini karşılayamayan vakıf-
lardan olduğu belirtilmiştir.54 Vakfa ait evden söz edilmeyen defterde belirtilen
dükkanlardan iki tanesinin evin satılmasıyla alınmış olabileceği tahmin edil-
mektedir ki diğer vakıf defterlerinde55 de evle ilgili bilginin bulunmaması bunu
doğrular niteliktedir.
Aşağıdaki tabloda vakfın 1265-1269/1848-1853 yıllarına ait muhasebe
bilançoları verilmiştir.
Tablo IV
Gelir Gider Vakıf Vakfın
Önceki Yıla (Kuruş Olarak) (Kuruş Olarak) Fazlası Borcu
Muhasebe Kaydının Ait Vakıf Tamir
Vakıf Gö- Zeytinyağı
Ait Olduğu Dönem Fazlası (Ku- Masrafları
Kira Geliri revlilerine ve Mum Harçlar
ruş Olarak) ve Diğer (Kuruş (Kuruş
Ödenen Giderleri
Harcamalar Olarak) Olarak)
27 Kasım 1848-16 10 krş.
75 300 156 35 15(ii)
Kasım 1849(i) 22 para
156
Toplam 375 218 krş. 22 para(iii) krş. 18 -
para(iv)
17 Kasım 1849-5 158 krş. 18 310
156 42 107(vi) -
Kasım 1850(v) para
Toplam 468(vii) 305 163(viii) -
6 Kasım 1850-26
158 268 180 47 214,5 (x)
-
Ekim 1851(ix)
Toplam 426 441,5 - 15,5(xi)
262
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
27 Ekim 1851-14 3
- 375 180 60(xiii) 149,5(xiv)
Ekim 1852(xii)
Toplam 375 392,5 - 17,5
15 Ekim 1852-3 80 krş. 10 107 krş. 30
- 587 180 5
Ekim 1853(xv) para para(xvi)
Toplam 587 372 (xvii)
215(xviii) -
(i) BOA, EV, nr. 13615, v.5a. (ii) Bu meblağ kandil gideri olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV,
nr. 13615, v.5a). (iii) Giderlerin toplamı 216 kuruş 22 para olduğu halde vakıf defterine 2
kuruş fazla kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13615, v.5a). (iv) Vakıf fazlası olarak kaydedilen
bu meblağ aslında 158 kuruş 18 para tutarındadır. Ancak evkaf defterinde giderler yan-
lış olarak 2 kuruş fazla hesaplandığından vakıf fazlası da 2 kuruş eksik olarak yazılmış-
tır (BOA, EV, nr. 13615, v.5a) Nitekim ertesi yıla ait defterde bu yanlışlık giderilmiştir.
Bkz. BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.4a. (v) BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.4a. (vi) Kaydedilen bu meblağın
25 kuruşu kandil masrafları, 82 kuruşu ise çeşitli harcamalarla birlikte vakfa ait dükkan-
ların tamir giderleridir (BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.4a). (vii) Evkaf defterinde 18 para ihmal
edilmiş ve kaydedilmemiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.4a). (viii) Vakıf fazlası olan bu meblağ
18 para eksik kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.4a). (ix) BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.7a-7b.
(x) Bu meblağın 25 kuruşu kandil gideri, 189,5 kuruşu da cami için yapılan çeşitli mas-
raflar olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.7a). (xi) İlgili yılı borçlu kapatan vakıf
bu bilgilerin yer aldığı evkaf defterinde yapılan yanlışlıktan dolayı 15,5 kuruş fazla gelir
elde etmiş gibi gösterilmiştir. Bkz. BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.7b. (xii) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b.
(xiii) Vakıf defterinde ilgili yılda 48 kuruşluk zeytinyağı, 12 kuruş tutarında da şem‘-i rev-
gan kullanıldığı belirtilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b). (xiv) Kaydedilen bu meblağın
10 kuruşu kandil için harcanmış, 102 kuruşu dükkan tamirinde, 22 kuruşu da mescit
duvarının onarımında kullanılmıştır. Geriye kalan 15,5 kuruş ise önceki yılın borcu ola-
rak eklenmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b). (xv) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.84b. (xvi) Mescidin
tamiri için harcanmıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.84b). (xvii) Giderlerin toplamı 373 kuruş
olduğu halde vakıf defterine bir kuruş eksik kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.84b).
(xviii) Vakıf fazlası olan bu meblağ ilgili deftere bir kuruş fazla kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV,
nr. 10039, v.84b). Giderlerin bir kuruş eksik hesaplanması harcamalardan artan mebla-
ğın bir kuruş fazla olmasına neden olmuştur. Vakıf fazlası aslında 214 kuruştur.
Tablodan anlaşılacağı gibi kıt imkanlarla varlığını devam ettirmeye çalışan vakıf
sadece 3 dükkandan elde edilen kira gelirine sahiptir. Zaman zaman bu kira-
ları dahi düzenli tahsil edemediği anlaşılmaktadır. Nitekim 1268/1851-1852
yılına ait evkaf defterinde bu dükkanlardan birinin aylık 17,5, diğer ikisinin
de 10’ar kuruşa kiralandığı ve bir tanesinin bakkal dükkanı olarak kullanıl-
dığı belirtilmiş, kirası 10 kuruş olan dükkanlardan birinden yıl içerisinde ancak
üç aylık kira alınabildiği ifade edilmiştir.56 1269/1852-1853 yılında kira gelirle-
rinde -muhtemelen tahsil edilemeyen kira geliri de eklendiği için- belirgin bir
263
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
artış olmuş, bir önceki yıla göre 212 kuruş fazla gelir sağlanarak vakıf borçtan
kurtulmuştur. Kira geliri az sayıdaki vakıf görevlilerinin ücretlerinin ödenme-
sinde, zeytinyağı ve mum57 giderlerinin karşılanmasında kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca
mescit ile dükkanların tamiri için önemli meblağlara ulaşan harcamalar yapıl-
mış, çeşitli ihtiyaçlar karşılanmıştır. Küçük miktardaki yıllık harçlar yine kira
gelirinden ödenmiştir. Burada incelenen beş yılda 1267-1268/1850-1852 yıl-
larını borçla kapatan vakıf diğer yılları fazla gelirle bitirmiş ancak gelir fazlası
işletilerek değerlendirme yoluna gidilmemiştir.
Vakıf, gelir kaynaklarının azlığına rağmen hizmetlerini sürdürmüş, Bulgar
Prensliği döneminde diğer vakıflar gibi zarar görmüştür. 1897 tarihli Mus-
tafa Hâlid’e ait raporda -T. Bakardjieva-S. Yordanov’un belirttikleri gibi- Hacı
Hasan Mescidi olarak kaydedilen mabedin bir kısmının yıkılmış olduğu ifade
edilmiştir. Akarının da yıkıldığı belirtilerek 83 kuruşluk geliri kaldığından söz
edilmiştir.58
57 1268/1851-1852 yılı evkaf defterinde yıl içerisinde 4 kıyye (1 kıyye 1,282 kg.dır.) zeytin-
yağı, 1,5 kıyye de şem‘-i revgan kullanıldığı belirtilmiş, zeytinyağına 48, şem‘-i revgan’a
12 kuruş ödendiği ifade edilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b) ki zeytinyağının kıyye-
sinin 12, şem‘-i revgan’ın ise 8 kuruş olduğuna dair bu veri mescidin aydınlatılmasında
kullanılan ürünlerin döneme ait birim fiyatlarının tespiti açısından değerli bir bilgidir.
58 BOA, A.MTZ.04, nr. 49/50; BOA, Y.PRK.EV, nr. 2/39; Eşrefoğlu, “1897 Tarihli Bir Rapor”,
s. 33.
264
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
nıp mescitte kullanılmasını ve her yıl 100 akçe değerinde hasır satın alınmasını
şarta bağlamıştır.
Mehmed Ağa Rusçuk’tan başka Niğbolu’da Kadı İvaz Mahallesi’nde inşa
ettirdiği muallimhanede görevlendirilecek muallime günlük 10 akçe verilme-
sini, halife olacak şahsa ise 3 akçe yevmiye ödenmesini istemiştir. Burası için
de her yıl 100 akçelik hasır alınmasını, uygun birinin 2 akçe yevmiye ile kâtip
olmasını, Niğbolu kadısı olanların vakfa nezaret etmelerini, vakfın muhasebe
defterlerini tutmalarını ve bu hizmetlerine karşılık kendilerine yılda 100 akçe
verilmesini şart olarak ileri sürmüştür.
Vâkıf vakfın idaresinin yaşadığı sürece kendisinde olacağını, bunun için
vakıf gelirinden günlük 5 akçe alacağını, vefatından sonra soyu kesilinceye
kadar çocuklarının bu görevi yerine getireceğini, gelecekteki -aileden olan- en
son ferdin ölümüyle birlikte kardeşi Hacı İbrahim’in ve onun soyundan gelen-
lerin mütevelli olacaklarını belirtmiştir.
Mehmed Ağa tüm giderler karşılandıktan sonra vakıf fazlasının kendisine
verilmesini, vefatından sonra ise çocuklarına eşit olarak paylaştırılmasını şart
koşmuştur. Kendi soyu kesildiğinde söz konusu fazla meblağın kardeşine öden-
mesini, onun ölümünden sonra da çocuklarına pay edilmesini istemiştir.59
Yarı ailevi vakıf kategorisindeki bu vakıf hakkında yukarıda söz edilen vak-
fiyeden başka herhangi bir kayıt tespit edilememiştir. XVII. yüzyıl sonlarında
tesis edilen bu vakfın işleyişiyle ilgili veri bulunmadığı gibi ne zamana kadar
faaliyetlerini sürdürdüğü de bilinmemektedir. 1219/1804-1805 yılında hazır-
lanan Rusçuk’a ait vakıf sicilinde ne vâkıf ne de vakıf eserler hakkında bilgi
olmaması vakfın bu tarihten önce belki de çok önceleri faaliyetlerini sonlandır-
dığını düşündürmektedir.
265
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
getiren- imam, hatip ve müezzin olan şahsa ödenen kira gelirlerini gösteren
tablo aşağıda verilmiştir.60
Tablo V
Kim Tarafından Aylık Kirası
Gayrimenkul Adet Bulunduğu Yer
Vakfedildiği (Kuruş Olarak)
Lom yakınında İbrahim Paşa
Camii bitişiğinde
Mahzen 8 - 6
Dükkan 1 Un Meydanı’nda Kalas Hacı 4,5
Dükkan 1 Hacı Ali Camii karşısında Kalas Hacı 2,5
Ev 1/2 Keleşoğlu Menzili Kalas Hacı 1,5
Toplam 14,5
Gelir kaynakları epeyce az olan bu mabet XIX. yüzyılın ilk Osmanlı-Rus Savaşı
sırasında ne yazık ki büyük zarar görmüştür. Yeni banisi olan -zaten yukarıdaki
tablodan görülebileceği gibi kendisi ya da ailesinden biri savaş öncesinde de
bağışladığı gayrimenkullerle vakfa katkıda bulunan- Kalas Hacı Mehmed tara-
fından yeniden inşa ettirilmiştir. Vâkıf 18 Eylül 1822 tarihli vakfiyesiyle ihya
ettiği cami için 200 kuruş nakit ve dükkan vakfetmiş, camide okunmak üzere
Kur’an-ı Kerim bağışlamıştır.61 Ârif Hikmet Bey’in, etrafının ahşap çit ile çevrili
avlusunda bir mezarlık bulunduğunu ve ahşap minareli olduğunu ifade ettiği
cami62 yetersiz kaynaklara rağmen uzun yıllar topluma hizmet vermiştir.
Mevcut verilere göre vakfın gelir-giderleri aşağıdaki tabloda gösterilmiştir.
266
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
Tablo VI
Gelir Gider
Vakfın İşleti- (Kuruş Olarak) (Kuruş Olarak) Vakıf Vakfın
Muhasebe Kay- Zeytin-
len Parası Fazlası Borcu
dının Ait Olduğu İşletilen Vakıf Gö- yağı ve Tamir Masraf-
(Kuruş Kira (Kuruş (Kuruş
Dönem Paranın revlilerine Mum ları ve Diğer Harçlar
Olarak) Geliri Olarak) Olarak)
Neması Ödenen Gider- Harcamalar
leri
12 Şubat 1842-
- 569 360 - 24(ii) -
21 Ocak 1844(i) -
Toplam 569 384 185(iii) -
22 Ocak 1844-9 14 krş.
30 212(v) 180 - 22(vi)
Ocak 1845(iv) 452 krş. 32 38 para
para 39 krş. 34
Toplam 257(vii) 217 krş. 6 para(viii) -
para(ix)
31 Aralık 1845-
12(xi) 299 169 45 32(xii) 3
19 Aralık 1846(x) 100
Toplam 311(xiii) 249 62(xiv) -
20 Aralık 1846-8 48 krş. 37 krş. 30 17 krş.
22,5 450(xvi) 250
Aralık 1847(xv) 15 para para 30 para
149,5
118 krş. 15
Toplam 472,5(xvii) 354 krş. 5 para(xviii) -
para
27 Kasım 1848- 44+161 krş.
- 567(xx) 320 38,5 -
16 Kasım 1849(xix) 15 para(xxi)
-
3 krş. 5
Toplam 567 563 krş. 35 para -
para
17 Kasım 1849-5 546 (xxi-
92 krş. 4 krş. 8
- 300(xxiv) 90
Kasım 1850(xxii) ii)
20 para para
-
64 krş. 5
Toplam 546(xxv) 485(xxvi) -
para(xxvii)
6 Kasım 1850-26 10 krş.
- 420 330 132+1.772(xxix) -
Ekim 1851(xxviii) - 20 para
Toplam 420(xxx) 2.185 krş. 20 para(xxxi) - 1.700(xxxii)
27 Ekim 1851-14 58(xxxiv)+1.700
- 663 330 63,5 -
Ekim 1852(xxxiii) krş. 5 para(xxxv)
-
1.488 krş.
Toplam 663 2.151 krş. 25 para -
25 para
63(xxxvii)+1.487
15 Ekim 1852-3
- 663 330 131 krş. 35 -
Ekim 1853(xxxvi)
- para(xxxviii)
1.348 krş.
Toplam 663 2.011 krş. 35 para -
35 para
4 Ekim 1853-23 76+1.349 krş.
- 694 330 92,5 -
Eylül 1854(xxxix) 25 para(xxxx)
-
1.154 krş.
Toplam 694 1.848 krş. 5 para -
5 para
267
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
(i) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.43a; nr. 11969, v.4b. Buradaki bilgiler 1258-1259/1842-1844 yıl-
ları olmak üzere iki yıla aittir. (ii) Dükkan tamiri için harcanmıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 10039,
v.43a; nr. 11969, v.4b). (iii) Bir önceki yıldan kalan vakıf fazlası 267 kuruş 14 para olup
belirtilen yıllarda artan meblağ ile birlikte 452 kuruş 14 paraya ulaşmıştır. Gerektiğinde
tamir masrafları için kullanılmak üzere mütevellide bulunduğu belirtilmiştir (BOA, EV,
nr. 10039, v.43a; nr. 11969, v.4b). (iv) BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.14b. (v) Vakfa ait 6 dükka-
nın kira geliridir (BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.14b). (vi) Minare tamiri için harcanmıştır (BOA,
EV, nr.10039, v.14b). (vii) İlgili yılın gelirleri toplamına 15 kuruşluk kira geliri de dahil
edilmiştir. Bu kiranın nereye ait olduğu tespit edilememiştir. Vakıf defterinde gelirlerin
toplamına işletilen vakfın ana parası da eklenerek kaydedilmiştir ki gelirlerin tamamı
709 kuruş 42 para olarak gösterilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.14b). Bu şekilde hesap-
landığında toplamın 709 kuruş 32 para olması gerekir ki deftere yanlış kaydedildiği
anlaşılmaktadır. (viii) İlgili yılın giderleri toplamı 216 kuruş 38 para olduğu halde yan-
lış hesaplandığı için deftere tablodaki gibi kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.14b). (ix)
Evkaf defterinde vakıf fazlası ana paraya eklenerek yanlış olarak 492 kuruş 36 para ola-
rak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.14b). Doğrusunun 492 kuruş 26 para olması
gerekir. (x) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.35a; nr. 12709, v.3a; nr. 12711, v.3a. (xi) İlgili yılda işletilen
para azalmış, nereye harcandığı saptanamamıştır. 100 kuruştan elde edilen nema ile ilgili
bilgiye evkaf defterlerinden sadece (BOA, EV, nr.10039, v.35a)’da rastlanmış, bu yılın
muhasebe bilgilerini içeren yukarıda belirtilen diğer iki defterde bu veri yer almamış-
tır. Bkz. BOA, EV, nr. 12709, v.3a; nr. 12711, v.3a. (xii) Caminin tamiri için harcanmıştır
(BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.35a; nr. 12709, v.3a; nr. 12711, v.3a). (xiii) Bu yıla ilişkin muhasebe
verilerini içeren vakıf defterlerinden ikisinde vakfın işletilen ana parası da gelirler topla-
mına dahil edilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 12709, v.3a; nr. 12711, v.3a). (xiv) Vakıf fazlası (BOA,
EV, nr. 12709, v.3a; nr. 12711, v.3a)’da 12 kuruşluk nemayı hesaba katmadıkları için 50
kuruş olarak kaydedilmiş, (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.35a)’da fazla meblağın 62 kuruş olduğu
belirtilmiştir. (xv) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.48b-49a; nr. 12999, v.3a. (xvi) Vakfa gelir sağla-
yan dükkan sayısı artmış, 8 dükkan kirası kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.48b-
49a; nr. 12999, v.3a). (xvii) Vakıf defterlerinde vakfın işletilen parası da gelirler toplamına
dahil edilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.48b-49a; nr. 12999, v.3a). (xviii) Giderler toplamı
353 kuruş 35 para olduğu halde yanlış hesaplanmış ve tabloda gösterildiği gibi kayde-
dilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 12999, v.3a). Diğer vakıf defterinde ise 354 kuruş 15 para olarak
gösterilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.48b-49a). (xix) BOA, EV, nr. 13615, v.2b. (xx) Bu gelir
6 adet dükkan ile -vakfın gayrimenkulleri arasına muhtemelen yeni katılmış yıllık kira
geliri 15 kuruş olan- Kayalıkapı yakınındaki sebze bahçesinden elde edilmiştir. (xxi) Bu
meblağ vakfın bir önceki yıldan yani 1264/1847-1848 yılından kalan borcu olarak kay-
dedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13615, v.2b). (xxii) BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.3a-3b. (xxiii) Bu meblağ
6 dükkan ile bostanın yıllık kira geliridir (BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.3a). (xxiv) İlgili yıla ait
kayıtlarda bu meblağın 60 kuruşunun mütevelliye ödendiği belirtilmiştir. Diğer görev-
lilerin aldıkları ücretler ayrı olarak verilmemiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.3b). Daha son-
raki dört yılda da tevliyet ücreti değişmemiştir. Bkz. BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b, 87a, 92a;
nr. 14198, v.5a; nr. 15176, 4b. (xxv) Evkaf defterinde gelirlere bir önceki yılın vakıf fazlası
olan 3 kuruş 5 para da dahil edilmiş, 549 kuruş 5 para olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV,
nr. 13905, v.3a). (xxvi) Giderler toplamı 486 kuruş 28 para olduğu halde defterde tabloda
gösterildiği gibi verilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.3b). (xxvii) Vakıf defterinde önceki yılın
268
Rusçuk’ta Osmanlı kültür varlıkları
vakıf fazlası hesaplara eklendiği ve giderler yanlış yazıldığı için kalan meblağ tablodaki
gibi kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 13905, v.3b). Oysa ilgili yılın vakıf fazlası 59 kuruş 12
paradır. (xxviii) BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.5a. (xxix) Bu meblağ vakfa ait bir dükkanın yanması
üzerine yapılan masraf olarak deftere yansımıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.5a). (xxx) Evkaf
defterinde gelirler toplamına bir önceki yılın vakıf fazlası olarak kaydedilmiş olan 65
kuruş 25 para da eklenmiş ve 485 kuruş hesaplanmıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.5a). (xxxi)
Giderlerin toplamı 2.244 kuruş 20 para olduğu halde ilgili deftere tabloda gösterildiği
gibi kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 14198, v.5a). (xxxii) Vakfın borcu 1.824 kuruş olmasına
rağmen önceki yılın vakıf fazlası olan 65 kuruş 25 para borçtan düşüldüğü ve giderler
59 kuruş eksik hesaplandığı için defterde tablodaki gibi verilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 14198,
v.5a). İlgili yılın borcundan önceki yılın fazla meblağı düşüldüğünde vakfın kalan ger-
çek borç miktarı 1.758 kuruş 15 paradır. (xxxiii) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b. (xxxiv) Caminin
tamiri için harcanmıştır (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b). (xxxv) Bir önceki yılın kalan borcu
olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.74b). (xxxvi) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.87a. (xxxvii)
Tamir masrafı olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.87a). (xxxviii) Vakfın önceki
yıla ait borcudur (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.87a). (xxxix) BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.92a; nr. 15176,
v.4b. (xxxx) Önceki yıla ait borç olarak kaydedilmiştir (BOA, EV, nr. 10039, v.92a).
Sonuç
Topluma hizmet sunmak dolayısıyla Allah’ın rızasını kazanmak gayesiyle kuru-
lan vakıflar Osmanlı egemenliğinde bir kaza merkezi olan Tuna kıyısındaki
Rusçuk’ta da faaliyet göstermiştir. Burada hayırseverler tarafından genellikle
ibadet ve eğitim mekanı ihtiyacını gidermek amacıyla yaptırılan cami, mescit,
mektep, medrese gibi vakıf eserlerin yanında tekke, zaviye ile çeşme ve şadır-
269
MeraL BAYRAK (FERLİBAŞ)
270
XVI. Yüzyılda Rusçuk’ta
demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı *
Giriş
Tuna Nehri’nin güney kıyısında yer alan Rusçuk, tarih boyunca çeşitli etnik
grupların yaşadığı bir yerleşim birimi olmuştur. Bölge, M.Ö. I. yüzyılın son-
larından itibaren Roma İmparatorluğu’nun, VII. yüzyıldan itibaren de Bul-
gar Devleti’nin hakimiyet sahasına girmiştir. Rusçuk da bu devlete tabi olarak
eski Roma kalesinin bulunduğu yerde bir köy olarak gelişmeye başlamıştır.
İkinci Bulgar Çarlığı döneminde ise (XII-XIV.yy.) Rusçuk, sadece askeri bir
nokta değil aynı zamanda nüfusu olan bir merkezdir. Zira burası gerek coğrafi
konumu gerekse tuz ticareti sayesinde ekonomik olarak gelişme kaydetmiştir.
Bu durum 1388 yılında Osmanlı fethine kadar devam etmiş ve fetihten son-
raki süreçte (XV. yüzyıldan itibaren) bölgede yeni bir idarî, askerî ve ekonomik
düzen kurulmuştur.1 Rusçuk da bu idarî sistemin bir parçası olarak Niğbolu
271
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
272
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
b) Kale
Kalenin tarihi, bu bölgede altı yüz yıl kadar hakimiyet süren Roma
İmparatorluğu’na kadar uzanmaktadır. Tuna sınırını korumak amacıyla kale
inşasına önem veren Romalılar burada da Seksaginta Prista (altmış geminin
limanı) adıyla bir kale inşa etmiştir. IV. yüzyıldaki etnik dalgalanmalar sebe-
biyle pek çok yağma ve saldırıya uğrayan bölge, VII. yüzyıldan itibaren Bulgar
Devleti’ne tabi olmuş ve Rusçuk, eski Roma kalesinin bulunduğu yerde bir köy
olarak gelişmeye başlamıştır. Kalenin 1388 yılında Osmanlılar tarafından fet-
yınları, Ankara 2002, s. 49, 556; Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (bundan sonra BOA), Tahrir
Defteri (bundan sonra TD), nr.439, s. 27; BOA, TD, nr.382, s. 10, 51; Tapu Kadastro Genel
Müdürlüğü Arşivi (bundan sonra TKGMA), Niğbolu Mufassal Defteri, nr.42, vr.10b.
6 Ayrıntılı bilgi için bkz. Osman Gümüşçü, XVI. Yüzyıl Larende (Karaman) Kazasında Yer-
leşme ve Nüfus, Ankara 2001, s. 74-79.
7 1559 tarihli bir mühimme kaydında Rusçuk’tan kaza olarak bahsedildiği gibi (BOA, Mü-
himme Defteri (MHM), nr. 3, s. 120/310), 968/1560-1561 tarihli mufassal bazdâr defte-
rinde de aynı tabir kullanılmıştır (BOA, TD, nr. 317, s. 37).
8 Bakardjieva-Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo I İstoriya, s.18.
273
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
hinden sonra Rusçuk, önemi daha da artan bir şehir-kale haline gelmiştir. Kale-
nin bulunduğu yer konusunda araştırmacılar antik kale Seksaginta Prista’nın
kalıntıları yerine yüksek nehir kıyısının eteklerinde bulunan alçak ve kayalık
bir buruna işaret etmektedirler.9 Nitekim Evliya Çelebi de Seyahatnâme’sinde
kaleyi Tuna kenarında, alçak kayalı burun üzerinde, kare şeklinde ve taştan
yapılmış küçük bir kale olarak tasvir etmektedir.10 Kalenin buraya inşa edil-
mesinin en önemli sebebi ise, liman için tüm özelliklere sahip olması ve geniş
körfezi koruyabilme özelliği taşımasıdır. XV. yüzyıl ortalarına kadar stratejik
açıdan henüz önem arz etmeyen kale, XVI. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren gerek
coğrafi konumu gerekse bunun getirdiği avantajlar sayesinde önem kazanmaya
başlamıştır. Zira kale, Tuna sınırını koruduğu gibi nehir yolu ile Kuzey Avrupa-
İstanbul arasında bulunan yolu denetim altına almış, Tuna filosuna üs teşkil
etmiş ve Rusçuk şehrinin güvenliğini sağlamıştır11.
Kale ile ilgili Osmanlı dönemi kayıtları XV. yüzyıldan itibaren takip edilebil-
mektedir. Bu kayıtlar yoluyla II. Bulgar Devleti zamanında bölgenin en büyük
kalesi olan Çernovi ile Yergöğü (Rusçuk) ve Yergöğü (Gürgevo) kaleleri arasında
bir kıyaslama yapma imkânı da doğmaktadır. XV. yüzyıl ortalarına ait Niğbolu
Sancağı mustahfızlarının zeamet ve timarlarının kaydedildiği deftere göre
Rusçuk kalesinde bir kethüda ile 10 muhafız görev yapmaktaydı. Bu dönemde
kalenin dizdarı yoktu. Muhtemelen Rusçuk kalesi bahsedilen dönemde küçük
bir kale olduğu için dizdar yerine kethüda tarafından idare edilmekteydi. Buna
karşılık Tuna’nın karşı kıyısındaki Yergöğü kalesi ile Çernovi kalesinin dizdarı
bulunmaktaydı12. XVI. yüzyıl kayıtlarında ise Yergöğü Beri-yaka ve Yergöğü
Öte-yaka kalesi adıyla bir sınıflandırma dikkati çekmektedir. Burada Yergöğü
Beri-yaka kalesi ile Rusçuk kalesi, Yergöğü Öte-yaka kalesi ile de Tuna’nın sol
kıyısında bulunan Yergöğü kalesi kastedilmektedir.13 Bu dönemde de Rusçuk
9 Podbrani İzvori za İstoriyata na Grad Ruse, s. 13; Jeçka Siromahova, Ruse Prez Vızrajdane-
to [Ruse during the Period of Reconstruction], Ruse 1997, s. 7; Siromahova, Kım İstoriya-
ta na Ukrepitelnata Sistema na Ruse po Vreme na Rusku-Turskite Voyni (1768-1878) [The
History of the Defense System of Ruse During the Russo-Ottomano Wars (1768-1878)],
İNMR, IV, 1970, s. 43-44; Bakardjieva-Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo I İstoriya, s. 67.
10 Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi, haz. Seyit Ali Kahraman – Yücel Dağlı, 3. Kitap, İstanbul
1999, s. 180.
11 Bakardjieva-Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo I İstoriya, s. 13, 63-64.
12 Podbrani İzvori za İstoriyata na Grad Ruse, s. 97-98.
13 BOA, TD, nr.126, s.116-130, 334-337; BOA, TD, nr.439, s.126-138, 338-339; BOA, TD,
nr.467 (976/1568-1569), s.214-229; TKGMA, Niğbolu Mufassal Defteri, nr.42, vr.21a-24a,
274
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
kalesi, 10 kişilik bir muhafız birliğine sahiptir.14 Kalenin dizdarı ile ilgili ilk
kayıtlar ise 439 numaralı tahrir defterinde bulunmaktadır. Deftere göre bir diz-
dar ve 10 muhafızdan oluşan kale görevlilerine15, 976/1568-1569 yılında ket-
hüda ve topçu da katılmıştır.16 1572-1573 yılında ise kalede dizdar ve kethüda-
nın yanı sıra 19 muhafız görev yapmaktaydı.17
XVI. yüzyılda Rusçuk kalesi, Yergöğü ve Tutrakan kaleleriyle birlikte sadece
Niğbolu sancak bölgesinin değil aynı zamanda Osmanlı sınır bölgesinin savu-
nulması açısından da önemli bir rol oynamıştır. Kalenin stratejik konumunun
giderek artması, onun savunma sistemleri içine dahil edilmesine ve Tuna’nın
kilidi olarak adlandırılmasına yol açmıştır.18
c) Şehrin Nüfusu
Osmanlı şehir ve kır nüfusunun tespit edilmesinde kullanılan başlıca kaynak-
lardan biri mufassal tahrir defterleridir. Bu defterlerde vergi mükellefi olan
reaya hane, mücerred gibi isimler altında tek tek yazıldığı gibi vergiden muaf
olan sınıflara da işaret edilmiştir.19 Ayrıca cemaat adı altında belli görevleri icra
eden gruplar da ayrı başlıklar halinde kaydedilmiştir. Bununla birlikte defter-
lerde sadece vergi mükellefi olanlara değinildiği için şehrin gerçek nüfusunu
tespit etme imkânı yoktur. Ancak nüfusu hesaplayabilmek için bazı metot-
lar geliştirilmiştir. Buna göre hane sayısı belli bir katsayı ile çarpılarak şehrin
tahminî nüfusu belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bazı araştırmacılar katsayı konu-
sunda farklı rakamlar vermektedir.20 Bölgelere göre değişiklik gösterebilecek
olan bu rakamlarda sağlıklı sonuçlara ulaşabilmek için o şehre ait şeriyye sicil-
275
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
276
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
Tablo I
XVI. Yüzyılda Rusçuk’un Nüfusu27
Yıllar Müslüman Gayrimüslim Toplam Tahminî
Nüfus(i)
H M Muaf H M Bive H M Bive Muaf Hx4 Hx5
1528 50 - - 350 - - 400 - - - 1.600 2.000
1530 50 8 23 385 189 13 435 197 13 23 2.350 2.883
1541-1544 182 107 37 318 200 25 500 307 25 37 2.865 3.496
1555-1556 467 288 75 628 402 10 1.095 690 10 75 6.124 7.452
1572-1573 525 199 68 480 319 - 1.005 518 - 68 5.452 6.660
1580 525 - - 532 - - 1.057 - - - 4.862 6.077
(i) Tahminî nüfus şu şekilde hesaplanmıştır: Hanenin 4 veya 5 kişiden oluştuğu kabul
edilerek iki ayrı hesaplama yapılmıştır. Dul kadınların (bivex3, bivex4) ve muafların
2/3’sinin de hane sahibi oldukları düşünülerek toplam hane sayısına ilave edilmiştir.
Bekar nüfus ve muaf bekarların toplama katılmasıyla şehirde idarî ve askerîler haricinde-
ki nüfus ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır. Ancak sonuncu grup da hesaba katıldığında
şehrin nüfusuna %15’lik bir ilave yapılmıştır. Tahminî nüfus içerisinde cemaatler
bulunmamaktadır.
(H: Hane M:Mücerred)
277
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
d) Mahalleler
Osmanlı şehirlerinde mahalle, birbirini tanıyan, birbirinin davranışlarından
sorumlu ve sosyal dayanışma içinde olan insanların oluşturduğu bir yer olduğu
gibi aynı mescitte ibadet eden cemaatin aileleriyle birlikte yerleştiği şehrin bir
kesimi olarak da tanımlanmıştır. İslam şehirlerinin çeşitli dinî ve etnik gruplara
göre bölge ve semtlere ayrılmış olduğunu ifade bazı araştırmacılar aynı duru-
mun Osmanlı şehirlerinde de görüldüğünü belirtmektedir. Nitekim Osmanlı
şehirlerinde Müslüman olmayanlar ayrı mahallelerde oturdukları gibi bazı
meslek mensupları da kendi mesleklerinin adlarıyla anılan mahallelerde ika-
met etmişlerdir. Bu durum Osmanlı şehir ahalisinin parçalanmış birimlerden
ziyade bir bütün oluşturduğunu, böylece ileri bir durumda bulunduğunu gös-
termektedir. Mahalle aynı zamanda temel yönetim birimidir. Zira vergi mükel-
lefi olan halk yaşadığı mahalleye göre tahrir defterlerine tek tek kaydedilmiştir.28
Mahalle isimlerinin ortaya çıkışında dinî mekânlar, şehirde görev yapmış dev-
let adamları, üretim veya ticarî faaliyetler etkili olmuştur. Benzer manzarayı
Rusçuk mahallelerinde de görmek mümkündür. Her ne kadar 370 numaralı
tahrir defterinde (937/1530 tarihli) Rusçuk’ta yaşayan (Nefs-i Urus) Müslüman
ve gayrimüslimler mahalle ismi zikredilmeden kaydedilmekle birlikte her iki
topluluğun ayrı mahallelerde yaşadığı önceki tahrirlerden hareketle bilinen bir
gerçektir.29
Tablo II
XVI. Yüzyılda Rusçuk’ta Müslüman Nüfusun Mahallelere Göre Dağılımı
28 Ayrıntılı bilgi için bkz. Özer Ergenç, “Osmanlı Şehrindeki “Mahalle”nin İşlev ve Nitelik-
leri Üzerine”, Osmanlı Araştırmaları 4 (1984), s.69-78.
29 Nefs-i Urus içinde yaşayanlar, Yergöğü kalesinin tamiriyle mükellef oldukları için bütün
avarız-ı divaniyye ve tekalif-i örfiyyeden muaf tutulmuştur (370 Numaralı Muhâsebe-i
Vilâyet-i Rum-ili Defteri (937/1530), II, s.49, 556).
278
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
Tablo III
XVI. Yüzyılda Rusçuk’ta Gayrimüslim Nüfusun Mahallelere Göre Dağılımı
Defter
Mahallenin adı Hane Mücerred Bive Muaf
no
Pop (Papaz) Dobro 91 77 13 -
Pop Marko veled-i Nikola 64 54 4 4
(s.31-38)
TD 439
yerine)
Pop Yuvan (Pop Koyo’nun yerine) 127 70 - -
Toplam 480 319 - 4
(i) Gerçekte toplam 319 olmalıdır. (ii) Gerçekte toplam 626 olmalıdır.
279
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
XVI. yüzyıla ait her üç tahrir defterinde de görüldüğü üzere Müslüman ve gay-
rimüslimler ayrı mahallelerde yaşamaktaydılar. 439 numaralı (Kanuni dönemi)
tahrir defterine göre Rusçuk’ta (Rus) 5 adet Müslüman mahallesi mevcut olup
bunlar isimlerini dinî mekânlardan veya önemli şahıslardan almıştır. Genel-
likle cami veya mescit etrafında kümelenen mahalleler, Rusçuk’ta Cami,
Mescid-i Mehmed Çelebi gibi isimlerle anılmıştır. Bu dönemde en büyük Müs-
lüman mahallesi olan Mesih Voyvoda, ismini muhtemelen şehrin vergi gelirle-
rini toplayan bir şahıstan almıştır. Bu şahsın isminin Mesih olması menşeinin
gayrimüslim olma ihtimalini akla getirmektedir. Aynı şekilde Mahmud Bey ve
Süleyman Çelebi gibi mahalle isimleri de şehirde ileri gelen ve belli görevleri
olan kişileri çağrıştırmaktadır. Gayrimüslim mahalleler ise isimlerini mahalle
papazlarından almıştır. Dolayısıyla papaz değiştikçe mahallenin ismi de değiş-
miştir. Bu durum tahrir defterlerine kaydedilirken karışıklığı önlemek için
bazı açıklamaları da beraberinde getirmiştir. Mesela Kanuni dönemine ait 382
numaralı tahrir defterinde Mahalle-i Pop (papaz) Stefan beca-yı Pop Marko ifa-
desi Pop Marko’nun yerine Pop Stefan’ın papaz olduğunu ve mahalleye adını
verdiğini gösterdiği gibi bir önceki tahririn bilgilerini de kontrol etme şansını
ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Nitekim bu bilgi sayesinde 439 numaralı tarihsiz olarak
belirtilen defterin TD 382’den önce tutulduğu ve Kanuni dönemine ait olduğu
anlaşılmaktadır. Defterde bir sonraki tahrirde zikredilen Pop Marko mahal-
lesini görmek mümkündür. Müslüman mahallelerine kıyasla gayrimüslim
mahallelerinin sayısı daha az olmakla beraber nüfus açısından ezici bir üstün-
lüğe sahiptiler. Ancak bir önceki tahririn (1530 tarihli) sonuçları düşünüldü-
ğünde Müslüman hane sayısı 50’den 182’ye çıkmış, buna karşılık gayrimüslim
hane sayısı 385’ten 318’e gerilemiştir. Bunun nedenlerinden biri Anadolu’dan
Rumeli’ye nakledilen göçebelerdir. Özellikle Kalenderoğlu İsyanı’ndan (1527-
1528) sonra Anadolu’dan gelen bu göçebeler, kazanın demografik yapısını
değiştirmiştir.30 Müslüman nüfus artarken Hıristiyan nüfusun azalmasında en
önemli nedenlerden biri ise ihtida hareketleridir. Tahrir defterlerinde Hıristi-
yan Bulgarlardan bir kısmının İslâmiyet’i seçtiği tespit edilmektedir. Nitekim
bazı araştırmacılar TD 439’da Müslümanlardan Abdullah oğlu olarak yazılan-
ları, İslam’ı kabul eden Bulgarların ilk nesli olarak ifade etmektedirler.31
30 Kiel, “Rusçuk”, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (TDVİA), c.35, İstanbul 2008,
s.247.
31 Kovaçev, “Novi Danni Otkriti v İstanbulskiya Dirjaven Arhiv Otnosno Naseleni Sredişta
v Ruse i Rusenska Okoliya (XVI-XVII. vek)”, s.234.
280
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
Kanuni dönemine ait 382 numaralı tahrir defterinde ise Müslüman mahal-
lelerinin sayısı 6’ya yükselmiştir. Kara Mustafa ve Mescid-i Şaban adıyla iki
yeni mahalle kurulduğu, buna karşılık Mahmud Bey Mahallesi’nin kaybol-
duğu görülmektedir. Asıl dikkat çekici gelişme ise Müslüman nüfustaki büyük
artıştır. Bir önceki tahrirde 182 olan Müslüman hane sayısı bu dönemde 467
haneye yükselmiştir. Bütün Akdeniz çevresinde XVI. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında
büyük bir nüfus artışı söz konusu olmakla birlikte bu durumu doğal nüfus
artışı, şehirdeki imkânların çoğalması sonucu civar köylerden ve imparatorlu-
ğun uzak köşelerinden nüfus celp etmesi veya iskân siyasetinin bir sonucu ola-
rak yorumlamak tatmin edici sebepler değildir. Her ne kadar defterdeki veriler
Rusçuk’a Niğbolu, Silistre, Plevne, Ziştovi, Hersek, Akkerman ve Anadolu’nun
çeşitli şehirlerinden yapılan göçleri gösterse de bunların oranı hane nüfusuna
kıyasla %2,5 seviyesinde bulunmaktadır. Oysaki defterde kayıtlı vergi mükel-
leflerinin isimlerinin incelenmesi Müslüman nüfustaki artışı açıklayabile-
cek niteliktedir. Zira bu dönemde deftere kayıtlı 467 hane reisinden 113’ünün
babasının adı Abdullah’tır. Bu da toplam Müslüman hanelerin yaklaşık %25’ine
tekabül etmektedir. Müslüman nüfusun ¼’inin babasının adının Abdullah
olması İslâmiyeti kabul eden bir topluluğa işaret etmektedir. Öte yandan gay-
rimüslim nüfusun da hane bazında yaklaşık 2 kat arttığı görülmektedir. 1572-
1573 yılında ise Müslüman mahalle sayısı 9’a yükselmiş dolayısıyla Müslüman
nüfustaki artış devam etmiştir. Ancak aynı şeyi gayrimüslim nüfus için söyle-
mek mümkün değildir. Bir önceki tahrirde 628 hane olan gayrimüslim nüfus
480 haneye düşmüştür. 1585-1586 tarihli tahrir defterinde ise mahalle sayısı
aynı kalmakla birlikte32 bir önceki tahrirde beraber yazılan mahallelerin ayrıl-
dığı (Hacı Musa ve Mesih Voyvoda mahalleleri), isim değiştirdiği (Süleyman
Çelebi maa Faik Bey yerine Mescid-i Faik Bey Mahallesi) ya da yeni mahalleler
kurulduğu (Arık Ramazan Mahallesi) görülmektedir.
Rusçuk’ta Müslüman ve gayrimüslimlerin yanında bazı cemaatlerin de yaşa-
dığından söz edilmişti. Aşağıdaki tabloda bu cemaatler ve nüfusları görülmek-
tedir.
32 Mahalle sayısının 9’dan fazla olması da muhtemeldir. Zira tahrir defterindeki veriler
akıncıların Rusçuk’ta yaşadıkları mahallelere işaret etmektedir (BOA, TD, nr.625, s.40-
41).
281
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
Tablo IV
XVI. Yüzyılda Rusçuk’ta Bulunan Cemaatler ve Nüfusları
Eflak tarafından gelerek Rusçuk’a yerleşen kıptîler ayrı bir cemaat halinde def-
terlere kaydedilmiştir. Kıptîler, cizye ve ispençe gibi vergilerini Kanuni döne-
minde zeamet sahibine; II. Selim döneminde ise merkezden gönderilen bir
gulamşahiye ödemekle mükellef tutulmuştur. Bu nedenle kıptîlerin cizye ve
ispençeleri Rusçuk hasılatına dahil edilmemiştir. Kanuni döneminde 22 hane
ve 12 mücerredden oluşan kıptîlerin tamamı gayrimüslim idi. II. Selim döne-
minde ise nefer (40X2) olarak kayıtlara geçirilen kıptîlerden sadece ikisinin
Müslüman olduğu tespit edilmektedir. Bununla birlikte Müslüman kıptîlerden
de cizye vergisi tahsil edilmiştir. Rusçuklu kıptîler genellikle sazende, demirci
ve kalburcu olarak faaliyet göstermiştir.33
Rusçuk’un sınırda bulunması ve gelecek vaat eden ticareti, yabancı unsur-
ların da şehre kolayca yerleşmesine imkân sağlamıştır. Nitekim ticaret ama-
cıyla şehre gelen Latinlerin sayısı Kanuni döneminde 6; II. Selim döneminde
ise 12 nefere ulaşmıştır. Haraç, ispençe, avarız ve diğer vergilerden muaf tutulan
Latinler, sadece aman filorisi ödemiştir. Latinlerin bu imtiyazlarına bir önceki
tahrir defterinde de işaret edilmiş, kendilerine temessük verilmiştir. Ayrıca hiç
kimseye raiyyet yazılamayacakları hususu tekrar vurgulanmıştır.34
Cemaat olarak defterlere kaydedilen bir diğer topluluk da gemicilerdir. Bun-
lar, sahibi oldukları gemilerle berü yaka-öte yaka (Rusçuk-Yergöğü) ve öte yaka-
berü yaka (Yergöğü-Rusçuk) arasında taşımacılık işini yürütmüştür. Ayrıca
Tuna iskelesinde bekleyen bir vekil vasıtasıyla limandaki beylik gemileri ve
miri tuz ambarını muhafaza ettikleri gibi lüzumu halinde Tuna donanması hiz-
metinde de çalışmışlardır. Hizmetleri karşılığında avarız-ı divaniyye ve tekalif-i
örfiyyeden muaf olan gemicilerin sayısı Kanuni döneminde 28 (neferX2) olup
33 BOA, TD, nr.382, s.68-69; TKGMA, NiğboluMufassal Defteri, nr. 42, vr. 17a-17b.
34 BOA, TD, nr.382, s.69; TKGMA, Niğbolu Mufassal Defteri, nr.42, vr.17b.
282
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
283
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
37 XVI. yüzyıl ortalarına ait bir kayda göre Mehmed Çelebi Mescidi Vakfı’na ait 13 dükkânın
kira geliri ile imam ve müezzinin ücretleri ödenmiştir (Podbrani İzvori za İstoriyata na
Grad Ruse, s.113).
38 Bakardjieva-Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo I İstoriya, s.87, 91, 106, 121-123.
39 BOA, TD, nr.382, s.51-59.
40 Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi, 3. Kitap, s.180.
41 Tekkede her yıl hıdrellezde büyük törenler yapılır, bu törenlere her milletten kadın, er-
kek ve çocuklar katılırdı (Nikola Georgiev Popov, Opisanie na Rusçuk za Vremeto ot
1860-1879 [The Description of Ruse Between 1860-1879], Ruse 1928, s.24-25); Tekke,
1877 yılındaki Osmanlı-Rus savaşı sırasında Rusçuk’a açılan top ateşi sonucunda yerle
bir edilmiştir (Bakardjieva-Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo I İstoriya, s.129-131, 155).
42 Bakardjieva-Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo I İstoriya, s.163.
284
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
43 Jeçka Siromahova, Ruse Prez Vızrajdaneto [Ruse During the Period of Reconstruction],
Ruse 1997, s.11. Dubrovnik tüccarının diğer Balkan şehirlerinde olduğu gibi Rusçuk’ta
da kolonileri vardı (Virginia Paskaleva, “Osman Balkan Eyâletleri’nin Avrupalı Devlet-
lerle Ticaretleri Tarihine Katkı (1700-1850)”, İstanbul Üniversitesi İktisat Fakültesi Dergi-
si (İÜİFD), 27/1-2 (1967-1968), s.40.
44 Bakardjieva-Yordanov, Ruse. Prostranstvo I İstoriya, s.103.
45 Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi, 3. Kitap, s.180.
285
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
Tablo V
XVI. Yüzyılda Rusçuk Şehrine Ait Vergi Gelir Birimleri
Vergi Gelir Birimi TD 439 TD 382 TD 42
(Kanuni (Kanuni dönemi) (1572-1573)
dönemi)
Bive 150 60 -
İspençe 12.925 26.600 (Kıptiler 19.975
dahil)
Giyâh ve hîme 3.804 7.800 5.760
Makiyân ve nân 317 650 480
Avenk-i engür (üzüm salkımı) 634 1.300 -
Hınta 11.450 8.806 9.000
Şa’ir 4.110 2.205 2.400
Alef 1.290 1.276 1.500
Resm-i bağât (Müslüman) 860 2.800 3.200
Resm-i dönüm-i bağât (gayri- - - 43.526
müslim)
Öşr-i şıra 26.250 32.050
Öşr-i kovan 2.534 270 1.469
46 Padişah hassının Çernovi kazasındaki gelirleri toplamı 110.057 akçe olup bunun büyük
kısmı Rusçuk’tan tahsil edilmiştir ( 370 Numaralı Muhâsebe-i Vilâyet-i Rum-ili Defteri
(937/1530), II, s.49, 556).
47 BOA, TD, nr.439, s.27, 38.
48 BOA, TD, nr.382, s.49, 51, 70; BOA, TD, nr.467 (976/1568-1569 tarihli icmâl defteri),
s.14.
49 TKGMA, Niğbolu Mufassal Defteri, nr.42, vr.10b, 18a, 27b; BOA, TD, nr.664 (icmâl def-
ter), s.28, 30. Ayrıca bkz. TKGMA, Niğbolu İcmâl Defteri, nr.266, vr.1b, 3a, 4a.
286
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
287
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
50 Ayrıntılı bilgi için bkz. Atanas Kolev, “Osnovni Etali v Razvitieto na Vinarstvoto v Ruse”,
Almanah, Tom II, [“The Development of Wine Production in Ruse”, Almanac, vol. II],
Ruse 1997, s. 447-454.
51 Bojik veya bojit resmi, domuz kasabından alınan bir vergidir.
288
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
Vergi gelirleri arasında başlangıçta oran olarak mütevazi bir konumda bulu-
nan Rusçuk iskele gelirlerine sadece TD 439’da işaret edilmiştir. Bu dönemde
yıllık 5.500 akçelik bir geliri bulunan iskele, XVI. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında
büyük bir gelir kaynağına dönüşmüştür. Nitekim 986/1578-1579 tarihli Niğbolu
icmâl defterine göre iskele gelirleri 600.000 akçeye ulaşmıştır.52 Niğbolu Eyaleti
Kanunnâmesi’nde “Kanun-ı İskele-i Rusçuk” ve “Kanun-ı Mâkiriyye-i İskele-i
Rusçuk” adıyla kaydedilen Rusçuk iskelesinde gümrüğe tabi ürünler arasında
tuz, koyun, sığır, at, yund, kebe, keten, ham bakır, yağ, bal, tulum peyniri, et, kaz,
tavuk, balık, hamr ve hububat sayılabilir. Macaristan, Eflak ve Vidin tarafından
gelen ürünler iskelede şümariyye, öşür, gümrük, nessâcân, vezzariyye, resm-i
ubûr gibi çeşitli vergilere tabi tutulmuştur. Rusçuk iskele kanunnâmesine göre
Eflak tarafından Yergöğü iskelesine araba ile getirilen tuzun her arabasından
2’şer parça şümariyye adıyla vergi tahsil edilmiştir. Ayrıca 100 parça tuzun 10
parçası öşür, 5 parçası gümrük, 2 parçası nessâcân ve 3 parçası vezzariyye ola-
rak alınmıştır. Tuzun 100 parçası 46 akçeden satın alınarak miriden 80 akçeye
iskelede satılmıştır. Yergöğü’den Rusçuk iskelesine getirilen koyunlardan iki
koyuna 1 akçe vergi alındığı gibi dört koyuna 1 akçe de vezzariyye adıyla resm-i
ubûr alınmıştır. Vezzariyyenin yarısı miri için tahsil edilmiştir. Sığır ve yundda
ise davar başına 4 akçe resm-i ubûr, 1 akçe vezzariyye alınmıştır. İskeleye geti-
rilen ham bakır, keten, yağ, bal, et, kaz ve tavuk gibi ürünler için Müslümanlar
%3, zımmîler %4 ve harbîler %5 gümrük resmi ödemiştir. Tulum peynirinde
ise fiyatına göre vergilendirme yapılmış ve 60 akçede 2 akçe resim alınmış-
tır. Bir bütün kebe ise 2 akçe olarak vergilendirilmiştir. Eflak göllerinden veya
diğer yerlerden iskeleye lâdiye gemisi ile getirilen balıklardan gümrük alındığı
gibi Tuna nehrinde avlanan balıklardan da ¼ oranında vergi tahsil edilmiş-
tir. İskelede gemilere hububat yüklenmesi durumunda eminler hububatın her
kilesinden 1 akçe resim almıştır. Rusçuk’tan Yergöğü iskelesine şarap götürül-
mesi durumunda fıçı başına 25’er akçe, at nakledilmesi halinde de vezzariy-
yenin yanı sıra at başına 5 akçe tahsil edilmiştir. Transit geçişlerin de vergiye
tabi olduğu görülmektedir. İskele eminleri Semendre, Vidin veya Kili tarafla-
rından gelen tam yüklü tombaz gemilerinden 32 akçe; şayka gemilerinden 12
akçe resm-i ubûr adıyla vergi tahsil etmişlerdir. Rusçuk iskelesinde tahsil edi-
len bir diğer vergi de mâkiriyyedir. Transit geçişlerden alınan verginin yanında
52 Bu dönemde padişah hasları arasında görünen Rusçuk iskele gelirleri için bkz. TKGMA,
Niğbolu İcmâl Defteri, nr.233, vr.2b; TKGMA, Niğbolu İcmâl Defteri, nr.266, vr.1b.
289
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
tuz, koyun, sığır, at, yund, yağ, bal, tulum peyniri, kebe, keten, ham bakır, balık,
hububat, şarap gibi ürünler de değişen oranlarda vergiye tabi tutulmuştur.53
Rusçuk şehrinin vergi birimleri arasında kimi zaman diğer vergilerle bir-
likte yazılan pazar resmi de bulunmaktadır. Şehirlerin belirgin özelliklerinden
biri olan ve haftanın belirli günlerinde kurulan pazarlar, hem şehirde yaşayan-
ların hem de çevreden gelen insanların ihtiyaçlarını karşılamaktadır. Yiyecek
pazarları özellikle küçük şehirlerde cami çevresinde kurulmuştur. Osmanlı
şehirlerinde karşımıza çıkan cami-pazar ilişkisi insanlara ibadetle birlikte alış-
veriş yapma imkânı da sunmuştur. Rusçuk’ta da büyük bir pazarın kurulduğu
bilinmektedir. Nitekim Evliya Çelebi, pazarın çarşının ortasındaki büyük mey-
danda kurulduğunu ve son derece kalabalık olduğunu ifade etmektedir. Paza-
rın kuruluş tarihi bilinmemekle beraber XVI. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında canlı
bir ticarete sahne olduğu görülmektedir. III. Murad dönemi Niğbolu Eya-
leti Kanunnâmesi’nde “Kanun-ı Bâc-ı Bâzâr-ı Nefs-i Rusçuk” başlığı altında
pazarda satılan mallara ve alınan vergilere değinilmiştir. Buna göre ulusla-
rarası bir görünüme sahip olan pazara şehirde ikamet eden Latinler dışında
yabancı tüccar da katılmıştır. Pazarda sebze, soğan, taze ve kuru meyve, ceviz,
incir, üzüm, bal, yağ, yoğurt, yumurta, taze peynir, tuz, şıra, şarap ve balığın yanı
sıra pirinç, nohut, mercimek gibi hububat türünden ürünler de satılmıştır. Rus-
çuk pazarında büyük ve küçükbaş canlı hayvan alım-satımı ve kesimi yapıldığı
gibi ham deri ve gön satışı da söz konusu olmuştur. Bunun dışında domuz, at
ve yund satışı ile esir ticareti yapılmıştır. Pazarda ticarete konu olan diğer mal
ve ürünler arasında kürk, aba, çuha, kebe, kepenek, ham halat, katran, demir,
odun, tahta, mertek, kiriş ve baskı ağacı, ağaç çanak ve sini dikkati çekmekte-
dir. Rusçuk’ta pazar haricinde bulunan kapanda da tartılan un ve diğer meta-
dan kanunnâmelerde yazılı oranlarda vergi alınmıştır.54 TD 382’ye göre pazarın
yıllık geliri 2.000 akçe olup Rusçuk’un tüm gelirleri (95.726 akçe) içerisindeki
oranı %2 civarındadır.55 Pazarın 1572-1573’te yıllık geliri, kasaphane ile birlikte
2.500 akçeye, tüm gelirler içerisinde ise yaklaşık % 2,5’e ulaşmıştır.56
290
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
291
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
arabadan 4’er akçe bac alınır…”57 Evliya Çelebi de Tuna nehrine dökülen Lom
nehrinin suyunun adeta âb-ı hayât olduğundan ve burada 40-50 çeşit lezzetli
balık yetiştiğinden bahisle, “…Tuna sâhilinde sâkin olan kimesneler mâbeyninde
bir âdem semîn ü cesîm olsa “Lum suyu balığı gibi semiz olmuş” sözünün atasözü
halinde halk arasında söylendiğini ifade etmektedir.58
Balıkçılık gibi tuz nakli ve satışı da şehir ekonomisinde önem arz etmiştir.
Bu döneme ait tahrir defterlerinde sadece 1 tuzcunun kaydı bulunmasına rağ-
men tuz ticaretinin Rusçuk gümrüğünün hatırı sayılır gelir kaynaklarından biri
olması ve sancak kanunnâmelerine yansıması ekonomik bir kıymet taşıdığını
göstermektedir. Rusçuk gümrüğünün 987 (1579-1580) tarihli deftere göre yıl-
lık geliri 600.000 akçe olup bunun 394.000 akçesini tuz ticaretinden elde edilen
gelirler oluşturmaktaydı.59 Eflak’dan Yergöğü iskelesine arabalarla getirilen tuz
buradan gemilerle Rusçuk iskelesine taşınmıştır. Tuz, iskeleden çıktıktan sonra
arabalara yüklenmiş ve her araba başına 4’er akçe bac alınmıştır.60 Bu kapsamda
şehirde gemici ve arabacı gibi iş kollarının oluşması doğaldır. Nitekim gemici-
ler adıyla defterlere kaydedilen ayrı bir cemaat olduğu gibi bu meslek kolunu
müstakil olarak sürdüren gemiciler de mevcuttu. Kanuni döneminde 4 gemici,
1572-1573’te ise 6 gemici ile 6 Müslüman arabacının muhtemelen bir kısmı tuz
ticaretiyle ilgileniyordu.
Çeşitli alet ve eşya imalinde çalışanlar da Rusçuk’taki iş hayatını renklen-
dirmişlerdir. Mesela sabun ve mum imalatı önemli bir iş koluydu. Her ne kadar
şehirde bir sabunhane veya mumhane kaydına rastlanmasa da çok sayıda
sabuncu ve mumcunun bulunması gerek imal gerekse satış aşamasında bu tür
mekânların varlığına işaret etmektedir. Ayrıca çömlekçi, kuyumcu, demirci,
nalçacı, nalbant, kazancı, zemberekçi, çilingir, kalaycı, semerci, kalburcu ve
hasırcı gibi isimlerle anılan esnafın şehrin ekonomik yapısına katkıda bulun-
duğu görülmektedir. Rusçuk’ta faaliyet gösteren diğer meslek erbabı arasında
neccar, dülger, taşçı gibi yapı ustaları; arabacı, deveci, gemici gibi nakliyatçılar;
hamam görevlileri; nakkaş, attar, berber, eskici, çerçi, ayıcı, bostancı, hizmetçi,
sığırtmaç, dellal, tüccar, küreci, kürkçü, sazende ve vezzar sayılabilir. Bu meslek-
lerden sazendeliği sadece kıptîler icra etmiştir.
292
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
Sonuç
Tarih boyunca çeşitli etnik grupların yerleşim alanı haline gelen Rusçuk, XIV.
yüzyılda Osmanlı hâkimiyetine girmiş ve izleyen yüzyılda burada yeni bir idarî,
sosyal ve ekonomik düzen kurulmuştur. Bu dönemde Bulgar nüfusuna oranla
sayısı çok az olan Müslüman nüfus, XVI. yüzyılda artmaya başlamış ve yüzyı-
lın ikinci yarısında Bulgar nüfusunu geçmiştir. Nüfusun Müslümanlar lehine
artış kaydetmesinde doğal nüfus artışı, iskân siyaseti ve göçlerin yanı sıra ihtida
hareketleri de rol oynamıştır.
Şehrin XVI. yüzyılda Müslümanlar lehine değişen demografik görüntüsü
dinî, sosyal, ekonomik ve kültürel kurumlar yoluyla da desteklenmiştir. Müslü-
manların ikamet ettiği mahallelerde inşa edilen cami, mescit, tekke gibi yapılar
ve bunları ayakta tutmak üzere kurulmuş vakıflar, şehrin gelişimini hızlandır-
mıştır. Ayrıca şehrin ve çevrenin güvenliğini sağlamak üzere mevcut kalenin
muhafız gücü açısından takviye edilmesi, limanın varlığı, şehrin konumu ve
ticarî olanakları bu büyümeyi sürekli hale getirmiştir. Nitekim yabancı tücca-
rın şehirde yerleşmeye başlaması, bu olanaklarla yakından ilgilidir. Şehrin karşı
kıyıda bulunan Yergöğü ve Eflak ile ticarî bağlantıları gümrük gelirlerini artır-
dığı gibi uluslararası bir görünüm kazanan pazarında da çok çeşitli ürünler
pazarlanabilmiştir. Şehrin ekonomik hareketliliğini gösteren bir başka faktör
de her türden mesleğin icra edildiği bir ortamın varlığıdır. Bu dönemde şehirde
70’den fazla iş kolu faaliyet halindeydi.
XVI. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında yaklaşık 7.000 kişilik nüfusuyla kaza merkezi
haline gelen Rusçuk, sahip olduğu olanakları kullanarak tipik bir Osmanlı şehri
olarak bölgedeki gelişimini sürdürmüştür.
293
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
EK I
Rusçuk Şehri’nin Yerleşim Bölgesinin Gelişimi61
294
Rusçuk’ta demografik ve sosyo-ekonomik yapı
Resim I
Rusçuk Şehri ve Kalesi
295
Meryem KAÇAN ERDOĞAN
Resim II
Rusçuk Kale Kapısı (Künt Kapı)
296
Pane l
Alaattin Aköz*
Giriş
Anadolu Selçuklu Devleti’nden sonra Konya ve çevresi Karamanoğulları Dev-
letinin hakimiyetine geçmiş ve bölgenin ismi Karaman olarak anılmaya baş-
lanmıştır. Karamanoğulları ile Osmanlılar arasında uzun mücadelelere sahne
olan Konya, Karamanoğlu II. İbrahim Bey’in H.868/1464’de ölümünden sonra1
oğulları arasında çıkan mücadeleler neticesinde H.872/1468 yılında Osman-
lıların eline geçmiştir.2 Fetihten hemen sonra Osmanlı idari yapılanmasında
297
Alaattin AKÖZ
nin merkezini oluşturan Sille köyü 16. yüzyılda hep Konya (Sahra) Nahiyesine
bağlı görünmektedir. Benzer şekilde Konya’ya daha yakın olan Saray köyü de
Sudiremi nahiyesi bünyesindedir. Aynı kaza içerisindeki köylerin zaman zaman
farklı nahiyelere bağlandığı tahrir defterlerinde sıkça görülmektedir.
299
Alaattin AKÖZ
Kaynaklar
Çalışmada ana kaynak olarak, şehir tarihi araştırmalarında en önemli verilere
sahip olan Tahrir Defterleri kullanılacaktır. XVI. yüzyılın hemen başına II. Baye-
zid dönemine ait (1500-1501), Yavuz Sultan Selim dönemine ait (1518), Kanuni
Sultan Süleyman dönemine ait (1539) ve III. Murad dönemine ait (1583) tarihli
defterlerin bulunması konunun bir tam yüzyıl olarak ele alınmasını ve kıyasla-
malar yapılabilmesini sağlayan önemli bir faktördür. Tahrir defterlerinin yanı
sıra Vakıf Tahrir Defterleri de son derece değerli veriler sunabilen kaynaklardır.
Bu bağlamda bilhassa bölgenin Osmanlı ülkesine katılmasından hemen sonra
yapılan sayımları içeren Fatih Sultan Mehmed devrine ait 1476 tarihli defter,
bölgenin geçmiş dönemlerine ışık tutabilecek özellikte olması bakımından çok
büyük öneme sahiptir.
Söz konusu kaynaklardan, aynı yüzyıla ait olmaları sebebiyle, Hatunsaray
Nahiyesinin XVI. yüzyıldaki iskanı ve demografik yapısı kolaylıkla takip ve tes-
pit edilebilir. Fakat bu kaynaklardan ilk olma özelliği taşıyanlardan, ya da günü-
müze ulaşabilen en erken tarihli defter olmalarından dolayı sadece ait olduğu
dönemin verilerini değil, yapılan atıflardan ve şerhlerden Osmanlı öncesi
dönemlere ait uygulamalar için de çok önemli ipuçları elde edilebilmektedir.
İskan
Ortaçağ Batıda olduğu gibi, Anadolu’da da bir geçiş ve değişim dönemidir.
Ortaçağ’da Anadolu’da, Bizans, Selçuklu, Beylikler ve Osmanlı gibi birçok büyük
medeniyetler birbirini takip etmiş ve bu coğrafyada derin izler bırakmışlar-
dır. Türk göçleri ile birlikte ülkenin yalnızca fizikî yapısında değil, demografik
yapısında, kırsal alan ve şehirlerde de büyük ölçüde değişiklikler olmuştur. Söz
konusu değişimin ilk dönemi hakkındaki bilgiler oldukça yetersizdir.
Bizans Devleti’nin son dönemi, Anadolu’da tarih açısından en büyük deği-
şimlerin meydana geldiği bir evreye tekabül etmektedir. Bizans egemenliğinin
Anadolu üzerindeki etkisinin giderek azalması ve birkaç yüzyıl sürecek olan
Türk boylarının Anadolu’ya olan büyük göçü, X. yüzyılda Anadolu’da ciddî top-
lumsal değişikliklere neden olmuştur. Türklerin Anadolu’ya yerleşmeleri sıra-
sında eski yerliler, yani Hıristiyan kır nüfusu yerlerinden edilmediklerinden, o
tarihte zaten çok gevşek bir yapıya sahip olan Hıristiyan köyleri arasındaki boş
araziler yeni köylerle değerlendirilmiştir.8 Yeni köylere yerleşen göçebe Türk
halk, kısa sürede tarla kültürüne yönelerek göçebelikten yerleşik yaşama geçişte
büyük bir başarı göstermiştir.
Anadolu’ya gelen ve yerleşik düzene giren bu kitlelerin Türk asıllılar ve İran-
lılar olmak üzere etnik açıdan iki grup oluşturdukları, fakat az sayıda Hıristiya-
nın da bölgeye gelerek yerleştiği bilinmektedir.9 Moğolların ortaya çıkışından
sonra ve Moğol hakimiyeti döneminde doğudan gelen Türk- Müslüman halk
arasında önceleri şehir hayatı sürmüş olanlar Anadolu şehirlerine yerleşmişler-
dir. Sami veya İran ırkına mensup olan Müslümanların, Türk çoğunluğu ara-
sında Türkleşmesi zor olmamıştır. Anadolu’nun bu dönemdeki Türk nüfusu
Rum nüfusunun çok üzerine çıkmıştır.
Türk fetihleri öncesinde Ortaçağ Bizans şehirleri ekonomik bakımdan zayıf-
tır ve şehirlerdeki ekonomik zayıflık bölgelere göre değişik sebeplerden farklı-
lık göstermektedir.10 Bazı Bizans şehirlerinin Türk fethi öncesinde terk edildiği
bilinmektedir. Kır nüfusunun köylerini terk ederek batı bölgelerindeki şehir-
lere yığılmaları ile iç bölge şehirlerinin nüfusu azaldığı gibi, pek çok köy de
terk edilmiş ve Anadolu toprakları üzerinde ekilebilecek verimli sahalar sahip-
siz kalmıştır.11 Bu boşluğu doldurmak amacı ile Selçuklu Devleti yöneticileri
konar-göçerlerin toprağa yerleştirilmesi konusunda bir yerleşme plânı uygu-
lamışlardır.
Yeni bir yer bulmanın ve yerleşmenin zorlukları gayet iyi bilindiğinden Rum
diyarına gelen ve burada yeni bir yerleşim kültürü oluşturan Türkler, önceki
halkların birikimlerinden ya da tecrübelerinden yararlanmaktan uzak kalma-
mışlardır. Bu yüzden Anadolu kırsalında üç farklı yerleşim modeli ortaya çık-
mıştır.
Bunlardan ilki, mevcut köylere dahil olmak suretiyle Müslim-Gayrimüslim
nüfusun birlikte yaşadığı köyler,
İkincisi, daha önce yerleşim varken terk edilmiş köy yerlerine konmak sure-
tiyle yeniden şenlendirmek,
Üçüncü model ise doğrudan Türkler tarafından kurulan köylerdir.
9 Uğur Tanyeli, “Anadolu Türk Kentinde Fiziksel Yapının Evrim Süreci”, yayınlanmamış
Doktora Tezi, İTÜFBE, İstanbul 1987, s. 11, TDVİA, “Konya” (Tuncer Baykara).
10 Şehirlerin zayıflamasının temel nedenleri arasında şehirler arası ticaretin azalması, tica-
retin İtalyan şehirlerine ait kolonilerin kontrolünde olması ve doğuda başlayan Arapla-
rın fetih hareketleridir. Bkz., Osman Eravşar, “Ortaçağ Anadolu Kentleri”, Türkler, c. VII
(2002), s. 333.
11 Tunçdilek, Türkiye’de Yerleşmenin Evrimi, s. 48.
301
Alaattin AKÖZ
Bölgenin iskanı ile ilgili dikkat çekici bir husus da önceki egemenlerin uygu-
lamalarına dair Osmanlı kaynaklarındaki atıflardır. Hatunsaray Nahiyesine
bağlı köyler üzerinde yapılan incelemede gerek muafiyetler, gerekse timar-
vakıf tasarruflarında Karamanoğlu İbrahim Beye sürekli ve yoğun şekilde atıf
yapılırken, Sudiremi Nahiyesinde Karamanoğullarına neredeyse atıf yoktur.
Konu ile ilgili belirleyici unsurlarından birisi de vakıfların iskan için kullanıl-
masıdır. Fikir vermesi bakımından yine Hatunsaray Nahiyesi ile bir mukayese
302
XVI. yüzyılda Sudiremi nahiyesi’nde yerleşim
303
Alaattin AKÖZ
K. Dilgömü
K. Enbelüs (?)
K. Giryat nısf öşr türbeye vakf-ı mukarrer ve nısf aheri Şeyh Sadreddin zaviyesine
vakf-ı mukarrer be hükm-i şerif deyü defter-i köhnede mestur
K. Halilhacı Öşrü türbeye vakf-ı mukarrer
K. Hisarcık
K. Kesteriye öşrünün süls-i erbai Hoca Fakih Sultana vakf-ı mukarrer
K. Kiçi Muh- Öşrü vakf-ı türbe-i mutahhara
sine
K. Salahad- Nısf öşrü Şadi Beğ mescidine vakf
din
K. Saraycık
K. Sızma Öşrü vakf-ı medrese-i Kemaliye
K. Sulutas
K. Tat Öşrü Hoca Mehmed Ali Beğ ve şeyhin (?) mülkü meşruu imiş İbrahim Beğ
mektubuyla deyü defter-i köhnede mestur
K. Ulumuh- Öşrü Sultan camiine vakf
sine
Demografi
Bölge nüfusu, öncelikle dinî aidiyet olmak üzere imtiyaz ya da muafiyet, üre-
ticilik gibi farklı açılardan ele alınıp, değerlendirilebilir. Üretim ve üreticiler,
sempozyumda sunulan bir başka bildirinin konusu olması hasebiyle üzerinde
durulmayacaktır.
Dini aidiyet açısından ele alındığında Sudiremi Nahiyesi, Konya Kazası’na
bağlı diğer nahiyelerden tamamen farklı bir durum arz etmektedir. Diğer nahi-
yelerin hepsinde Hıristiyanların yoğun şekilde veya az sayıda yaşadığı köyler
varken, Sudiremi Nahiyesi köylerinin tamamında bütün asır boyunca sadece
Müslümanlar yaşamaktadır. Hıristiyan nüfusun yaşadığı tek köy Sille’dir. Yuka-
rıda da belirtildiği üzere Sille, XVI. yüzyılda Sudiremi Nahiyesine bağlı değildir.
304
XVI. yüzyılda Sudiremi nahiyesi’nde yerleşim
305
Alaattin AKÖZ
cek birçok çeşidi vardır. Devlet halka vergi yüklerken çeşitli esasları göz önünde
bulundurmaktadır. Herkesi aynı şekilde vergilendirmediği gibi bazı hallerde,
önceden bilinen veya bazı şeylerin gerçekleşmesine bağlı olarak vergi muafi-
yetleri de sağlamaktadır. Osmanlı Devleti için muafiyetin ilk kademesi avarız
vergisidir. Duruma göre ikinci kademe olarak örfi vergilerden ve son aşama
olarak öşürden de muafiyet tanıyabilir. Muafiyetten yararlandırılanlar da
oldukça çeşitlidir. Devlet hizmetinde olan ve askerî olarak tanımlanan devlet
görevlileri dışında reaya statüsünde olanların muaf olabilmeleri ancak belirli
şartlarda mümkün olabilmektedir. Yaşlılık, sakatlık, sürekli hastalık, amalık gibi
bedeni kusurlar, imam, şeyh, zaviyedar, seyyid, suleha gibi halk önderi konu-
munda bulunan saygınlık taşıyan insanlar ve kamu yararına olacak hizmetlerde
bulunanlar ki mesela köprü yapmak, yol açmak gibi ilk akla gelen muaflardır.
Şüphesiz muafiyet sebepleri ve muaflar tek tek ele alınıp ayrıntılı şekilde değer-
lendirilebilir fakat bu çalışmanın amacı dışında olduğundan bu kadarıyla yeti-
nilmiştir.
XVI. yüzyıl için Sudiremi Nahiyesi köylerindeki muaflar tespit edilirken
bedeni noksanlıklara veya yaşlılığa bağlı muaflar ile halk açısından önemli
konumda olan ve bir bakıma gönüllü olarak halkın eğitimini üstlenmiş olduk-
larını söyleyebileceğimiz imam, şeyh, derviş gibi unsurlar dikkate alınmıştır.
XVI. yüzyıl boyunca Sudiremi Nahiyesi’ne bağlı köylerin sayısı neredeyse
hiç değişmemiştir. Dönemlere göre bazı köyler boşalıp hali olurken, bazı mez-
raalar köyleşerek onların yerini almıştır. Bu yüzden yüzyıl boyunca nahiye-
nin köy sayısı hep 19-20 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Aşağıdaki tabloda yıllara göre
muafların sayısı verilmiştir. Burada dikkati çeken husus her köyde imam olma-
yışıdır. İmam sayısının en fazla olduğu dönem Yavuz Sultan Selim dönemi-
dir; bu dönemde 20 köyün 16’sında imam bulunmaktadır. Asrın başında yani
II. Bayezid döneminde 15, asrın sonunda (III. Murad devri) 13 imam vardır.
İmam sayısının en az olduğu dönem ise Kanuni Sultan Süleyman dönemidir.
Bu dönemde sadece 5 imam tespit edilebilmiştir.
Sıkça görülen bir diğer muaf gurubu da aşırı yaşlılık (pir-i fani) ve bedeni
özrü bulunanlardır. Osmanlı Devleti insanları kaydederken vergi esasına göre
kaydettiği için muafiyette de vergilendiremeyeceği insanları muaf tutmuştur. Bu
gurup içerisinde en sık rastlanılan muafiyet pir-i fanilerdir. Yani üretim yapa-
mayacak çağa gelmiş yaşlı erkekler. Pir-i fanilerin en çok görüldüğü dönem 18
kişi ile II. Bayezid dönemi, en az görüldüğü dönem ise 1 kişi ile Kanuni döne-
midir. Yavuz Selim zamanında 4, III. Murad zamanında ise 7 pir-i fani kaydedil-
306
XVI. yüzyılda Sudiremi nahiyesi’nde yerleşim
miştir. Bedeni özürlüler genellikle a’ma, ma’lul, küt gibi isimlerle kaydedilirler.
Bu gurubun dönemlere dağılımı da pir-i fanilerle benzerlik göstermektedir.
1500’de 13, 1518’de 4, (1539’da yok) ve 1583’de 3 kişi.
307
Alaattin AKÖZ
308
THE Economic structure of the
Sudiremi nahiye in the 16 th century *
Doğan Yörük**
Introduction
The population pressure that occurred in the entire Mediterranean basin and
the Ottoman geography after the second half of the 16th century1 not only
caused the decrease and reduction of the agricultural lands2 but also made it
necessary to cultivate different agricultural products besides barley and whe-
at.3 Production was not in parallel with the increase in population, which cau-
sed an increase in the prices of agricultural products4 and unsettled the balance
between demand and supply in the direction of poverty.5 This conjuncture was
* This paper is supported by the SUBAP Coordinator with the project number 12701323.
** Selçuk University, Faculty of Literature, History Department, Faculty member,
dyoruk@selcuk.edu.tr
1 Fernand Braudel, II. Felipe Döneminde Akdeniz ve Akdeniz Dünyası, I, trans. Mehmet Ali
Kılıçbay, Ankara 1993, 396, 477-503, idem, Maddi Uygarlık Gündelik Hayatın Yapıları,
trans. Mehmet Ali Kılıçbay, Ankara 2004, 29-45, Ömer Lütfi Barkan, “Research on the
Ottoman Fiscal Surveys”, Studies in the Economic History of the Middle East from the Rise
of Islam to the Present Day, London 1970, 169, Yunus Koç, “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun
Nüfus yapısı (1300-1900)”, Osmanlı, IV, Ankara 1999, 541, Mehmet Öz, “15.-16.
Yüzyıllarda Anadolu’nun Sosyal Tarihine Dair Araştırmalar: Genel Bir Değerlendirme”,
Uluslar Arası Kuruluşu’nun 700. Yıl Dönümünde Bütün Yönleriyle Osmanlı Devleti Kon-
gresi, 07-09 Nisan 1999, Konya 2000, 528.
2 M. A. Cook, Population Pressure in Rural Anatolia 1450-1600, London 1972, 30-81.
3 Mehmet Öz, “Osmanlı Klasik Döneminde Tarım”, Osmanlı, IV, Ankara 1999, 68-70.
4 Şevket Pamuk, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Paranın Tarihi, İstanbul 1999, 122, idem,
Osmanlı-Türkiye İktisadî Tarihi 1500-1914, İstanbul 2005, 117-118.
5 Sabri Ülgener, Darlık Buhranları ve İslam İktisat Siyaseti, Ankara 1984, 43.
309
Doğan YÖRÜK
interpreted as one of the reasons for the social turmoil in the state starting from
the second half of the 16th century.6
The aim of the present study is to customize the statements given above,
which could be used to refer to the entire of the 16th-century Ottoman geog-
raphy, within the scope of Sudiremi nahiye (sub-district), which consisted of
approximately 20 villages connected to the district that had the same name
under the Konya sanjak in the lands of Karaman province. In this way, it will be
possible to determine to what extent the information regarding the Empire in
general and the developments in an ordinary geographical area located in the
middle of Anatolia correspond or differentiate.
Karaman province, which was organized as the third province within the
Ottoman administrative structure, was formed on the lands of the Karaman
principality. As in the Anatolian Seljuk Empire and Karamanoğulları principa-
lity periods, Konya constituted the administrative centre of the province. Besi-
des, Akşehir, Aksaray, Beyşehir, Niğde, Kayseri, Kırşehir, Tarsus and İçel were
also included in Karaman province.7 However, some of these towns were
later put under the governance of newly established provinces. Konya was also
named as şehzade sancağı8 (“princes’ district”) and paşa sancağı9 (“pasha’s
district”) and was at the same time the centre of the Konya district.
Although the districts and nahiyes of the Konya sanjak changed from time to
time in the 16th century, Sahra, Hatunsaray, Sudiremi and Saidili nahiyes appea-
red in every census throughout the century. Nahiyes could either be established
around a certain residential centre or be connected to a geographical region.10
As a matter of fact, the centre of Hatunsaray nahiye was Hatunsaray village and
the centre of Saidili nahiye was Hatun village. On the other hand, Sahra and
Sudiremi nahiyes appear to be the names of a geographical region.
310
The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiyE
The nahiye, which comprises the geographical region located to the north-
west of Konya city centre, is composed of nearly 20 villages. In this aspect, it is
the smallest unit of Konya district. Sille village, which was the most important
unit of settlement in the region and which constituted the centre of the nahiye
in the following periods, appears to be connected to the Konya nahiye in the
16th century. Similarly, Saray village, which is closer to Konya, belonged to the
Sudiremi nahiye. It is often observed in the census records that villages within
the same district were tied to different nahiyes11. Since nahiyes did not represent
an administrative structure in the 16th century, such a state must have occurred
due to military concerns.
A- Agricultural Areas
1- Çift, Çiftlik
It is known that agricultural activities were the leading practices among the
most important economic resources of pre-modern societies. Since the subsis-
tence of cities, armies and masses depended on agricultural products and the
scarcity and abundance of these products concerned the entire society, agricul-
tural activities were not left unregulated, but there was always an effort to be
kept under control. Land alone did not mean much without productive peasant
labor organized as dependent family labor. Within this scope, the control of the
Ottoman state over agriculture was enforced on the basis of cultivated land, on
the one hand, and of labor, on the other. The mirî (state owned) land,12 which
constituted almost 90 per cent of all agricultural land13 and was used only for
cereal agriculture, was divided into two categories: registered land and mukataa
land. The former comprised land given to peasants within the scope of registry
regulations, while the latter involved land that was leased under a simple cont-
ract. Although the lease contract could be freely made between the state and
any individual, the leaseholder, who was a party of the registration process, was
11 Doğan Yörük, XVI. Yüzyılda Aksaray Sancağı (1500-1584), Konya 2005, 64-65, idem,
XVI. Yüzyılda Ereğli Kazâsı, Konya 2009, 57-72.
12 Halil İnalcık, “Köy, Köylü ve İmparatorluk”, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Toplum ve Ekonomi,
İstanbul 1996, 3.
13 Halil İnalcık, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun Sosyal ve Ekonomik Tarihi, I, çev. Halil Berktay,
İstanbul 2000, 147, 173-174.
311
Doğan YÖRÜK
a dependant peasant who was obliged to pay all the taxes of the land and at the
same time to provide certain services to both the state and the sipahi (knight).
The registry was the basis of the system defined as çift-hane system. This system
involved a large part of the agricultural land in Anatolia and Rumeli, the core
regions of the empire.14
Registered land was divided into ideal units which could be cultivated in
the most economically efficient way in a year by a peasant family with a pair
of oxen and a plough and each of these units was called a çiftlik.15 This raiyyet
(subject) farm was accepted as the basic unit of the agricultural economy for
the state and precautions were taken against its disintegration and merger.16
The reason put forward for such precautions was that it would be impossible to
collect the tax of a financially divided çift.17 However, the records in cadastral
record books clearly show that units of çiftlik were illegally divided and shared
in practice. This case shows that a family could economize the smallest unit of
land at a scale of half çift (nim-çift). A peasant who had a piece of land smaller
than half çift or no land was classified by the state as poor or needy. It is sugges-
ted that the inconsistency in the sizes of çiftliks was related to the differences
among the composition of a peasant family, in that çift households were mature
families and half-çift households were young families.18
The size of a çift in the Karaman province was 60 decares in fertile areas,
80-90 decares in medium fertile areas and 100-120 decares in infertile areas.19
The reâya (subjects) who had such land were officially taxed under the status
of “çift” and those who had land half of this size were taxed under the status
312
The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiyE
of “nim çift”.20 Specific to the Sudiremi nahiye, in terms of the units of land in
the 16th century, the number of peasants who cultivated full çift land was lower
than the number of peasants who cultivated half-çift land due to the mounta-
inous structure of the region and the scarcity of wide plains. In fact, it is quite
interesting that the application of the collective use of çifts or nim-çifts registe-
red to the name of a person by more than one families (generally a father, sons
and brothers) was observed during a period in which the supply of land was
the highest, which is something we are used to seeing at the end of the century.
It is understood that the number of full çifts decreased, whereas the number of
half-çifts increased from the beginning to the end of the century. Another point
regarding çift and nim çifts is that the number of the units of land utilized inde-
pendently by a single person reasonably decreased at the end of the century.21
Pieces of land that were newly opened for agriculture were generally regis-
tered under the name of zemin and the unit sizes of these soils were recorded
as çift or nim çift. Soils that were registered as zemin were initially allocated
either independently to one or collectively to a few individuals by the people
of the same village or neighbouring villages, just as was the case with muka-
taa lands.22 In the following periods, these zemins would have become raiyyet
farms in return for a payment of land registry. Although new agricultural areas
313
Doğan YÖRÜK
were opened starting from the beginning of the century, it can be said that this
movement increased after 1539.23
Another point that we should consider in parallel with zemins is the resm-i
tapu and deştbani tax. This tax item was turned into another item different from
bad-i heva tax in the cadastral records of 1539 and 1584 and constituted a con-
siderable sum in almost every village.24 This could not only be explained by the
existence of lands that were subjected to the tax in question, but could also be
interpreted to have emerged from the transfer of the land from one hand to
another. It is understood from the amount of the taxes in question that such
practicable transactions had a wide area of application in the second half of the
16th century.25
Lands that could not be formed into a unit because they were small in num-
ber or size were also registered under the name of zemin; 1 akçe of resm-i zemin
or resm-i dönüm was collected from lands between 2 and 5 decares depending
on yield.26 Units of land taxed in this way were observed only in 1539 and the
total amount of tax collected was 100 akçes. Since one akçe of tax was taken
for at least two decares of land, it could be said that taxable land of at least 200
decares existed.
A household unit mainly consisted of married individuals, so, apart from
çifts and nim çifts, there were also bennaks who were married but did not have
any land or had some land smaller than a nim çift. Of these bennaks, those who
had land were named ekinli, and those who did not have any land were named
caba-bennak. Although such a difference did not exist in the cadastral record
books of the Karaman province dated 1500, 1518 and 1539, it is noteworthy
that a distinction was made as ekinli and bennak only in 1584. However, the fact
that the number of ekinli registers was limited to 5 nefers (individuals) gives the
impression that there was not a clear distinction between bennaks with and wit-
hout land. In fact, it was not possible for bennaks, who constituted 15.6 - 29.4%
of the total population of nefers, to make a living without utilizing any land in
any way. Yet, when we assume that only those who were registered as ekinli pos-
314
The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiyE
sessed land on behalf of not being imprudent, it is not entirely clear how many
decares of land these individuals utilized. However, Mehmet Öz asserts that this
unit could be a quarter of the size of a çiftlik.27 The land owned by this fraction
must have been taxed not in return for a payment of land registry but according
to the amount of decares they owned.
It is possible to find the minimal amount of the arable agricultural areas
throughout the nahiye in decares based on the information provided above. In
Karaman province, the area of a piece of medium fertile land equal to a çiftlik
is 80-90 decares. Accordingly, it could be assumed that the average size of the
land equal to a çiftlik was 80 decares, the land equal to a nim çift was 40 decares
and the amount of land utilized by ekinli bennaks was 20 decares. Furthermore,
since the taxes collected under the name of resm-i zemin were taken as one akçe
for every two decares, the total amount of land can be found by multiplying the
tax revenues by two. The results obtained by using these coefficients are presen-
ted in Table II given below.
It is a known fact that the numbers given in Table II do not represent the
entire arable land. If we pay attention, we can see that only çift, nim çift, as well
as ekinlis, çiftlik and zemin lands that are stated to amount to çift or nim çift are
taken as base for the calculations here. Apart from these, the hamlets where
agriculture is performed and villages that have direct tax records and lands
under the control of exempt citizens are not taken into consideration. Nonet-
heless, we can say that the area of the soils used as agricultural land was 15.240
decares in 1500, 13.080 decares in 1518, 14.000 decares in 1539 and 12.360
decares in 1584.
315
Doğan YÖRÜK
B- Agricultural Activities
1- Öşür (Tithe) and Salariye
The tax paid in the form of crops produced by peasants to the ehl-i örf (local
representative of the executive power) for land, which was subject to the registry
regime within the Ottoman miri land system and to the individuals and insti-
tutions that possessed the land for vakıf and mulk land, is called öşür.31 This tax
varied between the half and one tenth of the yield depending on local customs
and traditions, the fertility of the land and irrigation conditions.32 Another tax
that was collected together with öşür is salariye. The salariye tax is a set of lia-
bilities, which those who are appointed to collect the öşür are allowed to take
from the peasants in the form of food for themselves and their animals during
the harvest season.33
In the areas where the rate of öşür was one in ten, the rate of salariye collec-
ted was two and a half per cent or one in forty, thus the total amount of öşür
taken from the producer was equal to the one eighth of the total product.34 Sala-
riye was not collected in the areas where öşür was collected at a high rate like
one in five, or at least it was regarded as unjustified.35 However, it is understood
that although the rate of öşür collected was one in five, salariye was also collec-
ted in the Karaman province.36 Some of the villages and hamlets in Sudiremi
nahiye were allocated to vakıf and mülks. For this reason, the öşür collected
from grains was transferred to these foundations and an amount correspon-
ding to one fourth of this öşür was recorded for the sipahi under the name of
317
Doğan YÖRÜK
salariye.37 When we add the 20% of the product collected as öşür and one fourth
of this as salariye, the total amount of tax taken from crops equals to 25% or ¼.
Regarding the öşür tax, what was stated in the revenues of villages and ham-
lets was accepted as it was. If an additional salariye tax was mentioned, it was
taken into account, but if it was not recorded, such a tax was ignored. When we
tried to find out the total production based on the amount of öşür collected, it
was considered that the öşür of vakıfs and mülks was 20%, the salariye share of
timar and hases was 5% and their öşür and salariye share was 25%.
2- Grain Production
Wheat and barley were the most cultivated products in the region. At the begin-
ning of the 16th century, these two products were grouped as a single item under
the name of galle. As a matter of fact, it is possible that not only these two pro-
ducts, but also other grains that had the same record value were grouped under
this name, because no grain product is mentioned other than galle. Apart from
wheat and barley, products like vetch and rye are also seen in the record books
kept in the following years. However, the output of these products was substan-
tially low. This probably resulted from the fact that the consumption range of
vetch and rye was lower compared to that of wheat and barley; or these products
were mixed into barley or wheat and barley blended galle since the registered
value of these products was equal to that of barley. When problems emerged in
adequately meeting the demand for grain with the increase in population that
occurred after the second half of the 16th century, the production of grains like
maize38 and legumes gained importance in various regions of Anatolia.39 Howe-
ver, such a development was not observed in the region we studied.
Apart from grains, products like linen, onion, garlic, walnut, melon, vege-
tables and fruit was also produced together with viticulture and horticulture.
Based on this information, we can say that the products mentioned above were
cultivated in the region.
Kile was the main unit of measurement for grain products. The kile that
was in use within Karaman province was the Konya kile. The Konya kile is one
şinik;40 in other words, 1/4 larger than the Istanbul kile41. An Istanbul kile is
25.656 kg.42 Accordingly, a Konya kile equals to 32.07 kg.43
As it can be seen in the table given above, despite a partial increase in grain
production, an excessive decrease is observed in the average amount of grain
production per individual. In this regard, while the average of the total produc-
tion per individual was 709.9 kg at the beginning of the century, the amount
of grain per individual decreased to 447.1 kg towards the end of the century
due to the fact that the increase in grain production fell behind the increase in
population. Thus, there was a decrease of 37.1% in the average amount of grain
per individual from the beginning to the end of the century.
319
Doğan YÖRÜK
5 akçes in 1539 and 1584. The increase in the price of wheat from 3 akçes to 7
akçes and the increase in the prices of barley, maize, rye, vetch, etc., from 2 akçes
to 5 akçes throughout the century show the existence of an inflationary pres-
sure on prices. The fact that the fee taken from 100 drachmas of silver was 400
akçes in 1477 and 450 akçes in 158245 shows the loss of value in currency. Howe-
ver, it is obvious that the increase in the prices of agricultural products was
substantially high (133%) despite the 11.2% loss in the value of akçe.46 This was
observed not only in the Sudiremi nahiye or the Karaman province, but also in
the economies of the old world.47
C- Stockbreeding
1- Sheep-Goat
The second economic activity that agricultural societies carried out together
with cultivation is stockbreeding. Although it was mostly the form of produc-
tion performed by migrant settlers, stockbreeding was also carried out at the
least by settled peasants. This activity was taxed as one akçe for each two sheep
and named as resm-i ganem or adet-i ağnâm.48 While the total amount of resm-i
ganem collected from the Sudiremi nahiye was 7.410 akçes at the beginning of
the 16th century, this amount increased to 9.421 akçes at the end of the century.
Based on the amount of tax levied, it is possible to find the number of sheep
in the nahiye by multiplying the tax by two. In this regard, while there were
320
The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiyE
14.820 sheep and goats at the beginning of the century, this number increased
to 18.842 towards the end of the century. As it is seen, the Ottoman peasant
did not leave the entire animal husbandry activities to migrant settlers, but was
engaged in stockbreeding to a certain extent.
Other taxes that we can associate with sheep and goat breeding are resm-i
kışlak, resm-i otlak, resm-i çayır and resm-i yaylak.49 However, these items do
not have significance among the total revenue. The total tax of the four items
was 20 akçes in 1500, 100 akçes in 1518, 80 akçes in 1539 and 40 akçes in 1584.
2- Beekeeping
Beekeeping activities were taxed under several names as öşr-i kovan, öşr-i asel
and resm-i küvâre, as mentioned in kanunnâmes (law books). This tax was taken
from the honey in bee hives.50 The kanunnâmes of the Karaman province state
that the reaya paid the sipahi 2 akçes of resm-i küvâre for each hive since the
old times.51 While the honey öşür was 634 akçes in 1500, this number increased
to 1.005 akçes in 1584. Since two akçes of tax were taken for each hive, the total
number of hives in Sudiremi can be found by dividing the total amount of tax
into two. In this case, the number of hives, which was 317 in 1500, increased to
502.5 in 1584. However, a decrease of 32.6% occurred compared to the values
obtained in 1539.
321
Doğan YÖRÜK
322
The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiyE
tion of new mills should be considered in parallel with the increase in popula-
tion. Certain principles, such as constructing the mills in the same region and
on the same watercourse based on needs and not causing any economic harm
to the existing ones, must have been favored. In fact, in the dispute that emerged
when Yusuf Paşazâde İbrahim Bey built a mill in the vicinity of the mill owned
by Ömer Pasha, a former Governor of Konya, it was required that the distance
between the two mills should be 600 zira57 (approximately 454.8 m).58
Mills were indicated to be among the items that were most liked by tax asses-
sors. Since it was impossible to transport and hide mills, they could be taxed as
long as they were active and these mills were registered in a quite regular man-
ner.59 Charles Issawi pointed out that in 11th-century England, after the Norman
invasion, the number of mills per individual was higher than the number of
mills per individual in the most powerful and magnificent period of the Otto-
man Empire.60 Although the ownership and management of mills were in the
hands of private persons, only one mill in Bulamas village was stated as the pro-
perty of Derviş Beğ in 153961 and no name was observed for other mills. As a
result of this, the mills had the same name as the village in which they were built.
The operating times of mills can help us have an idea about the watercour-
ses on which they were built. In the 1500s, the high number of destroyed mills
and of mills that were operated for periods such as 12 months, 6 months or 3
months indicates the regularity of streams in this period, whereas the opera-
ting times of 6 months, 4 months, 3 months and 2 months recorded in 1518
show that water resources had decreased in the period. It is possible to say that
the number of mills began to increase starting from the middle of the century
together with the enrichment of water resources.
Regarding the amount of taxes taken from mills, 279 akçes were accrued
from 8 mills or millstones in 1500, 181 akçes were accrued from 11 mills or
57 1 zira = arşın 75.8 cm. see: İnalcık, Sosyal ve Ekonomik Tarih, 441, Fehmi Yılmaz, Osmanlı
Tarih Sözlüğü, İstanbul 2010, 37, Zafer Toprak, “Yeni Ölçülerle 60 Yıl: Arşından Metreye,
Okkadan Kiloya”, Ekonomik Forum 1994, 69.
58 BOA A.DVN 27-40. I cordially thank Assistant Professor Dr. Ruhi Özcan for allowing
me to use this document.
59 Bernard Lewis, “Batı ve Ortadoğu”, Toplumsal Tarih 7/42 (1997), 8.
60 Narrated by Lewis, ibid
61 TT 415, 89.
323
Doğan YÖRÜK
millstones in 1518, 395 akçes were accrued from 12 mills or millstones in 1539
and 587 akçes were accrued from 2 mills or millstones in 1584.
Furthermore, it attracts attention that the taxes of the mills located in some
villages were recorded in fractional values. For example, a mill in Başara village
was taxed for 54 and 14 akçes in 1500 and 1518 and a mill in Giryad village was
taxed for 7.5 and 32 akçes in 1518 and 1584.
324
The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiyE
tions in the region were mentioned with the names of these two settlements.62
However, there is no indication in the record books that the stones excavated
from the aforementioned villages were used in the construction of mills. This
must have been because the stones used in constructions were soft, but millsto-
nes were hard in nature. It is understood from the resm-i seng-i âsiyâb, be-her fî
10, 5063 (akçe) records that in the 16th century, millstone production started in
Tat village of the Sudiremi nahiye starting from 1539, a total of 50 akçes were
collected as 10 akçes for each stone and the taxing was performed as 1 akçe for
every 5 akçes. Again in the 16th century, 1 akçe of tax was collected for every 10
akçes from the millstones carved in another geographical region of Anatolia, in
the Reşid-i Sagir and Reşid-i Kebir villages of the Edremit nahiye in the Karasi
sancak and Kara Sekilü village of Temrezer.64 It is thought that the difference
between the tax rates of the two regions is based on the öşür rates applied in
these areas. In fact, while the öşür rate was 1/5 in Konya, it was 1/10 in Karasi.65
Millstones were not thrown out after being eroded and left out of use, but
they were thinned, resized and used for grinding wheat etc., in homes.66 Reve-
nue of 50 akçes was collected from millstones according to the records of 1539
and 1584.
62 Doğan Yörük, “Osmanlı Devleti’nde Kütüphane Yaptırmanın Maliyeti: Konya Yusuf Ağa
Kütüphanesi Örneği (1794-1796)”, Manas Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 19 (2008),
89.
63 TT 415, 85, TK 104, vr.123b.
64 Sezai Sevim, “XVI. Yüzyılda Karasi Sancağı”, unpublished PhD diss., Ankara Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Tarih Anabilim Dalı Basılmamış, Ankara 1993, 242.
65 Although it was not directly stated in the study that öşür was collected at a rate of 1/10,
economic data point to such a practice. See ibid, 223-445.
66 This information was obtained from Veli Arslan and Tahir Taşdemir, whose grandfa-
thers, fathers and themselves operated two separate mills in Kayaışık village of Simav
district in Kütahya Province. Interview dated: 29 April 2012.
325
Doğan YÖRÜK
tion was 19.2%. It is possible to group these taxes into two as öşür and resim.
Although resims amounted to a bigger sum in the total revenue at the begin-
ning of the century, the situation changed starting from the middle of the cen-
tury and öşür taxes became more important. The higher share of öşür items in
the revenues is also observed in several sanjaks and kazas.67
Conclusion
In the Sudiremi nahiye, the most important economic activity was certainly
agriculture. Wheat and barley production had the biggest share among agricul-
tural products. In addition to grains, linen, hemp, vine, gardening, vegetables
and fruit were also produced in the region. Agricultural products were suppor-
ted by goat and sheep production and beekeeping. Furthermore, flour mills,
which can be defined as the small industrial facilities of the period, were integ-
rated into the agricultural activities of the rural areas.
Starting from the beginning of the century, all the agricultural lands amo-
unting to a çift were gradually divided, lands became smaller towards the end
of the century despite the creation of new agricultural areas and even divided
lands started to be utilized collectively with another person such as the father,
son or brother of the peasant. Despite the 89.2% increase in population, the
existing agricultural areas became smaller. Although grain production increa-
sed at a rate of 19%, this increase fell behind the increase in population and a
decrease of 41.3% was observed in the amount of grain per individual. The dec-
rease in the existing agricultural products could not be supported by low qua-
lity but high-yield products. In addition to this decrease, the acts of banditry
and Celali uprisings that occurred in the region accelerated the peasants’ aban-
doning their land and villages. As a matter of fact, the numbers of villages and
67 Yörük, Aksaray
Sancağı, 201, idem, Ereğli Kazâsı, 135-136, İbrahim Solak, XVI. Yüzyılda
Zamantu Kazâsı’nın Sosyal ve İktisâdî Yapısı, Konya 2007, 73-74.
326
The economic structure of the Sudiremi nahiyE
the population data in the avarız (tax) books belonging to the beginning of the
17th century support this point. In conclusion, issues such as population incre-
ase, shortage of land, shortage of production, public security and safety, which
could be generalized for the entire Anatolia in the second half of the 16th cen-
tury, were also observed specifically in the Sudiremi nahiye.
327
Pane l
M. Akif Erdoğru*
My paper is based mainly on the court register of Nicosia, dated between 1110 and 1121
H. (1698 and 1710 of the Christian era), prepared by Ottoman judge of the city of Nicosia.1
Now, it is kept at the archive of Evkaf in Nicosia, in Turkish side. It contains about one hund-
red official contracts related to the selling of the houses, including documents pertaining to
a few villages in the surrounding of Nicosia city.
Terminology
Ottoman terminology on selling and buying of 18th-century Nicosia houses
is a serious problem. It has been different than the legal terminology used in
the Arabic world. However, there are more similarities with Anatolian house
trade terminology. As far as I know, all of official selling and buying contracts
were arranged at the judge office in Nicosia. Most of them were same style and
systematic in content and in manner. Because both seller and buyer described
completely the outbuildings of the main building, the clerk of the judge office
328
Ottoman houses in the old town of Nicosia
recorded all outbuildings in detail in his official document. The most common
word in this context was mülk menzil, meaning a private house with outbuil-
dings in property right. Sometimes, instead, the scribe prefers hane, generally
house. Rarely, köşk is mentioned, a pavilion where notable men were lived in, or
saray, a palace, where governor of Nicosia has been dwelled in. Frequently, we
read oda, a room or a chamber of any house. There were two types of rooms,
one of them is located in ground floor (tahtani oda), and other was situated in
upper floor of the house (fevkani oda). In such documents, there are different
special definitions for this word. For example, yazlık oda was a suitable room
for the summer, while kışlık oda was a suitable room for winter. Sofa, meaning
hall, anteroom, was rarely mentioned in these documents. Another word was
sundurma, a semi-open shed as annex to a house. Havlı means a courtyard of
main building. Ayazlık means chilly and clear room. Cihannüma, a roof terrace
with extensive view, generally placed in second floor of the building, was men-
tioned once. The most interesting word was kebuterhane, a pigeon cote, gene-
rally located in the second floor. It was only recorded once in this register. Kiler,
storeroom, samanlık, a place for storing straw, ahır, stable, kenef, toilet, mutfak,
kitchen, ekmek fırını, bakery for bread, masura, a mill for pressing any seed,
were mentioned amply. Some houses of Nicosia have bier-i mai, water from
well, and ma-i cari, stream, running water. At the time of the selling, the Otto-
man clerk made a note whenever a stream flowed particularly for the garden of
the house. As far as I know, some houses of Nicosia had havz, a small pool filled
with rainwater. Mahzen, an underground storeroom, was occasionally menti-
oned in these documenst. My register does not mention havş, meaning small
houses opening in common courtyard in Syria and Egypt. Besides, the terms
togana, şahnişin, örtme, şırahane, hayat, gusulhane, sayegah and çardak, menti-
oned in Kayseri and explained by Prof. Suraiya Faroqhi2, were not mentioned
in my register. Muhavvata, surrounding wall, was recorded once. If we compare
with the terminology used for the quarter of Haracci Muhyiddin of Istanbul,3
dated 1685-1686, we reach a few new architectural words. These were kahve
odası, a room where coffee is made and drink; cüneyne, small garden; tahta-puş,
raised platform on a roof; samanhane, a place for storing straw; dehliz, corri-
2 Suraiya Faroqhi, Men of Modest Substance. House Owners and House Property in 17th
Century Ankara and Konya, Cambridge 1987 (Turkish translation: Orta Halli Osmanlılar,
tr. Hamit Çalışkan, İstanbul 2009, 83, 123).
3 Court Registers of Istanbul, no. 46, Bab Mahkemesi, Istanbul 2011, 227-228.
329
M. Akif ERDOĞRU
dor; iki taşlı kulleteyn, twin towers with two stones, taş döşemeli avlu, a stone-
paved courtyard; camekan odası, dressing room; tahta-bend, a small wooden
dam. There is no any different terminology or restriction as far as it concerns
Muslims and non-Muslims in official use. At the same time, there are no rest-
rictions for women and men.
Legal process
Sellers and buyers, Muslims or non-Muslims, men or women, or their agents
came to the judge office to process officially in Nicosia. The seller defined in
detail the house to be sold for official registration. First, the four borders of the
house were drawn and then all outbuildings and other valuable things were
defined in detail. Then, an official price of house was recorded in register. Also,
the buyer’s identity was written. The procedure date and the type of sale (sel-
ling or donation, and sometimes inheritance) were also registered. In case of
selling, there were no witnesses. In donations, two witnesses were necessary. As
the latest procedure, şuhudülhal, a legal group that consisted of notable men of
Nicosia, Muslim or Non-Muslim, at least four and at most ten, have witnessed
for this official process orderly.
ters of Kara Baba, Agios Sofia, Tahtakale, Abdi Çavuş, Korkud Efendi, Arap
Ahmed and Ömeriye (Ömerge). In return, most expensive non-Muslim hou-
ses were situated in the quarters of Terbiyoti, Agio Sava and Agio Kaşano. Many
non-Muslims of Nicosia have bought their houses at the quarters of Agio Luka,
Agio Sava, Terbiyoti, Elaniyodise, Çatalhurma and Debbağhane (Tabakhane).
Many Muslims also bought their houses at the quarters of Karamanzade, Arap
Ahmed and Agio Sofia. It seems that quarter, the existence of a garden, trees,
water from well or stream, the proximity to places of worship such as mosques
and churches, were important factors for increasing selling price of a house for
both Muslims and non-Muslims. Most trees of houses of Nicosia were mul-
berry, grape, bitter orange, date, fig, pomegranate, olive tree, and fruitless trees.
Prices of houses
331
M. Akif ERDOĞRU
332
Ottoman houses in the old town of Nicosia
Materials of building
Materials of building were mostly mud bricks, wood, rarely stone, but not
bricks. There were two main materials: stone and sun-dried brick. The docu-
ments do not give detailed information on the materials.5
5 On the general characteristics of the Ottoman houses in Cyprus, see Netice Yıldız, “Otto-
man Houses in Cyprus”, in Stanley Ireland and William Bechhoefer (eds), The Ottoman
House. Papers from the Amasya Symposium, 24-27 September 1996, Ankara 1998, 79-88
at 84-87.
333
M. Akif ERDOĞRU
ted his eight camels to his daughter Rahime. Suleyman Pasha, guard of Cyprus,
has donated his Sultan Ciftlik in Poli village to Ali Pasha. A farm was donated
to Mehmed Çelebi by his father Hasan Çelebi. Donation, especially of houses,
was a prevalent process among the Orthodox Christians of Cyprus. There was
a strong connection between pious foundations and donation for Muslims. We
found only one example in the register: A Muslim woman died; her heirs came
to the judge and declared that their mother had devoted an amount of money
and a Koran to a pious endowment, while she was living. According to the con-
ditions set by the woman, the money would be lent at interest, and with this
money the Koran would be read, so that her soul would acquire merit given by
God.6
In sum, the transfer of houses was widespread among Muslims and non-
Muslims. These documents also show the beginnings of a separation between
Muslims and non-Muslims in Nicosia.
334
Commercial activities
of Italian city-states
(Sicily-Naples, Venice, Genoa,
Sardinia and Duchy of Tuscany)
on the island of Cyprus under
the Ottoman administration
Introduction
Cyprus has a very important strategic and geographic position in the Mediter-
ranean. Therefore, Cyprus was invaded by many countries in its history. Cyprus
attracted an important part of the Eastern Mediterranean international trade as
it was situated on the Mediterranean trade route.
The states in charge of trade in the Mediterranean Sea held Cyprus for their
different aims. Therefore, nearly all the states trading in the lands of the Otto-
man Empire had merchants on the island. The states which had embassies in
Istanbul used to appoint the consuls, their representatives, to deal with the
foreign merchants and their problems on the island. The Ottomans took pre-
cautions to increase the importance and the share of Cyprus within the Medi-
terranean trade.1
The trade conducted in the Mediterranean Sea, and which is related to
Cyprus, affected the people of the island and left deep marks on the socio-eco-
335
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
nomic culture. In this research, we will look at the Italian states which wanted
to be superior in their Mediterranean trade, the activities they exhibited, their
consuls, vice-consuls and dragomans of the consuls. In addition to smuggling,
we will discuss the different methods used to avoid paying the customs fees to
the Ottoman state and the extent of the economic damage to the Ottoman state
because of the conflict between European countries.
A consul is described as a person who firstly protects his country’s commer-
cial benefits, his citizens’ and merchants’ rights in a foreign country, trade city or
harbour, who directs the trade ships, and who has administrative and commer-
cial privileges recognized by the authorities of the country he inhabits.2
Once a country had established diplomatic relations with the Ottoman
Empire and it had set up a permanent ambassador in Istanbul, it had the right
to open consulates in the cities they felt was necessary. The lives and properties
of the consuls were under the guarantee of the Ottoman state.3
The Venetian and French states had the right to trade freely in the Ottoman
Empire until the last quarter of the 16th century. The other states could trade
under the French flag according to the stipulations in the treaty of 1569.4 With
its current meaning, the institution of the consul and the rules were for the
first time set up in the Ottoman Empire during the rule of Suleiman the Mag-
nificent with France. The terms of the agreement (ahidname) were valid in the
reign of the ruling Sultan of Turkey in his period until the 18th century. There-
fore, whenever the sovereign was changed the contract was renewed. The last
contract made before the political reform of Abdulmecid in 1839 was that with
the French in 1740.5
The credentials given to France were followed by those given to other sta-
tes. Similar promises (ahidname) were given to England in 1580, to Holland
in 1612, to Austria in 1616, to Sweden in 1737, to Sicily-Naples (Sicilyateyn) in
1740, to Denmark in 1766, to Prussia in 1761 and to Spain in 1783.6
336
Commercial activities of Italian city-states on Cyprus
At the beginning, a consul of any one state helped the merchants and the
people of another state as a representative whenever needed. Thus, the con-
suls of England, France and Holland were Christian subjects of the Ottoman
state such as on the islands on the Aegean Sea, like Chios and Cyprus. Because
this circumstance caused some problems, the Ottoman state demanded that in
Chios, Cyprus and other places the French, English, and Dutch consulates sho-
uld be served by people who belong to their own nations.7
The Ottoman state gave vast rights to the consulates. Those who had a court
case with a consulate would be heard at the imperial council of state (Divân-ı
Hümâyun). When one of his citizens died, the late man’s property would be
given to his heirs by the consul. In Ottoman areas, the consul dealing with
trade, bail and other issues would apply to the Kadi, be allowed to register mat-
ters to the judicial record (Şer‘i Sicil) and demand to get a title-deed. He would
also be listened to about slaves belonging to a foreigner. The consul would solve
the problems of foreigners according to their laws. The consuls would use their
dragomans when they had a dispute with the Ottoman people who demanded
a claim. Finally, the consuls would use any Janissary they demanded as a guard
for the security of their residence.8
Each consul had at least a dragoman and two janissary soldiers who took
care of him when he stepped out of his door in Cyprus. The Janissaries who
were charged with an official duty to protect the consuls accompanied them
when they went out of the building.9 In addition, the consuls were given the
rights to get a fee (konsolosluk hakkı) from the merchants under their care in
favour of the consulate and the rights to be exempt from tax (exp. haraç, kasa-
biyye and örfi tekâlif).10 The Ottoman state administrators wanted to prevent
any kinds of forgeries of the privileges which were given to the foreign consuls,
dragomans and their assistants in Cyprus and which some forgers wanted to
use for their own benefit.11
7 Gökbilgin, op.cit., 837; KŞS, 14/88-1; KŞS, 14/88-2. (In Cyprus Sheri Register, first of all,
a book number was given. Then a page number and a judgement number were deter-
mined respectively. The references to the registers were done in this way.)
8 Gökbilgin, op.cit., 838.
9 Ahmet C. Gazioğlu, Kıbrıs’ta Türkler (1570-1878), Lefkoşa 1994, 293.
10 Gökbilgin, “Konsolos”, 838.
11 KŞS, 19/29-1.
337
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
The trade made in Cyprus was important not only for the foreign merc-
hants, who played a great role with the goods they imported or exported and
the customs fees taken from the properties on the island, but also for the whole
Empire. The trade and the industry were also developed within the Ottoman
state. The Ottoman administrators carried out reforms so that, from the con-
quest of Cyprus and onwards, the powers given to the merchants of Latin ori-
gin mentioned above were taken away and their monopoly ended, whereas the
islanders now had those powers. Besides Famagusta, which was considered an
important trade harbour during the Latin period, other areas such as Tuzla
(Larnaca) and Limassol were also added to this list during the Ottoman period.
The Ottomans could not use Famagusta actively, so its commercial importance
decreased gradually after the conquest.12
By the 19th century, Famagusta harbour was the 3rd busy harbour of the
island after Tuzla (Larnaca) and Limassol.13 The travellers who visited the island
noticed that although Cyprus had few harbours, they were better protected and
gave more shelter than the Levantine shores.14 In some sources we see that besi-
des Tuzla (Larnaca), Limassol and Famagusta harbours, Paphos was also men-
tioned. We even learn from different sources that many states had consuls on
the island; they had a consulate agent or a representative in the commercial
harbours of Cyprus.15
The Ottoman state permitted the consuls to stay only in Tuzla (Larnaca), so
Tuzla was an important export point and a duty-free passage of goods in the
Eastern route of the Mediterranean trade.16 Besides the harbour cities, Nicosia,
the capital of Cyprus, was also the administrative centre of the island; therefore,
338
Commercial activities of Italian city-states on Cyprus
Nicosia also became a commercial centre. As long as Cyprus was close to the
silk and spice trade terminals, it remained a commercial centre.17
The consuls in Cyprus stayed in the Tuzla district (Larnaca). According to
the protocol, the position of these consuls here came before the Kadi, and the
Lieutenant-Colonel (kaymakam) but after the Governor.18 The Ottoman State
aimed to ensure the security of the consuls and tried to make it easier by gathe-
ring them in Tuzla (Larnaca) and at the same time aimed to control the trade
on the island.19 Although the Ottoman State gathered the consuls and their rep-
resentative in Tuzla in the 19th century documents, they couldn’t prevent the
consuls and their representatives from staying in places other than Tuzla, such
as Nicosia, Limassol, Famagusta or Paphos.20
As it is understood from the documents, the states that opened consula-
tes in Cyprus and they were effective on the Mediterranean Sea trade were as
follows: France, England, Venice, Holland and Genoa. In the period between
1571-1878, we find the following: France,21 England,22 Holland,23 the Republic
of Venice,24 the Republic of Genoa,25 Austria Empire (Nemçe/Roma/Macaristan-
Hungary),26 Sweden (İsveç/Norveç-Norway),27 the Kingdom of Sicily (Sicilya/
Analpa/Napoli-Naples), 28 the Republic of Dubrovnik (Ragusa),29 Denmark,30
339
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
340
Commercial activities of Italian city-states on Cyprus
341
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
Aleppo around the middle of this century.53 Ianiro argued that the commercial
situation developed until the beginning of the 1750s due to the change in the
cotton economy and the stiff competition from France, making it superfluous
for a consul necessary in Aleppo to serve in Cyprus.54
In the 18th century, the consuls in Cyprus got the right to deal with banking
and lend money with interest.55 It was recorded in the documents that at that
period the consuls started dealing with commercial life and lend money to the
Cypriots. When the Cyprus palace dragoman Hıristofaci son of Kostanti was
murdered, his debt was more than the value of his properties so the court inter-
vened in the situation upon the demand of the creditors. As a result of the inhe-
ritance settlement, we learn that the consuls of France, Venice and Dubrovnik
in Cyprus were among the creditors (22nd May 1750).56
The Venetian consul Cerolamo Berifadi (Giralomo Brigadi), in Cyprus, con-
firmed that he gave Hıristofaci of Kostanti who died when he was a dragoman
in Nicosia Palace, some garden and property and instead of getting 60,000 pias-
ter from the inheritance of the dragoman; the mentioned properties were sold
without permission and shared among the creditors. Thus it was confirmed that
Hıristofaci did not pay the 60,000 piaster when he was alive, and so the clai-
mant Venetian consul Cerolamo lost the case (12th December 1750).57
According to recorded dates (25th October 1767) Kavukçu Haco son of
Bagos (living in Nevbethane district that died) was one of the men among the
people that the consul representative of France, Paskali, loaned him money.58
On 3rd May 1745, the ambassador of the Venetian Republic in Istanbul,
Covane Donado, notified that in Cyprus and in the places under the jurisdic-
tion of Cyprus where there were ships bearing the Venetian flag, travelling to
and from Cyprus, the consul Iberal Kalokera (Giovanni Michiel Iauna) was
given the duty to do the merchants’ jobs but this Venetian consul was dismis-
sed and Cerolamo Berifadi (Giralomo Brigadi) was appointed in his place as
a Venetian consul in Cyprus.59 In the record dated 12th December 1750 about a
342
Commercial activities of Italian city-states on Cyprus
claim concerning debts, we come across the name of the consul of Venice in
Cyprus, Cerolamo Berifadi (Giralomo Brigadi).60 In 175461 Giralomo Brigadi
was appointed as consul of Venice in both Cyprus and Aleppo. After Brigadi
was dismissed by the bailo in Istanbul, Bernardo Caprara was appointed as
the new Venetian consul in both places on 23 November 1765. The Venetian
consulate in Aleppo was bound to Cyprus from 1754 to 1771. Bernardo Cap-
rara continued working as consul in both places until 2 September 1771, when
Domenico Serpoli was appointed consul in Aleppo. Therefore, Bernardo Cap-
rara was only responsible for Cyprus until his death in 1779. 62
As far as a later period of time is concerned, a document mentioning the
ambassador of the Republic of Venice in the capital city of the Ottoman Empire,
Andrea Memmo, says that a Venetian consul, Bernardo Kabrar (Bernardo Cap-
rara), who was dealing with the Venetian merchants’ affairs who were travel-
ling to and from the island of Cyprus, died, so Emmanuel Vasalo, a national
of Venice, was appointed in the place of Bernardo Caprara (23rd June 1779).63
When Emmanuel Vasalo died, Count Angelo Rosalem was appointed as the
new consul of Venice in Cyprus on 13 September 1794, whose consulate conti-
nued for only three years.64 Following his death, the bailo of Venice in Istanbul
appointed Girolamo Caprara as a new consul. (21 March 1797).65
When the treaty of Campo Formio was signed between Napoleon and Aust-
ria in 1797, the Venice Republic no longer existed. Girolama Caprara, the last
consul of Venice in Cyprus, was appointed on 21 March 1797 whose consulate
only lasted for seven months.66
60 KŞS, 16/198-1.
61 Boogert has argued that, in 1753 Geraloma Brigadi, Venetian consul in Cyprus, was ap-
pointed to the consulate in Aleppo. See details in Maurits H. Van den Boogert, “Euro-
pean Patronage in the Ottoman Empire: Anglo-Dutch Conflicts of Interest in Aleppo
(1703-1755)”, A. Hamilton – A.H. de Groot – M. H. Van den Boogerted (eds), Friends
and Rivals in the East Studies in Anglo-Dutch Relations in the Levant from the Seventeenth
to the Early Nineteenth Century, Brill, Leiden 2000, 208.
62 Demiryürek, “The Commercial Relations between Venice and Cyprus”, 245-46.
63 KŞS, 20/146-3; KŞS, 20/147-1.
64 Demiryürek, op.cit., 246.
65 KŞS, 21/359-1.
66 Demiryürek, op.cit., 247-48.
343
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
344
Commercial activities of Italian city-states on Cyprus
Gaveriko, on 22nd July 1834 and Nicholas Gifaras was appointed in his place.74
According to the Judical records of Cyprus, Nicholas Gifaras was the last consul
of Sicily in Cyprus in the Ottoman Period.
74 KŞS, 35/93-1.
75 KŞS, 31/83-2.
76 KŞS, 36/96-1.
77 KŞS, 36/135-1.
78 KŞS, 39/6-1; KŞS, 39/6-2.
79 KŞS, 41/15-1.
80 KŞS, 41/15-2.
81 KŞS, 42/212-1.
345
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
Karniya, died on 22nd February 1856 and Bağdasar Mateti was appointed to his
place.82
After the date December 1861, the King of Sardinia was to use the title of
King of Italy, agreed by Ottoman State. The vice-consul of Sardinia in Cyprus,
Bağdasar Mateti who was the vice-consul of Italy would continue his work
till December 1861.83 Beldomana, the vice-consul of Italy was dismissed on
December 1861 and Kandirotikri was appointed as vice-consul on 16th July
1863.84 5 March 1867, an Italian vice-consul in Tuzla Melkure Simonretti appo-
inted for official duty, was appointed to another place with a document dated 9
March 1868. On the other hand Rikardo Kovelçi was appointed in the place of
Melkure.85 28 September 1873, since Francesko Lamertin an Italian vice-con-
sul appointed to the Italy consulate in Tuzla was appointed to another place on
29 August 1874; Ganyako Sevdatelli was appointed in his place.86
82 KŞS, 44/74-1.
83 KŞS, 46/126-1.
84 KŞS, 47/2-1.
85 KŞS, 48/88-1; KŞS, 48/88-2.
86 KŞS, 52/31-1.
87 KŞS, 35/73-1.
346
Commercial activities of Italian city-states on Cyprus
Nicosia apart from the Tuzla shores. Upon research, it is seen that the Italian
states consuls were active and popular in Cyprus. The records in the registrati-
ons show the commercial activities and products of the consuls on the island.
88 Alfred C. Wood, A History of the Levant Company, London 1964, 225-27; Çiçek, “Konso-
losluk Tercümânları”, 20-1.
89 Çiçek said the number of dragomans is 218. Çiçek, op.cit., 18.
90 Kenan İnan, “Osmanlı Döneminde Yabancı Elçilik ve Konsolosluklarda Görevli
Tercümânların Statüleri”, Tarih ve Toplum 154 (1996), 6.
91 Çiçek, op.cit., 19-20.
92 Ibid, 20; Erdoğru, “Avrupalı Konsoloslar ve Tercümânları”, 317-18; KŞS, 21/271-2.
93 Özkul, Kıbrıs’ın Sosyo-Ekonomik Tarihi, 109; Demiryürek, “The Commercial Relations
between Venice and Cyprus”, 248.
94 Boogert, “European Patronage in the Ottoman Empire”, 209; Demiryürek, op.cit., 248.
95 KŞS,16/160-1; Luke, Cyprus Under The Turks, 108-110; Çiçek, op.cit., 21.
347
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
so much authority reminds us that the consuls were acting as deputy in some
periods. The Ottoman state took some precautions to reduce the effectiveness
of the consuls. Some of these precautions were given.
The dragomans of the consuls, who had the Ottoman State berat (certifi-
cate), used the privileges for their own benefit and apart from their main duties
they dealt with some commercial affairs. The state tried to prevent these kinds
of affairs and sent firmans all over the Ottoman provinces, but it is unders-
tood from the documents that the state could not prevent this situation comp-
letely. In a document, the consul dragomans serving in Cyprus were warned
that if they performed commercial activities as the Ottoman state citizens did,
they would not be protected and they would have to pay the taxes as the other
people did (30th April 1785).96 In another document dated 10th April 1800, the
foreign states’ ambassadors in Istanbul and their dragomans in the countryside
had to reside in the appointed areas and not to interfere with other affairs and
never to deal in trade. Those who acted against this command had their certi-
ficates taken from them and other new translators would be appointed in their
place. All this was reminded to all the consuls of the foreign states.97
In another record from the 19th century, the consuls of France, Russia, Eng-
land, Austria, Sicily, Sweden, Prussia, Spain, Cezair-i seba, Dubrovnik and Den-
mark in Cyprus were notified that they should wear their dragoman uniforms,
they shouldn’t stay in the inns and shops and shouldn’t interfere with the tra-
desmen affairs and should pay the necessary taxes on the lands and properties
they owned (July 1805).98
The dragomans who were the assistants of the consuls used to take a per-
mission certificate in order to travel in the Ottoman province. Even travelling
between the districts of Cyprus, this permission berat was essential.99 It is seen
on those records that the official authorities were informed about the drago-
mans who would travel to their zones and that these translators wouldn’t face
difficulties.
The ambassador of Sicily-Naples, Don Konstantino Ledolk, transferred the
profession of interpreter staff to Izmir because the consul of Sicily-Naples in
Izmir required the services of an interpreter because Ilyas son of Cebrayil who
96 KŞS, 21/27-2.
97 KŞS, 22/104-1; KŞS, 24/169-1.
98 KŞS, 24/129-1.
99 KŞS, 24/169-1; KŞS, 24/148-1.
348
Commercial activities of Italian city-states on Cyprus
was a dragoman of the Sicilian consul in Cyprus died. The Sicilian consul in
Izmir carried the post of a dragoman from Cyprus to Izmir as such a post was
needed there. The Sicilian consul in Izmir appointed Yanaki son of Yorgi Ars-
lan as an interpreter with a document dated 9th July 1779. When Yanaki died,
and because of the need for a translator in Cyprus, the Sicilian consul of Cyprus
appointed Yorgaki son of Lefterodi as a dragoman for himself on 1st Septem-
ber 1797.100
The two servants of the dragoman also had privileges. Due to these privi-
leges, it was decided that officials in Cyprus should not be collecting anything
else from Yanaki son of Yakomi, who was the servant of interpreter of Sicilian
consul Leftoridi son of Yanaki, other than what was outlined by law (21 Sep-
tember 1797).101 As it is understood at this point that the dragoman position
of the foreign country ambassadors was limited and as mentioned in the afo-
rementioned document, they could make changes in the interpreter positions.
The ambassador of Sicily-Naples in Istanbul, Don Kolilmo le Dolef, noti-
fied that Petro son of Anderya, a dragoman of the consul of Sicily-Naples in
Cyprus had died and he had appointed Aci Mikayil son of Konstanti Mato in
his place (28th September 1767).102 On the other hand, on 21st January 1784, the
ambassador of Sicily-Naples, Don Kolilmo le Dolef, notified that Yorgaki son
of Hiristo, a dragoman of the vice-consul of Drac, Avlonya and Ülgüpinar dist-
ricts had died and this time Francesco son of Lefteri was appointed as an dra-
goman for the consul of Sicily-Naples in Cyprus and the interpreter staff of
Yorgaki son of Hiristo who had died was transferred to Cyprus.103 However, on
1st October 1767, the ambassador of Sicily-Naples, Don Kollemold, Vlak, Drac,
Avlonya and Ülküpınar transferred the dragoman staff back to Cyprus because
of the death of Yorgaki son of Hiristo and appointed Francesco son of Lefteri
Varde as a dragoman for the vice-consul of Sicily-Naples in Cyprus.104 Divane-
oglu Ali, Seyhoglu Mustafa and Yamakoglu Omer who were Cypriots, three sai-
lors were dealing with rebellion. Divaneoglu Ali broke forcibly into the house
of Francesco Varda’s who was a dragoman for the consul of Sicily-Naples and
stole a horse. Seyhoglu Mustafa forcibly sold 30 peştemal (bath towels) valued at
349
Ali Efdal ÖZKUL
20 piaster for 110 piaster to the dragoman; and, Yamakoglu Omer got 50 piaster
from the dragoman forcibly. These incidents were made known to the authori-
ties in Istanbul by the ambassador of Sicily-Naples (3rd November 1785).105 The
ambassador of Sicily-Naples, Don Konstantino le Dolef, appointed Yasef Hamsi
as a dragoman of the consul of Sicily-Naples with the document dated 29th
November 1799, because Francesco son of Lefteri Varda, who was an interpre-
ter for the vice-consul in Cyprus, had died.106
The ambassador of the Republic of Venice in Istanbul, Pavlo Vertiler, noti-
fied that Haci Stefan son of Vavos was employed as a dragoman in the place of
Francisko Lebirni, a dragoman of the consul of Venice in Cyprus. When the
treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice expired, the
interpreters of the consulates in the Ottoman provinces were also abolished
on (20 August 1773).107 Therefore, the privileges of the dragoman of the con-
sul of Venice, Piyeri son of Tirlokorla and the privileges of those who were the
citizens of the Ottoman Empire were abolished and they started to pay taxes
dating from 8th March 1799.108
In conclusion, we see that in order to enliven the trade, the Ottoman Empire
gave a lot of qualifications to the dragomans who were the main assistants of
the consuls, as much as the Empire gave to its own citizens. On the other hand,
the Ottoman state did not hesitate to control or even punish the dragomans in
the course of time.
350
1903-1907
TARİHLİ MANASTIR CERAİM DEFTERİ
IŞIĞINDA MANASTIR’DA SUÇ
351
Nimet Ayşe BAKIRCILAR
352
Manastır ceraim defteri ışığında Manastır’da suç
353
Nimet Ayşe BAKIRCILAR
İlbasan’da 1’i Rekalar, 3’ü Peklin, 3’ü Kesriye ve 2’si de Kayalar’da meydana
gelmiştir. 1318 yılında Manastır vilayetinde en çok vakanın yaşandığı sancak
Görice iken kazaları göz önünde bulundurduğumuzda İlbasan kazası en fazla
cürmün işlendiği kaza olarak belirmektedir. 212 kişinin derdest edildiği 1318
yılında derdest edilenlerden 6’sı ölü, 1 kişi ise mecruhen ele geçmiştir.
1318 yılına ait sayfalarda mezhepleri kayıtlı olanlarda bir genelleme yapıl-
ması ile doğru bir bilgi elde etmek mümkün görünmemektedir. Zira, cürm
vakalarının sadece 12’si Bulgarlar, 11’i Müslümanlar ve 1’i Rumlar tarafından
yapıldığı belirtilmektedir. Geri kalan vakalarda cürmü yapanlar ya da cürme
uğrayanların mezhepleri kaleme alınmamıştır.
Yaşanan olayların bir kısmı sıradan kavgalar sonucu cereyan etmişse de
izdivaç teklifini reddeden bir Bulgar kızının Ohri’de yaralanma olayı dikkat
çeken suçlar nevi’ndendir.9 Balkanda hatab kat’ ettiği sırada bir Bulgar, diğer
bir Bulgar tarafından münazaa sonucunda öldürülmüştür. Müslüman bir kişi
de Florina’dan karyesine dönerken balkanda başka bir Müslümanın saldırısına
uğramış, saldırı sonucunda parası gasp edilirken kurşunlanarak öldürülmüş-
tür.10 Bu tip adi vakaların yanı sıra, komitelerin faaliyetleri sonucunda ortaya
çıkan vakalar da bulunmaktadır. Bulgar komitesinin istediği parayı vermeyen
bir Ruma uygulanan şiddet Bulgar komitesinin Manastır merkez kazasındaki
Hıristiyanlardan zorla para topladığının göstergesidir.11 Ayrıca 23 Şubat 1318
(8 Mart 1903)’de Pirlepe hududundaki telgraf tellerinin Bulgarlar tarafından
tahrip edildiği görülmektedir.12
1319 yılı olaylarına bakıldığında görülen tablo şudur; 340 katl, 95 cerh, 69
müsadere, 65 İhrak, 36 ihtilale iştirak, 16 gasp, 10 telgraf teli tahribi, 9 şekavet, 8
şekavet-i adiye, 7 şekavet-i siyasiye, 5 silah endaht, 5 dağa kaldırma 3 gaybubet,
2 köprü tahribi, 2 sirkat, ve 1 yağma ile 1 fi’l-i şeni olayı yaşanmıştır.13
Manastır merkez sancağı 320 vaka ile en çok olay yaşanan sancak iken olay-
ların kazalara göre dağılımı şu şekilde gerçekleşmiştir: 87 Manastır, 85 Pirlepe,
57 Florina, 55 Kesriye, 52 Kırçova, 39 Ohri, 34 Görice, 16 Debre, 12 İstarova,
10 İlbasan, 6 Gramoş, 5 Rekalar, 4 Kayalar, 2 Grebene, 3 Serfice, Mat, Kozani,
Kayalar ve Kolonya’da ise 1’er olay cereyan etmiştir.
9 a.g.e., s. 3.
10 a.y.,
11 a.y.,
12 a.y.,
13 a.g.e., s. 5-37.
354
Manastır ceraim defteri ışığında Manastır’da suç
1320 yılında 224 katl olayı, 56 cerh, 30 dağa kaldırma, 18 ihrâk, 18 gasp, 12
şekavet-i siyasiye, 9 müsadere, 7 darp, 6 gaybubet, 5 şekavet, 5 tehdîd, 2 silah
endaht ve 1 katle teşebbüs olayı gerçekleşmiştir.14
183 olayın meydana geldiği merkez sancağı en çok vukuatın yaşandığı yer-
dir. Kazalara göre dağılım ise şu şekildedir: 64 Pirlepe, 51 Florina, 39 Görice, 38
Kesriye, 36 Manastır, 27 Ohri, 25, İstarova, 22 Rekalar, 11 Serfice, 15 Debre, 7
Nasliç, 4 Kırçova, 3 İlbasan, 3 Alasonya, 3 Kolonya, ve Peklin, Katrin, Prespa ve
Kayalar’da da birer cürm vakası vukua gelmiştir.
1321 yılında 518 katl olayı yaşanmıştır. Bunun yanında 170 yaralama vakası
meydana gelmiştir. 104 dağa kaldırma, 63 gasp, 45 ihrak, 27şekaveti siyasiye, 16
şekavet-i adiye, 14 müsadere, 12 gaybûbet vakası, 9 darp, 8 silah endaht, 7 sirkat,
5 tehdîd, 2 bomba infilak, 1 eşkiyalık, 1 ihrâka teşebbüs, 1 teşhir-i silah, 1 silah
kaçırma ve 1 komite ile münasebet cürm olayı deftere kaydedilmiştir.15
1321 yılında 346 vaka ile en çok olay yaşanan yer merkez sancağıdır. Olay-
ların kazalara göre dağılımı ise; 109 Manastır, 93 Florina, 70 Pirlepe, 55 Serfice,
45 Ohri, 40 Kesriye, 39 Görice, 36 Debre, 36 Rekalar, 34 Grebene, 29 Kırçova,
23 İstarova, 14 Kayalar, 8 Nasliç, 2 Kozani, 2 Kolonya ve 1 İlbasan şeklindedir.
1322 yılı cürm olaylarına genel olarak bakıldığında 418 katl vakası kaydedil-
miştir. 160 cerh, 108 dağa kaldırma, 61 gasp, 40 müsadere, 38 ihrâk, 34 şekavet-i
adiye, 25 şekavet-i siyasiye, 22 gaybûbet, 22 silah endaht, 14 sirkat, 13 darp, 10
müsademe, 9 tehdîd, 5 komite namına para talep etme, 4 hapishaneden firar, 2
silahla tehdîd, 1 tasaddi, 1 tecavüz, 1 karye tahliyesi ve 1 intihar vakası defterde
kayıtlıdır.16
En fazla olayın merkez sancakta vuku bulduğu 1322 yılının cürm vakalarının
kazalara göre yayılımına bakılacak olursa şu tablo ortaya çıkar: 79 Pirlepe’de, 57
Ohri, 53 Florina, 49 Manastır, 46 Kesriye, 46 Görice, 37 Rekalar, 30 Kırçova, 29
Grebene, 28 İstarova, 35 İlbasan, 27 Kozana, 23 Kayalar, 12 Debre, 8 Nasliç, 8
Gramoş, 5 Serfice, 4 Alasonya ve 3 Peklin’de.
Defteri değerlendirdiğimizde 1318 yılına ait yüksek miktarda veri barındır-
madığını söyleyebiliriz. Rumi 1319 yılı 1903 Miladi yılına karşılık gelmektedir.
1903 tarihinde bilindiği üzere Makedonya’da İlinden isyanı meydana gelmiştir.
İsyan’ın gerçekleştiği 2 Ağustos’tan hemen önce 28 Temmuz’da isyanın başlatı-
14 a.g.e., s. 39-62.
15 a.g.e., s. 64-108.
16 a.g.e., s. 109-171.
355
Nimet Ayşe BAKIRCILAR
356
Manastır ceraim defteri ışığında Manastır’da suç
(16 Haziran 1904) kaydına göre Florina kazasında Bulgar çeteciler Rumlardan
komite adına 20 lira isterken aynı zamanda Eksarhlığa iltifat ederek bağlanma-
ları için arzuhal tanzim etmeleri, aksi halde hanelerinin ihrâk edileceğini ifade
ederek Rumları tehdîd ettikleri görülmektedir.25 2 Şubat 1320 (15 Şubat 1905)
tarihinde kaydedilen olayda da Manastır’da komiteye iane vermemiş olmala-
rına binaen iki Rum, Bulgarlar tarafından suret-i vahşiyanede katl edilmiştir.26
Kayalar kazasında Eksarhlığa geçmeleri için zorlanan 8 Rum, Bulgar Lorka
çetesi tarafından dağa kaldırılmıştır.27 26 Eylül 1320 (9 Ekim 1904) kaydına
göre Bulgarlar, Manastır’da Rum ahalinin kiliselerinde ayin yaptıkları esnada
Rum kilisesini muhasara etmişlerdir.28 6 Temmuz 1321’de (19 Temmuz 1905)
Pirlepe’de 64 Rum evinin yandığını defterimizden takip etmek mümkündür.
İçlerinde bir Rum papazının evi de olmak üzere Rum evleri Bulgar çetesi tara-
fından ihrâk edilmiştir.29 22 Ağustos 1323’te (4 Eylül 1907) Görice’de 16 yaşın-
daki bir Rum genci 2 Bulgar tarafından Bulgarlaşması ve çeteye katılması için
aldatılarak kaçırılmıştır.30
Bulgar çete faaliyetleri sadece Müslüman ve Rumlara karşı değil; aynı
zamanda kendi milletlerinden olan insanlara karşı da gerçekleştirilmiştir.
Bulgarlıktan vazgeçtiği ve Rumluğu tercih ettiği töhmetiyle pek çok Bulgarın
komiteciler tarafından katledildiği defterdeki kayıtlardan anlaşılmaktadır. 23
Nisan 1321’de (6 Mayıs 1905) kaydı deftere geçirilen olayda Bulgar komitesi
Rumları desteklediğini düşündüğü Bulgar ailenin Florina’daki evini yakmış,
Bulgar çifti öldürmüştür.31 30 Mayıs 1321’de (12 Haziran 1905) Florina’da 5 Bul-
gar, komitenin tekliflerine muhalefet ettiklerinden dolayı evlerinden alınarak
Bulgar çetesi tarafından feci şekilde öldürülmüşlerdir.32 Yine 1321 Haziranında
Florina’da Bulgar eşkıyası fesad hareketine katılmadıkları için 2 Bulgarı katlet-
mişlerdir.33 26 Kanun-ı evvel 1323’te (8 Ocak 1908) Kesriye’de bir Bulgar, Rum-
luğa meylettiği için feci şekilde öldürülürken aynı tarihli bir başka kayıttan ise
25 a.g.e., s. 44.
26 a.g.e., s. 61.
27 a.g.e., s. 74.
28 a.g.e., s. 56.
29 a.g.e., s. 79.
30 a.g.e., s. 204.
31 a.g.e., s. 67.
32 a.g.e., s. 70.
33 a.g.e., s. 73.
357
Nimet Ayşe BAKIRCILAR
Pirlepe’de bir Rumla evlendiği için Bulgar eşkiyası tarafından bir kişinin katl
edildiğini öğrenmek mümkündür.34
Bulgar şakisi tarafından bir Ulah’a ait 20 kile mahsulat ve çok sayıda ağnam
itlaf edilmiştir. Yine Bulgar çetesi tarafından içinde bir Sırp papazın da bulun-
duğu 4 kişi Pirlepe’de katledilmiştir. Defterin bölümlerinden anlaşıldığı kada-
rıyla çetelerin elinde önemli miktarda silah bulunmaktadır. Yatağan, kama,
bıçak gibi kesici aletlerle birlikte revolver, martin, çakmaklı, kapaklı, şeşhane,
dokuz kapsüllü ve gra gibi çeşitli tüfekler çetelerin elinde bulunmaktadır.35
Çete faaliyetlerinin ötesinde gerçekleşen cürm vakalarının geneli basit tar-
tışma ya da iki aile veya karye arasındaki husumetten kaynaklanmaktadır.
Defterin kapsadığı 1318-1323 yılları arasında vukua gelen cürüm vakaları
bize Manastır vilayetinde Bulgar çete faaliyetlerinin oldukça baskın olduğunu
göstermektedir. Müslüman ahalinin karıştığı vakalar genellikle kişisel husu-
met yüzünden ve aniden ortaya çıkmıştır. Müslüman ahalinin sebep olduğu
bu olaylara örnek olarak ormanda odun keserken çıkan münazaa sonucu balta,
ya da bıçakla cerh, katl vakaları meydana geldiğini söylemek mümkün. Yine
pazardan karyesine avdetinde Müslüman bir kişi tarafından soyguna uğrayan
pek çok İslam ahali örneği defterde mevcuttur.
Rumların işledikleri cürümler Rumlara, Bulgarlara, Ulah ya da Müslü-
manlara karşı giriştikleri gasp, darp fidye için dağa kaldırmak gibi eylemler-
den oluşmaktadır. Az sayıda da olsa Rumluğu bırakıp Bulgarlığa geçen kişilere
karşı katl girişimlerinde bulunulduğunu da ifade etmek gerekir. 13 Şubat 1320
(26 Şubat 1905) olarak tarihlenen olayda Rumların yine Rumlara karşı işledik-
leri bir katl olayı oldukça dikkat çekicidir. 2 Rum’un hayatını kaybettiği olayın
vuku bulmasındaki sebep katledilen Rumların Ulah taraftarlığı yapmasıdır.36 28
Eylül 1323’te (11 Ekim 1907) Manastır’da yaşanan hadisede Rum eşkıya, Bulgar
Eksarhlığı ile irtibata geçmelerini engellemek için 5 Rumu dağa kaldırmıştır.37
Rum çetelerinin Ulahlara karşı katl girişimlerini de defterden izlemek
mümkündür. Katlin sebebi yoğunlukla Ulahların Bulgarlığa geçmiş olmaları
töhmetidir. 1320’de Kapudan Kosta imzalı Rumca bir varaka parmaklarının
34 a.g.e., s. 231.
35 Defterin pek çok sayfasında silahların müsadere edildiğine ilişkin bilgiler mevcuttur.
Bkz. Manastır Ceraim Defteri, s. 28, 29, 30, vd.
36 a.g.e., s. 61.
37 a.g.e., s. 207.
358
Manastır ceraim defteri ışığında Manastır’da suç
38 a.g.e., s. 67.
39 a.g.e., s. 72.
40 a.g.e., s. 79.
41 a.g.e., s. 80.
42 a.g.e., s. 86.
43 a.g.e., s. 54.
359
Nimet Ayşe BAKIRCILAR
44 a.g.e.,, s. 202.
360
SELF-CONVERSION IN THE BALKANS:
A MICRO-HISTORY OF 15 th- CENTURY
ÇEÇ AND DİVOÇANE IN THE RHODOPE
MOUNTAINS
Agata Chmiel*
361
Agata CHMIEL
Each male member of a taxable age in a household was identified first with his
own name, then as the son of (either veled-i or bin) his father (the name of his
father).3 A new convert, however was listed this time according to their new
Muslim name and that of their father’s Christian name, for example Saruca
veled-i Dimitri. By the end of the fifteenth century this practice was changed
and the father’s Christian name was replaced more regularly by veled-i Abdul-
lah (“Son of God’s servant”).4 Since this register is from a transitional period
both examples can be found.
Therefore, by analyzing the names it becomes clear that at this time the
entire village had converted to Islam, with the apparent exception of two men,
named Dobrenik and Dimitri. Yet even these two remnants of Christianity, are
not only listed along with the rest of the population under the heading Müs-
lim, but Dimitri is also listed as being veled-i Abdullah, marking his conversion
to Islam.5 What is odd is the fact that he had not adopted a new Islamic name
and the fact that the word gebr (unbeliever) is noted in the margin next to it.6
The same note was recorded next to Dobrenik, the brother of a certain Karaca,
a new convert to Islam. The fact that both these men were listed under the Mus-
lim population, instead of under a separate Gebr heading implies that both had
already expressed an intention to convert and had simply not yet publicly cho-
sen a new Islamic name.
The two gebran (unbelievers) listed allow for the witnessing of the conver-
sion process. Unlike in Christianity, Muslims did not generally keep detailed
records on conversion, thus rendering the actual process difficult to study for
modern researchers.7 Rather, religious treatises speak of the simple utterance
3 This was true whether the names were Muslim or Christian, for example “Peter, son of
Yovan”.
4 Evgeni Radushev, “The Spread of Islam in the Ottoman Balkans: Revisiting Bulliet’s
Method on Religious Conversion”, Oriental Archive 78 (2010), 368.
5 Ibid.
6 TD7, 60.
7 Umar Abd-Allah, “Reviewed Work(s): Conversion to Islam in the Medieval period: An Es-
say in Quantitative History by Richard W. Bulliet”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 44/3
(Jul. 1985), 239-240. This is in terms of Islamic institutions, comparative to Christian in-
stitutions. Conversion to Islam was informal and relatively simple, not characterized by
such actions as ceremonies of baptism or formal acceptance into a congregation, records
of which might have left clearer evidence of patterns of conversion, such as in Christian-
ity. The state however, did record some conversions as found in defters, sicils (occasion-
ally) and kisve bahası (conversion) petitions.
362
Self-conversion in the Balkans
of the confession of faith, the shahāda8 and one would immediately become a
Muslim.9 A convert then would recite a creed in a language he did not unders-
tand and without necessarily understanding much of what it implied, such as
having to wear new clothing and adopting a new name in order to separate
himself from his old religious community.10 New prayers and ways of praying
would also have to be learned and yet in many towns and villages of the ini-
tial period there were no mosques or even imams to guide the new converts in
prayer.11 This is certainly the case in Çeç where no imam or any other religious
or Ottoman authority is listed as opposed to, for example, the town of Drama.12
Therefore, it was only through the acceptance of a new name, considered to be
Islamic, that a new convert was identified by both his neighbours and the Otto-
man authorities.
The value of having two ‘unbelievers’ listed among a population of Muslims
then becomes evident. Here, I speculate that these two men are both in the pro-
cess of converting, having yet to decide or declare their new Muslim identity.
If their intention to convert had not been made clear to the authorities, neither
gebr would have been listed among the Muslims and neither would have elu-
ded ispenç and cizye,13 a tax of higher value levied on the Christian population.
Instead we find the entire village as listed as having to pay resm-i kulluk combi-
ned with ispenç.14 Since, in other cases in the register, even two or three Christi-
8 Translated along the lines of “Allah is the true god and Muhammad is his prophet”.
9 Richard W. Bulliet, Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative
History, Cambridge 1979, 33.
10 Richard W. Bulliet, “Conversion Stories in Early Islam”, Michael Gervers - Ramzi Jibran
Bikhazi (eds), Conversion and Continuity: Indigenous Christian Communities in Islamic
Lands Eighth to Eighteenth Centuries, Toronto 1990, 131.
11 Ibid., 130.
12 TD7, 24. The Town of Drama has, for example, an imam and a naib listed, indicating the
presence of both religious and administrative authorities.
13 See Ömer Lütfi Barkan, “894 (1488/89) Yılı Cizyesinin Tahsilâtına âit Muhasebe
Bilânçoları”, Belgeler I/1 (1964), 36: Minhâ: zâyi‘ , be-cihet-i sâl-i âyende ki müslüman
şude est, where new Muslims were to be taken out of the cizye register in the following
year. For example compare the published cizye register from 1488-89, where new con-
verts are shown to have been exempt from cizye after their conversion. Therefore also, in
the next generation resm-i kulluk would be paid by these new Muslims, instead of ispenç.
14 Muslims paid a land-tax with differentiations in payment, depending on the proprietary
and marital status of the taxpayer: 22 akçes from a married peasant who held farm land
workable by a pair of oxen, 11 akçes from the single and poor and 6 akçes from widows.
363
Agata CHMIEL
ans are usually written under a separate “unbeliever” heading, the fact that this
was not done suggests that the village had completed the process of conversion.
This further highlights the importance of Çeç as it allows the scholar to become
a direct witness to the process of conversion to Islam.
The Slavic names of the two remaining Christians and the non-Islamic
names of some new converts, also demonstrates who these people were in reli-
gious and ethnic terms. The population of the village was therefore initially of
Slavic Christian origin, which adopted a new religion. As converts are not only
noted through the patronymic of Abdullah, but also by the Slavic name of their
father, this argument is not speculation. For example, I have found some Mus-
lims whose fathers had Slavic names;15 these, along with those whose patrony-
mics are Abdullah, I consider to be first generation converts. The rest contain
Muslim patronymics. These men may have been second-generation converts,
although only through a comparison with the previous registration of Çeç
could it be determined which generation is in fact listed.16
I have demonstrated how the recording of names indicated the Slavic origin
of many converts and the newly converted position of others. Yet there is anot-
her aspect which reveals the importance of the new names of converts. Here,
the geographic location of the region could have also influenced the process
of conversion, particularly in its initial stages. The nomadic lifestyle of Anato-
lian Turkmen who migrated to the Balkans altered greatly due to the dynamic
change in the geographical environment they encountered. The resulting prac-
tices of normal and inverse transhumance placed the yürüks into regular sea-
sonal contact with the local population along the routes they travelled between
winter and summer pastures.17 Normal transhumance, relying on the route
All non-Muslims who possessed land, whether married, single or poor needed to pay
25 akçes. Thus, for example, a Muslim and his two single sons would pay 22+11+11=44
akçes. A non-Muslim in the same position would pay 25+25+25=75 akçes. See Radushev,
The Spread of Islam, 382.
15 TD7, 60. Names such as Ali veled-i (son of) Kosil, Saruca veled-i Dimitri and Uğurlu
veled-i Radoslav.
16 The previous register from 1464-65 (TD3) does not contain any registration for Çeç.
17 ‘Normal’ transhumance defines those sheep farmers and shepherds who live in the low-
lands in the winter but leave in the summer, which is an unfavourable season for stock-
raising in the plains. The winter pastures could belong to some farmers, however, and
thus rented out to these shepherds, thus coming into contact with them during seasonal
periods. See Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the
Age of Philip II (Vol. 1), California 1996, 86.
364
Self-conversion in the Balkans
directed through the Mesta River valley most likely passed through or near the
village of Çeç. Muslim sheep farmers and shepherds would have come into con-
tact with the population on their way up to the summer pastures or down to
the winter pastures along the Aegean. The breeding of sheep was also common
among the local Christian population, as can be seen through the listing of the
tax resm-i ganem and the relatively large amounts collected.18 Information con-
cerning the existence of Islam would in turn have been relayed, not only bet-
ween those with the same mode of production (the raising of sheep) but also
between transhumanists and settled populations in villages used as rest-stops
along the route. An analysis of the naming patterns of the converts listed in Çeç
validates the theory posited that the yürük elements of the population were ini-
tially the primary informers of Islam.
The names chosen by new Muslims in the village of Çeç are further relevant
as they demonstrate one of the ways the local population was introduced to
Islam. The Muslim-Turkmens of Anatolia continued to draw names from a wide
variety of pools: old Turkic pagan ones connected with ideas of fortune, good
omens, magical ideas and even nature, Islamic mystical names and Qur’anic
ones.19 Many of the names of new converts reflect this diversity, which was par-
ticularly prevalent among the yürüks. Although the five sacred Islamic names
appear often, along with Qur’anic/Biblical names, such as İsa, Davud and Yusuf,
there is a prevailing frequency of Turkic pagan and mystical names in use. This
pattern of naming among the yürüks is prominently displayed among new con-
18 In Çeç this is the largest single tax amount collected, see TD7, 61, where the tax for sheep
is 1,300 akçes, compared to a tax on the growth of all the different types of wheat, collec-
tively amounting to 1,000 akçes.
19 See Mehmet T. Gökbilgin, Rumeli’de Yürükler, Tatarlar ve Evlâd-i Fâtihân, Istanbul, 1957,
101-104, for one of the first attempt at grouping Turkish nomadic names, into Arabic,
foreign (ex. Persian) and Mystical-religious names. Compare with I. Baski - L. Ráso-
nyi, Onomasticon Turcicum: Turkic Personal Names. As collected by L. Rásyoni, Vol 1&2,
Indiana 2007, XXXVII-LII for explanations of categories for Turkic names in general,
not only specific to the yürüks. Here names are grouped into 4 categories, with sever-
al subcategories. Briefly the four categories are: 1) Totemistic names (having to do with
plants and animals), 2) Group of omen-names (ex. protective and symbolic of deities),
3) Fortuitous names (ex. meteorological event, name of enemy, people or tribe defeated
at birth, month of birth), and finally 4) Names which are not in connection with mag-
ic concepts and cannot be arranged in the above categories. Alphabetical listings of all
Turkic names in both volumes then provide explanations as to origin or names, whether
Persian, Arabian or Turkic and its meaning.
365
Agata CHMIEL
verts as well. In the village of Çeç, roughly 36% of the names of taxable males
stem from Qur’anic/Biblical origin. The remainder of the names listed stem
from the over-all yürük or Turkmen name system. Such names include Doğan
(Falcon), Şirmert (Courageous), Uğurlu (Lucky One), Atmaca (Sparrow) and
Kurd (Wolf) which, along with many others, appear regularly among convert
populations, not only in the village of Çeç but generally in the region as well.20
The high frequency of these names among new converts leads me to argue that
contact with Muslims was primarily of the yürük variety in villages along the
transhumance routes.
The question of why this village converted must now be addressed. Follo-
wing the recording of the population of the village is a list of taxes collected for
the income of the sipahi which may provide some clues as to why large-scale
conversion occurred, both in Çeç and Divoçane. The total income of Çeç, 7,615
akçes, is markedly lower than villages of similar size located in the plains. For
example, the amount of Kendüm (wheat) produced in 1478 in Çeç was 2 mud21,
the tax of which was 600 akçes.22 In contrast, the village of Doksad produced
36 mud of Kendüm, the amount of which was taxed at 4,320 akçes.23 A village
of exactly the same number of households in the plains therefore produced 12
times as much wheat as the village of Çeç high in the mountains. A compari-
son of other agricultural products shows similar disparities in amounts and
taxation. Therefore, it is clear that the economic production of villages in the
mountains was markedly lower than that of other areas in the kaza of Drama,
confirming this region to be a poor, rural one.
The different economic situation of the Çeç region facilitated the process of
conversion as its inhabitants searched for a way to decrease financial engage-
ments with the state. Since taxes based on production were fairly regularized
for Muslims and Christians, dependent on the actual amount cultivated, the
option that remained for the Christians to change their social and financial sta-
20 TD7, 60.
21 Mud was a measure of capacity that was usually originally used for grain, rice and flour.
It was also a larger unit of measurement than kile, also used as a unit of measurement in
TD7. In each area and century of the Ottoman Empire these measurements were equal
to different equivalency in kilograms. For further information see H. İnalcık, “An Intro-
duction to Ottoman Metrology”, in Idem, Studies in Ottoman Social and Economic His-
tory, London, 1985, 324-329.
22 TD7, 61.
23 TD7, 29.
366
Self-conversion in the Balkans
tus was to search for a cheaper religion.24 Christianity not only led to an incre-
ase in the amount of taxes collected by the Ottoman state,25 but also included
taxes that were collected by the Orthodox Church itself.26 The economic isola-
tion created by the mountainous terrain of the Rhodopes made actually paying
the taxes owed extremely difficult.27 Conversion would eliminate the cizye tax
levied on Christians, as well as decrease the land-tax collected by the state. The
significance of a decrease in the land-taxes can be examined through another
comparison between Çeç and the village of Doksad. Not only is Doksad a mir-
ror image of Çeç with the same number of hanes (although these households
are Christian), it also highlights once more the production difference between
the mountains and the plains. In both examples, the register combines the taxes
as resm-i kulluk ma‘ ispenç, with 2 gebr paying ispenç in Çeç and 2 Muslims
paying resm-i kulluk in Doksad. The difference between a village with a Muslim
majority and that with a Christian majority provides an exact comparison bet-
ween the two taxes. In Doksad, the population was expected to pay 1,540 akçes,
while in Çeç the same number of households was taxed with 1,306 akçes. Not
only was the population of Doksad expected to pay for 200 akçes more, but this
figure further shows the higher tax rate for Christians.
The search for a less expensive religion may have prompted a few Christians
living in such difficult and poor conditions to consider the option of conver-
sion. A number of initial converts would certainly have realized that such an act
placed them into a different economic and social sphere. In a region where high
agricultural production was always in doubt due to the difficult terrain and cli-
mate, a certain amount of relief from the burden of taxation determined by reli-
gious affiliation invariably impacted the decision of a number of converts. Some
scholars maintain that this was a state policy which placed economic pressure
367
Agata CHMIEL
368
Self-conversion in the Balkans
For example, the first two names listed demonstrate three generations of men
in this village, as well as their religious affiliation. Here we have listed Balaban
veled-i Rayos and Mahmud veled-i Balaban.32 The original head of the house-
hold was Rayos, with his convert son Balaban and probably his grandson, Mah-
mud. Not only do we encounter a religiously divided family, but a clear example
of the process itself. Although Rayos remained a Christian (or perhaps he died
before the time of registration), both his son and grandson opted to convert to
Islam. The resultant trend of Muslim names listed in Divoçane once again ref-
lects a yürük influence as about 50% of converts adopted names that are not
considered as part of the Qur’anic name system.
Both Divoçane and Çeç also reveal another phenomenon, that of religio-
usly divided families. In Divoçane it is revealed through the Christian names of
the fathers of converts. In Çeç we find the same, yet this is further highlighted
due to the 3 widows listed. All three have either Christian Slavic names or were
married to a Christian: bive Kala, bive İzlata and bive-i (widow of) İstamat.33
These widows were also included as part of the Muslim population, yet none
of them converted to Islam, as their names would have reflected their religi-
ous affiliation. Therefore, although some members of the household converted
to Islam, others did not, indicating that living together, despite religious diffe-
rences, was not at this time an odd or contradictory idea. Nor did this pose any
problems for the authorities, where as long as Islamic law was not violated, they
simply noted Christians in the register and taxed them accordingly.
The economic isolation present in this region is also reflected in Divoçane
revealed by the amount of taxes listed in the register for the mountainous regi-
ons. Through the interaction of all of these elements, geography, economy and
changing religious ideas, a newly-converted population began to emerge. The-
refore, this small village, with its Muslim-majority population similarly pre-
sents a stage in the general process of conversion prevalent in the mountains
at this time, a stage where conversion reached a Muslim majority that would
in time result in another fully converted village. The analysis of both of these
villages provides us with some information as to the origin of the Muslims in
the region and perhaps why and how they were introduced and influenced by
Islam, eventually resulting in a region which entirely converted to Islam over
the following centuries.
32 TD7, 61.
33 TD7, 60.
369
Agata CHMIEL
APPENDIX A
370
Self-conversion in the Balkans
APPENDIX B
371
Agata CHMIEL
APPENDIX C
372
Self-conversion in the Balkans
TD7
p. 60
373
Agata CHMIEL
p. 61
Kendün – 2 mud, 600 [akçe]. Yulaf ve çavdar ve daru – 8 mud, 400 [akçe].
Öşr-i hamr – medre 170 [akçe]. Resm-i aruz ve niyabet - 150 [akçe]; Öşr-i kene-
vir - 17 [akçe].
Resm-i ganem – 1300 [akçe]; Resm-i pelut – 16 [akçe]; Resm-i kulluk ma‘
ispenç – 1306 [akçe]. Resm-i koran – 320 [akçe].
Hasıl: 3739[akçe].
Cema‘n: Kura - 2; Hane-i Muslim - 56; Mücerred - 18; Bive - 3; Hane-i Gebr
- 31; Mücerret - 3; Bive - 5.
Hasıl: 7615.
Fi’l-asl – 6565 [akçe]; Ziyade – 1030 [akçe].
Gebr:
Deyan veled-i Borşo; Duşman veled-i Deyan; Istayko; Kolo [=Kolyo] veled-i
Valkan; Dimo veled-i o; Mavr[o].
Senadin; Dimo veled-i Senadin; Hris.
Hane - 5; Mücerred - 2.
Yekun: 9.
374
CULTURAL LIFE
IN OTTOMAN BEIRUT
IN THE EARLY 1900s
Introduction
During the Ottoman period in the Levant there were big cities of great impor-
tance, such as Aleppo, Beirut, Mount Lebanon and Damascus. These cities,
which were in close relationship with one another, connected Mediterranean
to Basra, Anatolia, Caucasia and Iran.1 All this region fell under the hegemony
of the Ottomans at the beginning of the 16th century. After three and a half cen-
turies within the framework of beylerbeylik-sancak administration, this system
underwent some changes. In 1864, the province of Saida (Sidon) was abolished,
Beirut became a sancak of the province of Syria, and at the same time Mount
Lebanon was separated as a special unit. In 1887, the province of Beirut was
established. By the early 1900s, the picture was like this: Mount Lebanon had a
special administrative structure. Besides, it was a dwelling unit next to Beirut,
at the same time housing the population commuting to Beirut. Another impor-
tant center, Damascus, was the capital of the province of Syria. However, gover-
nors went often to Beirut, which points to the importance of the latter. In 1894,
the Province of Beirut was composed of the sanjaks of Trabluşşam, Acre, Lata-
kia and Nablus, together with the central sanjak including the subdivisions of
Saida, Sur and Marjayoun.2
375
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
3 Donald Quataert, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu 1700-1922, trans. Ayşe Berktay, Istanbul 2003,
176.
4 Beirut Provincial Salname 1310, AESLN 230, p. 378-379.
376
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
Chief Rabbi were the religious leaders in the region.5 This list not only shows
the religious diversity of the region, which was the continuation of the demog-
raphic diversity, but it also points once again to the state’s official recognition of
each nation’s leadership. In the 1906 Registers, we may observe that this list had
been maintained, although five years had passed.
The demographic diversity which we observed, of course, was reflected into the
cultural life of Beirut. In this context, the languages used showed great diver-
sity, too. While, apart from Arabic, the Muslims used Kurdish, Circassian and
Turkish, the Christians spoke Armenian, Assyrian and Syriac. Later on, people
living in Lebanon started to speak French, the Sefarad Jews Hebrew, and the
Ashkenazi Jews Yiddish and some European languages.
It is necessary to add foreigners to this diversity as well. The region put up
a lot of foreigners due to the liveliness of commercial life, the representative
agencies opened by foreign states being aware of its strategical importance, and
the abundance of transportation facilities. Only as a small example, let us note
377
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
that 60 English citizens lived in the district center of Saida connected to the
central sanjak of Beirut in 1884.7
In the period under discussion, the current cultural structure in Beirut was
affected by international relations, too. At this point, in the city, not only do we
see current foreign consulates and economic agencies, but also economic insti-
tutions and a network of transportation and communication.8
Besides this, we know that the Ziraat Bankası (founded through the trans-
formation of Benefits Funds), the Bank of Selanik (established in 1888), the
German Deutsche Palestine Bank (founded in 1899) and the English Palestine
Bank each had one branch and agencies in Beirut. These banks gave insurance
service, as well. Some registers also include information even about retirement
for foreigners.9
Panoramic view of the port of Beirut is included in AESLN 233, dated 1322, p. 24, 25.
As specified above, entering the 20th century Beirut became also an important
trade port., A trade capacity of 100,000 tons per year with England, Austria-
Hungary and France each in the 1860-70s had increased to 500,000 tons per
year towards the 1900s:10
7 England Foreign Office Archive London (FO) 1480 8935, 21 March 1884.
8 “The fact that the Ottoman Bank has branches in the center and some dependent pro-
vinces, as well as the existence of many other companies dealing in banking operations
in Beirut, many of which have branches in most of the dependent provinces, is a good
proof of the fact that the economic situation, order and perfectness of the province is
getting better day by day.” Beirut Provincial Salname 1324, AESLN 235, p. 95.
9 Düvenci Karakoç, “Beyrut ve Şam'da Siyaset ve Modernleşme (1861-1914)”, 330.
10 Ibid., 284; cf. Beirut Provincial Salname 1310, AESLN 230, p. 369. The terms appearing
in the table mean respectively: Yük: Freight; Sefer: Voyage; Yelken: Vessel; Vapur: Ship;
Taşıdığı Sancak: Sanjak to Carry; Toplam: Total; Mısır: Egypt; İngiltere: England; Fransa:
France; Avusturya: Austria; Rusya: Russia; Italya: Italy; Ispanyol: Spanish; İsveç: Sweden;
378
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
In the late 19th century, Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the
USA, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia had foreign represen-
tative offices in Beirut.11 We know that foreign representatives were many in
number and very active. In many documents, we see that representatives made
field investigations, followed activities performed by other the representatives
of other countries, prepared detailed reports and set up close relationships with
local groups. For example, in a document dated 8th June 1880, it is mentioned
that the people of a local community living in Nablus asked the English Con-
sul to support their chief to become a representative in the Vilayet Administra-
tive Council. Although they did not have enough population, their request was
granted.12
We have data indicating the development of transportation and commu-
nication in Beirut in the period under discussion. From the second half of the
19th century on, regular ship voyages were made. Beirut, in this sense, was a port
where passengers were welcomed and seen off a few times a day. Besides this,
the presence of railway made it possible to transfer goods coming through sea-
way to interior parts as well.
379
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
Besides the Ottoman Postal Organization, the British and French Postal
Services gave service in the region, too. The Ottoman Postal Organization was
quite specialized and had a large staff. We observe that foreigners made their
own postal service organizations in the region as well. In 1894, there existed the
Beirut telegraph center, the Beirut post-office, the Trablus port center, Trabluş-
şam center and Latakia center connected to the Beirut Provincial Office of the
General Directorate.13
The most remarkable points are that the number of non-Muslim students
was very high when compared to the population rate, and that the schooling
rate was low when compared to the total population. The place of Beirut within
the Syria Region appears even more clearly. According to this, 43% of a total of
over 17 thousand students, 7 of whom are girls, were receiving education in the
Sanjak of Beirut. Moreover, more than 60% of the girls were in Beirut. And what
13 The salname registers include this: “It is necessary to record the amounts and numbers
of letters, documents, bailment, etc. received and sent through the Beirut post-office and
the Ottoman and foreign post-offices and the goods and freight shipped by boats com-
ing to and going from the Port of Beirut in a year to determine the volume of trade of
Beirut.” Beirut Provincial Salname 1894, AESLN 230, p. 223-224, 388.
14 Syria Provincial Salname 1303, AESLN 380, p. 241 and elsewhere.
380
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
is more, most of the numbers included under the title “other” take place within
the Beirut provincial borders. It is clearly seen from this data that non-Muslims
attached great importance to schooling, in order to lay claim to their identities
and/or under the effect of missionary activities. The foreign higher education
institutions, too, need to be mentioned among the factors affecting the cultural
structure in the city: French and American universities existed in Beirut.
When entering the 20th century, the educational potential of Beirut is well
reflected by the 1310 (1894) Salname:
Not only civil high schools and military secondary schools and boys' and girls'
secondary and primary schools are in the same league with other alike world ins-
titutions in excellence of organization and teaching, but also several medical and
science and industrial schools and universities and printing houses publishing
newspapers have reached an extent to compete with Egypt. For this reason, that
a lot of students are coming from Egypt and Alexandria every year indicates its
having reached perfection. Most of the educational institutions were established by
various fanciful and strange non-Muslims. Among those having graduated from
these schools can be rarely found those who do not speak three-to-four languages.15
381
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
382
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
22 Mehmet Çetin Börekçi ed., Ahmet Şerif: Arnavudluk'da, Suriye'de, Trablusgarb'de Tanin,
Ankara 1999, 59.
23 Ibid., 153-155. On the educational activities of foreigners in Beirut, see Documents 1 and
2.
383
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
continued; then this gap was filled by Jesuit priests. In the 19th century, the Bei-
rut newspapers devoted place to world problems, such as the American Civil
War, the Polish Uprising against Russia, Queen Victoria’s speech for the ope-
ning of parliament and so on; while this situation developed modern journa-
lism in the region, on the one hand, it contributed to the formation of political
language on the other. The media activities developed here made the commu-
nity aware of developments in the world and contributed to the formation of
political language. In terms of organization, Beirut was an active city. Here a
lot of organizations were brought into being. While trying to understand the
cultural structure in Beirut, we need to mention an event which we find very
remarkable in terms of social movements. The activities of a community called
Cemiyet-i Islahiye were banned with a decision of the governor's office and its
club was closed. A protest movement begun, with the support of a large mass of
people. First of all, the name plate of the community was put down as to show
that they acted in accordance with the law. Then, the newspapers of the next
day were published with blank pages left blank to display the reaction. On the
following days, too, publications were made in regard to the reactions of the
people, a text of protest was sent to the governor’s office, shops were kept closed;
these protests could be stopped only through the mediation of the notables.
According to the information which we obtained from the Ottoman Arc-
hive registers, in 1913 young people of Beirut founded an association called El
Cemiyyet’ül Beyrutiye. Their aim was to organize “scientific, literary and social
conferences”. The appearance of such a formation is important in terms of sho-
wing the dimensions of the cultural mobility. Showing interest in “scientific”
subjects, in one sense, reveals the desire to follow the contemporary world,
to learn about the developments in a process during which the world lived a
second industrial revolution. The relevant document includes these records:
Ottoman Porte, Ministry of Domestic Affairs, General Intelligence Department
(Second Branch)
The following is the copy of the 12 May 1329 dated code cabled from the Province
of Beirut.
C.[reply] 10 May 1329. The association founded under the name of 'El-Cemiyetü'l-
Beyrutiye' in Beirut and the regulations of which were approved by the government
on 13 April is composed of young people of Beirut and aims to organize social,
384
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
scientific, literary conferences. At two meetings held until today, not an assigned
government official was present and it has been paid no attention ...24
There are also other pieces of information reflecting the urbanization cul-
ture of the people of Beirut. For example, a civilian committee was established
for the renovation of the Beirut-Damascus railway and a feasibility study in the
modern sense was prepared. This initiative, presented to the government, could
not be carried into practice when the Big War broke out. In this context, the
fact that one of the earliest-dated city plans was prepared in Beirut also indi-
cates the importance of the association of civilian and local administrations in
the city.
There are also other data indicating that Beirut was a city open to contempo-
rary developments and renovations. For example, in 1888 Dr. Beron, a teacher
in the “French Medical School” in the city, wrote and published a book in Ara-
bic about respiratory diseases. The fact that this work includes Fenn-i Cedîdin
385
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
25 See Document 1.
26 See Document 2.
27 Börekçi ed., Ahmet Şerif: Arnavudluk'da, Suriye'de, Trablusgarb'de Tanin, p.159.
28 Düvenci Karakoç, “Beyrut ve Şam'da Siyaset ve Modernleşme (1861-1914)”, 391 and el-
sewhere. Cf. BOA HR TO 516/100.
386
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
Not only did the Ottoman Administration give way to cultural change, but
it also let foreign representatives travel to the region. For example, the Istanbul
military attaché of France came to Beirut on 27th April 1880. The information
related to the fact that he continued his visits and would go to Jerusalem via
highway over Aleppo and Hama was reported to Istanbul by the British Con-
sul.30 In 1882, H.M.S. Iris reached Beirut from Alexandria and Jaffa and after
having stayed for 3 days, she left for the southern Syrian ports, Cyprus and Mal-
29 BOA HR TO 516/100.
30 FO 195/1306 8556 No.35, 14 May 1880, Beirut.
387
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
ta.31 In the spring of 1883, the German Prince, Frederick Charles was in Beirut,
passed to Damascus and visited Palmira (old city near Damascus) and retur-
ned to Beirut again over Hama and Baalbek. English consulate reports stress
that his journey was carried out in a special way and that he returned all the
invitations intended for giving his visit an official impression in a very polite
way.32 In 1885, the princes of Norway and Sweden, Carl and Eugene, came to
Damascus from Jerusalem via highway by passing through the region of Beirut
and stopped by Baalbek on the way back. They drew great interest from the vil-
lages, especially from the Druze settlements, which they passed by on the way;
they attended the special invitations by local administrations and notables of
the region and witnessed close interest by officials. In the same year, the Prince
Napoleon’s son, Prince Louis, was in Damascus for a visit; the Austrian Arc-
hduke Francois, too, passed to Damascus from Jerusalem via the highway.33 The
same year, the Austrian Prince Rudolf and Princess Stephane were in Beirut for
a visit; after Damascus they came to Beirut again to go to Athens. Although the
visit was not actually an official one, the local authorities dealt with him very
much and welcomed him vith great ceremonies.34 In 1887, the Prince of Naples
and his servitors came to Beirut over Jerusalem and put up by local notables in
the residence of Muhammed Said Pasha, the Haj Coordinator. Due to adverse
weather conditions, he had to pass to Beirut from Damascus, cancelling his visit
to Baalbek.35 Governor of Syria, Naşid Pasha returned to Damascus from Bei-
rut, where he had spent the winter, by making a time arrangement according to
the date when the prince would be there; however, since he became ill, he could
not meet the Prince.36
We know that a lot of foreigners came to the region temporarily. A British
consulate document dated 10 January 1882 on the people coming for com-
mercial purposes or with the aim of visiting the East, indicates and interprets
the regulations made by the Ottoman administration. To mention them briefly,
there is a regulation aiming to remove inconveniences and to allow tourists to
388
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
Conclusion
In the early 1900s, Beirut was a provincial center within the Middle Eastern
lands of the Ottoman State. About a hundred years ago, in the Middle East, such
important centers as Baghdad, Basra, Yemen, Damascus and Jerusalem were a
part of the Ottoman order as well.
From 1864 onwards, the Ottoman administration made an effort to extend
its basis. Social groups (nations) started to participate in the administration,
with the establishment of Provincial Councils and District Councils. Commis-
sions were set up to deal with matters such as public works or education, and
they took decisions about local needs.
Social, cultural and economic developments resulting from the industrial
revolution were reflected to Beirut, a port city. While the population of Beirut
numbered 10,000 in the early 1800s, it exceeded 100,000 a century later. It had
a large port (with a trading volume of 500,000 tons), railway, electric tramway,
hotels, postal and telegraph services, newspapers issued in five languages and
magazines. The Ottoman administration understood and encouraged multi-
culturalism. Ten different languages were spoken in the region, publications
were made in different languages, while there were schools belonging to diffe-
rent ethnic and religious groups. With ten foreign consulates, Ottoman Beirut
became an important living space, often visited by foreign officials and perso-
nalities.
389
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
APPENDICES
Map
Map of Hamidiye-Hejaz Railway on p. 54 of the Beirut Provincial Salname of 1324, AESLN 235.
390
Cultural life in Ottoman Beirut in the early 1900s
Document 1
391
Fulya DÜVENCİ KARAKOÇ
Document 2
392
The Orthodox Christian Poor
and Pauper families
in Salonica (18 th- 19 th c.);
how many and how strong they were
Evanghelos Hekimoglou*
This paper is about the dimensions of poverty in the Orthodox Christian Com-
munity (OCC) of Salonica from the 1790s through the 1860s. The conclusions
are based on tax registers, in combination with the general sources regarding
the same period.
In this paper, the term “poverty” does not mean the lack of sufficient money
or the minimal requirements human needs to survive. Poverty is conceived as the
economic condition of those Orthodox Christians who were classified in the lower
tax categories in three different periods, i.e. the 1790s, the 1830s and the 1860s.
This relative poverty is examined only in the context of the OCC of Salonica.
393
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
2 About 170 out of 780 payers were charged collectively, in the context of the small guilds
(esnaf) to which they belonged. Consequently, their names and other personal informa-
tion were omitted. By contrast, the book contains all the names of perakende, besides the
craftsmen and merchants who belonged to the larger guilds. For technical reasons we
processed only the data of the perakende group and the four larger guilds, i.e. furriers,
kara-abacı, kepecı and mısırçarşılı, in total 561 persons, who were levied with 85 % of the
total debt.
3 The value of these sums was 531 and 44.250 grams of silver respectively; Şevket Pamuk,
“Money in the Ottoman Empire, 1326-1914”, in Halil İnalcık with Donald Quataert (ed),
An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, vol. 2, Cambridge 2000, 973.
Within the limits of this paper I did not invest any attempt to link these considerable
sums of money with the level of real incomes. Instead, I considered the contribution
scale as a measure of unequal wealth distribution in the OCC.
4 This is a clear indication that a broader approval of the tax clusters and the individual
contributions had been achieved, an indication facilitating the use of our data in order
to evaluate social differentiation.
394
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
Thirty nine % of the examined cases were charged with the minimum cont-
ribution of 90 kuruş. These cases might be considered as the poorest between
the Christian residents. On the basis of the above mentioned contribution/
wealth correlation hypothesis, this poor group appears to possess only 9 % of
the Christian community’s wealth.
The payers of a second group, which accounted for thirty nine % of the cases,
were charged with sums between 120 and 375 kuruş, contributing 20 % of the
total burden. According to the mentioned contribution/wealth hypothesis this
group possessed 20 % of the wealth.
According to the data illustrated in Table 1, the Gini index equals 0.53, as
high as the Gini index for the income distribution in modern Chile (2003). It
seems that the OCC of Thessaloniki suffered of serious economic inequality.
5 Payers identified by the name of their parents (usually their father) -a strong indication
that their families lived in the city for at least two generations- were charged with an av-
erage contribution of 825 kuruş, four times higher than average contribution of all the
other payers (197 kuruş).
6 The average contribution of the individuals belonging to guilds was 487 kuruş, 70 %
higher than average contribution for the scattered individuals (perakende), which was
289 kuruş.
7 In fact, those two factors coincided, because 61 % of the guild-organised payers were
identified by their parents’ name, comparing to only 17 % of perakende. The vast major-
ity of perakende were recognised by other characteristics, like their job, their origin, their
employer, their neighbourhood or their physical characteristics, all being indications
that they were new-comers.
395
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
to the poorest 39 % of the sample, comparing to only seven women who belon-
ged to the richest 22% of our sample. The average contribution of the women
was 194 kuruş, comparing to 419 kuruş which was the average contribution of
the men. Most of the women were widows, an indication that they were poor
because they had no protector and supporter.
Poor widows shared the hard core of the poorest category with another
group composed of poor esnafli. One out of five in the poorest category belon-
ged to the guilds; their majority were identified by their parents’ name. They
should be characterised as the “unlucky” fraction of the oldest residents, i.e.
individuals who failed to exploit the goods of the guilds system, although their
families had lived in the city for at least two generations and they themselves
had been accepted in the guilds.8
Another category of persons rather unknown to the older residents of the
city shared the hard core of the poor stratum. They were recognised as “sons-
in-law” of older residents and they usually lived in the houses of their fathers-,
mothers- or brothers-in-law.9
Around the hard core of poverty lies an unstable cycle of newcomers. Newco-
mers, who increased the number of artisans, were identified and reordered on the
basis of (a) their craftsmanship,(b) the names of their employers,or (c) their origin.10
A remarkable finding is that the newcomers who were identified by their ori-
gin were not poor. Their average contribution was close to the average contri-
bution of the whole sample.11
8 We must keep in mind that the esnaf system was a kind of protected market, not a non-
market structure. “The industrial class”, Torquay wrote some years after our source was
compiled, “which gives so much impetus to the wellbeing of others is thus much more
exposed to sudden and irremediable evils”. Widows who lost their male protectors and
men who failed in the market were the victims of these “evils” and consequently they
formed the hard core of the poor Christians.
9 “Sons-in-law” accounted for 5 % of our sample, half of them being very poor.
10 Those identified by their craftsmanship give us a good sample to understand which jobs
attracted the newcomers (see below, “Occupational patterns linked to poverty”).
11 Out of 53 individuals identified by their origin (accounting for 10 % of the sample), only
15 belonged to the poorest category. Most of them had immigrated to Salonica from the
surrounding rural areas. Although those who were identified by their origin should be
considered as newcomers, the fact that their origin was so well known as to give them a
surname is a strong indication that they had already lived some years in the city; conse-
quently, the other residents became familiar with their personal stories. By contrast, old-
396
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
We might draw another, even more unstable cycle around these categories of
newcomers, a circle containing individuals who were almost unknown to OCC.
The account book identifies them by their residence or by a physical characte-
ristic of their appearance or even by their Christian name only.12
er residents were hardly familiar with the background of people recognized by their job
only.
12 Presumably, they were not present in the city long enough to acquire surnames, or they
did not have stable social characteristics which would distinguish them personally. This
is an indication that they were poor newcomers, not yet absorbed in the urban structure.
13 For example, some former abacı are found as “çorapçı” and an ex-furrier as “subaşi”. It is
a matter of guessing to decide if the change in jobs was the reason of poverty or, on the
contrary, if these individuals changed their occupation because they failed as guilded ar-
tisans. In other words, we do not know if the change of jobs was a result of a crisis within
the guilds or a regular consequence of the market performance.
14 A man whose occupation is to stow cargoes on board of ships; see Arthur Young – James
Brisbane, Nautical Dictionary, London 1863, 390.
397
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
2. 1830s
The source
Our source for the 1830s is a published poll tax (cizye) register,15 compiled after
a survey which was conducted in the period 1830/1835. The surviving codex
contains only the list of the Christian population of Salonica. The lists of the
other religion groups are missing.
The register lists 3,621 male Christians, of which 2,410 were older than 12
years; 2,175 of them were levied with poll tax. They were recorded on the basis
of the neighbourhood they lived. The register contains 12 Christian neighbo-
urhoods.16
Some signs of the crafts already met in the 1790s are traceable, but we do not
know to what extend the craftsmen were still organised in guilds, because the
contribution was imposed on a personal basis.17
All recorded persons, taxpayers or not, were identified by their Christian
names, the names of their fathers and their occupation, besides the colour of
their moustaches and in many cases their origin. Like the previous source, there
was a distinction between regular and new residents.18 Unfortunately, we can-
398
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
The taxpayers of the higher group (ala) accounted for 11.5 % of all the tax-
payers; they were levied with 48 kuruş each. The total sum levied on this group
represented 23.7 % of the total burden. The payers of the middle group (evsat)
accounted for 50.5 % of all the tax payers; they were levied with a sum of 24
kuruş each. The total sum levied on this group represented 60.7 % of the total
burden. The payers of the lower group accounted for 30 % of all the tax payers;
they were levied with a sum of 12 kuruş each. The total sum levied on this group
represented 15.6 % of the total burden. This last group might be considered as
the poor stratum of the Christian residents.20
The average contribution of the 2,175 taxed persons was 23.7 kuruş. Appro-
ximately 50 % of the tax payers were levied 24 kuruş each, i.e. the average sum.
Two groups stood on either side of the average: (a) 11.5 % of the individu-
19 Bülent Özdemir, Ottoman Reforms and Social Life: Reflections from Salonica, 1830-1850,
Istanbul 2003, 81. The amounts paid in the late 18th century for the respective tax clus-
ters were 11, 5.5 and 2.75 kuruş respectively. See Oded Peri, “The Muslim Waqf and the
Collection of Jizya in Late Eighteenth-Century Jerusalem”, in Gad G. Gilbar (ed.), Otto-
man Palestine, 1800-1914: Studies in Economic and Social History, Leiden 1990, 287-298,
especially 290.
20 Besides the payers, a group of 111 paupers was recorded, all of them exempted from tax
because of lack of income.
399
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
als were charged with a sum higher than average. (b) The rest 30 percent were
charged with a sum lower than average.
Supposing that the contribution scale is a measure of unequal wealth distri-
bution, the above figures mean that the richest 11.5 % of the population posses-
sed as mush as 23.7 % of the wealth and the poorest 30 % possessed as little as
15.6 % of the wealth. This is a not substantial degree of inequality.
According to the data illustrated in Table 2, the Gini index equals only 0.214.
But the assumed mild inequality is only an offspring of the tax system.21
21 Poll tax was a lump sum tax levied within only three clusters. Based on an assumed in-
come, this tax hardly stands in a proportion with the real distribution of the wealth. Ob-
viously, cizye is not the fittest tool to draw the inequality map of the urban population,
although it does not exclude the possibility to extract knowledge about the poorest stra-
tum of the society.
22 214 out of the 250 ala payers were older residents of the city, whilst the rest 36 were new-
comers. The proportion between old residents and newcomers was as 6 to 1 in the ala
category comparing to 2 to 1 in the general population respectively (Dimitriadis, Η Θεσ-
σαλονίκη της παρακμής, 139). Although we do not know how long the regular residents’
families lived in Salonica, the above mentioned proportional difference is a strong in-
dication that the older residents had more possibilities for prosperity comparing to the
newcomers.
23 51 % of the ala tax payers were older than forty years, comparing to 37 % in the general
population. On the contrary, only 16 % of the ala tax payers were younger than 30 years,
comparing to 30 % in the general population. The intermediate age range of 30-39 years
has equal frequency in both the general population and the ala tax payers.
24 The ala tax payers did not carry out bourgeois professions. Commerce had a low partici-
pation in the ala tax list, which includes only one beratlı and about 10 merchants. With
the exception of nine priests, the ala payers worked in textiles, leather and food prepara-
tion and food service jobs. The respective occupations occur at a higher frequency with-
in the ala payers than the general population. The frequency is 50 % higher within the
traditional textile and leather industries and 100 % higher frequency within the food in-
dustries. Food jobs included bakkal, meyhanecı and etmekcı, which attracted the richer
newcomers. These three occupations occur at a higher frequency within the sub-group
400
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
The above mentioned three factors which affected prosperity in the 1830s
are different from the corresponding factors traced in the end of the 18th cen-
tury with an emphasis in the significance of the guilds system for the making of
wealth. The wealth-generating occupations shrunk in the period between the
two surveys (1792-1835) without being replaced with new occupations.25
401
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
28 About 5 % of the adult male population had left Salonica and immigrated to other plac-
es, especially to Anatolia. Although not high, the percentage is significant and makes us
suspect some linkage between the occupation pattern of the immigrants and their deci-
sion to leave Salonica. Some of them were occupied in the wood industry, which was in
decline in Salonica. About 10 % of the immigrants were abacı, another declining occu-
pation. The same may be remarked for some domestic occupations. On the other hand,
we might consider immigration rather as an effort to avoid poverty rather as a proof of
poverty in Salonica.
29 The difficulties to define the real newcomers on the basis of our source must be consid-
ered. Although being a newcomer was a reason not to be rich (see above), it was not a
reason to be poor. The frequency of newcomers in the edna list was not significantly dif-
ferent from the respecting frequency in the general population.
30 The lower 30% of the payers paid 7% of the tax burden in 1790s and 15% in 1830s re-
spectively.
31 According to a report by the French consul Guys, dated 1 January 1834, the reasons of
the weakening were the flight of the Greek merchants during the Greek War of Indepen-
dence (Konstantinos Vakalopoulos, «Το εμπόριο της Θεσσαλονίκης 1796-1840» [The
Commerce of Thessaloniki, 1796-1840], Μακεδονικά 16 (1976), 106-107). The flight
completed in 1836, when 250 Greek subjects were put in front of the dilemma to leave or
to accept the Ottoman citizenship (Georgia Ioannidou-Bitsiadou, «Άγνωστες ιστορικές
ειδήσεις για τη Μακεδονία από τις αμερικανικές προξενικές εκθέσεις της Θεσσαλονί-
κης (1832-1840)» [Unknown Historical Data on Macedonia from the American Con-
sular Reports of Thessaloniki (1832-1840)], Μακεδονικά 20 (1980), 352). Other reasons
were the continuing increment of taxes and the falling crops of lain, tobacco and cotton:
«The trade of Salonica during the year 1836 suffered considerably from the prevalence
of plague in the interior” (…) «In 1836 the Reaya were obliged to send silk to Constan-
tinople, with disastrous results for the employment in the city”; (Consul Blunt to For-
eign Office, February 3, 1837); see Vakalopoulos, «Το εμπόριο της Θεσσαλονίκης», 132
and 133 respectively. The American consul Llewellyn paid attention to the plague: «The
402
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
In fact the absolute number of the poor families was higher in 1835, because
the Christian population of Salonica increased about 40 %, mainly as a result of
the immigration from the Macedonian interior to the city. The increase of the
relative significance of the poor families respecting the fiscal obligations of the
OCC and the increase in their number gave them the necessary political power
to press the rich families who ruled the community for a new deal in the distri-
bution of the fiscal burden.32 Consequently, the poor guilds pressed the leaders
of the OCC to impose a voluntary tax of 1 ‰ on the turnover of the Orthodox
Christian companies, in favour of the communal schools.33
last 8 months the import trade has mush suffered owing to the existence of the plague in
town and particularly so in the interior”; see Ioannidou-Bitsiadou, «Άγνωστες ιστορικές
ειδήσεις». As the number of the rich taxpayers decreased, the burden levied on the poor
stratum relatively increased, giving the impression of a statistical improvement.
32 The peak in this process occurred in 1840 with the establishment of a committee, with
the participation of guilds, to check the account books of the OCC; Vakalopoulos, «Το
εμπόριο της Θεσσαλονίκης 1796-1840», 115.
33 Georgios A. Stogioglou, Νέα στοιχεία για τα σχολεία της ελληνικής κοινότητας της Θεσ-
σαλονίκης στην εποχή του Μητροπολίτη Ιερώνυμου (1841-1853) [New Evidence on the
Schools of the Greek Community of Thessaloniki During the Period of Archbishop Hi-
eronymos (1841-1853)], Thessaloniki 1985, 43. The yield of this tax was very weak; see
ibid., 44 and 51. Bishop Hieronymos (1841-53) persuaded the Orthodox Christians who
were subjects of European countries, and therefore had no legal obligation to pay com-
munal taxes, to contribute to the education system of the OCC. The communal school
population tended to increase faster than the Christian population as a whole, not only for
demographic but also for social reasons. The moving force was the demand of the poor
craftsmen to secure free schools for their children. Between 1839 and 1852 the expenses
of the communal schools increased 16 times (Evanghelos Hekimoglou, “Administration
and Funding of Schools at Times of Profound Social Change: The Example of Thessalon-
iki (1792-1912)”, in Education in the Balkans: from the Enlightenment to the Founding of
the Nation-States, Thessaloniki 2000, 333-352), mainly because of employing more teach-
ers and building new schools and premises (Stogioglou, Νέα στοιχεία, 51-53).
403
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
Paupers
Our source gives as a chance to take a glimpse in the pauper reaya of Salonica,
an opportunity not given by the register of 1792. About a hundred residents (i.e.
3 % of the general population) were exempted from the poll tax because they
were old-aged, blind, disabled or beggars. Almost half of them were recorded
with their craftsmanship, which they obviously did not practice anymore.
3. 1860s
The source
Our third source is a published list, compiled in 1865.34 The list contains
954 Ottoman subjects who paid bedel-i askeri,35 instead of serving in the
army. Foreign subjects had no obligation for military service and they were
not included in the list. Because the average foreign subject was richer than
the average Ottoman Christian, this quality of our source may direct us to a
misleading lower degree of inequality.
The bedel was imposed on the basis of the twelve Christian neighborhoods,
with the exception of the guild-organized trades.36 The trades were grouped by
their guilds and then sorted by their neighborhood.
404
v
All recorded persons were identified by their Christian names, the names
of their fathers and usually their occupations, besides the neighborhood they
lived in. There are no clear indications about the difference between older and
new residents, a rather traceable distinction in the previous sources, with the
exception of the very few persons who were identified with a family name.
405
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
The average sum was 43 kuruş. Two groups are defined on either side of the
average: Approximately half of the tax-payers were imposed a sum higher than
the average and the other half lower than that. Only 54 persons were imposed
with a contribution higher than 100 kuruş, while 663 persons were imposed
with a contribution lower than 50 kuruş. Regrouping our data in three cate-
gories of contributions, responding to the two previous sources, we have the
image illustrated in Table 6.
37 Non-Ottoman citizens occupied about half of the seats of the Greek communal bodies.
38 Accordingly, I presume that half of the richest payers were newcomers, because either
there is no information about them in the local sources or their surname betrays their
origin from another place.
406
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
39 There is no piece of information about the professional status of 72 poor persons (per-
haps they were jobless, either invalid, or too old to work).
40 In the richer neighborhoods of St. Athanasios and St. Nicolas the rate of poverty was 21
and 20 % respectively, whereas in the poor area close to the eastern Kalamaria gate the
rate was as high as 38 %. This area was the less developed and it was not organized in
parishes until the 1860s; in 1864 the residents occupied the two churches of the neigh-
borhood (St. Hypatios and Hypapanti), which belonged to a monastery and operated as
dependencies of this monastery. The occupiers wanted the monks to contribute regular-
ly for the establishment of a local elementary school. In the market area the poverty rate
was even higher mounting up to 46 %, but the number of poor was not significant due
to the low absolute number of the Christian residents in these neighborhoods.
41 The “rich” area and the “poor” area concentrated the same number of poor Christian res-
idents, although the rate of poverty differed a lot, due to the lower number of residents
in the poor area. The Kalamaria Gate area concentrated 34 % of the poor and the “rich”
area accounted for the same percentage. That means that about two thirds of the poor
Christian lived along the eastern part of the main street of the city.
407
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
Our data provides no straight information concerning how long each resident
lived in the city, with the exception of few persons with a geographical surname.
Instead, I collected twenty cases with not very usual names and I tried to find
traces of them in the poll tax list of 1830/35 (source II).42 There were clear tra-
ces for ten of them,43 unclear traces for one44 and no traces for the remaining
nine,45 either in this list or in other sources. The same percentage of old resi-
dents (50%) was found between the richer tax payers (see above). So, we have a
strong indication that the percentage of the immigrants in the poor stratum of
the Greek community was rather high.
Being an orphan was also a traceable reason to be poor. In the list of the
bedel payers who fell in the lower clusters I identified 14 cases with a maternal
surname, besides a person clearly recorded as “orphan”.
42 Finding traces is not easy because family names did not exist and the Christian names
were written with multiple forms. There is a special difficulty with the old Vlach forms of
the Christian names, which are not in use any more, i.e. Athanasios>Nasos,>Soulas, or
Demetrios>Tzimas, Demetrios >Mitas, Georghios>Goulas, Panaghiotis>Goutas e.tc.).
For the same reasons, traces for the common Christian names with common paternal
surnames can hardly be to be found.
43 Athanasios Zisi (Dimitriadis, Η Θεσσαλονίκη της παρακμής, 258), Demetrios nephew of
Haci Polyzos (the later was a protégée, known by other source; Ioannis Vasdravellis, Ιστο-
ρικά Αρχεία Μακεδονίας [Historical Archives of Macedonia], vol. I, Thessaloniki 1952,
536), Athanasios Mousiou (Dimitriadis, ibid. 270), Kostakis Stavrou (ibid. 237), Deme-
trios Nicolaou Zoziou (ibid. 231), Demetrios Cobanoğlu (family known even by source
I), Stavrakis Mestane (family refered even by source 1), Haci Demetrios Stoikou (ibid.,
254), Konstantis Markou (ibid., 225), Prokopios Thoma (ibid., 307).
44 Kostas Zachou (similar name is traced, but the context is not plausible).
45 Yannos Triantafyllou, Theoharis Georgiou, Goutas Theodorou, Georghios Ioannou of
the fisherman, Haci Prodromos, Soterios Vamva, Christos Theohari, Nicolaos Demou,
Georghios Douma.
408
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
NO OCCUPATION REFERRED
SPATIAL CONCENTRATION
RATE OF POVERTY IN THE
TOTAL OF RESIDENTS
POOR CRAFTSMEN
TOTAL OF POOR
POOR SELLERS
POOR OTHERS
OF POVERTY
AREA
AREA
Note: The data was compiled by the author according to Vakalopoulos, «Το εμπόριο της
Θεσσαλονίκης 1796-1840».
* Information about the location of 18 residents is missing.
4. Conclusions
Poverty generation and reproduction
According to the sources concerning the three mentioned periods, the poverty-
generating factors might be divided in the following categories:
[a.] Lack of a male protector: A factor measured in the 1790s, generating
20% of poverty in this period.
[b.] Lack of an adult protector: A factor measured in the three mentioned
periods, generating 5% of poverty in all cases.
[c.] Lack of affiliation with a guild: A factor measured in the 1790s, genera-
ting 50% of poverty in this period.
409
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
Structural differences
There is a clear distinction between the two following factors: (i) “lack of affi-
liation with a particular guild”, and (ii) “being a newcomer”. However, the two
factors coincide to some extent, because no newcomer was affiliated with a par-
ticular guild. Consequently, the difference between the two types of poverty
46 For the accumulated debts of the surrounding rural communities in the 18th century ac-
cording to unpublished Ottoman sources, see Seyyed Mohammad Tagi Shariat-Panahi,
«Όψεις της κοινωνίας της Θεσσαλονίκης στην ευρύτερη περίοδο της ρωσο-οθωμανικής
σύγκρουσης 1768-1774 με βάση τις οθωμανικές πηγές» [Aspects of the Society of Thes-
saloniki During the Period of Russian-Ottoman Conflict, 1768-1774, on the Basis of Ot-
toman Sources], unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, National and Capodistriac University
of Athens, Athens 2010, 167ff. (http://thesis.ekt.gr/thesisBookReader/id/22568#page/1/
mode/2up; retrieved 21/5/2012)
410
The Orthodox Christian poor and pauper families
411
Evanghelos HEKIMOGLOU
guild system fold to zero. Consequently, the poor Christians had to pay an inc-
reasing proportion of the tax burden in the context of the OCC. The respecting
Gini indexes for the three examined sources of tax distribution tend to fall. The
increasing importance of the poor Christian stratum in regard to the distribu-
tion of the communal tax burden gave them political power in the same con-
text. This power appears to be used after the Tanzimat reforms.
412
PATRONAGE NETWORKS IN THE AEGEAN
SEA, END OF THE 18 TH – BEGINNING
OF THE 19 TH CENTURY
Sophia Laiou*
The period in the Ottoman history that begins in the second half of the eighte-
enth century and ends with the beginning of the Tanzimat in 1840s was marked
by intense political, social and economic realignments. These new “equilibri-
ums” mostly reflected alterations in state authority structure and the subsequ-
ent diffusion of power, and were the result of long-term interacting structural
changes in Ottoman economy and society. These changes led to the emergence
of new and dynamic social forces among the Ottoman subjects, which in some
cases constituted elites with which the state negotiated.1
By the end of the 18th century the Ottoman society was fully differentia-
ted in a way that did not always follow the religious (Muslim-non Muslim)
and political (askeri-reaya) segregation upon which the traditional Ottoman
political system was based. By this I do not mean that the general principle of
the religious and political superiority of the Muslim population vis-à-vis the
non-Muslim was disregarded–on the contrary–but rather that the accumula-
tion of capital by economically active persons within the non-Muslim popu-
lation enabled them to differentiate themselves socio-economically, not only
from their coreligionists but also from some of the Muslim population, be they
simple Ottoman subjects or officials. As far as the non-Muslim population is
413
Sophia LAIOU
2 For the patron-client relations see S.N. Eisenstadt with Louis Roniger, “Patron-Client
Relations as a Model of Structuring Social Exchange”, Society for Comparative Study for
Society and History 1980, 42-77.
3 Fatma Müge Göçek, Rise of the Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire, New York – Oxford 1996,
20-43. Göçek believes that the ottoman social structure can be better understood in
terms of “household” organization as opposed to “feudal” or “patrimonial”, (op.cit, 28).
On the households see Rifaat A. Abou El-Haj, “The Ottoman Vezir and Paşa Households,
1683-1703: A Preliminary Report”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Ori-
ent 94/4 (1974), 438-447 and Carter Finldley, “Patrimonial Household Organization and
Factional Activity in the Ottoman Ruling Class”, in H. İnalcık with O. Okyar (eds), Tür-
kiyenin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Tarihi (1070-1920), Ankara 1980, 227-235.
414
Patronage networks in the Aegean sea
with the Ottoman Muslim officials whose power and protection they depended
upon. Thus, not only the social stratification and the diffusion of power went
hand in hand with the patron-client relations, but also the patronage networks
among the non-Muslim population often belonged to larger ones, those of the
Ottoman Muslim officials, creating a pattern of concentric circles.4
The aim of this paper is to investigate the integration of non-Muslim Otto-
man subjects into the Ottoman political system through the patronage networks
and the subsequent inter-confessional political and economic cooperation. In
this respect the relationship of Georgios Voulgaris, the başkocabaşı of the island
of Hydra,5 with the chief admiral Küçük Hüseyin Paşa at the end of the 18th
and beginning of 19th century, can reveal some interesting aspects of the integ-
ration process as well as its limitations.
Küçük Hüseyin Paşa was a significant political figure during the reign of
Selim III (1789-1807) with whom he was attached with bonds of friendship. He
was of Georgian or Circassian origin and a slave of the silâhdar İbrahim Paşa.
With the initiative of his master he entered the palace, where after the ascen-
dance of Selim III to the throne he convinced the sultan of his abilities, and as
a result he successively assumed several palace offices. In 1792 he became chief
admiral (kapudan paşa) and he held his office until his death from tuberculosis
in 1803. It is noteworthy that Küçük Hüseyin Paşa was one of the most fervent
supporters of the reformist agenda of Selim III. He continued the policy of his
predecessors for re-organizing the Ottoman fleet on the basis of the European
standards,6 while he attained significant victories in the struggle against pirates
and corsairs in the Aegean Sea, forcing one of the most formidable corsair in
the period, Lambros Katsonis, to flee to Russia, and in restricting the piratical
activity of the Maniots in the Morea. He also commanded the expedition aga-
inst Pazvantoğlu (1798-1799), and he also joined forces with the British against
415
Sophia LAIOU
the French army in Egypt, while he managed in 1799 to subdue some of the
Mamluks of Egypt to Ottoman rule.7
Current Greek and Ottoman sources mention the significant role of the
island of Hydra in the above mentioned reorganization of the Ottoman fleet
demonstrated in the provision of experienced human manpower (shipbuilders
and seamen)8 as well as in the use of the ships of Hydra for the provision of
the Ottoman fleet, the transfer of foodstuff and other products to the Otto-
man capital and in the war against piracy and other naval expeditions.9 It is
noteworthy that in 1778 the inhabitants of Hydra acquired from the Ottoman
government the privilege of collecting the tithe themselves without the inter-
vention of any Ottoman official in return of their contribution to the war aga-
inst Russia.10 Hydra is a small island, very close to the eastern coast of the Morea,
and it first appeared in the Ottoman registers in 1670 as one of the possessions
of the kapudan paşa.11 During the 18th century Hydra grew demographically
and its inhabitants –mostly Christian Albanians from the Morea– developed a
significant maritime trade.12 Thus, in the end of the 18th century and beginning
of the 19th the island became the most important shipping centre in the Aegean
7 For Küçük Hüseyin Paşa see Nejat Göyünç, “Kapudan-i Derya Küçük Hüseyin Paşa”, Ta-
rih Dergisi 2 (1952), 35-50; Münir Aktepe, “Küçük Hüseyin Paşa”, Encyclopedia of Islam,
2η έκδοση, vol. ΙΙΙ, 627; Stanford Shaw, Between Old and New. The Ottoman Empire under
Sultan Selim III 1789-1807, Cambridge MA 1971, passim.
8 According to Cevdet, in 1801-1802 there were 61 war-ships in the imperial shipyards,
but there were no capable officers, Dündar Günday (ed), Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, Tarih-i
Cevdet, vol. 4, İstanbul 1993, 1826.
9 Andreas Miaoulis, Υπόμνημα περί της νήσου Ύδρας αφ’ ης εποχής κατωκήθη μέχρι του
έτους 1821 [Memorandum concerning the island Hydra from the first time it was settled
until 1821], Munich 1834, 9.
10 Αρχείον της κοινότητας Ύδρας δημοσιευμένον υπό του Αντωνίου Λιγνού (henceforth:
AKH) [The Archive of the Community of Hydra published by Antonios Lignos], vol.1,
Piraeus 1921, v.1, 1-2.
11 Cevdet Küçük, Ege adalarının egemenlik devri tarihçesi, Ankara 2001, 46.
12 Ibid, 46, 103-104, 151. See also Georgios Kriezis, Ιστορία της νήσου Ύδρας προ της Ελλη-
νικής Επαναστάσεως [The History of the island Hydra before the Greek Revolution], Pa-
tra 1860, 10, 13-14, where it is mentioned that the settlement began in the end of the 16th
century, while until 1700 the island “was unknown to the Ottoman government and not
taxed either by the Patriarchate of Constantinople”. In the beginning of the 19th century
Leake described Hydra as “Albanian colony”, William Martin Leake, Travels in the Morea,
Amsterdam 1968, vol. 1, 209-210 and vol. 2, 345.
416
Patronage networks in the Aegean sea
Sea, possessing a considerable fleet,13 bigger than those of the other islands,14
while its inhabitants were experienced seamen, engaged in long-distance trade
with European ports and the Black Sea.
The fact that the office of Küçük Hüseyin Paşa coincided with the service of
Georgios Voulgaris in the Ottoman fleet strengthened the already close ties of
Hydra with the Ottoman state. Voulgaris was drafted for service in the Ottoman
fleet in 1778 and he first served as an “assistant” (çırak) by the then kapudan
paşa Gazi Hasan Paşa; soon he ascended the hierarchy because of his abili-
ties and he became baş reis (co-captain) of the flagship Selimiye, and a mem-
ber of the retinue of the successor of Hasan Paşa, Küçük Hüseyin Paşa. With
this capacity it is reported that in 1798 Voulgaris twice saved the life of the
chief admiral during the latter’s stay in Vidin in order to suppress Pazvantoglu’s
rebellion.15 Voulgaris also participated in the project of the kapudan paşa tο
reassure the submission of the Mamluks of Egypt in 1799 during the war aga-
inst France. The plan ended with the execution of the Mamluk officers in the
flagship where Voulgaris served as baş reis and it seems that Voulgaris unoffici-
ally played significant role in that venture. Thus, by the end of the 18th century
the interpersonal relations of a member of the zimmi community and the chief
admiral was based on a combination of devotion, commitment, gratitude and
dependence. Nonetheless, it should be underlined that Voulgaris’s abilities had
already led him into the kapudan paşa’s retinue before the two episodes men-
tioned above (1798/9), and the relation of intisab (connection)16 between him
and his patron was already established; it was within this framework of “pat-
ron-client” relations that the interpersonal relationship was strengthened.
Voulgaris soon capitalized on the loyalty with which he served his imme-
diate patron and by extension the state interests both economically and politi-
13 According to Leake, in 1805 Hydra possessed 100 “square rigged ships”, op.cit., vol.1, 218.
The number is almost the same with the one given by de Jassaud, who wrote that in 1808
Hydra possessed 110 ships half of which were of 400 tons each. See Auguste de Jassaud,
Mémoire sur l’état physique et politique des isles d’ Hydra, Spécie, Poros et Ipséra en l’ année
1808, C. Svolopoulos (ed), Athènes 1878, 40.
14 For example, in 1808 Spetses possessed 90 ships, de Jassuad, op.cit., 95.
15 This attempt is mentioned by Cevdet, Tarih-i Cevdet, vol. 3, 1667-1668, who in more
general terms refers to men of Küçük Hüseyin Paşa who saved his life. See also Kriezis,
op.cit., 97 and Antonios Lignos, Ιστορία της νήσου Ύδρας [History of the Island Hydra],
vol. 1, Athens 1946, 37.
16 On intisab see Findley, “Patrimonial Household Organization”, 229-230.
417
Sophia LAIOU
17 “İmar ve ziraat ve hıfz ve hirasetine zabt ve rabt olunması bundan sekiz sene mukad-
dem kapudan-i derya-i esbak Hüseyin Paşa zamanında be-buyruldı Çamlıca voyvodası
kapudan Yorği ile Konstantin nam reise bi’l-iştirak verilmiş ise de”, Ottoman Archive of
Voulgaris (henceforth OAV), no. 48/1808.
18 OAV, no. 14/1801.
19 See Sophia Laiou, “The Enterpreunerial Avtivities of a Paşa and the Role of Georgios
Voulgaris of Hydra (end of the 18th-beginning of the 19th century)”, under publication
in the Procceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Economic and Social His-
tory, Volos-Greece, 10-12 February 2012.
20 Voulgaris had the authority to appoint a baş kocabaşı to each of these islands, Lignos,
Ιστορία της νήσου Ύδρας, 55.
21 AKH, v.1, p. 305-306 and 288-290.
418
Patronage networks in the Aegean sea
however, was in part approved by Küçük Hüseyin Paşa, since when he appo-
inted Voulgaris as başkocabaşı he also gave him the control of the tax resour-
ces making Hydra his voyvodalık.22 In this way the main state interests, that is
the restoration of peace and the regular tax-payment, were combined with the
function of the patronage network of a high Ottoman official to whom the per-
sonal attachment and political dependence on behalf of Voulgaris ended only
with his death. It is indicative of the way this network functioned with the aim
to simultaneously serve state, private and local interests that Voulgaris develo-
ped a policy against Ottoman subjects with foreign protection (especially Rus-
sians) according to the orders of the chief admiral; an “episode” of Voulgaris’
“war” against foreign protection was the confiscation of the ship and impri-
sonment of one of his opponents in the island, Lazaros Kountouriotis, in May
1803, who became vice-consul of the Ionian state in Hydra.23 In the same time
he served, through his position, the economic interests of his patron, when he
assured for the latter a profitable price for the sale of the grain brought from
Cyprus to Hydra (4.5 g/kile), probably for (illegal) export,24 while he managed
to fulfill an old request of his compatriots concerning the free trade to Black
Sea for those who did not enjoy foreign protection (Russian), availing himself
of the personal relation with Küçük Hüseyin Paşa and the lenient policy of the
latter towards islands that contributed to the smooth functioning of the Otto-
man fleet.25 In this way and by denouncing the voyvodalık and rendering into
maktu the tax-payment of his island, Voulgaris managed to temporarily streng-
then his political position and present himself as the local representative who
aimed to protect the economic interests of at least a part of his compatriots.
As long as the above mentioned three different levels of interests were served
within the framework of patronage network, those who participated in it and
22 AKH, v.1, p.296-297 (April 1802). See however AKH, v.2, p. 6, where it is mentioned that
Voulgaris rendered the voyvodalık into maktu for the year 1803.
23 OAV, no. 20/1803 and 10/1803. According to OAV, no. 20, Lazaros Kountouriotis left
from Hydra with his ship bearing the Ottoman flag and returned bearing the flag of “Ko-
rfa Cumhuru” (“the public of Corfu”). Indeed, in 1806, 1807 Lazaros Kountouriotis was
sub-consul of the Ionian State at Hydra, Konstantinos Sathas, Τουρκοκρατούμενη Ελλάς
[Greece under Turkish rule], Athens 1869, 575, 577-578.
24 OAV, no 40/1803, 12/1804, 38/1804. See Laiou, “The entrepreneurial activities”.
25 AKH, v.2, p. 7, 24. According to Leake, Travels in the Morea, vol. 2, 345, this concession
was also given to the inhabitants of Spetses and Psara, but was revoked by the successor
of Hüseyin Paşa.
419
Sophia LAIOU
belonged in the lower political and social hierarchy such as Voulgaris and those
who depended on him had no reason to exit and differentiate themselves from
the Ottoman political system.
However, soon after Hüseyin Paşa’s death Voulgaris was confronted by a fac-
tion dominated by the foreign protégés of Hydra, especially the Russian ones,
who exerted their opposition in the following years and succeeded in 1807 to
–temporarily– expel Voulgaris and render Hydra an ally of Russia during the
Russian-Ottoman war. It is important to note that Voulgaris was accused by
them as “Tourkolatris” (Turk-worshipper)”.26 Indeed, Voulgaris’ strategy at this
point was to demonstrate his continuous devotion to the Ottoman government
and to cultivate good relations with Hüseyin Paşa’ successors, with the help of
the intervention of significant officers such as the dragomans of the fleet or
certain kehayas. In his personal Ottoman archive a part of his correspondence
with the chief admirals and their kehayas is preserved. In it the internal rivalry
and factionalism in Hydra is demonstrated and also how both sides applied to
the office of the chief admiral, expressing their loyalty and hoping to achieve
their aims. To this end, gifts in the form of cash were offered, a practice which
was in this period legalized.27 Voulgaris’ political position was not seriously
threatened, not even during the crisis of the Russo-Ottoman war. Not only did
he receive in 1805 and 1808/9 full tax exemptions (including the cizye) for him-
self and his sons along with the revocation of the usual restrictions in attire and
social behavior applied to the zimmis as reward for his service in the Ottoman
fleet and his involvement in the battles of the Black Sea, Egypt and against (the
pirates of) Mani (sic),28 but also in 1808 he was appointed vekil for the ships
26 Anastasios Goudas, Βίοι παράλληλοι των επί της αναγεννήσεως της Ελλάδος διαπρεψά-
ντων ανδρών [Parallel Lives of the Eminent Men of the Greek Renaissance], vol. 6, Ath-
ens 1874, 100-101.
27 OAV, 13, May 1808. See also AKH, v. 3, p. 247, where it is mentioned that Voulgaris had
agreed to give to the chief admiral 2,000 Venetian florins in order to “finish his affairs”.
That amount of money would be collected by the “community” of Hydra. According to
Dick Douwes, The Ottomans in Syria, London – New York 2000, 165-166, the payments
to the sultan and members of the imperial council were legalized in the mid-17th century
and the payments were financed by regular taxes in the second half of the 18th century.
28 Goudas, op.cit., vol. 6, 95-97. In a document of 1816 referring to the request of zimmi
Nikoli, baş kocabaşı of Hydra, to receive similar privileges with the deceased Georgios
Voulgaris, it is mentioned that the latter’s muafname was renewed in 1223 (1808/1809),
see Cevdet Bahriye 132/6419.
420
Patronage networks in the Aegean sea
that belonged to Tripolis (Tarabulus-i Ğarb) and anchored in Hydra, being res-
ponsible for their supplies.29 In addition, in 1808 Voulgaris demonstrated his
faith to the Ottoman government, when he must have led the body of the “non-
protected” Greeks from Hydra and Spetses, who complained to the Sublime
Porte against the system of foreign protection, which resulted in unfair com-
petition.30 Moreover, in 1808 with a buyuruldı issued by the chief admiral Sey-
yidi Ali Paşa it was ordered that the island of Angistri would be possessed only
by Voulgaris, thus excluding his former partner accused by the government of
“treachery” (hıyanet) and improper behavior.31 Above all, Voulgaris confirmed
his political domination in Hydra through his appointment as zâbit in 1808/9.32
Behind these political decisions one can imagine the network of supporters
that Voulgaris employed in the Ottoman capital, as demonstrated in the report
sent to the sultan in 1807 which described the devotion with which Voulgaris
served the state interests with special reference to his involvement in the mili-
tary expeditions.33 Voulgaris’ stance against the alliance of Hydra with Russia in
1807 and his willingness to follow the state policy against foreign protection as
well as his previous devoted service to the Ottoman fleet made him a valuable
agent of the Ottoman authority, which explicitly expressed its trust in him for
as long as he would serve the state interests with the same devotion as before.
In a letter sent to Voulgaris from baş çavuş Ömer Ağa in May 1808 it is reported
that their “benefactor” (velinimet efendimiz) did not accept the 100 kise/pursues
of akçe, which Voulgaris’ enemies from Hydra presented to the latter’s sarraf, in
order to remove Voulgaris from his office of baş kocabaşı, and it ended exhor-
ting him to “serve well our patron, write to us for every issue, do not omit to
write”.34 Again in a letter of September 1809, the chief admiral El-hac Mehmed
Paşa informed Voulgaris that he appointed the latters’s nephew Nikola Russo
as baş reis and he confirmed his trust in him since Voulgaris devotion was well
known. His phrase “do not fear, you should know that you are mine and you are
421
Sophia LAIOU
35 OAV, no. 27, September 1809: “Bir tarafdan vesvese etmeyüb benim olduğunu bilüb ma-
sun el-etraf olasın”.
36 It is noteworthy that before his death Voulgaris had asked the then chief admiral Hüsrev
Mehmed Paşa to take care for the registration of his property and the appointment of a
vasi for his minor children out of fear that his opponents would try to harm the latter.
It appears that Voulgaris asked for the supervision of the implementation of the stipula-
tions included in his will, where he mentioned as vasi his brother Franjesko. AKH, v. 4,
p.272-278,
37 Athanasios Komninos Ypsilantis, Τα μετά την Άλωσιν (1453-1789) [After the Fall (1453-
1789)], G. Afthonidis Sinaitis (ed), Istanbul 1870, 639. It is interesting that when Hasan
Paşa died an investigation was ordered by the Sublime Porte concerning his property; it
was found that in Hydra Mavrogenis had invested 15,200 ğuruş as loans to various local
merchants and ship-owners. Although in the same report it is stated that no money of
the deceased Hasan Paşa was found in the island, it is probable that Mavrogenis invested
capital that belonged entirely or in part to his patron; or he was suspected for that. BOA,
HH 1384/54782.
422
Patronage networks in the Aegean sea
38 Komninos Ypsilantis, Τα μετά την Άλωσιν, 654. See also the analysis by Christine Phil-
liou, Biography of an Empire. Governing Ottomans in an Age of Revolution, Berkeley 2011,
44-47.
423
LE GOUVERNEMENT DE CHYPRE
DE LA FIN DU 17 e AU DÉBUT DU 18 e SIÈCLE,
D’APRÈS LE TÉMOIGNAGE DES CONSULS
DE FRANCE À LARNACA
424
Le gouvernement de Chypre
lou2, l’île redevient un pachalik sous l’autorité du Grand Vizir qui y envoie un
pacha gouverneur toujours accompagné d’un mousalem ou musselim (selon la
transcription du titre en français) qui percevait les taxes3. Le mandat de cha-
que gouverneur était pour un an renouvelable. Cependant très peu de gouver-
neurs furent reconduits dans leur charge ou accomplirent jusqu’au bout une
deuxième année de leur mandat en raison soit de leur décès4, soit de leur muta-
tion ailleurs5, soit de leur déposition6 suivie parfois d’étranglement accompli par
des envoyés de la Sublime Porte7, soit enfin de leur promotion à un autre poste8.
Ainsi, de 1697 jusqu’au milieu de 1709, Chypre eut treize gouverneurs. Au
cours de la deuxième moitié de 1709, l’île cessa de nouveau d’être un pacha-
lik et son gouvernement fut confié au silâhdâr du sultan qui, en sept mois, fut
représenté à Chypre par trois musselims successifs.
Leur transport à Chypre, lorsqu’il s’effectuait par mer, était habituelle-
ment assuré par des bâtiments français et à leur arrivée à Larnaca, le consul
de France allait leur souhaiter la bienvenue et leur offrait les cadeaux habituels
qu’il renouvelait à Nicosie, après leur prise de fonctions, lors de la visite proto-
colaire qu’il leur faisait.9
Pour informer Paris et Marseille de l’arrivée à Chypre d’un nouveau gou-
verneur et surtout pour justifier les dépenses, en cadeaux et déplacements, que
la nation française faisait à cette occasion, les députés10 du consulat envoyai-
425
Anna POURADIER DUTEIL-LOIZIDOU
l´année suivante. Ils avaient le titre de premier et de second député et leur mandat durait
un an. En cas de vacance du consulat, c´était le premier de ceux-ci qui assurait l´intérim.
Voir entre autres Pouradier Duteil – Loizidou, Consulat de France à Larnaca, t. I, 173-
174, 213-214 et 215.
11 Ibid., t. II, 93.
12 Ibid., t. II, 112-113.
13 Ibid., t. II, 119.
14 Ibid., t. II, 131, lettre de l’ambassadeur de France à Constantinople, Pierre Antoine de
Castagnères de Châteauneuf, datée du 30 avril 1698 et adressée à Louis XIV.
15 Voir Ioannis P. Theocharides, Κατάλογος οθωμανικών εγγράφων της Κύπρου από τα Αρ-
χεία της Εθνικής Βιβλιοθήκης της Σόφιας (1571-1878), Nicosie 1984, 70.
16 Voir Pouradier Duteil – Loizidou, Consulat de France à Larnaca, t. II, 192-193, 196-198
et 243-245.
17 Ibid., t. II, 21 et note 67.
18 Ibid., t. II, 21.
426
Le gouvernement de Chypre
Vizir qui « aurait voulu le nommer Capitan Pacha ».19 Ismaïl pacha ne gouver-
nera pas longtemps Chypre car il meurt à la fin de l’année 1699 laissant même
impayées ses obligations envers la nation française.20
En mars donc de l’année 1700, un nouveau gouverneur, nommé Emir Ahmet
pacha21, arriva à Chypre22 accompagné de son mousalem23. Avant d’arriver au
terme de son mandat, Emir Ahmet pacha fut reconduit dans son pachalik de
Chypre pour une deuxième année.24 Mais aussitôt après sa reconduction, les
janissaires se soulevèrent contre lui.25 Pour sauver sa vie, il se réfugia à Fama-
gouste et la ville de Nicosie resta assiégée pendant quatre mois environ. Emir
Ahmet pacha demanda alors des forces militaires à Constantinople. Grâce aux
troupes qu’il reçut de Caramanie, à la mi-juin, il parvint à abattre la rébellion
et à rentrer victorieux dans Nicosie. La nation française alla l’en féliciter26 mais
il ne jouit pas longtemps de sa victoire : le considérant sans doute responsable
de ces désordres, le Sultan lui retira le pachalik de Chypre pour lui en donner le
plus petit d’Anatolie.27
427
Anna POURADIER DUTEIL-LOIZIDOU
428
Le gouvernement de Chypre
Ce qui est sûr en tout cas, c’est qu’en janvier 1703, arrive un nouveau gou-
verneur, nommé Ibrahim pacha, et que la nation française se rend à Nicosie au
début de février pour lui souhaiter la bienvenue et lui offrir des cadeaux.38 Elle
aurait du y retourner avant le terme de son mandat quand Ibrahim pacha la
fit informer qu’il avait été reconduit dans sa charge pour une seconde année.
Mais comme le consul de France était alors indisposé et qu’il ne voulait pas être
devancé par le consul d’Angleterre, la nation française, réunie en assemblée,
décida d’y envoyer le drogman du consulat pour transmettre à Ibrahim pacha
les compliments écrits du consul et lui offrir, de sa part, des cadeaux.39 Mais
Ibrahim pacha finalement ne fut pas reconduit, car, muté à Saïda40, c’est l’ex-
grand-vizir Rami Mehmed pacha qui le remplaça comme gouverneur. Celui-ci
arriva à Chypre le 5 mars 1704.41 Selon les informations données par le consul
de France au ministre de la Marine à Paris et à la Chambre de Commerce de
Marseille, Rami Mehmed pacha « est un homme d’une roideur et d’une opi-
niatreté inflexible, qui montre beaucoup de penchant pour les Grecs qu’il pro-
tège presque toujours contre les Turcs ». D’après le consul, il était hostile aux
Francs et surtout aux Français auxquels il refusa la poursuite du commerce du
blé et du riz.42 La chance, pour les Français, voulut que Rami Mehmed pacha
fut nommé, quelques mois plus tard, gouverneur au Caire et quitta Chypre
avant d’arriver au terme de son premier mandat.43 Dès le 26 octobre 1704,
c’est le mousalem du nouveau gouverneur qui traite les affaires en attendant
son arrivée.44 Le nouveau gouverneur, Ismaïl pacha, débarqua à Larnaca le 1er
novembre 1704.45 Le lendemain, le consul de France fut reçu en audience46 et
le 19 novembre la nation française se rendit à Nicosie pour la visite protoco-
laire.47 Elle fut très bien reçu, d’après le consul, mais Ismaïl pacha leur refusa, lui
429
Anna POURADIER DUTEIL-LOIZIDOU
aussi, l´autorisation d’exporter du blé sous prétexte qu’il n’avait pas encore plu.48
Cependant, l’ambassadeur de France, dont il était un ami, le tenait en estime
et appréciait son attitude à l’égard du consul et de la nation.49 Mais ce nouveau
gouverneur ne demeura pas longtemps à Chypre : en mars 1705, c’était un autre
Ibrahim pacha qui lui succèda.50 Celui-ci, d’après le consul de France, accorde-
rait bien l´autorisation d´exporter du blé de Chypre, mais la sécheresse et l’in-
vasion des sauterelles en firent monter le prix jusqu’à 8 livres la charge, ce qui
rendait son commerce inintéressant pour la France.51
Ibrahim pacha resta à Chypre moins d’un an. Le 5 février 1706, le consul
de France informa Marseille qu’un nouveau gouverneur était attendu inces-
samment dans l’île, qu’il s’agissait de celui qui gouverna Salonique en 1705 et
qu’il avait la réputation d’être mauvais.52 Ce nouveau gouverneur, qui s’appe-
lait Ibrahim pacha comme son prédécesseur, arriva à Chypre un peu avant la
mi-mars 1706 et le 22 du même mois la nation française se rendit à Nicosie
pour lui faire la visite protocolaire et lui offrir les cadeaux d’usage.53 Le trans-
port de Constantinople d’une partie de sa suite fut assuré, non sans incidents
en mer, par la corvette La Dorade commandée par le capitaine Joseph Arnaud,
de Marseille.54 Mais cet Ibrahim pacha, lui non plus, ne gouverna pas longtemps
Chypre : quelques mois après sa prise de fonctions dans l’île, le grand-vizir lui
donna le pachalik de Diarbekir55 et Chypre se trouva une nouvelle fois dans l’at-
tente d’un nouveau gouverneur.
Le successeur d´Ibrahim pacha fut Süleyman pacha vezir, dont Alasya56 et
Stavrides57 indiquent à tort qu’il gouverna Chypre au cours des années 1699-
1700. Süleyman pacha arriva à Larnaca le 14 juin 1706 à bord d’un vaisseau
turc58 et la nation française, informée de son arrivée, alla lui souhaiter la bien-
430
Le gouvernement de Chypre
venue et lui offrir des cadeaux.59 Les cadeaux se renouvelèrent en juillet lorsque
Süleyman pacha fit informer la nation française qu’il était prêt à recevoir sa
visite protocolaire à Nicosie.60 Süleyman pacha fut confirmé dans son poste
pour une seconde année.61
Le 29 avril 1708 cependant, son successeur, Hadji Mustafa pacha, débarqua
à Larnaca d’un vaisseau du Sultan62 mais son mandat dura moins d’un an63,
puisque le 28 mars 1709, arriva à Nicosie un nouveau gouverneur, Yusuf pacha,
ci-devant gouverneur de Satalie.64 Le consul de France, en informant la Chambre
de Commerce de Marseille de l’arrivée de ce nouveau gouverneur, ne manque
pas de lui exprimer son inquiétude : « Dieu veuille que nous soyons aussi en
repos sous son gouvernement que sous les precedens ; mais la conjoncture du
tems n’est pas favorable ».65 Les députés du consulat, de leur côté, souhaitent que
ce gouverneur reste au moins un an à Chypre afin d’éviter au consulat de nou-
velles dépenses en présents.66
Cependant Yusuf pacha restera encore moins longtemps à Chypre que son
prédécesseur : le 24 septembre 1709, le consul de France informe Marseille que
le sultan avait décidé de ne plus envoyer à Chypre de pacha-gouverneur mais
un musselim qui dépendrait d’un gouverneur résidant désormais à Constanti-
431
Anna POURADIER DUTEIL-LOIZIDOU
432
Le gouvernement de Chypre
ses domestiques.75 Le consul de France estimait que Mehmed aga était plus trai-
table que son prédécesseur.76 Cependant il ne gouverna pas longtemps Chypre :
le 20 mars 1710, son successeur se trouvait déjà à Nicosie et la nation française
en assemblée décida d’y envoyer, le 23 mars, son premier drogman pour lui
souhaiter la bienvenue et lui offrir les cadeaux d’usage.77 Seulement, ce troi-
sième musselim, que le consul estimait être « le plus vain et le plus fantasque
de tous les negres », refusa les cadeaux que lui avait apportés le premier drog-
man du consulat et exigea que la nation française fût représentée par son consul
et qu’elle lui offrît des cadeaux de plus grande valeur. Le consul ne voulant pas
donner plus qu’à l’ordinaire, informa son ambassadeur des prétentions de ce
musselim et en attendant qu’il lui eût envoyé « un ordre de selictar pacha pour
mettre son negre à la raison », il prit toutes les mesures afin d´éviter que le mus-
selim ne se tourne contre la nation française.78
Cependant, ce troisième musselim ne tarda pas à se montrer peu amical à
l’égard des Français. Le 3 mai 1710, il chercha à faire une avanie de 580 piastres
aux Grecs et Turcs de Chypre qui avaient aidé les Français à exporter de l’île du
blé et du riz. La nation française comprit que cette avanie visait indirectement
les Français ; aussi soutint-elle les accusés et, avec l’aide du titaban, du serdar
et du cadi, réussit à la faire baisser jusqu´à 200 piastres. Et pour se conserver
les bons offices des habitants de l’île, elle décida en assemblée de prendre cette
dépense à sa charge.79
433
Anna POURADIER DUTEIL-LOIZIDOU
Tableau récapitulatif des gouverneurs de Chypre (fin 17e – début 18e siècle)
Bahri Hamet pacha (arrive le 27 avril 1697 – part bien avant le 30 avril 1698
car nommé nîsânci à Constantinople).
Mustafa pacha (arrive en avril 1698 – meurt en avril ou mai 1699, à savoir
peu de temps après sa reconduction pour une 2ème année).
Ismaïl pacha (arrive le 14 juin 1699 – meurt à la fin de l´année 1699).
Emir Ahmet pacha (arrive en mars 1700 – part fin juin ou début juillet 1701
car muté en Anatolie avant la fin de son 2ème mandat à Chypre).
Serkis Osman pacha (arrive vers la fin août 1701 – part vers novembre 1702
avant d´accomplir son 2ème mandat à Chypre).
Ibrahim pacha (arrive en janvier 1703 – part en janvier ou février 1704 car
muté à Saïda).
Rami Mehmet pacha, ex-grand-vizir (arrive le 5 mars 1704 – part vers sep-
tembre 1704 car muté au Caire).
Ismaïl pacha (arrive le 1er novembre 1704 – part vers février 1705).
Ibrahim pacha (arrive en mars 1705 – part vers janvier 1706).
Ibrahim pacha, ex-pacha à Salonique (arrive début mars 1706 – part vers
mai 1706 car muté à Diarbekir).
Süleyman pacha vizir (arrive le 14 juin 1706 – part vers mars 1708 avant de
finir son 2ème mandat à Chypre).
Hadji Mustafa pacha (arrive le 29 avril 1708 – part en février ou début mars
1709).
Yusuf pacha, ex-gouverneur de Satalie (arrive le 28 mars 1709 – part fin août
ou début septembre 1709).
En septembre 1709, le pachalik de Chypre est donné au silâhdâr du sultan
qui y envoie les représentants suivants pour gouverner l´île :
- Ahmed (arrive début septembre 1709 – part en octobre 1709),
- Mehmed aga (arrive avant le 22 octobre 1709 – part avant le 20 mars 1710),
- nom inconnu (arrive vers le 20 mars 1710 – part ?).
434
FINDING THE SYRIAN COUNTRYSIDE
AND ITS PEASANTS: REPRESENTATION
IN THE SYRIAN PRESS 1906-1914
Samir M. Seikaly*
I
By comparison with its larger neighbor to the South, namely Egypt, and, even,
its tiny neighbor to the West, i.e. Lebanon, the writing of Syria’s countryside and
its peasants (fallahin) in the closing decades of Ottoman era is, to put it mildly,
very slim indeed. Haim Gerber affirms just as much in his The Social Origins of
the Modern Middle East. Speaking about the ramifications of the Ottoman land
law of 1858, which, needless to say, necessarily involved the Syrian countryside
and its occupants, he observed that these “…are still not entirely clear, and source
materials are too few to enable us to form a coherent picture of what actually
took place.” The paucity of material relating to Syria’s countryside was so ext-
reme that Gerber himself felt obliged to have recourse to Gertrude Bell’s largely
impressionistic book, Syria: The Desert and the Sown, first published in 1907, in
order to say one or two things about the Syrian countryside on the eve of World
War I.1 Since the publication of Gerber’s book, however, the literature on the
subject has grown somewhat but the tendency to refer to the Syrian countryside
and its peasant inhabitants as a kind of a scenic background for the unfolding of
more important political and cultural events has persisted. Nevertheless, there
are several exceptions, in the sense that these do look, in varying detail, upon
aspects of Syria’s rural condition and that of its peasants. The two leading econo-
mic historians of the modern Middle East, Charles Issawi and Roger Owen, have
435
Samir M. SEIKALY
incorporated features of the Syrian countryside into their general economic his-
tories of the region.2 Others like James Reilly and Linda Schatkowski Schilcher
have produced more focused treatment centering their analysis on particular
and more limited aspects of the Syrian countryside.3 Together their collective
role in enhancing our understanding of given aspects of the material and human
life of rural Syria is undeniable, but the fact of the matter is that what they say
about it is necessarily colored by the retrospective manner in which they comp-
rehend it, rather than indicative of how Syrians themselves, at the time, percei-
ved this branch of economic activity and its human dynamics. To gain such an
inner insight at all it is imperative that published contemporary local sources
be excavated for relevant material that could conceivably shed some additional
light on the Syrian countryside, its economic configuration and social composi-
tion and how these were understood by contemporary Syrians. This is the ratio-
nale behind the writing of this brief investigation.
II
In the last three or four decades which preceded the ultimate dissolution of
the Ottoman Empire, published contemporary local sources could come in
one of two forms; either as Arabic books published in Syria or other adjoining
Arab provinces, or as products of the periodical press represented either by
daily newspapers or by other monthly publications. Up to this stage of research,
apart from a somewhat oblique reference to what appears to have been a stu-
dent manual, written by Fawzi Bey al-‘Azm, ca. 1914, carrying the title Lessons
in Agriculture, I have been unable to locate a single Arabic book, published in
Syria or in any other Arab province of the Ottoman Empire dealing directly, or
by allusion, with Syrian agriculture or working Syrian agriculturalists, by which
2 See Charles Issawi, The Fertile Crescent, 1800-1914: A Documentary Economic History,
Oxford 1988, and Roger Owen, The Middle East in the World Economy, 1800-1914, Lon-
don 2011.
3 See, for example, James Reilly, “Status Groups and Property holding in the Damascus
Hinterland, 1828-1880”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 21/4 (1989), 517-
539, and Linda Schatkowski Schilcher, “The Hauran Conflicts of the 1860s: A Chapter
in the Rural History of Modern Syria”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 13/2
(1981), 159-179.
436
Finding the Syrian countryside and its peasants
4 For reference to that book, date and place of publication as well as a brief survey of its
contents see the periodical al-Muqtabas, 8/8 (1913), 625.
5 See Muhammad Rafiq - Muhammad Bahjat, Wilayat Beirut, 2 vols, Beirut 1987.
6 Wady Medawar, La Syrie agricole, Beauvais 1903.
7 Toufick Saadé, Essai sur l’agriculture à l’Attaquié, Beauvais 1905.
8 For the sway that the two publications exercised on Syrian public opinion see Samir Sei-
kaly, “Damascene Intellectual Life in the Opening Years of the 20th Century: Muhammad
Kurd Ali and al-Muqtabas”, in Marwan Buheiry (ed.), Intellectual Life in the Arab East,
1890-1939, Beirut 1981.
437
Samir M. SEIKALY
III
Among the many contributors to the twin publications writing about gene-
ral economic matters there was consensus that human livelihood in general
(ma‘ash) was predicated upon agriculture, industry and commerce – in that
order.9 They judged Syrian handicraft industry to be in decline, unable to com-
pete against the products of modern European industry and as yet unable to
develop the necessary technical advances that would restore a kind of compe-
titive balance between it and its ascendant European adversary. Commerce, in
the opinion of the same contributors, was primordial in Syria, in accord with
Syrian innate talents and sanctioned by religious belief. Nevertheless they jud-
ged it to be feeble, encumbered by a multiplicity of hindrances ranging from
capital shortages, deficient transport facilities to, predictably, exorbitant or
arbitrary tax exactions.10 But regardless of the vital importance that industry
and commerce could play, the mainstay of the Syrian economy, for the same
contributors, was agriculture, regarded by them as the source of Syria’s wealth
(yunbu‘ al-tharwa) and the basis for its economic success (‘alyaha yatawaqaf
najah al-bilad min al-jiha al-iqtisadiyya).11 This being the case, it is not at all
surprising that agriculture, and the human beings that made it possible in the
first place, were attributed more attention than either industry or commerce on
the pages of the two Muqtabas publications.
Just as the urban elite writing about the Syrian economy valorized agricul-
ture, so too they tended to depict the fallah in what can be regarded as idea-
lized terms: the fallah, they said, was the fulcrum on which Syria’s prosperity
hinged (al-fallah mizan al-‘umaran).12 But as the material relating to peasant
9 This formula was frequently employed in both publications. For example see “al-Hara-
ka al-‘ilmiyya fi al-bilad al-‘arabiyya al-‘uthmaniyya” [Educational Activity in the Arab
Ottoman Countries], al-Muqtabas, 8/3 (1913), 206-209. Where volume numbers are in-
dicated the reference is to the periodical al-Muqtabas; where only day and month are
supplied the reference is to the daily.
10 For a general survey of the Syrian economy based on the press see Samir Seikaly, “The Syr-
ian Economy at the Turn of the Century: The Testimony of al-Muqtabas, 1906-1914 - An
Overview”, Jane Hathaway (ed.), The Arab Lands in the Ottoman Era, Minneapolis 2009.
11 This usage occurs in “al-Zira‘a fi Suriya” [Agriculture in Syria], an article written by an
agricultural engineer called Muhammad Mahdi Haydar who was based in the town of
Baalbek. See al-Qabas, 26 October 1913 (a substitute daily owned by Kurd Ali which ap-
peared following the temporary banning of the original al-Muqtabas).
12 See his “Bid‘at ayyam fi al-Jalil” [A few days in Galilee], al-Muqtabas 7/5 (1912), 373-379.
438
Finding the Syrian countryside and its peasants
and countryside in the twin publications testify, and as the owner of the twin
Muqtabas had the opportunity to personally observe, the real situation was
somewhat different. For Muhammad Kurd ‘Ali the fallah was misery personi-
fied (al-fallah surat al-shaqa’ mujassama).13 In his case, this did not represent
an a priori judgment; rather it was, in large, an outcome of his personal experi-
ence of the Syrian countryside as a small property holder in the hinterland of
Damascus and as one who went out of his way to get to know it.
Translating his conviction into actual practice, to the effect that one’s country
can truly be known only if one first encounters its countryside (la-tu‘raf al-bilad
kama hiya illa bi-ru’yat al-qura wa al-dasakir),14 Kurd ‘Ali journeyed through
almost all the parts that constituted geographic Syria, radiating east and west
as well as north and south from the city of Damascus. The reports of his tra-
vels, reproduced in several volumes of his periodical, convey a vivid picture of
Syria’s countryside and the fallahin who labored it; they also constitute an indis-
pensable, though overlooked, source for the state of the Syrian countryside and
its people as these were represented on the pages of Damascus’s leading daily.
The picture of the Syrian countryside conveyed by his reports, as well as by
other articles carried by the daily, is an amalgam of dynamism and stagnation,
contraction and expansion, appropriation and eviction, poverty and wealth.
On the one hand, he found islands of prosperous agricultural activity in regi-
ons adjacent to Damascus, such as al-Ghuta, Hawran and the Beqa‘ valley, in
the north of geographic Syria, that is around Aleppo and its hinterland, and in
other areas lying west or south west of the Syrian province, such as the Galilee
region and the coastal plains of Tyre, Sidon and Jaffa.15 That prosperity, he rea-
soned, arose from the employment, on the part of enterprising landlords, local
Christians, German and Jewish settlers, of advanced agricultural methods inc-
luding the utilization of agricultural tractors and more durable ploughs, better
irrigation techniques and land rotation, and the introduction of new crops as
well as the more intensive plantation of citrus fruits. In embarking upon the
promotion of advanced agriculture, such landlords were motivated by the rea-
439
Samir M. SEIKALY
lization that large agricultural surpluses were much in demand not only in local
expanding urban centers but also overseas.16
For Kurd ‘Ali, instances of rural prosperity were only one side the coin, off-
set by what he observed as the over-all anemic condition of Syrian agricul-
ture characterized, in much of the countryside, by wanton neglect of large
tracts of potentially fertile land (masahat al-aradi fi-biladina wasi‘a jiddan
wa-aktharuha muhmala),17 deplorable degradation of material resources and
the continued application of outmoded agricultural methods and practices.
Like the other contributors to his twin publications, he strained to understand
the reasons behind this ill-state of Syrian agriculture. Apart from the govern-
ment indifference as a principal cause for agricultural stagnation, he singled out
the severe shortage of capital investment in land, the endurance of the wasteful
musha‘ system of land distribution and systematic land fragmentation (tajzi’a).
In addition there were human factors involved, represented, on the one hand,
by outright abuse and exploitation of the peasantry and, on the other, by pea-
sant ignorance which acted as a barrier to the adoption of modern means and
methods of production.
On the pages of the twin Muqtabas, the fallah is represented somewhat ambi-
valently. On the one hand, he is at times construed as being the creator of his
own misery. His implacable fatalism, said Kurd ‘Ali, condemned him to inertia,
which reconciled him to leading a hard life characterized by ignorance (jahl),
squalor (awsakh), abject poverty (faqa) and deprivation (hirman).18 On the
other hand, he figures as victim, who was preyed upon by a merciless govern-
ment that over -taxed him by means of the tithe (al-‘ashar) and other arbitrary
impositions and their collection through ruthless tax-collectors (multazims),
ruined by enduring Bedouin (al-‘arab) incursions, and defrauded of the land,
16 For new enterprising farmers, see his “Fi ard al-Jalil” [In the Land of Galilee], al-Muqta-
bas 6/1 (1911), 10-35; 117-132 and “Bid‘at ayyam fi al-Jalil” [A Few Days in the Galilee],
al-Muqtabas 7/5 (1912), 373-379.
17 Quoted in “al-Zira‘a fi Suriya”. See note 11.
18 These terms are to be found in “Ghara’ib al-gharb: al rahil min Dimashq ila Lubnan” [Cu-
riosities of the West: Setting out from Damascus to Lebanon], al-Muqtabas 4/8 (1908),
465-501.
440
Finding the Syrian countryside and its peasants
19 For over-taxation and the abuses exercised by multazims and moneylenders see the ar-
ticle “al-Jibaya fi al-Islam” [Taxation in Islam], al-Muqtabas 2/4 (1907), 204-210 and 4/2-
3 (1909), 90-100, 154-160. The two last articles contain a withering attack on the excess
committed by the tax-farmers. See also “Ghara’ib al-Dara’ib” [The Strangest Taxes], al-
Muqtabas, 21 February 1909. For Bedouin incursions see “al-Badawi wa-al-Qarawi [The
Bedouin and the villager]”, al-Muqtabas, 1 January 1909, and “Iskan al-‘asha’yir” [Settling
the Bedouins], Al-Qabas, 19 November 1913.
20 Suggestions for improving Syrian agriculture and ameliorating peasant conditions ap-
pear in numerous places in the twin publications. What follows is a sample represen-
tation. See “Aghniya’una” [The Wealthy], al-Muqtabas 5/4 (1910), 233-237; “al-Ittikal
al-sharqi” [Eastern Dependency], al-Muqtabas 5/3 (1911), 195-204; “Rihla ila al-Qala-
mun al-asfal” [Voyage to the Lower Qalamun Mountain], al-Muqtabas, 5/6 (1911), 411-
414 and “Al-qada’ ‘ala al-shaqa” [The Eradication of Misery], al-Muqtabas, 5 July 1910.
441
Samir M. SEIKALY
IV
The preceding short survey of the twin Muqtabas publications suggests that
much is to be gained by the systematic use of the press as a unique historical
source formed at a time when the nature of landholding as well as methods of
agricultural production were being transformed not only in Syria but in other
Arab and non-Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire as well. The passage, for
example, from the non-private, miri, system of landholding to private owners-
hip was noted and frequently mentioned. That transition, as it is presented in
the press of the time, was neither smooth nor, for the peasants at least, volunta-
rily undertaken. In striving to avoid the grasping reach of a modernizing Otto-
man State, embodied in the imaginary of the fellahin as the soldier recruiter
and the tax gatherer, peasants are presented as trading off their potential right
to private ownership for a precarious right to continued cultivation. According
to a host of articles reproduced in our two publications, the damaging results of
that gullible transaction were already in evidence in the pre-war Syrian countr-
yside, represented by a growing, avaricious class of private landowners, amas-
sing progressively ever-expanding tracts of agricultural land, on which landless
peasants toiled as tenants, sharecroppers, seasonal workers or day laborers. As
represented on the pages of the two sister publications therefore, agriculture in
21 See “al-Fallah al-gharbi” [The Western peasant], al-Muqtabas 7/9 (1912), 719-720; “al-
Fallah wa-al-islah” [Peasant reform], al-Muqtabas, 14 March 1911.
442
Finding the Syrian countryside and its peasants
the Syrian countryside was not an idyllic affair in which the paternal instincts
of the stronger were exercised in favor of the weaker party. It seemed, rather,
that one party was feeding off the other: aggrandizing landlords increasing by
unfair or extra legal means, the size of their holdings at the expense of an impo-
verished peasantry sinking ever deeper into debt and a life of misery. What the
reader sees on the pages of Damascus’s two main publications is the genesis of
a grave socio-economic problem that was destined in later times to plague not
only Syria but other Arab countries as well. In this respect, the relentless drift
of the peasantry towards grinding poverty as depicted in the two publications
accords with some of the evidence, largely dependent on foreign consular cor-
respondence, included in Issawi’s book referred to above. There is much else in
the two publications pertaining to the Syrian countryside. On the basis of such
information it is possible, for example, to begin drawing up a rough draft of the
geography of pre-war Syrian agriculture indicating regional similarities, varia-
tions or outright differences. It would be possible as well to map out an evolving
taxonomy of Syrian plants, to establish with some degree of precision the exit
from plantation, for example, of mulberry trees and their subsequent substitu-
tion by more gainful fruit bearing trees such as citrus - for Kurd ‘Ali the orange
tree was simply blessed (mubaraka). The same can also be done for the falte-
ring cultivation of cotton, the slow expansion of tobacco and a variety of other
plants and crops being either abandoned or brought into cultivation.
443
PALESTINE IN THE 18 th CENTURY:
THE ERA OF DAHIR AL-‘UMAR
Mahmoud Yazbak*
Introduction
In this paper I want to highlight the career and achievements of perhaps
Palestine’s first “capitalist”—for the way he plowed large parts of his surplus
income back into the economy—or at least ruler-entrepreneur (to coin a new
hyphenation) who, before anyone else, understood how a commercialized agri-
cultural sector and an integrated peasantry combined with capital investment
in development could secure him the unrivalled leadership of, first, the Gali-
lee and then of most of Palestine, which was his prime ambition. When Shaykh
Dahir al-‘Umar al-Zaydani died in 1775, at the ripe old age of 85, he had ruled
large parts of Palestine for over half a century. That he had succeeded in doing
so in the absence of an official appointment from Istanbul points to a political
acumen, an economic zeal and a mastery of the art of balancing conflicting for-
ces so out of the ordinary that it put him far above his peers and contempora-
ries. Naturally, longevity and a robust health would also have played their part.
The undeniable result was that by the end of his life Dahir al-‘Umar had res-
haped the region’s political and economic contours in defiance of the existing
Ottoman sanjaqs to coincide largely with the natural borders of Palestine with
the town of Acre firmly established as its capital.1
444
Palestine in the 18 th century
Around the year 1700 a Dutch merchant by the name of Paul Maashoek
(pronounced “Maas-hook”) arrived in Acre. There he felt quickly at home—
compatriots who visited him would later report he had “gone native”—and the
local inhabitants took an obvious liking to him. All his business enterprises met
with success—besides trading in cotton for Europe, he was soon shipping con-
signments of soap that he produced in his own soap factory down the coast
via Jaffa to Damietta in Egypt. When Paul Maashoek died somewhere in 1711,
Dahir al-‘Umar was 21.
Recently discovered Ottoman documents relating to Paul Maashoek’s final
years in Acre form the prime stimulus behind this paper The paper aims to
revisit Acre during the early 1700s and zoom in on the economic and political
interactions between salient local and foreign players on the ground. I do so in
the first part of the article. My second aim is then to trace, in part two, how a
young and eager Dahir al-‘Umar capitalized on the repercussions of those first
two decades to carve out the politics of trade and power that explains his uni-
que position in the history of Palestine. While many aspects of the story are
familiar, I expect to cover new ground, first by giving Maashoek his historical
due, and second by going beyond the traditionally accepted picture of Shaykh
Dahir al-‘Umar as a local potentate who succeeded in holding his own vis-à-
vis the Ottoman authorities but in the end was forcefully cut to seize. Instead, I
will highlight the impetus he gave to the urbanization of the Galilee, whose four
main cities—Tiberias, Nazareth, Acre and Haifa, all small villages or even ham-
lets at the time—owe him their revival and the subsequent social and economic
flourishing that put them on a par, by the second half of the eighteenth century,
with Palestine’s other main trading town, Nablus. From this then sprang the
merchant class in these four cities whose active trading with the West helped
quicken the pace of Palestine’s integration into the Europe-dominated world
economy.
2 Ibid., 12.
445
Mahmoud YAZBAK
in Istanbul all concerning Paul Maashoek.3 Though covering only the last two
years of his life (1710-1711), they throw a fascinating light on his entire sojo-
urn in Acre and allow us to reconstruct vividly how, in a relatively short period
of time, Paul Maashoek succeeded in establishing himself as a successful and
much respected merchant: “al-khawaja Marzuq.”4
What is more, these documents leave no doubt as to how fully and quickly
Maashoek chose to integrate into the local surroundings and among the local
people—the authors quote Dutch visitors to Acre observing he had “gone
native”—and conclude:
Maashoek (…) maintained relations with a great number of local dignitaries, inclu-
ding representatives of the Ottoman central administration: the local kadı and the
fortress commander as well as the [more influential] sheiks among them. Among
the latter were Šayh ‘Umar (al-Zaydānī), and his brothers ‘Alī and Hamza who were
the virtual rulers of the Galilean countryside. Maashoek was also befriended by the
local archbishop.5
Maashoek had been born during the height of the Dutch primacy over
world commerce, shipping and finance, and thus cannot but have known how
fundamental a role the Dutch state played in securing Dutch hegemony over
world trade.6 In that respect, the Ottoman world he encountered when he star-
ted trading in Aleppo was a wholly different one: the state’s primary concern
was with revenue from taxes with an elaborate bureaucracy in place to guaran-
tee the continuing flow of tax funds to the state treasury, much of its income,
3 Ismail Hakkı Kadı – Jan Schmidt, “Paul Maashoek, Dutch Merchant and Adventurer in
Palestine (1669-1711),” Eurasian Studies 4/1 (2005), 1-17.
4 Cf. Inventory of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Library of the University of Leiden, com-
piled by Jan Just Witkam, Leiden 2007, 83, nr 126, “a business letter from Nasir to the
Dutch merchant Paul Maashoek from Acco, who is called al-Khawaga Marzuq by his
correspondent.”
5 Kadi and Schmidt, “Paul Maashoek”, 7.
6 In the run-up to the Nine Years’ War Dutch Stadholder William III had called com-
merce “the pillar of the state,” adding that “Dutch foreign policy must be based on the re-
quirements of Dutch shipping and trade”; Jonathan I. Israel, Dutch Primacy in the World
Trade, 1585-1740, Oxford 1989, 340. Israel gives what he calls an “early and highly sig-
nificant indication of the Dutch merchant elite’s capacity to harness the resources of the
Dutch state to long-distance high-risk enterprise” by mentioning their combined efforts,
in 1593-1596, to explore whether there existed a viable north-east passage to the East via
the White Sea; ibid., 47-48; see also e.g. 16-17.
446
Palestine in the 18 th century
of necessity, spent on a huge standing army to defend and secure the Empire’s
vast borders.
At the heart of the system was the mechanism of tax farming, whereby the
state sold the rights to tax collection over a certain area, a village or a town
or even to official government posts to individuals or groups for an indica-
ted amount of money which the latter would pay up front and then recoup
from the invariably larger sums they would actually take in. Bruce Maters is not
alone when he claims that the “heightened buying and selling of government
posts throughout the realm open[ed] the flood gates to influence peddling and
fiscal corruption,” and thus hindering instead of encouraging a flourishing state
economy.7 But it equally stands to reason that, because of the surplus income
the system enabled them to generate for themselves, tax farmers had an inte-
rest in preserving, if not promoting, the economic health of the area or post for
which they had purchased the tax rights.
Maashoek must have quickly noticed the absence of that other main prop of
the mercantilist system he had grown up with—i.e., the creation and stubborn
defense of trade monopolies.8 Monopolies, of course, enabled one not only to
have a controlling say in the processes of production, but also to have full leve-
rage over distribution and dictate prices. Soon after he arrived in Acre, Paul
Maashoek put two and two together and set to work, losing no time to start
7 Bruce Masters, The Origins of Western Economic Dominance in the Middle East, 1600-
1750, New York & London 1988, 189-190; for example, as he shows (pp. 291-200), when
the Iranian silk trade across the Syrian dessert began to contract, diminishing revenues
left the Ottoman state’s economy planners groping for a solution: “[P]erhaps it would be
helpful to lower customs duties at Erzurun and to eliminate some of the internal cus-
toms stations along the silk route in Anatolia. Such responses (…) were largely ineffec-
tual” (p. 195).
8 Analyzing the expansion of Dutch Guinea trade in the early seventeenth century, for ex-
ample, Israel shows how “merchants (…) worried that the unrestricted rivalry was cut-
ting profits to the disadvantage of all [decided] to find some way of federating the trade
and achieving collaboration instead of competition,” which led straight to the monop-
oly of traffic by the Dutch West India Company set up for the purpose in 1621; Israel,
Dutch Primacy, 61-62. Another example comes from the Dutch fur trade from Russia.
By the 1620s Dutch trade agents had turned the port of Archangel on the White Sea into
“a virtual Dutch colony” buying up “advances of the next winter’s stock of sable, marten,
ermine, wildcat, mink, wolf, arctic fox and even squirrel” [emphasis added], leaving their
competitors nothing to do when summer came “except lament that there was nothing
to buy”; Simon Schama, Rembrandt’s Eyes, Hamilton 1999, 335-336, where he discusses
Rembrandt’s portrait of the Amsterdam fur dealer Nicolaes Ruts.
447
Mahmoud YAZBAK
applying the insights he had gained during his Aleppo years and, in the process,
quickly integrating into Palestinian society as he found it.
448
Palestine in the 18 th century
Cohen leaves little doubt that Maashoek’s actions are behind these develop-
ments: “With his aid, these [the French] merchants were soon able to corner a
large portion of the cotton reaching Acre, and they made huge profits.”10
Maashoek himself then went on to transcend these practices to effectively
create a monopoly system.
The village shaykhs got accustomed to this system; it developed into an “institution”
that outlived Maashoek himself.11 […] Maashoek had gained a position in local
Ottoman society that was unique for a foreigner before the 19th century and gave
him more freedom than the average foreign merchant bound by the letter of the
law. The fact that he owned property, a soap manufactory, […] was exceptional and
actually contrary to the privileges granted in the capitulations.12
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid., 13; see also below.
12 Ibid., 16.
13 Johan Egidius van Egmond van der Nyenberg and Johannes Wilhelmus Heyman, Reizen
door een Gedeelte van Europa, Klein Asien, Verscheide Eilanden van de Archipel, Syrien,
Palestina of het H. Land, Aegypten, den Berg Sinai, enz. In den beginne van deze eeuw
gedaan [Travels through Part of Europe, Asia Minor, Various Islands of the Archipelago,
Syria, Palestine or the Holy Land, Egypt, Mount Sinai, etc. Done in the beginning of this
century], 2 vols., edited by Johannes Wilhelmus Heyman, Leiden 1757 (vol. 1) and 1758
(vol. 2), vol. 2, 14.
14 Ibid., vol. 1, 411.
449
Mahmoud YAZBAK
450
Palestine in the 18 th century
for the urbanization of the Galilee that would help galvanize the rural-urban
networks that are at the heart of any commercialized agricultural economy.
451
Mahmoud YAZBAK
21 Cf. Amnon Cohen, “Ottoman Rule and the Re-emergence of the Coast of Palestine,” Re-
vue du Monde Musulman et de la Méditerranée 39 (1985), pp. 163-175.
22 Mahmoud Yazbak, Haifa in the Late Ottoman Period, 1864-1914. A Muslim Town in
Transition, Leiden 1998, pp. 10-12.
452
Palestine in the 18 th century
Conclusion
When Dahir al-`Umar died in 1775, he had ruled large parts of Palestine for
over half a century. Capitalizing on the forward economy introduce by the
Dutch merchant “gone native”, Paul Maashoek [d. 1711], Dahir created a poli-
tics of trade and power that brought about the economic flourishing of Pales-
tine and the prosperity of its population for most of the eighteenth century.
From his urbanization of the Galilees’s main villages, Tiberias, Nazareth, Acre
and Haifa, sprang the merchant class whose subsequent active trading with the
West helped quicken the pace of Palestine's integration into the Europe-domi-
nated world economy.
453
PART IV
INSIDE
A WIDER WORLD
Pane l
Peter Burschel*
I. Arrival at Stake
The following contribution draws upon an observation which I owe to my
endeavor to read early modern ambassador’s reports from the Ottoman Empire
as self-narratives:1 from a dramaturgical perspective these reports are primarily
arrival reports – indeed, they reach significantly beyond the normal standard of
the genre which characterizes reports drawn up by Western European emissa-
455
Peter BURSCHEL
ries or legation members in London, Paris or Vienna.2 I asked myself what the
explanation for this observation might be, and concluded that there was in par-
ticular one key experience: the experience, during the long journey to Istanbul
of repeatedly – from place to place, in a manner of speaking – having to find
or indeed having to negotiate a common symbolic language with the Ottoman
hosts.3 At the same time, I noted that this experience was almost universally
described as a process which steadily gains in suspense – before ultimately cul-
minating in Topkapı Sarayı in Istanbul,4 where symbolically everything was at
stake in the audience before the Sultan.5
2 Project and contribution alike are based upon some 50 printed and unpublished reports
from the Ottoman Empire written primarily by Habsburg diplomats: in addition to trav-
elogues intended for a wider readership, these also include final reports and journals. They
encompass the period from the beginning of the 16th century to the beginning of the 18th
century. – Exemplary studies for (diplomatic) perceptions and interpretations of the Ot-
toman Empire since the Late Middle Ages: Daniel Goffman, Britons in the Ottoman Em-
pire, 1642–1660, Washington 1998, Idem, The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe,
Cambridge 2002, Almut Höfert, Den Feind beschreiben. ‘Türkengefahr’ und europäisches
Wissen über das Osmanische Reich 1450–1600, Frankfurt/Main, New York 2003, Gerald
Maclean, The Rise of Oriental Travel. English Visitors to the Ottoman Empire, 1580–1720,
Basingstoke 2004, Michael Rohrschneider - Arno Strohmeyer (eds), Wahrnehmungen
des Fremden. Differenzerfahrungen von Diplomaten im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Münster
2007, Ralph Kauz - Giorgio Rota - Jan Paul Niederkorn (eds), Diplomatisches Zeremoni-
ell in Europa und im Mittleren Osten in der Frühen Neuzeit, Wien 2009, Gerald Maclean -
Nabil Matar, Britain and the Islamic World, 1558–1713, Oxford 2011.
3 On symbolic communication in the early modern period, together with the relevant lit-
erature, e.g.: Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, “Symbolische Kommunikation in der Vormod-
erne. Begriffe – Thesen – Forschungsperspektiven”, Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung
31 (2004), 489–527.
4 Gülru Necipoğlu, Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power. The Topkapı Palace in the Fif-
teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Cambridge MA 1991.
5 It is also worth noting that the audience as a place of symbolic communication has
played only a very marginal role in the research field to date. However, insights are pro-
vided by Christina Lutter, Politische Kommunikation an der Wende vom Mittelalter zur
Neuzeit. Die diplomatischen Beziehungen zwischen der Republik Venedig und Maximil-
ian I. (1495–1508), Wien, München 1998, 146–158, Johannes Paulmann, Pomp und Poli-
tik. Monarchenbegegnungen in Europa zwischen Ancien Régime und Erstem Weltkrieg,
Paderborn, München, Wien, Zürich 2000, 183–194, Antje Flüchter, “Sir Thomas Roe vor
dem indischen Mogul: Transkulturelle Kommunikationsprobleme zwischen Repräsen-
tation und Administration”, Stefan Haas - Mark Hengerer (eds), Im Schatten der Macht.
Kommunikationskulturen in Politik und Verwaltung 1600–1950, Frankfurt/Main, New
York 2008, 119–143, Sanjay Subrahmanyam (ed), Courtly Encounters. Translating Court-
liness and Violence in Early Modern Eurasia, Cambridge/Massachusetts, London 2012
456
Space, time and the confession of ritual
and soon: Peter Burschel - Christine Vogel (eds), Die Audienz. Ritualisierter Kulturkon-
takt in der Frühen Neuzeit, Köln, Weimar, Wien 2014.
6 To cite just one example from the unpublished emissary journal of Hans Ludwig von
Kuefstein (1582–1656), who headed a large Habsburg legation to Constantinople in
1628/1629: “Diarium oder genaue beschreÿbung deßen so auf der Türkhischen Lega-
tion, vonn tag zu tag, fürgehet vnd gehandelet wirdt.” Oberösterreichisches Landesarchiv
Linz, Weinberger Archivalien: Ottomanische Legation, Handschrift 16, fol. 54v: Kuefs-
tein spots a high, trellised window in the Diwan, behind which he immediately believes
he recognizes the eyes of the Sultan.
7 An experience that is described in almost all studied reports, and which can generally be
localized with great precision: as an experience of the transition from the second to the
third courtyard of Topkapı Sarayı. Here just two examples from the early 18th century:
Simpert von Neresheim, Diarium, Oder: Außfuehrliche curiose Reiß=Beschreibung / Von
Wien nach Constantinopel und von dar wider zurück in Teutschland […], Augsburg 1700,
133l, Gerard Cornelius von den Driesch, Historische Nachricht von der Roem. Kayserl.
Groß=Botschafft nach Constantinopel […], Nürnberg 1723, 195–197.
8 Martina Löw, Raumsoziologie, Frankfurt/Main 2001.
457
Peter BURSCHEL
9 Cf. Peter Burschel, “Das Eigene und das Fremde. Zur anthropologischen Entzifferung
diplomatischer Texte”, Alexander Koller (ed), Kurie und Politik. Stand und Perspektiven
der Nuntiaturberichtsforschung, Tübingen 1998, 260–271, Christian Windler, “Diploma-
tie als Erfahrung fremder politischer Kulturen. Gesandte von Monarchen in den eid-
genössischen Orten (16. und 17. Jahrhundert)”, Geschichte und Gesellschaft, 32 (2006),
5–44.
10 Also within this context: Peter Burschel, “Der Sultan und das Hündchen. Zur politischen
Ökonomie des Schenkens in interkultureller Perspektive”, Historische Anthropologie, 15
(2007), 408–421; soon as a revised version under the title “A Clock for the Sultan. Diplo-
matic Gift-giving from an Intercultural Perspective”, forthcoming in The Medieval His-
tory Journal.
11 Löw, Raumsoziologie, 266.
12 An initial attempt to do justice to the starting observation of this contribution has al-
ready been made: Peter Burschel, “Topkapı Sarayı. Oder Salomon Schweiggers Reise ans
Ende der Zeit”, Bähr - Burschel - Jancke (eds), Räume des Selbst, 29–40.
13 Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Haus-, Hof- and Staatsarchiv Vienna, Staatenabteilung,
Türkei I, Turcica, 34–36.
458
Space, time and the confession of ritual
459
Peter BURSCHEL
460
Space, time and the confession of ritual
“However, the Emissary was determined to preserve his reputation by all means,
and not yield to them […] then the Turks plucked up courage and two of their
senior officers together with many junior ranks came towards us, and when they
had approached to within a few steps of the Emissary, the two began to run as fast
as they were able, and one seized the Emissary by the hand and kissed his hand,
while the other did the same with the Lieutenant who was standing at the side of
the Emissary.”27
Once the leader of the Ottoman escort had kissed the hand of the emissary
and had then sworn “by his head” (“bey seinem Kopff ”) to lead the legate and
his entourage safely to Istanbul, his soldiers repeated this promise by shouting
out their endorsement, demonstratively grasping their heads.28 Did this symbo-
lically restore order? For Sintzendorff perhaps, but certainly not for Schweig-
ger. He merely remarks acerbically: “You should not swear by your head, for you
have not a single hair on it”29 – thus revealing how confessional and ceremo-
nial sensibility in the “Reyßbeschreibung” need to be viewed within the con-
text of each other. For one thing is clear: by introducing the word of Christ into
this situation of symbolic – political – communication, Schweigger is stressing
the primacy of the word above all symbolically-communicated sensory per-
ceptions. In this relation it is important to remember that in Lutheranism the
word is viewed not as a symbol. The word possesses a spiritual quality, exten-
ding far beyond all ‘mere’ symbolism.30 That means, however: in this spiritual
sense, that the word is relieved of all formal standardized acts and arrange-
ments which can neither be necessary for salvation nor conditional for salva-
tion. For this reason, in the strictest sense the word can never be ‘part’ of a ritual
or ceremony.31 So what is Schweigger aiming to achieve through his remarks?
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid., 9–10.
29 Ibid., 10.
30 Jörg Jochen Berns, “Luthers Papstkritik als Zeremoniellkritik. Zur Bedeutung des pästli-
chen Zeremoniells für das fürstliche Hofzeremoniell der Frühen Neuzeit”, Jörg Jochen
Berns - Thomas Rahn (eds), Zeremoniell als höfische Ästhetik in Spätmittelalter und
Früher Neuzeit, Tübingen 1995, 157–173, 167.
31 Ibid., 165. Cf. against this backdrop Susan C. Karant-Nunn, The Reformation of Ritu-
al. An Interpretation of Early Modern Germany, London, New York 1997, Edward Muir,
Ritual in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge 20034, 19971, 155–181, Barbara Stollberg-
Rilinger, “Knien vor Gott – Knien vor dem Kaiser. Zum Ritualwandel im Konfessions-
konflikt”, Gerd Althoff (ed), Zeichen – Rituale – Werte, Münster 2004, 501–533.
461
Peter BURSCHEL
462
Space, time and the confession of ritual
on the day of arrival in Istanbul, the ceremonials here too proceed according
to plan.35 Whereby it should be noted that the legation suffers a symbolic defeat
upon arrival: the escort which had accompanied them to their quarters comp-
rised a relatively modest group of 150 riders.36 Moreover, Habsburg emissa-
ries to the Sublime Porte in the 16th century were anyway not able to make
those symbolic demands which were to become customary after the end of the
so-called ‘Long Turkish War’ in the year 1606.37 This was when the payment
of tributes reached a contractual conclusion in the Peace of Zsitvatorok38 and
the Sultan undertook to address his counterpart in the future no longer as the
King of Vienna: ‘Beç Kralı’, but instead as the Roman emperor: ‘Rom Çasarı’.39
To cite just one example: Joachim von Sintzendorff would never have attemp-
ted to enter Istanbul with waving banners and marching music, as occurred
from the early 17th century onwards, for example in the case of Hermann Czer-
nin von Chudenitz (1616),40 Hans Ludwig von Kuefstein (1628)41 or Johann
Rudolf Schmid zum Schwarzenhorn (1651).42
35 Ibid., 50.
36 Ibid., 76–80.
37 Goffman, The Ottoman Empire, 192–225.
38 Ernst Dieter Petritsch, “Tribut oder Ehrengeschenk? Ein Beitrag zu den habsbur-
gisch-osmanischen Beziehungen in der zweiten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts”, Elisabeth
Springer - Leopold Kammerhofer (eds), Archiv und Forschung. Das Haus-, Hof- und Sta-
atsarchiv in seiner Bedeutung für die Geschichte Österreichs und Europas, Wien, München
1993, 49–58, here especially p. 53.
39 Karl Nehring, Adam Freiherrn zu Herbersteins Gesandtschaftsreise nach Konstantinopel.
Ein Beitrag zum Frieden von Zsitvatorok (1606), München 1983, 44, Markus Köhbach,
“Çasar oder imperator? – Zur Titulatur der römischen Kaiser durch die Osmanen nach
dem Vertrag von Zsitvatorok (1606)”, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes
82 (1992), 223–234.
40 Johann Wilhelm Zinkeisen, Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches in Europa, 7 vols, Ham-
burg and Gotha 1840–1863, vol. 3: Das innere Leben und angehender Verfall des Reiches
bis zum Jahre 1623, Gotha 1855, 709–712.
41 Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv Vienna, Staatenabteilung,
Türkei I, Turcica, 111: “An die Roemische Kayserliche Mayestett Vnserm Allergnaedig-
sten Herrn. Allerdemuetigste Relation, von der verrichten Tuerckischen Absandtung”
(1628/1629), fol. 18r–19v.
42 Ibid., Türkei I, Turcica, 124: Hauptrelation (1651 June 10), fol. 50r–51v. Cf. Peter Meien-
berger, Johann Rudolf Schmid zum Schwarzenhorn als kaiserlicher Resident in Konstanti-
nopel in den Jahren 1629–1643. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der diplomatischen Beziehungen
zwischen Österreich und der Türkei in der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts, Bern, Frank-
463
Peter BURSCHEL
Having more or less idled away the following two weeks in their quarters,
on 17 January the legation suddenly received the call to appear before Murad
III in Topkapı Sarayı, in the “castle” (“Burg”), as Schweigger describes it. The tri-
bute was immediately loaded up, and Joachim von Sintzendorff together with
his predecessor David Ungnad Baron zu Sonneck embarked on a frenzy of pre-
paration.43
Whichever ambassadorial report or travel report one consults, the space
Topkapı Sarayı outlined by Schweigger on the following pages is unequalled. In
contrast to earlier and later writers, the space Topkapı Sarayı which he descri-
bes is not a structured, is not an enclosed and is not a stringent ensemble.44 It is
certainly the case that Schweigger also mentions gates, courtyards, rooms, cor-
ridors, places which have functions, which separate, distance and establish hie-
rarchies and with which we are of course familiar in this or a similar form from
other emissarial reports.45 However, the architectural, acoustic and consequ-
ently not least symbolic context of the order remains diffuse. This is also shown
by the fact that it is by no means easy to reconstruct with any precision the cere-
monial procedure of the audience described in the “Reyßbeschreibung”.46
furt/Main 1973, 26–27 (and more often) – as well as in general terms on the gradual
perception of these symbolic shifts of power in Western Europe (and on the attempts to
determine their political, economic and social backgrounds) Nabil Matar, Turks, Moors
and Englishmen in the Age of Discovery, New York 1999, Aslı Çırakman, From the ‘Terror
of the World’ to the ‘Sick Man of Europe’: European Images of Ottoman Empire and Society
from the Sixteenth Century to the Nineteenth, New York 20052 (20021), Daniel J. Vitkus,
Turning Turk: English Theater and the Multicultural Mediterranean, 1570–1630, Basing-
stoke 2003, Nancy Bisaha, Creating East and West: Renaissance Humanists and the Otto-
man Turks, Philadelphia 2004, Matthew Dimmock, New Turkes: Dramatizing Islam and
the Ottomans in Early Modern England, Aldershot 2005.
43 Cf. Schweigger, Reyßbeschreibung, 55.
44 An observation which applies more or less equally to the description of the path to the
audience included in the chronological context of events (ibid., 55–57) as well as to the
relevant systematic chapters (ibid., 58–59, 62–64).
45 In individual cases, also from reports which do not derive from emissaries or legation
members. Cf. e.g. Susan Skilliter, “‘The Stately Porch of the Grand Signor at Constanti-
nopel’: the Ottoman Court as Seen by Elizabethan Travellers: Comparisons and Con-
trasts”, August Buck - Georg Kauffmann - Blake Lee Spahr - Conrad Wiedemann (eds),
Europäische Hofkultur im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Hamburg 1981, 81–92.
46 This is due not least to the fact that it is certainly not possible to localize all described
ceremonial actions.
464
Space, time and the confession of ritual
One may ask how this observation might be explained. It is worth paying
particular attention to the words Schweigger uses to report that during the
audience the old and the new emissary are obliged to kiss the cuff of the Sultan’s
robe.47 He writes indignantly,
This courtly practice that the Roman Emperor or his emissaries are obliged to per-
form prostrated before the Turk was not always so, for I do not think that Constan-
tine the Great, Charlemagne and other comparable Roman Emperors would have
done any such thing, it first arose when the Roman Empire stood on feet of clay48.
47 On this practice, only Konrad Dilger, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des osmanischen
Hofzeremoniells im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, München 1967, 52–62, 70–72.
48 Schweigger, Reyßbeschreibung, 55.
49 Ibid., 55–56.
50 Examples: Olivia Pelletier, “Les robes d’honneur et les ambassades européennes à la
Cour ottoman”, Anne de Margerie - Laurence Posselle (eds), Topkapı à Versailles. Trésors
de la Cour ottomane, Paris 1999, 89–100, Monika Springberg-Hinsen, Die Hil‘a. Studien
zur Geschichte des geschenkten Gewandes im islamischen Kulturkreis, Würzburg 2000,
238–243, Gavin R.G. Hambly, “From Baghdad to Bukhara, from Ghazna to Delhi: The
Khil‘a Ceremony in the Transmission of Kingly Pomp and Circumstance”, Steward Gor-
don (ed), Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture, New York 2001, 193–222,
Matthew Elliot, “Dress Codes in the Ottoman Empire: the Case of the Franks”, Suraiya
Faroqhi - Christoph K. Neumann (eds), Ottoman Costumes. From Textile to Identity, Is-
tanbul 2004, 103–123.
51 Cf. Neuber, “Türkisches Zeremoniell”, 84.
465
Peter BURSCHEL
IV. An Idol
Those who wish to put the rule to the test will find what they need in the
“Reyßbeschreibung” more than once. To follow just one theme: shortly after
Schweigger has vented his anger, he describes the Sultan: “on the low stage, as
if he had passed away”, “like a carved statue, without speaking, without looking
and without any animated gesture”, “like an idol” – and casually mentions: “cha-
ins of office, royal crown, scepter, orb, cloak and such imperial ornament is unk-
nown and unfamiliar to them.”54
466
Space, time and the confession of ritual
55 Ibid, 145–146.
56 In this sense already Neuber, “Türkisches Zeremoniell”, 86.
57 Cf. Schweigger, Reyßbeschreibung, 146–147.
467
Peter BURSCHEL
in a pater patriae capacity – but simultaneously also his sole legitimate addres-
see qua office, which, as an external office (for it is the Princely Office), would
be incapable of surviving in the absence of temporal and political ceremony
– on the grounds that the ceremonial generates respect and obedience.58 On
the other hand, certainly – and for us this is the key – the not merely Lutheran
expectation that the Islamic powers could not last for more than a thousand
years, and that this period of rule was set to end around the transition from the
16th to the 17th century.59
Consequently, even after putting the rule to the test, the space Topkapı Sarayı
is not an ‘arcanum’, it is not a secret that needs uncovering; it is not a labyrinth
which leads one astray; it is not an ‘exoticum’ which may be marveled at, as is
the case in so many other ambassadorial reports. The space remains a space at
the end of time. Indeed, this space is time. And he who travels within the hori-
zon of eschatological Adventism does not even need a ceremony to reveal this
to him. All he needs is the absence thereof.
468
The material culture of diplomacy:
Some remarks on tangible dimensions
of early modern Habsburg-Ottoman
relations
Harriet Rudolph*
For quite some time, material culture has constituted an important field of
research in ethnographical, archaeological, sociological and anthropologi-
cal studies.1 Certain scholars have even announced a material turn within the
humanities.2 Material culture studies focus on the impact of things on all forms
of human performance. Things are considered powerful tokens that enable
individuals to establish, to confirm, or to challenge social and political orders.
They are used by people to set up effective symbols of distinction in the pro-
cess of defining social groups and political entities. Specific objects are able to
serve as markers of identity exhibiting a certain cultural affiliation or cultural
difference. They have been labeled as actants to stress the essential part they
play within human performances, and to overcome the artificial boundary bet-
ween human beings who act and objects that are merely used to act.3 Things,
469
Harriet RUDOLPH
objects, artefacts, or items are supposed to “matter”, to have a “social life” or even
a “biography” in the sense of being produced at a certain time, having been used
in different contexts and situations afterwards, and being destroyed in the end.
These forms of existence are characterized by a shifting status of things: Produ-
ced as commodities and sold for a certain cash value, they can be decommodi-
fied during their lifetime, and later on recommodified.4
According to Ian Woodward, “material culture is, chiefly, something por-
table and perceptible by touch and therefore has a physical material existence
that is one component of human cultural practice”5. Compared to other defi-
nitions, this one appears rather simple but in fact it applies quite effectively to
the present context. By stressing the possibility to touch, to feel, and to handle
objects, scholars are reminded to take into account the haptic dimensions of
history, which have been largely neglected so far.6 Neither the concept of mate-
rial culture nor the approach of a history of touch have had a noteworthy met-
hodological impact on studies in early modern diplomacy, even though letters,
official reports and travel accounts written by diplomats clearly prove that early
modern people were deeply concerned with materiality.7 Based upon these
sources, we are able to analyze various aspects of political communication. For
example, we can examine the material equipment of diplomats, the decoration
of diplomatic lodgings or the use of symbols of power and social status in the
Cambridge 1996; Viktor Buchli (ed.), The Material Culture Reader, Oxford 2000; Eliza-
beth DeMarrais - Chris Gosden - Colin Renfrew (eds), Rethinking Materiality: The En-
gagement of Mind with the Material World, Cambridge 2004; Daniel Miller, “Materiality:
An Introduction”, Ιdem (ed.), Materiality, Chapel Hill 2005, 1-50; Arthur Asa Berger,
What Objects Mean: An Introduction to Material Culture, Walnut Creek 2009.
4 Cf. Igor Kopytoff, “The Cultural Biography of Things: commoditization as process”, Ap-
padurai (ed.), Social Life, 64-91.
5 Woodward, Understanding, 15.
6 Apart from rather isolated endeavors, touch has only very recently become an issue that
is viewed as being able to deepen our understanding of the early modern past. Constance
Classen (ed.), The Book of Touch, Oxford 2005; Eadem, The Deepest Sense: A Cultural His-
tory of Touch, Urbana 2012; David Howes (ed.), Empire of the Senses. The Sensual Culture
Reader, London 2005; Elizabeth D. Harvey, “The ‘Sense of All Senses’”, Eadem (ed.), Sen-
sible Flesh: On Touch in Early Modern Culture, Philadelphia 2003, 1-21, 255-259.
7 Only in the last few years have historians published studies examining the material cul-
ture of diplomacy. For example, Helen Jacobson, The material world of the Stuart diplo-
mat, Oxford 2011, though this study does not really focus on the materiality of artefacts
as such.
470
The material culture of diplomacy
8 To be sure, historians have already dealt with some of these perspectives in the past, but
without drawing explicitly on concepts of material culture. For the culture of gifts, cf.
Hedda Reindl-Kiel, “Der Duft der Macht: Osmanen, islamische Tradition, muslimische
Mächte und der Westen im Spiegel diplomatischer Geschenke”, Wiener Zeitschrift zur
Kunde des Morgenlandes, 95 (2005), 195-258; Peter Burschel, “Der Sultan und das Hünd-
chen. Zur politischen Ökonomie des Schenkens in interkultureller Perspektive”, Histori-
sche Anthropologie, 15 (2007), 408-421.
9 See, in general, Anton C. Schaendlinger, “Der diplomatische Verkehr zwischen Öster-
reich und der Hohen Pforte im Zeitalter Süleymans des Prächtigen”, Kultur des Islam,
Vienna 1981, 91-104; Bülent Arı, “Early Ottoman Diplomacy: Ad Hoc Period”, A. Nuri
Yurdusev (ed.), Ottoman Diplomacy: Conventional or Unconventional?, Basingstoke
2004, 36-65; Geoff R. Berridge, “Diplomatic Integration with Europe before Selim III”,
Yurdusev (ed.), Ottoman Diplomacy, 114-130; Harriet Rudolph, “The Ottoman Empire
and the Institutionalization of European Diplomacy, 1500-1700”, Marie-Luisa Frick -
Andreas Th. Müller (eds), Islam and International Law, Leiden, forthcoming.
10 Cf. Robert Jütte, History of the Senses: From Antiquity to Cyberspace, Oxford 2005, 8-13;
Constance Classen, Worlds of Sense: Exploring the Senses in History and across Cultures,
London 1993, 1-2; Mark M. Smith, Sensing the Past: Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting
and Touching in History, Berkeley 2007, 3.
471
Harriet RUDOLPH
11 Cf. Bernhard Frenk, Textualized Objects: Material Culture in Early Modern English Lit-
erature, Heidelberg 2012, 12.
12 According to Leslie Peirce, “Wealth and high social status among Ottoman subjects were
broadcast less through domestic architecture than through the architecture of the per-
sons – one’s dress, mount, retinue, and physical deportment.” Leslie Peirce, “The Materi-
al World: Ideologies and Ordinary Things”, Virginia Aksan - Daniel Goffman (eds), The
Early Modern Ottoman Empire: A Reinterpretation, Cambridge 2007, 222.
13 Maximilian Brandstetter described the first courtyard of the Topkapi Palace as follows:
“Ist gar nichts, als etlich schlechte unachtsame Gebeu und Wohnung, aber nichts Or-
dentlichs aneinander”. Maximilian Brandstetter, “Itinerarium oder Raisbeschreibung”,
Karl Nehring (ed.), Adam Freiherrn zu Herbersteins Gesandtschaftsreise nach Konstanti-
nopel. Ein Beitrag zum Frieden von Zsitvatorok (1606), Munich 1983, 71-198, 125.
14 Cf. Salomon Schweigger, Ein newe Reyssbeschreibung auss Teutschland nach Constan-
tinopel und Jerusalem, [s.l.] 1608. All quotations follow Salomon Schweigger (revised
and ed. by Heidi Stein), Zum Hofe des türkischen Sultans, Leipzig 1986; ibid., 60; for the
Chamber of Petitions Gülru Necipoğlu, Architecture, ceremonial, and power: The Topka-
pi Palace in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Cambridge, Mass. 1991, 96-110. There
is a striking difference between reports that diplomats produced for their principal, and
travel accounts, which aimed at attracting a wider audience, because early modern read-
472
The material culture of diplomacy
decoration or divans, but even then the room remained largely empty because
there were almost no furnishings. The only noteworthy piece of furniture was
the low divan with its canopy, where the sultan sat during an audience. Accor-
ding to Maximilian Brandstetter, the floor as well as parts of the walls were
“mit köstlichen Teppichen von Gold, Silber, Sammat und Seiden durcheinander
gewürcket getzieret”15. There was also a small fireplace, but that was all.
The political performance of a sultan’s reception in audience thus depended
to a large extent on the varied relations between people in action and objects in
action. Their effect was enhanced by three codes of Ottoman diplomatic cere-
monial that foreign ambassadors had to face: silence, manners and costume.16
European visitors were frequently surprised by the silence Ottoman officials
displayed in the presence of the sultan. As Busbecq noticed when he passed a
large number of Janissaries in the first courtyard of the sultan’s palace: “What
struck me as particularly praiseworthy in that great multitude was the silence
and good discipline.”17 He was not sure if he had been looking at living people
or rather at statues, i.e. things. In 1591, the imperial envoy Wenceslas Wratis-
law of Mitrovitz noticed that the janissaries stood “as quiet as if they had been
hewn out of marble”.18 By choosing marble for comparison, he referred to a
material which was marked by its considerable hardness, its value and its bea-
utiful appearance. The sultan also received ambassadors in silence. If he spoke
at all, he would only utter a few sentences without even looking at his guests. At
the audience of Joachim von Sintzendorff in 1578, Murad III „saß auf der nie-
dern Bühne, als wär er entschlafen oder wie ein geschnitzt Bild, ohn alle Red,
ohn Umbsehen und ohn alle lebendige Gebärd […] wie ein Götz, die andern
473
Harriet RUDOLPH
drei [i.e. the viziers] stunden wie steinerine Bilder“.19 According to him, the sul-
tan sat at his dais like an icon representing a monarch who had decided not to
enhance the dignity of his guests by his own presence. In the 17th century there
were sultans like Ibrahim I who even shouted at envoys during an audience, but
that was considered to be a substantial breach of the ceremonial etiquette by
both sides.20 As a rule, apart from the envoy only the Chief Dragoman spoke to
the grand vizier, who replied in a rather short fashion.21 Because most Habsburg
envoys did not understand any Ottoman Turkish at that period of time, they
had to concentrate all the more on manners, for example on the ways in which
people employed different kinds of objects in the course of an audience.22
474
The material culture of diplomacy
escorted through the town to the sultan’s palace. Though Christian people resi-
ding in the Ottoman Empire were not permitted to ride, European envoys and
their noble companions rode to audiences on horses supplied by the sultan and
decorated in Ottoman style. Riding on an Ottoman horse with an Ottoman har-
ness must have presented a challenge for many Habsburg envoys, as these ani-
mals were not trained according to European standards. Hence, they were put at
a disadvantage in terms of their representation compared to the Ottoman offici-
als riding on their own horses in front of them. As a performance of the sultan
rather than of the foreign envoy and his monarch this procession was optically
and acoustically dominated by Ottoman officials with their splendid outfits.24
Entering the Chamber of Petitions, the envoy was searched for weapons by
the chief doorkeeper, because nobody was permitted to approach the sultan
while wearing weapons.25 While approaching the sultan, two chamberlains held
the envoy on both arms and lowered him in front the sultan’s divan to kiss the
right sleeve of the sultan’s garment, which one of the chamberlains handed to
him. The envoy was not allowed to touch the sultan himself but only his mag-
nificent robe and only with his mouth. The way in which Ottoman officials
brought down the legate was influenced by the current state of political relati-
ons between both sides.26 In case of serious trouble this practice was executed
aggressively to increase the violation of the envoy’s honor. For example, Count
Czernin von Chudenitz was lowered deeply at his first audience in 1644.27 The
experience of being touched violently by strangers whom he considered as
belonging to a barbarous and hostile nation anyway must have been unsettling.
Czernin criticized this practice in a letter to the grand vizier by emphasizing
475
Harriet RUDOLPH
that it had not been the fashion under sultan Ahmed I.28 At his farewell audi-
ence in 1648, he was allegedly lowered in a comparatively polite manner, whe-
reas other members of his delegation and the resident were brought to the floor
in such a way that their mouths even touched the carpet.29 In this case, the hap-
tic difference between both procedures clearly serves as a mark of distinction
within a struggle over precedence between the ambassador and the resident
Alexander Greiffenclau von Vollrads.30 At the same time, Czernin was eager to
demonstrate that his formal complaint in 1644 had been as successful as his
entire mission.
During the audience the envoy and selected members of his entourage who
were allowed to enter the audience chamber had to wear an Ottoman robe of
honor (caftan). According to Franciscus Omichius, the imperial envoy David
Ungnad even had to wear the caftan while riding through town to the sultan’s
palace in 1572.31 Later on, such robes were put on immediately before the audi-
ence in a loggia next to the Chamber of Petitions.32 But what did it actually
mean to wear a caftan for the envoy in question? In the 16th century, people
attached a fundamental importance to clothing. Wearing certain attire determi-
ned the social status as well as political and cultural affiliations of an individual
to a much larger extent than in later times. In this period of time, “clothing is a
worn world: a world of social relations put upon the wearer’ body”33; clothing
had an expressive function.34 There are also some interesting remarks by Ogier
Ghiselin de Busbecq who had to wear as many as two caftans when he appro-
ached the sultan in 1555. To his surprise, he noticed that “the dress of all [Otto-
28 This procedure had even been surpassed by an episode that had occurred immediately
after the audience, when two chamberlains swooped down on Czernín and yanked his
seal ring from his finger. Cf. Cernín z Chudenic, Gesandtschaftsreise, 35.
29 Cf. ibid., 66.
30 According to Philip Mansel, the Sublime Porte served as “scene of status wars” between
European diplomats, but there were also status wars between representatives of one and
the same monarch. Cf. Mansel, Constantinople, 194.
31 Cf. Ferus, Reise, 130.
32 Cf. Cernín z Chudenic, Gesandtschaftsreise, 34.
33 Ann Rosalind Jones - Peter Stallybrass, “Introduction: fashion, fetishism, and memory
in early modern England”, Eidem (eds), Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Mem-
ory, Cambridge 2000, 3.
34 For the “expressive” character of status symbols see already Erving Goffman, “Symbols of
class status”, The British Journal of Sociology 2 (1951), 294-304, 298.
476
The material culture of diplomacy
man Officials] has the same form whatever the wearer’s rank; and no edgings
or useless trimmings are sewn on, as is custom with us, costing a large sum of
money and worn out in three days”.35
In Busbecq’s sense, wearing a caftan meant to dismiss the idea of expres-
sing rank by clothing which, in the eyes of this observer, was a custom he app-
reciated very much because of his own – rather low – social rank. However,
there existed of course various means of expressing social status, wealth and
taste in the Ottoman Empire by wearing a caftan of a certain colour, material
or trimming. By reporting that everywhere there had been “the brilliance of
gold, silver, purple, silk, and satin”36, Busbecq enumerates the most splendid
and magnificent colors and fabrics that European observers could have imagi-
ned at that period in time. Busbecq surely must have felt the weight, the texture
and even the unfamiliar scent of these garments, too, all the more because he
was held by two kapıcıbası on both arms during the audience. He also remarked
that caftans “are long robes which reach almost to the ankles, and are not only
more imposing but seem to add to the stature; our dress, on the other hand, is
so short and tight that it discloses the forms of the body, which would be better
hidden and is thus anything but becoming, and besides it takes away from the
man’s height and gives him a stunted appearance”37.
Because the Habsburg emperors also used to give Ottoman envoys fabric for
robes of honor, one could conclude there was no large difference between the
symbolic language of European and Ottoman diplomatic ceremonial. However,
the main point of this procedure hints at a crucial dissimilarity between Euro-
pean political culture and Western Law of Nations on the one hand and Otto-
man political culture and Islamic foreign law on the other. According to the
Siyar with its teleological bias, the Ottoman sultans considered themselves the
only rulers of the Islamic state that would one day cover the realm of the whole
35 Busbecq, Turkish Letters, 61 (88-89). This rather critical stand towards his own culture
and Western customs is quite frequently displayed in Busbecq’s travel account. For Bus-
becq see Charles T. Forster - Francis-Henry Blackburne Daniell, The Life and Letters of
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Seigneur of Bousbecque, Knight, Imperial Ambassador, 2 vols,
London 1881; Zweder Rudolf Willem Maria von Martels, Augerius Gislenius Busbequius.
Leven en werk van de keizerlijke gezant aan het hof van Süleyman de Grote, Groningen
1989, 9-27.
36 Busbecq, Turkish Letters, 61 (89).
37 Ibid, 61 (88).
477
Harriet RUDOLPH
world.38 The status of ambassadors in the Ottoman Empire was defined by the
institution of “safe conduct” (aman) establishing a legal quality as a beneficiary
of protection (müste’min).39 They constituted only a temporary institution rep-
resenting realms that were supposed to be well on their way to submit to Mus-
lim rule.40 Wearing an Ottoman robe of honor above their own garments, the
envoys were forced to express their transitory status. In terms of clothing, they
seemed to belong to two worlds. In its capacity as an acting object, the caftan
presented foreign envoys as members of the sultan’s household.41 They were
supposed to act under the auspices of this ruler, and they could claim to be pro-
tected by the sultan.
Because not only envoys of tributary states were forced to wear a caftan
while being received, such a garment did not represent a legal status of a parti-
cular state but rather the normative idea of the Ottoman sultan as the one and
only legitimate ruler of all the states of the world.42 But this element of Otto-
man audience ceremonial served other needs, too. To receive a robe of honor
was indeed a mark of honor, and not only a mark of submission. Expensive fab-
38 See in general Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam, Baltimore 1955; Hans
Kruse, Islamische Völkerrechtslehre, Bochum 19793; for the Ottoman Empire, Guido Ko-
matsu, “Die Türkei und das europäische Staatensystem im 16. Jahrhundert. Untersu-
chungen zu Theorie und Praxis des frühneuzeitlichen Völkerrechts”, Christine Roll (ed.),
Recht und Reich im Zeitalter der Reformation. Festschrift für Horst Rabe, Frankfurt/Main
1994, 121-144; Nihat Çelik, “Muslims, Non-Muslims and Foreign Relations: Ottoman
Diplomacy”, International Review of Turkish Studies 1 (2011), 8-27.
39 Cf. Anton C. Schaendlinger, “Der Status der habsburgischen Gesandten an der Hohen
Pforte zur Zeit Süleymans des Prächtigen”, Einar von Schuler (ed.), XXIII. Deutscher Ori-
entalistentag vom 16. bis 20. September 1985 in Würzburg. Ausgewählte Vorträge, Stutt-
gart 1989, 259-273.
40 Cf. Daniel Goffman, “Negotiating with the Renaissance State: the Ottoman Empire and
the New Diplomacy”, in Idem - Virginia H. Aksan (eds), The Early Modern Ottomans.
Remapping the Empire, Cambridge 2007, 65.
41 Cf. Hedda Reindl-Kiel, “Symbolik, Selbstbild und Beschwichtigungsstrategien. Diplo-
matische Geschenke der Osmanen für den Wiener Hof (17.-18. Jh.)”, Arno Strohmey-
er - Norbert Spannenberger (eds), Frieden und Konfliktmanagement in interkulturellen
Räumen: Das Osmanische Reich und die Habsburgermonarchie in der Frühen Neuzeit,
forthcoming.
42 The obligation for Habsburg diplomats to wear caftans at an audience was terminated by
the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718). Bertold Spuler, “Die europäische Diplomatie in Kon-
stantinopel bis zum Frieden von Belgrad (1739)”, Jahrbücher für Kultur und Geschichte
der Slaven 2 (1935), 171-222, 190.
478
The material culture of diplomacy
rics were highly valued in the Ottoman Empire because they were scarce. As
a rule, the envoy’s servants were given some simple fabric; all noble members
received a caftan, while the envoy himself was clothed with the most valuable
caftan of high quality fabric and sometimes even with two.43 By this means, an
order of rank was established amongst the members of a mission. The number
and quality of caftans given to an ambassador at a certain audience establis-
hed an order of rank amongst all the foreign representatives present, which was
distinctly different from European rank orders. In some cases, the diplomatic
performance of a certain envoy was assessed by the number of caftans he had
been offered at the end of this mission. In the long run, the number of distribu-
ted caftans increased. In 1578, David Ungnad, Eduardo de Provisionali and the
majordomo of Ungnad had only received three caftans per person and another
three “gescheckte Kleider”44. In 1644, Count Czernin and his entourage were
already given “einige und vierzig Kaftane”45.
The caftan was an Ottoman commodity, but as a means of political com-
munication in the context of foreign relations it was decommodified to signify
Ottoman claims of world rule, the sultan’s hospitality toward foreign envoys
and his ability to establish orders of rank as well as to distribute prestige. As an
object, the caftan was thus marked by an expressive quality “creating hierarc-
hies of honor and status”,46 though these were valid only for a rather short time.
43 The account by Hans Dernschwam clearly demonstrates the ceremonial logic of caftan
giving. According to him, Busbecq got “fur sein persson ein kafftan von samat und gold,
mit samat vnder futtert, vnd ein ober golden samaten rok mit grienem tuche gefuttert
[…] Mer fur 5 seiner diener 5 lange schlechte seydene gemusirte enge rockhe. Vnd fwr
die anderen diener alle 1 stukh gemusirt seyden schlecht gewandt, vngemacht.” Franz
Babinger (ed.), Hans Dernschwamm. Tagebuch einer Reise nach Konstantinopel und Klei-
nasien (1553/55), Munich 1923, 218. For Dernschwam cf. the study by Wolfgang Red-
dig, Reise zum Erzfeind der Christenheit. Der Humanist Hans Dernschwam in der Türkei
(1553-1555), Pfaffenweiler 1990. According to Czernin, to get an expensive caftan was not
a question of rank but only of good luck. Cf. Cernín z Chudenic, Gesandtschaftsreise, 34.
44 Ferus, Reise, 38. It is not specified in the text who was supposed to receive the last three
caftans.
45 Cernín z Chudenic, Gesandtschaftsreise, 34. The number of the caftans and the persons
received by the sultan was negotiated by the envoy and the grand vizier immediately be-
fore the audience. Hans Ludwig von Kuefstein who was sent to the Sublime Porte in 1628
had also received forty caftans. Up until the middle of the 17th century this number was
not surpassed by any representative of European powers at Constantinople.
46 Cf. Rom Harré, “Material Objects in Social Worlds”, Theory, Culture & Society 19 (2002),
23-33, 32.
479
Harriet RUDOLPH
Because most ambassadors could not find any use for these garments after the
audience, they sold them to Jewish merchants who sold them again to the Otto-
man court where the next diplomat would receive them as a gift.47 As a result,
these garments were re-commodified in the sense of being reduced to their
cash value. By not keeping the sultan’s gift, the envoys also deprived the caftan
of all the political connotations which the act of giving had implied, even tho-
ugh they could not make undone the fact that they had worn this Turkish robe
while being received.
The most significant act of the entire audience was marked by the forma-
lized delivery of an object which had to wander through different hands: the
letter of accreditation which the envoy had to hand over to legitimize his mis-
sion at the Ottoman court. Without such a letter expressing the legal status of
its bearer, there would not have been granted any audience. Most of the time,
the envoy did not directly give it to the grand vizier but asked one of his com-
panions to hand it over to an Ottoman official who gave it to another official
who then handed it over to the grand vizier.48 The grand vizier put the let-
ter on a splendidly decorated cushion resting on the divan next to the sultan,
who did not even touch the document himself. By this means, the sultan’s body
would not be polluted by touching a letter of the infidels. During the farewell
audience the envoy was given a letter of the sultan to the emperor, which in
some cases was wrapped in golden fabric and sealed.49 In other cases, official
letters of the sultan were sewed in green cloth, thus referring to the colour of
the Prophet, which the Ottoman sultans preferred for their representation of
sovereignty.50 The design of Ottoman diplomatic documents was marked by
a much more complex material quality that was considered to be superior to
Western customs. It combined an artistic calligraphy with floral decoration, a
scroll of high quality paper and a valuable fabric that could even be decorated
with gemstones. This strategy of representation did not fail to have the desired
47 Cf. Karl Teply (ed.), Kaiserliche Gesandtschaften ans Goldene Horn, Stuttgart 1968, 197.
48 Cf. Nehring, Gesandtschaftsreise, 126.
49 Cf. Busbecq, Turkish Letters, 65 (92).
50 Harriet Rudolph, “Türkische Gesandtschaften ins Reich am Beginn der Neuzeit – Herr-
schaftsinszenierung, Fremdheitserfahrung und Erinnerungskultur. Die Gesandtschaft
des Ibrahim Bey von 1562”, Marlene Kurz et al. (eds), Das Osmanische Reich und die
Habsburgermonarchie, Vienna 2005, 295-314, 307.
480
The material culture of diplomacy
481
Harriet RUDOLPH
482
The material culture of diplomacy
45,000 thaler were arranged in the form of five and a half piles of gold ducats.56
Such piles of money must have appeared much more suitable to illustrate the
tributary status of the Habsburg Empire than artistic objects, which could be
read as mere gifts, offered voluntarily by the emperor.57 On some occasions, the
formalized act of giving was deliberately conducted in the public sphere. The
imperial envoy Albert de Wyss, who was sent to the Ottoman court in 1562, was
supposed to present the tribute and the gifts to Suleiman the Magnificent in the
sight of the entire army as a “fresh testimony of the friendship which he wished
his subjects to believe to exist between himself and the emperor, and as a proof,
that no military operations were impending on the part of the Christians”58.
To disguise their tributary status, the Habsburg emperors paid the tribute to
a certain extent in the form of artisan craftwork such as clocks, armor, tableware
or jewelry. But this procedure offered other advantages, too, because it served
as a very efficient means to save money. Surviving receipts in the Hofkamme-
rarchiv in Vienna illustrate that the emperor’s bookkeepers regularly overesti-
mated the cash value of artefacts presented to the sultan, sometimes even to
six-fold their actual value.59 In the period investigated, the cash value of artisan
crafts was still defined by the value of noble metal and gemstones. Using mate-
rials such as wood or stone made it very difficult to estimate the real value of an
object. Especially clocks could be offered at an excessive value because the sul-
tan and other members of the Ottoman political elite highly appreciated such
objects. By choosing elaborate and sophisticated artefacts, the emperors could
483
Harriet RUDOLPH
also demonstrate their cultural and technical superiority.60 In the long run, this
strategy was doomed to fail because almost none of these artefacts survived.
The sultans obviously ordered the destruction of the majority of these objects
to be able to pay their expenses. Thus, the ordinary cycle of the life of things –
production, purchase, different forms of usage, destruction – was fulfilled.61 At
the same time, the symbolic presence of the emperor at the Ottoman court was
extinguished. This procedure marks a decisive difference to European courts,
where such objects would become part of a newly introduced element of prin-
cely representation, the Kunstkammer.
Conclusion
Examining Ottoman-Habsburg diplomacy through the lens of material objects
allows us to obtain crucial insights into the dynamics of foreign politics in early
modern times. In the Ottoman Empire, materiality seems to have been a quality
that shaped the political logic of foreign relations to a much larger extent than
in Western states. By riding mounts of the sultans, wearing a caftan, or eating
food supplied by the palace, the envoys and their staff were virtually transfor-
med into Ottoman subjects, anticipating a status that would ostensibly apply to
the subjects of all foreign rulers in the future. With the help of diplomatic cere-
monial, the Ottoman sultans performed (in both senses: executed and repre-
sented) a claim to world rule that was legitimized by the teleological bias of the
Islamic foreign law, but also by the notion of being the only legitimate succes-
sor of the ancient Roman Empire. The diplomatic ceremonial at the Ottoman
court was thus marked by a distinctly imperial character as was the custom to
force other rulers to submit to Ottoman rule or at least to pay a tribute that sig-
nified Ottoman sovereignty. It was precisely this claim to sovereignty that the
Habsburg emperors tried to deny by sending mostly valuable artefacts and not
cash – at the same time claiming to be culturally and technically superior to the
Ottoman Empire. For that reason the emperors and their envoys did not speak
60 Towards the end of the 16th century the emperors ordered in particular artefacts marked
by a stylistic vocabulary that people in the Western world considered to be characteris-
tic for the Ottoman Empire. At that period in time, they preferred craftwork produced in
Augsburg and Nuremberg, which served as production centers of high quality gold and
silver crafts in the Holy Roman Empire.
61 For the destruction of gifts see already Stein (ed.), Zum Hofe, 66; Reindl-Kiel, “Duft”, 226-
228.
484
The material culture of diplomacy
about tributes but only about honorary gifts, although that was a strategy even
their own subjects understood to be a form of dissimulation.62 By destroying
or selling these objects, the sultan counteracted all Habsburg claims to superi-
ority, though he tolerated being cheated out of cash to a certain extent. Political
strategies such as these prove that the way in which things were produced, used
and destroyed in the context of Ottoman diplomatic negotiations had a strong
impact on the dynamics of foreign relations. In terms of Habsburg-Ottoman
diplomacy, objects served not merely as inactive things, but they were endowed
with agency.
485
The theatrical performance of peace:
entries of Habsburg grand embassies
in Constantinople
(17 th- 19 th centuries)
Arno Strohmeyer * 1
In the early modern period, eight wars took place between the Habsburg
Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, lasting more than 80 years in total. They
determine the image of bilateral relations to this day. It is often overlooked,
however, that there were equally intensive attempts to make peace, as, during
the same time, more than 60 peace treaties or ceasefire agreements were signed.
However, conflict management was no easy task, as fundamental differences
had to be overcome: even leaving aside the contrasts between Christianity and
Islam, the battles that had been led with particular cruelty had lodged them-
selves firmly into the collective memories of the population, and on both sides
enemy stereotypes and constructions of alterity made their rounds, encouraged
by rulers’ propaganda. Accordingly, the Turkish were seen in Habsburg count-
ries as the “other”, the “foreigner”, which societies need to create identity. Furt-
hermore, achieving peace was made difficult by imperial ideologies, as both
Habsburgs and Ottomans made a claim to world domination. Finally, the fact
that both sides were convinced that they were superior to the other, in terms of
civilization, was another exacerbating factor.
The reasons why peace was sought in the first place are mainly to be found
in power politics: military defeats, crises in domestic politics, financial prob-
lems, obvious inferiority, but chiefly conflicts with third powers: in the case of
the Ottomans frequently with the Safavids, in the case of the Habsburgs with
the French. The most important tool of conflict management was diplomacy.
486
The theatrical performance of peace
However, the role of the diplomats was not limited to achieving peace during
negotiations, but also included presenting this peace to the outside in a symbo-
lic and ritual way. This culminated with the grand embassies of the sevente-
enth and eighteenth centuries. They were particularly lavish special embassies
of the highest diplomatic rank, for which Habsburgs and Ottomans entered
into mutual obligations.
The main tasks of the grand embassies were to hand over the ratified peace
treaties, to conduct negotiations on the release of prisoners and to present gifts.
They played a key role in the symbolic presentation of peace. The question of
how they managed this task, with which symbols they bridged the religious,
political and cultural contrasts and celebrated peace, is the topic of this article.
The aim is a better understanding of the historical dimensions of an intercultu-
ral pursuit of peace. In this, I will focus on one of the main stages of the grand
embassies: the entry into Constantinople.
Entries generally played a key role in the diplomatic proceedings as they
were the part of the mission that took place in front of a particularly large
public audience. Both in Constantinople and in Vienna, the entries of grand
embassies were great spectacles that were attended by numerous inhabitants,
high-ranking dignitaries, as well as ambassadors of other powers. For the dip-
lomats who took part in them, they constituted a high point in their careers.
Essentially, these entries were equivalent to a play being acted out, as they took
place, in a manner of speaking, on a “stage”, with “actors” – chiefly the diplomats
and the participating officials of the host – and in front of an “audience”. Their
program was meticulously planned, i.e. there was a sort of “script” with exact
rules of engagement. The “actors” brought messages across to the “audience”, not
only verbally, but also nonverbally. These messages were noticed and interpre-
ted by the people watching. As the symbolic language was not the same in all
points there was potential for differing interpretations or misunderstandings,
consciously or unconsciously.
The point of departure for this article is the grand embassy of Count Damian
Hugo von Virmont, who entered Constantinople in 1719.1 His mission had
been decided in the Peace Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, which had brought
to an end one of the biggest military conflicts between the Habsburgs and the
1 Cf. Charles Ingrao - Nikola Samardžić - Jovan Pešalj (eds), The Peace of Passarowitz,
1718, West Lafayette 2011.
487
Arno STROHMEYER
2 Cf. Cornelius von den Driesch, Historische Nachricht von der Röm. Kayserl. Groß-
Botschafft nach Constantinopel, welche auf allergnädigsten Befehl sr. Röm. Kayserlichen
und Catholischen Majestät Carl des Sechsten / nach glücklich vollendeten zweyjährigen
Krieg, Der Hoch- und Wohlgebohrne des H. R. Reichs Graf Damian Hugo von Virmondt
rühmlichst verrichtet […], Nuremberg 1723, 14f.
3 Ibid., 134.
4 Ibid., 150-151.
5 Cf. Wienerisches Diarium, 1679 (September 2-September 5).
6 Driesch, Historische Nachricht, 157.
488
The theatrical performance of peace
fruits, which the Habsburgs took as signs of great respect.7 The grand ambas-
sador was, in addition, given a large number of sacks of coffee and sugar; I will
make reference to that later on. Supposedly 33 carriers were needed to trans-
port everything into the building.8 At the same time began the direct preparati-
ons for the entry, which took place on August 3, 1719.9
So far, I have been unable to find images of the entry, as Virmont had evi-
dently not taken a painter along who could have documented the event. There
are, however, illustrations produced by the retinue of other diplomats, depic-
ting the different stages of such an embassy. One example of this is Count Hans
Ludwig Kuefstein, who was the emperor’s grand ambassador at the Sublime
Porte in 1628/29, and who had two artists in his entourage. One of their pictu-
res shows the entry into Constantinople. Virmont, in contrast, asked for a deta-
iled report to be written, which was published afterwards both in German and
in Latin: the intention was for the event to be made known publicly, and to be
preserved in collective memory.10
The entry begun shortly after seven o’clock in the morning, when Virmont
and his entourage, accompanied by Ottoman dignitaries, started out for the city.
All participants were exquisitely dressed and accessorized. Virmont, dressed in
German costume, sat on a horse which was covered with a blanket embroidered
with gold thread, which the grand vizier had given to him. The horses’ bridles
were wrought from silver and decorated with diamonds. The Ottoman dignita-
ries were wearing their large imperial turbans.11 What was symbolized by this
openly demonstrated luxury? It stressed, on the one hand, the power and the
wealth of the emperor, in whose name the visit was made, but also satisfied the
sultan’s desire for representation, as the guests’ pomp contributed to the pres-
tige of the host. The diplomats and Ottoman dignitaries, in turn, expressed their
privileged positions within the political and social order.
489
Arno STROHMEYER
Even before they reached the city walls, the participants were being led to a
pleasure garden. There, they were given breakfast. Ottoman dignitaries, first of all
the grand vizier, participated in the banquet, but, as it happened to be Ramadan,
they did not eat or drink anything. The first course was sherbet, a sort of syrup
made from fruit, water and spices; it was well known in the Habsburg countries.
Coffee was also served. It had developed into a popular drink in the Habsburg
Monarchy in the second half of the seventeenth century; in 1685 the first coffee
house had been opened in Vienna. In the Ottoman Empire it had been establis-
hed before 1550, and was forbidden at different points in time due to its popula-
rity. However, in the early eighteenth century it played an important role in the
diplomatic ceremonial at the Sublime Porte: not to serve coffee to a diplomat was
a potential way to express the sultan’s displeasure with his principal’s politics.12
Virmont, however, was served coffee not only before he entered the city, but
also when he crossed the border, and at countless receptions during his travel
and in the form of beans when he arrived. Similarly, the Habsburg party served
coffee to the Ottoman counter-ambassador Ibrahim Pasha at the border and in
Vienna. The preparation was similar, as both cultures used the boiling of the
roasted beans with water and the sweetening as a basis. Both in the Habsburg
Monarchy and in the Ottoman Empire, drinking coffee together was seen as a
sign of community and friendship.13
This was followed by the food. Which dishes were served? The Wienerisc-
hes Diarium, currently one of the oldest newspapers in the world that is still in
print, which regularly dedicated a special edition to Virmont’s mission, reports
the following of traditional Ottoman cuisine: fowl and doves, which were pre-
pared in different ways – fried, baked, and steamed. They were precious foods
and normally eaten only in small amounts.14 To accompany this there was
fish, sweet dishes and rice,15 which was a pillar of palace cuisine at the time.16
12 Cf. Carl Ritter, Die Erdkunde im Verhältnis zur Natur und zur Geschichte des Menschen,
13. Theil, 3. Buch: West Asien, Berlin 1847, vol. 2, 582.
13 Cf. art. “Bon”, Johann Heinrich Zedler: Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wis-
senschafften und Künste, Leipzig 1733, vol. 4, col. 539.
14 Cf. Suraiya Faroqhi, Kultur und Alltag im Osmanischen Reich. Vom Mittelalter bis zum
Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, Munich 20032, 231-233.
15 Cf. Wienerisches Diarium, 1679 (September 2 – September 5).
16 Cf. Bruce Masters, art. “Cuisine”, Gábor Ágoston - Bruce Masters (eds), Encyclopedia of
the Ottoman Empire, New York 2009, 165.
490
The theatrical performance of peace
The portion sizes were so generous that more than a 100 bowls had to be sent
back untouched. It was impossible to miss the message: a wealthy ruler recei-
ves guests whom he caters for with a fatherly duty of care. Maybe this can be
interpreted as an expression of the traditional Ottoman sense of superiority?17
Virmont and his entourage did not feel humiliated in any case. They interpre-
ted the abundance as a sign of hospitality and of particular respect. Tables and
benches had, after all, been put up especially for them.18
The entry was being watched by a great crowd of people which had come
together along the roads, so that the janissaries who were lined up as a guard
of honor had trouble keeping the road free.19 Among the spectators were the
ambassadors of Great Britain, France and the Netherlands with their servants.20
The grand vizier had given Virmont the opportunity to enter with streaming
banners and playing his own music, a generous gesture if one recalls the fact
that an earlier grand ambassador, Count Hermann Czernin, had caused a pog-
rom in 1616 on this occasion, when he unfurled a flag with the Imperial Eagle
on the one side and the crucified Jesus on the other. Czernin’s display alluded
to a prophecy that a flag with a crucifix would, in time, announce the end of the
Turkish rule in the city. A number of Christian inhabitants of Constantinople
became, as a consequence, victims of attacks by the provoked Muslim popula-
tion. Czernin was put under house arrest, and the shared meal of celebration
was dropped from the initial audience which took place a little later.21
Was this an honest mistake of the grand ambassador? The emperor had,
after all, expressively forbidden him to give any reason for unrest, and it is unli-
kely that the nobleman, up to then a loyal servant of the Habsburgs, chose this
one of all chances to openly act against his instructions, as this would in all
491
Arno STROHMEYER
likelihood have been the end of his career.22 Czernin was known, in his Bohe-
mian home, as dravec or “predator”, a name for a person who seeks honor and
glory without any compromise. At the same time, however, it is likely that the
symbolic power of the flag was known,23 because, in his home of Bohemia, he
was given the nickname of “little Turk” due to his experiences in the Orient –
he had visited Jerusalem and the Sinai as a pilgrim. He was a Catholic hardliner
who generally showed little consideration for the Ottomans. It is possible that
he wanted to seize the opportunity to enter the city like a crusader.24
Whatever may be true, as a response, Ahmed I (reigned 1603–1617) had
2,000 heads, which had just come in from the Persian border, carried past the
nobleman. This served to intimidate him and expressed the power of the sultan.
Afterwards, the streaming of flags was forbidden to grand embassies during
their entry.25 Hans Ludwig Kuefstein, for example, in 1628, had to take down his
flag half a day’s journey before the city walls.26 Czernin had to take them down
from his wagon in 1644 beforehand, during his second mission.27 It was only
in 1664 that a grand ambassador, Count Walter Leslie, entered Constantinople
with his flags unfurled – the sultan was not in the city at the time. However, he
had to leave his martial music behind.28 In 1700 Count Oettingen-Wallerstein
was allowed to use his flags and music, but had to avoid any snubs.29
22 Cf. Secret Instruction for imperial diplomats at the Sublime Porte, [ca. 1616], Öster-
reichisches Staatsarchiv, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv Vienna, Staatenabteilung, Türkei I,
Turcica, 105, fol. 22r–31v; Georg Wagner, “Österreich und die Osmanen im Dreißigjäh-
rigen Krieg. Hermann Graf Czernins Großbotschaft nach Konstantinopel 1644/45”, Mit-
teilungen des Oberösterreichischen Landesarchivs 14 (1984), 325-392, 343.
23 Cf. Karl Teply, Kaiserliche Gesandtschaften ans Goldene Horn, Stuttgart 1968, 49.
24 On the flags of crusaders i.g. see Adolf Waas, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, Freiburg 1956,
vol. 1, 350-351.
25 Cf. Karl Teply, Die kaiserliche Großbotschaft an Sultan Murad IV. im Jahre 1628. Des Frei-
herrn Hans Ludwig von Kuefsteins Fahrt zur Hohen Pforte, Vienna [1976], 70-74; Report
of Hans Ludwig Kuefstein for Ferdinand II, Constantinople 1628 November 27, Öster-
reichisches Staatsarchiv, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv Vienna, Handschriften weiß, 1114,
fol. 228r–231r.
26 Ibid., fol. 229rv.
27 Zweite Gesandtschaftsreise des Grafen Hermann Czernin von Chudenic nach Constanti-
nopel im Jahre 1644, Neuhaus 1879, 30-33.
28 Cf. Joseph v. Hammer-Purgstall, Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches, vol. 6, reprint Graz
1963, 167.
29 Cf. Volker von Volckamer, “Graf Wolfgang IV. zu Oettingen-Wallerstein (1629–1708)”,
492
The theatrical performance of peace
Virmont took the grand vizier up on the offer and entered the city with
flying colors and to the sounds of his drums and trumpets.30 There were no
provocations that are known of. His banner did not show a crucified Jesus, but
a sun bursting through clouds shining on two interlinked hands.31 This was a
symbol of peace that was known in both cultures. Similar things can be said, in
return, about the entry of the Ottoman counter-ambassador Ibrahim Pasha on
14 August in Vienna, who did not unfurl a flag with the half moon on it.32
The exact route through Constantinople is unclear. In any case the street to
Eyüp was taken first, then in the direction of the center, and finally the embassy
left the city by another gate. The Golden Horn, the harbor area and the outer
walls of the Topkapi Palace were included in the tour. In total, the whole parade
through the city took a good three hours. Taking into account the heat this
must have been quite a physical feat. Finally, Virmont and his entourage retur-
ned to their quarters.33
Conclusion
1. The entries expressed a peaceful relationship between unity and plurality.
On the backdrop of the differences that were, for example, expressed by clot-
hing (Virmont was wearing German costume, the Ottomans had donned
their Imperial turbans) they demonstrated unity: Ottomans participated in
the procession of the grand ambassador, and common meals and the enjoy-
ment of coffee were valued highly in both cultures. Virmont’s flag showed
signs of peace.
2. A general principle of the entry was political friendship, which was symboli-
zed by acts that were understood by all participants. These were, for example,
Peter Schienerl (ed.), Diplomaten und Wesire. Krieg und Frieden im Spiegel türkischen
Kunsthandwerks, Munich 1988, 9-34, 24.
30 Cf. Virmont’s report about the entry in Constantinople and his audiences with the sultan
and the grand vizier, [ca. 1719], Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsar-
chiv Vienna, Staatenabteilung, Türkei I, Turcica, 185/2, fol. 16r-24v.
31 Cf. Joseph v. Hammer-Purgstall, Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches, vol. 7, reprint Graz
1963, 249.
32 Cf. Friedrich Kraelitz-Greifenhorst (ed.), “Bericht über den Zug des Groß-Botschafters
Ibrahim Pascha nach Wien im Jahre 1719”, Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-histori-
schen Klasse der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften 158 (1908), 1-66, 35-36.
33 Cf. Driesch, Historische Nachricht, 169.
493
Arno STROHMEYER
the welcoming presents and the welcome letter, written in a tone of friend-
ship by the grand vizier, and the meals. The key function of this “friendship”
can be explained through its anthropological roots, as it is an elementary
phenomenon of human existence, which, even if forms differ largely, can be
seen in all societies, Christian as well as Muslim ones. Concepts of friend-
ship played an outstanding role in the Habsburg Monarchy as well as in the
Ottoman Empire, particularly, too, in the area of foreign politics.34 Therefore,
they were ideally suited to bridging the cultural discontinuities and cont-
rasts as they were understood by both parties.35
3. Religious provocation was avoided. The 1616 scandal caused by Czernin
remained an isolated case. This, in my opinion, gives a hint of one of the
most important principles of the peace process: dealing with unbridge-
able differences by their exclusion from public representation for the most
part. Religious clauses did make it into the peace treaties, for example dea-
ling with bettering the situation of Christians in the Ottoman Empire, or to
ensure access to the holy sites in Jerusalem for pilgrims;36 during the “sta-
ging”, however, the questions of religion were largely “put on the backstage”.
Nevertheless, they were not entirely ignored: the Ottomans wore their impe-
rial turbans and Virmont celebrated a holy mass before the entry. Flowers
that had been given to him by the grand vizier as welcome present served as
altar decoration, but nobody appeared to mind.37
34 Cf. Verena Epp. Amicitia. Zur Geschichte personaler, sozialer, politischer und geistlicher
Beziehungen im frühen Mittelalter, Stuttgart 1999; Wolfgang Weber, “Bemerkungen zur
Bedeutung von Freundschaft in der deutschen politischen Theorie des 16.-18. Jahrhun-
derts”, Luigi Cotteri (ed.), Il concetto di amicizia nella storia della cultura europea. Der
Begriff Freundschaft in der Geschichte der Europäischen Kultur, Meran 1995, 756-764;
Klaus Oschema (ed.), Freundschaft oder „amitié“? Ein politisch-soziales Konzept der Vor-
moderne im zwischensprachlichen Vergleich (15.–17. Jahrhundert), Berlin 2007, 137-158;
Gerd Althoff, “Friendship and Political Order”, Julian Haseldine (ed.), Friendship in Me-
dieval Europe, Sutton 1999, 91-105.
35 Therefore, grand ambassadors were named as “peace bringing friends”. Paul Tafferner,
Curiose und eigentliche Beschreibung Des Von Ihro Röm. Kays. Maj. an den Türckischen
Hoff abgeschickten Groß-Botschaffters, Herrn Grafens Wolffgang von Oettingen Solener
Abreise von Wien […], Leipzig 1700, 30.
36 Peace treaty of Passarowitz, Theatrum Europaeum, Frankfurt/Main 1738, vol. 21, pp. 53-
58, art. 11.
37 Cf. Driesch, Historische Nachricht, 158.
494
The art of misunderstanding:
French ambassadors translating
Ottoman court ceremonial
Christine Vogel*
495
Christine VOGEL
496
The art of misunderstanding
cal institutions, or religious convictions. However, they had one very impor-
tant thing in common: Both were societies of face-to-face interaction.5 Social
and political integration was realized through processes of communication
that were not yet formed by modern technical mass media allowing for the
physical absence of the participants. Ottoman and Western European cultures
were both cultures of presence, and as such, they were basically characterized
by performative action and events that presented social evidence. Therefore,
rituals and ceremonies were essential features of Ottoman as well as Western
European political cultures. Since ritualized interaction is quite effective in
structuring and sequencing situations of face-to-face interaction, it facilita-
tes the reproducibility and the binding force of such communication acts and
thereby lets generally binding social structures and political institutions finally
emerge from ephemeral and occasional social events.6 This also qualifies ritu-
alized behaviour for intercultural interaction where agents coming from dif-
ferent cultural backgrounds have to create a common base of understanding
through their interaction.
For all these reasons, one might expect that in Ottoman-European relati-
ons, rituals and ceremonies must have been a good way of bridging the cultu-
ral gap and allowing a minimum of mutual understanding. They were, in fact,
most important when it came to official diplomatic meetings such as audien-
ces. The question is, however, how diplomatic ceremonies actually functioned
in these circumstances and if they were really able to define relations of power
in an intercultural context.
As recent research on symbolic communication in pre-modern Europe has
shown, Latin Christianity developed a common political culture based among
other things on ritualized symbolic communication.7 By the late 17th century,
497
Christine VOGEL
498
The art of misunderstanding
those relations of powers but also really produced them. Since the late Middle
Ages, diplomatic protocol had started to emerge as an elaborate code of symbo-
lic signs that was universally understood by the aristocratic elite of Europe. Alt-
hough its members lived in distant courts and residences, they communicated
by means of correspondence, specific forms of aristocratic travelling, matri-
monial practices and a specialized news system.10 These elitist communication
networks formed an aristocratic public sphere where diplomatic ceremonies
deployed their meaning and their performative effects. The assumption of a
shared European political culture presupposes the existence of such a sphere
of communication.
Yet, whereas inside Europe diplomatic ceremonies actually let emerge rela-
tions of power between the participants, the same cannot be said about Otto-
man-European diplomatic ceremonies for one very simple reason: There was
no public space shared between Ottomans and Europeans, no equivalent to the
European aristocratic public sphere, and no social base for transcultural com-
munication on the level of the political elites. Therefore, diplomatic ceremonies
at the Ottoman court functioned as representations of Ottoman power wit-
hin the Ottoman realm, but they had no performative effect whatsoever con-
cerning Ottoman-European relations. They could only be effective via written
reports, not as performative acts. Therefore, even if European diplomats agreed
to abide by the Ottoman protocol (which by the late 17th century, they were
more and more reluctant to do), they could very easily disavow the Sultan’s
claim to universal authority as it was expressed by Ottoman court ceremonial,
and they frequently did so when reporting home. This was a fundamental dif-
ference from diplomatic ceremonies between European courts, where ceremo-
10 Volker Bauer, “Strukturwandel der höfischen Öffentlichkeit. Zur Medialisierung des Ho-
flebens vom 16. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert”, Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 38 (2011),
585-620; Idem, “Höfische Gesellschaft und höfische Öffentlichkeit im Alten Reich. Über-
legungen zur Mediengeschichte des Fürstenhofs im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert”, Jahrbuch
für Kommunikationsgeschichte 5 (2003), 29-68; Idem, “Nachrichtenmedien und höfische
Gesellschaft. Zum Verhältnis von Mediensystem und höfischer Öffentlichkeit im Alten
Reich”, Johannes Arndt - Esther-Beate Körber (eds), Das Mediensystem im Alten Reich
der Frühen Neuzeit (1600-1750), Göttingen 2010, 173-194; Andreas Gestrich, Absolutis-
mus und Öffentlichkeit. Politische Kommunikation in Deutschland zu Beginn des 18. Jah-
rhunderts, Göttingen 1994; Aloys Winterling, “Der Fürstenhof in der Frühen Neuzeit.
Forschungsprobleme und theoretische Konzeptionen”, Roswita Jacobsen (ed.), Residen-
zkultur in Thüringen vom 16. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert, Bucha bei Jena 1999, 29-42.
499
Christine VOGEL
nial humiliations were considered serious affairs and quarrels over precedence
were quite frequent.11 Inside Europe, there was not much room for interpre-
tation when the symbolic language of diplomatic protocol was concerned. By
contrast, intercultural diplomatic ceremonies required a special kind of cultu-
ral translation if they were to gain any meaning at all. And since there was no
transcultural public sphere where the accuracy of a translation could have been
debated and thereby controlled, European diplomats could easily downplay the
symbolic humiliations prepared for them in Ottoman court ceremonial.
Certainly, Ottoman court ceremonial contained a lot of elements that would
seem humiliating to European observers. Yet by the late 17th century, Europe-
ans were quite familiar with this ceremonial and they got used to describing it
in a way that would seem tolerable to their readers at home. Normally, Euro-
pean diplomats insisted on the more honourable elements of the ceremonies.
They would, for instance, describe the exceptional courtesy of the Grand Vizier
or the outstanding quality and number of the robes of honour they received
during the audiences with the Sultan or the Grand Vizier. There were lots of
ways to downplay the humiliating aspects of the Ottoman ceremonial. As a
final resort, one could always stress the “strangeness” of Turkish traditions or
mention that every Christian ambassador had to put up with these habits.
This implies that, for all their details and accuracy, European accounts on
Ottoman ceremonies were not about the most faithful descriptions of reality.
As they were dealing with meaningful cultural practices themselves, they must
be regarded as second order representations which, to some extent, invented
their object as they described it (which of course does not mean that they cre-
ated it from nothing). European diplomats in the Ottoman Empire did not just
describe what they saw or had lived through; they made sense of it. Their task
then was one of cultural translation as it has been defined in recent years by
theorists of cultural anthropology and intercultural communication.12 In this
11 See, for instance, Abraham de Wicquefort, L’Ambassadeur et ses fonctions, seconde partie,
Cologne 1690, 1.
12 Cf. Doris Bachmann-Medick, “Übersetzung als Medium interkultureller Kommuni-
kation und Auseinandersetzung”, Friedrich Jäger - Jürgen Straub (eds), Handbuch der
Kulturwissenschaften, Stuttgart 2004, vol. 2, 449-465; Idem, Cultural Turns. Neuorientie-
rungen in den Kulturwissenschaften, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2006, esp. chapter 5: “Trans-
lational Turn”; Idem (ed.), Übersetzung als Repräsentation fremder Kulturen, Berlin 1997;
Susan Basnett, “The Translation Turn in Cultural Studies”, Susan Basnett - André Lefe-
vere (eds), Constructing Cultures, Clevedon 1998, 123-140; Anselm Haverkamp (ed.), Die
500
The art of misunderstanding
501
Christine VOGEL
Since I did not think it appropriate to demonstrate the untruth of this answer,
which would have been easy, I continued my civilities by telling him that the rene-
wal of the capitulations obviously had been delayed during the reigns of four empe-
rors – sultans Mustafa, Osman, Murad and Ibrahim – only to be reserved to the one
that […] exceeded his predecessors not only by his personal merits and his brilliant
victories, but who even wipes out the wonders of sultan Soliman […].
His answer was that [friendship] needed mutuality and that he did not want to
hear any more about foreign ships pirating the subjects of the Grand Signor under
the French flag.13
This is just a brief extract from the narrative, but as the rest of the conversa-
tion took a very similar course, it should be sufficient to make one thing quite
clear: The time of speech of the two protagonists was quite unequally distri-
buted. While Nointel produces a continuous flow of words and flatteries, the
Grand Vizier stays silent or just chips in with some cutting remarks, giving
the modern reader the impression that the French ambassador was making a
complete fool of himself. Fazıl Ahmed even starts serving the refreshments and
distributing the robes of honour, thereby indicating that the audience is coming
to an end, while the ambassador is still in the middle of his speech. The capi-
tulations are not handed over during the ceremony, but are given to Nointel
immediately afterwards in a small passage outside the audience chamber.
The Grand Vizier certainly did not treat Nointel in a very dignified man-
ner, even by the standards of the Ottoman ceremonial. Nointel’s secretary Edo-
uard de la Croix, who has written several accounts on his stay in the Ottoman
Empire and never keeps quiet about any of these ceremonial events, only men-
tions this one en passant.14 We can presume that he did so because he thought
that it would not really highlight his master’s reputation. Yet Nointel had to
write a report for his king, so he had to find a strategy permitting him to stick
to the truth without damaging himself. Taking a closer look at the text, one rea-
lizes that he met this challenge quite cannily indeed. In fact, Nointel’s account
can also be read in a quite different way.
The French ambassador frequently uses two key concepts in his report:
civilité and honnêteté. He thereby refers to some fundamental rules of social
502
The art of misunderstanding
15 Anette Höfer, Rolf Reichardt, “Honnête homme, Honnêteté, Honnêtes gens”, Rolf Rei-
chardt - Eberhard Schmitt et al. (eds), Handbuch politisch-sozialer Grundbegriffe in
Frankreich 1680-1820, vol. 7, Munich 1986, 1-67; Roger Chartier, art. “Civilité”, Ibid., vol.
4, Munich 1986, 1-44.
16 Ibid., 11.
17 On Nointel’s biography, see Albert Vandal, L’odyssée d’un ambassadeur. Les voyages du
marquis de Nointel, Paris 1900.
18 Jaques Esprit, La Fausseté des vertus humaines, Paris 1678, vol. 1, 446, quoted by Höfer,
Reichardt, “Honnête home”, p. 19: “on peut dire que la charité […] est elle seule une poli-
tesse & une honnêteté véritable & que de tous les hommes il n’y a que les Chrétiens qui
soient véritablement polis et honnêtes gens”.
503
Christine VOGEL
himself behind a curtain in the room next door.19 Now this idea shows that in
Nointel’s narration, there is much more at stake than the manners of the Grand
Vizier. All this is about the whole Ottoman culture; their political system, social
order and moral disposition. To put it briefly, in Nointel’s report, the Grand
Vizier becomes a barbarian serving an infidel despot. By contrast, he himself
appears even more clearly as a perfect honnête homme. From this point of view,
the ceremonial humiliations turn out to be something completely different:
Nointel pictures himself suffering a kind of cultural martyrdom at the end of
which his personal merits and perseverance appear all the more clearly.
This example shows that Nointel’s exercise in cultural translation produces
a kind of productive and intentional misunderstanding of the Ottoman cere-
mony: the Sultan’s court and its ceremonial are described by Nointel as foreign
in a radical sense of the term. The borderline that is drawn here is of a special
quality. It corresponds to what theorists of imperialism have called a barba-
rian frontier.20 This means that Nointel and the Grand Vizier are acting on two
completely different levels. The rules of reciprocity do not apply where there is
no equality at all. Nointel’s translation implies that the Europeans did not have
to take the symbolic communication of the Ottomans seriously since the Sultan
and his subjects were only barbarians. Nointel may have been affronted and the
Vizier may have treated the French king like a vassal to the sultan – all this did
not matter since Nointel, by his translation of the Ottoman ceremony, locates
the Ottomans outside human civilization.
504
Pane l
Deniz Güner * 1
505
Deniz GÜNER
506
Osmanlı devletinde sansür uygulamaları
507
Deniz GÜNER
8 Askeri Tarih ve Stratejik Etüt Başkanlığı Arşivi (bundan sonra ATASE), Birinci Dünya
Harbi (bundan sonra BDH)-1, 410-269-1621-007, 410-269-1621-007-01.
9 Vahdet Keleşyılmaz, “I.Dünya Savaşında Ulusal Güvenlik ve Dil Bilir Eleman İhtiyacı”,
Askeri Tarih Bülteni 48 (2000), s.144.
508
Osmanlı devletinde sansür uygulamaları
sında Ruslar ile İngilizlerin hesabına çalıştıkları ve Türklere karşı içerde bir iç
savaş hazırlıkları içinde bulundukları hakkındaydı.”10
Yine bir başka örnekte Saraybosna şehbenderi Sırpçayı (Boşnakça, Hırvatça)
bilen Müslüman tercüme memuru bulunmadığından bir Sırplının kâtip sıfa-
tıyla istihdamına karar vermesi ve bunun neticeleri ile alakalıdır. Bosna Hersek
hükümetinin resmî yayın organı olan Sarajevski List gazetesinin 8 Mayıs 1915
tarih ve 127 numaralı nüshasında bir gün şöyle bir haber görülmüştür.
Osmanlı şehbenderhânesi tarafından11 “Avusturya’da bulunan Osmanlı vatan-
daşlarının Osmanlı Ülkesine gitmek için Romanya hükümetinin müsaadesi
olmadıkça Romanya toprağından geçemeyecekleri beyan edilmiştir” Bu haber
bütün Bosna efkâr-ı umûmiyesi üzerine fena bir tesir yaratmış ve işin aslı daha
sonra ortaya çıkmıştır. Asıl mesele Romanya’dan gelip geçecek yolcuların pasa-
portlarının vizelerini Romanya konsolosluklarında yaptırmadıkları müddetçe
Romanya topraklarından geçemeyeceklerinin belirtilmesidir. Osmanlı Şeh-
benderi Resûl Beyefendi de haberi gazeteler vasıtasıysa kendi tebaasına tebliğ
için bir katip (Katip Mihaili) görevlendirmiştir. Ancak görülen o ki katip Mihail
Efendi, gazete için hazırladığı ilanda vize işlemlerinin manasını biraz değiştirmiş
ve olaya siyasi bir boyut katmıştır. Bu durumda işin aslı anlaşılana kadar bölge-
deki halk arasında Savaşın seyri konusunda panik havası yaşanmıştır.12
509
Deniz GÜNER
özünde her türlü basılı ve yazılı materyal ile bilgi kaçakçılığı yapılması engel-
lenmek istenmiştir. Arşiv belgelerine göre İngiltere, Almanya, Avusturya Maca-
ristan, Fransa bu işe fazlaca önem verirken, Osmanlı Devleti’nin bu konuda
çok sert bir tutum takındığına dair bir belgeye rastlayamadık. Hatta Osmanlı
İstihbarat Karargâhından Bakoviç Şevki’nin yazdığı bir rapora göre Osmanlı
Devleti’nin Bulgar hududundaki sansür muayenesi tren içerisinde yapılırdı
ve çok ciddi olduğu söylenemezdi. Raporda, Bulgar sınırındaki “Bulgar san-
sür memurları Osmanlı’dakilere, Osmanlı’daki memurlarda Bulgarlar’a güve-
nerek muayeneyi üstünkörü geçiyor olmaları muhtemeldir” demiştir. Özellikle
görevli olarak Osmanlı ülkesine gelen Alman zabitanı hiçbir suretle muayeneye
tabi tutulmuyor dolayısıyla kendine Alman görevlisi süsü veren bazı şahıslarda
bu sayede muayeneden kurtuluyorlardı.14
14 ATASE,(BDH-1), 411-293-1623-001.
15 ATESE, (BDH-1), 411-293-1623-001-04.
16 Aydın, a.g.e., s. 63-64.
510
Osmanlı devletinde sansür uygulamaları
511
Bir isyanın kodları:
I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap ayaklanması
Eftal Irkıçatal *1
I. Dünya Savaşı esnasında yaşananlar bugün Ortadoğu halkları için hâlâ gün-
celliğini korumaya ve kamuoyunda tartışılmaya devam etmektedir. I. Dünya
Savaşı'nın üzerinden bir asra yakın süre geçmiş olmasına rağmen bu topraklarda
yaşayan insanların zihinlerinde savaşla ilgili hatıralar tazeliğini korumaktadır.
Türklerin bölgeye gelişleri ile başlayan ve ortak dinî kimlik etrafında şekillenen
Türk-Arap ilişkileri artarak devam etmiştir. 19. yüzyıl ise Osmanlı İmparator-
luğu için reformlar ve milliyetçi ayrılıklar çağı olmuştur. Başta Yunanlar olmak
üzere Balkanlardaki Osmanlı tebaası olan gayrimüslimler I. Dünya Savaşı önce-
sinde birer birer bağımsızlıklarını ilan ederek imparatorluktan ayrılmışlardır.
Osmanlı coğrafyasında yaşamakta olan diğer etnik gruplar gibi Araplar da tüm
dünyada yayılmakta olan milliyetçilik hareketinden etkilenmişlerdir. Bu hareke-
tin bir neticesi olarak ortaya çıktığı iddia edilen ve Ortadoğu'nun yakın tarihinin
şekillenmesi sürecinde en önemli kırılma noktalarından biri olan "Arap İsyanı"
ulusçu tarih paradigmasında Arapların Türklere ihaneti şeklinde izah edilmeye
çalışılmaktadır. Dolayısı ile mevcut Türkçe literatürde Arap İsyanı, çatışma, iha-
net, Anadolu insanının bir hiç uğruna uzak coğrafyalarda savaşmak zorunda
kalması bağlamında kavramsallaştırılarak ulus devletin inşasında da bu olgu
kullanılmıştır. Yüzyıl evvel bölgeyi şekillendiren güçlerin bu gün aynı coğrafyada
yine benzer sebeplerle bulunması meseleye çok yönlü bakmayı mecbur kılmak-
tadır. Çalışmamız, bu bağlamda I. Dünya Savaşı yıllarında İngiltere'nin Kahire
istihbarat dairesine bağlı olarak çalışan Arap Bürosu'na ait belgeler çerçevesinde
genel olarak "Arap İsyanı" olarak bilinen ve Mekke Şerifi Hüseyin ve oğulları
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I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap ayaklanması
513
Eftal IRKIÇATAL
da olgunlaşması ile ayrılıkçı bir harekete dönüştüğü kabul edilebilir. Arap mil-
liyetçiliğinin ortaya çıkışı, gelişmesi ve bugüne gelinceye kadar geçirmiş olduğu
safhalar değişik açılardan çalışılmış ve hâlâ çalışılmaya devam edilmektedir.1
Arap milliyetçiliğinin 1800’lerde Müslüman Araplara nazaran Batı ile daha
kolay ilişki kurabilen Hıristiyan Araplar vasıtası ile Arap dünyasına sokul-
duğu kabul gören bir görüş olsa da bu görüşün sayıları Müslümanlara nazaran
oldukça düşük olan Hıristiyan Araplara hak ettiklerinden fazla kredi verdiğini
savunan başka iddialar da vardır. Bu iddianın savunucuları Osmanlı ve Mısır’ın
modern okullarında yetişen Müslümanların Arap milliyetçiliğini taşıyan asıl
unsurlar olduklarını iddia etmektedirler. İttihad ve Terakki mensupları ile Türk
milliyetçiliği göz önüne alındığında bu görüşün kısmen kabul edilebilir yan-
ları bulunsa da Müslümanlarla Hıristiyanların arasındaki farkları “milliyetçi-
lik” kavramının algılanması ve nihaî hedefler açısından değerlendirmek daha
isabetli olacaktır. Müslümanlar arasında ayrılıkçı milliyetçiliği destekleyenler
bulunsa da bunların sayıları ilk aşamada oldukça azdır ve I. Dünya Savaşı’na
ve hatta sonlarına kadar Osmanlıya bağlılıklarını sürdürmüşlerdir. Tam aksine
Hıristiyan Araplar arasında Osmanlıcılığı savunanlar azınlıkta olup ayrılıkçı
Arap milliyetçiliğini savunanlar çoğunluktadır. Dolayısı ile Suriye ve Lübnan'da
misyoner okullarında yetişen Hıristiyan Araplar öncülüğünde çeşitli tarihi,
kültürel ve sosyal konulara ve özellikle de dil üzerinden yapılan atıflarla uzunca
1 Bkz., George Antonius, The Arap Awaiking: The Story of the Arap National Movement,
London 1955; Hassan Saab, The Arap Federalists of Ottoman Empire, Djambatan 1958;
Ernest C. Dawn, From Ottomanism to Arabism, Chicago 1973; Sylvia G. Haim, Arap Na-
tionalism, An Anthology, Los Angeles 1976; Bernard Lewis, Tarihte Araplar, Çev. Hakkı
Dursun Yıldız, İstanbul 2001; Ömer Kürkçüoğlu, Osmanlı Devletine Karşı Arap Bağım-
sızlık Hareketi (1908-1918), Ankara 1982; Abd Al-Aziz Duri, The Historical Formation
of Arap Nation: A Study in Idendity and Consciousness, New York 1987; R. Khalidi (Ed.),
The Origins of Arap Natioanlism, New York 1991; Zekeriya Kurşun, Yol Ayrımında Türk
Arap İlişkileri, İstanbul 1992; Eliezer Tauber, The Emergence of the Arap Movements, Lon-
don 1993; G. Abdulghafour & A. Gogoi, Arap Nationalism: Birth, Evolution and The Pre-
sent Dilemma, New Delhi 1994; Hasan Kayalı, Jön Türkler ve Araplar, Çev. Türkan Yöney,
İstanbul 1998; Bessam Tibi, Arap Milliyetçiliği, Çev. Taşkın Temiz, İstanbul 1998; Basheer
Nafi, Arabism, Islamism and the Palestine Question 1908-1941, Lebanon 1998; Albert Ho-
urani, Çağdaş Arap Düşüncesi, Çev. Latif Boyacı & Hüseyin Yılmaz, İstanbul 2000; Kemal
Karpat, Ortadoğu’da Osmanlı Mirası ve Ulusçuluk, Çev. Recep Boztemur, İstanbul 2001;
Albert Hourani, Arap Halkları Tarihi, Çev. Yavuz Alagan, İstanbul 2001; N. Zeine Zeine,
Türk-Arap İlişkileri ve Arap Milliyetçiliğinin Doğuşu, Çev. Emrah Akbaş, İstanbul 2003; M.
Derviş Kılınçkaya, Osmanlı Yönetimindeki Topraklarda Arap Milliyetçiliğinin Doğuşu ve
Suriye, Ankara 2004; Zeynep Güler, Süveyş’in Batısında Arap Milliyetçiliği, İstanbul 2004.
514
I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap ayaklanması
bir zaman teorik alt yapısı oluşturulmaya çalışılan ayrılıkçı Arap milliyetçiliği
Meşrutiyetle birlikte hedef kitlesini büyüterek tüm Arapları içine alacak şekilde
genişletilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu bağlamda 1908'de Kanun-i Esasi'nin yeniden
yürürlülüğe girmesi ile başta İstanbul olmak üzere Kahire ve Şam gibi kültür
merkezlerinde kurulan Arap cemiyetleri vasıtası ile siyasi bir kimlik kazanan
Arap milliyetçiliği I. Dünya Savaşı yıllarında ayrılıkçı bir eyleme dönüşmüş-
tür. Yine de açık-gizli Arap cemiyetlerine mensup Arapların sayıları göz önüne
alındığında Arap milliyetçiliğinin I. Dünya Savaşı sonlarına kadar Balkanlarda
olduğu gibi geniş halk kitlelerince kabul gördüğünü söylemek oldukça zordur.
I. Dünya Savaşı öncesinde açık-gizli faaliyet gösteren bu cemiyetlerin en büyük
başarısı 18 Haziran 1913'te Paris Arap Kongresi'ni toplamak olmuştur denile-
bilir. Her ne kadar bu kongrede Osmanlı Devleti'nden ayrılma ve Arap bağım-
sızlığı gibi konular konuşulmadı ise de kongrenin kendisi, alınan kararlar ve
kongre temsil heyetinin daha sonra İttihad ve Terakki ile anlaşması Arap ente-
lektüelleri arasında mevcut olan ihtilafların belirginleşmesine sebep olmuştur.
Trablusgarp ve Balkan Savaşları’nın kaybedilmesi ile İttihad ve Terakki yöne-
timinin gittikçe baskıcı bir hale gelerek Türk milliyetçiliğine doğru kayması bu
cemiyetlerin Osmanlıya olan güvenlerinin sarsılmasına ve gelecekte birlikte var
olma düşüncesinde olanların etkilerinin azalmasına ve ayrılıkçı görüşlerin ön
plana çıkmaya başlamasına sebep olmuştur.
Bu noktada gizli Arap cemiyetlerinin teşkilatlanmasında önemli bir yere
sahip olan Aziz Ali Mısrî ismi ön plana çıkmaktadır. Enver ve Kazım Paşa-
larla aynı dönemde 3.Orduda beraber görev yapmış olan Aziz Ali Mısrî, İttihad
ve Terakki içerisinde yer almış ve tutuklanarak idama mahkum edildiği 1914
yılına kadar orduda önemli hizmetlerde bulunmuştur. Kazım Karabekir anıla-
rında Mısrî’den Arap milliyetçisi olarak bahsetmekte ve Osmanlı ordusunda
onun gibi başkalarının varlığını ve Osmanlılık fikrini hiçbir zaman benimse-
mediklerini öne sürerek bu anlamda Osmanlıcılıkta neden başarısız olundu-
ğunu izah etmeye çalışmaktadır.2 Diğer taraftan kendisinin bir Çerkez olduğu
ileri sürülen Mısrî’nin Türkçülüğün İttihadçılar arasında kuvvet kazanması ile
Arap milliyetçiliğine kaydığı da söylenebilir.3 Nitekim Mısrî ancak 1909 yılında
İstanbul’da kurulan gizli Kahtaniye cemiyetinin kurulmasında rol almış-
tır. Mısrî’nin daha Trablusgarb Savaşı esnasında Enver Paşa ile ters düştüğü
515
Eftal IRKIÇATAL
516
I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap ayaklanması
7 A.g.b.
8 Ali Fuat Erden, Birinci Dünya Harbi’nde Suriye Hatıraları, İstanbul 2003, s. 87-88.
9 TNA, FO 882/5, s. 209.
517
Eftal IRKIÇATAL
518
I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap ayaklanması
519
Eftal IRKIÇATAL
celenmesinin acı bir gerçek olarak karşılarına çıkacağına dikkat çekerek rapo-
runu tamamlamaktadır.16
General Clayton’un bu raporundan Aziz Ali Mısrî ve Farukî tarafından Arap
Komitesi’nin gücü ve yapabilecekleri konusunda oldukça ikna edildiği anlaşıl-
maktadır. Ayrıca Osmanlı ordusunun Çanakkale ve Kut-ul Amare’de göster-
miş olduğu başarının da İngiliz Generali endişelendirdiği açıkça anlaşılmakta
ve bir an önce Araplarla bir anlaşmaya varılması konusunda hükümetini ikna
etmeye çalıştığı görülmektedir.
Arap Bürosu belgeleri arasında dikkatimizi çeken diğer bir belge de Lord
Kitchener’a ait bir telgraf oldu. Şerif Hüseyin’in büyük oğlu Abdullah’ın daha
savaş başlamadan önce Şubat 1914’te Kahire’de Hidiv II.Abbas’ı ziyareti sıra-
sında Kitchener ile olası bir isyan durumunda İngiltere’nin desteğini istediği,
fakat Kitchener’in bu talebe olumsuz cevap verdiği bilinmektedir. Abdullah’ın
daha sonra yayımlanan hatıratında tekrar görüşme talebinin Kitchener’dan
geldiğine dair bir bilgi ve mektuptan bahsedilmektedir. Abdullah’ın bahset-
tiği gibi bir mektup olmasa da muhteva itibari ile benzer 24 Eylül 1914 tarihli
telgrafta Kitchener, Abdullah’la dostluğunu bildiği Storss’a; “eğer halihazırda
İstanbul’daki Alman nüfuzu, sultanı ve İstanbul Hükümeti’ni arzularının hila-
fına İngiltere’ye karşı düşmanlığa ve saldırıya sebep olursa Şerif Abdullah, babası
ve Hicaz Araplarının bizimle birlikte mi yoksa bize karşı mı olacaklarını öğren-
mek üzere dikkatlice seçilmiş bir elçiyi benim adıma gizlice Şerif Abdullah’a
gönder.”demektedir.17 Aynı belgelerden elçi olarak seçilen Ali Efendi adında
birinin 5 Ekim’de Kahire’den ayrıldığı ve 30 Ekim’de de Abdullah’ın cevabî
mektubu ile geri döndüğü anlaşılmaktadır. Bahsi geçen mektubunda Abdul-
lah özetle İngiltere’nin İslam dünyasının gözünde ikinci büyük Müslüman
güç olduğundan ve Hicaz’ın Müslümanlar için dinî ehemmiyetinden bahisle
Türklerin sürekli olarak dini ihmal etmesinden dolayı kendileri ve Hicaz’ın
ileri gelenlerinin İngiltere’nin yanında olduğunu memnuniyetle belirtmekte ve
daha yakın bir birliktelik umduklarının altını çizmektedir. İngiltere Dışişleri
Bakanlığından 31 Ekim 1914 tarih ve 303 numaralı cevabî telgraf Kitchener’ın
Abdullah’a selamı ile başlıyor ve İngiltere, Fransa ve Rusya’nın; Türkler bu
savaşta tarafsız kaldığı takdirde Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun toprak bütünlü-
ğünü garanti ettikleri halde Almanya’nın Türk Hükümetini altınla satın aldığı
ve Sultan’ın arzusunun hilafına Alman baskısı altında kalan Türk Hükümetinin
520
I. Dünya Savaşı’nda Arap ayaklanması
521
III. Ordunun ileri harekâta başlama
sürecinde istihbarat faaliyetleri ve
mükâleme heyetlerinin rolü
Yüksel Nizamoğlu*
Giriş
III. Ordu’nun 1918 yılında ileri harekâta karar vermesinde istihbarat faaliyetleri
ve Erzincan Mütarekesi’nden sonra taraflar arasında oluşturulan “Mükâleme
Heyetleri”nin çok önemli rolleri olmuştur. Bu faaliyetler sayesinde Rus işgali
altındaki yerlerin durumu, Rusların nereleri tahliye ettikleri, Rusların yerini
alan Ermeni ve bazen de Gürcü kuvvetlerinin sayıları, silah ve cephane durum-
ları öğrenilmiş ve bu bilgiler hem harekâtın başlamasında, hem de ilerleyişin
kolaylaşmasında etkili olmuştur. Türk tarihçileri ise ileri harekâtın başlama-
sında ve ilerlemesinde bu hususları genellikle çok dikkate almamışlardır.1
Rus kuvvetleri 1916 yılı yaz aylarında bütün Doğu Anadolu ve Doğu
Karadeniz’i ele geçirerek Erzincan’ın batısına ve Görele’ye kadar ilerledirler.
Bundan sonraki hedefleri Anadolu’nun daha iç kesimlerini de ele geçirmekti.
Ancak 1916-1917 kışı çok sert geçti. Ruslar ikmal merkezlerinden çok fazla
uzaklaştıklarından daha fazla sıkıntı yaşadılar. 1917 Mart ayındaki ihtilal sonu-
cunda Rusya’da Çarlık rejimi sona ermiş ve Duma başkanı yönetiminde Geçici
Hükümet kurulmuştu.2 7 Kasım 1917’de Lenin taraftarları Rusya’ya egemen
522
İstihbarat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetleri
3 Akdes Nimet Kurat, Türkiye ve Rusya, Ankara, 1970, s. 331-332, Selami Kılıç, Türk-Sovyet
İlişkilerinin Doğuşu, İstanbul 1999, s. 77, Hüsamettin Yıldırım, Rus-Türk-Ermeni Müna-
sebetleri (1914-1918), Ankara 1990, s. 104-105.
4 Askeri Tarih ve Stratejik Etüt Başkanlığı Arşivi (bundan sonra ATASE), Birinci Dünya
Harbi (bundan sonra BDH), K. 524, D. 2044, F. 1-4, 4.
5 Kurat, a.g.e. , s. 332, Kafkas Cephesi, s. 425-426, Enis Şahin, Trabzon ve Batum Konferans-
ları ve Antlaşmaları, Ankara 2002, s. 163.
6 ATASE, BDH, K. 524, D. 2044, F. 8, Kurat, a.g.e. , s. 332, Fahri Belen, Birinci Dünya Har-
binde Türk Harbi 1917 Yılı Hareketleri, Ankara 1966, s. 205, Mehmed Emin, Harbi Umu-
mide Osmanlı Cebheleri Vekayii, İstanbul 1334 (1916), s. 12, Kılıç, a.g.e., s. 100-101.
7 ATASE, BDH, K. 152, D. 681, F. 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, Kurat, a.g.e., s. 333-334, Kafkas Cephesi, s.
426-427, Taş, a.g.e., s. 30-33.
8 Belen, 1917 Yılı, s. 206-207, Larşer, Büyük Harbde Türk Harbi, Çev. Mehmed Nihad, İs-
tanbul 1927, C. II, s. 278.
523
Yüksel NİZAMOĞLU
Sovyet yönetimi yayınladığı beyanname ile Rus işgali altında bulunan “Türk
Ermenistan’ındaki” Ermenilerin kendi geleceklerini kendilerinin belirleme-
sini, bunun için de çekilen Rus kuvvetlerinin yerine Ermeni milis kuvvetlerinin
oluşturulmasını, bölgeden göç eden Ermenilerin yurtlarına dönmeleri gerekti-
ğini ilan etmişti. Rusya’nın bu politikasının amacının bir Ermeni devleti kur-
mak olduğu anlaşılıyordu.9
1917 Mart İhtilali sonrasında Kafkasya’nın Rus olmayan halkı “muhtar
idare” kurma eğilimine girdiler. Bolşevikler bu eğilime sıcak bakarak bölge hal-
kına yönetime katılma yetkisi tanıdılar. 1917 yılı Aralık ayında Azerbaycan,
Gürcistan ve Ermenistan’da mahalli kongreler toplanarak yönetimi üstlenmek
üzere “Milli Komiserlikler” oluşturulması kararlaştırıldı. Bu komiserliklerin
ortak işlerini düzenlemek için de “Güney Kafkasya Komiserliği” kuruldu. Ayrıca
Kafkasyalı erlerden milli kuvvetler oluşturulmasına başlandı. Gürcüler 10.000
kişilik kuvvet topladılar. Ermeniler, Rus silah ve malzemelerinden yararlanarak
üç tümen kurdular. Azeriler, Ruslardan yeterince yardım görmediklerinden,
ancak bir süvari birliği ile zayıf birkaç milis kuvveti oluşturabildiler. İtilaf Dev-
letleri, Rusya’nın çekilmesiyle birlikte ortaya çıkan boşluğu Ermeni ve Gürcü
kuvvetleriyle doldurarak Türk ordusunun ilerleyişini durdurmak ve Bakü pet-
rolü başta olmak üzere bölgenin ekonomik kaynaklarını ele geçirmek istediler.
Gürcü ve Ermenileri destekleyerek, onları Erzincan’da yapılan ateşkesi tanıma-
maya teşvik ettiler. Azeriler Türklerin bölgeye gelmesini istemekte, Gürcüler
tarafsız kalmayı tercih etmekteydiler. Gürcüler, Türklerin ilerlemesi halinde
Batum’un kendilerinde kalması için Almanya ile müzakereye giriştiler. Rusla-
rın terk ettikleri bölgeleri Ermeniler tutmaya başladılar.10
524
İstihbarat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetleri
525
Yüksel NİZAMOĞLU
kasya’daki Rus birlikleri arasında çok daha büyük karışıklıklar vardı ve Vehip
Paşa bunu “anarşinin hükümferma” olduğu şeklinde ifade etmeyi uygun gör-
müştü.12
31 Aralık tarihinde 2. Kafkas Kolordusu’nun 5. Fırkası cephesinden gelen
Rus mükâleme heyetinden yeni bilgiler öğrenilmişti. Buna göre; 18. Türkistan
Alayı bu hattan geri alınmış ve Kelkit’e yakın köylere yerleştirilmişti. 3. Plaston
Tugayı da Rusya’ya gitmek üzere yola çıkarılmıştı. Vehip Paşa aldığı bu bilgilere
tam olarak güvenemiyor ve köylere sevk edilen casuslar vasıtasıyla elde edile-
cek istihbaratla doğruluk derecesini araştırıyordu.13
Vehip Paşa bu sırada Erzincan ve doğusundaki yerlerde Ermenilerin Müslü-
man halka yaptıkları zulüm ve katliamlarla ilgili haberler alıyordu. İşgal altında
olan bölgede arazilere, resmi binalara, askeri tesislere ve sivil halkın mal ve mül-
küne zarar veriliyordu. Vehip Paşa Erzincan Mütarekesi’nden sonra işgal altın-
daki yerlerde yapılan katliamlardan ve tahribattan Rus Hükümeti’nin sorumlu
tutulmasını ve bunun için de mütareke hükümlerine bu hususun ilave edilme-
sini istiyordu.14 Erzincan ve Brest-Litovsk’da yapılan mütarekelerden sonra sıra
sınırın belirlenmesine gelmiş ve bunun için “muhtelit müzakere komisyonu”
oluşturularak müzakerelerin başlaması kararlaştırılmıştı. Mükâleme heyet-
leri sayesinde Rus birliklerinin bulundukları yerler, durumları ve nereye sevk
edildikleri hakkında rahatça bilgiler alınabiliyordu. 31 Aralık 1917’de 2. Kafkas
Kolordusu’nun 5. Kafkas Fırkası cephesine giden heyet; 17. Türkistan Alayı’nın
aynı yerinde bulunduğunu belirtiyor ve 18. Türkistan Alayı efradının Revan ve
Nahcıvan Ermenilerinden oluştuğunu, henüz Poti’ye hareket için yürüyüş emri
almadığından beklemekte olduğunu bildiriyordu.15
Rus ordusunun yaşadığı sıkıntılar ve kendi aralarında ortaya çıkan çekişme-
ler firarları artırmıştı. Rus ordusundan firar eden kişiler de Osmanlı ordusu için
önemli bir istihbarat kaynağı oluşturmaktaydı. 37. Kafkas Fırkası cephesindeki
495. Rus Alayı’nın 7. Bölük’ünden iltica eden ihtiyat mülazımbaşısı Rigalı Yudan
ayrıntılı bilgiler vermişti. Yudan’a göre; Görele’de 7 tane “bahri tayyare” mevcut
olup 37. Kafkas Fırkası’nın karşısındaki Rus kuvvetleri geri çekilmişlerdi. Yudan
Görele’deki fırka karargâhında; aynı bölgedeki 127. Fırka’nın Rize-Trabzon hat-
12 ATASE, BDH, K. 524, D. 2044, F. 1-2, Kânunuevvel 1333, F.1-4, 7 Kânunuevvel 1333, F.5,
5-1, 12-13 Kânunuevvel 1333, BDH, K. 157, D. , F. 8-8, 8-9, 26 Kânunuevvel 1333.
13 ATASE, BDH, K. 524, D. 2044, F. 31, 31 Kânunuevvel 1333.
14 ATASE, BDH, K. 524, D. 2044, F. 32, 31 Kânunuevvel 1333.
15 ATASE, BDH, K. 524, D. 2044, F. . 32-1, 33, 1 Kânunusani 1334.
526
İstihbarat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetleri
527
Yüksel NİZAMOĞLU
III. Ordu için önemli bir haber kaynağı da Rusların eline esir düşüp daha
sonra kaçarak Osmanlı ordusuna sığınan asker ve subaylardı. 2. Kafkas Kolor-
dusu cephesinde 30 Aralık 1917’de birisi Erzurum, ikisi ise Trabzon’da olmak
üzere üç asker III. Ordu’ya sığınmıştı. Bu askerlerin verdikleri bilgilere göre;
Erzurum’da bir topçu kıtası bulunmaktaydı. Erzurum’dan gelen asker Aşkale-
Bayburt-Gümüşhane mıntıkasında herhangi bir askeri birlikle karşılaşma-
mış, sadece Bayburt’ta dört top görmüştü. Trabzon üzerinden gelen iki asker
ise Rusların iki ay kadar önce 15 ağır top ve 500 mevcutlu bir süvari alayını
Odesa’ya gönderdiklerini, yaklaşık üç hafta önce de Odesa’dan 17. Alay olduğu
söylenilen bir Rus piyade alayının Trabzon’a geldiğini ve buradan da vapur-
larla Batum’a sevk edildiğini belirtiyorlardı. Bu askerlere göre 30 top, çok
sayıda makineli tüfek, piyade birlikleri ile birçok araba Ardasa-Zigana yoluyla
Trabzon’a doğru gitmekteydi. Bu bilgiler Rus askerlerinin silahlarıyla birlikte
işgal bölgesini terk ettiklerinin bir göstergesiydi. Bu askerler Rusların işgalden
sonra yaptıkları Trabzon-Cevizlik lokomotifinin işlemekte olduğunu da gör-
müşlerdi. Bu askerlerden alınan önemli bir bilgi de Rusların 25 yaşından büyük
askerlerini terhis ettikleriydi.18 Yine Ruslara esir düştükten sonra Trabzon’a
gelen ve burada bir süre çalıştıktan sonra 37. Fırka’ya sığınan iki Türk askeri
Rusların durumuyla ilgili ayrıntılı bilgiler vermişlerdir. İki askerin ifadelerine
göre 5 Aralık’tan itibaren cepheden Trabzon’a ve Trabzon’dan Rusya’ya sevkiyat
yapılmaktaydı. İki asker Trabzon’da bulundukları sırada Gümüşhane yönünden
gelen dört tabur vapurla sevk edilmiş, Trabzon’a gelen diğer askerlerin de bir iki
gün içinde sevk edileceğini duymuşlardı. Bu sırada Görele’den vapurla iki tabur
Trabzon’a getirilmiş, Ruslar 37. Fırka cephesindeki bütün topları Görele’ye top-
lamışlardı. Yine iki asker Ruslardan 2 Ocak itibariyle işgal mıntıkasından çeki-
leceklerini ve ardından Osmanlı askerinin Görele’ye gireceğini öğrenmişlerdi.
Rusların bölgeyi tahliye ettiklerinin en önemli göstergelerinden birisi de yirmi
gündür Trabzon’a boş gelen Rus vapurlarının dolu olarak limandan ayrılma-
larıydı. Yerli Rumlar da aynı dönemde Rus askerlerinin burayı tahliye ederek
Ermeni ve Gürcü askerlerinin işgaline bırakacağını söylemişlerdir.19
Erzincan Mütarekesi ile Rus ve Türk kuvvetleri arasında ateşkes durumu
sağlanmasına rağmen bazen olumsuz olaylar da yaşanıyordu. 28 Aralık’ta gön-
derilen Mülazım Sami, tarafsız sahayı geçtiği iddiasıyla Ruslar tarafından esir
528
İstihbarat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetleri
alınmış ve Sansa Boğazı’na kadar götürülmüştü. Sami daha sonra serbest kal-
mış ve III. Ordu için çok önemli bilgilerle geri dönmüştü. Sami bu yolculuğu
esnasında “salib” işaretli 500 kadar arabanın Erzincan’dan Sansa istikametine
doğru eşya taşıdıklarını görmüş ve bazı alayların geri çekildiği yorumunu yap-
mıştır. Mülazım Sami Erzincan’daki tayyare hangarında iki tayyare olduğunu
tespit ettiği gibi Erzincan’daki birlikleri, birliklerin nerelerde bulunduğunu ve
komutanlarının isimlerini de öğrenmiştir. Bu sırada Rus askerlerinin konuşma-
larından menzil ve kolordu karargâhlarının hareket edeceklerini duymuştur.
Sami’ye göre; Rus askerleri çok az maaş almakta, Rus subaylar askerlerin itaat-
sizliklerinden, askerler de subayların fazla para almalarından şikâyet etmektey-
diler. Sami Rusların Erzincan’daki subay misafirhanesine de gitmiş ve subaylara
sadece peksimetle çay verildiğini görmüştür.20
III. Ordu’nun önemli bilgi kaynaklarından birisi de Rus subaylarıydı. 2 Ocak
1918 tarihinde 4 Rus subayı ve 1 astsubayı ile yapılan görüşmelerden Rusla-
rın durumuyla ilgili olarak daha ayrıntılı bilgiler elde edilmişti. Rus subayları
bu görüşmelerde; ordularından büyük bir “intizamsızlık” yaşandığını, Bolşevik
idaresinden rahatsızlık duyduklarını ifade etmişlerdi. Rus subaylar Ermenile-
rin “istiklaliyet” fikriyle hareket ettiklerini, teşkilatlarını bu amaçla yaptıklarını,
Rusların kendilerine yardım ettiklerini ifade etmişlerdi. Fakat Ruslar Ermenile-
rin bağımsız bir devlet kurma konusunda başarılı olacaklarına inanmıyorlardı.
Rus subayların bazıları Ermenilere yardım edilmesine karşı çıkmaktaydılar.
Rus subayları görüşmelerinde Rus asker ve subaylarının artık savaşmaktan
yana olmadıklarını ilave etmişlerdi.21
529
Yüksel NİZAMOĞLU
22 ATASE, BDH, K. 525, D. 2046, F. 2, 10 Ocak 1334, K. 524, D. 2044, F. 49-3, 3 Şubat 1334 ,F.
49, 6 Şubat 1334.
23 ATASE, BDH, K. 524, D. 2044, F. 51-3, 7 Şubat 1334.
530
İstihbarat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetleri
den Ermenilere ait olan ve işgalden sonra kendilerince hastane olarak kullanı-
lan büyük bir binayı da yakmışlardı.24
III. Ordu Komutanlığı ileri harekât öncesinde mütareke komisyonları ara-
cılığıyla sürekli yeni bilgiler almakta ve son durumu öğrenmeye çalışmaktaydı.
Kelkit’teki komisyonda görev yapan bir Osmanlı delegesi, Kelkit ve Trabzon
çevresi ile ilgili çok önemli bilgiler almıştı. Bu bilgilere göre Kelkit’teki 2. Tür-
kistan Kolordusu komutanı ve birçok asker firar etmiş, geride sadece 70 kadar
telgrafçı, arabacı gibi hizmetlerde bulunan askerler kalmıştı. 23. Türkistan Alayı
27 Ocak 1918’de Trabzon’a hareket etmişti. Bu sırada Trabzon’a ulaşan Rus bir-
likleri vapur beklemekte, burada bir izdiham yaşanmaması için sevk edilen Rus
birlikleri Ardasa ve Hamsiköy’de bekletilmekteydi. Ruslar terk ettikleri yerler-
deki erzak depolarını halka bırakmışlarsa da Sadak, Köse, Ardasa, Gümüşhane,
Tercan ve Erzurum’da bu depolar büyük ölçüde Ermenilerin eline geçmişti.
Vehip Paşa’nın endişesi Rusların boşalttığı yerlerin güçlü bir Gürcü-Ermeni
ittifakı tarafından işgal edilmesiydi. Nitekim Tiflis, Eleşkirt ve Erzurum çev-
relerinde bulunan Ermeni çetelerinin de Van, Erzincan ve Bayburt taraflarına
geleceklerine ve Gürcülerin de Bayburt’tan Karadeniz’e kadar uzanan bölgeyi
işgal edeceklerine dair haberler alınmaktaydı. Bazen bu bilgilerin ayrıntılı bilgi-
ler içerdiğini de görmekteyiz. Nitekim yukarıda söz ettiğimiz mütareke komis-
yonunun Osmanlı delegesi Erzincan’da 3.000 ve Bayburt’ta Arşak komutasında
1.000 kadar Ermeni olduğunu, Arşak’ın bir iki arkadaşıyla birlikte Bayburt’a
gelerek Ruslarla görüştüğünü ve 18-45 yaş arasındaki Ermenilerin Bayburt’a
gelerek asker yazılmalarını teklif ettiğini bildiriyordu. Bu sırada Ermenilerin
Erzincan’da ancak beş topa sahip oldukları ve Tercan’daki Ermeni kuvvetle-
rinin sayısının da 2.000 kadar olduğu öğrenilmişti.25 III. Ordu Komutanlığı
ileri harekâtın Kafkasya içlerine kadar devam edeceği düşüncesiyle Ermeni ve
Gürcülerin teşkilatları hakkında ayrıntılı bilgiler almaya çalışıyordu. 29 Ara-
lık 1918’de 37. Kafkas Fırkası cephesinde iltica eden Rus zabiti Ralf ’in verdiği
bilgilere göre; Tiflis civarında iki Ermeni fırkası bulunmakta ise de henüz bir
kolordu teşkilatı kurulmamıştı. Ermeniler burada topçu teşkilatı oluşturmaya
çalışmakta ve bütün askeri teşkilatlarında Rusları örnek almaktaydılar. Gürcü-
24 ATASE, BDH, K. 525, D. 2046, F. 6, 6-1, 22 Ocak 1334, aynı raporda Ermenilerin Arda-
sa (Torul)’un Koska Köyü’nde ve Erzincan’ın 18 km güneydoğusundaki bir köyde yap-
tıkları katliamlara yer verilmiş ve yaşananların Rus Kafkas Orduları Başkumandanı
Prejevalski’ye yazıldığı belirtilmiştir.
25 ATASE, BDH, K. 525, D. 2046, F. 8, 8-1, 8-2, 1 Şubat 1334.
531
Yüksel NİZAMOĞLU
lerin ise merkezi Tiflis olmak üzere iki piyade alayı, bir süvari bölüğü ve bir
cebel topçu livası vardı. Ralf ’in ifadesine göre buralardaki Rus kuvvetlerinin
çekilmesinden sonra yerini Ermeni ve Gürcü kuvvetleri alacaktı. Ralf, Kafkas
Hükümeti hakkında da ayrıntılı bilgiler vermekte; bu Hükümetin meclisinde
çoğunluğu Ermeni ve Gürcülerin teşkil ettiğini, Rusların azınlıkta olduklarını,
meclisin kırk kişiden meydana geldiğini, meclis toplantılarının Grandük Nikola
Nikolayeviç’in sarayında yapıldığını, Kafkas ordusu karargâhının başında ise
mülazım-ı evvel rütbesinde bir komiser bulunmaktaydı. Ralf ’e göre Ermeni ve
Gürcüler Bolşevik aleyhtarı bir siyaset izlemekteydiler. Rusların tahliye ettiği
araziyi de aralarında paylaşmışlardı.26
III. Ordu’nun ileri harekâta karar vermesinde en önemli nedenlerin başında
elbette Ermenilerin “arazi-i müstevliye” halkını katletmesi ve sürekli olarak bu
tür bilgi ve haberlerin III. Ordu karargâhına gelmesi etkili olmuştur. Bu haber-
lere ait bir örnek vermek gerekirse Erzincan’da Sivaslı Murat önderliğindeki
olayları aktarabiliriz. 31 Ocak 1918’de Erzincan’da bulunan Ermeniler Sivaslı
Murat’ın emriyle şehri gezerek bütün Müslüman halkın şehir meydanında top-
lanmasını istemiş, toplanma sebebini öğrenmek isteyen muhtarlar önce tutuk-
lanmış, daha sonra da Sivaslı Murat’ın emriyle idam edilmiştir. Ahali ise önce
telgrafhaneye, oradan da Vahit Bey’in konağına götürülmüş, konakta toplanan
ahalinin sayısı 1.500’e ulaşmıştı. Ermeniler konağın her tarafını ateşe vermiş-
ler, yanmamak için kendilerini pencereden aşağıya atanlar Ermeni ablukasıyla
karşılaşmış ve öldürülmüşlerdi. Aynı haberde Ermenilerin Erzincan Kale-
si’ndeki kışlaya 3.000 kadını doldurarak yaktıkları belirtiliyordu. Aynı bilgi
Erzincan’dan firar eden Hulusi tarafından da verilmiş, özellikle şehrin eşraf ve
tüccarının toplanarak yakıldığı ifade edilmiştir. Bayburt’ta Ermeni komitacısı
Arşak civardaki İslam köylerini 7 Şubat 1918’de Bayburt’ta toplanmak üzere
çağırmış ve kasabanın güneyindeki Hayik Köyü imam ve muhtarı Kelkit’e gele-
rek mütareke komisyonuna durumu aktarmış ve kendilerini savunmak üzere
silah istemişlerdir. III. Ordu’nun takip ettiği konuların başında Rusların asker-
lerini Rusya içlerine götürüp götürmedikleri önemli bir yer tutuyordu. Rusların
tamamen işgal altındaki bölgeyi terk etmelerinin anlamı; artık Türk ordusunun
karşısında sadece Ermeni ve Gürcülerin kalması, dolayısıyla Ruslarla doğrudan
bir savaş durumu yaşanmayacak olmasıydı. Rus kuvvetleri işgal bölgesini yavaş
bir şekilde boşaltıyorlardı. Rus kuvvetlerinin toplanma yeri ise Trabzon şeh-
532
İstihbarat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetleri
riydi. III. Ordu Komutanlığı bir taraftan da çeşitli yerlere muhbirler göndererek
ileri harekâtı kolaylaştıracak bilgiler toplamaya çalışıyordu. Bu amaçla Urmiye
Gölü çevresine ve Erzurum’a gönderilen muhbirler Van’da 5.000, Malazgirt
çevresinde de 5.000 Ermeni kuvveti olduğunu, yine Erzurum’da da aynı sayıda
Ermeni kuvvetinin toplandığını, Ruslar tarafından yapılan dekovil hattının
Hamur’a kadar işlemekte olduğunu ifade etmişlerdi. Vehip Paşa bu bilgilerin
doğruluğunu kesinleştirmek için aynı istikametlere başka muhbirler de gön-
deriyor ve ileri harekâtın güvenli bir şekilde yapılması için gereken tedbirleri
almaya çalışıyordu.27
Vehip Paşa’nın ileri harekât öncesinde topladığı bilgilerden hareketle Baş-
komutanlık Vekâleti’ne gönderdiği en kapsamlı raporlardan birisi 1 Şubat
1918 tarihine aittir. Bu raporda genel bir değerlendirme yapılarak Başkomu-
tanlık Vekâleti bilgilendirilmiş ve raporun sonunda bir an önce harekâtın baş-
laması istenmiştir. Vehip Paşa alınan bilgiler doğrultusunda artık Erzincan ve
Bayburt’ta Rus kuvveti kalmadığını; ancak Erzincan’da Sivaslı Murat, Bayburt’ta
da Arşak adında bir Ermeni komiteci liderliğinde Ermeni kuvvetleri bulundu-
ğunu, Gümüşhane, Kelkit ve Ardasa’da da Rus askeri olmadığını bildirmiştir.
Yine aynı rapora göre; Trabzon’da toplanan Rus kuvvetlerinin Rusya içlerine
nakli devam etmekteydi. Vehip Paşa’ya göre Ermenilerin Müslüman halka yap-
tıkları katliamların önüne geçmek ve yeni teşkilatlanmakta olan Ermenilerin
daha da güçlenmelerini önlemek için hemen harekete geçilmelidir.28
27 ATASE, BDH, K. 525, D. 2046, F. 8, 8-1, 8-2, 1 Şubat 1334, F. 12, 17 Şubat 1334, F. 14, 3 Şu-
bat 1334.
28 ATASE, BDH, K. 153, D. 682, F. 15, 15-1, 1 Şubat 1334i
533
Yüksel NİZAMOĞLU
534
İstihbarat faaliyetleri ve mükâleme heyetleri
nun ileri harekât için beklediği fırsat ortaya çıkmıştı. Aynı dönemde Alman ve
Avusturya orduları da Ukrayna’yı işgal etmek üzere harekete geçtiler.32
Sonuç
III. Ordu komutanı Vehip Paşa, Erzincan Mütarekesi sonrasında cephe ileri-
sinde yaşanan gelişmeleri öğrenmek amacıyla yoğun faaliyetlere girişti. Bunun
için ateşkes sonrasında kurulan “Mükâleme Heyetleri” önemli bir bilgi kaynağı
oldu. Ruslarla görüşmeye giden Türk subayları görüşmeler esnasında ordunun
iaşe, silah ve cephane durumunu öğrenmeye çalıştılar. Ruslar da ateşkes son-
rasında heyetler göndermişler, bunlar vasıtasıyla da bazı bilgilere ulaşılmıştı.
Vehip Paşa bu bilgileri şüpheyle karşılamış ve doğruluğunu kesinleştirmeye
çalışmıştır. Rusların işgal altındaki yerleri boşaltmasıyla ellerindeki silah ve
cephaneyi Ermenilere bıraktıkları, Ermenilerin işgal bölgesinde milis kuvvet-
ler oluşturduğu bilgisi alınınca bu kuvvetlerle ilgili bilgilere ihtiyaç duyuldu. Bu
konuda bölgedeki Müslüman halkın getirdiği bilgiler önemli bir yer tutmuştur.
Diğer bir bilgi kaynağı Rus ordusundan firar eden askerler olmuş, bu sayede
bizzat ordunun içinden ayrıntılı bilgilere ulaşılmıştır. Önemli bir bilgi kayna-
ğını da Rusların elinden kaçmayı başaran esir Osmanlı askerleri oldu. Özellikle
bölgenin tahliyesine ait bilgiler esaretten kaçan askerlerden elde edildi.
Cephe ilerisine ait elde edilen bilgiler artık ileri harekâtın başlayabilece-
ğini gösteriyordu. Özellikle Rusların işgal ettikleri yerleri Ermeni ve Gürcülere
bırakması ve Rusların geri çekilmesiyle Ermenilerin katliamlara başlaması ise
bu harekâtı zorunlu hale getirdi. Bunun üzerine sadece yakın yerler değil, Erzu-
rum, Kars, Ağrı, hatta Tiflis, Batum gibi yerlerin durumuyla ile ilgili bilgilere
ihtiyaç duyuldu. Bu bilgiler de Rusların yanından kaçarak III. Ordu’ya sığınan
subaylardan öğreniliyordu. Osmanlı Devleti Rusya ile savaşmak istemediğin-
den Rus askerlerinin bölgeyi tamamen boşalttıklarından emin olmak istiyor ve
bu nedenle cephe ilerisine ait ayrıntılı bilgilere ulaşmak istiyordu. Bu amaçla
işgal bölgesine muhbirler gönderiliyor ve daha kesin bilgiler elde ediliyordu.
12 Şubat 1918’de başlayan ileri harekâtla önce Erzincan ele geçirildi. Bundan
sonra ileri harekât devam edecek; III. Ordu önce 1914 sınırına, ardından 1877
sınırına ulaşacak, hatta daha da ileriye gidecektir.
32 Yıldırım, a.g.e., s. 109, Emin Ali Türkgeldi, “Brest-Litovsk Konferansı Hatıraları”, Belge-
lerle Türk Tarihi Dergisi 13 (1986), s. 51-52.
535
QUESTIONS À PROPOS DE L’ÉTUDE
DU KİTÂB-I BAHRİYYE DE PÎRÎ RE’ÎS
Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont*
Le Kitâb-ı bahriyye, « Livre des choses de la mer », est un fameux portulan otto-
man – au sens strict du terme – accompagné de cartes nautiques et rédigé en
deux versions (1521 et 1526, ici : KB1 et KB2).** Voici une dizaine d’années, ce
volumineux ouvrage commença à attirer notre plus vif intérêt. En effet, malgré
les travaux de Paul Kahle au tournant du premier quart du XXe siècle1, après la
publication de plusieurs fac-similés des plus beaux manuscrits de la seconde
version au cours des décennies suivantes2 et celle d’un certain nombre d’études3,
beaucoup de questions importantes que soulève l’ouvrage nous semblaient ne
pas avoir été posées. En premier lieu, quelle peut être la raison d’être de ces
deux versions dont, dans de nombreux cas, la longueur et l’économie apparais-
sent dès l’abord fort différentes sur bien des points ? Ensuite, en quoi sont-elles
536
Questions à propos de l’étude du Kitâb-ı Bahriyye
différentes ? Enfin, y a-t-il une relation de l’une et de l’autre avec des sources
européennes de la même époque et peut-on noter une différence entre la con-
naissance nautique de la Méditerranée qu’avaient les Ottomans et, par exemple,
celle des navigateurs vénitiens ?
Des réponses pertinentes sont apparues rapidement, sans doute parce qu’un
heureux hasard nous conduisit vers des exemples significatifs. En effet, nous
avions commencé par la comparaison des deux versions du chapitre sur la
Corse4. La première se révélait décevante. Pîrî Re’îs y signalait dès l’abord qu’il
n’avait vu l’île que de loin, au long des côtes orientales, d’où une description
hâtive et sans grand intérêt de celles-ci et une accumulation de raccourcis et
d’erreurs quant aux côtes occidentales. En revanche, la seconde édition abondait
en détails précis, montrant à l’évidence que si l’auteur n’était pas allé faire sur
place les vérifications nécessaires entre-temps, il avait dû avoir accès à d’autres
sources d’information, soit orales, soit écrites. Cette dernière hypothèse était la
bonne : en compulsant le contenu de portulans italiens antérieurs au Kitâb-ı
bahriyye, l’un d’eux éveilla dans notre esprit des échos familiers provenant du
texte de celui-ci. C’est ainsi que nous pûmes constater que l’essentiel des ajouts
de KB2 par rapport à KB1 dans le chapitre sur la Corse provenait d’une source
italienne parfois traduite ici en turc et au mot près par l’auteur ottoman, le Por-
tolano per i naviganti composto per un gentiluomo veneziano, imprimé à Venise
par Bernardino Rizo de Novaria en 14905 et que nous appellerons ici Rizo.
Pour valider cette découverte, il nous vint à l’idée d’entreprendre la même
expérience sur le chapitre concernant l’île la plus voisine, c’est-à-dire la Sar-
daigne6. Cette fois encore, il apparaît que l’inspiration fut heureuse dans la
mesure où elle déboucha sur un résultat inverse, point de départ de nouvel-
les hypothèses. En effet, diverses indications données par Pîrî Re’îs montrent
537
Jean-Louis BACQUÉ-GRAMMONT
qu’il connaissait personnellement les côtes de cette île de manière assez précise
et qu’il y avait même mené des raids jusqu’à certains villages dans l’arrière-
pays. Or, dans ces pages, KB2 se montrait fort économe en emprunts à Rizo.
Qu’en déduire sinon une piste selon laquelle mieux Pîrî Re’îs connaissait par
expérience une zone côtière, moins il avait besoin de recourir à cette source, et
inversement ?
Partant de cette nouvelle hypothèse, nous procédâmes à l’examen des cha-
pitres concernant les rivages les plus occidentaux de la Méditerranée : ceux de
l”Espagne7 où nous pouvions douter que l’auteur fût jamais allé8. Il en ressortit
une nouvelle fois que Rizo alimentait largement KB2 en informations.
Conforté par ces résultats, nous entreprîmes la même expérience sur les
chapitres concernant les côtes du Maghreb9. Nos suppositions se trouvèrent
encore confirmées dans la mesure où Pîrî Re’îs avait manifestement une conna-
issance personnelle très limitée de celles du Rif et de l’Oranais, mais aussi une
expérience certaine de celles du Constantinois et de la Tunisie où l’on sait qu’il
passait fréquemment ses quartiers d’hiver avec son oncle et maître en choses
nautiques, le prestigieux corsaire Kemâl Re’îs10.
Ainsi encouragé à poursuivre ces expériences, nous nous équipâmes du
matériel nécessaire : la reproduction ou l’accès aux meilleurs manuscrits de KB111
538
Questions à propos de l’étude du Kitâb-ı Bahriyye
12 Outre les éditions citées à la note 2, supra, BnF, ms. Supp. turc 956.
13 Fevzi Kurdoğlu, Ali Macar Reis Atlası, [İstanbul] 1935 ; Franz Babinger, « Seyyid Nûh
and his Turkish Sailing Handbook », Imago Mundi, XII (1955), p. 180-182 ; Hans Joac-
him Kissling, Der See-Atlas des Seyyid Nûh, Beiträge zur Kenntnis Südostoeuropas und
des Nahen Orients, München 1966 ; Thomas D. Goodrich, « Atlas-i hümayun: A Sixte-
enth-Century Ottoman Maritime Atlas Discovered in 1984 », Archivum Ottomanicum
X (1985), p. 83-101 ; Svat Soucek, « Islamic Charting in the Mediterranean », J. B. Harley
et David Woodward éd., The History of Cartography, II/1, Cartography in the Traditional
Islamic and South Asian Societies, Chicago-Londres 1992 ; Kemal Özdemir, Osmanlı De-
niz Haritaları. Ali Macar Reis Atlası, İstanbul 1992 ; Thomas D. Goodrich, « Supplemen-
tal Maps in the Kitab-ı Bahriye of Piri Reis », Archivum Ottomanicum XIII (1993-1994),
p. 117-141 ; Thomas Goodrich, « A Cartographic Innovation of Piri Rais in his Kitab-ı
Bahriye », CIEPO. XIV Sempozyum Bildirileri, 18-22 Eylül 2000, Tuncer Baykara éd., An-
kara 2004, p. 201-209 + pl.
14 Giorgios Tolias, Oi ellênikoi nautikoi khartes portolanoi, 15os-17os aionas, Athènes 1999.
15 Tout d’abord, l’indispensable [IPM] Konrad Kretschmer, Die italienische Portolane des
Mittelalters, Berlin 1909 ; rééd. Hildesheim 1962 ; Il compasso da navigare. Opera italiana
della metà del secolo XIII. Prefazione e testo del codice Hamilton 896 a cura di Bacchisio
R. Motzo, Annali della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia della Università di Cagliari, VIII, Ca-
gliari 1947 ; Angela Terrosu Asole, Il portolano di Grazia Pauli. Opera italiana del secolo
XIV trascritta a cura di Bacchisio R. Motzo, Cagliari 1977 ; Portulan Parma-Magliabec-
chi, dans IPM ; Benedetto Bordone, Isolario di Benedetto Bordone nel qval si ragiona di
tutte le isole del mondo, con li lor nome antichi & moderni, historie, fauole, & modi del loro
vivere, & in quel parte del mare stanno, & in quel parallelo & clima giacono, Venise, Fran-
cesco di Leno, [1534]. Fac-similé : Benedetto Bordone. Isolario, Paris-Turin 2000. Autres
éditions : 1628, Nicolò d’Aristotile, rééditée par Raleigh Ashlin Skelton, Benedetto Bor-
done Libro (...) de tutte l’Isole Nvovo del Mondo, Venise 1528, Theatrum Orbis Terrarvm,
Amsterdam 1966 ; Venise, même éditeur, 1540 ; Portolano non piv stampato molto parti-
colare de'l Levante e de’l Ponente, Venise, Paulo Gerardo, 1544 ; Portolano della maggior
parte de’ luoghi da stantiar navi, et galee in tutto il Mare Mediterraneo, con le sue trauer-
sie, & luoghi pericolosi, Roma, Bartholomeo Bonfadino, 1602; Colom de la Mer mediter-
rannee. Descrit par Iacqves Colomb, Amsterdam, Jacques Colom, 1650 ; Francesco Maria
Levanto, Prima parte dello specchio del mare, nel qvale si descrivono tvtti li porti, spiag-
gie, baye, isole, scogli, e seccagni del Mediterraneo, Gênes, Gerolamo Marino et Benedetto
Celle, 1664 ; Portulano nel quale si descriuono tutte le citta, terre, castelli, e porti maritimij
& con tuttj li suoi mari e loro funda, isole e secche, Civita Vecchia, 1666 ; Sebastiano Gor-
goglione, Portvlano del Mare Mediterraneo, nel quale si contiene tutta la Nauigatione, che
si fà da luogo in luogo, e la descrittione di tutti li luoghi, Terre, Porti, Isole, Capi, Scogli, e
Secche, che i trouano dalla nobile Città di Genoua sino al Capo San Vincenzo verso Ponen-
te ; e da Genoua sino alla Sapienza verso Leuante. E così della Barbaria di terra ferma a
Capo Spartello sino a Tripoli nuouo, di Sebastiano Gorgoglione Genovese, Naples, Giovan-
539
Jean-Louis BACQUÉ-GRAMMONT
***
Après cette présentation générale de notre programme, que peut-on dire à pro-
pos du chapitre du Kitâb-ı bahriyye concernant la Crète ? Il faut bien reconnaître
que, pour la première fois, le constat n’aurait guère été encourageant si tel avait
été notre point de départ dans cette entreprise. En effet, KB1 et KB2 s’y mont-
540
Questions à propos de l’étude du Kitâb-ı Bahriyye
rent presque identiques et nous ne relevons aucun emprunt certain à Rizo dans
le second. L’information nautique apparaît parfois abondante sur des points
précis mais, n’était la carte dans KB2, le lecteur aurait peine à se faire une idée
de l’aspect général du littoral. Au total, neuf ports seulement sont cités par
leurs noms, dont cinq peuvent être clairement identifiés (Héraklion, Retimno,
la Canée, Palékastro et Sitia). On peut supposer que les quatre autres corres-
pondent à Paléochora, à Plakias, à Agios Pavlos et à Lendas. Il faut également
souligner la disparité entre les toponymies turque, vénitienne et grecque, qui
appellerait une étude ad hoc.
Ces diverses caractéristiques sont proches de celles qu’on observe dans le
chapitre sur Chypre, autre île vénitienne à l’époque de l’auteur. Qu’en déduire
? On sait que les attaques de corsaires ottomans y furent assez rares dans l’une
et dans l’autre au cours des XVe et XVIe siècles. Était-ce dû à une surveillance
efficace des côtes par des forces navales vénitiennes suffisantes ? Si tel est bien
le cas, cela expliquerait-il le faible intérêt du Kitâb-ı bahriyye à l’égard de ces
îles difficiles d’accès pour un navire ottoman ? Mais les côtes de l’Espagne, qui
éveillent manifestement l’intérêt de l’auteur, ne l’étaient-elles pas tout autant ?
541
THE ASSASSINATION
OF THE RUSSIAN CONSUL AT MITROVICA,
1903
Nilüfer Hatemi*
On March 31st, 1903, an Ottoman soldier attacked the newly appointed Russian
vice consul at Mitrovica, Kosovo. Grigori Stepanovich Shcherbina was walking
to the train station accompanied by his escorts when the assailant, Corporal
Ibrahim, fired his rifle. The bullet passed through his back and abdomen seri-
ously wounding the young diplomat. He survived the attack, as did Ibrahim,
who had tried to escape before he was shot and captured in the consequent
fire exchange.1 Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa, the inspector general of the three vilayets,
542
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
Monastir (Bitola), Kosovo and Salonika, immediately sent Dr. Jak from Uskup
(Skopje). The Ottoman Sultan, Abdülhamid II, dispatched the best surgeon
from his court, and the King of Serbia, Alexander Obrenović, ordered Dr. Sou-
botitch to proceed to Mitrovica from Belgrade. The announcements in the fol-
lowing days were optimistic for recovery.2
Being a rare but not unheard of occurrence, an assault on the life of a major
power’s representative is an incident promising serious consequence. Particu-
larly in the Balkans where a full-scale uprising had been expected, it was pos-
sible that such an occurrence would spark the ignition.3 The region had been
suffering numerous ills: a feeling of general discontent prevailed among the
population, lack of security was widespread, and actions of the nationalist com-
mittees were rising. Violence had continued for such a lengthy time that it pro-
vided a fertile soil for drastic changes. The Ottoman rule, unable to provide
law and order, had desperately been trying to save the day with a deteriorating
administration and army whose payment was seriously in arrears. The govern-
ment was unable, either diplomatically or militarily, to stop the growing conflict
among the various forces.4 The neighboring governments, on the other hand,
were providing material and support for the armed nationalist organizations.5
Nationalist groups had invested in arms, organized and recruited adherents.
543
Nilüfer HATEMi
There were too many contenders in this expected process of partition, and they
were unable to reach an understanding.6
The two main contestants invested in this vilayet, Austria-Hungary (due to
its presence in the Novi Pazar district) and Russia (because of its close ties
with the Serbian inhabitants of the northern Kosovo) appeared to be in agre-
ement.7 Along with Serbia, they had diplomatic establishments in the main
cities of the region, and were searching for ways to broaden their areas of inf-
luence.8
6 Roderic H. Davison, “Ottoman Diplomacy and Its Legacy” in . L. Carl Brown ed., Impe-
rial Legacy- The Ottoman Imprint on the Balkans and the Middle East, New York 1996,
174-199; L. Carl Brown, International Politics and the Middle East- Old Rules Dangerous
Game, Princeton 1964, 21-81.
7 “In April 1897, during the Greek Crisis, Franz Joseph with his foreign minister Go-
luchowski, visited St Petersburg where an agreement was concluded that put the Balkans
‘on ice’ for the next decade. Both powers agreed to co-operate to preserve as far as pos-
sible the status quo in the area and to maintain the closure of the straits. The problems
raised by the possibility of further disintegration of Ottoman rule in the peninsula were
also discussed, but no definite plans were made beyond the mutual recognition of the
fact that the balance should be preserved”, Barbara Jelavich, A Century of Russian For-
eign Policy 1814-1914, Philadelphia and New York 1964, 231-232; William Smith Mur-
ray, The Making of the Balkan States, New York 1910, 177. See also, “… common action by
Austria and Russia to be the only means of solving the Eastern question… Both Turkey
and the Balkan States will recognize the importance of the Mitrovitza incident, and will
understand that Austria-Hungary and Russia are ready in case of need to pursue their
common policy even beyond the sphere of influence reserved for Austria-Hungary by
the Treaty of Berlin” The Times, January 29th, 1903, p. 4.
8 “Memurin-i Ecnebiye: 1-Rusya Konsolosu: Mösyö Viktor Maşkof; 2-Avusturya Konso-
losu: Mösyö Buhomil Para; 3-Sırbistan Konsolosu: Mösyö Pavlah Daniç; 4-İngiliz Vays
Konsolosu: Mösyö Karntana; 5-Yunan Konsolosu: Mösyö Korki Yanopulos; 6- Bulgar
Tüccar Vekili: Mösyö Todorpiyef ” for the list of the foreign officials operating in Kosovo,
see Salname-i Vilayet-i Kosova Def ’a 8, Kosova H. 1318 [1900/1901], 251. For detailed
locations and names of the foreign representatives, see Salname-i Devlet-i ‘Aliyye-i ‘Os-
maniyye Def ’a 57, İstanbul H. 1317 [1901/1902], 836, 851; Salname-i Devlet-i ‘Aliyye-i
‘Osmaniyye Def ’a 58, İstanbul H. 1318 [1902/1903], 852, 858, 868; Salname-i Devlet-i ‘Ali-
yye-i ‘Osmaniyye Def ’a 59, İstanbul H. 1319 [1903/1904], 916, 928, 933; Salname-i Dev-
let-i ‘Aliyye-i ‘Osmaniyye Def ’a 60, İstanbul H. 1320 [1904/1905], 933-934, 943, 946, 957.
Note that Shcherbina’s name was not recorded since he could serve at Mitrovica for a
very short period of time. See the Ottoman foreign office yearbooks of 1885, 1889, 1900
and 1902 transcribed and edited by Ahmed Nezih Galitekin, Salname-i Nezaret-i Har-
iciyye Osmanlı Dışişleri Bakanlığı Yıllığı, 4 vols., Istanbul 2003;. Bataković, The Kosovo
Chronicles, 125, 127-133, 141, 145-146, 151-152.
544
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
Each nation that designs to pick up the pieces, when Turkey in Europe bursts up,
keeps a Consul on the spot. A Russian represents the Slav interests, to claim the
land as Old Servia. An acute Austrian is posted there to forward his country’s plan
of ‘Advance, Austria’, and Italy has had to plant a man to see what he is doing. The
Moslem Albanian objects to the presence of all of them, and the Turkish Govern-
ment impartially gives them all armed escorts. There is something truly pathetic
about the way Turkey, everywhere, carefully protects the gentlemen whose only rai-
son d’être is to hasten the dismemberment of the land.9
In the late 19th, early 20th century, Russia possessed a number of consulates
in the Ottoman Balkans. Salonika, Monastir, Prizren, Skopje and Skodra were
amongst her main diplomatic centers. In 1902, Russia took action to establish a
vice consulate in Mitrovica.10
Mitrovica
Mitrovica, one of the five kazas constituting the sancak of Prishtina, possessed
the smallest population of all, housing around six thousand people.11 Situated
in the northern section of the vilayet of Kosovo, Mitrovica was of subtle but
considerable strategic importance. The significance of the district lay in its pro-
ximity to the Serbian frontier, to Montenegro and to the sancak of Novi Pazar,
which was partially under the occupation of Austria-Hungary. It was conside-
red a crucial part of Old Serbia, Metohia or Kosmet. Connected to Skopje, Prish-
tina, Novi Pazar, Pec and Prizren by railway lines, Mitrovica was also defined as
545
Nilüfer HATEMi
the “belly” of the Albanian territory.12 At the center of clashing political influen-
ces and nationalist aspirations, it was the last Ottoman station on the railroad
line connecting Salonika to northern Kosovo, and also the starting point of the
route leading to Austro-Hungarian occupied Bosnia.13
The population of Mitrovica consisted of almost equal percentages of Mus-
lim Albanians and Orthodox Serbs; however it is accepted that the former
slightly exceeded the latter. Its public infrastructure consisted of a government
building, primary and secondary schools, a train and telegram station, a clock
tower, a military hospital, mosques, and a church. The district’s economy was
said to be improving due to railroad transportation, its fertile land, forests and
mines. The divisions of the Third Army, which stationed there, housed a num-
ber of military offices, artillery barracks and an arsenal. Its location and the
political conjunction of the new century caused Mitrovica to become a strate-
gic knot around which Russia, Serbia, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman state
were to confront each other.14
12 “Metroviçe: Üsküb’e şimendüferle altı, İpek’e on iki, Prizren’e on sekiz, Yenipazar’a on,
Priştine’ye altı saat mesafede olduğundan buraca Arnavutluk’un göbeği sayılıyor”, DH
MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 September 1902).
13 “Eisenbahn von Üsküb nach Mitrowitza- Mitrowitza ist Endpunkt der Eisenbahn, deren
Fortsetzung nach Bosnien wenig Aussicht hat. Die Stadt in romantischer Gebirgsgegend,
in strategisch wichtiger Lage an der Mündung der Sitnitza in den Ibar, hat 3,500 Ein-
wohner und 5 Moscheen. … Von einem Hügel in der Nahe des Bahnhofs weite Aussicht
in das bosnische und montenegrinische Gebirgsland.- Bei Mitrowitza beginnt das noch
zum Wilajet Kossovo gehörige, aber teilweise von Österreichisch besetzte Sandschak
Novibasar”, Meyers Reisebücher Türkei, Rumänien, Serbien, Bulgarien, Fünfte Auflage,
Leipzig and Wien 1898, 83-84. Cf. Noel Malcolm, Kosovo: A Short History, London 1998,
234; H. N. Brailsford, Macedonia. Its Races and Their Future, London 1910, 87, 108.
14 Sources vary on the exact numbers of religious and ethnic components of the kaza,
however figures provided by Serbian, Greek, Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian sources
concur that, in 1902, around 54% were Muslim Albanians, see “Carte Ethnographique
du Vilayet de Cossovo”: statistics of the vilayet of Cossovo, published by the Institute of
Cartography, Sofia, 1901 (FO 925/41145) in Beytullah Destani (ed.), Albania & Kosovo,
Political and Ethnic Boundries 1867-1946, Slough 1999, 1008-1009; Bartl, Die albanische
Muslime zur Zeit der nationalen Unabhängigkeitsbewegung, 52-54; Ş. Sami [Fraschery],
Kamusü’l-A’lam, vol. 6, 4149; Salname-i Vilayet-i Kosova Def ’a 8, 577; Edith Durham,
High Albania, 293-298. For a picture of the Mitrovica railway station and the kaza, see
Osmanlı Arşiv Belgelerinde Kosova Vilayeti- Vilajeti Kosovës Në Dukumentet Arkivore Os-
mane, Istanbul 2007, 87, 89.
546
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
15 DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 September 1902). Two weeks later, on January 27th,
1902, the governor sent another telegram drawing attention to the situation, and con-
cluding his remarks by saying that “rivayet-i mezkurenin sihhati takdirde mezahiri mu-
cib olacağı ma’ruzdur”, DH MKT 527/32, 12 Ra 1320 (18 June1902). Unfortunately, the
consequent response of the Ottoman Grand Vizier to the governor remains unknown
since the next correspondence in the archives related to this matter, is dated June 1902,
when Russia’s objective became evident. The reaction of the inhabitants of Mitrovica is
described as violent objections, Y PRK UM 58/91, 10 Ra 1320 (16 June 1902). See also,
“Rusya devleti’nin Üsküb konsolosu Maşkof o havalide İslam ile Hristiyan beyninde bir
nifak ve husumet ilkasını arzu ettiği içün bu maksadın husulüne medar olmak üzere ora-
da bir Rusya konsolatosu teşkiline hayli vakitten beri çalışmakta ve bunu ötede beride
söylemekde idi nihayet ahali duydu ve fevkalade heyecan gösterdi” written by the gover-
nor of Kosovo, DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 September 1902).
16 Turkey No. 1 (1903), Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe, 149,
196.
547
Nilüfer HATEMi
government and its officials were proven unreliable.17 Aware of the capacity and
determination of the populace, the governor desperately urged the capital to
avoid the creation of the consulate, and if this was unattainable, he advised
resorting to indefinite postponement. It was vital to delay the arrival of the Rus-
sian diplomat until the uproar in the district had settled down.18
The reaction towards the alleged establishment of the Russian consulate
was a culmination of escalating discontent. Previously, numerous new taxes
were announced on various items.19 At this point, preparations were in order
to implement new regulations regarding military enlisting and the creation of
mixed gendarmerie forces, comprised of both Muslims and Christians. Thus,
Albanians burst in protests. Sources suggest that there was no embedded anta-
gonism between Christian and Muslim inhabitants of the region, but when
17 “Buna dair vilayete henüz bir emir ve tebliğ yoktur … rivayet-i mezkurun sıhhati tak-
dirde mahzuru mucib olacağı ma’ruzdur ”, Y PRK UM 58/91, 10 Ra 1320 (16 June1902).
“Metroviçe’de Rus konsoloshanesi ihdas olunacağına dair mahallince deveran eden
şayi’anın aslı olmadığı 11 Haziran 1318 (24 June 1902) emr-i telgrafi cenab-ı neza-
retpenahilerinde irade buyrulmuş mucibince mahalline tebligat-ı lazıme icra edilmiş
idi … Priştine mutasarrıflığından şimdi alınan telgrafda sabık İşkodra Rus konsolosu
Metroviçe’ye tayin olunub müteheyyi-i hareket bulunduğuna dair İkdam gazetesinin
geçende yazdığı fıkranın şuyu’u üzerine kat’iyyen ‘adem-i kabulü için kuzat, rüesa ve
bayrakdarlarıyla Yenipazar İpek Vulçitrin kazaları ahalisi beyninde evvelce ‘akd edilmiş
olan ittifak bu kere de teyid olunarak konsolosun zaman-ı vürudunu gözetmek üzere her
posta istasyona gözcü gönderilmekde bulunduğu Metroviçe kaymakamlığının i’şarına
‘atfen izbar olunuyor … Vali Reşad, 14 Ağustos 1902”, DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27
September 1902).
18 “Metroviçe’de Rus konsolosunun ihdas ve küşadına müsaade-i seniyye erzan buyrulduğu
havadisi Metroviçeliler beyninde şayi’ olduğundan şayed orada konsolato teşkil edecek
olursa gelecek konsolosun kasabaya duhulunda katl edeceklerini söylemekde oldukları”,
“konsolosluk ihdasının Bab-ı Alice hüsn-i surette geçişdirilmesi lüzumunu ‘arz ile şayed
bu suret olamadığı takdirde uzun bir müddet heyecan-ı ‘umumi sükunetyab buluncaya
kadar tecili vücub-ı kat’i derecesinde olduğu ma’ruzdur”, DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320
(27 September 1902); and Y PRK UM 58/91, 10 Ra 1320 (16 June 1902).
19 “Metroviçe ahalisinin hükümete verdiği mahazır-ı ‘umumide vergi ve ‘asker ver-
meyecekleri … ‘adeta isyan göstermekde oldukları … üç günden beri posta ve telgraf
mu’amelatını ta’til ile yarın büyük bir cem’iyet teşkil edeceklerini beyan eden”, YA HUS
430/80, 11 Ra 1320 (17 June 1902); “hayvan resmini ‘adem-i tediye için ahaliyi teşvik”, Y
PRK ASK 182/91, 17 Ra 1320 (23 June 1902); and Süleyman Külçe, Osmanlı Tarihinde
Arnavutluk, İzmir 1944, 294-295.
548
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
crimes committed between different ethnic and religious groups were not put
before justice, the existing misunderstandings deepened dangerously.20
The most alarming development for the Albanian population, and not wit-
hout just cause, was their being left defenseless in the face of Austro-Hungarian
or Russian aggressors.21 For the Ottoman government, the danger was a general
uprising, inviting great power intervention and eventual partition of the terri-
tory. Distrust between the Albanians and the Ottoman rule had already been
implanted and the breach was growing.22 Acts of insurgence ascended with the
news about the establishment of the Russian vice consulate, which coincided
with the Russian and Austro-Hungarian reform projects.23 Local notables of
Mitrovica, Novi Pazar, Pec, and the neighboring districts gathered announcing
their besa, word of honor, that they would not allow the consul to enter the
town. Watchmen were sent to neighboring train stations to gather intelligence
and prevent his arrival.24 Isa Boletini, an Albanian leader, whose banishment the
20 “As the events show, the pressure exerted by the Great Powers on the Ottoman state tend-
ed to increase the suspicions and hostilities of Albanian Muslims towards their Chris-
tian neighbours. The general deterioration in relations between them during this period
should probably be blamed mostly on external developments of this sort. Isa Boletin, for
example, was not a Christian-hater by nature. He had been employed as recently as 1898-
9 to guard the Serbian Orthodox community in Mitrovica region, and had been given a
medal by the Serbian consul for his services as ‘protector of the raya’ … ”, Malcolm, Koso-
vo: A Short History, 234-235.
21 “Yenipazar, Metroviçe, İpek sancakları ahali-yi İslamiyesi beyninde o havalide müteme-
kkin Sırblulara karşı mevcud olan heyecanın sebebi memlekette ika’-ı suriş etmek üzere
bir takım Sırb komiteleri teşkil ettiğine ve Sırbistan tarafından bunlara esliha i’ta edildiği
ve memalik-i şahanede kıyam-ı ‘umumi vuku’a getirmek maksadıyla Sırbistan ve Bul-
garistan arasında bir mu’ahede-i hafiyye ‘ahd olunduğuna dair”, YA HUS 427/41, 8 M
1320 (17 April 1902); DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 September 1902). “When once the
railway is built between Sarajevo and Mitrovitza -neither a difficult nor a lengthy task-
Austria has her long-desired outlet in the Mediterranean [reaching Salonika], and can
view Italy’s intrigues on the Albanian coast with more equanimity”, Reginald Wyon, The
Balkans From Within, London 1904, 20; Brailsford, Macedonia. Its Races and Their Fu-
ture, 271-273.
22 Turkey No. 1 (1903), Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe, 20,
23, 25, 45, 73, 74, 144, 180, 201, 209.
23 Skendi, The Albanian National Awakening 1878-1912, 203; George W. Gawrych, The
Crescent and the Eagle -Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874-1913, London –
New York 2006, 135; Malcolm, Kosovo: A Short History, 234.
24 DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 September 1902).
549
Nilüfer HATEMi
25 Brailsford, Macedonia. Its Races and Their Future, 271. “Metroviçe’de ahali Rus konso-
loshanesinin tesisinden dolayı hauf ve dehşet içinde bulunduğu ve İsa Bolatin nüfuzu
cari olub Vulçtrin ile Priştine Arnavutları dahi merkuma iltihak ettikleri ve merkum
Metroviçe’ye Rusya konsolosu girdiği anda telef edeceğine yemin eylediği Bulgaristan’da
neşr olunan bazı evrak-ı havadisde görülmüşdür”, “Yenipazarlılar da Metroviçe’de Rusya
konsolosu ihdasından dolayı feryad ve şikayata başladı”, DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27
September 1902); YA HUS 434/12, 4 C 1320 (7 September 1902); YA HUS 434/30, 10 C
1320 (13 September 1902).
26 “Rusyanın Metroviçe konsolosu gelecek hafta Dersaadet’de bulunduğu sırada hayatına
su-i kasd olunması için Metroviçe Arnavutlar tarafından burada iki Arnavuda emr ver-
ilüb bu Arnavudlardan birisi tüfengiyan-ı hazret-i şehriyarilerinden oldukları Rusya se-
fareti baştercümanı tarafından istihbar olunduğundan mümaileyh konsolos Dersaadet’e
geldiği vakit Rusya sefareti ma’iyet vapuru taifelerinden kuvvetli iki neferle sokağa
çıkması kendisine tavsiye”, Y PRK TKM 45/64, 24 C 1320 (27 September 1902).
27 For the reform plans see, Turkey No. 1 (1903) Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of
South-Eastern Europe, 258-265; Turkey No. 2 (1903) Further Correspondence Respecting
the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe (Reforms in the Administration of the Vilayets of Sa-
lonica, Monastir, and Kossovo, London 1903, 1-5; Turkey No. 3 (1903) Further Correspon-
dence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe, London 1903, 86-91. The timing of
the reforms was described as a mistake: “ … they are all good in theory and might have
proved good in practice at any other time than the present, but that their application is
mistimed and that, having been pressed on and carried out by the Porte at a most un-
suitable moment, they have been productive of much harm”, Turkey No. 1 (1904) Further
Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe March-September 1903,
53. Fikret Adanır, Die Makedonische Frage. Ihre Entstehung und Entwicklung bis 1908,
Wiesbaden 1979, 168. The Ottoman Grand Vizier was warned by the British embassy
that three people had been sent to the capital to assassinate him, “Metroviçe’ye Rusya
konsolosluğunun tesisini ve ıslahat-ı mukarrereyi istemeyen ahali bunları rey-i aciz-
anemle vaki’ olmuş zannettikleri içün hayatıma kasd etmek üzere üç kişi intihab ederek
İstanbul’a gönderdikleri”, YA HUS 439/97, 15 L 1320 (14 January 1903); Y PRK MKT
12/26, 16 L 1320 (15 January 1903); Sadrazam Said Paşa, Anılar, İstanbul 1977, 221-222.
550
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
Russia’s Ultimatum
Albanians in the region had never welcomed the presence of the Russian and
Serbian representatives.28 The Russian consul at Skopje, who had been active
traveling and investigating the conditions of the Serbian inhabitants, had att-
racted suspicion. In July 1901, when visiting Mitrovica, he was forced to take
refuge in a schoolhouse with the Serbian vice consul from Prishtina who was
accompanying him.29 Skopje, only a six-hour train ride from Mitrovica had a
Russian consulate, and yet, Russia insisted on establishing a new diplomatic
branch in the latter no matter how hostile the climate had become.30
On September 1st, 1902, the newly appointed diplomat’s attendants reached
Mitrovica hoping to make preparations before the consul’s arrival. They were
28 In the summer of 1890, the Serbian consul at Prishtina, Luka Markovic, was murdered
by Albanians, Y PRK BŞK 18/43, 14 Za 1307 (1 July 1890); YA HUS 236/51, 15 Za 1307
(2 July 1890). “In 1889 a Serbian consulate finally opened in Prishtina, and from this time
on the Serbian government was able to monitor goings-on in Kosovo more closely. How-
ever, the assassination of the Serbian consul Luka Marinkovic in the streets of Pristina
in June 1890 indicated how unwelcome the consulate was”, Miranda Vickers, Between
Serb and Albanian. A History of Kosovo, London 1998, 55. Another example dates Oc-
tober 1901: “A Servian named Stergievitch, suspected of being an agent of the Servian
Consul-General, was murdered by an Albanian bravo in the Mitrovitza Bazaar in broad
day light”, Turkey No. 1 (1903), Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern
Europe, 98, 101.
29 Y PRK UM 54/87, 6 R 1319 (23 July 1901); Y PRK AZJ 42/67, 17 R 1319 (3 August 1901);
Y PRK UM 54/141, 19 R 1319 (5 August 1901); Y MTV 219/31, 19 R 1319 (5 August
1901); Y PRK ASK 172/20, 20 R 1319 (6 August 1901). Turkey No. 1 (1903), Correspon-
dence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe, 53, 65, 66, 85-86.
30 “Russia opened a consulate in Mitrovica, nominally to protect the Slavs from violence,
but in reality to monitor more closely Austria-Hungary’s increasing influence over Alba-
nian Catholic population”, Vickers, Between Serb and Albanian. A History of Kosovo, 59;
“… Isa Boletin occupied Mitrovitza and swore to prevent the imminent opening there
of a Russian consulate, which they feared would spread Pan-Slavist propaganda. After
Austria-Hungary arranged to open a consulate too …”, Aubrey Herbert, Albania’s Great-
est Friend: Aubrey Herbert and the Making of Modern Albania: Diaries and Papers 1904-
1923, Bejtullah Destani and Jason Tomes (eds), London – New York 2011, 32f.
551
Nilüfer HATEMi
received with such hostility that they had to leave straight away.31 The consul’s
attendants had been thrown out of the town and the planned office was still a
long way from being opened. The incident duly infuriated Russia and Ambas-
sador Zinovieff resorted to an ultimatum.32
On the evening of September 4th, 1902, the chief dragoman of the Russian
Embassy, Maksimoff, paid a visit to the Ottoman foreign minister at his home.
He complained that Isa Boletini’s banishment had been promised but never ful-
filled. Maksimoff threatened the minister and claimed that if Boletini was not
arrested and exiled, the Russian embassy would be closed down and relations
would be cut. He further added that Russia would be impelled to appeal to the
Great Powers, and would resort to a mutual agreement with Austria-Hungary so
that the military forces of the latter would advance southwards and occupy Mit-
rovica.33
31 “A quantity of household goods sent by the councilor of the Russian embassy, M. Tch-
erbatcheff, from Constantinople, for the purpose of establishing a Russian consulate at
Mitrovitza, has been seized outside of Mitrovitza by Chief Boljetinaz and a hundred Al-
banian followers. The Russian officers in charge of the goods were conducted to Uskub
after their effects had been confiscated. The Russian consul at Uskub has demanded that
Boljetinaz be arrested and banished. The Albanians of Mitrovitza declare they will not
allow the consulate to be opened”, The Washington Post, September 9th, 1902, p. 9. “Mr.
Shipley now informs me by telegraph from Uskub that, on the arrival at Mitrovitza on
Saturday last of the Cavasses of the proposed Vice-Consulate with the newly appointed
Vice-Consul’s horses and luggage, the Albanians forced the Kaimakam to send them to
Uskub, declaring that they would not tolerate a Russian Vice-Consul at Mitrovitza”, “The
Russians appointed a Russian Consul at Mitrovitza. The Albanians as early as last No-
vember declared they would resist this innovation. … Consequently when his cavasses
arrived from Scutari they were, within a few hours, forced to leave for Uskub. … The op-
position of the Albanians was headed by the political brigand Issa Bolietinatz …M. St-
cherbin is still in Constantinople, but after the excitement has somewhat subsided, he
will, no doubt, proceed to his post”, Turkey No. 1 (1903), Correspondence Respecting the
Affairs of South-Eastern Europe, 196, 199, 215-216.
32 “Hristiyanlar içün tehlike zuhuru kaviyyen melhuz bulunduğu Rusya sefaretinden suret-
i hususiyyede bi’l-muhtıra ifade edildiği”, Y PRK ASK 182/91, 17 Ra 1320 (23 June 1902).
YA HUS 433/153, 29 Ca 1320 (2 September 1902); DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 Sep-
tember 1902).
33 The Ottoman foreign minister described the conversation that took place between
him and the dragoman of the Russian embassy: “Bu akşam [4 September 1902] hane-
i çakiriye gelmiş olan Rusya sefareti baştercümanı Maksimof Metroviçeli İsa Polminaç
nam şahsın taht-ı tevkife alınarak oradan kaldırılacağı … merkumun teb’id ve tevki-
fi hakkındaki tebligatın hükmü icra olunamadığı surette Rusya hükümetince buna ta-
552
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
On September 7th, 1902, the chief dragoman revisited the foreign minister.
The threats had reached a level of final irrevocability. Maksimoff repeated his
government’s demands. The banishment of Isa Boletini and the issuing of the
consul’s berat granting him official recognition were to be implemented within
forty-eight hours, otherwise a formal ultimatum would be published and diplo-
matic relations would be ceased.34 The Ottoman Grand Vizier yielded, yet ques-
tioned Russia’s motives in his dispatches. According to Said Paşa, Russia was
striving either to enable her warships to pass the Straits, or was testing the waters
to put her territorial aspirations for Kosovo and Macedonia into practice. In this
episode of disgrace, the governor of Kosovo was blamed and replaced.35
553
Nilüfer HATEMi
an Kuneralp, Son Dönem Osmanlı Erkan ve Ricali (1839-1922) Prosopografik Rehber, Is-
tanbul 2003, 35.
36 “Metroviçe Rus konsolosunun şu yakınlarda geleceği istidlal olunduğu ve öyle bir şey
var ise mumaileyhin hareketinden la akall bir hafta evvel fırkaya malumat itasıyla ted-
abir-i lazımeye tevessül olunması lazım geleceği”, DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 Sep-
tember 1902).
37 “Metroviçe’deki Rusya konsolosunun mahall-i memuriyetine vüruduna dair Rusya se-
fareti tarafından verilen muhtıranın nüsha-i mu’addelesi”, “fakat konsolosların resm-i
kabulünde hiçbir mahalde asker çıkarılmaması lazımedendi”, “asıl mühim olan mevadd-ı
hukuk-ı milel kava’idince merasim-i teşrifatiye süferaya muhtass olub konsolosların
bu kava’idden istifadeye ka’ideten istihkakları olmadığı”, “ber vech-i ma’ruz merasim
icrasından ziyade orada bulunduğu müddetce temin-i mahfuziyyeti maddesi olacak
kendisine bi’t-ta’arruz ve tecavüz vuku’a gelecek olur ise bunun netayici pek muzırr ve
vahim olacağından”, İ HR 382 / 1320L-01, 8 L 1320 (7 January 1903). For diplomatic re-
ceptions which had been held in practice see, “Vilayat-ı şahanede memurin-i mahalli-
yye ile ecnebi memurları arasında icra olunacak merasim-i teşrifatiyyeye dair ta’limat”,
Ahmed Nezih Galitekin (ed.), Salname-i Nezaret-i Hariciyye Osmanlı Dışişleri Bakanlığı
Yıllığı, vol. 3 (1318/1900), 161-162.
554
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
38 Shcherbina was born in 1868. He had finished gymnasium in Chernigov, studied at the
famous Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages in Moscow, and graduated with hon-
ors. He later joined the Asiatic Department of the Russian Ministry, defended a thesis
in Turkish and entered the diplomatic service in the Russian delegation in Constanti-
nople. He was appointed to the Ottoman capital as an attaché in 1891, later worked in
Skopje, Cetinje, and became the Russian vice consul in Skoder. See, Mišo Vujović, “A Vic-
tim of Noble Sentiments- Grigori Stepanovich Shcherbin (1868-1903), Russian Consul
in Kosovska Mitrovica”, http://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/br5/Prijatelji%20
-%20Grigorij%20Stepanovic%20Scerbina.html; Svitlana Polkovnykova, “Paying with
their Lives”, http://www.day.kiev.ua/260927; Carl Savich, “A Failed Intervention, Interna-
tional Intervention in Macedonia 1902-1908”, http://www.serbianna.com/columns/sav-
ich/100.shtml [all accessed, June 14th, 2012]. DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 September
1902), Y PRK UM 58/91, 10 Ra 1320 (16 June 1902). The name of the prospective Rus-
sian consul, Mösyö Çerbina, appears for the first time in a document dating September
1902, YA HUS 434/30, 10 C 1320 (13 September 1902). See also, “In his previous posts he
had made himself obnoxious to the Albanians and the suspicion exists here that he was
deliberately sent to Mitrovitza, where no other country has a representative, in order to
promote trouble”, New York Times, April 11th, 1903, p. 1.
39 “M. Stcherbina, who is to take over the newly created Russian Consulate at Mitrovitza,
to the establishment of which the Albanian population have so strongly objected, has ar-
rived at Mitrovitza. He was received with the ceremony previously agreed upon, and no
untoward incident occurred. A cause of friction between Turkey and Russia is thus re-
moved… ”, The Manchester Guardian, January 27th, 1903, p. 6. “Metroviçe Rus konsolosu
bugün mahall-i memuriyetine gidub istasyona muvasalat ile ol babdaki emr-i ‘ali vechle
hakkında ihtiramat-ı lazıme icra olunmakla oradan memurin-i mahsusa ile alınıb tehi-
yye edilmiş olan haneye isal olunduğu Metroviçe’de bulunan Priştine mutasarrıfı ile Fer-
ik Şemsi Paşa hazretlerinden alınan telgrafnamede bildirildiği ma’ruzdur”, telegram sent
by the deputy governor of Kosovo Ali Rıza to the Minister of Interior, YA HUS 440/117,
30 L 1320 (29 January 1903); DH MKT 531/58, 24 C 1320 (27 September 1902).
40 Instructions about the dress code and even the military tunes to be played by the band
had been objects of long correspondences: DH MKT 2445/53 20 N 1318 (11 January
1903); Y PRK MK 12/30, 23 L 1320 (22 January 1903); YA HUS 444/58, 24 L 1320 (23
January 1903); YA HUS 440/58, 24 L 1320 (23 January 1902), İ HUS 101/1320L-36, 23 L
1320 (22 January 1903), YA HUS 440/117, 30 L 1320 (29 January 1903).
555
Nilüfer HATEMi
neighboring villages flooded Mitrovica to pay their respects to the person who
was expected to be their protector.41
In February 1903, he was traveling alone from one village to the next wit-
hout informing the local authorities who constantly insisted that he took mili-
tary and gendarmerie escorts. Concern for his life was great.42 The increasingly
dangerous climate was also partly due to the reform schemes presented to the
Ottoman government by Russia and Austro-Hungary.43 Soon intelligence
reached the Russian embassy that an assassination plot had been prepared. The
names of the suspects were conveyed to the Ottoman government, together
with a demand for their arrests. The local authorities complied and also warned
the new consul not to roam outside the district and to accept guards.44
Peculiarly, at this point the prophecy of an event that would indeed take
place in the following month is worth mentioning: on February 27th, 1903, a
number of western newspapers prematurely announced the murder of the Rus-
41 Y MTV 239/89, 2 Za 1320 (31 January 1903); YA HUS 441/55, 6 Za 1320 (4 February
1903).
42 “...‘aleyhine ta’arruz vuku’u zinhar meydan verilmemesi”, “tedabire rağmen ötede beri-
de dolaşıyor, zabtiye ve asker kabul etmiyor, yalnız dolaşması caiz değil”, “kuvvet yeterli
ama bir tarafda durduğu yokdur, ötede beride dolaşmaktadır”, “uyumamak ve hafiye-
ler kullanmakda devam olunuyor”, YA HUS 441/64, 7 Za 1320 (5 February 1903); “gece
gündüz muhafazasına i’tina edilsin”, YA HUS 441/55, 6 Za 1320 (4 February 1903); TFR
I A 3/218, 7 Za 1320 (5 February 1903); Y MTV 240/8, 10 Za 1903 (8 February 1903).
Malcolm, Kosovo. A Short History, 234-235.
43 “ahali beyninde kıyl u kal çoğaldı”, “adliye, polis, Hristiyan jandarma teşkili, kilise inşa-
sı ve konsolosu da kabul etmeyecekleri”, Y MTV 239/128, 7 Za 1320 (5 February 1903).
Turkey No. 2 (1903) Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Eu-
rope, 1-5; Turkey No. 3 (1903) Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-
Eastern Europe, 86, 88, 92-96. For French consular intelligence reports see, Ministère des
affaires étrangères, Documents Diplomatiques : affaires de Macédoine, Janvier - Février,
1903, Paris 1903, 12. Cf. Malcolm, Kosovo. A Short History, 235-236.
44 “Metroviçe’ye açıkdan bir ta’arruz vuku’u saye-i kudretvaye-i hazret-i hilafetpenahide
gayr-ı melhuz ise de konsolosun ihtiyata riayetiyle vakitli vakitsiz kal’a haricinde yalnız-
ca dolaşmaması”, YA HUS 442/19, 17 Za 1320 (15 February 1903), “şimdiki halde konso-
losun muhafazasına Metroviçe’deki kuvve-i mevcude kafidir, bu da büyük bir cem’iyete
karşu kafidir yoksa konsolosun yaptığı harekate karşu ne kadar ‘asker olsa beyhudedir
Gece gündüz demeyüb kasaba derununda dolaşmakda olduğu cihetle bir iki kişi feda-
karlığı göze aldırıb bir şey yaparlarsa mes’uliyet kabul edemem Gideceği yeri ta’yin ey-
lediği ve gönderilecek muhafızı kabul ettiği takdirde muhafazası temin olunabilir ”, Y
MTV 240/94, 18 Za 1320 (16 February 1903); TFR I A 3/258, 17 Za 1320 (15 February
1903); YA HUS 442/29, 19 Za 1320 (17 February 1903).
556
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
sian consul at Mitrovica.45 The incident, as yet, and the name of the Russian
diplomat were incorrect. In late March, the Chicago Daily Tribune published an
article about the Bulgarian regret that the reported murder was incorrect.46
Notes threatening the consul’s life were circulating while money was promised
for the successful perpetrators, and Shcherbina continued with his daily sche-
dule.47 The Russian consular report depicts the situation as:
The disturbances in the Vilayet of Kossovo, far from diminishing, are continually on
the increase. … Peasants are being forced under pain of death to assist the bands,
furnish money, take up arms, and prepare provisions for the bands in the spring.
… They are endeavouring to convince the people that all is being done under the
protection of the Russian Government. … In order to bring the situation to a more
acute stage, the Committees have recourse to violence and cruelty at the expense of
the Turks. … The Committees are trying in every way to provoke general irritation
among the Mussulman population, and to excite it to a massacre of the Christians.48
45 “Die Zeit publishes a private dispatch from Constantinople stating that M. Rulon [sic],
the Russian consul at Mitrovitza, has been murdered by Albanians. The consulate was
only established at the end of last year, in the face of bitter opposition from the inhabit-
ants”, The Manchester Guardian, February 27th, 1903, p. 5; New York Times, February 27th,
2903, p. 9; “Russian Consul is Murdered -Albanians Kill Czar’s Agent at Mitrovitza- End
of Long and Bitter Struggle”, Chicago Daily Tribune, February 27th, 1903, p.3; The Man-
chester Guardian, February 27th, 1903, p. 4.
46 “Many Bulgarians and one cabinet minister have expressed to me their regret that the
reported murder of the Russian consul at Mitrovitza has not proven true. Otherwise de-
cisive action would have been forced upon Russia”, Chicago Daily Tribune, March 23rd,
1903, p. 2.
47 DH MKT 665/30, 11 Z 1320 (10 March 1903); YA HUS 443/130, 14 Z 1320 (13 March
1903). “… gerçi muhafazasına son derece çalışılmakda ise de hususiyle şu sırada geç
vakitlere değin kasaba haricinde bulunmak pek de muvafık görülemediği”, Y MTV
241/168, 7 Z 1320 (26 March 1903); “harice çıkmasından bir hal vaki olursa mes’uliyet
kabul olunamayacağı”, DH MKT 674/52, 25 Z 1320 (24 March 1903); “Metroviçe kon-
solosunun gece ve gündüz kura dahil ve haricinde dolaşmakda ‘inad ve ısrar ettiği …
konsolosun muhafız almaksızın dolaşmaması zımnında … Mösyö Çerbina’nın geceleyin
dolaşmadığı Rus sefir tarafından ifade, ancak sıfat-ı memuriyeti icabınca konsolosların
bir yere gitmek hususunda serbest oldukları ve emr-i muhafazaları dahi doğrudan
doğruya hükümet-i mahalliyeye raci’ olduğu ve şayed Mösyö Çerbina’ya bir tecavüz vu-
ku’ bulur ise hal fevke’l-‘ade kesb-i ehemmiyet edeceğinin”, Y PRK EŞA 42/55, 29 Z 1320
(28 March 1903).
48 Turkey No. 1 (1904) Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Eu-
rope March-September 1903, 34.
557
Nilüfer HATEMi
558
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
one hundred.53 The next day, the Ottoman government sent an explanatory
telegram to foreign embassies, stating that peace and quiet had been establis-
hed, and efforts for the implementation of the reform scheme would continue.54
Military commanders, however, were concerned that this open revolt was not
over. They were urgently demanding reinforcements to reach the town before
dark.55 The night of March 30th passed uneventfully but the following day clai-
med Shcherbina’s life.56
The assailant, Ibrahim, was a corporal in the Ottoman army stationed in
Mitrovica. An Albanian of origin, he claimed that he had shot the consul aven-
ging the death of his brother during the previous day’s fighting.57 Although the
559
Nilüfer HATEMi
had brought such trouble on the country. All were silent, but presently Ibrahim, without
raising his head, said in a low tone that he would commit the deed. The others laughed,
but the soldier quietly repeated his determination, and eventually proved as good as his
word”, The Times, April 30th, 1903, p. 5.
58 “Metroviçe Rusya konsolosunun carihi Haci İbrahim ile şerikinin emsaline mucib-
i ibret olacak surette ağır bir cezaya mahkumiyeti esbabının istikmali”, “carihi tehyice
tasaddi eden ve cihet-i ‘adliyece muhakeme edilecek olan Bakkal Hüseyin hakkında”,
YA HUS 445/75, 7 M 1321 (5 April 1903); YA RES 120/46, 21 M 1321 (19 April 1903); Y
MTV 242/7, 2 M 1321 (31 March 1903).
59 “Halin ümidsiz olduğunu vefatın karibü’l-vuku’ göründüğünü ma’a’t-teessüf beyan
ederim- 10 Nisan 1903, Dr. Kanburoğlu” and “Konsolos Mösyö Çerbina’nın alafran-
ga biri elli bir dakika geçerek vefat ettiğini ma’a’t-teessüf arz ederim- 10 Nisan 1903,
Dr. Kanburoğlu”, Y PRK HR 33/76, 30 M 1321 (28 April 1903). For a different time of
death, “Mösyö Çerbina’nın bu akşam saat dörtde vefat eylediği”, see DH MKT 679/35,
3 M 1321 (10 April 1903). A couple of days earlier, on April 4th, the situation looked
hopeful to Dr. Jak: “hastada tehlike el-an mevcud ise de hal-i hazırda ahval-i ’umumiye
anbean iyileşmekde”, Y PRK HR 33/76, 30 M 1321 (28 April 1903). About the care pro-
vided to the late consul: “Mösyö Çerbina’nin musırrane ricasına ve bi’z-zat vuku’ bulan
müşahedat ve tahkikata bina’en Jak Paşa ile refakatindeki etıbba-yı askeriyenin mecruhu
tedavi hususunda sarf eyledikleri mesa’i ve dikkat pek fedakarane olub bunun fevkinde
bir şey olamayacağını … vak’anın bidayetinden şu dakikaya kadar asla uyumamış ve
soyunmamış olduklarını ‘arz etmeği vazifemden ‘add ederim”, YA HUS 445/71, 7 M 1321
(5 April 1903).
560
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
quite doomed. Yet, reactions to the Mitrovica incident were surprisingly pea-
ceful.60
Immediately after the attack on the town, the Austro-Hungarian ambassa-
dor had informed the Grand Vizier that his government had no intention of a
military action in the European vilayets, and trusted that peace would preva-
il.61 The Russian ambassador, who, just a few days prior to the assault, had sta-
ted that any aggression towards Shcherbina would invite grave consequences,
now showed a strikingly mild approach.62 Ambassador Zinovieff stated that alt-
hough the murder of the consul was a tragedy, it would not cause a breach in
the friendly relations between the two governments.63 This calmness gave way
to different interpretations, such as the presence of a secret accord between
60 “… an anxiety very generally shared in competent quarters, lest the fate of M. Stcherbina
should determine a change in Russian opinion by affording the Panislavists a pretext for
further agitation”, The Times, April 10th, 1903, p. 3. “The Revolutionary Committees fur-
ther south are counting upon a diversion in the Kossovo district as affording a favour-
able opportunity of proclaiming a general outbreak … In the plans of the Revolutionary
Committees for a general rising, they counted no less upon the intervention of Europe
and the terrorism of crime and dynamite than upon the success of the Albanians, and
if all three fail, they will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to put their scheme into
execution”, Turkey No. 1 (1904) Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-
Eastern Europe March-September 1903, 54. Los Angeles Times, April 13th, 1903, p. 1; The
Times, April 13th, 1903, p. 3.
61 “… evvel ve ahiren verilen teminat-ı kaviyye ve kat’iyye hilafında Avusturyalunun mün-
feriden Rumeli’yi işgale tasaddisi memul olmadığı”, YA HUS 445/26, 2 M 1321 (31 March
1903). However, Austria-Hungary is said to have mobilized her “Agram, Sarajevo and
Temesvar army corps in readiness to occupy Mitrovitza should such a measure become
necessary”, New York Times, April 6th, 1903, p. 1; Chicago Daily Tribune, April 6th, 1903, p.
1.
62 Y PRK EŞA 42/55, 29 Z 1320 (28 March 1903); YA HUS 445/17, 2 M 1321 (31 March
1903); YA HUS 445/22, 2 M 1321, (31 March 1903); YA HUS 445/56 4 M 1321 (2 April
1903); “Judging from dispatches from Vienna and elsewhere, Russia at first showed no
disposition to deal harshly with Turkey on account of the murder of the Consul, but she
afterward demanded Ibrahim’s execution”, New York Times, April 11th, 1903, p. 1; “… the
Russian Press Bureau has recently requested the editors of the different newspapers to
avoid publishing all information of a nature to disturb the maintenance of friendly re-
lations between Turkey and Russia, and particularly not to print anything calculated to
wound the personal feelings of the Sultan”, The Times, April 15th, 1903, p. 3.
63 “Mösyö Çerbina’nın vefatı cidden bir felakettir fakat bunun neticesi devleteyn arasındaki
münasebat-ı dostaniyeye halel vermeyecekdir, şimdi işe bitmiş nazarıyla bakılmalıdır
ancak müteveffanın cenazesinde vakanın ehemmiyetiyle mütenasib asar-ı ihtiram
gösterilmelidir”, Y PRK HR 33/76, 30 M 1321 (18 April 1903).
561
Nilüfer HATEMi
64 “ işi pek soğukkanla ve tabi’i bir şey imiş gibi telakki eylemesi ‘abd-ı memluklarının
dahı nazar-ı dikkatini celb etti … ahval-ı hazıra hakkında hiç telaş gösterilmemesi …
henüz keşf olunmayan ve ma’a’t-teessüf olunması dahi müsteb’id bulunan bir takım
mukarrerat-ı hafiyyenin Avusturya ve Rusya beyninde mevcud olduğunu ima eyleme-
kde … işbu iki devletin mukarrer bir programa tevfiken hareket eylemekde oldukları
‘abd-ı müluklarınca müsbet derecesine varmış olduğu”, Y PRK AZJ 47/73, 2 M 1321 (31
March 1903); “Bugün daire-i celile-i kitabete gelen Avusturya sefareti baştercümanının
Arnavud ahalinin Metroviçe’ye hücumlarından bahsle … bu mesele hakkında Rusya ve
Avusturya devletleri tarafından evvel ve ahir i’ta olunan teminat-ı kaviyye ve kat’iyye
hilafında olarak Avusturyalunun münferiden Rumeli’yi işgale tasaddisi memul olmadığı”,
YA HUS 444/26, 2 M 1321 (31 March 1903). Note that on the same day, the Austro-Hun-
garian Ambassador informed the Porte about his government’s intention of establishing
a consulate at Mitrovica at once, YA HUS 445/27, 2 M 1321 (31 March 1903). Few days
later, the grand vizier paid a visit to the Russian ambassador and he concluded that the
occurrence of another incident would result in foreign intervention, YA HUS 445/36, 3
M 1321 (1 April 1903). The Manchester Guardian, April 6th, 1903, p. 4.
65 “The intelligence of M. Stcherbina’s death from the effect of the wounds received in the
murderous attack on his life by an Albanian insurgent at Mitrovitsa, created a most pain-
ful impression when it reached St. Petersburg on Saturday last. … I have not had the
opportunity myself, since the news was received here, of conversation with Count Lams-
dorff, … but the Austrian Ambassador, who had a special interview with his Excellency
on Sunday last, tells me that he found him, although painfully affected by M. Stcherbi-
na’s death, taking a very calm view of the situation, and firm in his determination not to
be moved by this fatal incident to any departure from the attitude of non-intervention
which the two Governments have taken up in regard to the insurrection in the Turk-
ish Vilayets”, sent by the British Ambassador, Sir C. Scott, from St. Petersburg on April
15th, 1903, to the British Foreign Minister, Marquess of Lansdowne, Turkey No. 1 (1904)
Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe March-September
1903, 64.
66 “Avusturya ve Rusya sefirlerinin huzur-ı hümayunlarındaki birbirine hasımane bir
nazarla bakarak manasını kim olsa anlayabilecek bir surette birbirinden şübhe eder-
ek maruzatda bulunmalarından”, “Avusturya’nın Metroviçe’yi işgal etme tasavvurunda
bulunduğuna vakıf olan Rusya Çin’de Manuçuri’yi yapdığı gibi istatükoyu muhafaza
edemediği takdirde Avusturya’nın işgaline mukabil Bulgaristan’ı işgal etmek niyetinde
olduğundan”, Y PRK MYD 25/37, 20 M 1321 (18 April 1903). For the British view on the
selamlık audience, see Turkey No. 1 (1904) Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs
of South-Eastern Europe March-September 1903, 50.
562
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
67 YA HUS 447/50, 5 S 1321 (3 May 1903). A similar inclination was also mentioned by a
Greek newspaper, Ambros, published in Athens, YA HUS 446/113, 24 M 1321 (22 April
1903).
68 YA HUS 446/69, 21 M 1321 (19 April 1903). The Times, May 8th, 1903, p. 3.
69 YA HUS 446/9, 4 M 1321 (2 April 1903).
70 M. Edith Durham, Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle, London 1920, 84-86. She also wrote,
“… Shtcherbina, the Russian Consul forced into the place in the teeth of Albanian op-
position, was killed. Of his gallantry on behalf of the Slav interests that he was sent to
protect there can be no question, nor of the indiscretion, alas! with which he set to work.
Austria at once planted a consul to watch her own interests, and there the two most in-
terested Powers watch to this day”, Eadem, High Albania, 297.
71 Wyon, The Balkans From Within, 44. Only four months later, on August 8th, 1903, another
Russian consul, Rostkovskii, was killed on the outskirts of Bitola. See, Duncan M. Perry,
“Death of a Russian Consul: Macedonia 1903”, Russian History 7 (1980), 201-212.
563
Nilüfer HATEMi
The Russian foreign minister, Count Lamsdorff, blamed the victim as well.
He stated to the British Ambassador that “Stcherbina had somewhat recklessly
and carelessly exposed himself to danger” and that he strongly doubted the
consul’s death was caused by a personal act of revenge. Nevertheless, Russian
government did not press for further investigation.72
72 “ … he had not as yet been able to ascertain whether there was any truth in the assertion
that it had been partly prompted by a personal ‘vendetta’ ”, Turkey No. 1 (1904) Further
Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe March-September 1903, 83.
73 YA HUS 445/56, 4 M 1321 (2 April 1903), and Turkey No. 1 (1904) Further Correspon-
dence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe March-September 1903, 40.
74 “katilin derhal en şiddetli bir cezaya mahkumiyeti … dağıtılmamış bulunan Arnavud eş-
kiyasının kemal-i sür’at ve şiddetle tedib ve tenkili … daha mükemmel bir tarziye i’tası
lüzumu”, YA HUS 446/26, 16 M 1321 (14 April 1903); “müteveffa-yı mumaileyhin mec-
ruhen derdest edilmiş olan carihi mahalli divan-ı harbce i’dam cezasıyla mahkum”, YA
HUS 446/40, 18 M 1321 (16 April 1903). “ … both governments are insisting at Constan-
tinople on the infliction of the full penalty on M. Stcherbina’s murderer”, “The death pen-
alty on the murderer of the Russian Vice-Consul must be fully carried out”, Turkey No.
1 (1904) Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of South-Eastern Europe March-
Spetember 1903, 64, 83. The Times, April 11th, 1903, p. 3; The Times, April 13th, 1903, p. 3.
75 “merkum İbrahimin i’damı içün icra-yı tebligat olunduğu istihbar kılınmasına binaen
bu babda Rusya İmparatoru hazretlerinden beyan-ı rey olunmadıkça hükm-i i’damın
icra olunmaması Petersburg’dan aldıkları emr ve ta’limat iktizasından bulunduğunu
beyan ve bu babda ısrar eylemesi üzerine tehir olunabileceği tercüman-ı mümaileyhe
ifade olunmuş”, Y PRK HR 33/76, 30 M 1321 (28 April 1903); “katil İbrahim’in i’dam
cezasıyla mahkum olduğu ve hükmün icrası mukarrer iken sefaretin talebi üzerine bir
kaç gün tehir edilmiş”, YA HUS 446/117, 25 M 1321 (23 April 1903).
564
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
an end to the spreading of hostilities and hatred.76 With this intervention, Ibra-
him was not executed but condemned to the galleys for life.77 The two other
people who were sentenced in connection with the assassination were the gre-
engrocer Hüseyin and the army officer Mevlüd. The former received a sentence
of fifteen years of hard labor in galleys and the latter was imprisoned for six
weeks.78
Shcherbina had set foot in Mitrovica as its first Russian vice consul on Janu-
ary 26th, 1903. The train carrying his body left the town on April 14th, 1903. Large
crowds of Serbian and Bulgarian population gathered at train stations to pay
their respects and held open-air memorial services. There were no disturbances
except for one incident in Ferizovitch, where an Ottoman police officer, İlyas,
dispersed the crowd.79 The train reached Salonika on April 15th. Following a
series of religious and official ceremonies, the remains of the late consul were
taken to Constantinople on a Russian guard ship. Further religious ceremonies
and memorial services were held at the Ottoman capital and the ship left for
Russia on April 21st, 1903.80 More than a century later, in 2007, a monument was
565
Nilüfer HATEMi
dedicated to Shcherbina at the place where he fell victim at the age of thirty-
five.81
Conclusion
The Mitrovica affair can be seen as one of the earliest signs of the political ten-
sion ascending between Russia and Austria-Hungary for supremacy in the Bal-
kans. Both states appeared to be in agreement and cooperated on implementing
new reforms in the region. Their hidden agenda, however, was to widen their
area of influence as much as possible, at the expense of each other but not as
where the Metropolitan conducted an open-air memorial service. Turkish troops lined
the station. There was no disturbance”, The Times, April 16th, 1903, p. 3; The Times, April
21st, 1903, pg 3; YA HUS 446/40, 18 M 1321 (16 April 1903); YA HUS 446/52, 19 M 1321
(17 April 1903).
81 The Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohia Slobodan Samardzic and the Russian Ambas-
sador to Belgrade Alexander Alexeev unveiled the monument on November 8, 2007, www.
mfa.gov.rs/Policy/CI/KIM/091107_e.html (accessed on June 14th, 2012). Samardžic’s
and Alexeyev’s remarks at the unveiling ceremony respectively are: “That monument is
an important reminder of the past, which was the same as our present time. What hap-
pened in 1902 and 1903, when Shcherbina was supposed to come to this area and de-
fend the Serbian people, as we can see, is being repeated. As if history has given us that
hard fate to constantly fear for our lives, for our property, for our state. There, a century
later, remembering this hero, we are worried for our present and our future. However, we
worry and we fight! And we have the strength, and we have friends. Our biggest friend
in this battle of ours is Russia. Just like Shcherbina came in 1903 to report about the fate
of the Serbian nation, about how it lives and how it suffers, today we have here, in Mitro-
vica, Ambassador Alexeyev to report about how the Serbs live, how they remember their
friends and how they respect them. Then, in 1903, there was terrible violence and many
oppressors of the Serbian people. Today they are called differently: terrorists. They exist
throughout Kosovo and Metohija, everyone knows who they are, everyone knows where
they are only some don’t want to identify them”; and “I am very glad, it is my honor and
I am touched because I am together with you in this symbolically important event. It is
of great significance for all of us. Today, it is once again confirmed: in all great histori-
cal turns, always when it is difficult and when danger is enormous, we must be together.
My friend Minister Samardžić is right: we came to the joint politics for Kosovo. Russia
does not support the Serbian politics in Kosovo; it considers this politics its own, a joint
one”, see Branislav Matić, “Awaiting the Great Wait- The Heart of SerbiaThrough Kosovo
Lengthwise and Crosswise”, http://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/br5/Srce%20
Srbije%20-%20Kosovom,%20uzduz%20i%20popreko.html. Also, “La statue du consul
russe Grigori Stepanovitch Shcherbina (1868-1903) se tient au centre d’un des prin-
cipaux carrefours de la ville. Elle a été inaugurée en 2007”, http://www.regard-est.com/
home/breve_contenu.php?id=1166&PHPSESSID=eaa (accessed on June 14th, 2012).
566
The assassination of the Russian consul at Mitrovica
far as to result in war. Russia did not hesitate resorting to an ultimatum, which
implied that it would close its embassy in Istanbul and suspend diplomatic rela-
tions with the Ottoman state, in order to reach its goal of establishing a consu-
late in Mitrovica. When its agent was assassinated, Russia was not to act upon
her threats but tried instead to curb the unrest leading to the war that the nati-
onalist committees had been hoping for. Austria-Hungary, on the other hand,
did not lose time in seizing the opportunity to initiate the establishment of
its own consulate at this strategic location immediately after the attack on the
town. Given the conditions, expanding their political and diplomatic spheres
was the best venture for their prospects in the region.
This incident also demonstrated the strength of the Albanian opposition
against what they saw as an encroachment, i.e. the establishment of consular
agencies and continuous reform schemes by Russia and Austria-Hungary. Con-
sidering her close ties with Serbia, the former was a greater threat for the Alba-
nian inhabitants than the latter and targeted much more hostility. The weakness
of the Ottoman government vis-à-vis Russia was apparent as the event unfol-
ded and the Albanians witnessed that Istanbul eventually yielded to all Rus-
sian demands. The attack proved that the Albanian populace was determined to
fight against the Ottoman forces when they were convinced that they were not
provided with protection and justice for their self-preservation.
Finally, the Mitrovica episode shows that European and American news-
papers followed the developments in the Balkans at such proximity that they
could prematurely inform their readers on events to come. In this respect, the
earlier announcement of the murder of the newly appointed Russian consul
might stand as an example of media-prophecy. Thus, allegations on instigating
the events by money and other rewards necessitate detailed investigation in the
state archives of all the parties involved in the matter. A Serbian author desc-
ribed Shcherbina as a “victim of noble sentiments.” The Russian consul was
indeed a victim, but unfortunately, a victim of clashing nationalist and imperi-
alist agendas.
567
OTTOMAN SUZERAINTY OVER MOROCCO
DURING ABDULMELIK’S REIGN (1576-1578):
A REASSESSMENT
Güneş Işıksel*
Event-oriented history-writing (histoire événementielle) is not dead and
even quite necessary while working with big and fuzzy concepts (empire,
territoriality, centre-periphery relations, etc.). This does not imply, however, a
revaluation of pre-Annales positivism which focuses mainly on decisive acts,
actors and moments. We claim that one may have a better understanding of
the nature of political power and international relations in the pre-modern
period by unearthing new documents that enable the historian to display the
machinations of small or middle-term strategies–eventually, their failures–and
by deciphering the careers and strategies of minor figures in the margins of
Empires.
It is quite common for Ottoman history manuals to present Morocco as an
Ottoman dependency, at least for the last quarter of the sixteenth century, and
this observation especially holds true for popular history texts in Turkish.1 If
this assumption is not retained in other historiographical traditions, however,
568
Ottoman suzerainty over Morocco
2 M. el-Fasi, “Morocco”, in : Bethwell Allen Ogot (ed.), General History of Africa. Vol V:
from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century , Berkeley 1999, 204.
3 Abderrahmane el-Moudden, Moroccan-Ottoman Relations From the 16th through the
18th Centuries. Contribution to the Study of a Diplomatic Culture, Princeton 1992; Idem,
“The Sharif and the Padishah: Three Letters from Murad III to Abd al-Malik”, Hesperis
Tamuda 29/ 1 (1991), 113-125; Idem, “The Idea of the Caliphate between Moroccans and
Ottomans: Political and Symbolic Stakes in the 16th and 17th Century-Maghrib”, Studia
Islamica 83 (1995), 103-112. See also Andrew C. Hess, The Forgotten Frontier: A History
of the Sixteenth-Century lbero-African Frontier, Chicago 1978; Dairu Yahya, Morocco in
the Sixteenth Century. Problems and Patterns in African Foreign Policy, Essex 1981; Chan-
tal de la Veronne, “Relations entre le Maroc et la Turquie dans la seconde moitié du XVIe
siècle et le début du XVIIe siècle (1554-1616)”, Revue de l’Occident Musulman et de la Mé-
diterranée 15/16 (1974), 391-401; Michael Brett, “Morocco and the Ottomans : The Six-
teenth Century in North Africa”, Journal of African History 25 (1984), 331-341. The only
book on this subject in Turkish (Fas Seferi 1551 - 1578 : Türk Silahlı Kuvvetler Tarihi III
ncü Cilt 3 ncü Kısım Eki kitabı, Ankara 1978) relies largely on Aziz Sami Ilter’s (Şimalî
Afrika’da Türkler, İstanbul 1936-37, vol. I, 194-95) and Auguste Cour’s (L’établissement
des dynasties des Chérifs au Maroc et leur rivalité avec les Turcs de la régence d’Alger 1509-
1830, Paris,1904, 141-143) accounts. An important source on the subject is Henri de
Castries et al. (eds), Les Sources inédites de l’histoire du Maroc, Paris 1911-1963 (Abbr.
SIHM, country name [Espagne, France], volume, pagination).
569
Güneş IŞIKSEL
base.4 With the help of the local tribes, as well as the Jazuli sheikhs, al-Mahdi re-
conquered, in 1541, Agadir from the Portuguese. These achievements enabled
him to accumulate a symbolical capital and to contest the Wattasid authority.5
Consequently, the latter sought the support of the Ottomans, knowing that
the sultan was not indifferent to the rise of the Saadians. In 1547, an Ottoman
envoy was sent to Marrakesh to convince al-Mahdi to lift the siege of Fez. In
his letter, the Ottoman sultan reserved al-Mahdi only the title of shaykh al-‘arab
and asked him to preach and mint money in his name. By this way, Suleyman I
denied him any kind of legitimacy. In return, al-Mahdi sent a missive in which
the latter was saluted as a mere sultan of fishermen. At the same time, these
two new powers of the Maghreb were investing on the rival confraternities–the
Moroccans on Djazuliyya and Ottomans on Kadriyya–in order to mobilize for
their goals different segments of the frontier region populations.6 The symbolic
conflict transformed quickly into a fight for domination over Tlemcen, gate to
the sub-Sahara and its riches. Indeed, for the Saadians, blocked to the East by the
beylerbeylik of Algeria and to the North by the Iberian powers, the only way to
expand was to go southwards. In June 1550, Hasan Corso, the pasha of Algeria,
besieged Tlemcen, taken a year before by the Saadians from the Zayyanides–a
local dynasty and a year later, he managed to capture Mostaganem, Tlemcen
and Peñon de Velez. In 1554, his successor Salih Pasha, although for a brief
period, occupied Fez, under the pretext of supporting a Wattasid pretender.7
Fearing a popular revolt, he had to recede. Al-Mahdi, who managed to escape to
Marrakesh, started after his reestablishment in Fez the negotiations with Philip
II for an anti-Ottoman alliance, which were disrupted by the Moroccan ruler’s
death in obscure circumstances.8
570
Ottoman suzerainty over Morocco
571
Güneş IŞIKSEL
12 On Uluc Ali, see Emilio Sola, Uchali: El Calabres Tinoso, O El Mito del Corsario Muladi
En La Frontera , Barcelona 2011.
13 BOA MD XII, n° 1036. It is difficult to interpret the clauses following which Abdülmelik
obtained the right to govern Fez, Marrakesh and Sous “in the same manner as his late
father and brother” (müteveffâ babası ve karındaşı mutasarrıf olduğu üzre). Since his
brother al-Ghalib was still reigning and recognized by the Porte, this nişan may be inter-
preted as a document intended for Muhammad al-Mustansir (nephew of Abdülmelik)
as well as Algerian governors who should not interfere in any case (hiç ahad mâni olm-
ayub dahl u taarruz kılmaya).
14 De la Veronne, “Relations entre le Maroc et la Turquie”, 393-95.
15 E. Fagnan, Extraits inédits rélatifs au Maghreb, Alger 1924, 396. For Nurbanu see, Benja-
min Arbel, “Nur Banu (c. 1530-1583): A Venetian Sultana?”, Turcica 24 (1992), 241-259.
16 BOA MD XXV, n° 3113.
572
Ottoman suzerainty over Morocco
some twenty field cannons.17 He departed from Algiers with the governor of
Algeria, Ramazan Pasha, in the final days of December 1575. Muhammad put
up an army of 30,000 soldiers and prepared thirty-six cannons at Fez. The first
battle took place at ar-Rukn on 16 March 1576, during which Andalusi fusiliers
of the Moroccan ruler defected, which made the rest of his army withdraw.18 As
Muhammad fell back, his uncle marched towards Fez where he entered in the
last days of March. He reduced the number of his Ottoman mercenaries, both
for economic and political reasons, keeping with him only four hundred elite
Rumi cavalrymen. Muhammad was still resisting following his second defeat
in the battle of Khaynuqa’r-rayhan (14th July 1576), after which Abdulmelik
seized the Marrakesh fortress. It was only five months later that Muhammed,
accepting his defeat, had to flee to Portugal. Soon after, the urban elites of the
Sous and Taradouant regions made their allegiance to the new ruler in late 1576.
It was thus not the first battle (with the Ottoman aid) that made Abdulmelik the
legitimate ruler, but the later events, especially the conquest of Marrakesh, the
main capital of Morocco, and other important regions.19
Most of the sources insist on the contractual nature of the military expedition
realised by the Moroccan prince and the governor of Algeria: Abdulmelik was
to pay back all the expenses upon the success of the operation–which he did, as
soon as he entered Fez. On the other hand, neither Ramazan Pasha was willing
to stay more in Morocco. He immediately returned back to Algiers, before
Abdulmelik’s enthronement, leaving however an auxiliary regiment. According
to Ottoman historiography, following the battle at ar-Rukn the hutba in all
over Morocco (Fas) was preached in the name of Murad III and golden coins
were minted in the latter’s name. In other words, Morocco, by this manner,
would have become an Ottoman dependency/protectorate. If the Anonymous
Moroccan chronicle confirms only the hutba element (and only for Fez),20
other Moroccan and European sources imply merely that Abdulmelik was
enthroned with the Ottoman help without any mention of the hutba and sikke.
17 Numbers relevant to the “Ottoman” soldiers vary from three to five thousand: Fagnan,
Extraits inédits, 397; SIHM, Espagne III, 215-220.
18 Bernard Loupias, “Crónica de la vida y admirables hechos del señor Abdelmelech [Va-
lence?] 1577, oeuvre en prose et en vers, de Fray Bautista”, Hesperis Tamuda,24/1 (1986),
53-212: 92-97; Fagnan, Extraits inédits, 397-401; SIHM Espagne III, 221-224.
19 Loupias, “Crónica de la vida”,101-108; SIHM Espagne III, 239-245.
20 Fagnan, Extraits inédits, 402.
573
Güneş IŞIKSEL
The documents in the MZD III – two hükms addressed to the beylerbey of
Algiers and another one to the kapudanpasha Kılıç Ali issued three months
after the March expedition– shed some light on the first reactions of the sultan
after the “conquest” of the country. In a long text expedited on 30th of June, the
sultan congratulates sincerely Ramazan Pasha–who guided Abdulmelik (önüne
düşüb)–and conquered (feth) Morocco (Fas vilâyetini) which is as developed
as the Egyptian province (Misr vilâyeti gibi ma’mur).21 According to Ramazan
Pasha’s first reports, after Abdulmelik had sat on the place of his father (babasın
yerine oturub), the hutba was called in the name of the Ottoman sultan as
well as the coins were minted. Moroccan religious corps and populations
(kâffe-i ulema ve amme-i reaya ü berâya) were pleased (mesrûrü’l-hâl) with the
outcome whereas the Iberian powers fell grief-stricken (gamnâk). Nevertheless,
to accommodate even more the soldiers and the populations to the new
political configuration, Murad III was requested to send istimaletnames (letters
of reconciliation) and honorific robes to the urban elites, important men
of religion, shaykh al-‘arabs as well as to the brother of Abdulmelik, Ahmed
(unfortunately, the Zeyl do not contain these istimaletnames).22 The governor
of Algeria is solicited to be careful about foreign invasion plans and report
everything concerning this newly conquered country (mücededden feth olunan
vilayet) in order that things do not turn out the way they did in the previous
conquest (mukaddema feth olduğu [sic!] olmamak). Undoubtedly, Murad III
was referring to Salih Pasha’s 1554 expedition during which the legitimacy of
21 We do not have the report of Ramazan Pasha and the Mühimme document is not very
explicit on the whereabouts of Ramazan while he was writing his letter to Murad III. But
the sultan considers his governor being in Algiers. In fact the chronology of Ramazan
Pasha’s activities during and just after the ar-Rukn battle is nearly impossible to establish.
As a consequence, these questions are left unanswered: After the battle did he deem his
mission complete (according to his instructions from the sultan and his contract with
the prince) and returned back to Algiers ? Or was he concerned about being to far from
turbulent Algiers ? Or did his army refuse to participate any further to the struggle be-
tween two Moroccan princes?
22 Mücteba Ilgürel, “Osmanlı Devleti’nde İstimalet Siyaseti”, in XII. Türk Tarih Kongresi,
Ankara 1999, vol. III, 941-948.
574
Ottoman suzerainty over Morocco
the expedition was as well based on the motive of “giving relief to a pretender”.23
The sultan, although interested with the news, in the same order, demanded
immediate departure of Ramazan Pasha to Tunisia to help the governors of
Tunisia and Tripolitania for the conquest of Gafsa fortress.24
23 MZD III, n° 536. Cf. Osman Karataş, “3 Numaralı Mühimme Zeyli Rebiülevvel-
Cemaziyelevvel 984/ Haziran-Ağustos 1576 (s. 176-351)”, unpublished M.A. thesis, Mar-
mara University, Istanbul 2010, 39-40. In a following order (n° 537), again addressed
to the Cezâyir-i garb beylerbeyisi, the sultan confirms the idea of the execution of Mu-
hammed’s chief advisers who are suspect of collaborating with the King of Portugal. The
third document in this register relevant to this study helps us to understand the modali-
ties of the event’s reception: The news about the joint-expedition arrives Istanbul via the
kapudanpasha Ali, who received the couriers of Abdulmelik and Ramazan Pasha on
the 8th of June while he has sailing nearby Morea. Murad III sends him the day he re-
ceives the news, the 10th of June, a hükm (n° 565) in which the sikke and hutbe issues as
well as many other details are same as in the more detailed document sent afterwards to
Ramazan Pasha.
24 On the political context in Tunisia just after the expedition of La Goletta (1574): Charles
Monchicourt, “Les Hafsides en exil de 1574 à 1581”, Revue tunisienne, 26 (1936), 187-221.
25 Yahya, Morocco n the Sixteenth Century, 72-75.
26 Susan Skilliter, “The Hispano-ottoman armistice of 1581”, in C. E. Bosworth (ed.), Iran
and Islam, Edinburgh 1971, 491-516: 499. Another evidence is a marginal note to the
copy of a letter to Abdulmelik dated 30th of May 1577, put in a red satin bag and sealed
with silver, just the same as the letters addressed to the kings of France and Poland. Pub-
lished in el-Mouedden, “The Sharif and the Padishah”, 118.
575
Güneş IŞIKSEL
27 SIHM Espagne III, 327-335. Ramazan Pasha’s remplacement by Hasan the Venetian the
same year can be explained on the one hand for his refusal of peace with Spain (ibid.)
and on the other, his spiteful conduct towards the new Moroccan ruler as well to the lat-
ter’s subjects: MD XXX, n° 424-430. Antonio Fabris, “ Hasan 'Il Veneziano' tra Algeri e
Costantinopoli”, in Veneziani in Levante. Musulmani a Venezia, Quaderni di Studi Arabi,
suppl. 15 (1997), 51-66.
28 Atom Damalı, History of Ottoman Coins. Vol. III. Sultan Selim II, Sultan Murad III, An-
kara 2011.
29 Stanley Lane Poole, Catalogue of Oriental Coins in the British Museum, Vol. V: The
Coins of the Moors of Africa and Spain: and Kings and Imams of the Yemen in the British
Museum, London 1880, 87.
30 SIHM, France I, 347ff.
576
Ottoman suzerainty over Morocco
and most detailed accounts of Fez expedition in the Ottoman tevarih literature,
presented Abdulmelik “as the independent sultan of the utmost Maghreb
(istiklâl ile sultân-ı garb-ı aksâ)”.31 However, his narrative does not reveal any
of the different episodes and stakes of Abdulmelik’s rule in the context of a
Hapsburg-Ottoman détente in the Western part of the Mediterranean in the
last quarter of the sixteenth century, which transformed the earlier patterns
of power relations in the region. In what we can qualify as “post-medieval
Mediterranean”, where the concepts and reality of territoriality were subject
to a transformation and precedent quasi-decisive attributes of sovereignty and
suzerainty, i.e. hutba and sikke, or rhetorics of conquest have become rather
instrumentalised artefacts of internal and international policy-making.
577
LA PROTECTION DES GRECS DE SALONIQUE :
ENJEU DE LA DIPLOMATIE CONSULAIRE
FRANÇAISE DANS LES ANNÉES 1830
Mathieu Jestin*
La Salonique ottomane des années 1830 compte environ 50 000 habitants1.
Parmi eux, il existe, comme dans tous les grands ports de la Méditerranée –
les Échelles du Levant et de Barbarie – une petite communauté franque ou
européenne estimée à une centaine d’individus, chiffre stable de la fin du xvi-
iie siècle au milieu du xixe siècle2. L’État européen le mieux représenté à Salo-
nique avant 1850 est la France dont la « colonie » atteint une trentaine de
personnes. La composition de cette colonie s’est figée avec la Révolution fran-
çaise, le système de rotation prévu par l’Ordonnance de 1781 ayant été inter-
rompu3. Toutefois, au début des années 1830, quelques nouveaux négociants
français, venus d’autres Échelles du bassin méditerranéen, arrivent à Saloni-
que. Nous prendrons ici la définition de « colonie » dans son acception large.
Elle se compose, à la fois, des « nationaux » français, quels que soient leur pro-
578
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
579
Mathieu JESTIN
8 Anne Couderc, « États, nations et territoires dans les Balkans au xixe siècle : histoire de
la première frontière gréco-ottomane (1827-1881) », thèse de doctorat d’histoire soute-
nue en 2000 sous la direction du professeur Spyros Asdrachas, à l’Université Paris 1 Pan-
théon-Sorbonne.
9 Sia Anagnostopoulou, The Passage from the Ottoman Empire to the Nation-States: a Long
and Difficult Process; the Greek Case, Istanbul, 2004.
10 On assiste à une évolution des problématiques locales avec les prémisses des Tanzimat :
d’une division de la société ottomane entre Musulmans et non-Musulmans – sans comp-
ter les quelques dizaines d’Européens – à une complexification des identités : millets, ot-
tomanisation, questions nationales, dont la référence à la France – par la nationalité ou
la protection – n’est qu’un choix parmi d’autres et, encore plus qu’avant, n’est souvent
qu’une part des identités individuelles et plurielles. Cf. par exemple, Méropi Anastassia-
dou, Bernard Heyberger (dir.), Figures anonymes, figures d'élite : pour une anatomie de
l'Homo ottomanicus, Istanbul 1999.
11 Outre les Capitulations entre la France et la Porte dont les dernières dites « perpé-
tuelles » sont signées en 1740, le travail du consul est réglé par la Grande Ordonnance
de 1781. Malgré les changements apportés par la période de la Révolution et de l’Empire
(notamment le Code civil), celle-ci n’est remplacée qu’entre 1833 et 1836 par une série
de nouvelles ordonnances. Dans la pratique, les modifications mettent du temps à être
appliquées à Salonique.
580
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
deux aspects. À travers une réflexion sur la protection des Grecs de Salonique,
il s’agit donc de s’interroger sur les évolutions de la diplomatie consulaire fran-
çaise à l’échelle locale dans les années 1830.
12 AMAE, Dossiers Personnels, Achille de Codrika, 1re série, n° 990. Il est nommé vice-
consul de Syra en avril 1831 avant d’être chargé de la gestion du poste de Salonique.
13 AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 22, Salonique, le 15 octobre 1836, n° 115.
14 Marie-Carmen Smyrnélis, Une ville ottomane plurielle : Smyrne aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles,
Istanbul 2006.
581
Mathieu JESTIN
582
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
succès ; il lui valut le titre de citoyen d’honneur d’Athènes. […] Ce précurseur du folk-
lorisme néo-hellénique et du philhellénisme français fut désigné pour diriger l’instruc-
tion publique en 1797 et 1798 à Zante, alors occupée par les troupes française ». Son fils,
l’oncle de Charles Guys, a été consul à Zante.
19 Sur les instructions données aux consuls (cf. note 11). Le baron de Boislecomte est char-
gé d’une mission d’inspection des consulats méditerranéens entre 1833 et 1834 afin de
contrôler l’application de ces réformes. Cf. Mathieu Jestin, « Le Voyage du baron de
Boislecomte en Orient », mémoire de maîtrise d’histoire préparé sous la direction de
Robert Frank et d’Anne Couderc, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2005.
20 Svoronos, Le Commerce.
21 Falquières, prêtre lazariste, devient curé catholique de Salonique en 1822. Il en est ex-
clu en 1830 car il vit en concubinage avec une de ses paroissiennes qu’il épouse à Mar-
seille. Ils continuent à entretenir des amitiés à Salonique et reviennent par deux fois dans
l’Échelle en 1832 et 1835. Cf. AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 21 et t. 22 et Archives des Lazar-
istes de Salonique, carton 4 B 4, Protestation du curé de Salonique, Descamps, le jour du
retour de Falquières en 1832.
22 AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 21, Salonique, le 4 novembre 1835, n° 77.
23 Pour le rôle symbolique des cloches comme marqueurs de territoire, Cf. Alain Corbin,
Les Cloches de la terre : paysage sonore et culture sensible dans les campagnes au xix
e
siècle, Paris 2000 (rééd.).
24 Le supérieur de Paris demande d’ailleurs à Descamps de remercier Guys pour son ac-
tion : Archives des Lazaristes de Salonique, 1 B2, Paris, le 16 août 1834, Étienne à Des-
camps.
583
Mathieu JESTIN
ports de Volos et Cavalla qu’il confie à des proches : Laffont et Loir. À Serrès,
ville de foire, il s’appuie, comme par le passé avec Sponty25, sur un notable grec,
le docteur Moraïti. Il entretient de bons rapports avec les autorités locales et
ses homologues comme le consul anglais James Charnaud, commerçant ang-
lais catholique. Ainsi mènent-ils à trois (France, Angleterre, Russie) la politi-
que commune de défense des intérêts hellènes conformément aux instructions
qu’ils reçoivent26, prérogative qu’ils défendent jalousement comme le révèle une
note de Guys à Charnaud que ce dernier relaie à son ambassadeur Ponsonby :
Monsieur le consul, j’apprends que deux individus hellènes protégés de France et
que d’autres individus de cette nation protégés de Russie ont été conduits à bord
des armements autrichiens. J’ai réclamé les deux individus qui m’appartiennent et
j’ai déclaré que je protestais au nom des gouvernements français et hellène s’ils ne
m’étaient rendus en santé, n’appartenant qu’à moi de les punir s’ils sont coupables
et pas à tout autre. J’ai cru devoir vous instruire de ma marche dans cette affaire
puisqu’il s’agit de sujets protégés en Levant par les trois puissances médiatrices27.
25 Georges Koutzakiotis, « Un représentant d’États européens dans l’arrière pays ottoman.
Le cas de Sponty à Serrès (fin xviiie siècle-début xixe siècle) », The Historical Review / La
Revue Historique 5 (2008), 95-106.
26 Public Record Office - Foreign office (PRO-FO), 195/100, Salonica, 1831-1840. James
Charnaud à l’ambassadeur Sir Gordon, Salonica 18th July 1831: “Ariff Effendi, officer of
the Porte in this place, not satisfied with the vexations he is excersing over the poor rayas of
the country, is now trying to obtain a Firman from Constantinople to obliged the different
dragomans or interpreters of this consulates here to pay karatch and other contributions,
the same as other rayas have to pay.”
27 Ibid., Salonique à la campagne près Salonique, le 29 août 1834, Guys à Charnaud.
584
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
dernier l’a bien reçu »28. Le consul hellène abonde dans le sens de ses collègues
en les remerciant pour leur aide apportée aux Grecs depuis 1832. À son arrivée
à Salonique, Valliano est auréolé d’un certain prestige, car c’est un « combattant
et architecte » 29de la Révolution grecque. Toutefois, des tensions apparaissent
très vite sur des points qui semblent de détail mais sont en fait extrêmement
révélateurs. C’est Valliano qui est dans un premier temps montré du doigt.
L’élément déclencheur est un libelle contre lui paru dans la presse de Smyrne
d’où est originaire Guys30. L’information circule par Prokesch, représentant
de l’Autriche, État exclu des protecteurs de la Grèce. Même si ce dernier se
défend d’une intention délibérée de nuisance, les conséquences sont pour-
tant immédiates. Sont accusés d’avoir fait paraître ce libelle les frères Loir et
Jean Prassacachi. Les premiers sont des négociants français. Le cadet est même
l’agent de Volos nommé par Guys. Le second est issu d’une grande famille de
commerçants grecs établie à Marseille31. À la fois négociant et médecin, il devi-
ent protégé de la France à Salonique dans les années 182032. Le libelle et sa diffu-
sion révèlent des griefs d’ordre commercial existant entre les consulats français
et grec :
28 Ibid., the 13th December 1834, “my dragoman and those of the French and Russian Con-
sulates accompanied him to be introduced to the Pasha and was well received by his Ex-
cellency”.
29 Harikas Dimakopoulou, « Théodore Valliano, combattant et architecte », Annuaire de
l’Institut d’études néo-helléniques, T.B., 1981-1982. Valliano a notamment contribué au
développement de Nauplie sous Capodistria et a été colonel du Quartier Général de la
lutte des Grecs pour l’Indépendance.
30 Archives du ministère des Affaires étrangères grec (MAE grec), Athènes, le 17 octobre
1836, lettre du service interne des Affaires étrangères destinée à M. Rizo concernant
« un article diffamatoire contenu dans le n° 235 du Journal de Smyrne contre M. Valliano
consul grec à Salonique ».
31 La famille a notamment fondé la « Caisse des Grecs » et a soutenu, par l’envoi d’argent et
d’armes, la Révolution grecque. Cf. Apostolos E. Vacalopoulos, « Souvenirs du juriscon-
sulte et historien du droit allemand Karl Edouard Zacharia d’un voyage en Orient pen-
dant les années 1837 et 1838 », I Thessaloniki 3 (1992), 131-151 (en grec).
32 Jean Prassacachi devient par la suite un modèle d’intégration au sein de la colonie fran-
çaise dans la seconde moitié du xixe siècle. Repéré pour ses rapports sur les épidémies
de choléra qui touchèrent la ville dans les années 1840, il devient le médecin attitré du
consulat. Il est naturalisé par la suite ce qui lui permet de monopoliser une des deux
places annuelles de député de la nation. Il obtient même la Légion d’honneur.
585
Mathieu JESTIN
[Loir] avait fait enlever de vive force un navire grec séquestré par arrêt du consul
hellénique, et tous deux avaient perdu par-devant ledit tribunal des causes fondées
sur l’abus des prête-noms et sur des contraventions aux ordonnances qui régissent
la marine grecque. […] C’est la licence d’un côté et la vénalité de l’autre qui ont
donné naissance à cet article calomnieux. Je n’ai pas été particulièrement lié avec
M. Valliano et j’avais eu même des discussions avec lui au sujet de quelques ques-
tions de droit ; mais je dois à la vérité de dire qu’il n’a pas mérité les reproches
consignés dans le Journal de Smyrne33.
33 AMAE grec, 1836, Thessaloniki, 36.2, 12-22 juin 1836, lettre de Rizo à Zorographo.
34 AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 22, Salonique le 19 juillet 1836, n° 106. Ledoulx est chargé de
l’enquête par Guys. Ibid., n° 107. Loir a envoyé son frère l’agent de Volo pour plaider sa
cause à Athènes.
586
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
35 Guys demande tous les ans entre 1835 et 1838 la croix de Saint Sauveur (distinction
honorifique remise par le ministère des Affaires étrangères grecque aux défenseurs des
Grecs pendant et après l’Epanastasis) que Codrika, lui-même obtient en 1836. MAE grec,
1836, carton 1836, 34 à 36, dossier 1836, 26.2 consulat de Macédoine Thessalonique,
Corfou, Crète ; 15 mars 1836, lettre adressée à M. Lagrené ministre résidant de France
par Rizo : remise de l’ordre de Saint Sauveur aux 27 officiers génaux et officiers de l’expé-
dition française en Morée, à M. Blondel et à M. Achille Codrika.
36 AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 22, Paris, le 22 août 1836, n° 35 : « Vos dépêches du 3 au 20
juin ne présentent pas d’une manière assez claire les faits qui ont motivé vos plaintes sur
le consul hellène à Salonique pour qu’il soit possible d’y donner suite. […] Je me borne
[…] à vous recommander à l’avenir plus de précision dans vos rapports et d’en écarter
avec soin tous les détails étrangers aux affaires dont [ils] traitent ».
37 MAE grec, 1836, Thessaloniki, carton 36.2, copie de la lettre de l’ambassadeur de France
du 26 juillet 1836 à Rizo.
587
Mathieu JESTIN
En effet, les collègues européens de Guys font front avec lui contre Valliano.
Ainsi Mustoxidi, le consul russe, retire-t-il un temps sa confiance au consul
grec38. Loir tente même de profiter de ce discrédit pour retourner la situation
à son profit, en portant plainte, à son tour, contre Valliano39. Le gouvernement
grec n’entend cependant pas se laisser dicter sa conduite. Le ministre Rizo
répond à Zorographo : « Le gouvernement, je le répète, est satisfait de M. Valli-
ano et, certes il ne lui adresserait pas de reproches non mérités pour le bon pla-
isir de M. Guys. Je vais lui écrire seulement d’éviter autant qu’il lui sera possible
tout ce qui pourrait le mettre en contact avec un homme qui fait tant d’intrigues
contre lui »40.
Au fil des années 1830, la diplomatie grecque s’affirme en effet progressive-
ment en Roumélie face au concert des puissances européennes41. Si cette affa-
ire permet de mettre en lumière les répercussions de l’histoire diplomatique sur
l’histoire consulaire – le drame des Grands se joue aussi à l’échelle des petits
–, l’inverse se vérifie également. À travers ces « études de cas », on peut voir se
réajuster les relations diplomatiques.
38 AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 22, Salonique, le 26 août 1836, n° 108 ; même si Georges
Toussimis affirme que Valliano voit en lui « dès les premiers jours de son arrivée [...] un
conseiller sage et habile », op. cit., p. 171 (cf. note 8).
39 AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 22, Salonique, le 9 septembre 1836, n° 111.
40 MAE grec, Salonique, 1836, Thessaloniki, 36.2, le 24 novembre/6 décembre 1836.
41 MAE grec, Salonique, 1836, Thessaloniki, 36.2, le 23 juillet/5 août 1836 Zographo écrit
à Rizo : « Quelques forts que nous soyons dans nos droits, nous courons malheureuse-
ment bien souvent le risque d’être taxés de manquer aux formes des convenances, toutes
les fois qu’à la place des remerciements, nous aurions que des plaintes à exprimer, et des
plaintes qui seraient nommément adressées contre tel ou tel employé de l’Alliance. Il y
a bien des raisons passées et présentes, qui nous empêchent d’obtenir la justice qui nous
est due ; malgré cela, il ne faut pas sans doute négliger la défense de nos droits, ou nous
laisser surfaire par des agents subalternes, qui méconnaissent à la fois les intentions de
leurs gouvernements et la latitude de leurs droits à notre reconnaissance. […] Dans le
cas qui dont il s’agit, relativement aux démêlés entre les consuls de Grèce et de France à
Salonique j’ai été bien fâché de voir que M. l’Ambassadeur de France n’a pas pu ou vou-
lu comprendre le sens, et le but des démarches amicales et confidentielles que je venais
de faire auprès de lui. » On peut aussi se référer à l’étude de Anastassios Anastassiadis et
Philippe Gelez, « Consulats européens dans l’empire ottoman. La concurrence des États
dans les Balkans entre la Guerre de Crimée et le Congrès de Berlin, 1853-1878 » in Jörg
Ulbert, Lukian Prijac (dir.), Consuls et services consulaires au xixe siècle : une institution
en épanouissement, Hambourg 2010, 290-308.
588
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
42 PRO-FO, 195/100, Salonica, November 23rd 1838: “I have now the honour to acquit to
your Excellency that some short time since a Firman was received relating to Rayyahs
subjects of the Sublime Porte, under Foreign Protection relating likewise to houses and
landed property belonging to Franks the little being in the name of Rayyahs this Firman,
my Lord was read and the interpreters of the different consulates were requested to at-
tend to hear and report the contents of the Firman to their respective consul ; the French
consul however paid no attention to it.” Le caïmacan fit appel à Blunt pour savoir com-
ment se faire entendre, Blunt lui conseilla d’en parler aux consuls directement : “The Kai-
makan took my advice and the meeting was held. After the Firman was fully explained,
the French Consul said he treated it as mulk as he had received any instructions from his
ambassador such as regarded landed property he been instructed by the Minister of For-
eign Affairs from Paris, he protected all property purchased by French subjects in Tur-
key”.
43 Charles Blunt reste plus de vingt-ans dans l’Échelle quittant le poste après la guerre de
Crimée (1857-1858). Il peut être considéré comme le premier consul de carrière nommé
à Salonique par le gouvernement anglais. Son fils John, qui occupait le poste de Volos, lui
succède à partir du début des années 1870 pour une durée équivalente.
44 PRO-FO, Salonique, December 26th 1836. Blunt rapporte que le pacha a exigé le chan-
gement d’interprète du consulat grec, Valliano s’exécute mais le pacha refuse de recon-
naître le nouveau : “I regret today that all the bad feeling which exists between the local
authorities and the Greek Consulate emanates from the French Consulate”.
45 Toussimis, « Angelos Moustoxydis ».
46 Jon V. Kofas, International and Domestic Politics in Greece during the Crimean War, New-
York 1980.
589
Mathieu JESTIN
Son travail était pourtant davantage surveillé depuis quelque temps, les ten-
sions avec Valliano ayant braqué sur lui les projecteurs de la diplomatie frança-
ise. Deux grands reproches lui sont faits. Sa relation conflictuelle avec Valliano
a entraîné une réelle perte de considération pour la France à l’échelle locale. Si,
en 1833 les Français occupaient la première place parmi les Puissances protect-
rices dans l’Échelle de Salonique, ce n’est plus le cas en 1839. Guys a perdu la
confiance des autorités locales sur la question de la protection comme le sou-
ligne avec malice Blunt :
Le consul français voulait continuer à protéger un grand nombre de rayas sous le
prétexte qu’ils étaient au service du consulat. Le Grand Vizir exigea que le berat du
consul français lui soit montré afin de déterminer le nombre autorisé de protégés –
ce qui a eu l’effet désiré et la plupart des protections furent abandonnées50.
590
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
many persons it allowed to – this had the desired effect and the greater part are aban-
doned”.
51 MAE grec, 1839, cartons 35.1 à 39.3. 17, Salonique 36. 2, Athènes, le 2/24 septembre 1839.
52 AMAE, CCC, Salonique, t. 22, Salonique, août 1839, n 1. La plus grande partie de la
chancellerie du consulat français a brulé lors de l’incendie de septembre 1839.
591
Mathieu JESTIN
têtes de bétail qu’il tuait pour le même motif, l’épicier envoyait du sucre, un autre du
café et au jour de Pâques chaque protégé devait lui apporter un ou deux agneaux53.
592
La protection des Grecs de Salonique
passif laissé par Guys ainsi qu’avec un contexte local et international difficile56.
Les conséquences de l’affaire Guys continuent de se faire sentir tout au long de
la période suivante. Ainsi Louis de Mornard en 1853, à son arrivée au consulat,
reçoit-il la plainte d’Elia Ferragi qui ne comprend pas les raisons de son exc-
lusion du protectorat français. Après de vaines recherches dans les archives, le
consul subodore qu’il s’agit d’un protégé de la période de Guys57…
Si Cousinery marque le début du xixe siècle de son empreinte en une sorte
« d’âge d’or » de la présence française dans la ville, la « légende noire » de Guys
se diffuse dans la deuxième moitié du siècle éclipsant ses premiers mois de ges-
tion qui furent, eux, à l’image du mythe de Cousinery auquel Guys faisait volon-
tiers référence. Le souvenir de cette gestion ne s’efface des mémoires française
et salonicienne qu’avec l’assassinat du consul Jules Moulin en 1876, référence
incontournable de la période suivante.
56 À Salonique, la maison consulaire ainsi que la chancellerie brûlent avec le quartier franc
en septembre 1839. Gillet doit donc reconstruire les bases de la présence française en
ville. De plus, il subit les conséquences de l’isolement de la France au début des années
1840, qui prend position pour Mehmet Ali, le pacha d’Égypte, dans le conflit qui l’oppose
à l’Empire ottoman, soutenu, lui, par les autres États européens.
57 AMAE, Centre des Archives de Nantes (CADN), Salonique, Série A, carton 6, correspon-
dance avec l’ambassade, 1853-1860, Mornard, le 30 août 1853.
593
The Price of Succession:
Diplomatic Negotiations around
the Acknowledgment of
György Rákóczi II
as a Prince of Transylvania
Gábor Kármán*
In the last decades, there has been a growing interest in historical research about
the Ottoman Empire’s relationship to its tributary states. Many documents that
were fundamental in canonising the legal positions of the individual polities, as
well as the sultan’s expectations towards them, have been edited and analysed,
and much of this research is available in English, French or German.1 On the
other hand, the studies that present the diplomatic activities of the individual
tributaries at the Sublime Porte and the attempts of these tributaries to try the
limits of their dependence or resist the new demands of Ottoman dignitaries
* Research fellow, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Research Centre for the Humanities,
Institute of History, karmangabor@gmail.com
1 To name only the most comprehensive studies: Nicolaas H. Biegman, The Turco-Ragu-
san Relationship According to the Firmāns of Murād III (1575–1595) Extant in the State
Archives of Dubrovnik, The Hague and Paris 1967; Mihai Maxim, L’Empire Ottoman au
nord du Danube et l’autonomie des Principautés Roumaines au XVIe siècle: Études et do-
cuments, Istanbul 1999; idem, Romano-Ottomanica: Essays and Documents from the
Turkish Archives, Istanbul 2001; Viorel Panaite, The Ottoman Law of War and Peace:
The Ottoman Empire and Tribute Payers, New York 2000; Sándor Papp, Die Verleihungs-,
Bekräftigungs- und Vertragsurkunden der Osmanen für Ungarn und Siebenbürgen: Eine
quellenkritische Untersuchung, Vienna 2003; idem, “Christian Vassals on the Northwest
Border of the Ottoman Empire,” in The Turks, vol. 3, Ottomans, Hasan Celal Güzel – C.
Cem Oguz – Osman Karatay (eds), Ankara 2002, 719–730. A comprehensive overview of
the legal status, diplomatic practices and Ottoman military co-operation of early mod-
ern tributaries has been recently published: The European Tributary States of the Otto-
man Empire in the Sixteenth–Seventeenth Centuries, Gábor Kármán with Lovro Kunčević
(eds), Leiden 2013.
594
The price of succession
with means of diplomacy largely remained within the frames of Croatian, Hun-
garian and Romanian national historiographies. Ironically enough, due to the
differences of the survival of sources concerning the various tributary states,
the least is known about Moldavia and Wallachia, where the exact conditions
were quite frequently changed, whereas the rich holdings of the Ragusan archi-
ves could offer much material to this question–had the city state’s position not
been relatively stable during the early modern period. The diplomatic activities
of the Transylvanian princes at the Sublime Porte had traditionally not been a
field of primary interest for the researchers of the principality’s past: only in the
last decade a proliferation of case studies concerning this topic could be seen.2
The relatively rich surviving documentation on the negotiations around the
succession of Prince György Rákóczi II (1648–1660) offers an excellent oppor-
tunity for an in-depth study of Ottoman negotiation strategies as well as the
potential of a tributary state to withstand the pressure coming from their side.
The succession of György Rákóczi I’s older son as prince of Transylvania
was supposed to be a simple matter. His father, the ruler of the principality since
1630, made serious steps in the early 1640s to ascertain that he would be follo-
wed by György Junior by securing for him both necessary components of prin-
cely power: election by the Transylvanian diet and the consent of the sultan.3
In 1642 the diet elected the new prince, and after long and elaborate negotiati-
ons and offering a large amount of presents, the principality’s diplomats could
convince the Sublime Porte to accept this decision. Their success was, however,
2 Sándor Papp, “II. Rákóczi György és a Porta” [György Rákóczi II and the Porte], in
Szerencsének elegyes forgása: II. Rákóczi György és kora, Gábor Kármán with András Pé-
ter Szabó (eds), Budapest 2009, 99–170; idem, “Bethlen Gábor, a Magyar Királyság és a
Porta” [Gábor Bethlen, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Porte], Századok 145 (2001),
915–974; Balázs Sudár with János B. Szabó, “’Independens fejedelem az Portán kívül’:
II. Rákóczi György oszmán kapcsolatai: Esettanulmány az Erdélyi Fejedelemség és az
Oszmán Birodalom viszonyának kérdéséhez” [‘Independent Prince outside of the Porte’:
The Ottoman Contacts of György Rákóczi II: A Case Study for the Question of the Re-
lationship between the Principality of Transylvania and the Ottoman Empire], Századok
146 (2012), 1017–1048; 147 (2013), 931-999.
3 On the election of the princes see Graeme Murdock, “’Freely Elected in Fear’: Prince-
ly Elections and Political Power in Early Modern Transylvania,” Journal of Early Mod-
ern History 7, no. 3–4 (2003), 214–244; Zsolt Trócsányi, Az erdélyi fejedelemség korának
országgyűlései (Adalék az erdélyi rendiség történetéhez) [Diets in the Age of the Princi-
pality of Transylvania: Contributions to the History of the Transylvanian System of Es-
tates], Budapest 1976.
595
Gábor KÁRMÁN
4 On the negotiations at the Sublime Porte see Papp, “II. Rákóczi György”, 99–121. On the
insignia in general see János B. Szabó, “Insignia of the Transylvanian Princes” Majestas 4
(1996), 85–105; János B. Szabó with Péter Erdősi, “Ceremonies Marking the Transfer of
Power in the Principality of Transylvania in East European Context” Majestas 11 (2003),
111–160; János B. Szabó, “The Insignia of the Princes of Transylvania” in Turkish Flow-
ers: Studies in Ottoman Art in Hungary, Ibolya Gerelyes (ed), Budapest 2005, 131–142.
On the documents issued about the acknowledgment of princely successors see Sándor
Papp, “The System of Autonomous Muslim and Christian Communities, Churches, and
States in the Ottoman Empire” in Kármán – Kunčević (eds), The European Tributary
States, 375-419 at 409.
596
The price of succession
from the second stage of the Long Turkish War at the turn of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries: three-years moratoria were granted to András Báthori
in 1599, and Zsigmond Báthori in 1601, whereas in 1604 the ‘ahdname given to
the “Hungarian lords who escaped to Turkey” promised that the sultan would
not expect the payment of tribute in the next ten years.5 In all these cases the
Sublime Porte made references to the great poverty of the principality due to
the wars, but the main motivation behind the sultans’ lenience was quite obvio-
usly their aspiration to re-establish their influence upon the country. Only one
case is known when a prince was able to achieve a moratorium of tribute pay-
ment with only diplomatic means: in 1617 Prince Gábor Bethlen was granted
such a concession with respect to having delivered the castle of Lippa (today
Lipova, Romania) to Ottoman hands in the previous year and supporting their
Polish campaign.6
Gábor Bethlen was also the only prince who could successfully negotiate a
reduction of the tribute from the Sublime Porte. The sum the prince was sup-
posed to pay was originally 10,000 gold coins, raised to 15,000 when the sul-
tan acknowledged István Báthori as prince of Transylvania in 1575. At the turn
of June 1625 Bethlen managed to get an imperial letter (ferman) from Sultan
5 An overview of Transylvania’s tribute payment until the end of György Rákóczi I’s rule:
Cristina Feneşan, “Der Harac Siebenbürgens in der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts,”
Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes 34/ 1–2 (1996), 97–106. See also János Lipták, A
portai adó története az erdélyi fejedelemségben, Késmárk 1911. On the ‘ahdname grant-
ed to András Báthori, see Gábor Kármán, “Báthori András ahdnáméja” [The ‘ahdname
of András Báthori], Fons: Forráskutatás és Segédtudományok 14 (2007), 339–348. The
‘ahdname of Sultan Mehmed III to Zsigmond Báthori (11 August 1601) as well as that
of Ahmed I to the “Hungarian lords who escaped to Turkey” (between 30 March and
28 April 1604) were published by Sándor Papp, Die Verleihungs-, Bekräftigungs- und
Vertragsurkunden, 252–254, resp. 258–259 (Nos. 51 and 52). The text of the appointment
charter for Mózes Székely in 1602 has not been preserved, but it also granted a mora-
torium for tribute payment, see ibid. 116; Sándor Papp, “Székely Mózes erdélyi fejede-
lem hatalomra kerülésének diplomáciai tanulságai és egy nagyvezíri előterjesztés (telhis)
keletkezése” [Diplomatic Conclusions Concerning Mózes Székely’s Assumption of the
Rule over Transylvania and the Formation of a Telhis by the Grand Vizier], Aetas 14/4
(1999), 71–85, here 79.
6 Feneşan, “Der Harac” 103. On Bethlen’s (actually quite meagre) contribution to Iskend-
er Pasha’s Polish campaign see recently Balázs Sudár, “Iskender and Gábor Bethlen: The
Pasha and the Prince” in Europe and the Ottoman World: Exchanges and Conflicts (Six-
teenth–Seventeenth Centuries), Gábor Kármán with Radu G. Păun (eds), Istanbul 2013,
141-169 at 158-162.
597
Gábor KÁRMÁN
Murad IV in which the padishah reset the tribute of the land to the original
10,000 gold coins.7 Bethlen’s successor, György Rákóczi I continued to pay
this sum and for him the most important task was not to achieve a further
reduction, but rather to convince the Ottoman elite not to demand a raise again.
It seems the Sublime Porte announced that they would again expect a tribute
of 15,000 gold coins from Transylvania during the negotiations concerning the
acknowledgment of György Rákóczi Junior’s succession.8 As an immediate
response, György Rákóczi I brought up the argument to be often used in the
following years, that according to the formulation of the “very beautiful letter”
given to Gábor Bethlen (which in all likelihood referred to the ferman of 1625)
the concession concerning the tribute was not given to a specific prince, but to
the country. Therefore, Rákóczi argued, the Ottoman dignitaries had no reason
to expect the higher sum again after Bethlen’s death.9 For a while, this argu-
ment seems to have worked: in the next year there is no mention of raising the
tribute, and the only problem was caused by the fact that the prince sent the
sum in silver talers, so his diplomats had to arrange that the Jewish merchants
in Istanbul exchanged it for gold coins.10
In a short time, however, the Porte had the chance to use the prince’s request
for a favour in order to start a new discussion of the tribute’s scale, since György
Rákóczi I had to ask for the sultan’s consent to start his anti-Habsburg war-
fare in alliance with the crowns of Sweden and France in the last phase of the
598
The price of succession
Thirty Years War.11 Grand Vizier Semin Mehmed Pasha complained to Chief
Ambassador István Serédy, who had accompanied the principality’s tribute for
the year 1644 to Istanbul, that although the prince’s wishes had been fulfilled
and consent had been given to Rákóczi’s campaign, the Porte did not receive
even the regular tribute in return (under which the grand vizier meant the sum
of 15,000 gold coins), in spite of his repeated reminders about the Transylva-
nian ruler’s duties.12 What is more, the Sublime Porte added another financial
demand to the earlier ones in 1644. In the early phase of his campaign, György
Rákóczi I managed to conquer thirteen Hungarian counties, and thus he could
reasonably hope to be able to conclude a peace similar to that of his predeces-
sor, Gábor Bethlen, who secured his control over a significant part of Eastern
Hungary in repeated peace treaties in the 1620s. Following the example set
by Bethlen, Rákóczi also requested an ‘ahdname for his rule over the coun-
ties in order to secure Ottoman support for his plans.13 In exchange for issuing
the document according to the blueprint he had submitted, the prince offe-
red to send a present of 20,000 talers (10,000 gold coins). However, the new
grand vizier, Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha thought that there was more money to
11 Katalin Péter, “The Golden Age of the Principality” in The History of Transylvania, vol. 2,
From 1606 to 1830, László Makkai with Zoltán Szász (eds), Boulder 2002, 100–130. See
also Ioan Hudiţă, Histoire de relations diplomatiques entre la France et la Transylvanie au
XVIIe siècle (1635–1683), Paris 1927, 34–82; Kálmán Benda, “Les relations diplomatiques
entre la France et la Transylvanie” in Les relations franco-autrichiennes sous Louis XIV:
Siège de Vienne (1683): Colloque à propos du Tricentenaire du siege de Vienne 9–11 Mars
1983, Jean Bérenger (ed), Saint Cyr 1983; Jean Nouzille, “Les relations entre la France et
Transylvanie pendant la guerre de trente ans: La difficile recherche d’une alliance de re-
vers” Revue Roumaine d’Histoire 36 (1997), 176–182. On the prince’s diplomatic activities
in order to achieve the Porte’s consent for his campaign see Papp, “II. Rákóczi György”,
122–124.
12 István Serédy’s letter to György Rákóczi I (Istanbul, 1 January 1645) Szilágyi (ed), Levelek,
827–828. In general, two types of diplomats were serving at the diplomatic representa-
tion of Transylvania at the Sublime Porte. The tribute was delivered to the sultan by the
so-called chief ambassadors (főkövet), who left the Ottoman capital after their mission
was completed; whereas the everyday tasks of diplomatic representation fell upon the
orators (kapitiha), who replaced each other on a yearly basis. For more details, see my
“Sovereignty and Representation: Tributary States in the Seventeenth-Century Diplo-
matic System of the Ottoman Empire” in Kármán – Kunčević (eds), The European Tribu-
tary States, 155-185 at 159-161.
13 On the ‘ahdname given to Bethlen concerning his rule over the seven Eastern Hungarian
counties, see Papp, op.cit., 129–130.
599
Gábor KÁRMÁN
extract from this deal: he announced that the ‘ahdname would only be issued
once the money arrived and he also noted that the document should include
the passage that Rákóczi should pay this sum of money on a yearly basis due
to the enlarged territory under his rule.14 The chief ambassador of the prince,
István Serédy paid the 20,000 talers to the sultan in May 1645, but the diverging
interpretations concerning the nature of this sum lingered on, together with the
debate about the scale of the tribute.15
The situation only got worse in the following years. György Rákóczi I was
not willing to pay more than 10,000 gold coins as a tribute in the year 1646
either. This time he added to his reasoning the argument that it was not in his
power to send a higher sum, as the tribute to the Porte was voted each year by
the Transylvanian diet, over whose decisions he had no control whatsoever.16
This statement, however, failed to achieve the desired results. István Szalánczi,
the chief ambassador of the principality, who had been sent to the Porte with
the tribute in the beginning of 1645 and was forced to stay in the Ottoman capi-
tal, noted that the Ottoman dignitaries continued to blame Rákóczi exclusively,
instead of his estates.17 Considering the weakness of the Transylvanian esta-
tes in any of their conflicts with the actual prince, the statement that György
14 See Serédy’s letter quoted in footnote 12, as well as the report of Mihály Maurer and
György Hajdu to György Rákóczi I (Istanbul, 2 November 1644) Beke with Barabás
(eds), I. Rákóczy György, 721–722. On more details concerning the ‘ahdname requested
for the Hungarian counties see Papp, op.cit., 124–130.
15 István Serédy’s letter to György Rákóczi I (Istanbul, 3 May 1645) Szilágyi (ed), op.cit.,
838. See for instance Grand Vizier Nevesinli Salih Pasha’s letter to György Rákóczi I (Is-
tanbul, last decade of Cemaziyelahir 1056 / 5–14 July 1646), in which he acknowledg-
es the payment of 1645, but reminds the prince that he failed to pay for the Hungarian
counties in 1646, József Blaskovics, “Az ‘orta Madzsar’ (Orta Macar) és Erdély történetére
vonatkozó török okiratok I. Rákóczi György fejedelem korából” [Turkish Documents
Concerning the History of Orta Macar and Transylvania from the Period of György
Rákóczi I’s Rule], Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén Levéltári Évkönyve 6 (1990), 285–287.
16 György Rákóczi I’s letter to his envoy at the Sublime Porte (Gyulafehérvár, 31 March
1646) Beke with Barabás (eds), op.cit., 789. See also the prince’s letter to István Szalánczi
(Szatmár, 19 June 1646) István Török, “Adatok I. Rákóczy György fejedelem uralkodása
történetéhez” [Data Concerning the History of György Rákóczi I’s Rule], Történelmi Tár
27 (1904), 596–606, here 604.
17 István Szalánczi’s letter to György Rákóczi I (Istanbul, 29 March 1647) Beke with Barabás
(eds), I. Rákóczy György, 833–834; Alexander Greiffenklau’s letter to Emperor Ferdi-
nand III (Pera, 4 May 1647) Österreichisches Staatsarchiv Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv
(henceforth HHStA) Staatenabteliungen Türkei I. Kt. 120. Fasc. 60. Konv. C 1647 fol. 38.
600
The price of succession
Rákóczi I could not have forced them to pay even if he wanted them to do
so sounds like a quite cynical attempt to shift responsibility. Nevertheless, it
seems that the principality’s diet did not want to give in easily to the Ottoman
demands either: we know their letters to the prince, as well as to Szalánczi, in
which they requested persistence in this question.18
The Sublime Porte, in turn, used more and more pressure to achieve its desi-
red goals. None of the four grand viziers who replaced each other in the office
up to 1648 granted permission for Szalánczi to leave Istanbul, and an increasing
amount of comments were made about the possibility of replacing the Transy-
lvanian prince with Mózes Székely Jr., a pretender kept in custody in the Otto-
man capital. Grand Vizier Hezarpare Ahmed Pasha also made it clear that he
was unwilling to make any steps to stop the raids of the Ottoman border gar-
risons in Transylvanian territory as long as the question of the tribute was not
settled.19 The gravity of the situation can amply be illustrated with the panic
of Szalánczi, who had been involved in the principality’s negotiations with the
Sublime Porte since the 1630s, and could thus by no means seen as a person
who could easily be scared. This seasoned diplomat begged his prince in seve-
ral letters that “it would be better to give this sum and thus achieve security
for our homeland than to lose the homeland just for this petty money.”20 The
prince did not give in and Szalánczi became the personal victim of this diplo-
601
Gábor KÁRMÁN
21 For more about his person see Klára Jakó, “A Szaláncziak (Egy fejezet az erdélyi fejedelem-
ség keleti diplomáciájának történetéből)” [The Szalánczis: A Chapter from the History
of the Eastern Diplomacy of the Principality of Transylvania], in Emlékkönyv Imreh Ist-
ván születésének nyolcvanadik évfordulójára, András Kiss-Gyöngy Kovács Kiss-Ferenc
Pozsony (eds), Kolozsvár 1999, 199–210. The grand vizier refused to grant permission for
the Transylvanians to make his burial ceremony a public event by inviting the staff of oth-
er embassies; see the letter of Alexander Greiffenklau to Emperor Ferdinand III (Pera, 27
February 1648) HHStA Türkei I. Kt. 120. Fasc. 60. Konv. D 1648 fol. 36v.
22 Ferenc Gyárfás’ letter to György Rákóczi II (Istanbul, 14 November 1648) Beke with
Barabás (ed), I. Rákóczy György, 904. Grand Vizier Sofu Mehmed Pasha also ordered the
payment of the “arrears” immediately after having received the news of György Rákóczi
I’s death; see the letter of Panaiotis Nicousios to Emperor Ferdinand III (13 November
1648) HHStA Türkei I. Kt. 120. Fasc. 60. Konv. D 1648 fol. 228r.
23 Letter of the three Transylvanian nations to an unknown dignitary at the Porte (Gyulafe-
hérvár, 18 February 1649) Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára (State Archives
of the Hungarian National Archives, henceforth MNL OL) Magyar Kamara Archívuma
E 144 Történelmi emlékek 2. dob.
602
The price of succession
Murad Pasha made the start of the negotiations possible.24 However, the deci-
sive moment of putting an end to the conflict was rather that György Rákóczi
II gave in and sent the higher sum as tribute to the Porte. What is more, he also
agreed to pay an aggregated 30,000 gold coins as the arrears for the last two
years (when the grand viziers refused to accept the payments of 10,000 gold
coins).25
György Rákóczi II had good reasons to relinquish his initial reluctance and
break with his father’s policy of trying to convince the Sublime Porte with legal
arguments about the injustice of their demands. The Ottoman threats of for-
cing Mózes Székely upon the country, expressed not only by the grand vizier
also by the beylerbey of Buda during his negotiations with Transylvanian dip-
lomats, were bad enough already, especially as Sofu Mehmed Pasha also used
the Tatar menace in his talks with Serédy.26 These intimidations were not new,
since his father also had to face them; however, György Rákóczi II was in an
altogether different position, as his rule over Transylvania could not be seen as
secure until he received the sultan’s acknowledgment in the form of the ‘ahd-
name and the full set of insignia that he was refused back in 1642.
By maintaining the “ex lex” situation, the prince did not only risk his country’s
relationship towards the Sublime Porte, but also caused a breach in his control
over the Transylvanian estates. In the diet that was in sitting between Janu-
ary and March 1649, the estates managed to secure unusually broad concessi-
24 István Serédy’s letters to György Rákóczi II (Istanbul, 12 April, respectively 12 May 1649):
Sándor Szilágyi (ed), Erdély és az északkeleti háború: Levelek és okiratok /Transsylvania et
bellum boreo-orientale: Acta et documenta, vol. 1, Budapest 1890, 74–75; respectively Sán-
dor Szilágyi, “Levelek és okiratok II. Rákóczy György fejedelem diplomacziai összekötte-
tései történetéhez” [Letters and documents concerning the diplomatic contacts of Prince
György Rákóczi II], Történelmi Tár 12 (1889), 326–353, 451–490, 637–677, here 330.
25 Simon Reniger’s report to Emperor Ferdinand III (Istanbul, 12 May 1649) HHStA Tür-
kei I. Kt. 121. Fasc. 61. Konv. A fol. 98r. The grand vizier’s letter, in which he acknowl-
edged the payment of two years’ tribute, was published by Jan Rypka, “Die türkischen
Schutzbriefe für Georg II Rákóczi, Fürsten von Siebenbürgen, aus dem Jahre 1649” Der
Islam 18 (1929), 213–235, here 217–219.
26 György Lippay’s letter to György Rákóczi II (Pozsony, 5 January 1649) Edit Izsépy (ed), II.
Rákóczi György levelezéséből 1646–1660 [From the Correspondence of György Rákóczi
II], Budapest 1992, 19; István Serédy’s letter to the prince (Istanbul, 2 May 1649) Sándor
Szilágyi (ed), Okmánytár II. Rákóczy György diplomáciai összeköttetéseihez [A Collection
of Documents Concerning the Diplomatic Contacts of György Rákóczi II], Monumenta
Hungariae Historica. Ser. I. Diplomataria, nr. 23, Budapest 1874, 17.
603
Gábor KÁRMÁN
ons from the prince: the rights of the central princely treasury were curtailed
and several legal processes against important noblemen were suspended. Zsolt
Trócsányi, the renowned historian of the Transylvanian diets even suggested
that this was one of the largest crises of central power during the principality’s
existence.27 The estates must have gained all these advantages through using
their excellent bargaining position: if the prince wanted them to send an official
embassy to the Sublime Porte in order to solve the tribute question, he had to
make concessions in various other fields. This must have also been the reason
why the arrears were not paid from the estates’ pockets, which would have been
the normal procedure, but rather from the prince’s family treasury.28 With the
sultan granting the ‘ahdname to György Rákóczi II, the scope of the estates’
action shrank again: in 1650 the list of the princely estates was codified, among
them several that had earlier been confiscated by György Rákóczi I.
The promise to pay the two years’ arrears did grant the young prince what
he wanted: in June 1649 an ‘ahdname from Sultan Mehmed IV was drawn up
for him and the kapıcı başı brought the document to Gyulafehérvár (today Alba
Iulia, Romania) with a solemn legation.29 When János Kemény, the leading
604
The price of succession
personality in the princely council heard about the new, lenient attitude of the
Sublime Porte, he expressed his hopes that the payment of the higher tribute
may motivate the Ottomans to drop their claims for the money related to the
Eastern Hungarian counties.30 He was bound to be disappointed: the Porte did
not give in and urged the prince to send 60,000 talers, a three-year aggregate
of the expected payment for the counties. During the negotiations the Transy-
lvanian diplomats emphasised that their lord should not be expected to pay for
territories that he had never ruled over: according to the Peace of Linz (1645),
the counties were bound to be returned to the Kingdom of Hungary after the
death of György Rákóczi I, and the handover did in fact take place in the first
half of 1649.31 Nonetheless, they had to acknowledge that two counties, Sza-
bolcs and Szatmár remained under the Rákóczis’ rule, and the Sublime Porte
kept on demanding a tribute after them.32
The determination of the Ottoman state administration can also be illustra-
ted by the fact that a çavuş was sent to Gyulafehérvár to remind György Rákóczi
II of his alleged duties. Ottoman diplomacy usually adhered to the method of
sending envoys only in extraordinary situations.33 When the çavuş returned
to Istanbul during the spring 1650, he could only deliver further excuses. The
prince called the attention of the Sublime Porte upon the fact that although the
counties in question had indeed been part of his father’s inheritance, they were
not under his jurisdiction, but were ruled by his younger brother and mother
(who did in fact stay in Hungary during this period). Thus, he claimed, it would
be unjust to expect him to pay for them. On the other hand, György Rákóczi II
tried to maintain further the argument of his father: the princes of Transylvania
14. cs. 75. t; resp. Arhivele Naţionale Direcţia Judeţeană Cluj [National Archives, Province
Directorate Cluj] Fond familial Bethlen din Criş Nr. 15. fol. 250; also the prince’s resolutio
to János Tőrös (Gyulafehérvár, 25 July 1649) MNL OL E 190 Nr. 5392.
30 János Kemény’s letter to György Rákóczi II (Gerend, 18 May 1649) MNL OL E 190 Nr.
5378.
31 Kármán, Erdélyi külpolitika, 148–150.
32 Simon Reniger’s letter to Ferdinand III (Istanbul, 15 February 1650) HHStA Türkei I. Kt.
122. Fasc. 61/b. Konv. A fol. 73r.
33 On sending the çavuş see ibid. On the peculiar character of the early modern Ottoman
diplomacy, see Bülent Arı, “Early Ottoman Diplomacy: Ad Hoc Period;” and G.R. Ber-
ridge, “Diplomatic Integration with Europe before Selim III” both in Ottoman Diploma-
cy: Conventional or Unconventional?, A. Nuri Yurdusev (ed), Houndmills 2004, 36–65,
resp. 114–130.
605
Gábor KÁRMÁN
had never promised that they would pay a yearly tribute to the sultan for these
territories.34 The conflict was eventually solved with a compromise: the grand
vizier consented to receive money for the counties only as a single instalment
and not as a yearly tribute; moreover, the sum to be paid was set (with the active
mediation of Zülfikar ağa) in 20,000 talers.35 For this amount, the Transylva-
nian prince could buy the benevolence of the Ottoman state administration.
The issue of a tribute for the Eastern Hungarian counties was never raised again
after the summer of 1650, and when György Rákóczi II fell seriously ill in 1652
and the Transylvanian diet elected his son Ferenc as a prince, the confirmation
of this act was rather easily obtained from the Sublime Porte.36
Altogether, as we have seen, the procedures of the diplomatic negotiations
clearly mirrored the unequal positions of the two partners. Asking for special
favours, that is, the acknowledgment of György Junior’s succession by the sul-
tan, the prince of Transylvania became indebted to the Ottoman dignitaries.
The Ottomans clearly regarded the payment of the higher tribute as a coun-
ter-service from György Rákóczi I, but as far as our current knowledge goes,
this was never made explicit. The Ottoman officeholders, according to the testi-
mony of the Transylvanian diplomats’ reports, as well as their surviving letters
to the prince, never connected the payment of 15,000 gold coins to the acknow-
ledgment of the succession or the sultan’s consent to the prince’s anti-Habs-
burg war: they simply started to refer to this as the regular sum of the tribute
György Rákóczi I was supposed to pay to the Sublime Porte. The ferman gran-
ted to Gábor Bethlen about the reduction of the tribute, which played a key role
in the Transylvanian argumentation, seems to have received no attention from
the Ottoman part: they did not openly question its authenticity, rather disregar-
ded it altogether. This attitude was then completed with the demands concer-
ning György Rákóczi I’s rule over the seven Hungarian countries – in spite of
34 Simon Reniger’s letter to Ferdinand III (Istanbul, 3 April 1650) HHStA Türkei I. Kt. 122.
Fasc. 61/b. Konv. A fol. 142r–v. Compared to the panicky atmosphere of 1647, the nego-
tiations remained remarkably calm this time: the few survived reports of the Transylva-
nian orators do not mention this issue at all, see Szilágyi (ed), Erdély, vol. 1, 139–153.
35 Simon Reniger’s letters to Ferdinand III (Istanbul, 22 August and 26 October 1650) HH-
StA Türkei I. Kt. 122. Fasc. 61/b. Konv. B fol. 129r, resp. 259v. On the Porte’s consent to the
single-instalment payment see István Serédy’s letter to György Rákóczi II (Istanbul, 12
May 1649) Szilágyi, “Levelek és okiratok” 329.
36 On the election and confirmation of Ferenc Rákóczi I as a prince of Transylvania see
Papp, “II. Rákóczi György” 138–144.
606
The price of succession
the fact that, as far as we can see from the sources, the prince never received an
‘ahdname for these territories.
Such arbitrary conduct is also known from the history of other tributary
states. In the critical situation after the Great Earthquake in Ragusa, which rui-
ned the major part of the city in 1667, Kaymakam Kara Mustafa Pasha used
the opportunity to try and extort an enormous sum of 150,000 ducats from
the Republic citing the complaints of some Bosnian merchants about allegedly
having been taxed illegally by the Ragusans. Like the Ottoman dignitaries in
the 1640s, Kara Mustafa also showed no interest in the Ragusan argumenta-
tion which tried to present the irreconcilability of the demand with the sultan’s
charters granted to the city state. Some of the Republic’s diplomats were kept in
house arrest or even incarcerated, which offers another parallel to the Transy-
lvanian case, and the fate of István Szalánczi.37 Nevertheless, Ragusa did not
give in and refused to pay the demanded “reparation”. György Rákóczi II’s deci-
sion to accept the higher tribute must have been motivated by his problems
with the principality’s estates who managed to capitalise on the uncertainty of
their prince’s rule. From the contemporary correspondence, it is clear that the
Transylvanian elite was not convinced by the Ottoman arguments and conti-
nued to believe in their own justice, only decided – in the words of the prince’s
younger brother – that although “we should not give money to the Sublime
Porte all too easily, but if there is no other way, we could come out of this with
less now than later.”38
Zdenko Zlatar, writing about the Ragusan crisis after the Great Earthquake,
attributes the aggressive Ottoman position specifically to the person of Kara
Mustafa, a dignitary of the Sublime Porte much despised by contemporary
European diplomats.39 However, the fact that a series of successive grand vizi-
ers used practically the same strategy towards the principality’s diplomats in the
Transylvanian case points rather towards an interpretation on the system level.
In the latter case it is even relatively easy to identify the motivation behind the
37 Zdenko Zlatar, Between the Double Eage and the Crescent: The Republic of Dubrovnik and
the Origins of the Eastern Question, Boulder 1992, 104–127; Vesna Miović, Dubrovačka
diplomacija u Istambulu [Ragusan Diplomacy in Istanbul], Zagreb and Dubrovnik 2003,
141–167.
38 Zsigmond Rákóczi’s letter to Zsuzsanna Lorántffy (Daróc, 13 June 1650) MOL E 190 Nr.
5817.
39 Zlatar, Between the Double Eagle and the Crescent, 108–118.
607
Gábor KÁRMÁN
40 Ekkehard Eickhoff, Venedig, Wien und die Osmanen: Umbruch in Südosteuropa 1645–
1700, München 1970, 27–57; Kenneth Setton, Venice, Austria and the Turks in the
Seventeenth Century, Philadelphia 1991, 104–171.
608
OTTOMAN VS. CRIMEAN TATAR ELITES
IN THE 17 TH CENTURY:
A COMPARATIVE APPROACH
Dariusz Kołodziejczyk*
During the last decades, several authors, to name only Rifa’at Abou-El-Haj,
Metin Kunt, and most recently Baki Tezcan, have suggested a much larger
role of Ottoman elites vs. the sultan in the ruling of the seventeenth-century
Empire. According to Tezcan, the conquest of Constantinople gave Mehmed
II the necessary prestige to build a patrimonial system that replaced the earlier
feudal system dominated by the Anatolian nobility. Yet, at the turn of the 16th
century, the patrimonial system was in turn replaced by a new arrangement, in
which the Ottoman elites took control over the dynasty. These elites were rep-
resented by the ulema, the viziers and provincial governors, and the janissaries,
who by that time had become a corporation autonomous from the court.1
In my paper, I focus on the Crimean Khanate, treating the Ottoman system,
which is much better described, as a model, against which the Crimean deve-
lopments can be contrasted. From the 16th century, the Ottoman system of
patrimonial government inspired ambitious khans from the Giray dynasty to
undertake centralizing reforms that would reshape their own state. Sahib Giray
(r. 1532-1551), who spent his youth at the court of Sultan Suleyman, develo-
ped new military units inspired by Ottoman models, such as the artillery corps
and the segban infantry formation, shaped on the Ottoman janissary corps. The
construction of a new palace at Baghchasaray, undertaken by Sahib Giray, was
unmistakably inspired by the Topkapı Palace. His reforms were so successful
that they alarmed his Ottoman patron, who instigated the deposition and mur-
609
Dariusz KOŁODZIEJCZYK
der of the ambitious khan.2 A further step in adopting the Ottoman instituti-
ons was taken by Khan Ghazi II Giray (r. 1588-1607), who introduced a new
post of the head agha, referred to as baş ağa, qapu ağası or han ağası in the
Crimean sources. The position of the new dignitary in the Crimean court was
similar to that of an Ottoman grand vizier.3 Precisely at the same period we
encounter first mentions of the presence of eunuchs at the khan’s court. In the
subsequent decades, even black eunuchs were imported to the Crimea and the
Crimean harem more and more resembled the harem of Ottoman sultans.4 No
wonder if we take into account that in his youth, Ghazi Giray spent some time
in the Ottoman capital and befriended Murad III, the most notorious connois-
seur of the harem pleasures among the Ottoman sultans.
Among the khans, who most eagerly adopted the Ottoman language and
forms in the Crimean chancery, one should also list Mehmed III Giray (r. 1623-
1628).5 At a first glance, it is surprising because Mehmed III Giray, assisted by
his ambitious brother and qalgha, Shahin Giray, repeatedly defied the Ottoman
suzerainty and aimed to strike anti-Ottoman alliances with the Polish king, the
Ukrainian Cossacks, and even the Persian shah. Yet, at the same time the khan
adopted Ottoman forms and institutions, which he deemed useful for streng-
thening his own authority. It is worth stressing that the import of Ottoman
forms to the Crimean chancery, like the use of the divani script or the adop-
tion of the khan’s monogram, inspired by the tughra of Ottoman sultans, can be
2 For a popular but useful biography of Sahib Giray, see Oleksa Hajvoronskyj, Povelite-
li dvux materikov, vol. 1: Krymskie xany XVI-XVI stoletij i bor’ba za nasledstvo Velikoj
Ordy, Kiev–Baghchasaray 2007, 187-229; the most insightful contemporary source on
his reign is the chronicle by Remmal Hodja, Tarih-i Sahib Giray Han (Histoire de Sahib
Giray, Khan de Crimée de 1532 à 1551), edited by Ö. Gökbilgin, Ankara 1973.
3 Halim Giray Sultan, Gülbün-i hânân yahut Qırım tarihi = Rozovyj kust xanov, ili Istorija
Kryma, edited by A. Hilmi with K. Hüseyinov, Simferopol 2004, 44; Seyyid Muhammed
Riza, Es-seb‘u`s-seyyar fi ahbari muluki Tatar, edited by I. Kazembek, Kazan 1832, 110;
Vasilij Smirnov, Krymskoe xanstvo pod verxovenstvom Otomanskoj porty do načala XVIII
veka, Moscow 2005, 344-345.
4 See Maryna Kravets, “Blacks beyond the Black Sea: Eunuchs in the Crimean Khanate” in
Behnaz A. Mirzai-Ismael M. Montana-Paul E. Lovejoy (eds), Slavery, Islam and Diaspora,
Trenton, NJ-Asmara 2009, 21-36, esp. 26-28.
5 Dariusz Kołodziejczyk, The Crimean Khanate and Poland-Lithuania. International Di-
plomacy on the European Periphery. A Study of Peace Treaties Followed by Annotated Doc-
uments, Leiden-Boston 2011, 135, 227.
610
Ottoman vs. Crimean Tatar elites
regarded as a sign of vassalization, but at the same time could serve to visualize
the khan’s own sovereign aspirations.
The centralizing ambitions of Mehmed III Giray also transpire in the scene
described by a Russian envoy, sent to the khan in 1623. When the envoy deman-
ded that – according to the ancient custom – the new treaty between the khan
and the tsar be confirmed by a solemn oath taken collectively by the khan and
his courtiers, Mehmed III Giray responded that – unlike in the times of his pre-
decessor – his courtiers were merely his slaves (Rus. xolopy) and not his compa-
nions so there was no need for them to take an oath.6
A similar scene was observed three decades later, during the reign of Meh-
med IV Giray. In 1654, when a Polish envoy in Baghchasaray insisted that the
newly negotiated treaty should be confirmed not merely by the khan, but also by
Tatar dignitaries, he heard in response that it was unnecessary because, unlike
the Polish king, the khan was an absolute ruler. If we are to believe the envoy’s
report, Khan Mehmed IV Giray himself retorted: “like God is one on the earth,
so am I the single lord” (jako Bóg jeden jest na ziemi, tak i ja pan jeden).7
After another three decades had lapsed, in 1681, the Russian envoys sent
to Baghchasaray to negotiate a new treaty with Khan Murad Giray once again
requested that the peace be solemnly confirmed not just by the khan but also
by the “five noble Crimean clans.” In response, they were told that it would
be unfitting to demand that the khan’s engagement be confirmed by his sub-
jects just like bringing the tsar’s subjects to the oath would diminish the tsar’s
611
Dariusz KOŁODZIEJCZYK
612
Ottoman vs. Crimean Tatar elites
pold himself.11 This was certainly a lesson for the khan that his own family
members, male and female alike, as well as his courtiers and nobles could be
effectively barred from poking their noses into the state affairs.
The efforts of the Crimean khans to centralize power and reshape the struc-
ture of their court can also be observed if we examine the social status of Tatar
envoys, sent to Poland-Lithuania. At the beginning of the 16th century, the most
important Crimean embassies to Cracow and Vilnius were headed by the mem-
bers of the Shirin and Barın clans, the then most prominent noble clans in the
Crimea.12 After Sahib Giray ascended the throne in 1532, he massacred the
leaders of the Shirin clan, who had earlier supported his rival and troublesome
nephew, Islam Giray. It is in this context that we should see the decision of the
new khan to send in 1535 to Poland-Lithuania Devey Mirza, a member of the
Manghıt clan that was to challenge the Shirins’ place at the top of the Crimean
noble hierarchy.13 However, it soon turned out that the ambitions of the Mang-
hıts were no less dangerous for the khan’s position than the ambitions of the
Shirin clan. Until the end of the Crimean Khanate, these two noble clans would
play the dominant role in the Crimean domestic politics, but their members
were no longer entrusted with embassies to foreign courts.
While the khans resigned from the diplomatic service of the members of
noble clans of ancient origin, in the subsequent decades this task was typi-
cally committed to the members of two noble families, who owed their pro-
motion to their service to the khan: the Sulesh-oghlu and the Külük-oghlu.
While the Sulesh-oghlu acted as semi-official protectors of Muscovian envoys
at the Crimean court and participated in ceremonial exchange (razmen) when
11 Several copies of Leopold’s letters sent to female members of the khan’s family in re-
sponse to their incoming correspondence have been preserved in the Habsburg archives;
e.g., Vienna, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Türkei I, 144, f. 69 (January-March 1673);
Türkei I, 150, 2 (January-June 1680).
12 These were Bashıbek (1515) and Evliya (1520), two grandsons of Eminek, the powerful
Shirin leader of the mid-15th century, their nephew Djan Giray (1522), detained as hon-
orary hostage in Lithuania until 1526, and finally Ma‘qul, Djan Giray’s brother sent in
great embassy to King Sigismund I in 1531; the Barıns were less visible but it was their
leader, Devlet Bakhtı, who accompanied Prince Djalaleddin, Mengli Giray’s grandson,
sent in 1512 to Vilnius as an honorary hostage to guarantee the fragile peace between his
grandfather and the Polish king; see Kołodziejczyk, The Crimean Khanate and Poland-
Lithuania, 455.
13 For the biography of Devey who later became the leader of the Manghıt clan, see ibid,
456 and 690, n. 1.
613
Dariusz KOŁODZIEJCZYK
the embassies of the tsar and the khan simultaneously crossed the border, the
Külük-oghlu played an analogous role in the Crimean relations with Poland-
Lithuania.14 Yet, during the 17th century, these two families gradually integrated
into the ancient Crimean nobility and began to regard themselves as autono-
mous political actors, therefore becoming less reliable in the eyes of the khans.
In the Russian embassy relation composed in 1681, the Sulesh-oghlus and the
Külük-oghlus already figure side by side with the ancient clans of Mongol ori-
gin.15 This is probably the main reason, why in the 17th century, the Crimean
envoys to Poland were most typically recruited from among aghas – the khan’s
servants who did not origin from the Crimean nobility. Yet, also these newco-
mers soon integrated into the noble society. Dedesh Agha, who tirelessly trave-
led dozens of times between Baghchasaray and Warsaw in the 1650s and 1660s,
was warmly received at the Polish royal court, befriended Polish nobles, and
often traveled to Poland with his son to prepare him to replace his father in
due time as the “Polish expert” at the Crimean court.16 In 1692, when Khan
Safa Giray sent his envoy to Poland with a secret mission, whose object was to
convince the Polish king to leave the Holy League, he deliberately chose as his
envoy Dervish Ghazi Mirza, a son of Subhan Ghazi Agha, who had once com-
manded the Tatar auxiliary corps sent to assist the Poles against Sweden.17 Yet
it is symptomatic that while the father was titled as agha, the son was already a
mirza – a visible sign of his adoption into the Tatar hereditary nobility. In sum,
the integrative potential of the Crimean nobility facilitated the absorption of
ambitious newcomers thus curbing the efforts of the khans to centralize power.
To be sure, the Crimean nobility was internally divided and infested with vio-
lent rivalries, but it was able to close its ranks in the face of a too ambitious
monarch. Moreover, the ambitions of the Crimean khans to centralize power
were effectively curbed by watchful neighbors, who knew how to play on the
14 On the members of the Külük-oghlu family who were sent in embassies to Poland-Lith-
uania at the turn of the 16th century, see Kołodziejczyk, The Crimean Khanate and Po-
land-Lithuania, 456.
15 “Spisok s statejnago spiska”, 631; cf. Kołodziejczyk, The Crimean Khanate and Poland-
Lithuania, 891, n. 7.
16 On Dedesh, cf. Kołodziejczyk, The Crimean Khanate and Poland-Lithuania, 238 and 457-
458.
17 Ibid, 193.
614
Ottoman vs. Crimean Tatar elites
sentiments of the Crimean nobility or to use the domestic rivalries within the
Giray family.
In 1986, Orest Subtelny published a challenging study, in which he revisited
the origins of absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe. The author focused
his attention on the famous noble refugees of the early 18th century – the Hun-
garian prince and anti-Habsburg rebel Ferenc Rákóczi, the anti-Swedish rebel
from Livonia Johann von Patkul, the Moldavian hospodar Dimitrie Cantemir,
the Ukrainian Cossack hetmans Ivan Mazepa and Pylyp Orlyk, and the Polish
royal pretender, Stanisław Leszczyński. All these characters were typical repre-
sentatives of their respective noble societies and –according to Subtelny– their
common fate symbolized the failure of these noble societies to curb the for-
ces of ascending absolutism in the region. The author argues that the structu-
ral weakness in East European societies and their inability to centralize power
invited absolutism from abroad and enabled the rise of more efficient external
powers centered in Istanbul, Vienna, Stockholm, and finally, St. Petersburg.18
A very similar reasoning can be found in the Marxist study by Perry Ander-
son, who stressed the inevitability of absolutism as a “natural” stage in state
development characteristic for early modern Europe, and argued that those
societies which failed to develop domestic absolutism were later “punished” by
absolutisms from abroad.19 Today these views can be justly criticized as bia-
sed, deeply rooted in Weberian state-centered fetishism and totally ignoring the
experience of the societies, which –like the Dutch and the English ones– failed
to build domestic absolutisms and yet were not “punished” by absolutisms from
abroad. Nonetheless, it is still a useful model which helps to explain the changes
on the map of eighteenth-century Central and Eastern Europe.
The Crimean khans tried to adopt the institutions of their southern as well
as northern neighbors to build a more centralized and “efficient” system of rule,
but were prevented from doing so by both these neighbors and the internal
opposition within the Crimean society. In effect, the Khanate fell prey to its
more “effective” neighbor, sharing the fate of other contemporary noble repub-
lics: Poland-Lithuania, partitioned between its neighbors by 1795, and Venice,
swallowed by Napoleon in 1797.
18 Orest Subtelny, Domination of Eastern Europe. Native Nobilities and Foreign Absolutism,
1500-1715, Gloucester 1986, X and 51.
19 Perry Anderson, Lineages of the Absolutist State, London 1974.
615
Dariusz KOŁODZIEJCZYK
To return at the end to the Ottoman case. If we were to treat seriously the
thesis by Baki Tezcan, who regards the “Second Ottoman Empire” as a consti-
tutional body, collectively ruled by a “political nation” composed of Ottoman
elites, a question arises: why this “Ottoman republic” was not swallowed by
absolutist predators just like it happened with the Crimean Khanate, Poland, or
Venice? A tentative answer would be that the Ottoman state was too big to be
swallowed at once. Another answer would have it that the Ottoman demise was
postponed by the centralizing reforms of the tanzimat. Yet with this conclusion,
I am afraid that I would unwillingly adhere to the camp of “state-centered fetis-
hists” whom I have criticized above.
616
SOME ASPECTS OF ANGLO-OTTOMAN
DIPLOMACY IN THE MODERN ERA:
CASES OF BRITISH PROTECTION
OF THE HARARI FAMILY
Tomoki Okawara*
617
Tomoki OKAWARA
pre-modern era, the concept of territoriality in general was not so firm, but the
system of personality of laws had priority over it. In the Islamic world, any Mus-
lim, Christian or Jew belonged to a different law of personal status according
to religious base.
Expanding worldwide and ensuring their security abroad, Europeans exp-
lored the device of “legal imperialism”, i.e. extraterritoriality, an important
concept of international law in modern era. Asian countries, such as the Otto-
man Empire, China and Japan, which suffered losses by unequal treaties, were
obliged to promote modernization such as legal, administrative or financial
reforms, because Europeans requested them. Although only Japan could attain
the aim of treaty revision rapidly, the Ottoman Empire and China took measu-
res in a trial-and-error process for a long time.
This paper tries to reconsider some aspects of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy in
modern era, focusing on protection and nationality, by analyzing the cases of the
Harari family which caused some diplomatic concerns. These cases seemingly
reflect some points raised by the European integration of the world, border or
territory demarcation, and limitation of human movements in modern era.
4 Sándor Papp, “Ahdname (Ahitname)”, Gabor Ágoston with Bruce Masters (eds), Encyclo-
pedia of Ottoman Empire, New York 2009, 21-22.
5 See Susan A. Skilliter, William Harborne and the Trade with Turkey 1578-1582, Oxford
1977; Akdes Nimet Kurat, Türk-İngiliz Münasebetlerine Kısa Bir Bakış (1553-1952): A
Short Survey of Turko-British Relations, Ankara 1952; Mübahat S. Kütükoğlu, Osmanlı-
İngiliz İktisâdî Münâsebetleri I (1580-1838), Ankara 1974.
6 For its more detailed history, see Alfred C. Wood, A History of the Levant Company, 2nd
impression, London 1964.
618
Some aspects of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy
its peak, the capitulation of 1675 was granted and became a fundamental treaty
until 1809.
Among the articles, the following one should be noticed: “the interpreters of
the English Ambassadors having been always free and exempt from all cont-
ributions and impositions (tekâlîf-i ‘örfiyye) whatever, respect shall in future
be paid to the articles of Capitulations stipulated in ancient times … that the
aforesaid King [Charles II] having been a true friend of our Sublime Porte,
his Ambassador who resides here shall be allowed ten servants of any nation
whatsoever, who shall be exempt from impositions, and in no matter moles-
ted” ([ ] inserted by the author. The same hereinafter).7 According to it, any per-
son, including Ottoman subjects, even a Christian or Jew, should be exempt
from impositions during his service in the embassy, which reasonably attracted
Ottoman subjects.
During the same period in Europe, the Thirty Years’ War was concluded by
the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which established Westphalian sovereignty, i.e.
the concept of nation-state, firstly defined by “territory”, a specific area of land
connected with the nation, and secondly, a ruling structure, which has the ulti-
mate power to rule over the nation without yielding to any external agency.8
According to Kayaoğlu, the concept of the international state system was even-
tually reformulated by Western jurists, statesmen, and diplomats in the 19th
century into the sovereignty doctrine during Europe’s imperial encounter with
non-European states. Non-Western states became the non-sovereign “other”
and were excluded from the realm of sovereignty. On the one hand, this pro-
cess systematically marginalized, excluded, and disempowered non-European
entities and enabled and justified European intervention, coercion, and impe-
rialism in these entities.9 This produced the concept of extraterritoriality. The
extraterritoriality “has more to do with civilization than power, that norms and
practices of Westphalian sovereignty are embedded in a specific set of legal
7 Muâhedât Mecmûası, cilt.1, Ankara 2008, 258; Edward William A. Tuson, The British
Consul's Manual: Being a Practical Guide for Consuls, as well as for the Merchant, Ship-
owner, and Master Mariner, in all their Consular Transactions, London 1856, 168.
8 Gordon Kelly, “The Origins of Westphalian Sovereignty”, 3-4. (http://www.wou.edu/las/
socsci/history/thesis%2008/KellyGordonWestphalianSovereignty.pdf, accessed at 14
Feb 2013).
9 Kayaoğlu, Legal Imperialism, 10.
619
Tomoki OKAWARA
ideas, legal positivism, and that non-Western states are induced into the para-
digm of Westphalian sovereignty”.10
These indicate the fact that quite a few Ottoman subjects of various kinds
sought to get British protection, and that the regulation of the number of emp-
10 Kayaoğlu, Legal
Imperialism, 30.
11 Muâhedât Mecmûası, 268; Tuson, The British Consul's Manual, 173.
620
Some aspects of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy
Once a part of the Ottoman domain was ceded to another state or changed
its status, the status of the inhabitants concerned was to be decided by them-
selves. Any other concrete regulation concerned seems to be nonexistent. Then,
the problem of which nationality a person belongs to, the Ottoman or the other,
remained.
In 1825, the Levant Company was dissolved, and Britain committed to the
Ottoman diplomacy directly. “The Eastern Question” had already emerged, and
many researchers wrote about its beginnings; here we identify them with the
Greek Independence War of 1820s, where Britain, allied with France and Rus-
sia, attacked the Ottoman Empire, and forced it to accept the independence.
Later on, Britain supported the Ottoman Empire against Egypt in the 1830s and
621
Tomoki OKAWARA
1840s, or against Russia in the 1850s. In the 1870s, Britain got Cyprus as its Pro-
tectorate, and then occupied Egypt in the 1880s, events that indicate that Bri-
tain had become a “Great Power” in the Levant. Britain was no more “foreign”
to the Ottomans, but deeply involved in their affairs. These processes produced
new “British”, i.e. “British naturalized subjects” or “British-protected persons” in
the Mediterranean region.
13 Documents related to the problem were compiled into two registers under the titles:
“Turkey, Cases of British Protection” (Foreign Office (FO) 78/4908), and “General, Brit-
ish Protection” (FO83/2110); both of them are now preserved in National Archives
(NA), London.
14 NA, FO78/4908, Joseph Harrari to Minist[è]re [des] Affaires [é]trang[è]res, dated Febru-
ary 8, 1886.
622
Some aspects of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy
case. Consul Dickson stated in return that Solomon enjoyed British protection
and was registered as a protégé in the British Consulate at Damascus,15 and pro-
tested to the Ottoman authorities, stating that he was a “de facto” British sub-
ject.16 The Ottomans, however, refused his release, stating that he was recorded
in the local registers as an Ottoman subject.17
The British government continued to investigate the case, and “found” the
fact that in 1841 Solomon’s grandfather Haroun had gotten the protection of
British Consulate at Damascus, along with his two brothers. Their family name
was not “Harrari”, but “Harari”; Haroun, a merchant, was born in Damascus, but
his family’s place of origin was Aleppo. It is important to notice that there were
many communications between London, Constantinople and Damascus dis-
cussing whether British nationality or just protection would be given to these
three persons. The British Foreign Office instructed that they would enjoy only
British protection, which would not be extended to their relatives or descen-
dants.18
Consul Wood at Damascus, however, ignored the instruction, and later
expanded the protection to their sons. The Ottoman authorities made a strong
protest against his measures, and requested their revocation, but the consul
refused it. Needless to say, granting British protection did not mean authoriza-
tion of the British nationality, so there was no ground for Joseph’s statement of
his British nationality.
After the “discovery”, Hertslet, a librarian of the Foreign Office, confidenti-
ally suggested that it was difficult to justify not only the Harari brothers’ Bri-
tish nationality, but also their being under protection. In March 1887, Solomon
made a declaration to the effect that he was of Ottoman nationality and that he
had renounced his claim to British protection; thus, the case was concluded.19
623
Tomoki OKAWARA
624
Some aspects of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy
22 Groot, The Capitulations and the Ottoman Legal System, 267-268, 290.
23 Among the list of Jews, on whom some fines were imposed by the Ottoman authorities
for their involvement in the Berriyet’üş-Şâm Affair (1822-23), we can find the names of
“Halebli Yûsuf Harârî” (the father of Ezra Harari), and “Halebli Hârûn ve qarındâşları İs-
haq ve Dâvud” (three brothers). Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, Hattı Hümayun, no. 33920-
E (5 Ramazan 1239/ 4 May 1824).
24 It is the above mentioned Berriyet’üş-Şâm Affair. See Tomoki Okawara, “The Ottoman
Reform and Jewish Bankers: Reexamination of the Berriyetüş-Şam Affair (1822-23)”,
Isuramu Sekai [The World of Islam] 48 (1997), 1-18 (in Japanese with English abstract).
25 In 1840, some Jewish notables were arrested by the local authorities on suspection of the
“ritual murder” of a Capuchin friar and his servant. See Jonathan Frankel, The Damascus
Affair: ‘Ritual Murder’, Politics, and the Jews in 1840, Cambridge UK 1997.
26 According to Aaronsohn, Wood was born in London, but Cunningham states that his
origins are not known with exactitude. Wood was described as “demi-juive, demi-ar-
ménienne” by a French in 1867. Alexander Aaronsohn, With the Turks in Palestine, Bos-
ton and New York 1916, 58; Allan B. Cunningham, The Early Correspondence of Richard
Wood, 1831-1841, London 1966, 3-4.
625
Tomoki OKAWARA
27 Yaron Harel, Syrian Jewry in Transition, 1840-1880, trans. by D. Ordan, Oxford and Port-
land Or. 2010, 211-212.
28 Desmond Christopher Martin Platt, The Cinderella Service: British Consuls since 1825,
London 1971, 58.
29 NA, FO424/165, British Protection in the Ottoman Dominion, 1.
626
Some aspects of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy
It is clear that the Foreign Office had already recognized that some Jews
made false notarial documents in London in order to support Jews in the Otto-
man dominion in their quest for British protection or nationality in the 1860s.
Actually, such petitions were submitted not only to the United Kingdom, but
also to the other European countries.32
It should be noticed that beside ambitious persons like Consul Wood, there
was British staff who had humanitarian sympathy toward the conditions of
non-Muslims in a land without equality or liberty, such as the Ottoman Empire.
For example, Green, the British Consul-General at Cairo, states in 1857 that
“[i]t is certain that so long as the Christian and Jewish Subjects of the Porte
are exposed to injustice and persecution, they will never cease endeavoring to
30 Albert Montefiore Hyamson, The British Consulate in Jerusalem in Relation to the Jews of
Palestine, 1838-1914, Part 2, New York 1975 (1st ed. 1941), no. 263 and enclosure.
31 Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands, A History and Source Book, Philadelphia
1979, 405.
32 Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands, 413-415.
627
Tomoki OKAWARA
obtain Foreign protection, and that the documents produced, and statements.”33
Apparently Green connected Jewish efforts to obtain foreign protection or nati-
onality with the “injustice and persecution” by the Ottoman authorities, and the
delay of enactment of liberal reform in the Ottoman Empire. Although moder-
nity criticized such discriminations between religions, Europeans still distingu-
ished their law as law of “civilized nations” in contrast to the law of the others.
628
Some aspects of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy
defer any general examination into all questions of disputed nationality, and to
deal only with each case as it might arise”.36
Since the beginnings of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire had taken
firm attitudes toward the problem of European-protected persons. As the Otto-
man Empire took more steps, such as requesting European countries to make
lists of protected persons and submit them, establishing a register office, or
enacting the Law of Nationality, the disputed points diminished more. We can
also imagine that the settlement of the problem of protected persons was an
important matter for the Ottoman Empire, seriously annoyed by unequal trea-
ties with Europe.
The final case from the Harari files is recorded in a report as follows:
I have now to call your attention to the case of Youssef Meyer Harari, whose name
appears in the Return of “British Subjects,” and who is stated to have been registe-
red at Cairo in virtue of a certificate granted to him at Damascus on the 28th Janu-
ary, 1886.
Certificates were formerly granted to various members of the Harari family resi-
dent in different parts of the Ottoman dominions, but the question of the nationa-
lity, and consequently of the amount of protection (if any) to be afforded to this
family within those dominions, has formed the subject of considerable correspon-
dence; and at the close of last year Lord Salisbury was advised by the Law Officers
of the Crown that Her Majesty’s Government would not be justified in recognizing
and pressing upon the Turkish Government the claim of the various members of
the Harari family to British nationality except in the case of Ezra Harari. Mr. Yous-
sef Meyer Harari’s name should therefore be withdrawn from the list of “British
Subjects” (and, in any case, from that of “British-protected Persons”) unless he is
able to produce positive proof that he or his father was born in some part of the Bri-
tish dominions. A declaration to that effect made by a third party would, however,
not be deemed sufficient proof of the fact.37
36 Ibid.
37 NA, FO424/165, British Protection in the Ottoman Dominion, 3.
629
Tomoki OKAWARA
but it was also formally rejected in 1899.38 This is the final episode in the series
of the Harari cases.
Conclusion
This paper considers some aspects of the Ottoman capitulatory problem as ref-
lected on Anglo-Ottoman diplomatic relations, from the 16th century until the
end of the 19th century. It has been proved by many researchers that an embryo-
nic phase of extraterritoriality could be found in the earlier capitulations in the
16th century. When the Ottoman Empire showed signs of its decline and Euro-
pean countries started to intervene in the Ottoman domestic policy under the
title of “the Eastern Question” in the 19th century, unequal and extraterritorial
aspects contained in capitulations came seriously into the surface.
The Harari cases occurred under such international circumstances. In short,
the family’s effort to enjoy British protection and nationality finally fell in vain
in the course of Anglo-Ottoman diplomatic negotiations. In these cases, the
family was also a “victims” of European “legal imperialism”.
Although both the British and the Ottoman side seemingly shared prob-
lems contained in capitulations, it was highly difficult to find an appropriate
point of compromise in the high days of “the Eastern Questions”, where Euro-
pean Powers’ ambitions were crossing each other complicatedly. Although, in
the modern era, human movements spread rapidly and world-widely by “free
movement of manpower, goods and capital”, “legal imperialism” tended to pre-
vent the free movement of non-Europeans in some aspects.
38 NA, FO83/2110, W. Maycock, [the Superintendent of the Treaty Department of the For-
eign Office], to M. E. Arary, dated February 3, 1899.
630
Mahmoud Tercüman comme source
pour l’histoire médiévale hongroise
Boris Stojkovski*
Il est bien connu dans l’historiographie que les sources pour l’histoire médiévale
ne sont pas très nombreuses1. Donc, chaque nouvelle source peut donner quel-
ques informations intéressantes pour étudier l’histoire du Moyen Age. Parmi
ces sources, sans doute, on doit détacher les sources ottomanes, c’est-à-dire
turques. En raison de contacts différents entre les Hongrois et les Turcs, il y a
plus d’informations dans les sources ottomanes. Les relations multiples entre
ces deux pays ont laissé une empreinte profonde dans les œuvres des écrivains
et chroniqueurs turcs. Parmi eux il y a une personne particulière qui prend
une place importante. C’est Mahmoud Tercüman. Son histoire des Hong-
rois représente une source historique très intéressante, non seulement pour
l’histoire ottomane, mais aussi pour celle de la Hongrie médiévale. L’ouvrage
de Mahmoud Tercüman et ses informations relatives à l’histoire de la Hongrie
médiévale malheureusement n’a pas une étude critique complète. Dans ce bref
essai notre intention est de présenter Mahmoud Tercüman et son ouvrage, aussi
que donner une courte description de son histoire et particulièrement de son
part concernant l’histoire médiévale hongroise.
* Département d’histoire, Faculté des Lettres, Univérsité de Novi Sad, Serbie, stbs@ptt.rs
1 L’ouvrage présente les résultats des recherches en deux projets. L’un, financé par le Mi-
nistère de l’éducation et de la science de Gouvernement de la République Serbie, sous
le titre Војвођански простор у контексту европске историје-L’espace de Voïvodine
dans le contexte d’histoire européenne (no. 177002), et l’autre, financé par le Secrétariat
de science de la Gouvernement de Province de Voïvodine, dont titre est Средњовековна
насеља на тлу Војводине. Историјски процеси и догађаји-les établissements médié-
vales sur le terrain de Voïvodine. Les processus et événements historiques, no. 114-451-
2216/2011.
631
Boris STOJKOVSKI
2 Sur la vie de Mahmoud Tercüman voir: Matuz József, ‘’Die Pfortendolmetscher zur
Herrschaftszeit Süleymāns des Prächtigen’’, Südost-Forschungen 34 (1975), 49-51; A mag-
yarok története – Tarih-i Üngürüsz/Madzsar Tárihi, ford. Blaskovics József, a fordítást
ellenőrizte és az előszót írta Vass Előd, Budapest 1982, 392-399; Ernst Dieter Petritsch,
“Der Habsburgisch-osmanische Friedensvertrag des Jahres 1547”, Mitteilungen des Os-
terreichischen Staatsarchiv 38 (1985), 60-68; Nagy Szülejmán udvari emberének magyar
krónikája : a Tarih-i Ungurus és kritikája. Fordította és bevezető tanulmányt írta Ha-
zai György, Budapest 1996, 11-12; György Hazai, Die Geschichte der Ungarn in einer os-
manischen Chronik des 16. Jahrhunderts : Tercümān Maḥmūds Tārīẖ-i Ungurus : Edition
der Handschrift der Bibliothek der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Budapest
2009, 11-19. Sur son rôle comme l’interpréteur et dragoman dans le court de Soliman,
bien que les notes de Pigafetta v. Ács Pál, “Osztrák és magyar renegátok mint szultáni tol-
mácsok: Mahmúd és Murád terdzsümán”, Palimpszeszt, 1998. április, 10. szám. Horváth
Iván ötvenedik születésnapjára, publié en ligne http://magyar-irodalom.elte.hu/palimp-
szeszt/10_szam/05.htm (site consulté le 10 février 2013). Le même auteur fait voir que
dans cette période Mahmoud était, cependant, l’interpréteur second. Cf. Pàl Àcs, “An-
dreas Dudith’s Turkish brother-in-law”, Camoenae Hungaricae 3 (2006), 60-61.
632
Une source pour l’histoire médiévale hongroise
émissaire d’Empire Ottoman, et avait donné des cadeaux du roi à sultan Soli-
man le Magnifique le 18ème août 15293.
En 1543, comme il a écrit, il a trouvé un livre à Székesfehérvár et l’a tra-
duit en turc. Le livre est connu sous le nom Tarih-i Üngürüsz, ou L'histoire
des Hongrois. On suppose que c'est le Gesta sur l’origine des Hongrois. Jusqu’à
présent, il y en a quelques éditions et traductions en hongrois, ainsi qu’une
bilingue avec des notes et éclaircissements; en dépit de cela, il n’est pas telle-
ment utilisé et bien connu. Le manuscrit de l’œuvre de Mahmoud Tercüman a
été découvert par Armin Vambery, un des fondateurs des études orientales et
turques en Hongrie, qui a fait don ce manuscrit a l’Académie hongroise des sci-
ences. Il nous a donné le premier compte rendu de cet ouvrage, très bref mais
systématique4. Le compte rendu de Vambery est suivi par deux communica-
tions par Jozsef Budenz, dont l’une est une étude à caractère informatif (aussi
un compte rendu très bref, part d’un livre sur les manuscrits turcs différents),
et l’autre quelques observations intéressantes concernant le style et le contenu
de l’œuvre de Mahmoud Tercüman. Dans l’œuvre seconde, Budenz a donné des
notes intéressantes au point de vue des historiens médiévaux, sur lesquels nous
écrirons de plus. Tous ces ouvrages ont été publiés dans des journaux hongrois
en 1860 et 1861, bien sûr dans la langue hongroise, ainsi que dans les journaux
de l’Académie hongroise des sciences. Le manuscrit original de Tarih-i Üngü-
rüsz est préservé dans la collection orientale de cette Académie à Budapest5.
Déjà en 1952 Emma Léderer, une historienne hongroise du Moyen Age, a
remarqué l’importance de cette histoire des Hongrois. Dans une de ses études
sur l’invasion des Mongols elle a mis en relief l’importance de cet ouvrage pres-
3 Karsai Géza, “Ki volt Anonymus? (Az Anonymus-gesta kézirata, szövegkritikája, tartal-
mi de nyelvi problémái, különos tekintettel a palimpszeszt-szövegek fototechnikai kér-
déseire)”, Középkori kútfőink kritikus kérdései, szerkesztette Horváth János és Székely
György, Budapest 1974, 46.
4 Vámbery Ármin, ’’Tarikhi Engerusz aza Magyarprszági története czimű török kézirat is-
mertetése’’, Magyar Akadémiai értesitő, A philosphiai, törvény- és történettudományi osz-
tályok közlönye I (1860), 360-362.
5 Budenz József, “Török olvasmányok az igeidőkre való tekintettel”, Magyar Nyelvészet
VI (1861), 69-74; “Târikh-i Üngürusz azaz Magyarország krónikája czímű török kézi-
rat ismertetése’’, Magyar akadémiai értesítő. A philosophiai, törvény es történettudományi
osztályok közlönye, II. kötet, III. szám, Budapest 1861, 261-316. Une histoire courte est
présenté par Hazai György, “"Tarih-i Ungurus" - Eine Hanschrift aus der Bibliothek der
Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften”, Jubilee Volume of the Oriental Collection
1951-1976, Budapest 1978, 89-93.
633
Boris STOJKOVSKI
634
Une source pour l’histoire médiévale hongroise
en 1981 sous titre Tercüman Mahmud'un Tarih-i Ungurus Adlı Eseri Üzerine
Yeni Notlar 10.Il y a aussi quelques rapports et essais écrits par Hazai concernant
Tarih-i Üngürüsz. Ici, nous essaierons seulement à montrer l’importance de cet
ouvrage du point de vue d’un historien médiéval, aussi qu’à présenter la biog-
raphie de Mahmoud Tercüman et son œuvre.
Les traductions de Hazai ne sont pas uniques. Il y a une traduction
précédente, qui est la première traduction complète dans l’historiographie et
connue à tout le monde. En 1982 József Blaskovics a traduit Tarih-i Üngürüsz
de Mahmoud Tercüman, aussi qu'une histoire des hongrois d’auteur anonyme
provenant du 18e siècle. Blaskovics, à part de la traduction, aussi écrivit les
notes et nous donna des informations très intéressantes concernant l’histoire
médiévale hongroise. Mais ces notes ont quelques imprécisions. L’introduction
à cette édition de l’œuvre de Tercüman est écrite par le turcologue distingué
hongrois Előd Vass11.
L’œuvre de Mahmoud Tercüman Tarih-i Üngürüsz est déjà très cité chez les
historiens hongrois. Dans la plupart des cas il s’agit d’une illustration de certa-
ins évènements, bien qu’une source d’une importance secondaire.
Au-delà Hongrie, son œuvre est moins connu. Dans son livre Die Geschichts-
chreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke, Franz Babinger ne mentionne ni le nom
de Mahmoud Tercüman ni son œuvre historique parmi les historiens otto-
mans12. Dans le temps contemporain, l’historiographie hongroise à part, on
peut pointer l’usage des informations de Tarih-i Üngürüsz dans des œuvres ser-
bes (yougoslaves). Cependant, il n’y a que deux études dans lesquels on trouve
l’analyse des données de notre historien ottoman. La première étude est celle
du professeur Petar Rokai, historien médiéval serbe très connu. Dans ses efforts
pour expliquer le destin du roi hongrois Salomon (1063-1074) qui ést mort à
Pula et qui est vénéré là comme un saint local, Rokai a aussi utilisé l’œuvre de
Mahmoud Tercüman pour illustrer et renforcer ses thèses sur le sépulcre de ce
roi. Il faut mentionner que les places des sépulcres des rois sont presque tous
accordantes avec les autres sources. Petar Rokai est, sans doute, le plus grand
10 Georg Hazai, “Tercüman Mahmud'un Tarih-i Ungurus Adlı Eseri Üzerine Yeni Notlar”,
VIII. Türk Tarih Kongresi-Ankara11-15. Ekim 1976. Kongreye Sunulan Birdirler, II. cilt,
Ankara 1981, 1043-1048.
11 A magyarok története – Tarih-i Üngürüsz/Madzsar Tárihi, ford. Blaskovics József, a fordí-
tást ellenőrizte és az előszót írta Vass Előd, Budapest 1982.
12 Franz Babinger, Die Geschichtschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke, Leipzig 1928.
635
Boris STOJKOVSKI
connaisseur de l’histoire du roi Salomon et dans son livre dans lequel il parle
de lui, il a consulté Tarih-i Üngürüsz où on trouve le chapitre sur la mort du roi
à Pula13.
L’autre cas est notre rapport en langue serbe sur les relations entre l’Empire
slave du Samuel (entre 976 et 1018) et la Hongrie. Entre 1002 et 1004 le roi Saint
Étienne avait lutté contre Ajtony et Gyula, deux gouverneurs locaux. Après ces
combats il mena des batailles aussi avec un prince du Sud de Transylvanie,
nommé Kean. Les luttes entre le roi Étienne Ier et les deux princes locaux sont
aussi mentionnées chez Mahmoud Tercüman. Malgré beaucoup d’imprécisions
chronologiques, mais pareillement malgré des fautes chez certains noms des
personnages historiques, Tarih-i Üngürüsz nous a aidé dans ce cas éclairer et de
compléter nos connaissances sur ces combats14.
Les recherches de Hazai sont utilisées par Sezai Balcı dans sa thèse de doc-
torat Osmanlı devleti’nde tercümanlık ve bab-ı ali tercüme odası, accomplie en
2006 à l’Université d’Ankara15.
En outre, les données fournies par Tercüman ne sont pas si bien analysées.
Il n'y a pas une édition critique détaillée de l'œuvre, avec les commentaires
nécessaires et des comparaisons avec d'autres sources.
On peut diviser l’ouvrage de Tercüman en deux grandes parties. Le premier
est l’histoire d’Alexandre le Grand et dans le second il s’agit de l’histoire des
Hongrois. Pour l’histoire d’Alexandre, la source principale était l’ouvrage de
Justin. Justin (en latin Marcus Junianus Justinus) est un historien romain du
IIIe siècle, quoique certains le placent au IVe . Il est l’auteur d'un Abrégé des his-
toires philippiques (Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum en latin), un ouvrage
13 Le livre est publié en langue hongroise, voir Rokay Péter, Salamon és póla, Újvidék 1990,
20-21. Professeur Rokai m’a donné le manuscrit de Tarih-i Üngürüsz, bien sûr seulement
la page avec le paragraphe sur Solomon. Le manuscrit est suivi par la translitération et la
traduction. Petar Rokai a utilisé la traduction de Blaskovics.
14 Борис Стојковски, ''Самуилово царство и Угарска'', Византијски свет на балкану,
Књига I, уредници Бојана Крсмановић, Љубомир Максимовић, Радивој Радић,
Београд 2012, 69-70, cf. particulièrement note 27 avec bibliographie extensif sur Kean
et pour les parallèles entre Tarih-i Üngürüsz et des autres sources. On doit notifier que,
dans ce cas, Tarih-i Üngürüsz n’est pas une source primaire, mais il nous montre bien les
influences des chroniques hongroises médiévales, malgré la confusion qu’elle apporte.
15 Sezai Balcı, “Osmanlı devleti’nde tercümanlık ve bab-ı ali tercüme odası”, thèse de doc-
torat non publiée, Université d'Ankara 2006, 48, 52-53, 155. Selon Balcı Tercüman est
d’origine allemand.
636
Une source pour l’histoire médiévale hongroise
qu'il présente dans sa préface comme un florilège des passages les plus impor-
tants et les plus intéressants du volumineux ouvrage intitulé Historiae philippi-
cae et totius mundi origines et terrae situs, rédigé par Trogue Pompée à l’époque
d’Auguste. La valeur de son ouvrage et sa plus ou moins grande fidélité au texte
original de Trogue Pompée font l'objet de débats: le texte de Justin comporte un
assez grand nombre d'erreurs historiques. Mais, pour Paul Jal, l’œuvre de Jus-
tin n’est pas seulement celui d’un abréviateur; il a bien composé, à partir de sa
source, un ouvrage autonome correspondant à une démarche littéraire. Cette
dernière information peut expliquer les grandes différences entre le roman
d’Alexandre original et celui de Mahmoud Tercüman16. On doit dire que, sans
doute, il a incorporé à Tarih-i Üngürüsz non l’œuvre de Justin connu pendant le
Moyen âge, mais une version contemporaine et changée.
Le roman d’Alexandre était bien connu pendant le Moyen âge en Hongrie et
il était bien incorporé dans sa tradition littéraire. Sans incertitude, nous savons
très bien que dans la bibliothèque Corvina du roi Matthias Corvinus il y avait
des examplaires du roman et des œuvres sur l’Alexandre. Jusqu’à nos jours les
trois œuvres médiévales sur les guerres d’Alexandre sont préservées dans cette
bibliothèque, dont deux de Curtius Ruffus et un d’Arrianus. Quelques autres
éditions inconnues étaient peut-être lues par Tercuman et elles ont trouvé leur
place dans la première partie du Tarih-i Üngürüsz17.
Les influences différentes d’autres chroniques sont déjà soulignées, ainsi que
des renseignements très précis pour cet auteur et son œuvre historiographique.
Il y a de parallèles très intéressantes avec quelques autres sources médiévales
16 Sur Justin et son œuvre cf. Paul Jal, « À propos des Histoires Philippiques : quelques re-
marques », Revue des Etudes Latines 65 (1987), 194-209; Ronald Syme, "The Date of Jus-
tin and the Discovery of Trogus," Historia 37 (1988), 358–371; jusqu’à nos jours le plus
grand connaisseur d’œuvre de Justinus est, sans doute, Paul Yardley, qui a écrit une étude
vaste (John Yardley, Justin and Pompeius Trogus, Toronto 2003), bien que la traduction
d’une partie d’Epitome: voir Justin, Epitome of the « Philippic History » of Pompeius Tro-
gus. Volume I: Books 11-12: Alexander the Great. Translation and Appendices by J. C. Yar-
dley, Commentary by Waldemar Heckel, Oxford 1997.
17 Jusqu’à nos jours, sans doute, le plus grand compétent pour la tradition du Roman
d’Alexandre en Hongrie est Borzsák István, A Nagy Sándor-hagyomány Magyarországon,
Budapest 1984. Cet ouvrage contient 48 pages, dont la plupart est relative à la tradi-
tion moderne, de 18ème siècle. Pour l’histoire d’Alexandre chez Mahmoud, cf. Tarih-i
Üngürüsz, 63-96. Quant aux manuscrits de Curtius Ruffus et d’Arrianus il faut voir Csa-
podi Csaba-Cspodiné Gárdonyi Klára, Bibliotheca Corviniana, Budapest 1976, 37, 57,
388.
637
Boris STOJKOVSKI
hongroises, par exemple avec Simon Kezai et son livre Gesta Hungarorum, ou
avec la Chronique illustrée, ou on trouve quelques légendes traditionnelles. Il
y a beaucoup de parallèles intéressantes par exemple dans le cas de la fable du
fils d’Atila-Csaba (sans doute un personnage de la fiction) et son mariage inv-
raisemblable avec une fille de l’empereur Byzantin nommée dans la chronique
Constantine. Nous savons bien que à l’epoque d’Attila il n’y a eu pas un empe-
reur Constantine18. On trouve aussi les semblables et analogues avec la Chroni-
que illustrée dans le cas où Mahmoud Tercüman mentionne les avènements au
trône des rois hongrois comme Ladislas, Coloman (Kalman), etc. Cette Chroni-
que est sans doute la plus grande source de Tercüman quand il s’agit de Étienne
1er (Saint Istvan), le premier roi hongrois chrétien. On trouve aussi l’influence
de l’écrit de Rogerius, maitre de Split, sur l’invasion des Mongols. Dans l’autre
côté, La Chronique illustrée fournit l’œuvre de Mahmoud Tercüman avec des
informations sur le règne de Nagy Lajos-Louis le Grand d’Anjou, le plus fort et
le plus grand roi médiéval hongrois19.
Cette chronique à part, le gesta Hungarorum de Simon Kezai était aussi une
des sources principales. Cette œuvre est écrite entre 1282-1283 sous le règne
de roi Laszlo IV. Les parts de cette Gesta utilisés par Mahmoud Tercüman
sont ceux sur l’origine des Huns jusqu’au mort d’Attila. La légende de Hunor
et Magor et l’histoire commune des Huns et Hongroises est dans le centre de
cette légende. Cette légende forme le part le plus important du premier volume
de Gesta de Kezai, mais aussi une grande partie de Tarih-i Üngürüsz. L’autre
légende est celle du roi Nimrod. Ce roi biblique, le premier roi après Deluge, qui
a fondé Ninive et dont le capital était Babel, est selon Kezai l’ancêtre des Huns,
18 L’histoire de Csaba est devenu une fable classique dans la tradition hongroise, prticu-
lièrement chez les Hongroises d' Erdély, cf. Lengyel Dénes, Régi mgyar mondák, Budapest
1972, 26-27. Pour les donnés de Mahmoud Tercüman, voir Tarih-i Üngürüsz, 157-162.
Pour les passages sur le Csaba chez Kezai, dont la chronique était la source pour la Chro-
nique illustré et pour Mahmoud Tercüman, voir Gesta Hungarorum, Scriptores rerum
Hungaricarum I, edidit Eemericus Szentpétery, Budapest 1928, 161-163. Quant à Csaba
comme une personne historique, on sait maintenant, grâce aux recherches de profes-
seur Ferenc Makk, que Csaba était le plus probablement un chef provenant de la famille
d’Àrpàd, cf. Makk Ferenc, “Csaba és Alpár”, A turulmadártól a kettőskeresztig. Tanul-
mányok a régébbi magyarság történelméről, Szeged 1998, 81-89.
19 Tarih-i Üngürüsz, 179-326; Nagy Szülejmán udvari emberének magyar krónikája : a Tar-
ih-i Ungurus és kritikája, 18; pour Chronicon pictum, c’est-à-dire Chronique illustré et ses
information sur les rois hongrois voir SRH I., 318-505; cf. aussi Karsai, “Ki volt Anony-
mus?”, 47.
638
Une source pour l’histoire médiévale hongroise
20 SRH I., 143-144; Karsai, “Ki volt Anonymus?”, 57. Il souligne l’influence stylistique de
Gesta Hungarorum sur le Tarih-i Üngürüsz.
21 Nagy Szülejmán udvari emberének magyar krónikája : a Tarih-i Ungurus és kritikája, 18-
20.
22 Tarih-i Üngürüsz, 225-227, 249.
639
Boris STOJKOVSKI
640
Une source pour l’histoire médiévale hongroise
641
Boris STOJKOVSKI
plus souvent, il mélange les frères des rois (ou autres cousins) avec ses fils. Par
exemple Mahmoud Tercüman écrit qu’Albrecht de Habsbourg était le fils de
Sigismond de Luxembourg, mais la vérité historique est un peu différente. Le
roi Albrecht était le beau-frère du roi hongrois et de l’empereur allemand Sigis-
mond30.
Pour conclure, on doit dire que Tarih-i Üngürüsz par Mahmoud Tercüman
est une source pour l’histoire médiévale hongroise très valable et précieuse.
Analyser ses sources et essayer à articuler des influences sur cet œuvre est
nécessaire, aussi qu’une étude chronologique et historique plus profonde.
642
A MYSTERIOUS OTTOMAN MAP
AND ITS MESSAGE OF RUSSIAN
EXPANSIONISM
Elżbieta Święcicka*
643
Elżbieta ŚWIĘCICKA
644
A mysterious Ottoman map and its message
knowledge with pleasure my debt to the distinguished Swedish map historian Ulla Eh-
rensvärd, for her detailed comments and discussions which enabled me to write these
notes.
3 Ulla Ehrensvärd, “Color in Cartography: A Historical Survey”, in David Woodward (ed.),
Art and Cartography. Six Historical Essays, Chicago and London 1987, 123-146.
4 This project was completed in the Soviet Union during the Stalin period; the canal was
built by thousands of prisoners in 1948-1952.
5 The Russian conquest of the fortress in 1695 was an important international event be-
cause the Russians had got an anchor in an important part of the Black Sea. In Swedish
Military Archives there are 15 maps and plans of Azov, some of them with notes in the
Swedish language.
645
Elżbieta ŚWIĘCICKA
1721 (Treaty of Nystad). The analysis of the text of the cartouche and the study
of the historical background can help us to identify the author or the authors of
the map and the cartouche.
6 The unvoiced form ‘Kerai’ appears several times by the side of this name written in Ar-
abic script, on the maps, minutes and letter-books for foreign affairs kept in Swedish
National Archives. See the discussion in Elżbieta Święcicka, “The Diplomatic Letters by
Crimean Keräy Ladies to the Swedish Royal House”, in Rocznik Orientalistyczny 55/1
(2002), 60.
7 bi’l-nār > binnar
8 beher=her bir/ her
9 Baltuq (Baltic) according to cartographer Picart’s designation.
10 ‘elif ’ is missing.
11 karib=near, kariben=soon, in short time.
12 Illegible word.
646
A mysterious Ottoman map and its message
Verbatim translation
Anno Domini 1653 Mehmet Girey, son of the khan Selamet Girey, by the
road(s) shown on this map, reached the capital of Muscovy, causing it to suffer
by fire [by burning it down]. The Muscovy tsar hid himself in a fort[ification
of earth] and when, having no choice, he asked for safety of life and limb, the
peace agreement was concluded on the condition to give to the local khans a
hundred rubles, each ruble being equivalent to two hundred akçe. The Mus-
covy tsars had since then payed the tribute, and so did the tsar Petro, but later
on they did not.
On this map, which is based on correct and recognized maps, there are the
Muscovy Duchy’s original boundaries, marked with the red line and [there are]
the [boundaries of] the countries, defeated in the past, when the Muscovy tsar,
called Petro, established the rule over them - from the Azov fortress surroun-
ded by the sea and from Astrakhan in the North to the Kiev fortress situated
in Ukraine, and the places which belonged to other masters [owners] as the
Polish lands, and the places, situated at the Baltic Sea, where Petersburg was
built, which belonged to Sweden not a long time ago. The dominions situated
in the region of the Volga waters were controlled by Kazan Khanate, Bulgar,
Moldov, Samar, the Astrakhan Tatars and the Crimean Khan. But in the course
of time, the Moscow tsars with one pretext after another, became rulers over
all of these [lands], taking them one by one, because of the mirza(s)13 inaction
and tolerance towards [the tsars’] conquests. I direct to my masters, foremost
[to those who] are the kings, this story, using as comparison the history of the
Genghis Khan, once and for all.
***
The cartouche of this map is not a decorative framework containing the title of
the map, a dedication, the printer's address, or other data, as one might expect.
Given the simple style of the text and its content, one can wonder to whom the
text was aimed. It seems that the author assumes that the cartouche will be read
and addresses the text to those who could influence the course of events.The
content of the text gives an impression that the author expresses the fear over
the development of the political situation and wants to warn those involved in
the political games of that time against the Russian expansion. It means that he
13 Tatar prince(s).
647
Elżbieta ŚWIĘCICKA
Historical background
In 1699, the Treaty of Karlowitz, between the Ottoman Porte and the repre-
sentatives of the four Christian powers, marked a watershed in Ottoman rela-
tions with Europe. According to the Treaty, the Habsburgs acquired Hungary
and Transylvania; Venice took Dalmatia, Morea and important Aegean Islands;
Poland-Lithuania obtained the right-bank of Ukraine and Podolia with Kami-
eniec (Ukr. Kamyanec) Podolski, and finally Russia took Azov and the lands
north to Dniester. A year later started the Great Northern War (1700–21), in
which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the sup-
remacy of Sweden in Northern and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the
anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark–Nor-
way and August II the Strong of Saxony-Poland-Lithuania. In Poland the inter-
nal relations were complicated. There were two kings during the same period,
August II, supported by Peter I, and Stanisław Leszczyński (1704–10), who was
imposed by Charles XII. Allied to the Swedish side were the House of Holstein-
Gottorp and the Cossacks under the Cossack hetman Ivan Mazepa (1708–10).15
The war started when an alliance of Denmark–Norway, Saxony, Poland-Lithua-
nia and Russia declared war on the Swedish Kingdom. The Swedish king Char-
les XII parried the Danish and Russian attacks at Travendal and Narva 1700,
but Peter I gained ground in the Swedish Baltic provinces, where he cemented
Russia's access to the Baltic Sea through founding Saint Petersburg in 1703.
14 It seems that the Genghisid tradition was still alive. The Crimean khans dreamed about
reconquering Kazan and Astrakhan; see Dariusz Kołodziejczyk, The Crimean Khanate
and Poland-Lithuania. International Diplomacy on the European Periphery (15th-18th
Century). A Study of Peace Treaties Followed by Annotated Documents, Leiden 2011, 164.
15 Hetman Mazepa’s successor, Hetman Pylyp Orlyk, entered a formal alliance with Devlet
II Girey in 1648 and accepted the Crimean patronage over Ukraine, introducing the sev-
enteenth-century tradition of the Cossack-Tatar alliance. See Kołodziejczyk, ibid. 195.
648
A mysterious Ottoman map and its message
Charles XII and his allies Leszczyński16 and Mazepa were finally defeated by
Peter I in 1709, at Poltava, today located in Ukraine. Charles XII managed to
escape and he spent five years in exile in the Ottoman village of Varnitsa nearby
Bender, today in Moldova. King Charles XII, named by the Turks Iron Head –
Demirbaş,17 tried in many ways to build up an alliance against Peter I.
The Crimean Tatars sensed the Russian danger already after the capture of
the Kazan khanate in1552 and of the Astrakhan (Ejderhan) Khanate by Ivan the
Terrible. In 1556 they sent to Sweden a messenger named Bissura (Bayçura?),18
with the appeal for support and with a concrete proposal to start a war against
Muscovy. Thereafter several missions from the Crimean Khanate were sent to
Sweden offering possible alliances, primarily against the Grand Duchy of Mus-
covy.19 The Tatar raids against Muscovy took place over a long period, particu-
larly in 1632-1636, and 1654-1666, but not in 1653, the year mentioned in the
cartouche. It is the year of the Polish-Tatar peace treaty in Żwaniec (Žvanec),
after many acts of war against Poland during Islam Girey’s time and after the
terrible demographic losses, which took place in Ukraine in 1648.20 In 1654 a
new political situation was established, when Ukraine concluded a union with
Muscovy. At that time, both Selamet Girey Khan and his son Mehmed Girey
Khan enjoyed a relatively high international prestige and their names were pre-
sent on the Crimean coins. During this period a friendship between Sweden
and the Khanate was established; it remained until 1710, apart from a couple of
incidents such as 1702, when Polish-Tatar troops fought against the Swedes and
the Russians. Devlet II Girey wanted to join the Swedish anti-Russian campaign
16 Leszczyński’s support was symbolic, as he had neither the money nor the army corps,
see Janina Kowalik, “Stanislaw Leszczynski i Sverige”, Karolinska Förbundets Årsbok 1971,
121-122.
17 Probably a phrase coined by Tatar Khan Devlet II Girey, see footnote 22.
18 Gunnar Jarring, “Gustav II Adolf och Tatarerna på Krim [Gustav II Adolf and the Cri-
mean Tatars]”, Ny Militär Tidskrift 5 (1932), 306-308.
19 Elżbieta Święcicka, “Den diplomatiska trafiken mellan Sverige, Tatariet och Osmanska
riket, från Gustav Vasas tid till Karl XII” [The Diplomatic Traffic between Sweden, Tar-
tary and the Ottoman Empire, from Gustav Vasa’s time to Charles XII], Den nordiska
mosaiken, Humanistdagarna, 15-16 Mars, Uppsala Universitet 1997, 291-305.
20 In only one region of Przemyśl, out of 931 villages existing, 426 were raided by the Ta-
tar-Cossack coalition and 34 were entirelydestroyed. After Kołodziejczyk, The Crimean
Khanate, 15, who quotes the detailed study by Andrzej Gliwa, “Najazd tatarsko-kozacki
na Ruś Czerwoną w 1648 r. Straty materialne i demograficzne na terenie ziemi prze-
myskiej”, Rocznik Przemyski 45/1 (2009), 3-120, esp. 52, 60, 120, and the appended map.
649
Elżbieta ŚWIĘCICKA
in 1708, but he was prevented by the Porte.21 On May 22, 1710 he visited Char-
les XII in Varnitsa22 with new proposals to start a war against Peter I, but at that
time Charles XII was hesitant. However, the idea of a military cooperation with
the Tatars remained in Charles XII’s mind and he sent Colonel Swen Lagerberg
to the Crimea, for further discussions.23 One year later the Russian army inva-
ded Ottoman Moldavia but was defeated by Ottoman-Crimean troops during
the Prut River campaign; however, the peace treaty was in the end indifferent to
the Russia's position, except for the fact that Ottomans ruled again over Azov
fortress, from 1711 until 1737.24 In 1713, when the Porte decided to confirm
the peace with Russia, Devlet II Girey, known for his anti-Russian attitude, was
promptly replaced by the Porte on the Crimean throne by his younger brot-
her, Kaplan Girey.25 A couple of decades later, the situation become even more
complicated when Russia invaded the Crimean Khanate (1736), Persia sent its
troops to the Caucasus and Habsburg Monarchy decided to join the operations
in the Balkans.
Contemporary mapping
At the time when the map was created, cartographers drawing the maps used
to mark all characteristics of the terrain, rivers, mountains and forests. Places
of residence were of course important and in particular information on whet-
her and how they were guarded. However, the central core of any map of this
time was to determine the waterways as lines of communication and trans-
port. On our map every little river is marked and designated and there is a lot
of other geographic data, helpful in the event of military actions.A new map
is always made on the basis of compilation. The cartographers borrow from
each other contours of previous maps and later add the names of places and
legend. This map, “which is based on correct and recognized maps”26 follows
650
A mysterious Ottoman map and its message
the European cartography model, but place names and inscriptions are written
in the Arabic alphabet. As a base the author could have used maps made by a
number of cartographers. The questions arises as to which maps were used as a
base for the anonymous author. Could he have used Bernard Wapowski’s map,
surveying Tatar and Ottoman territorial conquests from the beginning of the
16th century,27 or the Radziwiłł-Makowski’s map from 1585, which was publis-
hed in 1631 in Jan Bleau’s Atlas? Or possibly the Ukrainian maps drawn by the
French military cartographer in Polish service, Guillaume Le Vasseur de Bea-
uplan (1600-1673), printed in Atlas Maior of Blaeu?28
Generally maps were commissioned exclusively for military purposes and
they were sensitive objects. The first Russian map of the Polish territories was
made by the order of Peter I by Pieter Piecart (Picart) who copied it from a map
of the Beauplanian type issued in the first years of the reign of August II by the
Amsterdam printer, Charles Allard.29 Peter’s first military campaign was a siege
of the fortress of Azov 1695. It was not successful. He decided to build a strong
river flotilla but he had an even more important project –to create a modern
cartography. He went to Amsterdam to learn about cartography and to invite
scholars and craftsmen –engravers– to Russia. At first, Russian typography was
set up in Amsterdam by Jan Tessing. He engraved and printed a map of sout-
hern Russia drawn by two foreign officers in Russian service, Georgy Mengden
and Yakov Bruce and printed in two alphabets, Cyrillic and Latin. Both versions
of the map were published as single sheets in 1699.30
27 Bernard Wapowski corrected Gerard Mercator’s atlas - Mouths of Dnepr and the
Dniester, but the corrections were not inserted, see Piotr M. Mojski, Cartographia Rap-
peraviliana Polonorum, Rapperswil 1995, 13.
28 Mojski, ibid., VIII-XV.
29 About Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan in Polish service (1630-47) see Karol Buczek,
The History of Polish Cartography from the 15th to the 18th Century, Amsterdam 1982,
91. About Fryderyk Getkant’s Ms. map of Ukraine in his Topographia practica, Krig-
sarkivet: Handritade kartverk no 28, see Ulla Ehrensvärd, “The Swedish Mapping of Rus-
sia: Mutual Influence”, Ulla Birgegård - Irina Sandomirskaja (eds.), In search of an order:
mutual representations in Sweden and Russia during the early Age of Reason, Huddinge
2004.
30 Leo Bagrow, A history of Russian Cartography in two parts, edited by Henry W. Castner,
Wolfe Island, Ont. 1975, 98-99. At the beginning of the 19th century Leo Bagrov, a Rus-
sian historian of cartography, found a copy in Berlin, and there is another copy in the
British Library. According to Bagrow, ibid., the same map was copied and re-engraved
by the German cartographer J. B. Homann as Tabula Geographica qua pars Russiae Mag-
651
Elżbieta ŚWIĘCICKA
We may surmise that our map could have been prepared for the engra-
ver. Not surprisingly the design method is Dutch, including so-called mole-
hills which are characteristic of Dutch cartography. Moreover, it seems that all
topographic details on the southern part of Russia on our map are matching the
details on Mengden’s and Bruce’s map, published in Amsterdam.
652
A mysterious Ottoman map and its message
35 Lorentz von Numers, Paschan i onåd [The Pasha out of Favour], Stockholm 1981. His
publication is based on Swedish and French archive sources.
36 von Numers, ibid., 167.
37 von Numers, ibid., 48.
38 Letters from de Bonneval, Claude Alexandre (Ahmed Pascha) to Carleson, Edv. och von
Höpken, C. F. 1735-1747. F. 381 e.; Bonnevals Brev [Letters from de Bonneval], Gyllen-
borgs samling, Signum F 381e, Uppsala University Library, Manuscript Department; von
Numers, ibid., 105.
653
Elżbieta ŚWIĘCICKA
author of the text of the cartouche directs his words to more than one recipient,
so the map probably should be engraved and printed in exclusive edition and
delivered to all interested rulers sharing Müteferrika’s and Bonneval’s opinion
about the Russian danger. Many facts point to Bonneval’s and Müteferrika’s aut-
horship. They had a strong motive and the capability to draw such a military
map equipped with a warning of Russian expansionism. For unknown reasons
the map was delivered neither to the Sultan Mahmud I nor to the intended
recipients, but as an anonymous, beautiful cartographic piece found its way to
Sweden.
39 The maps of the Caspian Sea and Black Sea were described in 1990, by Ehrensvärd, “Two
maps printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika”, 46-66.
40 The collection of incunabula was catalogued in 1985: John Rohnström, “The Turkish
Incunabula in the Royal Library, Stockholm”, Turcica et Orientalia, Studies in honour of
Gunnar Jarring on his eightieth birthday 12 October 1987. Vol. 1, Stockholm 1988, 121-
122.
654
OTTOMAN PERCEPTIONS
OF THE MILITARY REFORMS
OF TIPU SULTAN AND ŞAHİN GİRAY
Kahraman Şakul * 1
655
Kahraman ŞAKUL
versely, they admired the very same military reforms undertaken in Mysore
and showed great respect to the Indian envoy in Istanbul. While the Ottoman
reformers suffered a great deal from the harsh criticisms based on religion and
tradition, they did not hesitate to accentuate the very same criticisms against
Şahin Giray. This indicates that what was at stake was not so much upholding
religion and tradition as real political objectives. Religion and tradition supp-
lied the critics with a powerful language and meaningful terminology and thus
constituted the repertoire of contention for different political factions.
The dynasty of the Tipus was renowned for the successful wars it had waged
against the British in the 1780s, thanks to its army organized along the Wes-
tern model. Hyder Ali (1761-1782) ruled over a large chunk of South India
and became the main adversary of the British. He even defeated a British army
in 1779 on the Malabar Coast at Pollilore. His son, Tipu Sultan (Feth Ali), had
to face the British containment policy. In order to overcome the British sup-
remacy, he attempted to seek friendship with France, the Ottoman Empire,
Oman, Persia, Afghanistan and other countries. He sent a delegation to Istan-
bul under Ghulam Ali Khan via Muscat, Basra and Baghdad. The embassy was
initially composed of 900 individuals but the Indian envoy was permitted to go
to Istanbul from Basra with a retinue of 300 men only. It took almost 2 years
to reach Istanbul on 25 September 1787. Tipu wanted to gain recognition as an
independent monarch, to seek military assistance and to secure trade privile-
ges with the Ottomans on a reciprocal basis. He proposed to exchange the port
town of Mangalor on the Indian Ocean for Basra, in order to expand the com-
merce of his realm. In addition, he requested that the Ottomans send military
and civilian technicians to Mysore and invited Ottoman Armenian merchants
to trade high quality textiles with Mysore. The result was a mixed success. Sul-
tan Abdulhamid I granted a Caliphal investiture recognizing Tipu as a sovere-
ign and permitting him to strike coins.1
It is interesting that at least one Ottoman chronicler considered Tipu Sultan’s
army as the real model for Sultan Selim’s military reforms. Cabi’s chronicle is
a crucial source of information on the rumors circulating in Istanbul. There-
fore his views on this matter are likely to represent the larger public opinion
1 Aftab Kamal Pasha, “Ottoman-Tipu Sultan Relations: A Critical Study of the Role of Ar-
menian Merchants in Mysore – Sotuh India”, Metin Hülagü et al., Hoşgörü Toplumunda
Ermeniler, v. I, Kayseri 2007, 166-67; Azmi Özcan, Pan-İslamizm. Osmanlı Devleti, Hin-
distan Müslümanları ve İngiltere (1877-1924), Istanbul 1997, 17-22.
656
Ottoman perceptions of military reforms
2 Mehmet Ali Beyhan (ed.), Cabi Ömer Efendi, Cabir Tarihi (Tarih-i Sultan Selim-i Salis ve
Mahmud-ı Sani), Ankara 2003, v. I, 4-7, 18.
3 Hikmet Bayur, “Maysor Sultanı Tipu ile Osmanlı Padişahlarından I. Abdülhamid ve III.
Selim Arasındaki Mektuplaşma”, Belleten 7/47 (1948), 628-34.
657
Kahraman ŞAKUL
institutions and military arts in Europe. His freedom of movement was restric-
ted when his name was involved in the alleged plot of the Grand Vizier Halil
Hamid Pasha against Abdulhamid I in 1785. Remarkably, he might be conside-
red one of the three heir apparents in Ottoman history whose signature appe-
ared on international treaties. The first known example of a “double treaty” in
Ottoman history is the Ottoman-Venetian treaty (1446), signed by both Sultan
Murad II and the heir apparent Mehmed II (the Conqueror). It was a period
of turmoil in which the Ottomans were facing the danger of expulsion from
the Balkans, because of the successful Hungarian and Serbian thrusts. Prince
Selim, son of Suleiman the Magnificent, was also required to put his signature
under the Ottoman-Polish treaty (1564) as the political future of the reign of
the aging sultan was replete of uncertainties.4 The case of Selim III differed
from the cases above in the sense that the treaty he signed was not a treaty of
trade privileges (capitulations), but one of a more political quality. According
to Cabi, Russia demanded the heir apparent Selim to sign the ratification of
Russo-Ottoman convention that recognized the Russian annexation of the Cri-
mea (Aynalıkavak Tenkihnamesi). Once again the old age of the reigning sultan
(Abdulhamid I) was the reason for such a demand.5
Selim III succeeded his uncle Abdulhamid I in 1789. His reign started in
the midst of an ill-fated war with Russia and the Habsburgs. The period of
peace that followed was only too short to be a relief for the young sultan. The
Ottomans were already at war with France in late 1798 because of the French
Expedition to Egypt; this time the Ottomans had the British and the Russians
on their side against the French. Late September 1798 was also the time when
Selim III sent a letter to Feth Ali. Almost a decade had passed after the visit of
the Indian Embassy and hazards of diplomacy had hurled these two Muslim
rulers to opposing camps. Napoleon allied Feth Ali against Britain in India;
he wanted to assure the latter’s military assistance before setting on his alleged
expedition to India from Egypt. This caused dismay and consternation to Bri-
tain and to its Ottoman ally, since it could undermine the coalition against the
revolutionary France. Thus, Selim III wrote a letter to Feth Ali at the request of
658
Ottoman perceptions of military reforms
the British, in which he tried to dissuade the Indian ruler from his dangerous
political commitment to Napoleon against Britain. The letter and spirit of his
correspondence was in harmony with the priorities of an ancient regime and of
the caliph. Selim recounted how the French had violated the traditional friend-
ship by invading the venerated land of Egypt. This amounted to treachery and
deceit. He warned Feth Ali about the real intention of the likely French expe-
dition to India. Accordingly, “these infidels” fancied to subdue all the Muslims
in the world and erase the name of Muhammad’s religion and nation from the
earth. Wherever they had roamed, violation of the international law, destruc-
tion of property, homicide, pillage followed in their footsteps. The new admi-
nistration of France was based on absolute freedom and, by refuting all sects,
religions, God, prophets, it aimed at destroying all kings in the world. The
Frenchmen were such “plunderers and liars” that they even overran the domi-
nions of the Pope, who was their ally, killing all the priests. The case of Venice,
Selim continued, spoke for itself. In fact, Venetians did not differ from “these
evils” since they also had a republic. Therefore, Venice professed neutrality and
friendship towards France. Nevertheless, the French “bandits” did not respect
its neutral status and occupied the Republic of Venice. The Venetians suffered
even more than the Pope at the hands of the French as Venice now vanished as
a political entity. After reminding Feth Ali of the “misdeeds” of the French in
a fashion similar to the European monarchs, Selim boasted that “Muslims” he
had sent on giant ships recovered the former Venetian dominions of Corfu and
other Ionian Islands from the French, capturing all the prominent French offi-
cers. Under the light of the evidence, Selim III concluded, Feth Ali must recon-
sider his pro-French diplomacy. He suggested that Tipu Sultan communicated
to the Sublime Porte whatever grievances he held against the British, so that
Selim would remove them to Ali’s satisfaction in his capacity of caliph.6
It is interesting that another possible Muslim model for the Ottoman mili-
tary reforms actually caused hatred in İstanbul: the reforms of Şahin Giray in
the Crimea. Şahin Giray had spent some years in Venice and was well versed
6 Bayur, “Maysor Sultanı Tipu,” 643-50. Turkish translation of the Persian letter from Se-
lim to Feth Ali, dated 7 June 1799; another letter to the same effect was sent to Ali on 23
September 1798; that is, in the days when negotiations for alliance with Russia and Brita-
in were in progress. Ali’s answer to this letter is retained in English in M. Martin ed., The
Despatches, minutes and correspondence of the Marquess Wellesley during his Administra-
tion in India, London 1837, v. 5, 24, no. XX.
659
Kahraman ŞAKUL
7 Alan W. Fisher, The Russian Annexation of the Crimea 1772-1783, Cambridge 1970, 86-
88, 117.
8 Fisher, The Russian Annexation of the Crimea, 128.
660
Ottoman perceptions of military reforms
of Bender, reprimanded him on this matter and advised him to take off the
European costume.9
Historian Vasıf gives a very unfavorable account on Şahin Giray; he had
confiscated the religious endowments, dispensed with Islamic conventions,
levied new taxes that were “unjustifiable by tradition and by reason”, and finally
imposed “Frankish” uniforms on the Muslim troops who were forcefully rec-
ruited under the designation of sekban. Vasıf was known to be a supporter of
the reforms of Selim III, who was also criticized for levying new taxes and cre-
ating new army with the Western uniforms. However, Vasıf did not find Selim’s
reforms “unjustifiable by tradition and by reason”. Vasıf ’s comments on Şahin
Giray indicated that the reforming ruling elite could resort to the discourse of
their opponents as they saw fit.10
Şahin Giray was forced by Catherine II to reside in Voronetz in 1784-87.
But by 1787, he was allowed to take refuge with the Ottomans. It is interesting
that there were rumors on the Pontic frontier that Şahin Giray had converted
to Christianity and was ambitious to set his own rule in Bogdan. The rumors
were so serious that the Prince of Moldavia had a painter portray Şahin Giray
in “Frankish” cloth. When sultan Abdulhamid I saw the drawing, he exclaimed:
“His dress and appearance is completely Christian. No doubt remained as to his
conversion to Christianity. May God destroy this infidel!”11 Feyzullah Efendi,
for instance, related an interesting case. When the Sultan wanted to reinstate
regular drill and discipline in the army, the Janissaries revolted in arms in 1808.
Street fights with the loyal troops in Western-style uniforms lasted many days
and turned Istanbul into a battleground. At a moment of desperation during
these clashes, the Janissaries thought of asking for royal mercy by promising
unconditional support to any reforms. They would accept not only the new uni-
forms but even the European hat should the Sultan demand. According to Fey-
zullah, this was a scandalous idea since wearing the European hat amounted to
9 “...ne hacet küffar askeri ile gelüb, Ümmet-i Muhammed’i tekdir ve tar u mar etmeğe, bu
sevdadan fariğ ol, küffarın damenin boşla...”, Feridun Emecen, “Son Kırım Hanı Şahin
Giray’ın İdamı Meselesi ve Buna Dair Vesikalar,” İÜEF Tarih Dergisi 34 (1984), 318.
10 Mücteba İlgürel ed., Ahmed Vasıf Efendi, Mehasinü’l-Asar ve Hakaikü’l-Ahbar, Ankara
1994, 11, 21.
11 Emecen, “Son Kırım Hanı Şahin Giray,” 325, fn., 35.
661
Kahraman ŞAKUL
changing one’s identity. It demonstrated that the rebels had doubtful religious
convictions; they would turn infidel just to save their lives.12
In conclusion, it is pretty obvious that the political situation was unsuitable
for either learning from the Tipu Sultan or drawing on the military reforms
of Şahin Giray. However, the Muslim population of Istanbul was aware of
Western-style military reforms undertaken in other Muslim countries. While
they praised the Indian success, Şahin Giray’s reforms never met popular sup-
port in spite of similar means and goals. Ottoman policy-makers also exhibited
contradictory attitudes concerning the adoption of European uniforms. They
did not hesitate to resort to the critical discourse of the political opposition
based on religious symbolism. This shows that military reform was never a pure
military issue isolated in vacuum. It was rather a function of political objectives.
12 Mehmet Ali Beyhan ed., Saray Günlüğü (1802-1809), Istanbul 2007, 261.
662
PART V
CULTURE
AND IDEOLOGY
Pane l
Emine Koca* 1
1. Giriş
Toplumların sosyal, ekonomik, siyasi ve kültürel özelliklerini yansıtması açısın-
dan, ulusların sosyal ve kültürel yapılarını betimleyici öğelerin önemli parça-
larından biri olan giyim kuşam, Osmanlı toplumun da da başta devlet erkânı
olmak üzere, görsel iletişim aracı olarak toplumsal hiyerarşinin korunmasında
büyük roller üstlenmiştir. Orta Asya’daki atalarının giyim kuşam kültürünü,
yaşadıkları coğrafi bölgelere ve yaşam koşullarına bağlı olarak, detaylarında
küçük farklılıklarla uzun yıllar korumuş olan Osmanlı toplumunda, yüzyıllarca
altta şalvar, üstte gömlek veya iç entarisi, üzerine kısa kaftan veya uzun kaftan-
dan oluşan giyim tarzı, kadın ve erkekler tarafından kullanılmıştır. Bele takı-
lan kuşakların yanı sıra, başa giyilen, üzerinde değişik süsleme ve işaretlerin
664
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665
Emine KOCA
2 Bernard Lewis, Modern Türkiye’nin Doğuşu, Çev. Metin Kıratlı, Ankara 1991, s. 296.
3 Klaus Tuchelt – Rudolf Naumann, 18. yüzyıl Osmanlı Kıyafetleri ve Cemiyeti, İstanbul
1965, s. 5.
4 Fatma Koç – Emine Koca, “Osmanlı Kanunlarında Giyim - Kuşam Yasakları”, Türk- İs-
lam Medeniyeti Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 10 (2010), s. 31-50.
666
Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
5 Mustafa Orçan, Osmanlı’dan Günümüze Modern Türk Tüketim Kültürü, Ankara 2004,
s.47-51.
6 Emine Koca, “18. Ve 19. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Erkek Modası”, Türk İslam Medeniyeti Akademik
Araştırmalar Dergisi, 7 (2009), s. 68.
7 Mahmud Şevket, Osmanlı Askeri Teşkilatı ve Kıyafeti, Ankara 1983, s. 99-101.
667
Emine KOCA
668
Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
669
Emine KOCA
Mahmud’un yanında olan Moltke10 setre pantolon giymiş olan sultanın, şehre
varmadan önce mavi setresini çıkararak kırmızı üniformasını ve kadife çizme-
lerini giydiğini, yanında bulunanlarında aynı şekilde mavi üniformalarını giy-
diğini belirtmesi, padişahın giyim tarzıyla örnek oluşturarak halkı etkilemeye
çalıştığının göstergesidir.
II. Mahmud, reformlarının kalıcılığını sağlamak ve yeni Osmanlı ima-
jını benimsetmek için lacivert ceketi, püsküllü fesi ve şeritli beyaz pantolonu
ile kendi boy resimlerini ve portrelerini yaptırarak bunları devlet dairelerine
astırmıştır. Bu değişime karşı duranlar olmasına rağmen, kısa süre sonra dev-
let memurları ve halkın önemli bir bölümünün sarığı çıkarıp setre pantolon
giyinmeye başlaması, İstanbul sokaklarında dize kadar inen farklı renkte set-
releri, kolalı gömlek ve boyun bağları ve püsküllü fesleri ile dolaşan alafranga
tarzı Türk erkeklerinin çoğalması ile Osmanlının 400 yıl süren giyim anlayı-
şında önemli ve radikal değişim süreci başlamıştır. Böylece Gayrimüslimleri
Müslümanlardan ayıran geleneksel kıyafet düzenlemelerinin geçerliliği de sona
ermiştir. Ancak, Avrupa örneğinde çağdaş bir ordu kurma yolunda çok önemli
adımlar atılmasına rağmen, iç ve dış meseleler yüzünden kısa denilebilecek bir
zaman dilimi içinde istenilen sonuç alınamamıştır.
10 Helmuth Von Moltke, Türkiye Mektupları, Çev. Hayrullah Örs, İstanbul 1969, s. 95-98.
670
Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
671
Emine KOCA
672
Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
Siyah setre pantolon ve kırmızı fesi ile devlet memurlarının giysisi ile aynı
giysiler Avrupalılaşma yanlısı halkın bir bölümü tarafından benimsenirken,
tepkili olan bir bölümün ise üzerinde şalvar, gömlek, salta ve cübbesi, başında
sarığından oluşan eski erkek giyimiyle İstanbul sokaklarında dolaşmaya devam
673
Emine KOCA
ettiği döneme ait pek çok fotoğrafta görülmektedir. Büyük kentlerde Avru-
pai giyim tarzının ne kadar yaygın olduğu ve alafranga alaturka çekişmesini,
Osman Hamdi Bey Elbise-i Osmaniyye15 adlı eserinde şu şekilde anlatmıştır.
“İstanbul’da, İzmir’de ve büyük kentlerin çoğunda, kentte gezerken fes yerine
zarafetin simgesi soba borusu gibi şapkaları takmayı tercih eden kentsoylular,
muhafazakâr bir üst görevlinin karşısına çıktıklarında takmak üzere ceplerinde
fes taşırlardı”.
Setre ve pantolon halk tarafından benimsenip kullanımı yaygınlaşınca,
İstanbul terzileri tarafından “İstanbulin” adı verilen, küçük alaturka özellik-
ler ilave edilerek biçimi değiştirilmeye çalışılmış giysi ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu
dönemde İstanbul terzilerinin, gündemde olan alaturka, alafranga tartışmaları
ve Frenk taklidi eleştirilerinden yola çıkarak, tamamen Batıyı taklit etmektense
aynı zamanda kendilerinden de bir şeylerin bulunduğu bir giysi oluşturmak
amacıyla, alafranga olan setreden İstanbulin yaratma gereksinimi duymuş ola-
bilecekleri açıktır. Çünkü İstanbulin’in ince-dik yakasındaki küçük değişiklik
dışında, alafranga setre ile aynı özelliklere sahip olduğu bilinmektedir.
Kılık kıyafetteki bu değişim ile Osmanlı toplumunda din, etnik yapı, mes-
lek gibi farklılıkların belirleyici özelliği olan kıyafet çeşitliliğinin ortadan kalk-
ması, özellikle İstanbul’da başta asker ve sivil bürokratlar olmak üzere, eğitimli
Batı yanlısı Müslümanlar tarafından benimsenmesi, muhafazakâr kesimin tep-
kilerini gündeme getirmiştir. Bu nedenle zaman zaman devlet bu eleştirileri
dikkate alarak özellikle İstanbul’un gözde yerlerinde, İslam milletine yakışma-
yacak kılık ve kıyafet ile dolaşanların önlenmesi için düzenlemeler yapmıştır.
15 Osman Hamdi Bey, 1873 Yılında Türkiye’de Halk Giysileri, Elbise-i Osmaniyye, Çev. Erol
Üyepazarcı, İstanbul 1999, s. 17.
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Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
675
Emine KOCA
676
Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
677
Emine KOCA
22 Sermet Muhtar Alus, “Molla Beyin Baldızı”, Aydede Dergisi, Tef. No: 18, 16 Mart 1949, s.
90.
23 Refik Halid Karay, İstanbul’un Bir Yüzü, İstanbul 2011.
678
Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
giysisi, önü çift düğmeli, mor yakalı mavi redingot, yelek, jaketatay (bonjur),
pardesü, ve giysileri tamamlayıcı unsurlar olarak fes, eldiven, saat, ipek çoraplar,
baston, iskarpin yer almaktadır.
Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil Aşk-ı Memnu (1900) ve Kırık Hayatlar (1923) adlı
romanlarında Batılı tarzda şıklığa odaklanmış, alafrangalığa özenen genellikle
fesli, setreli, kolalı ve takma yakalı gömlekli ve ütülü pantolonlu beylerin, eldi-
ven, yelek cebinden sarkan kordonlu saat, gözlük, baston ve şemsiyelerle şıklık-
larını tamamladığını belirtir.
Önceleri bürokrat, aydın ve zengin kesimin benimsediği Batılı yaşam tar-
zının, 19. yüzyılın sonlarına doğru halk arasında da rağbet görmeye başla-
ması, iyi-kötü ayrımı yapılmadan tüm benliği ile değişime adapte olmaya çalı-
şan dejenere kişilerin ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. Osmanlı’da yaşanan
bu “şekilsel Batılılaşma”yı, başta Ahmet Mithat Efendi olmak üzere dönemin
yazarları romanlarında ortak tema olarak işlemişler, bir yandan zevkte, görgü
kurallarında, eğlence hayatında ve kılık-kıyafette görülen değişimi yansıtırken,
diğer yandan öz değerlerden uzaklaşmayı ve bozulmayı eleştirmişlerdir.
Ahmet Mithat Efendi24 Mesail-i Muğlaka’da tasviri ile kılık kıyafetteki yoz-
laşmayı çok güzel dile getirmiştir. “Genç Osmanlı Abdullah Nahifi, Parisien
yani Paris şıklarına yakışır biçimde giyinir: Delikanlı Paris’in son modası muci-
bince giyinmiş. Tamam, bir Parisliden bir noksanı varsa o da elinde bulunması
lâzım gelen claque şapkasından ibaret! Bir fazlası da başındaki fesi! Ama narçi-
çeği rengine takarrup edecek derecelerde parlak renkli bir fes”.
Gittikçe yaygınlaşan Avrupalı yaşama isteği, aşırı lükse ve israfa sebep
olmuş, Osmanlı’nın ağır şartlarda aldığı dış borçlarının önemli bir kısmının
lüks hayata harcanması, zaten yabancıların baskısını iliklerine kadar hisseden
devleti yıkıma sürüklemiştir. Özellikle üst düzey bürokratların sipariş ettiği
ithal malların maliyetinin yüksekliği ve hesapsız harcamalar dikkat çekicidir.
Tezcan’ın25, İstanbul’da faaliyet gösteren bir Fransız firmasının 1897-1902 yıl-
ları arasındaki siparişleri içeren terzi defterindeki notları, dönemin erkek giyim
modasına ışık tutmaktadır. Defterde genellikle lacivert, yanları kırmızı bantlı
(zırhlı) pantolon, yakası ve kolları işlemeli uzun ceketli üniformaların yanı sıra,
sultan için “cumalık” adı altında sivil kıyafetlerin de sipariş olarak kaydedil-
679
Emine KOCA
3. Sonuç
Osmanlı’da gerileme döneminin önemli bir nedeni olarak, Batının askeri üstün-
lüğünün görülmesi, Batı tabanlı bir değişim ve reformları beraberinde getirerek,
değişimin ordudan başlatılmasına neden olmuştur. Bu nedenle kılık kıyafetteki
reform niteliğindeki değişimler de ilk olarak askeri giysilerin değişimi ile baş-
lamıştır. Osmanlı Ordusunda, büyük bir renk ve biçim zenginliği içinde olan
askeri giysiler, III. Selim’in orduda Avrupai tarzda eğitimli ve giyimli, yeni bir
düzenli ordunun kurulması için Batılılaşma yönünde reform özelliği taşıyan
girişimler yapması ile ilk değişikliğe uğramış ve üniform özellik kazanmıştır.
II. Mahmud çok köklü bir kıyafet reformu olan 1828 nizamnamesini yürür-
lüğe koyarak, padişahtan en düşük rütbeli memura, askerden sivile her sınıftan
görevlinin törende ve günlük yaşamda giyecekleri giysileri açıkça belirtmiş ve
bu önemli reformlar kısa sürede yaygınlaştırılmıştır. Kılık kıyafet alanında kap-
samlı, kalıcı yenilikler ve uygulamalar Sultan Abdülmecit ve Sultan Abdülaziz
dönemlerinde de devam etmiş, sultanlar da giydikleri giysilerle örnek oluştura-
rak, değişimin halk tarafından benimsenmesine katkıda bulunmuşlardır.
680
Erkek giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
681
Osmanlıda yapılan kılık
kıyafete ilişkin reformların kadın
giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine
etkileri
Fatma Koç*
1. Giriş
Türk kültürü içerisinde dış görünürlüğü etkilediği için önemli bir konumda yer
alan giysi ve giyinme biçimlerinin şekillenmesi ve çeşitlenmesi, tarihi ve kültü-
rel mirasın değerleri içerisinde yer alırlar.
Bilindiği gibi Orta Asya’dan günümüze Türk giysilerinin ana unsurları, altta
çok geniş, belden büzülerek toplanan, paçaları bazen tasmalı, bazen büzgülü
bilek üzerinden ayak üstüne dökülen şalvar, şalvarların üzerine ise bürümcük
gömlekler, bu giysilerin üzerine ise farklı şekillerde biçimlendirilmiş entariler
ve bu entarilerin üzerine giyilen üstlüklerden oluşmaktadır. Giysilerde benzer
özellik gösteren basit kesim biçimleri iki veya dört kat üst üste giyilerek kulla-
nılmıştır.1
Türklerde kadın ve erkek, takılarda dahil olmak üzere tüm giysileri ve onla-
rın parçalarını birlikte kullanmışlardır.2 Bu durum Osmanlıların son dönemle-
rinde batı etkileri ile değişmiş ve kadın ile erkek giysilerinde biçimsel farklılıklar
oluşturulmuştur. Erken dönemlere ait kadın erkek ve çocuk giyiminin ayrımı,
* Gazi Üniversitesi, Doç. Dr., Öğretim Üyesi, Sanat ve Tasarım Fakültesi, Moda Tasarımı
Bölümü, fturan@gazi.edu.tr
1 Fatma Koç ve Emine Koca, “The Clothing Culture of the Turks, and the Entari (Part 1:
History)”, Folk life: Journal of Ethnological Studies, 49/ 1 (2011), s.11.
2 Emel Esin, “Eurasıa Göçebelerinin Sanatının ve İslamiyet’ten Evvelki Türkistan Sanatının
Türk Plastik ve Tersimi Sanatları Üzerindeki Bazı Tesirleri”, Milletlerarası Birinci Türk
Sanatları Kongresi Bildirileri, Ankara University, Institute of Social Science, Faculty of The-
oloji, Institute of Turkish and Islam Arts History, Ankara 1959, s. 160.
682
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
683
Fatma KOÇ
684
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
9 Robert Mantran, XVI.–XVII. Yüzyılda İstanbul’da Gündelik Hayat, çev. M. A. Kılıçbay, İs-
tanbul 1991, s. 203.
10 Fatma Koç ve Emine Koca, “The Clothing Culture of the Turks, and the Entari (Part 2:
The Entari)”, Folk life: Journal of Ethnological Studies, 50/ 2 (2012), s. 144.
685
Fatma KOÇ
diği gibi etek boyu uzunlukları kalça hattından başlayarak bacak boyunun bir
buçuk katı uzunluklara kadar ulaşabilen ve etek uçlarında kısa yırtmaçları ola-
cak şekilde biçimlendirilmiştir.
Sürekli olarak batılı toplumlarla iletişim içerisinde olmalarına rağmen giy-
sileri uzun yıllar boyunca geleneksel kesim ve biçim özelliği açısından batıdan
etkilenmemiştir. Ancak 17. yüzyıldan itibaren, batı siyasetinin benimsenerek
toplumun içine girmesi ile birlikte biçim, süsleme, malzeme ve kullanım özel-
likleri açısından batı kültüründen etkilenmeye başlamıştır. 19. yüzyılda gerçek-
leştirilen reformlar ile birlikte batıdan ithal edilen moda, erkekler için yapılan
reformlar ve uygulanan kanunlarla belirlenirken kadınlar tarafından kendili-
ğinden benimsenerek hızlı bir şekilde yaygınlaşmıştır.
Osmanlıların yenileşme yönünde yapmış olduğu reformlar ile birlikte dış
görünümün değiştirilmesi gerekliliği ile kadın ve erkek giyimi tamamen bir-
birinden ayrılmıştır; ancak tam anlamıyla batı giysilerinin benimsenmesi ve
kullanımı Türkiye Cumhuriyetinin kurulması ve Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’ün
devrimleri ile başarıya ulaşmıştır. Yeni ulusa yeni ve modern kimliğini kazan-
dırmak için dış görünüşe el atılması ile gerçekleştirilmiştir.
686
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
12 Şevket Rado, Pariste bir Osmanlı Sefiri: Yirmisekiz Mehmet Çelebi’nin Fransa
Seyahatnâmesi, İstanbul 2006, s. 25.
13 H. Roderic Davison, Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda reform, 1856-1876, Çev: Osman Akın-
bay, İstanbul 2005, s.26.
14 Soner Akpınar, “Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu’nun Romanlarında Alafrangalık”, Ulus-
lararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, The Journal Of International Social Research, 1/4
(2008).
687
Fatma KOÇ
15 Cihan Aktas, Tanzimattan Günümüze Kılık, Kıyafet ve İktidar, İstanbul 1991, s.57.
16 Muhaddere Tasçıoğlu, Kadının Sosyal Durumu ve Kadın Kıyafetleri, Ankara 1958, s.19;
Nurettin Sevin, On Üç Asırlık Türk Kıyafet Tarihine Bir Bakış, İstanbul 1973, s. 102.
17 Hülya Tezcan, “Onsekizinci Yüzyılda Osmanlı Kumaş Sanatı ve Kadın Modası”, P Dergisi
8 (1997), s.84.
688
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
689
Fatma KOÇ
20 Lale Görünür, Ondokuzuncu Yüzyılda Osmanlı Entarisi ve Sadberk Hanım Müzesi Entari
Koleksiyonu, Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi 2005, s. 323.
21 Nancy Micklewright, “Tracing The Transformation in Women’s Dress in Nineteenth-
Century Istanbul”, The Annual Journal of the Costume Society of America/Dress, 13/33
(1987), s. 38.
22 Hülya Tezcan, “Onsekizinci Yüzyılda”, s.78.
690
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
23 Dulum, s.27.
24 Sevin, s.120.
25 Süreyya Faroqhi, Osmanlı Kültürü ve Gündelik Yaşam, Orta Çağdan Yirminci Yüzyıla,
çev. Elif Kılıç, İstanbul. 1997, s.268.
691
Fatma KOÇ
lardı. Yüzlerini ise hotozlarının üstüne tutturdukları iki parçalı bir tülbentten
oluşan ve sadece gözlerini açıkta bırakan bir yaşmakla örterler”.
1850’de Türkiye’de bulunan Anna Bowman Doot “In The Palaces of the
Sultan”Adlı kitabında moda konusundaki değişimi Abdülaziz’in Fransa Seya-
hatine bağlar. Le Bon Marche’den sayısız ithal malı eşya almak için La Grande
Rue’ye (Beyoğlu) alışverişe gelen Türk kadınlarının Türk yaşamında sessiz,
bilinçsiz ama yinede çok şaşırtıcı bir devrim gerçekleştirdiklerini belirtir.26
18. yüzyılda dikkat çekici süslemelerin ve renklerin kısıtlanması örneğinde
olduğu gibi Tanzimat dönemi boyunca kamusal kadın iffetiyle ilgili kanunla-
rın gevşetilmesiyle feraceler giderek daha önemsiz bir kıyafet haline gelmeye
başlamıştır. Genellikle dışarıda giyilecek şık bir kıyafet olarak görülen, uygun
peçenin eşlik ettiği bol çarşafa doğru yöneliş ilk bakışta geriye gidiş gibi görü-
nebilir, ancak çarşafın çeşitli kullanımı, kadınların kamusal sunumlarına atfe-
dilen çeşitli anlamlar kümesini tasvir eder.
Çarşafın ortaya çıkışı kaynağı hakkındaki çeşitli düşünceler bulunmaktadır
ancak saraya ait bir giysi olmadığında şüphe yoktur. İlk başlarda baştan aşa-
ğıya doğru sarkan ve belde toplanan, pelerine benzeyen, hacimli ve tek parça
bir giysi olan çarşaf öncelikle bedenin dış hatlarını çok daha fazla örten bir
giysi olmuştur. Müsahipzade Celal27 “İstanbul’da giyim Kuşam” adlı eserinde
çarşafın, 1872 yılından sonra sokak giysisi olarak kullanılmaya başlandığını ve
Anadolu’ya Suriye’den gelmiş olduğunu belirtmiştir.
Çarşaflar çok geçmeden daha kadınsı bir biçim almış, ilk önce, göğüsten bele
kadar olan kısmı kapatan bir pelerinin üstünü örttüğü bol bir etekten oluşan bir
dışarı kıyafeti haline gelecek şekilde iki parçaya bölünmüştür. Daha sonra da
bu, bedeni hafifçe gösteren bir etek ya da elbise, kenarları zamanla yukarı çeki-
lecek olan hafif bir palto üzerine giyilen çok daha kısa bir pelerin ortaya çıkacak
şekilde değiştirilmiştir. Kolların görünen kısımlarını örtmek için ise, tamamen
Avrupa etkisi ile, Türk kadınlarının gardırobuna giren eldivenler geçirilmiştir.28
692
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
29 Fanny Davis, Osmanlı Hanımı 1718’den 1918’e Bir Toplumsal Tarih, çev. Bahar Tırnakçı,
İstanbul 2006, s. 219; Nora Şeni, “19. yüzyıl sonunda İstanbul mizah basınında moda ve
kadın kıyafetleri”, Şirin Tekeli (der.) Kadın Bakış Açısından Kadınlar, İstanbul 1990.
30 Nancy Micklewright, Women's Dress in 19th Century İstanbul:Mirror of a Changing So-
ciety, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania 1986, s.220.
31 Yavuz Selim Karakışla, “Osmanlı Hanımları ve Kadın Terziler-I (1869-1923)”, Tarih ve
Toplum 11 (2003), s.11.
32 Davis, a.g.e.s.216.
693
Fatma KOÇ
694
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
“kutu içi entari” adı da verilmiştir. Birçok yörede bindallı, kutu içi entari, dallı
entari vb. isimler ile kullanılan bu entariler, Osmanlı’da geleneksel giysi formla-
rının kırıldığı dönemde Osmanlı- batı tarzı giyiminin ilk örnekleri olarak kabul
edilebilir. Ayrıca Barışta’nın belirttiği gibi, bu giysi grubunun, Osmanlı’da hazır
giyimin (seri üretim) ilk örnekleri arasında yer aldığı söylenebilir.36
Bu dönemde gelişen söz konusu entarilerin erken örneklerinde değişen ter-
zilik tekniklerinin zorlamaları görülürken işleme kalitelerinin yüksek olduğu
da görülmektedir. 20. yüzyıla doğru terzilik teknikleri gelişmiş ancak işleme
kalitesinde düşüş olmuştur. Baştan geçirilerek giyilen bu entarilerin göğüs
altına kadar ön açıklıkları bulunduğu için, eski usul iç çamaşırı gömlekler kul-
lanılmaya devam edilmiştir. Bindallı entarilerle diğer önü kapalı yırtmaçsız
entarilerinin bir çoğu aynı kesim özelliklerini gösterir. Bu entariler çok çeşitli
adlarla tanınmıştır: “[...]dört peşli, çantalı, kutu içi (bindallı), harbalı gibi deği-
şik adlarla anılanları en bilinenleridir.37
Önü kapalı boy entarilerinin tam olarak Avrupa tarzı giysiler olarak değer-
lendirmemiz mümkün değildir ancak takma kolları, Avrupa’dan getirilen dan-
teller ve su taşları ile süslenmeleri, kuyruklu etekleri ve kumaşları ile geleneksel
kıyafet anlayışından uzaklaşmışlardır. Bu entariler halk arasında dört peşli
adını almıştır.“Dört Peşli, alt kısmı geniş, üstü bedeni kavrayan bir entari türü.
Gövde kısmı ön ve arka olarak iki parça halinde kesilir, sonra bu parçalar yan-
dan birbirine dikilirdi. Entarinin belden aşağı kısmının bol ve dalga dalga kıv-
rılarak zengin bir görüntü vermesini sağlamak için iki yan dikiş arasına aynı
kumaştan üçgen biçiminde birer parça eklenmiştir. “Peş” denilen bu parçaların
baş tarafı yukarı, alt kısmı ise etek hizasına kadar getirilerek yerleştirilmiştir.38
36 Fatma Koç ve Emine Koca, “Geleneksel Giysi Tarzlarının Değişimi ve Türk Modasının
Oluşumunda İstanbul”, VII. Türk Kültürü Kongresi Bildiriler Kitabı, Ankara 2011, s. 2186.
37 Sabahat Gül, Etnoğrafya Bölümü içinde Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi, İstanbul 2002, s.
372.
38 Tuğlacı, İstanbul Kadınları, s.72.
695
Fatma KOÇ
boyun çukurundan çene altına kadar uzun ve dik olarak yapılmıştır. Etekler iki
kat ve çok geniş olarak hazırlanmış içte yer alan etek mümkün olduğu kadar
pili ve büzgülerle zenginleştirilerek üste giyilen eteğin kabarık olması sağlan-
mıştır.39 Geleneksel Osmanlı kıyafetlerinden farklı olarak giyecek olan kişinin
üzerinden ölçüler alınıp, provalar yapılmış, bluzlar balenler ile bedene oturtul-
muştur. Takma kollar Avrupai olarak genellikle kabarık olarak dizayn edilerek
dikilmiştir. Etekler evaze kesimli ve parçalı olarak biçimlendirilmiştir. Etekle-
rin arkalarından kuyruklar uzatılmıştır. Osmanlı kadınları Avrupa modasına
uygun olarak tasarlanan bu giysileri Osmanlı tarzına uygun işlemeler ile beze-
yerek geleneksel özelliği korumak istemişler ve Batı ve Doğu sentezini oluştu-
rarak kendilerine has bir moda oluşturmuşlardır.40
Osmanlının Batılılaşma sürecinde kadın, ıslahatçılarla muhafazakârlar
arasında kaldığı şüphe götürmez bir gerçektir. Bir görüş, Batılılaşmanın ger-
çekleşmesiyle kadının durumunun doğrudan ve kendiliğinden düzeleceğini
varsayarken, diğer görüş, geleneksel değerleri koruma yolunun kadının mevcut
durumunun korunmasından geçtiğini ileri sürmüştür. Birbirine zıt bu iki görüş
II. Meşrutiyet dönemindeki Batıcılık ve İslamcılık fikirlerinin de temelini oluş-
turmuştur.41 Bu dönemde meydana gelen “Asrileşme merakı” ile, kadınlar ev
içinde tesettüre önem vermeden yabancı erkeklerle bir araya gelip “asri” kadın-
lar gibi dans edebilen Avrupai kadın tipini ortaya çıkarmakla beraber, lüks ve
israfın da arttığı gözlenmiştir.42
Aslında tüketim toplumunun en önemli objesi sayılan kadınlar, 19. yüzyı-
lın ortalarından başlayarak özellikle Paris’ten ithal edilmiş son moda kıyafetleri
giymeye başlamışlardır. Terziler, Pera mağazaları sayesinde, en azından belirli
semtlerin sokaklarında, üst sınıftan kadınların Avrupai kıyafet giymesi sıradan
bir manzara olmuştur. Bu dönemde İstanbul’un elit sınıfları Avrupa modaları,
kumaşları, terzileri, modelleri ve biçimlerinin gözü doymaz tüketicisi olmuşlar-
dır. Basında da Avrupa modaları “terakki” ile ilişkilendirilmiştir. Kadınlar için
hazırlanan moda dergilerinde, mevsimin yeni modalarını, Avrupa malı elbise-
39 Hülya Tezcan, “Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Giyim kuşam Koleksiyonu Saray Kıyafetleri”, Os-
manlı Ansiklopedisi. Ankara 1999, s. 526.
40 Lale Görünür, “Sadberk Hanım Müzesi Koleksiyonunda 19. Yüzyıl Kadın Kıyafetleri,
Anıların Aynasında Moda”, P sanat, Kültür, Antika, 12 (1999), s. 100.
41 Murat Aksoy, Başörtüsü-Türban, Batılılaşma-Modernleşme, Laiklik ve Örtünme, İstanbul
2005, s.59.
42 Cihan Aktaş, Kılık Kıyafet ve İktidar 2, İstanbul 1989, s.90.
696
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
697
Fatma KOÇ
Sonuç
Osmanlı İmparatorluğu da Doğu kültür yapısından modern Batılı tarzdaki
yapılanmaya geçmek için reform hareketlerine XVIII. yüzyıldan itibaren başla-
mıştır. Osmanlılar söz konusu dönemden itibaren gözlerini Batı’ya çevirmiştir.
Osmanlılarda 18. yüzyılın sonlarından itibaren başlatılan reformların etkisi ile
radikal modernleşme eğilimi saraydan başlayarak hızlı bir şekilde yayılmıştır.
Doğu medeniyetinde giysi, mevcut güzelliğini bakışlardan gizlemeyi amaç
edinirken, Batı dünyası ise elbise ile vücut güzelliğinin daha belirgin hale geti-
rilmesini hedeflemiştir. Geleneksel giysiler, doğu toplumlarının sembolü olarak
aynı zamanda Batı’nın ve Batıcıların bakış açısından geri kalmışlığı hatırlatan
bir karaktere sahip olarak görülmüştür.
Yapılan reformların etkisi ve zorunluluğu ile 19. Yüzyılın sonunda Osmanlı
İmparatorluğu’ndaki erkeklerin başlıkları hariç sokaktaki görüntüleri Batılı
hemcinsleri ile aynı düzeye gelmiştir. Kadınların ise evde görüntüleri modern-
leşmiş, ancak sokağa çıkarken zorunluluk gereği kullandıkları ferace ve çarşaf-
lar ile geleneksel giyim özelliğini korumak zorunda kalmıştır. Dönemin normal
eğilimi modern giyinmektir, ancak geleneksel giysiden ödün vermeyen bir
kesim bu duruma sürekli olarak müdahale etmeye çalışmıştır. Bu durum batılı-
laşma yönündeki bazı adımların gerilemesine neden olmuştur.
Mustafa Kemal, kadınlarla ilgili yenilikleri uygularken eşi Latife Hanım’ı
sürekli yanında bulundurarak, çağdaş Türk kadınının ve yeni modern toplu-
mun simgesi haline getirmeye çalıştı. Cumhuriyet kadınının yaşadığı değişik-
likler Latife Hanım’ın şahsında Türk ve Dünya kamuoyuna yansıtıldı. Kültür
alanında girişilen reformların sembolü ise Afet İnan’dı. Yeni Türkiye yaratılır-
ken, bu kadın sembollerinden yararlanılacak, bunun için kadın ve erkeklerin
rolleri eşit olacaktı. Yeni Türkiye’nin, eski Türkiye ile hiçbir ilgisi olmadığının
ispatlanması için,47 toplumsal farklılıklara rağmen, kadının giysisini değiştir-
mesi bir zorunluluk olmuştu. Yeni Türkiye’de değişimin yerini bulabilmesi için
698
Kadın giysilerinin biçimsel özelliklerine etkileri
kadın da dış görünüşüyle yeni modelin içine çekilmeliydi. Fesle peçenin aynı
tarihte atılmış olması, kadının özgürlük alanında erkekle birlikte yürüdüğüne
örnek olarak verilebilir.
699
Osmanlı yenileşme döneminde kılık
kıyafete ilişkin reformların malzeme,
aksesuar ve süslenme özelliklerine
etkileri
Beyhan Pamuk* 1
Giriş
Osmanlı kimliğinin değişme süreci, 17. yüzyılda Avrupa'lı devletlere karşı askeri
yenilgiler ve toprak kayıplarının sonucunda Batı'dan geri kalındığı düşünce-
siyle başladı. 18. yüzyılda başlayan Osmanlı Batılılaşması, hükümdarların kişi-
liğine bağlı olarak belirledikleri çizgiler üzerinden, İstanbul merkezli devlet
bürokrasisi tarafından yürütülmüştür. Batılılaşma etkilerinin önce teknoloji ve
sanayide görülmüş, sonraları kültür, sanat ve yaşam tarzını etkilemiştir. Avrupa
ile ilişkilerin arttığı bu süreçte “Batılılaşma“ veya “yenilileşme” olarak nitelen-
dirilen dönemde Osmanlı sanatı geleneksellikle, yeni arasında kurulan denge
üzerinde ilerlemiştir.
Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda, 17. yüzyılda oluşmaya başlayan ve 18.yy’da hızla
devam eden yenilik hareketleri, sosyal yaşamın değişime uğramaya başlaması
giysilere de yansımaktadır. Dönemde Avrupa’dan gelen elçiler, sanatçıların yanı
sıra çeşitli sebeplerle Osmanlı’dan Avrupa’ya gönderilen kişilerin beraberinde
getirdikleri moda anlayışı üst düzey İstanbul erkanı için ilgi odağı olmuştur.
Döneme ait giysilerde, kumaşların motif, desen, üsluplarında , aksesuarların
özelliklerine kadar birçok özelliği ile de etkili olmuştur. Özellikle kadınların
estetik ve güzellik anlayışındaki değişim bu süreci hızlandırmış , Avrupa moda-
sına yönelik dergi ve mecmuaların yurt dışından getirtilerek terzilerden beğe-
nilen modellerin uygulanması istenmiştir.
* Dr. Beyhan Pamuk,Gazi Üniversitesi, Mesleki Eğitim Fakültesi Giyim End ve Moda Ta-
sarımı Eğitimi Bl.,Türkiye, beyhanp@gmail.com
700
MALZEME, AKSESUAR VE süslenme özelliklerine etkileri
1 Melek Sevüktekin Apak, Filiz Onat Gündüz ve Fatma Öztürk Eray. Osmanlı Dönemi Ka-
dın Giyimleri. Ankara 1997.
701
Beyhan PAMUK
702
MALZEME, AKSESUAR VE süslenme özelliklerine etkileri
4 Füsün Bayer, Osmanlı Kadının Giyim Kuşamı (Tanzimattan Meşrutiyete), Kayseri, 2010,
s.93; Tahsin Öz, Türk Kumaş ve Kadifeleri, (16-19.yy.), Cilt II., Ankara 1951, s.10.
5 Azer Vaghefi, 16.yy. Osmanlı Saray Dokumaları ve Dokumacılık Sanatında Tasarımcının
Rölü” M.S.Ü. S.B.E. 1994, s.5-6.
703
Beyhan PAMUK
bürümcük gibi hafif ipekliler ve sakaki, lâhuraki denilen yünlülere kadar her
çeşit kumaş işlenmiştir. Ayrıca, ipekliler üzerine değişik sekilerde bükülmüş
altın gümüş alaşımlı tek iplik, düz tel kesme ve bükme tel pul ve boncuklarla
ağır islenmiş kumaşlar hazırlanmıştır. Lale devrini başlatmış olan Sultan III.
Ahmed, kaybedilen savaşlarla birlikte girilen ekonomik sıkıntılar için alınan
tedbirler arasında kumaş ve işlemelerde, kullanılan altın ve gümüş tel sarfiya-
tını önlemek için İstanbul kadısına gönderdiği hükümlerde ağır sırma işleme
kaftan, Frenk pesent, sırma püskül ve saçağı ayrıca dönemin gümüş sırmalı
kumaşların yapımını yasaklamıştır.6
Kumaş dokumacılığına yönelik yasaklar ve kısıtlamalar III. Ahmet’ten son-
rada devam etmiştir. XVIII. yüzyılda ortaya çıkıp XIX. yüzyılda zenginlesen
“Hüseyni” denilen elbiselik işlemeli kumaşlar ün yapmıştır. Hüseyni kumaş-
lar, “Tepebaşı” ve “Galata işi” olarak da adlandırmaktadır. Ancak, işlemesinde
tel kullanılan kumaşlar, fazla miktarda metal tüketimine yol açtığından sık
sık yasaklanmıştır. Osmanlının yükselme döneminde kumaş ile ilgili kurallar
genellikle kumaşın niteliğini ve kalitesini korumak amacıyla alınan tedbirler-
den oluşmakta idi. Dokunan kumaşların tel ve dokuma teknikleri kumaşında
kimliğini belirlemekteydi. Ancak lüks ve gösterişe olan düşkünlük ekonomik
tedbirler alınmasını sağlamış haliyle kumaş dokumalarına yansımıştır. Bayer’in
7
,çalışmasında da belirttiği üzere 15 Nisan 1876’da Reisül Küttab’a gönderilen
emirde, Hanımların Galata işi denilen tel sırma ve kılabdan işlemeleri alıp sat-
maları, terzilerin bu kumaştan elbise dikmeleri de yasaklanmıştır. Bu yasaklara
uyulmadığı gerek sarayda mevcut örneklerden, gerekse hanedanın hanımları-
nın masraf defterlerinden anlaşılmaktadır.
Osmanlı devletinde ipekli kumaş en fazla tercih edilen kumaş çeşididir ve
Osmanlı ipeklilerinin, gözü rahatsız etmeyen, ağır başlı bir parlaklığı vardı ki,
bu parlaklık, dokuma bittikten sonra her dokumacının kendi atölyesinde uygu-
ladığı preslemeyle sağlanırdı. Osmanlı dokumalarında önemli bir yer tutan
ipek dokumacığı XVI.yy. oldukça güç bir dönem geçirmiştir. İtalya’da gelişen
ipekli dokumacılık Türk sanatını daha geri plana bırakmıştır. O zamana kadar
daha çok doğu pazarlarından temin edilen ipek ham maddesi siyasal neden-
lerle alınamamış, batıdan alınmaya başlanmıştır. Hammadde temininin gittikçe
zorlaşması sonucu kozacılığa çok daha fazla önem verilmiş, mamul kumaşa
704
MALZEME, AKSESUAR VE süslenme özelliklerine etkileri
705
Beyhan PAMUK
kurala bağlanmıştır. Beyaz sarık Türklere; kırmızı, sarı ve siyah renkler Müslü-
man olmayanlara ayrılmıştır. Kanuni’nin bu dönemde giydiği başlık ise, dilim
dikişli, kırmızı, uzun külahlı bir sarıktır.Fatih Sultan Mehmet dilimli kavuk
kullanırken, Yavuz Sultan Selim “Selimi” adı verilen kavuk 17.yy’la kadar kul-
lanılmıştır. 17.yy’lın ikinci yarısına kadar giyilmeye başlayan “mücevvezeler”
vezirlerin en yüksek kademedeki devlet ricalinin tören serpuştu olarak 1827
senesine kadar törenlerde giyilmiştir.10
18.yy.ın ilk yarısında İlmiye sınıfı “Örfi Kavuğu” giyerken, devlet ileri gelen-
leri ise “kallavi kavuk” kullandılar. Batıya doğru yönelişlerin hızlanması ile
başlayan süreçte Osmanlı Devlet adamları 18. yy. sonlarına doğru giysi ve baş-
lıklarda değişime yönlenmişlerdir. İlk adımı da 1790’larda Nizam-ı Cedit’le
atılmıştır. Ordunun kıyafetinde düzenlemeler yapılırken, III. Selim’in taht-
tan indirilmesi ve Nizam-ı Cedit uygulamalarının kaldırılmasıyla giysideki
modernleşme de durdurulmuştur.11
Değişimin ilk başladığı askeri alanlarda Yeniçeri Ocağının kaldırılması ve II.
Mahmut döneminde kurulan Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye ordusunun
yenilenen kıyafetleri arasında mavi ipek püsküllü “Asakir-i Mansure-i Muham-
mediye fesi” diğer adı ile “şobara” yerini almıştı. 1827 yılı ortalarında, şobaranın
güneş ve yağmurdan kolayca bozulması dikkate alınarak yeni bir başlık düşü-
nüldü.12
II.Mahmut döneminde kurulan yeni askeri kıyafetin tek örnek ve başlıktan
oluşması sağlanmıştır. Askeri formalar Batı tarzında ceket ve pantolon olarak
belirlenirken başlık Tunus fesi olarak kabul edilmiştir. Serasker Koca Hüsrev
Pasa’nın, Tunus’tan dönüşünde “kara püsküllü kırmızı fes’i” getirip, II. Mahmut’a
tanıtmıştır. 1828’de, Sadrazam Selim Mehmet Paşa’nın başkanlığında, paşalar,
yeni ve eski Şeyhülislamlar, dört vaiz-hoca ve devletin ileri gelenlerinin topla-
narak; “kenarlı başlıklarla namaz kılınamayacağını, İslam giyiminden olan fesin
Mısır ve Magrip’te erlere giydirildiğini, Mekke emirinin buyruğundaki erlerin fesli
olduğunu, şobaranın renk, şekil ve kalite bakımından dayanıksızlığı yüzünden
hazineye zarar verdiğini, fesin daha dayanıklı olduğunu, Tunus ve Cezayir’den
ustaların getirilip İstanbul’da yaptırılması halinde daha ucuza mal edilebilece-
ğini” öne sürmeleri üzerine,Tunus’ta kalyoncu erlerinin giydiği fes, bununla
10 Nurettin Sevin, 13 Asırlık Türk Kıyafetine Bir Bakış, İstanbul 1973, s:97; Kamuran Özde-
mir, Cumhuriyet Döneminde Şapka Devrimi ve Tepkiler, Eskişehir 2007, s. 7.
11 Orhan Koloğlu, İslâmda Başlık, Ankara 1978,s.14; Özdemir, a.g.e., s. 7.
12 İzzet Kumbaracılar, Serpuşlar, İstanbul, tarihsiz, s.28; Özdemir, a.g.e., s.7
706
MALZEME, AKSESUAR VE süslenme özelliklerine etkileri
birlikte setre ve pantolon asker giysisi olarak belirlendi. Adını Fas’ın Fez kentin-
den alan, kırmızı çuhadan yapılmış saksı şeklinde ve arka tarafı siyah püsküllü
olan bu başlığın kullanılması emriyle birlikte, Tunus Beylerbeyliği’nden elli bin
adet fes sipariş edildi. Bu dönemde yeni ordunun çeşitli ihtiyaçlarını karşıla-
mak için modern fabrikalar kuruldu. Bunlardan birisi 1827 ‘de üniforma ayak-
kabı gibi eşyaları üreten Dikimhane-i Amire ile 1835’te İzmir’deki feshanedir .13
Cumhuriyet döneminde Şapka İnkılâbı’na kadar fes kullanılmaya devam
etmiştir. Boyutlarında, püsküllerinde zamanla değişime uğramasına rağmen
kırmızı renk olarak kullanılması devam etmiştir. Önceleri “gavur işi” olarak
kabul etmeyenler sarığın terk edilmemesi konusunda ayaklanmışlardır. Ancak
asker ve memurların giymesi zorunlu iken ilerleyen süreçte halk arasına da
yayılmıştır. Ayrıca Osmanlı topraklarında yaşayan gayrimüslimlerde fesi kul-
lanmışlardır.
707
Beyhan PAMUK
tan yüksek hotoz giymişlerdir. Hotoz, kullanıldığı döneme göre şekil değişti-
ren üzeri değerli taşlarla süslenen bir kadın başlığıdır. Hotoz kullanımı şekline
göre kadınların statülerinin belirlemiştir. Saray içinde oturan her kadın görevli-
nin de kıyafeti farklı olduğu gibi başlarına çeşitli şekillerde hotoz taktılar ancak
dışarı çıkarken ferace ve yaşmak kullanmışlardır. 17. yüzyıl minyatürleri ince-
lendiğinde hotozların küçüldüğü görülürken Türk kadınlarına ait geçmişten
gelen bir özellikle perçem ve saç örgüleri hotozun altından sarkıtılmıştır.15
XVIII. yüzyıl ortalarında, minyatür ustası Abdullah Buhari’ nin kıyafet-
name albümünden, Sevin (1978)16 döneme ait bir minyatürü şu şekilde
açıklamaktadır.“Sarı, bürümcük kaplı hotozu mücevherlerle süslü, saçları, Türk
hanımlarının on üç asırlık geleneğine uygun olarak kâküllü ve perçemli. Arkadan
beline kadar inen saçları, sıra sıra ince örgülü. Bu ince saç örgüleri halâ, Türk
köylülerinde var.”
Ferace ve yaşmak özellikle 17.yüzyıldan başlayarak 19.yüzyılın sonlarına
doğru sürekli bir değişim içine girmiştir. Lale Devri ve sonrasında sokağa
çıkan kadınlar, mesire yerlerinde, renkli ferace ve yaşmaklarıyla boy gösterir-
lerdi. Önceleri yaşmak için kullanılan kumaşlardan sadece gözler görünmekte
iken ilerleyen dönemlerde yaşmakların kumaşları hotozun üzerinde, ince bir
tül halinde örtülmeye başlanmıştır. Yaşmak, kadınları kapamaya çalışan padi-
şah fermanlarına inat günden güne incelerek şeffaflaşmıştır. Başta yine hotozun
içerisine toplanan saçın arka kısmı şeffaf yaşmaklardan seçilebilmiştir.
XVIII. yüzyılda kadınların sokak giyimleri hakkında fermanlar bulunmak-
tadır. Padişah ve çevresindekilere yansıyarak kıyafetlerin değişmeye başladığı
dönemden itibaren birtakım fermanlar yayınlanarak, kadınların kıyafetlerine
müdahale ihtiyacı hissedilmiştir. Lale devri ve Tanzimat’la birlikte kadınların,
Avrupa modasıyla tanışmaları, dışarı açılmalarını sağlamıştır. Dolayısıyla, gele-
neksel giyim tarzından yavaş yavaş uzaklaşmaya başlayan Müslüman kadınlara,
sokak giysileriyle ilgili fermanlar çıkarılmaya başlanmıştır. Fermanlar içinde
başlıklarda nasibini almıştır. Sultan II. Ahmed dönemine rastlayan 1726 yılında,
İstanbul kadısına, yeniçeri ağasına, hassa bostancı başına bir takım hükümler
gönderilmiştir. Bu hükümlerde; Sultan Edirne’de devlet işleriyle uğraşırken, bazı
yaramaz kadınların halkı bastan çıkarmak amacıyla sokaklarda süslenerek gez-
dikleri, libaslarında çeşit çeşit bidatler göstermeye gayrimüslim kadınlara özene-
708
MALZEME, AKSESUAR VE süslenme özelliklerine etkileri
17 Ahmet Refik, On İkinci asır Hicri’ de İstanbul Hayatı (1689-1785), İstanbul 1988, s.86-
88; Füsün Bayer, Osmanlı Kadının Giyim Kuşamı (Tanzimattan Meşrutiyete), Kayseri
2010, s.58.
18 Sevin,a.g.e.s.121;Bayer,a.g.e.s.63
19 Bayer,a.g.e.s.59
709
Beyhan PAMUK
20 Özdemir,a.g.e.s.20
21 Sevin,a.g.e.s.106;Bayer,a.g.e.s.93
710
MALZEME, AKSESUAR VE süslenme özelliklerine etkileri
22 Algan,a.g.e.s.57
23 Sevgi Gürtuna, “Osmanlı Kadınının Giyim Kuşamı”, Osmanlı Ansiklopedisi, c.9,(1997)
s.32.
24 Bayer,a.g.e.s.51
711
Beyhan PAMUK
lardı. Uzun saplı dantel şemsiyeler, Mahmudiye boyunda hotoz, ince papaziden
yasmağın altında harika bir gerdanlık.Bürümcük elbisenin ise yeni, bileklere
kadar indiriliyordu. Yine Avrupa’dan ithal edilen eldiven modası da hanımlar
arasında yaygınlaşmıştı. Fakat Osmanlı hanımları XII.yüzyılda entari kollarını
uzun tutarak, eldiven şekline getirip kullandıkları göz ardı ediliyordu. 25
Osmanlı’da yüzyıllar boyunca geleneksel giyim kuşam tarzını genel özel-
liklerini bozmayacak şekilde küçük farklılıklarla şekillendirmiştir. Osmanlı
imparatorluğu geleneksel giyim tarzını uzun süre korumuş olmasına rağmen,
Osmanlı’da Meşrutiyet ile başlayan Tanzimat Fermanı’yla kırılma noktasına
gelen modernleşme çabaları dönemin siyasi, sosyal ve ekonomik durumuna
göre kılık kıyafetler ve kullanılan aksesuarlarda değişimler gözlenmektedir.
Bunların başında ise toplumun çok daha hızlı ve kolay bir biçimde ayak uydur-
duğu şekille ilgili değişimler gelmektedir. Özellikle kadın ve erkeklerin giyim
kuşamında ,dokumalarda ve kullanılan aksesuarlarda Avrupaî bir tarzın ortaya
çıkması ”geleneksel” ile “batılılaşma”yı bir araya getirmiştir.
25 Kemal Çiçek, “20. Yüzyılın Baslarında İstanbul Hayatı”, Türk Dünyası, Tarih Dergisi, Sayı
55, Temmuz 1991, s.15-20; Bayer,a.g.e.s.65
712
Osmanlı yenileşme döneminde
kılık kıyafete ilişkin reformlar
şekilde mi yoksa özde mi değişim
getirmiştir
Tuba Vural*
Giriş
Türkler Asya’dan birçok bölgeye göçtüklerinde, gittikleri yerlere kendi kültür-
lerini de taşımışlardır. Batıya yapılan göçlerde Batı Türklerinin, yani Oğuzların
merkezi Anadolu olmuştur. Bu bölge, Asya ve Avrupa arasında bir köprü vazi-
fesi gördüğünden Doğu ve Batı’nın kültür ve medeniyetlerinden etkilenmiştir.
Göçlerle coğrafi anlamda batıya yönelen Türkler, 17. yüzyılın sonlarından iti-
baren Avrupa devletlerinin kültür ve medeniyetine yönelmeye başlamışlardır.
Modernleşme olarak adlandırabileceğimiz bu dönemden itibaren, tarihsel-
toplumsal, gelişim süreci içerisinde toplumsal alanda birçok insanın görünme-
sini yaygınlaştırması aynı zamanda toplum hayatında birbirleriyle karşılaşan
insanların kıyafet ile iletişimlerini önemli hale getirmiştir. Bu gelişme gele-
neksel dönemden farklı olarak “ görünür olanın” bir başka ifade ile “kıyafetin”
değişimini gerektirmiştir.1 Osmanlı imparatorluğunda çağdaşlaşma çabaları-
nın ilk adımları pek çok kesintiye uğramıştır. Geleneksel düzenin bozulmaya
başlaması 1595 tarihinde geleneksel düzene dönme görüşünün yetersizliğinin
anlaşılması2 ve Batılılaşma çabalarının ilk tohumları imparatorluğun toprak
yitirmeye başladığı zamanlarda atılmaya başlanmıştır.
* Gazi Üniversitesi, Prof. Dr., Öğretim Üyesi, Mesleki Eğitim Fakültesi, Giyim Endüstrisi
ve Moda Tasarımı Eğitimi Bölümü, tuba@gazi.edu.tr
1 Richard Sennett, Kamusal İnsanın Çöküşü, (çev. Serpil Durak ve Abdullah Yılmaz), İs-
tanbul 1997, s.93; Meriç Nevin, Osmanlı’da Gündelik Hayatın Değişimi ( 1894-1927),
Adab-ı Muaşeret, İstanbul 2007, s. 102.
2 Niyazi Berkes, Türkiye’de Çağdaşlaşma ( yay. Haz. Ahmet Kuyaş), İstanbul 2002, s.42.
713
Tuba VURAL
714
Reformlar şekilde mi özde mi değişim getirmiştir
715
Tuba VURAL
716
Reformlar şekilde mi özde mi değişim getirmiştir
arttığı bir dönemde atılan yanlış bir adım, ıslahâtlar adına olumuz bir etki yap-
mıştır. Mescidinden, talimgâhına kadar her türlü ihtiyacı düşünülüp pek çok
fedakârlıklarla kurulan “Nizâm-ı Cedid” ordusunun kıyafetiyle ilgili yapılan
tercih Fransız ordusunda kullanılan mavi bere ve kırmızı ceketten oluşan üni-
forma hiç de isabetli olmamıştır. Bunun haberi bile ayaklanmaya yol açmış ve
Nizâm-ı Cedîd dönemi yeniliklerinin sona ermesine neden olmuştur.12 Bütün
yapılan ıslahât çabaları bir üniformaya kurban edilmiş ve yapılan çalışmalar II.
Mahmut tarafından yapılacak reformlara kadar askıya alınmıştır.
Geleneksel giyimden (entari, kavuk, sarık, vb.) çıkışta ilk adım Nizam-ı
Cedid ile 1790’larda atılmıştır. Daha o zaman, Nizam-ı Cedid’i kötülemek için,
Avrupalı giysilerle fazla bir ilgisi olmadığı halde bu husus bid’at olarak öne
sürülmüştür. “Men teşebbehe bi kavmin fe huva minhum- Bir halkı taklit eden
onlardan olur” yargısı başlıca silah olarak kullanılmıştır. Yeni ordu dağıtılıp III.
Selim öldürüldükten sonra yeni sultan için hazırlanan şer’i hücette “emri bi’l-
maruf ve nehyi ani’l-münker- bilinenin uygulanması istenmeyenin önlenmesi”
kaydı konarak geleneklere bağlılık ve değişmenin istenmediği vurgulanmıştır.13
III. Selim’in idaresinde Nizam-ı Cedit’e karşı ayaklanmanın dış bahanesi-
nin yeni askerlere Fransız askeri giysilerinden esinlenerek tasarlanmış olan bir
örnek giysilerin giydirilmesi olmuştur. Nizam-ı Cedit’e karşı olanlar (aslında
askerlik zorunlulukları yüzünden gerekli olan bu üniforma işini) halk arasında
dış görünüşlere karşı beslenen alışkanlık eğilimini sömürerek bunun İslam
askerini gâvurlaştırmak için yapıldığını yaymışlardır. Dünya askerlik tarihine
bakıldığında asker kıyafetleri de sivil kıyafetleri doğrultusunda sürekli olarak
değişikliğe uğramıştır. Ancak sivil giysilerinden farklı olarak moda etkilerinden
daha az etkilenmiştir.Çünkü asker giysilerini belirleyen en önemli etken savaş
teknik ve teknolojisi olmuştur. 14
717
Tuba VURAL
kadar Batı medeniyetine açılmasını sağlayan bir başlangıç olmuş ve Batı etkile-
rinin Osmanlı’ya girmesinin resmi olarak önünü açmıştır.
Bu değişimin tüm topluma uygulanmasıyla, dinsel, ırksal ve sınıfsal fark-
lılıkların silinerek, “kıyafetin” ayrıcalık göstergesi olması engellenmeye çalışıl-
mıştır.15 Giyim tarzının tekdüze hale getirilerek, Osmanlı toplumunu oluşturan
farklı dinler, ırklar ve sınıflardan gelen bireylerin kimlik işaretlerinin ortadan
kaldırılması, herkesin eşit olduğu yeni Osmanlı bireyinin oluşturulması, bir
demokratikleşme çabası olarak görülebilir. Ancak bu ifadeler elbette, yalnızca
“erkek kimliği” için geçerli olmuştur.
Kıyafetle ilgili olarak ilk kez çok köklü sayılabilecek değişimi, şüphesiz diğer
alanlarda olduğu gibi II. Mahmud yapmıştır.16 II. Mahmut ihtiyatlı bir bekle-
yişten sonra ani bir vuruşla 1826’da yeniçeri ocağını ortadan kaldırarak yeni
kurduğu ordusunun hem giysi hem de başlığını değiştirmeye yöneldi. Giysi-
lerde Avrupa’ya yaklaşmakla birlikte başlıkta tam tersine, Mısır Valisi M. Ali
Paşanın askerlerine giydirdiği “Fes” giydirilmiştir.17
1831’de İstanbul’a gelen Amerikalı Doktor Dekay, “Pitoresklik açısından bir
şeyler kaybedilmiş olmasına rağmen askeri alanda etkenlik açısından çok şey
kazanılmıştır” ifadesi ile dönemin askeri giysilerinin Osmanlının son on yıl-
daki değişiminin bir göstergesi olduğunu vurgulamıştır. Sarığın yerine fes kul-
lanımını ise
Biçim ve renk açısından sonsuz çeşitlilikler gösteren bazen partal, çok kez de kirli
ve insana yürüyen bir mantar izlenimi veren sarık bir daha gelmemek üzere kalk-
mıştır. Onun yerine asker kırmızı renkli, başa iyi oturan, arkasında zarif bir püs-
külü sarkan bir “cap” giyiyor Bu başlık ve pantolonların bolluğu bir yana bırakılırsa,
bugün Türk askeri Avrupa uluslarının askerlerinden ancak güçlükle ayırt edilebilir
şeklinde betimleyerek, Türk askerinin Avrupa uluslarının askerlerinden ancak güç-
lükle ayırt edilebileceğini belirtmiştir.18
Burada sözü edilen “cap” (kep) sonradan fes olarak tanımlanan başlıktır ve
Cumhuriyet döneminde kaldırılan Fesin biçiminden farklı, bugün Fransızla-
718
Reformlar şekilde mi özde mi değişim getirmiştir
719
Tuba VURAL
geldi. Alnı bir taç gibi saran ve renklerinin zenginliğiyle diğer giysilerin koyu renk-
lerini şenlendiren haşmetli sarık sokaklarda neredeyse görülmez olmuş; artık bir-
kaç Türk yan yana geldiğinde, uzaktan gelincik tarlasını andırıyor. İpekli veya yünlü
kumaşlardan yapılmış dökümlü giysiler bir kenara atılmış ve yerlerini kötü dikil-
miş, kaba, mavi giysiler almış; bir za-manlar kaşmir yününden kuşakların sardığı
beller, artık iki pirinç düğmeyle cendereye alınmış gibidir.24
II. Mahmud’un bir müddet O’nun eğitim subayı ve danışmanı olarak hiz-
metinde bulunan Moltke25 anılarını yazdığı “Türkiye Mektupları” adlı eserinde
yapılan reformları şu şekilde değerlendirmiştir
…Bu reformların çoğu görünürdeki şeylerden, isimlerden ve projelerden ibaretti.
En zavallı eser de Rus ceketleri, Fransız talimnameleri, Belçika tüfekleri, Türk ser-
puşu, Macar eyerleri, İngiliz kılıçları ve her milletten öğretmenleriyle Avrupa örne-
ğine göre bir orduydu… Devlet adamlarının unvanları değiştirilmişti fakat bu
memuriyetleri işgal eden adamlar aynı yetersizlikte kalmışlardı. Görünüşe göre
padişah çok defa dinî taassuba karşı lüzumsuz yere meydan okumuştu. Çünkü
Şeyhülislâm’a, dinin reisine, dinin yasak ettiği portresini gönderişinden ne fayda
elde edilebilirdi?...
24 Julia Pardoe, Yabancı Gözüyle 125 Yıl Önce İstanbul (Çev. Bedriye Şanda), İstanbul 1967,
s.21.
25 H.Von Moltke, Moltke’nin Türkiye Mektupları (Çev. Hayrullah Örs), İstanbul 1969, s. 285.
26 Ekrem Özer, “Osmanlı’da Tekke ve Tarîkat Islahâtları -Iı. Mahmud Dönemi Ve Sonrası”,
Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Temel İslâm Bilimleri Anabilim Dalı, Ya-
yımlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Erzurum 2007, s. 105.
27 Berkes, Türkiye’de Çağdaşlaşma, s.197.
720
Reformlar şekilde mi özde mi değişim getirmiştir
721
Tuba VURAL
“Kahve ve bakkallarıyla Rum, modası ile Fransız, paltosu ile İngiliz, biraha-
neleriyle Alman, musikileriyle İtalyan ve İspanyol, bekçisi ve halısı ile Türk
bir İstanbul” ortaya çıkarmışlardır. Eskiden “haraç”a bağlı olan gayrimüslim-
ler, şimdi İstanbul’un Beyoğlu ve Galata’sında, İzmir’in Kordon’unda ve Frenk
mahallesinde dik başlı ve başka türlü bir hayat sürdürmeye başlamalarına
neden olmuştur.32
Bu değişimlerden en önemlisi, sınırlı da olsa kadınların toplumsal hayata
katılmaya başlamasıdır. Tanzimat Fermanında kadınlar için yeni hükümler
olmamasına rağmen, özelikle eğitim alanında yapılan reform hareketleri, bu
dönemden itibaren kadınların kamusal alanda yer almalarını sağlamıştır. Yine
bu dönemde bazı kanunlarda kadınlar lehine değişiklikler yapılmış, eski yasak-
lar geniş ölçüde yumuşatılmış, fikir ve edebiyat alanında kadınlara yeni haklar
tanınmasını savunan yazılar yazılmaya başlanmıştır.33 Bu durum kadının görü-
nürlülüğünün artmasına ve dış görünümünün kendiliğinden batı çizgileri ile
biçimlenmesinde en önemli etken olarak karşımıza çıkar.
Tanzimat’la hızlanan modernleşme hareketleri, Batının demokratik ve libe-
ral fikirlerinin de ülkeye girişini hızlandırmıştır. Özellikle 1860’lardan itibaren
canlanan basın yeni fikirlerin yayılmasında önemli bir etki yapmıştır. Şinasi,
Namık Kemal, Ziya Paşa, Ali Suavi gibi aydınlar 1865 yılında Genç Osmanlı
Hareketini başlatmışladır. Hareket, Mithat Paşa’nın öncülüğünde Kanun-i
Esasi’nin oluşmasında ve I. Meşrutiyet’in ilanında etkin bir rol oynamıştır.34
II. Mahmut döneminden Meşrutiyet’e kadar (1876) eskinin tek tip kıyafet
anlayışı yerine Osmanlı kıyafetleri ile batı kıyafet tarzları arasında gidip gelen,
tercihini gittikçe artan bir şekilde Batı’dan yana kullanan bir kıyafet çeşitli-
liği göze çarpar. Nevin Meriç35 Osmanlıda Gündelik Hayatın değişimini anlat-
tığı (1894-1927): Adab-ı Muaşeret adlı kitabında kıyafet çeşitliliğini Tanzimat
döneminden itibaren toplumsal değişim ile birlikte giysilerin dış mekanda giyi-
len giysileri, iş yerinde – sokakta, iç mekanda giyilen giysileri, gündelik, ev gez-
meleri, eğlence, gece kıyafeti, yeniden belirlendiğini belirtmiştir. Bu değişim
Avrupalı yaşam biçimini taklit ile ilgili olmuştur.
722
Reformlar şekilde mi özde mi değişim getirmiştir
723
Tuba VURAL
Batıdan gelen değerler, moda ve tüketim ürünleri yeni yaşam biçiminin
temel unsurları alarak algılandığı bu dönemde, üst tabakanın davranışları
Batı’yı taklit etme ile şekillenir ve toplumun alt katmanları da üst tabaka-
nın değerlerini benimserler. Yeni yaşam biçimi ve giyim tarzı aşağıya doğru
yayılırken, kültürel değerlerin bir kültürden diğerine aktarılması sonucunda
istenmeyen durumların ortaya çıktığı, Batı’da oluşmuş olan tüketim kültürünü
taklit ederek yeni yaşam biçimi oluşturulurken komik sonuçlar meydana gel-
diği dönemin yazarları tarafından eserinde işlenmiştir.
Cumhuriyet modernleşmesinde ise ilk yıllarda yapılan devrimlerle
Türkiye’nin Batılılaşma politikasının yaygınlaştırılması hedeflenmiştir. Bir
başka değişim de sosyal alanda “kıyafet” eksenli olacak ayrışmayı engellemiş
ve kıyafet ayrımının toplumsal temellerinin meşruiyetini zayıflatmıştır. Cum-
huriyet sürecinin farklılığı, toplumsal alandaki değişikliklerin batılı ülkelere
gösterilmesi olmuştur. Bu durum Cumhuriyet insanının sokakta “medeni”
kıyafetleri giyerek bu amaca hizmet etmesi sağlanmıştır. Cumhuriyet yönetimi
geçmişteki mirastan kurtulmak için “yeni topluma” “yeni bir insan modeli” sun-
muştur. Bunun için toplumsal bütünlüğün korunduğu ve gösterildiği bir “milli
kıyafet” tanımına ihtiyaç duyulmuştur. Atatürk, 28 Ağustos 1925’te Gelibolu’da
yaptığı bir konuşmada, mili kıyafeti “ayakta iskarpin, veya fotin, bacakta panto-
lon, yelek, gömlek, kravat, yakalık, ceket ve bittabi bunların mütemmimi olmak
üzere başta siperli, şemsli serpuş”tur şeklinde tarif etmiştir.39
1925 yılında yapılan Kıyafet Kanununda erkeklerin geleneksel kıyafetleri
yasaklanırken, kadınlara dair herhangi bir düzenleme yapılmamıştır.40 Ata-
türk toplumsal yaşantısı ve kadınlarla ilgili reformları uygulanırken eşi Latife
Hanımı yanında bulundurmuştur. Latife Hanım, çağdaş Türk kadınının ve
modern toplumun simgesi haline getirilmiştir. Cumhuriyet kadınının yaşadığı
değişiklikler, Latife Hanım’ın şahsında Türk ve dünya kamuoyuna yansıtılmıştı.
Bir süre sonra da Atatürk’ün kültür alanında giriştiği reformlar için yeni sem-
bolü Afet İnan olmuştur. Kısacası bu kadınlar, “yeni kadın” yaratılırken kamuo-
yunda bir sembol olarak kullanılmışlardır.41
724
Reformlar şekilde mi özde mi değişim getirmiştir
Sonuç
Osmanlı toplumundaki temel dönüşümün nedeni modernleşme çabalarıdır.
19. ve 20. yy.da yaşanan toplumsal dönüşüm 15 ve 16. yüzyılların oturmuş top-
lumsal düzenine değil, daha çok 17. ve 18. yy. da harekete geçen güçlere bağ-
lanmalıdır. Bu dönüşüm 19.yüzyılın reformlarıyla bir nebze önüne geçilmiş bir
çöküş ve çözülme süreci değil, merkezi yönetimin otorite kaybı yerel, bölge-
sel güçlerin yükselişiyle alakalı ve Avrupa’nın artan etkisiyle de ivme kazan-
mıştır.42 Değişimin “yukarıdan” geldiği pek çok ülkede olduğu gibi, Osmanlı’da
da devlet sadece siyasi, idari ve ekonomik alanlarda değil, reform döneminin
özünde bulunan müdahaleci ve yönlendirici etkisiyle, toplumsal normların
değişiminde de ana aktör vazifesini görmüştür43 Dolayısıyla Osmanlı’da deği-
şim Batı’daki gibi kendiliğinden ve bağımsız gerçekleşmemiş, kurumlar bir
anlamda değişime zorlanmışlardır.
II. Mahmut’un Yeniçeri ocağını kaldırmasıyla ıslahat yolunda atılan adım-
lar hızlanmıştır. Bu zamana kadar sürdürülen “eski”nin yanına “yeni” konul-
ması ve ikisinin bir arada yaşatılması çabası sona ermiş ve “yeni”, eskinin yerini
almaya başlamıştır. Ancak bu çabalar sonunda tam olarak istenilen sonuca
ulaşılamamıştır. II. Mahmut’un girişmiş olduğu ıslahatlar temelde devletin
tepesinde şekillendirilmiş ve yukarıdan aşağıya doğru bir dönüştürme süreci
oluşturulmuştur. Bu bağlamda II. Mahmut dönemini kendisinden önceki
Nizam-ı cedit dönemi ile kendisinden sonraki Tanzimat, Meşrutiyet ve Cum-
huriyet dönemleri arasında bir köprü işlevi gördüğünü söylemek mümkündür.
Bu dönem, Türk insanının görünürlülüğü açısından modernleşmesi ve çağdaş-
ları ile aynı kulvarda yürüyebilecek görüntüsünün oluşması için yapılan tüm
çabaların temelini oluşturmuştur. Bu dönemde yapılan reformlar her ne kadar
şekil açısından değerlendirilebilirse de bir yüzyıl sonra gerçekleştirilecek olan
725
Tuba VURAL
Türk insanının özünde değişim sağlayacak olan sonraki reformlar için oldukça
önemli ve radikal değişimler olarak tarihte yerini almıştır.
II. Mahmut’un çağdaşlaşma çabalarının doğrudan doğruya kendini örnek
yaparak biraz da hem kendini hem halkını zorlayarak bir yanı daha vardır ki
bunları dış gözlemcileri kimileri yazılarında gülünç bulurken kimileri de tak-
dir etmişlerdir. II. Mahmut bu yanı ile Atatürk’ün bir yüzyıla yakın süre son-
raki benzer girişimlerini andıran reformlar gerçekleştirmiştir. Bu tutuma karşı
gösterilen tepkilerde de benzerlikler bulunmaktadır. Sözü edilen giyim kuşam,
kişisel dış görünüm, yaşayış, tutum, ve davranış ile ilgili alanlarda yapılan
değişimleri içeren bu girişimler Türk insanını Avrupa insanına benzemesine
yönelik çabaların Atatürk’le biten çabaların en önemli sürecinin başlangıcını
oluşturduğunu söylemek mümkündür.44
II. Mahmut döneminde öncelikle askeri alanlarda başlayan batılılaşma
yönünde ilk kıyafet reformu, Tanzimat ve meşrutiyet dönemlerinde de hız
kazanarak devam etmiş, Batı tabanlı giyim tarzına bizzat Sultanlar öncü olmuş,
saraydan paşalara ve diğer tabakalara yayılmıştır. Ancak, gerek sosyal yaşamda
gerekse giyim kuşam alanındaki istenen değişim ve modernleşme çabaları
tam olarak amacına ulaşamamıştır. Bu, tam anlamıyla Türkiye Cumhuriyeti-
nin kurulması ve Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’ün devrimleri ile başarıya ulaşmıştır.
Mustafa Kemal’in “buna şapka derler” diyerek 1925 Ağustos’unun son günle-
rinde başlattığı ve 25 Kasım 1925’te TBMM’nin onayıyla yasa halini alan şapka
olayı ve kıyafet devrimi, aslında kökleri 18. yüzyılın sonuna, III. Selim döne-
mine kadar uzanan bir evrimin son adımı olarak düşünülebilir.
Toplumun en üst makamından gelen ve sürekliliği olan bu destek, kültü-
rel değişimin köklü biçimde yer etmesinde önemli rol oynamıştır. Batılılaşma
denilen gelişme genelde yüzeysel kalmış derinlere inememiştir. Batılılaşma, ani
değişimden dolayı doğru algılanma fırsatı bulamamış, Batının neyini alıp neyini
bırakacağız ikilemi, farklı kültürler arasında sıkışıp kalmış kararsız insanların
doğmasına neden olmuştur. Osmanlıların yenileşme döneminde gerçekleşti-
rilen reformların etkisi ile her şeyden önce batılılaşma yönünde önemli deği-
şimin yaşandığı bir dünyada, klasik dönemde bile yerleşik uygulama haline
getirilmemiş olan Müslim gayri Müslim arasındaki kılık kıyafet ayrımına artık
yer olmadığı açıkça ortaya konmuştur. İkinci olarak ise modernleşmeyle bir-
726
Reformlar şekilde mi özde mi değişim getirmiştir
likte türdeş bir toplum yaratma sonucunda benzer yaşam koşulları oluşturul-
maya çalışılmıştır.
Bu durum, toplumun dinamikleri arasındaki homojenliği bozmuş ve birbir-
lerinin hayatlarını bilmeyen, birbirlerinden habersiz yaşayan, toplum birimleri
meydana gelmiştir. Bunun yanında batılılaşma, ani değişimden dolayı doğru
algılanma fırsatı bulamamış, Batının neyini alıp neyini bırakacağız ikilemi,
farklı kültürler arasında sıkışıp kalmış kararsız insanların doğmasına neden
olmuştur.
Meydana gelen değişiklikler başlangıçta zihniyetin izin verdiği ölçüler
içinde yerleştirilmeye çalışılırken, zamanla yeni modalar, yeni zihniyetlerin
cemiyet içinde kök salması neticesini vermiştir. Bu reformlar şekilde kalmış
olmasına rağmen Atatürk’ün inkılaplarının oluşturulmasında ve benimsenme-
sinde öze hitap etmiştir.
727
FORMS OF LITERACY:
NOTES ON THE LIFE AND CULTURAL
BACKGROUND OF A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY
OTTOMAN SANJAK GOVERNOR
R. Aslıhan Aksoy-Sheridan* 1
This paper intends to pursue three interconnected aims: The first of these is to
take a brief look at the life of Yunus Beg, a sanjak governor who spent most of
his life in Ottoman Balkan garrisons in the 16th century. The second aim is to
attempt to designate and evaluate where Yunus Beg’s life stands in terms of the
general Ottoman social history of this period, concentrating on his professio-
nal and familial life by referring to his probate inventory (tereke), his last will
and testament, and some relevant mühimme records. Finally and most impor-
tantly, it will focus on Yunus Beg’s intellectual accumulation in reference to the
list of manuscripts recorded in his tereke, but, rather than confining the discus-
sion to simply this one singular context, it will examine the significance of these
manuscripts in the broader context of general Ottoman cultural history.
In this last regard, by taking a closer look at the manuscripts thus listed in
his tereke record, my primary aim will be to evaluate what these manuscripts
– the property of a high-level member of the Ottoman administrative class –
might signify within and about the generality of Ottoman manuscript culture.
In evaluating their significance, the paper will briefly review and compare the
results of previous tereke studies, focusing on “book” ownership among mem-
bers of different Ottoman classes, cities, and periods. Using the data gleaned
from this review and comparison, I will finally formulate a series of general
ideas and working hypotheses concerning the Ottoman manuscript culture,
728
Forms of literacy
with special attention being paid to where compilations (mecmuas) might have
stood within this culture.
Ottoman historical studies focusing on tereke records have generally follo-
wed a few particular veins of methodology, with the major ones being those
studies that concern themselves with a general assessment of one particular
administrative region;1 those which focus on certain historical questions such
as family size, marriage practices, and book ownership in different parts of
the Ottoman domain;2 and micro-historical studies on particular individuals,
which shed some light on their particular lifestyles.3
One of the earliest and most comprehensive of the regional studies is Ömer
Lütfi Barkan’s study of the tereke records of the Edirne military-administrative
(askerî) class,4 which focuses on 3,128 different individual tereke records com-
piled from 21 different registers (defters) of the askerî kassam type dated to bet-
ween 1545 and 1649, focusing specifically on 62 years’ worth of registers from
within this more than one-hundred-year period. This study is important not
only because it provides an informative introduction to and general assessment
of these kinds of records, but also full transcriptions of 93 tereke records that
1 See Hüseyin Özdeğer, 1463-1640 Yılları Bursa Şehri Tereke Defterleri, İstanbul 1988;
Said Öztürk, Askeri Kassama Ait Onyedinci Asır İstanbul Tereke Defterleri (Sosyo-Ekono-
mik Tahlil), İstanbul 1995.
2 For some of the historiographical work conducted in this vein of methodology cf. Rıfat
Özdemir, “Kırşehirde Ailenin Sosyo-Ekonomik Yapısı (1880–1906)”, Osmanlı Araştırma-
ları 9 (1989), 101-157; Ömer Demirel, “1700-1730 Tarihlerinde Ankara’da Ailenin Ni-
celiksel Yapısı”, Belleten 54/211 (1990), 945-961; Idem – Adnan Gürbüz – Muhittin Tuş,
“Osmanlılarda Ailenin Demografik Yapısı”, in Sosyo-Kültürel Değişim Sürecinde Türk Ai-
lesi I, Ankara 1992, 97-161; İlker Er, “Balıkesirli Tereke Sahipleri Hakkında Sosyokültürel
Açıdan Bazı Değerlendirmeler (1670-1700)”, Balıkesir Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Ensti-
tüsü Dergisi 21/12 (2009), 368-376; İbrahim Etem Çakır, “16. Yüzyılda Ayntab Şehrinde
Ailenin Demografik Yapısı (1539–1576)”, Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi
9/1 (2010), 1-17.
3 See Lajos Fekete, “XVI. Yüzyılda Taşralı Bir Türk Efendi Evi”, M. T. Gökbilgin (trans.), Bel-
leten 43/170 (1979), 457-480; Yavuz Cezar, “Bir A‘yanın Muhallefatı”, Belleten 41 (1977),
41-48; Musa Çadırcı, “Hüseyin Paşa’nın Terekesi”, TTK Belgeler Serisi 11/15 (1986), 145-
164; Saim Savaş, “Sivas Valisi Dağıstani Ali Paşa’nın Muhallefatı”, TTK Belgeler Serisi 19
(1993), 249-290; Orhan Kılıç, “Harputlu Hacı Osman’ın 1725 Tarihli Terekesi ve Düşün-
dürdükleri”, Turkish Studies 2/1 (2007), 17-28.
4 Ömer Lütfi Barkan, “Edirne Askerî Kassamı’na Âit Tereke Defterleri (1545-1659)”, Belge-
ler 3 (1966),1-479.
729
R. Aslıhan AKSOY-SHERIDAN
730
Forms of literacy
sek. It seems, though, that he did not stay in Silistra very long, and was appoin-
ted to his last post, in Köstendil, in 1570, as the mühimme register for that year
refers to his title, “Köstendil Begi”, and makes no mention of Yunus Beg’s own
name, but rather the name of his chamberlain (kethüda), Mustafa,10 whom he
would appoint as his executor (vasıy-i muhtâr) in his will.11 Thus, when he was
appointed to his last post, Yunus Beg had been actively serving the Ottoman
Empire in a military and administrative capacity for at least twenty years, as we
learn from his will that he had attended the Nahçivan (Nakhchivan) campaign
in 1553 with his slaves, whom he would emancipate upon his death.12
This study will not dwell on the details of the list of Yunus Beg’s properties
as such, other than his manuscripts.13 Suffice it to say that he was in possession
of a great number of military items – such as various weapons, riding equip-
ment, and horses – as well as animals of transport, like camels and mules, which
altogether amount to enough for the small personal army of a sanjak gover-
nor. In fact, apart from the very high sum of 756,000 akçes in cash – making
up almost three-fourths of all his recorded wealth of movable belongings in
his tereke – these military items formed a considerable part of his estate upon
his death. Although from the item list it is obvious that this tereke record does
not reveal the whole picture – as is usually the case with such records, in which
family members conceal the entire worth of the estate from the court – Yunus
Beg’s wealth as recorded in the document still amounts to the very large sum of
1,055,000 akçes (sahhü’l-bâki 1,055,000), excluding expenses.
Yunus Beg’s familial composition proves to be quite unique in comparison
to the general picture suggested by previous tereke records conducted on the
properties and patterns of “the Ottoman family”. From the document, we learn
that he had eight sons and four daughters, all of whom were present during
10 The mühimme record # 134, dated 5 Şevvâl 977/13 March 1570 records “Köstendil be-
ginin kethüdâsı Mustafa”: see Orhan Paşazade, “9 Numaralı Mühimme Defteri (1569-
1570)”, unpublished MA Thesis (Istanbul: Marmara University, 2006), 59.
11 See below, fn. 16.
12 See below, fn. 16.
13 However, it would be interesting to try to reconstruct Yunus Beg’s daily life through a
detailed study of his belongings, as Lajos Fekete did in his seminal article on the tereke
record of a Turkish efendi. See Fekete, “Bir Türk Efendi Evi”. It should be noted, though,
that the list of properties in Yunus Beg’s tereke obviously does not record all the items ne-
cessary for the entirety of his household, and so such a study might not provide us with
a full picture of his daily experiences like the one seen in Fekete’s study.
731
R. Aslıhan AKSOY-SHERIDAN
the registration process of the tereke. While all these children, being his heirs,
are specifically named in the document,14 no wife is mentioned anywhere, and
in fact we learn from his will that the mothers of at least some of his children
were actually his slaves. In this regard, Yunus Beg’s familial structure differs gre-
atly from that of a nuclear family, which various recent tereke studies focusing
on Ottoman familial structures have asserted as actually the prevailing type in
Ottoman society.15
One of the most striking features of Yunus Beg’s last will and testament16 is
that we can, to some extent, hear his own personal voice in it:
I see now that there is no constancy to this world, so it is of necessity that I declare
my last will.
Firstly, such is my will: I free all those of my slaves who campaigned with me
in Nakhchivan and I grant to them the possession of whatsoever goods they cur-
rently hold, be it a horse or be it whatsoever else. Let none impede this. And let none
among my heirs interfere with or aggrieve those who hold a royal patent, [for] they
too are all [among] my freed slaves.
And to each of those concubines who are at present mother to a child of mine
let fifteen thousand akçes be granted from the third part of my estate.
And the houses on the farm are hereby granted to ‘Osman and his brothers, and
the houses in the hills are hereby granted to ‘Ali Çelebi and his brothers, and the
houses in the town of Silistra are hereby granted to ‘Ömer.
14 His sons as listed in the tereke record are: ‘Ali Beg, ‘Ömer Beg, İbrahim Beg, Ahmed Beg,
Bekir Beg, Mahmud Beg, Mehmed Beg, and Osman Beğ; his daughters are Cemile, Ha-
dice, Nefîse, and Emine. Cf. Barkan, “Edirne Askerî Kassamı”, 147.
15 For a general overview on the general nuclear pattern of the Ottoman family see Öztürk,
Tereke Defterleri, 110-15.
16 The original text for Yunus Beg’s last will and testament reads: “İmdi gördüm ki bu dün-
yanın sebâtı yok, pes lâzım oldu ki vasiyet idevüz: Evvelâ vasiyetim budur ki, şol kullarım
ki benimle Nahcivan seferin eylemiştir, anları cümle âzad eyledim ve ellerinde olan esbâb,
eğer atdır ve eğer gayridir, cümlesin anlara temlîk eyledim, kimesne mâni‘ olmıya. Ve el-
lerinde berât-ı şâhî olanları, anlar dahi cümle mu‘takımdır veresede kimesne dahl idüb
rencide etmiye. Ve hâliyâ ümmü’l-veled’im olan câriyelere, onlardan herbirine sülüs ma-
lımdan onbeş bin akçe verile. Ve çiftlikde olan evler Osman ile karındaşlarına hibe olu-
nub verilmişdir ve yukaru olan evler ‘Ali Çelebi ile karındaşlarına verilmişdir ve kasaba-i
Silistre’de olan evler ‘Ömer’e verilmişdir. Ve İstanbul’da olan mülk evlerim bey‘ olunub bir
hayre sarf oluna. Ve hâliyâ bi’l-fi‘il ağalıkta olan kullarım cümle âzad olmuşdır. Ve vasıy-i
muhtârım Mustafa Kethüda ola ve oğullarım kendülerine kimi ihtiyar iderler ise anı va-
si ideler, ammâ oğlancıklarımı kullarım komıyalar, vasiyetimi yerine getürüb ‘amel ideler.
Şöyle bileler. Ve’s-selâmü ‘aleyhim”. See Barkan, “Edirne Askerî Kassamı”, 151.
732
Forms of literacy
And let the houses I possess in Istanbul be sold and [the proceeds] be disbursed
to a charitable foundation. And my slaves currently and in actual fact on my tımar
are hereby freed.
And let my chosen executor be my chamberlain Mustafa. And let the guardian
of my sons be whomsoever they may choose, but let not my slaves abandon my little
sons [oğlancıklarımı] not yet of age. Let them execute my will [as stated] and act [in
accordance therewith], so let it be known.
May salvation be upon them.17
This last will and testament begins with the sentence, “I see now that there is
no constancy to this world, so it is of necessity that I declare my last will”. Tho-
ugh the sentiment here is a fairly common one, in Yunus Beg’s formulation, and
at the very beginning of his will, it becomes his own. In his will, starting with
this reference to the idea of the world’s transitory nature, Yunus Beg, so as to
acquire merit in God’s sight upon his death, not only willed the emancipation
of his faithful slaves, some of whom had fought with him in the Nakhchivan
campaign some twenty years before, but he also willed fifteen thousand akçes
each to the three slave mothers of his own children (“ümmü’l-veled”), who
would also be emancipated upon his death. Apart from these three women, we
can distinguish thirteen other slaves belonging to Yunus Beg: since they were
emancipated and given the belongings already in their possession, in the tereke
record we can read either their name or their job title in connection to some of
the properties.18 As Barkan notes, for a will to be applicable under Ottoman law,
the items and belongings willed in the testament could not exceed one-third of
the value of the whole estate unless this was agreed upon by all the heirs.19 It
seems that Yunus Beg’s estate, concerning which we see no sign of confiscation
in the records, had to be noted down in detail for distribution by an official kas-
sam, either because of this article of law, or because of the fact that there were
minor children (oğlancıklarım) among the heirs.
17 I would like to thank Michael D. Sheridan for his assistance in rendering Yunus Beg’s vo-
ice into English.
18 His slaves as listed and named in the tereke record are: Aşçı [cook] Yusuf, Gulâm [boy]
Ca‘fer, Câriye [concubine], Câriye, Gulâm Nasuh, Gulâm Yusuf, Gulâm Geyvan, Gulâm
İskender, Gulâm Ca‘fer, Nakkâre-zen [drummer] Hasan, Gulam Küçük ‘Ali, Kapucı [ga-
tekeeper] Hasan, and Bâzdâr [falconer] Ferah. Cf. Barkan, “Edirne Askerî Kassamı”, 147-
151.
19 Cf. ibid 19-23, esp. 19.
733
R. Aslıhan AKSOY-SHERIDAN
Yunus Beg’s tereke record, which on the whole is of some interest for the
social history of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-sixteenth century, also inclu-
des a list of manuscripts:20
734
Forms of literacy
cal studies,21 Yunus Beg’s does not seem an especially specialized or rich one, yet
he did have, along with one unspecified manuscript (“evrâk-ı perîşân”), a total
of thirty-two manuscripts – which are quite diverse in terms of their subjects –
in his possession. In terms of its monetary value, this personal collection does
not stand out. As Christoph K. Neumann points out and a preliminary review
of previous tereke studies suggests, from the 17th and especially the 18th cen-
tury onwards, “manuscripts” became more and more a kind of commodity, an
investment or symbol of social standing for their owners.22 However, when we
look at Yunus Beg’s list of manuscripts, we see that practicality and pragma-
tics played a greater role than monetary value or the intention of accumula-
ting wealth: the only manuscript he had that was of some monetary value, with
an assessed value exceeding 1,000 akçes, was his copy of at-Tabari’s History of
the Prophets and Kings. The total assessed value of his manuscripts amounts to
6,364 akçes, which is only a very small fraction of his total recorded wealth of
more than 1 million akçes. This supports the idea that Yunus Beg’s personal lib-
rary was intended for practical use, rather than being a commodity investment.
In fact, a preliminary review of tereke studies focusing on Ottoman ‘book’
culture also suggests pragmatics as playing a key role in choices of ownership
for manuscripts. A review of the subject – specifically of those studies that focus
on ‘book’ ownership in different Ottoman classes, regions, and eras – will make
it possible to formulate a series of general ideas and working hypotheses con-
cerning whether any class-related distinctions and affiliations played a role in
Ottoman manuscript culture. For instance, one thing that can be noticed in loo-
king at the tereke literature is that, as expected, members of the ulema or judicial
21 Cf. İsmail E. Erünsal, “Şehid Ali Paşa’nın İstanbul’da Kurduğu Kütüphane ve Müsade-
re Edilen Kitapları”, İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Kütüphanecilik Dergisi 1
(1987), 79-90; İsmail E. Erünsal, “Türk Edebiyatı Tarihinin Arşiv Kaynakları IV: Lami‘i
Çelebi’nin Terekesi”, Journal of Turkish Studies [Fahir İz Armağanı I] 14 (1990), 179-194;
Ali Hasan Karataş, “Tereke Kayıtlarına Göre XVI. Yüzyılda Bursa’da İnsan-Kitap İlişki-
si”, Uludağ Üniversitesi İlâhiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 8/8 (1999), 317-28; Idem, “XVI. Yüz-
yılda Bursa’da Tedavüldeki Kitaplar”, Uludağ Üniversitesi İlâhiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 10/1
(2001), 209-230; Orlin Sabev, İbrahim Müteferrika ya da İlk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni
1726-1746, İstanbul 2006; İsmail E. Erünsal, “Şâir Nedim’in Muhallefâtı”, Journal of Tur-
kish Studies [Festschrift in honor of Cem Dilçin I] 33/1 (2009), 255-274; Saadet Maydaer,
“XVI. Yüzyılda Bir Osmanlı Müderrisi: Mevlana Muslihuddin Efendi ve Mirası”, Uludağ
Üniversitesi İlâhiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 20/1 (2011), 117-55.
22 Cf. Christoph K. Neumann, “Üç Tarz-ı Mütalaa: Yeniçağ Osmanlı Dünyası’nda Kitap
Okumak ve Yazmak”, Tarih ve Toplum: Yeni Yaklaşımlar 1/241 (2005), 51-76.
735
R. Aslıhan AKSOY-SHERIDAN
class tend to have had a higher percentage of religious texts in their possession,
while members of the kalemiyye or scribal class tended to possess more texts on
rhetorical instruction, such as manuals of münşeat or belles-lettres.
As for the örfiyye or administrative class, in the example of Yunus Beg we
see that he had in his possession a variety of manuscripts. These can of course
be divided into several categories, but all of them reveal a sense of practicality
in their choice: some are in fact directly related to practical reference, such as a
manual on animal husbandry, a divination manual, a dream manual, two dic-
tionaries, and a manual on chess. Another of the categories we can recognize
consists of what we might consider ‘job-related’ reference manuscripts, such as
a book on Islamic law, a collection of fetvas, and a kânûnnâme. Another cate-
gory, one which comprises a large group in Yunus Beg’s collection, consists of
morally oriented religious and Sufi texts for the reference of common belie-
vers: a work or works by ‘Âşık Pasha; two copies of the Qur’an; two copies of
Qur’anic exegeses in Turkish; the Tuhfetü’l-Tâlibîn, which deals with the reli-
gious sciences; a handbook on wisdom (Kitâb-ı Mesele); Şemşi Pasha’s verse
translation of Burhânuşşerîa Mahmud’s lives of saints, the Vikâyetü’r-Rivâye
(The Protection of Reports); the Kısâsu’l-Enbiyâ (Tales of the Prophets), pertai-
ning to the lives and stories of the prophets; Âşık Ahmed’s Câmi‘ü’l-Ahbâr (Col-
lection of Good Tidings), which is a collection of sayings by various shaykhs;
and Yazıcızâde Ahmed Bican’s Envâru’l-‘Âşıkîn (The Radiance of Lovers), which
deals with various religious and moral subjects. Other than these religious
reference texts, Yunus Beg seems also to have been fond of stories and histo-
rical narratives, often in the form of mesnevis: at-Tabari’s History of the Prop-
hets and Kings; the Târîh-i Âl-i ‘Osmân; two copies of the İskendernâme; the
Selîmnâme and Süleymânnâme; and a copy of the romance Yûsuf u Züleyhâ. It
is my contention that these stories and historical narratives, as well as some of
the morally oriented religious texts, were actually on occasion read aloud wit-
hin Yunus Beg’s large family. If this is true, it would show a practical orientation
somewhat similar to the consumption of his practical manuscripts on animal
husbandry, divination, and dreams. With this in mind, we may assume that the
members of each of the three classes – the ulema, the kalemiyye, and the örfiyye
– had a tendency to own works that had a pragmatic value for them in terms
of their profession. This assumption or hypothesis about the pragmatic tenden-
cies of the ‘readership’ of the Ottoman askerî classes is one of the main questi-
ons that needs to be addressed in any further study of tereke records containing
736
Forms of literacy
manuscript listings. Only through more detailed and focused studies can we
verify this hypothesis and arrive at a point where we can better use such docu-
ments to explore the general nature of the Ottoman intellectual profile during
different periods of the empire’s history, in addition to any changes that may
have occurred in this profile. This will allow us to begin to understand whet-
her these intellectual networks experienced any class-related antinomies which
may have arisen during later periods of rapid social change and mobility.
However, there is another aspect of Ottoman manuscript culture which
tends to be forgotten about rather too often: the oral nature of Ottoman cul-
tural production and consumption. Ottoman literary culture has largely been
understood as a predominantly written cultural realm, with its products being
studied almost exclusively in terms of written cultural practices. This is partly
due to the inevitable fact that our knowledge in this field depends entirely on
written sources of literary production, but also because understanding the oral
nature of this production requires a novel methodology entailing close rea-
ding and further textual and contextual analysis of Ottoman literary sources in
order to capture the workings of orality, whatever they may have been within
this cultural environment.
This oral aspect can be seen even in Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname (Book of
Travels), which includes certain oral compositional tendencies, including an
internalized use of such practices as oral narrative formulae, as well as certain
other oral patterns, such as relaxed forms of citation, employed in the making
of this otherwise carefully designed and mainly chronologically narrated enor-
mously long ‘written’ text. The same applies to many of the Ottoman Turkish
manuscripts of the early modern era. It is my contention that these manuscripts
were not ‘end results’ or ‘finished products’, as we tend to see ‘texts’ in a written
cultural realm, but rather were embodiments of different processes, or were
even themselves processes that occurred in different historical contexts, and so
should be studied with this understanding in mind. Recent studies conducted
on Ottoman manuscripts and manuscript culture have in fact begun to show
that Ottoman cultural production and the terms and conditions within and
under which Ottoman literary products were produced and consumed require
further inquiry in this regard, since these manuscripts can be thought of as new
products at every single instance of copying that took place. In fact, ultimately,
every manuscript is a testimony to its own unique experience of cultural pro-
duction and consumption, and is itself a historical event in its own right, and
737
R. Aslıhan AKSOY-SHERIDAN
therefore should be studied on its own terms in order to discern and decipher
its true singular cultural historical significance with regard to the role it played
in Ottoman cultural history in general.
Manuscript culture, then, might be understood as being just as much an
oral as a written cultural atmosphere, especially in terms of the mechanisms
of cultural consumption, such as the reading aloud of literary or other texts in
social gatherings, whether communal in coffeehouses, taverns, and barracks,
or in private familial environments, as may have been the case with Yunus Beg.
This process was also in effect at the production stage, with, for example, poetry
being composed on the spot at certain social gatherings. Tülün Değirmenci’s
recent study23 on manuscript consumption illustrates how glimpses of this oral
function are apparent in some of the marginal notes found in manuscripts
regarding the manner in which they were communally read. This was the situ-
ation in the Ottoman paradigm of cultural production and consumption. Wor-
king from the premise that orality played an important role and was indeed an
effective factor within the Ottoman cultural environment as such, I argue that
Ottoman manuscript culture should in fact also be looked at, and studied, as
largely an oral cultural sphere.
It is in this regard that I argue that the study of compilations (mecmuas),
which has been largely neglected until recently,24 would be a key step in unders-
tanding the oral nature of the Ottoman cultural environment in terms of both
consumption and production. Miscellanies still remain in a “liminal” space bet-
ween literary studies and historical analysis, one which cultural history needs
to investigate in order to decipher their true significance. What this kind of
contextual study of individual miscellanies will enable us to understand is the
tastes and needs of all different Ottoman classes, thereby providing us with
insight into individuals’ personal experiences and a capacity to capture a fuller
picture of past human experience by manifesting the cultural inclinations of
the individuals who compiled various texts for future personal and communal
reference, with these texts likely being produced and used as prompts for con-
sumption in an oral environment.
23 Tülün Değirmenci, “Bir kitabı kaç kişi okur? Osmanlı’da Okurlar ve Okuma Biçimleri
Üzerine Bazı Gözlemler”, Tarih ve Toplum: Yeni Yaklaşımlar 13 (2011), 7-43.
24 For a recent and very important source on the study of mecmuas see: Hanife Koncu –
Hatice Aynur – Müjgan Çakır – Selim S. Kuru (eds), Mecmua: Osmanlı Edebiyatının Kır-
kambarı: Eski Türk Edebiyatı Çalışmaları VII, Istanbul 2012.
738
Forms of literacy
25 Cf. Pervane bin Abdullah, “Mecmûatü’n-nezâir” (1560), Ms. Topkapı Bağdat Köşkü Lib-
rary, B.406.
739
R. Aslıhan AKSOY-SHERIDAN
ful approach or way into understanding the area of Ottoman manuscript pro-
duction and consumption.
740
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 TREATISE
ON CALIPHAL AND SULTANIC PROTOCOLS
Nabil Al-Tikriti*
February 1513 was a turbulent month, falling at one of the pivotal moments of
the 1511-13 succession struggle between princes Şehinşah (d. 1511), Ahmed
(d. 1513), Korkud (d. 1513), and Selim (d. 1520). Although most summaries of
Ottoman history discount the significance of this contest and state simply that
Yavuz Selim reigned as sultan from his father Bayezid’s retirement and subse-
quent death in 1512 to his own death in 1520, the real situation at the beginning
of his reign was far more complicated, contested, and indeterminate. Launc-
hed with Korkud’s sudden desertion of his Antalya post for Manisa in March
1511, which led to the immediate outbreak of the Şahkulu rebellion, the contest
had already witnessed several twists and turns prior to Bayezid’s stepping down
in April 1512. After he died a month later, an uncomfortable period of coter-
minous rule continued for several more months as Korkud governed Manisa,
Ahmed reigned in Amasya, and Selim ruled as something of a first among equ-
als, albeit as the officially enthroned padışah in Istanbul. By May of 1513 it was
all over, as Selim’s agents had successfully dispatched all rival male relatives to
the next world.1
The story of Yavuz Selim’s violent, divisive, and highly contested rise to
power was later justified by court historians in a carefully sanitized fashion via
a number of narrative histories which have come to be referred to collectively
741
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
as Selīmnāmes.2 Written after the events in question had come to pass, in some
cases long after, these works served to vindicate Selim’s actions to an audience
that needed some persuading. This genre, due to its importance in the evolution
of Ottoman historiography, has attracted a modicum of attention from modern
scholars. At the same time, however, fürstenspiegel works written in the midst
of his turbulent rise to power have attracted almost no attention whatsoever.
During this tense, dangerous, and ultimately untenable situation, at least
three writers presented such treatises to Selim’s court offering both advice and
promotion of his supreme status. Although these three brief “mirrors for prin-
ces” works vary widely in style and content, they shared the primary goal of
buttressing Selim’s legitimacy in the midst of widespread violence.
The first treatise presented was the anonymous 1512 Risāla fī sharḥ qaṣīda
julūs Sulṭān Salīm Khān. This brief commentary, completed on 23 July 1512,
analyzed a Persian poem composed on the occasion of Selim’s coming to power
three months earlier. Most of the commentary was devoted to demonstrating
how verses in the poem point via symbolic wordplay to “Selim” and “Sultan.” The
commentary argued that Bayezid, referred to here as the “Ṣāḥib Ḳirān” (Mas-
ter of the Conjunction), voluntarily handed power over to Selim. The work was
the first to appear in a majmū‘a collection which also featured several works
addressing issues of heresy, apostasy, the rectitude of whirling, and other topics
concerning correct belief and behavior.3 Considering the politics of the day,
it is noteworthy that the commentary makes no mention of Kızılbaş rebels or
apostasy. The anonymous author credits Selim with having risen to the “abode
of the caliphate,” which confirms an Ottoman claim to holding the caliphate
even prior to Selim’s 1517 conquest of the Mamluks.
Shams al-Dīn Jahramī, an otherwise unknown writer, completed the last of
the three treatises in 11 February 1514. Later entitled Risāla siyāsiyya barā-yi
Sulṭān Salīm, this brief work of 22 folios consisted mostly of panegyrics, note-
worthy primarily for his choice of terminology. By that date Selim had elimi-
nated all potential rivals, and was soon to embark on his campaign against the
Safavids, which culminated in the decisive Ottoman victory at Çaldıran and
subsequent march to Tabriz. In the opening benediction of this text, Jahramī
2 Most of these works have now been edited and published. The most influential analy-
sis of the works, largely responsible for classifying them as a genre, was M. C. Şehābettin
Tekindağ, “Selim-nāmeler,” Tarih Enstitüsü Dergisi 1 (1970), 197-231.
3 Anon, Risāla fī sharḥ qaṣīda julūs Sulṭān Salīm Khān, Haci Selim Ağa 560/1, ff. 1-31.
742
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 treatise
4 Shams al-Dīn Jahramī, Risāla siyāsiyya barā-yi Sulṭān Salīm, Topkapı Sarayı MS Revan
1614, ff. 1a-4a.
5 Jahramī, Risāla siyāsiyya barā-yi Sulṭān Salīm, f. 5a.
6 For accounts of Idrīs-i Bidlisī’s life and career, see V.L. Ménage, “Idrīs-i Bidlisī,” EI²,
1:1207b-1208b, M. Törehan Serdar, Mevlāna Hakīmüddīn Idris-i Bitlisī, Istanbul 2008,
Ebru Sönmez, Idris-i Bidlisi: Ottoman Kurdistan and Islamic Legitimacy, Istanbul 2012,
Sara Nur Yildiz, “Ottoman Historical Writing in Persian, 1400-1600,” Charles Melville
(ed.), Persian Historiography: A History of Persian Literature, vol. X, New York 2011, 483-
495.
743
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
ted to his portrayal of some events and the actions of certain high individuals,
Bidlisī’s magnum opus was received with less than full enthusiasm. Having rece-
ived neither the payment nor the official post he had hoped for from his new
patrons, Idrīs remained in frustrated semi-retirement throughout the remain-
der of Bayezid’s reign.7
At some point Bidlisī requested leave to fulfill his ḥajj obligations, the classic
gesture upon accepting one’s losses and leaving the professional arena. Perhaps
since he had not fully completed Hasht Bihisht, which still lacked a conclusion,
he was initially not permitted to leave. His request was only said to be granted
in the summer of 1511, soon after H̲ ādım Ali Paşa’s death in battle against the
Kızılbaş rebels. Considering that this event marked both a major defeat by the
rebels and loss of one of Bayezid’s key supporters, Idrīs might have simply deci-
ded at that point to depart Ottoman territories for Mecca, sit out the worse of
the violence that was just beginning to break out, and see how events unfold. At
the same time, since Bidlisī later complained explicitly about his treatment at
the hands of “the minister” H̲ ādım Ali Paşa, as well as “the judge” Mü’eyyetzāde
(d. 1516), his ability to leave Bayezid’s court in 1511 may have been contingent
on the fall of this minister.8
Sensing an opportunity following Bayezid’s death and the rise to power of
the Persian speaking and eastern oriented Selim, Bidlisī came out of his self-
induced retirement by dispatching an advice piece aimed at demonstrating his
literary skill, political shrewdness, and analytical acumen. The submission must
have been fairly successful, because Bidlisī soon thereafter submitted the long-
awaited conclusion to his Hasht Bihisht, taking the opportunity to complain
about his treatment at Bayezid’s court while glorifying Selim’s political prowess
and relating the story of Selim’s rise to power and defeat of his brothers.9
Selim soon thereafter requested Bidlisī’s return to court, where he went on to
play a key role persuading his fellow Kurdish clan leaders throughout Eastern
Anatolia to join the Ottoman side in the wake of the 1514 Çaldıran campaign.
Finally, he nearly completed his own contribution to the Selīmnāme genre with
the Salīmshāhnāma before his death in 1520. However, he died before he could
7 Sönmez, Idris-i Bidlisi, 39-49; Yildiz, Ottoman Historical Writing in Persian, 483-492.
8 Sönmez, Idris-i Bidlisi, 48-53.
9 Orhan Başaran, “Idris-i Bitlisi’nin Heşt Bihişt’inin Hātimesi: Metin, Inceleme, Çeviri”,
unpublished Ph.D dissertation, Atatürk Üniversitesi, Erzerum 2000; Sönmez, Idris-i
Bidlisi, 48-53.
744
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 treatise
complete it, leaving his son Abū al-Faẓl to submit an adjusted version of it to
Selim II’s court in 1567.10
Idrīs’s Advice
Entitled Risāla fī al-khilāfa wa ādāb al-salāṭīn, Idrīs-i Bidlisī’s advice piece was
the most extensive, detailed, abstract, and comprehensive of the three fürstens-
piegels.11 Completed at some point in Dhū al-Hijja 918 / February-March 1513,
the text was submitted during the same month that Selim sent his commander
Bıyıklı Mehmed (d. 1524) after Şehzade Ahmed in Central Anatolia, and Şeh-
zade Korkud was forced to flee his palace in Manisa for a cave near Antalya,
where he was soon caught, and soon thereafter executed. Although precise
dating is not possible, it appears likely that Idrīs decided to make his move
upon receiving such news about political developments in Rūm. Sensing at this
point that victory was near for Selim, Bidlisī dispatched his Risāla from Mecca
as an ornate form of job application and cover letter.
The treatise numbers 43 folios, and for reasons not entirely clear, in certain
parts Bidlisī mixed Arabic and Persian syntax within the same sentence, ren-
dering the text at times quite difficult to understand. If he was trying to imp-
ress Selim with his ambidextrous facility with the two languages, one can only
hope the intended reader shared his enthusiasm for blended grammar. If he
was trying to create a new literary vernacular reflective of some regional Eas-
tern Anatolian or Kurdish milieu, his attempt seems not to have succeeded. At
times the grammar seems sufficiently off to imply that a skillful writer used to
such high Persian literary conventions as Idrīs-i Bidlisī could not have written
this work. An anecdote about Bidlisī’s rhetorical use of Arabic and Persian in
the later Sharafnāme hints at how he might have intended to mix his use of the
two languages. At some point he had written in Persian that Shāh Ismā‘īl follo-
wed “the false sect” (madhhab-i nā ḥaqq). When asked by Ismā‘īl if that was the
case, Idrīs replied that he had indeed written that, but that he had meant to say
the identical phrase in Arabic, meaning “our sect is true” (madhhabnā ḥaqq).12
745
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
746
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 treatise
in command over you”.15 Although the ḥadīth quote is somewhat opaque in that
it does not clarify who the rightful caliph is, it appears that with these quotes
Bidlisī was justifying total and unitary submission to the victorious candidate.
Supporters of the losing brothers must not have been encouraged by this line
of reasoning, which Bidlisī was making even before Şehzade Ahmed had lost
the succession struggle.
Expanding his point on general obedience and the need for a unitary calip-
hate, Bidlisī then cited Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (d. 634) as an example of a caliph
being chosen for merit, supporting his point with statements by al-Zamakhsharī
(d. 1143/4) that obedience is owed to a sharī‘a abiding commander, and Jurjānī
(d. 1413) that the imām is determined by the peoples’ oath of loyalty.16 Bidlisī
continued this part of the discussion by affirming that all must confirm “jihād
for the caliphate with the Muslims until Judgment Day” according to the cove-
nant between God and mankind, before concluding with a rather abstract exp-
loration of the relationship between spirits and bodies according to Aristotelian
logic.17
At this point, Bidlisī switched rhetorical gears completely, moving from Ara-
bic to Persian and from religiously to historically based justifications for Selim’s
legitimacy. In a subtle slap at ministers, he then compared the accounts about
both Heraclius and Khosrow receiving letters from the prophet Muḥammad
inviting their conversion to Islam. According to the account, Heraclius res-
ponded that he approved of the message, but his ministers were antagonistic.
When he heard that, Muḥammad stated that it was incumbent upon Muslims
to conquer his lands, and whoever does so would win possession of “all the
lands below”. Bidlisī expanded on that statement to claim that whoever rules
as padishāh in Rūm inherits the right to Heraclius’ empire, and all the lands
he formerly ruled. By expressing his hope “that God, the Lord of both worlds,
wills it in the time of this padishāh”, Bidlisī not only argued for the Ottoman
747
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
inheritance of the Roman legacy, but effectively specified his hope that Selim
would conquer his own Mesopotamian lands as part of that same inheritance.
In contrast to Heraclius, Khosrow immediately tore up and threw away the
same letter. As a result, Muḥammad prayed for God to destroy their property
altogether. According to Bidlisī, that is why in Persia when the padishāh dies,
he is not succeeded by his son. This last statement appears to blame Khosrow’s
actions for the violence and turmoil Iran was suffering in the wake of an Aqqo-
yunlu succession struggle that had gotten out of hand and allowed the Safavids
to triumph.18
Taking another subtle jab at whoever had been advising Selim up to that
point, Bidlisī then mentioned listening for Selim’s name during the Friday
khutba after he had made his failed move on Edirne. Quoting Farīd al-Dīn
‘Aṭṭār’s (d. 1221) Manṭiq al-Ṭayr, he then articulated the need for wisdom and
proper advice when given the gift of rulership. Tying the need for obedience to
potential longevity and the independent will of God, Bidlisī meditated on the
supplication “I am the unfortunate and weakest of servants, worthy of prayer”.
He had found this prayer in the Maqāmāt of Khwāja ‘Abdullāh Samarqandī, a
figure whom he claimed to have lived 125 years.19 He was said to have lived that
long due to his pious lifestyle and obedience to God. Concerning this point on
longevity, Bidlisī agreed with Sa‘d al-Dīn Taftazānī (d. 1389), who followed the
Ash‘arī position via al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) that God has the omnipotence to leng-
then one’s life from 40 years to 70 years should God so desire.20
Glossing over the remainder of his religious justifications for Selim’s legiti-
macy, Bidlisī continued on to advocate the primacy of sharī‘a experts in gover-
nance and defend Shāfi‘ī arguments concerning the role of ḥadīth in legal and
theological argumentation.21 While something of a diversion in terms of direct
support for Selim’s sole rule, these arguments appear to have provided somet-
hing of a sampling of Bidlisī’s legal knowledge, as well as a blueprint of the sorts
18 ibid, ff. 6a-7a. For his stories of Heraclius and Khosrow Bidlisī cited the otherwise un-
known “tafsīr of Tatarkhāniyya”, by which he may have meant the well-known Fatawā-yi
Tatarkhāniyya by the Hanafī scholar ‘Alim b. ‘Alā al-Dīn (d. ca. 1398). For analysis of the
Aqqoyunlu collapse, see John Woods, The Aqqoyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire, Salt
Lake City, 1999, 2nd edition.
19 Bidlisī, Risāla fī al-khilāfa wa ādāb al-salāṭīn, ff. 7a-8b. I could find no certain reference
to this figure.
20 ibid, ff. 8b-9b.
21 ibid, ff. 9b-27b.
748
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 treatise
749
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
sian, the whole time utilizing Farīd al-Dīn ‘Aṭṭār’s Manṭiq al-ṭayr as his interp-
retive vehicle. In Bidlisī’s presentation, Sulaymān tells ‘Aṭṭār’s lead bird, the Hud
Hud, who is taken to be an intermediary, that he will see whether a message he
had just received was truthful or not.26 Bidlisī then cited Ibn ‘Abbās’ interpreta-
tion that the meaning of Sulaymān’s hesitation was to warn sultans who came
after him to investigate carefully what they are told by any messenger.27 With
this comment, Bidlisī may have been encouraging Selim to ignore gossip direc-
ted against him by those in his court whom he inherited from his father’s reign.
Continuing his analysis of Sūrat al-naml, Bidlisī next quotes Bilqis, the fabled
Queen of Sheba, who discussed with her advisors how to respond to Sulaymān’s
letter asking her to meet him in submission (as a Muslim). They encouraged
her to react strongly, promising to back her but ultimately leaving the decision
to her.28 Bidlisī’s comment on this exchange again quietly slighted Selim’s advi-
sors by stating that Bilqis’ advisors had acted as they should, by conveying to
her the truth. Continuing Bilqis’ quote in Sūrat al-naml, she pointed out that
since kings destroy things when they enter cities, she decided to send Sulaymān
a gift to avoid such an outcome.29 Bidlisī then interpreted this verse to mean
that Bilqis symbolized an envoy bringing messages from one’s own mouth, tra-
veling from sultan to sultan. At least one in a hundred persons must be brought
before the sultan, because the sultan is the “shadow of God” on earth.30
26 Qur’ān 27:27-28: “We will see whether you were truthful or were of the liars. Take this
letter of mine and deliver it to them. Then leave them and see what [answer] they will re-
turn.” For an explanation of ‘Aṭṭār’s use of this sūra, see Omid Safi’s entry at: http://www.
sevenpillarshouse.org/article/the_ancient_secrets_of_love/
27 Bidlisī, Risāla fī al-khilāfa wa ādāb al-salāṭīn, ff. 29a-29b. This should refer to ‘Abd Allāh
b. ‘Abbas (d. 687), one of the companions of the Prophet Muḥammad credited with a fa-
mous early work of tafsīr Qur’ān commentary.
28 Qur’ān 27:29-33: “She said, ‘O eminent ones, indeed, to me has been delivered a noble
letter. Indeed, it is from Solomon, and indeed, it reads: ‘In the name of God, the Entirely
Merciful, the Especially Merciful, Be not haughty with me but come to me in submission
[as Muslims].’” She said, ‘O eminent ones, advise me in my affair. I would not decide a
matter until you witness [for] me.’ They said, ‘We are men of strength and of great mili-
tary might, but the command is yours, so see what you will command.’”
29 Qur’ān 27:34-35: “She said, ‘indeed kings - when they enter a city, they ruin it and render
the honored of its people humbled. And thus do they do. But indeed, I will send to them
a gift and see with what [reply] the messengers will return.’”
30 Bidlisī, Risāla fī al-khilāfa wa ādāb al-salāṭīn, ff. 29b-31a.
750
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 treatise
Bidlisī then interjected what appear to be his own verses about Bayezid
Bisṭāmī (d. 877/8):
“One night Bayezid went out from the town,
And saw the world free from the noise of the people,
The shaykh, as he roamed around the desert,
Saw that nobody was moving, either in the desert or the valley.
By force there came this inner tumultuous feeding in his heart,
He said: “O God, in my heart there is this tumult.”
The voice from beyond said: “Oh bewildered of the path.
The King does not allow everyone into his presence.
The dignity of this gate necessitates that
From our door be kept away every beggar.
In our sacred sanctuary may He cast light.
May the sleeping ignorance be thrown away”.31
The prime message of Bidlisī’s poem appears to be that Selim’s court, like
God’s, should not be open to just anyone. Bidlisī put himself in the role of Baye-
zid, approaching Selim’s court from the wilderness. As he saw it, participants in
Selim’s court should be strictly limited, and those possessing the wisdom of a
shaykh, such as Bidlisī, should clearly be eligible for entry.
Returning to the parable of Bilqīs and Sulaymān, Bidlisī next explained in
Persian what Bilqis would have said, embellishing Sūrat al-naml with her sta-
ting that “if Sulaymān gravitates towards wealth, I shall fight. If he does not
desire [wealth], I shall become Muslim, as the truth of his religion would have
become manifest”. Upon hearing this, Sulaymān retorted in Sūrat al-naml that
God has given him more than any gift she could give him, and that she would be
powerless to stop any soldiers he might send.32 Again embellishing the Qur’anic
version, Bidlisī’s Sulaymān responded to the envoy with this address: “they are
degraded, this is the summary of their status”. The messenger then related to
Sulaymān the status of Bilqis and her people, expressing it with eloquence. The
envoy stated that Bilqis is “an ugly girl without intelligence. Her hands and legs
are full of hair; however, she is the daughter of a padishāh”. At that point, the
751
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
padishāh Sulaymān understood that the envoy was lying. Reverting again to
his response in Sūrat al-naml, Sulaymān asked an assembly of jinns who would
bring him her throne, which one jinn volunteered to do.33 Bidlisī stated that
the purpose of this verse was to highlight the justice of Sulaymān, who was
known for sitting in court every day from morning to noon prayers. Returning
to Sūrat al-naml, another court official who was knowledgeable about scripture
(whom Bidlisī identified as ‘Āṣif b. Barkhyā, Sulaymān’s minister) stated that “I
will bring it to you before you can blink an eye”.34 Sulaymān effectively respon-
ded that this was a test from God to see if he would be grateful.35
According to Bidlisī, since the messenger had lied to Sulaymān about Bilqis
having hands and legs full of hair, they say that Sulaymān had a house built for
them as a test. He built a pool inside the house, stocked it with water and fish,
and gave it to Qārūn, the prototypical greedy man of wealth who attributed
his good fortune to his own knowledge, refused to accept Moses’ message, and
whom God had the earth swallow along with his home.36 Returning to Sūrat
al-naml, Sulaymān did this to disguise her throne and test her intelligence and
perception in terms of being guided to the right religion.37 Bidlisī then expla-
ined the verse in terms of how Bilqis was to be tested by making her throne
unrecognizable because males need to be preponderant over females as they
are superior guides. For this reason, Sulaymān had duplicate thrones built to
test her, and since he was not outside his palace, he invited her inside. Retur-
ning to Sūrat al-naml, he asked her if her throne was like this, and she respon-
ded that it was.38 Skipping the next verse, Bidlisī explained that at this point
33 ibid, ff. 32b-33a, quoting Qur’ān 27:38-39: “[Solomon] said, ‘O assembly [of jinn], which
of you will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?’ A powerful one
from among the jinn said, ‘I will bring it to you before you rise from your place, and in-
deed, I am for this [task] strong and trustworthy.’”
34 ibid, ff. 33a-b, quoting Qur’ān 27:40.
35 ibid, f. 33b, quoting Qur’ān 27:40: “and when [Solomon] saw it placed before him, he
said, ‘This is from the favor of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrate-
ful. And whoever is grateful - his gratitude is only for [the benefit of] himself. And who-
ever is ungrateful - then indeed, my Lord is Free of need and Generous.’”
36 ibid, ff. 33b-34a. Qārūn’s story is alluded to in five chapters of the Qur’ān: 9, 22, 28, 29,
and 40.
37 ibid, f. 34a, quoting Qur’ān 27:41: “He said, ‘disguise for her her throne; we will see wheth-
er she will be guided [to truth] or will be of those who is not guided.’”
38 ibid, ff. 34a-b, quoting Qur’ān 27:42: “So when she arrived, it was said [to her], ‘Is your
throne like this?’ She said, ‘[It is] as though it was it.’”
752
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 treatise
Sulaymān realized that she was lying, because some of the throne’s details had
been changed. Returning to Sūrat al-naml for the last time, Sulaymān invited
her into the palace, where she bared her shins as if to wade into the pool.39 In
Bidlisī’s final commentary on this chapter, continuing to echo ‘Aṭṭār’s, he stated
that when Bilqis pulled up her skirt, Sulaymān saw that her legs were white and
clear like a Hūrī’s, and that she was beautiful. As a result, he learned that the
Hud Hud bird had lied to him.
‘Aṭṭār’s, and Bidlisī’s, commentary on Sūrat al-naml offers a completely dif-
ferent moral of the story than the Qur’ān’s somewhat mystifying original. The
main point of Sūrat al-naml was to demonstrate how the unbelieving Queen of
Sheba came to realize her error when the faithful Sulaymān had demonstrated
how her perception of reality was not always reliable. In Bidlisī’s interpretation
of the same passage, the main point of the parable was to show how envoys and
advisors cannot be fully trusted, and how rulers must investigate their state-
ments fully in order to gain an accurate perception of what is true and accurate.
Bidlisī opened his next section, a Persian poetic commentary on the suf-
fering inflicted on prophets, by stating that “the statement of the envious and
lying one is a tale which demonstrates the inflicting of suffering upon prophets
in this world”.40 Then Bidlisī cited a ḥadīth whereby the Prophet Muhammad
stated that “prophets suffer the most tribulations, followed by the most eminent
ones, meaning those men who suffer on account of their religion – and indeed
those who are firm in their faith suffer the most”.41 In his poem, Bidlisī outli-
ned the respective trials and tribulations endured by Noah, Abraham, Ishmael,
Jacob, Joseph, Job, Jonah, Moses, David, John, Jesus, and Muhammad. Consi-
dering that Idrīs’ namesake, Enoch, is also considered a prophet, Bidlisī here
appears to have been drawing a parallel with his own experience, as he too had
suffered trials and tribulations for his faith. Considering his personal biography
of fleeing the Safavids in 1501, encountering political difficulties at the Otto-
man court, and then being obliged to leave for Mecca, it seems as though Bidlisī
may have suffered from some sort of martyr complex at this point in his life.
Effectively restating his previous points about the trustworthiness of advisors
39 ibid, ff. 34b-35a, quoting Qur’ān 27:44: “She was told, ‘Enter the palace.’ But when she saw
it, she thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade through]. He
said, ‘Indeed, it is a palace [whose floor is] made smooth with glass.’”
40 ibid, ff. 35a-b.
41 ibid, f. 35b, quoting a ḥadīth related by “Sa‘d,” which appears to be Tirmidhī 1562.
753
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
and envoys, this poetic tribute to prophets also served to remind the reader
that Idrīs/Enoch was the prophet known for being trustworthy and holding the
highest ethical ideals.42
Bidlisī then addressed the Sufi critique concerning power and wealth, first
by citing Sūrat Yūnis 10:62, “Indeed [for] the friends of God there is no fear for
them, nor shall they grieve.” Bidlisī then cited a ḥadīth where Salmān al-Farsī
asked the Prophet Muhammad what a “friend” of God is, and he responded
that “the friends are the believers who love each another for God, not for their
subsistence”.43 At this point, he then made a strong statement of his own, that
“there is no contradiction between the purification of the heart and either wiel-
ding power or possession of many worldly goods”. To justify this point, Bidlisī
cited Abū al-Layth [al-Samarqandi]: “Truly God, be He exalted, has decided on
the existence of the world until its time. There is no existence without prospe-
rity, and no prosperity without government. Government cannot stand without
wealth. Therefore, paying tribute to the ruler and the tithe to deserving Mus-
lims is an obligation”.44 Here Bidlisī chose to argue directly against the views of
Şehzade Korkud, who was executed within days of this treatise’s completion.
According to Korkud, there was absolutely no way for a Muslim striving to
purify the heart to do so while wielding governmental power.45 By countering
Korkud’s views on the ethics of rule for the piety minded, Bidlisī here has reas-
sured the reader (i.e. Selim) that he can be not only a trustworthy advisor, but
one untroubled by issues of the potential contradictions between piety and real
world calculations.
In his final section, which deals with the “arrangement of the army”, Bidlisī
drew lessons from the cases of Alexander Dhū al-Qarnayn and Çingiz Khān to
justify potential military policy. This section is not greatly detailed, but seems
to be designed to persuade Selim that Bidlisī is knowledgeable about military
affairs and could be trusted in such a position. Bidlisī first cited three Qur’ānic
42 ibid, ff. 35b-37a. For a reference to the prophet Idrīs, see Qur’ān 19:56-57.
43 ibid, ff. 37a-b. For information on Salmān al-Farsī, see G. Levi Della Vida, “Salmān al-
Farsī,” EI², XII:701b-702b.
44 Bidlisī, Risāla fī al-khilāfa wa ādāb al-salāṭīn, ff. 37b-38a. For more information on Abū
al-Layth al-Samarqandī (d. ca. 983), see Joseph Schacht, “Abu’l-Layth al-Samarḳandī,”
EI², I:137a.
45 These were the main themes of Korkud’s magnum opus, Da‘wat al-nafs al-ṭāliḥa ilā al-
a‘māl al-ṣāliḥa, bi al-ayāt al-ẓāhira wa al-bayyināt al-bāhira, MS Aya Sofya 1763, ff. 1a-
29b.
754
IDRĪS-I BIDLISĪ’S 1513 treatise
verses which have God authorize Dhū al-Qarnayn to serve as an agent of God’s
justice on earth.46 According to Zamakhsharī’s Tafsīr al-kabīr, God told Dhū
al-Qarnayn by way of inspiration: “Oh, Dhū al-Qarnayn, I have given you [two]
choices as to your ruler.” Dhū al-Qarnayn said in reply: “As to who is an opp-
ressor, I will chastise him by killing him in this world, after which he will be
turned over to his Lord in the hereafter.” According to Bidlisī, Dhū al-Qarnayn
had subdued and killed the obstinate rulers who came into his hand, while he
acted kindly towards the obedient ones. This statement could only be read as
justification for Selim’s use of violence against his own male relatives, as well as
against the Kızılbaş rebels, and later Shāh Ismā‘īl.47
Bidlisī continued this third part of his treatise with a brief discussion of
military tactics, first repeating the Qur’anic verse whereby God has equipped
Dhū al-Qarnayn,48 and then commenting that God had given him an army, ins-
truments, and tools of kingship. With his mastery over these things, he would
organize his army extensively, in terms of dress, armor, teeth, bow and arrow,
and experienced men; and he would train brave men. The man whose hand
could shoot an arrow and hurl his sword would descend, and he would be com-
manded to pick up a broken piece of wood from a river in a place where there
would be a possibility of a surprise attack by the enemy. He would turn that
piece of wood into something like a scarecrow. The descendants of Çinghiz
Khan did the same.49
Continuing on, Bidlisī closed his somewhat self-serving fürstenspiegel with
a section describing in broad strokes tactics used by Çinghiz Khan. According
to Bidlisī, the Mongol leader had some 50,000 noteworthy arrow hurling and
sword wielding infantry in addition to his sipahi horsemen. In battle he would
divide his army into four parts, using an Arabian horse unit in an empty space
for the first part of the battle. That would draw in the enemy, at which point
46 Bidlisī, Risāla fī al-khilāfa wa ādāb al-salāṭīn, f. 38a, quoting Qur’ān 18:86-88: “We said:
‘O Dhū al-Qarnayn! (thou hast authority), either to punish them, or to treat them with
kindness.’ Whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his
Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before). But whoever be-
lieves, and works righteousness, he shall have a goodly reward, and easy will be his task
as we order it by our command.”
47 ibid, ff. 38a-39a.
48 ibid, f. 39a, quoting Qur’ān 18:84: “Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave
him the ways and the means to all ends.”
49 ibid, ff. 39a-b.
755
Nabil AL-TIKRITI
another section would defeat the enemy. He would place 4,000 of his most elite
and best armed men right before himself, so that he would not himself be occu-
pied with battle. It was not a large army, and to prevent an enemy victory, he
would place numerous runners in front of himself. One of their rules was to
place a commander for each ten, hundred, thousand, and ten thousand men, all
in agreement and cooperation with each other. That padishah knew the name
of every man, their job, and their timars. Those men would fight with all they
had, when ordered to do so.50
One of the Mongol rules was that those who did not fight effectively did
not receive their timar. Similarly to the prophet Muḥammad, whose primary
task was one of inspiration, Hülegü Khan placed Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Tūsī (d. 1274)
and several similar men in front of him so that they could organize affairs and
consult. One of these wise men, when facing the enemy, protected one of the
sipahis and regular soldiers when they fell in front of him. In the midst of figh-
ting many men considered his presence lucky, as at every side they were victo-
rious. For that reason, many joined his path. After thus implying that his own
employment might serve as a fortunate addition to Selim’s army for purposes
of consultation and military organization, Bidlisī’s final statement was that the
Mongols had many similar rules, and he had only selected a few to share.51
From this treatise one learns that Idrīs-i Bidlisī had hoped to rehabilitate
his reputation and gain consultative employment serving Yavuz Selim, who at
this point was on the verge of achieving the unitary sovereignty that Bidlisī
was advocating. In the course of the treatise, Bidlisī attempted to demonstrate
his knowledge of the religious and administrative sciences, history, diplomatic
affairs, and military tactics. While the treatise does not appear to have been a
masterpiece in the field, it was successful enough in its purpose that Bidlisī was
immediately summoned to Selim’s court, where he went on to play a key role
in negotiating the support of Kurdish lords in Eastern Anatolia to side with the
Ottomans in the immediate wake of Çaldıran. For that reason, one can only
admit that the treatise served its purpose well.
756
IOANNIS KALFOGLOU (1871-1931).
UN PATRIOTE OTTOMAN CONTROVERSÉ
757
Stavros Th. ANESTIDIS
2 Voir Şerif Mardin, Türk modernleşmesi, 2ème édition, Istanbul 1992, 62, 94-95.
3 Le sujet est discuté dans Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 2ème édition,
Londres, Oxford, New York 1969, 323-361, Niyazi Berkes, Türkiye’ de Çağdaşlaşma, Is-
tanbul s.d, 211, Roderic H. Davison, Essays in Ottoman and Turkish History, 1774-1923.
The Impact of the West, Austin 1990, 88. Cf. la publication des chansons patriotiques en
langue karamanlie: Τετζδιδί βατάν ιχγιασή. Καχραμανή Χουρριέτ, Νιαζή Ενβέρ, Κιρίδ,
Πόσνα, Χέρσεκ, Χουρριέτ, Βατάν σαρκηλαρή, [Istanbul 1908], qui coïncide avec la révo-
lution des Jeunes-Turcs.
758
Ioannis Kalfoglou (1871-1931)
ottoman mais qui s’exprima sur le plan culturel par la préservation de l’identité
ethnique du millet des Roums d’Asie Mineure4.
C’est à cet instant de l’historisme que circula à Constantinople, en 1899, la
Géographie historique du continent de l’Asie Mineure5. Son auteur, Ioannis Kal-
foglou, utilise l’écriture karamanlie pour communiquer avec ses pairs, les chré-
tiens turcophones. « Nous sommes des Anatoliens », déclare-t-il, de la même
façon qu’il aurait signifié son appartenance à un groupe sanguin. Par ce mode
de présentation, il s’assimile à une catégorie de population tout à fait distincte6.
Tout d’abord, le nom Kalfoglou renvoie à l’ami de Rigas Velestinlis, le poète
phanariote Alexandros Kalfoglou (ca.1725-ca.1797) qui, à la fin du 18ème siècle,
faisait la satire de la francophilie de son époque dans son ouvrage Versifica-
tion morale (Ηθική Στιχουργία, 1794). Malheureusement, en dépit des honneurs
dont jouissait Kalfoglou, ses éléments biographiques n’ont pas été conservés.
Nous savons seulement qu’il était né à Constantinople et qu’il était mort avant
1797. C’est aussi à Constantinople, précisément à Chryssoupolis (Üsküdar), que
naquit le second Kalfoglou dont les sources conservent la trace; l’érudit Ioannis,
fils de Ilias7. Il était issu de la famille de Lazaros Artzoglou, marchand notable
de la Pafra pontique. Olga Artzoglou, native du même endroit, témoigne que
dans le dernier quart du 19ème siècle il y avait à Pafra autour de trente familles
4 Ces tendances ont étés schématisées dans la stratégie et les expectations de l’Organisa-
tion de Constantinople (Οργάνωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως). Voir Athanassios Souliotis-
Nikolaidis, Οργάνωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, édit. par Thanos Vérémis-Katerina Boura,
Athènes – Ioannina 198461-64. Cf. Charles Bigot, Grèce – Turquie – Le Danube, Paris
1886, 269-271, N. Nicolaidès, Les Grecs et la Turquie, Bruxelles 1910, 138.
5 Μικρά Ασία Κητασηνήν Ταριχιέ Δζαγραφιασή, Μουχαρριρί «Ανατολή» γαζέταση
μουχαρριρλερινδέν Ι. Η. Κάλφογλους, Νασιρλερί Αδελφοί Μισαηλίδαι, Μεαρίφ ναζαρέτι
δζελιλεσινίν φι 23 Φεβρουάριος 1314 ταριχλού βέ 804 νόμερολη ρουχσατή ιλέ τάπ-ου-
νεσρ οληνμήσδηρ, Δερισααδετδέ, Αδελφοί Μισαηλίδαι Ματπαασηνδά τάπ οληνμήσδηρ,
1899. Pour l’édition en grec de cet œuvre voir Ioannis I. Kalfoglous, Ιστορική Γεωγραφία
της Μικρασιατικής Χερσονήσου, texte traduit et commenté par Stavros Th. Anestidis,
Athènes 2002.
6 Voir Kalfoglous, Ιστορική Γεωγραφία, 5.
7 Voir Odysseus Lampsidis, «Ιωάννης Η. Κάλφογλους, Ιστορική Γεωγραφία της Μικρα-
σιατικής Χερσονήσου, Εισαγωγή – μετάφραση – σχόλια: Σταύρος Θ. Ανεστίδης, Αθήνα,
Κέντρο Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, 2002, 229 σελ. + εικ. + χάρτης», Deltio Kentrou Mikra-
siatikon Spoudon 16 (2009), 421-428, pour des éléments biographiques et ergographiques
complémentaires.
759
Stavros Th. ANESTIDIS
8 Voir Centre d’Etudes d’Asie Mineur, Archive de Tradition Orale, Pont-Euxin, Région de
Pafra, Département de Pafra 138.
9 Voir Ζινδζίδερέ καργεσινδέ πουλουνάν Ιωάννης Πρόδρομος Μοναστηρή γιάχοδ Μονή
Φλαβιανών. Μουχαρριρί Ανατολή γαζετασηνήν σαπήκ Μουδίρ βε Μουχαρριρί Ιωάννης
Η. Κάλφογλους, Istanbul 1898, 400. Pour ce Séminaire renommé cf. la monographie ma-
nuscrite de Ioannis Tsourouktsis, Η κατά Καισάρειαν Ιερατική Σχολή, Athènes 1967, Ma-
nuscrits du Centre d’Etudes d’Asie Mineure, Cappadoce 343.
10 Voir Ζινδζίδερέ καργεσινδέ πουλουνάν Ιωάννης Πρόδρομος Μοναστηρή, op. cit., 92 et sq.
11 Pour ce périodique de longue durée voir Petros Pl. Misailidis, Ιστορικές εφημερίδες του
περασμένου αιώνα. «Ανατολή», s.l. [Athènes] s.d.
12 Caractérisé ainsi dans Εκκλησιαστική Αληθεία, vol. X (1890), 4
760
Ioannis Kalfoglou (1871-1931)
761
Stavros Th. ANESTIDIS
762
Ioannis Kalfoglou (1871-1931)
763
Stavros Th. ANESTIDIS
764
Ioannis Kalfoglou (1871-1931)
765
Stavros Th. ANESTIDIS
766
Ioannis Kalfoglou (1871-1931)
767
“ROLE MODEL” DEFINED FOR THE
OTTOMAN INDIVIDUALS AND ITS CHANGE
THROUGHOUT TIME
768
“Role model” defined for the Ottoman individuals
• What is “socialization” and how can its process help us better specify this
“individual”?
• What do we mean by the term “role model”?
As we all know, it is almost impossible to talk about a “homogeneous” Otto-
man Society positioned in a vast territory known as memalik-i mahruse. We
may not assess “homogeneity” in any part of those various social structures
termed as either cemaat or taife and having different regional, climatic, geolo-
gical, geographical, ethnic and cultural identities of their own, originating from
the Persian steppes to the Danube river basin, and from northern Black Sea to
northern Africa. Bearing this fact in mind, can we still talk about any characte-
ristics in common despite, all those mentioned disparities?
Well, yes. We think that there is an “Ottoman society” reflecting a common
culture of a particular time, united under Ottoman political authority. Likewise,
we think that it is possible to specify an Ottoman individual as a member of
Ottoman society with considerable representational power. Despite all the dis-
parities, there exists an Ottoman individual with common characteristics.
As a concept of sociology and social psychology, socialization is a process
that shapes the moral structure of society involving behavioral patterns, attitu-
des, knowledge, manners, and principles of law. Any individual, in any society,
has to enter into this process of socialization, into this superstructural process
in which individuals “learn” those superstructural norms. This is how an indi-
vidual would define his own existence in a society.1 And in every society, there
is a system of value judgments constructed by those norms which determines
what is “right” and what is “wrong”. Now, we may proceed to defining what a
“role model” is.
Role model is a typology proposed to individuals by the society they live
in, specified within the boundaries of what is defined as “normal”.2 Sometimes,
such unattainable values would be attributed to this role model that it would
become a typology that could never even exist. It is similar to the concept of
insan-ı kamil used in Eastern cultures, meaning a perfect human being. İnsan-ı
1 Barlas Tolan − Galip İsen − Veysel Batmaz, Ben ve Toplum, Ankara 1985, 49.
2 The term role model generally means “any person who serves as an example, whose be-
havior is emulated by others”. The term first appeared in Robert K. Merton’s socialization
research of medical students. Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves
with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which the individual as-
pires.
769
Özer ERGENÇ – Nil TEKGÜL
kamil is what everybody desires to be, however may never be. Defining the basic
characteristics of this role model behavior may enable us to better understand
historical societies existing at a specific time and place.
All the individuals “learn” how to live in a society. Socialization is essenti-
ally a process of “learning”. How then was this knowledge being produced and
transmitted?
Every institution possesses a social function of its own; at the same time it
has the responsibility of creating a mode of behavior consistent with its func-
tion and of transmitting the knowledge required for such a behavior. Members
of all social layers of society had access to various kinds of knowledge with
differing tones and content. Starting from the smallest social unit, the family,
traditions accumulated from previous generations and a course of conduct was
transmitted by parents. Transmission practices also existed in neighborhood
districts -mahalle- where someone would acquire various kinds of knowledge
from his friends, elders of the neighborhood, district school, neighbors, coffee-
houses and such. In the outmost cycle of those practices, polities have their own
ideologies, and try to make their members be aware of this ideology codified in
the knowledge produced.
Actually we may specify the concepts and classification of knowledge as
follows;1
1 Nil Tekgül, “Reflections of an External World in the Ottoman Mind: The production and
transmission of Knowledge in the 18th century Ottoman Society”, unpublished M.A. the-
sis, Ihsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, Ankara 2011, 16.
770
“Role model” defined for the Ottoman individuals
II. Knowledge of Islamic mysticism was transmitted within dervish lodges,
tekke, and places for Sufi gathering, dergah. Defined as knowledge of either
hal or marifet in the Ottoman system of knowledge, it would be transmitted
to mürids, disciples, who had entered the path of a particular mürşid, mentor.
Again, the channels of transmission may be summarized as such.
2 Ibid, 26-44.
771
Özer ERGENÇ – Nil TEKGÜL
III. Craftsmen guilds, esnaf örgütleri, were also another organization for
production and transmission of knowledge for those who wanted to learn a
profession to make a living.
Besides their social functions, public spaces like kahvehanes, bozahanes,
hamams, meyhanes, and mosques were important places where knowledge was
transmitted orally. In Ottoman Turkish they were called in general “mecma’-i
nas”, places of social gathering places.
The following figure summarizes how the knowledge produced in the above
mentioned institutions, social structures and spaces is transmitted to public.
Although in this table it looks like different kinds of knowledge were pro-
duced and transmitted within its own organizational structure, the boundaries
772
“Role model” defined for the Ottoman individuals
were not clear. An alim could be a member of a tarikat at the same time, a mün-
tesibin could also be a member of a guild, or a talebe-i ulum in medrese could as
well be an ehl-i belde. Therefore, knowledge produced in different spaces would
appeal to the society as a whole constructing a common perception of know-
ledge. It was rather a transitional structure as a whole.
773
Özer ERGENÇ – Nil TEKGÜL
774
“Role model” defined for the Ottoman individuals
“... bunun re’y-i reşîdi üzere ola…”.4 Here, the leader of the guild is the one who
possesses rey-i reşid. His sentiments, judgments, opinions, ideas and reasoning
bear the characteristics that could not easily be sensed or applied by the others.
With these possessed features, they also yielded sanctional power; and those
leaders were important sources of transmitting knowledge.
These leaders had the responsibility of structuring the “right” as shown in a
frequently used phrase, “terk-i edeb edenleri tenbih ve te’dib etmek”. Edeb in this
phrase was the most important “learned” pattern of behavior required by the
community.5
Besides these leading actors positioned as a “role model” in the society, there
was also a vast literature of anonymous works, functioning as an oral trans-
mission channel that would harbor the spiritual and intellectual world of the
individuals. In public places, already mentioned as mecma-i nas, narratives and
maxims would attract considerable interest. Let us give an example;
4 “.....halkbunun Pazarbaşı olmasını kabul ederse, mezbur pazarbaşı ola......” Özer Ergenç,
“Osmanlı Şehirlerindeki Yönetim Kurumlarının Niteliği Üzerinde Bazı Düşünceler”, VI-
II. Türk Tarih Kongresi, Ankara 1981, vol. 2, 1273.
5 Ibid, 1274.
775
Özer ERGENÇ – Nil TEKGÜL
What were the general characteristics of the “role model” epitomized in the
period that we define as classical?
From the state’s point of view:
From the society’s point of view: First of all, the society would demand from
the members of the community to show their consent and gratitude which was
termed as “rızâ ve şükrân üzere olmak”. It was almost impossible to survive in a
community lacking consent of other members. The society had developed vari-
ous ways to show their discontent. In a traditional society, if there was discon-
tent on any individual, or if his/her manners of conduct was disapproved, first
the community would disclose him/her with its own methods, then it would
turn to official authorities.
One of those methods of disclosure was to cover his/her door with tar, “gece-
leyin kapısına katran çalmak” which was quite frequent. Another one was to
complain for his/her frequent absence in the community or public, which was
phrased as “kendüsünün ne yapduğu ma‘lûmumuz değildür”. In such a case, it
was the responsibility of the accused to defend himself and clarify. We may
say that any distinctious behavior was prevented by the community itself. The
process that harbored this “role model” continued till the end of 16th century.
Period of change
During 17th and 18th centuries the features of the role model did not change
in form. However, mobility did change the perception of a static world-order.
The features of a role model could not be that stringent anymore, in a time
when there was vertical mobility from reaya strata to askeri, or when individu-
als would even force the doors of the capital, in order to be able to make a living.
776
“Role model” defined for the Ottoman individuals
Change from the state’s point of view. With the increase of vertical mobi-
lity in the Ottoman society, one of the basic characteristics of the individual,
i.e. obedience (itaat) with no sense of responsibility on state-affairs, started to
change since there were many from the reaya strata who moved upwards on
the social scale to askeri strata, the administrative class. The individual of the
18th and 19th century was in a position to question the existing order and would
feel himself responsible instead of blaming the Sultan. On the eve of 19th cen-
tury, Ottoman individuals, under foreign influences, would possess further new
features. Therefore the ideal type of man of the 19th century was a man in a
way swaying between values constructed within and those implemented from
abroad, and someone who was in a constant quest.
Change from the society’s point of view. It is possible to notice the change
in almost all of the different communities called taifes, which were structu-
red in the classical period due to vertical and horizontal mobility. From a legal
point of view, the distinction between askeri and reaya would change to a great
extent. Likewise, a similar change is noticeable in neighborhoods and guilds.
The religious communities were the ones which changed to a lesser extent, or
did not change. But still, we may notice at least “some” change due to Reforma-
tion in Europe, since there were new denominations established.
What were those changes that were experienced then regarding different
communities?
Firstly, we see a considerable change in the neighborhood communities in
the 17th and 18th centuries, where in the classical period individuals were joint-
guarantors (müteselsilen kefil) to each other. With the increase in horizontal
mobility, there were more tenants or leaseholders seen within the neighbor-
hoods, a development that would relatively decrease the level of acquaintance.
In this respect, we do not see phrases like kapıya katran sürmek, or kendüsünü
mescidde ne zamandır görmezüz as signs of displeasure in the 18th and 19th cen-
turies. Expulsion from the neighborhood (mahalleden tard) is observed as a
penalty only for those who were proven guilty of some offense, something that
became considerably rare. With an increase in the number of tenants in the
neighborhoods, it was inevitable that individuals would learn to live together
with disparities. This change in the use of concepts or phrases may be interp-
reted as a sign of change in social life that may help us better understand the
individual becoming more and more independent.
777
Özer ERGENÇ – Nil TEKGÜL
The same process of transformation was true for the craftsmen guilds (hırfet
taifesi), too. While the guild members were to be “chosen” according to their
own traditions as şakird and educated by the mentors, üstad, with the incre-
ase of mobility this method of education has changed. Especially the yeniçeris
who gained power and entered the craftsmen guilds were to change the struc-
ture of the guilds. After all, change was inevitable with the entrance of foreign
goods to Ottoman cities. Additionally, similar lines of business combined with
each other giving way to new corporations. “Import substitution” policies were
implemented to hold a better control of increasing imports which led to new
manufacturing sites. As a result of these developments, wage-laboring would
become widespread and would change the conceptual perception of taife, crea-
ting new prototypes of individuals within traditional taifes, considerably diffe-
rent from the disciples (şakirds) of the classical period.
Conclusion
Now, up to this point, we have analyzed the periods of transformation in the
Ottoman society and the respective change in the features possessed by the
Ottoman individuals. We may list our results in this respect as follows:
Ottoman society showed a dialectic change throughout time. The social
order that is assumed to have taken its classical form in the 16th century was
already bearing a change within itself. However, this change originating from
within itself was rather slow, given the constraints of the contemporary conditi-
ons. Only in the early 17th century would the Empire face a larger-scale change,
with the impact of internal and external factors. With this rapid change, the
social order of the previous period took a new form. However, in time the new
form of social order became the ordinary, or the usual order up until 18th cen-
tury, when a new wave of change took place. Faced with a change, the exis-
ting order evolved to a new one leaving the previous as the ordinary. The new
became the ordinary until a new wave of change. That was the evolutionary
change and adaptation process which took place in time.
However, throughout this process of evolutionary change, the rate and fre-
quency of change was not experienced on a similar scale in all regions of the
Empire. The rate of change was much slower in regions which had reduced
access to transportation and communication channels for uniting with other
regions. The relative change was more apparent in regions which had more
778
“Role model” defined for the Ottoman individuals
779
KÜRDİSTAN GAZETESİ
(1898-1902)
Murat Issı*
Kürt basını
Kürdistan gazetesi ile birlikte start alan Kürt basını eldeki bulgulara göre ikinci
adımını 1908 yılında Kürd Teavün ve Terakki Gazetesi ile atmıştır.2 Neredeyse
yayımlanan her gazete veya dergi belirli bir politik çevrenin ürünü olmuştur.
Kürdistan gazetesiyle birlikte kesintisiz olarak günümüze kadar gelen Kürt
basınının en önemli özelliklerinden biri, genel olarak üzerinde yükseldiği coğ-
rafyadan uzakta, yabancı metropollerde ve genel olarak iki dilli bir yayın poli-
tikası izlemesi olmuştur.
19. yy.ın sonu itibariyle oluşmaya başlayan Kürt basını hakkında bugüne
kadar oluşturulmuş bir katalog mevcut değildir. Ancak, ülkeler esas alınarak
780
KÜrdistan gazetesi (1898-1902)
3 Kürt Basını olarak nitelendirdiğimiz gazete ve dergiler için metnin sonundaki Ek’e bakı-
nız.
4 Bedirhan kardeşler ve Bedirhan ailesiyle ilgili artık çok geniş bir bibliyografya mevcut-
tur. Bu konuda artık klasikleşen Malmîsanij, Cizîra Botanlı Bedirhaniler ve Bedirhani Ai-
lesi Derneği’nin Tutanakları, İstanbul 2010. Ayrıca: Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA)
İ..MTZ.(O5), 30/1685, 08 Zilhicce 1315. BOA Y..PRK.ŞH., 8/29, 29 Şevval 1315.
5 Bu çalışma 10., 12. ve 19. sayılar dışındaki sayılar incelenerek hazırlandı.
6 Gazetenin 1., 2., 3., 8., 9., 11., 15. ve 16. sayıları Kürtçe, diğer tüm sayılar ise Kürtçe ve
Türkçe olarak yayınlanmıştır.
781
Murat ISSI
782
KÜrdistan gazetesi (1898-1902)
Buna göre, genel olarak Osmanlının doğusunda yaşayan fakir, dinine bağlı,
cesur Kürt milleti herkes tarafından unutulmuştur. Ama yine de, İslam Hali-
fesinin doğu “sınır”larını korumakla gurur duymaktadırlar.8 Mevcut coğrafya-
nın vahşi, dağlık ve geçilmez oluşu, aynı zamanda Kürtlerin de bu coğrafyada
toplumsal örgütleniş biçimleri gereği çok kolay hareket edip adapte olabiliyor
olmaları, onları bölgedeki tüm egemen güçlerin gözünde politik bir müttefik
haline getirmiştir.
Bu tanımlamayı yaparken birçok dini terim veya başka toplulukları tanım-
lamada kullanılan bir kısım terimler Kürtler içinde kullanılmıştır. Buna kısaca
İslâm siyaset teorisinin lügâtçasına başvurulmuştur diyebiliriz. Bu kısmi ayrışma
sonraki yıllarda radikal milliyetçiler tarafından içi daha bir doldurularak kulla-
nıma sokulur. Örneğin, gel (people, λαός), millet (nation, έθνος), dewlet (state,
κράτος), êdalet (adalet), terimleri gibi.
2- Karşıtın belirlenmesi
Bu duruş ilk etapta kendiliğinden gerçekleşen, klasik bir şikayet biçiminde
görünüyor olsa da aslında milliyetçilik çalışmalarında önemli bir noktaya
temas etmektedir: Kendini tanımlamanın bir gerekçesi veya ön adımı olarak
karşıtını veya ötekini belirlemek.9
Gazetenin karşıt olarak esas aldığı ya da bilerek / bilmeyerek karşıt olarak
nitelediği toplumsal grup sadece Ermeniler değildir. Ermeniler, beraber yaşanı-
lan komşumuz ve kadim dostumuzudur ama bölgedeki politik gelişmeler anla-
tılırken felsefi dargörüşlülük gereği Ermeniler kendiliğinden karşıt durumuna
düşerler. Bu grup dışında Ruslar, Acemler, Romlar (Türkler), Araplar ve Girit
konusu üzerinden Yunanlılar da birer karşıttırlar. Bu yazılarda isteyerek veya
istemeyerek Hıristiyan topluluklar ötekileştirilmiştir. Bunun ipuçlarını Kürdis-
tan gazetesinde yeralan birçok yazıda yakalamak mümkündür.
8 Bedirhan Paşazade Mikdad Midhat Bey, “Şevketlu Azametlu Sultan Abdülhamid-i Sani
Hazretlerine Arzıhal-i Abidanemdir”, Kürdistan, a.g.e., c. I., s. 146 .
9 Alain Dieckhoff, Christophe Jaffrelot, Repenser le nationalisme. Théories et pratiques, Pa-
ris 2005 (Türkçe’ye tercüme edilmiş hali için bakınız: Alain Dieckhoff, Christophe Jaffre-
lot, Milliyetçiliği Yeniden Düşünmek. Kuramlar ve Uygulamalar, İstanbul 2010).
783
Murat ISSI
3- Eğitim
Üzerinde en çok tartışılan konulardan biridir. Hatta gazetenin kurucusu, gaze-
tenin çıkış amacının bu olduğu üzerinde özellikle belirlemelerde bulunmuş-
tur.10 Burada dikkati çeken en önemli noktalardan biri; hedef kitleden uzakta,
metropollerde yaşayan aydın grubunun eğitim gibi önemli bir sorunu, Kürt
ulema ve büyüklerine yüklemeleridir.
Eğitim konusunda belki de en dikkate değer nokta; Aşiret Mektebi konu-
sundaki görüşlerdir. Görüldüğü kadarıyla gazete, Sultan Abdulhamid’in Arap
ve Kürt aşiretlerinin merkezileştirme potası içinde eritilmesi programını onay-
lamakta ve Kürtleri buna destek vermeye çağırmaktadır. Kürtlerin bulunduk-
ları eğitim kurumlarını artırmalarını, eğer yoksa yapmalarını tavsiye ederken
bunun yöntemlerini barışçıldan silahlıya kadar ifade etmiştir.11
784
KÜrdistan gazetesi (1898-1902)
Sonuç
Kürt milliyetçileri, aslında heterojen ama kendilerince homojen Kürt toplu-
munun değişiminin en dinamik noktası olarak eğitim konusuna yüklenilmesi
gerektiği fikrine varmışlardır. Zaman ve mekan değiştiğinde kendilerinin de
içinde yeralacağı bu politika, ilk Kürt gazetesinde toplumun ileri gelenlerine
yüklenilen bir görev olmuştur.
Kürdistan gazetesi, Kürtlerin devlet tarafından gaspedilmiş, ertelenmiş ve
unutulmuş haklarını İmparatorluğun diğer unsurlarıyla birlikte bir mücadele
ile kazanabileceği fikrine ulaşmıştır. Bu anlayış çerçevesinde, Jön Türklerin
siyasal kampında kendini ifade edebileceği bir yer aramıştır ve bulmuştur. Bu
beraberlik, esas amaç olan Kanun-i Esasi’nin ilanına kadar da sürmüştür. “Dost
acı söyler” özdeyişini esas alarak beraber hareket ettiği Ermeni kardeşlerine
eleştiriler yaparken aslında 1908’den sonra tevarüs edeceği Kürt siyasal yapıla-
rının bilinçaltlarını Ermeni karşıtlığı konusunda olumsuz etkilemiştir.
14 Kürdistan, a.g.e. c. I. s. 213-216, 230-233, 249-250 .Benzer bir yaklaşım için ayrıca bakı-
nız: Janet Klein, Claiming the Nation: The Origins and Nature of Kurdish Nationalist Dis-
course, yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Princeton Üniversitesi 1996, s. 66-77. Hamit
Bozarslan, “Türkiye’de (1919-1980) yazılı Kürt Tarih Söylemi Üzerine Bazı Hususlar”,
Abbas Vali haz. Kürt Milliyetçilğinin Kökenleri, İstanbul 2005, s. 35-63.
785
Murat ISSI
Ek
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devleti Öncesi Kürt Gazete ve Dergileri
786
KÜrdistan gazetesi (1898-1902)
787
LE THÉÂTRE MUSICAL
EUROPÉEN À SMYRNE
Georgia Kondyli * 15
L’opéra européen pénétra dans la cour ottomane depuis 1675, lorsque Giacomo
Guerini, l'assistant de l'ambassadeur Vénitien invita une troupe opératique à
Constantinople pour prendre part aux festivités de la circoncision du sultan
Mustafa II. En 1839, le mouvement de l'occidentalisation fut officiellement ins-
tauré par le sultan Abdul Medjid. Ainsi, le théâtre européen pénétra à l’Empire
Ottoman, et surtout l'opéra fut devenu la forme préférée du théâtre au 19e siècle,
non seulement à Constantinople, mais aussi dans d’autres villes comme Ankara
et Smyrne. Plusieurs de recherches ont été réalisées concernant le théâtre musi-
cal à Constantinople du 19e siècle. Mais au sujet de Smyrne, nous n’avons pas
assez d’informations.
Pendant le 19e siècle et avant 1922 la ville était le port le plus important dans
la Méditerranée orientale et le centre de la vie économique et sociale. Cepen-
dant, Smyrne n’était pas seulement un centre commercial, mais également une
ville où différentes nationalités, cultures, religions étaient réunies. La composi-
tion ethnique eut des répercussions dans le domaine culturel de la ville. Ainsi,
nous y trouvons une activité théâtrale très riche.
Cet article est le fruit d’une enquête qui est en cours et qui a comme but
d’examiner le théâtre musical à Smyrne dans le 19e siècle jusqu’à 1922 afin de
mettre en lumière l’activité artistique de la ville, qui reste inconnue à nos jours.
Plus particulièrement, l’objet de l’enquête est centré sur les représentations de
l’opéra et de l’opérette afin de tirer des conclusions par rapport la vie artistique
de la ville et le cosmopolitisme. Nous réussirons, donc, à avoir une image claire
788
Le théâtre musical européen à Smyrne
789
Georgia KONDYLI
790
Le théâtre musical européen à Smyrne
En juillet 1905 une troupe grecque, dirigée par Dionysios Lavragas18, visita
Smyrne pour y donner des représentations. Son répertoire eut des œuvres ita-
liennes19, à l’exception de Faust de Gounod et d’Ipopsifios Vouleftis, de Ksyndas.
Un nouveau conflit fut éclaté, entre un Belge, Levantin de Smyrne20, et la presse
grecque de Smyrne. La cause fut un article écrit par le Belge21 dans lequel il
accusa les artistes grecques qu’ils ne furent pas bien préparés22. Manolis Kalo-
miris, originaire de Smyrne, compositeur et musicien lui-même, qui assista à la
représentation d’Ipopsifios Vouleftis au théâtre « Quai », donne son opinion23 :
même s’il trouva le chœur et l’orchestre horribles, il apprécia les voix des prota-
gonistes. La troupe de Lavragas visita Smyrne également les années suivantes24
et selon la presse, les artistes étaient bien préparés.
Ce n’était pas la première fois qu’un Levantin exprimait son mécontente-
ment au sujet de la vie artistique de Smyrne. Lindau, écrivain Allemand, nous
informe que les Levantins se plainaient souvent en considérant la vie artistique
de la ville assez médiocre25. Lindau, lui-même, croit que les artistes, venus à
l’Asie Mineure, étaient médiocres. Ainsi, il ne voulut pas faire de commentaires
sur les interprétations des artistes grecques car il crut que les représentations,
qu’il suivit, n’étaient pas un exemple représentatif du théâtre grec26.
Le conflit au sujet de la troupe française d’Avolio, exposé auparavant, et éga-
lement celui concernant la troupe de Lavragas montre un délire national qui
nous fait se méfier concernant l’objectivité des opinions. En plus, les opinions
18 Ελληνικό Μελόδραμα (Le Mélodrame Grec). Avec les: Heleni Theodoridou, Soprane
dramatique, sa sœur, Victoria, soprane lyrique, Ageliki Kokkinopoulou, contralto, Morai-
tis, ténor, Georgios Chatziloukas, ténor, Vakarelis, Barytone, et M. Vlachopoulos, basse.
Chœur composé par 15 hommes et 15 femmes.
19 Lucia, Ernani, Rigoletto, La Tratiava voir Amaltheia (Smyrne) de 30 (12)/7/1905 à 25 (7)
/8/1905.
20 Il s’appelait François Gégé.
21 Solomonidis, Το θέατρο στη Σμύρνη, p. 158.
22 A l’exception du basse Vlachopoulos.
23 Manolis Kalomiris, Η ζωή μου και η τέχνη μου [Ma vie et mon art], Athènes 1988, p. 90.
24 En 1906, en 1908 et en 1910 voir Nea Smyrni, juin 1906, Imerisia Smyrni (Smyrne), jan-
vier-février 1908 et Amaltheia (Smyrne), mai-juin 1910.
25 Paul Lindau, An der Westkuste Klein-Asiens : eine Sommerfahrt auf Agaischen Meere,
dans Enepekidis, Τραπεζούντα, Κωνσταντινούπολη, Σμύρνη, p. 333.
26 Ibid., p. 330.
791
Georgia KONDYLI
27 Adam Mestyan, “A garden with mellow fruits of refinements, Music theaters and cultural
politics in Cairo and Istanbul, 1867-1892”, dissertation non publiée, Central European
University, Budapest 2011, p. 178.
28 Solomonidis, Το θέατρο στη Σμύρνη, p. 194.
29 Nikolaos Afentakis, Spyros Miliadis, Spyros Trichas, Nikolaos Paraskeuopoulos, Vassi-
lios Afentakis, Ioannis Prineas, Constantinos Dourakis, Constantinos Petropoulos, Ilias
Oikonomidis, Georgios Louloudakis, femmes Melpomeni Kolyva, Aikaterini Kolyva, So-
so Kandyli, Eirini Vasilaki, Chariklia Tricha, Katina Delenandrou. Chœur 10 hommes et
15 femmes. Solomonidis, Το θέατρο στη Σμύρνη, p. 195.
30 Environ seize opérettes. Les opérettes qui ont été présentées à Smyrne étaient : Poupée,
Les Mousquetaires au couvent, Geissa, Ein walzertraum, Die lustige witwe, Mam'zelle Ni-
touchem Νιτούς, Les 28 jours de Clairette, Miss Elyette, Die Fledermaus, I Granatieri, Les
filles Jackson et cie.
31 Amaltheia 14 (27)/10 1909 et 21 (3)/ 10/1909.
32 Solomonidis, Το θέατρο στη Σμύρνη, 196.
33 La troupe avait les mêmes artistes qu’avant, à l’exception de Kolyva.
34 Amaltheia, 24 (06)/10/1910.
792
Le théâtre musical européen à Smyrne
35 Amaltheia, 27 (09)/10/1910.
36 Solomonidis, Το θέατρο στη Σμύρνη, p. 196.
37 Amaltheia, 27/03/1910 et 24/10/1910.
38 Lindau, An der Westkuste Klein-Asiens, dans Enepekidis, Τραπεζούντα, Κωνσταντινούπο-
λη, Σμύρνη, p. 333.
39 Solomonidis, Το θέατρο στη Σμύρνη, p. 203.
40 Ibid., p. 210.
41 Ibid., p. 136.
42 Ibid., p. 128.
43 Nea Smyrni, 02/03/1894
793
Georgia KONDYLI
794
Le théâtre musical européen à Smyrne
Une autre question que nous allons étudier concerne le rôle des artistes ori-
ginaires de Smyrne dans la vie artistique. Nous apprenons que les artistes Smy-
rniotes non seulement organisaient des spectacles, mais également prenaient
part aux représentations des troupes étrangères. La collaboration entre les
artistes Smyrniotes et les troupes étrangères était nécessaire. Il faut noter que
plusieurs fois les imprésarios embauchaient des musiciens Smyrniotes non seu-
lement pendant leur séjour dans la ville mais également pour accompagner les
troupes à Constantinople quelque chose qui suscite des questions concernant
la vie musicale de la capitale.
Les artistes lyriques Smyrniotes collaboraient également avec les troupes
européennes. Certains exemples remarquables sont donnés ci-dessous: en Mai
1894 une troupe italienne47 donna des représentations de l’opéra italien et de
l’opéra français. Elle joua également une œuvre de Jean Avolio, Rozetta la jardi-
nière. L’œuvre, qui probablement fut jouée pour la première fois à Smyrne, eut
beaucoup de succès48. La musique fut interprétée par un orchestre local49 et le
compositeur, lui-même, fut le chef d’orchestre.
En avril 1895 M. Kokkinis, originaire de Smyrne et ténor connu aux théâtres
lyriques de l’Italie, collabora avec la troupe Labruna. Kokkinis interpréta le rôle
principal à l’opéra Rigoletto de Verdi. Selon la presse, c’était le plus beau spec-
tacle de l’année50. La salle du théâtre fut pleine, même si le billet coûta 1 Medji-
die51. La soprane Stella Konstantinou, Smyrniote et future épouse de Kokkinis,
prit également part aux représentations de la troupe52. En 1908, le couple Kok-
kinis collabora aussi avec la troupe Lavragas ; Madame Kokkinis interpréta les
47 La troupe de Gonzalez.
48 La presse de l’époque considéra Rozetta le plus important spectacle de la semaine voir
Nea Smyrni, 8/5/1894.
49 Γιουζεπάκη [Giouzepaki].
50 Nea Smyrni, 28/04/1895.
51 Le prix du billet a été varié selon la troupe. Nous pouvons donner des exemples : en mai
1910 l’abonnement pour 10 représentations de la troupe de Lavragas coutait 6 Medjidies,
le billet de la 1ère place d’une seule représentation coutait 15 piastres et de la 2ème place 8
piastres, voir Amaltheia 13/05/1910. Dans d’autres cas le billet coutait le 3/4 du Medjidie
ou 1 ½ Medjidie, ce que le journal Amaltheia trouve assez cher, voir 24/12/1910.
52 Nea Smyrni, 8/5/1894 « Αύριο Yπνοβάτης του Μπελίνι. Πρωταγωνιστεί η συμπολίτης,
υψίφωνος Στέλλα Κωνσταντίνου, όσοι την άκουσαν στην Αλεξάνδρεια λέγουν ότι εκτε-
λεί το ρόλο άριστα. [Demain Sonnambula de Bellini avec la soprane Smyrniote Stella
Konstantinou, ceux qui l’ont écoutée à Alexandrie disent qu’elle interprète son rôle par-
faitement].
795
Georgia KONDYLI
rôles principaux des opéras, tandis que Monsieur Kokkinis, qui fut le directeur
adjoint de la troupe, prit part à la première de Lucia53.
La vie artistique de l’Europe et également les événements sociopolitiques
européens ont influencé la vie artistique de Smyrne à la fin du 19e au début du
20e siècle ; un exemple éloquent est celui du théâtre musical qui a été développé
durant cette période, malgré les situations difficiles. Les troupes, venant de l’Eu-
rope, et les représentations du théâtre musical européen, dominant pendant le
19e siècle, prouvent des liens étroits que la ville avait développés avec l’Ouest.
796
TIME, WORK AND PLEASURE:
A PRELIMINARY APPROACH TO LEISURE
IN OTTOMAN MENTALITY
Marinos Sariyannis * 54
During the last two decades, several new subjects have been added to the field
of Ottoman studies: apart from the material realities, i.e. economic, social and
political structures, now mental categories, which can be described under the
term “mentality”, begin to form an object of research.
As a case study, I propose here leisure; to be more concrete, patterns that
socially (i.e. through moral norms, cultural restrictions and model behaviors)
define the disposition of one’s spare time, and the adjustment of these ideal pat-
terns to everyday necessities and restrictions. One has to note here that ava-
ilable sources refer mainly to non-working elite classes and strata, and also
to male society; these groups’ views we are going to study here. This paradox,
namely to study the bipole leisure/work through the absence of the latter, is due
not to the historian’s choice but rather to the available sources. Further research
could reveal similarities and differences according to gender, social position,
space or, say, religion.
797
Marinos SARIYANNIS
1 Keith Thomas, “Work and Leisure in Pre-Industrial Society”, Past and Present 29 (1964),
50-62, and the ensuing discussion, pp. 63-66; Peter Burke, “The Invention of Leisure in
Early Modern Europe”, Past and Present 146 (1995), 136-150; Joan-Lluis Marfany, “Com-
ment (Debate: The Invention of Leisure in Early Modern Europe)” and Peter Burke,
“Reply to J.-L. Marfany”, Past and Present 156 (1997), 174-191 and 192-197 respective-
ly; see also Peter Borsay, A History of Leisure: The British Experience since 1500, Bas-
ingstoke – New York 2006. I tried to explore some aspects of this subject in my M.A.
thesis, published as Marinos Sariyannis, Η απόλαυση στην οθωμανική Κωνσταντινούπο-
λη [Pleasure in Ottoman Istanbul], Athens 2003.
2 Cf. also John Hatcher, “Labour, Leisure and Economic Thought before the Nineteenth
Century”, Past and Present, 160 (1998), 64-115.
3 Burke, “The Invention of Leisure”, 137. As expounders of this theory, Burke cites Joffre
Dumazedier (Toward a Society of Leisure, trans. S. E. McClure, New York 1967), Jean Ver-
don (Les loisirs au Moyen Age, Paris 1980) and Michael R. Marrus (The Emergence of Lei-
sure, New York 1974).
798
Time, work and pleasure
799
Marinos SARIYANNIS
in moralistic or political treatises, concerning the way of life a Sultan (or, for
that matter, a Grand Vizier) should lead.6 For the most part, these descripti-
ons divide the day in three parts, namely (state) business, recreation, and sleep.
One such text is found in Hirzü’l-mülûk, a political treatise written probably
around 1574. The anonymous author stresses that the Sultan must use his
time properly (“his noble times should usually be fixed”, evkât-ı şerifeleri dahi
ekser zamânda mute’ayyen olub): for instance, he should spend three hours of
the day in prayers and reading the Koran, two hours in reading history and
other books, four hours in consulting with the Grand Vizier and other offici-
als, six hours in recreation, hunting, and other entertainment (seyr ü şikâra ve
kalb-i humâyûnları münşerih olacak kâra), finally nine hours in sleep (‘âlem-i
ferâğat ve hâb-ı râhate).7 More than half a century later, Kâtib Çelebi included
in his Cihannümâ a part of Ali Ekber’s Hitaynâme or Kânûnnâme-i Çin ü Hitay
(“Law-Book of China”), composed in the beginnings of the sixteenth century
and translated into Ottoman Turkish near its end, where it is stated that the
khan of China divides his time into three parts, one for jollity and drinking
(i.e. entertainement), one for sleep and rest, and the third for the administra-
tion of his state (hakanın evkatı üç kısma münkasımdır, biri ‘ayş u nuşa biri hâb
u râhata biri umûr-ı memleket).8
However, we must note that, speaking of the “non-working” classes at least,
leisure is usually not conceived as a definite time zone as distinct from what
6 I was not able to consult Hakan Karateke, “‘On the tranquillity and repose of the Sultan’:
the construction of a topos”, Christine Woodhead (ed.), The Ottoman World, London
2012.
7 Yaşar Yücel, Osmanlı Devlet Teşkilâtına dair Kaynaklar: Kitâb-i müstetâb – Kitâbu
mesâlihi'l-müslimîn ve menâfi'i'l-mü'minîn – Hırzü'l-mülûk, Ankara 1988, 176; Ah-
met Akgündüz, Osmanlı Kanunnâmeleri ve hukukî tahlilleri, v. 8: III. Murad devri
kanunnâmeleri/III. Mehmed devri kanunnâmeleri, Istanbul 1994, 36-37.
8 Kâtib Çelebi (Müteferrika, ed.), Cihannüma, Konstantiniye 1732, 167; Orhan Şaik
Gökyay, Kâtip Çelebi’den seçmeler, 2nd ed., Istanbul 1997, 239. On Ali Ekber’s text and
its Ottoman uses, see Ildiko Béller-Hann, “Ottoman Perception of China”, Jean-Lo-
uis Bacqué-Grammont – Emeri van Donzel (eds), Comité internationale d’études pré-
ottomanes et ottomans. VIth Symposium, Cambridge 1st-4th July 1984, Istanbul 1987,
55-64; Gottfreid Hagen, Ein osmanischer Geograph bei der Arbeit. Etstehung und Gedan-
kenwelt von Kātib Čelebis Ğihānnümā, Berlin 2003, 95-96 and 205; Baki Tezcan, “Some
Thoughts on the Politics of Early Modern Ottoman Science”, Donald Quataert – Baki
Tezcan (eds), Beyond Dominant Paradigms in Ottoman and Middle Eastern/North Afri-
can Studies. A Tribute to Rifa’at Abou-El-Haj, Istanbul 2010, 138.
800
Time, work and pleasure
801
Marinos SARIYANNIS
ding the Koran, meditation, conversation with wise companions and ulema,
but also music, singing or company with women are permitted.12 Neverthe-
less, toward the end of the same century Mustafa Ali of Gelibolu feels free to
criticize Selim II’s devotion to leisure (‘iş ü nûş ve sâz ü söz... hiç bir pâdişâha
müyesser olmuş değül).13
It is to be noted that a general history of the attitude toward time in Otto-
man culture is yet to be written.14 Watches, for one thing, are commonplace in
Ottoman sources from the mid-sixteenth century at least, but it is to be noted
that their use seems to be more decorative than functional. İbrahim Peçevi nar-
rates a story on a cursed watch made by Rüstem Ağa, a master watchmaker in
Murad III’s reign;15 earlier on, Mustafa Ali relates an anecdote from the reign
of Selim II: in a meeting where the host exhibited his jewelry and showed his
rarities (tuhfelerin tertîble zîb ü zînet itdükde) a “Turk” stole a lacquered watch
(yaldızlı sâ‘at), only to be discovered one hour later, when the watch rang in
the thief ’s pocket.16 Apart from being a luxury good, a watch could also have
symbolic value. Thus, in 1807 a rebel leader showed a watch and declared that
“Our Sultan is just like this watch. While its mainspring once wound properly,
so many bugs from the outside penetrated in, thus obstructing and halting its
winding”.17
802
Time, work and pleasure
We have to wait till the early nineteenth century to see the use of measured
time clearly and explicitly connected with work in Ottoman public discourse,
albeit state service rather than industrial production. Following the outburst of
the revolt in the Danubian principalities in 1821, Mahmud II issued an impres-
sively unusual decree, in which he blamed civil servants for being idle and for
wasting their time in calumnies and small enmities. He noted that, although
Muslims have turned to the settled way of life (which is “a second nature to
man’s disposition”), they have now to revert to their ancestors’ nomadic (and
hence war-like) customs and fight back; and then he declared angrily that:18
The scribes and statesmen, the servants of my state have succumbed to dissipation
and slackness (sefâhet ve teseyyüb) and thus have not the power to show courage
[and confront the revolt]. Although all ministers, statesmen and servants are aware
of this situation, still I see no effort to correct it. Now, let everyone be warned! The
servants and the scribes of the various offices do not show up in their jobs till the
third hour. Work cannot be done this way, and idleness, self-indulgence and ease are
not always possible (her zemân râhat ve tezeyyün ü sefâhet olmaz)... I will not warn
a second time those who speak against one another, those who show laziness, those
who dare to show up late in their jobs: I will have them executed.
18 Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, Tarih-i Cevdet, Konstantiniye H.1309/1891-2, v. 11, 262-263; dra-
wing from Şânî-zâde Mehmed ‘Atâ’ullah Efendi, Şânî-zâde târîhi [Osmanlı tarihi (1223-
1237 / 1808-1821)] (Ziya Yılmazer, ed.), Istanbul 2008, v. 2, 1084. Cevdet has “scribes and
servants” (ketebe ve ricâl), where Şanizade has “infidel servants” (kefere-i ricâl). The Sul-
tan clearly refers to the civil servants at large, which leads to the conclusion that Cevdet
might have corrected his source. The Sultan’s strange allusion to nomadism (bedeviy-
et) vs. settled civilization (hazariyet) must be seen in the context of the re-reading of
Ibn Khaldunian philosophy by Ottoman officials, who identified nomadism with a kind
of general military levy or seferiyyet and imposed it in the first months of the Greek
1821 Revolution (cf. e.g. Yılmazer, ed., Şânî-zâde târîhi, 1169, 1238-39). See Şükrü Ilıcak,
“A Radical Rethinking of Empire: Ottoman State and Society During the Greek War
of Independence, 1821-1826”, unpublished Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 2011. The
Greek Phanariot Yakovakis Rizos Neroulos (1778-1849) writes in 1827 that after Mus-
tafa IV’s deposition and during the rule of Bayraktar Mustafa, in 1808, « [l]a Porte pré-
tendit établir un gouvernement à la tatare: elle proclama le Bédéviyet ou regime nomade
»; however, I could not find any reference to such measures taken in 1808. See Jacovaky
Rizo Néroulos (Charte Turque – Bertrand Bouvier – Anastasia Danae Lazaridou, eds),
Analyse raisonnée de l’ouvrage intitulé, Athens 2013, 194. On the notions of nomadism
vs. civilization and their use by Mahmud II cf. also Tuncer Baykara, “Nizam, Tanzimat
ve medeniyet kavramları üzerine”, Işın Duruöz – Gönül Büyüklimanlı (eds), Tanzimat’ın
150. yıldönümü uluslararası sempozyumu: Bildiriler, 25-27 Aralık 1989, Millî Kütüphane,
Ankara, Ankara 1994, 61-65.
803
Marinos SARIYANNIS
19 Henri Laoust, La politique de Gazâlî, Paris 1970, 313-315; Mustafa Koç (ed.), Kınalızâde
Ali Çelebi: Ahlâk-ı Alâî, Istanbul 2007, 336-337; Halil İnalcık, “Capital Formation in the
Ottoman Empire”, The Journal of Economic History 19 (1969), 98-99.
20 Ignace Mouradgea D’Ohsson, Tableau général de l’Empire Othoman, Paris 1788-1824, v.
4, 229-31.
21 Laoust, La politique de Gazâlî, 304 (cf. also ibid., 298-300).
804
Time, work and pleasure
22 İskender Pala (ed.), Şâir Nâbî: Hayriyye, Istanbul 1989, 55ff. On Nâbî cf. EI2, “Nâbî, Yûsuf”
(E. G. Ambros); Marinos Sariyannis, “Ottoman Critics of Society and State, Fifteenth
to Early Eighteenth Centuries: Toward a Corpus for the Study of Ottoman Political
Thought”, Archivum Ottomanicum 25 (2008), 145-147.
23 Cf. the moderate views of al-Ghazali on the renouncement of the world (zuhd) in Laoust,
La politique de Gazâlî, 320: “Le zuhd… compatible avec l’état de mariage, l’est aussi avec
la richesse et le rang social. Ce en quoi il consiste essentiellement, c’est de se refuser à
prendre pour fin la recherche des biens et de la considération sociale”.
24 Özdemir Nutku, Meddahlık ve meddah hikâyeleri, Ankara 1976. Cf. R. Abou Hadj, “The
Ottoman nasihatname as a discourse over ‘morality’”, Abdeljelil Temimi (ed.), Mélanges
Professeur Robert Mantran, Zaghouan 1988, 17-30.
805
Marinos SARIYANNIS
eme of their ease, then their profit”.25 Ignace Mouradgea d’ Ohsson, in the end
of the eighteenth century, writes:26
Assis sous un arbre ou sur le gazon, le Musulman allume sa pipe, prend une tasse de
café, profère respectueusement le nom de Dieu, soumet sa destinée aux décrets du
ciel, et se croit dans ce moment le plus heureux des mortels.
Let us try to trace the Ottoman view “from within”. Mainly based on literary
sources, Erika Glassen argued that huzur or “peace of soul, ease” constituted
the main ideal of the Ottoman mental type (the “middle man” or evsatünnâs),
as exemplified by Nâbî (ademe lâzım olan râhatdır); she observes that this type
was later described as “idle, lazy” during the nineteenth- and twentieth century
transformation of the Empire and its society.27 Indeed, this attitude of reclu-
sion is often idealized in Ottoman literature, mostly as a final stage of one’s life:
Mustafa Ali speaks of officials who retired from the world to the corner of ease
and repose,28 while Nabi, retired to “the corner of recluse” (künç-i uzlet) him-
self, praises the notable with a steady income who retires from public affairs
and spends his life in ease and delight (zevk ü râhatla).29 However, this formu-
25 Leonhart Rauwolff et al., A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages in two Tomes, the
First containing Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff ’s Itinerary .... translated from the High Dutch by
NICHOLAS STAPHORST. The Second taking in many parts of Greece, Asia Minor... from
the Observations of Mons. Belon, Mr. Vernon, Dr. Spon, Dr. Smith, Dr. Huntingdon, Mr.
Greaves, Alpinus, Veslingius, Thevenot’s Collections, and others..., London 1693, v. 1, 42-3;
George Sandys, A Relation of a Journey begun An. Dom. 1610. Foure Bookes containing a
description of the Turkish Empire, of Aegypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote parts of Italy,
and Ilands adioyning, London 1615, 72. The same observations apply to Greeks (see e.g.
Sandys, ibid., 77). However, in this context one has to note that the influence of Calvinist
morality on these travelers is not to be neglected; suffice to note that (Catholic) French
travelers of the same period hardly mention any “idleness” of the Ottomans.
26 D’Ohsson, Tableau général, v. 4, 91. See also J. Theodore Bent (ed.), Early Voyages and
Travels in the Levant: I -The diary of Master Thomas Dallam, 1599-1600. II -Extracts from
the Diaries of Dr. John Covel, 1670-1679. With some Account of the Levant Company of
Turkey Merchants, London 1893, 173.
27 Erika Glassen, “Huzur: Trägheit, Seelenruhe, soziale Harmonie. Zur osmanischen Men-
talitätsgeschichte”, Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont - Barbara Flemming - Macit Gök-
berk - İlber Ortaylı (eds), Türkische Miszellen. Robert Anhegger Festschrift/Armağanı/
Mélanges, Istanbul 1987, 145-166.
28 Andreas Tietze (ed.), Mustafa ‘Ali’s Description of Cairo of 1599, Vienna 1975, 59 (huzûr
u râhat güşesine çekilüb).
29 Nâbî (Pala, ed.), Hayriyye, Istanbul 1989, 27, 128ff.
806
Time, work and pleasure
laic description should not be taken at face value, since it often means nothing
more but a change of public activity in the old age, more often connected to
some dervish order. Sufi doctrine contributed to this appraisal of the “renoun-
cement of the world” (terk-i dünya), but, on the other hand, also emphasized the
possibility of “reclusion inside society” (halvet der encümen, in a formulation
peculiar to the Nakşbendi order).30
Moreover, one should note that idleness and laziness were never really este-
emed in Ottoman culture. Words like süst (“idle”; so, e.g., opium addicts)31 or
kesel (“slackness, languor”)32 are clearly pejorative.33 Mustafa Ali, noting that
Murad III’s only journey was from Manisa to Istanbul for his inauguration,
tries to explain the Sultan’s refusal to join the imperial campaigns in person as
follows:34
According to the present author’s opinion, the Sultan’s personal inclination towards
tranquility35 was inevitable, and that is why there was no chance of his going to
campaign: because I analyzed the name “Murad” and found that the letters mim
and elif pertain to fire, while ra and dal to water. There is no letter of the air, so as to
cause motion and movement (cümbüş ü hareket). And such [a name] necessitates
the desire for moving toward the earth element (seyr-i basît-i hâke rağbet).
It is important, in this context, that the relevant chapter is labeled “On the
imperial quite and ease” (der-huzûr u râhat-ı hakânî), identifying thus ease
with physical idleness. In the same vein, an early seventeenth-century praise of
Ahmed I speaks with contemption of a Grand Vizier’s afternoon siesta (kaylule)
as “nap of negligence” (hâb-ı gaflet).36
30 See Thierry Zarcone, “Pour ou contre le monde, une approche des sociabilités mystiqu-
es musulmanes dans l’Empire ottoman”, François Georgeon – Paul Dumont (eds), Vivre
dans l’Empire ottoman. Sociabilités et relations intercommunautaires (XVIIIe-XXe siècles),
Paris 1997, 21-29.
31 Sünbülzâde Vehbî, Lutfiyye, Süreyya Ali Beyzâdeoğlu (ed.), Istanbul 1994, 158.
32 Nâbî, Hayriye, 238 (“let the trouble of idleness never enter your gatherings”, girmeye mec-
lisüne derd-i kesel).
33 Cf. also Tietze, Mustafa Ali’s Description of Cairo, 41; Nâbî, Hayriye, 191.
34 Çerçi, Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî ve Künhü’l-ahbâr’ı, v. 2, 239-240.
35 Sükûn. The editor of the text prefers the reading sükût, “silence, reticence”.
36 Rhoads Murphey, “Mustafa Safi’s Version of the Kingly Virtues as Presented in His
Zübdet’ül Tevarih, or Annals of Sultan Ahmed, 1012-1023 A.H./1603-1614 A.D.”, Co-
lin Imber – Keiko Kiyotaki (eds), Frontiers of Ottoman Studies, v. 1, London - New York
2005, 21.
807
Marinos SARIYANNIS
When evaluating time in the basis of leisure, Ottoman writers always emp-
hasize the content of this free time. It is to be noted, however, that when Nâbî
criticizes idleness he does not praise work (as of course he is referring to the
higher classes) or at any rate profit-making occupations, but rather study and
charity.37 The same emphasis to knowledge in contrast to idleness is found
in Kâtib Çelebi’s introduction to his famous bibliographical encyclopaedia,
Keşfü’z-zünûn, some fifty years before Nâbî’s text.38 Shortly before his death
(1657), Kâtib Çelebi ended his autobiography as follows:39
Now I go to my office once or twice a week, in order to get paid with my salary. For-
tunately, I have been able to use the rest of my time for discussions, reading and wri-
ting. I hope that the rest of my life will pass in exactly the same way.
The comparison with Mahmud II’s angry decree of 1821, mentioned above,
is more than telling.
Indeed, a close inspection of eighteenth-century texts might show a change
in this nonchalant attitude against time. Elsewhere I tried to trace some changes
in Ottoman elite mentality toward a more mercantile, profit-oriented attitude,
which might be linked to the rise of the Kadızadeli movement, which domina-
ted almost all of the seventeenth century and seems to have survived well into
the eighteenth as well.40 About a century after Nabi’s Hayriyye, Sünbülzade
Vehbi (c. 1719-1809) wrote an imitation of the former, the Lutfiyye. There, as we
will also see below, he appears much more adamant than his predecessor aga-
inst chess and other “idle occupations”, to which he adds fashions such as gar-
dening or keeping birds; moreover, he proceeds as to give advice on regulating
one’s expenses according to one’s resources. Besides, Vehbi writes against cof-
fee and tobacco (while Nabi refers only to intoxicants), thus reflecting a “fun-
808
Time, work and pleasure
41 Vehbî, Lutfiyye, 64-65, 160, 162 and passim; Elias John Wilkinson Gibb, A History of
Ottoman Poetry, London 1900-1909, v. 4, 254-255. On Vehbi see also Jan Schmidt,
“Sünbülzâde Vehbî’s Şevk-Engîz: An Ottoman Pornographic Poem”, Turcica 25 (1993),
9-37.
42 Virginia Aksan, An Ottoman Statesman in War and Peace: Ahmed Resmi Efendi, 1700-
1783, Leiden 1995, 61.
43 See e.g. Ralph S. Hattox, Coffee and Coffehouses. The Origins of a Social Beverage in the
Medieval Near East, Washington 1988; Cengiz Kırlı has also recently published several
contributions on this subject.
44 Cf. the rather dismissive opinions of Ebussu’ud Efendi (M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ, Şeyhülislâm
Ebussuud Efendi fetvaları ışığında 16. asır türk hayatı, Istanbul 1983, 148-9), Mustafa Ali
(Tietze, Mustafa Ali’s Description of Cairo, 37-8, Mehmet Şeker (ed.), Gelibolulu Musta-
fa 'Âlî ve Mevâ'idü'n-nefâis fî-kavâ'idi'l-mecâlis, Ankara 1997, 363-364), or Sünbül-zade
Vehbî (Vehbî, Lutfiyye, 159).
809
Marinos SARIYANNIS
On the other hand, while various games and pastimes were very popular
against Ottomans, they were considered rather vain occupations;45 only chess
is presented under a positive light in elite moralist literature. Nabi characterizes
chess (together with tavla, backgammon) a childish game, but one that cannot
be rejected since it represents symbolically society and improves mind facul-
ties. A century later, Vehbi condemns chess together with gardening and other
vain occupations (abese, bî-hüde).46 One might say that while leisure time is not
measured on the basis of, or in contrast with, work, what is commendable is
its right use within the moral values of Ottoman society, rather than idleness.
What Ottomans meant as idleness was to escape not from work, but from what
was imposed by one’s social status: namely, spiritual and religious elevation.
Thirdly, a close inspection of Ottoman festivities might show that behavio-
urs such as wine-drinking or use of drugs, which normally would be tolerated
only in private environment, were made part of the display and general joy.47 It
seems that a general distinction that can be seen in Ottoman patterns of beha-
viour between public and private sphere (a kind of double morality, studied
45 See e.g. Ömer İşbilir (ed.), Nizâm-ı Cedîde dâir bir risâle: Zebîre-i Kuşmânî fî ta’rîf-i
nizâm-ı ilhâmî, Ankara 2006, 64: ‘abes yere tazyî-i evkâtdır ki, ana lu’b u lehv derler ki ...
la’ûbun cümlesi harâm olduğu hadîs-i sahîh ile musarrahdır.
46 Nâbî, Hayriyye, 190 ff.; Vehbî, Lutfiyye, 65, 160, 162. On positive or neutral evaluations
of chess and its symbolism, see also Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi, Tezkiretü'ş-şuarâ, İbrahim
Kutluk (ed.), Ankara 1989, 629; Düzdağ, Şeyhülislâm Ebussuud Efendi fetvaları, 137, 199-
200. Speaking of the importance of testicles for a man, the sixteenth-century cosmog-
rapher Aşık Mehmed enumerates the bad consequences of one becoming a eunuch,
among them “an increase in his inclination and love toward playing backgammon or
chess” (la’b-ı nerd ü satranç ve sayir mensûbâta meyl ü mehabbeti efzûn olur): Mahmut
Ak (ed.), Âşık Mehmed: Menâzırü’l-avâlim, Ankara 2007, v. 3, 1850.
47 D’Ohsson, Tableau général, v. 4, 408, 413; Rauwolff et al., A Collection of Curious Tra-
vels, v. 2, 65, 76; Özdemir Nutku, IV. Mehmet’in Edirne Şenliği (1675), Ankara 1972, 123-
4, 126-27; Metin And, “Le ‘Commonwealth’ des arts turcs: les fêtes Ottomanes”, Der Islam
59 (1982), 286. On the public tolerance of drug use during festivities see Marinos Sari-
yannis, “Law and Morality in Ottoman Society: The Case of Narcotic Substances”, Elias
Kolovos - Phokion Kotzageorges et al. (eds), The Ottoman Empire, the Balkans and the
Greek Lands: Studies in Honor of John C. Alexander, Istanbul 2007, 316.
810
Time, work and pleasure
also by Walter Andrews)48 was surpassed during public festivities, which then
constituted an intersection of public and private time.
Finally, in studying Ottoman conceptions of leisure we should look carefully
into certain bipoles, such as different models of consumption vs. asceticism,
loneliness vs. sociability, introvert vs. extrovert behaviours, and so forth. Such
choices were dominant to different “target groups” and were exposed according
to every author’s and expected audience’s social and/or ideological standing.
This, however, should be the object of another, much more extensive study.
48 Walter Andrews, “Singing the Alienated ‘I’: Historicity of the Subject in Ottoman Verse”,
Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 16/1 (1992), 24-28; cf. Marinos Sariyannis, “‘Mob’,
‘Scamps’ and Rebels in 17th Century Istanbul: Some Remarks on Ottoman Social Vo-
cabulary”, International Journal of Turkish Studies 11/1-2 (2005), 9 and Idem, “Law and
Morality”, 320-21.
811
LEBLEBIDJI HOR-HOR AGHA,
A GLORIOUS OTTOMAN PEDDLER
Emmanouil Seiragakis*
In the history of the musical theater, the fact that a play contains some loved
numbers is enough to make us consider it as a significant production. Moreo-
ver, an international career of such a play is also an obvious sign of its great suc-
cess. But what about a play that managed not only to cross the borders of a vast
Empire, but also to conquest the theater empire of the London’s West End, or to
critically affect the theater development of another country? This paper is going
to present the fascinating story of the most widespread music play ever written
in Turkish, the operetta Leblebidji Hor-hor Agha. The wealth of literature now
accumulated on Leblebidji1 forces me to limit my scope in stopping only at a few
stations in its exciting journey. Among, for example, Istanbul, Cairo, Vienna,
Smyrna, London, Athens, Paris, Yerevan, Venice, Baku, Pasadena, New York and
many other cities and other countries’ capitals, I prefer to focus here only in the
performances of 1897 in London, 1883 in Athens and 1875 in Istanbul.
812
Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha
2 Among the diverse forms of his name suggested by various scholars, I accept here his
own transliteration, from an autograph that has been discovered by Adam Mestyan, “A
garden with mellow fruits of refinement”, 289, footnote 1.
3 It impresses that during the 1870s decade the theaters of Pera had gained the designation
of “le West -End de la colonie européenne”. See Mestyan, “A garden with mellow fruits of
refinement”, 85.
4 The play, according to Mestyan (“A garden with mellow fruits of refinement”, 255-6, 307)
was first prohibited during 1886, had temporarily obtained permission to be staged, but
it was finally included in the list of the banned theatricals.
5 Kurt Gänzl, The British musical theater, vol. 1: 1865-1914, London 1986, 635- 637. The
word “Armenian” is of particular importance. The play did not manage to have appeal to
the audience outside Ottoman Empire using the title “Turkish Operetta”. Travelling both
in Athens and Egypt with his troupe, the impresario Séropé Benglian made a big effort in
order to convert the public opinion and make it face the play and the troupe not as Turk-
ish but us Armenian. (See Mestyan, “A garden with mellow fruits of refinement”, 250-253
for Egypt. For the correspondent public’s convert in Athens, the fact that proved more
crucial was the Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis’ decision to visit the theater and see
the performance, trying thus to remind everybody, via the activities of the Benglian’s
troupe, the unsolved Eastern Question).
813
Emmanouil SEIRAGAKIS
I do not know if Fischer really had to do such a trip in order to see the play
performed in the theaters of Pera, as the play was equally popular in Smyrna;
various troupes had staged it with great success, and its composer was then
living there, as we mentioned. Fischer belonged to a small group of musicians,
relatives and friends, deriving from Smyrna although of European origin, who
had just settled in London with the common desire to find a worthy place in the
musical life of the city.6 Α Greek composer was also member of this company,
with a similar familiarity to the play, which he owed to his stay in Athens. His
name was Napoleon Lambelet.7
Due to a quarrel between the librettist and the lyricist and some similar inci-
dents, the premiere of the show in London was delayed by twelve months; many
changes in its final form were brought about,8 which did not go unnoticed in
Istanbul. The Greek newspaper Neologos, featuring the play as of Eastern music
and inspiration, boasts of it in an article about the activities of the young Greek,
who was commissioned to compose additional incidental music and songs for
it.9 In a private event in April 1896, Lambelet presented the music of the upco-
ming performance, whose composer, however, remained Tchouhadjian; our
source also predicts that the music would appeal especially to the fans of Hun-
garian School.10 Just a few weeks before the premiere, Napoleon Lambelet gave
one more concert, accompanying in the piano Aramis (Pericles Aravantinos),
6 Apart from Fischer, it consisted of the conductor Franco Leoni, the singer Miss Saint An-
dre and Fisher’s cousin, Maurice Farkoa who soon managed to get the role of Vicomte
Gaston in the musical The Circus Girl (1896).
7 According to the press of London, Fisher initially managed to obtain a few songs of the
play, and presented them to Chamberlyn together with Lambelet: “Theatrical Gossip”,
The Era (London), 3013 (20 June 1890).
8 Kurt Gänzl, The British musical theatre, 635. However, as no one knew the original libret-
to, incredible arbitrary changes appeared in the text: e.g “The original idea of an Arme-
nian girl being annually sacrificed to the Sultan has been retained”, quoted The Era, 3052
(20 March 1897). As the manuscript proves, in the premiere of the play four weeks later
the idea, that was not original at all, was finally abandoned: Cecil Raileigh - Seymour
Hicks, The Yashmak, a story of the East, British Library, MSS, Lord Chamberlain’s Plays,
1897, K 53627.
9 “Η νεοελληνική μουσική εν Λονδίνω” [Modern Greek music in London], Neologos
(Constantinople), 8271 (11 December 1896), p. 1, col. 5, 6. Many thanks to Thodoros
Chatzepantazes who suggested me the article.
10 “From our London Correspondent, By Private wire”, The Leeds Mercury, 18095 (3April
1896).
814
Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha
11 “The Concert certainly supported the theory of M. Bourgault – Ducoudray that much
benefit would result from blending Eastern and Western styles of music. ‘Eastern music,
restricted hitherto by its exclusive limitation to melody, would embark on a new career
by the use of polyphony, and Western polyphonic music would greatly gain by no lon-
ger being confined to two modes- the major and minor’” : The Musical Times and Singing
Class Circular, 38/647 (1 January 1897) , 25.
12 Kurt Gänzl, The British musical theatre, 635.
13 “Round the theatres”, The Sketch (London) (7 April 1897).
14 The Times (London), 35166 (1 April 1897), 6.
15 George Bernard Shaw, Our theatres in the nineties, London 1932, vol. 3, 104.
16 Robert Martin Adams, Surface and symbol: The consistency of James Joyce’s Ulysses, New
York 1962, 113. Weldon Thornton, Allusions in Ulysses: An annotated list, North Carolina
1961, 249.
815
Emmanouil SEIRAGAKIS
at all.17 The libretto, as it was transformed, presented the city as the bon viveur’s
paradise, a hedonistic urban Arcadia,18 where, in comparison with London,
horses are faster and women are slower, although at the same time the city is
populated by brutal inhabitants, spies, and conspirators.19 In other words the
perception was not different from the known, entrenched in the mind of Euro-
peans, consistent with the standards of Orientalism.20 Yet, the ballet of the “Gai-
ety Girls” brought erotic sense or innovating feminist manners, like cycling,21
manners adopted at once by the Sultan himself, who enters the stage riding
such a vehicle.
The Sultan is ridiculed at every opportunity; this fact gained the text some
blue pencil strokes from the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, but a large applause from
the public. Besides, it was not the first time that the Censorship Office, despite its
supposed severity, allowed the performance of a play that ridiculed the Sultan,
even in spite of the related demarches of the Sublime Port’s Embassy in London.22
17 E.g. the shores of the Bosporus are referred to as “banks” and the gulf itself as a river. It
could be considered, perhaps, as the author’s attempt to create a fictional time and space
in order to avoid the censorship’s ban.
18 “Yes, we’re Queens of this Arcadia”, sing the girls of the ballet, entering the second act:
Raleigh - Hicks, The Yashmak, 2.
19 Raleigh - Hicks, The Yashmak, 23 and passim.
20 For the “Image of the Turk in European Drama, Opera and Ballet” see Metin And, Dra-
ma at the crossroads: Turkish performing arts link past and present, East and West, Istan-
bul 1991, 81-91.
21 The novelty that came with the fashion of cycling for the female sex was that during the
walk of a girl a male or female escort was no longer needed.
22 For the case of the extremely popular play The secrets of Harem with refers to the mas-
sacre of the Armenians see John Russell Stephens, The Censorship of English Drama
1824-1901, Cambridge1980, 131. For the case of the play Don Juan, performed and im-
mediately banned in 1893, where the presence of the Sultan on stage was again the “stone
of scandal” and the reason for the Office’s operation, see ibid, 185 footnote 43, and John
Johnston, The Lord Chamberlain’s Blue Pencil, London 1990, 39. The author of the Yash-
mak was also involved in a case of censored political satire, but as an actor: during the
performances of the musical The Circus Girl (1896), Seymour Hicks sung a song titled
“A little piece of string” where he also used to hold and manipulate a puppet incarnating
the Kaiser of Germany (ibid, 130). Although the Lord Chamberlain’s Office advised the
producer of the show to omit the scene, soon afterwards we find it played by the same
actor, in another play, as a photo reveals: The Sketch, 463/34 (4 December 1901), 239.
816
Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha
The combination of all the previous elements led Yashmak to a glorious career
of 121 performances.23
Apart from a nationalistic political satire, Yashmak served now something
more than the “Orientalism” that featured Europe throughout 19th century. It
had passed in the phase of “Colonialism”. The only element that still remained
from the original libretto was the contrast between the modern cosmopolitan
manners and the regressive lifestyle of the East.24 The difference was that this
dipole in Yashmak is based on the geographical and cultural antithesis between
London and Istanbul, while in Leblebidji the corresponding dipole is Istanbul
- Anatolia.
If London’s reaction to Yashmak was mixed in 1897, the correspondent reac-
tion to the original Leblebidji in 1883’s Athens was enthusiastic. Although a lot
of critics had attacked the troupe, even before its arrival, both the quality of
Benglian’s company and the power of the play soon charmed everyone in the
Greek capital.
The objections focused supposedly on the alleged improper mixing of cos-
mopolitanism (through the genre of operetta) and provincialism, through
the Ottoman Turkish language that the troupe almost exclusively used, even
when performing French operettas. The press even claimed that the advent of
Benglian’s troupe in the cosmopolitan theater of Phaleron was a provocative
sacrilege.25 The truth is that there was a large dose of envy in such a reaction.26
23 In order to realize the range of the play’s success let us notice that the average length of
run for a London’s show during 1897 was 31 performances, according to J.P. Wearing,
“The London West End Theatre in the 1890s,” Educational Theatre Journal 29/3 (Oct
1977), 321, Table 2.
24 Perhaps, it is no coincidence, however, that one of the main roles of the play, Smudge,
could be considered as correspond to Karagöz, or even to the Greek Karaghiozis. Dur-
ing the second act in the Palace and as he is distinguished as a doctor in order to find his
friends, the Sultan suddenly calls him and the slaves explain that he should either heal
the Sultan or die. After successfully performing the above task, he anticipates assisting
the Sultan’s wife in a childbirth that gives triplets and he also uses homemade treatments
for an officer who has broken his arm. Smudge is however a young black hotel groom.
25 Chatzepantazes, Το κωμειδύλλιο, 59.
26 In this climate, the success of the troupe that embarrassed Greeks was attributed to the
Armenians as a nation, not of course to the culture of the neighboring state as a whole.
Consequently, Tchouhadjian’s work as a composer was presented as a music pastiche of
Eastern and Western elements, where any sample of personal creative work was com-
pletely absent. It would take Greeks another 55 years to be able to recognize essential-
817
Emmanouil SEIRAGAKIS
ly the composer’s value: Sofia K. Spanoudi, “Ένας Αρμένιος συνθέτης” [An Armenian
composer], Eleftheron Vema (Athens), 5862 (27 October 1938), 1, on the occasion of the
broadcasting of some works of his by the Greek Radio Company. Indicatively, for a corre-
spondent recognition of the composer’s value in Germany during 1910s see H. Kutzner,
“Zeitungsschau: Die Welt des Islams”, Bd 2. H. 2/4 (15 December 1914), 372-381.
27 Kostanza Ghéorghakaki, “Θέατρο Αθηνών: Οι παραστάσεις στα χρόνια του Όθωνα”
[Athens Theater: Performances in the years of Othon’s reign], Paravasis (Scientific bulle-
tin of the Department of Theater Studies of the University of Athens) 2 (1998), 143-180;
Constantinos Sabanis, “Η όπερα στην Αθήνα κατά την οθωνική περίοδο [1833-1862]
μέσα από τα δημοσιεύματα του τύπου και τους περιηγητές της εποχής” [Opera in Ath-
ens during the period of King Otto (1833-1862) through the newspapers and the travel-
ers of that era], unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Corfu 2011, 927-962 and passim.
28 Thodoros Chatzepantazes, Από του Νείλου μέχρι του Δουνάβεως, Το Χρονικό της ανά-
πτυξης του ελληνικού επαγγελματικού θεάτρου στο ευρύτερο πλαίσιο της Ανατολικής
Μεσογείου, από την ίδρυση του ανεξάρτητου κράτους ως τη Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή
[From Nile to Danube; The chronicle of the development of the Greek professional the-
ater in the broader region of the East, from the foundation of the independent Greek
state to the destruction of Smyrna], Heraklion 2002, vol. A1, chapter Β8: The years of ex-
ile 1872-1875, 150-171.
29 Leblebidji Horhor Agha, Köse Kâhya, Arif, Zeybekler, Offenbach’s Les Brigands, Lecocq’s
La fille de Madam Angot and Giroflé-Girofla, The Miller’s daughter, The Carnival’s bride,
and an one-act comedy in Greek language: Δυο Τούρκοι στην Αθήνα στο ξενοδοχείο
του μπάρμπα Γεράσιμου [Two Turks in Athens in the Hotel of Uncle Gerassimos]. See
Hatzepantazes, Το κωμειδύλλιο, 236. However he attributes the authorship of The Miller’s
Daughter to Robert Planquette, but the play could be equally possibly written by Seraph-
in Manasse, who staged one with the same title in 1862. See Mestyan, “A garden with
mellow fruits of refinement”, 164.
818
Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha
Moreover, when the troupe presented Leblebidji, every mood of irony disap-
peared. The play became the smash hit of the 1883 summer period in Athens
and Benglian’s troupe managed not only to have a long and successful stay in
Athens,30 but also to make a second visit soon.31 A few months later the play was
adapted to a novel and released in a book in Greek language.32 Thereafter the
expansion of the music of the play in Athens and in the whole country proved
unpredictable.33 Although references to the play decrease as we approach the
year 1897 of the Greek-Turkish War, and the Greek nationalism increases,34 the
process of the assimilation of its music is extremely rapid and this decline pro-
ved transient. Three years after the premiere of Leblebidji, when the citizens of
Athens realized that there was a lack of Greek element in their everyday musi-
cal entertainment, they demanded for the play as if it was Greek, and the mili-
tary bands added some pieces of the play in their repertoire.35 In a novel of the
same period, a company of provincial students at an outdoor cafe in a district
of Athens is singing loudly in order to mask the sound of a nearby piano and of
819
Emmanouil SEIRAGAKIS
its hostile European melodies. When the piano player decides to play the music
of Leblebidji Hor-hor Agha, the group of the young men, satisfied, accompanies
the instrument singing.36
Soon Leblebidji’s songs became indistinguishable from the Greek traditional
ones. Samuel Baud-Bovy, the Swiss ethnomusicologist who worked in Greece
during the first half of the 20th century, complained that in Dodecanese in the
Southeastern Aegean Sea, where he was trying to collect original traditional
Greek songs by asking the inhabitants of the islands to sing them for him, he
realized in anger that a considerable percentage of these songs were arias from
the famous operetta.37 These arias took naturally their place also in the reper-
toire of the folk bands of the local communities when entertaining the inha-
bitants during feasts, weddings, or other collective celebrations. Furthermore,
in the island of Mytilene the Leblebidji’s music, although Turkish, Armenian or
Ottoman, was incorporated in a traditional Greek folk ritual in which feasting
and drinking horsemen, standing upright on the top of their horses’ saddle,
dance to the tunes of “At havasi”,38 a specific instrumental piece, obviously influ-
enced by, if not imitating, Tchouhadjian’s music.
Returning to the theater, we notice almost the same rapid expansion. Pro-
fessor Emeritus Thodoros Chatzepantazes was the first scholar to distinguish
the remarkable effects of the performance of Leblebidji in the Greek theater
life. Launching an amalgam mingling Eastern and Western popular music ele-
ments and the irresistible dipole of cosmopolitanism vs. conservatism, capital
vs. provinces, and amorous young vs. senseless elder, the play offered the ideal
recipe for the Greek troupes in their effort to formulate Modern Greek musical
comedy:
Greeks were taught for the first time by Benglian’s performance of Leblebidji Hor-
Hor Agha how to mingle successfully European music with oriental plot issues, how
to cross boldly the genre comedy of the East Mediterranean with French Operetta
[…] Less than three years after the first appearance of Hor-hor Agha in Athens, the
author Demetrios Kokkos had already usurped its music in the Finale of one of his
one-act plays entitled The solution of the Eastern Question, which he presented in a
salon, before a circle of high society art amateurs. And when a brilliant Greek tro-
upe, capable of staging a musical play appeared, […] Demetrios Koromelas wrote
820
Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha
the first Greek vaudeville, which appropriates the music of the European Operetta,
in order to describe the adventures of a provincial old man, who comes to the capi-
tal in order to find his daughter”,39 exactly as in the plot of Leblebidji.
Thus, from 1888 on, a local version of the French vaudeville was born in
Greece. Its name was komeidyllion (Κωμειδύλλιο) and it was the second time
-after the case of Shadow Theater- that Greeks appealed not to the West but to
the East to derive a pattern for the development of modern Greek Theater. And
thus it seems that the small state that had seceded from the Ottoman Empire
just half a century before owed a lot both financially and culturally, not only to
the European Great Powers, but also to its previous Eastern suzerain.
Among 25 Greek vaudevills (κωμειδύλλια) that we were able to annotate, 19 deal
with the comparison of popular domestic manners to new important European
urban modes. 11 of them imitate without variation the plot model of Leblebidji Hor
Hor Agha.40
This new genre served as a first step towards the formation of Greek operetta
troupes, from 1909 onwards. Using Leblebidji and all its elements as a tool or
rather a weapon, Greek troupes managed not only to survive the competition
with the European touring theater troupes, but also to take their revenge for
the years of exile. The example from Smyrna during 1910 is typical: The Greek
Operetta Troupe of Yiannis Papaioannou staged Leblebidji in the city with
such a success that the local impresario advised the great French diva Gabrielle
Réjane to reschedule her route, to avoid Smyrna and to travel straight to Cairo
after her stay in Istanbul.41
Seeking the secret of the success of the play, common on both sides of the
Aegean Sea, we are heading to the date of its premiere in Istanbul. Looking back
to 1875 we have to examine the particular circumstances that created the play.
We realise that there was a hard rivalry there between the three main Ottoman
theater groups,42 intended to serve cosmopolitanism through French Operetta,
821
Emmanouil SEIRAGAKIS
as Paris was still the metropolis and yielded cultural supremacy not only in
Europe but also in the capital of the Ottoman Empire.43 There were, however,
three major developments in the main troupe’s efforts to effectively detect the
taste of the public: firstly the abandonment of the Opera as the genre that could
become dominant in the preferences of the audience. Secondly, the adoption of
the Ottoman Turkish language for almost every new staging, including French
operettas and comedies, which were now played translated.44 Was it due to this
choice that the number of theatergoers enlarged, or was the enlargement of the
audience that forced the theater groups to make their shows comprehensible?
It is extremely difficult for us to determine. It is obvious, however, that the imp-
resarios’, the composers’ and the authors’ attempts to detect the common taste
in musical and theatrical entertainment, in fact needed a major effort to map
the trends and the reclassifications of the society of Constantinople and the
Empire.
A third development was the interweaving and coexistence of all popular
elements both musical and theatrical, both Ottoman and European, in order
to create a new genre, an Ottoman Operetta that could cover the maximum of
walks, but mainly the rising middle class. In this direction, the assignment of
writing the libretto to an experienced actor proved an excellent idea.45 Takvor
Nalyan had a rich experience not only of French Operettas46 but also of the
Moliere’s comedies, extremely popular up to then, and this impact is obvious in
822
Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha
some comic scenes of the play.47 Yet, it seems that he equally knew the humble
forms of Ottoman popular theater like Orta Oyunu, the glorious Ottoman Sha-
dow theater,48 or even the meddah stories, as he also uses folk tales and referen-
ces to legendary heroes like Köroğlu.49 These elements intrude in the libretto
and perhaps in the mise en scene50 in order to play a double role, like it happens
in the meddah tradition, where the audience is been divided in two parts,51 just
as it happened with the Armenian press of Istanbul, right after the premier of
Leblebidji.52 Even more important and totally out of the question for a Western
47 The night ambuscade in the last act of the play, for example, shows obvious similarities
to the correspondent act and scene in Moliere’s L’école des femmes.
48 As Mestyan quotes (“A garden with mellow fruits of refinement”, 293), during 1874
Tchouhadjian himself wrote incidental music for Ibrahim Şinasi’s drama Şair Evlenme-
si (The marriage of the poet, 1856), a play that obviously has its origin in the Ottoman
popular theater’s forms, as has been already claimed (Anna Stavrakopoulou, (“Μισέ Κω-
ζής (1840), Πολυπολιτισμικά νυχτοπερπατήματα στην Οθωμανική Κωνσταντινούπολη”
[Mise Kozis (1848) Multi-cultural night walks in Ottoman Constantinople], Nikiforos
Papandreou - Vafeiadou Efi (eds), Ζητήματα ιστορίας του νεοελληνικού θεάτρου: μελέ-
τες χαρισμένες στον Δημήτρη Σπάθη [Aspects of Modern Greek theater history: Studies
dedicated to Demetres Spathis], Heraklion 2007, 80, footnote 34, where she refers to Me-
tin And, A history of theatre and popular entertainment in Turkey, Forum Yayınları, An-
kara 1963-64, 68, 78, and Nermin Menemencoglou, “The Ottoman Theatre 1839-1923”,
Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies) 10/1(1983), 51). It is my belief that
the Greek comedy Vavylonia (Βαβυλωνία), the total Greek smash hit of the 19th century,
a play written by an Istanbulite Greek writer, whose name was Demetres Hatzeaslanes
Vyzantios, drew inspiration from the Orta Oyunu theater troupes. This idea was first
launched by Solomonides, Το θέατρο στη Σμύρνη, 184.
49 The period is characterized by many such uses of traditional theater and ritual elements
of the East. It is no coincidence that one of the operettas that Tchouhadjian wrote was
Köse Kâhya. We can speculate the origin of the play from the Mock King or the Köse
types of rites which And describes in his Drama at the Crossroads, 59
50 It was also assigned to Nalyan: The Levant Herald, 207 (26 October 1875), 827.
51 “…a Turkish meddah was recounting the battle between the two sons of Hamza, Ka-
sim and Badi […] the audience also divided into two rival factions, sometimes fighting
among themselves” And, Drama at the Crossroads, 107.
52 As Adam Mestyan quotes (“A garden with mellow fruits of refinement”, 300-301) it
“was divided between Tchouhadjian and Güllü Agop (Vartovyan), especially concern-
ing Tchouhadjian’s new music […] The two troupes exchanged their theaters very easily,
both performing in the Old City of Istanbul and in the Francophone Pera, thus showing
that in both locations they could find audiences and imagined interest. Thus the East-
West divide can be seriously questioned as the Old City is geographically Europe, too,
but in both “Europe” the means to attract an audience was the Ottoman Turkish lan-
823
Emmanouil SEIRAGAKIS
author or artist is the fluidity and flexibility shown by every member of the pro-
ducing team of the show, in order to adjust the text, the music and the overall
performance, according to the taste of the public.53 As we mentioned above, this
audience was extremely different of the one two decades before. In the occa-
sion of the performance of Köse Kâhya that had preceded, The Levant Herald
tried to describe it. It considered it to consist of two parts, one comprised of
the educated and the other of laymen. According to the newspaper, the latter
had no idea of music but put money in theater. Tchouhadjian intended to that
integrated audience. Many stage improprieties were conscious, as he did not
create for himself, but exactly for this audience, claims the paper.54 The critics
also noticed that in Köse Kâhya, Tcouhadjian’s second attempt in this strange
Turkish Opera Buffe genre, the music was lighter and more genuine than the
correspondent music in his first play Arif.55 The use of elements of folk theater
was again evident. A real donkey appeared alive on stage, clutching a large part
of the action.56 All the plays had a happy end with at least one wedding. It is of
no coincidence that simultaneously the Press encouraged Seraphin Manasse to
abandon the genre of Opera and his high aspirations.57
This trend was extremely widespread in the whole Europe, where the new
genre of Operetta attracted large mass of theatergoers, mainly from middle-
class and the popular strata. At the same time, producers of mass entertainment
took care to turn the raw and rugged folk spectacle that prevailed until then to
a refined and sophisticated entertainment for the whole family of a city. It was
just a Ramadan before, that the Press asked the police to intervene and stop the
824
Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha
58 Ibid, 213 (6 November 1874). Although different types of popular entertainment still ap-
peared in small theaters of Istanbul, the Press urged them to change to a more appro-
priate style. When a troupe of the old-fashioned Zuricolos had their premiere with short
comedies à la Molière, the critics notice that there were no women in the audience or
on stage, but men wearing a yashmak playing even the female roles. Although this was a
practice widespread among the different genres of the Ottoman popular entertainment,
the paper strongly recommended the theater’s administrator to hire at least three Arme-
nian actresses to refine the troupe: The Levant Herald, 192 (5 October 1875), 767.
59 See “Nouvelles d’ Andrianople - La troupe arménienne”, The Levant Herald, 12 (21 Janu-
ary 1876), where the supplanting of Shadow Theater by the Ottoman Operetta is seen as
a sign of national regeneration of morals and taste.
825
LÜGAT:
A CONTENT-ANALYSIS APPROACH
OF A 15 TH-C. FOUR-LANGUAGE DICTIONARY
Borislava Zhivkova*
826
Lügat : a content-analysis approach
827
Borislava ZHIVKOVA
Bosnian language until the first half of the 20th century.7 Aljamiado Slavic texts
are also related to the Muslim groups in contemporary Bulgaria and in the For-
mer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which are known as Pomaks or Torbesi.8
The increasing process of the islamization of the Albanians in the 16th cen-
tury9 also favored the creation of texts written in Arabic script;10 the first known
sample of Albanian aljamiado text dates to the 17th century.11
Moreover, speaking about the aljamiado literature in the Balkans, it sho-
uld be mentioned that there are also texts in Greek language written in Arabic
script.12 Their linguistic elements are indicative of the coexistence of different
linguistic groups in the Seljuk lands in the 13th century. In that area, the sultan’s
court language was Persian, while Turkish was spoken by the Muslim popu-
828
Lügat : a content-analysis approach
lation (excluding the Karamanlides) and the Greek language was widespread
among both the Christian and the Muslim population.13
It is known that even in the early Ottoman times one can observe vari-
ous combinations of languages and alphabets: a couplet, for example, of the
famous Ottoman poet Ahmed Paşa (? -1496/7) was written in Greek using Ara-
bic script.14 Similarly, written in Arabic script are two manuscripts of the 15th
century, containing parallel aljamiado texts in four languages – Arabic, Persian,
Greek, and Serbian. This is the only known instance of such a language type
combination, which will be examined in detail further on.15
The manuscripts AS 4749 and AS 4750 can be included into the group of the
Greek and Serbian aljamiado texts. The Arabic alphabet does not properly rep-
roduce all sounds of the Greek and the Serbian languages and therefore there
are some phonetic misstatements, but there are also some sounds of the Ara-
13 This is particularly true for the Balkans, in which also a great variety of languages ex-
isted and multilingualism was widespread during the Ottoman rule. The use of different
alphabets, which sometimes are used for the transcription of texts in nonmaching lan-
guages, can be observed;for more bibliography, see Matthias Kappler, «Προϋποθέσεις
για μια γραμματική προσέγγιση στα ελληνικά κείμενα γραμμένα με αραβικό αλφάβη-
το», Ο ελληνικός κόσμος ανάμεσα στην Ανατολή και τη Δύση 1453-1981, Πρακτικά Α΄
Ευρωπαϊκού Συνεδρίου Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Βερολίνο 2-4 Οκτωβρίου 1998, vol. 1,
Athens 1999, 496-698; Phokion Kotzageorgis, Το Ισλάμ στα Βαλκάνια – Ένα ελληνόφωνο
μουσουλμανικό χειρόγραφο από την Ήπειρο του 18ου αιώνα, Athens 1997, 68-75, where a
catalog of the Greek aljamiado texts can be found.
14 Dimitri Theodoridis, “Ein griechischer aljamiadischer Zweizeiler im Diwan von Ahmed
Paša”, Zeitschrift für Balkanologie 3 (1965), 180-183. For details on Ahmed Paşa, see. EI2,
“Ahmad Pasha, called Bursalı” (H. İnalcık).
15 Later, the combinations of languages and alphabets increased in the Balkan Babel: the
Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi (1611-1682) in his itinerary Seyâhatnâme refers to the
use of Arabic alphabet for the writing of texts in Serbian language; Franz Babinger, Die
Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke, Leipzig 1927. Evliya Çelebi also re-
corded in Arabic letters a Greek song from Peloponnesus. For the text of the song, see
Hubert Pernot, Introduction à l’étude du dialecte tsakonien, Paris 1934, 506. Indeed, in
the Balkans, that since the mid-17th century became a region with increasing number
of Greek aljamiado texts (religious Islamic texts known as “Confessions”), the regions of
Epirus and Crete, where many Greek-speaking Muslims lived, stand out; Theodoridis,
“Ein griechischer aljamiadischer Zweizeiler”, 180-183. Also significant, because of their
wide usability, which can be evinced in the many reprints, are two bilingual dictionaries
of Cretan aljamiado-production: a Turkish-Greek dictionary of 1874 and a Greek-Turk-
ish dictionary of 1876, Kappler, «Προϋποθέσεις για μια γραμματική προσέγγιση », 700,
703-704.
829
Borislava ZHIVKOVA
bic script that are more correct than the ones found in the Greek or the Cyril-
lic script.16 According to Ahmet Caferoğlu, the researcher who first discovered
and studied the manuscripts, despite their great similarity, they are not comple-
tely identical – they differ in the number of leaves; often the Serbian translation
differs lightly, and also in some of the leaves the Arabic texts of the manuscripts
do not overlap completely. This was also pointed out recently by the German
Slavist Werner Lehfeldt who comparatively studied the two manuscripts, parti-
cularly focusing on the Serbian part.17
830
Lügat : a content-analysis approach
20 The manuscripts of Lügat (which can be translated as ‘dictionary’), due to the fact that
they were entitled a posteriori on the front page, do not contain words in alphabetic or-
der, but phrases as parts of different dialogues, a way rather reminiscent of phrase-books
or language-learning methods, a fact that also indicates the age of their composition.
During that period, all of the linguistic books with parallel word/phrases in two or more
languages were dictionaries.
21 Lehfeldt, Eine Sprachlehre, 93-94; the Greek text: «Δεύτε και λαλήσωμεν αραβιστί, ο γαρ
παιδευτής / κεκώλικέν μας του λαλείν χορεσμιστί, / ελησμόνησα γουν την αραβιστήν και
την περσιστήν / και εσυνετομίσαμεν την γουρδιστήν / και την τουρκιστήν.»
22 A city in modern Uzbekistan.
23 This area was part of the Persian Empire until it was conquered by the Arabs in the late
7th century. Currently, its northern part is in the territory of Uzbekistan, while the south
Khwarezm is in Turkmenistan.
24 But, sometimes, this new Turkic language which was spoken in that area also can also be
referred to as horesmi.
831
Borislava ZHIVKOVA
the horesmi language, we can also acquire some general information on the
place where our source was written. Particularly, two place names, the only ones
referred to in the text, can help us comprehend the wider environment of the
people that were in need of such a dictionary: on folio 14a1 we read the question
“Where did you come from?” and the reply “I came from Buhara”. 25 Similarly, in
a second dialogue a reference is made to a journey plan (folios 54a3-54b2)26 to
the river Ώξος/ Όξος/Amu Darya, passing nearby Chiva/Khiva – these are the
only local names referred to in the Lügat.27 Since both of them pertain to the
Iranian area, they link the dictionary to the Central Asian region. The same ori-
gin of the core or, at least, of the original text of the Lügat is confirmed by many
Tajik words in the Persian text.28
Thus, the abovementioned conclusion raises the issue of the relation of an
Iranian dictionary/phrase-book with the remote environment of the Balkan
Peninsula. Two hypotheses can be suggested on the phases of the Lügat’s com-
position. According to the first, the original text was compiled in the Central
Asian bilingual area, near the above-mentioned local names and hydronym,
that exist only in the Persian and Arabic parts of the text. The second phase
of the Lügat leads us to an Ottoman-Balkan multilingual area. Obviously, the
original text was copied and two more languages (Greek and Serbian) were
added.29 However, the Serbian text seems30 to have been written after the
Greek one; in this case, one could speak about a third phase in the creation of
the Lügat.
As for the date of its second (or the second and third) phase, reliable evi-
dence can be discerned: both manuscripts bear the tughra of sultan Bayezid II
(1481-1512), a clue indicating a terminus ante quem in 1512. Additionally, there
is evidence allowing us to presume that the manuscript was written even earlier
25 The Greek text: «Πόθεν ήλθες; Ήλθον εκ Μπουχαρίας», Lehfeldt, Eine Sprachlehre, 100.
The city of Buhara (Bukhara) is located southeast of Chiva (Khiva, Hiva) and currently
is part of Uzbekistan.
26 The Greek text: «Ω παιδίον, δεύτε, ίνα υπάμεν / Εις τον Ούξον. Απόμεινον ώραν,/ έως
επαίρνω το ιμάτιόν μου και ολίγα/ εκ των υπώρων.», Lehfeldt, Eine Sprachlehre, 180-181.
27 The river Amu Darya springs from the mountain Hindu kush in Afghanistan and flows
through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan until it flows into the Aral Sea, EI2,
“Âmû Daryâ” (B. Spuler).
28 Henrich, “Zu einem arabisch-persisch-griechisch-serbischen Gesprächslehrbuch”, 366.
29 Ibid, 367.
30 The Serbian text follows the Greek text more strictly than the original Persian text.
832
Lügat : a content-analysis approach
than the rule of sultan Mehmed II (1444-1446, 1451-1481).31 About the deter-
mination of its terminus post quem the dialectical Pontic elements of the Greek
text can prove to be very helpful, since we know that Trabzon was conquered in
1461 by Mehmed II (1444-1446, 1451-1481).32
Concerning the Serbian texts of the manuscripts, it should be mentioned
that they were written in štokavian –one of the south Slav dialects. The manusc-
ript AS 4749 is written in the (i)jekavian štokavian dialect, while the AS 4750
in the ekavian one, spoken in the area of Dubrovnik and of Resava-Kosovo
respectively.33 The dialectical difference betweem the two Serbian texts of our
source indicates two different translators and, thus, a wider diffusion of copies
in the south Slavic area. It seems that the translator of the Serbian text of AS
4749 had difficulty translating the name of the river Oxos from f. 45α2 and that
he copied with no changes in dialect the translation from the f. 54α4 of AS 4750
as “na reku” (which means “the river”). Therefore, the Serbian text of AS 4750 is
earlier than the one of AS 4749. 34 It should be assumed that this applies to the
entire manuscript AS 4750, from which later on the AS 4749 copy was made.
As it is shown above, this rare sample of literary text is very important for
the study of Greco-Islamic literature, because a) of its early appearance and b)
its uniqueness as a linguistic method containing four languages, which makes
it stand out from the other aljamiado dictionaries.
When compared to the earlier Greek aljamiado texts of literary character
the Lügat constitutes the earliest example of applied use of the Greek langu-
age in an Islamic environment. Also, the Lügat contains the earliest and longest
Greek aljamiado text. This feature specifically indicates that the conversion to
Islam in the Balkans does not always mean that the newly converted abando-
ned their mother tongue.35 The leading role of the Greek language as the lan-
guage of the official correspondence of Sultans in the 15th and in the first half of
833
Borislava ZHIVKOVA
the 16th century with the Byzantines, the Genoese, and the Venetians is an issue
that is being dealt with in recent researches.36 The role of the Serbo-Croatian
language in the Ottoman Empire was also important being a language used in
the Ottoman diplomatic relations with Dubrovnik.37
The Greek language is associated with the Christian tradition. In this res-
pect, its use as an ecclesiastical language should also be mentioned – not only
by the Orthodox groups but also by some of the Greek-speaking Muslims and
by the Karamanlides who wrote in Turkish using the Greek script. Comparing
to the Karamanlides’ texts, the Lügat is just an opposite case: the Greek and the
Serbian are written in the Arabic alphabet. Another interesting difference has to
do with the use of the texts: the Karamanlides’ texts, which are mostly religious,
are intended for Christian readers,38 while the Greek aljamiado works, espe-
cially the religious texts, prayers and religious poems have a broader purpose:
they were destined for the newly converted to Islam but also were intended to
advice the non-Muslims to follow the path of Muhammad. It remains unknown
if these messages ever reached their destination, mainly because it is impos-
sible to calculate the number of non-Muslims who knew the Arabic written
language or, at least, those who knew how to read the Arabic alphabet. Some of
the Slav-speaking Muslims today have some knowledge of Arabic and Turkish
language, because of their religion.39 In fact, the process of islamization influ-
36 Apparently, this is explained by the fact that some of the sultans had Greek secretaries,
but also because they themselves knew Greek, such as Murad II (1421-1444, 1446-1451),
although his secretary was the Greek Michael Pyllin. Related to the topic of multilin-
gualism in the Balkans is the fact that the wife of Murad II was the Serbian princess Mara
Branković, the daughter of the Serbian ruler Đorđe Branković (1427–1456) and the Byz-
antine Eirine Kantakouzine. This language background explains the multilingualism of
their son, sultan Mehmed II (1444-1446, 1451-1481), who was fluent in speaking the
Greek language and used it in his official correspondence. The same phenomenon can be
observed later too. The Greek language was used in correspondence from later sultans,
like Bayezid II (1481-1512), Selim I (1512-1520), and Suleiman I (1520-1566); Σπυρίδων
Π. Λάμπρος, «Η Ελληνική ως επίσημος γλώσσα των Σουλτάνων», Νέος Ελληνομνήμων
5 (1908), 40-78.
37 Lehfeldt, Das serbokroatische Aljamiado-Schrifttum, 48-49. Benjamin Stolz, “Serbo-croa-
tian as a Balkan Diplomatic Language during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries”, Ac-
tes du IIe congrès international des Études du sud-est européen (Athènes, 7-13 mai 1970),
t. IV. Linguistique et literature, Athens 1978, 233-249.
38 S. Salaville – E. Dalleggio, Karamanlidika. Bibliographie analytique d'ouvrages en langue
turque imprimés en caractères grecs, vol. 1 (1584-1850), Athens 1958.
39 Norris, Islam in the Balkans, 58.
834
Lügat : a content-analysis approach
enced the way of thinking, the law, the culture, the social and family organiza-
tion, and generally the whole worldview of the converts. In general, all aspects
of everyday life changed, forming new spiritual and aesthetic criteria. Impor-
tant features were the language and the oral and writing tradition in which the
changes that occurred in different periods are reflected.
The interest of Muslims, and even non-Muslims, in Bosnia and Herzego-
vina to learn the Ottoman language – besides the religious vocabulary – seems
to have increased due to reasons like trade, the opportunities offered for their
participation in the Ottoman military corps and for their appointment to the
Ottoman administration.40 Perhaps, it was due to these reasons that the first
Turkish dictionaries and methods for learning the Turkish language appeared.
The earliest such example in Arabic alphabet is the bilingual (Turkish-Bosnian)
dictionary Makbuli-arif or Potur-Šahidija, written by Muhamed Hevai Uskufi
in 1631/2, which is one of the earliest samples of Balkan lexicography.41 The
dictionary, written in poetic form, appears to have been known to Evliya Çelebi
(1611-1682).42 In his itinerary Seyâhatnâme, describing his stay in Sarajevo in
1659, he wrote a chapter on the language of the Bosnians and the Croats, where
he used expressions and formulations also contained in the foreword of the
Makbuli-arif. For example he comments on the purity of the Bosnian langu-
age and its similarity to Latin, both of which, in his words, are of divine origin
(from heaven), and, therefore, Bosnian is a heavenly language. Also, the Otto-
40 The participating of Bosnians in the Ottoman army, and particularly in the and particu-
larly in the janissary corps, was widespread since the 15th- 16th century. Also, some of
the Bosnians managed to take high positions in the Ottoman administration and to be-
come part of the Ottoman elite, frequently bearing Ottoman titles, such as beg, aga, and
paša. The Ottomans showed great interest for the Bosnian lands because of their geo-
graphic position: the Bosnian part of the Empire was a frontier territory neighboring
with the Austrian Empire and the Venetian state. The close connection of the Bosnian
population to the Ottoman administrative structure and the Muslim faith increased
their use of the Arabic script when writing their local Slavic language; Lehfeldt, Das ser-
bokroatische Aljamiado-Schrifttum, 47-53.
41 It was published by the famous Orientalists Otto Blau (Bosnisch-türkische Sprachden-
kmäler, Leipzig 1868). In 1942, Derviş Korkut published its original version in Arabic
script, together with a parallel translation in Latin; Lehfeldt, Das serbokroatische Aljami-
ado-Schrifttum, 40-41, 50.
42 Babinger, Die Geschichtsschreiber , 1927.
835
Borislava ZHIVKOVA
man traveler correlated the Bosnian dictionary, perhaps because of its poetic
form, with the Persian books (dictionaries) Sahidi. 43
The fact that the aljamiado texts use an alphabet which represents a lan-
guage that does not belong to the ‘languages of Islam’ such as the Arabic, the
Persian and the Ottoman/Turkish is interesting. This feature, in the case of the
Greek aljamiado literature, can be explained by the words of the author of a
poem concerning the birth of Prophet Muhammad, written in the late 18th
century in Crete. The author expresses his opinion about the Greek language
and its use: according to him, Greek was necessary for a practical reason; beca-
use in Crete “men and women, believers and unbelievers” spoke this language.
This explanation might also apply in other cases of the Greco-Islamic written
tradition. 44
Speaking of the Ottoman Empire, it should be mentioned that the interac-
tion that took place in all aspects of life of the various religious, ethnic, and
linguistic groups, was also strong in the case of the mixing of languages. A phe-
nomenon observed in the case of the aljamiado written tradition can be trea-
ted as such an example. The texts in Arabic script were created by and diffused
amongst the non-Turkish speaking Balkan population that converted to Islam
after the Ottomans conquest of the Balkans. The use of the Arabic script by
many different groups living on the Empire’s territory demonstrated the domi-
nant role played by the Ottoman language/writing.45 It should be noted that
the use of the Arabic script was adopted only by Balkan groups which conver-
ted to Islam because of the new religion and not because of the political power
of the Ottomans.
Returning to the Lügat, one could ask: what was its function? The rich deco-
ration of the AS 4750 manuscript suggests that the possessor was an Ottoman
elite figure and, more precisely, the sultan himself. The person who commissio-
ned the creation of this manuscript is unknown, but maybe the process was ini-
tiated by its owner. A. Caferoğlu, who investigated the linguistic aspects of the
Lügat in the 1930s, suggests that this manuscript was in the possession of the
sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481), who, as known, was acquainted with the Ser-
43 Lehfeldt, Das serbokroatische Aljamiado-Schrifttum, 15-16. For more details on the histo-
ry and the researches concerning the Slavic aljamiado texts in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
see ibid, 15-41.
44 Kappler, «Προϋποθέσεις για μια γραμματική προσέγγιση», 702.
45 Lehfeldt, Das serbokroatische Aljamiado-Schrifttum, 8.
836
Lügat : a content-analysis approach
837
Borislava ZHIVKOVA
838
Lügat : a content-analysis approach
839
Borislava ZHIVKOVA
ral times, played an important role in the economic and social life. Related to
exchanges is also the currency of the time, i.e. the denarium. Inconveniently,
the Lügat does not provide information on prices, except from some dialogues
on market exchanges. The vocabulary related to different works and professions
shows some aspects of the everyday life. Also, the information given on agri-
culture and weather conditions can be helpful. As it is clear, religion, with its
dictated combination of devotional, moral, and legal norms, was the most ide-
ologically and politically charged aspect of the people’s life.
To sum up, the content analysis of the Lügat text, not attempted until now,
is an additional method to shed light on the phenomenon of Balkan multilin-
gualism during the early Ottoman period. Since the original text comes from
Central Asia, its geographical and cultural significance becomes even greater.
The third point which can be made here is its function in societies where Islam
was the dominant religion and constantly increasing its flock. The fourth issue
that we deal with relates language with ideology and mentalities: the moral
codes and the savoir-vivre advices (for instance to children that should learn/
memorize the Koran, etc.), traced in the text of the Lügat, and the function of
the Lügat as an instrumentum, if not a textbook, for language-learning are an
excellent evidence of the transformation of the Balkan Christian societies, ope-
ning new paths for research on multilingualism, inter-confessional communi-
cation, and syncretistic East-Balkan osmosis.
840
PART VI
FINE ARTS,
ARCHITECTURE,
AND
ARCHAEOLOGY
Pane l
ARTISTIC ENCOUNTERS
IN OTTOMAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE:
ZONES OF ACCULTURATION
Introduction
Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu* 1
The impact of art and architecture as means of visual culture and as end pro-
ducts of acculturation within the everyday life of the Ottomans has not been
given much attention. The world “influence” is generally considered to be suf-
ficient when it comes to explain the various inputs in the creation of art works
or monuments. “Influences” coming from different cultures by the presence of
artists, by transfer of images and techniques, by different tastes and desires of
art patrons lead to the account of these encounters. Yet there are also different
zones of cultural and artistic contacts, not only between the Ottomans and the
non-Ottomans but also within the peoples of the Empire who might or might
not have contacts with the non-Ottomans.
Theories of art history deal both with physical analysis and the meaning
making of images. Images are in themselves signs and symbols that contem-
porary literary theories of constructivist approach use in order to interpret
representational systems using language as a medium. Art historical appro-
ach analyses in different ways these systems of representations as expressed by
843
Zones of acculturation
844
Common living spaces,
different worlds: non-Muslim grave
monuments in 19 th- century Istanbul
Selda Alp*
845
Selda ALP
od.3 The rights of non-Muslims living in the Empire’s territory were guaran-
teed by a series of legislations created after the second half of the 19th century.
Thanks to this improvement in their living conditions, the communities got the
right to acquire property and social necessities, such as schools, churches, hos-
pitals and cemeteries.4
In the course of the century the amelioration of the non-Muslims’ social and
economic condition increased their interaction with the Western World in the
spheres of public and cultural life. This situation led the Western life-style and
culture to become part of the wider life-style of non-Muslims, including their
dressing habits, private life, tastes, and the image of living quarters. It is possible
to observe such influences on the grave monuments of Istanbul, where a great
number of non-Muslim people lived.
The 19th century gravestones and monuments in the non-Muslim cemete-
ries of Istanbul clearly display the change in the socio-economic structure and
artistic appreciation of that era. The gravestones commissioned by the various
religious communities and sects that considered themselves to be members of
the Empire reflected their own traditions.
A group of gravestones belonging to this period in the Feriköy Protes-
tant cemetery, the Feriköy Latin Catholic Cemetery, and the Balıklı Arme-
nian cemetery present important information on this tradition. The fact that
the rectangular gravestones – made to be installed horizontally – in the Feri-
köy Protestant and Latin Catholic cemeteries have the same measurements and
ornament features points out to the existence of a similar taste and to their pre-
paration by the same workshops (fig. 1-4).
Although in the Armenian, Greek and Latin cemeteries until the mid-19th
century there are no monumental examples, the existent simple gravestones
are plenty and carved with symbols related to the professions of the deceased.
Along with such professional symbols, the motifs of angels related to death,
crosses, hourglasses, as well as simple floral and geometrical reliefs were used.
3 Arsen Yarman, Osmanlı Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Ermeniler ve Surp Pirgiç Ermeni Hastane-
si Tarihi, Istanbul 2001, 17-67; Behzat Üsdiken, Pera ve Beyoğlu’nda Bankalar… Banker-
ler… Sarraflar… Tefeciler… Kuyumcular…, Istanbul 2000.
4 Nur Akın, 19. Yüzyılın İkinci Yarısında Galata ve Pera, Istanbul 2011, 159, 278, Rinaldo
Marmara, Pangaltı (Pancaldi) 19. Yüzyılın Levanten Semti, E. İşözen (ed.), İstanbul 2001;
Idem, Bizans, 104-107.
846
Common living spaces, different worlds
5 See Georgios K. Papazoglou, Ταφικά Μνημεία της Πόλης. Α. Σισλί – Έμποροι και Τραπε-
ζίτες, Komotini 2005, 73-447.
6 Ibid, 98, Evangelia Şarlak, İstanbul’daki Hıristiyan Mezarlıklarında Mimarlık ve Sanat, İs-
tanbul 2005, 64; Yorgo L. Zarifi, Hatıralarım Kaybolan Bin Dünya: İstanbul 1800-1920,
Karin Skotiniyadis (trans.), İstanbul 2005, 243-244.
847
Selda ALP
It is possible to follow this demand in the Indicateur Ottoman and the Annu-
aire Oriental. The professional associations were listed under the titles of the
sculptor, the marble and gravestone carvers in these annuals. They must have
worked together for some examples although they were listed under different
professional groups. Some examples also show that the architects and craftsmen
of gravestone worked together although they were not under the same vocati-
onal family. One such important example is the grave of Konstantinos Petridis
built by P. Ziotis, Viktor Adamantidis, and the architect Petsillas in 1907.7
It is understood from the names of craftsmen I detected on some of the
graves and in the Annuaire Oriental annuals that the ateliers that produced
gravestones and craftsmen were situated nearby the cemeteries. For example,
the atelier of Yervant Osgan, who is known to have been one of the famous
sculptors of that century and to have carved busts for grave monuments found
in this study, was somewhere around the existing Şişli Armenian cemetery.8
According to my research in these annuals, the workshops of Lazzaro Lyritis,9
Mihalis Krikelis,10 N. Ziotis,11 and Kanagini Freres12 on the Kabristan street, as
well as the one of Romano13 behind the Feriköy Latin cemetery indicate that
their workshops were close to cemeteries.
Some non-Muslims were appointed to high positions in the Ottoman bure-
aucracy since the Tanzimât, on the condition that they spoke Turkish and they
had other qualifications. It was impossible to distinguish these persons who
were representing the imperial government from their Muslim colleagues thro-
ugh their appearance, a fact that becomes also obvious when looking at their
graves.
The fact that the persons in these graves were Greek or Armenian, Otto-
man soldiers and Christians showed the cultural diversity and religious free-
dom that existed in the Ottoman state. Their class identity and status is also
reflected on these monuments. For instance, the grave monument belonging
to the Greek Ottoman Pasha Romilos A. Spatharis in the Şişli Greek cemetery
848
Common living spaces, different worlds
is one of the most magnificent examples (fig. 9). The grave inscription is bilin-
gual, in both Greek and Ottoman, and bears a carved Ottoman flag relief on the
slab covering the grave, indicating the importance of his administrative service.
Also, on the cruciform gravestone there are traditional Christian motifs, such
as photographs, torches, garlands and daphne leaves.14
On the graves of the Armenians and Greeks who had served in high bure-
aucratic positions one can find symbols and official attires related to their sta-
tus. This reveals that they were proud of holding a prestigious position and that
they wanted to show it off. For instance, the figures with fezes on their heads
depicted on the relief and the busts of the graves of Sahak Abro,15 Tokatyan,
and Dilsizyan in the Şişli Armenian cemetery reflect the status of high-rank
Ottoman officers (fig. 7-8).
However, the limited number of examples does not mean that the grave-
building traditions of Muslims and non-Muslims were influenced by each
other. The rest of the society kept the traditional grave types according to their
religion and ethnicity. The temple-shaped graves dating back to 19th century
reflect the architectural style of that period. The magnificent temple-shaped
graves, emulating the ancient Greek and Roman temple models, are of high
quality which can be compared to the quality of such tombs.16 Especially a
group of graves standing side by side in the Feriköy Latin Catholic cemetery
resemble small churches rather than graves.17 These monuments are among
the most magnificent constructions of Istanbul with their apses, roof covering
systems, sculptures and reliefs.
It is hard to say if the Western life-style, traces of which we can find in aspects
of Istanbul’s everyday life had affected all layers of the Ottoman public sphere
at the same rate and in the same manner. Despite the fact that some Ottoman
sultans in the 19th century had ordered the installation of animal sculptures
made by European sculptors in the gardens of their palaces, they did not favor
their display in public spaces (monuments and official buildings). There is no
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doubt that this conservative attitude of the sultans and the official authorities
was influenced by their intention not to violate the principles of Islam. In the
same period, the continuation of the traditional style regarding the form and
decoration of Muslim graves is an indication that the Western influences rema-
ined mainly pertinent to the non-Muslim communities.
Although the tradition of Muslim gravestones appears to change clearly
since the 18th century, these gravestones present a very different character
comparing to their non-Muslim counterparts. A social statement was presen-
ted on the base of the status, family tree and life experiences of the deceased in
the Muslim cemeteries, which were considered to be an extension of the city’s
public spaces. Details such as the increase in size, the extension of the inscrip-
tions, the detailed information given on the dead person, and the architectural
ornamentation display the changes on the gravestones in the 18th century.
The monumental size of the reliefs and statues attracts more attention than
the inscriptions on the non-Muslim graves. On the contrary, the Muslim gra-
vestones are similar to each other in terms of form and content (fig. 11-12).
The changes in Ottoman society caused the burial customs to change in the
19th century. The tradition of burying Ottoman sultans, their families and
high-ranking statesmen into tombs (türbe) was abandoned.18 The custom of
burying Muslims in tombs or graveyards around mosques and in the gardens
of grand mosques began to develop, as we do not observe as many examples
in the Classical Ottoman era.19 However, the monumental presentation starts
being noticed on the non-Muslim’s monuments only since the 19th century
(fig. 11-14).
It can be said that there was no gender distinction in this period by loo-
king at the graves of the couples which were placed side by side. The graves of
women look the same as the ones built for men. The graves of women, girls, and
children were standing separately and were ornamented with works presenting
an execution quality that also reflected their family’s wealth.
Looking at the graves of couples built side by side, gives the impression that
there was no sex discrimination. The monument of the Lamproutidou family
in the Şişli Greek cemetery is one such example (fig. 15). The male and female
18 Hans Peter Laqueur, Hüve’l Baki İstanbul’da Osmanlı Mezarlıkları ve Mezar Taşları,
İstanbul 2007, 71.
19 Ibid, 67-68.
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Common living spaces, different worlds
figures were carved delicately, facing each other in profile. The monument of
Michail Svoronos was built in a unique style in the same cemetery (fig. 16),
with the portraits of a married couple being accompanied by symbols of affec-
tion and faithfulness. According to the research I have done in the cemeteries,
the graves belonging to the males and females have the same features. The gra-
ves of the Abro family in the Şişli Armenian cemetery represent an important
example. The graves of Sahak Abro and his spouse were designed to be double
(fig. 10). The graves belonging only to a woman, a girl, and a child were carved
delicately in a way that demonstrates the wealth of the family.
The grave monuments with the busts and reliefs of the grave-owners were
considered to be of great importance in this period.20 Together with other the-
mes, motifs related to death and mourning were depicted on the grave monu-
ments (fig.11-16-17-18-19).
The depictions of angels and women are often repeated on the grave monu-
ments (fig. 20).21 Non-extant moirai reliefs on a vase were carved on the grave
monument of Spiridon N. Petalas in the Şişli Greek cemetery. Themes coming
from Greek mythology were not present in the monuments of the 19th century
and can only be encountered on this particular grave monument. The three
moirai were carved, sisters determining the fate of mortals from their birth to
their death with a lace, Atropos by spinning, Clotho by clewing and Lachesis by
cutting the lace of life when the latter comes to end.22 A similar example of moi-
rai reliefs, referring to the concept of life and death, that was depicted on a vase
carved on the grave monument of Spiridon N. Petalas has not been detected.
The relief of scissors like those used by Lachesis to cut the lace of life was used
to symbolize the end of the life as well as of his/her profession (fig. 26).
The monumental western influences on the non-Muslim graves decreased
rapidly towards the end of the century. The main reason for this was the banish-
ment of non-Muslims from trading and from participating in the government,
as well as the abandonment of the country by such rich families.
Neo-Byzantine and Neo-Armenian styles were added to the Neo-Clas-
sical, Neo-Gothic, and Neo-Egyptian motifs which can be seen on the grave
20 Papazoglou, Ταφικά Μνημεία της Πόλης, 78, 92, 95, 98, 123, 134, 188, 267, 278, 294, 320,
324.
21 Ibid, 217-221.
22 Pierre Grimal, Mitoloji Sözlüğü Yunan ve Roma, S. Tamgüç (trans.), İstanbul 1997, 513.
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monuments of the 19th century in Europe.23 Ornaments from the Hagia Sop-
hia church were copied on some of the graves (fig. 21), following the orders of
grave-owners and the artistic taste of the craftsmen. Examples deriving from
old Armenian and Western traditions can be seen in the 19th century Arme-
nian cemeteries (fig.22-23-24).
Although samples of features reminiscent of mosques of the 18th and 19th
centuries are found on the sliced arches and the niches of the Santa Maria Dra-
peris church in Beyoglu, the fact that features of Ottoman architecture and
ornamentation were not used on Latin gravestones or monuments must have
been related to the community’s taste and to the relationship it had established
with the Western world.24
Identical uses of sculpture influenced by patterns that were widespread in
19th century Italy can be seen not only on Latin but also on Greek and Arme-
nian graves in Istanbul (fig. 27-30).
Grave monuments, as examples of relief- and sculpture-bearing works of
art in the 19th-century Istanbul, reflecting the life-styles, tastes, and beliefs of
the Ottoman non-Muslims, sometimes imported directly or made by local
artists, constitute reflections of the cemetery traditions of the Western world.
The designed angel statues associated with death and the grave monuments
that bear the portraits and busts of their owners are among the most important
extant works of art in the Ottoman capital.
23 Neo-classical examples can be found on the family graves of Rizzo, Scotto, and Tubini
in the Feriköy Latin cemetery, as well as on the Spiridon N. Petalas family graves in the
Şişli Greek cemetery. Neo-gothic style examples can be found on the graves of Devaux,
Urbach, Ferri, and Clavany in the Feriköy Latin cemetery, Neo-Egyptian on the grave of
Geogios Patiris in the Şişli Greek cemetery, Neo-Byzantine on the graves of Bernoulikis
in the Şişli Greek cemetery and on Sideridis’ grave in the garden of the Balıklı church of
St. Mary of the Spring.
24 Paolo Girardelli, “Architecture, Identity and Liminality: On the Use and Meaning of Cat-
holic Spaces in Late Ottoman Istanbul, Muqarnas 22 (2005), 245-247.
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Common living spaces, different worlds
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Common living spaces, different worlds
Fig. 5. Şişli Greek Orthodox cemetery, family tomb of Nicholas and Eleni Zarifis.
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856
Common living spaces, different worlds
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Fig. 10. Şişli Gregorian Armenian cemetery, tombs of Sahak Abro and his wife.
858
Common living spaces, different worlds
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861
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862
Common living spaces, different worlds
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Common living spaces, different worlds
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866
Common living spaces, different worlds
867
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868
Common living spaces, different worlds
869
Form and image:
hybrid receptions of Ottoman
culture on the metalwork produced
in the Balkans (14 th- 18 th c.)
Suat Alp*
The aim of this study is to explore the Balkans as an artistic acculturation zone,
an area for the patterns used by artists/ateliers in the Balkans in relation to their
aesthetic perception and social adaptation.
Once Ottoman sovereignty in the Balkans was established, opportunities for
trade flourished thanks to the unified administrative structure in the region.
Already existing in the fifteenth century, workshops continued to develop up to
the eighteenth century, showing a clear increase in the quantity and quality of
their production. This growth was fostered by different factors, the multicultu-
ral relations of the region and collective co-operation being the main reasons
for this development in production.
The stock of motifs found on these artefacts, as well as the time of their
production, show close associations with the first Ottoman court style, known
as the Baba Nakkaş style.1 The mediating links are maybe those workshops,
artists, and vessels that from the mid-fifteenth century onwards had close con-
* Hacettepe University, Ankara, Assistant Prof. Dr. Suat ALP, Hacettepe University Faculty
of Letters, Department of Art History, salp@hacettepe.edu.tr
1 The style of the arabesques, the so-called “Baba Nakkaş Style”, was the first decorative
court-style initiated during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II and further developed un-
der his son Sultan Bayezid II. Particularly the curved, almost prehensile, forked-leaf ara-
besques are characteristic. The style that dominated the arts of the period is suggested to
have been created by Baba Nakkaş, the first of a series of court artists who dominated the
Ottoman decorative arts. This style, combines arabesques with Chinese-inspired flowers
in compact circular patterns. Baba Nakkaş style did not only appear on decorated man-
uscripts but was also disseminated to the decorative program of other arts of the period,
such as woodwork, ceramics, metalwork etc.
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Form and image
nections with the Sultan’s court. Because of this situation, such workshops may
have mediated the Ottoman influences which continuously affected the Islamic
and Ottoman art since its beginnings and which later spread to the Balkans.
Researchers on the Balkans, who try to describe these floral motifs as Tur-
kish, Islamic, or Ottoman, whatever they might be called, agree that these
designs spread out all over the Balkans in the 16th century.
Silverwork production in the Balkans during the Ottoman period reflects
distinctive features of the production type, the style, and the ornamental reper-
toire used. The main factors that led to this were created and developed in the
social context and cultural structure characterizing the Ottoman Balkans.
The traditions which were based on past customs and rituals of communi-
ties of different ethnic origin and religion have lived on in the same social unity
under Ottoman rule in the Balkans. They directed the type and form of the pro-
duction, and the new political and communal organizational structure, com-
muned with the accumulation of the Ottoman sovereignty.
What is particularly interesting once again is the stylistic marriage between
Ottoman and western influences. Before the Ottomans, it was Byzantine art
from the East combined with Romanesque and Gothic motifs coming from
the West that had influenced the artists in the Balkans, but during the Ottoman
period, Turkish and Islamic motifs were also arriving from the East.
Floral compositions and motifs, specific to the decorative repertoire of the
Ottomans, did not directly and literally get into the repertoire of the silvers-
miths in the Balkans. As the Ottoman culture got on stage in social and political
terms, artistic taste got in a kind of orientation. The important part here is that
this taste has not been created, but has occurred on itself. Artists of the Balkans
combined the already existent motives with the new ones. But, while this kind
of ornaments had to be repeated by a formalistic, abstract and specified geo-
metric based construction, because of their own cultural influences, the Balkan
silversmiths used this style in a different way. Differently from the predicted
structural features, the artists created nearly a new style by using the motifs in
an order of their own, or just on their own, combined with the other motifs. The
most obvious examples of such floral motifs, which can be called motifs of the
“Ottoman type”, are seen in the 16th century.
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From the information of extant works, archival records and historical data,
we can discover lots of workshops in major cities throughout the Balkans.2 An
important part of the workshops where the silverwork production activities
were carried out, took place within the churches and monasteries that, at the
same time, ordered the silverworks. It is known that these kinds of workshops,
which during the Ottoman period continued being functional, were located in
monasteries founded on big lands before the Ottoman era. It is not sure if they
were permanently under the organization of the church. But even if they were
not, it is sure that the labor force was sometimes coming from the monastery
itself.
As an example we could first deal with the Kosovo Metohije workshops. It
is known that Kosovo Metohije workshops produced lots of silver artefacts for
churches during the 16th century. Chalices, rhipidions, Gospel covers are some
of them. The most remarkable features of the works of the Kosovo-Metohije sil-
versmiths are, in the words of Balkan researchers, the “Turkish-Islamic” deco-
rative elements, but according to the approach argued in this study, these floral
compositions are “a result of the artistic taste of the Ottoman culture.” The most
important churches and monasteries of this period were in Dečani and Peć in
Kosovo. In the treasures of these monasteries one can find lots of silver artefacts
made by regional silversmiths.
According to regional data collected by Bojana Rodojković, the areas of
Peć, Prizren, Pristina and Novo Brdo were listed as places of the Kosovo-Meto-
hija region where such workshops were functional.3 There is the possibility
of production in other cities in the region too, and the presence of jewellery
is also known around there. However, the works being unsigned and unstam-
ped, led the researchers to categorize them according to their regional features.
According to a record dated to 1455, in the Kosovo-Metohije region there were
170 timars, 27 of them belonging to Christian spahis. The worth of the timars
ranged between 500 and 10.000 akce.4 Besides, the rich Christian spahis of the
region were sponsors to the goldsmiths. With their orders of gold and silver
artefacts, they gave rise to a high-level work of ornamentations of good qua-
2 Suat Alp, “Balkanlar’da Osmanlı Dönemi Maden Sanatı: XV.-XVIII. Yüzyıllar Arasında
Faaliyet Gösteren Gümüş İşi Atölyeleri”, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi
25/2 (2008), 15-35.
3 Bojana Radojković, Srpsko zlatarstvo XVI i XVII Veka, Novi Sad 1966, 50-62.
4 Halil İnalcık, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, Toplum ve Ekonomi, İstanbul 1996, 80.
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Form and image
lity. In this context the best example is the chalice in the Monastery of Decani
which was donated by Radivoj, a local Christian spahi.5 It can be identified as a
product of the Kosovo-Metohije region and it was directly ordered as a dona-
tion to the monastery by Radivoj.6 The work which is made in gothic style is of
high quality and covered with a floral composition probably influenced by the
Ottoman decorative repertoire.7
Another important workshop in the Balkans was Chiprowtsi.8 This work-
shop is especially interesting because of its labor factor. A dominant part of the
region was Catholic and the works of the workshop were requested from the
Orthodox churches and monasteries of the Balkans till Transylvania. As Ivan
Sotirov said, “Chiprowtsi was the most important workshop of the Balkans in
the 16th and 17th century.”9
Under the Ottoman rule the old silver mines were actively operated, the
mints and the silver workshops flourished and the Chiprowtsi folk was granted
many privileges and tax exemptions. Requests from all over the Balkans resul-
ted to an icreased demand that covered the total production of Chiprowtsi-
mined ore and silver, while Venice had a special pricing rate for the products
of Chiprowtsi. The latter was also Istanbul’s main provider of silver and lead
and the mining center of the Balkans. In this context, the commercial and han-
dicraft activities of Chiprowtsi advanced greatly in the 17th century, a period
which, in terms of economic development, became the city’s golden age. Many
of the goldsmiths and silversmiths who worked in such a cultural and eco-
nomic environment were also highly educated and thereby able to establish
important connections. Thus, the value of the works made by these artists, as
well as their demand, increased. Thanks to this development, the works of these
artists can be found at the biggest monastery treasures of the Balkans and at the
palaces of Moldavia and Wallachia.10
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11 Matakieva Teofana Lilkova, Church plate from the collections of the National Museum of
History, Sofia 1995, 6-7.
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Form and image
other city centers, dealing with the demands of not only the urban clientele, but
from time to time, of the court. By examining the 16th century documents per-
taining to the ehl-i hiref, it becomes obvious that most of the artists were from
the Balkans.12
As a conclusion one can maintain that, in this process, artists from the Bal-
kans actively transfigured the Ottoman ornamental elements according to
their needs and perceptions. This process of “acculturation” can be described
in relation to the artistic, the aesthetic, as well as the regionally and socially
specified conditions of Rumeli. The decorative repertoire on silverware during
this period in the Balkans was an artistic synthesis of a multicultural taste. In
the framework of the Balkan metalwork production, we can determine diffe-
rent cultural and artistic zones of contact, also containing their own network
of associations. One can determine different types-levels of this acculturation
process. While it mainly occurs with the trends/tastes derived from the capital,
other patrons with their orders encouraged these choices as well, and finally
the ateliers and artists were the main actors who were applying this decorative
repertoire in their works. The stylistic features of these works are their reflec-
tion of the taste which got formed by the Ottoman decorative repertoire in the
Balkans.
12 Filiz Çağman, “Serzergeran Mehmed Usta ve Eserleri”, Kemal Çığ'a Armağan, İstanbul
1984, 51-87.
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Circulating images:
Ottoman painters, travel books,
overtones *
* This paper is compiled from a section of my doctorate thesis completed under consul-
tancy of Prof. Dr. Günsel Renda and Prof. Dr. Serpil Bağcı: See Nurdan Küçükhasköylü,
“Osmanlı Kıyafet Albümleri /The Ottoman Costume Books (1770-1810)”, Hacettepe
University, Ph. D. Dissertation, Ankara 2010.
** Assist. Prof. Dr., Anatolia University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Art History,
Eskişehir/Turkey, nkucukhaskoylu@anadolu.edu.tr
876
Circulating images
and the change in painting have also been examined within the scope of artis-
tic comparisons. In the Istanbul art environment where cultural differences col-
lide, meet and interact, the Ottoman figural types that Greek painters created
were spreading in Europe. On the other hand, as an example of acculturation,
each society was making these hybrid types ready for its art industry, in other
words it was translating these for its own visual language.
One of the works with which I will discuss the subject of the study is an
engraving called La Roméca which was attributed to the painter Hilaire and
displays Dance of Greek Women (fig.2).1 Since the name of Hilaire is written in
this engraving which is included in D’Ohsson’s 3-volume work l’Empire Otho-
man (fig. 1) and also because the same painting has a Hilaire-signed canvas in
a private collection, the painter was identified with Hilaire.2 A more naïve work
resembling this engraving -as I will argue in this essay- must have been painted
by an Ottoman Greek painter. At first glance, one can say that the Greek pain-
ter is influenced by Hilaire and made a simple example of the relevant painting.
However, one never thinks that the naive work (which is actually a more rea-
listic painting and full of knowledge) can actually be an original work of art.
Hilaire was in Istanbul in 1776,3 furthermore, the idea that these types of pain-
tings are done by Europeans and demanded by them and that Europeans have
similar experiences and habits seems to support the approach. Usually when a
miniature and a painting of a European are compared, the Ottoman painter is
said to have re-created the European work according to his own style because
he was influenced by the painting. However it is a mistake to compare the pain-
tings regarded as “unelaborated, naïve and without perspective” in relation to
the other ones, since there is a great difference between them in technique, style
and presentation. Only if that sort of thought, and prejudices such as thinking
of a work as being an imitation of European artist, or imitation of a European
originated work or having an European influence are eliminated, can the inte-
raction between the artists be then understood. At least, we should be thinking
1 Ignatius Mouradgea D’Ohsson, Tableau Général de l’Empire, vol. II, Paris 1789, no.93.
2 Günsel Renda, “Illustrating the Tableau Général de l'Empire Othoman/Tableau Général
de l’Empire Othoman’ın Resimlendirilmesi”, in Sture Theolin – Carter Vaughan Findley
– Kemal Beydilli et alii, The Torch of the Empire. Ignatius Mouradgea d'Ohsson and the
Tableau Général of the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century, İstanbul 2002, 63.
3 L. Pingaud, Choiseul-Gouffier, La France en Orient, Paris 1887, 148-152.
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Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ
carefully about the works other than European-originated ones, which are sure
to be original works.
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Circulating images
said that “the works are deprived of artistic pleasure but still they have a feeling
of reality no French artist could ever reach’’. Here the work which is naïve was
used -like Cochin said, maybe it lost a bit of its originality- and prepared for
engraving by Hilaire. Furthermore, the note under the engraving “Hilaire del.”
(prepared for engraving by) in l’Empire Othoman is a clear indication that it was
prepared by Hilaire.5
An example which is close to this simpler painting that we also estimate to
have been painted in Kostantin’s atelier is included in the Poland album (fig. 3)6.
This album was composed by copying the works of Greek painters in Istanbul.7
The work which Hilaire imitated must have been similar to the work in this
album which displays a Dance of Greek Women. Hilaire prepared an engraving
by changing this simpler painting which included fewer figures. Hilaire painted
Greek women dancing in a circle in his own style; he chose a different style than
Kostantin’s atelier and preferred to portray the women in a nature view with a
rococo style, adding musicians on the left corner. In general, the composition
remained the same; even the hanky in the woman’s hand on the left corner was
portrayed in the same way.
Fig.2: La Roméca danse des femmes Grecques (del. Hilaire). Ignatius Mouradgea D’Ohsson.
Tableau Général de l’Empire, II, lev.93, Paris 1789.
5 About Jean Baptiste Hilaire see S. Şentürk, Jean Baptiste Hilaire, unpublished M.A.Thesis,
Hacettepe University, Institute of Social Sciences, Ankara 2004.
6 About this painting see Selmin Kangal; Bartłomiej Świetlik et alii, Savaş ve Barış, 15. -19.
Yüzyıl Osmanlı Lehistan İlişkileri, İstanbul 1999, 312.
7 This is costume book dated 1779 and it consists of 254 paintings. Behind a work in the
album there is a note which indicates that it was copied from a miniature by Greek paint-
ers. See Kangal et al., Savaş ve Barış, 285.
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Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ
There are more examples like that: again, in D’Ohsson’s book l’Empire Otho-
man, under the engraving of Saadabad Palace, also known as Kagıthane Palace,
there is a note stating that De L’Espinasse is the one who prepared the engra-
ving and C. N. Varin is the engraver (fig.4). In our opinion, they took a work
of Kostantin’s atelier as an example. When it was sent to Europe, it must have
been really similar to a miniature in a manuscript called Zenânnâme.8 As it
is understood, European painters translated this view into their language and
these paintings came to be known as their original works. Again, L’Espinasse
made a water color example of the related work9 -like in Hilaire’s work- which
helped him to be called the painter of the original work.
8 About Zenânname see Günsel Renda, Batılılaşma Dönemi Türk Resim Sanatı, 1700-1850,
Ankara 1977, 45-50; Saliha İçen, “Hûbannâme ve Zenânname’de Metin Resim İlişkisi”,
unpublished MA Thesis, Hacettepe University, 2001; Nebiye Öztürk, “Zenânname”, un-
published MA Thesis, Istanbul University, 2001; Serpil Bağcı – Filiz Çağman – Günsel
Renda – Zeren Tanındı, Osmanlı Resim Sanatı, İstanbul 2006, 276-277; Enderunlu Fazıl,
Zenanname: Kadınları Anlatan Kitap/The Book On Women, Ankara, 2006.
9 Theolin, The Torch of The Empire, 84.
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In this paper, I will show some other examples of the same situation. During
the engraving processes for some publishing or in costume books of Ottoman
clothing, European engravers or painters re-created these works with their own
interpretation and were renowned for these works from time to time.
In our opinion, Hilaire saw the work called Chat by Tandouri (Tandır
Başında Sohbet) while working for D’Ohsson (fig.6), among the paintings from
the album which chief painter Kostantin sent, and he prepared it for engraving.
The work was probably similar to the one in the Poland album (fig.7).10 This
work was changed as well while preparing it for D’Ohsson’s book. While Hila-
ire was transferring this work with his rococo style, he made it look more exo-
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Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ
tic with the use of light and choices of dark colors and he made it seem like it
was a part of harem.11
Fig.6: Ignatius Mouradgea D’Ohsson, Tableau Général de l’Empire, II, Paris 1789, no. 83.
Fig.7: The Poland Album, The Collection of Stanislaw August Poniatowski, The Print Room of the
University of Warsaw Library. Inw.zb.d. 13628 (T. 171 nr 631), 20.2 x 37.7cm, dated 1779.
(Photo: University of Warsaw Library).
Kostantin was the chief painter for D’Ohsson’s book and the works in the
Poland album were painted by Greek artists. “Kostantin’s Atelier” (we can name
it that way now) was made within an active art industry which consisted of a
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group of Greek painters and they created works portraying the Ottoman way of
life and Ottoman figural types.12
Another album of the Greek painter’s atelier is the one titled Turkish Cos-
tume Series which consisted of 152 paintings. It is found in the Municipal Lib-
rary of Bourg-en-Bresse in France; an engineer called Joseph-Gabriel Monnier
obtained it while he was working in Istanbul. Joseph-Gabriel Monnier was the
son of a doctor; he had been trained in the Ecole de Génie de Mézirèes and
became an engineer for the French Royalty. He came to Istanbul for the first
time in July 1784 as an assistant to Lafitte-Clavé. Monnier’s diary gives impor-
tant details on the issue. On July 11, 1786, he wrote the following: “I organized
an East collection of 152 paintings and sorted it out as 9 notebooks. The col-
lection was painted by a Greek artist and Turkish names were written partly
by a translator called Mr. Trécourt and partly Mustafa Kalyoncu”.13 Even tho-
ugh Monnier gave the names of people who wrote the explanations, he did not
mention the name of the Greek Painter he was talking about.
A group of engravings which was created by making use of the Monnier
album is contained in the work called Voyage Pittoresque de la Grèce (A Pictures-
que Voyage in Greece) (fig. 8), written by Choiseul-Gouffier, an ancient art ent-
husiast, in 1782, 1809 and 1822 and published in three volumes in Paris (fig 9).14
12 For other albums created in Kostantin atelier see Nurdan Küçükhasköylü, Osmanlı
Kıyafet Albümleri.
13 Jacques Paviot, “Joseph Gabriel Monnier (1745-1818), An Officier du génie Bressan...”
Les nouvelles annales de l’Ain, Bourg-en Bresse 1982, 92; Frédéric Hitzel, Enfants de
Langue et Drogmans-Dil Oğlanları ve Tercümanlar, İstanbul 1995, 59.
14 Marie Gabriel August Florent Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage Pittoresque de 1887
la Grèce, Tome I-II-III, Paris 1782, 1809, 1822. For the likes of some figures in the Mon-
nier album see Bourg-en-Bresse, Archives Municipales, The Album of Monnier, Ms 65.
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Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ
Gouffier started work on his book when he returned to Paris in 1777 after
a year of his grand tour. Jean-Baptiste Hilaire, who had traveled in the Aegean
Islands, the Anatolian beaches and Greece with Gouffier in 1776, made original
paintings for the first volume. In the other volumes, his name was written as the
preparer of the engravings. In the samples from the third volume, where Hilaire
and other engravers worked together, we can see that they used an album like
Monnier’s in creating their Ottoman types. There are engravings of people from
the Ottoman world and the palace, together with some other people carrying
out different professions. The painters of these paintings are not stated; only the
names of the persons who prepared the engravings are given. In our opinion,
Gouffier made use of an album created by Greek artists in Istanbul.
Gouffier and D’Ohsson worked in Paris in about the same period of time
and created their works of opposite thought with almost the same engravers
and artists.15 Ottoman figural types in both books are related to the group of
Greek painters we have mentioned. Kostantin is the only one in this group that
we know of. Others were given only as Greek painter in most of other sources.
We have some information in this issue from the sources of the period: For
example, the English architect Charles Robert Cockerell, who arrived in Istan-
bul in June 1810 gives important information about the issue: he arrived at
the English Embassy in Istanbul, when Robert Adair was the ambassador and
Stratford Canning was his first secretary. When Cockerell mentioned a painting
884
Circulating images
series he made for Stratford Canning, he said these words in the first pages of
his travel book:
Mr. Adair and Canning have been very polite, and I have dined frequently at the
Palace, and although this is not the sort of society I very much covet, I find it so
extremely useful that I cannot be too careful to keep up my acquaintance there. Mr.
Canning, of whose kindness on all occasions I cannot speak too highly, has obli-
ged me exceedingly in lending me a large collection of fairly faithful drawings of
the interiors of mosques, some of them never drawn before, as well as other curious
buildings here, made by Greek of this place.16
16 Charles Robert Cockerell, Travels in Southern Europe And The Levant, 1810-1817. The
Journal of C.R. Cockerell, R.A., Samuel Pepys Cockerell (ed), London – New York – Bom-
bay 1903, 14-15.
17 Cockerell, op.cit., 14-15.
18 Charles Newton, “Stratford Canning’s Pictures of Turkey”, The V&A Album, 3, London
1984, 77-83.
885
Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ
can see that the paintings are related to the works of the aforementioned Greek
painters. 19
Cockerell mentions that Lord Byron and Hobhouse were there when he
went to the English Embassy. Departing from that we can say that there is
similar situation upon examining the paintings in the English diplomat Cam
Hobhouse’s travel book A Journey Through Albania. For example, the painting
of Topkapı Palace in the book must have been one of the works of the pain-
ters in Kostantin’s group (fig 12).20 In fact, the same illustration was both in
D’Ohsson’s book (fig. 11) and in the Canning album (fig. 10).
Fig.10: Bab-i-Hümayün to Topkapi Palace, with the Fountain of Sultan Ahmet III, D.142-1895,
Victoria and Albert Museum, Prints & Drawings Study Room, Canning Album.
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O916881/bab-i-humayun-imperial-gate-watercolour-anonymous-
greek-artist/
Fig.11: D’Ohsson, 1789, Topkapi Palace and the Fountain of Sultan Ahmet III.
886
Circulating images
We should also mention that the word “Greek” was used rather than refer-
ring to those people by their names. In that period where the experts and ent-
husiasts of ancient times were increasing, it is probable that referring to a
person as Greek was regarded to be more important than the name of the pain-
ter. Therefore, it was used to define a concept which was more important and
valuable. Knowing the culture and language of the Greeks was an important
indication that people were supporting them and their mission. As a result, they
were somehow expressing their support to Greek politics and their knowledge
of the culture by mentioning a “Greek” friend or the Greek culture.
It is easier to understand that reading Cockerell’s memoirs. As a result of
the period in which he grew up, he was willing to learn the culture, while at the
same time he was a traveler who identified himself with his country’s policy
towards the issue. Even though his parents insisted that he should have an Eng-
lish butler next to him he preferred a Greek and he explained the reason with
such expressions:
As a servant, I think Dimitri will suit me very well. He is well informed, willing,
and civil, knows all the countries I propose to visit, is not extravagant, and does not
seem afraid of danger. I must confess he is very small, but so much the more is he
subject to my fist. The wages he asks are enormous, 60 a year, but I think I shall get
him for 45 or 50 and at that figure, it will , I think , be worthwhile to engage him,
887
Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ
at any rate, he will be better than such an English lubber as my mother proposed I
should take, who would have cost me more and have been of no use.21
As it is seen, in the 18th century, the Ottoman figural types included in Euro-
pean books were scattered around the world from an atelier in Istanbul. These
works by an Ottoman painter were very important for curious Europeans,
because they reflected inaccessible knowledge and observation. This is the rea-
son why they were imitated so fast and so often. Furthermore, they would have
been an inspiration for their works about the East and, from them, they would
gain important sources of information. A similar approach is observed for the
portraits of Sultans as well. For example d’Ohsson stated in his diary that he
imitated some portraits of Sultans that he could get for a short period of time
thanks to a friend. Later on, these portraits were turned into family tress by a
European emperor who presented them to Selim III.22
Other than the traces in Europe, the only known person in the atelier is Kos-
tantin. If we examine the works of Kostantin, we can more or less determine
the profile of those painters. His full name in Ottoman was Kostantin Kapı-
dağlı and Κωνσταντίνος Κυζικηνός in Greek. He was a Greek Orthodox Otto-
man. His surname derives from Kapıdağ peninsula, in other words, Kyzikos.
The name Kyzikos stems from an ancient town close to Erdek, a Greek colony
on the Marmara Sea (known as Belkıs village today). He was probably born in
the mid-18th century. His date of death is said to be 1839 -without showing any
sources- in some dictionaries of Art. It is mentioned that his family came from
Sozopolis in the 18th century, from a coastal town in the southwest of Thessa-
loniki.23
As shown by Renda, in 1793-1794 Selim III. assigned Kostantin to portray
all the Sultans; he wanted the paintings to be engraved and printed. These port-
raits were printed by John Young but with a delay, in 1815.24 Young said in the
preface that he was given the work in 1806 in a box. He said he prepared the
engravings, then sent them to Istanbul, and that the engravings were prepared
888
Circulating images
with the permission of the Palace. John Young said the following about Kostan-
tin Kapıdağlı (fig. 13-14):
This Greek villager proved his natural talent in Istanbul and started to serve the Sul-
tan; he works with passion, loyalty and mutual admiration.25
Fig.15: The Portrait of Selim III, John Young, Series of Portraits of The Emperors of Turkey,
W. Bulmer, London 1815.
25 John Young, Series of Portraits of the Emperors of Turkey-Suite des portraits des empereurs
turcs depuis la fondation de la monarchie, jusqu'à l'an 1815, gravés d'après des tableaux
faits à Constantinople... Accompagné d'une notice biographique sur chaque empereur,
London 1815, 4-5. Also see Renda, “Osmanlı Sultanlarının Soyağacı”, 139-162; Saliha
İçen, Young Albümü, Unpublished Postgraduate Thesis, Hacettepe University, Art His-
tory, Ankara 1997.
889
Nurdan SÜRBAHAN KÜÇÜKHASKÖYLÜ
26 One of his portraits after Young’s series, portrays the Sultan with a rosary in his hand; the
work is signed ‘Kostantiniyye Kapıdağı’. See Topkapı Sarayı Museum, nr. 17/30 Kostantin
Kapıdağlı, 1803, 89x110cm; Renda, “Portrenin Son Yüzyılı”, 442-542, 467.
27 There is the signature of Konstantinos Kyzikenos on a painting in Istanbul Demetrios
church illustrating Crucifixion. The paintings of saints in the church were attributed to
Konstantin by M. A. Papas: Metropolit A. Papas, “Der Maler Konstantinos Kyzikenos
und einige seiner Werke”, Orthodoxes Forum, München 1987, 71-82; Renda, “Osmanlı
Sultanlarının Soyağacı”, 139-162.
28 See Küçükhasköylü, Osmanlı Kıyafet Albümleri, 101.
890
Circulating images
891
Other histories,
other stories and Ottoman art
Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu*
892
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
893
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
894
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
Rose windows characteristic of all Gothic cathedrals were constructed in this mosque in two differ-
ent versions: one over the entrance of the eastern portal and one on the northern portal.
Northern portal
895
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
896
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
Similar window proportions can be seen on the Aegean Islands under Vene-
tian Rule.
897
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
Bacini (glazed decorative vessels) were used in Italy since the 12th century on
church bell towers and on main façades.7 They formed the only ceramic orna-
mentation in a building. The tradition was also transferred by the Venetians to
Greece. But the tradition of abundant use of colorful ceramic tiles on buildings
in the eastern Islamic world did not necessitate the use of bacini. Seljuk buil-
dings in Anatolia were adorned by mosaic tiles covering the interior of domes,
mihrabs, arches and walls. Seljuk palaces were ornamented by hexagonal or
octagonal figural tiles covering the walls. Therefore it is interesting to find the
use of bacini in Ankara which formed an exception in 14-15th century Anatolia.
6 Michael J. K. Walsh, Peter W. Edbury, Nicholas S.H. Coures (eds.), Medieval and Renais-
sance Famagusta: Studies in Architecture, Art and History, London 2012.
7 Graziella Berti, I bacini ceramici medievali delle Chiese di Pisa (Quaderni Di Cultura Ma-
teriale), Roma 1981.
898
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
Ankara was a fortified city with modest Seljuk period buildings and small
neighborhood mesjids during the 14th and first half of the 15th century.8 After
the Seljuks, Ankara was under the rule of Ahi organization and passed to the
Ottomans during the reign of Murat I. Unlike the great Seljuk cities of Konya,
Kayseri, Sivas and Erzurum the buildings in Ankara were not decorated with
ceramic tiles. During the 14th -15th century however, the stucco mihrabs of
some mesjids were decorated with bacini. These were Miletus ware plates and
some Syrian-Mamluk ones embedded in the stucco.
8 Gönül Öney, Ankara’da Türk devri dini ve sosyal yapıları, Ankara 1971.
899
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
The third set of examples comes from Western Anatolia, Barçın (Beçin), the
capital of the Menteşeoğlu Emirate. Ahmet Gazi, the most powerful Bey of the
period, had moved the capital from Milas to Barçın for security reasons. Having
close relations on the sea with the Italian city-states and the aspiration to estab-
lish his power, he was named “the sultan of the coasts”. Barçın was endowed
with buildings but was abandoned when the capital was moved this time to
Balat near antique Miletus. Excavations are still going on in Beçin. One of the
most impressive buildings partially conserved is the madrasa of Ahmet Gazi.
The portal
The portal of the building was constructed in a very similar style to Gothic
portals with its consecutive ogival arches. It forms a unique example in western
Anatolia, like the Sungur Bey Mosque in Central Anatolia. The arches continue
towards the base with fluted small columns. The big difference is not only in the
proportion and the size of the building when compared with Gothic examples
but also in the lack of sculptures accompanying the arches.
901
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
902
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
An ornament from the Firuz Bey Mosque, constructed in 1394 by the Men-
teşe governor Firuz Bey, three years after the annexation of the emirate by
Ottoman Sultan Bayezid (1360-1403) is also significant in order to show the
Venetian connections. Inscriptions to the right and left of the mihrab name
the architect, Hasan bin Abdullah, and the master decorator, Musa bin Adil. We
do not have supplementary information concerning the background of these
masters. A rather minor set of compositions placed like metopes in stone relief
among the consoles of the eave shows the Hatayi style in ornamentation.
(Y. Özbek)
903
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
Formed by floral motifs of Chinese origin, the Hatayi style would develop
and become the classical ornamentation style of the Ottomans in the 15th and
16th centuries. Considered to be introduced after the Tamerlane conquest of
Anatolia (1402), the presence of this style here could suggest another origin.
In fact, Venetian silks use these designs before the 15th century and one can
see them on textiles a well as on Italian paintings and frescos.10 The style of
some of the leaves is also reminiscing of Venetian ornamentation on some of
the islands, mainly Rethymno (Crete).11 The rather unusual place of these five
panels in an Ottoman mosque suggests that the master decorator wanted to
introduce a new style, but did not dare to show it on large surfaces. Thus, it was
used as vignettes coming from a different media, most probably textiles and
could be either copied on stone or executed by a Venetian mason. In fact, there
were Venetian settlements in Western Anatolia, as in nearby Balat.
(Y. Özbek)
It is well known that the Menteşe Emirate had commercial relations with the
Venetians.12 When they were given the permission to settle in Palatia/Balat near
Miletus and signed in 1331 a trade agreement, they formed a busy commercial
center around the fortress and constructed their own church. It is also known
10 Yıldıray Özbek, Osmanlı Beyliği mimarisinde taş süsleme (1300-1453), Ankara 2002.
11 Stephen Margaritis, Crete and Ionian Islands under the Venetians, Athens 1978.
12 Elizabeth Zahariadou , Trade and crusade: Venetian Crete and the emirates of Menteshe
and Aydin (1300-1415),Venice 1983.
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Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
that the Venetians and the Genoese were accorded neighborhoods in cities of
the Middle East like Aleppo. They had their own quarters with their church,
houses, hans, and they constructed their physical environment. However we
do not know how these settlements looked like in Anatolia, since it is very hard
to find archaeological evidence due to both decay and destruction or excessive
change of the physical environment in the following periods. No engravings are
yet found, nor descriptions seem to exist and unfortunately not sufficient rese-
arch has been conducted both on the field and in Venetian archives. Who were
the master builders, who constructed these buildings, how much they reflected
the local architectural features is yet to be investigated. Diana Wright however
has written about these settlements in Greece and gave an example for Nauplia.
It seems that houses were constructed in timber, while money and construction
material came from the Senate.13
But coming back to Balat, commercial relations with Genoese, Rhodes,
Cyprus and Dubrovnik as well as the Emirates of Aydin and Saruhan next to
the Menteşe established a large network of commercial relations that probably
encouraged the dissemination of artistic craftsmen as well.
13 Diana Wright, “The wooden towns of Stato Mar: Medieval Construction in Nauplion,”
Studi Veneziani 40 (2000), 169-178.
905
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
Miletus was also an important port-city for the transfer of ceramics to and
from Italy. İznik production of red-paste ceramics with blue, turquoise and
brown-colored decoration under a transparent glaze were named in the past as
Miletus ware, due to their place of exportation.14 Miletus wares had an impact
on the proto-maiolica production in Italy.15 Even though both productions
could have Chinese backgrounds of bleu and white porcelain, the transfer from
Miletus ware to proto-maiolica is more probable due to archaeological findings.
14 Frederick Sarre, “The Selçuk and Early Ottoman Pottery of Miletus”, Transactions of Ori-
ental Ceramic Society, 1931, 27-30.
15 Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu, “Ceramics: Intercourse between Italy and the Ottoman Empire”,
Memory, History and Critique: European Identity at the Millennium, CD-ROM, MIT
Press 1998 ; Eadem, “Ottoman Ceramics in European Context”, Muqarnas 21 (2004),
373- 382.
906
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
Commercial relations between the Italian city-states and the Ottomans were
also important in Bursa, the center of silk trade for the Mediterranean region.
Here, the period of Sultan Murat I (1362-89) seems to be significant to follow up
Mediterranean encounters in architectural forms and details. We do not have
the names of Italian architects or craftsmen that must have worked in Anato-
lia during the 13th and 14th centuries. But for the 15th century Ducas names in
his chronicle an Italian architect; this still continues to be the only document
giving an architect’s name. Süleyman Çelebi, one of the sons of Yıldırım Bayezid
(1389-1402), constructed a huge castle in Lapseki (Lampsakos) opposite Geli-
bolu (Kallipolis) during the succession dispute of sovereignty with his brot-
hers for the Ottoman throne. According to Dukas, the architect was Salagruza
de Nergio, a member of an aristocratic family from Genoa. Süleyman Çelebi,
highly pleased with the result, paid an enormous amount of money to the arc-
hitect.16 This information suggests that the architect was probably commissio-
ned for the work, but how did Süleyman Çelebi find Salagruza de Nergio is not
known.
One of the architectural details that were common in Mediterranean archi-
tecture this period was the use of blind arches. Byzantine monuments, Genoese
castles, and crusaders’ castles were adorned by them; Ottoman buildings in the
14th century also made use of these blind arches at the finishing part of the side
facades of buildings.
908
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
909
Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU
Our last example for the 15th century is the rectangular tower found especially in
medieval and pre-modern period French palaces. Houses in tower forms were com-
mon around the Mediterranean region and the Balkans. The landscape of 13th-century
Italian towns and villages was formed by these tower-houses. Venetian rule of the Greek
islands was influential in the diffusion of this trend.18 As for their use in Western Ana-
tolia, a few examples have been conserved in the Bodrum peninsula. A monumental
tower with a room at the top was first used at Edirne Palace in the 15th century. The
tower, named “Adalet Kulesi” (the Tower of Justice), was probably used for royal mee-
tings when the Sultan was residing in Edirne. Following the construction of Topkapı
Palace in Istanbul, the tower above the Divan room had a similar appearance. It was
renovated during a later period obtaining its new form in the 19th century.
An incredible similarity with this tower can be found in the Chateau de Nyon near
Geneva. Nyon during the Medieval period was ruled by French feudal families, first the
Burgandy then the Savoy. The Castle was first constructed in the 13th century but was
modified by the Savoy family in 1388. The main buildings was enlarged and attached to
the rectangular tower.19
18 Peter Lock, “The Towers of Europe: Lombard or Venetian; Agrarian or Strategic”, Idem - B.B.R.
Sanders (eds.), The Archaeology of Medieval Greece, Oxford 1996, 107-126.
19 http://www.chateaudenyon.ch/
910
Other histories, other stories and Ottoman art
The number of examples and the different areas of encounters in art and arc-
hitecture could be increased by various other researches. What this article tries
to demonstrate is how Anatolia, Italy, France and Aegean Islands, briefly the
Mediterranean worlds, came into contact. This was a continuing process, which
appropriated Anatolian Islamic art and architectural elements with the medi-
eval and pre-modern Mediterranean ones. The presence of Italians or Franks
was not sufficient for this appropriation. When the Anatolian coastal cities of
the Black Sea region are surveyed with the same elements of comparison as
the above-mentioned ones, the same results are not valid. For example, Vene-
tian merchants were very active in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. The Geno-
ese Castle at Amasra dominated the city with all its monumentality. But in both
cases, the art and architectural features of both the Seljuk and Emirates peri-
ods do not have hybrid characteristics coming from the Mediterranean world.
Thus, the enculturation and acculturation process advanced in time between
the peoples of Anatolia and the peoples of western Mediterranean territories
where geographically and historically there was a continuous shared common
cultural background.
911
Pane l
912
Experience from earthquakes
pared for this level of disaster because we did anticipate it but did not want to
believe it by safety bias. People tend not to prepare for uncertain event which is
not suitable for them.
Previous disasters have influenced people’s lifestyles and cultures, and the
precautions they took varied according to their various locations and different
experiences. For individuals, a huge natural disaster is a rare event and fortu-
nately most of us do not experience one. Therefore, other’s records or reports
of these experiences are valuable for improving our environment safe to live in.
In certain regions, however, natural events such as the Typhoons that often
occur in southern regions but rarely occur in the north. As a result, southern
people are better prepared for such events. Likewise, in northern regions few
snowfall-related accidents occur because people are accustomed to snow.
However, in southern areas a lot of such accidents happen when they experi-
ence a rare snowfall.
To prepare suitable countermeasures, collaborative research among different
fields such as history, cultural, engineering and disaster prevention is important.
For our research on earthquakes, we will focus on sharing experiences based
on the recent large quakes in Turkey in 1999 (Duzce Earthquake) and Japan
in 1995 (Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake), 2007 (Niigata-Chyuetsu Earthqu-
ake), and 2011 (East-Japan Earthquake). We have found many differences in the
procedures for countermeasures taken by the central and local governments,
and the preparation to new quake resistant structures, the cost of recovery, the
requirements from people, and so on also differed.
There is no doubt that a study of the related history of these events is impor-
tant. We have started collaborative research among researchers of history, infor-
mation science, planning, and social science to organize a platform to integrate
all the information gathered from these different fields.
For this purpose, a Spatial-Temporal Database management system is requ-
ired because conventional GIS cannot accommodate historical data simultane-
ously. Moreover, a Relational Database system is not suitable for summarizing
and analyzing differences in location. However, DiMSIS-EX, which has been
developing to plot disasters by adapting to rapid changes in position, meets
these requirements. For this purpose, historical data is recorded by location
using coordinates.
We will focus on multidisciplinary research on disaster prevention in this
presentation.
913
Sh. KAKUMOTO, K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, H. EGAWA
Fig.1 Tsunami 3.1m in height has been recorded within 50 years range. Not 1000 years or more
914
Experience from earthquakes
2. Historical Object
A huge tsunami struck several kilometers inland. Nobody imagined it would
come this far. This shrine was built and rebuilt several times to mark the boun-
dary of the tsunami and warn not to build houses on the sea side of this point.
Shrines were built to warn future generations that a Tsunami struck up to this
point. People usually do not move shrines (house of god). This could be a good
land mark to inform of potential danger.
We should be aware of these shrines and old tales and take precautions to
reduce damage. People tend not to believe which is inconvenient to them.
915
Sh. KAKUMOTO, K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, H. EGAWA
916
Experience from earthquakes
DiMSIS-EX has been designed to describe real world which spread 3D spa-
tial space and temporal axis. Fixing the time then geographical data can be
extracted and fixing the position then histrical change can be seen.
Data is connect to ID number which is not easy to share with other database
in conventional DB system. All data is managed by connecting to spatial and
temporal location which is universal to all the data.
Vertual position can be used like imagenary shelf and house in library
management system.
Disaster prevention is a requirement for peoples’ security. Multi-disciplinary
and multi-cultural data on experiences which reflect different lifestyles and cul-
tures can provide much needed solutions. We have a possibility learn each other
from experiences of disaster which is not experience often. Countermeasure of
each region is different, because each region has different background.
All historical events and objects can be connected to a spatial-temporal
position. Even if database management of local governments is different for
different country or region, spatial-temporal position is same for everywhere.
Spatial-temporal database management method which connects all data to
position and period or time is universal for describing these data components.
DiMSIS-Ex has been developing to meet this requirement. Concept of this
system is organized based on spatial temporal database as a common platform
which makes possible to describe historical data as geographical data.
Turkish information can be managed same way to Japanese data in
DiMSIS-Ex and apply to local use of different country because it has interface
of multi-language adapt.
Data base is organized by connecting all information to certain spatial tem-
poral position as unique key. This position can be virtual position but this posi-
tion can also be real position. Virtual position is used for such as book mana-
gement at library. Map database can be use to represent real position which
make all database can be unified into one without additional efforts to combine
database
917
Sh. KAKUMOTO, K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, H. EGAWA
918
Experience from earthquakes
DiMSIS-EX has been used to visualize damage after the earthquake 1999.
Houses over 4 stories are damage heavier which means lower house is safer
according to construction. Historical data and recovery process data is combi-
ned to into the same data base system to make future plan.
919
Sh. KAKUMOTO, K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, H. EGAWA
Fig.8 Survey route and cross section along the route. Pictures are connected to the position
on the map with angle to taken and date (time).
920
Qur’anic manuscript data
on computer:
a case of applying DiMSIS-EX
to historical studies
Maria Kosugi* 5
Introduction
In this presentation I would like to introduce one of the projects to apply
DiMSIS-EX, a new type of Geographic Information System program invented
in Japan, to historical studies. One of the important functions of this new prog-
ram is that this system can accumulate and process not only spatial data in a
given time but also data along a timeline. It can make a database of temporal
data as well as spatial data simultaneously, analyze them and visualize the tem-
poral progresses in a given period, varying from a few hours to a longer period,
even to a number of centuries.
I am a Japanese anthropologist specializing in Muslim societies both in
Arab countries and Southeast Asian countries. One of my major concerns is
how Muslims propagated the Qur’an, in the forms of both oral transmission
and handwritten texts from the early centuries until contemporary times. The
history of the development of the written and later printed reproductions is
strongly connected to how the Qur’an became the fundamental basis of the
social value system in every Muslim society and how its unique status has been
preserved up to the present day.
As a member of these projects, I apply DiMSIS-EX to Qur’anic studies,
especially to Qur’anic manuscript, to analyze both temporal and spatial cha-
racteristics of rare manuscripts of the Qur’an preserved in Libraries and Muse-
ums both in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. You may be wondering how
921
Maria KOSUGI
922
Qur’anic manuscript data on computer
1 Alain George, The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy, London 2010; François Déroche, The Ab-
basid Tradition: Qur’ans of the 8th to the 10th Centuries AD, n.p. 1992.
2 David James, Qur’āns of the Mamlūks, London 1988; idem, The Master Scribes: Qur’ans
of the 10th to 14th Centuries AD, n.p. 1992; Martin Lings, The Quranic Art of Calligraphy
and Illumination, n.p. 1976; idem, Splendours of Qur’an Calligraphy and Illumination, Va-
duz 2004.
3 Annabel Teh Gallop, “The Art of the Qur’an in Southeast Asia”, in Fahmida Suleman
(ed), Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur’an and its Creative Expressions, Oxford 2007,
191-204; Annabel Teh Gallop with Ali Akbar, “The Art of the Qur’an in Banten: Callig-
raphy and Illumination” Archipel 72 (2006), 95-156.
923
Maria KOSUGI
924
Qur’anic manuscript data on computer
has which page and if the latest position and status is unclear, we can try searc-
hing historical documents for the information about which place and when it
was seen and identified for the last time.
925
Maria KOSUGI
that each major university Library and Museum holds a collection of Qur’anic
manuscripts and the red circles in the US will increase soon. By the way, isn’t it
strange that most of the Qur’ans were produced in Muslim region during Isla-
mic dynasties, and were circulated and played important role in their society,
and yet now they are being kept outside Muslim countries, especially in Europe
and the United States?
Of course this happened during the colonial period for the most part. We are
trying to trace the transference of Qur’anic manuscripts using DiMSIS’s func-
tion. This system is good at temporal information and showing them visibly,
but the problem is that while the person who donated each Qur’anic manusc-
ript to Library or Museum is sometimes officially recorded, information about
how and when and from which Muslim country that person got that Qur’anic
manuscript is rarely officially recorded. Also information about from which
dealer or through which auction they bought it and the price is not easily ava-
ilable to the public.
The third task is to input detailed data of manuscript, to search and to sort.
Table 4 and 5 are examples. Table 4 is a list of important folios from the early
centuries on Excel. We can export this kind of list to DiMSIS-EX and search
and sort them by a specific category such as “black ink used for text,” or we can
indicate both the places where they were originally produced and where they
are currently preserved as Table 5 shows. Not only on the places where they
preserved, can we also show them on the places where they were made.
The last task is detailed survey on each collection. To capture more and more
detailed information on Qur’anic manuscripts all over the world based on accu-
rate surveys, we hope to cooperate with as many researchers who are interested
in Islamic manuscripts as possible. To build a standardized procedure, we have
just started to find out what kind of information researchers need, or what kind
of application in the system is needed if anyone in other countries wants to join.
If you have an interest in this project or if you want to build a data base system
in your own major, please contact us.
926
Qur’anic manuscript data on computer
Table 1: Major Regions and Dynasties Where Qur’anic Manuscripts were Produced
927
Maria KOSUGI
928
Qur’anic manuscript data on computer
929
Development policy
and social changes in a suburban
area of Mongolia:
application of the DiMSIS-EX
to an anthropological research
I. Introduction
Mongolia in the 20th century experienced a transition from a socialist to a
market economy. Mongolia’s traditional subsistence nomadic pastoralism has
been playing an important role in mitigating social and economic chaos since
the transition in the early 1990s. In fact, the pastoral sector has accepted a large
number of people who became unemployed due to the privatization of state
enterprises. On the other hand, Mongolia is faced with the difficult problems of
poverty and environmental degradation.
In recent years, herders have been settled or semi-settled in suburban areas
of the capital and secondary cities of Mongolia. This has led to some envi-
ronmental problems such as pasture degradation caused by overgrazing and
shortage of water and forest resources. Relevant studies have pointed out that
the change from raising livestock collectively to raising livestock in individual
households is a cause of pastoral sedentarization. Therefore, they have tended
to focus on individual households’ practices such as daily herding and seasonal
movement. However, on the basis of our previous research, we suggest that pas-
toral sedentarization in suburban areas was strongly influenced by the socialist
development policy that promoted the modernization of nomadic pastoralism.
930
Development policy and social changes
1 After rasterizing the printed maps, we asked specialists to convert the various informa-
tion described in the map into digital data usable for DiMSIS-EX.
931
Takahiro TOMITA – Shigeru KAKUMOTO
932
Development policy and social changes
933
Takahiro TOMITA – Shigeru KAKUMOTO
3 Monkh-Ochir, Dondogjal, Mongol Ulsyn Aimag, Khoshuu, Soumyn Lavlakh [The List of
Province, Banner, District in Mongolia], Ulaanbaatar 2012, 40.
934
Development policy and social changes
pasture resources fluctuate continuously in arid land and semi-arid land. The-
refore, subsistence pastoralism follows ecosystem dynamics, whereby herders
adapt to large spatial and temporal variations in climate and vegetation. These
strategies determine not only livestock and pasture management practices but
also the cultural and social practices of Mongolia.4
Before Mongolia’s revolution in 1921, allocation and use of pasture resour-
ces were subject to customary and formal tenure regimes enforced by nobles
and monasteries, as well as norms and customs enforced by local herder com-
munities.5 In those days, herders were allowed to graze their livestock in a larger
administrative territory. However, because of lack of data, the pre-revolutionary
seasonal movement pattern in Khaliun is unknown.
During the socialist era (especially in the collective period from 1960 to
1990), pastoral cooperatives played a significant role in the pasture manage-
ment. Mongolian herders traditionally kept and used five species of livestock:
sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and camels. The pastoral cooperatives would orga-
nize herds according to species, sex, age and so on, allot them to each herding
group (suur) consisting of one or more household. Cooperatives also manda-
ted the specific place where each herding group was expected to graze in each
season. In this way, pastoral cooperatives made detailed subdivisions of land to
expand livestock production by using natural resources rationally and effecti-
vely.
935
Takahiro TOMITA – Shigeru KAKUMOTO
936
Development policy and social changes
Figure 2 is a satellite photo that shows the pastoral land use in Khaliun during
the collective period. Each seasonal pasture is characterized as follows: summer
pasture where it is cool enough to live comfortably in the north, autumn pas-
ture where the grass is slow to dry up in the middle east, winter pasture where it
is possible to avoid the seasonal northwest winds in the middle west, and spring
pasture abundant in water resources in the south.
Today, in Khaliun, pasture land is managed by each sub-district. Figure 3 is
a satellite photo that shows pastoral land use in Khaliun. By comparing the two
figures it is clear that the current pastoral land use reflects the subdivisions of
the land during collective period. However, there are two differences between
them worth mentioning. The first is that the range of pastoral movement has
decreased to approximately half of that of the collective period; the second is
that herders now stay in the same campsite from winter to spring. One reason
behind this is that part of the territory of Khaliun was provided for immigrants
to Erdenet city in 1995. However, this is not the only reason.
937
Takahiro TOMITA – Shigeru KAKUMOTO
Fig.5. Map showing the location of wells during the collective period (1986)
Wells
Accessing water resources is also a major concern for herders, especially during
the severe winter and spring months when rivers and springs are frozen over.
During the collective period, wells were constructed in order to secure an
938
Development policy and social changes
939
Takahiro TOMITA – Shigeru KAKUMOTO
7 On the other hand, there were also problems that some of water supply services ignored
economic efficiency, such as by constructing unnecessary wells in order to achieve the
quota, or transporting water over a long distance only to water livestock.
8 Yuki Konagaya, “Mongol Bokuchiku Sisutemu no Tokucho to Henyo” [Characteristic
and Transformation of Pastoral System in Mongolia], E-journal GEO 2/1 (2007), 38.
940
Development policy and social changes
941
Takahiro TOMITA – Shigeru KAKUMOTO
942
Development policy and social changes
V. Conclusion
This paper examines the features and transformation of pastoral sedentariza-
tion in a suburban area of Mongolia.
The pastoral society of Mongolia has changed significantly through its
seventy-year-long socialist development. Subsistence nomadic pastoralism was
transformed into a vital sector of the national economy by industrialization
under the socialist regime. In such a situation, the traditional way of living and
raising livestock had been sedentarized to make the maximum use of common
property livestock and land .
During the collective period, the economic and environmental sustainability
of pastoral production was compensated by public agencies. After the collapse
of these organizations, herders had to take it upon themselves. As a result, in
Khaliun, many households came to stay in the same campsites for a long time
because of their inability to make all the necessary arrangements for winter and
spring respectively. Moreover, the immigrants from remote areas have further
complicated the situation.
As a matter of fact, the Mongolian government has taken measures to solve
these problems although they have had to depend greatly on support from
international organizations and donor countries. A case in point is the “Nati-
onal Livestock Program”, a comprehensive economic program for the next
decade which was approved by the parliament in the spring of 2010. In accor-
dance with this policy, the “Peri-Urban Rangeland Project”, which aims to allot
a plot land to each herding group consisting of a few households, has been
conducted in suburban areas of Mongolia. These efforts are expected to lead
to a solution of the issues that face the pastoral society after its transition to a
market economy. However, a further problem has been revealed as a result of
this case study; namely, that a clarification of the boundaries of resources and
user groups could limit open access to pasture land.
11 Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, “Spatial and Social Boundaries and the Paradox of Pas-
toral Land Tenure: A Case Study From Postsocialist Mongolia”, Human Ecology 30/1
(2002), 49-78.
943
An introduction
to the spatial-temporal GIS 'DiMSIS-EX'
and its application for the recovery
and registration process after large
disasters in Düzce city
1. Introduction
In accordance with the purpose of this panel discussion whose title is “The
Importance of Interdisciplinary Research Connecting Historical, Anthropolo-
gical, Information, and Engineering Sciences of Based on the Case Study of
Spacial-Temporal GIS (DiMSIS-EX) Application”, our chief role that should be
described in this paper might be regarded as explaining the spatial-temporal
GIS to non-technical/engineering based researchers plainly, and introducing a
good application example to encourage researchers to come up with ideas for
its application in their own research fields.
Accordingly, in this paper, the features, advantages and possibility of app-
lication of the spatial-temporal GIS, especially 'DiMSIS-Ex' for historical and
anthropological researches will be shown as a first topic, and then our applica-
tion for the recovery and restoration process after the large disaster in Düzce
will be introduced as a second topic.
944
Recovery and registration process
945
K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, S. KAKUMOTO, M. HATAYAMA, M. USUI
that is, such data must be updated continuously and accumulated as only the
most recent can be utilized in an emergency phase. Additionally, it shows that,
regarding actual operation in the field, we would not be able to use any informa-
tion system if local officials were not accustomed to using it for daily tasks.
DiMSIS-Ex has advantages regarding the ease of data handling as shown
in chapter 2.4, and it can be supplied without much cost, because it is soft-
ware managed by academic staff, rather than a commercial product. This is why
DiMSIS-Ex has an advantage as an administrative GIS and is used for the daily
tasks of many local governments.
Our support channel in 1995 was measures for the removal of damaged
houses by the local government in Kobe. It was a very disconsolate matter for
the victims - they lost houses full of memories - but their removal was very
important and essential because without it, they would have been unable to
re-construct their lives. Thus we could contribute to the actual tasks they had
to deal with just after disaster.
Now we can indicate the typical advantages of GIS through it; that is, by
using GIS, officers could get a reliable verification of applicants’ locations by
finger-pointing; in other words, they could confirm them without using ‘vague’
addresses, and could order removal works efficiently with area bundling. As
officers were not accustomed to such procedures at first, there was always a very
long queue, and the waiting time exceeded the applicants’ patience, but after
employing GIS, the maximum efficiency of the reception was achieved and the
long queue could be dispersed. In addition, we researchers also got significant
information about the distribution of damaged buildings for encouraging res-
toration planning afterwards, including historical factors as shown in Fig.2.
946
Recovery and registration process
registered in order to tolerate the ambiguity. Thus, when you need to update the
shape of the area such as the enlargement or reconstruction of house, you don't
need to define the topology. You should definitely confirm whether the attri-
bute data remains intact after changing, but this is not so difficult. Furthermore,
unification of different data sets and data sharing with different systems can be
done freely because of such a simple data format.
948
Recovery and registration process
Using DiMSIS-Ex, maps for an arbitrary year could be drawn freely. In order
to do that, some interpolation functions might be needed for describing terri-
tory transitions - for example contour line interpolation and morphing techno-
logy would be of use as a reference -, but you can develop such functions and
moreover an application suitable for your own use by yourself as source codes
of not only applications but also the core-program of DiMSIS-Ex are free for
academic use. In reality, this can be regarded as another advantage. It would not
be an ideal situation if our ideas of analyses were to be limited or lead by the
existing functions of GIS, in which the selection of some functions could only
be executed according to what private companies had judged as priorities. In
you are using ArcGIS or Google Maps for spatial analysis, even if you request
these companies to add on a function you need, in most cases your hopes will
not be realized.
Fig.7 shows a screen copy of DiMSIS-Ex. When you click a menu button
at the bottom of the window, you can choose the time to display. As it is just a
matter of man-machine interface, we can change it easily according to the users’
request.
949
K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, S. KAKUMOTO, M. HATAYAMA, M. USUI
950
Recovery and registration process
Our first visit to Düzce was in December 1999, just one month after the 2nd
earthquake had occurred. There was a need for damage factor analysis of hou-
sing, and for city revival planning based on it. Thus we began to develop the
reconstruction monitoring information system using DiMSIS-Ex from Janu-
ary 2000. Through these activities we received the following requests for such a
system from the Düzce authorities:
1) It should be a system that is able to describe the ever-changing regional
information.
2) It should be a system in which the application software can be added by
Düzce city officers themselves.
3) It should be a system having a database compatible with other GIS/CAD
applications.
In satisfying these requests, we have done all our work under a policy of col-
laboration and culture-based support. In other words, a series of activities were
performed according to the needs of the people in Düzce, and by collaborating
with Turkish people. Fig.10 shows a policy statement we drafted at the beginning.
951
K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, S. KAKUMOTO, M. HATAYAMA, M. USUI
952
Recovery and registration process
by painting over and buildings with medium damage are cross-hatched. Quite a
few buildings are classified as having heavy or medium damage. In DiMSIS-Ex,
such attributes are stored as these types of marks using the connectors menti-
oned in chapter 2.3. Basically, we collect, sort, analyze and merge connectors
when we need to summarize and analyze the data in an arbitrary spatial scale.
The right-hand figure shows a map of Düzce city's total damage. The most
heavily damaged area is the central part of the city where there are some relati-
vely high reinforced concrete buildings.
953
K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, S. KAKUMOTO, M. HATAYAMA, M. USUI
954
Recovery and registration process
Even the buildings which were judged as slightly damaged by the first quake
tended to be heavily damaged or collapsed due to the second.
They are therefore quite vulnerable, and because of the likelihood of future
disasters, the cost of effectively retrofitting them should be considered. This is
the task for future recovery in Düzce.
4) Traffic Flow Survey between the New Residential Area & the Old City
Center
As we briefly mentioned in chapter 3.2, the Turkish government and the World
Bank jointly developed two new residential areas with 10,000 apartment hou-
ses in a hilly, suburban part of the city which used to be hazel nut orchards. This
was analyzed as one of the most stable areas, and 50,000 people were allowed to
emigrate there. Considering the original population of the city (approximately
120,000) and the condition of the existing roads, there was some concern that
not a little inconvenience would arise and severe traffic congestion would occur
(Fig.16). Accordingly, we tried to check whether the traffic capacity of the roads
between the new residential area and the city center was adequate. We chose 11
traffic survey points shown as from A to J in Fig.17, considering the importance
955
K. YOSHIKAWA, Y. KAJITANI, S. KAKUMOTO, M. HATAYAMA, M. USUI
for access. Fig.18 shows the survey results for the road network by handy GPS
and traffic volumes.
956
Recovery and registration process
At the time of writing, the trunk road and parking lots have been realized
almost according to our suggestions. A main road has already been constructed
and also ring roads are now in the planning phase as shown in Fig.20. We drove
on the trunk road in 2010 and measured the time taken by using the handy
GPS. Now both areas are connected by a road which is 8 km long and the trip
takes only 6 minutes.
Older wooden houses suffered heavy damage in Kobe but not in Düzce,
where new buildings suffered more damage than old wooden houses that were
built using experience gained over a long period. The new residential district
with new houses has been built in a safer area in the suburban nut orchard area
958
Recovery and registration process
959
Ottoman AQUEDUCTS
IN the Helladic Region:
Architecture and Construction
Georgios P. Antoniou*
Introduction
The consolidation of the Ottoman domination in the Helladic region combi-
ned with the increasing skills of the dominators in the relevant structural tech-
niques, led to the construction of numerous water projects throughout the area
of Greece, dating mainly1 from the mid 15th2 to the 17th century.
According to the importance of the Muslim religion on issues of water and
the need of the fountains of the mosques as well as of the hammams, these
water supplying constructions provided abundant water in cities or towns, exis-
ting or new ones.3 Very often that amount of water was brought from springs
several kilometers away.4 The task was accomplished either by incorporating
960
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
parts of earlier aqueducts or, more often, by erecting new ones, using not only
already exploited springs but also introducing new ones, which provided inc-
reased water amounts.5 The Ottoman institutions of vakifs contributed signi-
ficantly to the funding of many projects of that kind. In addition, -since they
were also considered as works of common beneficial character- the charitable
or not relevant actions of local or regional governors related with the increased
prosperity during that time frame, resulted in the erection of several aqueducts
in the examined region. The majority of these constructions are characterized
by high technical expertise and they generally incorporate structural, archi-
tectural and functional provisions clearly corresponding to the large Ottoman
water supply works of Istanbul which date back to the 16th century and which
had incorporated the technological knowledge of the Roman and Byzantine
remains of similar works.6
The Ottoman aqueducts are characterized by numerous arched water brid-
ges which often combine pointed and regular arches in the same branch. In the
cases where the construction rises quite high up, their thickness is enlarged at
the lower part and diminished at the top. The use of metal and wooden tensible
strengthening elements is quite usual and many traces of covered and underg-
round conduits survive up to today. Unfortunately original formations on the
sites of the water acquisition can be rarely found nowadays. On the other hand
the inclination of the duct can be traced and studied.
Several Ottoman officials were related with the construction and operation
of the aqueducts7 i.e. the Kadı who was responsible for taking care of their ope-
ration, the Mimar ağası , the Su nazırı etc. In addition, their maintenance and
5 As in the case of the long aqueduct in Pylos, Georgios P. Antoniou, “The Architecture
and Evolution of the Aqueduct of Pylos –Navarino”, Koyuncu I. et al., (eds), Proceedings
3rd IWA Specialized Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies in Ancient Civi-
lizations, Istanbul 2012, 410-9, where the necessary amounts of water for the recaptured
from the Venetians Neo Avarino was brought from a rich spring more than 12 km away.
6 Kâzım Çeçen, Sinan’s Water Supply System in Istanbul, Istanbul 1992, 172.
7 ibid.
961
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
repair was matter of importance and those who were executing that kind of
works, either Muslims or Christians, were exempted from taxation.8
Fig. 1 The Ottoman - or with Ottoman phase - aqueducts in the greater Helladic region.
8 Lowry, The Shaping of Ottoman Balkans, 151, PL XIII in a 1478 reference on exemption
of taxation for four Christians in Serres for their services maintaining and repairing
the aqueduct. Moreover there was “complete exemption from all taxes for 34 Christian
households in return for their periodic service in maintaining and repairing the aque-
duct”, 239 and Machiel Kiel, “Ottoman Building Activity along the Via Egnatia”, Elizabeth
Zachariadou (ed), The Via Egnatia Under Ottoman Rule 1380-1699, Rethymno 1996,
155. Similarly there was reduced taxation for Muslims who were responsible for clean-
ing the cistern of the castle of Mytilini in Karydis, Kiel, Μυτιλήνης Αστυγραφία, 38.
962
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Many surviving monuments of that type cover most of the Helladic region,
from Serres,9 Kavala10 and Feres11 in the North up to Pylos,12 Crete and Kos in
the South. The various elements of their surviving parts, as well as the miscel-
laneous types of descriptions found in written sources (maps, engravings, texts,
old photographs), testify not only to similarities of these constructions but also
to their adjustment to the relevant terrain relief.
In addition to that, many of them were in use until the beginning of the 20th
c and therefore incorporate remarkable techniques on repairs and improve-
ments, which had as aim the preservation of the operation of these aqueducts.
The targeted research on these monuments as a whole results in numerous
conclusions on that technical work; an important element of the scientific rese-
arch which does not present many studies on that subject, since, wherever that
research was more detailed, it had focused only on specific parts of these aque-
ducts, i.e. the water bridges (like the case of Kavala) and not on the whole cons-
truction.
963
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
Another one is the ancient Greek spring of Vourina14 in Kos which also fed the
Ottoman aqueduct and still contributes to the water amounts needed for the
modern town of Kos. Another case where an ancient spring was used by an
Ottoman aqueduct could be the suyolu of Chalcis according to the opinions of
S. Bakhuizen and M. Kiel.15
The construction of Pylos can be considered as a related structure to water
acquisition formations at the great Sinan’s aqueduct in the Belgrade forest in
Constantinople.16 Even the domed structure shown in a 19th c engraving Fig. 3a)
at the Curbes or Gouves area17 can also be related with similar known structu-
res and water acquisition techniques at the great Sinan’s aqueduct18 in the Belg-
rade forest in Constantinople. Even though the on route of the duct additional
intake springs are testified - i.e. in Chalcis19 and Kavala20 - there are no surviving
constructions like those in the Belgrade forest in Istanbul.21
14 V.S. Hatzivassiliou - I.K. Papaeftychiou, “The Ancient Spring of Vourina on the Island of
Cos in the Dodecanese, Greece: A Historical and Morphological Approach”, A. N.. An-
gelakis - D. Koutsogiannis (eds), 1st IWA International Symposium on Water and Waste-
water Technologies in Ancient Civilizations, Heraclion 2006, 281-8.
15 Machiel Kiel “The Turkish Aqueduct of Chalkis. A note on the date of construction and
the identity of its founder”, S.C. Bakhuizen, Studies in the Topography of Chalcis on Eu-
boea, Leiden 1985, 151-164, as well as 73-75. The main argument is whether the curved
in the rock ducts were made by the ancients or the Turks. Kiel presents relevant descrip-
tions of the Ottoman period and Bakhuizen the well known efficiency of the ancients for
that kind of works.
16 Çeçen, Sinan’s Water Supply, 53, 58-59.
17 See note 13.
18 Çeçen, Sinan’s Water Supply, 83-84.
19 Bakhuizen, Studies, 73-75, Fig. 45 where 3 springs are spotted on the duct’s path eastern
of the long-arched sector, by the foothills of Latomeio hill.
20 E.O.S. Kavalas, “O Δρόμος του Νερού”, 2009, http://www.eoskavalas.gr/2009-04-17-
16-53-33/2009-06-01-22-08-19/2009-06-01-22-17-45/2009-06-01-22-20-40.html (in
Greek)
21 Çeçen, Sinan’s Water Supply, 53, 58-9, 63-66, 69-71.
964
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Fig. 2 The surviving original springs of the Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region.
965
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
On the other hand there are cases where the aqueduct was fed by more than
one springs as the Koufou aqueduct on Chios Island, fed by three different
springs.22 A secondary on route spring could have also fed the Pylos aqueduct
at the lower end of Handrinos plateau.23
22 Ag. Georgios spring at an altitude of 120 m, Ag. Ioannis and Ag. Demetrios at 200m.
Apostolos Stef. Exadaktylos “Το υδραγωγείο του «Κουφού» στη Χίο Ιστορικά και κα-
τασκευαστικά στοιχεία”, Technika Chronika, vol. 2, Athens 2010, 113-121. Probably the
higher spring is related with the addition on the Koufos water bridge (image 1,115) defi-
nitely constructed during the Ottoman domination of the island and the efforts made to
increase the water quantities supplied to the Castle of Chios.
23 Since the spring there is next to the duct’s path and is still running all year round.
966
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
24 There were many attractions and benefits for the inhabitants to stay in the new city, as
the partial tax-exemption for all, Lowry, The Shaping, 239.
25 ibid., 236, 238.
26 ibid., 240.
27 That structure is still the characterizing feature of the city till today. See also PL XXXIV,
XXXVII in Heath Lowry, In the Footsteps of the Ottomans. A Search for Sacred Spaces and
Architectural Monuments in Northern Greece, Istanbul 2009, 148-149.
28 Lowry, The Shaping, 149-152, 173-4
29 Due to the several water-consuming facilities like the dozen of mosques - and their
fountains- as well as the eight hammams. Machiel Kiel, “Observations on the History of
Northern Greece during the Turkish Rule: Historical and Architectural Description of
the Turkish Monuments of Komotini and Serres, their place in the Development of Ot-
toman Turkish Architecture and their Present Condition”, Balkan Studies 12 (1971), 415-
444.
30 Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution, 413-414, Fig. 5, 6.
967
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
Fig.4 The path -line of the aqueduct of Kos and the non-surviving aqueduct at Kermetes
(Schatzman,1932).
968
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Fig. 5 The ducts’ line at Kavala Fig. 6 Drama. Long-arched aqueduct near Nikiforos village.
969
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
and they are usually confused with the semi subterranean. A definitely sub-
terranean construction was the part of the duct under the glacis (spalto) of
the Niokastro of Pylos.35 On the other hand, it is probable that the sector at
Handrino plateau of the Pylos aqueduct36 was an originally semi subterranean
pitched slab-covered duct. Moreover, it is not well testified if the so-called sub-
terranean sectors of the coastal branch in Pylos37 and of the incomplete, early
18th c Larissa’s (Yenişehir) aqueduct near Kastro village,38 were originally sub-
terranean.
Semi-subterranean
Semi-subterranean -or pseudo-subterranean- ducts were more usual, even
though some were/are indicated as Subterranean, as mentioned above, because
their slab-covered ducts were covered up through the times by soil. Except for
the mentioned case in Pylos, a characteristic example of a semi subterranean
duct is in Kavala’s aqueduct, the sections39 along the footpath (Fig. 7a, b).
970
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Fig. 7a. slab-covered semi subterranean duct at Kavala. 7b. kaldırım along a paved path.
971
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
On ground ducts
Simple on ground ducts41 are the types which have survived less, since they
could be easily demolished for re-use of their stones in newer constructions.42
Typical well-preserved parts exist in both the late 16th c and the long mid-17th c
of Pylos,43 and were illustrated in early 19th c engravings elsewhere.44 They were
following the contours of the terrain and the water channel was formed on top
of a thick low wall, either slab-covered or not.
972
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
973
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
in Drama, Fig. 6) etc. In contrast, their length and a required good seismic res-
ponse was the probable reason for a more sound foundation47 and wider bases.
Water bridges
The most impressive parts of every aqueduct are the water bridges. Several ones
survive all over the Helladic region, like the early one in Serres, the impressive
well known in Kavala, as well as in Patras and Chalkis.48 Regarding the requi-
red height, they consisted of single,49 double50 or triple rows of arches.51 Usually,
according to the scale of the creeks, there was only one arch over the creeks,
flanked by two or more on their sloped banks. Their constructional and arc-
hitectural elements will be presented later and as far as it concerns the duct
47 As in Pylos plateau outside Niokastro where the turns aim at a rocky foundation.
48 At Tris Kamares -three arches- site. Bakhuizen, Studies, 71, Fig. 45
49 As in Liakopoulos place in Pylos
50 As in Serres Fig. 19a
51 Pylos Xerias, Fig. 11
974
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
975
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
976
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
probable that the inclination diminishes at the sectors of the water bridges60
and by the end at the terminal area in the cities.61
977
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
The structure
Walls - Walling
Their masonry was usually adjusted to the local walling habits and techniques.
Despite that, it is certain that better materials and mortars were used in water
bridges and long-arched sectors, due to the structural requirements as well!
There were better-chiseled stones at the arches, as in Kos, Chalcis, Xerias’ main
arch, Chios etc., and occasionally bricks as in Kavala, Xerias’ upper arches, Rio,
or even combined formation as in Pylos Kamares (Fig. 14).
Scaffolding
The scaffolding used for the building is often recognizable even today in several
monuments. It was made of semi-cut wood, i.e. Crete, Kos, or of raw wood i.e.
Derveni.
Strengthening formations and structures were used in every water bridge and
long-arched sector. Several constructions of that kind are listed below:
Super-imposed arches
It is a typical formation of the water bridges which have double or triple rows
of arches. Regularly their pilasters were corresponding (Fig. 23b), but there are
cases, as in Serres, where they were in the middle of the lower arch (Fig. 19a).
978
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Base widening
It is the most reasonable construction to improve the foundation of the pilas-
ters of the arches. In the case of Kos (Fig. 17) the aqueduct is based on field soil
and therefore the use of that widening is totally justified, and a similar example
can be found in Skopje.62
62 Miljcovits-Pepec, Υδραγωγείο.
979
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
980
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Fig. 21 The Ottoman water bridge of the aqueduct of Patras situated north east of the Castle.
Fig. 22 The northern part after the cut and reposition of the rest.
981
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
Fig. 23 Pylos. The Xerias water bridge. a Section and b West elevation (downstream).
982
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Chios70 and Pylos.71 Additionally, trapezoid ceramic tiles were used in parts on
the aqueducts of Chios72 and Kos (Fig. 25). Clay cylindrical pipes were incor-
porated inside the ducts during later (?) interventions in Pylos,73 Kos, Kavala74
and Serres (Fig. 19b).
The coverage of the ducts was quite common especially in places where
there was the possibility of stones and soil falling into the duct.75 It usually was
of various types of slabs (Fig. 7a, b), either raw or chiseled. There was often a
combination of a pavement of a path or a kaldırım (Fig. 7b).
Fig. 24 Section of the strong mortar-laid duct at Patras Fig. 25 Kos. Trapezoid ceramic tile.
Morphological issues
As far as the morphological issues of the aqueducts are concerned, the type of
the arches defines the appearance of the construction. Normal and pointed arc-
hes were used either independently or combined.76 It is definite that the combi-
nation is the most common case in the early examples like in Serres and Kavala.
70 Exadaktylos, Το υδραγωγείο.
71 Georgios Antoniou et al., Μελέτη Τεκμηρίωσης και Αποκατάστασης Υδραγωγείου Πύ-
λου, Patra 2008 and Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution.
72 Exadaktylos, Το υδραγωγείο, Vournous, Της Κόρης.
73 Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution, Fig. 2c.
74 Lowry, The Shaping, 239 and note 33.
75 Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution, the duct along Xerias creek. See also Fig. 26.
76 Çeçen, Sinan’s Water Supply, 109 both round and pointed arches at Kovukkemer.
983
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
Sl. Curcic77 has examined the issue of the gradual implementation of the poin-
ted arch in the Ottoman architecture during the 15th c as well as the revival of
earlier Byzantine morphological and constructional features. It seems that the
majority of the relevant points have an application on the morphological featu-
res of the aqueducts.
Not only the appearance of the pointed arches, combined with regular ones,
is a typical condition - as in Pylos (Fig. 14, 23), Kavala, Chios,78 and Skopje79-,
but also the total establishment of the pointed arch as in Kos (Fig 17). On the
other hand there are distinctive examples where only normal arches survive, as
in Drama. In cases like i.e. Serres, but also in Pylos, it is evident that the pointed
arch is not yet well-incorporated in their skills.
Following the revival of several Byzantine forms, as mentioned above, the
aqueducts incorporate simple brick fillets, brick frames around the arches as in
Xerias and Kavala (Fig. 26, 27 respectively). In many cases, instead of brick fra-
mes at the arches, simple or more elaborate curved stones are used (Kos, Pylos,
Rio).
984
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Functional elements
Various functional elements were incorporated in the aqueducts providing
safety measures for the water and supporting other auxiliary uses of the ducts.
The water breaks are constructed at the pilasters of some water bridges as in
Xerias to protect them from the pressure of the water flow. On the other hand,
their incorporation there on both upstream and downstream sides, suggests
that there was not exact knowledge of some probable prototype directives.80
Such constructional and typological rules, directives or guidelines can be tra-
ced after the comparison of the capital (in Istanbul) and provincial examples.
Possibly it could be a similar procedure as the one found in Ottoman residen-
tial architecture.81
Access barriers are typical constructions which prevent access on the duct
where they are not high enough and can be accessed by people. They are built
on the edges of water bridges in Istanbul,82 but they are also found in Pylos,
Heraklion, etc. Normally they were built over the pilasters of the arches but
80 Çeçen, Sinan’s Water Supply, pl. 3, 6 Uzunkemer and Güzelcekemer cases with brakes
only upstream. The case of Maglova water bride with brakes at both sides can be easily
considered as one with morphological approach! also idem, 110.
81 Cerasi M. “Late Ottoman Architects and Master Builders”, Muqarnas, 5 (1988), 87-102.
See also relevant comment in Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution.
82 Çeçen, Sinan’s Water Supply, 76-78.
985
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
there also exist some exemptions like at the demolished arched aqueduct sector
inside the city of Heraklion in Crete (Fig. 28).
Fig. 28 Arched sector with an access-barrier at the western side of Heraklion under demolition.
Overflow spouts are not only necessary elements to prevent water overflow
due to increased amount,83 but they are also used as irrigation spouts for wate-
ring the neighboring vegetable gardens. In Pylos two spouts of that kind cor-
respond with the position of gardens next to the aqueduct, shown in historical
maps.84 In addition, there is information related to the secondary usage of the
Kos aqueduct water for irrigation of the adjoining to the duct gardens during
the night, when it was not that needed for drinking purposes in the town.85
On route fountains, fed by the aqueducts, were documented along their
path86 for water supply of the people on the roads next to them.
83 ibid., 119
84 UKHO D 8434, E 579, G 644 Admiralty Chart 211, see also Antoniou, Architecture and
Evolution.
85 P. Svourenos, «Το Βακούφ του Νερού της Κω», Βήμα της Κω, 21-4-2011, 4.
86 Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution, UKHO charts, EOS Kavalas, Οι δρόμοι του νερού.
986
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
water most often was stored in cisterns as in Chios,87 Pylos,88 Kavala and pos-
sibly Patras. Moreover, it was feeding fountains of mosques - as in Kos89 (Fig.
4) - or not - as in Chios, Pylos, Serres. The exceptional case referring to a small
water mill in Pylos90 is characteristic of the significance of the water reaching
the towns via the aqueducts.
The presence of the operating -or not- aqueducts to the expanding or alter-
nating townscapes and nearby countryside was significant for the creation of
boundaries of neighborhoods as in Chalcis,91 or of commercial activities like
the newer bazaar in Kamares in Pylos.92 In addition, they were regularly used as
garden boundaries i.e. in Kos and Pylos. In these cases a wall was filling up the
arches at least up to a certain height (Fig. 17). Often a road or street was crea-
ted along their line.
87 Exadaktylos, Το υδραγωγείο.
88 Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution.
89 For both aqueducts, of the city and of the one at Kermetes. The path way at the city
points to the Defterdar Mosque, and the one at Kermetes passes by two mosques. The
fountain of the second one survives till today.
90 Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution, Bennet, The Fortress.
91 Bakhuizen, Studies, 77 F 49 the line of the aqueduct as ‘boundary’ of the Yiftika neigh-
borhood.
92 Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution., Αntoniou et al., Μελέτη τεκμηρίωσης.
93 As n. 88.
94 Exadaktylos, Το υδραγωγείο
987
Georgios P. ANTONIOU
Despite the fact that there is plenty of information about their abandonment
even before the 19th c as i. e. in Chios,95 there were however efforts to keep them
operating as in Kos till the early Italian era.96
Decay/accumulated salts
It is testified that some parts of aqueducts of the Ottoman era, due to their
sound construction and regular maintenance until the early 20th c, have a par-
tial auxiliary use up to today i.e their springs97 supply water to the towns, their
parts are used as irrigation canals,98 they support modern pipe networks as in
Rio (Fig. 16) and Loucou, etc. (Fig. 30)
However many aqueducts suffer from severe decay since they have not been
repaired for almost 100 years. The most important factor of decay, beside the
collapse of some parts, is the accumulated layers of salts due to the overflow of
the water after their ducts were filled up. These heavy layers could be a severe
factor that could cause even the collapse of high structures, i.e. the Xerias water
bridge (Fig. 23, 26).
Fig. 29 The water bridge at Derveni incorporating a modern concrete irrigation duct.99
95 ibid.
96 Svourenos, Το Βακούφ, 4 The presence of a local technician practicing the repair and
maintenance of the aqueduct since the Ottoman period, was continued during the first
decades of the Italian occupation.
97 In Pylos, Antoniou, Architecture and Evolution.
98 As in Pylos the suelos and at Derveni having a concrete ditch on it. Fig. 29.
99 The marks of the wholes of the wooden beams are clearly visible at the inner surface of
the arches, either of scaffolding or wooden tie beams.
988
Ottoman aqueducts in the Helladic region
Fig. 30 Accumulated salts at the reused ancient aqueduct of Loukou, still used for the pipes!
Conclusion
Finally it could be concluded that detailed examination can trace the tech-
nological development of that era in the relevant fields. Their study can also
contribute to tracing procedures and rules for the application of technological
methods and directives within the Ottoman state. It can also help to identify the
approaches on the grade of implementation of relevant pre-existing techniques,
either constructional or morphological, which had functional or not usage.
In addition, some suggested further stages could be:
Essential thorough recording (digital databases to be created)
Recording of all elements of the water conveyance structures (inc. springs,
path etc.)
Conservation and restoration of surviving parts, depending on their condi-
tion.
Incorporation of the remaining parts, where possible, into cultural or natu-
ral routes, trails.
989
19. YÜZYILDA İDARİ DEĞİŞİMİN ODAK
NOKTASI OLARAK
BÂBIÂLİ BİNASI
Gözde Çelik*
I. Giriş
Osmanlı Devleti’nde II. Mahmud döneminde başlayan kurumsal değişim süreci,
1839-1876 yıllarını kapsayan Tanzimat döneminde ivme kazanmıştır. İmpara-
torluğun yüzyıllardır süregelen devlet yapısında kurumlar bazında önemli deği-
şikliklere yol açan Tanzimat dönemi, Batılılaşmanın yoğun olarak yaşandığı bir
süreç olarak sosyo-kültürel olguların değişimine de sahne olmuştur.
Tanzimat’ın kurucusu sadrazam Mustafa Reşid Paşa ile önde gelen diğer
devlet adamları, II. Mahmud döneminden itibaren başlayan yeni bir tip memur
kadrosu oluşturma anlayışına göre yetişmişlerdir. Avrupa ülkelerinde elçilik-
lerde görev yapan, başkentlerden izlenimlerini aktaran bu paşalar, devlet yapı-
sının daha modern işleyeceği, insani, çevresel ve kentsel değerlerin yüksek
tutulduğu bir ortam yaratma çabası göstermişlerdir. Özellikle Mustafa Reşid
Paşa Londra elçiliğinde görevliyken II. Mahmud’a gönderdiği layihalarda
İstanbul yangınlarına önlem olarak kâgir yapım tekniklerinin öne çıkarılması,
sokak, parsel planlaması, yolların geometrik düzenlemelerle oluşturulması gibi
yöntemleri savunmuştur.1 İzleyen yıllarda, Tanzimat’ın getirdiği bürokratik
kurumlaşmayla ilişkili olarak yeni yapı türleri ortaya çıkmış, ihtiyaç duyulan
yeni yapıların, plan kurgusu, yapı malzemesi ve üslup anlayışı açısından Batılı
990
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
2 Zafer Toprak, “Bâbıâli”, Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (DBİA), I, İstanbul 1994,
s. 520.
3 Reşad Ekrem Koçu, “Bâbıâli”, Reşad Ekrem Koçu İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (REKİA), III,
İstanbul 1971, s. 1746.
4 a.g.e., s. 1747-1748.
5 Reşad Ekrem Koçu, “Bâbıâli Yangınları”, REKİA, III, İstanbul, 1971, s. 1762, Ali Süha,
“Bâbıâli’nin Tarihçesi ve Sekiz Yangını”, Resimli Tarih Mecmuası 7 (1956), s. 225.
991
Gözde ÇELİK
yangında Vezir sarayı olarak kullanılan Halil Paşa Sarayı yanınca, yeni yapı,
yanan Halil Paşa sarayının daha alt kısmında bugünkü yerinde inşa edilmiş ve
yapının yangınlar ve yeniden yapımlarla bugüne ulaşan süreci başlamıştır.6
Bâbıâli’nin erken tarihli bir plan şeması, Kauffer tarafından 1776’da çizi-
lip, 1786’da düzeltilmiş ve sonraları Melling’in kitabının7 sonundaki haritada
“Vézir-Sérai ou la Porte” yazılı bir kompleks halinde betimlenmiştir.8 Ortası
avlulu kare planlı bir yapı olarak gösterilen sarayın dışında, Alay Köşkü ile ara-
sında bir meydan, Sirkeci tarafında ise yine ortası avlulu büyük bir binada ahır-
lar işaretlenmiştir, harem kısmı da bu yapının bir kanadında olmalıdır. 1788
yılında kethüda bey dairesinden çıkan yangın sonunda bu binanın büyük kısmı
yanmış ve onarılmıştır.9 Efdalüddün Bey’in verdiği bilgiye göre, 1808 yılı baş-
larında Bâbıâli, geniş bir alan içinde avlu ve bahçeler çevresinde özel ve idari
mekânlar ile hizmet birimlerinden oluşan çok sayıda bağıntılı yapıdan mey-
dana gelmişti.10 Bugün Cağaloğlu’na doğru uzanan alanda yerleşmiş bulunan
ve sadrazamın özel konutunu içeren Tomruk dairesi yapılar grubunun dahili
kısmını oluşturmaktaydı. Bu bölüm, doğuda haremi dairesi ile batıda mutfak-
lar, sekban koğuşları, ahırlar ve kışlalardan oluşuyordu. Yapılar topluluğunun,
sarnıç, mahzen gibi bölümleri içeren bodrum ve zemin katlarının bir kısmı
kâgir, geri kalanı ahşaptı. Topkapı Sarayı tarafındaki bölgede ise, resmi işlev-
lere ayrılmış daireler, 18. yüzyıl sonlarında, 130-200 kişilik bir memur kitlesinin
çalışma alanı haline gelmiş olan harici kısmı meydana getirmekteydi.11 Yapı-
nın “Bâb-ı Kebir” denilen anıtsal kapısı Soğukçeşme Caddesi tarafında, Alay
Köşkü karşısındaydı. Kapının üstünde, payandalara oturan şahnişinli sadaret
kethüdası makam odası12 yer almaktaydı. Bâbıâli bürolarının önemli bölümü
deniz tarafında bulunmaktaydı. Bu dönemde Bâbıâli odalarının en ünlüleri
arasında, sadrazamın divanı topladığı salon olan divanhâne ile vezirler ve sefir-
992
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
lerin kabul edildiği, önemli toplantıların yapıldığı merasim salonu olan arzo-
dası yer almaktaydı.13
Bâbıâli Binası’nin 1802’de yapılan bir kabul törenini konu alan resmi, yapı-
nın Avrupa stilinde inşa edilmeden önceki haline ait bilgi vermektedir.14 İlk
kaynağı bilinmeyen bu çizimde, Osmanlı evini andıran, sağır zemin kat duvar-
ları üzerinde kemerli pencerelerle tek veya iki katlı, yatayda gelişmiş ve birbi-
rine eklemlenen birimlerden oluşan tasarım dikkat çeker. Merkezde yer alan,
dilimli kemerle süslenmiş giriş aksı, iki yanda oymalı konsollarla desteklenen
çıkmalar ve küçük bir kubbe ile vurgulanmıştır.
Bu bina, 27 Ramazan 1223 / 16 Kasım 1808’de Alemdar Olayı sırasında,
yeniçerilerin kuşatması altında tamamen yanmıştır. 10 Muharrem 1225 / 15
Şubat 1810’da yeni Bâbıâli kompleksinin temeli atılmış, bir yıldan az sürede
tamamlanan yapı, 31 Aralık 1810’da kullanıma açılmıştır.15 Bâbıâli iki sene yan-
gın arsası halinde kalmış, bu süreçte sadrazam Beyazıt’ta Yusuf Ağa konağında
çalışmıştır.16
Bu yangından on sekiz yıl sonra, Ağustos 1826’da çıkan büyük Hocapaşa
yangınında Bâbıâli tekrar yanmıştır. Yeniçeriliğin kaldırılmasından iki ay kadar
sonra gerçekleşen yangın, tulumbacıların çoğu yeniçerilerden oluştuğu için
halkın gayretleriyle 36 saatte ancak söndürülebilmiştir. Yeniden yapımı sıra-
sında çevre arsaların alınmasıyla arsası büyük oranda genişletilen yeni binanın
açılışı Eylül 1827’de olmuştur. Bâbıâli binası yanınca, sadrazamın geçici ola-
rak Ağakapısı’nda oturması kararlaştırılmış ve yeniçeriliğin kaldırılmasından
sonra, Meşihat Dairesi haline getirilmiş ancak döşemesi tamamlanmadığı için
şeyhülislamın henüz içine taşınmadığı Ağakapısı yeni bina yapılana dek Bâbıâli
olarak kullanılmıştır.17
993
Gözde ÇELİK
18 a.g.e., s. 1765.
19 Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA), 1255 Zilhicce 14 / 18 Şubat 1840 tarihli İrade Da-
hiliye (İ.DH), nr. 313.
20 Tanyeli, “Bâbıâli–Mimari”, s. 522.
21 a.y.
994
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
22 a.g.e., s. 522.
23 1843-44 yıllarına tarihlenen, Salkımsöğüt Kapısı olarak da bilinen mermer söveli
anıtsal kapı, 1913 yılında Alemdar Caddesi’nin genişletilmesi çalışmaları kapsamında,
doğusunda bulunan duvar geriye çekildiği için bugün ön hizada kalmıştır. Bkz. Yıldız
Toker, “Bâb-ı Âli”, Türkiye Turing ve Otomobil Kurumu Bülteni 61 (1978), s. 11.
24 Tanyeli, “Bâbıâli–Mimari”, s. 522.
25 Şehsuvaroğlu, Asırlar Boyunca, s. 184. Bâbıâli parmaklıkları için yapılan masrafları
karşılamak üzere Tıngırzade Abdi Efendi’den alınan borcun ödenmesine ilişkin bilgi,
BOA, 1283 Rebiülahir 9 / 21 Ağustos 1866 tarihli İ.DH nr. 38456’da verilmektedir.
26 BOA, Plan-Proje Arşivi, plan no: 706.
995
Gözde ÇELİK
27 Resim için bkz. Necdet Sakaoğlu - Nuri Akbayar, A Milestone on Turkey’s Path of West-
ernization. Sultan Abdülmecid, Istanbul 2002, s. 251.
28 “The Eastern Question”, The Illustrated London News, London, 6 Ocak 1877.
29 BOA, Plan-Proje Kataloğu, no: 652.
30 Koçu, “Bâbıâli”, s. 1751-1753.
996
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
997
Gözde ÇELİK
998
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
Bugün eski yapıdan kalan tek mekân, Sadaret Dairesi’dir, Sadaret Dairesi’nin
ortasında geniş bir sofa, sofanın güney ucunda ise, direklere oturan çıkmaya
uzanan meclis salonu yer almaktaydı.43 1856 yılında, Arz Odası’nın dekoras-
yonunu Ayasofya’nın restorasyonunu yapan mimar Fossati gerçekleştirmiş,
düzenlemesinde Avrupa’dan getirtilen mobilyalar da kullanmıştır.44 Sadaret
dairesinde, ortada giriş kapısının bulunduğu, vitraylı camlar ile renklendirilmiş
üç adet kemerle aydınlatılan girişten sofaya geçilmektedir. Duvarlarına ayna-
lar yerleştirilmiş sofanın45 tavanları boyuna uzun ve köşelerde çokgen kartuşlar
halinde bölümlenerek içleri gölgeli çiçek desenleri, deniz manzaralarıyla bezen-
miştir. Duvar yüzeyleri de panolar halinde bölümlenerek aynı kalem tekniğiyle,
alt ve üst hizada kıvrım dal ve çiçeklerle kaplanmıştır. Bu bezeme tekniği, sofaya
bağlanan sol taraftaki koridorun tavan ve duvarlarında da daha sade bir yakla-
şımla sürdürülmüştür. Arz Odası olarak inşa edilmiş Kabul Salonu’nun duvar
ve tavan bezemeleri tamamen Neoklasik üslupta yapılmıştır. Bâbıâli iç mekân
dekorasyonunda, Sadaret Dairesi’nin gölgeli boyama teknikleriyle oluşturulan
çiçek desenleri, kartuşlar halinde düzenlenen tavan dekorasyonu ve pilastrlarla
bölümlenen duvar yüzeyleri dönem saraylarında ve konaklarında kullanılan
bezeme unsurlarıdır. Kapının bulunduğu duvarın iki yanındaki yüzeyler, İyon
başlıklı pilastrlarla bölümlenen, köşeleri kıvrım kabartmalı panolarla hare-
ketlendirilmiştir. Bu panolardan kapının her iki yanında bulunanların önüne
birer çini soba yerleştirilmiştir. Pilastrlar, yatayda yüzeysel bir arşitravla bağlan-
mıştır. Bunun üzerinde, dört duvar boyunca dolaşan diş frizi benzeri bir bant
yer almaktadır. Bu bantın üzerinde, iki sıra halinde dikdörtgen panolar bulu-
nur, alttakiler kabartma arma şeklinde süsler, üsttekiler girlandlarla bezenmiş-
tir. Yan duvarlarda ise panolar kemerler şeklinde düzenlenmiştir. Pencereler,
frizlerle süslü yarım daire kemerlerden oluşan çerçeveler içine alınan drapeli
perdelerle örtülüdür. Tavan, dikdörtgen, üçgen ve çokgen kartuşlara ayrılarak
gölgeli kalem işi tekniğinde çiçek motifleri ile bezenmiştir.
Bâbıâli kompleksi içinde bulunan, yine Tanzimat dönemine ait bir diğer yapı
olan Hazine-i Evrak da, dönemin sistematikleşme ve kurumsallaşma çabala-
rının bir ürünüdür. Bâbıâli kompleksi içinde belgelerin iyi bir şekilde saklan-
ması ve rutubetten korunması için, biri Sadrazam Mustafa Reşid Paşa, diğeri
999
Gözde ÇELİK
Sadrazam Cevad Paşa zamanında yaptırılmış iki adet arşiv dairesi bulunmak-
tadır. Mustafa Reşid Paşa’nın yaptırdığı, anıtsal kapıdan girişte sağ tarafta yer
alan, Hazine-i Evrak olarak adlandırılan bina, Ayasofya restorasyonunu ger-
çekleştiren Fossati’nin tasarımıdır. Hazine-i Evrak, bu bölgede işlevi gereği yan-
gın önlemlerinin alındığı ve yatay taşıyıcıda metal konstrüksiyon kullanılan ilk
binadır, merdiven ve kat döşemeleri putrelli kirişlerle dökme demirden yapıl-
mıştır.46 Kubbeli ana salonun pandantif bezemelerinde binanın işlevine gön-
derme yapan kağıt tomarları ve aydınlanma simgesi küre dikkat çeker.
46 Cengiz Can, “Hazine-i Evrak Binası”, D.B.İ.A., IV, (1994), s. 37, Uzay Yergün, Batılılaşma
Dönemi Mimarisinde Yapım Teknolojisindeki Değişim ve Gelişim, yayınlanmamış Dok-
tora Tezi, Y.T.Ü. Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, İstanbul 2002, s. 103.
47 Eyice, “Bâbıâli–Mimari”, s. 388.
48 “The Fire at the Sublime Porte”, The Illustrated London News, London, 15 Haziran 1878.
49 Şehsuvaroğlu, Asırlar Boyunca, s. 182.
50 Fatma Ürekli, İstanbul’da 1874 Depremi, İstanbul 1999, s. 53.
51 Koçu, “Bâbıâli Yangınları”, s. 1765.
1000
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
V. Sonuç
Tanzimat Dönemi’nin kurumsallaşma çalışmaları sürecinde, Tarihi Yarımada’da
yönetim merkezi konumundaki Bâbıâli binası fiziksel anlamda önemli deği-
şimler geçirmiştir. İdari teşkilatın genişlemesine paralel bir gelişim göste-
ren Bâbıâli binasının fiziksel evrimi, dönemin bürokratik atmosferini mimari
alana yansıtan bir uygulama olarak okunduğunda, önemli ipuçları sunmakta-
dır. Tanzimat döneminde kâgir ve dolayısıyla önceki yapılara göre daha kalıcı
bir strüktür olarak hizmet veren bina, işlevsel açıdan da sadece idari işler için
özelleştirilmiştir. Bu dönemde, Bâbıâli binası Tarihi Yarımada’nın Haliç panora-
masında yapısal ölçeği ve kütlesel özellikleriyle baskın durumdadır. Arşiv için
inşa edilen Hazine-i Evrak Binası ile beraber mimari üslup yönünden Batılı
örneklere yaklaşan Bâbıâli kompleksi, plan tasarımında geleneksel yaklaşımı
korumuştur. Yapı, ortası avlulu iki kanat ve bu kanatları birbirine bağlayan
orta bölümden oluşan bir plan şemasına sahiptir. Sadaret Dairesi’nde çevre-
sine odaların yerleştirildiği geniş sofa, geç dönem Osmanlı sarayları ile benzer
nitelikler taşımaktadır. Plan kurgusuna hakim olan, fonksiyonel gerekliliklerin
yarattığı kompartmanlar şeklinde düzenlenmiş mekânların meydana getirdiği
tasarım, Topkapı Sarayı’nın ihtiyaçların çeşitlenmesiyle genişleyen dokusunu
da akla getirir. Bâbıâli binasında, yatayda ve düşeyde eklenen yeni dairelerle,
Tanzimat’ın getirdiği değişime paralel olarak, ihtiyaç duyulan işlevlere mekân
sağlanmaya çalışılmıştır. Tanzimat dönemi sonrasında geçirdiği yangınlarla
fiziksel bütünlüğünü kaybeden yapının önemli değişikliklerle de olsa halen
ayakta olması ve işlevsel sürekliliğini koruması, kentsel bellek açısından önemli
bir kazanımdır.
1001
Gözde ÇELİK
ŞEKİLLER
1002
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
Şekil 3. Valilik olarak kullanılan Bâbıâli Binası’nın, Alay Köşkü’ne bakan giriş kapısı
(Fotoğraf: Gözde Çelik, 2004).
1003
Gözde ÇELİK
Şekil 4. Bâbıâli Binası Sadaret Dairesi girişi (Library of Congress, Government Buildings, Mosques,
Schools, and Other Structures, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, Abdul-Hamid II Collection, Istanbul, 1880-
1893, LOT 11912, no. 3).
1004
19. yüzyılda Bâbıâli binası
Şekil 5. Bâbıâli Binası arsası çevresinde yapılacak parmaklık ve kapıların yerlerini gösteren plan
(Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, Plan-Proje Kataloğu, no: 706).
1005
Gözde ÇELİK
1006
OSMANLI SERAMİK SANATINDA BİR
FORMUN İSİMLENDİRİLMESİ
* Yrd. Doç. Dr., İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Sanat Tarihi Bölümü,
beldemar61@yahoo.com
1 Anadolu’nun Klasik Çağ öncesi ticaret hayatı ile ilgili detaylı bilgi için bknz: Önder Bilgi,
“Klasik Çağ Öncesinde Anadolu’da Ticaret”, Palmet I (1997), s. 1–55.
2 Veysel Donbaz, “Eski Anadolu Koloni Çağında Anadolu’da Ticaret Hayatı”, Palmet I
(1997), s. 57–88.
1007
V. Belgin DEMİRSAR ARLI
1008
Seramik sanatında bir formun isimlendirilmesi
7 Bizans dönemi ağırlık ve ölçü sistemi için bknz: Meryem Acara Eser, “Bizans Dönemi”,
Kürkman (ed.), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri, s. 33–48; “Ankara Anadolu Medeniyetleri
Müzesi’ndeki Bizans Maden Eserleri: Ağırlıklar ve Haçlar”, 22. Araştırma Sonuçları
Toplantısı, C. 2, Ankara 2005, s. 51–58; Christopher Entwistle, “Byzantine weights”, David
Buckton (ed), Byzantium Treasures of Byzantine Art and Culture from British Collections,
London 1994, s. 14–15, 47–50, 86–90, 149–150.
8 Kürkman (ed.), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri, s. 52–53.
9 Halil Sahillioğlu, “Dirhem”, TDVİA, C. 9, İstanbul 1994, s. 368.
10 Kürkman (ed.), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri, s. 54.
1009
V. Belgin DEMİRSAR ARLI
ticari ilişki içinde olduğu başka devletlerin tercih ettiği ölçü birimlerinin de
bazılarını kullanmak durumunda kalmıştır. Bu çeşitliliğe rağmen büyük sorun-
larla karşılaşılmamış, gerekli düzenlemelerle problemler aşılmıştır. Bu konuda
en önemli görevin, devlet adına kullanılan ölçü ve ağırlık birimlerini denetle-
meyle görevlendirilen muhtesiblere11 düştüğü görülmektedir.
Osmanlı devri ölçü ve ağırlık sistemindeki bu çeşitliliğe 19. yüzyılda bir
standart getirme gereği duyulmuştur. Bu konuda çeşitli cetveller hazırlanmış,
kitaplar yayınlanmaya başlamıştır.12 Osmanlı ölçü ve tartı sisteminin ayrıntılı
dökümlerini veren en erken tarihli eserlerden biri, tahmini olarak 16. yüz-
yıla tarihlenen, Yusuf bin Mehmed tarafından yazılan, bugün Süleymaniye
Kütüphanesi’nde bulunan Risale-i Kenaniye’dir. Dirhemlere ufak tartı birimi
olarak grupladığı kısımda yer veren araştırmacının burada Dirhem’in katları
olan Miskal ve Karat/Kırat’tan da söz ettiği görülür.13
İslam dünyasında temel ağırlık ölçü birimleri olarak kabul edilen dirhem ve
miskal değerleri karat/kırat cinsinden hesaplanmıştır. 1 Şer’i Dirhem = 14 Kırat,
1 Miskal = 20 Kırat olarak kabul edilmiş, buradan da 1 Miskal’in 1.5 Dirhem’e
eşit olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.14 İslam dünyasının ilk dönemlerinden itiba-
ren kullanılan dirhemin, döneme ve coğrafyaya göre değerinin değiştiği bilin-
mektedir. Çeşitli kaynaklarda, dirhemin 17. yüzyıla kadar 3.072 grama, daha
sonra 3.207 grama denk geldiği kabul edilmektedir.15 Bazı araştırmacılar ise 1
dirhemin ortalama ağırlığının 3.14875 gram olduğu fikrindedir.16
Dirhemlerin formlarıyla ilgili olarak, bir kısmının köşeleri pahlanmış küp
şeklinde (Resim 1), büyük bir bölümünün de halka biçiminde oldukları görülür.
Genellikle bitkisel kabartma bezemeye sahip olan bu halka dirhemler 12.5, 25,
50, 100, 200 ve 400 dirhem olarak, bronzdan, döküm tekniğinde imal edilmiş-
lerdir (Resim 2a-b-c-d). Halka biçimindeki dirhemler üzerinde çalışma yapan
11 Muhtesibler hakkında geniş bilgi için bknz: Kürkman (ed.), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri,
s. 84, 94, 132.
12 Bu cetvellerle ilgili olarak bknz: Feza Günergun, “Eski Fransız Metre ve Osmanlı Ölçü
ve Tartılarının Sistemlerindeki Eşdeğerleri: İlk Karşılaştırmalar ve Çevirme Cetvelleri”,
Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları II (1998), s. 23-68.
13 Kürkman (ed), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri, s. 54.
14 Sahillioğlu, “Dirhem”, s. 369.
15 Ünal Taşkın, “Osmanlı Devleti’nde Kullanılan Ölçü ve Tartı Birimleri”, yayımlanmamış
Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Tarih Anabilim Dalı,
Elazığ 2005, s. 27–30.
16 Kürkman (ed), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri, s. 62.
1010
Seramik sanatında bir formun isimlendirilmesi
17 Nancy Pyle, “Anatolian Ring Weights”, Journal of Turkish Studies 2 (1978), s. 97-106.
18 Kürkman (ed), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri, s. 72.
1011
V. Belgin DEMİRSAR ARLI
nülecek olursa, cam da bir o kadar kolay kırılabilen bir malzemedir. Fakat sera-
mik örnekler cam dirhemlere göre çok daha özenli bir işçiliğe sahiptir. Cam
kalıba dökülerek, preslenerek şekillendirilirken aynı zamanda bezemesi de
yapılmakta, oysa seramiğe form verildikten sonra ayrıca boya ile bezenmesi
ve sırlanması da gerekmektedir. Bir kere iki tarafı desenli ve sırlı bir malze-
menin pişirimi başlı başına teknik bir beceri gerektirmektedir. Bütün bunlar
göz önüne alındığında seramikten dirhem üretimi pek de tercih edilebilecek
ya da madeni dirhemler kadar günlük hayatın içinde olabilecek bir üretim gibi
görünmemektedir.
Mevcut örnekler arasında tek renk sırlılar (Resim 6) yanında altın yaldızla
hareketlendirilmiş örnek de bulunmaktadır. Bu örneklerin dışında hepsinin
mavi-beyaz teknikli, her iki yönü farklı olmak üzere bitkisel bezemeli olduğu
görülür (Resim 7). Şu ana kadar ulaşılabilen örneklerden19 sadece iki tanesinin
bir taraflarının radyal desenli bir tanesinin de yine yalnızca bir yüzünün yazılı
olduğu görülür (Resim 8). Yine çok benzer bir başka örneğe ise Balat İlyas Bey
Külliyesi restorasyon çalışmaları sırasında ele geçen seramikler arasında rast-
lanır.20
Bir diğer örnek ise Sotheby’s’in Londra’da 24 Nisan 2012 tarihli müzayede-
sinde satışa çıkmıştır. İznik üretimi bu parça şu ana kadar incelenen örnekler-
den farklı olarak figürlü bezemeye sahiptir. Yine her iki yüzün birbirini tekrar
etmediği bu parçadaki hayvanlar âleminden seçilmiş türlerin çeşitliliği ve bun-
ları resmetmedeki ustalık şaşırtıcıdır (Resim 9a - b). Bu arada fotoğrafta tüm
olarak görülen bu parçanın yakından incelendiğinde fazlaca onarımlı olduğu
da burada belirtilmelidir.21 Satış kataloğunda bu objenin fonksiyonunun henüz
kesin olarak bilinmemekle birlikte ağırlığı andırdığına değinilmekte, ancak ne
1012
Seramik sanatında bir formun isimlendirilmesi
22 Sotheby’s Müzayede Kataloğu (24 Nisan 2012), Londra 2012, no: 110; Turkophilia révélée,
Paris 2011, s. 39.
23 Nurhan Atasoy - Julian Raby, İznik Seramikleri, İstanbul 1989, s. 48.
24 Kürkman (ed), Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri, s. 70-71.
1013
V. Belgin DEMİRSAR ARLI
1014
Seramik sanatında bir formun isimlendirilmesi
Resimler
Resim 1. Pera Müzesi Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri koleksiyonundan çeşitli ağırlık birimleri
Resim 2a. Pera Müzesi Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri koleksiyonundan halka dirhemler
Resim 2b. Pera Müzesi Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri koleksiyonundan halka dirhem
Resim 2c. Pera Müzesi Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri koleksiyonundan halka dirhem
Resim 2d. Sadberk Hanım Müzesi koleksiyonundan halka dirhem
1015
V. Belgin DEMİRSAR ARLI
Resim 3. İznik’te bir sondajda ele geçen halka şeklinde seramik dirhem
Resim 4. İznik Çini Fırınları kazısında ele geçen halka şeklindeki seramik dirhem parçaları
1016
Seramik sanatında bir formun isimlendirilmesi
Resim 5. İznik Çini Fırınları kazısında ele geçen küçük boyutlu, halka şeklinde seramik dirhem
parçası
Resim 6. İznik Çini Fırınları kazısında ele geçen tek renk sırlı dirhem parçaları
Resim 7. İznik Çini Fırınları kazısında ele geçen halka şeklindeki seramik dirhem örnekleri
1017
V. Belgin DEMİRSAR ARLI
Resim 8. İznik Çini Fırınları kazısında ele geçen yazı dekorlu dirhem parçası
1018
Seramik sanatında bir formun isimlendirilmesi
Resim 10. Pera Müzesi Anadolu Ağırlık ve Ölçüleri koleksiyonundan Osmanlı dönemine tarihlenen
kulplu ağırlık birimleri (G. Kürkman)
Resim 11. İznik Çini Fırınları kazısında ele geçen tek renk sırlı köşeleri pahlı küp şeklindeki dirhem
parçası
1019
V. Belgin DEMİRSAR ARLI
Resim 12a-b. İznik Çini Fırınları kazısında ele geçen, Rodos İşi olarak tanınan teknikten, köşeleri pahlı
küp şeklindeki dirhem parçaları
1020
GİRİT ADASINDA OSMANLI DÖNEMİ
MİMARİSİ ÜZERİNE GENEL BİR
DEĞERLENDİRME
I. Giriş
Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü ve Tapu Kadastro
Genel Müdürlüğü arşivlerindeki belge ve bilgilere dayanarak daha önce yapı-
lan ön araştırmalarda, Yunanistan’ın genelinde (Adalar dâhil) Osmanlı döne-
mine ait 3.771 vakıf eserinin inşa edildiği tespit edilmiştir. Ancak bu verilen
rakam sadece Türkiye’deki mevcut arşiv kayıtlarında incelenebilen belgelerden
ortaya çıkan rakamdır. Arşiv kayıtlarına giremeyen veya kaybolan belgelerin
de varlığını göz önünde bulunduracak olursak, verilen bu rakamdan çok daha
fazla olduğu anlaşılmaktadır. Günümüzde bu eserlerden bir kısmı tabii afetler-
den, coğrafi nedenlerden ve ilgisizlikten, bir kısmı ise siyasi ve idari değişik-
liklerden kaynaklanan sebeplerle günümüze ulaşamamıştır. Geriye kalan çok
az bir kısmının da fonksiyonu değiştirilerek kullanılmaktadır. Girit’te ayakta
kalmayı başaran Osmanlı eseri hakkında çok yüzeysel ve kısıtlı bilgilere sahip
olduğumuz malumunuzdur. Balkanlarda Yunanistan’ın Osmanlı idaresine en
erken katılan ülkelerden biri olması sebebiyle sayı itibariyle en fazla Osmanlı
eserinin bu ülkede inşa edildiği görülmektedir. Yunanistan’ın kara bölgesinde,
Türk eserlerinin yoğun olarak bulunduğu şehirler arasında Selanik, Vardar
Yenicesi (Yannitsa), Kavala, Gümülcine (Komotini), Dimetoka (Didimotiho),
Karaferye (Veria), İskeçe (Ksanti), Tırhala (Trikala), Atina ve Yanya (İoannina)
şehirleri, Ege ve Akdeniz adalarında ise Rodos, İstanköy (Kos), Sakız (Hios),
Midilli (Lesvos) ve Girit’te Kandiye (İraklio), Hanya ve Resmo (Retimno) şehir-
lerini sayabiliriz. Osmanlı arşiv kayıtlarında kullanım amacına ve türlerine göre
* Doç. Dr., Gazi Üniversitesi, Edebiyat Fakültesi, Sanat Tarihi Bölümü, mzeki@gazi.edu.tr
** Arş. Gör., Gazi Üniversitesi, Mimarlık Fakültesi, Mimarlık Bölümü, ammar@gazi.edu.tr
1021
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
Yunanistan’da inşa edilen dini, eğitim, ticari, askeri ve sosyal yapıların dağılımı
aşağıdaki tabloda belirtilmiştir.1 Günümüzde ayakta kalan eserlerin sayısı tak-
riben 600 civarındadır.
Bu alanda gerek Yunanistan’da ve Girit Adası’ndaki Yunan meslektaşları-
mız tarafından gerekse Türkiye’de ve dünyadaki meslektaşlarımız tarafından
bireysel gayretlerle yazılan makale, kitap ve çalışılan tez konuları elbette var-
dır. Hepsi de çok değerli çalışmalardır. Ancak adadaki mevcut eserlerin tama-
mını kapsamadığı ve detaylı bir çalışma olmadığı kanaatindeyim. Bu sebeple
Girit Üniversitesi Tarih ve Arkeoloji Bölümü ile Yunanistan Akdeniz Araştır-
malar Enstitüsü (IMS-FORTH)’un yaptığı bu geniş katılımlı sempozyumu çok
anlamlı buluyor ve genç araştırmacılara ufuk açacağını düşünüyorum. Yeri gel-
mişken bu konuda bir sempozyumu tasarlayan ve organizasyonda katkı sağla-
yan herkese teşekkür ediyorum.
2008-2011 yılları arasında, Gazi Üniversitesi Bilimsel Araştırmalar Projesi ve
IRCICA ile Girit ve Adalar Derneği’nin maddi katkılarıyla Girit (Kriti), Rodos,
İstanköy (Kos), Sisam (Samos), Sakız (Hios) ve Midilli (Lesvos) Adaları’nda
mevcut Osmanlı dönemi eserlerini yerinde tespit ettik. Girit Adası’nda ise
Hanya Resmo (Retimno) ve Kandiye (İraklio)’deki Osmanlı dönemi yapıları-
nın büyük bir kısmını yerinde inceleme imkânım oldu. Yunanistan’da 3-4 yıl-
dır devam eden bu saha araştırmaları sırasında, bölgede konuyla ilgili değişik
bilimsel toplantılarda tanıştığım Yunanistanlı meslektaşlarımdan ve özellikle
Rodos ve Girit Adalarındaki Müzeler ve Anıtlar Kurulu Müdürlükleri’nden
destek aldım. Bize arazi çalışmasında Yunan meslektaşlarımdan konuyla ilgili
literatür temini konusunda destek ve yardımlarını gördüm. İlgili kurum, kuru-
luş ve kişilere herkesin huzurunda bir kez daha teşekkür ederim. Bu dost mes-
lektaşlarımız sayesinde, konuyla ilgili Yunanistan’da daha önce yapılmış olan
bilimsel çalışmalar hakkında bilgi edindiğimi ve Girit Adasındaki Osmanlı
Eserleri hakkında kısmen de olsa yayınlanmış makale ve kitapları temin etti-
ğimi söyleyebilirim.
1 Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi, Avrupa’da Osmanlı Mimarisi, C.II, 3. Kitap, Istanbul 1984, s.384.
1022
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
1023
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
Tablo 1: Girit Adası’nda ayakta olduğu tespit edilen eserlerin yapı türüne göre sayısı
AYAKTA OLDUĞU TESPİT EDİLEN ESER-
FONKSİYON YAPI TÜRÜ
LER
Külliye 3
Cami 30
DİNİ YAPILAR Tekke 5
Türbe 6
Hazire 2
Medrese 5
Mektep 4
EĞİTİM YAPILARI
Kütüphane 1
Rüştiye 1
Bedesten 1
TİCARİ YAPILAR
Arasta/Loca 1
Kale 4
Hisar 1
Tersane 4
Kışla 4
ASKERİ YAPILAR Baruthane 2
Cephane 2
Zindan 1
Karargâh Binası 1
Tabya 1
Hastane 1
Hamam 5
Sebil 1
SOSYAL YAPILAR
Çeşme 25
Sarnıç 4
İmaret 2
SİVİL YAPILAR Konak 3
Hükümet Konağı 3
KAMU YAPILARI
Vali Konağı 2
TOPLAM 125
1024
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
Hüseyin Paşa Külliyesi, Valide Sultan Camii ve Veli Paşa Külliyesi gibi önemli
gördüğümüz yapılar hakkında daha detaylı bilgi vermeyi amaçlamaktayız.
Resim 1: Fazıl Ahmet Paşa Camii son cemaat yeri ve minare kaidesi
2 Mehmed Süreyya, Sicil-i Osmanî, C.5, İstanbul 1996, s.1699; Ersin Gülsoy, Girit’in Fethi
Ve Adada Osmanlı İdaresinin Tesisi, yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Marmara Üniversitesi
1997, s.131.
1025
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
3 Orhan Fuat Köprülü, “Kandiye’de Köprülülere Ait Kitabeler”, Ord. Prof. İsmail Hakkı
Uzunçarşılı’ya Armağan, Ankara 1976, s. 490-491.
1026
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
1027
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
Resim 4: Cami harimi bugün apsis olarak kullanılmakta. Son cemaat yerinde yer alan mihrap (2007)
1028
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
1029
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
alınlığa sahip gotik tarzda olan yapı kesme taş ile inşa edilmiş, üstü iki sivri
kemerlere oturan bir tonozla örtülüdür. Günümüzde Bizans eserlerinin sergi-
lendiği bir müze olarak kullanılan yapı, cami özelliğini yitirmiş durumdadır.
Son dönemlerde yapıda gerçekleşen restorasyonlarda mihrabın korunduğunu
görmekteyiz. Osmanlı hâkimiyetinden sonra harabeye dönüşmüş olan yapı,
yakın dönemlerde birçok tamirden geçtiği her halinden anlaşılmaktadır.
Resim 6: Haseki Ahmed Ağa Camii kuzey cephesinde yer alan minare ve giriş kapısı (2007)
1030
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
1031
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
1032
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
1033
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
Resim 10: Kara Musa Paşa Camii plan ve kesiti (Çizim: Giapitsoglou, 2008, s.440)
1034
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
8 John Keegan, Savaş Sanatı Tarihi, çev. Füsun Doruker, İstanbul 1995, s.245-247
9 Stella Kalogeraki, The Fortezza. The Fortress of Rethymno, Rethymno 2006, s.18; Köprülü,
a.g.e., s.70.
10 Giapitsoglou, a.g.e. , s.436.
1035
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
Resim 12: Gazi Deli Hüseyin Paşa (Turuncu) Camii plan ve kesiti
(Çizim: Giapitsoglou, 2008, s.437, 439)
1036
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
1037
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
D. Girit’teki Çeşmeler
1. Kalami, Abdülhamid Çeşmesi
Hanya-Resmo yolu üzerinde Souda körfezinin girişinde büyük bir kışlanın
yanında bulunmaktadır. Kitabesine göre 21 Temmuz 1884 yılında Sultan II.
Abdülhamid tarafından yaptırılmıştır. 5,50 ölçülerinde kare bir plana sahip
çeşme kesme taştan inşa edilmiştir. Su hazinesinin üzeri kıra çatı ile örtülmüş-
tür. Çeşmenin ön yüzünde kaş kemerler içinde Osmanlı arması ile üç niş ve üç
lüle vardır. Osmanlıca kitabesi şu şekildedir:
11 Ahmet Niyazi Banoğlu, “Girit Bizim Canımız”, Tercüman Gazetesi, 3 Mart 1974, s.5.
12 Nusret Çam, Yunanistan’daki Türk Eserleri, Ankara 2000, s.73.
1038
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
i (2007)
Resim 18: Kalami Sultan II. Abdülhamid Çeşmesi görünüş çizimi; Y. Mimar Ammar İbrahimgil
1039
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
Bu kurnalardan akan suların toplandığı iki adet oval biçiminde yalağı bulun-
maktadır. Günümüzde fonksiyonunu yitirmiş durumda olan çeşmenin kitabesi
sökülmüştür.
Resim 19: Hanya Sur Çeşmesi (2007) ve görünüş çizimi, Y. Mimar Ammar İbrahimgil
Sonuç
Girit’te arazi çalışması sırasında incelediğimiz yapıların büyük bir kısmının asıl
fonksiyonlarının dışında kilise, şapel, müze, galeri, hediyelik eşya satan dükkân,
kafeterya ve mesken gibi farklı amaçlar için kullanıldığını tespit ettik. Bazı yapı-
larda ise restorasyonların devam ettiğini ve bir kısmının kendi haline terk edil-
diğine şahit olduk. İncelediğimiz her yapı için bilimsel kriterlere uygun tarihi
ve mimari özellikleri anlatılarak dosyaları hazırlandı. Yapıların mevcut duru-
1040
Girit adasında Osmanlı dönemi mimarisi üzerine
1041
Mehmet Zeki İBRAHİMGİL – Ammar İBRAHİMGİL
1042
LEVANTINE ARCHITECTURE
IN SMYRNA/IZMIR:
TRACING THE ARCHITECTURAL
CLASSIFICATION OF ITS RESIDENTIAL
BUILDINGS
Introduction
The city of Smyrna/Izmir is situated in the western coast of Anatolia, at a cross-
road of different cultures. During the late 18th-the beginning of the 19th c. and at
the time of a social-economical development in the Ottoman Empire, the city
with its ethnically diverse population became a significant multicultural centre.
European merchants coming from France, Italy, England, Germany, etc., the
Levantines, inhabited the region, the Levant, (many of them were also descen-
dants of the Genoese merchants from Chios). The 2nd half of the 19th c., till the
1922 (when the big destruction of the Greek and Armenian quarters occur-
red), was the period of an intense Westernization. The city’s urban pattern was
expanded to the former villages of Bornova, Buca, Goztepe and Karşıyaka, and
impressive large mansions were constructed, following the western morpholo-
gical rules, reminding of English country houses and French chateaux.
The domestic architecture of Smyrna was formed under the influence of
Western Culture: by the end of the 19th c., the city’s housing compound inclu-
ded, apart from the typical Turkish houses of Anatolia, a big number of Levan-
tine and Greek residences, reflecting a cultural mosaic of architectural trends.
This was due not only to the ethnically mixed communities, but also to the
1043
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
architects responsible for the buildings’ construction, who many of them had
studied abroad. One, two or three storey buildings were constructed, with a
symmetrical organization in their façade and a closed wooden balcony (remi-
niscent of vernacular Anatolian konaks), often in a row, present similar archi-
tectural features under various styles. Levantine architecture is characterised
by an amalgamation of trends, from Baroque to Neoclassicism, incorporating
also decorative elements, which stem from Art Nouveau. The result of this very
remarkable combination of forms allows us to speak of a special Eclecticism,
with reference to Neoclassicistic forms, that can still be noticed today in Izmir.
The present paper will focus on the analysis and classification of the Izmir
Levantine Architecture, after concluding an in situ documentation of its exis-
ting residential buildings.
1 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UyHMNj9TdVAJ:en.wikipe-
dia.org/wiki/Izmir+smyrnecoastline+quai&cd=2&hl=el&ct=clnk&gl=gr
1044
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
1045
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
2 Inci Kuyulu Ersoy, “Cultural Contributions of the Levantines in Izmir”, Mersin and the
Mediterranean and Modernity, Heritage of the Long Nineteenth Century, Mersin 2002, 73-
79.
3 Dorovini-Sotiriou Ιoanna, «Πολεοδομία και αρχιτεκτονική. Η οικιστική συγκρότηση
της Σμύρνης στα χρόνια της ακμής της» [Urban Planning and Architecture. The Resi-
dential Composition of Smyrna during the Years of its Peak], newspaper I Kathimerini
– 7 Imeres, 3/5/1998, 14-16.
4 Κarademou-Yerolympou Αleka, «Σμύρνη (Οθωμανική περίοδος), πολεοδομική εξέλι-
ξη», [Smyrna (Ottoman Period), Urban Evolution], Egkyklopaideia Meizonos Ellinismou:
Mikra Asia, URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=6186>.
1046
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 3. The urban layout of Smyrna/Izmir (Ph. Falmpos, O Frangomahalas tis Smyrnis, 1969, p. 17).
It was divided into oblong from side to side (street to street) plots of land
presenting a width of 8 to 25 m., in contact with the main street and the seaside.
Buildings (Frenkhanes of Smyrna or βερχανέδες, σπίτια των Φράγκων=Frank
houses) were usually constructed with an imposing façade along the western
side of the European Street (Rue des Francs, Rue Franque or «Σουλτανιά σοκάκ»
or «Μετζηδιέ») with stores on the ground level and residences, while warehou-
ses for trade commerce were also in the area.
By integrating in a growing world market, Izmir became a cosmopolitan
center and the city together with its suburbs were affected demographically,
economically, culturally and socially. Different groups with different languages,
1047
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
ethnic origins and religions, gave shape to the Levantine sub-culture that had a
cosmopolitan and commercial character.5
During the 15th to the 18th c., the new Greek suburbs of Νέος Mαχαλάς
(Neos Mahalas), Σερβετάδικα (Servetadika), Αγ. Φωτεινή (Ag. Foteini) and
Αγ. Γεώργιος (Ag. Georgios) expand in the north side of Frangomahalas. The
Jewish quarter extends in the old city close to the market and the Armenian one
in the northern part of the market, in contact with the Greek quarters. Between
1750-1760, the port was remodelled, as the sea was landfilled and an area of 10
hectares was created. Till the 1800, Smyrna has a population that didn’t exceed
100.000 people, in an area of 200 hectares.
1048
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 7. The Alliotti Boulevard (presently 1462 str.) in Alsancak and its position in a Google map.
1049
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
1050
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
between today's Alsancak Railway Station and the sea is the location of the cha-
racteristic Chios-style terraced houses constructed in blocks. The Levantines
preferred these buildings for their close proximity to the sea, and to the Consu-
lates and shops along the coast, the Kordon area. The terraced houses also had
back yards. This type of construction was also seen in Karşiyaka, Göztepe and
Buca, but on a smaller scale.
Figure 10. Chios-style terraced houses Figure 11. Row Houses in the suburb
constructed in blocks. of Punta. (photos: Kanetaki E).
1051
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
However, the most important Levantine housing concept of this period was
expressed in the villas surrounded by large gardens, found mainly in suburbs
like Bornova, Buca, Seydiköy, Karşiyaka and Göztepe.7 An important factor
contributing to these new developments in the field of housing was the issu-
ance of the 1st Ebniye Regulations of 1848, which laid out the basic principles of
city planning according to Western standards. However, the Levantines could
only become active in this modernisation process of Izmir in the second half of
the 19th c.8 These mansions were commissioned to foreign architects and built
either by them or by local craftsmen according to the architectural plans.9
Figure 12. Pandespanian mansion, Buca, 1880. Figure 13. Mansion of the former Aliotti family,
(known also as Durmuş Yaşar's mansion) in
Karsiyaka, 1914
(http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=531583).
Figure 14. Edwards (or Murat) mansion Figure 15. Peterson mansion, Bornova.
in Bornova, 1880.
7 http://www.levantineheritage.com/images.htm
8 Inci Kuyulu Ersoy, Cultural Contributions, 73-79.
9 Inal Onur, Levantine Heritage in Izmir, MA thesis submitted to the School of Social Stud-
ies and Humanities, Koc University, Istanbul 2006, 116.
1052
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 20 (below). Baltaci mansion and Forbes mansion plans (Feyyaz Erpi, “Community Culture and
its Reflection on Vernacular Architecture-Three Case Studies: Turkish, Greek and Levantine Housing in
Anatolia”, Arch. & Comport./Arch. Behav., vol. 7, n. 3, (1991), 254, 256.
1053
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
Figure 21. Plan of the suburb of Buca, where existing Levantine mansions are indicated
(Feyyaz Erpi, “Community Culture”, vol. 7, n. 3, 259).
This waterfront was, and still is, known as the “Kordon”, eventually became
the centre of Levantine socio-cultural activities, as cafes, clubs, cinemas, theat-
res, hotels and consulates gave shape to the Levantine landscape. The landfill of
the sea in 1874 created a strip of land three km. long, with a width that reac-
hed 150 m. in front of the former coastline, so 40 hectares of land were added.
The reconstruction of the harbour waterfront with Napoli stones by the French
Gifre Company (1867) resulted in first modern street, the Quai (η οδός της
προκυμαίας), 12 m wide, (while the harbour’s seafront presented a width of 12
m.). Plots of land which were along it, where considered as the most expensive
ones in the area. As the settlement of Frangomahalas began losing its impor-
tance due to the lack of former contact with seafront, it passed mainly to Greek
1054
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 24. Urban expansions between 1700-1830, based on the map by Thomas Graves, 1836 (as
published in Sibel Zandi-Sayek, Ottoman Izmir, the Rise of a Cosmopolitan Port, 1840-1880, Minne-
apolis-London 2012, 16).
1055
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
Figure 25. Frank street and its environs, ca. 1850, based on the plan by Storari
(as published in Sibel Zandi-Sayek, Ottoman Izmir, 18-19).
Around 1880, the Frankhane were bought by non Muslims and were remo-
deled, as the European merchants moved their residencies to the new quarter of
the Quai and the suburbs of Punta (Alsancak, in the northern area of the city,
which till 1840 was a sandy terrain cooled by the sea breeze) and Bella Vista.
The new Greek quarters extended along the waterfront of Smyrna, from both
sides of the central axis that connected the Frangomahalas with the Bridge of
the Caravans.
1056
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
1057
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
The first started and the first finished railway lines within the present-day
territory of Turkey took their departure from İzmir. 130 km (81 mi) İzmir-
Aydın railway was started in 1856 and finished in 1867 a year later than Smyrna
Cassaba Railway, itself started in 1863. That the latter drew wide arc advancing
first to the north-west from İzmir, through its Karşıyaka suburb contributed to
the development of the northern shores as urban areas greatly.
1058
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 28. The urban expansion between 1830-1880, based on map by Demetrios Georgiades (as
published in Sibel Zandi-Sayek, Ottoman Izmir, 26).
Figure 29. Izmir in the early and late Ottoman periods (Burak Belge, “Handling Sub-soil Urban Ar-
chaeological Resources in Urban Planning, Issues in Izmir Historic City Centre”, METU JFA, 2,
(2012), 339).
1059
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
1060
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
The architectural creation of the second half of the 19th c. and especially
around the 1870’s, is characterized by a cultural mosaic of architectural trends,
an amalgamation of European Eclecticism together with the eastern origins of
local architectural tradition. Imposing public buildings are constructed under
the Neoclassistic trends, but are mostly influenced by a refined Eclecticism
Seconde-Empire (Beaux-Arts).10 At the same time though, in regards to resi-
dential urban housing architecture, a new type of the so called typical Izmir
house is presented.
The traditional residence architecture in İzmir has been constituted of hou-
ses influenced by Traditional Turkish houses, Levantine and Greek houses
mutually11 and therefore in regards to the provenience of its inhabitants can
be distinguished in:
a. Traditional Turkish houses,
b. Levantine mansions and
c. Greek houses.
1061
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
Figure 32. Turkish houses, south-western quarters of Izmir (photos: Kanetaki E).
1062
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Levantine houses,13 mostly mansions with large gardens, are found mainly in
Bornova, Buca, Seydiköy, but also in Karşiyaka and Göztepe.14
The typical “Greek houses” may be seen in Alsancak (the Greek “Punta”, mea-
ning the end), Mithat Paşa Avenue as well as Karşıyaka and Buca in adjoining
order. They present very similar characteristics in regards to plan and façade
order, while their pattern is similar to the typical Izmir house, as many arc-
hitects of that time were of Greek origin. They have narrow façades, build-up
ground floors and in some cases wooden framework upper floors; the entrance
floor has mostly side halls. Their plan is provided with a basement, two storied
asymmetric façade and bay windows. It is possible to see examples in some
streets with a basement and single floor without a bay window. Servicing places
are located along the room facing the stairways and are connected to the gar-
den. On the upper floor, the central distributional hall leads to bedrooms. Ser-
vicing places are located along the room facing the stairways and are connected
to the garden.
13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levantine_mansions_of_%C4%B0zmir
14 Inal Onur, “Levantine Heritage in Izmir”.
1063
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
At the beginning of 20th c., Alsancak was also called “the small Paris”.
The housing complexes In Izmir can be classified under different categories,
according to certain criteria which refer either to their planning, their morpho-
logical organization, the layout of their façade and their entrance, etc.
• In terms of housing and environment relations, there are two types
observed:
a. row houses, the most widespread type in the city centre presenting
similar architectural features (the typical Izmir house is a representative
of these typological group) and
b. single houses, especially the big mansions (Levantine villas), found
mostly in the suburbs, exhibiting individual trends and an inconsistent
variety of styles, reflecting the heterogeneity of their owners, despite the
fact that they were in the same town and built within the same period of
time.
• In terms of plan organization, two patterns characterizing most row hou-
ses, can be traced:
• plan with central hall (symmetrical),
• plan with side hall (asymmetrical)
• plan with an asymmetrical side hall in the ground floor level and with a
symmetrical plan organization in the first floor.
• According to their number of stories, houses are classified as single-
storied and two- storied, while some of them may have basements and
mezzanine floors. Two storied ones are seen more in the city centre. Base-
ment floor might be a complete story or a partial story in accordance
with the topography. There is a ventilation floor, instead of basement in
plain areas. A partial mezzanine floor for services is often seen.
• In terms of facade organization and in accordance to the position of the
projection-bay window projection (or cumba) set on the façade, row
houses may be distinguished by:
• having the bay window placed centrally,
• presenting the bay window placed on either right or left side.
• a corner set bay window,
as well as in relation to the location of the entrance in the facades, at the
centre or at a side.
1064
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 34. Typical 19th c. Izmır house, Şeniz Çikiş, ‘Modern Konut’ olarak XIX. yüzyil Izmir konutu:
biçimsel ve kavramsal ortakliklar (Nineteenth century Izmir houses as ‘modern’: formal and concep-
tual overlappings), METU JFA 2, (2009), 213.
Figure 35. Single, two-storied houses without or with basements, presenting a central or sided bay
window. Feyyaz Erpi, “Community Culture”, vol. 7, n. 3, (1991), 205-222.
1065
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
15 Falmpos Philippos, «To αστικό σπίτι στη Σμύρνη» [Τhe Urban House in Smyrna], Mi-
krasiatika Chronika 7 (1957), 161-168.
16 Kolonas Vasilis, Έλληνες αρχιτέκτονες στην Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία (19oς-20os αι.)
[Greek Architects in the Ottoman Empire], Athens 2005, 117.
1066
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
The basement was in contact with the garden through a few steps and was
used as a cellar for storing food, pulses, oil, gas, the "vino de match", drinks,
cheese, dried fruits. Climbing the stairs from the courtyard, one could reach
the second floor with the bedrooms. A small door 1.80 m led to the antresoli,
which served as a store room for carpets, wardrobe etc, ironing, etc. Opposite, a
small corridor, led to the side of the bathroom and opposite of it was the service
room. Sometimes a few wooden stairs led from the service room, to the terra-
ced roof, where washed clothes were hung to dry.
Figure 36. The urban house in Smyrna, 1st floor, 2nd floor and façade plan
(Falmpos Ph., 163, 166, 168).
The second part of the main staircase made from oak wood, led to the
"hayat", where doors were found for the "kamares=chambers", spacious bedro-
oms with windows opening to the frontal façade. One of them was bigger and
had a door opening to the balcony-bay window. On the other side of the hayat,
a corridor, led to the terraced roof and to two smaller bedrooms one facing
each other. Before stepping out at the roofed terrace, at the end of the corridor
was the "komodita" of the floor. The terrace was always covered with zinc. The
roof of the house was covered with Marseille tiles.
The famous Smyrna closed balcony, bay window or cumba, has its origin
from the Turkish sahnisi. It is constructed in the middle of the facade of the
second floor (it is carried by timber beams and supported by iron bars) and it is
based on four iron corbels, about 1m. from the wall. Its width was usually 2.50
m and height of 3.00 m. Two windows at the side of the balcony and three ones
along the front, all with one piece windows, sliding from the bottom upwards.
Five blinds with embroidery, or specially designed "crochet" are applied to the
1067
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
blinds of the balcony, protecting it from the summer glare. Beneath the side
windows were comfortable "Sofa=couches." At the top of the eaves, decorated
with Greek motives and the panels beneath the windows were elaborately deco-
rated. The balcony, covered with zinc which slightly was inclined to the street.
Figure 37. Row houses with bay windows (cumba) (photo: Kanetaki E).
The bay balconies projecting over the street acting like a şahnişi (cumba=bay
extention in Turkish) can be found elsewhere in the Mediterranean region, as
in Malta and in the Arabic lands, i.e. Egypt (where the term Mashrabiya. term
given to a type of projecting oriel window enclosed with carved wood lattice-
work located on the second storey of a building or higher, often lined with sta-
ined glass. The mashrabiya (sometimes shanshool or rushan) is an element of
traditional Arabic architecture used since the middle ages up to the mid-20th
century. It is mostly used on the street side of the building; however, it may also
be used internally on sahn side.17
17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashrabiya
1068
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
1069
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
The present article is the result of numerous visits in the city, that have enab-
led the photographical registration of 1702 residences, as surveyed in the fol-
lowing map:
Figure 41. The city of Smyrna/Izmir urban fabric, with the location of the 1702 registered residences
(plan: Ayiannides V.).
1070
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 42. Single storied and two storied houses with side placed entrance, located in various Izmir
suburbs (photos: Ayiannides V., Kanetaki E.).
1071
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
Figure 43. Two storied houses with centrally placed bay window (cumba) and sided entrance
(photos: Ayiannides V., Kanetaki E.).
1072
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 44. Two and three-storied houses with central, sided and corner placed bay window (cumba)
(photos: Ayiannides V., Kanetaki E.).
1073
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
Figure 45. Lintels with the chronological datation of the building’s construction, different examples
(photos: Ayiannides V., Kanetaki E.).
1074
Levantine architecture in SmyrnA/Izmir
Figure 46. Bay windows-wooden projections (cumba) found in typical Izmir houses
(photos: Kanetaki E.).
1075
Eleni I. KANETAKI – Vassilis AYIANNIDES
Figure 47. Studies of architectural elements: cornices-framing of the openings, pilasters, moldings.18
18 Vassilis G. Αyiannides, «Τα «Χιώτικα» στη Σμύρνη (İzmir’deki Sakız Adası Mahallesi)»,
Pelinnaiο 55 (2011), 5-22.
1076
THE SETTLEMENT OF MENDENITSA
(MODONİÇ), CENTRAL GREECE:
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
FOR A LOCAL OTTOMAN PILGRIMAGE
CENTER
Georgios Pallis*
1077
GEORGIOS PALLIS
At a first glance, the village does not preserve any sign from its ottoman
past that lasted more than four centuries. On the other hand the lavish written
sources about the Ottoman Modoniç, a provincial administrative center that
flourished, especially, during the 16th c. and the seat of a dervishes’ tekke of
great pilgrim interest because of the türbe of Sultan Veliyullah Baba, highlights
a marked contradiction. The small city was the capital of a kaza controlling
more than twenty villages.3 According to the regional tax registers published
by Evaggelia Balta,4 the population of the settlement reached its peak in 1506,
when it numbered 237 Christian and 56 Muslim households. The proportion
of Muslims rose later on, reaching 99 households in 1540. This ratio was pre-
served till the early 19th century, when William Leake recorded 115 Greek and
50 Turkish families.5
The most precious, although debatable in certain aspects, testimony for the
ottoman Modoniç comes from the 8th book of Seyahatname of Evliya Çelebi.6
The famous traveler, as soon as he arrived at the small city, came up against a
piratical raid, which he described in vivid colors. Celebi’s record is of great sig-
nificance, because he is the first to narrate the miraculous life of Sultan Veliyul-
lah, a Muslim saint of the early 14th century, who settled in Modonic and later
on, after his death, was buried there. His türbe became a centre of pilgrimage,
famous among the local Muslim population. A dervishes’ brotherhood of the
Βektaşî Order was taking care of the türbe and an imaret, offering food and
other kind of assistance to pilgrims and travellers.
The end of the Ottoman Modoniç was written in April of 1821, in the very
first weeks of the Greek war of Independence. The Greeks besieged the old
castle where the Turkish population –almost seventy families and the Βektaşî
3 Ιoannis G. Giannopoulos, Η διοικητική οργάνωσις της Στερεάς Ελλάδος κατά την Τουρ-
κοκρατίαν (1393-1821). Συμβολή εις την μελέτην της επαρχιακής διοικήσεως του κυριάρ-
χου Οθωμανικού κράτους [The Administrative Organization of Central Greece during
Turkish Rule. A Contribution to the Study of the Provincial Administration of the Rul-
ing Ottoman State], Αthens 1971, 134-135.
4 Εvangelia Balta, “Η περιοχή Αταλάντης και Μουδουνίτσας στους πρώιμους οθωμανι-
κούς χρόνους (15ος-16ος αι.)” [The Regions of Atalanti and Moudounitsa during the
Early Ottoman Years (15th-16th ce.)], Λοκρίδα. Ιστορία και πολιτισμός, [n.p., n.d.], 139-
171.
5 William Martin Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, vol. II, London 1835, 66.
6 I am using the greek translation by N. Cheiladakis, Εβλιά Τσελεμπή, Ταξίδι στην Ελλάδα
[Evliya Celebi, Travel in Greece], Αthens 1991, 136-145.
1078
The settlement of Mendenitsa (Modoniç)
dervishes– took refuge. The siege lasted just for a few days; without enough pro-
visions and help, the besieged Turks decided to surrender. The Şeyh Baba of the
Βektaşî brotherhood offered to provide the army of the revolutioners with food,
if the Tekke would be left intact. Unfortunately, when the gates were opened, the
Greeks broke the agreement and killed all the refugees. Greek historians of the
time condemned harshly this atrocious act and especially the cruel end of the
peaceful Βektaşî dervishes.7
The archaeological remains of the Ottoman era at modern Mendenitsa are
not impressive ones. To start with, the castle does not preserve any features that
could be ascribed to the Ottoman period. Evliya had found some parts of the
walls destroyed, thus we may suppose that only occasional repairs had taken
place on the Italian fortifications during the Turkish rule, in cases of urgent
danger. The establishment of the Pax Ottomana led to the gradual impairment
of the fortified castles located in the inland of the continental Greece, because
of the lack of any attacking enemy.8 As Evliya attests, the castle of Mendenitsa
was inhabited by the Turkish guard, making an estimation of the households
up to fifty. There were also some depots and a powder magazine, empty at that
time –another sign of abandonment. Although it is not clear whether he refers
to the inner enclosure or the whole region inside the outer enceinte, it seems
more likely that he describes the whole fortified settlement, given that fifty hou-
ses would have been too many for the restricted surface of the first, while the
powder magazine could only be found in the same. Evliya mentions also a small
mosque in the castle, without giving its name. The exact location of this mosque
has not been identified since no traces of it exist today.
The main settlement was spread out of the walls, to the south of the castle,
on slopes not visible from the sea (fig. 3). The houses and other buildings
could develop without the restrictions of the fortified enclosure. According to
the tax register of 1521,9 the Christian population lived in five neighborho-
ods (mahalle), probably separated from the Muslims. The number of the Mus-
lim neighborhoods is not stated. Evangelia Balta reasonably estimates that the
7 Ioannis Philimon, Δοκίμιον ιστορικόν περί της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως [Historical Es-
say on the Greek Revolution], Athens 1860, vol. 3, 89-90.
8 The abandonment of the other castles of Phthiotis, i.e. Lamia (Izdin), Hypati (Badracik)
and Domokos (Dömeke), during the late centuries of the ottoman rule has been record-
ed in many European travellers’ accounts.
9 Balta, “Η περιοχή Αταλάντης και Μουδουνίτσας”, 154.
1079
GEORGIOS PALLIS
mahalle called Porta in the documents was located near the main castle’s gate.
Çelebi describes the extra muros houses as built by stone and roof-tiled, surro-
unded by gardens and vineyards. House substructures which might date to the
ottoman era are still visible at the part of the modern village called Kutlum.10 A
vaulted pass way and a tower-house (fig. 4), with possible Οttoman phases, are
noteworthy in this quarter. The existence of a ruined bath, the oral memory of
Turkish houses at Kutlum which is still alive among modern villagers, as well as
the small distance from the mosque, allow us to suppose that the well-off Mus-
lim families would have lived there.
The bath was recently found in this extra muros part of the village (fig. 5),
about 170 m. to the southwest of the walls gate.11 The original building consis-
ted of at least three rooms; today a square vaulted room stands up to the level
of the octagonal drum –the vault has collapsed. The springing of a barrel vault
which covered a second room is visible to the west and the remains of walls
prove the existence of a third one to the south. The masonry of the east face
of the square room includes rows of stones and bricks in a manner similar, in
some parts, to the cloisonné system. The inner surfaces of both rooms preserve
parts of reddish hydraulic plaster and ceramic pipes. Although the building
needs to be cleaned and excavated in order to precise the original form and the
date, the style and the quality of the masonry are signs of an early chronology,
maybe to the 16th c. In this case, the bath could be identified with the one men-
tioned by Evliya in 1668.
Evliya refers also to a han and ten shops; their location is unknown, but we
may suppose that a site like the Porta quarter, by the walls gate and the central
road to and from the castle, would be suitable for a small bazaar and other com-
mercial activities. It must be noted that a flat place at the southwest outskirts of
the village, with a fountain, is still called Bezesteni,12 a name straightly sugges-
ting activities of this kind –maybe a large scale trade fair.
1080
The settlement of Mendenitsa (Modoniç)
Opposite to the castle gate and by the central road between the outer walls
and the extra muros quarters, there was a mosque –most likely the main mos-
que of Mendenitsa. It is remarkable that the modern church of Mendenitsa,
built in 1911 on its foundations,13 preserves the south east orientation of the
preexisting edifice, as it also happens in other cities of central and south Greece
(fig. 6). This mosque was probably the one mentioned by Evliya as old and ready
to fall, without citing any name or date. The building was damaged during the
Greek revolution and later a first Christian church took its place, dedicated to
Saint George, who was often the patron saint for churches after the Greek inde-
pendence war, that were converted from Muslim shrines to Christian temples,
maybe proclaiming the victory of the Christian arms over the Ottomans. The
form of the Mendenitsa mosque remains unknown. Part of the minaret has
been depicted in a sketch by the French traveler Buchon, who visited the vil-
lage in 1841.14 Some traces of foundations can be seen today at the southeast
side of the church, but there is no proof of connection with the mosque. Evliya’s
comments on the building’s state indicate that it was already an old edifice in
his time; on the basis of the settlements general flourishment in late 15th and
during the 16th century, the establishment of the mosque could hypothetically
be attributed to that period.
The Sultan Veliyullah tekke, maybe the most important building of the otto-
man Modoniç, remains as well unknown to us. Evliya Çelebi is again the only
source of information; I have not managed to find any other description or
depiction of this lost monument. Evliya’s account of the convent includes the
türbe of the Saint, an imaret and other, not named buildings, all of which had
their roofs covered in lead leafs. The türbe was decorated with inscriptions and
with pilgrims’ offerings, such as censers, vases, candelabra, lamps, chandeli-
ers and other precious objects. This lavishly adorned description of treasures
recalls the still living local legend about the convent’s wealth, speaking about a
cellar with barrels full of golden coins.
Although this description is likely not to be accurate, bearing in mind the
author’s tension for exaggerations, it seems much probable that the Tekke had
the form of a small complex of buildings, around the turbe. Unfortunately no
13 Ibid, 136.
14 Jean-Alexandre Buchon, La Grèce continentale et la Morée. Voyage, séjour et études histo-
riques en 1840 et 1841, Paris 1843, 286-287.
1081
GEORGIOS PALLIS
trace of it exists today. It was set on fire in 1821, when the dervishes were sla-
ughtered. Its ruins gradually disappeared, probably providing building mate-
rial for the new houses of the village –a practice that destroyed many medieval
and even ancient monuments in Greece. Some remains were said to have been
still visible till World War II, and a deep well was cleaned and reused in 1938.15
The villagers show today a small hill to the south east of the castle, as the place
where it was located (fig. 7). The site fits with Evliya’s description of the spot, as
an eminence out of the settlement, to the east, full of cypresses and other trees
at that time. Few modern houses cover now part of the hill; the building acti-
vity did not uncover any –recorded– traces of the tekke complex. A future exca-
vation at the site could be instructive for our knowledge of the lost monument.
According to Evliya, Veliyullah’s son was buried in his turbe and many other
burials of holy men were found out of the building. So, at the surroundings of
the Tekke one would expect the Muslim cemetery of the settlement to be found.
What remains from it today are just some fragments of tombstones and fune-
rary inscriptions. Among them, it is remarkable the marble crowning from a
gravestone in the form of a bektashi headwear –of a tac– (fig. 8), consisting of
four folds and twelve gores.16 As far as we know, this is the only material evi-
dence from the Bektashi’s presence at Modoniç.
The case of Ottoman Mendenitsa is remarkable from many points of view. It
consisted of a small, regional administrative and religious center for the central
Greece Muslims. The Veliyullah tekke represents the expansion of Bektashism
in Greece.17 The disappearance of the material testimony of the Ottoman era at
the modern village is rather impressive compared to the evidence of the writ-
ten sources. But this process is common within the borders of the small Greek
kingdom after 1833, where the buildings of this era were systematically destro-
yed as unwelcome reminders of the Turkish rule.
1082
The settlement of Mendenitsa (Modoniç)
PICTURES
Pictures
1. General view of the settlement from the east (© 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities).
2. Aerial view of the castle and part of the intra and extra muros neighborhoods
(© 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities).
1083
GEORGIOS PALLIS
3. General view of the extra muros part of the settlement from the castle
(© 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities).
1084
The settlement of Mendenitsa (Modoniç)
5. Part of the ruined Ottoman bath at Kutlum (© 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities).
6. View of the church of Aghios Georgios between the main gate and the extra muros neighbour-
hoods (© 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities).
1085
GEORGIOS PALLIS
7. General view of the site of the Bektashi Tekke from the castle
(© 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities).
1086
SUGGESTIONS AS TO THE LOCALIZATION
OF THE HARBOUR OF AYASULUK
AND THE ITALIAN SETTLEMENT DURING
THE AYDINOĞULLARI DYNASTY
FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE
Şule Pfeiffer-Taş*
The main point discussed in this paper is the location of the harbour of Ayasu-
luk (Theologo, Theologos, Altologuo) which used to have a very important role
in international trade during the Aydınoğulları and of the Italian settlement in
Ayasuluk.1 Ayasuluk was named by several researchers as Land Ayasuluk, and
the area on the seaside as Harbour Ayasuluk.2 The name of this harbour was
* Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atılım University, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture- Application
and Research Centre for Turkey’s History Studies, Ankara, spfeiffer@atilim.edu.tr
1 These are the results of the survey studies, we carried out in 2001-2005 within the Ayasu-
luk-Project under the scope of Ephesus Excavation of Austrian Archaeological Institute
and Austrian Academy of Science, Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture; Vienna. I
want to thank Prof. Dr. F. Krinzinger, former Excavation Director of Ephesus and Direc-
tor of these Institutes and for supporting this project and allowing the publication.
2 For Ayasuluk in general see Himmet Akın, Aydın Oğulları Tarihi hakkında Bir Araştırma,
Ankara 1968²; Feridun Emecen, “Ayasuluk”, TDVİA, IV, 226; C. Foss, Ephesus after Anti-
quity. A Late Antique, Byzantine and Turkish City, Cambridge 1979; Zeki Arıkan, “XIV.-
XVI.Yüzyıllarda Ayasuluğ”, Belleten 209 (1990), 121-178; Birinci Uluslararası Geçmişten
Günümüze Selçuk Sempozyumu-From Past to Present Selçuk First International Sympo-
sium 4-6 Eylül 1997, Selçuk (n.d.); Şule Pfeiffer-Taş, “Der historisch-archäologische
Hintergrund zum Münzschatz des Aydınoğlu Isa Bey”, Jahreshefte des Österreichischen
Archäologischen Institutes in Wien 70, (2001), 117-134; Mustafa Büyükkolancı, St. Jean,
Selçuk, İzmir 2001; Idem, “St. Jean Anıtı ve Ayasuluk Tepesi 2000 Yılı Kazı ve Onarım
Çalışmaları” 12. Müze Çalışmaları ve Kurtarma Kazıları Sempozyumu, Kuşadası 2001,
2002, 237-240; Idem, “Selçuk Ayasuluk Tepesi 1999 Yılı Kazıları” 11. Müze Çalışmaları ve
Kurtarma Kazıları Sempozyumu Denizli 2000 (2001), 1-4; Alfons Krickl - Şule Pfeiffer-
Taş, “Zur Nutzungs- und Zerstörungsgeschichte des sog. Isa Bey Hamamı”, Jahreshefte
1087
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
known in foreign documents as Scala Nova. But neither the location3 of this
harbour nor the Italian settlement is known.4
Although the Harbour of Ephesus, which was used in the Hellenistic and
Roman era, was silted up and became in operational from the 7th century AD
onwards; but it is known that Ayasuluk was one of the most important centres
of trade around the Aegean during the 14th century together with Balat (Milet).5
During the Aydınoğulları Dynasty, various routes from the Black Sea coast,
Southern and Central Anatolia met in Ayasuluk, which was one of the final
destinations of the Silk Road in Anatolia. The storage facilities, shipyards, etc. of
a harbour with such important functions must have covered a large area and so
there must be architectural proof.
Ayasuluk was captured in 1304 by Aydınoğulları and was their capital under
Hızır Bey (~1348-1360) and İsa Bey (~1360-1389). Under Bayezid I (1389-1402)
the Emirate of Aydın fell to the Ottomans in the winter of 1389/1390, but after
the battle of Ankara in 1402, Timur took Bayezid captive and re-established the
1088
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
6 For the settlement and Palace of İsa Bey see Mustafa Büyükkolancı, “2009 Yılı Ayasuluk
Tepesi ve St. Jean Anıtı Kazı ve Onarım Çalışmaları”, 32. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı, 24-28
Mayıs 2010 İstanbul, (2011) 82-95.
7 BOA. TD 8, 687-694, for dating of the record the devoloping and names of the districts
see Şule Pfeiffer-Taş, “Überlegungen zur Identifizierung des Hamam III als Burak Beğ
Hamamı anhand des Befundes und historischer Quellen, 113-120”, in Eadem, Funde und
Befunde aus dem Schachtbrunnen im Hamam III in Ayasuluk/Ephesos, Eine schamanis-
tische Bestattung aus dem 15. Jahrhundert, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften,
Wien 2010.
8 For further details on the issuing of such contracts see Zachariadou, Trade and Crusade,
175-270, for their significance see Pfeiffer-Taş, “Der historisch- archäologischer Hinter-
grund”, 117-134, 123f. and Ref.35 including further literature.
9 For the edition of the texts see Zachariadou,op.cit., 187-194, 201-216.
10 Akın, Aydın Oğulları Tarihi, 57.
1089
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
ses, livestock, alum11 from Kütahya, which was known as alum of Theologos,12
grain, rice, beeswax, cannabis, dried fruit and servants were exported. On the
other hand, silverware, wine, soap and quality fabric were among the significant
import goods. In addition to the freedom of trade, such commerce was enco-
uraged and facilitated by the grant of far-reaching concessions to Venice and
Genoa, such as independent jurisdiction, possession of land and soil, establish-
ment of consulates and building of churches.
The ahidnames were also renewed during the Ottoman Empire. Bayezid I.
renewed the privileges of Venice after capturing Ayasuluk 1389/1390; he signed
a trade agreement with the ambassador of Venice Franciscus Quirino on 21. 5.
1390.13
The harbour also played a significant role in military operations. Battleships
were built in the shipyard for the Chios campaign of Gazi Umur Bey in the year
1329; his brother Hızır Bey provided him with 22 ships from Ayasuluk.14 Later,
in 1347, they started their activities in the Aegean with the ships prepared in
Ayasuluk.15 In the winter of 1351-1352 a Venetian fleet stationed in the harbo-
urs of Theologo and Palatia.16
From the records in Ottoman tahrir defterleri, the harbour maintained its
functionality from the 15th to the 16th century. The first defter we have is from
1454-1455 and gives us the information of the kıst of the Harbour of Ayasuluk:17
together with the Harbour of Çeşme they amount to 37,000 akçe.18 The next
11 Alum, one of the most important export goods, which actually came from Kütahya, was
known to Europeans as a product from the port of Ayasuluk, and was therefore referred
to in European sources as “allume d’Altoluogo“ (Theologos/Ayasuluk), see Fleet, Euro-
pean and Islamic Trade, 87.
12 Ayasuluk was one of the ports for alum from Kütahya; Pegalotti wrote ‘allume dal Cotai
e D’Altoluogo’, 'allume del Cotai, cio’e d’Altoluogo’ or ‘allume di Coltai d’Altoluogo’ see
Francesco Balducci Pegalotti, La Pratica della Mercatura ed. by Allan Evans, Cambridge
MA 1936, 43, 293.
13 Akın, op.cit., 59.
14 Akın, Aydın Oğulları Tarihi, 35.
15 Ibid, 49.
16 Paul Wittek, Das Fürstentum Mentesche, Studie zur Geschichte Westkleinasiens im 13.-14.
Jh., Amsterdam 1967, 71; Zachariadou, Trade and Crusade, 58, Ref. 237.
17 For this and the defters below see Telci, Ücrâ Yerde ve Deniz Kenârında, 57f.
18 BOA. MAD. 18003, 15.
1090
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
defter is from 1467 and has 62,000 akçe,19 while by 1473-77 the amount had
risen to 116,033 akçe.20 We have no information in the record of the year from
1517, because the pages are not available. In the next records from 152921 and
from 157522 and 158223 the Harbour of Ayasuluk is mentioned together with the
harbours of Çeşme, Karaburun and Aya Yorgi with 684,667 akçe. This informa-
tion is very important, since it shows that the Harbour of Ayasuluk was functi-
oning till this time. It was only in the end of the 16 th and the 17 th century that
the ports of Kuşadası, Yeni Foça und Izmir gained in significance and oversha-
dowed Ayasuluk.24
The head of the Venetian communities in Palatia and Ayasuluk was the con-
sul. The Venetians had their own consulate, court, a right to build churches,
shops and houses in their settlements after 1337 in Ayasuluk; in Palatia, they
had the same rights before 1331, probably from 1318.25 In April 1353 the text of
a treaty was composed in Ayasuluk; it was confirmed by the Cretan Venetians
two months later. Aydınoğlu Hızır Bey concluded the treaty of 1353: he granted
protection of Venetian vessels at sea; but taxation on cereals, dried vegetables,
livestock and slaves was established at six per cent, and merchants were obliged
to pay a two per cent tax on both exported and imported products. This treaty,
despite the heavy taxation of the Venetians, was the reason for the Latin mobi-
lization against Aydın.26 In 1358 Giovanni Moro was nominated for the appa-
rently vacant post of consul in Ayasuluk. He was succeeded in August 1359 by
Nicolaus Morosini. In 1362 Giovanni Mudazzo was the consul of Ayasuluk.27
This Italian settlement was somewhere near the harbour by the sea, but its
location has not been identified with precision.
The Italian merchant Pegalotti gives us some very important information
about Theologo, in his Practica, part of which was probably composed during
1091
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
his stay in Cyprus from 1324 to 1329.28 Pegalotti seems to have been very well
informed about Theologo, since the company Bardi, for which he was working,
was exporting to Aydın. There is important information in his Practica about
the localization of the Harbour of Ayasuluk. He wrote that merchants had to
pay storge and cartage since the city of Theologo was some distance from the
port.29 Therefore, the merchants had to use vehicles to transport corn, for bet-
ween Ayasuluk Hill and the coast the distance was 9 miles.30 The author of the
Niederrheinische Relation Orient und Occident wrote in his book in the second
half of the 14th century that there were two new settlements near Ephesus; one
of them, which was most probably Ayasuluk, was on a mountain and had a big
church,31 while the other was on the coast with the name ‘Alcelot’; a good many
wealthy Christian merchants lived in New Ayasuluk on the coast and it was
visited by people from all over the region.32
A very important source on the location of the harbour of Ayasuluk is the
Portolan of Bernadino Rizo from 1490. He wrote that the harbor was situated
six miles from the city Ayasuluk to Ephesus.33 About the same settlement, Priest
Ludolf von Suchen, who travelled to Jerusalem (1336-1341) and was in Ephe-
sus too,34 wrote in 1350 that a new harbour city was established on the coastline
1092
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
4 miles away from the ancient city of Ephesus. This new city was named Sca-
lanova and was established by the Genoese and Pisans instead of the Harbour
of Ephesus, which was becoming silted day by day. In addition, they had their
own churches.35
Another traveler, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who visited Ephesus in 1631, wrote
that Scalanova had a distance of 2 miles from Ephesus;36 the journey took 2
hours.37 But this time this harbour was of no good use for trade, because it was
the mülk of Valide Sultan.38
The information about the distance between Ayasuluk, Ephesus and the
Harbour is different in these documents; but the distance from Ephesus to Aya-
suluk Harbour must not have been more than 4 miles.
Several researchers identified the localization of Scala Nova with the pre-
sent harbour of Kuşadası, which however became functional only after the
17th century, while during the Middle Ages it was a small cove. Furthermore,
Kuşadası is too far from Ayasuluk. The road from Ayasuluk to Kuşadası passes
through Arvalya mountain, and in those times this place could not have been
used as a harbour. The site named Anya in Ottoman archive records, nam-ı
diğer Kuşadası,39 is Anaia (today Soğucak), which was an important castle in the
ancient period. The Harbour of Ayasuluk cannot have been here.40
Foss wrote that a new port, Scala Nova, was to be founded on the site of the
ancient Phygela, on the coast south of the Cayster;41 but this is not possible,
35 Brockhoff, op.cit., 69 from Tomaschek, Zur historischen Topographie, ‘Ab hac civitate an-
tiqua Ephesi supra litus maris ad quattuor miliaria in loco,quo est portus, nunc nova ci-
vitas est constructa, et a Christianis de Lumbardia per discordiam expulsis est inhabitata,
qui habent ecclesias et fratres minores, ut Christiani viventes, licet tam Christianis maxima
damna cum Turchis intulerunt’ .
36 Jean Baptiste Tavernier, Tavernier Seyahatnamesi, ed. Stefanos Yerasimos, Istanbul 2010²,
120.
37 İbid, 115.
38 İbid, 115 f.
39 BOA.TD.806, 200.
40 For this suggestion see Cahit Telci, “XV. ve XVI. Yüzyıllarda Ayasuluğ Şehri”, in Birinci
Uluslararası Geçmişten Günümüze Selçuk Sempozyumu-From Past to Present Selçuk First
International Symposium 4-6 Eylül 1997, (n.d.) 289- 292, 292.
41 Foss, Ephesus after Antiquity, 150 and App. III, The silting of the Harbor of Ephesus, 185-
187; For this area as Pygela, see Otto Benndorf, Forschungen in Ephesos I, Wien 1906, 46
ff. and the map by Schindler 897 (fig.2).
1093
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
because the localization of the ancient Phygela is on the coast of today’s Kuştur,
and there is no connection to the Cayster.
Neither is it possible to identify the Harbour of Ayasuluk with the Harbour
of Panormos, located in the area of Lake Alaman to the north of Pamucak
coast,42 because the ruins that were pointed out as the location of the harbour
are merely remains of a road, probably the road to Smyrna as drawn in the map
of Tournefort (1701-1702, see fig. 5).
This area is continually exposed to winds from the sea. In addition, in maps
drawn at the end of the 19th century, this area can still be seen as sea (see fig.1,
2), hence its name as the localization to the north of Abalıboz and İğdeli Tepe,
between the North Caystros River and Lake Alaman.43
42 Recep Meriç, “Zur Lage des ephesischen Aussenhafens Panormos,” in Manfred Kandler
et al. (eds), Lebendige Altertumswissenschaft: Festgabe zur Vollendung des 70. Lebensjah-
res von Hermann Vetters, Wien 1985, 30-32.
43 For the localization in this area see Uğur Tanyeli, Anadolu Türk Kentinde Fiziksel Yapının
Evrimi Süreci XI.-XV. Yüzyıl, İstanbul 1987, 113-116.
1094
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
In the map of G. Weber from 1880, the road to Scala Nova even drawn to the
south of Pamucak today (Fig. 1)
The remains of a column on the ancient Ephesus harbour canal are an anci-
ent spolium and is not in situ; it stands on its head and is probably Ionic. The
wall here dates from the Roman period as part of a stone pier here. There are a
lot of examples of stone pier ruins in the ancient period44 and they can be dated
to the Roman period at the latest.
44 When we compare these with Teos, it is seen that those from Teos really belong to a sea
harbour.
1095
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
The pier from the ancient canal of Ephesus is too small for a harbour that
played such an important role in international trade. There might have been a
pier for small boats in the canal used in the ancient period. On the map by J.
P. Tournefort from 1701-1702 (see fig.5), this place has the depiction “a ferry
where they pass y River to go from Scalanova to Smyrna”. Tournefort wrote
(Nr.11) for the area “Ruins and Columns at the Mouth of the Caister”, which is
a confirmation for an ancient use of these places.
1096
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
45 Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, A Voyage in to the Levant, London 1718, vol. II, 149, 387.
1097
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
this area, are regarded as a “cistern”.46 However, these must have been ruins of a
harbour with a shipyard.
1098
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
These ruins had upper floors and they continued inland. Numerous ampho-
rae finds were dated to between 11th and 14th centuries.47 Moreover, numerous
pipes (lüle) uncovered in upper floors show that this place was used later as well.48
The ruins bear the same characteristics as the Middle Age shipyard ruins in
Alanya and Canea.
Fig. 8 - Shipyard of Alanya, ca. 1230, under the reg. of Alaaddin Keykubat I.
47 I would like to thank Mr. Bezecky from the Ephesos team, who is an expert on amphoras,
for this first dating.
48 I would like to thank former Director of Museum Ephesus Selahattin Erdemgil for al-
lowing us to see the site and finds and Archaelogist Cengiz İçten, who has shown us the
finds.
1099
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
It is clear from the photographs we have that this area was covered by sea
even in the 20th century. On the map by Schindler from 1897, the name of the
coast line is “Scalanouva”. We can see in pictures until 2001, that the “harbour”
is still full of the sea-water.
Fig. 11 - South Pamucak, 1975, with sea-water and the ruins of the wall.
49 I would like to thank Prof. Dr. İlhan Kayan from Ege University for photos 10-11 from
his archive.
1100
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
Fig. 12 - South Pamucak, 2001, a view of the Ayasuluk Harbour (photograph: F. Krinzinger).
Fig. 13 - South Pamucak, 2001, the ruins of the wall of the Italian settlement
(photograph: F. Krinzinger).
1101
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
Fig. 15 - The wall of the Italian settlement with a view of the harbour.
1102
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
Other ruins of a church52 on the Pamucak coast are very important to sup-
port our theory that the Italian settlement was located here. This church, which
cannot be exactly dated, is located ca. 7 km away from Ephesus, on the Kumtepe.
50 For a discussion about the Scalanova in the Middle Ages and in 17th century see Machiel
Kiel, “Kuşadası: Genose Colonial Town of the 1300’s or Ottoman Creation of the 17th
Century”, CIEPO XIV. Sempozyumu Bildirileri 18-22 Eylül 2000 Çeşme, Ankara 2004,
403-415.
51 Tournefort, A Voyage into the Levant, vol. II, 396, 152.
52 Telci published a photo of this building in his book, called this a cistern and wrote that is
in the harbour of Pamucak coast without any exact localization; see Telci, Ücrâ Yerde ve
Deniz Kenârında, 48. But it is impossible to indicate this building, with beautiful paint-
ing in red in its interior, as cistern.
1103
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
The architecture of the church53 displays at least two big construction phases:54
firstly the thin bricks used in the inner walls are from the Roman period, the
samples of which can be frequently found in the ancient city of Ephesus bet-
ween the 2nd and the 5th centuries AD; and secondly, the composite wall consis-
ting of a mixture of stone and brick from Middle Ages, until the 15th century.55
53 There are no exact dates and information about this building. For the results of the ex-
cavation on this area and an interpretation of its function by the Ephesus Museum, see
Peter Scherrer (ed), Ephesus The New Guide, Österreichisches Archaelogisches Institut and
Efes Müzesi Selçuk, 2000, 233. Zeynep Mercangöz identified it as a church too: Zeynep
Mercangöz,“Efes ve Çevresinde Hıristiyanlık (Ortaçağ Hıristiyan Döneminde Efes ve
Ayasuluk)”, in Birinci Uluslararası Geçmişten Günümüze Selçuk Sempozyumu-From Past
to Present Selçuk First International Symposium 4-6 Eylül 1997, (n.d.), 51-62, 55-56.
54 Zeynep Mercangöz, ibid., explains that the building has three niveous; she has the theory,
that the church was built in one phase and gives no dating. However, she mentions in the
drawing the walls of the top floor of the church of the southside as “ek yapı” (additional
building).
55 For numerous exemplars in Ayasuluk see literature in this article.
1104
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
Fig. 18 - Wall paintings in red from the interior of the church on Kumtepe.56
Fig. 19 - Ruins of the church on Kumtepe; additional construction from the Late Middle Ages.
56 I would like to thank Archaeologist Yusuf Yavaş from the Efes Selçuk Kent Belleği of the
Selçuk Belediyesi for the fig. 2,18,20.
1105
Şule PFEIFFER-TAŞ
It can be seen that this church underwent modifications after the ancient
period, so again it must have been connected to the Italian settlement.
Now, we can say that Ayasuluk Harbour, the shipyard, and the Italian sett-
lement, were located on the southern Pamucak coast in the Middle Ages as
shown in these pictures (Fig. 21, 22):
Fig. 21 - Reconstruction of the coast, Ayasuluk Harbour, the Italian settlement with city walls,
church and shipyard in 14 th century in the map by Schindler.
1106
Localization of the harbour of Ayasuluk
Fig. 22 – Reconstruction of the coast, Ayasuluk Harbour, Italian settlement with city walls, church
and shipyard in the 14th century on the map (google-earth) today.
Summary
The location of the Harbour of Ayasuluk in South Pamucak, approximately
9 miles from Ayasuluk and 4 miles from Ephesus as contemporary sources
inform us, is an ideal place, because it is protected from southerly winds. On
the other hand, the deep water was probably good for the direct loading and
unloading of goods. The ruins of shipyard are a very important evidence for a
harbour. The ruins of the city walls verify the protection of the Italian settle-
ment with its consulate and the ruins of the church with an additional building
in the Middle Ages are more evidence of the rights given by special ahidnames,
which exist in the archives.
1107
A RECENTLY DISCOVERED PAINTING
OF MEHMET ALİ LAGA:
“SADABAD SEFASI” (PLEASURE AT SADABAD)
Elvan Topallı* 1
Military painter Mehmet Ali Laga (1878-1947) who lived in one of the most
important eras of Turkish history, a period of active and radical changes, in
other words, during the transition from Monarchy to Republic, has a privileged
place in Turkish art in terms of both his art and life. Mehmet Ali, while wor-
king in a variety of painting techniques, like most of the military painters, ins-
tead of painting figurative compositions, chose to make landscapes, interiors,
and still life. He has very few figurative works and portraits. Although he ser-
ved in Dardanelles and Balkan Wars, he did not tend to paint figurative war sce-
nes. In stylistic terms Mehmet Ali is included in the “Çallı Generation” and his
impressionist approach can be evaluated depending on these. Laga’s “Pleasure
at Sadabad” (1318/1902) gains importance, because it has significant differen-
ces according to his other pictures, considering the painter’s style and range of
subjects. This painting, which has not been printed in any art book so far, can be
considered as an interpretation of an οrientalist painter’s tableau, probably the
painting “Kağıthane” (1875) by the Polish painter Stanislaw Chlebowski (1835-
1884). Under the influence of the famous French οrientalist painter Jean Léon
Gérome, Chlebowski came to Istanbul, spent the brightest years of his career
here, created his own style and worked 12 years in the palace for Sultan Abdü-
laziz. How to look at and evaluate these paintings standing on a line extending
into the past from Laga to Chlebowski and even to Thomas Allom (1804-1872)?
What kind of personal and artistic relationship can we establish among these
painters and their styles? On the other hand, what is the role of these paintings
* Assist. Prof. Dr., Uludag University, Faculty of Art and Sciences, Department of Art His-
tory, Bursa-Turkey, elvant@uludag.edu.tr
1108
A recently discovered painting of Mehmet Ali Laga
Sadabad
Sadabad means auspicious and flourishing place; and that name is used since
the Tulip Period for a part of Kağıthane where there are pavilions, palaces and
gardens, and which has long been a famous and beautiful promenade of Istan-
bul, where Kağıthane River flows into the Golden Horn. In the Ottoman Period,
starting from the late 16th century, Kağıthane was one of the favorite places for
the notables of the palace for hunting, sports and entertainment. It is known that
Kağıthane Valley was a place for entertainment and recreation since the period
of Süleyman the Magnificent. Members of the jewelers, saddlers and some
other guilds set up tents, gathered to discuss and have fun here. With the cons-
truction of the Sadabad palace and the surrounding palaces in the Tulip Period
(1718-1730), Kağıthane region became known as Sadabad. Sadabad is the work
of Sultan Ahmed III and Vizier Nevşehirli Ibrahim Pasha. Sadabad was a very
important construction movement that changed the people’s way of life, cau-
sing them to enjoy rural life and nature, and thus starting an extrovert type of
life. Inspired by palace and garden plans brought from Paris by the ambassador
Yirmisekiz Mehmet Çelebi, Sadabad Palace was built by the edge of the Kağıt-
hane River in 1722. Along with the palace, the construction of a channel named
Cedvel-i Sim; two pools, three bowers, two cascades, four fountain-jet one with
a dragon’s head, a Kasr-ı Neşat, and a fountain were finished within just 60
days. Over time, at the area between the Golden Horn and Sadabad Palace and
at both slopes of the valley, a total of 173 pavilions and kiosks were built. All
these pavilions were completely destroyed during the Patrona Halil uprising in
1730. But all these structures were renewed during Mahmud I’s period. During
this period, many banquets and receptions were organized here, especially for
foreign ambassadors and guests, in order to reflect the wealth and power of
the state. In Mahmud II’s period, between 1809-1817, Sadabad was once again
completely renovated.1 Beside the palace which had been renovated by Krikor
Balyan, a third Sadabad Palace was built by Sarkis and Agop Balyan brothers in
the period of Sultan Abdülaziz.2 After the constitutional monarchy, and up until
the 1930s, the palace was used as a home for orphaned girls and also as Military
Academy. While some plans for the restoration of the palace were considered,
with a sudden decision in one night in 1943, it was completely destroyed.
In Abdülhamit II’s period, Kağıthane promenade and entertainment became
popular among the public and each class in society. During that period, at the
beginning of each summer, the Sultan organized feasts in Kağıthane, especi-
ally for the students of the Military College, Kuleli Military Preparatory School,
Navy School, Medical College and Galatasaray School (Mekteb-i Sultani). On
the other hand, Kağıthane was overcrowded in Hıdrellez holidays (beginning
of summer),3 as well as on Fridays (holiday for the Muslim world). People could
go to Kağıthane by land or by the sea.4 Many preparations were made before
going to picnic areas; meals would be prepared at home. After arriving, mats
and mattresses were laid on the grass; food and drinks were taken out from
the baskets. Here, there were also street sellers. Along with the sellers, musi-
cians or fortune tellers were all integral parts of the picnic area. During the
day, people wandered around, eating, drinking, singing, or playing games; thro-
ugh the evening, they ate once more, drank coffee and again returned to their
homes.5 From time to time, with some regulations, authorities tried to organize
and control people's behavior.6
In addition to the natural beauty of the promenade, Westerners were also
interested in the possibility of seeing the lives of local people, and sharing their
activities. Indeed, Istanbul’s most popular and most famous promenade, cal-
led by the Westerners "Sweet Waters of Europe", was Kağıthane.7 In Mahmud
I’s period (1730-54), Sadabad can be seen in the engravings of Hilaire and
L'Espinasse made in the second half of 18th century; Cedvel-i Sim surrounded
by trees on both sides, as depicted in A. I. Melling’s engraving no.17, shows that
1110
A recently discovered painting of Mehmet Ali Laga
the importance of the Palace continued during the period of Selim III (1789-
1807).8 On an oil painting by Luigi Acquarone, copied from Melling’s engraving
named “Kağıthane”, the horseback jereed game (cirit) was depicted. A minia-
ture from the manuscript of Fazıl Enderuni, named Zenanname, is one of the
rare works showing Sadabad Palace and surroundings before Patrona Halil
Revolt.9 On the watercolor made by C. G. Löwenhielm, who was the Swedish
ambassador in Istanbul in 1825, we can see Sadabad at that day.10 The docu-
mentary paintings of Thomas Allom, made during his Eastern journey through
the 1830s, were the basis for the engravings of R. Walsh’s book Constantinople
and the Scenery of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, published in 1840. Salva-
tore Valeri, who came to Istanbul in the 1880s, in his painting named “Kağıt-
hane View” depicted Çağlayan Palace by the waterfalls, just like Löwenhielm,
but from a little closer.11 K. Brulloff, J. Schranz, A. Preziosi are some other pain-
ters that depicted the same area. Also, some Turkish painters, like Ahmet Ziya
Akbulut, Halit Naci, Münif Fehim and Mahmut Kılıç, show Kağıthane enterta-
inments in their paintings. In addition to painters, Kağıthane/ Sadabad are seen
at the works of writers and travelers like Julia Pardoe, Marchebeus, Theophile
Gautier, who came to Istanbul; also Sadabad was one of the main subjects of
that period’s Turkish literature and poetry, especially of poet Nedim’s works.
1111
Elvan TOPALLI
14 The registry record filled in 1927 at Halıcıoğlu Military School (From the archives of
Turkish Republic Ministry of National Defense).
15 The registry record filled in 1927 at Halıcıoğlu Military School; the registry records be-
longing to 1334 (1918) (From the archives of Turkish Republic Ministry of National De-
fense).
16 The registry record filled in 1927 at Halıcıoğlu Military School; the registry record filled
in Bursa Secondary High School in 1340 (1924) (From the archives of Turkish Republic
Ministry of National Defense).
17 The petition submitted in 1332 (1916) by Mehmet Ali, for promotion to senior captain
rank; the registry record filled in Bursa Secondary High School in 1341(1925); the reg-
istry record in 1926; and the registry record filled in 1927 at Halıcıoğlu Military School
(From the archives of Turkish Republic Ministry of National Defense).
18 The registry records belonging to 1334 (1918); and 1926; the registry record filled in
1927 at Halıcıoğlu Military School (From the archives of Turkish Republic Ministry of
National Defense).
1112
A recently discovered painting of Mehmet Ali Laga
painting career was developed in parallel to his military career; in his pictures
he reflected what he lived. He continued to paint during his military duties of
Edirne (Adrianople) and Canakkale (and in Sofia as a POW).
On the other hand, the paintings produced in Şişli Atelier, which was built
in 1917 in Şişli, a district of Istanbul, and have the War of Dardanelles as their
main theme, were exhibited at the end of 1917. The painters from the Atelier,
along with some other painters from outside, came together and named this
exhibition as “War Paintings and Others”. The exhibition continued throug-
hout 1918 in “Galatasaraylılar Yurdu”; in May 1918 the exhibition was moved
to the capital of Austria, at the Halls of the University of Vienna.19 Mehmet Ali
Laga attended both these exhibitions in Istanbul and Vienna. The exhibition in
Vienna is especially important in the history of Turkish painting, being the first
exhibition by Turkish artists in Europe. News related to the exhibition appea-
red in both domestic media and abroad.20 In addition, Mehmet Ali participated
intermittently in Galatasaray exhibitions between 1916 and 1951.
After the Dardanelles War, Mehmet Ali had returned to Kuleli Military
School as a painting teacher. He was transferred to Bursa Military High School
in 1924, again as a painting teacher. As a result, despite several interruptions
due to the wars between 1911 and 1924, we can say that Mehmet Ali Laga was
a painting teacher in Kuleli Military School. Between 1924 and 1927 he was
the painting teacher of Bursa Second (Military) High School. In 1927 he was
transferred (with “becayiş” – exchange of offices between officers) to Istanbul
Halıcıoğlu Military School. In 1930, he retired (because of age limit).21 We have
insufficient and conflicting information about his life after his retirement until
his death (1930-1947).22
As a result of our research, Mehmet Ali Laga painted his “Pleasure at Sada-
bad” [Picture 1] after Stanislaw Chlebowski’s “Kağıthane” [Picture 2] painting;
so who’s Stanislaw Chlebowski?
1113
Elvan TOPALLI
Stanislaw Chlebowski
Sultan Abdülaziz invited foreign artists to Istanbul and one of them was the
Polish artist Stanislaw Chlebowski. He was born in Podolia (Southeastern part
of old Poland) in 1835, as a child of a wealthy family. Podolia was an area where
various oriental elements were firmly rooted in the culture of the local Polish
gentry, as these lands abutted ones populated by Turks.23 He received his first
instruction in drawing from Alexander Wicherski and the historical painter
Romuald Chocnajki in Odessa. He took art courses in the Academy of Fine Arts
at St. Petersburg between 1853 and 1859 and was rewarded with silver and gold
medals by the academy during these years.24 The aristocracy of the Polish pain-
ters in the 19th century was educated in the academies of St.Petersburg, Munich,
Vienna and Rome. In addition to this, in the second half of the 19th century
Munich was the center of European Art. In this period, nearly 700 Polish pain-
ters were in Munich,25 like Chlebowski. Visiting first Munich and then Paris in
1859, Chlebowski studied art in the atelier of famous Orientalist painter J. L.
Gérome at Ecole des Beaux-Arts.26 He came to Istanbul in 1864 upon receiving
an invitation from Sultan Abdülaziz. The main influence to Abdülaziz for selec-
ting Chlebowski was made by his Grand Vizier, Sadrazam Fuat Pasha; some of
his master art pieces were purchased by Fuat Pasha to be presented to the Sul-
tan. Having one of the rooms of the Dolmabahçe Palace reserved to him as
an atelier,27 Chlebowski stayed in Istanbul for 11-12 years as a court painter.
Similar to most of the Western painters of the period in Istanbul, he resided in
Beyoğlu and, from 1873 onwards, spent his winters in Cairo, where he got acqu-
ainted with Polish Sefer Pasha (his real name was Wladyslaw Koscielski, 1819-
95). Koscielski had joined the Turkish army troops in 1854 but after he caught
1114
A recently discovered painting of Mehmet Ali Laga
28 http://www.koscielscy.pl/foundation/.
29 Blak, Malkiewicz, Wojtalowa, Polish Painting of the 19th Century, 49; Elzbieta Szczawins-
ka, “Chlebowski Stanislaw”, Slownik Artystow Polskich-I Obcych w Polsce Dzalajacych
(Malarza Rzezbiarze Graficy), Tom I (A-C), 1971, 318.
30 Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Polish Paintings in the Collections Abroad, 10.
31 Tadeusz Majda, “Polish Artists in the Ottoman Empire up to the 19th Century”, 9th Inter-
national Congress of Turkish Art, Ankara 1995, vol. 2, 440, 441.
32 Tadeusz Majda, “European Artistic Tradition and Turkish Taste-Stanislaw Chlebowski,
The Court Painter of Sultan Abdülaziz”, Uluslararası Sanatta Etkileşim Sempozyumu-
Bildiriler (Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Sanat Tarihi Bölümü-1998), Ankara
2000, 176.
1115
Elvan TOPALLI
1116
A recently discovered painting of Mehmet Ali Laga
Conclusion
Mehmet Ali Laga, who shared the same environment with Çallı Generation
artists, is one of the few painters who joined the war in the history of Turkish
painting. Getting the Medal of Fine Arts in 1897, and participating in various
exhibitions, Laga counts himself a painter first. We can feel his desire to record
and document the events he faced during his career. He was trained in Hoca
Ali Rıza school, and it is possible to say that artistically he surpassed his mas-
ter. Like many of his friends of the era, i.e. Çallı Generation painters -Turkish
impressionists- he often adopted an impressionist style with thick brush stro-
kes; and he preferred to work outdoors. So, he especially painted landscapes,
in which he included primarily the buildings. The use of human figures is rare.
Although he usually painted outside structures, there are interiors also. Whet-
her outdoors or indoors, for Laga the light is an important element. Details
in his paintings were softened by this light and impressionist brush strokes.
Both “Pleasure at Sadabad” and sample tableau of the Chlebowski's “Kağıthane”
are painted with little brush strokes like impressionist style. Therefore there
are no further details. Comparing to Chlebowski’s, Laga’s painting has more
impressionist brush strokes. Because he worked outdoors, the colors are bright
and lively. The viewpoint of the images, considering Sadabad’s plan, is through
Doğancılar Bridge (Damlı köprü) and Aziziye Mosque. The diagonal angle of
view increases depth, and also offers visual richness to the artist. So the pain-
ter, within the composition, sees the mosque, the bridge, and rest of the area.
People having fun give the atmosphere of Sadabad. Figures wear the vibrant
and stylish clothes of that period. Because Chlebowski adopts an observative
and realistic style, we might think that he made this painting outdoor in Sada-
bad. Laga must have seen and liked this picture, so he made a copy with almost
the same size. Although Laga was a painter who depicted what he saw, he made
fewer figures in his paintings. Because of being a military school trained mili-
tary painter, and having no academic education in the arts, like many soldier
artists, he might have avoided the use of much figures. The development of
figurative painting is relatively late in Turkish art, as it requires a certain acade-
mic training. Thus, “Pleasure at Sadabad” is remarkable because while it shows
a personal development in Laga’s impressionist style, has also many figures in
the composition. It is also interesting that he chose to copy this tableau.
Chlebowski, who came to Istanbul in 1864, left around 1875/76; he made
“Kağıthane” painting between 1865 and 1867. Laga, who lived between 1878
1117
Elvan TOPALLI
and 1947, certainly did not meet with Chlebowski. Between 1896 and 1898,
Mehmet Ali Laga attended the Military Academy (Harbiye) which was foun-
ded in 1862. He painted “Pleasure at Sadabad” in 1902. It is very likely that he
had seen the original painting while he was a student in Military Academy.
After taking a photo of the painting, by using the method of squaring, he might
have done his version. The time interval between the school days and comp-
letion of the painting shows that he had worked intermittently on the picture;
or that he decided to make such a table some time later. For this, he may have
benefited from the photos he had already, or he may have been inspired in one
of the visits to his school after graduating. On the other hand, Wendy Shaw
says that the paintings of Chlebowski, who was assigned to make pictures of
the great victories of Ottomans and of Abdülaziz’s visit to Paris Exhibition, had
been exhibited in the Military Academy; students benefitted from them in their
visual education; after a while those paintings were taken to St. Irene Church,
which served as a military museum open to the public.38 Chlebowski’s Kağıt-
hane painting should have been among those; and this strengthens our thesis
that Laga had seen that painting while he was a student.
Today, Laga’s “Pleasure at Sadabad” is in Istanbul Sakıp Sabancı Museum.
Chlebowski’s “Kağıthane” is in the Istanbul Military Museum. Conversations
with the experts at these museums unfortunately revealed no specific infor-
mation about those paintings’ stories before being obtained by the museums.
Istanbul St. Irene Church served as a military museum between 1846 and 1940.
The works exhibited here were moved to Maçka Armory in 1949; then to the
Gym of Harbiye Military Academy in 1959; in 1964 it was decided that the
whole Harbiye Academy buildings would be turned into Military Museum. The
Military Museum’s inventory records begin in 1950; according to the records,
Chlebowski’s painting came to the museum from the Palace, perhaps because
Chlebowski was Abdülaziz’s court painter. In addition to these, the Kağıthane/
Sadabad paintings of three painters (Thomas Allom, Stanislaw Chlebowski,
Mehmet Ali Laga) [Picture 1, 2, 3] have similar compositions39 and so it can
1118
A recently discovered painting of Mehmet Ali Laga
be said that these painters saw the paintings of each other. These paintings
also show the popularity of Sadabad in that period and so are documentative
examples for us.
Picture 1 - Mehmet Ali Laga, “Sadabad Sefası” (Pleasure at Sadabad), 1902 (1318), oil on canvas, 73 x
100 cm., Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM 200-0156) (by the permission of the Sakıp Sabancı Museum)
Picture 2 - Stanislaw Chlebowski, “Kağıthane” (Ottoman Life at Kağıthane), 1865-67, oil on canvas,
64 x 107 cm., İstanbul Military Museum (Env. No.420) (S.Germaner, Z.İnankur; Oryantalistlerin
İstanbulu, İstanbul 2002, 270;
or http://www.definesohbeti.com/osmanli-objeleri/osmanli-tablolari-1139.html)
1119
Elvan TOPALLI
Picture 3 - Thomas Allom, “Sweet Waters of Europe", published in Constantinople and the Scenery of
the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, about 1838. (Kamil Yavuz (ed.); Thomas Allom-Geçmişten Günü-
müze İstanbul-Gravürler, İstanbul (no date), 91; or
http://www.etsy.com/listing/108075063/constantinople-turkey-sweet-waters-of)
1120
TRANSGRESSION OF LΑW REGARDING
CHURCH-BUILDING (17 TH – 19 TH CENTURY):
THE CASE OF LESVOS
From the mid- 18th century onwards the mainstream church type built in the
Greek areas of the Ottoman Empire is the three-naved basilica. In Lesvos, in
particular, the three-naved basilica appears to be the dominant architectural
type from that period up to the beginning of the 20th century. Several churc-
hes were extant already in the 17th century, whereas epigraphic or other written
sources inform us that they were restored or even completely rebuilt in the 18th
or 19th century.
1121
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
1 Metropolitan bishopric of Mytilene: Eustratios Kolaxizelis, Θρῦλος καὶ ἱστορία τῆς Ἀγιά-
σου τῆς νήσου Λέσβου, Mytilene 1947-1953, 224; Ottoman documents of Panayia at
Ayiasos; Iakovos Kleombrotou, Mytilena Sacra, II, Thessaloniki 1974, 95-97 for Hagios
Demetrios at Agra, 158-159 for Church of Zoodochos Pigi at Vrisa, 270-271 for Ag-
ios Georgios at Loutra, 289-290 for Metamorphosi at Megalochori, 302-304 for Hagios
Ioannis at Megalochori, 349 for Koimisi (Dormition) at Mistegna, 362-363 for Hagios
Vasileios at Moria Mytilena Sacra, III, Thessaloniki 1976, 67 for Hagios Athanasios at
Mytilene, 201-202 for Hagios Georgios at Mytilene, 167-169 for Hagios Symeon at Myt-
ilene Mytilena Sacra, IV, Thessaloniki 1981, 50-51 for Hagios Ermolaos at Palaiokipos,
117-126 for Hagia Varvara of Pamphila, 153 for Taxiarches at Papados, 213-214 for Ha-
gios Vlasios at Plakados.
Metropolitan diocese of Methymna: Dionysios Minas, Δελτίον, Περιοδικό της Μητρο-
πόλεως Μηθύμνης, Καλλονή (ΔΙΜΜ) 7 (1935), 82-85 for the codices of Kalloni, ΔΙΜΜ
8 (1936), 1, pp. 28 documents of Hagia Paraskevi and annex pp. 21-23, 27-31, 50-52,
documents of Mantamados, ΔΙΜΜ 9 (1937), 17-19 documents of Mantamados, ΔΙΜΜ
10 (1938), p. 67 documents of Mantamados and p. 120 documents of Antissa, ΔΙΜΜ 11
(1939), pp. 17 documents of Antissa, pp. 35, 60-62, 79-86, 130 documents of Kleio, pp.
17-18 documents of Methymna, pp. 130-132 documents of Skalochori, ΔΙΜΜ 12 (1940),
pp. 70-71 documents of Skalochori, pp. 69-70 documents of Laphiona, pp. 71-72 docu-
ments of Stypsi and p. 119 documents of Pelopi, ΔΙΜΜ 13 (1941), pp. 23-24 documents
of Pelopi.
2 Η΄ Κώδικας Μητροπόλεως Μυτιλήνης [VIII Codex of Mytilene bishopric], f. 68, (prot.
no. 92), on 22-5-1906; in a letter from the Bishop of Mytilene Kyrillos Moumtzis to the
governor of the island Nusret Pasha, where it is mentioned that no permit is required for
1122
Transgression of law regarding church-building
relevant construction work was carried out “under the pretext of repair of an
existing building”3 and the permit was always issued on the basis of “the repair
being carried out according to the initial plan and dimensions of the building”.
In any other case, those responsible for the work faced penalties and the cons-
truction was demolished,4 unless a postdated verdict annulled the demolition
process. With the peace treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774 the Ottoman Empire
pledged not to obstruct the practicing of the Christian faith and not to inhibit
the repair of existing and the construction of new churches. However, it was
only after the Tanzimat, in the mid-19th century, that the official practice of
the Empire really changed. The laws of the Tanzimat5 defined that the applica-
tion for repair had to be submitted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and that the
entire procedure involved a testimony by architects who would examine the
building, a properly made plan and a budget.
In order to have a building permit issued, the person or communal body who
required it had to address a petition to the local kadi, who issued a first-degree
opinion written on a court document, usually a hüccet or an ilâm. The kadi (or
one of his deputies) went on the spot himself and measured the building to be
repaired with the architectural cubit (zirâ‘) in order to record its initial dimen-
sions and any other architectural particularity. The actual interference of the
city architect6 in this process was very rare in provincial centers, such as Lesvos.
1123
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
After this inspection the kadi7 was responsible for writing a preliminary report
to the central authority for the issuing of a final verdict, for which a şeyhülis-
lam was responsible and which had to be written in the form of a ferman. The
measurements of this report had to be included in the final permit and –theo-
retically- they secured that there would be no transgressions during the repair.
A fetva which attested to the existence of the church from older times giving
permit for its reconstruction aimed at the direct negotiation between the local
authorities (not the central administration) and the applicants. This negotiation
seems to have ceased after the Tanzimat, since, as we mentioned before, it was
now the Patriarchate8 which had to apply for the reconstruction permits, whe-
reas until then the role of the Patriarchate was simply that of an intermediary –
and this only in some cases. Furthermore, in Lesvos there seems to be a general
disregard of the requirement to attach detailed plans and budget to the petition.
The fermans allowing the repairs belonged to the type of emr-i şerif, i.e. the
“High Ordinances”; they bore the tuğra of the sultan, but not his signature.
They were written in a specific form, comprising the description of the buil-
ding, its dimensions (height, width, length), sometimes the number and type
of windows and doors, the roof, the floors, the tiling etc) as well as any exis-
ting annexes. It is always mentioned that the repair work should be carried out
according to the initial dimensions and plan of the building. Finally, the issuing
authority, the title of the judge, the date and the addressee are always mentioned
at the bottom. These fermans were addressed first to the local kadi, who registe-
red them. In cases where he would refuse to enact these permits, the petitioners
addressed the High Porte again and the kadi would receive a special order from
the central administration or the case had to be judged again.
The kadi of the broader administrative district, the sancak, constituted a
second-degree authority and his decisions were controlled by the şeyhülislam
as far as the building permits were concerned. The inhabitants of the Aegean
7 This process was known in Greek as “kesfion” (keşf) in the 18th century, but also as yokla-
ma, a later term referred to in the 19th century; in the documents, however, it is usually
referred to as teftiş (=research, investigation).
8 Charalambos Papastathıs, Οἱ κανονισμοί τῶν ὀρθοδόξων ἑλληνικῶν κοινοτήτων τοῦ ὀθω-
μανικοῦ κράτους καί τῆς διασποράς, Α, Νομοθετικές πηγές – Κανονισμοί Μακεδονίας,
Thessaloniki 1984, 22 §Δ, 23 §E. See Ioannis Chloros, «Τύπος αὐτοκρατορικού φιρμανί-
ου δι’ οἰκοδομὴν Ἐκκλησίας», Ἡμερολόγιον τῆς Ανατολής (1879), Constantinople 1878,
401-402. The issuing of a memorandum (takrir) by the Ecumenical Patriarchate formed
part of the process, particularly after the Tanzimat.
1124
Transgression of law regarding church-building
islands had the possibility to recur also to the Kapudan Pasha or the dragoman
of the fleet as a second-degree controlling authority.
After the conclusion of the repair works, an inspection had to be carried
out to establish whether the construction works were fully legal. The kadi, then,
escorted by witnesses, both Christian and Muslim, visited the building, took the
measurements again and issued the necessary certificate.
Case studies
Let us examine now three typical cases, where transgression of the initial plan
and dimensions is mentioned in both Christian and Ottoman sources.
1125
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
which a permit for restoration is given and the civil servants are no longer to
intervene”; however, their intervention carried on.12
On 10 February 1614 (end of Zilhicce 1022) the monks asked again for
a permit to reconstruct the katholikon, based on the older decisions and the
imperial decree.13 However, on 23 July (middle of Cemaziyülâhir 1023) of the
same year the matter of the reconstruction crops up again in a hüccet which
accorded the permission for restoration signed by Abdurrahman, following his
inspection. The hüccet mentions that the monks violated the law by exceeding
the old dimensions of the church. In that hüccet the dimensions of the church
according to the measurements by Abdurrahman were: 36 cubits in length, 24
in width and 7 in height. If one accepts that the architect’s cubit was 0.57 met-
res, the width of 24 cubits corresponds accurately to the eastern wall of the
church notwithstanding Hagios Charalambos’ chapel, i.e. 13.65 meters.14 The
height was probably measured in the middle of the eastern side from the bot-
tom to the molding of the roof, since it was at the northeastern corner that the
restoration was taking place.
The katholikon thus was enlarged to the southeast, with the construction
of the fountain, whereas the extension to the eastern side has to be correlated
to the increase in height, so that the building could be covered uniformly. It is
possible that the church was also expanded to the west, since the dimensions
mentioned on the fourth document are larger than those on the second one.15
12 Ibid, Φ. ΚΗ/72β and see Stavros Karidonis, Τα εν Καλλονή της Λέσβου ιερά Σταυρο-
πηγιακά πατριαρχικά μοναστήρια του Αγίου Ιγνατίου αρχιεπισκόπου Μηθύμνης,
Constantinople 1900, 103.
13 LMA, Φ. Λ/115β.
14 LMA, Φ. Λ/117.
15 In the 18th century 3 more hüccets were issued for restoration but no transgressions are
mentioned. For more details see Maria Tsitimaki, “Η αρχιτεκτονική του καθολικού της
Ιεράς Μονής Λειμώνος”, Apostolos Spanos – Athanasios Kalamatas (eds.), Ιερά Μονή
Λειμώνος Ιστορία, Παλαιογραφία, Τέχνη: Πρακτικά Συνεδρίου Μονή Λειμώνος, 27-30 Σε-
πτεμβρίου 2001, Athens 2009, 157-185.
1126
Transgression of law regarding church-building
1127
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
height was counted to the molding of the roof. This restoration phase is attested
by the dedicatory inscription and the codex of the church.
11 in height, whereas in the interior it was 15 cubits long, it had 14 columns, 25 iron-
barred windows (2.5 by 1.5 cubits each), 4 doors (3.5 by 3 cubits each). The length of the
main church was 25 cubits, the width 9 and the height in the central nave 12. The exte-
rior portico was 30 cubits long and 8 cubits wide, 8 cubits high (it is allowed to become
10 and the four sides of the roof to extend by 1 cubit at the molding).
23 Αρχείο Ι. Ν. Ζωοδόχου Πηγής Βρίσας [Zoodochou Pigis of Vrisa’s church archive], no. 3.
24 Ibid, no. 7.
25 ibid, no. 9.
26 Ibid, no. 10.
1128
Transgression of law regarding church-building
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Christian communities in principle transgressed the law
when they repaired or enlarged their churches without permits, often bribing
the other religious communities of the village or the Ottoman authorities.
The local authorities accorded repair permits only at the first degree, but
they did not forward these cases to the central administration, taking advantage
of their position. In any case they would have to issue first-instance decisions,
since there was a “void” in legislation, which did not press for an interruption
of the process until the issuing of a building permit. Circumventing this stan-
dard procedure had become a norm and constituted the focus of a judiciary
investigation in the Ottoman public service. A document from the Başbakanlık
archives dated in mid-May 1753 (middle of Receb 1166) orders an in situ inves-
tigation about this issue:
Order (Buyurultu) to the commander of the island (nazir) and the local judges
(kadis) for an in situ investigation at the island of Mytilene.
In the island of Mytilene, where Molyvos and Kalloni are situated, the old churc-
hes had been abandoned after the conquest, but they are being now repaired and
rebuilt without the order and wish of the sultan. Some powerful (Christians), aided
by state officials (ehl-i örf) give to the reaya the right to repair their churches in sec-
ret and without the sultan’s permit, and to perform their rituals and with this hor-
rible act to harm the Muslims.
The aforementioned clerk (mübaşir) must investigate openly or in secret and
perform autopsies and report the results of his investigation. He has to find out
in what condition these churches are, if they have been restored and to report the
truth and correctness of these things to all the inhabitants, the judges and the police
officers (zâbit).27
We do not know if the clerk actually carried out his inspection neither whet-
her the truth finally shined. But, reading all these in the documents and mea-
suring the exact size of the three-naved basilicas of Lesvos, one cannot help but
bring in mind the phrase of the contemporary to the events scholar Konsan-
tinos Koumas: “In no other period were there built in Turkey so many and so
sumptuous churches than in the days of Selim”.28
27 Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA), Bâb-ı Asafi Divan-ı Hümayun Sicilleri Cezâir ve
Rakka Ahkâm Defterleri (A.DVNS.AHK.CZRK.d) 2, without page number.
28 Christos Patrinelis, «Οι σχέσεις της Εκκλησίας με την οθωμανική πολιτεία», Ιστορία του
Ελληνικού Έθνους, vol. 11, Athens 1975, 123.
1129
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
1130
Transgression of law regarding church-building
Date of
No Location Church restau- Date of document Type of document Archives - sources
ration
Order for an inspec- Κavouras, 96-99 &
1-10-1806
9 Vafeios Hagia Paraskevi 1806 tion Church’s Archive,
(18 Receb 1221) no.2.
(ferman Selim III).
10-2-1722 Document of restora-
(23 Rebiülahir tion permit by a local
1134) authority.
end of October
1725 Restoration Permit
(ferman Ahmet III).
(mid-Safer 1138)
1725
9-12-1726 Order to apply the
(14 Rebiülahir restoration permits
Church’s Archive,
10 Vrisa Zoodochos Pigi 1139) (buyrultu).
22-10-1733 no.1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10.
Order for an inspec-
(13 Cumadiyülev- tion control of the
vel 1146) restoration (buyrultu).
1131
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
Date of
No Location Church restau- Date of document Type of document Archives - sources
ration
beginning of Karidonis, 152.
March 1601 Restoration Permit
1601 Leimonos Monas-
(end of Şaban (hüccet). tery Archives, Φ.
1009) Λ/91.
end of June1610
Restoration Permit
(beginning of (hüccet).
Rebiülahir 1019) Leimonos Monas-
mid-September tery Archives, Φ.
1610 Restoration Permit Λ/106, 107-108.
1610 (end of Cumadiüla- (hüccet).
hir 1019)
Karidonis, 103.
29-12-1611 Restoration Permit Leimonos Monas-
(23 Şevval 1020) (ferman Osman II). tery Archives, Φ.
ΚΗ/72b.
beginning of
February 1614 Restoration Permit
(end of Zilhica (hüccet).
1614 1022) Leimonos Monas-
Monastery of Taxi-
16 Κalloni end of July 1614 tery Archives,
archs (Leimonos)
Restoration Permit
(mid-Cumadiülahir (hüccet). Φ. Λ/115b, 117,
1023) Φ. ΛA/151.
17-9-1702
Restoration Permit
1702 (23 Rebiülevvel (hüccet).
1114)
Karidonis, 152.
1-9-1715 Restoration Permit Leimonos Monas-
1715
(2 Ramazan 1127) (hüccet). tery Archives,
Φ. ΛA/155.
Karidonis, 153.
4-11-1795
Restoration Permit Leimonos Monas-
(21 Rebiülahir (hüccet). tery Archives,
1210)
Φ. ΛA/172.
1795
Karidonis, 154.
13-4-1796 Inspection of restora- Leimonos Monas-
(5 Şevval 1210) tion (hüccet). tery Archives,
Φ. ΛA/171.
1132
Transgression of law regarding church-building
Date of
No Location Church restau- Date of document Type of document Archives - sources
ration
4-10-1792
Petition for restoration
(17 Muharrem permission (hüccet). Private collection,
17 Κleio Holy Trinity 1792 1207)
Church restorations no. 1, 2.
no date permit (hüccet) after
an order (buyrultu).
30-8-1658 Cells restorations
1658
(1 Zilhica 1068) permit (hüccet).
15-9-1660
Church restorations Leimonos Monas-
1660 (10 Muharrem permit (hüccet). tery Archives,
18 Μantamados Taxiarches 1071)
Φ. ΛA/129, 131,
mid-April {1752} 141.
Cells restorations
[1752] (end of Cumadiüla- permit (hüccet).
hir {1165})
mid-March 1712
Restoration Permit Church’s Archive,
(beginning of Safer (ferman Ahmet III). no.3.
1124)
mid-March 1722
Stergiellis, ΙΙ, 162 &.
(beginning of Restoration Permit
(ferman Ahmet III). Church’s Archive,
Cumadiülahir
Φ.4/46.
1134)
1726
end of August Stergiellis, ΙΙ, 162 &.
1726 Restoration Permit
(ferman Ahmet III). Church’s Archive,
(1 Muharrem 1139) Φ.4/38a.
end of December
Hagios Ioannis Stergiellis, ΙΙ, 163 &
19 Μegalochori 1726 Restoration Permit
Theologos Church’s Archive,
(end of Rebiülahir (ferman Ahmet III).
Φ.1/2.
1139)
Court order for Stergiellis, ΙΙ, 163 &
18-11-1759
1759 church’s restoration Church’s Archive,
(8 Rebiülahir 1173) (mürasele).
Φ.1/185.
Restoration permis- Stergiellis, ΙΙ, 164 &
20-9-1791
1791 sion by the Kadi of Church’s Archive,
(2 Safer 1206) Kalloni. Φ.1/200.
18-9-1795 Stergiellis, ΙΙ, 164 &
Restoration Permit
1795 (4 Rebiülevvel Church’s Archive,
(hüccet).
1210) Φ.3.
1133
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
Date of
No Location Church restau- Date of document Type of document Archives - sources
ration
Restoration permis- Leimonos Monas-
20 Μethymna Taxiarchs (1795) no date sion by the Kadi of tery Archives,
Μethymna (Ilâm) Φ.ΛΣΤ/ 360.
end of June 1859 Diocese of
Restoration Permit Mytilene Char-
21 Μytilene Hagios Therapon* 1859 (end of Zilkadeü (ferman Abdulmecid). ity Institutions
1275) Archive, no.1.
16-12-1887
BOA, (Kilise Defteri
22 Petra Hagios Georgios 1887 (30 Rebiülevvel Restoration Permit.
3, no.19, p. 8).
1305)
mid-November
Dormition of the 1839 Restoration Permit
23 Petra 1839 Samaras, 210-211.
Theotokos (beginning of (ferman Abdulmecid).
Ramazan 1255)
16-6-1886 BOA, (Kilise Defteri
24 Plagia Holy Trinity 1886 Restoration Permit.
(14 Ramazan 1303) 2, no.493, p. 215).
mid-November
1839 Restoration Permit
(beginning of (ferman Abdulmecid).
Church’s Archive,
25 Plakados Hagios Vlasios 1840 Ramazan 1255)
26 {Octomber} no. 1, 2.
Order to apply the
1840 restoration permits
(29 {Şaban} 1256) (buyrultu)
16-6-1881 BOA, (Kilise Defteri
Restoration Permit.
(18 Receb 1298) 2, no.345, p. 145).
Dormition of the
26 Skoutaros 1881 Copy of restoration
Theotokos
no date permit, (ferman Abdül- Church’s Archive.
hamid II).
Taxiarches 26-3-1899 BOA, (Kilise Defteri
27 Taxiarches * 1899 Restoration Permit.
(Κayan) (14 Zilkade 1316) 3, no.646, p. 258).
20-4-1896 BOA, (Kilise Defteri
28 Trigonas Hagios Antonios 1897 Restoration Permit.
(7 Zilkade 1313) 3, no.178, p. 425).
9-10/11/1851
Church Fathers, Restoration Permit Diocese of Myt-
30 Ano Halikas 1851 (mid-Muharrem
(Hagios Demetrios) (ferman Abdülmecid). ilene Archives.
1268)
Dormition of the 4-3-1898 BOA, (Kilise Defteri
31 Hidira 1898 Restoration Permit.
Theotokos (10 Şevval 1315) 3, no.596, p. 235).
1134
Transgression of law regarding church-building
NOTE: The documents are dated according to the Islamic calendar (Hijri) and their transfer
to the Julian calendar was able through the program COMPUTUS Calendar Conversion
Dr. Gerhard Behrens, Munich 1992. With an asterisk (*) are marked domes churches and
within square brackets are mentioned possible datings.
Abbreviations:
Αρχείο Φιλ. Κατ. Μυτιλήνης: Αρχείο Φιλανθρωπικών Καταστημάτων Μυτιλήνης [Archive
of the Charity Institutions of Mytilene]
BOA, Kilise Defteri: Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, Kilise Defteri
Kavouras: Manolis Kavouras, «Ένα Σουλτανικό φιρμάνι του 1806» [A sultanic verdict of
1806], Λεσβιακά Γ (1959), 96-99.
Karidonis: Stavros Karidonis, Τά ἐν Καλλονῇ τῆς Λέσβου ἱερά Σταυροπηγιακά Πατριαρχικά
Μοναστήρια τοῦ Ἁγίου Ἰγνατίου [Ecumenical Patriarchal Monasteries in Kalloni, Lesvos,
by the Archibishop of Methymna Saint Ignatios], Constantinople 1900.
Kolaxizelis: Efstratios Kolaxizelis, Θρῦλος καὶ ἱστορία τῆς Ἀγιάσου τῆς νήσου Λέσβου [Legent
and history of Agiasos in the island of Lesvos], Mytilene 1947-1953.
Paraskevaidis: Christos Paraskevaidis, Η παλαιά Αγ. Παρασκευή Λέσβου, ιστορικά,
γενεαλογικά και λαογραφικά ανάλεκτα [The old St. Paraskevi church in Lesvos], Ath-
ens 1991.
Samaras: Panagiotis Samaras, «Ανέκδοτα έγγραφα τουρκοκρατίας» [Unpublished docu-
ments of the Ottoman era], Λεσβιακά, Ζ (1978), 210-211.
Stergiellis: Aristeidis Stergiellis, Τα λυτά έγγραφα του αρχείου Χώρας Πλωμαρίου [Docu-
ments of the Chora Plomariou archive], I, Athens 1998, ΙΙ, Athens 2001.
1135
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
FIGURES
On the left side of the page are depicted: in bold lines the ground floor plan,
part of the cross section at the sanctuary and the eastern façade in the 16th cen-
tury; in a thinner line are depicted the same parts in the 18th century. It is evi-
1136
Transgression of law regarding church-building
dent that the 18th century building was much larger and taller than the initial
one. On the right side of the page is depicted: in red colour the grid in Ottoman
cubits, the ground floor plan, part of the section at the sanctuary and the east
facade in the 17th century. It is evident that already in that phase the building
exceeded the initial dimensions, apparently a result of transgression of the per-
missions, whereas in the same period two more chapels were added at the sout-
hern part of the katholikon.
1137
Maria TSITIMAKI – S. Mohammad T. SHARIAT-PANAHI
New Trends
in Ottoman Studies
at the 20th CIÉPO Symposium
Rethymno, 27 June – 1 July 2012
Editor-in-chief:
Marinos Sariyannis
Editors:
Gülsün Aksoy-Aivali, Marina Demetriadou,
Yannis Spyropoulos, Katerina Stathi, Yorgos Vidras
Consulting editors:
Antonis Anastasopoulos, Elias Kolovos Cover photo:
Giorgos Benakis
(knocker, 10, P. Koronaiou Str.,
Back cover photo: Rethymno)
Joshua M. White
University of Crete – Department of History and Archaeology Back cover photo:
Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas – Institute for Mediterranean Studies Joshua M. White
ISBN 978-960-93-6188-0