Education in The Ottoman Empire

06/04/2024, 14:02 Education in the Ottoman Empire - Wikipedia
Education in the Ottoman Empire

In the Ottoman Empire each, and every millet (religious group)
established a schooling system serving its members.[1]
Education, therefore, was largely divided on ethnic and
religious lines: few non-Muslims attended schools for Muslim
students and vice versa. Most institutions that did serve all
ethnic and religious groups taught in French or in other
languages.[2]
Education stages Beyazıt State Library was founded

in 1884.
The first stage of elementary education and teaching in the
Ottoman Empire has been called as Sibyan Schools (Sibyan
Mektepleri). The education system of Ottomans founded on Sıbyan Schools. Sibyan Schools was
the first and the last school for many Ottoman citizens.
Education of Muslims
The Ottoman Empire had
traditional Islamic-style
schooling.[5] The primary
schools were mekteps
and secondary schools
were medreses. Many
such schools were within
mosques;[6] accordingly Istanbul University is the oldest
the operators of the university in Turkey. In Ottoman
mosques served as the times Western sources called it the
Girl Reciting the Qurān (Kuran Okuyan
headmasters of the "University of Constantinople".[4]
Kız), an 1880 painting by the Ottoman
mekteps. [7]
polymath Osman Hamdi Bey, whose
works often showed women engaged
in educational activities.[3] Mekteps were
coeducational and often
charged a nominal fee,[5]
although some provided free meals and clothing.[8] Lucy
Garnett stated in the 1904 book Turkish Life in Town and Istanbul High School (Istanbul Erkek
Country that even though introductory reading and writing Lisesi in Turkish) was founded in
units had been recently introduced, "instruction given in [the 1886.
schools] is chiefly of a religious character". [7] According to
Garnett, due to the early establishments of the mekteps and
their social welfare programmes, "There is perhaps no country in Europe in which primary
education was provided for at so early a date as in Turkey, or so many inducements held out to
poor parents to allow their children to participate in its benefits".[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Ottoman_Empire#:~:text=The Ottoman Empire had traditional,the headmasters of the mekteps. 1/6

Medreses historically were funded by sultans,[9] and language and Islamic courses formed the
curriculum. The graduates of medreses served as the educated classes and worked in government
and religious services.[10] In 1904 each provincial town had at least one medrese and Istanbul had
over 100 of them.[11] According to Garnett, the medreses "resemble in some respects the
universities of Western Europe as they existed in mediæval days".[7] Garnett concluded that "it
cannot be denied that [the medreses] have done good service in their time" due to the prominent
graduates they had.[10] By 1904 the endowments, facilities, and welfare benefits of the medreses
were in decline,[11] and their importance was in decline.[12]
In addition, by 1904 the empire had established Western-style schools.[5] Mahmud II created the
rüşdiye schools,[2] which admitted boys,[13] were Turkish medium, and which educated students
across various Muslim groups; very few non-Muslim students attended the schools and authorities
did not make plans to build such schools in areas populated by Arabs.[2] Located in major cities,
they were supported by government money. The courses included the geography and history of the
empire, reading and writing, and arithmetic.[13] The schools thereafter increased Turkish
comprehension of Bosnians and Cretans, and Albanians and Kurds received increased Turkish
instruction during the rule of Abdul Hamid II. There were also Turkish-medium schools for
children of civil service employees located in Arab cities.[2] The modern-style secondary schools,
serving boys and preparing students for western-style secondary/higher education, were called
Idadiyeh. Garnett stated that as of 1904 they were "very inadequate in number".[14]
Garnett wrote that elite Turkish boys often studied abroad in France and England, but that elite
girls at adolescence rarely did as they would have had to have been accompanied by a female
relative or minder and observe harem rules; she stated that governesses from England, France,
Germany, and elsewhere in Europe taught girls from the elite while they resided at home.[15]
Garnett stated that the Ottomans were adding more schools for working and middle class Turkish
girls but that "equipment" was often not sufficient and there were still not enough of them.[15] For
primary schools, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) passed a law in 1913 which made
primary education mandatory and free of charges in the whole Ottoman Empire, while limiting the
class size to lower than fifty students.[16] The aim of the law was to prepare the pupils for
secondary education. [16]
Education of non-Muslims
Several "foreign schools" (Frerler mektebleri) operated by
religious clergy primarily served non-Muslims, although some
Muslim students attended.[17]
Johann Strauss, author of "Language and power in the late

Ottoman Empire," stated that "a common schooling system"
for all religious and ethnic groups never occurred, partly
because members of non-Muslim groups resisted learning
Turkish, and not due to an inability to learn Turkish; the Phanar Greek Orthodox College is a
Greek minority school was founded
schools for non-Muslims focused on promotion of ethnic
in Ottoman Empire in 1454. It is the
languages.[2]
oldest surviving and most
prestigious Greek Orthodox school
Garnett described the schools for Christians and Jews as
in Istanbul, Turkey
"organised upon European models", with donations supporting
their operation and most of them being "well attended" and
with "a high standard of education".[15]
School statistics
The U.S. Commissioner of Education published a report stating
that in 1908 there were approximately 12,077 schools in the
Ottoman Empire. It stated in 1910 there were an estimated
1,331,200 students enrolled in 36,230 schools in the Ottoman
Girls in the Euphrates College of
Kharpoot (1873)
Empire; the students were about 5.3% of the total Ottoman
population. In regards to the figures the report stated that
there "may be an exaggeration, although it is known that
schools have multiplied during the past few years, especially in cities and towns."[18]
In 1909, in Istanbul there were 626 primary schools and 12 secondary schools. Of the primary
schools, 561 were of the lower grade and 65 were of the higher grade; of the latter, 34 were public
and 31 were private. There was one secondary college and eleven secondary preparatory
schools.[18]
Tertiary education
The late Ottoman Empire modelled its public university system
after the Grandes Ecoles of France; it came into being in the
late 1800s, with the first institution being the Darülfünun-ı
şahane, now Istanbul University. Johann Strauss stated that
the Ottoman Empire established its university system later
than Austria-Hungary and Russia had.[19]
In 1827, Sultan Mahmud II established the Imperial School of

Medicine, a military medical school. In 1867 the Civilian Kuleli Military High School in
Istanbul near the Bosporus.
Medical School began operation, and the two merged into a
single medical school in 1909.[20]
Another medical school, which was

French-medium, was Beirut's Faculté
Française de Médecine de Beyrouth.
The Turkish-medium Şam Mekteb-i
tıbbiyye-i mulkiyye-i şahane in
Damascus acquired books written in
French and enacted French Haydarpaşa campus of Marmara University, originally the Imperial
College of Medicine (Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane), Istanbul.
proficiency tests.[21] In 1880 the dual
Ottoman Turkish and French-
medium law school, Mekteb-i Hukuk, was established.[19]
Around 1859 the Ottoman Turkish-medium School of Administration (Mekteb-i mülkiyye-i

şahane) was established. Strauss stated that it helped build the elite of Arab and Albanian areas
within the Ottoman Empire and post-Ottoman countries. The school had a significant number of
Armenian and Greek faculty and students even though Ottoman Turkish was the educational
medium.[22] In 1880, the dual Ottoman Turkish and French-medium law school, Mekteb-i Hukuk,
was established.[19]

Other medical schools included Faculté Française de Médecine de Beyrouth in Beirut and Şam
Mekteb-i tıbbiyye-i mulkiyye-i şahane in Damascus; they were French-medium and Ottoman
Turkish-medium, respectively. The latter acquired books written in Ottoman Turkish and French
and enacted French proficiency tests.[21]
In addition foreign entities established Robert College in Istanbul as well as Saint Joseph
University and Syrian Protestant College (now American University of Beirut) in Beirut.[19]
A number of Ottomans studied abroad in Europe.[23]
Educational institutions
Tertiary institutions:
Anatolia College in Merzifon (tertiary component)

Imperial School of Medicine
Imperial School of Naval Engineering (Ottoman Turkish: Ottoman Turkish: Mühendishane-i
Bahr-i Hümayun), now Istanbul Technical University
Sanasarian College in Erzerum
References
Strauss, Johann (2016-07-07). "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire". In Murphey,
Rhoads (ed.). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the
Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge. ISBN 9781317118459.
Strauss, Johann. "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire" (Chapter 7). In: Murphey,
Rhoads (editor). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the
Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule (Volume 18 of Birmingham Byzantine and
Ottoman Studies). Routledge, 7 July 2016. ISBN 1317118448, 9781317118442.
Notes
1. Strauss, ISBN 1317118448, 9781317118442. Google Books PT194 (https://books.google.com/
books?id=gY-kDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT194)-PT195 (https://books.google.com/books?id=gY-kDAA
AQBAJ&pg=PT195).
2. Strauss, ISBN 1317118448, 9781317118442. Google Books PT195 (https://books.google.com/
books?id=gY-kDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT195).
3. "Artist Feature: Who Was Osman Hamdi Bey?" (http://www.howtotalkaboutarthistory.com/artist-
feature/artist-feature-osman-hamdi-bey/). How To Talk About Art History. 27 April 2017.
Retrieved 13 June 2018.
4. Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 79. American Medical Association, 1922.
p. 646 (https://books.google.com/books?id=XZ8hAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA646)
5. Garnett, Lucy Mary Jane. Turkish Life in Town and Country. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1904. p. 196
(https://archive.org/details/turkishlifeinto00garngoog/page/n247).
6. Gamm, Niki (2013-10-12). "Istanbul's schools under the Ottomans" (http://www.hurriyetdailyne
ws.com/istanbuls-schools-under-the-ottomans-56102). Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved
2019-06-02.

(https://archive.org/details/turkishlifeinto00garngoog/page/n250)-199 (https://archive.org/detail
s/turkishlifeinto00garngoog/page/n251).
16. Üngör, Ugur Ümit (March 2012). The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern
Anatolia, 1913-1950 (https://books.google.com/books?id=WvqDzoUmjvgC&dq=%C3%9Cng%
C3%B6r%2C+U%C4%9Fur+%C3%9Cmit+%282012%29.+The+Making+of+Modern+Turkey%
3A+Nation+and+State+in+Eastern+Anatolia%2C+1913-1950.+Oxford+University+Press.+ISB
N+978-0-19-965522-9.&pg=PR4). OUP Oxford. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-19-965522-9.
17. Strauss, ISBN 1317118456, 9781317118459, p. 139 (https://books.google.com/books?id=XI-k
DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA139).
18. "Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year Ended June 30, 1912." Whole Number
525. Volume 1. Washington Government Printing Office, 1913. In: Congressional Edition,
Volume 6410. United States Government Publishing Office, 1913. p. 570 (https://books.google.
com/books?id=ONlGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA570).
19. Murphey, Rhoads (2016). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean:
Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=gY-kDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT197). Routledge. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-317-11844-2.
20. Trompoukis, Constantinos; Lascaratos, John (2003). "Greek Professors of the Medical School
of Constantinople during a Period of Reformation (1839–76)". Journal of Medical Biography. 11
(4): 226–231. doi:10.1177/096777200301100411 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F09677720030110
0411). PMID 14562157 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14562157). S2CID 11201905 (https://
api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:11201905). - First published November 1, 2003. - Cited: p.
226 (PDF p. 1/5).
21. Murphey, Rhoads (7 July 2016). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean:
22. Murphey, Rhoads (2016). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean:
23. "Les etudiants ottomans en Europe" (https://archives.saltresearch.org/bitstream/123456789/12
9372/149/PFSIF9180214B001.jpg). Servet-i Funoun Partie Français (in French) (1380): 3 (http
s://archives.saltresearch.org/bitstream/123456789/129372/151/PFSIF9180214B003.jpg).
1918-02-14.
External links
Gelişli, Yucel (April 2004). "Education of women from the Ottoman Empire to modern Turkey".
SEER: Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe. 7 (4, The industrial perspective
of the Balkans). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH: 121–135. JSTOR 43293079 (https://www.jst

or.org/stable/43293079).
Özcan, Ruhi (Seljuk University Faculty of Education) (2015). "Ottoman family and child
education (1300-1600)" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.sbspro.2015.01.811). Procedia - Social
and Behavioral Sciences. 174 (174): 1606–1613. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.811 (https://doi.
org/10.1016%2Fj.sbspro.2015.01.811).
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06/04/2024, 14:02 Education in the Ottoman Empire - Wikipedia

Education stages Beyazıt State Library was founded

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Ottoman_Empire#:~:text=The Ottoman Empire had traditional,the headmasters of the mekteps. 1/6

Johann Strauss, author of "Language and power in the late

with "a high standard of education".[15]

In 1827, Sultan Mahmud II established the Imperial School of

Another medical school, which was

Around 1859 the Ottoman Turkish-medium School of Administration (Mekteb-i mülkiyye-i

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Ottoman_Empire#:~:text=The Ottoman Empire had traditional,the headmasters of the mekteps. 3/6

A number of Ottomans studied abroad in Europe.[23]

Anatolia College in Merzifon (tertiary component)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Ottoman_Empire#:~:text=The Ottoman Empire had traditional,the headmasters of the mekteps. 4/6

of the Balkans). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH: 121–135. JSTOR 43293079 (https://www.jst

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Education_in_the_Ottoman_Empire&oldid=1216484987"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Ottoman_Empire#:~:text=The Ottoman Empire had traditional,the headmasters of the mekteps. 6/6

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