Early modern Ottoman History

This study concerns itself with the first Imperial Envoy Gerard Veltwijck (ca. 1500—1555), who negotiated with the Ottoman Sultan Süleymān. Using newly discovered as well as recently published sources, it will focus on the part this diplomat of Charles V played in the negotiations with the Sublime Porte and on the considerable problems the French King and his representatives in Istanbul experienced during the talks. The Most Christian King thus became a victim of his ambivalent foreign policy while his alliance with the Sultan experienced a severe crisis. Finally, this study tries to demonstrate the impact of a diplomatic sojourn in the Levant for the envoy, as such a mission was very often followed by a considerable and far from only financial reward.

The First of the Modern Ottomans blends biography with intellectual history. On the one hand, it is the story of an Ottoman life – the life of the scribe, ambassador, and prolific historian Ahmed Vâsıf (ca. 1735-1806), a man who improbably rose from obscurity in Baghdad to travel the empire, fight its wars, advise its sultans, and, in time, write its history. As a full-scale biography, the book is a rarity for the field of Ottoman history and reconstructs Vâsıf’s life, career, and opinions through meticulous research in both Ottoman and European sources. On the other hand, The First of the Modern Ottomans is also one of the first detailed intellectual studies of the early modern Ottoman Empire. Weaving together Vâsıf’s life and thought with the larger intellectual currents of the day – especially at the court of Sultan Selim III in Istanbul – it explores central debates among the Ottoman ruling elite over Europe, political reform, war and peace, justice, and the empire’s renewal. Vâsıf’s life reveals a vital response to the empire’s challenges at the turn of the nineteenth century – one that was novel and deeply enmeshed in Islamic philosophy, ethics, and statecraft.

A 2017 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

In this volume, Elisabeth Fraser shows that artists and the works they created in the Mediterranean during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were informed by mutual dependence and reciprocity between European nations and the Ottoman Empire. Her rich exploration of this vibrant cross-cultural exchange challenges the dominant interpretation of European relations with the East during the period, revealing a shared world of fluid and long-sustained interactions.

Voyagers to and from the Ottoman Empire documented their journeys in prints, paintings, and lavishly illustrated travelogues; many of these helped define Europe’s self-identified role as heir to Ottoman civilizations and bolstered its presence in the Islamic Mediterranean and beyond. Fraser finds that these works illuminate not only how travelers’ experiences abroad were more nuanced than the expansionist ideology with which they became associated, but also how these narratives depicted the vitality of Ottoman culture and served as extensions of Ottoman diplomacy. Ottomans were aware of and responded to European representations, using them to defend Ottoman culture and sovereignty. In embracing the art of both cultures and setting these works in a broader context, Fraser challenges the dominant historiographical tradition that sees Ottoman artists adopting European modes of art in a one-sided process of “Europeanization.”

Theoretically informed and rigorously researched, this cross-cultural approach to European and Ottoman art sheds much-needed critical light on the widely disseminated travel images of the era—important cultural artifacts in their own right—and provides a fresh and inviting understanding of the relationships among cultures in the Mediterranean during an era of increasing European expansionism.
ISBN: 978-0-271-07320-0

First and foremost purpose of this study, is to prove that most of
Albanian population has been converted to orthodox rite and has changed names to Greek-Byzantine Christian. Smaller part of this population has managed to keep their Catholic rite and to keep names of Latin-Roman rites, (following the division of churches into the Eastern and Wester Church, in 1054). Following the invasion of land by Medieval Kingdom of Bulgaria, mainly inhibited by Albanians, and during its rule (850-1018), which had only two decads of interruptions, for around one and a half century, we notice some traces of first lingual stratums of Slav onomastic in Albanian lands. This stratums of Slavicizing of pre-Slavic onomastics towards: Albanian , Latin-Roman, Greek-Byzantine etc. have continued with even higher intensity during Slav-Serb rule (XIII-XIV). During this period Albanian and Vlachian population have converted to orthodox (orthodoxpravoslav) rite and have been given typical Slav names, while Albanian toponyms, more concretely names of settlements have been Slavicized.Only a part smal number of Albanian population of Catholic rite although being given Slav names have managed to keep characteristics and traditional medieval patronyms in Albanian forms. These head of the families onomastically seem from Slav- Serbian origin, but in linguisticethnic aspect, they were Albanians not Slavs.
Process of Slavicization of Albanian population anthroponomy has
been organized and performed by medieval Slav administration and its
church, in a violent manner even through their stigmatization; they have
punished everyone who has resisted accepting Orthodox faith of Pravoslav rite. While process of Islamization of Albanian population and change of names into Islamic names has not been done violently as it was the case with Orthodox rite, but through political methods and luring promises: political privileges, appointments in the decision making positions in civil and army administra- tion as well as the offer to grant to all those who accept this equal status in the society as the one of the ruling class, Ottoman army,for those who convert to Islam and who support new Ottman nomocracy.

OSMANLI İMPARATORLUĞU’NUN TOPLUMSAL YAPISI ÜZERİNE: PARADİGMALAR VE ARAŞTIRMALAR [“On the Social Structure of the Ottoman Empire: Paradigms and Research,” From Empire to Republic: Essays on Ottoman and Turkish Social History, Isis Press, 1995, 17-60.]

OSMANLI MİLLETLERİ ÜZERİNE ARŞİV BELGELERİ [“Ottoman Archival Materials on Millets,” Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, I, ed. B. Braude ve B. Lewis, New York 1981, 437-49.]

OSMANLI İMPARATORLUĞU’NDA SEFARAD YAHUDİLERİ [“Sephardic Jews in the Ottoman Empire,” Sefarad Yahudileri Konferansı’nda sunulan bildiri, İstanbul, 4 Haziran 1992.]

AVRUPA İLE ORTADOĞU ARASINDA TÜRKİYE [“Turkey Between Europe and the Middle East,” Foreign Policy, VIII, 3/4 (1980), 7-31.]

HİLAFET VE ATATÜRK İNKILABI [“The Caliphate and Atatürk’s İnkilab,” Belleten, XLVI/182 (1982), 353-365.]

Öz: Çaldıran Savaşı'ndan kısa bir süre sonra Osmanlı hâkimiyetine giren Varto bölgesi, Hınıs ve Handırıs ile birlikte Bitlis sancağına bağlandı. 1540 yılına kadar Bitlis sancağına bağlı kalan Varto, Erzurum eyaletinin teşkili ve Hınıs'ın buraya tabi bir sancak haline getirilmesinden sonra Hınıs'ın bir nahiyesi haline getirildi. Varto'nun Hınıs'ın nahiyesi olarak idari teşkilattaki varlığı 19. yüzyıl ortasına kadar devam etti. 19. yüzyıl ortalarında Muş'a bağlanan Varto, önce nahiye daha sonra kaza olarak idare edildi. Bu çalışmada, günümüzde Muş'a bağlı bir ilçe merkezi olan Varto'nun 17. yüzyıl ortalarındaki idarî, sosyal, yerleşim, nüfus ve aşiret yapısı dört avârız defterine (1642, 1643, 1645 ve 1650) göre incelenmiştir. 17. yüzyılda Varto'da kaç köy olduğu, bu köylerde kimlerin veya hangi aşiretlerin yaşadığı, devlet merkezine ne kadar vergi verdikleri sorularına cevap aranmıştır. Ayrıca 16. yüzyıla ait tahrir defteri verileri kullanılarak iki yüzyıl arasında karşılaştırmalar da yapılmıştır.
Abstract: The Varto region, which came under Ottoman rule shortly after the Battle of Çaldıran, was connected to the sanjak of Bitlis with Hınıs and Handırıs. Varto, which remained under the sanjak of Bitlis until 1540, was transformed into a sub-district of Hınıs after the formation of the province of Erzurum and the transformation of Hınıs into a sanjak of it. Varto's presence in the administrative organization as the sub-district of Hınıs continued until the mid-19 th century. Being connected to Mush in the mid-19 th century, Varto was first ruled as a sub-district and then as a district. In this study, the mid-17 th century administrative, social, settlement, population and tribal structure of Varto, which is currently a central district of Mush, was examined according to four avârız registers (1642, 1643, 1645 and 1650). Answers for the questions "How many villages were there in Varto in the 17 th century?", "Who or what tribes lived in these villages?", and "How much tax did they pay the state center?" were sought. In addition, comparisons were made between the 16th and 17 th centuries by using the 16 th century tahrir registers data.

In the tenth/sixteenth century six treatises on physiognomy (ʿilm-i firāsat)—a science widely considered able to predict inner moral dispositions (aḫlāq-i bāṭina) based on external appearances (aḥwāl-i ẓāhira)—were written for the Ottoman court. In a world in which statecraft and politics were ultimately based on questions of morality (aḫlāq), physiognomy was presented as a particularly useful skill for the Ottoman court due to its ability to evaluate inner moral character with scientific precision. Based on such knowledge, a partial conception of justice could be implemented with an instrumental coating of impartiality. Moreover, men with prized moral qualities could be selected for the ruling elite. The science also offered the sultan and his court a modus operandi for attaining self-knowledge and, if combined with moral self-disciplining (riyāḍat), a way to acquire divine characteristics.

Although European travelers to the Ottoman Empire often noted the inhabitants’ “fatalism,” historians have never seriously examined this intellectual phenomenon. Whether or not we can credit such sources, the testimony of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Turkish and Arabic sources points to a robust debate over fate, free will, and predestination. What were the reasons behind these discussions? What issues were at stake? This article outlines the context and content of the debate. It then offers some observations about the wider significance of free will and predestination in the Ottoman intellectual universe – particularly their relation to early modern bureaucratic and military reform.

Collection of essays edited and introduced jointly with Andreas Puth. The papers examine the historical, cultural, religious and artistic impact exerted by the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into South East and East Central Europe from the fourteenth century onwards, offering perspectives taken by external viewers as well as analyses of the conditions developing under Ottoman rule or experiences and insights gained from immediate observations and encounters at the Sublime Porte.



Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag 2014

Dalam tradisi Islam, ada sejarah singkat terjadinya polarisasi pengertian tradisional ʿilm, 'pengetahuan', bergeser menjadi ʿilm yang merujuk sains dan dīn, 'agama'. Munculnya konflik antara 'ilm dan dīn dapat ditelusuri kembali pada awal-awal dekade dalam abad ke-19; namun begitu, intensitas perdebatan terkait polarisasinya dimulai di kemudian waktu, di abad yang sama. Secara umum, lahirnya konflik dalam mengartikan 'ilm muncul setelah masuknya pengaruh ide-ide abad Pencerahan Eropa dan lahirnya karya "tesis konflik", JW Draper dan AD White, pada khususnya. Para akademisi Arab dan Ottoman menyambut gembira lahirnya karya Draper yang menyatakan bahwa Islam memelihara dan mengembangkan sains, berbeda dengan Kristen. Tesis Driper selalu dirujuk sebagai bukti keunggulan Islam atas Kristen, mereka mengacu tesis konflik itu sejauh untuk memperbandingkannya dengan Kristen dan menilai hal itu sebagai hasil dari praktik represif Gereja. Pada pertengahan abad ke-20, muncul adaptasi baru tesis konflik, dengan diketemukannya polarisasi sains secara tradisional menurut Islam dengan membedakannya ke dalam rasional (ʿaqlī) dan yang ditransmisikan (naqlī). Bab ini membahas terjadinya polarisasi ʿilm menjadi sains dan agama dalam dunia Islam yang terjadi pada abad ke-19, dengan maksud untuk menunjukkan, pertama, memang ada pergeseran pemaknaan dalam sumber-sumber klasik Islam, yaitu sebelum abad ke-19 yang mengklasifikasikan sains menjadi (i) yang berdasar akal dan (ii) yang ditransmisikan, dan, kedua, menelaahnya dalam cara yang berbeda, dengan mengambil titik anjak cara pandang Arab-Islam. Dapat dikatakan bahwa pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang diajukan terkait munculnya polarisasi dalam Islam, utamanya bukan behubungan dengan perkembangan kesejarahannya dan bukan dimaksudkan untuk menghilangkan panduan moral dari lembaga-lembaga "saintifik"-nya, melainkan disebabkan pendekatan Islam terhadap sains yang skizofrenik ketika dihadapkan pada modernitas dan pondasi humanistiknya.

Za vrijeme osmanske vlasti u Slavoniji (1526.-1691.) ta je pokrajina bila rijetko naseljeno i izrazito šumovito područje ; može se pretpostaviti da je više od 70% Slavonije u to vrijeme bilo prekriveno šumom. Blizina habsburško-osmanske granice utjecala je na to da je iskorištavanje slavonskih šuma uvelike bilo usmjereno prema vojnim logističkim potrebama (izgradnja, opskrba i održavanje fortifikacija, korištenje drva za ogrjev, za proizvodnju ratne opreme, mostova, pontona, brodovlja itd.). Pored toga, osmanska je vlast upošljavala civilno stanovništvo na krčenju šuma uokolo prometnica i poticala ga na čišćenje zapuštenih zemljišta. Vlasti nisu zabranjivale civilnom stanovništvu da krči šume za svoje potrebe čak ni na državnim posjedima. Cilj takve politike bilo je proširivanje obradivih zemljišta, a samim time i povećanje državnih prihoda od poreza na gospodarske djelatnosti. Koliko je poznato, takva djelomično nekontrolirana eksploatacija šuma nije imala negativan utjecaj na stanje slavonskoga šumskog fonda i nije ostavila ikakve trajne posljedice. Ako se izuzme stanje šuma u Slavoniji na početku i na kraju osmanske vlasti, kada je došlo do zapuštanja obradivih zemljišta i posljedičnog širenja šumskih područja, može se zaključiti da je slavonski šumski fond tijekom osmanske vladavine ostao nepromijenjen i da nije bilo prekomjernog iskorištavanja šuma. Ako se usporedi slavonsku situaciju sa stanjem drugdje u Osmanskom Carstvu u navedeno vrijeme, može se zaključiti da osmanska vlast nije provodila nekakvu posebnu ili drugačiju politiku spram slavonskoga šumskog fonda. Naime, sve navedene slavonske karakteristike (dopuštanje i poticanje krčenja šuma, postojanje derbendžija i mostara djelomično oslobođenih od poreza itd.) mogu se pronaći kako u susjednim sandžacima na prostoru današnje Bosne i Hercegovine i Srbije, tako i u drugim udaljenijim pokrajinama Carstva. Druga usporedba koja se može napraviti glede iskorištavanja šuma nije primjenjiva na primjeru Slavonije: budući da je osmanska vlast u Slavoniji potrajala tek do kraja 17. stoljeća, dakle mnogo prije nego što su u Osmanskom Carstvu uvedeni zakoni o zaštiti šuma, nije moguće analizirati kakva bi bila reakcija osmanskih vlastodržaca na pojavu negativne eksploatacije šuma, što je bio slučaj s nekim drugim osmanskim provincijama u 18. i 19. stoljeću.

Bu eserde Fatih Sultan Mehmed’in bugüne kadar hiç yazılmamış hayat hikâyesini okuyacaksınız. Başarıları yanında başarısızlıkları, bugün bizleri çokça şaşırtacak uygulamaları, evlilikleri, yiyip içtikleri, ilginç merakları, tarihe ve kültüre olan düşkünlüğü, savaş stratejileri ve teknikleri, ketumluğuna dair birbirinden ilginç tüm örnekler orijinal yerli ve yabancı belgelere dayanarak bu kitabın içinde işlendi.
Zaman tünelinde bir maceraya hazırsanız sizi önce İstanbul’un fethine ve sarayın içine sonra devrin İstanbul’u, Anadolu’su, Balkanlarına; Karadeniz, Ege ve Akdeniz’e tarihsel capcanlı ve ilgi çekici bir geziye davet ediyoruz.
Erdem Yayınları

“Geografía sagrada islámica en dos atlas náuticos tunecinos del siglo XVI”, en MediterráneoS: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Cultures of the Mediterranean Sea
[= edición colectiva de las Actas de las Jornadas Internacionales de Jóvenes Investigadores en Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo, Madrid, 2010], Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013: 457–73.