ADMINISTRATION OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE.   Term Paper ID:20384 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Development, successes & problems of social, political & military administration over six centuries, focusing on millet & devsirme systems for controlling minorities.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Development, successes & problems of social, political & military administration over six centuries, focusing on millet & devsirme systems for controlling minorities. Paper Introduction: The Ottoman Empire (1300-1922) ostensibly filled a void in medieval Muslim civilization by providing a universal Islamic state to the Middle East. Yet, in 300 years of expansion, Ottoman rule outgrew the Middle East, holding a region that by 1683 extended south from the gates of Vienna, east to the Caspian Sea, down to the lower tip of the Persian Gulf and round the southern rim of the Mediterranean Sea. In so accomplishing this dynamic feat, the Ottoman Empire embraced a heterogenous mix of peoples that required of its warrior-conquerors a skill different from that of battle: administrative rule. They accomplished this by incorporating the minorities and conquered peoples of the Empire in a semi-autonomous system known as the millet. The millet system was to allow diversity, submission, freedom of culture and religion, and acceptance of an alien domination. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Their loyalty to the Sultan unquestioned,devsirme-drafted Christian-born administrators were shuttled about the farreaches of the Ottoman domain, presiding over local populations who,theoretically at least, could little protest at a Turkish overlord when infact the governor was as likely to be from a conquered people as they were. David W. TheKurdish tribes in particular maintained an always-separatist stance, aidedby the cruel geography they claimed for a homeland, albeit compelled byoverwhelming Ottoman numbers and their own small population to avoid openrebellion. P. It wasfiercely resented by many Balkan and Greek Christians, whose world viewperspectives extended only as far as the horizon of the next valley (mostMiddle Eastern Christians were exempted because they had been tainted byfamiliarity with Islam or spoke some Turkish).[11] It was, however, ahighly sought position by those of ambition. Nationalism in the Middle Eastern world wasunconsidered: the mystique of pan-Arabic togetherness was a stronger bond,and even that was weak.[6] Still, it was a bond that the Ottomans did notshare with their Muslim brethren - nor the Serbs, Albanians, Moravians,Transylvanians et al. To a certain extent, the legacy of intolerance inspired by the latteryears of the millet system continues to this day. But the term millet quickly assumed a vaguer, less-religious meaning- one roughly corresponding to the term community - later to take on thecontemporary usage of nation. Sometimes the result was almost farcical. [13]Hans E. New York: Praeger, 197 .----------------------- [1]George E. Moore,121-123 (New York: Praeger, 197 ). Administratively, themillet system also provided the loosely organized Ottomans a degree ofleeway: rather than devise a bureaucracy to govern the affairs of far-flung communities, the central government left those details to the milletleadership, as long as taxes were paid and certain duties to the Empirefulfilled. [4]Ibid., 23. Miller and Clark D. History of the Arabs. "Arab Unity and Arab Dissensions." Middle East in Transition. Miller and Clark D. [2]Philip K. David W. David W. Turkey. Miller and Clark D. New York: Praeger, 197 .Tutsch, Hans E. In the Balkans and throughout Anatolia, however, the millet systemwas crucial to the peace-keeping efforts of the Ottoman Empire, which facedviolent challenges to its rule. Moore, 148-149. They were not tobe satisfied with the result: Ottoman rule by the Turks themselves,advancing in rank via nepotism rather than accomplishment, was the ensuingdevelopment. The practice was discontinued. New York: Praeger, 197 .Kinross, Lord, & Robert Mantran. A Short History of the Middle East. [11]Geoffrey Lewis, 26. Islam's founder, Muhammad, considered his religion the logicalextension of the monotheistic Judeo-Christian tradition: he, himself, wasthe last in a long line of prophets extending back from Adam, throughAbraham, Moses and Jesus. In Middle East: Yesterday and Today, ed. The millet system was to allow diversity,submission, freedom of culture and religion, and acceptance of an aliendomination. Conversely, their continued rebellions led to a more specificrespect for the Balkan peoples than many of the other minorities of theEmpire enjoyed, a respect that resulted in the institution of the Devsirme. [8]Raphaela Lewis, 186-187. The Changing Middle East. From the very beginning, the Ottomans had been followers of theIslamic faith. Miller and Clark D. New York: G. The famed and feared Janissary (Yeniceri) armywas originally an exclusively Christian-born force with no connections tolocal sentiments eventually grown powerful enough to become a majorplayer/enforcer in the intrigue game of Sultan-selection.[1 ] Devsirme conscription was a far cry from the hands-off, semi-autonomous approach practiced toward the millets in other matters. Miller and Clark D. When the Barbary pirateBarbarossa unexpectedly seized Algiers and great sections of North Africain the early 15 s, he was adopted into the Ottoman organization as aGovernor-General, a Beylerbey, and his mercenary followers had confirmed onthem the status of a millet community. Early in the formation of the Ottoman Empire, the ruling classrealized that their tribe's numbers were too few to maintain a constantsupply of warrior-leaders. whom they conquered in the Balkans and CentralEurope: they were of Central Asian stock and set apart from thecommunities they ruled.[7] Hence, even when religious difference was not aconsideration, the Ottomans found it convenient to confer millet status oncommunities of Arabs, tribal units often, or remnants of expired caliphateswhose dynasties had long since lost empires but not local prestige. By World War I andthe forcible break-up of the defeated Ottoman Empire by the victoriousFrench and British Allies, the minority communities' desire forindependence had stepped one foot into open rebellion. Yet, in 3 years of expansion, Ottoman rule outgrew the MiddleEast, holding a region that by 1683 extended south from the gates ofVienna, east to the Caspian Sea, down to the lower tip of the Persian Gulfand round the southern rim of the Mediterranean Sea. New York: Praeger, 197 .Lengyel, Emil. Moore, 148-149(New York: Praeger, 97 ). Compared to the well documented religious intolerance of westernEurope's Christians, this was radical liberalism.[3] The Ottomans took this approach one step farther: not only wereChristian and Jewish communities, known as millets, respected - theirleadership was co-opted into governing in the name of the Ottoman Empire.This decision had several practical consequences. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958.Rejwan, Nessim. Turkic tribes related to the Ottomansnever fully became reconciled to their cousins' rise to preeminence. Although, ultimately, the millet system contributed to therise of nationalist sentiment that tore apart the Ottoman Empire earlierthis century,[1] when it started it was one of the key factors in allowingthe new rulers to maintain their conquests with relative peace. Miller and Clark D.Moore, 126-128 (New York: Praeger, 197 ). [1 ]Raphaela Lewis, 34-37. David W. The recruits were alsorequired to renounce any millet ties, pledging instead their loyaltydirectly to the Sultanate. Thus, 7 years earlier, when the Arab jihad (religious war) swept over the MiddleEast, Muslim leaders did not suppress Christian and Jewish religiousbeliefs. In so accomplishingthis dynamic feat, the Ottoman Empire embraced a heterogenous mix ofpeoples that required of its warrior-conquerors a skill different from thatof battle: administrative rule. Np: Np, nd, 145-46, 162-63, 155. In Middle East: Yesterday and Today, ed. Kirk, A Short History of the Middle East (Np: Np, nd), 98-99, in Middle East: Yesterday and Today, ed. Somewhat in the vein of the Englishprivateers, Barbarossa and his millet brought a wealth of booty into theSultanate's treasury coffers. [6]Emil Lengyel, Changing Middle East (Np: Np, nd), 128-129, in MiddleEast: Yesterday and Today, ed. The Loom of History. The devsirme was discontinued, primarily because of criticismfrom Muslim subjects excluded from power by the practice. [3]Geoffrey Lewis, 22-23. The Ottoman Empire (13 -1922) ostensibly filled a void in medievalMuslim civilization by providing a universal Islamic state to the MiddleEast. The Chief Rabbis who held officeunder the Byzantine emperors continued in power under the OttomanSultan.[4] Within three days of conquering Constantinople, renamedIstanbul and made the new capitol of the Empire, the Ecumenical Patriarchwas installed by Sultan Mehmed II himself as "pasha (head) of threehorsetails" of the Millet-i Rum, the Community of Greeks. With the millet leadership corrupted and Ottoman government fallingback on its own poorly administered bureaucracy, the subject peoples in themillets themselves drifted toward the emerging ethnic and nationalistideologies arising in the wake of Western imperialist influences felt fromthe 17 s on.[12] A conservative reaction set in as Ottoman power wanedand its territories contracted: with less wealth and a deterioratingability to maintain peace and services within the Empire, Istanbul demandedmore from its remaining subject peoples, with less tolerance for dissent.The genocide inflicted on the Armenians of Cilicia in 1915 was a horribleexample of the fear the Turkish rulers had of their own subject peoples.In reaction, the millets became hotbeds of resistance. Miller and Clark D. Psychologically, the Ottoman Empire reaped its greatest rewards fromthe millet system. Np: Np, nd, 716-17. "Arab Nationalism: In Search of an Ideology." Middle East in Transition. [7]Lord Kinross and Robert Mantran, Turkey (New York: Viking Press,1959), 287-288. Strategically, during theyears of warring expansion, it freed Ottoman rulers from the need tostation major garrisons throughout the growing empire (standing troops werestill necessary, of course, but in minimal numbers). David W. New York: Viking Press, 1959.Kirk, George E. Moore, 151-154(New York: Praeger, 197 ). His dominionincluded a court of law and a prison, in the Ottoman capitol itself.[5] This identification of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch with theCommunity of Greeks points out the nature of self-identification duringthat period in history. [12]Nessim Rejwan, "Arab Nationalism: In Search of an Ideology,"Middle East in Transition (Np: Np, nd), 145-146, 162-163, 155, in MiddleEast: Yesterday and Today, ed. Devsirme means collecting and refers to the system devised by theOttomans of compulsory recruitment of Christian boys into the Empire'scivil and military services.[9] A key twist to the system, one meant todefuse Muslim criticism, was that these boys were required to convert toIslam; theoretically, the devsirme was to bring about the gradualIslamization of the non-Muslim subject peoples. Millet leaders succumbed to thecorruption of leadership rights poorly overseen by the Istanbul centralgovernment. Miller and Clark D. Moore, 121-123. Np: Np, nd, 128-129. Np: Np, nd, 26-27. But Ottoman rulers still neededmanpower - loyal manpower and not so-so alliance-fed conscripts - and thenon-Muslim population, particularly in the Balkans, offered a source thatwould stymie internecine competition within the Empire's factions. Indeed, talented individualsconscripted by the devsirme could and did rise to the highest positions ofpower within the Ottoman Empire. David W. Everyday Life in Ottoman Turkey. Localized warfarewould continue until the early 192 s. Kurdish liberationmovements and the Yugoslavian debacle are both examples of how the milletsystem failed: identification with a national entity was never promoted bythe Ottomans, localized community preoccupation - the millet self-identification - was encouraged in its stead.[13] The irony is that whatwas once a system of tolerance by a dominant power to its subjects has nowdeveloped into a conflict of intolerance by peoples discouraged to lookbeyond their own self-interests. Moore, 157-159 (New York: Praeger, 197 ).----------------------- 1 In the Asia Minor and Middle East regions, withinenclaves surrounded by a Muslim majority, Greeks and Jews identifiedthemselves primarily along religious, rather than ethnic or nationalistic,lines. David W. [9]Geoffrey Lewis, 25. Tutsch, "Arab Unity and Arab Dissensions," Middle East inTransition (Np: Np, nd), 26-27, in Middle East: Yesterday and Today, ed.David W. In essence disinterested in the daily lives of itssubject peoples, the millet system adopted by the Ottomans allowed themajority of the Empire's subject population to maintain a degree of dignityand semi-autonomous self-reliance that tended to dampen the spirit ofrevolt common in a conquered people. They accomplished this by incorporatingthe minorities and conquered peoples of the Empire in a semi-autonomoussystem known as the millet. David W. It is uncertain whether their belief was verysophisticated; evidence indicates that it was not a motivating factor inearly Ottoman character.[2] As their territorial gains extended fartherand farther, however, it became necessary to provide some sort ofadministrative apparatus for governing the subject peoples - and Islamprovided an answer. BibliographyHitti, Philip K. Turkey. New York: Praeger, 196 .Lewis, Raphaela. Moore, 157-159. Moore, 126-128. Moore, 151-154. David W. If Christians and Jews were not so developed asMuslims, Muhammad believed, still they were to be respected. New York: Praeger, 197 .Lewis, Geoffrey. In Middle East: Yesterday and Today, ed. In Middle East: Yesterday and Today, ed. Putnam's Sons, 1971.Muller, Herbert J. Hitti, History of the Arabs (Np: Np, nd), 716-717, inMiddle East: Yesterday and Today, ed. But the non-Ottoman Muslimmajority of the Empire, particularly the Turkic tribes allied with theOttomans, decried this mixing of infidel bloodlines into the center ofpower. By the last third of the Ottoman era, however, both the millet andthe devsirme systems were in disarray. In Middle East: Yesterday and Today, ed. Np: Np, nd, 98-99. P.Putnam's Sons, 1971), 4 . Their millet - community - identification was strong; they didnot believe in the pan-Islamic declarations issuing forth from Istanbul.[8] Also aided by geography, the western Balkan peoples were never fullypacified by Ottoman military conquest; although Christian, theiridentification with the millet was based more on regional custom thanreligion. Armenians, too, although resident in Anatolia long before theOttomans, identified themselves within Christian terms, as opposed to theMuslim peoples surrounding them on all sides for centuries. Again theoretically, this system also discouraged the corruption agovernment administrator having local ties to the community would betempted by. Miller and Clark D. Initially, looking to then-existing Byzantium,this ruling class intermarried frequently with Greek and Balkan nobility,creating a new blood pool of alliances. [5]Raphaela Lewis, Everyday Life in Ottoman Turkey (New York: G. Miller and Clark D. 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