Political Configurations in the Middle East before the 20th Century

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Political Configurations in the Middle East
before the20th Century

• A very brief snapshot

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Left, Abdulhamit II right, Mehmet the conqueror
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A map of the expansion of the Ottoman Empire
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A map of the Ottoman Empire at its height (around
1680)
Source http//www.skidmore.edu/academics/arthisto
ry/ah369/ottoman.html
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Another map of the Ottoman Empire at its height
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A map of the contraction of the Ottoman Empire
Source Encyclopedia Brittanica, from
http//www.naqshbandi.org/ottomans/maps/
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Points about Ottoman Rule

• Bureaucratic but decentralized sultanate
• Minimalist government
• Sunni Muslim empire
• Sultan as Caliph, or protector of the Faith (but
  not seen as divine) law
• Multi-National, Multi-lingual, Multi-Ethnic
• Until 1850, 50 of the Empires population lived
  in the Balkans
• Main social division between the ruling class
  (askeri) and ordinary people (reaya)
• Status of religious minorities

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Ottoman Political Administration the picture
from the center
A miniature portrait of Sultan Murat III, from
the 16th c.
Note that the actual power hierarchy of these
groups could vary considerably over time
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The states main duties (what people expected
from it)

•   Defend the borders of the empire
• Protect the faith access to the holy sites
  (Islam)
•   Maintain public peace

  
An illuminated page from the Quran by Ahmet
Karahisari , from the Topkapi Palace collection.
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Connections between state and society

• Taxes
• Administration-
• state-provincial relations
• Codes of Law
• Standards for conduct and dress
• Religious institutes and religious frameworks
• Administered schools, social welfare programs,
  courts, etc.

The Grand Husseini Mosque in Amman, Jordan,
originally built in the 7th century.
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Who would you meet if you went traveling through
Ottoman lands? Socio-political groups

• Settled peasants and villagers
• Tribes
• Nomads
• Prominent local families
• Guilds merchants
• Local religious orders and religious leaders
• Ottoman officials

Picture of a Bulgarian woman in 19th century
finery. Source Ottoman archives from the Turkish
Library.
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The status and influence of women

• Two worlds (haremlik and selamlik)
• Harem (sacred)
• Living space
• Support system
• Family politics
• Political influence
• valide sultan, patrons of arts, regents, key
  administrators
• Role and status varies with socio-economic status
• Upper-class women tended to veil working women
  often did not

The extremely influential Kosem Sultan, b. 1585 -
1651
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Socio-political groups in the Ottoman Empire
slaves

• Elite slave groups
• Devsirme system
• Soldier slaves (Janissaries)
• Administrators
• Palace slaves
• White and black castrated men (eunuchs)
• The Chief Black Eunuch (Kizlar Agasi)
• Agricultural, domestic, industrial slaves
• Status highly variable and flexible

From left to right, Head of the Black Eunuchs
The 30th Ottoman Sovereign Custodian of the
Arms of the Sovereign Chief Lackey Who Keeps and
Carries the Dresses of the Sovereign. - From the
Turkish National library.    
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An evolving EmpireMain phases of Ottoman rule

• Classical Period (1300-1683) Rise, expansion and
  consolidation
• Political power primarily in hands of the Sultan
• Middle Period (1680s-1798) Ottoman integration
  into the world economy territorial retraction
• Shift in power from sultan to offices of the
  vizier
• Provinces virtually autonomous
• Long 19th century (1798-1918) Emergence of the
  modern Ottoman state
• State under pressure from Imperialist Europe
• Redefinition in status of religious minorities
  and women
• Newly centralized State State begins taking over
  many new tasks

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The flight of Hazerfan Ahmet Çelebi from the
Tower of Galata. Source http//www.osmanli700.gen
.tr/english/album/picturesindex.html _ _
A painting by Levni of an 19th c. female subject
of the Empire.
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An Ottoman map of Istanbul, from Topkapi Palace,
Istanbul.
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Source http//history.binghamton.edu/hist275/Map
20List.htm