Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire During the 19th Century, Research Paper Example

As the rise of sectarianism in Turkey occurred, the Ottoman Empire went into decline. The decline took place although a number of advances had been made regarding technology, military and governance.  The history and the government structure of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey during the period extending from the siege of Constantinople until the eighteenth century had been explored. The liberties and restrictions that had been delegated to non-Muslims was detailed. The accounts of how devout Muslims perceived wealthy Christians and wealthy Jews was also reviewed.

How was the treatment of Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire during the Eighteenth Century?

The Ottoman Empire had been a state that had been conceived by Turkish tribesmen during the late thirteenth century under the administration of Osman Bey. The Ottoman culture had become an empire with the siege and fall of Constantinople in 1452 that had been accomplished by Mehmed II. The Ottoman Empire perpetuated until the beginning of the twentieth century. Considering the Ottoman Empire, it had been the most effective administrative state in history with a total of thirty two provinces during its pinnacle of power in the seventeenth century. In the second half of the seventeenth century, an Albanian family of the Koprulu clan reformed the Ottoman bureaucratic system and applied reforms to the Ottoman military. [1]Since the inception of the attack on Constantinople, the Ottomans demonstrated the efficiency of their administration.  It had been  noted that: “the sultan would spend long nights since ascending the throne, studying the plans of the city, looking for strategic points of defence and attempting to find weak points on which he could benefit…” [2] A Muslim academic in Cairo requested how the non – Muslims should be treated. In his response, the Shaikh Hasan Al Kafrawi demonstrated a particular level of envy for the possessions that the non-Muslims had been able to own in the Ottoman Empire.[3]

Reform and economic stagnation were prevalent in the Ottoman Empire during the early eighteenth century which had been attributed to the lack of military conflicts.  In the second half eighteenth century, the expansion of the Russian nation had been a continual menace which in the latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth century had the outcome of numerous defeats for the Ottomans. These defeats encouraged the Ottoman Empire to enter into the industrial age in order to maintain pace with the Western empires. The conditions that had been set by the Umar treaty enabled the non- Muslims to maintain their ancestral legal codes, the authority of property ownership and the rights to safe treatment. The Christians and the Jews had to surrender to the social hierarchy established by the ottoman state. The Ottoman Empire perceived that the Judeo- Christian communities and the Muslims communities should be maintained separately. [4]

The Ottoman Empire had been governed as an absolute monarchy during the eighteenth century. The sultan was usually chosen from a number of candidates that had been sent to the Palatial College. In addition, the sultan maintained the most elevated position designated as the Caliphate. The caliphate is the most elevated position in Islamic society and had been perceived as being the heir to Mohammad. The primary attention of the government of the Ottoman Empire was the integration of the non – Muslims into society, in addition to reforming the military, technological base and education. The canon of Muslim law attempted to create an argument forbidding the privileges granted to the Christian and the Jews in Ottoman society due to the service of the Muslim being sanctified by Islam. Scriptures form the Qu’ ran 3: 1490 had been cited by Shaikh Hasan Al Karfrawi justifying this perspective. [5] The non- Muslims had been integrated due to the attributes of taxation being required.

In addition, the non- Muslims served as janissaries. The janissaries were the personal bodyguards of the sultans. The janissaries had been recruited from a number of non- Muslim children who had been converted to the Islamic faith. The janissaries demonstrated their loyalties only to the sultan and had been applied in order to counteract the influence of the Turkish nobility. The janissaries had been delegated particular privileges in Turkish society. The delegation of the special social category and privileges to the janissaries caused the janissaries to live above Islamic law. The authority of the janissaries continued without limit. The initial sultan of the eighteenth century in the Ottoman Empire, Ahmed III, formed alliances with the Swedish and the French. Refuge had been given to the monarch Charles XII from Sweden subsequent to being routed by Peter I from Russia during the Poltava battle.[6]

As an outcome of the alliance that had been formed with Sweden, Ahmed III declared war upon the Russian empire. Ahmed III emerged victorious. The victory had been attributed to the qualities of the sultanate established since the sultan would ally with the Sheikhs and commanded the call for Azan regarding Jum´a and initiated praying during the fall of Constantinople. [7] The Islamic fervor created a disdain for the Christians and Jews. It is stated that the Jews and the Christians will never initiate a greeting, if a Jew or Christian should be encountered they should be compelled to the most limited position. [8] The janissaries felt threatened and formed an alliance with Mahmud I. Consequently, Ahmed III had been overthrown. This type of revolution that had been motivated by the janissaries became a greater challenge for the Ottoman Empire over the progression of time. One of the most progressive sultans had been Selim III. Selim III had a vision of modernizing the Ottoman Empire.  Selim III established a greater quality of Western military and political structure within the Ottoman Empire. Selim III abolished the fiefdoms that had been previously held. The fiefdoms were held by the religious Muslims who had exercised special privileges in the Ottoman society since the siege of Constantinople.[9] The importance of the leadership in battle had been well established since the siege of Constantinople and its documenting. [10]

Once again, the religious Islamic fervor came into conflict with the desires of the janissaries. Shaikh Hasan Al Kafrawi stated that the Christians and Jews “are forbidden to build new churches, chapels or monasteries in any Muslim land”[11]. Many of the Muslims reacted in opposition to having the French and Swedish train the Islamic military forces. As a result, the jannisarries formed an opposition to the monarchy of Selim III. Selim III had been incarcerated and the janissaries installed Mustafa IV, a ruler who would conform to the will of the janissaries on the throne. Consequently, the perception of the leadership of the Ottoman Empire was that military growth was the primary ingredient to the creation of new wealth. Emphasis had been placed upon agriculture that was applied in order to provide food for the Ottoman people and it’s military. Agriculture had been perceived as the most important occupation. The efforts of manufacturing and industry had been delegated secondary positions. . The Western traders placed more emphasis on industrial endeavors and manufacturing instead of agricultural expansion. [12]

As Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Ottoman Empire in the late eighteenth century, many of the Muslims rebelled against the Christians. The Christians had been perceived as being in collaboration with the French. Notwithstanding that Napoleon declared himself to be an enemy of the Christian Church and an ally of Islam, the members of the Ottoman Empire perceived the French as invaders. . The transition into a global economic system had many of the Muslims in anger. Many of the Muslims in the Ottoman Empire perceived that the Christians had brought perturbation to the established Ottoman order that had been installed for centuries.[13]

The Christians in the Ottoman Empire during the latter part of the eighteenth century became the symbol of what had become errant in Ottoman society. Many of the Muslims demanded that the Christians and Jews be maintained in a subservient state as had been established under the treaty of Umar. [14] As the French gained a greater stronghold in the Ottoman Empire, the sultan did not take heed to the alliance with the Shaikh’s that had made them successful during the fall of Constantinople. [15] The Christians who resided in Cairo became the primary victims of the disturbing transition that had been occurring in the Ottoman Empire during the end of the eighteenth century. The economic changes that had taken place in the long eighteenth century of the Ottoman Empire had crated serious rivalries between the Christians and the Jews. The rivalries that occurred served to exacerbate the religious identities that had been maintained by the Jews and the Christians.[16]

There had been a number of progresses that took place in the Ottoman Empire during the eighteenth century. Printing presses and paper currency was applied. In addition, there had been the advent of improved communications. The janissaries who had been Jewish and Christian recruits who had been applied in order to protect the Sultan remained as a powerful force in the Ottoman Empire until they had been abolished by Mahmud II in the beginning of the nineteenth century. As the Ottoman Empire had become more westernized during the latter part of the eighteenth century, the positions of the Christians in the Ottoman Empire began to improve while the social conditions of the Jews declined. The Jews had traditionally been the merchants and the bankers in the Ottoman Empire. The position that had been held by the Jews as the money changers in the Ottoman Empire began to shift toward the Christians at the end of the eighteenth century[17] the strength that had been manifested by the caliphate during the fall of Constantinople had been eroded by the resistance of the janissaries. [18]The admonishments that had been given by Shaikh Hasan Al Kafrawi pertaining to the “entrance of infidels” into Muslim lands had come to pass.[19] In the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire started its long decline.[20]

The Ottoman Empire had been one of the most effectively governed empires for more than six hundred years. The changes that occurred in the Ottoman Empire had been the strengthening of the Empire by means of an alliance with the religious faithful. The alliance of the caliphate with the devout Muslims enabled the conquest of Constantinople. The Jews and the Christians had been well treated in the Ottoman Empire due to the attributes of the janissaries. The janissaries were the personal bodyguard of the sultanate who evolved into becoming powerful enough to dictate policy in the Ottoman Empire.

Bibliography

Fordham University, “The Answer of the Shaikh Hasan Al Kafrawi, The Shafite [Professor of   canon law in Cairo, d. 1788 CE]”, Fordham University, 31 May 2007. Web. 27   October 2015 http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1772-jewsinislam.asp.

Fordham University, “The Liberation of Constantinople”, Fordham University, 31 May 2007.   Web. 27 October 2015 http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1772-jewsinislam.asp

Masters, Bruce. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The Roots of Sectarianism. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

The Ottomans, ¨Discover the Ottomans”, The Ottomans, 2002. Web. 27 October 2015 http://www.the ottomans.org/english/history/index.asp.

[1]. The Ottomans, ¨Discover the Ottomans”, The Ottomans, 2002. Web. 27 October 2015http://www.the ottomans.org/english/history/index.asp.

[2]. Fordham University, “The Liberation of Constantinople”, Fordham University, 31 May 2007. Web. 27 October 2015http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1772-jewsinislam.asp.

[3] . Fordham University, “The Answer of the Shaikh Hasan Al Kafrawi, The Shafite [Professor of canon law in Cairo, d. 1788 CE]”, Fordham University, 31 May 2007. Web. 27 October 2015http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1772-jewsinislam.asp.

[4]. Ibid., 1.

[5]. Ibid., 1.

[6]. The Ottomans, “Discover the Ottomans”, 1.

[7]. Fordham University, “The Liberation of Constantinople”, 1.

[8]. Fordham University, “The Answer of the Shaikh Hasan Al Kafrawi, The Shafite [Professor of canon law in Cairo, d. 1788 CE]”, 1.

[9]. The Ottomans, “Discover the Ottomans”, 1.

[10]. Fordham University, “The Liberation of Constantinople”, 1.

[11]. Fordham University, “The Answer of the Shaikh Hasan Al Kafrawi, The Shafite [Professor of canon law in Cairo, d. 1788 CE]”, 1.

[12]. The Ottomans, “Discover the Ottomans”, 1.

[13]. Bruce Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The Roots of Sectarianism (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 118.

[14]. Ibid., 29.

[15]. Fordham University, “The Liberation of Constantinople”, 1.

[16]. Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The Roots of Sectarianism, 156.

[17]. Ibid., 118.

[18]. Fordham University, “The Liberation of Constantinople”, 1.

[19]. Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The Roots of Sectarianism, 26.

[20] . The Ottomans, “Discover the Ottomans”, 1.