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The topic of this article is the socio-political situation in the Reka region (western Macedonia) in the period of 1887-1912. It focuses on the establishment of Reka kaza and the introduction of the local Ottoman administration, as well as on the construction of local infrastructure, educational and religious conditions, revolutionary activities, propaganda activities, and the reports of robberies in this period. Most of the sources are extracted from the state archives of the Republic of Turkey (Turkiye Devlet Arşivleri Cumhurbaşkanlığı).
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This article presents a quite neglected interpretative tradition within the Islamic philosophy – the Ottoman perception of the debate between Abu Hamid al-Ghazālī and the philosophers. It first discusses the negligence of the Ottoman intellectual contributions in general, i.e. its historical background, and then it moves to the discussion about the above-mentioned tradition which was initiated by sultan Mehmed II. Then it analyzes the long chain of commentators who wrote critical insights into earlier discussions about philosophical achievements. Then the article offers a more specific review of the commentaries of Hojazadeh and ‘Ala’uddin at-Tusi, and their critical views of al-Ghazālī. It also points out the complete absence of the mention of Ibn Rushd in these discussions. The Ottoman authors did not base their views on mere acceptance of al-Ghazālī’s arguments, but rather they pointed out his insufficiently substantiated views and criticized contradictions in his arguments when found. Their primary goal was not to establish the new philosophic systems, but rather to have a more thorough approach towards understanding and expanding the existing ideas.
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In this study, the relationship between litigation success and the titles of the parties (plaintiff and defendant) in Ottoman courts was examined. The registers of Galata and Üsküdar courts from the center and Konya and Kütahya courts from the province between the period 1800-1840 were used. Making use of the 50% plaintiff win rate hypothesis and the factors affecting this rate in the law and economics literature, the effect of being a titleholder on litigation success is investigated by regression analyses. According to the first model, while being a title holder has a significant effect on the probability of success considering all observations and in the provincial courts, it is not valid in the center. In the second model, in which titles are categorized in more detail, variables such as representation, the burden of proof, and evidence are added as controls besides the gender and religion of the parties. Accordingly, elite titles and the burden of proof seem to be the important factors that affect the probability of success to deviate between parties to cases and across regions.
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The christianization of Muslims turned upside down the one-way logic of religious conversion under Ottoman rule, which dictated that a non-Muslim (Christian or Jew) could become a Muslim, but a Muslim could not abandon their faith. The conversion of Muslims to Orthodox Christianity constituted thus an act of defiance of Ottoman political order, and the converts were exposed to the charge of apostasy that could cost them their lives. Given the above, it is not surprising that abandoning Islam for Christianity was a marginal phenomenon; it occurred either outside Ottoman territory or after losing an Ottoman region to a Christian state. However, the period between 1730 and 1820 saw the emergence of a particular form of Christianization that was a double conversion; namely, the public renouncement of the Muslim faith by Christian converts to Islam who proclaimed their return to Christianity wishing to wash out the sin of apostasy with an atoning death. Several of them were executed and were hailed by Greek-Orthodox subjects of the sultan as martyrs for the faith. In this study I analyze the dynamics of double conversion from three points of view: that of the makers, that is, of those who promoted reconversion to Christianity at the price of death, provided it with a theoretical framing, and formed networks of training and support for the double converts; that of the actors, namely, of the double converts themselves, of their social backgrounds, and of the reasons behind their fatal decisions; and that of the public, of the various social groups and individuals who witnessed this liminal form of conversion, assessed it and responded to it. The interpretation endeavours to shed light on a radical aspect of Greek-Orthodox confessionalization at a time of intense sociocultural conflict and political upheaval, and to highlight the complexity of responses to, and instantiations of, modernity.
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Although Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, one of the important poets of the Tanzimat period, emphasized that poetry is about thought, imagination and emotion, he believes that only these facts will not be enough for the acceptance and appreciation of poetry. While conveying these facts, which are the subject of poetry, to the reader, the poet emphasizes that they should be conveyed under the guidance of nature and with the beauty of nature. The poet's statement "We are all novice students of nature" shows an aesthetic view of nature. According to this information, it can be said that the source of the poet's poems is the phenomenon of nature. The aim of the research is to give information about the poet's life, her literary personality and to examine the nature phenomenon in the poet's composed poems. The research was limited to the reference books “All Works of Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem II and III” and Ekrem's 11 poems composed in the music archive of the State Choir and containing elements of nature. It is a fact that the lyrics (poetry) and the poet are as important as the composition and the composer in the formation of a musical work. It is thought that examining a work from a verbal point of view is as important as examining it from a musical point of view. For this reason, the research is important in terms of examining the nature elements in the poems composed by Ekrem, who is a nature poet. The poet's composed poems have been accessed from the State Choir sheet music archive. In the research, qualitative research method and document analysis pattern were used. The elements of nature found in Ekrem's poems have been examined and depicted by taking sections from his poems that convey these elements. As a result, the poet sometimes likened her separations, longings, resentments, loneliness and pessimist to the elements of nature in her poems, and sometimes stated that nature is like herself.
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There are several lute types used or are still in use in the global history of art. The lute under study is an instrument with which mostly folk songs/tunes were performed between the 18th and the 20th Centuries in a region such as the Western Aegean, especially in Istanbul. Miniatures are the first prominent data sources on the culture and art setting in the Ottoman period which provide information to authors and interested parties on many subjects. In this study, a miniature determined by the author, in the work titled “Hubânnâme ve Zenannâme” authored by Enderunlu Fâzıl, dated 1793, will be discussed as a visual material. In the study, semiotic analysis, a qualitative research method will be conducted based on the theoretical framework of Ferdinand de Sassure (1857-1913). This miniature is the first known miniature in which the Istanbul lute and the Istanbul kamancheh were depicted together. In the study, purpose is to examine the visual elements in the miniature in the context of the Istanbul lute. Considering retrospective inferences and possibilities are emphasized due to the scarcity of resources on the instrument, this miniature appears as a significant value providing information on the setting/space where the instrument was played in the 18th century. It is considered that adopting an interdisciplinary perspective in this study would contribute to further studies
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A contemporary look at the Maiden's Tower in Ottoman books and buildings, which we miss due to the restoration, revealed quite different depictions of Istanbul, each of which bore traces of several hands and eyes. This study examined the Maiden’s Tower depictions in those embroideries, which had a long history and spread over a broad region in the Ottoman Empire. It is seen that the observation, knowledge and designs of folk artists meet with technique and ability, especially in hand-drawn examples where those who support and order the artist are known but the owners of the works are not. Figures in the enlarged sample area together with miniatures that set the stage for hand-drawn examples and examples turned into wall paintings; Topographic urban depictions, hand-drawn illustrations and wall paintings were examined separately under the titles of Istanbul depictions, and the characteristics of change and development in the chronological framework were tried to be determined. The chronological changes in those figures were also described in this endeavor. Just like any attempt to describe an artwork’s imaginary and realistic aspects, our primary intention was to depict the Maiden's Tower, a unique and inspirational symbol of Istanbul, with its artistic reality and beauty. Thus, it is aimed to take a step towards achieving the purpose of evaluating the importance of the Maiden’s Tower in Istanbul and the Ottomans who carried the depictions of Istanbul to their homes, and the bond it established with the city within the framework of art.
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Fabrics woven with silk yarn were used in the clothing of the palace people and high-ranking people in the Ottoman Period, in the places where they lived. One of the first large factories of the 19th century Ottoman weaving industry, Hereke Fabrika-i Hümayunu was established during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecit. Hereke Factory, which was established by Dadyan brothers in Hereke town, was put into operation in 1843. Hereke Factory started to work on behalf of the palace in 1845, after being granted to the sultan. Silk fabrics produced for upholstery and drapery in Ottoman palaces and mansions were woven in Hereke Fabrika-i Hümayun. Jacquard looms were brought to Hereke Factory from France in 1850 and the Kemhahane department was opened and work began. Hereke Factory is an important business that makes retail sales, as well as the first establishment, that received great awards in the international arena with its products. In 1902, broadcloth, serge and yarn departments, woolen weaving in 1905, fez department in 1908, undershirt, wool and silk carpet workshops Hereke It has been added to the factory. Hereke Factory was transferred to Sümerbank management in 1933, to National Palaces in 1995, and to Yıldız Palace today. Silk fabrics woven in the Hereke Factory were presented to the Palace and its environs, as well as to foreign dynasty members and ambassadors, and reached the European palaces. Western influences are seen in the composition of Hereke silk weavings, and 143 different patterns have been identified in these weavings, where orientalism and multicolor are used. Many motifs such as plant and animal motifs, vases, musical instruments, geometric arrangements, Rumi, Chinese cloud can be seen in the patterns on the fabrics. It is produced in velvet fabric as well as silk fabric in Hereke factory. The variety of different weaves and rich colors, also seen in Hereke silk fabrics, the late Ottoman silk fabric collection, impresses the audience. However, in these weavings, which create a strong visual impact, there is no style other than quality. In this context, it is important to investigate and examine these silk weavings in terms of pattern, color and production technique in order to transfer the Hereke silk woven fabric collection, which is one of our cultural assets, to future generations.
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Epidemics, which dragged humanity into great destruction, sometimes changed its course in history. Syphilis, one of these epidemics, has emerged as an insidious disease that has shaken societies both physically and spiritually since its existence. Syphilis, which started to spread rapidly after the discovery of the Americas in 1492, first affected Europe and then the whole world. Of course, syphilis was widely seen in the Anatolia geography. Especially since the beginning of the 19th century, while hunger, nutrition problems, poverty, war and natural disasters were experienced on the one hand, the syphilis epidemic that occurred on the other hand became the worst nightmare of the Anatolian people. In this study, it will be tried to look at syphilis from the eyes of people who witnessed the period.
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The article examines and resolves many of the problems that appear in the anonymous Catalan Historia de Jacob Xalabín and determines its genre and structure. The article also pinpoints the place of the anonymous Catalan story in the overall flow of information about the battle of Kosovo. The article also establishes the sources on which the narrative is based, the reasons for some of the inconsistencies in the work itself, the time of its creation and its value as a historical source.
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One of the prominent guests at the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal in 1869 was the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph, in whose entourage was a Czech-born priest Beda Dudík, entrusted with writing an official travelogue about the Emperor’s trip. Ten years later, his younger brother Antonín published his own version of the travelogue in Czech, based on his brother’s travelogue and experience. This article compares and contextualizes the two travelogues which describe the same events but were written by two brothers in different languages, for different audiences and from different perspectives. In addition to giving a new insight into the lives of the two Dudík brothers and the Emperor’s trip to the East, emphasizing personal experience and reflections of Austro-Hungarian citizens in a world different from their own, the article focuses on the so far largely unknown travelogue written by Antonín Dudík. Details and tools which distinguish the tone of Antonín’s travelogue from that of his older brother Beda reveal nuanced differences in the two narratives, which convey different messages to their intended audiences.
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With the failure of the 1848 revolution in the Austrian Empire and in the Poland of Tsarist Russia, many of the leaders of the uprising found refuge in the Ottoman Empire. This cause a new international crisis between the High Porte, Tsarist Russia and Austria. The imperial courts of these two countries, invoking the international treaties signed in the 18th century with the Ottoman Empire, demanded from the Sublime Porte the surrender of the Hungarian revolutionaries. Such threats, which also amounted up to the military intervention, were countered by the High Porte with explanations that no point in the previous agreements included an obligation to hand over those who had sought refuge in their empire. The British ambassador in Istanbul, Stratford Canning, had gone so far as to make it clear, that if Tsarist Russia attacks the Ottoman Empire for the aforementioned reasons, this would also be considered a declaration of war against Great Britain. As a global power, Great Britain was interested in freedom of navigation in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and that other competing powers, namely Tsarist Russia, will not be allowed access to Mediterranean Sea. In these circumstances, London would support the territorial integrity of the High Porte, trying to encourage this empire to reform itself. The Russian emperor openly stated that in the event of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, he would not allow to be established in Constantinople the British rule, just as he did not plan to establish himself in the old Byzantine capital. The Russian emperor also emphasized that if an agreement was not reached with Great Britain for the controlled division of this empire, then it could happen that Russia would also occupy Constantinople. So, one way or another, this was a threat by Russia in order to push for a deal with London. It must be said that, as far as the attitude towards Russia and the Ottoman Empire is concerned, a full agreement was previously reached between the four European powers: Great Britain, France, Prussia and Austria. London and Paris were in complete agreement about their common goal, preventing the realization of Russian plans for the final destruction of the Ottoman Empire. According to this plan, Austria and Prussia would not allow the outbreak of war between the Anglo-French-Ottoman coalition and Tsarist Russia. However, even if it came to this war, Vienna and Berlin would not allow the coalition war against Russia to escalate to the extent that would ruin the balance of forces in Europe.
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The aim of this paper is to present criminal law and criminal procedure in the medieval Bosnia and the Ottoman administration in Bosnia. The paper will refer to the classical period of Ottoman administration, so the development of law related to the period of reforms and the Tanzimat is not the subject of this paper. When we mention criminal law and criminal procedure, we think of sources of criminal law, types of criminal offenses and the procedure that was conducted in the courts. In addition, this paper will present a comparative analysis between medieval Bosnia and the Ottoman Empire in terms of the sources of criminal law, types of criminal offences and criminal procedure. The last chapter of this paper will present period of transition from one system to another. Author used dogmatic-normative, historical and comparative method in process of writing this paper. In addition to all these methods, author used method of classification and method of description.
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This article analyses the legacy of Professor Dr. Fikret Karčić at the Institute for the Islamic Tradition of Bosniaks. He contributed his efforts to its foundation as well as to its revitalization in the year 2013 and actively participated in the functioning of its Scientific Council in two tenures in the period 2013-2021. The article focuses on his contribution to the formation of scientific departments of the Institute and to the general orientation of the functioning of the institute. The participation of Professor Karćič in the activities organized by the Institute is also analyzed here.
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The paper presents 33 epitaphs on the gravestones in one of the two graveyards existent in the centre of Odžak. Amongst these is the oldest inscription on a tombstone in Odžak dating back to the year (1760/61-hijri). According to the inscriptions, members of the following families were buried in this graveyard: Berbić, Medžiković, Sejdić, Brkić, Ćatić, Mehić, Omeragić, Omerbašić, Omićević, Šabanović, Halilović, Puzić, Plavić, Porobić, Podgorić, Hamzić, Ebubekiragić and Ordagić. The epitaphs are written in Ottoman, Arabic, and Bosnian languages. The aim of the article is to make the text of the inscriptions available to those researchers who are not familiar with these two languages nor with Arebica (the text written in Bosnian language with Arabic alphabets). We also made an attempt to preserve the memory of these tombstones as it is quite likely these would be lost due to inadequate or, rather lack of care.
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The article “The Diffusion of Floral Style in Anatolia and Ottoman Empire” by renowned professor Walter B. Denny, one of the leading experts in the history of Islamic arts in general, and in the field of carpets and textiles in particular, relays about the spread of the Ottoman court-floral style throughout the Ottoman Empire, its geographical routes as well as its social diffusion from the court, through villages and nomadic milieu. One of the most characteristic symbols of this style is the carnation which travelled from the Ottoman court brocade to the Anatolian village kilim in its geometricized and stylized form. Scholarly research in the field of carpets, rugs and textiles as a part of the Islamic arts is very rare in our region where its latest discoveries are almost unattainable to an extent that whatever someone claims to be true in this field ultimately is regarded as the truth. Public discourse here in this regard is still stained with false, and in scholarly circles already decades ago denounced theory of the “mother goddess” motif which proved to be, as Professor Denny will explain here a mere fabrication. He demonstrates here that the motif which Western authors, in a surge of the New Age philosophy, have interpreted as “mother goddess” is actually stylized and geometricized carnation motif. The significance of this knowledge to designers of mosque carpets needs no further be stressed.
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In 1773 Russia reached the Danube River for the first time. In the following years, Petersburg permanently oriented itself towards the Balkans and began to conduct an active policy towards the Ottoman Orthodox Christians living here.The proposed study sheds light on the Russian migration policy towards Serbs, Montenegrins, Wallashians, Moldavians, Bulgarians, and Greeks in the second half of the 18th century, especially during the time of Catherine II. A connection is made between the territorial expansion of Russia to the south and the aspiration of the Russian empress to populate the "new lands" with foreign migrants, including from the Balkans. An attempt is made to delineate the nature, scales, dynamics, and main instruments for the implementation of migration. Giventhe opportunities for influence in the Ottoman possessions, special attention is paid to the propaganda that Russia spread among the Ottoman Christians during the period under review. This is extremely important because over time Orthodoxy became the political doctrine and state policy of the Russian Empire, in which Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman state became a political weapon in the hands of Petersburg.This research uses official and unofficial Russian documents, as well as research-monographs, studies, and articles by Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Turkish scholars.
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Report on conference "The Wars of Independence, Diplomacy and Society. New Perspectives and Approaches on the Great Eastern Crisis 1875-1878", held at Bucharest, National Military Club, from 9th-10th of May 2022.
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In the army of the Ottoman Empire, there was a military organization consisting of soldiers recruited from the Christian inhabitants of the conquered areas, called martolos (the spelling forms martaloz and martoloz are also found in the writing in Arabic characters). In Romanian, the term was taken in the form martalog (singular) and martalogi (plural). There are, so far, only suppositions about the origin of the martalogs and the word martalog (martolos). We note that, at least so far, no historical source has been identified to show their origins and this source of the term martolos. Historians speak of an etymology from Greek, Latin, or Arabic language. The present study aims to clarify, as much as possible, the origin and evolution of this military structure in the Ottoman army, but also its appearance and evolution in the army of Wallachia, at the end of the seventeenth century and during the eighteenth century
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