DAILY LIFE IN
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
MEHRDAD KIA
To
my mother, Kiadokht Kia
It is certain that Europeans . . . resident in Turkey [are] as ignorant of all that relates to her political economy, her system of government, and her moral ethics, as [if] they had never left their own country . . . If you succeed in prevailing on them to speak on the subject, they never progress beyond exanimate and crude details of mere external effects . . . It is a well-attested fact that the entrée of native houses, and intimacy with native families, are not only extremely difficult, but in most cases impossible to Europeans; hence the cause of the tissue of fables which, like those of Scheherazade, have created genii and enchanters . . . in every account of the East. The European mind has become so imbued with ideas of Oriental mysteriousness, mysticism, and magnificence, and it has been so long accustomed to pillow its faith on the marvels and metaphors of tourists, that it [is] to be doubted whether it will willingly cast off its old associations, and suffer itself to be undeceived.
Julia Pardoe, The City of the Sultan
CONTENTS
Note on Pronunciation, Transliteration, and Spelling
Introduction
Chronology
1. Historical Overview
2. Sultan and the Palace
3. Governing an Empire
4. Cities, Towns, and Villages: Merchants,
5. Craftsmen, and Peasants
6. Religious Communities
7. Muslims
8. Islamic Law and Education
9. Sufi Orders and Popular Culture
10. Courtship and Marriage
11. Sex and Family
12. Eating, Drinking, Smoking, and Celebrating
13. Games and Popular Sports
14. Sickness, Death, and Dying
NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION, TRANSLITERATION, AND SPELLING
The multiplicity of languages used in the Ottoman Empire and the varieties of spelling that were adopted throughout centuries present a number of problems, making complete consistency impossible. With a few exceptions, I have used the modern Turkish spelling system. I have not, however, applied Turkish spellings and pronunciations to non-Turkish words. Thus, Sharif (Arabic) has not been spelled as Şerif (Turkish); and Shah (Persian), not Şah (Turkish).
c (Turkish)
j (English)
ç (Turkish)
ch (English)
ö (Turkish)
ö (German)
ş (Turkish)
sh (English)
ü (Turkish)
ü (German)
INTRODUCTION
Much has been written about the rise, decline, and fall of the Ottoman Empire and the achievements of its greatest and most charismatic rulers, Mehmed II (1444 –1446, 1451–1481), the conqueror of Constantinople; Selim I (1512–1520), who brought the Arab Middle East and Egypt under Ottoman rule; and Süleyman the Magnificent (1520–1566), who led his armies to the gates of Vienna after conquering Belgrade and Budapest. Historians have also written extensively about the causes for the decline of the Ottoman state, which began at the end of the 16th century, and the military defeats that the empire suffered at the hands of European powers, forcing Ottoman sultans and statesmen to introduce administrative, political, social, economic, and educational reforms throughout the 19th century.
For nearly six centuries, the Ottoman dynasty ruled a vast empire that at the height of its power stretched from Budapest on the Danube to Basra at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and from Crimea on the northern shores of the Black Sea to Tunis on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. In Europe, the empire comprised Crimea, Hungary, Podolia, Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, as well as the Aegean Isles, Crete, and Cyprus, while in Asia it ruled Anatolia, the Arab Middle East as far south as the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden, as well as parts of southern Caucasus. Finally, in North Africa, the Ottomans controlled Egypt, Libya (Tripoli and Benghazi), Tunisia, and Algeria.
The population of the empire included Turks, Tatars, Hungarians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Bosnians, Albanians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Georgians, Circassians, Abkhazians, Armenians, Arabs, Berbers, Kurds, Jews, and many others. Each group possessed its own unique customs and traditions that distinguished it from others. The majority of the population in Anatolia, the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of the Balkans, such as Bosnia and Albania, was Muslim, while the majority of the population in the Balkans was Christian. The Jews lived predominantly in the urban centers of the empire. Thus, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity and heterogeneity constituted the most basic characteristic of the state. To write a comprehensive book on everyday life in the Ottoman Empire requires an in-depth study of the traditions, customs, and beliefs of all the communities that lived under Ottoman political and administrative control and whose cultures, habits, and manners, differed so widely. The present monograph, however, is a far more humble effort; it makes no pretense of using original documents or offering bold new interpretations. It is designed to provide the general reader with a series of selective representations of daily life in the Ottoman Empire.
The everyday life of the people of the Ottoman Empire changed significantly during the six centuries that extended from the formation of the state in the last decade of the 13th century to the collapse of the empire in the aftermath of the First World War. As the Ottoman dominion expanded from a small principality in western Anatolia to one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world, its increasingly diverse population grew, and patterns of social, economic, and cultural interaction underwent a dramatic transformation. This transformation was further intensified in the 18th and 19th centuries as Ottoman society was impacted by the rise of capitalism and a world economic system that battered down the walls of traditional and pre-capitalist social formations. The daily life of an Ottoman subject was greatly affected by the rise of market economy and the arrival of European ideas, goods, and customs.
It is beyond the scope of this book to include the social and cultural history of all the ethnic and linguistic communities who lived and worked as the subjects of the sultan and analyze the profound changes that the Ottoman society experienced throughout the six hundred years of its existence. After providing the reader with a brief historical overview of the Ottoman Empire in chapter 1, in chapter 2, I have discussed the role of the sultan and the imperial palace in the daily life of the empire. In chapter 3, I have made a short presentation on the Ottoman ruling elite, which managed the empire and ensured the smooth functioning of the highly complex and stratified Ottoman society that assigned exact functions to members of each social strata. From a discussion of the Ottoman ruling elite, the book moves to a brief presentation on three important social classes in the Ottoman society, namely the merchants, the craftsmen, and the peasant farmers. Throughout chapter 4, the reader gets a glimpse of everyday life in the rural and agricultural communities of the empire as well as the internal structure of the urban economy, including the central role played by the guilds. In chapter 5, I have analyzed the millet system, which divided the subjects of the sultan into religious communities, including the Orthodox Christians, the Armenians, and the Jews. From the non-Muslim communities, we move to a discussion in chapter 6 on the teachings and the role of Islam in the Ottoman Empire. As a religion that legislated and regulated all aspects of a Muslim’s daily life, Islam had a profound and immediate impact on the social, economic, and cultural institutions of the empire. Building on our discussion of Islam in chapter 6, we move to a short presentation on Islamic education and law in chapter 7. Islam was not, howev
er, the only cultural and spiritual force in the Ottoman Empire. Chapter 8 focuses on the Sufi or mystical orders, which enjoyed enormous popularity and influence in the Ottoman Empire, and, at times, challenged the cultural and ideological monopoly enjoyed by the Islamic religious establishment. From this discussion of religious and spiritual life, chapter 9 focuses on courtship and marriage, particularly among the Muslim communities of the empire, and chapter 10 deals with sex, family, childbirth, childrearing, circumcision, and divorce. In chapter 11, I have presented an overview of the rich and diverse Ottoman cuisine. Although each ethnic and religious community had its own rich culinary traditions, after several centuries of living together and interacting with neighbors who had also developed their own unique cuisine, a distinctive Ottoman cooking tradition emerged. From food and popular drinks, the book moves in chapter 12 to a discussion of popular sports that enjoyed an enormous following among all communities living in the Ottoman Empire. Finally, chapter 13 focuses on sickness, dying, and death in the Ottoman Empire, introducing the popular fears, superstitions, and healing methods prevalent among the empire’s diverse communities.
CHRONOLOGY
1260–1310
The establishment of Turcoman principalities in western Anatolia.
1326
Ottomans capture Bursa.
1327
The first Ottoman silver coin (akçe) is minted.
1331
Ottoman conquest of Iznik (Nicaea).
1337
Ottoman conquest of Izmit (Nicomedia).
1354
Ottomans take Ankara and Gallipoli.
1361
Ottoman conquest of Edirne (Adrianople).
1363–1365
Ottoman conquest of southern Bulgaria and Thrace.
1371
Ottoman victory over the Serbs at Chermanon.
1385
Ottoman conquest of Sofia.
1387
Ottoman conquest of Thessaloniki (Salonika/Salonica).
1388
A coalition of Serbs, Bosnians, and Bulgarians defeat the Ottomans at Plošnik (Ploshnik).
1389
Battle of Kosovo Polje. Ottoman sultan Murad I is killed.
1389–1392
Ottoman conquest of Turcoman principalities of western Anatolia.
1394
Ottoman conquest of Thessaly.
1396
Bayezid I defeats a Crusader army at the Battle of Nicopolis.
1397
Bayezid I annexes Karaman.
1398
Ottoman conquest of the principality of Vidin.
1399
Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk-held cities of Malatya and Elbistan in the Euphrates valley.
1402
Timur defeats Bayezid I at the Battle of Ankara.
1402–1413
Interregnum. Sons of Bayezid fight for Ottoman throne.
1413
Mehmed I unifies Ottoman territories under his rule.
1413–1416
Revolt of Şeyh Bedreddin.
1423–1430
Ottoman-Venetian war.
1430
Ottomans capture Salonika.
1437
Ottoman conquest of the Turcoman principality of Hamidili.
1441–1442
John Hunyadi defeats the Ottomans in Transylvania.
1443–1468
Rebellion of George Kastrioti (Gjergi Kastrioti) also known as Iskender Beg (Skanderbeg) in northern Albania.
1444
Ottomans defeat a Crusader army at Varna.
1453
Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.
1459
Mehmed II orders the construction of Topkapi Palace.
1460–1461
Mehmed II orders the construction of the Covered Bazaar in Istanbul.
1460
Ottoman conquest of Morea.
1463
Ottomans capture Bosnia.
1469–1474
Ottoman pacification of Karaman.
1473
Mehmed II defeats Uzun Hasan, the chief of Aq Qoyunlu.
1478
Crimean Tatars accept Ottoman suzerainty.
1480
Ottoman conquest of Herzegovina.
1481
Death of Mehmed II.
War of Succession between Prince Bayezid and Prince Cem ends with Bayezid’s victory.
1484
Bayezid II attacks Moldavia and captures Kilia and Akkerman.
1484–1491
Ottoman-Mamluk War.
1496
Ottomans enter Montenegro.
1497–1499
War with Poland.
1501
Shah Ismail seizes the throne of Iran and establishes the Safavid dynasty.
1504
Shah Ismail captures Baghdad.
1512
Selim I forces his father to abdicate.
1514
Selim I defeats Shah Ismail at the Battle of Chaldiran.
1516
Ottoman conquest of eastern Anatolia.
1516–1517
Selim I defeats the Mamluks and captures Syria and
Egypt. The holy cities of Mecca and Medina fall under Ottoman rule.
1520–1566
Reign of Süleyman I.
1521
Ottomans capture Belgrade.
1522
Ottoman conquest of Rhodes.
1526
Süleyman I defeats the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohács.
1529
Süleyman I captures Buda.
1529
First Ottoman siege of Vienna.
1534–1555
War with Safavid Iran, culminating with the Treaty of Amasya.
1556
Construction of Süleymaniye mosque-complex begins.
1570
Ottomans capture Tunis and Nicosia.
1571
Ottomans are defeated at the Battle of Lepanto by the Holy League.
1571
Ottoman conquest of Cyprus.
1575
Selimiye mosque-complex completed in Edirne.
1578–1590
War with Safavid Iran.
1590s
Celali revolts against the Ottoman central government in Anatolia.
1593–1606
War with Habsburgs.
1596
Ottoman victory at Mezökeresztes.
1603–1618
War with Safavid Iran.
1603
Iran re-conquers Tabriz.
1604
Iran captures Yerevan (Erivan), Kars, and Shirvan.
1606
Peace treaty between the Ottomans and Austrians at Zsitva-Torok.
1617
Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul is completed.
1623
Iranian forces capture Baghdad.
1624–1639
War with Safavid Iran.
1638
Murad IV captures Baghdad.
1644–1669
Ottoman war with Venice over Crete.
1656–1661
Mehmed Köprülü serves as grand vizier.
1660–1664
War with Habsburgs.
1661–1676
Fazil Ahmed Köprülü serves as grand vizier.
1663
Ottoman forces are defeated near St. Gotthard.
1671–1672
War against Poland.
1683
Second Ottoman siege of Vienna.
1686
Habsburg forces capture Buda.
1687
Venetian forces invade Greece.
1688
Habsburg forces capture Belgrade.
1690
Ottoman forces recapture Belgrade.
1697
Ottomans are defeated near Zenta.
1699
Treaty of Karlowitz.
17
09–1714
Charles XII of Sweden seeks refuge at the Ottoman court after his defeat at the hands of the Russians at Poltava.
1710–1711
War against Russia.
1715–1718
War against the Habsburgs and Venice.
1720s
Tulip Period.
1722
Fall of the Safavid dynasty in Iran.
1724
Ottoman Empire and Russia agree to partition northern and western Iran.
1724–1746
Ottoman military campaigns in Iran.
1730
Patrona Halil uprising.
1739
Treaty of Belgrade.
1755
Nuruosmaniye Mosque is completed in Istanbul.
1768–1774
War with Russia culminates in the treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
1783
Russia annexes the Crimea.