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Spring/Summer 2021 thewha.org Vol. XXXVII No. 1 World History Bulletin The Ottoman Empire Since the Time of Kanunî Sultan Süleyman
Editor’s Note
World History Bulletin Greetings from the editors of the World History Bulletin. This
ISSN: 0886-117X issue of the Bulletin has been guest edited by Djene Rhys
Bajalan, Assistant Professor & Graduate Director in the
History Department at Missouri State University (Springfield).
Please join me in thanking him for his efforts and patience, as
H. Micheal Tarver this theme was postponed for a year due to SARS-CoV-2.
Editor-in-Chief
In addition to the four Focus Issue themed essays, this issue
of the Bulletin contains a variety of author backgrounds:
Nicholas Di Liberto student, academic, and practitioner. One essay is very brief
Associate Editor and written by a non-historian (Venkatachalam), while another
is a lengthy student essay (Masoner). There is a course syllabus
by a university adjunct (Pearson), and an essay (Balla) that is,
Yi Guolin perhaps, more journalistic than historical. Yet, the latter article
Book Review Editor presents the foundations for a more detailed study of the
issue of athletes who have been subjected to structural racism
across historical eras.
WHB Editorial Board (2020-2022) I am often asked what the duties of a guest editor are, so
I thought that I would use this column to give a very brief
overview. In general, after the initial review by the Editor-
H. Micheal Tarver – Arkansas Tech University in-Chief or Associate Editor, the Guest Editor reviews the
Editor-in-Chief, World History Bulletin theme-appropriate essays and determines which ones will be
accepted for publication. The Guest Editor then edits the
accepted manuscripts and returns them to the authors for
Scott C. M. Bailey – Kansai Gaidai University revisions and/or final approvals. After all of the thematic
essays have been edited in this manner, they are sent back
Shannon Bontrager – Georgia Highlands College to the Editor-in-Chief for incorporation into the larger
Mehdi Estakhr – Alabama State University issue. The remainder of the materials in the issue, such as
the non-thematic essays, are handled by the Editor-in-Chief.
Ian Christopher Fletcher – Georgia State University Of course, this process will be modified somewhat by the
implementation of the two tracks that will be available for
Jonas Kauffeldt – University of North Georgia authors, effective Summer 2021. If you are interested in serving as
Sungshin Kim – University of North Georgia a Guest Editor, please send me an email.
Nathan Pavalko – Pellissippi State Community College Bulletin readers are encouraged to carefully review the new Style
Michael Proulx – University of North Georgia Sheet and Guide for Authors (Revised 31 March 2021), found in
the latter pages of this issue. The Editorial Board and Editors
Joseph M. Snyder – Southeast Missouri State University of the World History Bulletin request that all submitted essays
follow these new guidelines. Of special importance is the
Aytaç Yürükçü – University of Eastern Finland requirement that along with their article submission, authors
must designate the Review Track that they wish to pursue:
Standard Review or Peer Review (Single Blind Peer Review).
Lack of selection will dictate the Standard Review. This change is
bulletin@thewha.org especially important for those faculty who need peer-reviewed
publications for tenure and/or promotion.
The new guidelines allow the Bulletin to return to the peer-
review option while still publishing materials geared more
Department of History toward classroom teachers than scholars. Often, these
Arkansas Tech University materials are not necessarily founded upon scholarly research
407 West Q Street - Ste. 255 but rather sound pedagogical practices and teacher experience.
Russellville, AR 72801 We welcome both of these types of submissions. However,
all submissions must meet general standards of the historical
479.968.0265 profession, such as basic competence and sound methodology.
H. Micheal Tarver
Editor-in-Chief
Cover Image: Detail of Süleyman the Magnificent. Engraved by Melchior Lorck. 16th century. 40.4 x 28.6 cm. Catalogue
Raisonné: Holl. XXII.209.34: B.IX.507.13. Credit: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Accession Number: 25.2.49.
This image is in the public domain and thus free of any copyright restrictions.
Table of Contents
Editor’s Note Inside Front Cover
Donors to the World History Association in 2020 2
Letter From the President 3
Letter from the Executive Director 4
WHB Focus Issue, Guest Editor - Djene R. Bajalan 5
Understanding the Ottoman Empire by Djene R. Bajalan 5
The Ottoman Empire in the Post-Süleymanic Age, 1600-1800. Opening to the West: 8
An Overview by Metin Mustafa
“The Population Wants to Be Completely Free From the Spanish Yoke”: 13
A Case of Sephardic Jewish Anticolonial Solidarity From the Ottoman
Empire During the Wars of Philippine Independence (1896-1899) by Jorge Bayona
An Ottoman or Comprador Organization? Re-Writing the History of the Istanbul 17
Chamber of Commerce by Semih Gökatalay
Course Syllabus – Religion and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Andrew M. Wender 25
Course Syllabus – Unity in Diversity: A History of Modern Indonesia by Samuel Pearson 35
History Through Preserved Names: What All Is In a Name? by K.V. Venkatachalam 39
Great Athletes and Social Justice by Marcel Balla 40
Travel Narratives in the Late Twentieth Century and Beyond: Where Globalism 45
and Gender Collide by Ashley Masoner
Style Sheet and Guide for Authors 51
Call for Contributors 52
Book Review Section, Book Review Editor - Yi Guolin, Arkansas Tech University 53
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 1
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 2
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT -
WORLD HISTORY ASSOCIATION
March 2021
History and Pandemic Time
As a historian, I am attentive to cultural differences in the reckoning of time. Time, and its meanings, I know, have
changed over time. Acknowledging this assertion analytically is, however, lightyears apart from the daily living of
this truth, which has been embodied in my research, teaching, and personal endeavors over the past twelve months. Of
course time is a cultural construct. Of course time is variable—except in Newtonian physics. But voicing those
thoughts doesn’t diminish my surprise, at least once a day, that my perceptions of time don’t behave like they used to,
back in that other lifetime ago that I blithely called February 2020.
As history educators, I’m sure many of us have conversations with every class or cohort of students, asking them
to make sense of dates that historians valorize as turning points. Dates that mark the turnover of dynasties, decisive
battles, or a hard-won peace seem important to us, looking back. But what did it feel like to the people living through
those events?
In both national and global contexts, societies share moments of reckoning. Generations of Americans could
remember where they were when Pearl Harbor was bombed or Martin Luther King was assassinated. I was in high
school, in a typing class (how specifically dated) when President Ronald Regan was shot. Our teachers prompted us to
remember the moment when we heard the news, so we could share our recollection with future generations. The
proliferation of political and gun violence in the US in the intervening three decades makes that moment fade in
collective memory. But both globally and locally we have other temporal markers—such as when the Twin Towers
came down, or when we, as individuals, realized that a virus moving across international borders was, in fact, a
pandemic.
In classes, we inherently ask our students to grapple with history as a fixed sense of time. This rolls over into
collective social reckoning of time: holidays, back-to-school season, election cycles. Together, we’ve now had a year
without many of the visible markers that help us note the passage of time. Is it really a new academic year if my
department didn’t have its usual picnic to welcome our incoming graduate students? That’s how I know the school
year has really started. (Guess, what? Even though we didn’t have a picnic, classes started anyway.)
Academic conferences, too, help us mark the progress of both academic and calendar years. After having to cancel the
WHA’s 2020 annual meeting, we’re delighted that we can off er intellectual and social engagement to our members in
2021. We will gather online this July, a new adventure for the Association and most of our members. The conference
theme addresses our global health crisis, inviting us to think about the role of medicine in world history and
perceptions of health that extend beyond the biological and corporal.
I hope Bulletin readers will join us for panels between July 5 and 10, 2021. This year’s keynote address, “Migration
and the Right to Health Care,” will be delivered by Professor Beatriz Hoffman, author of Health Care for Some:
Rights and Rationing in the United States Since 1930 (2012). You can register now at https://www.thewha.org/
conferences/2021-wha-conference-health-globally/
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 3
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR -
WORLD HISTORY ASSOCIATION
Thanks again to Editor Micheal Tarver for homing in on a specific area of world history for this current issue covering the
Ottoman Empire. I look forward to devouring the articles of WHA members soon, learning more about this topic beyond
the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople)!
As the WHA continues to navigate this pandemic time period, we are so pleased to offer our 2021 Health, Globally
Online Conference to you commencing July 5th. With Tammy Proctor, Conference Program Committee Chair, guiding the
diversity of topics and schedule, we are already benefitting from her vision. For example, the conference sessions will not
run continuously, but contain gaps allowing registrants downtime between sessions. During these gaps, other offerings will
include vendor open hours and two food history sessions linking cuisine to global social & cultural histories. The schedule
boasts another highlight: Keynote by Dr. Beatriz Hoffman entitled “Migration & the Right to Health Care.”
In preparation for our conference program, the WHA is employing the platform WHova, which will go live this month.
This platform will allow registrants to connect, view vendors who will be joining us and will provide the landing area for
linking to all sessions. Consistent with online conference trends, the WHA has reduced the registration to over 50% off
rates from past years for WHA members. You can read more and register on our conference page: bit.ly/2021WHA.
In 2021, we are committed to continuing our online lecture series, Under the Baobab. This series has enabled us to recognize
the value in meeting outside of conference sessions to bring together our community for cutting-edge discussions in world
history and related topics. Thanks to WHA member and community college committee chair, D. Jack Norton, for his vision
in bringing together a fine panel for Baobab eight. This new session, “Writing for the Public: History and Journalism”
includes speakers in the realm of journalism with specialties in podcasting, disabilities rights advocacy and legal issues in
tribal communities. Please mark your calendars for May 5 at 1 pm Central Time (2 pm Eastern Time and 11 am Pacific).
More information will be forthcoming during April. As we continue this series, any ideas for future Under the Baobab
panels can be sent to info@thewha.org.
We are committed to sharing new and programming information from our affiliates throughout the year. Recently, the World
History Association of Texas (WHAT) held a virtual conference on “A World of Things: Consumerism, Consumption,
and Commodities” organized by WHA Council Member, Professor Cynthia Ross. The online format created a unique
opportunity for a regional conference to attract a global group of scholarly presenters and attendees. More than 100
people from universities, registered for the conference with 33 presenters featured on the program including scholars
from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Israel, India, and across the United States. The Keynote Speaker, Malcolm Purinton,
Affiliated Faculty at Emerson College, offered a lively talk on beer history titled, “Sipping on Culture: Consumption and
Identity in the Imperial World.” WHA President Laura Mitchell wrapped up the conference with closing remarks that
highlighted ways world history can guide us through an often turbulent future. WHA Vice President Jonathan Reynolds
reminded us of the ways large processes like nationalism manifest themselves at the local level and differ between urban
and rural communities.
We aim to keep members well-informed through website updates and announcements. In addition, we encourage members
to follow updates on our multiple social media sites – on Facebook as The World History Association, on Instagram as @
worldhistoryassociation, and on Twitter as @WHAtweets. On these platforms you will find an array of topics not limited
to our program or publications, but awards, news and scholarship that informs us at large.
Thank you for being an ever-present part of the WHA community!
Best regards,
Kerry Vieira
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 4
FOCUS ISSUE: THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE SINCE
THE TIME OF KANUNÎ SULTAN SÜLEYMAN
Djene Rhys Bajalan
Guest Editor
UNDERSTANDING THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Djene Rhys Bajalan | Missouri State University | DRBajalan@MissouriState.edu
For much of the century since the Ottoman past, at least in the period more aggressive foreign policy, which
collapse of the Ottoman Empire (1299- following the supposed “golden age” has seen Turkish military action in
1924), the history of this once mighty of the sixteenth century, was often Iraq, Syria, Libya, and, most recently
imperium has been obscured by the depicted as a retrograde era of slow and Azerbaijan-Armenia. However, it
intensely ideological rendering of its painful decline. is perhaps more apt to think of this
legacy. For the post Ottoman nation- In recent years, most notably since concept in terms of the reorientation
states of the Balkan peninsula and the the coming to power in Turkey of and reinterpretation of Turkish
Arab Middle East and North Africa, the the conservative Adalet ve Kalkınma nationalism that has occurred during
centuries of Ottoman rule were often Partisi (Justice and Development the AKP’s almost two decades in
portrayed, for nationalistic reasons, as a Party, AKP) in 2002, there has been a office.
“dark age” of brutality and repression. considerable shift in Turkish attitudes Whereas the Kemalist formulation
Even in Turkey, the republican regime towards the Ottoman past. The term of Turkish nationalism, dominant in
established by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk “neo-Ottomanism” is often deployed the country for much of the twentieth
and his confederates upon the ashes of within the foreign policy establishment century, often sought to distance
the old empire in the early 1920s, the in Washington to refer to Turkey’s modern Turkey from the “decadence”
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 5
and “cosmopolitism” of the imperial In contrast, the post-Suleimanic era in the Balkan Wars (1912-1913/1913)
past, the Turkish nationalism of the is seen as one of accelerating decline – in which the Ottoman successor
AKP has sought to reemphasize the as the limits of territorial expansion states in the Balkans allied to eject the
Ottoman legacy as a source of national were reached and, over the course ‘Turks’ from what remained of their
pride. This new Ottoman nostalgia of the seventeenth and eighteenth European holdings. Thus, by 1914
now forms an integral part of Turkey’s centuries, the imperial system of the all that remained of the Ottomans’
“official nationalism”. It is cultivated “classical era” slowly degenerated into once vast European empire was a
through the statements of politicians, indolence. Indeed, by the nineteenth small hinterland (Eastern Thrace)
including Turkey’s president Recep century, the empire was very much surrounding the imperial capital of
Tayyip Erdoğan, state ceremonies, seen as a shadow of its former self, a Constantinople.
and – as one might expect – the public relic of a bygone era, the so-called “sick From this perspective, the empire’s
education system. Indeed, it is also man of Europe”. Despite the efforts final collapse and partition four years
reflected in popular culture manifest in of successive generations of political later, following the brutalities of the
the popularity of films and soap operas elites to save the empire, beginning First World War, is presented as a
that depict the Ottomans in a favorable with Selim III (r. 1789-1807) in the late logical and not unexpected outcome of
light. eighteenth century and culminating in a long and inevitable process of imperial
In this new populist narrative, the the era of the “Young Turks” (1908- degeneration. Yet, the Ottoman reality
Ottomans were a powerful Turkish- 1918) in the early twentieth century, is far more complicated that such
Islamic state that sought valiantly the consensus was that such reformers a simplistic narrative might imply.
to resist the predations of Western were ultimately fighting a doomed Certainly, from a military perspective,
imperialism and had to contend with rearguard action against the forces of Ottoman power went into relative
the continued disloyalty of non-Muslim modernity. The forces arrayed against decline vis-à-vis Europe in the post-
and non-Turkish elements. This new the Ottomans were simply irresistible. Suleimanic era. Yet, the Ottoman
narrative too has its distorting effect on On one hand, the military balance state proved highly adaptive, and its
our understanding of the empire’s long of power shifted decisively in favor culture remained dynamic. Indeed,
and complex history. of the European Great Powers. The within Ottoman studies, it is no longer
However, the last few decades have roots of this shift are often traced back permissible to speak of “decline” in an
also seen the rise of more scholarly to 1683, when the Poles defeated the absolute sense. Instead, scholars think
interest in the Ottoman past. Once Ottomans as they laid siege to the city in terms of change and transformation.
somewhat of a niche field, Ottoman of Vienna. However, it was only in the Indeed, as Metin Mustafa argues in his
studies has proliferated not only in late eighteenth century that Ottoman piece in this volume, Ottoman military
Turkey but across western academia. territorial decline accelerated. In the defeat played an important role in
Scholars from across the Middle East war of 1768–1774, Russia forced prompting significant innovation and
as well as Europe and North America the Ottomans from the Crimea, a openness to cultural cross pollination
have increasingly sought to shed light victory confirmed in a second war with Europe in the eighteenth century.
on the Ottoman legacy and challenge between 1787–1792. This marked More broadly, the seventeenth and
older narratives pertaining to the “rise the emergence of the Tsarist Empire eighteenth century witnessed significant
and fall” of Pax Ottomanica. as the Ottomans primary antagonist. political and economic changes. More
For much of the twentieth century, However, other European powers especially, it was a period characterized
the story of the Ottomans was also seized Ottoman territory over by the replacement of the feudal
presented in a simplistic manner. It the course of the subsequent century. absolutism of the sixteenth century with
begins with the emergence of a band Indeed, Ottoman influence over North a limited monarchy and market-based
of Muslim religious warriors under the Africa was, by the second decade of the economy, the types of development
leadership of Osman Ghazi (r. 1299- twentieth century, eliminated entirely that historians often portray, in the
1223/4) on the frontiers of the decaying with the French taking Algeria (1830) European context, in a favorable light.
Byzantine Empire. From these humble and Tunis (1881), Britain occupying Similarly, the nineteenth and early
origins Osman and his descendants Cyprus (1878) and Egypt (1881), and twentieth centuries, a period in which
were, through force of arms, able to Italy seizing Libya (1911). Ottoman territorial decline was most
consolidate power across Anatolia In the Balkans, the Ottomans faced precipitous, is also looked at in a more
and South Eastern Europe, a process a different challenge, namely, the rise nuanced manner. While European
that culminated with Mehmed the of nationalism amongst the various imperialism and rising nationalism most
Conqueror’s (r. 1444-1446, 1451-1481) Christian peoples in the region. The certainly served to undermine imperial
capture of Constantinople in 1453. This outcome was the destabilization of power, beginning with the reforms of
laid the foundations for a supposed Ottoman rule in Europe and, ultimately, Selim III (r. 1789-1807) and Mahmud
“Golden Age”. During the sixteenth the formation of new nation-states, II (r. 1808-1839), through the Tanzimat
century - the reigns of Selim the Grim often with European backing. In 1832 era (1839-1876), the reign of Sultan
(r. 1512-1520) and his son, Suleiman Greece became the first of the new Abdülhamid II (r. 1876-1909), and the
the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566) - the independent Balkan nation-states, “Young Turk” period in office (1908-
empire reached the heights of its power followed by Serbia, Montenegro, and 1918), the Ottoman state underwent a
and splendor, incorporating much of Romania in 1878, Bulgaria in 1908, and sustained process of restructuring and
the Middle East, North Africa, and Albania in 1913. The collapse of the modernization.
pushing as far as the gates of Vienna. Ottoman regime in Europe culminated Although the Ottomans lost
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 6
territory on the fringes of their empire, Anatolia to its collapse in the turmoil of
the lands that remained under their the First World War, was an entity that
control were more firmly brought under played a critical role in the formation of
central government supervision. New the modern world. However, its legacy
modern ministries and bureaucratic is a fraught one. Therefore, it is essential
organizations were constructed and a to avoid simplistic narratives pertaining
vast new system of public education, to its “rise and fall” and eschew both 2021 WHA CONFERENCE:
based on the French model, was demonizing and romanticizing its HEALTH, GLOBALLY
created. Moreover, the relationship legacy.
between Ottoman state and society In addition to the above-referenced
was also transformed with the gradual essays, this issue contains a syllabus What are the metrics and
legal emancipation of non-Muslim from Andrew Wender, in which he meanings that describe health:
populations within the empire, groups provides an introduction to how a study for individuals, communities,
that had hitherto a separate and inferior of Ottoman history assists students institutions, governments,
legal status to the Muslim community. in exploring the “rich tapestry of
Indeed, for many leading Ottoman religious forms and interrelations that economies, cultures,
statesmen of the nineteenth and have helped to constitute the broader ecosystems, epistemologies,
twentieth centuries, legal emancipation Middle East.” or philosophies? The WHA
and equality was to form the basis of a invites teachers, scholars, and
new Ottoman “national” identity, one Recommended Further Reading activists to reflect broadly on
that would counteract the rise of ethnic the many possible meanings
nationalism amongst the empire’s • Caroline Finkel, Osman’s Dream: The
diverse population. Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923 of health, to both include
Ottoman nation-building was (New York: Basic Books, 2007). and transcend bodily and
• Colin Imber, The Ottoman Empire 1300- biomedical applications of the
far from universally successful. 1650: The Structure of Power (London:
Nationalism continued to gain Red Globe Press, 2019) term in order to consider the
ground, especially amongst Christian • Heath W Lowry, The Nature of the Early health of our world and the
peoples such as the Greeks, Serbs, Ottoman State (Albany: State University history of our planet that brings
Romanians, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, of New York Press, 2003).
and Armenians. In fact, by the second • Cemal Kafadar, Between Two Worlds:
us to a online conference July
half of the nineteenth century, the first The Construction of the Ottoman State 5–11, 2021. Sessions will not
glimmers of nationalism were also to be (Berkeley: University of California run continuously, and will be
observed amongst the Muslim peoples Press, 2010). scheduled so that some live
of the empire, Turks, Albanians, Arabs, • Leslie Penn Peirce, The Imperial Harem:
Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman content is optimal in a variety
and Kurds. At times, tensions brought of time zones.
Empire (New York: Oxford University
about by rising nationalism exploded in Press, 2010).
ethnic and communal violence, most • Baki Tezcan, The Second Ottoman
tragically in the genocidal campaign Empire: Political and Social Transformation
of 1915 directed at the Ottoman in the Early Modern World (New York:
Armenians. However, as Semih Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Gökatalay shows in her study of the • Ariel Salzmann, Tocqueville in the Ottoman
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Empire: Rival Paths to the Modern State
interethnic and interconfessional (Leiden: Brill, 2004).
cooperation was still a reality. Indeed, • M Şükrü Hanioğlu, A Brief History of
as Jorge Bayona’s article on the Jewish the Late Ottoman Empire (Princeton, NJ:
press highlights non-Muslim intellectual Princeton University Press, 2010).
• Selim Deringil, The Well-Protected
life remained lively right down to the Domains: Ideology and the Legitimation of
empire’s dying days. Power in the Ottoman Empire, 1876-1909
Ultimately, the Ottoman Empire (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011).
possess far more vitality than has often • Eugene L Rogan, The Fall of the Ottomans:
been assumed. When it did come to an The Great War in the Middle East (New
end, it was because of an international York: Basic Books, 2016).
war that terminated not only the
Ottoman imperium, but also Russian,
German, and Austrian empires. In fact, Detail of Studio Portrait of Models Wearing
Traditional Clothing from the Province of
the Ottoman sultanate, which lasted Skodra (Işkodra), Ottoman Empire, 1873.
until 1922 (the position of Caliph lasted Photograph by Pascal Sébah. Illustration
until 1924), outlasted the institution in Les costumes populaires de la Turquie
of monarchy in all three of the en 1873. Hamdy bey ... et Marie de Launay
aforementioned powers. More broadly, ... phototypie de Sébah. Part I, plate XV
(opposite p. 67). Credit: Library of Congress.
the Ottoman polity, from its humble No known restrictions on publication in the
origins in late thirteenth century U.S
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 7
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE
POST-SÜLEYMANIC AGE, 1600-1800:
OPENING TO THE WEST — AN OVERVIEW*
Metin Mustafa | Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation | metin.mustafa@ottomanrenaissance.org
paved the way for the Ottomans to The victors marvelled at the tent
Less than a decade after the death cede territory to the Europeans for the city abandoned by the Ottomans.
of Süleyman the Magnificent, the first time since the fourteenth century. It offered rich booty, from tents
Ottomans continued with their Within two decades, the Ottomans themselves, to textiles, armour
territorial expansion by taking the were to lose another conflict to Austria- and campaign equipment, which
island of Cyprus from the Venetians Hungary and Venice leading to the was divided up by and dispatched
(1570-1571). This prompted the Holy signing of the Treaty of Passorawitz across Europe, to act as a souvenir
League to challenge the Ottomans in 1718 ceding territory to Austria of this momentous event. These
at Lepanto two months after the fall and Venice respectively. According trophies of war, Türkenbeute, while
of Cyprus. Although the Ottomans to Fatma Müge Göçek, “These two revealing the military strength of
were decisively defeated at the naval wars alerted the Ottomans to Western the enemy, also provided evidence
battle by the unified Christian fleet, military changes and the resulting shift of Ottoman magnificence and
Sultan Selim II (son and successor of in the balance of
Süleyman) quickly rebuilt his naval power between
forces and dictated peace terms to the Ottoman
Venice forcing them into ceding Cyprus Empire and the
to the Ottomans and paying a tribute West.”2 Within
of 300,000 ducats. Although the Battle this context,
of Lepanto boosted the morale of Sultan Ahmet III
western Christendom, the Ottomans (r. 1703-1730)
were to remain a formidable military dispatched the first
force until the end of the seventeenth Ottoman embassy
century. Over a century after Sultan to the West in
Süleyman’s reign, the decisive military 1720-1721 “to
defeat following the Ottomans’ visit fortresses and
second siege of Vienna in 1683 and factories, and to
the subsequent loss of Hungary at the make a thorough
Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) forced the study of means
Ottomans to reflect and seek a more of civilization
conciliatory approach towards the and education,
rising power of early modern Europe. and report on
Following the Ottomans’ defeat in those suitable Detail of the Public Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III,
Constantinople, c. 1890. Credit: Abdul-Hamid II Collection,
1683, Süleyman’s triumph at the Battle for application Library of Congress.
of Mohaç one hundred and fifty-seven in the Ottoman
years earlier in 1526 and the taking of Empire.”3
Hungary from the Habsburgs entered Not only during the time of luxury. This sumptuousness
Ottoman historical consciousness Ottoman military greatness, but also was most apparent in the tent
and was to serve as a reminder to the throughout the empire’s long decline complex of the Grand Vizier,
ruling elite in Istanbul that the time had onset by the defeat at Vienna, European which was furnished like a
arrived to learn from the enemy.1 fascination with Ottoman material and palace, to symbolise his role as
The events of 1683 and the visual culture continued well beyond representative of the sultan. In
disarray with which the janissaries fled 1699. The continuing allure is perhaps time it was this luxuriousness
the battlefield marks a turning point expressed in one of the last European aspect of the Ottoman world
in Ottoman-European relations. The representations of Ottoman material that coloured the European
defeat of the Ottomans at the second culture following the signing of the view of the Turk, leading to the
Siege of Vienna by the combined forces Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. With displacement of the earlier more
of John III Sobieski of Poland and the Ottoman defeat in 1683 at the threatening image.4
the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor second Siege of Vienna, war materials The Italian painter Bartolomeo Bimbi
Leopold I in 1683 marks the beginning left behind by the retreating Ottoman (1648-1729) captures this rich booty
of the end of Ottoman domination in forces became collectable and highly in the painting, Trophy of Turkish Arms
eastern Europe and the Turkish threat. sought after items by the European (1700) housed in the Uffizi Gallery
The subsequent Treaty of Karlowitz elite. As Haydn Williams notes: of Florence. The scattered objects of
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 8Ottoman fabrics, carpets, ceremonial of the imagined Orient in the minds of turquerie. In turn, the Ottomans came to
maces, weapons, and metalwork on the the Europeans. European men, usually be inspired by the rococo and baroque
canvas, introduced as the principal theme ambassadors and diplomats, were soon aesthetic developments of European
in European art works act as reminders wearing the Ottoman caftan, as shown courts which they adapted and
of European victory. Commissioned in a portrait of Marc’Antonio Barbaro appropriated to suit their own cultural
by Prince Ferdinando de’Medici (1663- (d. 1595), the Venetian bailo to Istanbul traditions.
1713) of Tuscany for his private from 1568-1574. As turquerie (all things Turkish) was
collection, the painting depicts these This fascination also extended becoming fashionable in Europe in
objects piled on an Anatolian carpet to the political field through cultural the eighteenth century, the Ottoman
with Turkish silk fabric wrapped mimicry in ceremonial processions. court was similarly looking to
around the Ottoman janissary headgear Emulating each others’ ceremonial European courts, notably French art
creating the allusion of a fallen soldier practices in the sixteenth century was and culture for inspiration. As Alev
in battle. Allegorically speaking, the a way of promoting legitimacy of Croutier rightly exclaims, “Francomania
dignity with which the fallen Ottoman universal sovereignty between two rival in Turkey became the counterpart of
soldier is represented here highlights monarchs. This rivalry is seen in the Turquomania in France.”8 The increasing
the bravery of the janissaries in the ceremonial processions of Süleyman fascination with European art style and
events of 1683 where Ottomans came and Charles V respectively. Pieter culture began following the return of
close to capturing Vienna, an event that Coecke depicts Süleyman’s triumphal the Ottoman ambassador to France,
still reverberated in the recent memory entry into Istanbul surrounded by Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi
of the Europeans at the time Bimbi’s Janissaries with pomp and ceremony (1670-1732) to Istanbul in 1721. A
painting was commissioned. following one of the sultan’s victories, period of peace ensued following the
The painting symbolically marks while a similar contemporary engraving signing of the Treaty of Passorawitz
the triumph of Europe over the shows Charles V’s entry into Bologna with Austria and Russia in 1718. A
Ottomans following the 1683 crisis in 1529 with his entire entourage for year later, Ibrahim Pasha was sent to
and stands as one of the last European his coronation. Such cultural mimicry Vienna as ambassador, while Count
representations of the legacy of emerged in the context of Ottoman- Hugo von Virmont was dispatched to
Ottoman Renaissance material culture Hapsburg rivalry where art was used Istanbul in order to represent Austria.
before the end of the seventeenth as political propaganda in order to In the same year, Ibrahim Pasha visited
century.5 This legacy would continue to project a majestic and grandiose image Prince Eugene of Savoy at the Upper
inspire a new movement of European in face of one’s rival. However, by the Belvedere that was illustrated and
visions of the Ottoman Turkish eighteenth century, as the Ottoman engraved by Salomon Kleiner and Jacob
civilisation in diverse visual mediums military threat to Europe diminished, Gottlieb Thelott respectively. Also,
in the following century – turquerie. the contextual framework shifted from between 1714 and 1737, four Ottoman
Aside from the influence of merchants legitimization of sovereignty to an embassies were received in Warsaw,
in the dissemination of the respective acceptance of reality. The Ottoman the last one of which was headed by
cultural materials, diplomatic missions court was developing an increasing Mehmed Said Efendi (d. 1761), the
from Europe to the Sublime Porte fascination for European styles of art brother of Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi
(the name given by the Europeans to and culture. Not only were European Efendi. The King of Poland, Augustus
the Ottoman government) and, envoys influenced pavilions built, but also II, received the ambassador. These
and ambassadors sent by the Ottoman imperial buildings like the Nurosmaniye ambassadorial visits and others that
court to Paris, Warsaw, Naples and other Mosque (1755) were breaking with followed throughout the century helped
places during the eighteenth century Ottoman tradition in emulating a create the impetus for the emergence
also promoted the exchange of ideas Western style. By 1826, during the reign of a new Ottoman identity – one of
and changing cultural perceptions.6 of Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808-1839) a refined and sophisticated gentleman.
Reception of these embassies at European costume had been adopted Such exchanges are striking given
the courts and palaces of European by the court and all officials. According the fact that, less than forty years
capitals and Topkapı Palace in Istanbul to Levey “A picturesque aspect of earlier, the Ottomans had been at the
occurred with all pomp and splendour Ottoman culture was extinguished”.7 gates of Vienna for the second time.
thus becoming a harbinger for later By the early nineteenth century, the These ambassadorial exchanges are
manifestations of turquerie in Europe Ottoman architectural repertoire indicative of the changing nature of
and, rococo and baroque imitations in looked more European with its classical the state of affairs in Europe and the
the Ottoman court with a distinctively appropriations. Indeed, the architects Ottoman Empire. Following the 1699
Turkish flavour. and artists were no longer Turks but and 1718 peace treaties with Austria
European fascination with exotic foreigners, left to represent the image and Russia, the Ottomans realised
Ottoman attire and cultural practices of the Ottoman court to the outside that they needed to learn from the
dates to the sixteenth century through world as a modern European power. Europeans and adapt accordingly. As
the dissemination and circulation of However, prior to this, the Ottomans Fatma Müge Göçek states, “Treatises
costume books and engravings, namely left behind a legacy of artistic in history and literature, translations
by Nicolas de Nicolay’s Les Quatre innovation and creativity, and with the of Eastern and Western works also
(1551-1552), Pieter Coecke (1553), and magnificence of their colourful court flourished as Ottomans enjoyed peace
the Danish-German Melchior Lorck stimulated the imagination of European and sought the reasons behind the
(1559). These works planted the seeds royalty through the dissemination of recent Ottoman defeats.”9 As more
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 9and more embassies were sent to two sides. Some of the gifts Mehmed
Europe in the period after 1718, the Efendi gave the king included
reports of these Ottoman ambassadors caparisoned horses, a saber encrusted
“reveal the drastic change in Ottoman with precious stones, silk cloths from
perceptions of the West; they present India, a fur coat, and six bottles of
a unique view of Ottoman officials as Mecca balm.16 Such exotic items must
they came into contact with various have aroused a thirst for exotic and
aspects of Western civilization.”10 luxurious goods from the East further
During the reign of Ahmet III, among the French court prompting an
cross-cultural interactions not only increase of trade between the Levant
occurred at the Topkapı Palace, but and France. In return the French
also outside Ottoman territories. In king gave the ambassador gifts of
1720 the sultan sent the first Ottoman technological kinds as well as luxurious
ambassador Yirmisekiz Mehmed objects that adorned his palace. These
Çelebi Efendi to France, with whom included a damaskin gun of gold, two
the Ottomans had an alliance.11 pairs of gold pistols, four carpets of
According to Göçek this heralded “the La Savonnerie, two large mirrors by
first window opening to the West”.12His Colet, two commodes by Cresson, two
instructions from the Grand Vizier bureaus, a bookcase furnished with
Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha (1662- glass and a chest, six clocks, six watches,
1730) were “to investigate thoroughly jewels and two gilded braziers.17 Just as
the instruments of civilization and Portrait of Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi the turquerie trend would impact the
education and submit those that could by Pierre Gobert. Oil on canvas, 1724. aesthetics of European courts, these
be implemented.”13 The ambassadorial Source: Wikimedia Commons. This is a French luxury items eventually begin
journey required enormous preparation faithful photographic reproduction of a two- to transform the visual language of
dimensional, public domain work of art. The
ensuring the right materials and work of art itself is in the public domain Topkapı Palace and Istanbul environs
goods were taken. To demonstrate for the following reason: This work is in the by fusing Western artistic elements
the magnificence and grandeur of public domain in its country of origin and with the distinctive Ottoman aesthetics.
the Ottoman court, Mehmed Efendi other countries and areas where the copyright To further strengthen military,
brought with him some essentials, as term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. economic and cultural ties with France,
well as his son, Mehmed Said Efendi. Mehmed Efendi’s son, Mehmed Said
According to Fatma Müge Göçek, his extensive retinue created a frenzy Efendi was sent to Paris in 1742. The
Valuable goods were lent to the among the Parisians. As the excitement ambassador himself was the main
official and his retinue and the for ambassador’s arrival grew among focus of interest in the special issue
length and nature of his embassy. the locals, the people around the of Mercure de France. Having learnt
These goods, mostly inlaid in gold Tuileries Gardens lined up along the French during his trip to Paris with
and silver with precious metals, streets and other spaces to observe the his father’s entourage in 1720, his
symbolized Ottoman wealth and pomp and splendour of the embassy ability to communicate with his polite
power. The size of the retinue cortege. Mehmed Efendi’s accounts mannerisms endeared him to the
was another symbol of grandeur; in the Sefaretname (Book of the Embassy) French elite. His visit started a fashion
it increased with the status of the capture this moment: craze for French ladies to be portrayed
official. The retinue constituted a To watch our arrival, they [the in Turkish masquerade dress. Unlike
self-sufficient unit with separate people] filled up all the space in his father, the French King Louis XV
groups taking care of provision houses, shops, rooftops, and in accorded the Ottoman ambassador
and preparation of food, upkeep addition, all the ships and even the rare distinction of meeting him at
of the possessions, supervision of the ropes tying the ships to the Versailles on 10 January 1742. In June,
health, maintenance of security, port where [on] every rope [they] Mehmed Said Efendi commissioned
provision of translation, and looked like a bunch of grapes. a portrait of himself in pastel from
financial administration of the … The people, upon seeing us, Maurice Quentin de La Tour, however,
retinue. Mehmed Efendi’s retinue waved their hats in the air and it was the portrait by Jacques-Antoine-
consisted of approximately one altogether cried in their tongue, Joseph Aved’s that was exhibited at the
hundred persons.14 “long live the Padişah of the Salon in the same year. Aved’s portrait
Two painters capture Mehmed Çelebi Ottomans.”15 of the ambassador in his formal
Efendi’s entrance to and departure While the purpose of the Ottoman attire, the same worn by Mehmed Said
from Tuileries Gardens in Paris from embassy to France was political, Efendi for his audience with the king
his meeting with King Louis XV at scientific, military, and technological at Versailles, depicts him with great
the Tuileries Palace: Charles Parrocel – for the French, it was a moment attention to detail. The books, paper
(1688-1752) and Pierre Denis-Martin for indulgence in turquerie, imitating documents and scrolls presented on the
(1663-1740). During his entrance to Turkish attire and decorative aesthetics. table and the floor are representative
the Tuileries Gardens on his way to The increasing taste in turquerie in the of Baroque portraits. In this way, Aved
an audience with the French king, French court is further augmented presented Mehmed Said Efendi as a
the ambassador’s procession with by the exchange of gifts between the European statesman. The embassies
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 10of Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi projects at the Topkapı Palace and the guardian assured me there [are]
and Mehmed Said Efendi signalled Bosphorus in Istanbul. Other foreign eight hundred rooms in it. I will
the establishment of the prevailing artists also worked on painting murals not answer for that number since
influence of the Ottoman world as a on the walls of new palaces and covering I did not count them, but ‘tis
fanciful orient in France. At the same the centuries old mosaics on the walls certain the number is very large
time, Mehmed Said Efendi’s time in of the apartments of the Topkapı and the whole adorned with a
Paris was, according to Stanford J. Shaw Palace.20 For the proponents of ‘The profusion of marble, gilding, and
and Ezel Kural Shaw “more influential, Tulip Age’ (1718-1730) these cultural the most exquisite painting of
making numerous friends, going to changes marked the beginning of the fruit and flowers. The windows
plays, entertainments, and soirees, and process of Ottoman Westernization. are all sashed with the finest
becoming the first Ottoman Turk to Building works in the capital increased crystalline glass brought from
become somewhat conversant in the employing both traditional and foreign England … The galleries (which
French language. He brought back to aesthetics increasingly attracted visitors’ are numerous and very large) are
Istanbul books, costumes, and items of attention. adorned with jars of flowers and
furniture that influenced and stimulated The Grand Vizier Nevşehirli porcelain dishes of fruit of all
the passion for Western ways.”18 In fact, Ibrahim Pasha embarked on a sorts, so well done in plaster and
his term as ambassador to Paris in 1742 construction frenzy in Istanbul by coloured in so lively a manner
captivated the locals and encouraged restoring and rebuilding the capital with that it has an enchanting effect.
the idea of a sophisticated court on the palaces, gardens, school complexes, The garden is suitable to the
shores of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, fountains, and aqueducts, including house, where arbours, fountains,
one emulating the court of France. the Çırağan Palace at Beşiktaş in 1720 and walks are thrown together in
Moreover, nine years earlier, Mehmed and the Şerefabad Palace in Üsküdar a[n] agreeable confusion.21
Said Efendi also headed an Ottoman along the Bosphorus shoreline in 1728. The ostentatious and lavish rococo
embassy to Stockholm following the Indeed, two years prior to the building ornamentations, gilding, plaster work,
previous embassy headed by Kozbekçi of the Şerefabad Palace, Ibrahim Pasha marble, glass, paintings of floral and
Mustafa Ağa. The purpose for these presented another palace, the palace of fruit motifs, gardens with kiosks and
embassies was to form an alliance Neşatabad on the Bosphorus, to Sultan fountains, are evidence that the wealthy
against Russia and request payment Ahmet III as a gift. Perhaps not since Ottoman elite did not refrain from
of a debt incurred by King Charles the building programme of Mehmed II publicly displaying their extravagance.
XII of Sweden during his refuge in after the conquest of Constantinople The imports from Europe to decorate
Istanbul between 1709-1714 following in 1453, had the capital had seen such their residences with the finest of
the King’s surrender at Perevolochna in activity. Along with the Grand Vizier products are suggestive of increasing
1709 to the Russians. other leading pashas and wealthy elites foreign influence. The Bosphorus
Back in Istanbul, the cultural beautified the banks of the Bosphorus served as the pleasure canal of the elite
exchanges at the ambassadorial levels with many palaces. The interiors of during the ‘Tulip Age’ and continued
stimulated change. As turquerie was these complexes were decorated in in this role throughout the eighteenth
taking hold in the French court and the Ottoman rococo style and with century.
making its appearance elsewhere in ornamental products imported from The increasing cultural exchanges
Europe, ‘anything European’ was Europe. In 1718, a European visitor to along with the numerous architectural
beginning to make its presence felt in Istanbul, Lady Mary, in a letter to the activities in Istanbul are suggestive of a
the Ottoman capital. As Stanford Shaw Abbé Conti, described the Bosphorus ‘Second Ottoman Rebirth,” a successor
and Ezel Kural Shaw explain: on her way to visit one such palace: to the first Ottoman Renaissance
In addition to the palaces and Nothing can be pleasanter than between 1413-1575.22 However, this
entertainments, the Tulip Period the Canal [Bosphorus], and the time, the inspiration came not from a
manifested a wild period of Turks are so well acquainted with synthesis of classical Greco-Roman
extravagance on the part of the its beauties, all their pleasure-seats influences with Timurid-Turkic-
sultan as well as everyone else are built on its banks, where they Persianate-Islamic aesthetics, but,
who had money to spend. In have at the same time the most the eighteenth century French court.
contrast to the previous Ottoman beautiful prospects in Europe and From the death of Sultan Süleyman in
reluctance to be affected by Asia. There are near one another 1566 to the Ottomans ceding territory
European customs and manners, some hundreds of magnificent to the Europeans in 1699 and 1718
it now became the mode for palaces … I was yesterday to respectively for the first time in over
the wealthy to import articles see that of the late Grand Vizier two hundred years, a paradigm shift
considered representative of who was killed at Peterwaradin. in the Ottomans’ perceptions of the
Western life.19 It was built to receive his royal themselves and of the world around
Turks, especially the elite, began to bride, daughter of the present them contributed to a cultural re-
replace the traditional low divan for Sultan, but he did not live to see awakening by looking to Europe for
sofas and chairs; and, European artists her there … It is situated on one inspiration and rejuvination.
and architects, including Antoine- of the most delightful parts of
Ignace Melling (1763-1831) became the the Canal with a fine wood on * This essay is adapted from the forthcoming
book by Metin Mustafa, Oriental Imaginings,
imperial architect for Sultan Selim III the side of a hill behind it. The Occidental Fashioning: Turquerie, the Tulip Age and
(r. 1789-1807) and worked on imperial extent of its prodigious; the Ottoman Modernity, 1683-1867. Metin Mustafa
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 11is an independent researcher in Ottoman and France and the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth 13
Marie-Christine Gomez-Geraud and
Islamic art history. He holds a PhD in Ottoman Century (New York: Oxford University Press, Stephane Yerasimos, Dans l’empire de Soliman le
Renaissance art from The University of Notre 1987), 4. Magnifique (Paris: Presses Du CNRS, 1989), 51.
Dame Australia and Bachelor of Education in 3
Mehmed Çelebi Efendi cited in Niyazi 14
Göçek, East Encounters West: 14.
Humanities from The University of Sydney. Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey 15
Mehmed Efendi cited in Göçek, East
He currently teaches Ottoman and Islamic art (New York: Routledge, 1998), 33. Also see Encounters West, 89.
history at The University of Sydney Centre Ali Suavi (ed)., Sefaretname of Çelebi Mehmed 16
See Göçek, East Encounters West, 142.
for Continuing Education and is the founding (Istanbul, 1888), 317. 17
Göçek, East Encounters West, 142-143.
member of Centre for Ottoman Renaissance 4
Haydn Williams, Turquerie (London: Also see Levey, The World of Ottoman Art, 114.
and Civilisation. His research interests include: Thames & London, 2014), 29. 18
Shaw and Shaw, History of the Ottoman
the idea of many renaissances and cross- 5
For more on the legacy of Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 236.
cultural interactions in the early modern Renaissance material culture see the 19
Shaw and Shaw, History of the Ottoman
Mediterranean world between the Ottomans forthcoming book by Metin Mustafa, Essays: Empire, 234-235.
and Europeans. Metin Mustafa is the author The Ottoman Renaissance and the Early Modern 20
Godfrey Goodwin, A History of Ottoman
of the monographs, The Ottoman Renaissance: Period, 1400-1699 (Centre for Ottoman Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson,
A Reconsideration of Early Modern Ottoman art, Renaissance and Civilisation, 2021). Essays 1971), 386; also see Shaw and Shaw, History of
1413-1575 and History of Ottoman Renaissance Series Complete Edition. the Ottoman Empire, 373, 403, 442.
Art: From Mehmed I to Selim II. 6
Ahmet Refik Altınay, Lâle Devri (1718- 21
D. Murphy, Embassy to Constantinople - The
1730) (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfi, 2011), 26. Travels of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (London:
ENDNOTES 7
Michael Levey, The World of Ottoman Art Century, 1988), 197.
(London: Thames & London, 1976), 112. 22
Metin Mustafa, The Ottoman Renaissance:
1
For more historical analysis see, Stanford
8
Alev L. Croutier, Harem - The World Behind A Reconsideration of Early Modern Ottoman Art,
J. Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the the Veil (London: Bloomsbury, 1989), 185. 1413-1575 (New Jersey: Blue Dome Press,
Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. 1: Empire
9
Göçek, East Encounters West, 8. 2019), vii-viii.
of the Gazis – The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman
10
Göçek, East Encounters West, 4.
Empire 1280-1808 (New York: Cambridge
11
Raşid Mehmed, Tarih-i Râsid, 2nd ed.
University Press, 1988), 169-276. (İstanbul: Matbaa-ı Âmire, 1282/1865), vol. 5,
2
Fatma Müge Göçek, East Encounters West: 213-4.
12
Göçek, East Encounters West, 5.
Ottoman
Images
Footed Bowl with Lotuses. Dated first half of
the sixteenth century. Made in Turkey, Iznik. Tin-
enameled earthenware. 10.2 x 31.8 cm. Credit:
Rogers Fund, 1929, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Accession Number: 29.33
Detail of Page 1 verso of
Khusrau and Shirin. Dated 1498-
1499. Notes from the Metropolitan
Museum of Art: This manuscript
is a copy of the tale of Khusrau
and Shirin composed by the
Persian poet Hatifi, and shows the
importance of Persian literature
in the Ottoman world. [The
work is] executed in a distinctive
style, related to western Iranian
Detail of Portrait of Sultan tradition from the Aq Quyunlu,
Mustafa I (r. 1617–18; 1622–23). but also borrowing elements
Dated late seventeenth to early from European sources...The
eighteenth century; attributed calligraphy, illumination, gilding,
to Turkey. Opaque watercolor Detail of Textile Fragment. Dated and painting were completed by
on paper. 16.5 x 8.3 cm. Credit: mid-sixteenth century. Likely made in a single artist calling himself
Purchase, Friends of Islamic Art Constantinople. Silk, metal wrapped thread; Suzi.... Credit: Harris Brisbane
Gifts, 2012. Metropolitan Museum lampas. 61 x 67.3 cm. Credit: Purchase, Joseph Dick Fund, 1969. Metropolitan
of Art. Accession Number: Pulitzer Bequest, 1952. Metropolitan Museum Museum of Art. Accession
2012.135 of Art. Accession Number: 52.20.22 Number: 69.27
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 12“THE POPULATION WANTS TO BE
COMPLETELY FREE FROM THE SPANISH YOKE”:
A CASE OF SEPHARDIC JEWISH ANTICOLONIAL SOLIDARITY
FROM THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE DURING THE WARS OF
PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE (1896-1899)
Jorge Bayona | University of Washington, Seattle | jbayona@uw.edu
As tensions rose to a boiling point to achieve independence from result of the fiercely independent
between American and Filipino Spanish and American imperialism? personality of El Tiempo’s editor,
soldiers in the environs of Manila, While connections and solidarities David Fresco. We know that he was
the Philippine capital that the between the Ottoman empire and strongly outspoken, going so far as
Americans had captured from Southeast Asia have been the object engaging in an open confrontation
the Spanish during the Spanish- of scholarly discussion, the focus with the Grand Rabbinate,
American War of 1898, El Tiempo, a has tended to be on pan-Islamic publishing editorials denouncing
Jewish, Ladino-language newspaper solidarities and networks, especially their irregular finances and labeling
published in Constantinople, took with the sultanate of Aceh, located them as “tyrannical” and “abusive
on a bold editorializing tone that on the northern tip of the island of of the poor.” He refused to bow down
stood out from the usually more Sumatra, Indonesia.2 Studies about to pressure, to the point of receiving
staid writing style they used when relations between the Ottoman a writ of excommunication. He also
reporting on foreign affairs: empire and the Philippines have engaged in multiple controversies
Twenty five thousand been far fewer. Isaac Donoso has in the pages of his newspaper, such
Americans have been sent studied Ottoman relationships as his longstanding feud against
to this country to overcome with the Muslim sultanates in the fellow newspaperman Isaac Gabay
the resistance of a population southern Philippines from the during the 1890s.5 It seems entirely
that is determined to achieve sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, plausible that such a man would side
independence. (…) What can an Adem Kara has identified a number with the underdogs in a showdown
army of twenty five thousand, of times in the nineteenth and with a much more powerful foe.
or even a hundred thousand early twentieth century when El Tiempo’s coverage of Spain’s
soldiers do against a population the Ottoman Empire sought to numerous wars that occurred at
of nine or ten million that assist the Muslims of the southern this conjuncture (in Cuba, the
inhabit the Philippine Islands? Philippines, while William Clarence- Philippines, and against the United
Much like the Spanish, who Smith has studied instances when States) shows that Fresco’s eventual
came to realize it much too the Americans sought out Ottoman solidarity with the Filipino cause
late, the Americans begin to help in putting an end to Muslim was not the result of a longstanding
understand that the Filipinos resistance.3 These pan-Islamic Ladino grudge against Spain for
are not a people to be bought solidarities or connections, however, their expulsion from the peninsula
and sold…1 do not explain the Jewish support in 1492. There was no sign of
This was not an isolated outburst shown for the mostly Christian schadenfreude for Spanish difficulties
of solidarity with the Filipino Filipinos who fought against or defeats in any of the multiple
revolutionaries who had revolted the Spanish and the American fronts in which they were engaged.6
against Spanish colonial rule in colonizers. Furthermore, the Jewish If anything, Fresco declared himself
August 1896, and who by early 1899 community in the Philippines was a friend of Spain. After Spain’s
had overthrown the Spanish colonial miniscule,4 and the editor of El decisive naval defeat in Santiago de
state throughout the archipelago. Tiempo had no way of knowing Cuba in July 1898, Fresco stated:
As we will see, over the course of whether they sided with the Filipino “We believe ourselves to be the
these events, El Tiempo featured a revolutionaries, or with the Spanish most sincere friends of Spain when
steady (though not entirely linear) or American colonial authorities. we say that the only thing left for
crescendo of support for the Filipino Thus, pan-Judaic solidarity as an her to do is to sue for peace, without
cause. What could be behind this explanation for this phenomenon wasting any time.”7 Furthermore, in
unexpected solidarity coming also seems highly unlikely. the early coverage of the Philippine
from a newspaper catering to the In the absence of grand historical Revolution of 1896, the gaze is
Sephardic Jewish community of the reasons for this unexpected support that of the Spaniards; he wrote,
Ottoman empire for a Christianized, for the Philippine cause coming from for example, “The news from the
anticolonial people on the opposite a Jewish, Constantinople-based Philippine Islands is favorable.
end of the Asian continent? How did Ladino-language newspaper, I argue Spanish troops had many victories.”8
it take shape over the course of the in this essay that this development In this respect, it is clear that
successive wars fought by Filipinos can most convincingly be the Fresco’s solidarity with the Filipino
World History Bulletin · Vol XXXVII · No. 1 · Page 13You can also read
