THE POSITION OF JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Yevgeniya Baraz
Student Pulse
ition-of-jews-and-christians-in-the-ottoman-empire
May 4 2010
The position of Jewish and Christian peoples under the Ottoman Empire
is an issue that continues to be disputed today, almost a century after
the official end of the Empire itself. Religious association typically
determined status in the predominantly Muslim Ottoman Empire. According
to Moshe Ma’oz, Christians and Jews were seen as "inferior subjects
or as illegitimate denominations."1 As a result, they were often
discriminated against by the state entity. In contrast, other scholars
may argue that the position of minorities under the Ottomans was
lenient compared to minority treatment elsewhere in the world, such
as in certain parts of Europe. According to Edward Said, abuses of
"Orientalism," which he described as a Western way of "dominating" or
"restructuring" the history of the Middle East because of prejudice
against Arab-Islamic peoples, has caused a misconstruction of the
historical narrative.2 According to Bruce Masters, Westerners were
typically biased against Muslims, and often distorted realities in the
relationships between Christians, Muslims and Jews under the Ottoman
Empire.3 As such, it must be noted that historical interpretations,
or misinterpretations, must be intensely scrutinized when discussing
the position of Jews and Arabs under the Ottoman Empire.
In order to understand the position of Jews and Christians during
the era, their official statuses must be described. They were
considered Ahl al-Kitab, or "people of the book" (i.e. those who held
monotheistic beliefs).4 As such, their treatment may have differed
from that of polytheistic believers under Ottoman rule, since Muslims
accepted the "prophets" of Christianity and Judaism. As a result,
they were given state protection, or Ahl al-Dhimma. This tradition
of protection for minorities can still be seen today in modern
day Tehran. Many Christian communities still remain in Iran. Since
officially recognized religions still enjoy dhimma, the Christian
communities are guaranteed protection from the state. An example of
this protection is the symbolic painting of a stern looking Ayatollah
Khomeini on the outside of an Armenian church in Tehran.5 The painting
symbolizes the Ayatollah’s protection over the church–that he sees
to their security "personally." They enjoyed autonomy in religious
affairs and also area such as education.6 In this sense, Jews and
Christians enjoyed certain privileges under Ottoman Rule that was not
granted to minorities in Europe, where Jews and Muslims were often
persecuted or held back due to religious prejudice.
That is not to say, however, that Jews and Christians enjoyed
complete freedom under Islamic rule. They were seen as inferior by
both the government and by many people. Put in simplistic terms,
the superiority complex held by Muslims in the Ottoman Empire can
likely be attributed to their acceptance of the Prophet Muhammad as
the final prophet, a belief that Christians and Jews did not aspire
to. Their failure to do so may have caused Muslim rulers to view
them in a substandard capacity. As such, they were required to pay a
special poll tax, a jiyzya.7 While they were allowed to hold certain
senior-level positions, such as financial advisers or physicians,
they were always required to hold only those positions subordinate
to their Muslim counterparts. They were even sometimes subjected to
restrictions in dress, or were harassed by certain officials and
neighbors. This shows that despite the granting of dhimma to the
Christians and Jews, unofficial acts of prejudice were sometimes
condoned.8 There was a certain sense of social segregation between
Muslims and non-Muslims. Stereotypes categorizing Christians and Jews
were often utilized in proliferating the gap between them. Even in
areas of close proximity between the groups, where they lived and
worked as neighbors, they were rarely included in the communal "we"
of the neighborhoods.9
Jews and Christians were very rarely dealt with on an individual basis;
instead they were clumped into a millet system, which dealt with them
as a community. For example, the Rabbi, in a millet-bashi, acted as
the administrative officer responsible for acting as representative
for his community to the state. Rather than collecting the jiyzya
individually, they paid the state collectively, with a Chief Rabbi
administrating. This was the case for all recognized Christian
and Jewish communities.10 The millet system allowed the respective
communities to enjoy a certain level of administrative autonomy under
their representative. The millet leader may have held certain powers
to enforce and legislate laws. He also served to plead the causes of
his community to the Ottoman government.11
According to Roderic H. Davison, millets served to some extent as
"agents of change," who helped bring about certain modernization and
reformation in the Ottoman Empire. He attributes this to the contact
individuals within the non-Muslim millets had with Europe.12 Armenians,
Greeks and Jews helped to import the printing press into the Ottoman
Empire.13 The government also enforced changes in order to revive the
Ottoman Empire, such as improving the army and opening embassies in
Europe. A 1956 decree from the Sultan Abdulmecid established communal
autonomy on the basis of equality, but left administrative aspects of
personal status, such as marriage and education, to the millets. This
also enforced a system of tax collection from all citizens, not
just Christians and Jews, as well as a mandatory army service for
all. However, what happened in practice was a bit different; most
Christians and Jews response to army reforms was to pay a special tax
exempting them from army duty, rather than fulfilling the mandatory
service.14As such, in some cases, the millets were agents of change
in modernizing the Ottoman Empire; they acted as the "channels" or
"filters" of change.15 In others, they acted as opponents to reform
to protect their own interests, such as in the case of military
service. According to Davison, acceptance of certain modernization by
non-Muslim millets also caused non-acceptance by Muslims on religious
and anti-Western grounds. Although, it is important to remember Said’s
orientalist reconstructing of history on the basis of anti-Muslim
prejudice when considering Davison’s claim.
The position of Christians and Jews under Ottoman rule can be debated
in historical constructs. While religious association often determined
the social status of citizens, religious minorities were usually
treated with a level of tolerance that was not often enjoyed by
minorities under Christian rule. However, it is important to remember
that we may never truly understand the position of minorities under
Ottoman rule because historical interpretations often lead scholars
astray.
——————————– ————————————————
Braude, Benjamin. "Foundation Myths of the Millet System." In
Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire: The Functioning of a Plural
Society, edited by Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, 69-88. Teaneck:
Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1982.
Davison, Roderic H. "The Millets as Agents of Change in the
Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire," In Christians and Jews in the
Ottoman Empire: The Functioning of a Plural Society, edited by
Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, 319-337. Teaneck: Holmes & Meier
Publishers, 1982.
Ma’oz, Moshe. "Middle Eastern Minorities: Between Integration and
Conflict." Policy Papers 50 (1999): 5-9.
Masters, Bruce. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The
Roots of Sectarianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979.
The Armenians in Tehran. Video.
—————————————— ————————————–
1.) Moshe Ma’oz, "Middle Eastern Minorities: Between Integration and
Conflict," Policy Papers 50 (1999): 5.
2.) Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1979), 3.
3.) Bruce Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World:
The Roots of Sectarianism. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
2001), 2.
4.) Ma’oz, "Middle Eastern Minorities," 6.
5.) The Armenians in Tehran, Video.
6.) Ma’oz, "Middle Eastern Minorities," 6.
7.) Ibid.
8.) Ibid.
9.) Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The Roots
of Sectarianism, 16.
10.) Benjamin Braude, "Foundation Myths of the Millet System,"
in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire: The Functioning of
a Plural Society, ed. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis (Teaneck:
Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1982), 69.
11.) Ibid., 81.
12.) Roderic H. Davison, "The Millets as Agents of Change in the
Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire," in Christians and Jews in the
Ottoman Empire: The Functioning of a Plural Society, ed. Benjamin
Braude and Bernard Lewis (Teaneck: Holmes & Meier Publishers,
1982), 319.
13.) Daphne Tsimhoni, "The Tanzimat: Ottoman Reforms and the Millets,"
February 11, 2010.
14.) Ibid.
15.) Davison, "The Millets," 331.
Article written February 22nd, 2010 and published May 4th, 2010.
http://studentpulse.com/articles/242/the-pos