Ph.D. Theses

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Agrarian relations and estate (Çiftlik) agriculture in Ottoman Thessaly (c. 1780 – 1880)
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Öncel, Fatma.; Terzibaşoğlu, Yücel.
This dissertation analyses agrarian relations and çiftlik agriculture in Thessaly from c. 1780 to c. 1880. It explains the dynamics of the rural economy in a Balkan region during a lengthy and critical epoch from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century by focusing on agrarian relations and institutions. This research proposes a methodological contribution to the history of the Ottoman rural economy by utilising different fiscal, judicial and administrative archival sources as a means of analysing the continuities and changes in the countryside. Specifically, it addresses the transformation of Ottoman land, labour and taxation institutions. Law, taxation regimes, land tenure organisations, imperial and provincial governments, and pious foundations (vakıf) are the main institutions focused on in this research. Tax farming, being a high-ranking official and dynastic titles are among the major features of the çiftlik ownership in the region throughout the century. This research also offers an in-depth examination of Thessalian çiftlik economy. The different types and the amount of crops are analysed in a comparative approach regarding both regional variations and the change over this period. Labour agreements between landlords and different classes of peasantry are analysed. This dissertation makes a chronological analysis of the continuities and changes in agrarian relations and çiftlik agriculture in Thessaly. It is mainly argued that the continuity of the absentee mode of landownership was the hallmark of the region from c. 1780 to c. 1880. Yet, the changing characteristics of absenteeism created new property relations in rural Thessaly.
Agriculture and agricultural knowledge in Bursa and Mihaliç (Karacabey) in the nineteenth century
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Akçakaya, Zeynep, 1985-; Terzibaşoğlu, Yücel.; Aksoy, Zühre.
This dissertation analyzes the change in agriculture and agricultural knowledge in Bursa and Mihaliç (Karacabey) throughout the nineteenth century. By conducting this research in the century of change and scrutinizing the factors of land, population, environment, state and schools, this dissertation aims to challenge the understanding of the ‘unchanging’ and ‘backward’ peasant knowledge. This study brings into light in what ways the peasants changed agricultural knowledge, crops and practices in response to the changes in these factors. Challenging the notion of ‘backward’ peasant agriculture knowledge brings the query of its antonym, ‘advanced’ scientific knowledge, which was presented an imagined dichotomy by state politics. By discussing this imagined dichotomy, this work emphasizes how and why scientific knowledge and peasants’ knowledge were intertwined and differentiated from each other. In Bursa, being one of the trade centers that had been vital for Istanbul, it is possible to observe the impact of particularly domestic but also international trade trends on agricultural production. Additionally, being the only place that has a Silk Institute, Bursa prepares a perfect ground to the politics of scientific knowledge and the relationship between scientific knowledge and peasants’ knowledge through this special product. As the first capital city of the empire with dense population and several vakıf villages, studying Bursa reveals unique ways of land use and agricultural production. Mihaliç, being the closest neighbor of Bursa has different characteristics than Bursa, thus it stands as the ideal district to compare different ways of changes.
Between voluntarism and resistance: The Ottoman mobilization of manpower in the First World War
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2009., 2009.) Beşikçi, Mehmet.; Deringil, Selim,
This dissertation examines the Ottoman experience of mobilization of manpower in the First World War. By focusing mainly on Anatolia and the Muslim population, it aims to explore how the Ottoman state tried to cope with the challenges of permanent mobilization for the war effort. The dissertation also aims to analyze how this process reshaped state-society relations in Anatolia. It is argued that social actors were not passive vis-à-vis the state during the Ottoman mobilization effort: they had agency and produced responses that would reshape the mobilizing policies that targeted them. Based on how social actors’ own expectations and priorities matched up with state policies under ever-deteriorating wartime conditions, the dissertation demonstrates that these responses constituted a wide spectrum ranging from voluntary support to open resistance. In turn, the state responded by revising its mobilization policies and reformulating new mechanisms of control at the local level. The research for this dissertation is largely based on the primary sources at the Ottoman State Archives (BOA), The Turkish General Staff Military History Archives (ATASE), and the National Archives of Britain. Moreover, the relevant newspapers and journals of the period under study, and the diaries-memoirs of various people who participated in the mobilization experience also constitute a major part of the documentary basis of this dissertation.|Keywords: the First World War, mobilization, conscription, volunteers, paramilitary associations, draft-evasion, deserters, gendarmerie.
Cultural identifications of the Greek Orthodox elite of Constantinople: discourse on music in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2009., 2009.) Erol, Merih.; Eldem, Edhem,
This dissertation aims to explore the formation of a musical discourse among the Greek Orthodox educated elite of Constantinople in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This discourse was formed mainly through the practices and activities of the voluntary music associations and the debates on musicological issues in the columns of the Greek dailies and journals. This study analyzes the musical discourse within the issues of cultural nationalism, national and social identity formation and modernization. Particular attention is paid to the investigation of the musical discourse in its historical context, namely the social, economic and political transformations that the Orthodox millet underwent in the post-Reform Edict (1856) period, and the prospects of certain political and ideological schemes that became potentially available in this era. Furthermore, by uncovering the plurality of discourses, definitions and views pertaining to cultural identity and musical debates, this dissertation aims to contribute to the challenging of the standard approach which sees the Greek Orthodox millet as a monolithic unit. The main body of sources used in this dissertation consists of treatises on music, essays on music in periodicals and newspapers, speeches, patriarchal circulars, the statutes of musical associations and the prologues of the collections of ecclesiastical chants, popular and folk songs. The archives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Greek Orthodox Community of Stavrodromio (Beyoğlu), the Asia Minor Association ‘East’ and the Ottoman archive were used in this study.
Education in the Turcophone Orthodox Communities of Anatolia during the nineteenth century
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2010., 2010.) Benlisoy, Stefo.; Deringil, Selim,
From the second half of the nineteenth century onwards the Turcophony of the majority of the Orthodox population of Anatolia became to be treated gradually as an anomaly that has to be corrected. The ecclesiastic leadership of the Orthodox millet and the secular leadership of the Ottoman Greeks became increasingly more sensitive and anxious towards the dominance of Turkish in the Anatolian Orthodox communities. The present study claims that just like the Ottoman state authority, the leadership of the Ottoman Greek millet adopted a siege mentality. In this specific historical context modern education acquired an adversarial nature and educational competition fueled both state led and the non-Muslim educational endeavors. Towards the middle of the nineteenth century a new language hierarchy emerged and consolidated. According to this new linguistic hierarchy Greek started to represent progress, advancement, prosperity and a break away from the existing backwardness. The plain Turkish that is spoken is despised and is treated as an oriental sign of backwardness and poverty. The present study attempts to demonstrate the complex interrelationships between different actors in shaping the educational and communal affairs of Turkish speaking Anatolian Orthodox. Rather than a homogenous entity what we find is a socially, economically, culturally, linguistically and ideologically fragmented community in which different actors tries to assert themselves and to direct this process through factional politics. This study claims that education stopped and reversed the process of social and cultural integration of the Turkish-speaking Anatolian Orthodox to their Muslim compatriots and created a sense of Greek national identity and feeling among the younger generations. Despite the occasional expression of a local or Anatolian Orthodox conscience inside the Ottoman Greek millet, most of the time in response to defamatory arguments concerning their Turcophony, a political and cultural program that will emphasize their ethnic distinctiveness from the Rum millet in the sense of Bulgarian or Albanian examples never took hold. Until the “exchange of populations” the cultural and ideological program of integration to the Greek Orthodox millet/nation retained its hegemonic position and remained as the most convincing program for achieving progress and prosperity.
Elemterefiş: superstitious beliefs and occult in the Ottoman Empire ( 1839 - 1923 )
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2013., 2013.) Uluğ, Nimet Elif.; Karakışla, Yavuz Selim,
Tills doctoral thesis has been prepared in order to write the social history of superstitious beliefs and especially magic and sorcery. Mainly, we tried to examine how superstitious beliefs and magic had transformed the daily life of Ottoman Empire into the world of superstitions in nineteenth century. However, we obliged to go further back when I deepened my research into the origin of superstitious beliefs and magic which were widespread in almost every period of the Ottoman Empire. I had to look at polytheistic religions like Shamanism, Animism, Manichaeism, Buddhism and Hinduism which were the common religious belief of former Turkish World. Also I studied various pagan religions and cultures underlying the past of Ottoman geography spreading over three continents; polytheistic religion belief systems of cultures like Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece and Roman culture; and the four major heavenly religions from these lands which each of which would be included in the Ottoman territories later such as Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam as well as the Sky God belief in the Central Asia. I tried to focus particularly on the magic subject while studying on superstitious beliefs and magic in Ottoman Empire. The focal point of my thesis became how magic had been utilized especially in Muslim Ottoman society rather than how the magic had been created. Therefore, I particularly stayed away from getting involved with amulets. How amulets or magic had been perceived in the society, why these had been needed and how they had been used became much more important than what was written in them. In the Ottoman Empire, while "professional" magicians were among individuals of ulema class who were not reluctant to utilize religious knowledge for their personal interests and began to live immoraly; "amateur" magicians were composed of occult groups who had unknown origins. I referred to them as pseudoclergy in the thesis. I followed magic and magicians included in the documents of Prime Ministry Ottoman State Archives only when caught as a result of a complaint. Ottoman literature and especially the novels of the period served as an efficient resource coming to my aid where limited information in the archival documents and secondary resources were insufficient about this kind of secret sciences (ilm-i nucum).
Exploring church-state relations in modern Japan: count Ōtani Kōzui’s quest for the pure land in an age of turbulence
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2012., 2012.) Küçükyalçın, Erdal.; Esenbel, Selçuk,
Ōtani Kōzui (1876-1948), the twenty second patriarch of the Honpa Honganji denomination of Buddhist Jōdo Shinshū sect (True Pure Land or Shin Buddhism) and the chief-abbot of its head-temple Western Honganji, Kyoto. He lived through the Meiji, Taishō and the first half of the Shōwa periods and witnessed the rapid transformation from pre-modern to modern his society went through. Likewise, Western Honganji, the largest and most influential religious institution in the country had played a crucial role in the making of the Meiji Restoration and in the settling of secularism in Japan. Ōtani Kōzui was the leader of this institution between 1903-1914, but then he resigned and started living a secular life in China. He is known for the three Ōtani Expeditions into Central Asia but most of his other deeds remain in obscurity. Kōzui was an Asianist who, in ten volumes of his Kōa Keikaku (The Construction of Asia Project) had proposed a Tokyo-Istanbul-Berlin railway. He was an agriculturalist who had plantations in Johor (Malaysia), Singapore, Sulawesi and Java islands (Indonesia), Kaohsiung (Taiwan) as well as investments in Ankara Gazi Farm and Bursa Turkish-Japanese Silk Weaving Factory. He was the adviser to the Konoe and Koiso cabinets, and a public opinion leader whose followers had established “The Gate of Kōzui Society” (Zuimonkai ). The dissertation focuses on Count Ōtani Kōzui’s multi-faceted life and demonstrates the role of a religious institution,Western Honganji in the making of modern Japan.
Extradition in the Ottoman international legal practice of the nineteenth century
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Kamay, Berna.; Eldem, Edhem,
This dissertation examines extradition (iade-i mücrimin), the rendition of criminals, in nineteenth century international legal practice of the Ottoman Empire. An examination of extradition cases in the nineteenth century shines a light on the diplomatic stage of world politics, which was characterized mainly by international security policies against transnational crime and crime mobility across the borders. Extradition directly pertained to the major questions hovering over the Ottoman legal operation: capitulations, extraterritoriality (haric-ez memleket), and subjecthood. It is mainly because the capitulatory system and the operation of the consular system hampered the practice of extradition in the Ottoman Empire. However, the increasing mobility at the Ottoman borders necessitated regular communication and diplomatic channels to surrender criminals. It was a world of skillful diplomats, of state officials with expertise in law, and of cunning state politics. It was also a world of professional impostors, fugitive criminals, political refugees, and armed rebels whose transnational mobility and offenses shaped international security policies. These entailed domestic legislative efforts as well as stricter preventive and punitive measures on the international stage. Extradition as a legal practice thus evolved into a protean political question and a diplomatic tool, necessitating its analysis within the broader context of Ottoman history. This study challenges the portrayal of an Ottoman judicial system as weak in legislative and jurisdictional power, which is regarded as operating at the behest of the capitulatory system.
From antiquarianism to urban archaeology :|transformation of research on ‘Old’ Istanbul throughout the nineteenth century
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Sümertaş, Firuzan Melike.; Ersoy, Ahmet.
This dissertation is a study of a nineteenth-century intellectual network gathered around the agency of ‘old’ Constantinople as an object of antiquarian knowledge. The actors of the network are intellectuals from different backgrounds and institutions who have extensively studied different features of the long-term history of Constantinople with a particular focus on its pre-Ottoman (Byzantine) past and its physical remnants. The study deciphers its actors in relation to the intensity of their relationship with these remnants, which materialize as hubs of the network. When it comes to the study of the material past of the Byzantine layer of Constantinople, these hubs are mostly occupied by Greek-Orthodox intellectuals and institutions which published books and conducted research projects thanks to their close engagement with the urban antiquarian history of Constantinople, such as Patriarch Kōnstantios I (1770-1859), Skarlatos Byzantios (1797-1878), Alexander G. Paspatēs (1814-1891) and the Greek Literary Society of Constantinople (the Syllogos). ‘Old’ Constantinople in this dissertation is an object of knowledge in itself that creates links between various actors that were one way or another engaged with that object. The representation of this object is formed through the accumulation of knowledge on the historical urban material context and its emergence in different solid forms, such as books, journals, maps, illustrations and the like. Through close scrutiny of these representations, and the network that surround them, the thesis investigates the transformation of the knowledge on the historical material context of Constantinople from ‘urban antiquarianism’ to ‘urban archaeology throughout the nineteenth century.
From imperial palace to museum: The Topkapı Palace during the long nineteenth century
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Özlü, Nilay.; Eldem, Edhem,
This dissertation focuses on the last century of the Topkapı Palace, which is mostly overlooked. Focusing on the period beginning with the accession of Mahmud II until the foundation of the Republic and official declaration of the Topkapı Palace as a museum (1808-1924), this research chronologically investigates the physical, architectural, institutional, symbolic, and ideological transformations of the palace and documents the new functions it adopted. The Topkapı Palace was transformed with respect to Ottoman modernization that was shaped by the military, institutional, economical, and social reforms of the long nineteenth century, gradually losing its role as an imperial residence. However, the palace also sustained its ceremonial, architectural, and symbolic configuration and significance. This tension between continuity and change underpins the theoretical framework of this dissertation. The Topkapı Palace holds a significant place in the formation of museums in the Ottoman empire and modern Turkey. The dissertation offers a new, yet critical perspective on the established narratives of Ottoman museology, highlighting the role of the Topkapı Palace and scrutinizing its museumification during the course of the long nineteenth century. The royal collections, treasuries, and sultanic pavilions located in the inner courts of the imperial palace were opened for touristic visits and were performatively displayed to the foreign gaze. During the same era, a modern archeological museum and a school of fine arts emulating the Western model were also established in the outer gardens of the palace. In this respect, the Topkapı Palace became a venue and a medium for Ottoman self-representation.
Historical writing in the late Ottoman Empire: Global encounters and historical experiments of Hayrullah Efendi
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Veyselgil, Can.; Öztürkmen, Arzu,; Toksöz, Meltem.
This dissertation, drawing on a narrative analysis of a mid-nineteenth century Ottoman historical work written by Hayrullah Efendi (1817-1866), attempts at broadening our perspectives on late Ottoman historical writing. By treating this historical text as a literary product, my aim is to delineate the ways which Hayrullah encountered and experimented with global historical discourses of the long nineteenth century that began to be increasingly shaped by new temporalities and methodologies, political concerns over public opinion, and colonial and national anxieties. This dissertation includes three main axes. The first one reveals the ways which Hayrullah established the relations among three temporalities of the past, present and future by concentrating on the notions of historical distance, truth, admonition, and construction. The second one covers Hayrullah’s discussions of local, national and global identities, political and economic regimes, and civilizational discourses by concentrating on his notions of nation and civilization. The third one by focusing on Hayrullah’s conceptions of historical agency, causality and change deals with his frameworks for constructing the relations between and within the state and society. The dissertation aims to demonstrate that neither a single concern nor a hegemonic state or class perspective dominates the text; on the contrary this narrative is a multiplicity and relativity of perspectives and contains several parts with incoherent, hesitant, ambiguous, and uncertain argumentations as well as sections with more coherent, absolute, certain and unified discussions.
Isfahan and Istanbul in the early seventeenth century : Masjed-e Shah and Sultan Ahmed complexes
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2022., 2022) Gürkan Anar, Damla.; Kafesçioğlu, Çiğdem.
This dissertation investigates the urban, architectural, and ceremonial formations of the Sultan Ahmed and Masjed-e Shah complexes, erected in early seventeenth century Istanbul and Isfahan by rival monarchs, Ahmed I (r.1603–1617) and Abbas I (r.1587–1629) respectively. This study conceptualizes these Friday mosque complexes as platforms manifesting their patrons’ comparable imperial agendas and analogous confessional policies through monumental architecture and theatrical rituality to different audiences, including each other’s representatives. It argues that besides corresponding religio-political flows at two rival courts, shared urbanistic, architectural, and aesthetic currents of the era played a significant part in their convergence as mosque complexes characterized by architectural grandeur, extravagance, decorative splendor, confessional ethos, and theatrical rituality. Combining the methods of architectural history with those of social and cultural history, this thesis delves into various textual and archival sources besides architectural evidence. It contributes to the comparative literature on the Safavid and Ottoman architectural cultures by presenting the first comprehensive comparative and connected analysis of two contemporary Friday mosque complexes erected in the Safavid and Ottoman capitals in the early seventeenth century.
Manumitted female slaves of the Ottoman Imperial Harem (sarayîs) in the eighteenth century Istanbul
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2009., 2009.) Argıt, Betül İpşirli.; Eldem, Edhem,
This dissertation restores the lives of a large body of manumitted female palace slaves (sarayîs), and explores their role and place at the imperial court through a study of various aspects of their lives in the eighteenth century. Affiliation to the imperial court opened up access to patronage networks that had been generated during their period of service in the harem and continued following their transfer from the imperial palaces. Manumission did not loosen the patronage ties with the imperial household, but signaled the beginning of a new kind of relationship based on mutual interest and interdependence between the two parties: manumitted female palace slaves and the imperial household which provided patronage. By examining various aspects of sarayî women’s lives, such as marriage, residential patterns, material world and philanthropic acts, through the perspective of patronage relationship, the present dissertation reveals the extent of this enduring patronage relationship and the implications for both parties. This ongoing affiliation to the imperial court left a considerable imprint on the lives of manumitted female palace slaves and provided them with benefits and advantages in various stages of their lives according to their status in the harem hierarchy. From another perspective, manumitted female palace slaves secured the interest of the imperial household even after leaving the imperial palaces. By establishing loyal households through marriage, contributing to the making of a court region, introducing court culture to the urban society, contributing to the wealth of imperial court members by bequests and endowments, and contributing to city life through architectural patronage, sarayî women of all levels demonstrated power and prestige of the imperial household which was important in the context of the century. At the final point this study reveals that, in the political context of the era, a complete understanding of the internal functioning of the imperial court politics cannot be fully understood without taking into consideration the role of these loyal allies of the imperial household who acted as component of the imperial court all through their lives.
Martyrs and dervishes as witnesses : The transformation of Byzantine identity in the lands of Rum
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2010.|Thesis (Ph.D.)-I'Universite de Paris 1-Pantheon-Sorbonne, 2010., 2010.) Bayrı, Buket Kitapçı.; Kaplan, Michel,; Necipoğlu, Nevra.
The transformation of Asia Minor and the Balkans between the eleventh and the fifteenth centuries constitutes one of the last chapters of social and cultural change in the Mediterranean basin in the Middle Ages. The focus of the dissertation is on the transformation of Byzantine identity between 1261 and 1453 in the former Byzantine lands, which were named as the lands of Rum by the Muslim sources. Due to incursions, raids, conquest, recolonization and reconstruction following the Turco-Muslim migrations and settlement, the physical and symbolic boundaries of the Byzantines as a group were trespassed, there was an encounter with the "other" and through conversion, enslavement and changing sides and places the Byzantines as a group became smaller. The effect of this change on Byzantine identity is researched through the examination of the deftion of "self' and "other" in Byzantine martyria and Turco-Muslim hagiographical sources (menakzbnames) and heroic epics. In this inquiry both Byzantine identity and the identity of "other" are historicized and underlined. The changing meanings of terms such as Christian, genos, patris and barbaros which appear most in the martyria and Muslim, Turk, Rumi and kafir in the menakzbnames and heroic epics which are used to identify "self' and "other" are examined. The close analysis of terminology and the relation of the "self' with the "other" in the sources reflect that while the Byzantine self identity became exclusive as a defense against the shrinking of the group, the Turco-Muslim identity formation was quite inclusive having fluid boundaries between "self' and "other". A dialectic formation of identity can be perceived where the newcomers were themselves being transformed while transforming their environment. This study brings a new approach and interpretation to the frequently assumed sealed civilizational identities.
Minkārīzāde Yahyā and the Ottoman scholarly bureaucracy in the seventeenth century
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Yoldaşlar, Özgün Deniz.; Terzioğlu, Derin.
This dissertation examines the life and career of Minkārīzāde Yahyā (1609–1678) in the context of wider religious, administrative, political, and intellectual developments of the seventeenth century. It contends that Minkārīzāde actively involved in redefining critical aspects of Ottoman religio-legal dynamics on both institutional and intellectual levels as a scholar-bureaucrat. This study is composed of an introductory and four main chapters dealing with distinct aspects of Minkārīzāde’s bureaucratic career and scholarly works. While the introductory chapter lays out the dissertation’s main arguments and analyzes the relevant literature, Chapter 2 explores the hitherto neglected early stages of Minkārīzāde’s life, the scholars who taught him during his youth, and his scholarly and bureaucratic career to trace the trajectory that advanced him to the highest level of the Ottoman learned hierarchy. Chapter 3, on the other hand, concentrates on Minkārīzāde’s scholarly works and scrutinizes his active involvement in the religio-legal debates of the seventeenth century. Looking closely at Minkārīzāde’s tenure in the office of chief jurist and examining a number of administrative developments he promoted, Chapter 4 discusses the new land regime applied in Crete after its final conquest in 1669 in light of his fatwas. Lastly, Chapter 5 demonstrates that a wide range of scholars from different corners of the empire established a close relationship with Minkārīzāde and benefitted from his scholarly and intellectual patronage, resulting in the recognition of his seat as the “Threshold of Minkārīzāde” (Minkārīzāde Āsitānesi).
Modernization through dancing bodies in Turkey
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Yüceil, Zeynep Günsür.; Öztürkmen, Arzu,
The present study aims to explore the first thirty years of State Ballet Institutions of Turkey. It was based primarily upon the oral interviews of Turkish ballet’s subjects and the critics’ reviews mostly published in journals and newspapers of the time. The study is divided into six chapters. An assessment of the foundation of institutional ballet in the world constitutes the first chapter. Chapter II is concerned with the dance scholarship in Turkey. Chapter III consists of two sections: The first one is based on a historical narrative related to the first state sponsored ballet institutions, namely the Ankara State Conservatory of Ballet and the Ankara State Ballet Company. The history of the foundation of the relevant educational framework combined with the professional company is explored through the readings and first hand witnesses’ memories. The second section of this chapter introduces the most significant actors of early Turkish ballet. The British teachers and choreographers as the initiators of ballet, Turkish bureaucrats as the representatives of the state and the first Turkish dancers as the pioneers of this art form have been presented. Chapter IV is concerned with the issues of institutionalization of Turkish ballet, followed by Chapter V which is involved with the debate on constructing ‘the national’. Different approaches were analyzed in relation to the presentations of the national. Finally, Chapter VI focuses on the individual stories as they are told by the first generations of the Turkish ballet artists. Their stories include gender perspectives, passion, frustration, and searching. Their memories are expressed as they are.|Keywords: Turkish ballet, institutionalization, modernization, memory, identity
Nomadic pastoral tribes at the intersection of the Ottoman, Persian and Russian Empires (1820s–1890s)
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Koç, Yener.; Ersoy, Ahmet.; Toksöz, Meltem.
This dissertation studies the changing military, political and economic relations between the Ottoman Empire and pastoral nomadic tribes that were wandering at the intersection of the Ottoman, Persian and Russian imperial borders during the long nineteenth century. Focusing on the nomadic pastoral Zilan, Celali and Haydaran tribes, I discuss how imperial wars, the making of the borders and imperial policies influenced tribes and tribe-state relations. It argues that despite such developments deeply influenced the political, social, and economic organization of the tribes, as well as their pastoral habitat and their local relations, these developments created new political and institutional spaces for the tribes in which they actively participated. Particular attention is paid to the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire and its tribal policy starting from the 1850s. The dissertation demonstrates how the reforms of the nineteenth century Ottoman Empire were redefined at local level in relation to the changing dynamics of tribal responses and border politics. Rather than seeing tribes and states as two hostile camps, it discusses how they complemented each other politically, militarily, and economically at several occasions. This dissertation also discusses how pasturing grounds became sites of contention among the tribes and between the peasantry and tribes during the late nineteenth century due to the increasing commercialization of the pastoral production. It indicates how direct relations between tribes and the Ottoman Empire, and the commercialization of pastoral production led to the internal stratification, and territorialization of the tribal groups.
Ottoman centralization and modernization in the province of Baghdad, 1831-1872
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2006., 2006.) Ceylan, Ebubekir.; Deringil, Selim,
The present study aims to explore Ottoman centralization and modernization in theprovince of Baghdad, between 1831 and 1872. The study, which was based upon a variety ofsources, and primarily upon the Ottoman and British archives, is an attempt to administrative and political history of Ottoman Iraq.The study is divided into six chapters. After an assessment of the literature andapproaches on studying the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, chapter one contains ageneral introduction on the geography, the people, and history of the Ottoman Iraq. The consequences of Iraq̕s geography on agriculture, Iraq̕s peripheral position on the Persianborder and its implications for provincial politics are underlined. In chapter two, the declineand fall of decentralist structures such as the Mamluks in Baghdad, the Jalilis in Mosul andthe Kurdish emirates in northern Iraq are explained. Parallel to the disintegration of the autonomous entities, the growing presence of Ottoman state (centralization) is emphasized.Chapter three attempts to explain changes in the borders among the Iraqi provinces andBaghdad̕s position as the provincial center. Then, the fluctuations in the authority of theprovincial governor are analyzed in relation to the centralist and de-centralist forces. As opposed to the common tendency in Iraqi historiography which distinguished Midhat Pashafrom the rest of the governors, this study brought Resid Pasha and Namık Pasha to theforefront as the harbinger of Midhat Pasha̕s reforms. The increasing Ottoman state controland the improvements in the general security of the province were also mentioned here. Chapters four and five seek to consider the extent to which the Tanzimat reforms werecarried out in the Ottoman Iraq. Special importance is given to the establishment of provincialadministrative councils and the implementation of two significant laws, namely the ProvincialLaw of 1864 and Ottoman Land Code of 1858 in the region. The Vilâyet Law extended the provincial administrative mechanism at the expense of tribal dominions. Through severaloffices (such as the office of kaymakam/mültezim and membership in the provincial councils)the tribal sheikhs were incorporated into the provincial administration. Having analyzedOttoman politics of tribe, chapter five focuses on the implementation of Land Code of 1858, which targeted the tribal structure that dominated the province for centuries. Although thecode aimed individual registration of the land, the tribal sheiks and city merchants emerged asbig landowners. However, despite this side effect, there appeared significant changes in thelandholding patterns and agricultural production. Finally, chapter six analyzed the modernization of various aspects of life in Baghdad. Specialemphasis was given to the introduction of steam navigation, telegraph communication,modern schools, print houses and publication of provincial newspaper. There is no doubt thatthese public works played crucial role in incorporating Iraq not only to the imperial center but also to the international networks. In this regard, the Tanzimat centralization andmodernization went hand in hand in Ottoman Baghdad. Therefore, one of the main points ofthis dissertation is to explore Ottoman origins of modern Iraq.
Rebelling for the old order: Ottoman Bosnia, 1826-1836
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2009., 2009.) Turhan, Fatma Sel.; Erdem, Y. Hakan,; Karakışla, Yavuz Selim,
This dissertation analyzes the reasons why the local people of Bosnia rebelled against the centralization and reform policies of the Ottoman Empire during the period between 1826 and 1836, the ways in which the rebels legitimized their actions and struggled for the acceptance of their demands and how those reactions were interpreted by the Ottoman statesmen. The present study mainly concentrates on the theme within a three partite theoretical framework, by examining it according to the cases of rebellion in that period, the centralization policies of the state and the borderland situation of the region. As this rebellion against the Ottoman center was a provincial one, the dissertation seeks to analyze the dynamics of the region as well as of the Ottoman center which led the people to rebel. Since the rebellion was an attempt to keep the ancien régime unchanged, the dissertation inquires into the reasons which turned Bosnia into one of the main battlegrounds for the conflicts between centralization and local autonomy. Hence, since the rebellion has direct relationships with the borderland situation of Bosnia, the dissertation concentrates on Bosnia in terms of changing conditions in its borderland position. Within this context, the study first examines the Bosnian rebellion against the abolition of the Janissary corps in 1826 and then focuses on the subsequent rebellion of 1831 against the new orders of the Porte, the nizâmât, including the changes in land tenure and in the military system, the changes in uniform as well as the changes in the status of some districts of Bosnia.
Rules of the provincial empire: |Ottoman governors and the administration of provinces, 1895-1908
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Graduate Institute of Social Sciences, 2005., 2005.) Kırmızı, Abdulhamit, 1971-; Toprak, Zafer.
This study is a portrayal of the operation of provincial government in the last thirteen years of the first Ottoman constitutional period, from 1895 to 1908. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the mentality of the high officialdom of the late Ottoman Empire, to display the soul of the Ottoman fin de siécle, as well as the mechanisms of the provincial government apparatus, and the power struggle between the center and the provinces. This is a study of the functioning of the state from a provincial perspective that, while giving no privilege to the perspective of the imperial capital, tries to locate the interdependence of province and center in the question of state centralization. To focus on the provincial government will help understand the nature of Hamidian autocracy as a system of government and late Ottoman bureaucratic culture. I discuss how governors interacted within and influenced the decision making system of the Ottoman empire. I do this by analyzing who the governors were, how they functioned, and why they acted as they did and presenting them in light of ordinary events, coping with a wide range of problems, dealing with institutions, groups, and individuals at both the imperial and local level. The relationship between social and educational background and official career patterns is investigated to measure the success of the bureaucratic reforms.

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