Managing Religious Diversity in the Ottoman Empire - (Edinburgh Studies on the Ottoman Empire) by Masayuki Ueno (Hardcover)

About the Book

Provides a new account of the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and its non-Muslim subjects.

Book Synopsis

This book makes extensive use of Ottoman archival documents and Armenian sources to examine the changing arrangements between the Ottoman state and non-Muslim religious authorities from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, focusing on Armenians, the second-largest non-Muslim community in the empire. Specifically, it discusses how the ruling circles of the empire reinforced their reliance on non-Muslim religious authorities at the turn of the eighteenth century, and attempted to limit the influence of non-Muslim clergymen and restrict the scope of non-Muslim communal activity from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. The book also highlights the responses of the Armenian lay and ecclesiastical elites in Istanbul, who did not sit back and watch as their rights and privileges were curtailed. Rather, they sought ways to protect and even expand their collective rights and find their place in the multireligious empire, both as individuals and as members of a religious community.

Review Quotes

Dr. Ueno's book is a meticulous study of the Ottoman governance of Christians in a period when the age-old hierarchies were transformed and religious institutions were rebuilt. Based on immense research and novel comparative perspective, it convincingly demonstrates Armenian elites' struggle for participating in the Ottoman imperial system before the extermination of their nation during World War I.--Yasar Tolga Cora, Bogazici University