Author: Okan CakirPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Istanbul (Turkey)
Languages : en
Pages : 102
Book Description
In this study, I analyze the Jewish community of Istanbul in the 17th Century as reflected in the works of two çelebis, or bureaucrats, namely, Evliya Çelebi and Eremya Çelebi. The former was an Ottoman statesman and a traveler in the Ottoman world who is very well-known among students of Ottoman history. The latter was a preeminent Armenian scholar within the Armenian community of Istanbul who wrote a number of important works in the 17th century, although he is not very well-known by Ottomanists except for some of his works; this is in part because a number of his works are still waiting to be translated into Western languages. I will concentrate on Istanbul Jewry instead of all Jewish communities under the Ottomans, although I will provide the reader with information on other minorities and on other Jewish communities of the empire when necessary. In addition, to some extent, I will include other opinions on Istanbul Jewry: opinions of Jews themselves as reflected in responsa literature and of European travelers and visitors to the Ottoman Empire during this period. In this study, I reconsider the so-called millet system and question the insistence on the term "millet system" by some scholars, even those who acknowledge the incorrect application of this term to the pre-nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire. Then, I suggest a clarification of this issue with reference to works by experts on Ottoman minorities. In addition, I argue that the Seyahatname is a mirror of rising religious conservatism and restoration attempts within the empire, and therefore its timing and contents are also significant as can be seen from the evidences suggested in this work. Furthermore, I also seek answers for the omission of the Sabbatai Sevi episode in the Seyahatname and other Ottoman sources. I also suggest that Eremya Çelebi's works help us to have a better understanding of the Islamization process in Istanbul -especially in the 1660s- and the social and economic rivalry between the Jews and the Greeks around this time. Eremya's works also give us invaluable ideas concerning the Sabbatai Sevi episode and how one minority was seen from another minority's perspective