‘Levantine’ Dragomans in Nineteenth Century Istanbul: The Pisanis, the British, and Issues of Subjecthood

Year 2014, Volume: 44 Issue: 44, 169 - 195, 15.04.2014

Frank Castiglione

https://doi.org/10.18589/oa.562127

Abstract

Frederick and Count Alexander Pisani were two members of the Pisani
family of dragomans that served the British Embassy in Istanbul during the nineteenth century. As non-Muslims of Italian descent that were born and raised in the
Ottoman capital, they are commonly referred to as ‘Levantines.’ Using a case filed by
Frederick Pisani against the British daily The Times in the Court of Common Pleas
in England, and the process of registering the Last Will and Testament of Count
Alexander Pisani in the British Consular Court in Istanbul, this article examines how
two members of the same family had different views of who they were, how they
were able to negotiate their subjecthood, and how their British employers classified
them. It demonstrates how the Pisanis and the British struggled with the concept of
subjecthood, and how difficult it was to legally define it in these cases.

Keywords

Nineteenth Century Istanbul, Dragomans, Subjecthood, Levantine, Capitulations, Pisani

19. Yüzyıl İstanbul’unda ‘Levanten’ Tercümanlar: İngiliz Sefareti ve Pisaniler’in Tabiiyet Meselesi

Abstract

19. yüzyılda yaşayan Kont Alexander ve Frederick Pisani, Pisani dragoman
ailesinin İstanbul’daki İngiliz elçiliğine hizmet eden iki üyesiydi. Kont Alexander
ve Frederick Pisani Osmanlı başkentinde doğan ve büyüyen İtalyan kökenli gayrimüslimler olduklarından, tarihçiler tarafından genellikle ‘Levanten’ olarak adlandırılagelmişlerdir. Bu makalede, Pisani ailesinin söz konusu iki mensubunun kendi
kimliklerine dair algıları, hangi tabiiyetten olduklarını yetkili mercilerle nasıl müzakere ettikleri ve İngiliz elçiliğindeki amirlerinin onların tabiiyetlerini ne şekilde
tavsif ettikleri incelenmektedir. Bunlara ek olarak, Pisaniler’in ve İngilizler’in tabiiyet
kavramını tanımlarken yaşadıkları çekişmeleri irdelenmekte ve tabiiyet kavramının
hukukî olarak tanımlanmasının aslında ne kadar zor olduğu ortaya koyulmaktadır.
Çalışmada, İngiltere’de Frederick Pisani’nin Times gazetesine karşı açtığı davanın ve
Kont Alexander Pisani’nin İstanbul’daki İngiliz elçilik mahkemesine sunulan vasiyetinin muameleli evrakı kullanılmıştır

Keywords

19. yy. İstanbul’u, Dragomanlar, Tabiiyet, Levanten, Kapitülasyonlar, Pisani

References

• Archival Documents
• Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi Hariciye Nezâreti Belgeleri HR.H 426/25
• Durham University Library, Ponsonby Letters GRE/E413 GRE/E270
• e National Archives, Kew C13/1257 22 FO 352/14B FO 366/569 FO 780/165 FO 780/217 State Papers 105/118
• Published Works Berridge, G.R.: ‘Dragomans and Oriental Secretaries in the British Embassy in Istanbul,’ A. Nuri Yurdusev (ed.), Ottoman Diplomacy: Conventional or Unconventional? NY: Palgrave Macmillan 2004, 151-166. Berridge, G.R.: ‘Nation, Class and Diplomacy: e Diminishing of the Dragomanate of the British Embassy in Constantinople 1810-1914,’ Markus Mösslang, Torsten Riotte (eds.), e Diplomats’ World: A Cultural History of Diplomacy, 1815-1914, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2008, 407-431. Braude, Benjamin: ‘Foundation Myths of the Millet System,’ Benjamin Braude, Bernard Lewis (eds.), Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire: e Functioning of a Plural Society, Volume 1: e Central Lands, NY: Holmes and Meier Publishers Inc 1982, 69-88. Brummett, Palmira: ‘Placing the Ottomans in the Mediterranean World: e Question of Notables and Households,’ Journal of Ottoman Studies 36 (Istanbul 2010), 77-96. e Bury and Norwich Post, and East Anglian (Bury Saint Edmunds, England). Cunningham, Allan: ‘e Dragomans of the British Embassy at Constantinople,’ Edward Ingram (ed.), Eastern Questions in the Nineteenth Century: Collected Essays vol. 2, London: Frank Cass 1993, 1-22. Davison, Roderic H.: ‘e French Dragomanate in mid-Nineteenth Century Istanbul,’ Frédéric Hitzel (ed.), Istanbul et les Langues Orientales, Montreal: L’Harmattan Inc 1997, 271-280. e Derby Mercury (Derby, England). de Groot, Alexander H.: ‘Dragomans’ Careers: e Change of Status in Some Families Connected with the British and Dutch Embassies at Istanbul 1785-1829,’ Alastair Hamilton, Alexander H. de Groot, Maurits H. van den Boogert (eds.), Friends and Rivals in the East: Studies in Anglo-Dutch Relations in the Levant from the Seventeenth to the Early Nineteenth Century, Leiden: Brill 2000, 223-246. de Groot, Alexander H.: ‘Protection and Nationality. e Decline of the Dragomans,’ Frédéric Hitzel (ed.), Istanbul et les Langues Orientales, Montreal: L’Harmattan Inc 1997, 235-255. de Testa, Marie, Antoine Gautier: ‘De l’établissement des Pères capucins à Constantinople à la fondation de l’école des jeunes de langues (1626-1669),’ Drogmans et Diplomates Européens Auprès de la Porte Ottomane, Istanbul: Isis Press 2003, 43-46. de Testa, Marie, Antoine Gautier: L’Académie Orientale de Vienne (1754-2002), Une Création de L’Impératrice Marie-érèse,’ Drogmans et Diplomates Européens Auprès de la Porte Ottomane, Istanbul: Isis Press 2003, 53-61. e Examiner (London, England). e executive documents of the House of Representatives for the second session of the fifty-third Congress. 1893-’94 . Vol 1. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1893-1894. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/FRUS.FRUS189394v01 Hall, David Cameron: ‘Millingen, Julius Michael (1800–1878)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2004. http://www.oxforddnb.com. proxy.lib.umich.edu/view/article/18760. Hanssen, Jens: ‘Malhamé – Malfamé: Levantine Elites and Transimperial Networks on the Eve of the Young Turk Revolution’ International Journal of Middle East Studies 43/1 (2011), 25-48. Jones, J. Mervyn: British Nationality Law and Practice, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1947. Jones, J. Mervyn: British Nationality Law, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1956. Landweber, Julia. ‘Venetian Vagabonds and Furious Frenchmen: Nationalist and Cosmopolitan Impulses among Europeans in Galata.’ In the current volume. ‘e Libel Law,’ Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine vol. LI no. CCCXVI February 1842, 141-143. e Morning Post (London, England) Philliou, Christine: ‘Mischief in the Old Regime: Provincial Dragomans and Social Change at the Turn of the 19th Century,’ New Perspectives on Turkey 25 (Istanbul 2001), 103-121. Schmitt, Oliver Jens: Levantiner: Lebenswelten und Identitäten einer ethnokonfessionellen Gruppe im osmanischen Reich im “langen 19. Jahrhundert,” Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag München 2005. Scott, John: Cases in the Court of Common Pleas and Exchequer Chamber vol VIII, London: W. McDowall 1841. Şeni, Nora: ‘Dynasties Drogmans et Levantinisme à Istanbul, Frédéric Hitzel (ed.), Istanbul et les Langues Orientales, Montreal: L’Harmattan Inc 1997, 161-174. Sousa, Nasim: e Capitulatory Régime of Turkey: Its History, Origin, and Nature, Baltimore: e John Hopkins Press 1933. e Standard (London, England). e Times (London, England). United States Department of State: e executive documents of the House of Representatives for the second session of the fifty-third Congress. 1893-’94 . Vol 1. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1893-1894. 714. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/FRUS. FRUS189394v01 van den Boogert, Maurits: e Capitulations and the Ottoman Legal System: Qadis, Consuls and Beratlıs in the 18th Century, Leiden: Brill 2005. Van Dyck, Edward A.: Report of Edward A. Van Dyck, Consular Clerk of the United States at Cairo Upon Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire Since the Year 1150, Part 1, Washington: Government Printing Office 1881. Webb, Nigel and Caroline: e Earl and his butler in Constantinople: the secret diary of an English servant among the Ottomans, London: I.B. Tauris 2009.