Research Article

A SNAPSHOT FROM THE PRISON OF BITLIS IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Volume: 11 Number: 29 March 27, 2024
TR EN

A SNAPSHOT FROM THE PRISON OF BITLIS IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Abstract

Contextualizing in the developments in the spheres of administration, economy, and jurisprudence during the nineteenth century Ottoman Empire, this article sought to present a snapshot from the prison of Bitlis in particular and prisons in the eastern provinces in general. Two interrelated developments of the nineteenth century became the tools to analyze the prisons of Bitlis. First, the imprisonment became a legal procedure of punishment both in Ottoman and universal level during the nineteenth century. This development harbingered a new kind of governmentality; the sovereign powers adopted the perspective that the individual subjects could be controlled and disciplined. In this regard, the concerns for public health, the sanitary conditions served to social control and discipline. Second, in the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire went through a set of transformations in which state-subject relations were reshaped. As a modernizing state, the Ottoman Empire tried to implement the principle of ‘equality’ among its subjects who also became responsible to the state in terms of taxation and conscription. This article aims to analyze the prison of Bitlis in terms of this new governmentality. On the one hand, prisons along with the military posts, police institutions, government offices served to the disciplinary power of the imperial states. On the other hand, the hygiene of the prisons, the well-being and well-treatment of prisoners came at the target of the imperial state.

Keywords

References

  1. Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives (Cumhurbaşkanlığı Devlet Arşivleri Osmanlı Arşivi)
  2. Sadaret Mektubî Kalemi Mühimme Evrakı (A.MKT.MHM)
  3. Dahiliye Mektubi Kalemi (DH.MKT)
  4. Dahiliye Nezareti Mebânî-i Emîriye ve Hapishaneler Müdüriyeti (DH.MB.HPS)
  5. Dahiliye Nezareti Tesri-i Muamelat ve Islahat Komisyonu-Muamelat (DH.TMIK.M)
  6. Dahiliye Nezareti Tesri-i Muamelat Islahat Komisyonu-Islahat (DH.TMIK.S)
  7. Adak, Ufuk. “Central Prisons (Hapishane-i Umumi) in Istanbul and Izmir in the late Ottoman Empire: In-Between Ideal and Reality” Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish History Association 4 (1) (May 2017): 73-94.
  8. Bingöl, Sedat. “Tanzimat Sonrası Taşra ve Merkezde Yargı Reformu,” Osmanlı 6 (2000): 533-545

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Late Modern Ottoman History , Late Modern History (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

March 27, 2024

Publication Date

March 27, 2024

Submission Date

April 29, 2022

Acceptance Date

March 1, 2024

Published in Issue

Year 2024 Volume: 11 Number: 29

Chicago
Duman Koç, Gülseren. 2024. “A SNAPSHOT FROM THE PRISON OF BITLIS IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY OTTOMAN EMPIRE”. Osmanlı Mirası Araştırmaları Dergisi 11 (29): 141-52. https://doi.org/10.17822/omad.1458239.

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