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Toleransın Sınırları: Erken Dönem Osmanlı Yahudileri ile Merkezi Otoriteler Arasındaki Hukuki İlişkiler

Year 2021, Volume: 13 Issue: 3, 447 - 463, 12.11.2021
https://doi.org/10.47932/ortetut.936829

Abstract

Avrupa’dan kovulmalarından çok yıllar öncesinde Osmanlı topraklarında özgürce yaşayan Yahudilerin yanı sıra 15. yüzyılda dünyanın birçok yerinde baskı ve zulme maruz kalan binlerce Yahudinin daha hoşgörülü ve refah seviyesinde yaşayabilecekleri Türk topraklarına göç etmesi sonucu gayrimüslim nüfusu içerisinde önemli bir yer edinmişlerdir. Birçok unsurdan meydana gelen imparatorluk millet sistemi ile kendi egemenliğini sağlamaya çalışmıştır. Diğer bir ifade ile, Müslümanları millet-i hakime olduklarından dolayı gayrimüslimlerden ayrı tutmak temel misyon edinilmiştir. Bu yüzden toplumsal alanda ve günlük yaşantıda bunları birbirinden farklılaştıracak birtakım düzenlemeler ve kurallar bulunmaktaydı. Yahudiler de bu kısıtlamalara dahil edilmiştir. Bu konuda Yahudilerin hukuki hakları ve kendilerine tanınan toleransın sınırlarını net bir şekilde çizmek oldukça zordur ancak mühimme defterlerine dayandırılarak oluşturulan bu çalışma ile Yahudi tebaanın hukuki anlamdaki hakları ve yetkileri hakkında genel bir değerlendirme yapılmasına imkan sağlanmıştır. Defterlerde göze çarpan en önemli düzenleme giyim- kuşam hususunda olmuştur. Bunun yanı sıra, mesken- dini yerleşimler ile mezarlıklar konusunda da merkez tarafından emri şerifler yazılmıştır. Yahudilerin köle tutmaları kısıtlandığı gibi belli idari kademelerden de uzaklaştırıldığı defterlere yansımıştır. Ancak bu düzenlemeler, Avrupa’da maruz kaldıkları gibi ne aşağılayıcı rozet, ne baskıcı ve zulmedici bir iskan politikası ne de herhangi bir ticari kısıtlama içermektedir. Toplum tarafından ötekileştirilmemişler ve hatta bazı ekonomik faaliyetlerde etkin rol oynamışlardır. Defterlere yansıyan hükümlere göre merkezin temel gayesinin Yahudilerin Müslümanlara benzemesini önlemek olduğu söylenebilir ki bu durum sadece Yahudilere özgü bir durum değildir. Devletin kısıtlamalardaki esas hedeflerinin ve ciddi düzenlemelere gitmemesinin altında yatan nedenlerin de tartışıldığı bu araştırmada Yahudiler ile merkezi hükümet arasındaki hukuki ilişkilere değinilmeye çalışılmıştır.

References

  • 1. Imperial Council Books (Mühimme Defterleri)
  • 2. Cevdet Collection C. Bld. 129/6440. C. Adl. 24/ 1437. C. Dh. 96/4757.
  • Books, Articles and Thesis Bozkurt, Ömer Faruk. “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Gayrimüslimlerin Kıyafet Düzenlemeleri (XVI-XVII Yüzyıllar)”, Hacettepe University Master’s Thesis, Ankara 2014.
  • Ercan, Yavuz .“Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Gayrimüslimlerin Giyim, Mesken ve Davranış Hukuku”, Ankara University Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi Dergisi, Issue No. 1, (1990), 117- 125.
  • Galanti, Avram. Türkler ve Yahudiler, Tarih, Siyasi Tetkik, Istanbul Tan Matbaası, Istanbul 1947.
  • Gerber, Haim. Crossing Borders, Jews and Muslims in Ottoman Law, Economy and Society, The Isıs Press, Istanbul 2008.
  • Hacker, Joseph R..“Jewish Society and Culture in the Ottoman Empire (15th-18th Centuries)”, Julie Marthe Cohen, ed., Jews under Islam: A Culture in Historical Perspective (Amsterdam: Joods Historisch Museum, 1993), 95-113.
  • Hacker, Joseph R. “Jews in the Ottoman Empire (1580-1839)”, The Cambridge History of Judaism, ed. Jonathan Karp- Adam Sutcliffe, Cambridge University Press 2017, 831-863.
  • İpşirli, Mehmet. “Osmanlı’da Mensubiyet ve Kıyafetler”, Osmanlı Devleti’nde Din ve Vicdan Hürriyeti, Azmi Özcan (ed.), Ensar Yayınları, Istanbul 2000, 161- 169.
  • Konan, Belkıs. “Gayrimüslim Osmanlı Vatandaşların Hukuki Durumuna İlişkin Bir Değerlendirme”, AUHFD, 64(1) 2015, pp. 171-193.
  • Levy, Avigdor. “Jewish Settlement in the Ottoman Empire”, The Jews of Ottoman Empire, ed. Avigdor Levy, Darwin Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1992, pp. 1-12.
  • Lewis, Bernard - Braude, Benjamin. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, The Functioning of a Plural Scoiety, ed. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, Holmes& Meier Publishers, Nowyork- London 1982.
  • Masters, Bruce. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World, The Roots of Sectarianism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001.
  • Quataert, Donald .“Clothing, Laws, State, And Society in the Ottoman Empire, 1720-1829”, International Journal Middle East Studies, 29 (1997), pp. 403-425.
  • Rozen, Minna. Istanbul Yahudi Cemaati’nin Tarihi (1453-1566), Translated by Serpil Çağlayan, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, Istanbul 2013.
  • Shaw, Stanford. The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, Macmillan Press, London 1991.
  • Sinan, Namık. “16. Yüzyıldan 19. Yüzyıl Sonuna Dek Osmanlı Devleti’nde Gayrı Müslimlerin Kılık Kıyafetlerine Dair Düzenlemeler”, Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences Journal, Issue No 4, Volume No. 60, (2005), 239-267.

المركزيةحدود التسامح: العلاقات القانونية بين يهود العثمانيين الأوائل والسلطات

Year 2021, Volume: 13 Issue: 3, 447 - 463, 12.11.2021
https://doi.org/10.47932/ortetut.936829

Abstract

Many years ago, before they were expelled from Europe, thousands of Jews being exposed to oppression and persecution in many parts of the world in the 15th century migrated to Turkish lands where they could live more forgivingly and at a higher welfare level as well as the Jews who were living in the Ottoman lands freely, and thereby, they attained a significant place within the non-Muslim population. The emperorship consisting of several communities tried to achieve its sovereignty with the millet system. In other words, keeping the Muslims separate from non-Muslims as they were millet-i hakime (dominating nation) had been adopted as the fundamental mission. Therefore, there were some regulations and rules that would differentiate them from each other in the social sphere and daily life. The Jews were also included in these restrictions. It is quite difficult to clearly mark off legal rights granted, and tolerances shown to the Jews, but this study based upon imperial council books (muhimme books) provided an opportunity to make a general evaluation on legal rights and powers of Jewish national subject. The most important regulation that draws attention in the books has been concerning the clothing. Besides, the imperial orders on residential-religious settlements and cemeteries were also given by the central administration. It was reflected in the books that the Jews were detracted from certain administrative ranks as well as that the Jews were restrained from keeping slaves. However, these regulations contained neither a derogatory badge and an oppressive and persecutory settlement policy nor any trade restrictions as they were subjected in Europe. They were not factionalized by society and even, they played an active role in some economic activities. Based on the clauses (in Turkish hüküm) reflected in the books, it can be said that the main goal of the central administration was to prevent the Jews from resembling Muslims, and this was not a situation only specific to Jews. In this study where the main goals of the state for imposing the restrictions and the underlying reasons for not making severe regulations were discussed, it was tried to address the legal relations between the Jews and the central government.

References

  • 1. Imperial Council Books (Mühimme Defterleri)
  • 2. Cevdet Collection C. Bld. 129/6440. C. Adl. 24/ 1437. C. Dh. 96/4757.
  • Books, Articles and Thesis Bozkurt, Ömer Faruk. “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Gayrimüslimlerin Kıyafet Düzenlemeleri (XVI-XVII Yüzyıllar)”, Hacettepe University Master’s Thesis, Ankara 2014.
  • Ercan, Yavuz .“Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Gayrimüslimlerin Giyim, Mesken ve Davranış Hukuku”, Ankara University Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi Dergisi, Issue No. 1, (1990), 117- 125.
  • Galanti, Avram. Türkler ve Yahudiler, Tarih, Siyasi Tetkik, Istanbul Tan Matbaası, Istanbul 1947.
  • Gerber, Haim. Crossing Borders, Jews and Muslims in Ottoman Law, Economy and Society, The Isıs Press, Istanbul 2008.
  • Hacker, Joseph R..“Jewish Society and Culture in the Ottoman Empire (15th-18th Centuries)”, Julie Marthe Cohen, ed., Jews under Islam: A Culture in Historical Perspective (Amsterdam: Joods Historisch Museum, 1993), 95-113.
  • Hacker, Joseph R. “Jews in the Ottoman Empire (1580-1839)”, The Cambridge History of Judaism, ed. Jonathan Karp- Adam Sutcliffe, Cambridge University Press 2017, 831-863.
  • İpşirli, Mehmet. “Osmanlı’da Mensubiyet ve Kıyafetler”, Osmanlı Devleti’nde Din ve Vicdan Hürriyeti, Azmi Özcan (ed.), Ensar Yayınları, Istanbul 2000, 161- 169.
  • Konan, Belkıs. “Gayrimüslim Osmanlı Vatandaşların Hukuki Durumuna İlişkin Bir Değerlendirme”, AUHFD, 64(1) 2015, pp. 171-193.
  • Levy, Avigdor. “Jewish Settlement in the Ottoman Empire”, The Jews of Ottoman Empire, ed. Avigdor Levy, Darwin Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1992, pp. 1-12.
  • Lewis, Bernard - Braude, Benjamin. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, The Functioning of a Plural Scoiety, ed. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, Holmes& Meier Publishers, Nowyork- London 1982.
  • Masters, Bruce. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World, The Roots of Sectarianism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001.
  • Quataert, Donald .“Clothing, Laws, State, And Society in the Ottoman Empire, 1720-1829”, International Journal Middle East Studies, 29 (1997), pp. 403-425.
  • Rozen, Minna. Istanbul Yahudi Cemaati’nin Tarihi (1453-1566), Translated by Serpil Çağlayan, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, Istanbul 2013.
  • Shaw, Stanford. The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, Macmillan Press, London 1991.
  • Sinan, Namık. “16. Yüzyıldan 19. Yüzyıl Sonuna Dek Osmanlı Devleti’nde Gayrı Müslimlerin Kılık Kıyafetlerine Dair Düzenlemeler”, Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences Journal, Issue No 4, Volume No. 60, (2005), 239-267.

LIMITS OF TOLERANCE: LEGAL RELATIONS BETWEEN EARLY OTTOMAN JEWS AND CENTRAL AUTHORITIES (15th -18th Centuries)

Year 2021, Volume: 13 Issue: 3, 447 - 463, 12.11.2021
https://doi.org/10.47932/ortetut.936829

Abstract

Many years ago, before they were expelled from Europe, thousands of Jews being exposed to oppression and persecution in many parts of the world in the 15th century migrated to Turkish lands where they could live more forgivingly and at a higher welfare level as well as the Jews who were living in the Ottoman lands freely, and thereby, they attained a significant place within the non-Muslim population. The emperorship consisting of several communities tried to achieve its sovereignty with the millet system. In other words, keeping the Muslims separate from non-Muslims as they were millet-i hakime (dominating nation) had been adopted as the fundamental mission. Therefore, there were some regulations and rules that would differentiate them from each other in the social sphere and daily life. The Jews were also included in these restrictions. It is quite difficult to clearly mark off legal rights granted, and tolerances shown to the Jews, but this study based upon imperial council books (muhimme books) provided an opportunity to make a general evaluation on legal rights and powers of Jewish national subject. The most important regulation that draws attention in the books has been concerning the clothing. Besides, the imperial orders on residential-religious settlements and cemeteries were also given by the central administration. It was reflected in the books that the Jews were detracted from certain administrative ranks as well as that the Jews were restrained from keeping slaves. However, these regulations contained neither a derogatory badge and an oppressive and persecutory settlement policy nor any trade restrictions as they were subjected in Europe. They were not factionalized by society and even, they played an active role in some economic activities. Based on the clauses (in Turkish hüküm) reflected in the books, it can be said that the main goal of the central administration was to prevent the Jews from resembling Muslims, and this was not a situation only specific to Jews. In this study where the main goals of the state for imposing the restrictions and the underlying reasons for not making severe regulations were discussed, it was tried to address the legal relations between the Jews and the central government.

References

  • 1. Imperial Council Books (Mühimme Defterleri)
  • 2. Cevdet Collection C. Bld. 129/6440. C. Adl. 24/ 1437. C. Dh. 96/4757.
  • Books, Articles and Thesis Bozkurt, Ömer Faruk. “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Gayrimüslimlerin Kıyafet Düzenlemeleri (XVI-XVII Yüzyıllar)”, Hacettepe University Master’s Thesis, Ankara 2014.
  • Ercan, Yavuz .“Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Gayrimüslimlerin Giyim, Mesken ve Davranış Hukuku”, Ankara University Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi Dergisi, Issue No. 1, (1990), 117- 125.
  • Galanti, Avram. Türkler ve Yahudiler, Tarih, Siyasi Tetkik, Istanbul Tan Matbaası, Istanbul 1947.
  • Gerber, Haim. Crossing Borders, Jews and Muslims in Ottoman Law, Economy and Society, The Isıs Press, Istanbul 2008.
  • Hacker, Joseph R..“Jewish Society and Culture in the Ottoman Empire (15th-18th Centuries)”, Julie Marthe Cohen, ed., Jews under Islam: A Culture in Historical Perspective (Amsterdam: Joods Historisch Museum, 1993), 95-113.
  • Hacker, Joseph R. “Jews in the Ottoman Empire (1580-1839)”, The Cambridge History of Judaism, ed. Jonathan Karp- Adam Sutcliffe, Cambridge University Press 2017, 831-863.
  • İpşirli, Mehmet. “Osmanlı’da Mensubiyet ve Kıyafetler”, Osmanlı Devleti’nde Din ve Vicdan Hürriyeti, Azmi Özcan (ed.), Ensar Yayınları, Istanbul 2000, 161- 169.
  • Konan, Belkıs. “Gayrimüslim Osmanlı Vatandaşların Hukuki Durumuna İlişkin Bir Değerlendirme”, AUHFD, 64(1) 2015, pp. 171-193.
  • Levy, Avigdor. “Jewish Settlement in the Ottoman Empire”, The Jews of Ottoman Empire, ed. Avigdor Levy, Darwin Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1992, pp. 1-12.
  • Lewis, Bernard - Braude, Benjamin. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, The Functioning of a Plural Scoiety, ed. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, Holmes& Meier Publishers, Nowyork- London 1982.
  • Masters, Bruce. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World, The Roots of Sectarianism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001.
  • Quataert, Donald .“Clothing, Laws, State, And Society in the Ottoman Empire, 1720-1829”, International Journal Middle East Studies, 29 (1997), pp. 403-425.
  • Rozen, Minna. Istanbul Yahudi Cemaati’nin Tarihi (1453-1566), Translated by Serpil Çağlayan, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, Istanbul 2013.
  • Shaw, Stanford. The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, Macmillan Press, London 1991.
  • Sinan, Namık. “16. Yüzyıldan 19. Yüzyıl Sonuna Dek Osmanlı Devleti’nde Gayrı Müslimlerin Kılık Kıyafetlerine Dair Düzenlemeler”, Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences Journal, Issue No 4, Volume No. 60, (2005), 239-267.
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Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Nejla Dogan 0000-0003-4104-9700

Publication Date November 12, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 13 Issue: 3

Cite

Chicago Dogan, Nejla. “LIMITS OF TOLERANCE: LEGAL RELATIONS BETWEEN EARLY OTTOMAN JEWS AND CENTRAL AUTHORITIES (15th -18th Centuries)”. Ortadoğu Etütleri 13, no. 3 (November 2021): 447-63. https://doi.org/10.47932/ortetut.936829.

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