Overview

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.

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9781399542616

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Reviews

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

Author Information

Masayuki Ueno is Associate Professor of Asian History at Osaka Metropolitan University. He has published articles in International Journal of Middle East Studies (2013, 2022), Journal of the Social and Economic History of the Orient (2016), Middle Eastern Studies (2016), and Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (2018), as well as articles and book chapters in Japanese.

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