Reinstating the Ottomans
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Reinstating the Ottomans Previous Publications Chaos in Yemen: Societal Collapse and the New Authoritarianism, 2010 Political Islam among the Albanians: Are the Taliban Coming to the Balkans?, 2005 Rethinking the Late Ottoman Empire: A Comparative Social and Political History of Albania and Yemen, 1878–1918, 2003 Reinstating the Ottomans Alternative Balkan Modernities, 1800–1912 Isa Blumi palgrave macmillan REINSTATING THE OTTOMANS Copyright © Isa Blumi, 2011. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-11018-2 All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29251-6 ISBN 978-0-230-11908-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230119086 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blumi, Isa, 1969– Reinstating the Ottomans : alternative Balkan modernities, 1800–1912 / by Isa Blumi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Balkan Peninsula—Politics and government. 2. Balkan Peninsula— Social conditions. 3. Balkan Peninsula—Ethnic relations. 4. Balkan Peninsula—Historiography. 5. Social change—Balkan Peninsula— History. 6. Nationalism—Balkan Peninsula—History. 7. Imperialism—Social aspects—Balkan Peninsula—History. 8. Turkey—History—Ottoman Empire, 1288–1918. 9. Regionalism— Balkan Peninsula—History. 10. Educational change—Balkan Peninsula— History. I. Title. DR38.2.B55 2011 949.6Ј038—dc22 2011000523 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: May 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Transferred to Digital Printing in 2012 To the persecuted burra who resisted modernist tyranny, be it with their pens—Zef Pllumi, Arshi Pipa, Gjergj Fishta—or, when needed, their pistols—Prenk Cali, Gjok Loka, Lek Daka Contents List of Illustrations xi List of Abbreviations xiii Preface and Acknowledgments xv Introduction: The Search for a Narrative of Transition 1 Rewriting the Late Ottoman Context 5 Methodological Challenges 6 The Order of the Book 9 Repositioning the Ottoman Experience in Modern History 12 Disaggregating the Ottoman World 16 Differentiating Subjects: Regionalisms and the Fis 20 1 Retrieving Historical Processes: Transitions to a Modern Story 31 Breaking Out from under the State 33 Paradigmatic Barriers 35 Upsetting the Medieval Cradle and Ottoman Settings 38 Revisiting the Ayan and the Politics of Local Alliances 45 “Europe” Encroaches on Epirus 48 Alternative Trajectories since the 1820s 51 Provisional Modernity: The Ottoman Context 54 Disaggregating Balkan Polarities 57 Conclusion 60 2 Repositioning Agency and the Forces of Change 63 The Sociocultural Context of the Reformer 65 Localizing Reform 67 Reforming the Margins, Renaming the Agenda 70 Reforming Home for the Empire 78 viii Contents Provisional Origins of Pashko Vasa’s Shqyptarija 80 Sami: The Patriarch of Tosk Cultural and Regional Elitism 86 Conclusion 92 3 The Compromised Empire: Ethnicity and Faith under State Power 95 The Ottoman World Teeters on Destruction 95 Opportunities out of Disaster 99 The Sultan Reaches Out: Mehmed Ali Pasha’s Mission 102 Toskë Responding to the Post- Kosova Crisis 105 Abdyl’s Mission to Kosova 105 Loyal Sami’s Ottoman Vigil 107 Bektashism and Tosk Exceptionalism 110 Activism from Abroad 117 Ismail Qemali Bey 118 Conclusion 123 4 Exchange and Governance: Boundaries and the Struggle to Define/Confine People 125 A Modern World Repeatedly Refined 126 The Kingdom of Serbia’s Expansion into Niš 128 Montenegro and Malësi 132 The Malësorë 135 Building the Montenegro State 139 A Post- Ottoman Icon: Isa Boletini and Redefining the Balkans 143 The 1908 Paradox 146 Conclusion 148 5 Learning the Wrong Lesson: Local Challenges to Educational Reform 151 A History of Education Reform in the Ottoman Empire 153 Native-born Reformer 155 The Italian/Austro-Hungarian Rivalry 157 Resisting Church and State: Co-opting “Education” 160 Infiltrating the Imperial School 164 The Indigenous School 168 The 1908 Revolt and New Opportunities for Education 172 Conclusion 174 Contents ix Conclusion 175 Recapping the Story 177 Notes 191 Bibliography 221 Index 243 Illustrations Cover Image Doctored photo of Ismail Qemali alone celebrating the creation of an Albanian state backed by a coalition of states in November 1912. (Photo courtesy: Marubi, permission generously granted by the Albanian Historical Institute/Instituti i Historise, Tirana, Albania) Figures I.1 Close up (taken from figure I.2) of Mihal Grameno, Çerçiz Topulli, and Resneli Ahmed Niyazi Bey in Manastir, July 10, 1908. (Photo courtesy: Manakis Brothers, permission generously granted by Yannis Megas.) 4 I.2 Collective celebration of victory, Manastir, July 10, 1908. Note: first row, from right to left, a deer, Resneli Ahmed Niyazi Bey, Çerçiz Topulli, Mihal Grameno, and two unidentified men dressed in formal Ottoman military uniforms. (Photo courtesy: Manakis Brothers, permission generously granted by Yannis Megas.) 4 I.3 Mixed group of rebels under the inaccurate caption: Serb çeta reisleri (Serb rebel/bandit leaders). (Photo courtesy: Manakis Brothers, permission generously granted by Yannis Megas.) 17 2.1 The cultural divide: Ottoman gentlemen and Geg burrë. Skopje 1903. (Photo: Franz Nopcsa, Courtesy of Robert Elsie, www.elsie.com.) Available at: http://www. |albanianphotography.net/graf/photos_nopcsa1/nopcsa 304.html 69 2.2 Sami Frashëri (1850–1904), Tosk intellectual in modern garb, with his wife Emine (Photo courtesy: Marubi, circa 1890, permission generously granted by the Albanian Historical Institute/Instituti i Historise, Tirana, Albania) 87 4.1 Montenegro’s Prince Nikola I Mirkov Petroviý-Njegoš. (Photo courtesy: George Grantham Bain Collection, xii Illustrations Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-USZ62–61094.) 133 4.2 Isa Boletini (1864–1916) (Photo courtesy: Major H.G.A. Reimers, 1914, Source: Netherlands Institute of Military History) 143 C.1 Original photo of Ismail Qemali and his fellow delegates celebrating the creation of an Albanian state backed by a coalition of states in November 1912. (Photo courtesy: Marubi, permission generously granted by the Albanian Historical Institute/Instituti i Historise, Tirana, Albania) 177 Maps 1 Malësi local communities xxi 2 Ottoman Rumeli, 1878–1912 xxii Abbreviations ACS Archivio Centrale dello Stato AHR American Historical Review AMAE Archives Diplomatiques de Ministère des Affaires Étrangères AiT Ambasciata d’Italia in Turchia AQSH Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror ASMAE Archivio Storico del Ministero degli Affair e Esteri, Serie Affari Politici ASMAI Italian African Bureau AUSSME Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Escercito BBA Başbakanlı Osmanlı Arşivi CP Correspondence Politique CSHM Committee of the Shkodër Mountains CSSAAME Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East CUP Committee of Union and Progress CPU Committee of Progress and Union DDI Documenti Diplomatici Italiani DH.ID Dahiliye Nezâreti Idare Kismi DH.MUI Dahiliye Nezâreti Muhâberat-ı Umumiye DUIT Dosya Usulu Iradeler Tasinifi EEPS East European Politics and Society FO Foreign Office of British Government HAT Hatt-ı Hümayun HHStA Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv HR.MKT Haricye Nezareti Mektubi Kalemi HR.SYS Haricye Nezareti Siyasi IJMES International Journal of Middle East Studies IMF International Monetary Fund IMRO Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization LON League of Nations xiv Abbreviations MAE Ministeri Affairs e Estare MV Meclis-i Vükelâ Mazbatakları PA Politisches Archiv PR Political Resident PRO Public Records Office at Kew Gardens SAP Serie Affari Politici SNA Swiss National Archives TFR.1 Rumeli Müfettişliği Tasnifi TFR.1.KV Rumeli Müfettişliği Tasnifi Kosova TFR.1.ŞKT Rumeli Müfettişliği Tasnifi Arzuhaller Y.MTV Yıldız Tasnifi: Mütenevvi Mâruzât Evrakı YA.HUS Yıldız Tasnifi: Sadâret Hususî Mâruzât Evrakı Y.PR K.MŞ Yıldız Perakende Evrakı Meşihat Maruzatı Y.PRK.MYD Yıldız Perakende Evrakı Yaveran ve Maiyyet-ı Seniyye Erkan-ı Harbiye Dairesi Y.PRK.UM Yıldız Perakende Evrakı, Umum Vilayetler Tahriratı YA.RES Sadâret Resmi Mâruzât Evrakı YEE Yildiz Esas Evrak Preface and Acknowledgments Nuk ndërtohet shtëpia prej kulmit. (You cannot build a house by start- ing with the roof.) In a typical nation’s story, the hero stands alone. Bold and asser- tive, his (invariably it is a man) singular act is to serve the nation, an unquestioned monolith whose place in history can never be retroac- tively doubted. In the case of the Balkans, a concoction of disparate regions and peoples, hero worship has become the stuff of academic legend. Among the more prone to celebrate the hero are those who have learned to call themselves Albanians. Their story is especially emblem- atic of the lengths some will go to hoodwink peoples they expect to rule. Vulnerable to any number of manipulations, people who already concede the historical “fact” that they do share a common past have allowed their figurative “national home”