YEMEN AS AN OTTOMAN FRONTIER AND ATTEMPT TO BUILD A NATIVE ARMY: ASAKİR-İ HAMİDİYE by ÖNDER EREN AKGÜL Submitted to the Graduate School of Sabancı University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Sabancı University July 2014 YEMEN AS AN OTTOMAN FRONTIER AND ATTEMPT TO BUILD A NATIVE ARMY: ASAKİR-İ HAMİDİYE APPROVED BY: Selçuk Akşin Somel …………………………. (Thesis Supervisor) Yusuf Hakan Erdem …………………………. Bahri Yılmaz …………………………. DATE OF APPROVAL: 25.07.2014 © Önder Eren Akgül 2014 All Rights Reserved YEMEN AS AN OTTOMAN FRONTIER AND ATTEMPT TO BUILD A NATIVE ARMY: ASAKİR-İ HAMİDİYE Önder Eren Akgül History, MA, 2014 Supervisor: Selçuk Akşin Somel Keywords: Colonialism, Imperialism, Native army, Ottoman frontiers, Ottoman imperialism ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of the Ottoman attempts to control its frontiers and the frontier populations by basing upon the experience of the native army (Asakir-i Hamidiye) organized by Ismail Hakkı Pasha, who was a governor of Yemen province, between 1800 and 1882. This thesis positions Yemen into the context of the literature produced for the frontier regions; and tries to investigate the dynamics of the institutions and practices pursued in Yemen that differentiated from the financial, military and judicial institutions of the Tanzimat-era. This thesis puts forth that the Ottoman Empire was not a passive audience of imperial competitions of the nineteenth century, but engaged into the imperial struggles by undertaking aggressive measures with an imperialist mind and strategy. Herein, with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Ottoman ruling elites detected the Red Sea as a strategic region too. Therefore, the Ottomans reoccupied the highlands of Yemen and San’a; and this study delves into the governing strategies enforced in the province immediately after the reoccupation that contradicted with the Tanzimat reforms. At the same time this study discusses the similarities and distinctness of the different governing strategies sought for the frontiers with the colonial governing iv techniques by taking into consideration the references of contemporary Ottoman ruling elites. In particular, using Asakir-i Hamidiye as a case study, this study probes why a native army was organized, and examines its similarities and distinctness with the colonial native armies by comparing it with other frontier militia forces as well. The debate on Asakir-i Hamidiye is based on a research at Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, and a survey on the provincial newspaper. v BİR OSMANLI HUDUT BÖLGESİ OLARAK YEMEN VE YERLİ ORDU KURMA TEŞEBBÜSÜ: ASAKİR-İ HAMİDİYE Önder Eren Akgül Tarih, Y. Lisans, 2014 Tez Danışmanı: Selçuk Akşin Somel Anahtar Sözcükler: Emperyalizm, Kolonyalizm, Osmanlı emperyalizmi, Osmanlı hudut bölgeleri, Yerel ordu Özet Bu çalışma, 1880 ile 1882 yılları arasında Yemen valisi İsmail Hakkı Paşa’nın tarafından kurulan Asakir-i Hamidiye adlı yerel ordu deneyiminden yola çıkarak, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun hudut bölgelerini ve buralarda yaşayan nüfusu kontrol altına alma çabalarını sorunsallaştırmaktadır. Bu tez Yemen’i hudut bölgelerine dair yapılan çalışmalar bağlamında değerlendiriyor ve Yemen’de Tanzimat döneminin finansal, askeri ve adli kurumlarından farklı kurumların tesisine neden olan dinamikleri incelemektedir. Bu çalışmada ortaya konulduğu üzere Osmanlı İmparatorluğu 19. yüzyıl boyunca dünyada süregiden emperyal çatışmaların pasif bir izleyicisi olmamış, aksine agresif önlemler ve emperyalist bir akıl ve stratejiyle bu çatışmalara müdahil olmuştur. Buradan hareketle 1869 yılında Süveş Kanalı’nın açılmasıyla birlikte, Kızıl Deniz Osmanlı yönetici elitleri tarafından da bir stratejik bölge olarak algılanmıştır. Bu sebeple Yemen’in dağlık bölgeleri ile San’a şehrini yeniden işgal eden Osmanlıların ardından da Yemen coğrafyası ve nüfusunu kontrol etmek için merkez bölgelerde uygulanan Tanzimat reformları ile çelişebilecek çeşitli yönetim stratejileri geliştirdiği bu çalışmada tartışılmaktadır. Bu çalışma aynı zamanda hudut bölgelerinde uygulanan farklı yönetim stratejilerinin kolonyal idare teknikleri ile benzerlikleri ve farklılıklarını, dönemin yönetici elitlerinin vi referanslarını göz önünde bulundurarak tartışmaktadır. Bir vaka çalışması olarak, Asakir-i Hamidiye adlı yerel ahaliden teşkil edilen ordu, ne amaçla kurulduğu ve kolonyal yerli ordular ile olan benzerlikleri ve farklılıkları diğer hudut bölgelerindeki yerel milis kuvvetleri ile karşılaştırılarak tartışılmaktadır. Asakir-i Hamidiye’ye dair olan tartışma Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi’nde yapılan araştırmaya ve dönemim vilayet gazetesinin taranmasına dayanmaktadır. vii To my mother and my father viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor Selçuk Akşin Somel for his invaluable advices, corrections and comments. Since the first day of my research, he has always encouraged me to write; and his help in reading Ottoman documents was invaluable for me. A special thank you goes to Hakan Erdem, who was a jury member at the same time, and had been very influential in my choice to study Ottoman frontiers. I would like to thank him for his advises throughout the research and writing process. I would also like to thank jury member Bahri Yılmaz for his comments and suggestions as well as for his patience. I would also wish to thank Halil Berktay for his academic support during my two years of master study in Sabancı University. Among my teachers at ODTÜ, Ferdan Ergut and Attila Aytekin deserve special thanks; they encouraged me to choose History as a discipline to continue my academic life. Masis Kürkçügil, who always impresses me with his perspective on history, has been and will be a teacher for me. I would like to express my gratitude to him from here. It was Christoph Neumann’s kind help that gave me a chance to reach the provincial newspaper, The San’a Gazetesi. I would like to thank him as he provided me pdf versions of the newspaper. I would like to express my appreciation to the staff of Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi (İSAM), and Atatürk Kütüphanesi for their kindness. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend Deniz Sert. Since our undergraduate days in Ankara, he has always shared with me the ups and downs of the life. My intellectual horizons are indebted to long discussions with him; and his comments and critiques always give me a chance to formulate my questions as happened during the reading and writing process of this thesis. I also wish to thank Paris Tsekouras, with whom the days in the campus of Sabanci University became enjoyable, for his help and editions. I would like to thank Elif Kalaycıoğlu for her comments and advices during my initial research. I am grateful to my friends, Ekin ix Ekinci, Tayfun Doğan and Cihangir Balkır, who made the time outside the research and writing jolly at Kadıköy. I would like to express my appreciation to my housemate Tim Dorlach for his patience. No words can describe adequately my gratitude to Anna Maria, with whom exploring history always is incredibly exciting as like as exploring the present. My final and most important thanks go to my parents, Seher Akgül and Hakim Akgül. Since my first day in primary school, they have always encouraged me and supported my education with their all kind hearts. I am indebted to their endless love and selfless support over the years. I owe this thesis to them. x TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER 1: OTTOMAN IMPERIAL EXPANSION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: TANZİMAT IN THE FRONTIERS ...............5 1. The Conventional Approaches: Ottoman Empire as a Passive Audience ……....7 1.1. The Empire as ‘the Sick Man of Europe’…………………………………...8 1.2. The Empire as a ‘Semi Colony’ ………………………………….........10 2. Revival of Ottoman Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century …………………..11 3. Ottoman Expansion Before the Opening of the Suez Canal …………………...17 3.1. Reconquest of Libya…………………………………………………...18 3.2. Return of Control over Hijaz…………………………………………..19 3.3. Reconquest of Kurdistan ………………………………………………20 3.4. Assertion of Authority over Southern Syria …………………………..21 4. Ottoman Expansion After the Opening of the Suez Canal …………………….22 4.1. Reconquest of Eastern Arabia …………………………………………22 5. Another Scene of Ottoman Expansion via Egypt ……………………………...24 6. Ottoman Rule in the Frontiers: A Deviation from the Tanzimat? ……………..26 7. Challenges of the Frontiers……………………………………………………..29 8. Establishing a Security Regime in the Frontiers ………………………………36 9. Frontiers in the Reign of Abdülhamid II ………………………………………37 10. Towards an Ottoman Colonialism? ……………………………………………39 CHAPTER II: A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: OTTOMAN HISTORY OF YEMEN ……………………………………………….....46 1. From a Fear to the Imperialist Passions ………………………………………..46 2. Ottoman Expansion in the 16th Century ………………………………………..50 2.1. The First Episode of Ottoman Rule in Yemen, 1538-1567……………52 2.2. The Zaydi Rebellion of 1567 ………………………………………….54 xi 2.3. Sinan Pasha’s Expedition of 1569-1571 ………………………………54 2.4. The Fall of Ottoman Authority ……………………………………..…56 3. Early 19th Century: Return of the Empires ………………………………….....57 4. Occupation of Aden …………………………………………………………....59 5. Ottoman Reoccupation of Yemeni Tihame ………………………………..…..61 6. The Paths toward the Ottoman Reoccupation of the Yemeni Highlands and San’a ………………………………………………………………………..….62 7. Ottoman Reoccupation of the Yemeni Highlands and San’a ……………...…..65 8. Two Empires Face to Face: the Ottomans versus the British …………….……71 9. Searching for Tranquility