JEWISH HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ITS JEWRY FROM THE LATE FIFTEENTH CENTURY TO THE EARLY DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by I.IZZET BAHAR B. Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 1974 M. Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Bosphorus University, Istanbul, 1977 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.A. in Religious Studies University of Pittsburgh 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by I. IZZET BAHAR It was defended on March 21, 2006 and approved by Alex Orbach, PhD, Associate Professor Adam Shear, PhD, Assistant Professor Snjazana Buzov, PhD, Lecturer Alex Orbach, PhD, Associate Professor Dissertation Director ii JEWISH HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ITS JEWRY FROM THE LATE FIFTEENTH CENTURY TO THE EARLY DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY I. Izzet Bahar, M.A. University of Pittsburgh, 2006 The thesis analyzes how Jewish historians presented the Ottoman Empire and its Jewish subjects during the long time span between the end of the fifteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. In the first part of the thesis, the key characteristics of the Jewish attitude towards history and history writing are analyzed. Throughout the ages of pre-1820, Jews are observed to be consciously lukewarm towards history. The sealing of the Bible and the emergence of an apocalyptic/messianic world view, which are both considered to have taken place around the last centuries of B.C.E., are illustrated as two major causes behind the emergence of this particular Jewish attitude towards history. In the second part of the thesis, the historiography of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are examined with special emphasis on the period historians who explicitly wrote historical works. As the Ottoman Empire was the super power of the age, in these historical writings, a special divine role was attributed to the Empire. The consecutive part of the thesis focuses on historical writings on the Sabbatian messianic movement. As one of the important episodes of the early modern period of Jewish history, the Sabbatian movement stimulated awareness and interest in history even in the far flung communities of Diaspora and produced a new surge of history writing. The modernization of the Ottoman Empire Jewry that began after the 1840s, and adaptation of numerous already- existing social and intellectual models of the West is the subject of the final part of the thesis. iii Each of these western Jewish intellectual movements had their distinctive approach to history and influenced the Ottoman Jewish historians in their writings of history. However, the actual scientific and objective historical writings on the Ottoman Jewry started much later in the second half of the twentieth century and gained popularity in the 1980s with the increased world-wide interest in the Ottoman/Turkish Jewry. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE....................................................................................................................................viii 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 2. JEWISH HISTORIOGRAPHY AND ITS DISTINCT NATURE ......................................... 9 2.1. Approaches to History and Historiography among Jewish People............................... 15 2.1.1. Different Approaches of Modern Historians ........................................................ 15 2.1.2. Critical Assessment of Various Approaches......................................................... 18 2.2. Two Major Causes Behind the Jewish Attitude towards History................................. 24 2.2.1. Sealing of the Bible............................................................................................... 25 2.2.2. Emergence of Apocalyptic/Messianic Sentiments and Worldview...................... 32 3. JEWISH HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES ......................................................................................... 38 3.1. The Ottoman Empire: A New Power on the World Stage............................................ 38 3.2. The Relationship of the Empire to its Non-Muslim Subjects....................................... 39 3.2.1. Jewish Subjects of the Empire .............................................................................. 41 3.3. Historiography of the Period......................................................................................... 42 3.3.1. Six Major Historians............................................................................................. 48 3.3.1.1. Elijah Capsali................................................................................................ 48 3.3.1.2. Joseph ha-Kohen........................................................................................... 53 3.3.1.3. Samuel Usque ............................................................................................... 56 3.3.1.4. Solomon Ibn Verga....................................................................................... 58 3.3.1.5. David Conforte.............................................................................................. 59 3.3.1.6. Joseph Ben Isaac Sambari............................................................................. 60 3.3.2. Other Historians.................................................................................................... 62 3.4. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 66 3.4.1. The Main Characteristics of this Period in the Jewish Historiography on the Ottoman Empire.................................................................................................................... 66 3.4.1.1. Jewish Interest in History.............................................................................. 66 3.4.1.2. Attribution of a Divine Role to the Ottoman Empire ................................... 69 3.4.1.3. Exaggerated Praise of the Turks ................................................................... 72 3.4.1.4. Biased History............................................................................................... 74 3.4.2. Discussion............................................................................................................. 75 4. JEWISH HISTORIOGRAPHY ON SABBATIAN MESSIANISM AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.......................................................................................................... 86 4.1. The Sabbatian Messianic Movement............................................................................ 86 4.2. Historiography on the Movement and its Suppression................................................. 89 4.2.1. Jacob Sasportas ..................................................................................................... 96 4.2.2. Jacob and Emmanuel Frances............................................................................... 99 4.2.3. Jacob Emden ....................................................................................................... 101 4.2.4. Abraham Cuenque .............................................................................................. 102 v 4.2.5. Baruch Ben Gershon of Arezzo .......................................................................... 103 4.3. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 106 4.3.1. A Surge of Letters and a Snowballing of Messianic Awakening. ...................... 108 4.3.2. A Novel Approach and Form in Jewish Historiography .................................... 111 4.3.3. The Non-existence of the Sabbatian Historiography in the East and its Possible Causes 115 4.3.4. After the Sabbatian Movement ........................................................................... 119 5. JEWISH CULTURAL STAGNATION IN THE WAKE OF THE SABBATIAN MOVEMENT AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURY............................................................. 122 5.1. Two Bibliographers: Hayim Joseph David Azulai and Salamon Hazan .................... 123 5.2. The 1840 Damascus Affair: The Awakening of Western Jewish Interest in Oriental Jewry 125 5.2.1. The Lack of Period Historiography on Ottoman Jewry...................................... 127 5.3. The Presentation of Ottoman Jewish History in Two Comprehensive Histories ....... 130 5.3.1. Heinrich Graetz................................................................................................... 131 5.3.2. Simon Dubnow ................................................................................................... 134 5.4. The Western Jewish Intellectual and Social Movements that Affected the Ottoman Jewish Society......................................................................................................................... 138 5.4.1. The Emancipation – “Regeneration” Movement of French Jews and its Influence on Ottoman Jewry............................................................................................................... 140 5.4.1.1. Overview..................................................................................................... 140 5.4.1.2. The French Influence on Ottoman Jewry through the Alliance.................. 144 5.4.2. The German Haskalah movement