TOCQUEVILLE IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ITS HERITAGE Politics, Society and Economy edited by Suraiya Faroqhi and Halil Inalcik Advisory Board Fikret Adanir • Idris Bostan • Amnon Cohen • Cornell Fleischer Barbara Flemming • Alexander de Groot • Klaus Kreiser Hans Georg Majer • Irène Mélikoff • Ahmet Yas¸ar Ocak Abdeljelil Temimi • Gilles Veinstein • Elizabeth Zachariadou VOLUME 28 TOCQUEVILLE IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE Rival Paths to the Modern State BY ARIEL SALZMANN BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2004 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on http://catalog.loc.gov ISSN 1380-6076 ISBN 90 04 10887 4 © Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, Rosewood Drive 222, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands SALZMAN_f1-v-xv 11/12/03 11:08 AM Page v v To my mother and father This page intentionally left blank SALZMAN_f1-v-xv 11/12/03 11:08 AM Page vii vii CONTENTS List of Illustrations ...................................................................... ix Preface ........................................................................................ xi List of Abbreviations .................................................................. xiii Note on Transliteration ............................................................ xv Introduction: Tocqueville’s Ghost .................................................. 1 In Search of an Archive .................................................... 6 The Old Régime through an Ottoman Lens .................. 13 Vocabularies of Early Modernity ...................................... 24 I. On a Map of Eurasia ............................................................ 31 Edges of Empire .................................................................. 38 From the Inside Out .......................................................... 52 Movements of People, Commodities, and Capital .......... 60 Eurasia in Transition .......................................................... 71 II. The Sublime Porte and the Credit Nexus .................................. 75 Palace, “Porte” and Patronage .......................................... 78 Hierarchies of Service ........................................................ 92 “Corporate Patrimonialism” and the Reproduction of Power .......................................................................... 102 Deyn-ü Devlet (Debt and State): Islamicate High Finance .................................................................. 110 Completing the Circle ........................................................ 118 III. Government in the Vernacular .................................................. 122 Questions of Jurisdiction .................................................... 127 At the Interstices of Rural Administration ...................... 139 Government in the Vernacular .......................................... 150 Checks and Balances .......................................................... 163 Final Entries ........................................................................ 172 IV. Conclusion: The Paths Not Taken ........................................ 176 The Common Origins of the Modern State .................... 179 A Federalist Alternative? .................................................... 187 SALZMAN_f1-v-xv 11/12/03 11:08 AM Page viii viii The Diyarbekir Commune of 1819 .................................. 191 Of Democracy and the New Despotism .......................... 194 Glossary ...................................................................................... 201 Bibliography ................................................................................ 203 Index ............................................................................................ 235 SALZMAN_f1-v-xv 11/13/03 6:25 PM Page ix ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1. A double page of a malikâne register .................................. 2 2. A map of eighteenth-century Eurasia .................................. 32 3. Detail of page of a malikâne register .................................... 123 4. Flow chart of shares in a malikâne contract ........................ 124 5. Diyarbekir’s provincial boundaries in flux .......................... 130 6. The final page of a New Order register ............................ 173 Color Plates (between 200 and 201) 1. A farmer leads the procession of the guilds 2. The sultan and the grand vizier 3. The hierarchies of state 4. Janissaries race for their portion of rice 5. French and Russian ambassadors view the festivities 6. The sultan distributes gold coins This page intentionally left blank SALZMAN_f1-v-xv 11/12/03 11:08 AM Page xi xi PREFACE Exotic painters, hack journalists, and impoverished academics have picked over the relics of the Ottoman old regime. Yet for some the empire has not died. Whether it is the Islamist’s dream of a com- passionate theocracy, a Balkan nationalist’s vow to avenge a medieval defeat, or an American president’s blueprint for the “new” Iraq, there is reason to question those who seek to remake its past. Rather than braving this unsettled history alone, I have invited a more seasoned traveler to join me. Alexis de Tocqueville’s specter lends this project a comparative slant while furnishing a conceptual anchor to an inherently unmanageable topic. Those familiar with my dissertation, “Measures of State: Tax Farmers and the Ottoman Ancien Régime, (1695–1807) (Columbia University, 1995) will rec- ognize themes and sources. However, the aims of the present work are quite different. From a study on the political economy of tax farming, it has become an inquiry into the origins of government under the old regime. This essay trespasses across many disciplinary boundaries. Courses in sociology, language and history at Binghamton and Columbia uni- versities with Ca[lar Keyder, Rhoads Murphey, and Kathleen Burrill introduced me to the Ottoman Empire. Richard Bulliet, Donald Quataert, John Mundy, and Charles Tilly shaped my historical method and tolerated my eclecticism. In proseminars, conferences, workshops, and over coffee in New York City and Cincinnati, many colleagues have patiently considered my ideas; my students have inspired me. Countless hours in the archives and many gifted scholars have transformed me into an Ottomanist. I remain deeply indebted to my hocalarım Mehmet Genç and Suraiya Faroqhi. Murat Çizakça, Mü- bahat Kütüko[lu, Engin Akarlı, Cornell Fleischer, Halil Sahillio[lu, Nejat Göyünç, (dris Bostan, Thomas Goodrich, and Rifa"at Abou- El-Haj never failed to answer my questions; rahmetli Jean-Pierre Thieck, Gülden Sarıyıldız, Caroline Finkle, Tony Greenwood, Ne{e Erim, Caroline and Andy Finkle shared tea and wisdom. Özer Ergenç, Rifat Özdemir and Mustafa Öztürk tutored me in urban studies. Halil (nalcık kindly read this manuscript before publication and SALZMAN_f1-v-xv 11/12/03 11:08 AM Page xii xii pointed out my errors. Despite their best efforts, more remain. Naturally, these defects are mine alone. Special thanks are reserved for those who contributed very directly to the preparation of the manuscript: my editor at Brill, Trudy Kamperveen, Betty Seaver who groomed the text; Paula Hible whose artistry polished the maps. Jane Kepp, Geoff Porter, Yüksel Duman, Sabri Ate{, and Markus Dressler took on editorial tasks. Materially, the author benefited from the support of the Pratt Institute and New York University. Two National Endowment for the Humanities- American Research Institute in Turkey grants (in 1994 and 1999) allowed me to continue archival research and a writing fellowship from American Council of Learned Societies 1999–2000 gave me a respite from nearly a decade of teaching. Gratitude goes to an extended family of friends—Noosha Baqi, Carolle Charles, Jenny White, Selcuk Esenbel, Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu, Faruk Tabak, Paula Hible, Serpil Ba[cı, Selim Deringil, Elizabeth Thompson, Gaynor Ellis, Dan Goffman, Shala Baqi and Randy Martin who have always been there. The Abbasis of Kabul and Vancouver, the Ziyabaksh-Tabari of Teheran, the Salzmanns of London, the Marchettis of Perugia, and the Hanio[lus of Istanbul fed and sheltered me during my travels. I remember with admira- tion and love those who have not lived to see this work’s comple- tion: my art teachers, Kalman and Doris Kubinyi, my second mom and Harlem activist, Ruth Johnson, my buddy and prisoner-rights advocate, Felix Reyes, and my ever-defiant aunt Marsha Weiland. In the end, as in the beginning, my parents have given bound- lessly to this project. I dedicate this work to my mother, Audrey Pastor Salzmann and my father, Harold I. Salzmann, my first teachers. SALZMAN_f1-v-xv 11/12/03 11:08 AM Page xiii xiii ABBREVIATIONS AA Aleppo Ahkâm Defterleri, Ba{bakanlık Ar{ivi. Belgeler Belgelerle Türk Tarihi Dergisi. Belleten Türk Tarih Kurumu Belleten. BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. CA Cevdet Askeriye, Ba{bakanlık Ar{ivi. CB Cevdet Belediye, Ba{bakanlık Ar{ivi.