Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Demise, 1800-1909

Jul 8, 2026

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A scholarly historical study examining how slavery functioned in the Ottoman Empire and how it was dismantled from 1800 to 1909. The work analyzes the employment of slaves across military-administrative and agricultural settings, the legal and policy frameworks regulating enslavement of Muslims and non-Muslims, and mechanisms of slave acquisition in the late empire. It evaluates British approaches and Ottoman reforms during the Tanzimat and under Abdülhamid II, including key anti-slave-trade measures and emancipation outcomes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages252

Reading Time10 h 35 min

Contents

Acknowledgements

Glossary

List of Abbreviations

A Note on Pronunciation

Introduction

Employment of Slaves in the Classical Ottoman Empire

Traditional Ottoman Policies towards Slavery before the Tanzimat

Means of Enslavement and Slave Acquisition in the Late Ottoman Empire

British Policy and Ottoman Slavery

Ottoman Policy during the Tanzimat Period, 1846-1876

Ottoman Policy during the Reign of Abdülhamid II and the Advent of the Young Turks, 1876-1909

The Emancipation and Care of Slaves in the Late Ottoman Empire

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

palgravemacmillan # Slavery in the OttomanEmpire and its Demise,1800-1909 Y Hakan Erdem # SLAVERY IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIREAND ITS DEMISE,1800-1909 This page intentionally left blank Slavery in the OttomanEmpire and its Demise,1800-1909 Y Hakan Erdem Assistant Professor of HistoryBogazici University,Istanbul First published in Great Britain 1996 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG216XSand London Companies and representativesthroughout the world This book is published in the St Antony's SeriesGeneral Editor:Alex Pravda A catalogue record for this book is availablefrom the British Library. ISBN0-333-64323-2 First published in the United States of America 1996 by ST.MARTIN’S PRESS,INC., Scholarly and Reference Division,175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 ISBN 0-312-16209-X Library of Congress Catalogng-in-Publication DataErdem,Y Hakan. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its demise,1800-1909/Y HakanErdem. p.cm. includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN0-312-16209-X(cloth) 1.Slavery—Turkey—History—19th century.2.Turkey--History- -Otoman Empire,1288-1918.3.Slave-trade—Turkey-History—19th century.4.Antislavery movements—History.1.Title. HT¹238.E731996 96-7125 306.3620956'09034-dc20 CIP ◎Y Hakan Erdem 1996 All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission ofthis publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied ortransmitted save with written permission or in accordance withthe provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copyingissued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham CourtRoad,London WIP9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to thispublication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civilclaims for damages. 10 9876 5 4 3 20504030201009998 Printed and bound in Great Britain byAntony Rowe LId,Chippenham,Wiltshire To Duygu This page intentionally left blank Contents AcknowledgementsGlossary ix X List of AbbreviationsA Note on PronunciationIntroduction XV xvi xvii 1 Employment of Slaves in the Classical Ottoman Empire1The devsirme:The emergence of the Ottomanmilitary-governmental slave system1Slaves as'soldiers and administrators and their status6Slaves in agriculture11Industrial slavery15 2 Traditional Ottoman Policies towards Slavery before the Tanzimat 18 The pencik tax as a means of market control19Enslavement and sale of Muslims as slaves20Unlawful and lawful enslavement of non-Muslim subjects23Employment of slaves by non-Muslims27Treatment of war captives29Illegal use of slaves and supervision of slave-dealers33The prohibition of the slave trade to Egypt39 3 Means of Enslavement and Slave Acquisition in the Late Ottoman Empire:Continuation of Ottoman Slaveryafter 1839 43 Means of enslavement and acquisition of slaves44Recovery of the Ottoman slave system55The ethnic origins of slaves in the late Empire58Employment of slaves62 4 British Policy and Ottoman Slavery67Was there a British attempt to abolish Ottoman slaveryin 1840?68 British perceptions of the general prohibition of the Africanslave trade74Differences of opinions and consensus in the British camp79The role of 'Muslim public opinion'in British policy-making85 5 Ottoman Policy during the Tanzimat Period,1846-7694Abolition of the Istanbul Slave Market,184695Ottoman anti-slave trade measures until 185799The general prohibition of the black slave trade,1857107Ottoman measures against the internal Circassian slave tradeand slavery113 6 Ottoman Policy during the Reign of Abdülhamid II andthe Advent of the Young Turks,1876-1909125Anti-slavery measures and the accession hat ofAbdülhamid,1876126Renewal of the 1857 ferman in the First ConstitutionalPeriod,1877128The Anglo-Ottoman Convention for the suppression of theblack slave trade,1880132The draft laws of 1882 and 18831

FAQs

How did slavery operate in the classical Ottoman Empire?

The study outlines the devşirme as an emergence point for the Ottoman military-governmental slave system and describes enslaved people as soldiers, administrators, and workers in agriculture, along with industrial slavery.

What were Ottoman policies toward slavery before the Tanzimat?

The work discusses taxes and market control (including the pencik tax), forms of lawful and unlawful enslavement, treatment of war captives, and regulations affecting enslavement and the slave trade to Egypt.

How were slavery and the slave trade addressed in the late Ottoman Empire after 1839, including emancipation?

The book explains changing mechanisms of enslavement and acquisition after 1839, Ottoman efforts to recover and regulate the slave system, and later anti-slave-trade and anti-slavery measures culminating in the question of manumission and the care of emancipated slaves.

Jul 8, 2026

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