The Great Turk Returns 2.0: Ottoman resurgent TL
- Thread starter Osman Aga
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Good to see another update. It’s interesting to see the Ottomans retry to assert domination in the Indian Ocean. Before they were hampered by the Portuguese. Wonder if they can make it to Aceh again. Nice work
They are in a cold war with sunni Ottomans and Crimeans over conversion by Naxbandi order in the Caucasus.
Osman Aga
Banned
The Ottomans have lost opportunities in the 16th century. While resources were redirected to more important places (Hungary, Persia), it still tried something. In this case, the Ottomans are more or less getting tied to Islamic Indian Kingdoms. Helping them against locals is less of a problem than to challenge the EIC, France or the Dutch. The EIC is even now, without Bengal and the loss of Madras still the most important European Company in India.
Aceh is a story for later on. When the Ottoman prestige increases due to Mysori and/or Hyderabadi successes Aceh will try to reassert itself to the Ottoman Protectorship. Ottomans meddling in their homeland is less likely than the European Companies. There may be interest in Malacca by Aceh or Johore but I don't want to give too much away.
Osman Aga
Banned
Safavids are just restoring their authority in Persia. They aren't much of a threat against the Ottomans but it will lead to some kind of rivalry in the near future. Even if it may or may not result into war.
Osman Aga
Banned
Thank you Arctodus
I hope so. I consider this as a new addition to the old TL. It makes things more interesting rather than a bland stay away policy. It doesn't mean much in the 18th century compared to the 19th century, especially with a PoD of 1747
Meh... The Safavids don't like it but they aren't in a position to oppose the Ottomans in anyway. I can say (or you could already guess it) that the Ottomans and Safavids will have mixed relations. A large state like Safavid Persia is like a lion on a leash, you cannot hold it on a leash forever.
Osman Aga
Banned
Bekir Pasha Abasi at court - 17 March 1772 - İstanbul, Thrace, Ottoman Empire
Bekir Pasha (1743-....) had arrived at court in the spring of 1772. He had an audience with Sultan Mustafa III. He had to tell the Sultan about his adventure in India. Bekir Pasha was a young officer who became Pasha at the age of 24 by being appointed as governor of Van. His military background offered him a position at the top of the forces in India. He had impressed the Governor of Egypt, who informed the Sultan about the Campaign.
Bekir Pasha: “My Padisah, I have seen the great lands of Hindustan. I landed in the lands of the former Sultanate of Gujarat. The land is nothing what it used to be. The infidels do not put any effort in developing the land and the locals are affected too much by warfare. Our armies had little to take as warbounty. Our conquest of the town or Porbandar was simple. The locals did not resist us. We moved further and reached the city of Rajkot. The local defenders resisted heroically but were powerless against your forces.”
Mustafa III: “Bekir Pasha, the lion from Georgia… When I heard the stories I was most impressed. Your campaign may ended without the desired results but it will lead to a future of success for the armies of Islam. Rest assured that I will reward you for your bravery. I expect you to be successful in the future. May Allah bless you Bekir Pasha…”
Education in the Ottoman Society - 1773
When one speaks about education, the best is offered for the Sultan’s children. This is followed by the children of the viziers and then at the Enderun and Galatasaray College. As we move down the Madrassas and the Church Schools follow on the bottom. While the education isn’t necessarily bad, it is limited. The access to religious education is limited as well. While not everyone can get it, there are efforts put by various religious groups to teach their followers to read and write. Among the Muslims the Naqshbandi Order puts the most effort to teach their followers. Children between the age of 8 and 14 are thought to read and write, to understand Arabic and to read the Quran. The Bektashi Order and the Qadiriyya Order are not that far behind, though are not as putting the same effort like the Naqshbandi do. The Shiites and Alevites are depending on local clergy, being relatively more illiterate than their Sunni brethren.
The Christians have overall better organization in education and higher literacy among their followers. Orphans under Church authority were more often thought to read and write than it was happening among Muslims. The Churches having ties with European Education Institutions in Italy, France and Austria makes it more likely that the average Ottoman Christian could get more education than the average Ottoman Muslim. If you are Muslim and your ties were strong with government officials, you have a decent chance to reach higher up. The most realistic way for Muslims to reach something close as Kaymaks or clerks.
Sultan Mustafa played a role in the development of education for the Muslims. The opening of the Naval Academy gave new room for young Muslim men to join the Military from a new side. With the option to join the Naval Forces, it was seen as an opportunity to have a better future. The opening of the Naval Academy did not mean that every single Muslim could now have a chance to follow a naval education, it did give the chance to grow within the Ottoman Government. This had particularly effect on the city of İstanbul but also on coastal towns like İzmir, Selanik, Varna and Trabzon, where ties with İstanbul was strong and a Naval carreer was a serious option.
The Sultan also gave more funding for the Sufi Orders on the condition to settle in rural areas far away from towns and to teach the children to read and write. The estimates say that literacy among 8-16 year old Muslims in the Ottoman Empire increased from a low 6% in 1772 to 18% in 1792, long after Mustafa III’ death. This had particularly effect in the Balkans, mostly the Eastern Balkans, closer to İstanbul. The Sultan was also stimulating non-Muslims to follow suit and offered to return some of the taxes gained from the Christians to the Churches on the conditions they teach the Christian Children to read and write in the rural areas. This had the effect that 9% of the children between the age of 8-16 could read and write in 1772, increased to 27% in 1792, again mostly in the Balkans. The Greeks were showing the best progress. The education was mostly in their own languages. The Greeks were educated in Greek, the Bulgarians in Bulgarian, the Serbs in Serbian, the Arabs in Arabic, the Turks in Turkish, the Albanians in Albanian. The Churches saw the benefits of teaching the Turkish language in further education as well in hope to give the Ottoman Christians an advantage of linguistics against the Ottoman Overlords. Though the literacy rate of Turkish among Ottoman Christians remained low, from 2% in 1772 to a 7% in 1792, though these were often the gifted children.
The last group were the Jews. The Ottoman Jews, mostly Sephardic or Mizrahi, were already very literate, if not the most literate groups of the Empire, relatively speaking. Ottoman policies did not involve them.
The side effect of decentralized education was assimilation. Especially the Greek Orthodox Church had this effect on Aromanians and Albanian Orthodox populace. It became so much of a problem that clergy of Albanian or Aromanian ethnicity petitioned the Sultan, Grand Vizier and the Patriarch to educate their people in their own language rather than just Greek. These petitions were taken seriously but the Sultan and Grand Vizier did little more than instructing the Patriarch to have a look at this situation. The Bulgarian Orthodox, though belonging to the jurisdiction of Constantinople, were large enough to ignore the instructions of higher ranking Greek Clergy. Assimilation had little effect on ethnic Bulgarians other than areas where they formed less than a third of the population, that is mostly in South Western Macedonia.
The second case of Assimilation was seen at ethnicities that weren’t from the region or formed a minority. Circassians, Chechens, Turkmens and Kurds in Egypt and Palestine, Arabs in Rumelia, Slavs in Anatolia. Though the effect was smaller than what happened with the Greek Orthodox, the tax collectors noted that “some parts of the cities that spoke a certain language (Turkish, Kurdish etc.) began speaking Arabic”. While this wasn’t a concern for the Ottoman Authorities, as the Ottomans only used religion to put people in groups, it was an observation that would have questions on what the desired effects should be. A discussion that would play in the 19th century.
The Ottoman Economy in parts - 1773
Chapter I: Agriculture
Slaves: Slavery was a large economy in the Ottoman Empire. The most common slaves were house slaves and harem slaves. The slaves were entirely bought from foreign lands, such as the Northern Caucasus by Crimean Slavers, the Great lakes and Ethiopia from Arab slavers and the Niger-Congo area from Hausa and Tuareg slavers. a.
1. House Slaves: House slaves had no certain race or ethnicity. Whatever was on the markets could work on your land. It could be Circassian, Kalmyk, Bantu, Amhara or even Indians. The geography defined what the offer was. If you lived in Varna, your options were largely from the Caucasus. If you lived in Egypt or any part of the fertile crescent you had more options, between Caucasus, Africa and Asia. If you were from the Arab Peninsula, the options were most likely from Africa.
The House slaves were the most sold slaves. Every wealthy household had at least one. A wealthy landowner on the Nile Delta could have at least 20 house slaves.
2. Harem Slaves: Harem slaves were often based on their ethnicities. Female harem slaves were often Circassian, Ossetian, Georgian, Cossacks, and to a lesser degree non-European such as Kalmyk, Bantu or from Asia. The latter were special cases and not so numerous. The Sultan, his viziers and governors were the one with the most harem slaves. To a lesser degree there were autonomous Emirs and landowners who had smaller harems.
Another demand for harem slaves were often men. These were to be eunuchs. The need for eunuchs was always in high demand as was the need for guards for the harems. The eunuch class was reversed with the female slaves. The eunuchs were often from Africa, followed by Kalmyks and again to a lesser degree: Asians. In a few cases, eunuchs were from the Caucasus. The purchase of eunuchs went always together with female harem slaves. The suppliers, from Africa, were often Coptic clergy from Egypt.
3. Field Slaves: Field slaves were pretty much restricted to the Arab World, where the access to slaves from Zanzibar was much more secure and the Arab World was relatively more underpopulated. Most landowners used poor peasants to work on the field in exchange for small monetary income or to feed themselves. The increase of slaves for the field was observed after a failed rebellion of poor peasants and Turkmen Nomads in Anatolia. Unlike Arabia, Anatolia would use whatever slaves were offered to them to work for: Circassians, Ossetians, Cossacks, Bantu, Amhara or even European prisoners of war. The latter became an economy where local commanders would sell European captives to landowners and consider them as dead when they were supposed to return. To avoid suspicion, entire brigades and or regiments would be sold to various landowners.
Bekir Pasha (1743-....) had arrived at court in the spring of 1772. He had an audience with Sultan Mustafa III. He had to tell the Sultan about his adventure in India. Bekir Pasha was a young officer who became Pasha at the age of 24 by being appointed as governor of Van. His military background offered him a position at the top of the forces in India. He had impressed the Governor of Egypt, who informed the Sultan about the Campaign.
Bekir Pasha: “My Padisah, I have seen the great lands of Hindustan. I landed in the lands of the former Sultanate of Gujarat. The land is nothing what it used to be. The infidels do not put any effort in developing the land and the locals are affected too much by warfare. Our armies had little to take as warbounty. Our conquest of the town or Porbandar was simple. The locals did not resist us. We moved further and reached the city of Rajkot. The local defenders resisted heroically but were powerless against your forces.”
Mustafa III: “Bekir Pasha, the lion from Georgia… When I heard the stories I was most impressed. Your campaign may ended without the desired results but it will lead to a future of success for the armies of Islam. Rest assured that I will reward you for your bravery. I expect you to be successful in the future. May Allah bless you Bekir Pasha…”
Education in the Ottoman Society - 1773
When one speaks about education, the best is offered for the Sultan’s children. This is followed by the children of the viziers and then at the Enderun and Galatasaray College. As we move down the Madrassas and the Church Schools follow on the bottom. While the education isn’t necessarily bad, it is limited. The access to religious education is limited as well. While not everyone can get it, there are efforts put by various religious groups to teach their followers to read and write. Among the Muslims the Naqshbandi Order puts the most effort to teach their followers. Children between the age of 8 and 14 are thought to read and write, to understand Arabic and to read the Quran. The Bektashi Order and the Qadiriyya Order are not that far behind, though are not as putting the same effort like the Naqshbandi do. The Shiites and Alevites are depending on local clergy, being relatively more illiterate than their Sunni brethren.
The Christians have overall better organization in education and higher literacy among their followers. Orphans under Church authority were more often thought to read and write than it was happening among Muslims. The Churches having ties with European Education Institutions in Italy, France and Austria makes it more likely that the average Ottoman Christian could get more education than the average Ottoman Muslim. If you are Muslim and your ties were strong with government officials, you have a decent chance to reach higher up. The most realistic way for Muslims to reach something close as Kaymaks or clerks.
Sultan Mustafa played a role in the development of education for the Muslims. The opening of the Naval Academy gave new room for young Muslim men to join the Military from a new side. With the option to join the Naval Forces, it was seen as an opportunity to have a better future. The opening of the Naval Academy did not mean that every single Muslim could now have a chance to follow a naval education, it did give the chance to grow within the Ottoman Government. This had particularly effect on the city of İstanbul but also on coastal towns like İzmir, Selanik, Varna and Trabzon, where ties with İstanbul was strong and a Naval carreer was a serious option.
The Sultan also gave more funding for the Sufi Orders on the condition to settle in rural areas far away from towns and to teach the children to read and write. The estimates say that literacy among 8-16 year old Muslims in the Ottoman Empire increased from a low 6% in 1772 to 18% in 1792, long after Mustafa III’ death. This had particularly effect in the Balkans, mostly the Eastern Balkans, closer to İstanbul. The Sultan was also stimulating non-Muslims to follow suit and offered to return some of the taxes gained from the Christians to the Churches on the conditions they teach the Christian Children to read and write in the rural areas. This had the effect that 9% of the children between the age of 8-16 could read and write in 1772, increased to 27% in 1792, again mostly in the Balkans. The Greeks were showing the best progress. The education was mostly in their own languages. The Greeks were educated in Greek, the Bulgarians in Bulgarian, the Serbs in Serbian, the Arabs in Arabic, the Turks in Turkish, the Albanians in Albanian. The Churches saw the benefits of teaching the Turkish language in further education as well in hope to give the Ottoman Christians an advantage of linguistics against the Ottoman Overlords. Though the literacy rate of Turkish among Ottoman Christians remained low, from 2% in 1772 to a 7% in 1792, though these were often the gifted children.
The last group were the Jews. The Ottoman Jews, mostly Sephardic or Mizrahi, were already very literate, if not the most literate groups of the Empire, relatively speaking. Ottoman policies did not involve them.
The side effect of decentralized education was assimilation. Especially the Greek Orthodox Church had this effect on Aromanians and Albanian Orthodox populace. It became so much of a problem that clergy of Albanian or Aromanian ethnicity petitioned the Sultan, Grand Vizier and the Patriarch to educate their people in their own language rather than just Greek. These petitions were taken seriously but the Sultan and Grand Vizier did little more than instructing the Patriarch to have a look at this situation. The Bulgarian Orthodox, though belonging to the jurisdiction of Constantinople, were large enough to ignore the instructions of higher ranking Greek Clergy. Assimilation had little effect on ethnic Bulgarians other than areas where they formed less than a third of the population, that is mostly in South Western Macedonia.
The second case of Assimilation was seen at ethnicities that weren’t from the region or formed a minority. Circassians, Chechens, Turkmens and Kurds in Egypt and Palestine, Arabs in Rumelia, Slavs in Anatolia. Though the effect was smaller than what happened with the Greek Orthodox, the tax collectors noted that “some parts of the cities that spoke a certain language (Turkish, Kurdish etc.) began speaking Arabic”. While this wasn’t a concern for the Ottoman Authorities, as the Ottomans only used religion to put people in groups, it was an observation that would have questions on what the desired effects should be. A discussion that would play in the 19th century.
The Ottoman Economy in parts - 1773
Chapter I: Agriculture
- Wheat: The Ottoman Empire was one of the larger producers of Wheat. It was still not enough to supply the demand of the Empire, with the Danubian Principalities selling their wheat to the Ottoman Empire, the biggest exporter to the Ottoman Empire in 1773. The Crimean Khanate, as it would move away from the notorious steppe harvesting, would follow not so long afterwards. Most of the Ottoman Wheat was produced in Egypt, followed by Anatolia. Only a small amount of wheat was sold for other states, mostly the North African Vassals of the Empire, which was more than enough for those states. As wheat formed an important product for the Ottoman diet, the demand was always high.
- Corn: As this product was introduced late to the Ottoman Empire, the production of corn was rather on the lowside and reduced mostly to Eastern Balkans. The production was not high enough for export and was largely seen as a new food source only bought by the wealthy merchants and landowners, with the peasants usually not able to buy it anyway. The use of corn as a food source would increase over time but as of 1773, the production was not enough for the entire Empire. The European Merchants are delivering more corn to the Empire than the Empire produces, with this being 36% domestic productions to 64% imported.
- Potatoes: Potatoes were like corn, rather new products to the Empire. These products were largely grown in Rumelia and Anatolia, though their size was small and the incentive to increase production was on the low side due to the lack of interest by peasants. As of 1773, 17% of potatoes were homegrown while 83% was imported, mostly from French and British Merchants.
- Rice: Rice was, compared to corn and potatoes, produced more at home. Homegrown production was at 70% while imports, mostly from India, was at 30% (Indian Rice Imports forming almost 90% of the imported rice). The production was mostly based in the Middle East, in Anatolia, Mesopotamia and the Levant. As rice formed a popular part of the local diet, the demand was usually high. The production of rice would increase as time passed by in absolute numbers, while relatively the production was going down.
- Cotton: Cotton production within the Ottoman Empire was rather large. While it could be compared to Indian or Chinese productions, it was definitely rivalling the British Colonials of the Thirteen Colonies. The product was largely being exported to Italy and Austria. Of the entire Ottoman cotton production, 64% went outside the Empire while 36% remained, going to the textile manufacturers in Bursa, Aleppo, İstanbul etc. The area of cotton production was Egypt, Mesopotamia, Levant and Southern Anatolia. The area of Cukurova, near Adana, was called the Cotton Paradise by European travellers, noting that the economy of the region was dependent on the production of cotton for almost 75%.
- Tobacco: Tobacco, although the use of tobacco is heavily protested by the clergy, was also produced in the Empire. Northern and Eastern Anatolia were the best places to grow this product, while some of it also grew in Syria. While domestic demand for tobacco was not very large, it still did supply the existing demand within the Empire. However, most of the Ottoman Tobacco went to the Markets of Venice, Verona and Udine in Italy.
- Sugar cane: The growth of sugarcane was reduced to Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was also produced in Cyprus and Crete. Production of sugar cane is just enough to supply the cities, though the Ottomans still import some sugar cane from the French production in the West Indies. This is followed by the Indian producers from Mysore and Bengal. It isn’t the most popular agricultural product but still sizable nonetheless.
- Coffee: Coffee was not produced so much in the Ottoman Empire. The areas of production are largely Egypt, Yemen, Mesopotamia and Hejaz. Cyprus and Crete are noted to have small coffee productions. While the drink is popular, the Ottoman Empire imports large parts of its coffee
- Olives: Olives are a very popular product the Ottoman Empire has, mostly on the Mediterranean Coast. The production of olives is also a social sign, being wealthy producers. The production of olive oil is tied with the production of olives and both products are used as one of the popular export products, challenging the Italian and Spanish Producers.
- Lumber: The production of lumber is very large within the Empire, with the Ottoman Navy being the biggest customer to buy it. The Production is mostly from Rumelia, and to a lesser degree in Anatolia. The production is largely tied to areas with large forests. Sweden, Russia and Persia are the exporters of lumber to the Ottoman Empire.
- Cattle: The Ottoman Empire had plenty of cattle. From Sheeps and Goats in the Middle East, to hogs in the Balkans, to cows anywhere. These animals had a mostly a function to produce meat, milk (in cases of cows, goats etc.) or eggs (for chickens). On average, every adult in the Ottoman Empire had 12 chickens, 6 sheeps/goats and 1 cow. The use of hogs was largely restricted to Christians, which meant that in the entire Empire there were on average 0.7 hogs per adult if everyone was included, but when one counted Christians, this would become 4 hogs per Christian adult on average. Many of the cattle products went to domestic demands, though a large share did go to neighboring states. The demand for goats and sheeps was at large in Austria, Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania. Hogs were mostly in demand in Austria and Transylvania, where Serb merchants were mostly supplying them. The last group was foreign merchants buying these animals. The Greeks played a big role here in the supply of cattle products to merchants who were residing in the Empire.
- Fish: Fish was another product that was delivered to Ottoman markets as well. Fisheries in the Black Sea and Mediterranean made a wealthy living in delivering many kinds of fish to the markets. Anchovies from the Black Sea and Tuna from the Mediterranean were the popular products. The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest suppliers of fish products to the global markets, although most of the export went to neighboring Poland-Lithuania or the Danubian Principalities, due to the lack of Sea access and fishing fleets. The Crimean Khanate became a large concurrency in the Black Sea as they gave up on the slave raids while turning to farming and fishing mostly.
- Honey: One of the wealthiest, if not the most popular products from the Ottoman Empire. As one of the biggest honey producers, the Ottoman Empire became the biggest exporter of Honey to Europe. The honey from the Ottoman Empire was quite popular too.
- Pelts/Leather: Pelts and leather were products that were produced in the Empire but not to a degree that it became a large export product. Export was largely reduced to interregional (for example → From Belgrade to Osijek, From Batum to Kutaisi). There was no high demand as domestic supplies remained stable. Most pelts came from bears, foxes and even seals such as the Mediterranean monk seal. The latter was usually targeted by fishermen who catch these animals during their work in the seas.
- Whale hunting: Whale hunting was quite popular in Arabia, to the open ocean. Arab fishermen are working together in the whale hunt, selling whale blubber and meat to local buyers. Whale hunting was rather small compared to large scale operations in Northern Europe, but it existed.
- Horses and Camels: Horses and camels were other animal products that were exported to foreign states. The use of horses and camels were mostly to carry persons or cargo. While horses were used mostly everywhere, camels were reduced to some parts. European importers of camels were largely from Spain, who were interested in using these animals as means of travel in New Spain, or even Southern Iberia. The interest also existed by the French in Upper Louisiana, as some camels were strong enough to survive the cold weather, as well as the Russians in Southern Russia near Kuban.
- Gold: Gold mining was rather low in the Ottoman Empire. The existing mining was reduced locally and nothing that was considered as large enough. The gold mines existed in small parts of mountainous Anatolia, in Abkhazia and in the Mountains of Yemen
- Silver: Silver was mined in larger amounts than gold. The mines were located mostly in Rumelia, mostly in the lands of the Serbs and central Bulgaria, Mountainous Anatolia, and Abkhazia. Like with gold, silver productions were hardly a concurrence with the mines in Spanish America.
- Iron: Iron was in large size in the mining production of the Empire. It was large enough to supply the military need, though the Empire kept importing iron from Northern Europe as well to keep supplying the non-military needs.
- Copper: Copper mining is rather stable too within the Empire. Anatolia, Rumelia are major places of copper mining. The need for copper increased when the Ottoman Navy followed British suit in using copper bottoms for their naval vessels.
- Coal: Coal mining was reduced to Northern Anatolia and Bosnia, and for a smaller bit to Eastern Anatolia. The need for coal was rather on the low side and the production remained low.
- Textile: The largest textile producers of the Empire were in the Marmara region. Bursa was known for its textile manufacturers. The finest textile of the Empire was from Bursa and sold in the markets of İstanbul. As time progressed, other town played a role as well: Aleppo, Selanik, İzmir, Eskisehir and Varna, creating cheap textile for the markets but a large concurrency for the Bursa producers as well. The consolidation of towns like Vidin, Sofia, Ruse, Silistre, Filibe and Uskup would cause the increase of the textile industry in the Empire. The cotton from Egypt, Levant and Anatolia would supply the producers and keep the Ottoman textile industry alive and growing.
- Weapons and ammunition: One of the producers of their own weapons and suppliers to other Muslim nations in need. The demand for muskets, artillery and ammunition would always remain high as long as the Ottoman Army kept marching. The demand for howitzers and efficiënt muskets was high among Muslim States who faced Europeans, such as the Crimean Khanate, Oman and Morocco.
- Ships/Boats: Ottoman production of ships and boats were mostly for domestic use. Fishers needed boats, the wealthier bought ships. The Navy always needs sailing vessels. The foreign importers of ships from the Ottoman Empire were the Crimeans and their North African vassals.
- Jewels: Jewels are luxury goods. Nonetheless, jewelry produced in the Ottoman Empire found its way to wealthy Europeans through mid way purchases from the French and Italians. İstanbul remained one of the popular places of the fanciest jewelry in Europe.
- Normal Taxing: The Ottoman Empire had their biggest state revenue from the Ottoman Population. Of the total revenue of 75,000,000 Akce a year, the taxing of people was set at 30,000,000 Akce. The size could have been increased if the Empire was more centralized, bringing taxation of the people to 70,000,000 Akce expected by the Grand Vizier. Many tax revenue from the provinces remain in the provincial governors control, often ignoring to send it, due to overtaxation or the claim that the revenue is needed to pay local forces to fight rebels.
- Tariffs: Tariffs formed 25,000,000 of the revenue, not too far off from the normal tax. The tariffs were easier to get as it never remained in the region and always went to central authorities. Nevertheless, the existence of capitulations made tariffs rather low, setting at 4% for the French, British, various Italian States, Dutch and Sweden. The domestic tariffs are set at 8%, while various other states are between 8-12%. Mustafa III had considered abolishing capitulations with many nations and keeping an equal concurrency at 7% tariffs. The Sultan however, avoided this during the Malta crisis, to avoid a possible war with France. Tariffs never increase past the 8% for foreign nations unless the relationship with the Ottoman Empire is very tense. A hostile Austria is still at 8%, showing how rare it is.
- Jizya and Zakat: Jizya and Zakat tax was set at 15,000,000 Akce. With about 5 million Akce from Jizya and 10 million Akce at Zakat. The Jizya had a military purpose. It was protection money, keeping Christians exempted from joining the army legally speaking. However, the use of the Jizya money for military purposes increased to being used for the military in the late decades, since the era of Mehmed V (1757-1759), severely increasing the quality of key fortresses in the Empire.
The Zakat was used for taking care of the poor. While the sum was not enough for most poor in the Empire, it was enough to feed them from time to time and keep them going. - Vassalage tax: Vassalage tax was set at 5 million Akce. It was divided from tax paid by vassals to protect them, or better said not annex them, to war bounty from North Africa. It differed from monetary to agricultural products to cattle to material products like ships, goods etc estimated value at 5 million Akce
Slaves: Slavery was a large economy in the Ottoman Empire. The most common slaves were house slaves and harem slaves. The slaves were entirely bought from foreign lands, such as the Northern Caucasus by Crimean Slavers, the Great lakes and Ethiopia from Arab slavers and the Niger-Congo area from Hausa and Tuareg slavers. a.
1. House Slaves: House slaves had no certain race or ethnicity. Whatever was on the markets could work on your land. It could be Circassian, Kalmyk, Bantu, Amhara or even Indians. The geography defined what the offer was. If you lived in Varna, your options were largely from the Caucasus. If you lived in Egypt or any part of the fertile crescent you had more options, between Caucasus, Africa and Asia. If you were from the Arab Peninsula, the options were most likely from Africa.
The House slaves were the most sold slaves. Every wealthy household had at least one. A wealthy landowner on the Nile Delta could have at least 20 house slaves.
2. Harem Slaves: Harem slaves were often based on their ethnicities. Female harem slaves were often Circassian, Ossetian, Georgian, Cossacks, and to a lesser degree non-European such as Kalmyk, Bantu or from Asia. The latter were special cases and not so numerous. The Sultan, his viziers and governors were the one with the most harem slaves. To a lesser degree there were autonomous Emirs and landowners who had smaller harems.
Another demand for harem slaves were often men. These were to be eunuchs. The need for eunuchs was always in high demand as was the need for guards for the harems. The eunuch class was reversed with the female slaves. The eunuchs were often from Africa, followed by Kalmyks and again to a lesser degree: Asians. In a few cases, eunuchs were from the Caucasus. The purchase of eunuchs went always together with female harem slaves. The suppliers, from Africa, were often Coptic clergy from Egypt.
3. Field Slaves: Field slaves were pretty much restricted to the Arab World, where the access to slaves from Zanzibar was much more secure and the Arab World was relatively more underpopulated. Most landowners used poor peasants to work on the field in exchange for small monetary income or to feed themselves. The increase of slaves for the field was observed after a failed rebellion of poor peasants and Turkmen Nomads in Anatolia. Unlike Arabia, Anatolia would use whatever slaves were offered to them to work for: Circassians, Ossetians, Cossacks, Bantu, Amhara or even European prisoners of war. The latter became an economy where local commanders would sell European captives to landowners and consider them as dead when they were supposed to return. To avoid suspicion, entire brigades and or regiments would be sold to various landowners.
Not a fan of introducing Nazarenes to the army but this is inevitable.
Question is when the tax exemption happens, which level it would be? Individual, family or any other social unit? With the urbanisation of the empire the breakdown of old extended family and tribal system it is to be expected that taxation no matter which one will be on an individual level, otherwise the porte loses on cash. Similarly, for non muslims fighting in the army in the future the exemption of jizya will also be on an individual /nuclear family level. But that also depends if the current tax system prevails.
Osman Aga
Banned
Jizya might be replaced for something more opportunistic, like an army exemption tax. A bit higher but for everyone: Muslim, Christian, Jewish. Non-Muslims won't like it too much but it is extra cash nonetheless. But we have to wait out...
The tax exemption won't happen anytime soon, I mean we are still in 1773. It may be earlier than OTL but I don't want to give away too much. Taxing happens per family, and the oldest man is usually the head of the family. The taxing form will change over time, to something more bearable and fair. This is still problematic as long as the Ottoman Central Authorities have not restored much authority beyond the Eastern Balkans yet. There isn't much need for it but it will become necessary for protection of the Empire and taxing.
The Porte losing cash from Jizya could be replaced with new taxing systems (non-tax farming) and by asserting stronger authority in the frontiers where most tax revenue does not reach Constantinople. Jizya isn't going away soon. If the situation of the military results in something in the first paragraph then it looks pretty much like Status Quo, except there will be more Christians in the Army than before. Army service can be different. From garrisoning duty to fighting the wars. There isn't any conscription laws anyway, nor the abolishment of Jizya. The opening of the Army will however affect Christians in some ways, for example higher immigration early on.
A new update wow you made my day.
Why don't the ottoman support the mughal and mysor to make India under Muslim influence. And make the British to get out of there
Why don't the ottoman support the mughal and mysor to make India under Muslim influence. And make the British to get out of there
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Halrin16
Banned
The Great Turk try to return for a second time but Destiny work in a different way. I hope i can contact you somehow @Osman Aga. Many ottoman supporter got banned in one way or another.But the moderator have decided and we should follow it, somehow my instinct feel like this forum mod is the same a discord mod.
Halrin16
Banned
Always kicking and ban people. I read once only small percentage of 500,000 member of this forum active because many of them got banned,kicked and some of them probably to afraid to voice their opinion. I think i probably get banned or very least kicked for a while for this replied.
Lol, you make it out to be some distopian site. If someone crosses the rules. He gets kicked. He defended Armenian genocide he got banned.
And no, you won't get kicked or banned (because I don't think you have broken any rules.)
- Status