I was talking about the ottoman one, how this was evolving into one with the new laws and editcs.
The Great Turk returns - Alternate resurging Ottomans (1747-1947)
- Thread starter Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
- Start date
- Status
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
Okay... I understood it wrong. Yeah it is developing. From the domains of the Sultan to a functioning State. I don't know yet if the ruling figures will pick a central Identity...
no matter how i want crimea to be annexed it most likely wont be one interesting thing will be how will it interact with Ukraine if it exist (doubt it would exist now with a independent crimea). In terms of thinking in hetalia i imagine both nations would be close. Ukraine has shown extreme care for its crimean tartars good on them i can see crimea may push Ukraine to become an allie of the sublime porte.
Romania may be interesting, kinda annoying the balkans still hasn't been pacified at this point the ottomans need to russian there subjects they rebel every 20 years how many are still left. I would like to add the russians have the Carpathian mountains they have austria pants down i don't think russia will be as supportive of Romania as they simply don't need them austria will remain russia allie as they can't afford not to.
Romania may be interesting, kinda annoying the balkans still hasn't been pacified at this point the ottomans need to russian there subjects they rebel every 20 years how many are still left. I would like to add the russians have the Carpathian mountains they have austria pants down i don't think russia will be as supportive of Romania as they simply don't need them austria will remain russia allie as they can't afford not to.
Ottomanism needs to be developed, at least among the Muslim, Turkish and Arab populations, to avoid various nationalisms and religious loyalties tearing the Empire apart.
Good thing that the North Africans rulers are put in line.
Good thing that the North Africans rulers are put in line.
Great post! This is the result of the stronger Ottoman Empire which didn't go the route of being 'Sick Man of Europe', rather a rejuvenated power. We can get to see the glimpses of the effects impacted on countries around the world.
For those not familiar with TTL, what happens so far at this point?
For those not familiar with TTL, what happens so far at this point?
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
That's for up in the future...
The Balkans are largely pacified except for geographically kinda isolated regions (Bosnia, Albania) and Morea. But Morea is under construction to get closer in touch with Istanbul. Bosnia and Albania will be better connected with railroads. But that will take decades. The problem with Romania is that it is a vassal and way too populous and Christian to rule directly. They won't be a part of the Empire at this point.
Austro-Russian relations are complicated. Both are there to keep the order alive in Europe yet distrust each other. But Austria can not have Russia surrounding it entirely with controlling the Principalities.
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
There is no popular desire for this yet as the Empire is not losing territory as OTL. But in the future, this is going to be necessary. But not everyone will like it.
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
The further you go (until 1683) the better the potential. If the Ottomans reformed and adapted to Europe in the early 19th century, potential is lower as more states are moved in (Britain in India, Russia in the Caucasus). But keeping up since the mid 18th century and you're in a better situation.
Will point out today hopefully.
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
TTL in short...
1750-1790:
- Army and Navy reformed
- Wars of consolidations. The Ottomans secured the frontiers and the borders while fending off against the Austrians and Russians.
- Persia is reunited under a friendly (Safavid) Dynasty.
- Ties with Indian Muslim States strengthened
1790-1810:
- Autonomous regions brought under firm Ottoman Rule
- Janissary Corps abolished
- Army Conscription introduced
- Vilayets brought closer to Istanbul
1810-(1850):
- World coming closer to each other
- Rising tensions in Europe Post Revolutionary Wars
- Rising desire of Liberations of Romania, Poland, Hungary and Crimea
- Muslim Powers coming closer to each others
- Developing of new ideals
- ...
- ...
- ...
1750-1790:
- Army and Navy reformed
- Wars of consolidations. The Ottomans secured the frontiers and the borders while fending off against the Austrians and Russians.
- Persia is reunited under a friendly (Safavid) Dynasty.
- Ties with Indian Muslim States strengthened
1790-1810:
- Autonomous regions brought under firm Ottoman Rule
- Janissary Corps abolished
- Army Conscription introduced
- Vilayets brought closer to Istanbul
1810-(1850):
- World coming closer to each other
- Rising tensions in Europe Post Revolutionary Wars
- Rising desire of Liberations of Romania, Poland, Hungary and Crimea
- Muslim Powers coming closer to each others
- Developing of new ideals
- ...
- ...
- ...
Last edited:
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
As I have an intention to reintroduce Islam among the African Diaspora in the Americas, I need a storyline. I guess I can start from here (with introduction it does not mean all of them will turn Islamic).
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
1822
Sultanate of Kashmir: A history of Kyrgyz Rule in Kashmir
The Kyrgyz were the recently Islamized people between the Tarim Basin in the East and Bukhara in the West. These Kyrgyz had some nomads among them which were used as allies by the Durrani Shahs in the land of the Tajik. By 1805, the Durrani Shah had sent the Kyrgyz to assault a rebellious Governor of Kashmir who did not help the Shah anymore in the Civil War. Nasiruddin Beg, led a force of his kin towards Srinagar and Jammu and defeated the Pashtun Governor. He formed the province into the only stable part left within the Durrani Realm. This did not last as the Durrani Shahs had been deposed by Dost Mohammed Khan. Nasiruddin Beg was crowned as Sultan of Kashmir and was recognised as a vassal of the Mughal Emperor. The Afghans lost Kashmir, possibly to never regain it again. As vassals of the Mughals, they Kyrgyz rulers organized Kashmir to turn it into a wealthy state in India. This was largely possible as the Tarim Basin was conquered by the Great Khans forces. Trading cattle and fruits from India to Central Asia and Afghanistan was the largest transits. The tariffs of the trade goods were kept between 4-10% to keep as much as merchants coming. Taxing of the population was reduced from 33% to 15%, more than 50%, to stimulate the population buying goods and keep it growing to keep an expanding taxbase. To illustrate this, the neighbouring Punjab region of the Mughal Empire has a taxing rate of 25% and tariffs of 8-13%. This made Kashmir an attractive place for the neighbouring populations to settle down in the new Sultanate. The total revenue of the Sultanate on yearbase was estimated to be 23,000,000 Pound sterling. That is almost a third of the Ottoman revenue of 1820.
The Kyrgyz rulers were adapting fast to the region. From their Kyrgyz background to a new Persianized identity. Within 4 decades, the local dynasty was largely more Persian in culture than Tajik, no longer in state to speak Kyrgyz Turkish language. From the Persian identity, there was more mixture with the local Kashmiri culture. As their Mughal overlords, the Turkic Identity of the Sultans of Kashmir would disappear.
Unlike the Mughals, the Kashmiri forces were largely Kyrgyz and based on old Afghan and Turkic Style of organisation. The Afghan Military reforms by Dost Mohammed Khan caused fear among the Kashmiri Elite to reform the Army. It would take at least 20 years to be fully adapted in military to be technologically equal to the Afghans and Mughals. For the Kashmiris to be successful, arms manufacturers were brought in from Delhi, Tehran and Istanbul.
The Kashmiri population dominated the demographics of being 78% of the population of Kashmir. About 9% was Pashtun, 4% was Punjabi, 4% Tibetan, 4% was Kyrgyz and the remaining 1% was divided among other ethnicities. Islam was also a dominant factor of Kashmir. Islam formed to be 75% of the regions religion, followed by Hinduism with 20%, Buddhism with 3%, Sikhism with 2%. The fastest growing religion was Twelver Shiism, notably among the Tibetans, South of the Himalayas. The Kashmiri authorities outlawed any forms of spread of Twelver Shiism, to avoid its contact and spread among the Sunnis.
Bucharest Riots: The Romanian quest for self determination
The Phanariote rule may have ended in the Principalities but that does not mean that they are gone from the Principalities. Even after the betrayal of Constantine, some of the Phanariotes remained in the Danube Principalities as landowners or wealthy merchants. The Divan of Grigore IV was influenced by the Phanariote Class in Bucharest, much to the anger of the Boyars and the poor. The rising taxes of the Principalities from 33% to 50% were the last straw. On 17 March 1822, the mob of Bucharest moved to the streets and started to loot the Phanariote and Jewish belongings. Before the mob turned bigger, the Phanariotes and the Jews of Bucharest fled to the Ottoman Garrison in Bucharest. About 800 Ottoman Soldiers were there and by nightfall, they faced a mob of 10,000 people from Bucharest and the surrounding areas, mostly peasants. The mob demanded the surrender of the Phanariotes, the Jews hiding in the fort and the disarmament of the Ottoman garrison and retreat back over the Danube. The Jews and the Ottoman Soldiers were allowed to leave unharmed on the condition they left Wallachia. The Phanariotes had to be surrendered to the mob, which meant a certain death. The commander of the Ottoman Fort, Husrev Sahin Aga, knew that the mob would not let them go and even if they did, the Sultan would execute them for abandoning their posts. Husrev Sahin brought the artillery in to the centre against the gates should they be breached. The soldiers on the wall were to hold the walls. There was no move until the mourning when the Armed units of the Prince of the Principalities joined the mob and staged the first attack. In four hours, 8 attacks were repelled with 800 deaths on the side of the mob and 14 deaths on the Ottoman side. It was when the 9th attack was staged by the Wallachian Units who also brought in artillery that the gates of the Forts were breached. The walls were compromised and around 750 Ottoman Soldiers left were to defend 1,500 refugees in the fort against 15,000 angry revolters. The Ottoman Garrison fought but could not last more than half an hour. The Fort fell by nightfall. The survivors were taken back to Bucharest. Husrev Sahin Aga was kept as a captive in Bucharest while the captive Phanariote, Jewish men and Ottoman soldiers from the fort were executed. The women of the captives were given to the captors and the children were sent to orphanages of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The event came as a shock in the Principalities as Grigore IV stepped down from his office in favor of his son Alexandru. Alexandru was now a puppet of the rebellious Boyars and had a little chance to accept any other offer. The tensions were high. Mahmud II heard of the situation and sent envoys to Bucharest.
The last strongholds of the Janissary Corps
Bosnia
The Janissary Corps had outlived the Sipahis but were reduced to three regions as of 1822: Bosnia, Mount Lebanon and Algeria. In all of these regions, the Corps was merely 30,000 men big, with 10,000 of them in Mount Lebanon as Esref Beys allies. Aleppo was forced to abolish the Aleppo Corps due to their help in Mount Lebanon to Esref Bey. Many Janissaries left to Mount Lebanon as a result. The Bosnia Janissaries were 8,000 men strong. Many Serbian and Albanian Janissaries left for Bosnia on the events of abolishing the Corps. The abolishment of the Janissary Corps by Karamanli Mehmed Pasha in Belgrade saw an exodus of 1,000 Janissaries to Bosnia. Albanians from Shkoder, many of whom who left Nis and Kosovo in 1795, again left for Bosnia. Murad Gradascevic Pasha, governor of Bosnia invited them as Bosnia was portrayed as the home of the Balkan Janissaries. The preservation of the Corps was supported by the Bosnian Elites. The Christians were less excited however. The arrival of more Janissaries did not really help the Christian population to keep their rights. Oppression, harsh treatment of possible rebel sympathisants and land being granted to them by Sarajevo caused much unhappiness. Especially among Christians who had an education in Europe but still lived in their Bosnia. The Bosnian Janissaries were the allies of the Sarajevo Sekbans. These militia units were Muslim dominated with small numbers of Christians and Jews, who mostly did not care much on the fate of their kin. As allies they organized huge crackdowns on families of former rebels in Bosnia in the 1820s. If it has to be compared, the Sarajevo Janissaries were more of a special police force. But even as a brutal force, the Janissaries did have issues operating in a hostile territory such as Herzegovina. The Orthodox Christian Peasants had more courage than their fellow religious counterpart in Northern Bosnia with regards to facing military units.
Algiers
Algiers had 12,000 Janissaries. Although these Janissaries had long lost their ties to the Corps in Istanbul due to being born and raised in the very home region. They were paid by the Dey of Algiers. A military class recruited among Kuloglu (son of servants), Turkish-Algerian mixed people. As the personal soldiers of the Dey, they offered the most resistance against European Navies in the 18th century during their attacks on Algiers. By the early 19th century, their task was to keep order and secure more of the interior of Algiers. Many Tripolitanian and Tunisian Janissaries left for Algiers to continue their military based job. Unlike Mount Lebanon or Bosnia, the Algerian Janissary Corps are more disciplined and more open to adapt modernisation. An explanation to this could be that their ties to the other Janissaries were weaker and these Janissaries kept their priority as protecting the realm of the Dey and the lands of the Sultan. This is also the very same reason why Mahmud II wanted to use the Algerian Janissaries, or at least a part of it, as elite units. Even when the British and French proposed attacks on the last Pirate base in North Africa, it was seen as dangerous due to the heavy fortifications and strong Janissary resistance. The risk about the Algerian Janissaries were that they kept their loyalty to traditions as high as any other Janissaries in the Empire. Luckily this was not the same feeling for military tradition which changed from time to time when necessary.
Mount Lebanon
The Janissaries of Mount Lebanon had lost long of their discipline and elite function. Many Janissaries were from the Levant and Mesopotamia. As Janissaries they had lost their jobs following the abolition of the Corps and there were even far away Janissaries from Tiflis. These Janissaries found a home in Mount Lebanon when Esref Bey conquered the region with his Afshar tribe. As allies, the Janissaries kept his rule strong and secure. Osman Pasha who had to reconquer Mount Lebanon from Esref Bey pointed out that the Janissaries adapted to the situation and did not engage in field battles. The Janissaries of Mount Lebanon changed their warfare to guerrilla warfare. The most disorganized Janissaries of all the Empire were the Lebanese Janissaries and these were not documented by the Ottoman State as it was created illegally in the region. Official Ottoman reports count 20,000 Janissaries and not more. The 10,000 Janissaries in Mount Lebanon are an illegal organisation. The more janissaries arrived in Mount Lebanon, the stronger the power of Esref Bey became. Esref Bey had ousted Emir Bashir II and secured Beirut. The Druze lords in the interior were the only native power left to face Esref Bey. By 1822, the Druze had been largely defeated and submitted to Esrefs rule. Esref was recognised by the Maronite and Orthodox Churches as well as Druze Lords and Twelver Shia Sayyid families. As the new Emir, Esref imported more Georgians to Lebanon to create a stronger base and many of those Georgian men entered in service of the Lebanese Janissary Corps. The local population experienced a growth of Sunni Turkmens and Georgians in the early to mid 19th century as a result.
The Army of the Danube crosses to the Principalities
The riots in Bucharest caused shock in the Empire as the Ottoman Garrison was massacred. The Phanariotes in Istanbul wished from the Sultan to save their kin in the Principalities from the rebels. Mahmud II ordered Grand Vizier Benderli Mehmed Pasha to mobilise the Army of the Danube to crush the rebellion and bring back Grigore IV to Istanbul for his unlawful deposition from the throne. Sinan Pasha Sijercic was appointed as the commander of the Army and lead the forces with Koca Ali Pasha. Osman Pasha was called back from Mount Lebanon as the campaign to subjugate the Afshars failed and Osman Pasha was ordered to take command of the Army of Thrace. The Army of the Danube got conscripts of 15,000 men from the Danube Vilayet. With 45,000 men, the Army set for Bucharest who had by now turned into a political anarchy. The streets were empty and law was as good as gone. Alexandru I of Wallachia and Moldova offered to surrender to Sinan Pasha if the rebellious Boyars were allowed to leave the Russia. The payment for the victims family would be offered and the status quo of 1815 would continue as it is. Alexandru was not the man with the ideas. He was kept as a captive in Targoviste and negotiated what should be negotiated, ordered by the rebels. The riot started as an anti-Phanariote movement but it got quickly out of hand with the storm of an Ottoman Fort. Mahmud II was death certain to return all of his soldiers and families, dead and alive. The movement of the Ottoman Army into Wallachia started with the occupation of Galati. The occupation went swift and the Town did not resist. The problems started as Sinan Pasha ordered the execution of the local Boyars after accusing them harboring rebels. The executions were prevented as Koca Ali Pasha vetoed such decision. If Sinan Pasha continued to act independently, his execution would be certain so the Pasha refrained. The Crimeans occupied Moldova with ease and secured the Ottoman Flanks from the North. Bucharest was taken in November 1822 and Alexandru was freed by Sinan Pasha. The tensions of the rebellion were gone for now.
Bostancilar: The Guards of the Greatest City
Mahmud II was completely occupied in his mind on how easily Alemdar Mustafa entered Istanbul and deposed Mustafa IV not long after. Not feeling secure enough, Mahmud II ordered the recruitment of an elite force as Istanbul Reserves. With 15,000 Infantry and 3,000 Cavalry, the 18,000 men strong Elite Force would protect the city. Only at the order of the Sultan the troops would leave the city. It started with bringing some of the much desired Algerian Janissaries. With 2,000 Janissaries, these new soldiers were formed into a new elite Army. The rules were strict: During peacetime, the Guards would stay with their families. In wartime, the Guards were ordered to stay at their base near Beyoglu. They could join the force at the age of 16 and graduate to be officer at the age of 21. Salaries were much higher than the regular Army but the training is more intensive. The Guards could retire at the age of 55, they could stay until their 70th year in the Force. These were the Capitals reserves. Enforcing political loyalty and order, protecting the Capital from threats and the Sultan and his Divan. The Algerians were supported with some of the brave Albanian and Bosnian units who fought in the rebellions of the Greeks and Serbs. This raised the number from 2,000 to 6,800 men. This was followed by Turkish soldiers from the Balkans and Anatolia, to 13,400 men. The Number of Georgians and Circassians brought it to 16,200 with another 1,800 former Egyptian Janissaries. The Circassians and Georgians were entirely cavalry based division with the remaining 200 cavalry units being Turks/Tatars. This multi ethnic mixture did resemble a bit of the Janissaries but were more different. They had no elite rights but only a few benefits on conditions, one of those conditions being Islamic. The conditions offered to them was no foreign campaign, and most likely no campaign outside the Marmara region. Intensive training started in 1822 until 1827. The soldiers were observed by European Ambassadors and labelled as “Janissaries reborn”.
Military Rule in Wallachia and Moldova
Sinan Pasha returned to Istanbul as his task was complete and Koca Ali Pasha was ordered to reorganise the affairs of the Principalities. The Great Powers of Europe were watching every decision that was made. Russia desired that the Ottoman troops leave and Alexandru I of Romania continues to rule the Principalities as status quo. Alexander I of Russia did not desire war over the Principalities, neither did his potential heir Constantine. Austria was frightened of any war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire as it would destabilise the region. Bigger Turkish or Russian Influence on the Principalities was not desired either. Austria feared an independent Romania within Russian Influence the most. Already there were rising sympathy between Transylvanian Romanians and the Principalities. A desire for unification will not only threaten Transylvania, it will also alienate the Hungarians. At all costs, the Russian influence in the region needs to be absolutely low. The French and the British supported the Ottoman and Austrian cause in these matters. Russia stood alone for the moment. The Ottoman Military Authority however, was watched with detail. Especially the Russians wished to use these matter on taking the control of the principalities from the Ottomans. A wrong move of the Ottomans and the Russians can turn the situation around in their favor. Mahmud II knows this and does his best to keep the Russian chances low. Reckless officials are kept from these matters. The Crimean Khan, Qaplan III Giray, retreated his own troops from Moldova, leaving the control of the Principalities entirely on the Army of the Danube. The result was more intensity required and followed by even harsher rule.
1823
Urbanisation of the Levant and Mesopotamia
The migration of Afshars not willing to stay close to Ottoman Authorities in Anatolia did have some form of positivity. A joint migration of Turkmens and Kurds to the towns in the Levant and Mesopotamia made the region experience a rapid urbanisation once again since the 10th century. Not only Turkmens and Kurds but Iranians from Persia, to Southern Mesopotamia mostly, Circassians and Chechens to Northern Mesopotamia and Levant were also cases of growth of the region. Between 1800 and 1830, around 500,000 people would migrate to the region. Added up with the natural growth of the Native populations it made the region getting attention once more. The population of the major cities in Mesopotamia and Levant are per 1825 as followed:
The population growth was largely starting as the price for wheat, potatoes, maize and rice were declining to a certain point. Indian Merchants working for the Trade League brought in large cargo of rice which rendered the price of rice to a point the EIC was no longer will to challenge. The profits were already low compared to dye and spices, making their decision easier to take. The Indians playing a huge role in trade brought the Persian Gulf region as well closer to the Indian and Chinese markets. The Persian Gulf became once again a trade dominated region of Asia, the busiest of all of the Middle East. The result of good prices offered by Indian merchants made them favourable over other merchants, mainly the Europeans. This was the case in the Persian Gulf region at least. The Sultan saw it as necessary to pacify the Gulf Region entirely and vassalize whatever is left in the Arab Peninsula. The growing population of Southern Mesopotamia also forced a migration chain in the 1820s to El Haasa, Qatar and the Trucial States, where the newly arrived were forming new villages and towns on the coasts. This migration resulted in more attacks of local Bedouins, forcing the Grand Vizier to act on these matters.
The Urbanisation was not only followed by large non-Levantine/Mesopotamian migration. Migration of inner Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish of the regional villages was also another trigger. The start of small textile and furniture manufacturers was a result. The concurrence with British and Dutch-Flemish industry was remotely impossible to say at least in the 1820s but the future offers potential. Towns like Hama, Azaz, Aleppo and Qamishli became the first home of the Levantine manufacturers. Being close to the rivers and to the Mediterranean ports helped these towns out the most. Southern Mesopotamia, however, was once again being used as a farmland for the region. Indian goods such as rice were used to offer new sources of food and not relying too much on the Merchants. The arrival of Persian Migrants to Southern Iraq, who already were known with rice, offered a base of potential buyers.
Mustafa Hafiz Bey, commander of the Yemenite Forces prepares to leave for Oman
Russian Influence in Islamic Eastern Europe
Qaplan III Giray was a huge follower of the enlightenment movements in Europe. Coming in touch with Russian scholars in the early 19th century and keeping correspondence opened up his ideals he had for the Crimea. When Qaplan III became Khan in 1811, his predecessors were already starting to reform the Crimean Society. Having abandoned their raids on Russian Lands since the 1760s, the radical change of the society met with resistance of the forces and the Ulema as well as the entire population. Mustafa III, Abdulhamid I and Selim III had been the biggest protector of the Crimean Khan in the wake of the Crimean Modernisation. Every generation changed a bit until after three generations when the generation was completely different that of the 1760s. The Crimean Peninsula became urbanised while the Left Bank of the Dnjepr was being populated with Tatars from the Crimea, Converted Cossacks from Moldova and Dobruja and Circassians from the Western Caucasus. One of the biggest roles in the change of the Crimean society was the influence of Russian Merchants. The changes of Russia during Peter I and Peter III were taken as an example as a mean to survive. While Russia had the chance of survival as a big state, the Crimean Khanate was in no position to enforce this with a hostile Russia near them. The Ottoman Victories in 1761, 1773 and 1793 saved the Crimeans from a certain destruction before and during the reforms. By the 1820s, Aqdiyar was challenging many Eastern European Cities as the most developed city, being the tenth after St Petersburg, Istanbul, Riga, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade, Warsaw, Kiev and Selanik. It would not be long until the Crimean Capital would move further in to the top 10 as it had potential to surpass Selanik, Kiev, Warsaw, Belgrade, Budapest and Prague.
But what is the Russian Role in the Crimean Khanate? Ever since the last Russo-Turkish War, the Russians had accepted the independence of the Crimeans more or less and hoped to chew it off from Ottoman Vassalisation. Russian Merchants in Aqdiyar played a huge role in trade between Aqdiyar and the rest of Eastern Europe due to the Dnjepr and Don River Trade routes. Russian Plans to build a canal between the Don and Volga to bring Central Asia closer to their merchants were planned. For the Crimeans, this offered new chances in trade and influence. The Menli Giray University, the first of the state, was originally created as a Madrassa to recruit missionaries to the Mongolians and Yakuts in Asia. Within a decade, the Madrassa grew into a university, not only for Muslims but for Christians as well as the Khan desired a native as the head of his own Eastern Orthodox Population. The Crimean Greeks were dominating this post as expected.
Not only did the Russians influence the development in the Crimean Khanate and their own Islamic territories. The Russians had also started to settle in Ottoman cities during the rule of Alexander I. About 10,000 Russians were living permanently in Istanbul. Many worked as merchants or were a part of the Russian diplomatic mission in the Empire. Only a few settled there looking for new opportunities. To compare the situation, Germanic migration to the United States is as comparable as Eastern European migration to the Ottoman Empire. The only difference is the lower numbers. Between 1815 and 1830 there were between 400,000 and 800,000 migrants from Northern and North Western Europe to the United States. In the same period, there were between 50,000 and 100,000 migrations East of the Oder River and Vienna and West of the Ural Mountains, North of the Caucasus. Unlike the migrants to the United States, the Eastern European Migrants were in huge numbers political dissidents. The Russians started to chase up the Hungarians and Polish to become third as the biggest immigrants from Eastern Europe. As the Russian Numbers started to grow, the attempts to keep a better relationship between the Russian and Turkish States were made. While these were the positive sides, the negatives were the growth of corruption within the Patriarchy as the wealthier Russians wished to get them on their and Russian side. While Mahmud II did a huge job to keep the corruption in the Church low, mostly ironically claiming the rising conversion to Islam among the Christians to divert attention, it took some huge attempts. Over all, there was no huge negativity even when the Muslims and Phanariotes distrusted them.
Moroccan influences in Islamic Sub-Saharan Africa
Moroccan soldiers after the Army reforms of 1825
After years of getting experience with their new forces, the Kings of Morocco started to move more South towards the Sahara. Just like their Saadi predecessors, they wanted to export influence to the Malian City States such as Djenne, Timbuktu and Gao. The success of the Army reforms and the rising Trans Saharan trade routes gave enough excuse to the Kings of Morocco to intervene in Mali in their favor. It went as far occupying Malian Cities in an average of three years and expanding the Madrassas in Mali. The Madrassas in Mali brought Moroccan Influences as far as the Sokoto Caliphate during the Fulani Jihad. The Forces of the Fulani Jihad saw no reason to fight the Moroccans and wished to be regional allies just as they hoped to get with the Pasha of Egypt earlier. The Moroccan King personally paid for the opening of new Madrassas in the Sokoto Caliphate, as a zealous Muslim, he favoured the spread of Islam all over Africa. Thus was the Moroccan-Sokotan Alliance born. With decades, Islam would spread to the Coasts of West Africa where the Europeans were active and deemed no existence of Muslims among the Pagan Tribes. The ever rising Moroccan influences and financed Madrassas opened up roads for African Students to attend in the Royal University of Meknes for Islamic and Philosophical studies. The early Moroccan University being an institution to secure Islamic Doctrine within the Kingdom and the spread of Islam outside the Kingdom (which would later evolve in a bigger, more optional university). As far as the African Scholars were concerned, Morocco was the base of the Maliki School and their own youth had to be thought in this “theological paradise”. In several generations, the African Muslims began teaching the newly converted Africans in their own Madrassas in Mali, the Sokoto Caliphate and the Bornu Empire. Being of the Maliki school made Morocco a popular spot for theological studies. By the 1830s, 50% of all mullahs of the Maliki School were educated in Morocco. These numbers would reach an all record of 90% after another 30 year.
Not only theological but also Militarily, the Moroccans were influencing Sub-Saharan Africa. Moroccan officers went to the region as adventurers and volunteers. The information brought back to Morocco was used in future missions to strengthen the ties between Meknes and the rest of Sub Saharan Islamic Africa. The intensity of Moroccan Military missions were not as big as the Ottoman Efforts, which were dominating Africa largely in comparison with Morocco. But the Moroccans created a certain popularity. The commander within the Islamic world as the Ottoman Empire, the three deputies such as Morocco, Persia and the Crimean Khanate, there was some hierarchy within the Islamic World, with other states growing their influences as well.
Moroccan officers (Red as General, Blue as Navy infantry, White as common infantry, 1835
The Great Trans-Saharan Trade routes
The Sahara is a trade route between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean. Slaves, Ivory and various other trade goods are moved in these areas. The routes of Djenne-Meknes, Timbuktu/Gao-Meknes, Timbuktu-Gao-Algiers, Agadez-Tunis and Agadez-Murzuq-Tripoli routes was good for 9,000 Camels per year. Every year, the North African Lords earned at least 20% of their tariffs from these Caravan routes. What was even more an impulse to support these Caravan routes was the rising European attendance in North African markets as the age of Piracy had been as good as over in North Africa, only to reduced to several small remote villages on the Algerian Coast, having at least 3 sloops per village. With the ever increasing European attention, the product prices rose and the trade increased. The King of Morocco used this in his advantage and advanced down in the Sahara in form of protecting the Trade Routes against hostile Tuaregs. Abd al Rahman I of Morocco went as far as occupying and reorganising the rule in the Malian Cities. Between 1820 and 1835, the Moroccan forces have occupied Timbuktu, Gao and Djenne 5 times, an average of once in three year. Future results would of course be that the Malians became stronger and had more urge to resist the continuous Moroccan Intervention. Weapon trade from the rival Algerians prevented lasting Moroccan rule in Mali. But the Moroccans had secured their trade routes to these cities were the trade flows and that is what matters. Moroccan investment in the Madrassas of these Malian cities opened up new potential to spread Moroccan Influence further in West Africa, maybe as far as the Congo and Swahili Coast and the Horn of Africa. For Morocco, Africa, South of the Sahara was also a potential to get much needed crops for the ever growing population.
The role of the Europeans was being the middle to Europe. Many Europeans had developed an interest in the great unknown within Africa. The North African Merchants bringing it to the former Pirate Coasts made this possible. The replacement of Piracy with trade offered new wealth for the region. The Rif mountains of the Kingdom of Morocco was quickly reaching to the same wealth level and purchase power as of the Capital. Algiers and Tunis were also adapting fast to the changing environment of the Maghreb. While Tunis became the biggest North African Market due to its closeness to Italy, Algiers was experiencing less of such interest, largely from Spain and France who were also looking in Morocco as for Spain and Tunis as for France. The connection of Algiers and Piracy was never really gone and the existence of Pirate villages in Algiers made their view not turn to the better. The Dey of Algiers put a large effort in containing the last of the pirates. All pirates who give up their acts of piracy within 2 years after the Firman is given will not be punished. The concurrence of trade between North Africa had started. The least successful was Tripoli as it was not densely populated and it remained in the shadows of both Egypt and Tunis. Tripoli, as much as it was an active city, looked empty compared with the rising Tunis. But Tripoli had other potential. Tripoli had received large number of Albanians, Greek Muslims and Turks as migrants helping their position, getting a secured taxbase. While the trade from Murzuk was not enough for Tripoli to challenge the other Maghrebi States, the Fishing potential from Tripoli, Benghazi and Tobruk rose with 238%, having at least 20 of the 100 working men in Tripoli being fishermen or in the fishing business. The area of operations was between West of Cyprus, South of Lymnos, and East of Sardinia. The fishing rights with Italian states was a problem for the fishermen although that was solved with the five years deal the Governor of Tripoli agreed with, buying 5 years rights for a certain sum of money, needed by the King of Two Sicilies. Mahmud II hoped to invest in Tripoli to keep it secure and under control of Istanbul. With the fishing trade from Tripoli, the largest buyers were from Dalmatia, Egypt and Ioannina.
Sultanate of Kashmir: A history of Kyrgyz Rule in Kashmir
The Kyrgyz were the recently Islamized people between the Tarim Basin in the East and Bukhara in the West. These Kyrgyz had some nomads among them which were used as allies by the Durrani Shahs in the land of the Tajik. By 1805, the Durrani Shah had sent the Kyrgyz to assault a rebellious Governor of Kashmir who did not help the Shah anymore in the Civil War. Nasiruddin Beg, led a force of his kin towards Srinagar and Jammu and defeated the Pashtun Governor. He formed the province into the only stable part left within the Durrani Realm. This did not last as the Durrani Shahs had been deposed by Dost Mohammed Khan. Nasiruddin Beg was crowned as Sultan of Kashmir and was recognised as a vassal of the Mughal Emperor. The Afghans lost Kashmir, possibly to never regain it again. As vassals of the Mughals, they Kyrgyz rulers organized Kashmir to turn it into a wealthy state in India. This was largely possible as the Tarim Basin was conquered by the Great Khans forces. Trading cattle and fruits from India to Central Asia and Afghanistan was the largest transits. The tariffs of the trade goods were kept between 4-10% to keep as much as merchants coming. Taxing of the population was reduced from 33% to 15%, more than 50%, to stimulate the population buying goods and keep it growing to keep an expanding taxbase. To illustrate this, the neighbouring Punjab region of the Mughal Empire has a taxing rate of 25% and tariffs of 8-13%. This made Kashmir an attractive place for the neighbouring populations to settle down in the new Sultanate. The total revenue of the Sultanate on yearbase was estimated to be 23,000,000 Pound sterling. That is almost a third of the Ottoman revenue of 1820.
The Kyrgyz rulers were adapting fast to the region. From their Kyrgyz background to a new Persianized identity. Within 4 decades, the local dynasty was largely more Persian in culture than Tajik, no longer in state to speak Kyrgyz Turkish language. From the Persian identity, there was more mixture with the local Kashmiri culture. As their Mughal overlords, the Turkic Identity of the Sultans of Kashmir would disappear.
Unlike the Mughals, the Kashmiri forces were largely Kyrgyz and based on old Afghan and Turkic Style of organisation. The Afghan Military reforms by Dost Mohammed Khan caused fear among the Kashmiri Elite to reform the Army. It would take at least 20 years to be fully adapted in military to be technologically equal to the Afghans and Mughals. For the Kashmiris to be successful, arms manufacturers were brought in from Delhi, Tehran and Istanbul.
The Kashmiri population dominated the demographics of being 78% of the population of Kashmir. About 9% was Pashtun, 4% was Punjabi, 4% Tibetan, 4% was Kyrgyz and the remaining 1% was divided among other ethnicities. Islam was also a dominant factor of Kashmir. Islam formed to be 75% of the regions religion, followed by Hinduism with 20%, Buddhism with 3%, Sikhism with 2%. The fastest growing religion was Twelver Shiism, notably among the Tibetans, South of the Himalayas. The Kashmiri authorities outlawed any forms of spread of Twelver Shiism, to avoid its contact and spread among the Sunnis.
Bucharest Riots: The Romanian quest for self determination
The Phanariote rule may have ended in the Principalities but that does not mean that they are gone from the Principalities. Even after the betrayal of Constantine, some of the Phanariotes remained in the Danube Principalities as landowners or wealthy merchants. The Divan of Grigore IV was influenced by the Phanariote Class in Bucharest, much to the anger of the Boyars and the poor. The rising taxes of the Principalities from 33% to 50% were the last straw. On 17 March 1822, the mob of Bucharest moved to the streets and started to loot the Phanariote and Jewish belongings. Before the mob turned bigger, the Phanariotes and the Jews of Bucharest fled to the Ottoman Garrison in Bucharest. About 800 Ottoman Soldiers were there and by nightfall, they faced a mob of 10,000 people from Bucharest and the surrounding areas, mostly peasants. The mob demanded the surrender of the Phanariotes, the Jews hiding in the fort and the disarmament of the Ottoman garrison and retreat back over the Danube. The Jews and the Ottoman Soldiers were allowed to leave unharmed on the condition they left Wallachia. The Phanariotes had to be surrendered to the mob, which meant a certain death. The commander of the Ottoman Fort, Husrev Sahin Aga, knew that the mob would not let them go and even if they did, the Sultan would execute them for abandoning their posts. Husrev Sahin brought the artillery in to the centre against the gates should they be breached. The soldiers on the wall were to hold the walls. There was no move until the mourning when the Armed units of the Prince of the Principalities joined the mob and staged the first attack. In four hours, 8 attacks were repelled with 800 deaths on the side of the mob and 14 deaths on the Ottoman side. It was when the 9th attack was staged by the Wallachian Units who also brought in artillery that the gates of the Forts were breached. The walls were compromised and around 750 Ottoman Soldiers left were to defend 1,500 refugees in the fort against 15,000 angry revolters. The Ottoman Garrison fought but could not last more than half an hour. The Fort fell by nightfall. The survivors were taken back to Bucharest. Husrev Sahin Aga was kept as a captive in Bucharest while the captive Phanariote, Jewish men and Ottoman soldiers from the fort were executed. The women of the captives were given to the captors and the children were sent to orphanages of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The event came as a shock in the Principalities as Grigore IV stepped down from his office in favor of his son Alexandru. Alexandru was now a puppet of the rebellious Boyars and had a little chance to accept any other offer. The tensions were high. Mahmud II heard of the situation and sent envoys to Bucharest.
The last strongholds of the Janissary Corps
Bosnia
The Janissary Corps had outlived the Sipahis but were reduced to three regions as of 1822: Bosnia, Mount Lebanon and Algeria. In all of these regions, the Corps was merely 30,000 men big, with 10,000 of them in Mount Lebanon as Esref Beys allies. Aleppo was forced to abolish the Aleppo Corps due to their help in Mount Lebanon to Esref Bey. Many Janissaries left to Mount Lebanon as a result. The Bosnia Janissaries were 8,000 men strong. Many Serbian and Albanian Janissaries left for Bosnia on the events of abolishing the Corps. The abolishment of the Janissary Corps by Karamanli Mehmed Pasha in Belgrade saw an exodus of 1,000 Janissaries to Bosnia. Albanians from Shkoder, many of whom who left Nis and Kosovo in 1795, again left for Bosnia. Murad Gradascevic Pasha, governor of Bosnia invited them as Bosnia was portrayed as the home of the Balkan Janissaries. The preservation of the Corps was supported by the Bosnian Elites. The Christians were less excited however. The arrival of more Janissaries did not really help the Christian population to keep their rights. Oppression, harsh treatment of possible rebel sympathisants and land being granted to them by Sarajevo caused much unhappiness. Especially among Christians who had an education in Europe but still lived in their Bosnia. The Bosnian Janissaries were the allies of the Sarajevo Sekbans. These militia units were Muslim dominated with small numbers of Christians and Jews, who mostly did not care much on the fate of their kin. As allies they organized huge crackdowns on families of former rebels in Bosnia in the 1820s. If it has to be compared, the Sarajevo Janissaries were more of a special police force. But even as a brutal force, the Janissaries did have issues operating in a hostile territory such as Herzegovina. The Orthodox Christian Peasants had more courage than their fellow religious counterpart in Northern Bosnia with regards to facing military units.
Algiers
Algiers had 12,000 Janissaries. Although these Janissaries had long lost their ties to the Corps in Istanbul due to being born and raised in the very home region. They were paid by the Dey of Algiers. A military class recruited among Kuloglu (son of servants), Turkish-Algerian mixed people. As the personal soldiers of the Dey, they offered the most resistance against European Navies in the 18th century during their attacks on Algiers. By the early 19th century, their task was to keep order and secure more of the interior of Algiers. Many Tripolitanian and Tunisian Janissaries left for Algiers to continue their military based job. Unlike Mount Lebanon or Bosnia, the Algerian Janissary Corps are more disciplined and more open to adapt modernisation. An explanation to this could be that their ties to the other Janissaries were weaker and these Janissaries kept their priority as protecting the realm of the Dey and the lands of the Sultan. This is also the very same reason why Mahmud II wanted to use the Algerian Janissaries, or at least a part of it, as elite units. Even when the British and French proposed attacks on the last Pirate base in North Africa, it was seen as dangerous due to the heavy fortifications and strong Janissary resistance. The risk about the Algerian Janissaries were that they kept their loyalty to traditions as high as any other Janissaries in the Empire. Luckily this was not the same feeling for military tradition which changed from time to time when necessary.
Mount Lebanon
The Janissaries of Mount Lebanon had lost long of their discipline and elite function. Many Janissaries were from the Levant and Mesopotamia. As Janissaries they had lost their jobs following the abolition of the Corps and there were even far away Janissaries from Tiflis. These Janissaries found a home in Mount Lebanon when Esref Bey conquered the region with his Afshar tribe. As allies, the Janissaries kept his rule strong and secure. Osman Pasha who had to reconquer Mount Lebanon from Esref Bey pointed out that the Janissaries adapted to the situation and did not engage in field battles. The Janissaries of Mount Lebanon changed their warfare to guerrilla warfare. The most disorganized Janissaries of all the Empire were the Lebanese Janissaries and these were not documented by the Ottoman State as it was created illegally in the region. Official Ottoman reports count 20,000 Janissaries and not more. The 10,000 Janissaries in Mount Lebanon are an illegal organisation. The more janissaries arrived in Mount Lebanon, the stronger the power of Esref Bey became. Esref Bey had ousted Emir Bashir II and secured Beirut. The Druze lords in the interior were the only native power left to face Esref Bey. By 1822, the Druze had been largely defeated and submitted to Esrefs rule. Esref was recognised by the Maronite and Orthodox Churches as well as Druze Lords and Twelver Shia Sayyid families. As the new Emir, Esref imported more Georgians to Lebanon to create a stronger base and many of those Georgian men entered in service of the Lebanese Janissary Corps. The local population experienced a growth of Sunni Turkmens and Georgians in the early to mid 19th century as a result.
The Army of the Danube crosses to the Principalities
The riots in Bucharest caused shock in the Empire as the Ottoman Garrison was massacred. The Phanariotes in Istanbul wished from the Sultan to save their kin in the Principalities from the rebels. Mahmud II ordered Grand Vizier Benderli Mehmed Pasha to mobilise the Army of the Danube to crush the rebellion and bring back Grigore IV to Istanbul for his unlawful deposition from the throne. Sinan Pasha Sijercic was appointed as the commander of the Army and lead the forces with Koca Ali Pasha. Osman Pasha was called back from Mount Lebanon as the campaign to subjugate the Afshars failed and Osman Pasha was ordered to take command of the Army of Thrace. The Army of the Danube got conscripts of 15,000 men from the Danube Vilayet. With 45,000 men, the Army set for Bucharest who had by now turned into a political anarchy. The streets were empty and law was as good as gone. Alexandru I of Wallachia and Moldova offered to surrender to Sinan Pasha if the rebellious Boyars were allowed to leave the Russia. The payment for the victims family would be offered and the status quo of 1815 would continue as it is. Alexandru was not the man with the ideas. He was kept as a captive in Targoviste and negotiated what should be negotiated, ordered by the rebels. The riot started as an anti-Phanariote movement but it got quickly out of hand with the storm of an Ottoman Fort. Mahmud II was death certain to return all of his soldiers and families, dead and alive. The movement of the Ottoman Army into Wallachia started with the occupation of Galati. The occupation went swift and the Town did not resist. The problems started as Sinan Pasha ordered the execution of the local Boyars after accusing them harboring rebels. The executions were prevented as Koca Ali Pasha vetoed such decision. If Sinan Pasha continued to act independently, his execution would be certain so the Pasha refrained. The Crimeans occupied Moldova with ease and secured the Ottoman Flanks from the North. Bucharest was taken in November 1822 and Alexandru was freed by Sinan Pasha. The tensions of the rebellion were gone for now.
Bostancilar: The Guards of the Greatest City
Mahmud II was completely occupied in his mind on how easily Alemdar Mustafa entered Istanbul and deposed Mustafa IV not long after. Not feeling secure enough, Mahmud II ordered the recruitment of an elite force as Istanbul Reserves. With 15,000 Infantry and 3,000 Cavalry, the 18,000 men strong Elite Force would protect the city. Only at the order of the Sultan the troops would leave the city. It started with bringing some of the much desired Algerian Janissaries. With 2,000 Janissaries, these new soldiers were formed into a new elite Army. The rules were strict: During peacetime, the Guards would stay with their families. In wartime, the Guards were ordered to stay at their base near Beyoglu. They could join the force at the age of 16 and graduate to be officer at the age of 21. Salaries were much higher than the regular Army but the training is more intensive. The Guards could retire at the age of 55, they could stay until their 70th year in the Force. These were the Capitals reserves. Enforcing political loyalty and order, protecting the Capital from threats and the Sultan and his Divan. The Algerians were supported with some of the brave Albanian and Bosnian units who fought in the rebellions of the Greeks and Serbs. This raised the number from 2,000 to 6,800 men. This was followed by Turkish soldiers from the Balkans and Anatolia, to 13,400 men. The Number of Georgians and Circassians brought it to 16,200 with another 1,800 former Egyptian Janissaries. The Circassians and Georgians were entirely cavalry based division with the remaining 200 cavalry units being Turks/Tatars. This multi ethnic mixture did resemble a bit of the Janissaries but were more different. They had no elite rights but only a few benefits on conditions, one of those conditions being Islamic. The conditions offered to them was no foreign campaign, and most likely no campaign outside the Marmara region. Intensive training started in 1822 until 1827. The soldiers were observed by European Ambassadors and labelled as “Janissaries reborn”.
Military Rule in Wallachia and Moldova
Sinan Pasha returned to Istanbul as his task was complete and Koca Ali Pasha was ordered to reorganise the affairs of the Principalities. The Great Powers of Europe were watching every decision that was made. Russia desired that the Ottoman troops leave and Alexandru I of Romania continues to rule the Principalities as status quo. Alexander I of Russia did not desire war over the Principalities, neither did his potential heir Constantine. Austria was frightened of any war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire as it would destabilise the region. Bigger Turkish or Russian Influence on the Principalities was not desired either. Austria feared an independent Romania within Russian Influence the most. Already there were rising sympathy between Transylvanian Romanians and the Principalities. A desire for unification will not only threaten Transylvania, it will also alienate the Hungarians. At all costs, the Russian influence in the region needs to be absolutely low. The French and the British supported the Ottoman and Austrian cause in these matters. Russia stood alone for the moment. The Ottoman Military Authority however, was watched with detail. Especially the Russians wished to use these matter on taking the control of the principalities from the Ottomans. A wrong move of the Ottomans and the Russians can turn the situation around in their favor. Mahmud II knows this and does his best to keep the Russian chances low. Reckless officials are kept from these matters. The Crimean Khan, Qaplan III Giray, retreated his own troops from Moldova, leaving the control of the Principalities entirely on the Army of the Danube. The result was more intensity required and followed by even harsher rule.
1823
Urbanisation of the Levant and Mesopotamia
The migration of Afshars not willing to stay close to Ottoman Authorities in Anatolia did have some form of positivity. A joint migration of Turkmens and Kurds to the towns in the Levant and Mesopotamia made the region experience a rapid urbanisation once again since the 10th century. Not only Turkmens and Kurds but Iranians from Persia, to Southern Mesopotamia mostly, Circassians and Chechens to Northern Mesopotamia and Levant were also cases of growth of the region. Between 1800 and 1830, around 500,000 people would migrate to the region. Added up with the natural growth of the Native populations it made the region getting attention once more. The population of the major cities in Mesopotamia and Levant are per 1825 as followed:
- Baghdad: 540,000
- Aleppo: 380,000
- Damascus: 350,000
- Mosul: 300,000
- Basra: 240,000
- Beirut: 210,000
- Raqqa: 180,000
- Erbil: 150,000
- Kirkuk: 130,000
- Homs: 100,000
The population growth was largely starting as the price for wheat, potatoes, maize and rice were declining to a certain point. Indian Merchants working for the Trade League brought in large cargo of rice which rendered the price of rice to a point the EIC was no longer will to challenge. The profits were already low compared to dye and spices, making their decision easier to take. The Indians playing a huge role in trade brought the Persian Gulf region as well closer to the Indian and Chinese markets. The Persian Gulf became once again a trade dominated region of Asia, the busiest of all of the Middle East. The result of good prices offered by Indian merchants made them favourable over other merchants, mainly the Europeans. This was the case in the Persian Gulf region at least. The Sultan saw it as necessary to pacify the Gulf Region entirely and vassalize whatever is left in the Arab Peninsula. The growing population of Southern Mesopotamia also forced a migration chain in the 1820s to El Haasa, Qatar and the Trucial States, where the newly arrived were forming new villages and towns on the coasts. This migration resulted in more attacks of local Bedouins, forcing the Grand Vizier to act on these matters.
The Urbanisation was not only followed by large non-Levantine/Mesopotamian migration. Migration of inner Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish of the regional villages was also another trigger. The start of small textile and furniture manufacturers was a result. The concurrence with British and Dutch-Flemish industry was remotely impossible to say at least in the 1820s but the future offers potential. Towns like Hama, Azaz, Aleppo and Qamishli became the first home of the Levantine manufacturers. Being close to the rivers and to the Mediterranean ports helped these towns out the most. Southern Mesopotamia, however, was once again being used as a farmland for the region. Indian goods such as rice were used to offer new sources of food and not relying too much on the Merchants. The arrival of Persian Migrants to Southern Iraq, who already were known with rice, offered a base of potential buyers.
Russian Influence in Islamic Eastern Europe
Qaplan III Giray was a huge follower of the enlightenment movements in Europe. Coming in touch with Russian scholars in the early 19th century and keeping correspondence opened up his ideals he had for the Crimea. When Qaplan III became Khan in 1811, his predecessors were already starting to reform the Crimean Society. Having abandoned their raids on Russian Lands since the 1760s, the radical change of the society met with resistance of the forces and the Ulema as well as the entire population. Mustafa III, Abdulhamid I and Selim III had been the biggest protector of the Crimean Khan in the wake of the Crimean Modernisation. Every generation changed a bit until after three generations when the generation was completely different that of the 1760s. The Crimean Peninsula became urbanised while the Left Bank of the Dnjepr was being populated with Tatars from the Crimea, Converted Cossacks from Moldova and Dobruja and Circassians from the Western Caucasus. One of the biggest roles in the change of the Crimean society was the influence of Russian Merchants. The changes of Russia during Peter I and Peter III were taken as an example as a mean to survive. While Russia had the chance of survival as a big state, the Crimean Khanate was in no position to enforce this with a hostile Russia near them. The Ottoman Victories in 1761, 1773 and 1793 saved the Crimeans from a certain destruction before and during the reforms. By the 1820s, Aqdiyar was challenging many Eastern European Cities as the most developed city, being the tenth after St Petersburg, Istanbul, Riga, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade, Warsaw, Kiev and Selanik. It would not be long until the Crimean Capital would move further in to the top 10 as it had potential to surpass Selanik, Kiev, Warsaw, Belgrade, Budapest and Prague.
But what is the Russian Role in the Crimean Khanate? Ever since the last Russo-Turkish War, the Russians had accepted the independence of the Crimeans more or less and hoped to chew it off from Ottoman Vassalisation. Russian Merchants in Aqdiyar played a huge role in trade between Aqdiyar and the rest of Eastern Europe due to the Dnjepr and Don River Trade routes. Russian Plans to build a canal between the Don and Volga to bring Central Asia closer to their merchants were planned. For the Crimeans, this offered new chances in trade and influence. The Menli Giray University, the first of the state, was originally created as a Madrassa to recruit missionaries to the Mongolians and Yakuts in Asia. Within a decade, the Madrassa grew into a university, not only for Muslims but for Christians as well as the Khan desired a native as the head of his own Eastern Orthodox Population. The Crimean Greeks were dominating this post as expected.
Not only did the Russians influence the development in the Crimean Khanate and their own Islamic territories. The Russians had also started to settle in Ottoman cities during the rule of Alexander I. About 10,000 Russians were living permanently in Istanbul. Many worked as merchants or were a part of the Russian diplomatic mission in the Empire. Only a few settled there looking for new opportunities. To compare the situation, Germanic migration to the United States is as comparable as Eastern European migration to the Ottoman Empire. The only difference is the lower numbers. Between 1815 and 1830 there were between 400,000 and 800,000 migrants from Northern and North Western Europe to the United States. In the same period, there were between 50,000 and 100,000 migrations East of the Oder River and Vienna and West of the Ural Mountains, North of the Caucasus. Unlike the migrants to the United States, the Eastern European Migrants were in huge numbers political dissidents. The Russians started to chase up the Hungarians and Polish to become third as the biggest immigrants from Eastern Europe. As the Russian Numbers started to grow, the attempts to keep a better relationship between the Russian and Turkish States were made. While these were the positive sides, the negatives were the growth of corruption within the Patriarchy as the wealthier Russians wished to get them on their and Russian side. While Mahmud II did a huge job to keep the corruption in the Church low, mostly ironically claiming the rising conversion to Islam among the Christians to divert attention, it took some huge attempts. Over all, there was no huge negativity even when the Muslims and Phanariotes distrusted them.
Moroccan influences in Islamic Sub-Saharan Africa
After years of getting experience with their new forces, the Kings of Morocco started to move more South towards the Sahara. Just like their Saadi predecessors, they wanted to export influence to the Malian City States such as Djenne, Timbuktu and Gao. The success of the Army reforms and the rising Trans Saharan trade routes gave enough excuse to the Kings of Morocco to intervene in Mali in their favor. It went as far occupying Malian Cities in an average of three years and expanding the Madrassas in Mali. The Madrassas in Mali brought Moroccan Influences as far as the Sokoto Caliphate during the Fulani Jihad. The Forces of the Fulani Jihad saw no reason to fight the Moroccans and wished to be regional allies just as they hoped to get with the Pasha of Egypt earlier. The Moroccan King personally paid for the opening of new Madrassas in the Sokoto Caliphate, as a zealous Muslim, he favoured the spread of Islam all over Africa. Thus was the Moroccan-Sokotan Alliance born. With decades, Islam would spread to the Coasts of West Africa where the Europeans were active and deemed no existence of Muslims among the Pagan Tribes. The ever rising Moroccan influences and financed Madrassas opened up roads for African Students to attend in the Royal University of Meknes for Islamic and Philosophical studies. The early Moroccan University being an institution to secure Islamic Doctrine within the Kingdom and the spread of Islam outside the Kingdom (which would later evolve in a bigger, more optional university). As far as the African Scholars were concerned, Morocco was the base of the Maliki School and their own youth had to be thought in this “theological paradise”. In several generations, the African Muslims began teaching the newly converted Africans in their own Madrassas in Mali, the Sokoto Caliphate and the Bornu Empire. Being of the Maliki school made Morocco a popular spot for theological studies. By the 1830s, 50% of all mullahs of the Maliki School were educated in Morocco. These numbers would reach an all record of 90% after another 30 year.
Not only theological but also Militarily, the Moroccans were influencing Sub-Saharan Africa. Moroccan officers went to the region as adventurers and volunteers. The information brought back to Morocco was used in future missions to strengthen the ties between Meknes and the rest of Sub Saharan Islamic Africa. The intensity of Moroccan Military missions were not as big as the Ottoman Efforts, which were dominating Africa largely in comparison with Morocco. But the Moroccans created a certain popularity. The commander within the Islamic world as the Ottoman Empire, the three deputies such as Morocco, Persia and the Crimean Khanate, there was some hierarchy within the Islamic World, with other states growing their influences as well.
The Great Trans-Saharan Trade routes
The Sahara is a trade route between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean. Slaves, Ivory and various other trade goods are moved in these areas. The routes of Djenne-Meknes, Timbuktu/Gao-Meknes, Timbuktu-Gao-Algiers, Agadez-Tunis and Agadez-Murzuq-Tripoli routes was good for 9,000 Camels per year. Every year, the North African Lords earned at least 20% of their tariffs from these Caravan routes. What was even more an impulse to support these Caravan routes was the rising European attendance in North African markets as the age of Piracy had been as good as over in North Africa, only to reduced to several small remote villages on the Algerian Coast, having at least 3 sloops per village. With the ever increasing European attention, the product prices rose and the trade increased. The King of Morocco used this in his advantage and advanced down in the Sahara in form of protecting the Trade Routes against hostile Tuaregs. Abd al Rahman I of Morocco went as far as occupying and reorganising the rule in the Malian Cities. Between 1820 and 1835, the Moroccan forces have occupied Timbuktu, Gao and Djenne 5 times, an average of once in three year. Future results would of course be that the Malians became stronger and had more urge to resist the continuous Moroccan Intervention. Weapon trade from the rival Algerians prevented lasting Moroccan rule in Mali. But the Moroccans had secured their trade routes to these cities were the trade flows and that is what matters. Moroccan investment in the Madrassas of these Malian cities opened up new potential to spread Moroccan Influence further in West Africa, maybe as far as the Congo and Swahili Coast and the Horn of Africa. For Morocco, Africa, South of the Sahara was also a potential to get much needed crops for the ever growing population.
The role of the Europeans was being the middle to Europe. Many Europeans had developed an interest in the great unknown within Africa. The North African Merchants bringing it to the former Pirate Coasts made this possible. The replacement of Piracy with trade offered new wealth for the region. The Rif mountains of the Kingdom of Morocco was quickly reaching to the same wealth level and purchase power as of the Capital. Algiers and Tunis were also adapting fast to the changing environment of the Maghreb. While Tunis became the biggest North African Market due to its closeness to Italy, Algiers was experiencing less of such interest, largely from Spain and France who were also looking in Morocco as for Spain and Tunis as for France. The connection of Algiers and Piracy was never really gone and the existence of Pirate villages in Algiers made their view not turn to the better. The Dey of Algiers put a large effort in containing the last of the pirates. All pirates who give up their acts of piracy within 2 years after the Firman is given will not be punished. The concurrence of trade between North Africa had started. The least successful was Tripoli as it was not densely populated and it remained in the shadows of both Egypt and Tunis. Tripoli, as much as it was an active city, looked empty compared with the rising Tunis. But Tripoli had other potential. Tripoli had received large number of Albanians, Greek Muslims and Turks as migrants helping their position, getting a secured taxbase. While the trade from Murzuk was not enough for Tripoli to challenge the other Maghrebi States, the Fishing potential from Tripoli, Benghazi and Tobruk rose with 238%, having at least 20 of the 100 working men in Tripoli being fishermen or in the fishing business. The area of operations was between West of Cyprus, South of Lymnos, and East of Sardinia. The fishing rights with Italian states was a problem for the fishermen although that was solved with the five years deal the Governor of Tripoli agreed with, buying 5 years rights for a certain sum of money, needed by the King of Two Sicilies. Mahmud II hoped to invest in Tripoli to keep it secure and under control of Istanbul. With the fishing trade from Tripoli, the largest buyers were from Dalmatia, Egypt and Ioannina.
I guess the map of islam in africa would look quite different in ttl. Nice seeing the potencial of the romanian question to go anywhere, that will be interesting. Love where Crimea is going:
Beautiful updates and more better details too. I'd say TTL Muslim world isn't getting much better than OTL.
Hmm, a Persianized-Kyrgyz Sultanate in Kashmir. Interesting.
Hmm, a Persianized-Kyrgyz Sultanate in Kashmir. Interesting.
Koprulu Mustafa Pasha
Gone Fishin'
A lot different, especially in East Africa. The existence and growth of Islamic institutions will help it.
Talking about east africa, do you have plans for the Sultanate of Angoche (https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...e-of-angoche/BD49CBB7EA60F18F4EEFBC28D421C5ED https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angoche_Sultanate) and the muslims of Mozambique? If the ottomans remain in the Indic Osean and East Africa it seems natural that they would eventually come to blows with the Portuguese over the Swahili coast, first in Zanzibar and later in Angoche and the rest of Mozanbique. This ottomans sure could deal with the portuguese if they tried to conquer Angoche like in otl. There is a good chance that they get kicked south of the Zambezi if not out of Mozanbique. Also if Zanzibar changes, butterflies would also reach Angoche.
Edit: Also we could see ottoman influence spreading all the way to eastern south africa? I am not saying muslim Zulu/Xhosa Empire or that everything would go to the ottoman sphere but if the ottomans stick around as diplomatic and trade partners this would hamper european colonial efforts a lot, as a fundamental part of the scramble was the isolation of the africans on world trade of weapons and such once every western european powers with interest and power on africa decided to divide africa among themselves and agreed to not trade with the prey of their rivals the africans cut of from access to modern weaponry and reducced to fighting with outdated muskets and spears, so if the ottomans trade and influence muslim powers in africa in the long 19th century, a lot of polities would be saved or at worst reduced to more limited and shorter protectorates.
Last edited:
- Status