Armenians in the Ottoman Empire

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Template:Social structure in the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman rule of Armenia or Ottoman Armenia, beginning with the rule of Selim II (1524 – 1574) becomes the integral part of the Ottoman Empire. However, the initial accession begins with Mehmed II, who also offered the Ottoman support to initiate Armenian Patriarch in Constantinople. This rule continued 300 years till the following the Russo–Turkish War (1828–1829), when the Eastern Armenia of this territory was ceded to the Russian Empire. The remaining Ottoman Armenia, composed of 6 vilayets (Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbekir, Kharput, and Sivas[1]), till World War I, under Ottoman rule was also referred to as Western Armenia.

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Contents

[edit] Religion

Image:Constantinople(1878)-Armenian patriarch.png
Patriarch Harutyun I
Main article: List of Armenian Patriarchs of Constantinople

[edit] Architects

Main article: Balyan family

[edit] History 1453 to 1829

Image:Armenian.jpg
Painting of an Armenian in the Ottoman Empire, 1779.
Armenians preserved their culture, history, and language regardless of Ottoman oppression, largely thanks to their distinct religious identity from the neighbouring Kurds and Turks. Like the Greek Orthodox and Jewish minorities of the Ottoman Empire, they constituted a distinct millet, led by the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. Under this system, Christians and Jews were considered second-class citizens; they were victims of elevated taxation and unable to seek legal recourse in the courts.[2] According to Turkish sources, under the Ottoman rule, Armenians formed three millets: Armenian Orthodox Gregorians, Armenian Catholics, and Armenian Protestants (which was formed in the 19th century).[3]

After many centuries of Ottoman occupation, the centres with a high concentration of Armenians lost their geographic continuity (parts of Van, Bitlis, and Kharput vilayets), because over the years, pockets of Kurds and Turks infiltrated into traditionally Armenian land. Regardless of Ottoman rule and an increasingly strong presence of Muslims, Armenians continued to be the majority group in Western Armenia well into the 19th century. They kept and defended factual autonomy in certain isolated areas like Sassoun, Shatakh, and parts of Dersim. An Armenian stronghold and a symbol of factual Armenian autonomy, Zeitoun (Ulnia) was located between the Six Vilayets and Cilicia, which also had a strong Armenian presence ever since the creation of the Pricipality (and then Kingdom) of Lesser Armenia. However, due to Ottoman interference and genocide, the autonomous areas were disintegrated.

There were also significant communities in parts of Trabzon and Ankara vilayets bordering Six Vilayets (like in Kayseri (Gessaria)). Many Armenians settled in Western Anatolia, in the traditionally Ottoman cities of Istanbul and Izmir. The Sultan promoted Armenian migration within the borders of the empire in order to reduce the native Armenian population of historic Armenia, and reduce the Greek majority population of Western Anatolia by adding non-Greeks.

[edit] Reformation Period, 1830

Image:Constantinople(1878)-Armenian and Turkish retailers.png
Armenian & Turkish Retailers.
In 1856, the Hatt-ı Hümayun promised equality for all Ottoman citizens irrespective of their ethnicity and confession, widening the scope of the 1839 Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane. In 1863 the Armenian National Constitution (Ottoman Turkish:"Nizâmnâme-i Millet-i Ermeniyân") was Ottoman Empire approved form of the "Code of Regulations" composed of 150 articles drafted by the "Armenian intelligentsia", which defined the powers of Patriarch (position in Ottoman Millet) and newly formed "Armenian National Assembly".[4] The reformist period peaked with the Constitution, called the Kanûn-ı Esâsî (meaning "Basic Law" in Ottoman Turkish), written by members of the Young Ottomans, which was promulgated on 23 November 1876. It established freedom of belief and equality of all citizens before the law. "Firman of the Reforms" gave immense privileges to the Armenians, which formed a "governance in governance" to eliminate the aristocratic dominance of the Armenian nobles by development of the political strata in the society.[5]

[edit] World War One

Image:Constantinople(1878)-Armeni mrs.png
Armenian woman.
Image:Ethnicturkey1911.jpg
Ethnic groups in the Balkans and Asia Minor as of early 20th Century (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911).

Western Armenia had lost its Armenian majority during the Armenian Genocide of World War I.

Most Western Armenians died during the genocide of 1915 (1.5 million out of a pre-war population of approximately 2 million or more). However, many escaped to the Middle East and Balkans, and eventually became organized communities with certain degrees of political influence in their host countries. Many also moved to Europe and North America to find better living conditions. During these migrations, most Western Armenians preserved their culture due to their life being traditionally revolved around the Armenian church and adjacent community centres. However, some Armenians distanced themselves from the community and became assimilated.

[edit] Timeline

  • 1461 Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople established by then the Ottoman Emperor, Mehmed II
  • 1478 Armenian migration to Bruges, Belgium
  • 1489-1588 Sinan, greatest architect of Ottoman Empire
  • 1512 Printing of first Armenian books
  • 1519 Decree of King Sigismund I that Armenians in Poland by governed under code of laws by Mkhitar Gosh
  • 1547-1575 Secret Church meetings to seek ways to help Armenia
  • 1555 Ottoman-Persian partition of Armenia
  • 1567 Establishment of Armenian printing press in Constantinople
  • 1637-1695 Eremia Kiumurjian, historian, poet, musician
  • 1648 Major earthquake in Van
  • 1712-1795 Sayat Nova, renowned Armenian poet troubadour
  • 1759 Arrival of Hovsep Emin in Armenia
  • 1778 Establishment of Nor Nakhichevan
  • 1809-1848 Khachatur Abovian, novelist poet, playwright
  • 1810,1818 Zeitountsi revolts
  • 1811 Mkhitarist order of Vienna founded
  • 1813 Treaty of Gulistan
  • 1824 Founding of Nersessian Academy in Tiflis
  • 1826-1858 Nickolas Balian, architect in Constantinople
  • 1827 Occupation of Yerevan by Russian forces
  • 1828 Treaty of Turkmanchay awards Nakhichevan and area around Erevan to Russia, strengthening Russian control of Transcaucasus and beginning period of modernization and security.
See: Eastern Armenia
this timeline continuous for Western Armenia.


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Armenia.html
  2. ^ We and They: Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
  3. ^ Ortaylı, İlber. "Son İmparatorluk Osmanlı (The Last Empire: Ottoman Empire)", İstanbul, Timaş Yayınları (Timaş Press), 2006. pp. 87-89. ISBN 975-263-490-7 (the book is in Turkish)
  4. ^ Richard G. (EDT) Hovannisian "The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times" page 198
  5. ^ Ilber Ortayli, Tanzimattan Cumhuriyete Yerel Yönetim Gelenegi, Istanbul 1985, pp. 73

Template:Armenian topicses:Armenia Otomana fr:Histoire des Arméniens dans l'Empire ottoman tr:Osmanlı'da Ermeniler

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