Political and administrative regulations during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876–1909): The Memorandum of Governors Muḥammad and Shākir Pasha of Bitlis as a Case Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59759/art.v4i4.1143Keywords:
: Iraq, Muḥammad Pasha, Shākir Pasha, Ottoman Reform, Security Challenges, Tribal Relations, Social Structure, Economic ResourcesAbstract
This study presents and analyses a memorandum prepared by Muḥammad Pasha, the Governor of Bitlis, and Shākir Pasha that addresses political, administrative and social issues in Iraq during the Ottoman period. The document is a valuable historical source for understanding Ottoman governance in Iraq, particularly during the second half of the nineteenth century — a pivotal period characterised by the convergence of Ottoman reform initiatives and mounting challenges in the empire's peripheral regions.
This memorandum is important because it reflects official Ottoman perspectives on managing Iraq and proposes ways to address local issues, including security challenges, tribal relations, social balances, and administrative organisation. By translating the memorandum from Ottoman Turkish into Arabic, this study seeks to make it accessible to Arab researchers, thereby making a valuable scholarly contribution to Ottoman studies.
This initiative addresses a clear knowledge gap, as Arabic-language scholarship lacks translated Ottoman texts shedding light on administrative strategies in frontier regions. Studying such documents enhances academic understanding of Ottoman policy and helps to uncover historical issues that continue to influence the region today, such as state–society relations, resource management and the complexities of engaging with tribal structures.
Furthermore, this memorandum can be situated within a broader collection of texts that were pivotal in shaping the Ottoman state’s perceptions of Iraq. A notable example is the report by Baghdad Governor ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Nūrī al-Dīn Pasha, which addressed comparable administrative, social, and economic issues. Such documents emphasise the ongoing significance of historical administrative practices.
Keywords: Iraq, Muḥammad Pasha, Shākir Pasha, Ottoman reform, security challenges, tribal relations, social structure, economic resources.
Downloads
References
BAŞBAKANLIK OSMANLI ARŞİVİ (BOA) KAYNAKLARI
BOA, DH.SAİD: aşbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi Dahiliye Nezareti Sicill-I, 25/237
BOA, İ.DUİT: Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi İrade Dosya Usulü, 1/2-5
BOA, ŞD: Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi Şûra-yı Devlet EvrakıAhvâl Komisyonu Defterleri , 220/20, . 2218/58
BOA,Y.EE: Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi Yıldız Esas Evrakı, 14-117-126-7, 31/252/76/81
Tahsin Paşa'-nın Yıldız Hatıraları, Boğaziçi, (Istanbul 1990), p.21
Adalıoğlu, H. H., Siyâsetnâme, in İslam Ansiklopedisi, Vol. 17, Istanbul, 2009.
Beydilli, Kemal, İgnatius Mouradgea D'Ohsson (Muradcan Tosunyan), İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Tarih Dergisi, Issue 34, p. 247-314, Istanbul, 1984.
Bruinessen, Martin van, Agha, Shaikh and State: The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan, Zed Books, London, 1992, p. 185.
Bursalı, M.T., Siyâsete Müteallik Âsâr-ı İslâmiyye, Istanbul, 1332.
Ceylan, Ebubekir, Abdurrahman Nureddin Paşa’nın Osmanlı Irak’ına Dair 1880 Tarihli Lâyihası Üzerine, Divan: Disiplinlerarası Çalışmalar Dergisi, Issue 37 (December), p. 85-115, 2014.
Çağman, Ergin, III. Selim’e Sunulan Bir ıslahat Raporu: Mehmet Şerif Efendi Lâyihası, Divan: Disiplinlerarası Çalışmalar Dergisi, Issue 7 (December), p. 217-233, 1999.
Çelik, K., Sultan II. Abdülhamid’e Sunulan Bir Lâyihâ: 1880 Tarihli Beyrut Lâyihası, Firat University Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 28, Issue 2, p. 335-362, 2018.
Çetinsaya, Gökhan, Ottoman Administration of Iraq, 1890-1908, p. 25, 2006.
Cevdet Paşa, Ahmed, Tezâkir, edited by M. Cavid Baysun, Vol. I, 76-83, Ankara, 1953-57.
Durusoy, M., Sultan II. Abdülhamid’e Sunulan Lâyihalar Işığında Dönemin İktisadi Özellikleri, Master's thesis, Marmara University, Social Sciences Institute, Istanbul, 1995.
Eppel, Michael, A People Without a State: The Kurds from the Rise of Islam to the Dawn of Nationalism, University of Texas Press, p. 81.
Haj, S. (1997). The making of Iraq, 1900–1963: Capital, power, and ideology. State University of New York Press.
Heywood, C., & Parvev, I. (Eds.). (2020). The treaties of Carlowitz (1699): Antecedents, course and consequences (Vol. 69). Brill.
İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal, Osmanlı Devrinde Son Sadrazamlar, İstanbul, Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, 1940.
İnalcık, Halil, Kutadgu Bilig'de Türk ve İran Siyâset Nazariye ve Gelenekleri, in R. Rahmeti Arat İçin, Ankara, 1966.
Karaca, Ali, Anadolu Islahâtı ve Ahmet Şâkir Paşa: 1838-1899, Istanbul, 1993.
Karaca, Ali, Şakir Paşa, in TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Vol. 38, January 18, 2024.
Kütükoğlu, Mübahat, Lâyiha, in Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA), Vol. 27, Ankara, 2003, p. 116.
Kütükoğlu, Mübahat S., Lâyiha, in TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Vol. 27, p. 116-117, 2003.
Longrigg, S. H. (1925). Four centuries of modern Iraq. Oxford University Press.
Molnár, M. (2013). Der Friede von Karlowitz und das Osmanische Reich. In A. Strohmeyer & N. Spannenberger (Eds.), Frieden und Konfliktmanagement in interkulturellen Räumen: Das Osmanische Reich und die Habsburgermonarchie in der Frühen Neuzeit. Franz Steiner Verlag.
Palmer, Alan, Verfall und Untergang des Osmanischen Reiches, Heyne, Munich, 1994 (original in English: The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, 1992), p. 249, 258, 389.
PAKALIN, M.Z., Osmanlı Tarih Deyimleri ve Terimleri Sözlüğü, İstanbul, 1983.
Shaw, Stanford J., A Promise of Reform: Two Complementary Documents, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 4, p. 359-368, 1973.
Shaw, Stanford J., Between Old and New: The Ottoman Empire Under Sultan Selim III, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1971.
Savaş, Ali İbrahim, Lâyiha Geleneği İçinde XVIII. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Islahat Projelerindeki Tespit ve Teklifler, Bilig-Türk Dünyası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Vol. 9, p. 93-96, 1999.
Tatarcık, Abdullah, Sultan Selîm-i Sâlis Devrinde Nizâm-ı Devlet Hakkında Mütâlaât, TOEM, VII/41, 257-284; VII/42, 321-346; VIII/43, 15-34, 1332.
Uğur, Ahmet, Osmanlı Siyâset-Nâmeleri, Kayseri, 1987.
Öz, Mehmet, Osmanlı'da "Çözülme" ve Gelenekçi Yorumcuları, Istanbul, 1997.
Yılmaz, A. (2005). Balkanlar'da Tanzimat: Midhat Paşa'nın Tuna Vilâyeti. İstanbul: XYZ Yayınları.
