Aşiret Mektebi: Abdülhamid II's School for Tribes (1892-1907)

International Journal of Middle East Studies

Volumn 28, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 93-107

  Rogan, Eugene L ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 6244265777     PISSN: 00207438     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0020743800062796     Document Type: Review

References (70)

1. ⊂Abdülh +(Combining dot below sign)amid II's Attempt to Integrate Arabs into the Ottoman System," in Palestine in the Late Ottoman Period: Political, Social and Economic Transformation, ed. David Kushner (Leiden and Jerusalem: E. J. Brill and Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1986), 80.
2. Cf. Albert Hourani, "Ottoman Reform and the Politics of Notables," in The Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East: The Nineteenth Century, ed. W. R. Polk and R. L. Chambers (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), 41-68; Philip S. Khoury, Urban Notables and Arab Nationalism: The Politics of Damascus, 1860-1920 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 50-51.
3. Cf. Albert Hourani, "Ottoman Reform and the Politics of Notables," in The Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East: The Nineteenth Century, ed. W. R. Polk and R. L. Chambers (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), 41-68; Philip S. Khoury, Urban Notables and Arab Nationalism: The Politics of Damascus, 1860-1920 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 50-51.
4. Stanford J. Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, vol. II (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 191.
5. Cengiz Orhonlu, Osmanli İmparatorluǧunda Aşiretlerin İskâni (Sedentarization of Tribes in the Ottoman Empire) (Istanbul: Eren, 1987) examines tribal settlement policy in Syria and Anatolia, 1691-96. In the 18th century the Ottomans sought to revitalize abandoned lands by forced resettlement of peasants and, to enhance their security, forced neighboring tribes to settle or face deportation. The policy produced mixed results: some tribes assimilated to sedentary life, others took flight at the first opportunity; cf. Yusuf Halaçoǧlu, XVIII. Yüzyilda Osmanli İmparatorluǧu'nun İskân Siyaseti ve Aşiretlerin Yerleştirilmesi (Ottoman Sedentarization Policy and Tribal Settlement in the 18th Century) (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1991).
6. Cengiz Orhonlu, Osmanli İmparatorluǧunda Aşiretlerin İskâni (Sedentarization of Tribes in the Ottoman Empire) (Istanbul: Eren, 1987) examines tribal settlement policy in Syria and Anatolia, 1691-96. In the 18th century the Ottomans sought to revitalize abandoned lands by forced resettlement of peasants and, to enhance their security, forced neighboring tribes to settle or face deportation. The policy produced mixed results: some tribes assimilated to sedentary life, others took flight at the first opportunity; cf. Yusuf Halaçoǧlu, XVIII. Yüzyilda Osmanli İmparatorluǧu'nun İskân Siyaseti ve Aşiretlerin Yerleştirilmesi (Ottoman Sedentarization Policy and Tribal Settlement in the 18th Century) (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1991).
7. Tercümân-i Hakîkat 6 Temmuz 1306 (18 July 1890), cited in Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, 6 vols. (Istanbul: Eser, 1977), 3-4:1180-82.
8. Tercümân-i Hakîkat 6 Temmuz 1306 (18 July 1890), cited in Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, 6 vols. (Istanbul: Eser, 1977), 3-4:1180-82.
9. Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes. Constantinople: Correspondence avec les Échelles; Damas: Guillois to Cambon, 7 January 1893.
10. ⊂Ali tribe; Y.Mtv 63/7.
11. See, for example, Ergin, Maarif Tarihi, 3-4:1182.
12. BBA, İrade (sultan's decrees, files prefixed İ.) İ.Dah. 101021, 21 Haziran 1308 (3 July 1892); Sadrazam's directives recorded in BBA, İ.Mec.Vâlâ 5641, 27 Haziran 1308 (9 July 1892).
13. The first nizamname of twelve articles, drafted in July 1892, is in BBA, I.Mec.Vâlâ 5641 and was gazetted in the administrative yearbook of the Ministry of Education; cf. Salname-i Nezaret-i Maarif-i Umumiye, 1st ed. (Istanbul, 1316 [1899]), 293-95. A second, more elaborate nizamname of seventy-four articles was prepared in January 1893; cf. BBA, Y.Mtv 73/99.
14. BBA, Y-A.Hus 274/72, 8 Mayis 1309 (20 May 1893). School and residence alike were plagued by damp, forcing the authorities to seek out more salubrious accommodation. Although several documents proposed provisional alternatives, it would appear that the school remained in the Esma Sultan Sarayi: cf. BBA, Y.Mtv 71/111, 24 Teşrin-i sani 1308 (6 December 1892); Y-A.Hus 274/72, 8 Mayis 1309 (20 May 1893); Y-A.Hus 275/97, 29 Mayis 1309 (10 June 1893); Y-A.Hus 281/80, 25 Eylül 1309 (7 October 1893).
15. Ergin cites archival sources for the admission of eighteen Albanians to Aşiret Mektebi in 1902 and an article with a photograph in the newspaper Malûmat on foreign students from Java who attended the school: Maarif Tarihi, 3-4:1186.
16. BBA, I.Mec.Vâlâ 5641; Salname (1316), 294-95.
17. BBA, Y.Mtv 69/88, 2 Eylül 1308 (18 September 1892).
18. Examples of this narrative may be found from Baghdad (BBA, Y.Mtv 67/90), Zor (BBA, Y.Mtv 67/90), and Ma⊂muretül⊂aziz (BBA, Y.Mtv 68/41).
19. BBA, Y.Mtv 67/90, report of the minister of foreign affairs, 7 Eylül 1308 (20 September 1892).
20. For the relative size and power of tribes, cf. Max Freiherr von Oppenheim, Die Beduinen, 4 vols. (Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1939, 1943; Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1952, 1967). Oppenheim has been consulted throughout to confirm Arab tribal names mentioned in this essay.
21. BBA, Y.Mtv 67/90, 28 Temmuz 1308 (9 August 1892).
22. For correspondence exchanged between the Prime Ministry and the governor in Hicaz between 2 October and 9 November 1892, see BBA, Y-A.Hus 265/76; Y-A.Hus 265/94; Y-A.Hus 265/99; Y-A.Hus 266/111.
23. BBA, Y.Mtv 102/88, 2 Aǧustos 1310 (14 August 1894); Maarif Salnamesi 1319:149-50 and 1321: 153-54. Only five Ministry of Education salnames are known to have been published, in 1316, 1317, 1318, 1319, and 1321.
24. BBA, Y.Mtv 102/88, 2 Aǧustos 1310 (14 August 1894); Maarif Salnamesi 1319:149-50 and 1321: 153-54. Only five Ministry of Education salnames are known to have been published, in 1316, 1317, 1318, 1319, and 1321.
25. The text of the speech is preserved in BBA, Y-A.Hus 265/20.
26. The albums were presented to demonstrate the progress achieved by the empire under Abdülhamid II and "the advancement of learning and education...." Carney E. S. Gavin, ed., "Imperial Self-Portrait: The Ottoman Empire as Revealed in the Sultan Abdul Hamid II's Photographic Albums," Journal of Turkish Studies 12 (1988): 6; portraits of Aşiret Mektebi students, plates 107-13. Given the date of the photographs, the portraits are almost certainly of boys from the entering class of 1892-93.
27. ⊂dadiye schools, see Maarif Salnamesi 1316:191.
28. BBA, Y.Mtv 102/88, 2 Aǧustos 1310 (14 August 1894).
29. A schedule of exams, held 3-28 Haziran 1311 (June-July 1895) and listing examiners is given in BBA, Y.Mtv 122/11, 1 Haziran 1311 (13 June 1895).
30. BBA, Y.Mtv 73/99, Nizamname art. 10.
31. Ibid., art. 11.
32. Ibid., art. 12.
33. Ibid., art. 20.
34. Ibid., art. 23.
35. BBA, Y.Mtv 71/111, 24 Teşrin-i sani 1308 (8 December 1892).
36. Alois Musil, Palmyrena: A Topographical Itinerary (New York: American Geographical Society, 1928), 53.
37. BBA, Y.Mtv 77/19, 12 Nisan 1309 (24 April 1893).
38. Ibid., 73/99, Nizamname art. 12.
39. Ibid., 69/88, 6 Teşrin-i evvel 1308 (18 October 1892).
40. Ibid., 77/19, 12 Nisan 1309 (24 April 1893).
41. Ibid., 79/182, 26 Haziran 1309 (8 July 1893).
42. Ibid., 93/35, 2 Nisan 1310 (14 April 1894).
43. Ibid., 76/88, 21 Ramazan 1310 (8 April 1893).
44. Ibid., 114/80, 26 Kanun-i sani 1310 (7 February 1895).
45. İrade of 19 Eylül 1312, summarized in reports preserved in BBA, Y.Mtv 165/90, 8 Aǧustos 1313 (20 August 1897); Y.Mtv 167/189 9 Eylül 1313 (21 September 1897).
46. BBA, Y.Mtv 165/90, 8 Aǧustos 1313 (20 August 1897).
47. ⊂aziz Vilayeti named Sabri, possibly a mistranscription for 52 (Table 1).
48. BBA, Y-A.Res 112/59, 22 Safer 1319 (10 June 1901).
49. Ibid., Y.Mtv 161/95, 16 Haziran 1313 (28 June 1897), in which the Harbiye's director reported that twenty-seven cadets of the Aşiret Sinifi would be taken out on maneuvers.
50. The cavalry officers were 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 22, 23, 24, 33, 35, 36, 42, 43, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 59, 60, 61, 66, 76, 79, and the Syrian student without a registration number (**); the infantry officers were 30, 37, 41, 55, 56, 65 (Table 1): BBA, Y.Mtv 173/135, 18 Şubat 1313 (2 March 1898).
51. Oppenheim, Die Beduinen, 1:219.
52. Délégation Générale de la France Combattante au Levant, Inspection des Mouvances Bedouines de l'État de Syrie, Les Tribus nomades de l'état de Syrie (Damascus, 1943), 153-54; Ninth Army, Handbook of the Nomad, Semi-Nomad, Semi-Sedentary and Sedentary Tribes of Syria (n.p., 1942), 33-34. I thank Norman Lewis for bringing these sources to my attention.
53. Délégation Générale de la France Combattante au Levant, Inspection des Mouvances Bedouines de l'État de Syrie, Les Tribus nomades de l'état de Syrie (Damascus, 1943), 153-54; Ninth Army, Handbook of the Nomad, Semi-Nomad, Semi-Sedentary and Sedentary Tribes of Syria (n.p., 1942), 33-34. I thank Norman Lewis for bringing these sources to my attention.
54. Musil, Palmyrena, 54.
55. Les Tribus nomades de l'état de Syrie, 93.
56. Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1978), 180-81, 188-92, 358-59.
57. General Staff, British Forces in Iraq, "History of the Muntafiq Confederation and the Sa'dūn Family," in Military Report on Iraq (Area 6) Lower Euphrates (Calcutta: Government Printing Office, 1923), 9-12.
58. Mücellitoǧlu Ali Çankaya, Yeni Mülkiye Tarihi ve Mülkiyeliler (A New History of the Mülkiye Academy and Its Graduates) (Ankara: Mars Matbaasi, 1968-69), 1:290. I thank Carter Findley for bringing this source to my attention.
59. See, for example, BBA, Y.Mtv 165/90 and Y.Mtv 167/189, both of which reiterate the sultan's orders that students complete their study of administrative sciences in the Mülkiye within one year.
60. Çankaya, Yeni Mülkiye Tarihi, 1:290.
61. BBA, Y.Mtv 165/90; Y.Mtv 173/135; Maarif Salnamesi 1317, 582-83.
62. BBA, Y-A.Res 134/17, tezkere of the prime minister dated 14 Teşrin-i evvel 1320 (27 October 1904); report of the interior minister dated 12 Mart 1321 (25 March 1905); mazbata of the Meclis-i Mahsus of 30 Teşrin-i sani 1321 (13 December 1905). Y-A.Res 136/65, tezkere of the prime minister dated 19 Nisan 1322 (2 May 1906).
63. Maarif Salnamesi 1317, 582-83.
64. All of the career profiles which follow are found in Çankaya, Yeni Mülkiye Tarihi, 3:753-56.
65. Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, 3-4:1188.
66. ⊂dadiye schools for the same year included three in Haleb, two in Suriye, five in Beyrut, one in Kudüs, one in Baghdad, one in Mosul, one in Trablusgarp, one in Hicaz, and two in Yemen. Ibid., 103, 128-29.
67. ⊂dadiye schools for the same year included three in Haleb, two in Suriye, five in Beyrut, one in Kudüs, one in Baghdad, one in Mosul, one in Trablusgarp, one in Hicaz, and two in Yemen. Ibid., 103, 128-29.
68. ⊃l-qalam (Prominent Personalities: Personal Portraits of Some Men of Politics and of the Pen) (Amman: Ministry of Culture, 1980), 85-100. I thank Tariq Tell for bringing this source to my attention.
69. Ibid., 87-89.
70. ⊃iz al-Ghusayn is listed among pre-1914 "overt nationalists" in C. Ernest Dawn's discussion of "The Rise of Arabism in Syria," in which Arabism as a politics of the disappointed was first discussed: From Ottomanism to Arabism: Essays on the Origins of Arab Nationalism (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1973), 148-79.