Chapter 74 A Brief Discussion on the State System of the Ottoman Empire (I)

I promised you that I would update one more chapter because I asked for leave.

But since this volume is almost finished, it is not impossible for me to update one more chapter, but it is unnecessary.

So I will help you sort out the state system of the Ottoman Empire, so that it is easier to understand the behavior of the protagonist.

Of course, there will be no less text in two chapters today.

First of all, it is a definition problem, what is the state system.

In my opinion, the state system is the manifestation of the state's ruling and management organizational form.

I will first talk about national public administration here. In the sense of public administration, the national public administration system mainly involves issues such as the ownership, structure and operation of national administrative power.

First of all, national public administration is a comprehensive concept, behavior and process of politics, economy, society, culture and mentality.

The government (national administrative agency) is the subject of this concept, behavior and process.

But please note that different political systems have different sources of government power.

For example, the sources of government power in the two political systems of monarchy and democratic constitutionalism are completely different.

The former comes from the monarch, and the latter is granted by the constitution and law.

In the sense of public administration, this subject status is based on legitimate and reasonable power, namely public administrative power.

Starting from this power status, the government realizes the effective management of the state over a wide range of social life by performing specific functions.

The first goal of administration is to obtain and maintain power, and the position of administrative officials is based on this foundation. This goal is a prerequisite for achieving other goals.

The basis of national public administration actually refers to the basis of government public administration carried out in the name of the state by the state administrative organs as part of the state public power institutions.

Now let's take a look at the state system of the Ottoman Empire.

Machiavelli's words are indeed not wrong, but they are not right either.

Compared with the feudal states in Western Europe, the Ottoman Empire is more centralized and unified.

But his centralization and unification are relative. In my personal opinion, the Ottoman Empire is far inferior to a certain country in the East.

However, here, my idea is to judge by period rather than directly compare.

Let's start with the first period, which is also the main point I want to talk to you today.

I call this period before Suleiman the Magnificent, because the changes that Suleiman the Magnificent made to the Ottoman Empire are indeed worthy of his title.

During this period, the decision-making body of the Ottoman Empire was the Diwan Conference I mentioned earlier.

The ruling institutions of the Ottoman Empire were divided horizontally into three parts: administrative institutions (viziers and clerks, etc.), religious institutions, and military institutions, and vertically into two levels: court (central) and local (provinces and sanjaks).

The ruling system and religious system of the empire are two parallel teams.

In the administrative system, a very critical system is the vizier system.

At first, the sultans controlled the army and the right to levy taxes, and personally inquired about major events. Later, they gradually stopped directly participating in the daily management of the country and entrusted civil and part of the military to ministers, who were called "viziers".

Around 1320, Orhan assumed some of the responsibilities of his father Osman. After Orhan succeeded to the throne, he handed over major affairs to Alauddin Pasha. As a regent, Alauddin had greater power, which is generally considered to be the beginning of the vizier system.

Later, the number of viziers increased. Some were responsible for finance, some were responsible for government affairs, and some were responsible for local management. These viziers were all granted the title of Pasha.

In the administrative agency, there were more than 4 viziers (up to 9).

The vizier had heavy responsibilities and was in charge of the empire's court affairs, finance, diplomacy, official assessment, agriculture, industry, trade, etc. The highest-ranking official was the "Grand Vizier".

The Grand Vizier was responsible for war, or when he was not in the capital due to other affairs, the vizier would temporarily take over the affairs that the Grand Vizier was responsible for.

During the conquest, the Ottoman Turks implemented the "millet" system, dividing the areas of Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Albanians, etc. into millets, which had an internal semi-autonomous nature.

The highest official of the religious institution was the Grand Mufti of Islam, who was qualified to attend the Diwan meeting and enter the Topkapi Palace to meet the Sultan.

The Muslim institutions of the Ottoman state were composed of educators, missionaries, jurists, judges, and all trained professional religious personnel.

This group and class represents and embodies the spiritual and cultural factors of the Ottoman state, such as religion, law, and knowledge. From the perspective of origin, members of Muslim institutions almost all come from Muslim families (parents are Muslims, and individuals are born and raised in Muslim families).

As for the military system, it mainly consists of two parts. The first is military slavery, which is also a blood tax.

The Ottoman Empire recruited boys from Christian peasant families, trained them from an early age, and converted them to Christianity. This is also the source of the Ottoman Guards.

The second is the military fiefdom system, which is also related to the local administrative system of the Ottoman Empire.

The Sipahi cavalry and the Timar are the products of this system. They are similar to the knights in Western Europe, but they are different because their fiefs are not hereditary. The reason for this system is that the Sultan wants to maintain the army but does not want to pay for it.

In the management of local government, an important administrative unit is the Sanjak, each of which is about thousands of square miles and has a population of nearly 100,000.

The new territories conquered by the Ottoman Empire formed new Sanjaks. When establishing the management of the Sanjak, a detailed land survey should be carried out, and the human and economic resources of each village are under the control of the government, so as to facilitate the allocation of fiefs and determine the amount of taxes. (The Sipahi cavalry and Timar mentioned above come from this)

Initially, the rules used in various places were adapted to local conditions, but as time went on and new territories increased rapidly, laws and rules tended to be unified.

Sanjak Bey was not recruited from the local area, but was appointed by the central government and had to be transferred to another position after three years in office.

When participating in the war, Sanjak Bey was the general who led his own Sipahi.

The administrative region with a higher level than the Sanjak was the province, which constituted the main administrative region of the empire.

According to the data, the taxation of the early Ottoman state was not wide and the tax source was limited.

More precisely, they saw themselves as guardians, and in addition to lower levels of taxation, they were also protecting peasants against the elites.

Although the Ottoman government acted according to the rules, the rulers had to delegate their power to agents for the needs of the agency system.

A country as vast, diverse, and complex as the Ottoman Empire had to do so. (This is the view of some historians, but my humble opinion is that this is because the Ottoman Empire did not have a civil service system)

Agents have their own talents and expertise and will build their own power circles. (Local tyrants are born from this)

In fact, since Mehmed II controlled the commercial areas of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the country can levy tariffs, and the treasury has become full. But

Frequent military operations, coupled with a large scope of rule, increased difficulty in state governance, and a sharp increase in military expenditures and administrative costs, the burden on the empire's finances has not been reduced.

This is also one of the reasons why the Ottoman Empire used the tax farming system.

The first issue of the analysis of this system ends here. I am not a historian, and there must be loopholes in what I said. There are also many big guys among the book friends, and you are welcome to express your opinions.

Finally, this book will be available at 12 noon tomorrow. Now I am asking for the first order and monthly ticket.

Especially the former, which is really important. I hope everyone will support it. I will also write a special thank you for the release later.

Reference books.

"Six Hundred Years of the Ottoman Empire", Patrick Balfour, UK

"Partners of Empire", Ali Yacioglu, USA

"Rule of Empire: The Ottoman Empire Political System", Wang Sanyi