Slavery in the Ottoman Empire

**Slavery in the Ottoman Empire** was considered an important part of the economy.

To control their ownership of slaves, the Ottomans followed the Islamic view of human bondage. They saw themselves as the protectors of the religion while Mecca and Medina were under their protection. And the sultan was seen as a successor to the prophet. In this sense and according to Hanafi Islamic law, a person can have ownership of another, which entitles the owner to the slave' labor, property and sexuality while restricting his freedoms. However, a Muslim cannot be enslaved and if a slave follows Islam, he is to be freed. These rules were introduced in the empire's laws.

The Slavery in the Ottoman Empire was considered an important and big part of the empire's society. It was estimated that twenty percent of the residence during the 16th century were slaves. The Ottomans tied their economy tightly to owning slaves. Since it was a large country, the vast work they needed required more workers. For this reason they needed slaves to help them with different tasks.

## Tasks

The duties of the enslaved were diverse. Many worked in domestic or menial roles; while others served as concubines. Notably, the empire's administrative class included officials who had been purchased as slaves but were raised with the rights and education of free citizens.

## History

The official prohibition of slavery took place in the second half of the 19th century, but the practice continued into the 20th century.

### The start of the slavery

Slavery began in the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century when Sultan Murad I built an army of slaves from prisoners of war called Kapıkulu. The sultan was in full control of them and trained them where necessary. Sultan Mehmed II established the first slave market in Constantinople in the 1460s, called Yessir. The markets then spread widely in most towns and cities of the empire.

The empire followed the pencik method (pencik from Persian labor stylo means five and yek means one) in which the state takes a fifth of the raiding captives. It has also been linked to a tax system and title deed

The footrest system has been changed for reasons that are unclear. They followed the devshirme system, which means collecting and fixing the children of Christian citizens from their ethnic, religious and cultural background and applying them in an Islamic Turkic system. This practice was also applied to citizens of Rumelia, especially Bosons and Albanians, even as Muslims and other non-Muslims in the empire. The Ottomans brought their slaves from within their borders.

### End of slavery

The call for the end of slavery began in the 19th century with calls from European countries to end human rights abuses. The empire lost its power after World War I and was under pressure and influence from European powers.

In an effort to restore itself, the empire went through the Tanzimat period during which it underwent many reforms. It was seen as a period of importing European and Western ideologies and models, and the ideas of equality for all citizens, regardless of race or religion, and freedom were stronger than ever. These concepts made the slavery system less powerful and more opposed by citizens.

During this period, slaves also took the opportunity to escape from their owners and

In order to escape from them in this sense, the Empire issued several edicts beginning with the liberation of groups of slaves.

## Types of slavery

The slaves in the Ottoman Empire had different works:

- Domestic workers: In elite homes, these were the most common type of slave; they worked and lived alongside the family and served as wage servants. They had the responsibility of doing the housework, taking care of the family and raising their children.
- Sexual slavery or concubinage: Concubines (_cariye_) in the Ottoman Empire were enslaved women whom their owners designated for a legally regulated sexual relationship; they served as companions and potential child-bearers; they can be considered second wives. Concubines were served by domestic slaves in every occupation.
- Elite Bondage: Slaves were taken by the "Devshirme" exercise. Young men in the Balkan provinces, usually aged thirteen to fourteen, were educated, converted to Islam, and given elite positions in government and military. They were called "Koll", and were only obligated to the sultan. The beginning of the practice was the creation of the elite Infantry Corps "Janissary".
- Menial jobs (such as miners, pearl fishermen, ware makers or agricultural workers): At the beginning of the empire, these slaves were taken by landlords as part of their property. They have fulfilled all the duties to their masters. After farmland became state property, parcels of land were assigned to all owners and taxes owed to elite slave tax masters. These landlords did not profit from the surplus production and thus set their slaves free.

## Sources of slaves

For most of the earlier period of the empire, slaves were won by invading European borders and the Black Sea. In the following century, slaves came from Africa with a small minority from the Caucasus mainly from Circassia and Georgia. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Africans were imprisoned in Sudan, Central Africa and Ethiopia. They were then transported across the desert and the Mediterranean to reach ports in the Balkans and the Middle East. Some were transported through the Nile Valley, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the pilgrimage network.

## Nature of slavery

The Ottomans saw slavery as a means of giving individuals better living conditions and a better life.

Many of the sultan's slaves were better cared for than the common people. Many of them valued the positions they held and refused to trade them in for their freedoms because of the insecurity and fragility of the free people. Some people even volunteered for service. For them, slavery was a way for people to escape danger and misery. Under the responsibility of the owners, they are provided with the basic necessities (housing and food). For the sultan's slaves, they would even be given the status and opportunity to get close to the elite of society. The slave "Hurrem" even went on to marry the sultan and become queen of the empire.

However, this did not apply to all slaves, many went to great lengths to gain their freedom, and the positions held by slaves did not always guarantee proper treatment. Some of them have committed crimes according to the governing elite and even protests in the fight for their freedom. they also followed different strategies:

Some, in the struggle for freedom, worked to improve their status and position in society and to rise from a class of social slaves to a higher class.

Other groups of slaves decided to escape their owners, and in fact this strategy was popular in the late 19th century. After their escape, they were in a weak position, some states in the empire decided to abandon slave property rights over their slaves and sided with the enslaved, they were able to use the siding of the state in order to free themselves. Nevertheless, these actions were still criminalized by the ruling elite, which assumes them as a threat to the existing order in the region.

Slaves, in expressing their desire for freedom, tried to hold fast to their cultural beliefs and practices, even attempting to disrupt them and shut down the cultural hierarchy of slave owners.

## Related pages

- Ottoman Empire
- Slave trade