A Brief Sociological Overview of the Ottoman Settlement in the Balkans

Map of Ottoman

          The Ottoman settlement in the Balkans was the result of a long and painful process. At the end of this turbulent, deadly and allied process, the Ottomans settled in Cinbi Castle. The most important thing Süleyman Pasha did here was to leave an important military force in the castle for other campaigns. Although the Byzantine Emperor Kantakuzinos offered money for the evacuation of the castle, these offers were rejected by Süleyman Pasha. Having rejected the offer, Süleyman Pasha deployed troops from Anatolia and the Biga region in order to further strengthen the castle. Now that the Ottomans were slowly beginning the transition to Rumelia, the earthquake of 1354 worked in the Ottomans' favor and the Ottomans quickly conquered the castles whose walls had collapsed. The sudden death of the Serbian Emperor Stefan Dusan a year after the earthquake left no obstacles in the way of the Ottomans and thus the Ottoman entry into the Balkans began without any problems.

            Immediately after the advance began, the people living in the Karesi region were migrated to this region by order of Orhan Gazi. The Ottoman administration entered into good relations with the surrounding peoples, especially the people of Cinbi Castle. As a result of the established relations, they used the sailors of Cinbi Castle for transportation and trade. The people of Ayaşolonya Fortress, the second fortress taken in Rumelia, continued to be treated well and the people were even satisfied with this conquest. This policy of settlement and exile in Rumelia is a definite proof that the Ottoman Empire settled in the Balkans not by force of sword, but by tolerance.

            Settlement in this region developed in various ways. Turkish-Muslim settlement in Rumelia had already been initiated by the principalities before the Ottoman Empire. However, this settlement was not on a systematic basis. With the Ottomans, this systematized settlement took place in two ways. The first, as mentioned above, was the relocation of people from Anatolia by the state. The second was the exile of people who could pose a danger in this region to Anatolia. However, the sipahs in the newly captured areas were not touched in order not to disrupt the functioning order. In this way, Suleiman Pasha not only managed to preserve the functioning order but also removed dangerous elements. The people settled in these places also served as castle guards and warriors who continued the gaza movement.

            The non-Muslim population was not separated from the Turkish-Muslim population, except for paying the "jizya" tax, and the Ottomans undertook the duty of protecting the lives, property and religion of non-Muslim subjects. The fact that most of the Sipahi were from Bulgarian, Albanian, Serbian and Greek families who had been here for a long time is a great example of the Ottoman policy of protectionism. Paul Wittek says about the tolerance shown by the Ottomans: "The degree to which the Ottomans adapted to the civilization of the country they attacked made it easy for the acritio (Byzantine frontier soldiers) to join them en masse and for fortresses and small cities to surrender of their own accord.”. It can be inferred from this that the sword and tolerance played an almost equal role in the Balkan conquest. The local population even fought on the Ottoman side in the Battle of Ankara.

            The Ottoman policy of tolerance (İstimâlet), settlement and exile in the Balkans strengthened the Ottoman presence in the region and laid its foundations in a short time. It is seen that after the Battle of Ankara, which was lost in 1402, the empire suffered a great loss of authority and territory in Anatolia, while it did not suffer any loss in the Balkans.

REFERENCES

-        Halil İnalcık, Devlet-i Aliyye Cilt I, İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2017. & ‘’Türkler ve Balkanlar’’, Balkanlar, Ortadoğu ve Balkan İncelemeleri Vakfı Yayınları, İstanbul, 1993. &   Osmanlı İmparatorluğu – 1 Toplum ve Ekonomi, 6. Baskı, Kronik Yayınları, İstanbul, 2021. 

-        Aşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları’nın Tarihi, çev. ve haz., Kemal YAVUZ. Yekta SARAÇ, Koç yay., İstanbul, 2003 

-        İ. H. Uzunçarşılı, Osmanlı Tarihi I-II, TTK Yayınları, Ankara, 1988 

-        Mehmed Neşri, Neşri Tarihi, Haz. F. R. UNAT & M. A. KÖYMEN, TTK Basımevi, Ankara, 1949 

-        Nizamüddin Şami, Zafername, çev. Necati Lugal, TTK Yayınları, 2. Baskı, Ankara, 1987 

-        Paul Wittek, The Rise of the Ottoman Empire, Londra, 1938.