Ottoman Greeks orRomioi (Greek:Ρωμιοί,romanized: Romioi;Turkish:Osmanlı Rumları) were ethnicGreeks who lived in theOttoman Empire (1299–1922), a large part of which is in modernTurkey,Greece and the rest of theBalkans. Ottoman Greeks wereGreek Orthodox Christians who belonged to theRum Millet (Millet-i Rum). They were concentrated ineastern Thrace (especially in and aroundConstantinople), and western, central, and northeasternAnatolia (especially inAidin vilayet,Hüdavendigâr vilayet,Konya vilayet, andTrebizond vilayet, respectively), inOttoman Greece and other parts of theOttoman Balkans, and inOttoman Cyprus. There were also sizeable Greek communities elsewhere in theOttoman Armenia,Ottoman Syria and the OttomanCaucasus, including in what, between 1878 and 1917, made up the Russian Caucasus province ofKars Oblast, in whichPontic Greeks, northeastern Anatolian Greeks, andCaucasus Greeks who had collaborated with theRussian Imperial Army in theRusso-Turkish War of 1828–1829 were settled in over 70 villages, as part of official Russian policy to re-populate with Orthodox Christians an area that was traditionally made up of Ottoman Muslims andArmenians.
In the Ottoman Empire, in accordance with the Muslimdhimmi system, GreekChristians were guaranteed limited freedoms (such as the right to worship), but were treated assecond-class citizens. Christians andJews were not considered equals toMuslims: testimony against Muslims by Christians and Jews was inadmissible in courts of law. They were forbidden to carryweapons or ride atophorses, their houses could not overlook those of Muslims, and their religious practices would have to defer to those of Muslims, in addition to various other legal limitations.[1] Violation of these statutes could result in punishments ranging from the levying offines toexecution.
TheEcumenical Patriarch was recognized as the highest religious and political leader (millet-bashi, or ethnarch) of all Orthodox Christian subjects of the Sultan, though in certain periods some major powers, such asRussia (under theTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca of 1774) orGreat Britain, later theUnited Kingdom, claimed the rights of protection over the Ottoman Empire's Orthodox subjects.
The three major European powers, the United Kingdom,France and Russia (known as the Great Powers), took issue with the Ottoman Empire's treatment of its Christian population and increasingly pressured the Ottoman government (also known as theSublime Porte) to extend equal rights to all its citizens. Beginning in 1839, the Ottoman government implemented theTanzimat reforms to improve the situation of non-Muslims, although these would prove largely ineffective. In 1856, theHatt-ı Hümayun promised equality for all Ottoman citizens irrespective of their ethnicity and confession, widening the scope of the 1839Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane. The reformist period peaked with the Constitution, (orKanûn-ı Esâsî in Ottoman Turkish), which was promulgated on November 23, 1876. It established freedom of belief and equality of all citizens before the law.
On July 24, 1908, Greeks' hopes for equality in the Ottoman Empire brightened with the removal of Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II (r. 1876–1909) from power and restored the country back to a constitutional monarchy. TheCommittee of Union and Progress (more commonly called the Young Turks), a political party opposed to the absolute rule of Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II, had led a rebellion against their ruler. The pro-reform Young Turks deposed the Sultan and replaced him with the ineffective SultanMehmed V (r. 1908–1918).
Before World War I, there were an estimated 1.8 million Greeks living in theOttoman Empire.[2] Some prominent Ottoman Greeks served as parliamentary deputies. In the 1908 Parliament, there were twenty-six (26) Ottoman Greek deputies but their number dropped to eighteen (18) by 1914.[3] It is estimated that the Greek population of the Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor had 2,300 community schools, 200,000 students, 5,000 teachers, 2,000 Greek Orthodox churches, and 3,000 Greek Orthodox priests.[4]
From 1914 until 1923, Greeks inEastern Thrace andAsia Minor were subject to a campaign of massacres and deportations, involving death marches. TheInternational Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) recognizes it as genocide and refers to the campaign as theGreek Genocide.[5]
The Greek Orthodox Christian community, also called the Rum community, has a rich history in Istanbul. Many members of the Rum community are descendants of the native inhabitants of the city, who lived there well before 330 AD when Istanbul was called Byzantium.[6] The Greek Orthodox community has resided in Istanbul through three different empires: the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.[7] The Greek population in Istanbul was especially large in the 19th century, when the city was under Ottoman rule. An 1883 Ottoman census registered 152,741 Greeks in Istanbul.[8] In 1897, an estimated 236,000 Greeks lived in Istanbul and accounted for 22% of the city's population.[9] During the 19th century, the Greek Orthodox community was the largest non-Muslim community in Istanbul.[8] The Rum community prospered and boasted a large population in the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
Between the 1660s and 1821, during a time of transformation for the Ottoman Empire, an elite group of the Ottoman Greeks, known as thePhanariots, rose to power within the community. While the Ottoman Empire was experiencing internal threats and invasions by the Russian and Hapsburg Empires, they developed an "empire within an empire", and contributed to a Greek cultural revival that brought a "national awakening". Within the Ottoman Empire, the Phanariots initiated separation from Ottoman governance on ethnic, national lines. Throughout this transitional time in the Ottoman Empire, the Phanariots grew independently and integrated into the Empire, assisting the Ottoman government in transforming the empire in the midst of modernity. The Phanariots served in European foreign relations, food provision for the capital, provincial governance, and military operations.[10]
The origin of the Phanariots was located in thePhanar quarter of Istanbul, where the Orthodox Patriarchate was located, and continues to be, as well as where Phanariots had their residences and base of power. Phanar was situated in a prime location, near the docks of the Golden Horn, where necessary provisions were brought to Istanbul, and a short boat ride from Topkapi Palace, where the seat of the sultanate was located. Through their commercial activities and rise as local elites in the 17th century, their knowledge of medicine and European languages, and their political relations with the Orthodox church, the Phanariots developed their power. In the 18th century, the Phanariots increased their influence by attaining four exclusive positions of imperial dragoman, dragoman of the fleet,voyvoda of Wallachia, andvoyvoda of Moldavia.[10]
In the late 15th century, the Islamic court of Galata was established, and became one of the most important courts in Istanbul. The court of Galata was the primary seat of justice for the Rum coast. Within 18th century Islamic judicial records of the court of Galata, the documents capture the inheritances of Greek Orthodox Christian women and their increase over time. In 1729, the inheritances of Greek Christian women was 0.7% of total number of cases brought to the Galata court. In 1789, the total number of inheritances cases of Greek Christian women grew to 9.7%.[11] Through analyzed registers, differences in inheritances of Ottoman women during that time become apparent. The married Greek woman, Maryule daughter of Nikola, possessed goods worth 135,600 akçes by the time of her death in 1788, whereas the Muslim widow, Ümmühan daughter of Abdülmalik, owned only 429 akçes by the time of her death in 1729.[12]
During the 19th century, an Ottoman census did not count women until 1883.[13] The main function of the census was to count male subjects for military conscription and taxation.[14] Thus, Rum women were not included in Ottoman censuses until the late 19th century because women were not included in the military or were not taxed at this time. According to the 1883 census, 60,937 Greek Orthodox women lived in Istanbul.[8] Rum women made up nearly 7% of Istanbul's total population of 873,565 people, although they were not counted in earlier censuses.[8] Like other female subjects of the Ottoman Empire, Rum women were largely excluded from the public sphere in 19th century Istanbul. The Rum community prospered during this century, and Rum men took on important economic and political roles in society. Rum men practiced medicine, law, and trade, while Rum women were excluded from these roles.[15]
Rum women were mainly restricted to the private sphere, although they played a leading role within the home, family, and broader society. The matriarch of a Rum family commanded her household and was treated with respect and obedience by younger relatives.[16] Women exercised considerable authority over their families as the matriarch. Moreover, Rum women benefited from a high level of education during this time period. In the 19th century, the Rum community founded new girls' schools to support women's education.[15] It was typical for a Rum woman to be able to converse in multiple languages, such as French, English, and Italian. Moreover, knowledge of the ancient Greek language was the basis for Rum women's education, so most women were familiar with Greek as well. In 1837, one British traveller even remarked that Rum women pursued higher levels of education than their Turkish and Armenian counterparts in Istanbul.[17] Thus, Rum women received high levels of education in the 19th century and assumed the important role of the matriarch of their families.
After thefall of Constantinople in 1453, when theSultan virtually replaced theByzantine emperor among subjugated Christians, theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was recognized by the Sultan as the religious and national leader (ethnarch) of theOrthodox population.[18] The Patriarchate earned a primary importance and occupied this key role among the Christians of the Ottoman Empire because the Ottomans did not legally distinguish between nationality and religion, and thus regarded all theOrthodox Christians of the Empire as a single entity.
The position of the Patriarchate in the Ottoman state encouraged projects of Greek renaissance, centered on the resurrection and revitalization of theByzantine Empire. The Patriarch and those church dignitaries around him constituted the first centre of power for the Greeks inside the Ottoman state, one which succeeded in infiltrating the structures of theOttoman Empire, while attracting the former Byzantine nobility.
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Under the Ottoman Empire, the Greeks were a self-conscious group within the larger Christian Orthodox religious community.[19] They distinguished themselves from their Orthodox co-religionists by retaining their Greek culture, customs, language, and tradition of education.[19][20] Throughout the post-Byzantine and Ottoman periods, Greeks, as members of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, declared themselves asGraikoi (Greek: Γραικοί, "Greeks") andRomaioi orRomioi (Greek: Ρωμαίοι/Ρωμηιοί, "Romans").[21][22][23]
With the transition from the end of the Ottoman Empire to the creation of the Turkish nation-state, the Rum community has maintained its Greek identity and culture. The community continues to assert its rich history in Istanbul, as the Greek Orthodox community has resided in Istanbul since well before 330 AD.[6] When compared to 19th century population estimates, with as high as 236,000 Rum residents in Istanbul, modern-day estimates appear much lower.[9] Current estimates of the Rum community in Istanbul are around 2,000 people.[24] However, the Rum community continues to celebrate its rich history. The Greek Orthodox Church remains an important pillar of the community and the Church's Ecumenical Patriarch resides in Istanbul.[24] Rum authors like Nektaria Anastasiadou demonstrate how the Rum community is resilient and has retained its vibrant culture.[25]
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