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The Caliph and Mujtahids: Ottoman Policy towards the Shiite Community of Iraq in the Late Nineteenth Century

2005; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 41; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263200500155567

1743-7881

Gökhan Çetinsaya,

Families in Therapy and Culture

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes The research on which this article is based was partially funded by İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Araştırma Fonu and partially by a grant from Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi (TÜBA). For different estimates, see Vital Cuinet, La Turquie D'Asie, III (Paris, 1894), pp.17, 220–1; Şemseddin Sami, Kamusu'l-Alam, 6 Vols. (Istanbul, 1306–16); Admiralty, A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Vol.1 (London, 1916), p.66; Foreign Office, Mesopotamia (London, 1920), p.36; Joyce N. Wiley, The Islamic Movement of Shi'as (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1992), p.9. See Yitzhak Nakash, The Shi‘is of Iraq (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), pp.25–48; idem., ‘The Conversion of Iraq's Tribes to Shi‘ism,’ International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 26 (1994), pp.443–63. For Ottoman–Iranian relations in the nineteenth century, see Mohammed Reza Nasiri, Nasireddin Şah Zamanında Osmanlı–İran Münasebetleri, 1848–1896 (Tokyo, 1991); Richard Schofield (ed.) The Iran–Iraq Border 1840–1958, 9 Vols (Archive Editions, 1989), Vols.1–4. See Hamid Algar, ‘Atabat,’ EIr, II, pp.902–3; Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi‘i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi‘ism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985), pp.143–4. See Meir Litvak, Skiite Scholars of nineteenth-century Iraq: The ulama of Najaf and Karbala (Cambridge: CUP, 1998); idem., ‘Continuity and Change in the Ulama Population of Najaf and Karbala, 1791–1904: A Socio-Demographic Study,’ Iranian Studies, Vol.23 (1990), pp.31–60. See Nakash, The Shi‘is of Iraq, pp.163–201, 238ff; J.G. Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia (Calcutta, 1908–15), I/2, pp.2358–63. See Juan R.I. Cole, ‘Indian Money’ and the Shi‘i Shrine Cities of Iraq, 1786–1850,’ Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.22 (1986), pp.461–80; Meir Litvak, ‘Money, Religion, and Politics: The Oudh Bequest in Najaf and Karbala, 1850–1903’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.33 (2001), pp.1–21; Nakash, The Shi‘is of Iraq, pp.205ff; Lorimer, Gazetteer, I/1B, pp.1409–15, 1477–84, 1598–1616. See Lorimer, Gazetteer, I/2, p.2357. See Nakash, ‘The Conversion of Iraq's Tribes to Shi‘ism’; cf. Gertrude L. Bell, Review of the Civil Administration of Iraq (London: HMSO, 1920), p.27. See J.R. Barnes, An Introduction to Religious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (Leiden: Brill, 1987), pp.67–153. See Nasiri, Nasireddin Şah, passim. For interesting details, see the letter from Âli Paşa to Midhat Paşa in Ali Haydar Midhat, The Life of Midhat Pasha (London: Murray, 1903), pp.61–2; and the letters of Osman Hamdi Bey, who worked under Midhat Paşa at Baghdad, to his father, Edhem Paşa, in Edhem Eldem, ‘Quelques lettres D'Osman Hamdi Bey à son père lors de son séjour en Irak (1869–70),’ Anatolia Moderna, Vol.1 (1990), pp.126–7. The exceptions were Mehmed Namık Paşa's two reports: Ahmet Nuri Sinaplı, Şeyhül Vüzera, Serasker Mehmet Namık Paşa (Istanbul, 1987), pp.259–60, dated 25 Receb 1296–15 July 1879, and BOA, Y.PRK.KOM. 4/33, 11 Safer 1301–12 Dec. 1883. For these reports, see Gökhan Çetinsaya, ‘The Ottoman View of the Shiite Community of Iraq in the Late Nineteenth Century’ in A Monsutti, S. Naef, and F. Sabahi (eds.), The Other Shiites: from Mediterranean to Central Asia (London: RoutledgeCurzon, forthcoming); this is relatively a new subject in the literature. For different treatments of the subject, see Selim Deringil, ‘The Struggle against Shiism in Hamidian Iraq: A Study in Ottoman Counter-Propoganda’, Die Welt des Islams, Vol.30 (1990), pp.45–62, and Cezmi Eraslan, II. Abdülhamid ve Islam Birliği (Istanbul: Ötüken, 1992), pp.307ff. For details, see Gökhan Çetinsaya, Ottoman Administration of Iraq, 1890–1908 (London: RoutledgeCurzon, forthcoming), ch.5. BOA, YEE 18/553/610/93/38, (n.d.), and YEE 14/88/11-b/88/12, (n.d.); cf. Juan R.I. Cole, ‘Shaikh al-Ra'is and Sultan Abdülhamid II: The Iranian Dimension of Pan-Islam’, in I. Gershoni et al. (eds.) Histories of the Modern Middle East: new directions, (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2002), pp.167–85, and Mehrdad Kia, ‘Pan-Islamism in Late Nineteenth-Century Iran,’ Middle Eastern Studies, 32/1 (1996), pp.30–52. Shaikh al-Rais later published a treatise called İttihad-ı İslam (Bombay, 1312/1894–5). BOA, YEE 18/553/610/93/38, (n.d.). For Cevdet Paşa (1823–95), see EI(2), I, p.284. BOA, YEE 14/88/11-b/88/12, (n.d.) [c. Sept. 1888]. Cf. Y.PRK.BŞK. 14/4, 28 Ağustos 1304–9 Sep. 1888. It should be noted that some parts of Yusuf Rıza Paşa's report contain very similar, sometimes same, remarks as that of Cevdet Paşa; Yusuf Rıza Paşa (1826–94) was a former Minister to Tehran and a Shiite convert. See Osman Nuri Ergin, İstanbul Şehreminleri, A.N. Galitekin (ed.) (Istanbul: Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi, 1996), pp.153–7; İ.A. Gövsa, Türk Meşhurları Ansiklopedisi (Istanbul: Yedigün, 1946), p.329. Ibid. See, for example, BOA, Y.PRK.MK. 4/80, 27 Şevval 1306–26 June 1889, and A.MKT.MHM. 500/33, 5 Şubat 1305–17 Feb. 1890. Cf. BOA, Y.MTV. 43/14, 25 Mayıs 1306–6 June 1890; the committee devoted a full chapter of its report to the Skiite problem. Y.A.Res. 55/9, 28 Ramazan 1308–7 May 1891. BOA, Y.MTV. 43/14, 23 Şevval 1307–12 June 1890; YEE 45/24, 10 Muharrem 1308–26 Aug. 1890; Y.PRK.BŞK. 19/6, 10 Muharrem 1308–26 Aug. 1890. BOA, Y.A.Hus. 248/74, and 248/44, 16 Zilkade 1308–23 June 1891. See, for example, Y.MTV. 51/24, 9 Zilkade 1308–16 June 1891, and Y.PRK.BŞK. 22/51, 7 Zilhicce 1308–14 July 1891. BOA, Irade-Dahiliye, no. 96880, the tezkere of Kamil Paşa, dated 14 Zilhicce 1308–21 July 1891. Ibid. Ibid. Irade dated 16 Zilhicce 1308–23 July 1891. For further details, Y.PRK.BŞK. 22/62, 15 Zilhicce 1308–22 July 1891; Y.MTV. 54/82, 22 Safer 1309–27 Sep. 1891. BOA, Irade-Dahiliye, no. 98525, 29 Cemaziyelevvel 1309–31 Dec. 1891. Their expenses cost 11,351,50 kuruş. In his minute, the Sultan approved the action of the Vali, but at the same time noted that since a lot of money was spent on these children, the best result must be obtained from their education; in a later decree, the Sultan instructed Cevad Paşa, the Grand Vizier, to spent 5,000 kuruş from the Privy Purse for the expenses of these children. BOA, Irade-Dahiliye, no. 98993, 19 Cemaziyelâhir 1309–20 Jan. 1892. Also, Y.PRK.BŞK. 24/66, 21. Cemaziyelevvel 1309–23 Dec. 1891. Cezmi Eraslan, ‘İkinci Abdülhamid Devrinde Osmanlı Devleti Dahilinde ve Afrika Kıtasında İslam Birliği Faaliyetleri’ (Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Istanbul, 1985), pp.64–5. For Afghani, see Nikki R. Keddie, ‘Afgani, Jamal-al-Din,’ in EIr, I, pp.481–6; idem., Sayyid Jamal ad-Din ‘al-Afghani’: A Political Biography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972). For full details of the subject, see Nikki R. Keddie, Religion and Rebellion in Iran: The Tobacco Protest of 1891–1892 (London: Frank Cass, 1966); and idem., Political Biography, pp.330ff; A.K.S. Lambton, ‘The Tobacco Regie: a prelude to revolution,’ in idem., Qajar Persia (London: I.B. Tauris, 1987), pp.223–76; Edward G. Browne, The Persian Revolution of 1905–1909 (Cambridge: CUP, 1910), pp.15ff, 31–58; Firuz Kazemzadeh, Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864–1914: A Study in Imperialism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968), pp.241ff. See Keddie, Political Biography, pp.129ff, 246ff; idem., ‘The Pan-Islamic Appeal: Afghani and Abdulhamid II,’ Middle Eastern Studies, 3 (1966), pp.46–67; Jacob M. Landau, ‘Al-Afghani's Panislamic Project,’ Islamic Culture, 26 (July 1952), pp.50–4; idem., ‘An Egyptian Petition to Abdul Hamid II on behalf of al-Afghani,’ in Studies in Islamic History and Civilization: in Honour of Professor David Ayalon, ed. M. Sharon (Jerusalem: Cana, 1986), pp.209–19. Afghani had left Basra for London in the autumn of 1891. For details afterwards, Keddie, Political Biography, pp.370ff; idem., Religion and Rebellion, p.126–7; Browne, Persian Revolution, pp.24–7, 82; FO 60/594, Lascelles to Foreign Office, Tehran, 7 Aug. 1892, tel no. 114; A. Albert Kudsi-Zadeh, ‘Iranian Politics in the late Qajar Period: A Review,’ Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.5 (1969), pp.251–7. Keddie, Political Biography, pp.373ff. Cf. Browne, Persian Revolution, pp.82–3, 403–4; see also Fahir Iz, ‘Mehmed Emin,’ EI(2), VI, p.988; [Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani], ‘Controverses Persanes,’ Revue du Monde Musulman, Vol.21 (Dec. 1912), pp.238–60. BOA, YEE I/156/XXV/156/3, (n.d.), transliterated in Sultan II. Abdülhamid Han: Devlet ve Memleket Görüşlerim, pp.305–11. Ibid. Sultan Abdülhamit, Siyasî Hatıratım (Istanbul: Dergah, 1974), p.179. See Afghani's undated letter to the Sultan, which appears to have been written in this period, in Martin Kramer, Islam Assembled: The Advent of Muslim Congresses (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986), pp.21–2. Cf. Keddie, Political Biography, pp.444–7. According to the account given by Mirza Muhammad Riza, who assassinated Nasir al-Din Shah: ‘Thus it came about that he entered into correspondence with all the Skiitete divines of Karbala, Najaf and all parts of Persia, and convinced them by promises, hopes and logical demonstrations that if the Muhammadan nations would only unite, all the nations on earth could not prevail against them. They must put aside their verbal differences concerning Ali and Umar, and look at the question of Caliphate, … and do this and that … just at this juncture the trouble at Samarra, and the dispute as to the relations of the late Hujjatu'l-Islam Mirza-yi Shirazi with inhabitants of Samarra and the Sunnis, broke out. The Sultan of Turkey, imagining that the Shah of Persia had specially fomented this trouble so as to disturb the Ottoman dominions, held consultations and discussions on this subject with the Sayyid. He said, ‘By reason of the long duration of his reign and his venerable age, Nasiru'd-Din Shah has acquired a power and prestige such that, if he is firm, the Skiitete divines and the people of Persia will not move to support our ideas or accomplish our aims. We must therefore think of some plan for dealing with him personally.’ Then he said to the Sayyid, ‘Do whatever you can in regard to him, and be not anxious about anything.’ In Browne, Persian Revolution, p.83 (from the interrogation of Mirza Riza). For full details, see the three lengthy documents: FO 195/1841, Mockler to Currie, no. 210/23, Baghdad, 21 April 1894; FO 195/1841, no. 237/24, Mockler to Currie, Baghdad, 5 May 1894; BOA, Y.A.Hus. 296/39, 4 Zilkade 13,11–9 May 1894. See, especially, FO 195/1841, Mockler to Currie, no. 210/23, Baghdad, 21 April 1894. FO 195/1841, no. 237/24, Mockler to Currie, Baghdad, 5 May 1894; BOA, Y.A.Hus. 295/40, 22 Şevval 1311–28 April 1894; Y.A.Hus. 295/77, 26 Şevval 1311–2 May 1894; Y.A.Hus. 295/89, 27 Şevval 1311–3 May 1894; Y.A.Hus. 296/9, Gurre-i Zilkade 1311–6 May 1894; Y.A.Hus. 301/27, 22 Zilhicce 1311–26 June 1894. BOA, Y.A.Hus. 296/39, 4 Zilkade 1311–9 May 1894; Y.A.Hus. 296/9, 24 Nisan 1310–6 May 1894; FO 195/1841, no. 242/25, Mockler to Currie, Baghdad, 9 May 1894. Ibid., and FO 195/1841, no.281/33, Mockler to Currie, Baghdad, 23 May 1894. Cf. FO 424/183, Currie to Salisbury, no. 472 confidential, 16 July 1895; BOA, Y.A.Hus. 299/76, 7 Zilhicce 1311–11 June 1894; Y.A. Hus. 299/77, 2 Zilhicce 1311–6 June 1894; Y.A.Hus. 301/7, 21 Zilhicce 1311–25 June 1894; Mirza Hasan Shirazi issued a ‘ukase’ to the inhabitants of the Shiite towns in Iraq, probably in May 1894, with reference to the recent disturbance at Samarra and excitement caused thereby in various places. Meanwhile, the Shah of Iran asked for the punishment of those involved in the incident. In turn, the Ottomans demanded the deportation of the Iranian Deputy-Consul of Samarra, who caused so much trouble during the incident. FO 195/1841, no. 281/33, Mockler to Currie, 23 May 1894. For the text of the ‘ukase’, see ibid., and Y.A. Hus. 301/27, 22 Zilhicce 1311–26 June 1894. BOA, Irade-Hususi, no.120, 1 Zilkade 1311–6 May 1894; Y.A. Hus. 296/39, 4 Zilkade 1311–9 May 1894. BOA, YEE 14/1623/126/10, 11 Safer 1312–14 Aug. 1894; Ali Galib Bey held the post in Tehran between December 1892 and late 1894. See Nejat Göyünç, ‘XIX. Yüzyılda Tahran'daki Temsilcilerimiz ve Türk–İran Münasebetlerine Etkileri,’ in Atatürk Konferansları, V: 1971–1972 (Ankara: TTK, 1975), p.277. Ibid. ‘Aqa Sayyid Abdullah’ was most probably Sayyid Abdallah Behbahani (1840–1910), one of the influential Tehrani ulama. For him, see EIr, I, pp.190–3. Cf. Browne, Persian Revolution, p.83. See ‘Biography of Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani by Afzal al Mulk Kirmani, prefaced to the anonymous Azali Babi text Hasht Bihist (n.p., n.d.),’ translated in Keddie, ‘Religion and Irreligion in Early Iranian Nationalism,’ Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol.4 (1962), appendix; cf. Mirza Muhammad Riza's account in Browne, Persian Revolution, pp.63–92. For Muallim Feyzi Efendi (1842–1910), known as ‘Acem Feyzi,’ see Gövsa, Türk Meşhurları, pp.139–40, and Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı Ansiklopedisi (Istanbul: Dergah, 1979), III, p.215. Muallim Feyzi was a Persian teacher in the prestigious Galatasaray Lycée, and an author of Persian–Turkish dictionaries. See İsmail Kara, ‘Cemaleddin Efgani Biyografisine iki önemli katkı,’ Amel Defteri (Istanbul: Kitabevi, 1998), pp.195–9. Also known as ‘Khabir al-Mulk.’ See H. Farmayan and E. L. Daniel (eds.) A Skiitete Pilgrimage to Mecca, 1885–1886: The Safarnameh of Mirza Mohammad Hosayn Farahani (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990), p.142; Keddie, Political Biography, p.382; for Abdülhamid's remark on him, see Sultan Abdülhamit, Siyasî Hatıratım, p.179. For Kermani (1854/55–1896) and his activities in Istanbul, see Mangol Bayat, ‘Aqa Khan Kermani,’ EIr, II, pp.175–7; idem., ‘Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani: A 19th Century Persian Nationalist,’ Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.10 (1974), pp.36–59; Keddie, Political Biography, pp.377–8, 417–8; Shaul Bakhash, Iran: Monarchy, Bureaucracy and Reform under the Qajars, 1858–1896 (London: Ithaca, 1978), pp.312ff; in part of one of his poems, Kermani wrote (translated in Browne, Persian Revolution, p.412): ‘And that, under the auspices of [Sultan Abdu'l] Hamid, a political union might be effected in Islam; so that Turk should be Persian, and Persian like Turk, and that duality might no longer remain in these great rulers; and that in like manner the learned doctors of Iraq should agree in [recognizing] the [Sultan as] sovereign supreme; and should swiftly cleanse their hearts of this animosity, and should no longer talk of who was Sunni and who Shiite.’ For Shaikh Ahmad Ruhi (c.1855/6–1896), see Kramer, Islam Assembled, p.21; Browne, Persian Revolution, pp.414–5. According to Browne, he ‘even caused a seal to be made for himself bearing the following inscription: ‘I am the Propagandist of Pan-Islamism: Ahmad-i-Ruhi is my name.’ Keddie, ‘Religion and Irreligion in Early Iranian Nationalism,’ appendix. Keddie, Political Biography, p.382; cf. Browne, Persian Revolution, pp.63–4, 415. See, for details, Salahi R. Sonyel, The Ottoman Armenians (London: K.Rustem & Brother, 1987), pp.155ff; Stanford J. and Ezel K. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (Cambridge: CUP, 1977), II, pp.200–5. See Keddie, Political Biography, pp.383–4. The Khedive was also on bad terms with the Sultan at that time. A Meccan Shaikh who had called on the Khedive during this visit was arrested. See L. Hirszowicz, ‘The Sultan and the Khedive, 1892–1908,’ Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.8 (1972), p.303. FO 60/594, Currie to Salisbury, no.923, Constantinople, 12 Dec. 1895; Keddie, Political Biography, pp.384ff, for his other attempts and his letter to the Sultan. See Bayat, EIr, II, p.176; cf. Keddie, Political Biography, p.382. Bayat gives the date of their banishment to Trabzon as January 1895, which seems confusing. Keddie, on the other hand, gives the date as the end of 1895. For the importance and influence of the paper, see EIr, I, p.730; Edward G. Browne, The Press and Poetry of Modern Persia (Cambridge: CUP, 1914), pp.17–18, 36–7; Orhan Koloğlu, ‘Un Journal Persan D'Istanbul: Akhtar,’ in T. Zarcone and F. Zarinebaf-Shahr, eds, Les Iraniens d'Istanbul (Istanbul–Tehran: IFEA-IFRI, 1993), pp.133–40; Anja Pistor-Hatam, ‘The Persian Newspaper Akhtar as a Transmitter of Ottoman Political Ideas,’ in ibid., pp.141–7; Kermani and Ruhi were among the writers of the paper. Akhtar was also known for its Pan-Islamic stand from the very beginning. BOA, YEE 3/110/31/1709, dated 22 Nisan 1312–4 May 1896, transliterated in Fahri Ç. Derin, ‘Cemâleddin Efgâni Hakkında İki Vesika,’ Tarih ve Toplum, 84 (Aralık 1990), pp.53–6. See Azmi Özcan, ‘Jamaladdin Afghani's Honorable Confinement in Istanbul and Iran's Demands for His Extradition,’ Osmanlı Araştırmaları, 15 (1995), pp.285–91. See Bayat, EIr, II, p.176; Browne, Persian Revolution, p.415; Keddie, Political Biography, pp.417–18. For details of this period of Afghani, see Keddie, Political Biography, pp.404ff. For details, see Çetinsaya, Ottoman Administration of Iraq, ch. 5.