The Ottoman Empire was governed by different sets of laws during its existence. The Qanun, sultanic law, co-existed with religious law (mainly the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence). Legal administration in the Ottoman Empire was part of a larger scheme of balancing central and local authority (see Legal pluralism). Ottoman power revolved crucially around the administration of the rights to land, which gave a space for the local authority develop the needs of the local millet. The jurisdictional complexity of the Ottoman Empire was aimed to permit the integration of culturally and religiously different groups.
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In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Ottoman law
- Ottoman law in the context of Législation ottomane
- Ottoman law in the context of Christianity in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman law in the context of Législation ottomane
Législation ottomane, ou Recueil des lois, règlements, ordonnances, traités, capitulations et autres documents officiels de l'Empire ottoman is a collection of Ottoman law published by Gregory Aristarchis (as Grégoire Aristarchi) and edited by Demetrius Nicolaides (as Démétrius Nicolaïdes). The volumes were published from 1873 to 1888.
The Législation Ottomane was one of the first collections of the Ottoman Law in seven volumes in French, Aristarchis is named in most volumes, except for 6–7, which, according to Strauss, "seem to have been edited solely by Demetrius Nicolaides". The collection was intended for foreigners living in the empire, including employees of foreign ministries. Strauss described it as the "best-known example of" a collection of Ottoman laws.
View the full Wikipedia page for Législation ottomaneOttoman law in the context of Christianity in the Ottoman Empire
Under the Ottoman Empire's millet system, Christians and Jews were considered dhimmi (meaning "protected") under Ottoman law in exchange for loyalty to the state and payment of the jizya tax.
Orthodox Christians were the largest non-Muslim group. With the rise of Imperial Russia, the Russians became a kind of protector of the Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire.
View the full Wikipedia page for Christianity in the Ottoman Empire