Contested Conversions to Islam: Narratives of Religious Change in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire

Contested Conversions to Islam Narratives of Religious Change in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire

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STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS STANFORD, CALIFORNIA

Stanford University Press Stanford, California

© 20I I by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Krstic, Tijana, author. Contested conversions to Islam: narratives of religious change in the early modern Ottoman Empire I Tijana Krstic. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8047-73 I7-I (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Muslim converts from Christianity-Turkey-History. 2. ConversionIslam. 3. Islam-Relations-Christianity. 4. Christianity and other religionsIslam. 5. Islam and state-Turkey-History. 6. Turkey-History-Ottoman , Empire, 1288-I9I8. I. Title. BPI70·5·K7720II 297·5'740956-dc22 20I0048409 Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in

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Contents

Acknowledgments ix Note on Transliteration and Pronunciation xiii INTRODUCTION

Turning "Rumi": Conversion to Islam, Fashioning of the Ottoman Imperial Ideology, and Interconfessional Relations in the Early Modern Mediterranean Context I

CHAPTER ONE

Muslims through Narratives: Textual Repertoires of Fifteenth-Century Ottoman Islam and Formation of the Ottoman Interpretative Communities 26 CHAPTER TWO

Toward an Ottoman Rumi Identity: , The Polemical Arena of Syncretism and the Debate on the Place of Converts in Fifteenth-Century Ottoman Polity 5I CHAPTER THREE

In Expectation of the Messiah: Interimperial Rivalry, Apocalypse, and Conversion in Sixteenth-Century Muslim Polemical Narratives 75

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Contents CHAPTER FOUR

Illuminated by the Light of Islam and the Glory of the Ottoman Sultanate: Self-Narratives of Conversion to Islam in the Age of Confessionalization 98

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER FIVE

Between the Turban and the Papal Tiara: Orthodox Christian Neomartyrs and Their Impresarios in the Age of Confessionalization 121

CHAPTER SIX

Everyday Communal Politics of Coexistence and Orthodox Christian Martyrdom: A Dialogue of Sources and Gender Regimes in the Age of Confessionalization 143

CONCLUSION

Conversion and Confessionalization in the Ottoman Empire: Considerations for Future Research 165

Notes 175

Bibliography 21

7

Index 253

Since this is a book about conversion narratives, let me begin with my own. Like many converts whose stories will be discussed in the follow. iilg chapters, I would describe my conversion to Ottoman history not as a moment but as a long and convoluted process. The idea of studying the Ottoman Empire crept up on me gradually, almost in spite of me, since like generations of Balkan school kids I was taught that Ottoman history was an endless string of calamitous events about which we knew everything we needed to know-those were the bad times. The war that ravaged Yugoslavia in the early 1990S while I was in high school made my aversion toward Ottoman history even deeper, as it was the subject of ongoing contestation, malicious misuse, and falsification by nationalists of all stripes. I had no intention to enter the brawl. However, the process of "turning" began in my junior year at the American University of Bulgaria where I attended classes in Ottoman and Middle Eastern history by Professor Fredrick F. Anscombe. He was the first in a series of agents of conversion who made me realize that there was more to Ottoman history than the proverbial yoke and that it was important to deal with one's own perceptions of the Ottoman past. Still unsure whether I would like to study the Crusades, which were my first academic interest, or go in the direction of Ottoman history, I arrived at the University of Michigan where I became a student of Rudi Paul Lindner-in the context of this story, the great ~eyh who brought about my conversion. He proselytized Ottoman history to this unwitting novice ignorant of the Turkish and Ottoman languages by introducing me to the great "saints" in the silsile of Ottoman historiography (Wittek, Giese, Taeschner, Babinger, and others) and by initiating me into the field through translations of Ottoman sources into German. I am forever grateful to Professor Lindner for taking a chance on me and being the kind of adviser that I could have only wished for-there when you most need him, able to provide expert and coherent guidance and allow for great freedom of exploration and expression.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

The process of my becoming an Ottomanist probably would have never gotten off to a good start had it not been for the wonderful people who taught me Turkish and Ottoman Turkish during my years at the 'University of Michigan. I am particularly grateful to Ash IgSIZ, who not only made the Turkish grammar intelligible and fun but whose friendship sustained me throughout graduate school and continues to do so. Hatice Aynur first taught me how to decipher texts in Ottoman Turkish, which was a turning point in my life. I continued to work on Ottoman narratives and documents with Gottfried Hagen, whose expertise in early modern Ottoman historiography and hagiography has been a great source of inspiration and motivation. I am also grateful to the late Sinasi Tekin, under whose guidance I, along with many of my colleagues, first struggled with Ottoman paleography at the Harvard-Ko~ summer school in Cunda. Other professors and students made my time at the University of Michigan an unforgettable and overwhelmingly positive experience. I was fortunate to work with Professor John V. A. Fine Jr., from whose vast knowledge of Byzantine and Balkan history I greatly benefited and whose contagious enthusiasm and optimism lifted my spirits on many occasions. Similarly, I am immensely grateful to Kathryn Babayan, who has been both a great friend and a wonderful adviser. Monica Burguera, Emil Kerenji, Ana Mirkova, Edin Hajdarpasic, the late Mary O'Reilly, Mia C. Lee, D. Grace Davie, and Bhavani Raman made Ann Arbor a dynamic and fun place to live and study. From Michigan, my search for knowledge on the path of becoming an Ottomanist led me to the University of Chicago, where I arrived as a visiting student but found a second academic home. I am indebted to Professor Cornell H. Fleischer not only for treating me as one of his own students but for generously sharing his vast expertise and unique insights into Ottoman history both in the classroom and in many informal sohbets over the years. It was in his class, trying to divine the meaning of the lofty Ottoman passages by Mustafa Ali, that I met my husband, Tolga U. Esmer, with whom I have been sharing this adventure of exploring Ottoman history ever since. In Chicago, I also met Ebru Turan, a fellow Ottomanist and a fiercely devoted friend without whom I would have never become the same historian. It was also in Chicago that my friend and colleague Natalie Rothman and I began our ongoing conversation about cultural, linguistic, and religious encounters between the Venetian and Ottoman empires, which profoundly influenced my understanding of the early modern Mediterranean world. I thank Natalie and Ebru for challenging me, encouraging me, and teaching me how rewarding it is to work together.

The core research for this book was done in Turkey and Bulgaria between 2002 and 2004, where I met numerous people who solidified my attachment to the professional path and the topic I had chosen. Particular thanks go to Anthony Greenwood, Gulden Guneri, and Semrin Korkmaz of the American Research Institute in Turkey, who made my lengthy stay at this important establishment a wonderful experience. Through their friendship and expertise Gunhan Borekci, Sara Nur YlldlZ, Holly Shissler, Nina Ergin, Ha§im Sahin, and Erik Ohlander made the ups and downs of research seem less steep. I would like to thank the staff of the Suleymaniye Library, Ataturk Library, Ba§bakanhk (Prime Ministerial) Archive, Topkapi SaraYI Museum Library, and the Islamic Research Center (iSAM) in Istanbul for their help and excellent research conditions. In Bulgaria, I was greatly aided by Stoyanka Kenderova, director of the Oriental Collection at the "SS Cyril and Methodius" National Library in Sofia; the former head librarian, Zorka Ivanova; and Professor Rossitsa Gradeva. My research and its subsequent transformation into this book were made possible by grants from the University of Michigan, the Social Science Research Council, the American Research Institute in Turkey, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Pennsylvania State University. This study has evolved through conversation and exchanges with friends and colleagues from various fields. At Pennsylvania State University, where I taught between 2006 and 2009, colleagues David Atwill, Nina Safran, Kumkum Chatterjee, Ronnie Hsia, Gregg Roeber, Matthew Restall, and Jonathan Brockopp provided indispensable feedback on different aspects of my research. Thanks to Skype, Natalie Rothman and Ebru Turan were always there for brainstorming and trying out ideas. In the final stages of preparing the manuscript, I greatly benefited from Ussama Makdisi's challenging and constructive reading of my work. Derin Terzioglu offered insightful feedback on early modern Ottoman religious trends, while Grigor Boykov and Mariya Kiprovska generously contributed their expertise in Ottoman historical geography and mapmaking. Emine FetvaCl, Sara Nur YIldlz, and, most crucially, Gunhan Borekci helped me with finding and obtaining the cover image for the book, while Noel Putnik produced the index. Friends scattered around the world and too numerous to list made life on the tenure track seem less grim. Special thanks go to David, Yurong, Kate, and Peter Atwill, as well as to Samar Farage and Sajay Samuel for making State College a warm and happening place even during the long, uneventful winter months, and for sharing food and drinks with Tolga and me on so many occasions that we have practically become family. . At our new academic home at Central European University in Budapest, Elissa Helms, Niels Gaul, Nadia al-Bagdadi, Aziz al-Azmeh, Volker

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Acknowledgments

Menze, Constantin Iordachi, and Katalin Szende have facilitated the transition and provided a warm and friendly welcome. Nevena Ivanovic and Aleksandra Erdeg deserve my particular gratitude for reminding me all these years that there is life outside academia. I would also like to thank my editor, Norris Pope, and assistant editor, Sarah Crane Newman, at Stanford University Press for their support, understanding, and cooperation during the long process of book production, and the copyeditor, Cynthia Lindlof, for her careful reading of the manuscript. I would have never become an academic had it not been for my parents, Mirjana and Bosko Krstic, a literature teacher and a journalist/ novelist, who taught me the value and power of the written word. Their love, support, understanding, and genuine interest in what I do helped me endure long periods of separation from them. The same is true of my sister Jana, my grandmother Jelena Milankovic, and the Milankovic family. In the United States, the distance from my family was lessened by Suna and Erkan Esmer, my parents-in-law, who have embraced me as their own daughter. Our dog, Gretl, who has "supervised" the writing of two Ottomanist books and yet miraculously shows no signs of psychiatric problems, has provided indispensable companionship and diversion. Without Tolga, who has been expertly juggling the roles of partner, best friend, and colleague for the last ten years, getting to this point in my life would not have been nearly as meaningful, fun, and exciting. I can never thank him enough for everything he has shared with me, for the love and support he has given me, and for always making me see the brighter side of life.

Note on Transliteration and Pronunciation

In order to make this work reader-friendly and accessible to the audience beyond the fields of Ottoman and Middle Eastern studies, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian personal names are rendered in their Modern Turkish and Anglicized forms. Thus, I use "Ibn Arabi," not Ibn al-'Arabl; "Ebussuud" rather than Ebu's-su'iid; and "Birgivi," not Birgivl. Ottoman place-names are generally rendered in Modern Turkish, except f?r th~se frequently used in English, such as Istanbul, Sofia, and Galhpoh, whiCh appear in their Anglicized form. For the terms frequently used by scholars working on Islamic history, such as dhimma, hadith, shahada, sharia, and mahdi, I use the Anglicized version of Arabic rather than Ottoman Turkish forms. However, terms that refer to specifically Ottoman manifestations of Islamic concepts and institutions relevant for the discussion are rendered in Modern Turkish; thus, vakzf (not wakf), fetva (not fa twa) , and kadt (not qadi). Titles of works, officials' titles, specific terms that are relevant to the discussion, and quotations from texts in Ottoman Turkish are transliterated following the rules of modified Modern Turkish, which means that only long vowels are marked, along with letters 'ayn (') and hamza (') (e.g., Mecmu'atit'[-[eta'if). The rules of pronouncing Modern Turkish are as follows: C, c