Was the Ottoman Empire tolerant of other religions living in the empire?

Answer 1

Answer 1

Yes it was , people lived in peace, just like it is now in Turkey.

Answer 2

Answer 1 is correct insofar as its notes that the nature of tolerance that exists in Turkey today is reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire's stances. While the Ottoman Empire was certainly more tolerant than contemporary civilizations in the Middle Ages and early Modern Period, there was certainly a religious hierarchy.

Christians and Jews in the Empire were each governed by a Millet, which was an administrative council devoted to that religion run by the leadership of that religion as appointed by the Sultan. The Armenians, for example, had one Millet, the Greek Orthodox, another, the Slavic Orthodox, a third, and so forth. These Millets would report to the Sultan on the dealings of their religious flock and prevent them from being problematic. Non-Muslims were also required to pay the jizya tax, which was a per-person tax for the privilege of being both non-Muslim and alive at the same time. In different periods, the Ottomans also instituted the kharaj which was a land-ownership tax that applied exclusively to non-Muslims. Given the large Christian populations in the Balkans, this measure was fazed out rather quickly to avoid unrest.

However, the most egregious crime that the Ottomans perpetrated throughout their reign was the practice of devşirme, whereby young intelligent Christian boys and girls would be forcibly taken by their families and deported to Istanbul. Once in Istanbul they would be converted to Islam and trained in the Sultan's private academies. The men would become the fearsome Janissary Warriors, the elite troops of the Ottoman Army and the women would become the Sultan's attendants in the Harem (and if lucky they might give the Sultan a son).

Finally, after the loyalty shown by the Armenians to the Ottomans throughout the 1800s (as opposed to the Greeks, Bulgars, Croats, and Serbs, who openly rose up against Ottoman rule), 1.8 million Armenians were slaughtered from 1917-1919 in what Turkey refuses to call a genocide to this day. (Turkey continues to bully other countries on this issue as well.)

Turkish Tolerance issues currently are not religious as Turkey has relieved itself of most of its religious minorities. However, ethnic tensions, such as with the Kurdish population in the East, Circassian population in the Northeast, and Arab population in the South are recipients of wonderful Turkish hospitality.

Answer 2

Non-Muslims who lived in the Ottoman Empire were called Dhimmi, or second-class citizens. They lacked a number of fundamental rights such as freedom of movement, freedom of settlement, access to all occupations, and additional taxation because they were Non-Muslim. Each Dhimmi group, like the Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and so forth were organized into Millets which were community representative groups. Each Millet would report to a centralized Millet representative in Istanbul who would have direct dealing with the Imperial Palace. This would allow the Millets to air their grievances, but was more often used as a method to control the Millets and make them less resistive to Ottoman Occupation.

Admittedly, life under the Ottomans was far superior to most contemporaneous Empires. Spain was by far a more religiously and culturally intolerant place during this period as were France and England.

Finally, the Ottomans' most egregious crime against non-Muslims was the policy of devşirme, where Christian families in the Balkans region had to submit to Ottoman soldiers stealing their children to bring to them to Istanbul where they would have no contact with their parents for years and be trained to be the elite Janissary Core and be converted to Islam. No Muslim was even allowed to join the Janissaries, because the devşirme system was so effective in producing recruits loyal only to the Emperor because they feared him.

Answer 3

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