Sened-i ittifak

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The Sened-i ittifak ( Ottoman سند اتفاق İA sened-i ittifāḳ , German , alliance contract, alliance pact, document of agreement, document of unanimity ' ) is an agreement between the Ottoman Grand Vizier Alemdar Mustafa Pascha and several local rulers ( Ayan ) , which was concluded on October 7, 1808 and which later became obsolete due to later reforms of the Ottoman provinces. In return for their loyalty to the newly installed Sultan Mahmud II , the property and title of the local rulers were to become hereditary - as an essential innovation compared to the previous political order.

history

As Wali (governor) of Eyâlet Silistria (from February 4, 1807) Alemdar Mustafa Pascha belonged to a group of regional rulers (aʿyān) in the Ottoman Empire. In the course of the 18th century they had achieved increasing political independence from the central government in Constantinople , which was based on its own military power. After the failure of Sultan Selim III's reforms . Mustafa Pascha marched with an army to Constantinople in 1808 to assist the Sultan. There the janissaries had already proclaimed Mustafa IV as sultan. On July 19, 1808, the pasha arrived in the capital. On July 28, 1808, Selim was executed on the orders of Mustafa IV, who tried to thwart his impending disempowerment. Mustafa IV was nevertheless deposed and his brother Mahmud, who had escaped the executioners, ascended the throne. Mustafa Pasha himself accepted the office of Grand Vizier. Mahmud II was forced to accept the Sened-i ittifak, although he himself was not involved in the negotiations, in order to secure the loyalty of the influential provincial rulers. During an uprising of the Janissaries, who were in alliance with the Ottoman Ulemâ , the Grand Vizier was killed on November 14, 1808. Neither his successors ratified the agreement nor did the Sultan. In the course of the reforms of Mahmud II, the agreement with the Ayan became obsolete.

Content of the agreement

In the Sened-i ittifak the Ayan pledged to be loyal to the Sultan, to make their troops available to him if necessary and to protect the state treasury. In addition, they should also obey the orders of the Grand Vizier and not interfere in the concerns of other ayan. In contrast, the Sublime Porte recognized the Ayan and their claims to rule as legitimate and hereditary. The Ayan should come to the aid of the Sultan in case of revolts. The Grand Vizier finally agreed to consult the Ayan on taxation issues, while the Ayan could "not oppress the poor."

meaning

The document of unanimity "is considered the first step towards an Ottoman constitution" and is usually placed at the beginning of Turkish constitutional history. Had the agreement been successful, it would have meant the transformation of the Ottoman Empire from an (at least formal) autocracy of the Sultan into a feudal state order . The historian Caroline Finkel illustrates the importance of the agreement by comparing the Sened-i ittifak and the English Magna Carta .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kemal Gözler: Türk Anayasa Hukuku. Ekin Kitabevi Yayınları, Bursa 2000, pp. 3-12 (online) .
  2. ↑ a b Christopher K. Neumann: Political and diplomatic developments . In: Surayia N. Faroqhi (ed.): Cambridge History of Turkey: The later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839 . tape 3 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 2006, ISBN 978-0-521-62095-6 , pp. 60, 130 .
  3. ↑ Ali Yaycioglu: Sened-i Ittifak (1808): Ottoman İmperatorluğu'nda Bir Ortaklık ve Entegrasyon Denemesi . In: Seyfi Kenan (ed.): Nizâm-ı Kādîm'den Nizâm-ı Cedîd'e III. Selim ve Dönemi . İSAM, Istanbul 2010, p. 667-709 .
  4. ↑ Kemal Beydilli: Alemdar Mustafa Paşa. In: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi. Volume 2, Istanbul 1989, p. 364 f., Here: p. 364, islamansiklopedisi.info (PDF; 1.6 MB).
  5. ↑ Gottfried Plagemann: From Allah's Law to Modernization by Law. Law and Legislation in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. Lit Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-8258-0114-4 , p. 84 with additional information
  6. ↑ Christian Rumpf: The Turkish constitutional system. Introduction with complete constitutional text. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1996, ISBN 3-447-03831-4 , p. 37.
  7. ↑ Klaus Kreiser: The Ottoman State 1300-1922. 2nd Edition. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-486-58588-9 , p. 36.
  8. ^ Caroline Finkel: Osman's dream: The history of the Ottoman Empire . Basic Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-465-00850-6 , pp. 419–425 ( limited preview in Google Book search).