From ‘brothers in religion’ to ‘bandits’: Chechens in Mardin in the late Ottoman period

Abstract

During the nineteenth century, the Ottoman state experienced considerable difficulties in maintaining complete control of both its governance and its territories. The state therefore focused on modernising its military capabilities, as well as establishing its bureaucracy and state structure as an attempt to shore up these weaknesses. From the time of Selim III (1779–1807), the state sought to focus on improving its military capacity in order to withstand the might of hostile European powers. The Ottoman elites were also aware that the Ottoman state could not survive with the existing structure, and thus considered reform vital to maintaining the empire. In addition to the threat from external military conflicts the Ottoman state was also vulnerable because of the spread of nationalist ideas, coupled with deficits in its economy and an incompetent bureaucracy. The Russian conquest of the North Caucasus during the middle of the nineteenth century also resulted in major problems for the state, in particular the mass movement of refugees to Ottoman lands.