Early nineteenth-century British views of the Levantınes in the Ottoman Empire

Date

2024-8

Author

Özesmer, Ufuk

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The Levantines though originally a given name for the people of the Eastern Mediterranean by the Europeans began to cover the Europeans who resided permanently in significant port cities of the Ottoman Empire such as Izmir, Istanbul, Mersin, and Alexandria following the capitulations granted to European countries from the sixteenth century onwards. The privileges granted by the capitulations allowed Europeans to expand their commercial activities within the Ottoman Empire, positioning the Levantines as pivotal players in the commercial life and cultural mosaic of Eastern Mediterranean port cities. These Europeans, through extensive cultural exchanges with local Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, developed a unique cultural identity distinct from traditional European norms in aspects such as language, lifestyle, religion, dress, and living spaces. In the first half of the nineteenth century, British travelers visiting the Ottoman Empire documented their observations of the Levantine communities in their travelogues. This study examines the observations of British travelers regarding the Levantines residing in Izmir and Istanbul during this period. The primary objective is to analyze the formation of the Levantine identity, the factors contributing to this identity, and how the British perceived and evaluated this unique cultural identity. Within this framework, the study will evaluate the social, cultural, and economic lives of the Levantines in the Ottoman Empire and how these aspects were perceived and interpreted by British travelers. This examination aims to elucidatev how the Levantines developed their distinctive identity as part of the multicultural fabric of the Ottoman Empire and how this identity was assessed by British travelers.

Subject Keywords

Levantines, Ottoman Empire, British Travelers, Nineteenth Century

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110920

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis