Dimensions of the Ottoman Administrative System

Abstract

In my essay after a short presentation of the administrative system of the Ottoman Empire with my deductive approach I focus on analysing the millet system of the Ottomans. My goal is to prove that millets played as important role in the Ottoman administrative system as territorial units. They had not only religious but also administrative significance. In my conclusion I claim that in the Ottoman administrative system the two systems operated in parallel, so the Ottomans could administer both the military system and the ethnically and religiously highly diversified population of the conquered territories. Analysing the results of the Ottoman past – as a modern legal history trend – in my opinion, strongly contributes to understanding the current situation in Turkey.