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91-851: Cyprus was a territory of the Ottoman Empire , lastly as part of the Vilayet of the Archipelago , since it was conquered from the Republic of Venice in 1570–71. A British protectorate under nominal Ottoman suzerainty was established over Cyprus by the Cyprus Convention of 4 June 1878, following the Russo-Turkish War , in exchange for British support of the Ottomans during the Congress of Berlin . Cyprus

182-587: A massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East until the late eighteenth century. In a series of slave raids euphemistically known as the " harvesting of the steppe ", Crimean Tatars enslaved East Slavic peasants. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia suffered a series of Tatar invasions , the goal of which was to loot, pillage, and capture slaves, the Slavic languages even developed

273-731: A column in the main square and skinned alive . The fall of Famagusta marked the end of the Venetian rule and the beginning of the Ottoman period in Cyprus, with Lala Mustafa Pasha becoming the island’s first Turkish Governor. On 25 May 1571, Pope Pius V formed the Holy League , a coalition between the Papal States , Malta , Habsburg Spain , the Republic of Venice , the Republic of Genoa , and some other Italian states. Four months later, on 7 October,

364-506: A decade later, in 1925, after Britain's annexation of Cyprus was verified twice, firstly in the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920, which was never implemented, and then confirmed again in the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. King Paul of Greece declared that Cyprus desired union with Greece in 1948. A referendum was presented by the Orthodox Church of Cyprus in 1950, according to which around 97% of

455-577: A fee of "good news" from the yavaci and the latter took this fee plus other expenses from the slaves' master. Slaves could also be rented, inherited, pawned , exchanged or given as gifts. Slaves were used for a number of different roles and tasks within the Ottoman Empire. There was an informal racial hierarchy among slaves. White male slaves were often used for potentially influential positions as military slaves. White female slaves were preferred by wealthy men as harem concubines, while black female slaves were used as maidservants or domestic laborers. On

546-422: A few of those wretched creatures are in a state quite unfit for being sold. I have it on the authority of a respectable slave-broker that at the present moment there have been thrown on the market unusually large numbers of negresses in the family way, some of them even slaves of pashas and men of rank. He finds them so unsalable that he has been obliged to decline receiving any more. A single observation will explain

637-545: A fief of the Grand Vizier (1703–1745 and 1748–1784); and again an eyalet for the short period from 1745 to 1748. During Venetian rule, the Ottomans at times raided Cyprus. In 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Ottomans attacked the Karpass Peninsula , pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery . In 1539 the Ottoman fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol . Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire ,

728-508: A long history in the Muslim world and was in accordance with Islamic law. The enslavement of war captives was ongoing from the beginning of the Ottoman conquests until the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829). During the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829), the Ottoman practiced wide scale enslavement of Greeks. An occasion which attracted particular attention were the large-scale enslavement of

819-597: A sanjak under the Eyalet of the Archipelago , under the direct control of the Kapudan Pasha , the head of the Ottoman Navy. This control was exercised through an appointed mütesellim . However, under this system, local aghas were the tax collectors. This magnified their power and resulted in discontent, with the rivalry between them causing a two-year long revolt in the 1680s, led by Boyacıoğlu Mehmed Agha . This proved that

910-446: A sanjak under the Vilayet of the Archipelago under the newly established vilayet system. This would not last long, as the vilayet was administered from Çanakkale , and the long distance made the administration impractical. With the efforts of Archbishop Sophronios III of Cyprus, as well as given the drought and ravages of locusts, Cyprus was made an independent mutasarrifate once again in 1870. This arrangement lasted until 1878, when

1001-483: A term for the Ottoman slavery ( Polish : jasyr , based on Turkish and Arabic words for capture - esir or asir ). The borderland area to the south-east was in a state of semi-permanent warfare until the 18th century. It is estimated that up to 75% of the Crimean population consisted of slaves or freed slaves . The 17th century Ottoman writer and traveller Evliya Çelebi estimated that there were about 400,000 slaves in

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1092-628: Is difficult to test the truth of such an assertion as, in any case, the traffic is carried on secretly". The Trans-Saharan slave trade via Libya was not eradicated until late into the Italian colonial period of Libya. For centuries, large vessels on the Mediterranean relied on European galley slaves supplied by Ottoman and Barbary slave traders . Hundreds of thousands of Europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves in North Africa and

1183-984: Is got rid of by infanticide, and that there is hardly a family in Stanboul where infanticide is not practiced in such cases as a mere matter of course, and without the least remorse or dread. The Ottoman slave traders were sorted by professional guilds . The slave guilds were categorized by the category of slaves sold. The slave merchants who traded in white slaves were given a higher status: white slaves were viewed as luxury possessions and sold for higher prices, and dealers in white slaves were consequently more wealthy, catered to rich clients, and given highest professional status than slave traders who specialized in black African slaves. In Cairo, for example, slave merchants who dealt in white slaves were (in contrast to their colleagues) allowed to join prestigious merchant guilds. Slaves were traded in special marketplaces called "Esir" or "Yesir" that were located in most towns and cities, central to

1274-738: Is the Bekir Pasha Aqueduct , built under the auspices of Ebubekir Pasha between 1746 and 1748. This aqueduct supplied fresh water to Larnaca and prior to its construction, local residents had to carry water on their backs for two hours. Silihtar aqueduct , built between 1801 and 1803, and the Arab Ahmet aqueduct supplied water to Nicosia. The authorities also encouraged the construction and improvement of artificial channels for water supply and irrigation, which greatly increased crop yield and allowed large-scale fruit production. Among villages described as prosperous due to artificial irrigation upon

1365-506: The Black Sea slave trade have totaled around 2.5 million from 1453 to 1700. Individual members of the Ottoman slave class, called a kul in Turkish , could achieve high status in some positions. Eunuch harem guards and janissaries are some of the better known positions an enslaved person could hold, but enslaved women were actually often supervised by them. However, women played and held

1456-616: The Caucasus , Eastern Europe , Southern Europe , Central Europe , Southeast Europe , the Western Mediterranean and Africa . It has been reported that the selling price of slaves decreased after large military operations. In Constantinople (present-day Istanbul ), the administrative and political center of the Ottoman Empire, about a fifth of the 16th- and 17th-century population consisted of slaves. Statistics of these centuries suggest that Istanbul's additional slave imports from

1547-623: The Damascus Eyalet . The sanjaks of İçel, Alâiye and Tarsus were also removed in 1610 and given to the newly created Adana Eyalet . However, after the Ottoman conquest of Crete , the Cypriot Orthodox Church argued that Cyprus had lost importance, that trade volume had decreased and that people were emigrating. It thus requested a change in the administrative status as Cyprus could not afford remaining an eyalet. Thus, in 1670, Cyprus became

1638-575: The Dragoman , chosen from the candidates determined by the Archbishop. The muhassıl administration slowly became more and more dysfunctional. In 1764, muhassıl Çil Osman Agha was killed amidst a chaotic environment caused by his rule. Meanwhile, the ongoing war with Russia meant a deterioration in the people's welfare. Thus, on the request of the Archbishop and the Dragoman, Cyprus was placed directly under

1729-457: The Grand Vizier by introducing another source of power to the capital. After being purchased by a member of the Ottoman court , Mullah Ali was introduced to the first chief Black eunuch , Mehmed Aga. Due to Mehmed Aga's influence, Mullah Ali was able to make connections with prominent colleges and tutors of the day, including Hoca Sadeddin Efendi (1536/37–1599), the tutor of Murad III. Through

1820-661: The Greek Cypriot population wanted the union. The Greek petition and enosis became an international issue when it was accepted by the United Nations . The Cyprus Emergency was a military action that took place in Cyprus from 1955 to 1959. The Cyprus Emergency primarily consisted of a campaign by the Greek Cypriot military group EOKA to remove the British from Cyprus so it could be unified with Greece. Signed on 19 February 1959,

1911-575: The Karpas Peninsula . In Karavas , streams were diverted into artificial channels to supply water to the village. In the 19th century, a major effort was undertaken by a series of Ottoman governors to straighten and regulate the course of the Pedieos . Edhem Pasha, who served as governor in the 1840s, completed the construction of the Larnaca-Nicosia road and several bridges. Governor Mehmet Halet in

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2002-523: The London and Zurich Agreements started the process for the constitution of an independent Cyprus. The United Kingdom granted independence to Cyprus on 16 August 1960 and formed the Republic of Cyprus . Archbishop Makarios III , a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected as the first president of independent Cyprus. As part of the independence agreement, the United Kingdom retained possession of

2093-781: The Ottoman Empire and the Middle East . The Crimean slave trade was one of the biggest suppliers of concubines (female sex slaves) to the Ottoman Imperial Harem , and virgin slave girls (normally arriving as children) were given to the Sultan from local statesmen, family members, grand dignitaries and provincial governors, and particularly from the Crimean Khan ; the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III received one hundred Circassian virgin girl slaves as presents upon his accession to

2184-823: The Quran to debunk stereotypes and prejudice against dark-skinned people and to delegitimize arguments for why Africans should be slaves. Today, thousands of Afro Turks , the descendants of the Zanj slaves in the Ottoman Empire, continue to live in modern Turkey . An Afro-Turk, Mustafa Olpak , founded the first officially recognised organisation of Afro-Turks, the Africans' Culture and Solidarity Society (Afrikalılar Kültür ve Dayanışma Derneği) in Ayvalık . Olpak claims that about 2,000 Afro-Turks live in modern Turkey. The Upper Nile Valley and southern Ethiopia were also significant sources of slaves in

2275-551: The Red Sea slave trade . In 1838, it was estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 slaves were arriving in Egypt annually using this route . A significant number of these slaves were young women, and European travelers in the region recorded seeing large numbers of Ethiopian slaves in the Arab world at the time. The Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt estimated that 5,000 Ethiopian slaves passed through

2366-510: The janissaries . Most of the military commanders of the Ottoman forces, imperial administrators, and de facto rulers of the Empire, such as Sokollu Mehmed Pasha , were recruited in this way. By 1609, the Sultan's Kapıkulu forces increased to about 100,000. The Ottoman Empire practiced the custom of enslaving both soldiers and civilians from enemy states during wartime. This form of enslavement had

2457-438: The kadı , who kept them for three months and, unless their enslaver had appeared to collect them, would have them sold on the slave market. To manumit a slave was described as a good act, and often practiced to be forgiven of sins at the close of death of the slave owner. Former slaves normally had little choice but to continue to work for their former owners, since there where little opportunities for them after manumission. If

2548-524: The slave market of Ottoman Crete produces details about the prices of slaves. Factors such as age, race, virginity , etc. significantly influenced prices. The most expensive slaves were those between 10 and 35 years of age, with the highest prices for European virgin girls 13–25 years of age and teenage boys. The cheaper slaves were those with disabilities and sub-Saharan Africans . Prices in Crete ranged between 65 and 150 " esedi guruş " (see Kuruş ). But even

2639-517: The 1850s further improved the road network and harbour of Larnaca and established a grain store and market in Nicosia to encourage cattle breeding. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire Slavery was a major institution and a significant part of the Ottoman Empire 's economy and traditional society. The main sources of slaves were wars and politically organized enslavement expeditions in

2730-631: The Black Sea and Caucasus. Africa was a major target supply of slaves for the Ottoman Empire. The Africans were largely Pagans and hence were viewed as legitimate targets of slavery by Islamic Law. Slaves were trafficked to the Ottoman Empire via three main routes: the Trans-Saharan slave trade via Egypt and Libya; the Red Sea slave trade across the Red Sea; and the Indian Ocean slave trade from East Africa via

2821-587: The British authorities in Cyprus listed 81 mosques that belonged to the Evkaf Administration in Cyprus. This figure is believed to be a major underestimation by archaeologist Tuncer Bağışkan. Two of the most prominent Muslim religious sites built in the Ottoman period are Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaca and Arab Ahmet Mosque in Nicosia. The Ottoman administration brought a significant improvement to Cyprus in terms of water supply. The most notable example of this

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2912-516: The British takeover of the island are Morphou , Lapithos , Polis , Lefka , Avdimou and Kolossi . Samuel Baker , who visited Cyprus in 1879, noted "mills turned by water" and "narrow lanes streaming with water" in Lefka. He also wrote that "every garden and farm was irrigated by water conducted from the mountains in artificial channels" in the northern slopes of the Kyrenia Mountains extending to

3003-465: The British took over the island. The Ottoman occupation brought about two radical changes to the history of the island: A new ethnic element appeared on the island, the Turks , while Cypriots now had a new ruler, the Ottomans. The Ottoman Empire gave timars —land grants—to soldiers under the condition that they and their families would stay there permanently. An action of far-reaching importance because

3094-682: The Crimea but only 187,000 free Muslims. Polish historian Bohdan Baranowski assumed that in the 17th century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (present-day Poland , Ukraine and Belarus ) lost an average of 20,000 yearly and as many as one million in all years combined from 1500 to 1644. A Hutterite chronicle reports that in 1605, during the Long Turkish War , some 240 Hutterites were abducted from their homes in Upper Hungary by

3185-425: The Empire. While Muslims could only enslave non-Muslims, the conversion of a non-Muslim slave to Islam after their enslavement did not require the enslaver to manumit his slave. Since all non-Muslims outside of Muslim lands were legitimate targets of enslavement, there were slaves of different races. Officially, there were no difference made between slaves of difference races, but in practice, white slaves were given

3276-729: The Greek Cypriots in Larnaca and the other towns. By September 1822, sixty-two Cypriot villages and hamlets had entirely disappeared. In 1869 the Suez Canal opened, and the United Kingdom showed increasing interest in the island, which is situated in what had suddenly become a very convenient location. When the Ottomans were defeated by the Russians in 1877 and the Berlin Congress took place

3367-650: The Greek population on Chios after the Chios massacre of 1822. This incident attracted great attention in Europe and gave the Ottoman Empire bad publicity. It ultimately resulted in the first anti-slavery reform, the Firman of 1830 . Slavery was regulated by the Seriat , the religious Islamic Law, and by the secular Sultan's law Kanun , which was essentially supplementary regulations to facilitate

3458-769: The Indian Ocean and the Arabian Peninsula. These slave routes were all inherited from the previous Muslim Empire. As there were restrictions on the enslavement of Muslims and of " People of the Book " (Jews and Christians) living under Muslim rule, pagan areas in Africa became a popular source of slaves. Known as the Zanj ( Bantu ), these slaves originated mainly from the African Great Lakes region as well as from Central Africa . The Zanj were employed in households, on plantations and in

3549-482: The Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 19th centuries. During the height of the Barbary slave trade in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the Barbary states, with the exception of Morocco , were nominally part of the Ottoman empire, but de facto independent. Many slaves captured by the Barbary corsairs were sold eastward into Ottoman territories before, during, and after Barbary's period of Ottoman rule. While most of

3640-524: The Ottoman Empire. Although the Christian Ethiopians defeated the Ottoman invaders, they did not tackle enslavement of southern pagans and Muslims as long as they were paid taxes by the Ottoman slave traders. Pagans and Muslims from southern Ethiopian areas such as Kaffa and Jimma were taken north to Ottoman Egypt and also to ports on the Red Sea for export to Arabia and the Persian Gulf via

3731-411: The Ottoman Empire. It is said that Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" established the first Ottoman slave market in Constantinople in the 1460s, probably where the former Byzantine slave market had stood. According to Nicolas de Nicolay , there were slaves of all ages and both sexes, most were displayed naked to be thoroughly checked – especially children and young women – by possible buyers. A study of

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3822-419: The Ottoman Empire. The center of the Black Sea slave trade were the Crimea. The Crimean Khanate conducted regular slave raids in to Eastern Europe, known as Crimean-Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe . The captives were taken to the Crimea, were they were divided between the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, since the Crimean Khanate was the vassal of the Ottoman Empire. The Crimean Khanate maintained

3913-407: The Ottoman Turkish army and their Tatar allies, and sold into Ottoman slavery. Many worked in the palace or for the Sultan personally. In the devşirme , which connotes "draft", "blood tax" or "child collection", young Christian boys from the Balkans and Anatolia were taken from their homes and families, forcibly converted to Islam, and enlisted into the most famous branch of the Kapıkulu ,

4004-500: The Ottoman Turks promoted, wanting to have somebody responsible for the loyalty of the Greek flock. In this way, the Church undertook the task of the guardian of the Greek cultural legacy until the island was ceded to Britain. Many Greek Cypriots supported the Greek independence effort that began in 1821, leading to severe reprisals by the Ottoman Empire . On 15 October 1821, a massive Turkish mob seized and hanged an archbishop, five bishops, thirty six ecclesiastics, and hanged most of

4095-436: The Ottomans eventually breached the fortifications, a massacre of most remaining Christians in the city followed, despite the Ottoman commander previously agreeing that in return for the city's surrender, Christians would be guaranteed safe passage to Crete. Bragadin had his ears and nose cut off and, after thrown in prison for two weeks, he was dragged round the walls with sacks of earth and stone on his back, then tied naked to

4186-404: The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia as a British Overseas Territory . In March 1961 at the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference , Cyprus became an independent republic in the Commonwealth of Nations , and Archbishop Makarios III became both a Commonwealth head of state and a Commonwealth head of government . In 1961, the Republic of Cyprus became the 99th member of

4277-470: The Sultan and other educational subjects, the Ottomans created administrators with intricate knowledge of government and fanatic loyalty. Other slaves were simply laborers used for hard labor, such as for example agricultural laborers and galley slaves . Female slaves were primarily used as either domestic house servants or as concubines (sex slaves), who were subjected to harem gender segregation. While there where slaves of many different ethnicities and race

4368-464: The UK agreed to support the Ottoman Empire in the Russian-Turkish War . This agreement was formalised as the Cyprus Convention . During the Ottoman era, numerous mosques, masjids , churches, public baths, bazaars, caravanserais , medreses , schools and libraries were built in Cyprus. Ottoman architecture in Cyprus is closely linked to mainstream Ottoman architecture , however, there are some features that make it distinctly Cypriot. This stems from

4459-439: The United Nations. Ottoman Cyprus The Eyalet of Cyprus ( Ottoman Turkish : ایالت قبرص , Eyālet-i Ḳıbrıṣ ) was an eyalet (province) of the Ottoman Empire made up of the island of Cyprus , which was annexed into the Empire in 1571. The Ottomans changed the way they administered Cyprus multiple times. It was a sanjak (sub-province) of the Eyalet of the Archipelago from 1670 to 1703, and again from 1784 onwards;

4550-508: The Venetians had fortified Famagusta , Nicosia , and Kyrenia , but most other cities were easy prey. In the summer of 1570, the Ottomans struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. About 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia . The city fell on September 9, 1570; 20,000 Nicosians were massacred and every church , public building, and palace

4641-459: The Venetians left Cyprus, removing the influence of the Roman Catholic Church . As soon as Nicosia was conquered, Cyprus was declared an eyalet under the administration of a beylerbey , and Lala Mustafa Pasha , the former beylerbey of Avlonya , was appointed to the post. Cyprus was divided into three sanjaks : Famagusta, Kyrenia and Paphos. Additionally, the sanjaks of Alâiye , Tarsus , İçel , Sis , Zülkadriye and Tripoli (Trablusşam) on

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4732-408: The administration of the Imperial Council in 1785, with the muhassıl being directly appointed. These new muhassıl s lacked some of their old powers, which greatly increased the influence of the Orthodox clergy as they became tax collectors. In 1839, with the reforms of Abdülmecid I , the island once again became a sanjak of the Eyalet of the Archipelago but gained significant autonomy. The island

4823-406: The army as slave-soldiers. Some could ascend to become high-rank officials, but in general Zanj were considered inferior to European and Caucasian slaves. One way for Zanj slaves to serve in high-ranking roles involved becoming one of the African eunuchs of the Ottoman palace. This position was used as a political tool by Sultan Murad III ( r.  1574–1595 ) as an attempt to destabilize

4914-410: The basis of a list of estates belonging to members of the ruling class kept in Edirne between 1545 and 1659, the following data was collected: out of 93 estates, 41 had slaves. The total number of slaves in the estates was 140; 54 female and 86 male. 134 of them bore Muslim names, 5 were not defined, and 1 was a Christian woman. Some of these slaves appear to have been employed on farms. In conclusion,

5005-437: The early 20th century. The institution of slavery in the Ottoman Empire was modelled on the institution of slavery in the previous Muslim empires of the Middle East: the slavery in the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the slavery in the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), slavery in the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) and slavery in the Mamluk Sultanate (1258–1516), which in turn were all built upon slavery in Islamic Law . Slavery

5096-425: The enslaver to manumit his slave. The child of a slave was born a slave, unless the male slave owner acknowledged the child of his female slave as his. It was difficult for a runaway slave to hide and survive in the Ottoman society, which was a society with tight social control where everyone knew each other. Runaway slaves who were caught and not able to present proof of their free status, would be kept in arrest by

5187-422: The existing system caused a power vacuum and was ineffective, so in 1703 Cyprus was placed directly under the control of the Grand Vizier , administered on his behalf by a muhassıl . To reduce the powers of the aghas, the muhassıl was given the power to collect taxes, as well as increased political and military authority. Between 1745 and 1748, Cyprus briefly became an eyalet again. These three years, especially

5278-417: The fact that, whilst leaving Greek Orthodox churches intact, many buildings used by the Catholics, built in Gothic architecture , were converted into mosques or palaces, such as the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque in Famagusta and Selimiye Mosque in Nicosia. These buildings were later modified for use and thus synthesised with distinctly Ottoman elements. Gothic architecture also influenced Ottoman architecture in

5369-407: The harem. Men, aside from the male head of the household, were forbidden to enter the harem. However, eunuchs were allowed to move freely inside and outside the harem and acted as protectors of the women. This position gave eunuchs the ability to have access to the ruler's living quarters. A common consequence of this segregation of the ruler from the rest of the house while in the harem, gave eunuchs

5460-437: The highest status, with Ethiopians second and fully black African slaves given the lowest status among slaves. Slaves were transported to the Ottoman Empire via several different routes, targeting different supply sources. The Ottoman Empire focused on three main slave trade routes: white slaves from the Balkans used for military slavery; black slaves imported from Africa, often from Sudan via Egypt; and white slaves imported via

5551-411: The highest status, with Ethiopians second and fully black African slaves given the lowest status among slaves. Enslaved people were sold for different prices depending on their race, and were considered to have different ability, and be suitable for different tasks, because of their race and ethnicity. The Ottoman Empire kept genders segregated in the harems and concubines were not allowed to leave

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5642-442: The imperial council. At this time, he had risen to such power that a French ambassador described him as the person who truly ran the empire. Although Mullah Ali was often challenged because of his blackness and his connection to the African eunuchs, he was able to defend himself through his powerful network of support and his own intellectual productions. As a prominent scholar, he wrote an influential book in which he used logic and

5733-402: The implementation of the Seriat law. Islamic Law allowed for Muslims to enslave non-Muslims, unless they were zimmis (protected minorities who had accepted Muslim rule), and slaves were therefore non-Muslims imported from non-Muslim lands outside of the Empire. While Muslims could only enslave non-Muslims, the conversion of a non-Muslim slave to Islam after their enslavement did not require

5824-543: The island as Gothic elements were used by the Ottomans, such as in the minaret of Cami Kebir in Larnaca. The two surviving caravanserais are the monumental Büyük Han and Kumarcilar Han in Nicosia, considered to be some of the finest examples of Ottoman architecture in the island. The best known of the many libraries is the Library of Mahmud II . Bazaars were very important parts of Ottoman commercial lives and in 1872, 23 bazaars were present in Nicosia alone, each with its own specialty. In 1883, waqf reports published by

5915-401: The lowest prices were affordable to only high income persons. For example, in 1717 a 12-year-old boy with mental disabilities was sold for 27 guruş , an amount that could buy in the same year 462 kg (1,019 lb) of lamb meat, 933 kg (2,057 lb) of bread or 1,385 L (366 US gal) of milk. In 1671 a female slave was sold in Crete for 350 guruş , while at the same time

6006-427: The mainland were placed under the administration of the Cyprus eyalet. Cyprus was also divided into several kaza s: Tuzla , Limassol , Episkopi , Kythrea , Paphos , Kukla , Lefka , Morphou , Hirsofu , Famagusta , Kyrenia and Mesariye . These kaza s each had their own kadı or naib . The sanjak of Tripoli, however, was removed from the jurisdiction of Cyprus in 1573 due to its distance and given to

6097-470: The most important roles within the harem institution. A large percentage of officials in the Ottoman government were bought as slaves, raised free, and integral to the success of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to 19th centuries. Many enslaved officials themselves owned numerous slaves, although the Sultan himself owned by far the most. By raising and specially training slaves as officials in palace schools such as Enderun , where they were taught to serve

6188-432: The naval forces of the League, composed mainly of Venetian, Spanish, and Papal ships under the command of Don John of Austria , defeated the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in one of the decisive battles in general — and naval battles in particular — of world history. The victory over the Ottomans, however, came too late to help Cyprus, and the island remained under Ottoman rule for the next three centuries. In 1573

6279-401: The network he had built with the help of his education and the black eunuchs, Mullah Ali secured several positions early on. He worked as a teacher in Istanbul , a deputy judge, and an inspector of royal endowments . In 1620, Mullah Ali was appointed as chief judge of the capital and in 1621 he became the kadiasker , or chief judge, of the European provinces and the first black man to sit on

6370-447: The next year in order to revise the Treaty of San Stefano which was signed by Russia and the Ottoman Empire according to terms dictated by the former, it was officially announced on 9 July 1878 that on the 4th of preceding June, the British and the Sultan had secretly countersigned the Convention of Constantinople by virtue of which the possession and administration of Cyprus was vested in Great Britain. As exchange for control of Cyprus,

6461-545: The port of Suakin alone every year, headed for Arabia, and added that most of them were young women who ended up being prostituted by their owners. The English traveler Charles M. Doughty later (in the 1880s) also recorded Ethiopian slaves in Arabia, and stated that they were brought to Arabia every year during the Hajj pilgrimage. In some cases, female Ethiopian slaves were preferred to male ones, with some Ethiopian slave cargoes recording female-to-male slave ratios of two to one. Zubay Manaus of northern Sudan, whom achieved

6552-546: The predefined soldiers became the nucleus of the island's Turkish community. During the 17th century the Turkish population grew rapidly, partly by Greek conversion (including converts who retained some pre-Islamic practices ) joined to them. Most of the Turks who had settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus—although not sovereignty —was ceded to Britain in 1878. The distinction between

6643-632: The rank of bey and pasha was an infamous slaver. Ottoman Libya (1551-1912) was a major route for the Trans-Saharan slave trade from Sub-Saharan Africa across the Sahara to the Ottoman Empire. Even though the slave trade was officially abolished in Tripoli by the Firman of 1857 , this law was never enforced, and continued in practice at least until the 1890s. The British Consul in Benghazi wrote in 1875 that

6734-420: The reason of this, which might appear strange when compared with the value that is attached even to an unborn black baby in some slave countries. In Constantinople it is evident that there is a very large number of negresses living and having habitual intercourse with their Turkish masters—yet it is a rare thing to see a mulatto. What becomes of the progeny of such intercourse? I have no hesitation in saying that it

6825-458: The reign of governor Ebubekir Pasha (1746–48), were a period of development and relative prosperity. After the end of Ebubekir Pasha's tenure, Cyprus reverted to its former status. Greek Cypriots had two very important administrative positions: the Archbishop, who headed the Orthodox Church, was recognized as the sole representative of the Greek Cypriot population from the 1670s onwards, and

6916-550: The role of message bearers. During the course of the Harem, racial segregation became common between eunuchs. Slave traders of white circassian slaves enjoyed more business clout due to the inflated value of whiteness that existed during the Ottoman Empire. While African slave girls were used as maidservants as well as for sexual services, white slave girls were primarily used as concubines (sex slaves) and were more expensive. The preference of white girls over African girls as sex slaves

7007-589: The slave raids occurred in the Western Mediterranean, some raiders plundered as far north as Ireland , the Faroe Islands , and Iceland . The barbary slave trade was ended with the Barbary wars in the early 19th-century. During the early modern Crimean slave trade , the trade of Circassians from the Caucasus expanded and developed in to what was termed a luxury slave trade route, providing elite slaves to

7098-589: The slave trade had reached an enormous scale and that the slaves who were sold in Alexandria and Constantinople had quadrupled in price. This trade, he wrote, was encouraged by the local government . The slave trade in Libya continued throughout the Ottoman period. Adolf Vischer writes in an article published in 1911 that: "...it has been said that slave traffic is still going on on the Benghazi- Wadai route, but it

7189-631: The slaves did leave their former owners, they rarely had any other choice but to rely on private charities which were established in some cities; such organizations were often managed by Europeans, but in Constantinople, there was a society of former female slaves known as godyas who offered assistance to manumitted slaves. Since all non-Muslims outside of Muslim lands were legitimate targets of enslavement, there were slaves of different races. Officially, there were no difference made between slaves of difference races, but in practice, white slaves were given

7280-417: The temptation to possess a Circassian girl at such low prices is so great in the minds of the Turks that many who cannot afford to keep several slaves have been sending their blacks to market, in order to make room for a newly-purchased white girl. The consequence is that numbers of black women, after being as many as eight or ten years in the same hands, have lately been consigned to the broker for disposal. Not

7371-621: The throne. When the Crimean slave trade was ended with the Annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire in the 18th-century, the trade of Circassians was redirected from Crimea and went directly from the Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire, developing in to a separate slave trade which continued until the 20th-century. The Black Sea slave trade were a major supply source of slaves to

7462-453: The time of Sultan Murad I (1362–1389). Pençik was collected both in money and in kind, the latter including slaves as well. Tax was not collected in some cases of war captives. With war captives, slaves were given to soldiers and officers as a motive to participate in war. The recapture of runaway slaves was a job for private individuals called " yavacis ". Whoever managed to find a runaway enslaved person seeking their freedom would collect

7553-469: The two groups was by both religion and language . The Ottomans applied the millet system to Cyprus, which allowed religious authorities to govern their own non-Muslim minorities. This system reinforced the position of the Orthodox Church as the ethno-religious institution of the ethnic Greek population. Gradually, the Archbishop of Cyprus became not only religious but ethnic leader as well, something

7644-594: The value of a large two-floor house with a garden in Chania was 300 guruş . There were various taxes to be paid on the importation and selling of slaves. One of them was the " pençik " or " penç-yek " tax, literally meaning "one fifth". This taxation was based on verses of the Quran , according to which one fifth of the spoils of war belonged to God , to the Prophet and his family , to orphans, to those in need and to travelers. The Ottomans probably started collecting pençik at

7735-488: Was governed by a mutasarrıf , the kaza s were consolidated into six larger kaza s with their own administrative and judicial councils. A sanjak administrative council, in which Turks , Greeks and other minorities were proportionally represented, was established. In 1861, Cyprus became an independent mutasarrifate under the direct control of the Sublime Porte . However, this changed again in 1868, when Cyprus became

7826-417: Was looted. Only women and boys who were captured to be sold as slaves were spared. Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. The citizens of Famagusta, on the other hand, led by Venetian commander Marco Antonio Bragadin , put up a heroic resistance which led to the siege of the city for about a year, from September 1570 until August 1571. When

7917-408: Was not the determined factor in who could be enslaved, there was still a racial hierarchy among slaves, since slaves where valued and assigned tasks and considered to have different abilities due to racial stereotypes. Even after several measures to ban slave trade and restrict slavery, introduced due to Western diplomatic pressure in the late 19th century, the practice continued largely unabated into

8008-475: Was noted by the international press, when the slave market was flooded by white girls in the 1850s due to the Circassian genocide , which resulted in the price for white slave girls to become cheaper and Muslim men who were not able to buy white girls before now exchanged their black slave women for white ones. The New York Daily Times reported on August 6, 1856: In former times a "good middling" Circassian girl

8099-465: Was regulated by the Seriat , the religious Islamic Law, and by the secular Sultan's law Kanun , which was essentially supplementary regulations to facilitate the implementation of the Seriat law. Islamic Law allowed for Muslims to enslave non-Muslims, unless they were zimmis (protected minorities who had accepted Muslim rule), and slaves were therefore non-Muslims imported from non-Muslim lands outside of

8190-568: Was then proclaimed a British protectorate and was informally integrated into the British Empire . This remained in place until 5 November 1914, when after the Ottomans joined the Central Powers , in turn entering World War I , Britain declared the complete annexation of Cyprus into the British Empire, albeit under a military administration status. The Crown Colony of Cyprus was proclaimed

8281-402: Was thought very cheap at 100 pounds, but at the present moment the same description of goods may be had for 5 pounds! [...] Formerly a Circassian slave girl was pretty sure of being bought into a good family, where not only good treatment, but often rank and fortune awaited her; but at present low rates she may be taken by any huxter who never thought of keeping a slave before. Another evil is that

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