중동부유럽

From the year of establishment on, the Ottoman Empire carried out a policy of enlargement towards the west where non-Muslim inhabited. As it set out with the idea of “Gaza” (holy war), the Ottoman Empire first annexed the west of Anatolia and later the central regions of Europe and the Balkans. The Ottoman State did not interfere with the established rules, traditions and beliefs of people who were old residents in the new conquered lands. It gave large freedoms to people in conquered lands and preferred to make a harmony with them and classified the citizens under its rule according to their religion/sect. It is not sensible to claim that just military power led non-Muslims, who lived under the Ottoman rule for about five/six centuries, to live under the rule of another state for so long. Within the frame of the rights of Dhimmies and national system, religious, juridical, economic and social rights granted to non-Muslims help us understand the reason why non-Muslims were loyal to the Ottoman State for so long.In this article, the causes of faith of non-Muslims to the Ottoman State have been assessed and this assessment has been made based on the sources of that period. These documents from Ottoman Archives, which have not been used yet, belong to Ottoman period from 16th to 19th century. These documents have been selected from Şer’iye Sicilleri (the Qadi’s archives/Shari’a local court records) and Ahkâm-Şikâyet Defterleri (Register of Verdicts-Complaint) called records of Divan-ı Hümayun (Council of State).