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Collaboration in Ottoman Governance: The c. 1907 Imperial Census and the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Istanbul

Ohanian, Daniel · 2017

Ohanian argues that critical and uncritical scholars alike tend to treat Ottoman Armenians as a cohesive group, and sets out to disrupt that habit. He first critiques the millet-system paradigm, then turns to historiographic debates over late Ottoman demographic data, a topic that has generated considerable tension between Ottoman studies and Armenian studies. Using the c. 1907 imperial census as a case study, he documents cooperation between the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Istanbul and the Ottoman Ministry of the Interior. The example demonstrates the interdependence of the two bodies and shows that while some Armenians were victims or opponents of the late Ottoman state, others were deeply entrenched within it.

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Published in
Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 365–380 (Indiana University Press); DOI 10.2979/jottturstuass.4.2.07
Year
2017
Language
English
DOI
10.2979/jottturstuass.4.2.07

Citation

Ohanian, Daniel 2017. Collaboration in Ottoman Governance: The c. 1907 Imperial Census and the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Istanbul. Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 365–380 (Indiana University Press); DOI 10.2979/jottturstuass.4.2.07. https://doi.org/10.2979/jottturstuass.4.2.07

What this offers a reader

For students

Complicates the picture, because not every Ottoman Armenian stood outside the state.

For academics

His core intervention on Ottoman population statistics. A field where the numbers are politically contested.

For the community

Uncomfortable and worth reading: our institutions worked with the state that later destroyed us.

For a general reader

How the Armenian Patriarchate helped the Ottoman government count its own people.

Topics

Ottoman censusmillet systemArmenian Patriarchate of Istanbullate Ottoman demographystate-community relationshistoriography

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