Empire of Officials: Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Bureaucracy

The Ottoman Empire’s vast bureaucracy was not solely the domain of Muslim officials. Empire of Officials uncovers the overlooked role of Christians and Jews in the imperial administration, revealing a world where religious difference coexisted with professional collegiality.
Drawing on extensive archival research and prosopographic analysis, the book challenges narratives that portray the Ottoman state as rigidly divided along religious lines. Thousands of non-Muslim officials-from scribes and tax officers to high-ranking administrators and ministers-were indispensable to governance, shaping policies that affected millions. Their presence reveals the complexities of imperial rule, where loyalty, expertise, and pragmatism often outweighed sectarian divisions. Navigating careers within a state undergoing modernization and reform, these officials built networks, wielded influence, and redefined the boundaries of belonging. Focusing on the quantity and qualities of its Armenian, Greek, and Jewish officials, Empire of Officials offers a fresh perspective on Ottoman governance. It complicates conventional understandings of identity and provides a new lens for Ottomanism by showing how the bureaucracy functioned as a multi-confessional space, where professional roles often took precedence over ethnic or religious affiliations. Essential reading for scholars of comparative empires, this book illuminates the intricate intersections of bureaucracy, religion, and state power.

Abdulhamit Kirmizi is Professor of History at Marmara University, Turkey. He formerly taught at Istanbul Sehir University and Bamberg University, held fellowships at CAS Sofia, and the British Academy (SOAS). Specializing in auto/biography, bureaucracy, and historiography, he has published extensively on lives, administration, and politics in the modern Ottoman Empire.