Social class in the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was one of the most dominant empires in the Mediterranean region, having lasted ~600 years and controlling much of the eastern and southern portions of the Sea. Albert Hourani described the Ottoman Empire as "a bureaucratic state, holding different regions within a single administrative and fiscal system".^[1]

The Ottoman Empire lasted for over six hundred years (1299–1923) and encompassed present-day Turkey, the Balkans and the Fertile Crescent. Thus the Empire included an extremely diverse population ranging from the Muslim majority (Turks, Arabs, Bosniaks, Albanians, etc.) to various minority populations, specifically Christians and Jews, whom Muslims referred to as "People of the Book". As an imperial/colonial enterprise, the Ottoman system allowed some Greeks, Tatars, Italians, Albanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Georgians, Bulgarians, Ruthenians and Circassians, kul and azad, to attain high office as soldiers, viziers or members of the imperial family.

^ Hourani, Albert Habib (1991). A History of the Arab Peoples (revised ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press (published 2002). p. 207. ISBN 9780674010178. Retrieved 29 July 2020. The empire was a bureaucratic state, holding different regions within a single administrative and fiscal system. It was also, however, the last great expression of the universality of the world of Islam. [...] It was also a multi-religious state, giving a recognized status to christian and Jewish communities.

[1] Hourani, Albert Habib (1991). A History of the Arab Peoples (revised ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press (published 2002). p. 207. ISBN 9780674010178. Retrieved 29 July 2020. The empire was a bureaucratic state, holding different regions within a single administrative and fiscal system. It was also, however, the last great expression of the universality of the world of Islam. [...] It was also a multi-religious state, giving a recognized status to christian and Jewish communities.

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