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¶ I. History. 1. The pre-Islamic period: the first Turks in history and their languages. Towards 540, on the northern fringes of China, the nomadic empire of the Z̲h̲ouan-z̲h̲ouan (proto-Mongols?) dominated the lands of Mongolia and some neighbouring zones. Its Ḳag̲h̲an or ruler had as his vassals notably the chiefs of two important tribal confederations, those of the Türks, in the northern Altai, and the equally Turkish-speaking one of the “High Waggons” (Chinese Kao-kiu) in the Selenga basin (the northern part of central Mongolia). After an abortive revolt by these last, the …

, t., literally, “the 150 [undesirables]”. During the peace negotiations between the Allies and Turkey at Lausanne in 1923, Great Britain demanded that a general amnesty in Turkey should form part of the final settlement. The British were concerned that, otherwise, those inhabitants of Turkey who had been opposed to Muṣṭafā Kemāl and his nationalist movement in Anatolia would be persecuted. The Turkish delegation would not agree to an amnesty without exceptions, but it did not have at its disposal a l…

(1800-1858), Ottoman diplomat, statesman and reformer. Res̲h̲īd was born, the son of a financial clerk in Istanbul, on 13 March 1800, but his family originally hailed from Kastamonu. His father died in 1810, after which he grew up under the protection of his uncle, Ispartali̊ Seyyid Pas̲h̲a. He studied at a medrese , but did not graduate (i.e. he did not get an id̲j̲āza [ q.v.]). Thereafter, he was trained within the scribal institution. Res̲h̲īd took part in the campaign against the Greek insurgents in 1821, as seal-keeper of the commander-in-chief, Seyyid ʿ…

, Aḥmed (1873-1912), Young-Turk officer and one of the protagonists of the Ottoman ¶ constitutional revolution of 1908. Niyāzī hailed from Resen (he was called Resnelī, i.e. “from Resen”), and was an Albanian by birth. He went to military rus̲h̲dī and iʿdādī schools in Monastir (Bitola) before entering the military academy ( Ḥarbiyye ) in Istanbul, where he graduated as a second lieutenant in 1896. After his graduation he saw service in the European provinces of the Empire and he made a name for himself during the battle of B…

Meḥmed , Ottoman statesman and diplomat (1807-57). He was born in Istanbul, the only son of a very wealthy family. His father was Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī ʿAlī Bey, the governor of the Ottoman cannon foundries ( Ṭopk̲h̲āne ). Ṣādi̊ḳ Rifʿat received an education in the palace school, serving his final year in the Enderūn-i Humāyūn Ḵh̲azīne Odasi̊ (the imperial treasury). Thereafter, he was placed in the correspondence department ( Mektūbī Ḳalemi ) of the Grand Vizierate, as an assistant clerk. In 1824 he was promoted to the rank of k̲h̲wād̲j̲a (master) and in 1828 he becam…

, the Young Ottomans, a political grouping which strove for the establishment of a constitutional régime in the Ottoman empire. The group was formed in 1865 by a group of six young civil servants who had been trained in the new government offices created under the Tanẓīmāt , ¶ and specifically in the Translation Bureau of the Porte. Some of the leading members of the group, such as Nami̊ḳ Kemāl [ q.v.], also pioneered modern journalism in the empire. The Young Ottomans opposed the leading statesmen of their day, Meḥmed Amīn ʿAlī Pas̲h̲a and Fuʾād Pas̲h̲a [ q.vv.], accusing them of establish…

, Aḥmed (1875-1926), son of Ibrāhīm, Young Turk politician, was born in Kastamonu, near the Black Sea, into a poor family. S̲h̲ükrü graduated from the teachers’ training college in Istanbul and started out on a career in education, serving both as a teacher himself and as director of education. He joined the underground opposition movement of the Committee of Union and Progress ( Ittiḥād we Teraḳḳī Ḏj̲emʿiyyeti [ q.v.]) before the constitutional revolution of July 1908. After the revolution, he served as the district governor of Siroz [ q.v.] and spent some time at the home office,…

(Progressive Republican Party), the first opposition party of the Turkish Republic. It was founded on 17 November 1924 by a number of leading members of Muṣṭafā Kemāl (Atatürk)’s People’s Party (K̲h̲alḳ Fi̊rḳasi̊). Among the founders of the party were a number of military and civilian figures who had played a leading role in the national resistance movement out of which the republic was ¶ born: Kāẓi̊m Ḳarabekir (the party chairman), ʿAlī Fuʾād (Cebesoy), Refʾet (Bele), ʿAdnān (Adivar) and Ḥüseyin Raʾūf (Orbay [ q.v.]). The reasons for their leaving the People’s Party were bot…

(1853-1925), late Ottoman historian and statesman. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān S̲h̲eref was born in Istanbul, the son of a chief clerk at the Imperial Arsenal ( Ṭopk̲h̲āneyi ʿāmire ), whose family hailed from Safranbolu in northwestern Anatolia. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān S̲h̲eref graduated from the famous Galatasaray Lycée in 1873. After this he taught at several different establishments, ¶ from the Mak̲h̲red̲j̲-i Aḳlām (a college for civil servants which existed between 1864 and 1876) to the Dār al-Fünūn (University), which was re-opened in 1900, having been closed si…

, thirty-third Ottoman Sultan, who ruled for ninety-three days, from 31 May until 7 September 1876. He was born on 21 September 1840, as the eldest son of Sultan ʿAbd al-Mad̲j̲īd [ q.v.]. According to the Ottoman system of succession, he was crown prince during the rule of his uncle, Sultan ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (1861-76 [ q.v.]). The latter, however, intended to change the line of succession in favour of his own offspring. Therefore, he deprived Murād of all influence in public affairs. Partly as a result of the way he was treated by his uncle, Murād, who …

("Prens" Sabahattin) (1877-1948), late Ottoman political theorist. Ṣabāh al-Dīn was born in Istanbul, the elder son of Dāmād (imperial son-in-law) Maḥmūd Ḏj̲elāl al-Dīn Pas̲h̲a. His mother was Senīḥa Sulṭān, a younger sister of Sultan ʿAbd al-Hamīd II. He was educated privately. When his father fled to Paris in 1899, Ṣabāḥ al-Dīn and his younger brother Luṭf Allāh accompanied him. Ṣabāḥ al-Dīn came to the fore as one of the leading Young Turk emigré publicists and politicians. Backed by his father’s wealth, he soon became a serious com…