Realpolitik Please: Ottoman Religious Policy On the Eve Of World War One In A Letter From The Kadi Of Bagdad To The Sheikhulislam

Abstract

In contrast to most other Ottoman politicians of his time, he kept diaries, which are almost exclusively political in character, and his diaries and other papers survived in bulk, if not in their entirety. I edited his diaries within the framework of a PhD thesis and found among his papers a letter from the then kadı of Bagdad Vehbi Efendi. The contents of this letter I found interesting enough to discuss it here. The text of the letter, written in a calligraphic rıka hand, has been deciphered almost completely, with the exception of a few words which do not affect the message of the text. The Turkish text of the letter in transcription appears at the end of this paper together with an English translation and a facsimile reproduction of the material.