JANISSARY SLAUGHTER, LIQUIDATION OF BEKTASHI LODGE AND OTTOMAN IDENTITY IN HISTORY TEXTBOOKS (1826-1908)

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In the 19th century, the soil loss of Ottoman Empire and nationalist movements persuaded the Ottoman state officials for centralization and modernization efforts in which the policy for a new identity was prominent. Especially after the janissary slaughter in 1826, Bektashi Lodge was liquidated and therefore the Muslim community was tried to be constructed with a singular understanding depending on SunniIslam. In new identity policies, undoubtedly the best tool was public schools and a modern identity policy was applied through new schools, teachers and syllabus. In this paper, the identity policy realized after 1826 was evaluated through resolution and interpretation of the textbooks used between 1869-1908. In the paper, first of all and briefly, Janissary-Bektashi relations, the reason why the Bektashis were closed and preparations for new identity were handled and after that the identity constructed through history lessons in public schools will be evaluated from a broader point of view. As a result, it is observed that the Ottoman modernization based on centralization made Sunni Islam and Turkish origin the two important elements of modern identity and accordingly tried to assimilate the Bektashi- Qizilbash groups.

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Ottoman identity , Janissary slaughter , Bektashi , Qizilbash , Ottoman history textbooks.

Turkish Culture and Haci Bektash Veli Research Quarterly

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Turkish Culture and Haci Bektash Veli Research Quarterly