Ottoman political spectacle: Reconsidering the devsirme in the Ottoman Balkans, 1400--1700.

摘要

The purpose of this study is to re-examine the controversial Ottoman child levy, or devsirme, applied primarily amongst Christian populations in the Ottoman Balkans. Typically subsumed within the broader discussion of Ottoman state-building and centralization, the devsirme has become a static marker of the Ottoman "classical" age. Traditional historiography of the institution invariably limit discussion to its utilitarian function as a conduit for elite manpower which provided the sultan with "natally-alienated" servitors, thus enhancing the ability of the ruler to impose his unilateral political will. I argue that the devsirme provided a greater range of political action than is generally acknowledged.; This study is comprised of several overlapping points, all based on the assumption that the child levy was first and foremost a ritual spectacle. Viewed as such, the devsirme takes on additional political dimensions. I contend that: (1) the child levy was as much a conduit of political ideology to Christian subject populations as it was a conduit of manpower from these regions. (2) The devsirme's ritual form reproduced within a provincial setting Ottoman expressions of sultanic power and legitimacy that mimicked the rhetorical strategies of court ritual in the Ottoman center, therefore providing one of the few center-inspired ceremonies available to Balkan subjects. (3) As a ritualized spectacle (that included specific protocols regarding collection, attire, transport, etc.) the devsirme---which was essentially a rite de passage---created a host of semiotic elements that have yet to be "read" by historians. For example, I discuss the ambiguous symbolism of ritually robing (khil'a) levied youths, focusing specifically on the use of the color red and how this reflected a variety of religious meanings for both the Ottomans and the passive "participants" of the event.; I also include a short discussion on the legacy of devsirme in the Balkans (specifically Bulgaria) and argue that its continued resonance in the collective memories of Balkan peoples is not only the product of nationalist narrative construction, but reflects to some degree the initial efficacy of the devsirme's ritual form in creating a new, distinctly Ottoman political "reality" for its Balkan Christian subjects.