Country Ottoman Empire, Turkey Ethnicity Ottoman, Turkish | Founded 17th Century | |
The Karaosmanoğlu Dynasty is a family that were derebey or ayans, part of the land owning elite in the peripheral provinces, during the Ottoman Empire. After the empire fell, its members have continued to have an impact in Turkey and abroad.
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Founding
The Karaosmanoğlu dynasty’s founding is shrouded in myth as there are no accurate records of how the family became nobility. One legend states that a peasant was tilling his land when he unearthed six vases. Inside each of the vases was a large amount of treasure. He reported the find to the local authorities and was told that it was his duty to give five of the vases to the Sultan but he could keep the sixth. The peasant, in a show of fealty, sent all six vases to the Sultan. When the Sultan learned of the peasant’s sacrifice, he proclaimed that the peasant and his family shall rule the region of Manisa as a reward for his devotion.
What most likely happened was that a military leader was given control of the region due to the influence he wielded. However, the story is divided on whether the military commander was a member of an ayan’s army that took over the region to secure it for his family or if he was bandit warlord that was placated with the gift of land. While these stories do not emphasize the devotion to a central imperial authority as the first story, it did show the power of the ayans in relation to the Sultan. The Sultan depended on the ayans to collect the taxes and provide armed forces from their provinces until the rule of Sultan Mahmud the Second where he began to centralize the government. These versions of the founding shows the weakness of the central government that could not defend a rich province from an internal threat and decided to placate the threat in a bid to rule over it.
During the Reign of the Ottoman Empire
Before the reforms of Mahmud II, the Karaosmanoğlus were able to become very powerful. During the 1787-92 war with the Russians, the family provided as much support as they could muster for the war effort. This did not go unnoticed by the Sultan and the family was awarded a bevy of positions that increased their economic might: members of this family officiated asmutesellim of Aydın, muhafiz (commander) of Izmir, mubayaacı (agent for the wholesale purchase of grain) of the quay of Izmir or voyvoda (warlord) of Turgutlu, Menemen and Bergama. With the distribution of officials in high ranking offices that had the ability to regulate trade, the Karaosmanoğlus became one of the most powerful families in Anatolia. However, they lost most of their power under the centralization that took place during Mahmud II’s reign.
Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu
Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu (March 27, 1889—Dec. 13, 1974) was one of the primary literary and political voices in the foundation of Turkey. He was part of the leftist political philosophy called the Kadro movement, which in turn as influential on Kemalism. Yakup Kadri inserted political messages in his writings that would help justify the Turkish cultural and political revolution. One example is in his novel Nur Baba (1922). In it, Nur Baba infiltrates the religious orders and uses his power to exploit the populace (especially the women) for his own gain. Yakup Kadri is arguing that in order to stop this exploitation the Turkish people must move past their dependence on religion in the official sphere and modernize. This was realized with a separation of church and state with the formation of the Presidency of Religious Affairs. Yakup Kadri actively shaped the fledgling government of Turkey by becoming a senator and then a diplomat from 1934-1954. He retired from the political life to write books that continued to spread his leftist message.
Atilla Karaosmanoglu
Atilla Karaosmanoglu (1931-November 11, 2013) was a pillar in the international financial world. He was a leading member of the World Bank where he worked from 1966 to 1994, taking a two year leave of absence to become the Turkish deputy prime minister in charge of economic policy. This short absence from the World Bank was due to the Prime Minister at the time, Nihat Erim, rejecting the economic plans put forth by Attila and ten others. As a sign of protest all eleven resigned at the same time. Shortly after coming back to the World Bank Atilla was named chief economist for the Europe, Middle East and North Africa region. He was vice president for the East Asia and Pacific region from 1983 to 1987, and then vice president of the Asia region until 1991. He then became managing director. He retired in 1994 to Istanbul.