Tanzimat era Ottoman administration in mount Lebanon (1840-1868)

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate the policies developed by the Ottoman bureaucracy concerning the administration of the region of Mount Lebanon during the Tanzimat period. Located in the Syrian Littoral, Mount Lebanon had traditionally remained away from strict Ottoman influence and developed links with the European world. This study strives to evaluate the Ottoman attempts to increase the control in the region under the light of the Tanzimat reforms and the challenges to the Ottoman attempts from the locals and the European governments. The focus of the thesis is on the administrative regimes introduced in the region after inter-communal crises based on Ottoman-Western negotiations and these regimes’ relation to the Tanzimat era Ottoman administrative policies. In this thesis, the historical process the region experienced is evaluated in the light of comparisons between Ottoman and Western sources. By revealing the Ottoman policies, this thesis plans to contribute to the challenging of the standard historiography concerning Mount Lebanon which contains anti-Ottoman bias by ignoring the Ottoman side’s arguments and interpretations. The key sources utilized for this thesis consist primarily of irades (imperial decrees) and correspondences between the Sublime Porte and Ottoman officials in the region, reflecting the Ottoman official position. Constitutional documents outlining the administration of Mount Lebanon were also consulted.