Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda Gayrimüslimlerin Yönetiminde Bir Araç Olarak Kıyafet

Düzenlemeleri: III. Murat Döneminden Bir Örnek

Klasik ve Klasik Sonrası dönem Divan-ı Hümayun kararları arasında Gayrimüslimlerin

giyim kuşamını düzenleyen pek çok hüküm göze çarpmaktadır. Konu üzerine yapılan

çalışmalarda söz konusu düzenlemelerin (a) sadece kağıt üzerinde geçerli olduğu, (b) devletin

gerilemesiyle paralel olarak ortaya çıktıkları ve (c) iktisadi kökenli olarak israfı önleme, mala

talebi azaltma amacıyla gerçekleştirildiklerine dair tezler ortaya koyulmuştur. Tarafımca

yapılan yüksek lisans çalışmasında ise birkaç açıdan yukarıdaki tezlere karşı çıkılmıştır. Buna

göre bahsi geçen düzenlemelerin giyim kuşamın şekline ve kalitesine yönelik iki boyutu

bulunmaktadır. Şekli ayarlamalar cemaatlere bölünmüş Osmanlı toplumunda cemaat

kimliğinin ortaya koyulması açısından devletin erken dönemlerinden itibaren sıkı bir norm

olarak uygulanmaya çalışılmıştır. Kıyafetlerin kumaş kalitesi ve gösteriş boyutu ise fatih

konumundaki Müslümanlarla fethedilen gayrimüslimler arasındaki eşitsizliği korumak

amacıyla denetlenmiş gayrimüslimlerin Müslümanları geride bırakacak kadar gösterişe

kalkıştığı noktada müdahaleye uğramış, onun dışında müdahale sınırlı kalmıştır. Netice olarak

cemaat çatışmalarının hat safada olduğu bir dönemde Osmanlı idarecileri kıyafet

düzenlemelerini cemaatler arasında birbirinden ayırt edici sınırlar çizme ve cemaatler

arasındaki eşitsizliği sabit kılma aracı olarak kullanarak çatışmaları minimize etmeyi

başarmışlardır.

Elinizdeki bu makalenin yazılış amacı mevzu bahis düzenlemelerin uygulanış

süreçlerini III. Murat döneminde yürürlüğe sokulan bir kanunu örnek olarak ele alınarak

mercek altına almaktır.

Ottoman Imperial Council regulated clothing codes upon non-Muslim subjects

throughout classical and post classical period until 19th century. These codes may remind

sumptuary laws to the researchers of European history as a counterpart in Ottoman

example. However, these regulations have a social and administrative nature while the term

sumptuary includes a special emphasis on economy. For this reason, we prefer to use

clothing codes to describe aforementioned regulations.

Although sumptuary laws have attracted attention of historians, Ottoman

counterpart has not yet been understood well. Studies on clothing codes so far asserted

misleadingly that (a) regulations are not realities of daily life (b) regulations are in parallel

with (so called) decline of the empire and (c) regulations are the product of economic

arrangements. There are several reasons behind these misleading theses. First and foremost

is the fact that regulations have been seen by historians as intolerance in a tolerant empire

whose subjects were composed of multi-religious origins among which violence was rare.

In somewhere else, on the other hand, I proposed that clothing codes were used by

Ottoman administration as an instrument on handling multi-communal population and more

importantly avoiding inter-communal violence in the age of inter-communal wars. In this

context, clothing codes that Ottoman administrators inherited from pre-Ottoman Islamic

states have two basic aspects: the shape and the quality of non-Muslim clothing. Shape of

clothing including colors is regulated for the need to differentiate between communities. As

each community members carried particular marks on their clothing, an artificial boundary

among communities were drawn. Since the marking colors and shapes did not remain static,

determining general feature is almost impossible. However, it can be basically argued that

the mark differentiating community members was their particular hat. Among all details in

clothing hat is the one which was regarded strictly by Ottoman law makers and

implementers.

Second aspect that is quality of clothing on the other hand was not implemented as

strict as the first one. As is well known, non-Muslims are inferior to Muslims according to

sharia. Moreover, we can say that in Ottoman society Muslims were the conqueror while

non-Muslims were the conquered one. However, sharia at the same time gives non-Muslims

a status, dhimma, in society. This status supplies a protection by which a dhimmi can flourish

without any intervention. As a result of this, a dilemma occurs in the society where rich non-

Muslims and poor Muslims can exist. To beat this dilemma Ottoman law makers recruited

clothing codes again. No matter what clothing codes restricts, only extravagance caused the

intervention of state in daily life because Muslim subjects reacted when a non-Muslim

appeared with an exorbitant outlook.

It is now essential to stress on historical data in order to understand the nature of

Ottoman clothing codes. Among Imperial Court decisions, clothing codes appeared as a part

of formula. This formula is composed of not only clothing restrictions but also housing and

social conduct. Although there are regulations legislated for only housing or only clothing,

law makers mostly abided by the principle. Regulation of 15.. is a good example to identify

this formula and to see limits of regulations. Accordingly,

In this article, an attempt to examine clothing codes further will be made in a

microscopic analysis as we choose one particular regulation in the year 1577. Doing this, two

outcomes are expected. First one is to reveal the process and the parties responsible of

regulating non-Muslim clothing. After that we will focus on effects of given clothing code on

the Ottoman society.

Making of the Clothing Codes: Year 1577