Rise of Nationalism under the Ottoman Empire: Encyclopedia II - Rise of Nationalism under the Ottoman Empire - The concept of Ottoman Nation

Rise of Nationalism under the Ottoman Empire - The concept of Ottoman Nation

 ...the Ottoman Sultan did not introduce the millet system 
into their empire only on the capture of Constantinople, 
but were already applying its principles to the non-Muslim 
Communities under their rule.
  Islamic Society and west, Oxford 1957. 

The idea of millet (loosely translated as: people or nation) goes back before the 15th century. The Ottoman political tradition had a dualism. One either belonged to the 'millet' and was an Ottoman (an Ottoman Turk, Ottoman Greek, Ottoman Armenian, or otherwise) or one belonged to the 'others' (re'aya). All people living outside the Ottoman borders were seen as 're'aya'. The people who lived within the boarders belonged to the 'millet'. For Ottomans the millet was not homogenous. There were four verticle cross sections. Jews, Armenians, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims.

No one questioned if belonged to the millet or not, as the system was based on owning the land. If you lived and function within the border, your were part of the millet.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The concept of Ottoman Nation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki