Ottoman-Russian relations

The joint Ottoman-Russian naval expedition (1798-1800) to the Ionian Islands and Italy, which took place in the framework of the War of the Second Coalition against revolutionary France, is a subject that has drawn the intense interest of scholars of Ottoman-Russian relations at the end of the 18th century. The two seamen who led the expedition, Admiral Ushakov and Kapudane Abdülkadir Beg, faced not only military challenges, but also numerous logistic, financial, and diplomatic crises. Both Ushakov and Abdülkadir Beg were bound by strict official and secret instructions, which were often contradictory. Their rivals closely monitored the actions of the two admirals, and they immediately reported on them to their respective imperial authorities. As a result, Ushakov and Abdülkadir Beg experienced tremendous pressure from their political superiors. However, despite all of the difficulties, they managed to find a way to bridge the gaps of mutual distrust. The established modus operandi allowed a successful completion of the primary mission of the expedition. Russian language sources include hundreds of Ushakov’s reports, dispatches, and private letters. The variety of these published documents provides a good foundation for a better understanding of the complex nature of his relations with his Ottoman counterpart. Several examples, which illustrate different aspects of their association, are discussed in the paper

Andrey Krasnozhon History of Izmail City and Fortress
Sayfa / Page: 6-10

Andrey Krasnozhon Historical Map of Izmail (reconstruction based on historical
maps)
Sayfa / Page: 12-17

Mehmet Emin Yılmaz İsmail Geçidi’nde Habeşî Mehmed Ağa Câmii Restütüsyon
Denemesi
Sayfa / Page: 18-37

Okay Sütçüoğlu Rusya Devlet Arşivinden 1795 Tarihli İsmail Şehri
Haritasına Göre; Tuna Nehri’nde Bazı Osmanlı Dönemi
Gemilerinin Analizi
Sayfa / Page: 38-66

Berat Açıl Habeşî Mehmed Ağa’nın (ö. 1590) Vakfettiği Kitaplar ve Akıbetleri
Sayfa 67-88-

Hülya Yarar Çakıroğlu Ismail Kalesi Kuşatması (Osmanlıca metnin transkripsiyonu)
Sayfa 84-89


IN THIS ISSUE OF IJOT
The 6th edition of the International Journal of Turkology
is dedicated to an unknown and forgotten city on the Ottoman
borderland. The city of Ismail – or in Ukrainian
Izmail – on the northern Kilia branch of Danube River,
some 70 kilometers away from the Black sea, is now a
sleeping city with no crossing, no bridge and not customs
authority, even though its located a few hundred
meters away from the border to Romania, which is on
the other side of the Danube.
Ismail was once a thrilling city, with a multi-ethnic
community. The city was established in 1589 by an Ottoman
Black Eunuch, Chief of Sultans harem, Abyssinian
Mehmed Agha, who dedicated the incomes form the
city to the Holy cities of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.
Ismail was important because it was located on a famous
crossing point of Danube. Before the Ottomans, it
was yearly visited and looted by brigands. The Ottoman
Sultan Murad III decided to establish a fortress and a
city, and the order was given to Habeshi Mehmed Agha,
who with great efforts mobilized a whole set of Ottoman
government bodies to found the city within a few years.
In that year, all the infrastructure for a prosperous city
was implemented. A fortress, a Khan, a Mosque, a customs
authority, a shipyard, etc. were established. Ismail
became a prosperous city for the coming 200 years.
Located at a crossing point, the city was attacked
by Russian troops in the 17th and 18th century Ottoman-
Russian wars. In 1790, under the famous attack
by general Suvorov, the city was burned and the civil
population was excarnated by Russian Troops. The city
never recovered from this attack, and in 1856 – with
the treaty of Paris – the fortress was demolished, and
the Ottoman local Muslim population left. The Russians
established a new city near the old city. This new local
population never showed any interest in the old city, and
so the city fell into amnesia.
In 2019, the editors of this volume Mehmet Tütüncü
and Andrey Krasnozhon has published a book (see
back cover of this journal for further information) that
clarifies and discloses the documentation on the city’s
200 years existence from 1590 until 1790. The book,
published in the Ukraine and Turkish language, was received
very well. The articles in this Journal is a follow
up on our monography on Ismail. In this volume, we
have included some new research about Ismail.
The first article is from Andrey Krasnozhon, who
gives an introduction into Ismail’s short but interesting
city life, from its establishment to its destruction.
The second article by Mehmet Emin Yılmaz is about
the only remnant of Ottoman Ismail. It is the Habeshi
Mehmed Agha Mosque which is very beautiful and picturesque
and the oldest of the region. This mosque, with
its cupola, is a gem of Ottoman architecture. For a long
time it was used as a church, and nowadays it is used
as a DIORAMA panorama museum of attack of Ismail.
Mehmet Emin Yilmaz an architect from Ankara with
years-long experience, has done an attempt to research
the original mosque and its features.
The third article is about the Danube and its ships.
During our research, we found a map in Russian archives
which also enclosed a map of the city, which is
published in our monography last year. But this map has
also very interesting drawings of boats, ships, and carriers
in the Danube river. Dr. Okay Sütcüoğlu from Antalya
University has made a meticulous study of these
boats and their origins.
The fourth article is by dr. Berat Açıl from Istanbul’s
Şehir University. He has studied a part of the waqfıyye
of Habeshi Mehmet Agha, which also was published in
our book. This waqfiye enumerates books possessed by
Habeshi Mehmed Agha. This article gives insight into
the life and the library and intellectual interests of an
Ottoman statesman.
The last article is by Hulya Yarar Cakiroglu who has
discovered and translated Ottoman documents which
gives information about the attack on Ismail of 1790.
There is much literature about this attack from the Russian
side, but information from Ottoman the side is very
rare.
We hope to have prepared an interesting periodical.
We have enough material fora second Ismail issue which
is planned in October this year.
IJOT is open for all participants who are welcome
to submit articles for our next issues. It could be on all
fields of Turkology and adjacent (Turkish Islamic material
culture in the broadest sense). The articles could
be in Turkish, English, French, Russian,or Arabic. Our
IJOT is until now completely free, but all readers and
supporters are most welcome to donate any amount. You
can donate any amount by Pay-Pal to:
sotapublishing@gmail.com
Mehmet Tütüncü - Andrey Krasnozhon .

Tütüncü Mehmet, Krasnozhon Andrei The monuments of the Ottoman epigraphy of the XVIII-th century from Budjak
In the article are published six epigraphic monuments of the Ottoman epigraphy of the 18-th century from the North-Western Black Sea Region. The reading the first of them – graffiti of 1702-th from the Ismail mosque, has been corrected. The Epitaph of Arapzade Molla Muhammed (1718-1719) correlates with the Arabian mosque of Kiliya, reflecting the elements of the influx of some black (arab) people to the Lower Danube. The epitaph of 1756-th tells about mysterious murder of someone Ismail citizen during his prayer. The epitaph with the name Omer Pasha of 1775-th allows us to connect the gravestone with the important military and political figure of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774-th, and discover the place of his burial. The memorable inscription of the Ruznamçeci-Evvel Haji Hassan Raif, an Istanbul official, was probably created in the 1770-1790-s and was dedicated to the repair of a mosque (?), which suffered from military operations, and was built by the officer Haji Abdi Ağa in Kiliya or Ismail. An epitaph of Khalil Efendi indicates that the deceased was imam of one of the oldest and largest Ottoman mosques in the region – Bayazid-Veli, which was built in the Akkerman fortress in the 1480-s.
Keywords: Ismail, Akkerman, Kiliya, Bender, Ottoman epigraphy

Тютюнджю Мехмет, Красножон Андрей Памятники османской эпиграфики XVIII в. из Буджака
В статье опубликовано шесть эпиграфических памятников османской эпиграфики XVIII в. Северо-Западного При-
черноморья. Уточнено прочтение граффити 1702 г. из Измаильской мечети. Эпитафия Арапзаде Мулла Мохамеда соотносится с Арабской мечетью Килии, отражая элементы арабской колонизации Нижнего Подунавья. Эпитафия 1756 г. рассказывает о загадочном убийстве одного жителя Измаила во время молитвы. Эпитафия с именем Омер-
паши 1775 г. позволяет связать могильный памятник с важным военно-политическим деятелем эпохи первой русско-
турецкой войны 1768-1774 гг. и определить место его захоронения. Памятная надпись стамбульского чиновника руз-
намеджи-еввел Хаджи Хасан Раифа, выполнена, вероятно, в 1770-1790-х гг. и посвящена ремонту пострадавшей от военных действий мечети (?), выстроенной офицером Хаджи Агой в Килие или Измаиле. Эпитафия с именем Халил эфенди указывает, что покойный был имамом одной из старейших и крупнейших османских мечетей региона – Баязи-
да-Вели, выстроенной в Аккерманской крепости в 1480-х гг.
Ключевые слова: Измаил, Килия, Аккерман, Бендеры, Османская эпиграфика

The article, which is an introductory chapter of the book written by Ahmed Refik, in 1916, with Ottoman scripts, covers the period from 1709 to 1714 mainly focusing on the diplomatic and military activities of the Ottoman Empire regarding the issue of the refuge of Karl XII of Sweden. After a heavy defeat before the Russian army in 1709 at Poltava, Karl XII took refuge at Bender (today a territory of Moldova) for about 5 years. His stay under Ottoman protection created a diplomatic crisis at the European capitals for a long time. Finally, he was forced to return his home leaving a debt of one million piastres to the Ottoman government. The debt could not be paid for more than twenty years. The chapter evaluate the developments of the era both in terms of internal and international dynamics of the  Ottoman Empire.

Статья посвящена первому генералу русской императорской армии курдского происхождения, участнику Крымской войны Джафар-аге. Начав службу в 1853 г., он в 1871 г. дослужился до генерал-майора. Его военная карьера не была характерной для русского офицера, она определялась политическими мотивами. Он был лишь призван командовать курдами. Во время Крымской войны Джафар-ага содействовал привлечению на русскую сторону турецко-подданных курдов, при его непосредственном участии было сформировано два курдских полка: один – в составе
Эриванского отряда (преимущественно из курдов – жителей Эриванской губернии), второй – в составе Александропольского отряда. После Крымской войны и вплоть до своей кончины Джафар-ага продолжал командовать курдами, большей частью
русско-подданными, но его влияние распространялось и на турецкую территорию, что обеспечивало безопасность в пограничных областях. Его служба в русской армии имела важное значение для политики России в отношении курдов.
Ключевые слова: Джафар-ага, Крымская война, русско-турецкая война, курды, Османская империя, Россия, курдский полк
The article focuses on the first general of Kurdish origin in the Russian Imperial army –Jafar Agha. Having begun his service in 1853, he was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1871. His military career is not a typical one for Russian officer, as the latter were often motivated by political aspirations. Jafar Agha was enlisted into the imperial military in order to command and establish Kurdish divisions within the army. During the Crimean War (1853-56), he was tasked with recruiting Kurdish subjects of the Ottoman Empire into the Russian forces; through his direct involvement two regiments were established – one within the Yerevan division, made up primarily of Kurds of the eponymous province, and another one within the Alexandropol division. Following the war, and up until his death, Jafar Agha continued his military service commanding Kurdish regiments. Although the majority of those under his command were subjects of the Russian state, his fame and influence spread into the Ottoman territory thus providing further security for the Russian frontier regions. This articles aims to discuss and assess the importance of his role in the evolution of the Russian Empire’s relations with the Kurds.
Keywords: Jafar-Agha, Crimean War, Kurds, Ottoman Empire, Russia, Kurdish regiment (battalion)