The Nature and Limits of Toleration in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire

Abstract

The way the Ottoman administration has treated its non-Muslim subjects is often regarded as an example of toleration. However, the elements of time and space are often forgotten in using the term toleration for the Ottoman Empire. Hence, we either examine the Ottoman toleration with the standards of the European Enlightenment, or of the modern period. Leaving aside the Eurocentric and current connotations of the term, this article aims at providing an analysis of the nature and limits of the Ottoman toleration towards its non-Muslim subjects during the early modern period.