Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17234/RadoviZHP.51.4
Between the King and the Sultan: the Romanian Colony in Constantinople at the End of the 19th Century
Silvana Rachieru
Abstract
The article focuses on certain results of a long-term research project which addresses a very specific aspect concerning Romanian-Ottoman relations after 1878: Romanian subjects, residents of the Ottoman Empire, perceived as a community under the protection of the diplomatic and consular missions of Romania. The present contribution accords particular attention to the definition of this community and the legal status of the members of the colony registered with Romanian consulates in the imperial capital. A brief discussion of their ethno-religious profile and socio-economic characteristics is also included in the analysis. This is the first attempt to analyse several aspects concerning the Romanian multiethnic colony in Constantinople from different perspectives, such as occupations, nationality papers or the major problems which influenced their status as foreign residents in the Ottoman Empire. The primary sources of data are the consular registers and correspondence between representatives of the Romanian state and the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs, with a special focus on the analysis of an unpublished volume of documents, no. 422, “Registration,” and dated 1867-1916, from the Romanian Diplomatic Archives, Constantinople fonds. Other alternative sources were also used, such as censuses, newspapers and memoirs, in order to reconstruct an image of the Romanian colony in Constantinople up to 1900.
Keywords
foreign subjects; Ottoman Empire; colony; Constantinople; Romania; consular convention
Hrčak ID:
235948
URI
Publication date:
16.12.2019.
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