AŞİRET MEKTEBİ: THE IMPERIAL SCHOOL FOR TRIBES, 1892-1907

Abstract

One of the outstanding characteristics of the 19th century was the creation of national education systems worldwide. The Ottomans declared in the Tanzimat Edict of 1839 that education was one of the duties of the state. Sultan Abdülhamid II (r. 1876-1909), continued the modernization drive of the Tanzimat, while he simultaneously embraced and promoted the Islamic heritage of the empire. He is credited for building a great number of schools in all parts of the empire. In 1892, Abdülhamid issued a decree that a special school for the sons of Arab tribal leaders would be established in Istanbul. In the following fifteen years close to five hundred students from distant parts of the empire were educated in the capital at the state’s expense. Many of the young men who completed the five-year program of the Aşiret Mektebi attended an additional one-year training either in the Military or in the Civil Academy before embarking on their careers. The school was generally well-received, the institution and its graduates were held in high-esteem, and the Arab graduates maintained close ties with the Ottomans even after the end of the First World War. This dissertation is composed of two sections. In the first part a chronology of the school, the recruitment processes and the curriculum are examined. In the second section, life stories of prominent graduates are presented. Although the school was founded for Arabs, Kurds, Albanians and even Javanese were later admitted to the school. The highest number of students came from Greater Syria. Ramadan Shallash from Deir ez-Zor, became a national hero in the resistance against the British and French colonizers. Fahd al-Atrash, a Druze from Jabal Hawran, served in the Ottoman administration, while his children Asmahan and Farid became famous artists. The Merhebis from Akkar sent nine of their sons to the school, who played important roles in Lebanon. Two graduates from Benghazi (Omar Mansour and Sadullah Koloğlu) became Prime Ministers of Libya. Abdulmuhsin Saadun from Iraq served in the Ottoman Army and Parliament and became prime minister four times between 1923 and 1929. The experience of the graduates proves that the school produced unique leaders who found a niche for themselves in the different political milieus of the Middle East. The Aşiret Mektebi underlines the fact that the Ottoman Empire of the late 19th century was far from a defunct state as is commonly assumed, but rather fully functional and capable of initiating long-term projects and seeing them through. The reach of the empire extended to its furthest corners from Libya to Yemen. The state was able to initiate such a complex undertaking in the very short time span of three months and sustain it for fifteen years. The Ministries of Interior and Education actively organized the recruitment and training of the students. All of the activities were meticulously noted in the public records, most of which are now available online. Therefore, the Aşiret Mektebi is one example that illustrates how the Ottoman Empire in its twilight continued to be a sovereign power acting successfully within its vast territory and mobilizing previously untapped resources. The Aşiret Mektebi was envisioned as an institution which would instill awe and loyalty for the sultan/caliph in the minds of the most remote subjects of the empire. Sultan Abdülhamid utilized the press as an effective and controlled medium to disseminate information and promote the school. Finally, the Aşiret Mektebi embodies a unique method of promoting upward mobility and talent recruitment within the Ottoman Empire. The Aşiret Mektebi enabled youngsters from the tribes to discover the world at a very early age and return home to build themselves significant careers. As portraits in this study demonstrate, graduates of the school played prominent roles in their societies. The Aşiret Mektebi stands out as an early hub for talented and select young men from the diverse tribes of the Ottoman Empire, who were molded into “Men for All Seasons” and left their imprint on the “Last Ottoman Generation.”