Abstract

This article examines the ways in which Ottoman subjecthood and foreign protection were practiced and perceived by imperial financiers and officials following the nationality legislation of the 1860 s and the imperial bankruptcy in 1875. It deals with the non-Muslim merchant families of Damascus who served the province as credit providers, many of whom were under European protection. By the mid-1880s, these families found themselves in the midst of intense debates over their financial claims on the provincial treasury and their legal status, waged between the Ottoman government and European consulates. Focusing on one case of a local Jewish family, the article uncovers the category of ‘doubtful’ nationality (tebâa-i meşkûke) and the ways provincial officials in Syria used it to treat local merchants as Ottoman by-default. I argue that alongside legal notions of origin and residence which were introduced by the 1869 Nationality Law, Ottoman subjecthood was still practiced as a set of alienable and differentiated rights and duties, defined by fiscal obligation and service. Discussing these Ottoman strategies alongside British concerns and anxieties regarding foreign protection and naturalisation, I show how these legal-social categories and practices were shaped through mutual contact, in the context of unequal inter-imperial relations.

摘要

本文考察了 1860 年代的国籍立法和 1875 年帝国破产后，帝国金融家和官员如何实践和理解奥斯曼帝国的臣民和外国保护。它涉及为大马士革服务的非穆斯林商人家庭。省作为信贷提供者，其中许多受欧洲保护。到 1880 年代中期，这些家庭发现自己处于奥斯曼政府和欧洲领事馆之间关于他们对省国库的财务要求及其法律地位的激烈辩论之中。这篇文章关注当地一个犹太家庭的一个案例，揭示了“可疑”国籍的类别（tebâa-i meşkûke) 以及叙利亚的省级官员使用它默认将当地商人视为奥斯曼帝国的方式。我认为，除了 1869 年《国籍法》引入的出身和居住的法律概念外，奥斯曼帝国的臣民仍然作为一套可转让的、有区别的权利和义务来实践，由财政义务和服务定义。在讨论这些奥斯曼帝国战略以及英国对外国保护和归化的担忧和焦虑时，我展示了在不平等的帝国间关系的背景下，这些法律社会类别和实践是如何通过相互接触形成的。