The legal status of the non-Muslim population in the Ottoman Empire during the early millet system stage

Introduction. The article is devoted to the analysis of the legal status of the non-Muslim population in the territory of the Ottoman Empire during the establishment of the millet system and the first stage of its existence. The author analyzes the norms of Muslim law in terms of regulating the life of the non-Muslim population within the framework of Islamic jurisdiction, and, taking into account historical and historical-legal material, sheds light on the issue of the relationship between the doctrine of Islamic law in terms of regulating the life of non-Muslim communities and the administrative practices used by the Ottoman authorities. The role played by the millet system in shaping the structure of Ottoman society is shown.

Purpose. The publication aims to highlight, firstly, the role of the institution of the millet system in the formation of specific socio-political conditions of existence and development of the heterogeneous Ottoman society; secondly, the significance of the social conditions of the Ottoman society in the development of the legal system of the Porte, including in terms of regulating the life of non-Muslim communities - millets.

Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the study was a systematic analysis of scientific literature and sources on the relevant topic in Russian, English, Turkish and Greek.

Results. The author's vision of the problem of the formation of the pre-modern social structure of the Ottoman society is shown on the basis of the legal division of society into autonomous and little interacting with each other segments - millets. The author also shows and explains the role of the doctrine of Islamic law in the formation of the specific Ottoman socio-political reality.

Conclusions. The millet system of the Ottoman Empire, which at the time of its creation represented an effectively functioning social structure of the entire Ottoman society, over time turned out to be too ossified and little susceptible to reform, which negatively affected the attempts of the Tanzimatists to carry out transformations and modernize the old building of the Porte. This became one of the reasons for the collapse of the Ottoman state. Muslim law as an independent legal system, which operated in the territory of the Ottoman Empire in combination with the secular sultanic law – the kanuns, made a significant contribution at the stage of the formation of the millet system and its structural design, but this also served as the reason for the gradual ossification of the social structure of Ottoman society and the subsequent stagnation.

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