Chapter 17: The Middle East 1750-1900

Ulama

A body of Muslim scholars recognized as having specialist knowledge of Islamic sacred law and theology.

Young Turks

A member of a revolutionary party in the Ottoman Empire who carried out the revolution of 1908 and deposed the sultan Abdul Hamid II.

"Sick man of Europe"

A nickname for the crumbling Ottoman Empire in the mid 19th century.

Young Ottomans

A secret society established in 1865 by a group of Ottoman Turkish intellectuals who were dissatisfied with the Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire.

Tanzimat

A series of reforms in the Ottoman Empire that brought the culture, education, religion and society more in line with Europe and the United States and western ways.

Crimean War

A war between Great Britain, France, Turkey, and Sardinia on one side, and Russia on the other, fought chiefly in the Crimea 1853-56.

Greek independence

Also known as the Greek Revolution, it was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1832 against the Ottoman Empire.

Nationalism

Devotion or loyalty to one's country; patriotism.

Eastern Question

It encompasses the diplomatic and political problems posed by the "Sick man of Europe" (the Ottoman Empire), as it steadily weakened decade after decade.

Janissaries

Members of the Turkish infantry forming the Sultan's guard between the 14th and 19th centuries.

Extraterritoriality

The state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Diplomatic immunity.