Ottomans in Eighteenth-Century Prussia: Delegates to Diplomats is the first overarching study of Ottomans in Prussia. It examines the embassies of Ahmed Resmi Efendi (1763/4), Ahmed Azmi Efendi (1791/2), and Ali Aziz Efendi (1797/98), including their second-ranked diplomatic personnel such as secretaries and dragomans (interpreters), as well as the experiences of five Ottoman charges d'affaires who remained in Berlin until 1808. Unpacking the history of official diplomacy, daily interactions, and the exchange of information and knowledge in late-Enlightenment Berlin, the study sheds light on the role of the individual in the formation and institutionalisation of Ottoman-European relations. It demonstrates how over the course of administrative, fiscal, and diplomatic reform initiatives within the Ottoman and Prussian governments, the role of delegate gradually changed from ad hoc representative to member of the diplomatic corps. The book further argues that the arrival of Ottoman delegates coincided with the transformation of the Prussian capital into an intellectual and cultural centre. Profoundly influenced by the spirit of reform and Enlightenment, early modern Ottomans and Prussians negotiated and renegotiated diplomatic conventions and Orientalist ideas.

About the Author
Irena Fliter is a historian at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbuttel, where she is working on a book about the Camondo family as cultural translators between the eighteenth-century Ottoman Empire and Europe. Her research focuses on Ottoman-European diplomatic, cultural, and economic relations during the early modern period.


Book Information
ISBN 9781802078671
Author Irena Fliter
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Voltaire Foundation
Publisher Liverpool University Press