İstanbul İngiliz büyükelçisi Ninova'lı Layard (1877-1880)

This thesis is a story of Sir Austen Henry Layard, the acclaimed archaeologist, who discovered Nineveh and was later deployed as the British Ambassador to Istanbul between 1877 and 1880. Having arrived in the Ottoman Empire at the brink of war with Russia, his assignment for three years was a period filled with extreme anxiety as he tried to balance varying expectations without clear directions from London. Extrapolating mainly from his memoir, this thesis examines Layard's method to influence Sultan Abdülhamid II and other Ottoman statesmen. As a Turcophile, who developed enthusiasm for the East through his readings and extensive travels as a young man, Layard's memoir provides us insight to analyze the interplay of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy in the nineteenth century. This study is a blend of both social and diplomatic history.