Piskopos Mukataa Kalemi and Istanbul Greek Patriarchate: Bureaucratic relations and institutionalization (From mid eighteenth-century to the first quarter of the nineteenth-century)

Non-Muslims living in the Ottoman Empire continued their religious practices in scope of the rights and limitations of the Islamic Law. In addition to this, the function of the organization of the Church and correspondingly the ecclesiastical-hierarchical framework had been continued under the Ottoman regimes and rules. The organization formed as the Greek and Armenian Patriarchate in the Ottoman Empire, became the representative of Orthodox in one part. It was possible for the Patriarchates to maintain their religious authority over the communities connected with cities, towns, and villages, thanks to their church organizations and thanks to their ability to carry out this process together with the empire without going beyond the rights and responsibilities granted to them by the Ottoman administration. Piskopos Mukataa Kalemi was established in the Ottoman bureaucracy, within the finance items, for the follow up and control of financial and administrative matters concerning church organization and official documents such as berat and ahkâm given to the officials in the church. The bureau, which transformed in the historical process, took its classic form towards the middle of the eighteenth century. When this period is evaluated within the framework of its internal dynamics and relations with the Ottoman bureaucracy, it points out that the period when the Greek Patriarchate of Istanbul began to gain more institutional structure. In this study, the foundation of Piskopos Mukataa Kalemi in the Ottoman bureaucracy, the process of its development and abolition is carried out within the framework of Istanbul Greek Patriarchate and its affiliated church organization is researched. Thus, the explanation of the position of the Patriarchate within the Ottoman bureaucracy it is intended to. Hereby, the position of the Patriarchate in the Ottoman bureaucracy will be revealed in this context. The main source of this thesis is Piskopos Mukataası Ahkâm and Berevât defters, a series of defters in which the records of the certificates of the patriarch, metropolitan and bishops and the records of the provisions related to the functioning of the church organization are kept by the Piskopos Mukataası Office. In the meantime, the other archival documents and defters, which are located at the Ottoman archive, are significant for explaining the working process of the Ottoman bureaucracy. In this study, the position of the Greek Patriarchate of Istanbul within the Ottoman state organization is under consideration and especially its relation with the financial bureaucracy is revealed. Therefore, using the directorial authority of the Patriarchate happened with the permission and knowledge of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, it has been concluded that the Greek Patriarchate of Istanbul was responsible for fulfilling duties as an Ottoman institution in the state organization.