1917 Maarif-i Nezareti Folding Map of the Ottoman Empire

A scarce, large-format folding map of the Ottoman Empire, produced c. 1917 by the Ministry of Public Education (Maarif-i Umumiye Nezareti) to demonstrate the empire's historical territorial changes. Produced at a time of drastic transition, the map harkens to the Ottomans' glorious history as well as their precarious contemporary situation, as a modern, territorial sense of nationhood was supplanting an older system of suzerainty and adaptive rule over diverse, multiethnic populations.

A Closer Look

Displaying the Ottoman Empire at its fullest, from just outside Vienna (at top-left) to the Persian Gulf (at bottom-right), the map employs a system of color-shading and numbering corresponding to the legend below the title at top-right to display the historical progression of the empire's territorial evolution, divided into date ranges using the Hijri calendar. Though indicating earlier instances of territorial loss, the map no longer notes lost territory after 1000 AH, not long after the Battle of Lepanto (1571), after which the empire is generally seen to have begun a long, slow decline. As indicated in the legend, the location and dates of battles are marked out in red print. An additional legend at bottom-center explains the administrative borders displayed. Major cities, ports, fortifications, regions, and bodies of water are labeled throughout. An inset at bottom-left provides a somewhat simplified version of the main map while widening the scope to include Ottoman vassal states in northern Africa, Upper Egypt, and Arabia.

Historical Context

This map was produced after a long period of territorial loss and only partially effective reforms (in fact, by some measures, the sultanate had already ceased to exist as the Young Turks had established a constitutional parliamentary system by this time). The map was made during World War I (1914 - 1918), when the survival of Ottoman Empire was at stake. However, at this point, the Ottomans could take solace in their repulse of the Allied invasion at Gallipoli. The latent irridentism of this map and the use of the term 'homeland' (وطن) in the title is indicative of a changing sense of identity, much more exclusive, hard-edged, and territorial than the distant, enlightened, cosmopolitan rule of the sultan. This new spirit was embodied in the person of Mustafa Kemal, who had recently become a national hero for his actions during the Gallipoli Campaign. In the years after this map's production, Atatürk and his allies battled to maintain what remained of the Ottoman Empire, (violently) drive out peoples seen as disloyal, and transition Turkey to a republican system. Ironically, given its focus on the long history of the Ottomans, this map was among the last produced before the fall of the empire.

Publication History and Census

This map was produced by the Ottoman Ministry of Public Education (Maarif-i Umumiye Nezareti) in 1917 or 1918 (1333 AH). It is quite rare, only being noted among the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliotek and Salt Research, a research institution in Istanbul. In addition to the publisher, stains at the top indicating the use of thumbtacks strongly suggest this map's use in a classroom in the closing years of the Ottoman Empire.